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<DATE>2011-05-04</DATE>
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<NAME>Susie Lorand</NAME>
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<P>THE Chri&s;tian Doctrin AND SOCIETY OF THE <HI REND="blackletterType">People called Quakers;</HI> Cleared from The Reproach of the late <HI>Divi&s;ion</HI> of a <HI>few</HI> in &s;ome Part of <HI>America,</HI> as not being ju&s;tly chargeable upon the Body of the &s;aid People there or el&s;ewhere.</P>
<Q><P>Now I be&s;eech you, Brethren, mark them diligently which cau&s;e Divi&s;ion and Offences, contrary to the Doctrin which ye have learned, and avoid them,
<BIBL><HI>Rom. 16.17.</HI></BIBL></P></Q>
<Q><P>Let all Bitterne&s;s, and Wrath, and Anger, and Clamour, and Evil-&s;peaking be put away from you, with all Ma|lice. And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Chri&s;t's &s;ake, hath forgiven you,
<BIBL><HI>Ephe&s;. 4.31, 32.</HI></BIBL></P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI REND="blackletterType">Thomas Northcott,</HI> in <HI>George|yard</HI> in <HI>Lombard-&s;treet.</HI> 1693.</P>
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<P>WHereas divers Accounts have been lately publi&s;h'd, in Print, of &s;ome late Divi&s;ion and Di&s;putes between &s;ome Per&s;ons under the Name of Quakers in <HI>Pen&s;ilvania,</HI> about &s;everal fundamental Doctrins of the Chri&s;tian Faith (as is pretended by one Party) which being particularly mentioned, and thereupon occa&s;ion very <HI>unduly</HI> taken by our Ad|ver&s;aries, to reproach both the Chri&s;tian Mini|&s;try, and whole Body of the People commonly called Quakers, and their Holy and Chri&s;tian Profe&s;&s;ion, both in <HI>England</HI> and el&s;ewhere, tho' no ways concerned in the &s;aid Divi&s;ion or Matters charged, but rather grieved and troubled at it, and at the indi&s;creet and reproachful manage|ment thereof in Print, to the amu&s;ing and troub|ling the World therewith, and giving occa&s;ion to the Loo&s;e, Ignorant and Prophane, to &s;light and contemn the Truth and the Intere&s;t of the tender Religion of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>We are, therefore, tenderly concerned for Truth's &s;ake in behalf of the &s;aid People (as to the Body of them, and for all of them who are &s;incere to God, and faithful to their Chri|&s;tian Principle and Profe&s;&s;ion) to u&s;e our Ju&s;t Endeavours to remove the Reproach, and all cau&s;ele&s;s Jealou&s;ies concerning us, touching tho&s;e Doctrins of Chri&s;tianity, or any of them pretended (or &s;uppo&s;ed) to be in que&s;tion in the &s;aid Divi&s;ion: in Relation whereunto We do, in
<PB N="2" REF="3">the fear of God and in &s;implicity and plainne&s;s of his Truth receiv'd, &s;olemnly and &s;incerely de|clare what our Chri&s;tian Belief and Profe&s;&s;ion has been, and &s;till is, in re&s;pect to <HI>Je&s;us Christ the only begotten Son of God, his Suffering, Death, Re&s;urrection, Glory, Light, Power, Great Day of Judgment,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>We &s;incerely profe&s;s Faith in God by his only begotten Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as being our Light and Life, our only way to the Father, and al&s;o our only Mediator and Advocate with the Fa|ther. <HI>(a)</HI></P>
<P>(a) <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.2. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.21. <HI>Joh.</HI> 14.6. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.5.</P>
<P>That God created all things, he made the Worlds, by his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, he being that powerful and living Word of God by whom all things were made, <HI>(b)</HI> And that the Father, the Word and the holy Spirit are one, in divine Be|ing in&s;eparable; one true, living and eternal God, ble&s;&s;ed for ever, <HI>(c)</HI></P>
<P>(b) <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.9. <HI>Joh.</HI> 1.1, 2, 3. <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.2. (c) 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 5, 7.</P>
<P>Yet that this Word, or Son of God in the ful|ne&s;s of time, took Fle&s;h, became perfect Man, according to the Fle&s;h, de&s;cended and came of the Seed of <HI>Abraham</HI> and <HI>David, (d)</HI> but was mi|raculou&s;ly conceived by the Holy Gho&s;t, and born of the Virgin <HI>Mary.</HI> And al&s;o further, declared powerfully to be the Son of God, ac|cording to the Spirit of Sanctification, by the Re&s;urrection from the Dead.</P>
<P>(d) <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.3.4. (e) <HI>Mat.</HI> 1.23. (f) <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.3, 4.</P>
<P>That in the Word (or Son of God) was Life, and the &s;ame Life was the Light of Men; and that he was that true Light which enlightens eve|ry Man coming into the World, <HI>(g)</HI> And there|fore,
<PB N="3" REF="3">that Men are to believe in the Light, that they may become Children of the Light, <HI>(h)</HI> Hereby we believe in Chri&s;t the Son of God, as he is the Light and Life within us; and where|in we mu&s;t needs have &s;incere re&s;pect and ho|nour to (and belief in) Chri&s;t; as in his own unapproachable, and incomprehen&s;ible Glory and Fulne&s;s, <HI>(i)</HI> as he is the Fountain of Life and Light, and Giver thereof unto us; Chri&s;t, as in him&s;elf, and as in us, being not divided. And that as <HI>Man,</HI> Chri&s;t dyed for our Sins, ro&s;e again and was received up into Glory in the Heavens. <HI>(k)</HI> He having, in his dying for all, been that one great univer&s;al Offering and Sacrifice for Peace, Attonement and Reconciliation between God and Man, <HI>(l)</HI> and he is the Propitiation not for our Sins only, but for the Sins of the whole World. <HI>(m)</HI> We were reconcied by his Death, but &s;aved by his Life.</P>
<P>(g) <HI>Joh.</HI> 1.4.9. (h) <HI>Joh.</HI> 12.36. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2.5. (i) <HI>Tim.</HI> 6.16. (k) 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.18. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.16. <HI>Mat.</HI> 19.28. and 25.31. <HI>Luk.</HI> 9.26. and 24.26. (l) <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.10, 11. <HI>Heb.</HI> 2.17, 18. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.16, 17. <HI>Col.</HI> 1.20, 21, 22. (m) 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 2.2. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.14, 15. <HI>Heb.</HI> 2.9.</P>
<P>That Je&s;us Chri&s;t who &s;itteth at the right hand of the Throne of the Maje&s;ty in the Heavens, yet is he our King, High Prie&s;t and Prophet, <HI>(n)</HI> in his Church, a Mini&s;ter of the Sanctuary, and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not Man. <HI>(o)</HI> He is In|terce&s;&s;or and Advocate with the Father in Hea|ven, and there appearing in the Pre&s;ence of God for us, <HI>(p)</HI> being touched with the feeling of our Infirmities, Sufferings and Sorrows. And al&s;o by his Spirit in our Hearts, he maketh Interce&s;&s;i|on according to the Will of God, crying, <HI>Abba,</HI> Father. <HI>(q)</HI></P>
<PB N="4" REF="4">
<P>(n) <HI>Zech.</HI> 9.9. <HI>Luk.</HI> 19.38. <HI>Joh.</HI> 12.15. <HI>Heb.</HI> 3.1.6. <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.15, 18. <HI>Act.</HI> 3.22. and 7.37. (o) <HI>Heb.</HI> 8.1, 2. (p) <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.25. <HI>Heb.</HI> 9.24. (q) <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.26, 27, 34. <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.6.</P>
<P>For any whom God hath gifted <HI>(r)</HI> and called &s;incerely to Preach Faith in the &s;ame Chri&s;t, both as within and without us, cannot be to Preach two Chri&s;ts, but one and the &s;ame Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>(&s;)</HI> having re&s;pect to tho&s;e degrees of our &s;piritual knowledge of Chri&s;t Je&s;us <HI>in us, (t)</HI> and to his own un&s;peakable fulne&s;s and glory, <HI>(u)</HI> as in him&s;elf, in his own intire be|ing, wherein Chri&s;t him&s;elf and the lea&s;t mea|&s;ure of his Light or Life, as in us or in Mankind, are not divided nor &s;eparable, no more than the Sun is from its light. And as he a&s;cended far above all Heavens, that he might fill all things, <HI>(x)</HI> his fulne&s;s cannot be comprehended, or con|tained in any finite Creature, <HI>(y)</HI> but in &s;ome mea&s;ure known and experienced in us, as we are capable to receive the &s;ame, as of his fulne&s;s we have received Grace for Grace. Chri&s;t our Me|diator, received the Spirit, not by mea&s;ure, <HI>(z)</HI> but in fulne&s;s; but to every one of us is given Grace, according to the Mea&s;ure of his Gift. (a)</P>
<P>(r) <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.7. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 4.10. (&s;) 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 8.6. ch. 15.3, 8. (t) <HI>Joh.</HI> 15.26. and ch. 16.13, 14, 15. (u) <HI>Joh.</HI> 1.16. (x) <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.10. (y) <HI>Colo&s;&s;.</HI> 1.19. &amp; 2.9. (z) <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.34. (a) <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.7.</P>
<P>That the Go&s;pel of the Grace of God &s;hould be preached in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Gho&s;t, <HI>(b)</HI> being one, <HI>(c)</HI> in Power, Wi&s;dom, and Goodne&s;s, and indivi&s;ible, (or not to be divided) in the great Work of Man's Sal|vation.</P>
<P>(b) <HI>Matth.</HI> 28.19. <HI>(c) Joh.</HI> 1.1, 2, 3, 4.</P>
<P>We &s;incerely confe&s;s (and believe in) Je&s;us Chri&s;t, both as he is true God, and perfect Man, <HI>(d)</HI>
<PB N="5" REF="4">and that he is the Author of our living Faith in the Power and Goodne&s;s of God, as manife&s;t in his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and by his own ble&s;&s;ed Spi|rit (or Divine Unction) revealed in us, <HI>(e)</HI> where|by we inwardly feel and ta&s;te of his goodne&s;s, <HI>(f)</HI> life and vertue; &s;o as our Souls live and pro&s;per by and in him: And the inward Sen&s;e of this Divine Power of Chri&s;t, and Faith in the &s;ame and this inward Experience is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;a|ry to make a true &s;incere and perfect Chri&s;tian in Spirit and Life.</P>
<P>(d) <HI>Joh.</HI> 1.1, 2. <HI>Rom.</HI> 9.5. 1 <HI>Jo.</HI> 5.20. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.5. <HI>(e)</HI> 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 2.20, 27. &amp; ch. 1.1. <HI>(f)</HI> 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.3. <HI>Joh.</HI> 6.33, 35, 51, 57, 58.</P>
<P>That Divine Honour and Wor&s;hip is due to the Son of God <HI>(c);</HI> and that he is, in true Faith to be prayed unto, and the Name of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t called upon (as the Primitive Chri|&s;tians did) <HI>(d)</HI> becau&s;e of the glorious Union or <HI>Onene&s;s</HI> of the Father and the Son <HI>(e),</HI> and that we cannot acceptably offer up Prayers or Prai&s;es to God, nor receive a gracious An&s;wer or Ble&s;|&s;ing from God, but in and through his dear Son Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>(c) Joh.</HI> 5 23. <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.6. <HI>(d)</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.2. <HI>Acts</HI> 7.59. <HI>(e) Joh.</HI> 10.30. 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 5.7.</P>
<P>That Chri&s;t's Body that was crucified, was not the God-head, yet by the Power of God was rai&s;ed from the Dead; and that the &s;ame Chri&s;t that was therein crucified, a&s;cended into Heaven and Glory <HI>(f),</HI> is not que&s;tioned by us. His Fle&s;h &s;aw no Corruption <HI>(g),</HI> it did not corrupt, but yet doubtle&s;s his Body was changed into a more <HI>glorious (h)</HI> and heavenly Condition than 'twas in when &s;ubject to divers Sufferings on Earth; but how and what manner of Change it met withal after 'twas rai&s;ed from the Dead, &s;o as to become &s;uch a glorious Body
<PB N="6" REF="5">(as 'tis declared to be) is too wonderful for Mortals to conceive, apprehend or pry into (and more meet for Angels to &s;ee); the Scri|pture is &s;ilent therein, as to the manner thereof, and we are not curious to enquire or di&s;pute it; nor do we e&s;teem it nece&s;&s;ary to make our&s;elves wi&s;e above <HI>(i)</HI> what's written as to the manner or condition of Chri&s;t's glorious Body, as in Heaven, no more than to enquire how Chri&s;t appeared in divers manners or forms <HI>(k),</HI> or how he came in among his Di&s;ciples, the Doors being &s;hut <HI>(l)</HI> or how he vani&s;hed out of their Sight, after he was ri&s;en. However, we have cau&s;e to believe his Body, as in Heaven, is changed into a mo&s;t glorious Condition, far tran&s;cending what 'twas in on Earth, otherwi&s;e how &s;hould our Low Body be changed, &s;o as to be made like un|to his Glorious Body <HI>(m);</HI> for when he was on Earth, and attended with Sufferings, he was &s;aid to be like unto us in all Things, Sin only excepted <HI>(n);</HI> which may not be &s;o &s;aid of him as now in a &s;tate of Glory, as he prayed for <HI>(o),</HI> otherwi&s;e where would be the Change both in him and in us?</P>
<P><HI>(f) Luke</HI> 24 26. <HI>(g) P&s;al.</HI> 16.10. <HI>Acts</HI> 2.31. &amp; 13.35, 37. <HI>(h) Phil.</HI> 3.21. <HI>(i)</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.6. <HI>(k) Mark</HI> 16.12. <HI>Jo.</HI> 20.15. <HI>(l) Joh.</HI> 20.19. <HI>Luk.</HI> 24.36, 37. &amp; ch. 24.31. <HI>(m) Phil.</HI> 3.21. <HI>(n) Heb.</HI> 2.17 &amp; 4.15. <HI>(o) Joh.</HI> 17.5.</P>
<P>True and living <HI>Faith</HI> in Chri&s;t Je&s;us the Son of the living God <HI>(p),</HI> has re&s;pect to his entire Being and Fulne&s;s, to him entirely as in him&s;elf, and as all Power in Heaven and Earth is given unto him <HI>(q),</HI> and al&s;o an Eye and Re&s;pect to the &s;ame Son of God <HI>(r)</HI> as <HI>inwardly</HI> making him|&s;elf known <HI>in</HI> the Soul, in every degree of his Light, Life, Spirit, Grace and Truth, and as he is both the <HI>Word of Faith,</HI> and a quickening Spi|rit <HI>in us (s),</HI> whereby he is the immediate Cau&s;e,
<PB N="7" REF="5">Author, Object and Strenth of our living Faith in his Name and Power, and of the Work of our Salvation from Sin, and Bondage of Corruption; and the Son of God cannot be divided from the lea&s;t or lowe&s;t Appearance of his own Divine Light (or Life in us or in Mankind) no more than the Sun from its own Light; nor is the &s;ufficiency of his <HI>Light within</HI> by us &s;et up in op|po&s;ition to him the Man Chri&s;t or his fulne&s;s con|&s;idered as in him&s;elf, or without us; nor can any mea&s;ure or degree of Light, received from Chri&s;t (as &s;uch) be properly called the Fulne&s;s of Chri&s;t, or Chri&s;t as in Fulne&s;s, nor exclude him (&s;o con&s;idered) from being our compleat Sa|viour, for Chri&s;t him&s;elf to be our Light, our Life and Saviour <HI>(t)</HI> is &s;o con&s;i&s;tent that without his Light we could not know Life nor him to &s;ave us from Sin or deliver us from Darkne&s;s, Condemnation or Wrath to come: And where the lea&s;t degree or mea&s;ure of this Light and Life of Chri&s;t <HI>within</HI> is &s;incerely waited in, followed and obeyed; There's a ble&s;&s;ed encrea&s;e of Light and Grace known and felt, as the Path of the Ju&s;t it &s;hines more and more, until the Perfect Day <HI>(u),</HI> and thereby a growing in Grace, and in the knowledg of God, and of our Lord and Sa|viour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, hath been, and is truly ex|perienced. And this Light, Life or Spirit of Chri&s;t within (for they are one Divine Principle) is &s;ufficient to lead into all Truth, having in it the divers Mini&s;trations both of Judgment and Mercy, both of Law and Go&s;pel (even that Go&s;pel which is preacht in every intelligent Crea|ture under Heaven). It does not only, as in its fir&s;t Mini&s;tration manife&s;t Sin, and reprove and condemn for Sin, but al&s;o excites and leads them that believe in it to true Repentance, and there|upon to <HI>receive</HI> that Mercy, Pardon and Redem|ption
<PB N="8" REF="6">in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, which he has obtained for Mankind on tho&s;e Go&s;pel-terms of Faith (in his Name) true Repentance and Conver&s;ion to Chri&s;t thereby required.</P>
<P><HI>(p) Jo.</HI> 14.1. <HI>(q) Matt.</HI> 28.18. ch. 11.27. <HI>John</HI> 17.2. <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.4. ch. 2.8. <HI>(r) John</HI> 14.23. &amp; 17.21, 22, 23, 24, 26. ver. <HI>(s)</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.45. <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.7, 8. <HI>(o) Jo.</HI> 1.4.9. &amp; ch. 3.19, 20. &amp; ch. 12.35, 36, 46. &amp; ch. 8.12. <HI>(u) Prov.</HI> 4.18. <HI>P&s;.</HI> 36.9.</P>
<P>So that the Light and Life of the Son of God <HI>within,</HI> truly obeyed and followed, as being the Principle of the &s;econd or new Covenant, as Chri&s;t the Light is confe&s;&s;ed to be (even as he is the Seed or Word of Faith in <HI>all Men</HI>) this does not leave Men or Women (who believe in the Light) under the fir&s;t Covenant, nor as Sons of the Bond-woman, as the litteral Jews were, when gone from the Spirit of God, and his Chri&s;t in them) but it naturally leads them into the new Covenant, into the new and living way, and to the Adoption of Sons, to be Children and Sons of the Free-woman, of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> from above.</P>
<P>'Tis true, that we ought not to lay a&s;ide, nor any to undervalue (but highly to e&s;teem) true Preaching and the Holy Scriptures, and the &s;in|cere Belief and Faith of Chri&s;t, as he died for our Sins, and ro&s;e again for our Ju&s;tification, together with Chri&s;t's Inward and Spiritual Ap|pearance, and work of Grace in the Soul, living|ly to open the My&s;tery of his Death, and per|fectly to effect both our Reconciliation, Sancti|fication and Ju&s;tification; and where-ever Chri&s;t qualifies and calls any to Preach and Demon&s;trate the My&s;tery of his Coming. Death and Re&s;urre|ction, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> even among the Gentiles Chri&s;t ought accordingly to be both Preached, Believed and Received.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="6">
<P>Yet &s;uppo&s;ing there have been, or are &s;uch Pious and Con&s;ciencious Gentiles, in whom Chri&s;t was and is <HI>as</HI> the Seed or Principle of the Second or new Covenant, the Light, the Word of Faith (as is granted) and that &s;uch live up|rightly and faithfully to that Light they have, or to what is made known of God in them, and who therefore in that State cannot peri&s;h (but &s;hall be &s;aved) as is al&s;o confe&s;&s;ed; and &s;uppo|&s;ing the&s;e have not the outward Advantage of Preaching, Scripture, or thence the Knowledg of Chri&s;t's outward coming, being outwardly cruci|fied and ri&s;en from the Dead, can &s;uch (thus con|&s;idered) be ju&s;tly excluded Chri&s;tianity or the Covenant of Grace (as to the vertue, life and nature thereof) or truly deemed no Chri&s;tians, or void of any Chri&s;tian Faith in the Life and Power of the Son of God within, or be only Sons of the fir&s;t Covenant, and Bond-woman, like the litteral out-&s;ide Jews? Or mu&s;t all be excluded any true Knowledg or Faith of Chri&s;t <HI>within</HI> them, unle&s;s they have the Knowledg of Chri&s;t as <HI>without</HI> them? No &s;ure, for that would imply in&s;ufficiency in Chri&s;t and his Light, <HI>as within</HI> them, and to fru&s;trate God's good End and Promi&s;e of Chri&s;t, and his free and univer&s;al Love and Grace to Mankind, in &s;ending his Son. We charitably believe the contrary, that they mu&s;t have &s;ome true Faith and Intere&s;t in Chri&s;t and his Mediation, becau&s;e of God's free Love in Chri&s;t to all Mankind, and Chri&s;t's dying for all Men <HI>(w),</HI> and being given for a Light <HI>of</HI> the Gentiles, and for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth <HI>(x).</HI> And becau&s;e of their living up &s;in|cerely and faithfully to his Light in them, their being Pious, Con&s;cientious, accepted and &s;aved (as is granted) we cannot rea&s;onably think a &s;in|cere pious or godly Man, wholly void of Chri&s;ti|anity
<PB N="10" REF="7">(of what Nation &s;oever he be) becau&s;e none can come to God or Godline&s;s but by Chri&s;t <HI>(y),</HI> by his Light and Grace in them: Yet grant if there be &s;uch pious &s;incere Men or Women as have not the Scripture or knowledg of Chri&s;t, as outwardly crucified, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> they are not perfect Chri&s;tians in all Perfections, as in all Knowledg and Under&s;tanding, all Points of Doctrin, out|ward Profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t; &s;o that they are bet|ter than they profe&s;s or pretend to be, they are more Jews inward, and Chri&s;tians inward than in outward Shew or Profe&s;&s;ion. There are Chri|&s;tians &s;incere and perfect in Kind or Nature, in Life and Sub&s;tance, though not in Knowledg and Under&s;tanding. A Man or Woman having the Life and Fruits of true Chri&s;tianity, the Fruits of the Spirit of Chri&s;t in them that can talk lit|tle thereof, or of Creeds, Points or Articles of Faith (yea many that cannot read Letters) yet may be true Chri&s;tians in Spirit and Life; and &s;ome could die for Chri&s;t that could not di&s;pute for him; and even Infants that die in Innocency are not excluded the Grace of God or Salvation in and by Chri&s;t Je&s;us, the Image and Nature of the Son of God being in &s;ome Mea&s;ure in them, and they under God's Care and &s;pecial Provi|dence. See <HI>Matt.</HI> 18.2.10.</P>
<P><HI>(w)</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.14, 15. <HI>(x) I&s;a.</HI> 49.6. <HI>Luke</HI> 2.32. <HI>Acts</HI> 13.47. <HI>(y) Joh.</HI> 14.6.</P>
<P>And though we had the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Te&s;tament, and a Belief of Chri&s;t crucified and ri&s;en, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> we never truly knew the My&s;tery thereof, until we were turned to the Light of his Grace and Spirit within us, we knew not what it was to be reconciled by his Death, and &s;aved by his Life, or what 'twas to know the Fello&s;hip of his Sufferings, the Power of his Re&s;urrection, or to be made conformable unto
<PB N="11" REF="7">his Death, we knew not, until he opened our Eyes and turned our Minds from Darkne&s;s unto his own Divine Light and Life within us.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding, we do &s;o &s;incerely and greatly e&s;teem and value the Holy Scriptures, preach|ing and teaching of Faithful, divinely In&s;pired, Gifted and Qualified Per&s;ons and Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as being great outward Helps, and in&s;trumental in his Hand, and by his Spirit for Conver&s;ion, where God is plea&s;ed to afford tho&s;e outward Helps and Means, as that we neither do nor may oppo&s;e the &s;ufficiency of the Light or Spirit of Chri&s;t within to &s;uch outward Helps or Means &s;o as to reject, di&s;e&s;teem, or underva|lue them, for they all proceed from the &s;ame Light and Spirit, and tend to turn Men's Minds thereunto, and all center therein.</P>
<P>Nor can the Holy Scriptures or true Preach|ing without be ju&s;tly &s;et in oppo&s;ition to the Light or Spirit of God or Chri&s;t within, for his faithful Me&s;&s;engers, are Mini&s;ters thereof, being &s;ent to turn People to the &s;ame Light and Spirit in them. <HI>Acts</HI> 26.18. <HI>Rom.</HI> 13.2. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.6. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.9. 1 <HI>Jo.</HI> 2.8.</P>
<P>'Tis certain, That great is the My&s;tery of God|line&s;s in it&s;elf, in its own Being and Excellency, namely that God &s;hould be, and was manife&s;t in the Fle&s;h, ju&s;tified in the Spirit, &s;een of Angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the World and <HI>received</HI> up into Glory.</P>
<P>&rindx; And 'tis a great and precious My&s;tery of God|line&s;s and Chri&s;tianity al&s;o that Chri&s;t &s;hould be &s;piritually and effectually in men's Hearts, to &s;ave and deliver them from Sin, Satan and Bondage of Corruption, Chri&s;t being thus revealed in true Believers, and dwelling in their Hearts by Faith, Chri&s;t within the Hope of Glory, our Light and Life, who of God is made unto us Wi&s;dom, Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s,
<PB N="12" REF="8">Sanctification and Redemption, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.30. And therefore this My&s;tery of Godline&s;s, both as in its own Being and Glory, and al&s;o <HI>as</HI> in Men (in many hid and in &s;ome revealed) hath been and mu&s;t be Te&s;tified, Preached and Believ|ed, where God is plea&s;ed to give Commi&s;&s;ion (and prepare People's Hearts for the &s;ame) and not in Man's Will.</P>
<P><HI REND="margSglQuotes">Concerning the <HI>Re&s;urrection of the Dead, and the great Day of Judgment,</HI> yet to come, beyond the Grave or after Death, and Chri&s;t's coming <HI>without us,</HI> to Judg the Quick and the Dead</HI> (as divers Que&s;tions are put in &s;uch Terms.) What the Holy Scriptures plainly declare and te&s;tifie in the&s;e Matters we have great rea&s;on to credit and not to que&s;tion, and have been always rea|dy to imbrace, with re&s;pect to Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tle's own Te&s;timony and Prophecies.</P>
<P N="1">1. For the Doctrin <HI>of the Re&s;urrection;</HI> If in this Life only we have Hope in Chri&s;t, we are of all Men mo&s;t mi&s;erable, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.19. We &s;incerely believe, not only a Re&s;urrection in Chri&s;t from the fallen &s;inful State here, but a Ri&s;ing and A&s;cending into Glory with him hereafter, that when he at la&s;t appears we may appear with him in Glory, <HI>Col.</HI> 3.4. 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.2.</P>
<P>But that all the Wicked, who live in Rebellion again&s;t the Light of Grace, and die finally impe|nitent, &s;hall come forth to the Re&s;urrection of Condemnation.</P>
<P>And that the Soul or Spirit of every Man and Woman &s;hall be re&s;erved in its own di&s;tinct and proper Being, (&s;o as there &s;hall be as many Souls in the World to come as in this) and every Seed (vea every Soul) &s;hall have its proper Body, as God is plea&s;ed to give it, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. A Natural Body is &s;own, a Spiritual Body is rai&s;ed; that being fir&s;t which is Natural and afterward that
<PB N="13" REF="8">which is &s;piritual. And tho' 'tis &s;aid this cor|ruptible <HI>&s;hall</HI> put on incorruption, and this mor|tal &s;hall put on Immortality; the change &s;hall be &s;uch as Fle&s;h and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, neither doth Corruption in|herit Incorruption, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. <HI>Ch.</HI> We &s;hall be rai&s;ed out of all Corruption and Corruptibi|lity, out of all Mortality; and the Children of God and of the Re&s;urrection &s;hall be Equal to the Angels of God in Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>(z) Mat.</HI> 22.30. <HI>Mark.</HI> 12.25. <HI>Luk.</HI> 20.36.</P>
<P>And as the Coele&s;tial Bodies do far excel Ter|re&s;trial; &s;o we expect our Spiritual Bodies in the Re&s;urrection &s;hall far excel what our Bodies now are: and we hope none can ju&s;tly blame us for thus expecting better Bodies than now they are. Howbeit we e&s;teem it very unnece&s;&s;ary to di&s;pute or que&s;tion how the Dead are rai&s;ed, or with what Body they come? But rather &s;ub|mit that to the wi&s;dom and plea&s;ure of <HI>Almighty God.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2ly. For the Doctrin of <HI>Eternal Judgment.</HI></P>
<P>God hath committed all Judgment unto his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t and he is both Judge of quick and Dead, and of the &s;tates and ends of all Mankind, <HI>Jo.</HI> 5.22.27. <HI>Act.</HI> 10.42. 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.1. 1 <HI>Pe&s;.</HI> 4.5.</P>
<P>That there &s;hall be hereafter a <HI>great Harve&s;t.</HI> Which is the End of the World, a great day of Judgment, and the Judgment of that great day the Holy Scripture is clear, <HI>(a) Mat.</HI> 13.39, 40, 41, <HI>Ch.</HI> 10.15. and 11.24. <HI>Jude</HI> 6. When the Son of Man cometh in his Glory and all the Holy Angels with him; then &s;hall he &s;it upon the Throne of his Glory and before him &s;hall be gathered all Nations, <HI>&amp;c. Mat.</HI> 25.31, 32. to the end, compared with <HI>Chap.</HI> 22.31.
<PB N="14" REF="9"><HI>Mark</HI> 8.38. <HI>Luk.</HI> 9.26. and 1 <HI>Cor</HI> 15.52. 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 1.7, 8. to the end, and 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.16. <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.12, 13, 14, 15.</P>
<P>That this Ble&s;&s;ed Heavenly Man this Son of Man who hath &s;o deeply &s;uffered and endured &s;o many great Indignities and per&s;ecutions from his Adver&s;aries (both to him&s;elf and his Mem|bers and Brethren) &s;hould at la&s;t even in the la&s;t and great day &s;ignally and manife&s;tly appear in Glory and Triumph; attended with all his glorious Heavenly Ho&s;t, and Retinue, before all Nations, before all his Enemies, and tho&s;e that have denied him, this will be to their great terror and amazement; that this mo&s;t glorious Heavenly Man and his Brethren that have bin &s;o much contemned and &s;et at nought, &s;hould be thus exalted over their Enemies and per&s;e|cutors in glory and Triumph is a righteous thing with God; and that they that &s;uffer with him &s;hould appear with him in glory and dignity when he thus appears at la&s;t. Chri&s;t was Judg of the World and the Prince thereof when on Earth, <HI>Joh.</HI> 9.39. and 12.31. He is &s;till Judg of the World, the wickedne&s;s and Prince thereof by his Light, Spirit and Go&s;pel in Mens Hearts and Con&s;ciences, <HI>Joh.</HI> 16.8, 11. <HI>Matt.</HI> 12.18, 20. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 42.1. <HI>Rom.</HI> 2.16. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 4.6. And he will be the Judg and final determiner thereof in that great Day appoint|ed; God having appointed a Day wherein he will Judg the World in Righteou&s;ne&s;s by that Man whom he hath ordained. Chri&s;t foretold, it &s;hall be more tollerable for them of the Land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment, than for that City or People that would not receive his Me&s;&s;engers or Mini&s;ters, <HI>&amp;c. Matth.</HI> 10.15. and &s;ee <HI>Chap.</HI> 11.24. and <HI>Mark</HI> 6.11. <HI>Luk.</HI> 10.12, 14. 'Tis certain that God
<PB N="15" REF="9">knows how to deliver the Godly out of all their Trials and Afflictions, and at la&s;t to bring them forth and rai&s;e them up into Glory with Chri&s;t; &s;o he knoweth al&s;o how to re&s;erve the unju&s;t and finally Impenitent unto the Day of Judgment to be puni&s;hed, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.9. He will bring them forth unto the Day of De&s;truction, <HI>Job</HI> 21.30. The Lord can and will re&s;erve &s;uch Impenitent pre&s;umptuous and Rebellious Criminals as bound under Chains of Darkne&s;s (as were the &s;allen Angels) unto the Judgment of the great day, <HI>Jude</HI> 6. <HI>Mat.</HI> 25.30. 'Tis not for us to determin or di&s;pute the manner how they &s;hall be &s;o re&s;erved; but leave it to God, he knows how.</P>
<P>Touching the Opinion of the Revolution or Tran&s;migration of <HI>Humane Souls,</HI> or their pa&s;|&s;ing out of one Body into another, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as 'tis deem'd originally to have &s;prung from the Hea|then and receiv'd among <HI>Jews</HI> and &s;ome others by Tradition, and &s;aid to be the Opinion of our <HI>Empedocles, Pythagoras</HI> and <HI>Egyptians,</HI> and partly of <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate when he dreamed that the Soul of <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great was crept into his Carca&s;s, or rather that he was <HI>Alexan|der</HI> him&s;elf in another Body. And thereupon Rejecting the &s;uit of the Per&s;ians for peace; pre&s;umtuou&s;ly Proceeded in the War and to Blood&s;hed again&s;t them, until at unawares he got his Deaths wound; according as is more fully related in Hi&s;tory; particularly <HI>Socrates</HI>'s <HI>Schola&s;ticus, Lib.</HI> 1. <HI>Ch.</HI> 17. and <HI>lib.</HI> 3. <HI>Ch.</HI> 18. <HI>Eccle&s;. Chron.</HI> fo. 577. See al&s;o Dr. <HI>Hammond's</HI> Annotations on <HI>Joh.</HI> 9.1, 2, 3. We are not concern'd in any &s;uch notion, but (as a People) wholly clear of it. We deem it neither nece&s;|&s;ary to Faith nor &s;afe to receive or defend, as either held by tho&s;e Heathen <HI>Egyptians</HI> or <HI>Jews</HI>
<PB N="16" REF="10">afore&s;aid, nor as 'tis in&s;inuated in a Late Pam|phlet of 200 queries Concerning the Doctrin of the <HI>Revolution of Humane Souls,</HI> Suppo&s;ing <HI>twelve Revolutions or twelve di&s;tinct Intervals of Life to every Man, as being twelve &s;everal times born into the World for each one to live</HI> (or con|&s;ummate) <HI>the &s;pace of</HI> 1000 <HI>years on Earth.</HI> Though this opinion of &s;uch Revolution appears not to be a point in pre&s;ent Controver&s;y in the Book afore&s;aid (or in <HI>Pen&s;ilvania</HI>) nor maintain|ed as any Divine opening, Revelation or ne|ce&s;&s;ary Article of Faith, but rather Evaded from being publickly controverted, yet in as much as there appears &s;ome Ground of &s;u&s;picion in the Ca&s;e, and as it &s;eems to be favoured im|plicitely by &s;ome: Therefore that we as a Peo|ple may not be &s;u&s;pected about it, we &s;in|cerely declare our Clearne&s;s from the &s;aid opini|on, as really e&s;teeming it not &s;afe to propagate or maintain, or trouble Peoples Heads or Minds with it, but all to improve their pre&s;ent time and mercies; and we are the le&s;s concerned about the afore&s;aid Queries and Doctrin, becau&s;e we find not any known per&s;on or per&s;ons of credible Au|thority that will adventure to a&s;&s;ert that opinion, either as divinely Revealed or opened, or as nece&s;|&s;ary to be believed or received as an Article of Faith, or that will undertake to demon&s;trate how many times or Intervals of life they them&s;elves have liv'd on Earth, and what tran&s;actions or remarkable pa&s;&s;ages (or things good or bad,) they have done or pa&s;&s;ed thorough in tho&s;e their &s;up|po&s;ed pa&s;t Intervals of Life.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="conclusion">
<PB N="17" REF="10">
<HEAD>The CONCLUSION.</HEAD>
<P>TO conclude; as we are per&s;waded want of walking in the true Light, and want of Chri&s;tian Charity is the great cau&s;e of Divi&s;i|ons, in profe&s;t Chri&s;tian Societies of all &s;orts, and of this difference among a few per&s;ons in <HI>America</HI> profe&s;&s;ing the &s;ame Light and Truth with us: We are a&s;hamed of (and &s;urpri&s;ed at) the bitter language and &s;evere Con&s;equences and Treatment in &s;ome of the Printed Books from one party, and expo&s;ing the weakne&s;&s;es and un|warrantable expre&s;&s;ions of &s;ome of the other to the open Enemies of both, and of Religion it &s;elf; all which (as al&s;o to make any publick Rent in a Religious &s;ociety on per&s;onal offences or Private Occa&s;ions) are greatly unbecoming our Chri&s;tian Profe&s;&s;ion, Charity, or Society. And we pray God rebuke and &s;top this trouble|&s;ome Spirit of Enmity, and Divi&s;ion whereever it is; for it makes great Di&s;turbance and Trouble in the Creation, and where it enters in Church or State, yet it's ill work, is no new thing: 'twas the &s;ame Spirit that infe&s;ted and troubled the Primitive Chri&s;tian Churches, cau&s;ing Divi&s;ions and Offences contrary to the Go&s;pel of Peace, at fir&s;t receiv'd, and whereby parties and Schi&s;ms were made; and one to &s;ay I am of <HI>Paul,</HI> another of <HI>Apollo,</HI> another of <HI>Cephas</HI> which Carnality, the Apo&s;tle reproved, as knowing and te&s;tify|ing that Chri&s;t (whom they all profe&s;t) is not divided; and if Chri&s;tian Tenderne&s;s and Cha|rity might Influence all parties, we &s;ee no real cau&s;e for the&s;e few per&s;ons afore&s;aid to divide or &s;eparate outwardly, e&s;pecially about Doctrin, &s;eeing both profe&s;s one Light, one Spirit one
<PB N="18" REF="11">God, and one Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and Faith in him, and &s;incerely to believe the holy Scriptures, and (even the per&s;on charging <HI REND="margDblQuotes">the other in Print) to <Q>own the Body of the People called Quakers, and &s;eems to approve of our an|tient faithful and generally approved Friends, Writers or Publi&s;hers of our Doctrins and Principles, and Preachers among us generally owned and approved by us, as Men of &s;ound Judgment and under&s;tanding, and as owning the fundamental Articles of the Chri&s;tian and Prote&s;tant Faith.</Q> Thus far the Per&s;on charging, in his &s;erious Appeal, p. 6. As al&s;o the &s;ame per&s;on further openly &s;ignified at the other Friends meeting, that <Q>he (and his Friends) had unity with the mo&s;t there as to <HI>the main.</HI> As al&s;o withall faithful Friends every where, excepting only &s;ome in their meeting that were un&s;ound,</Q> &amp;c. Rea&s;on &amp; Cau&s;es, p.</HI> 26. and therefore if mo&s;t on both &s;ides have Unity as to the Main, we may cha|ritably &s;uppo&s;e they do not differ <HI>in the Main</HI> or &s;ub&s;tance of Chri&s;tian Faith or Doctrin before cited (and &s;incerely owned and confe&s;&s;ed by us) if tenderly and duly con&s;idered by both &s;ides, as Men &s;eeking Peace, Love and Concor'd. Wherefore the difference was very indi&s;creetly managed, aggravated, and expo&s;ed to &s;eparation, Printing, and Reproach, &s;eeing 'twas not <HI>in the Main</HI>&mdash;We wholly di&s;like of &s;uch rend|ing and tearing, &s;uch dividing and aggravating proceedings and bitter Treatment, and have no Unity therewith&mdash;But de&s;ire the Lord in Mercy to Repair Breaches, and heal Back&s;lidings among them, and all e&s;teemed Chri&s;tian Profe&s;&s;ions and Societies, and incline all to <HI>the Main,</HI> to the True Light, to the &s;ub&s;tance and Life of Chri|&s;tianity, to true Love, fervent Charity and
<PB N="19" REF="11">Tender-heartedne&s;s and Forgivene&s;s towards one another, and to follow Peace with all Men, and Holine&s;s, without which no Man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="postscript">
<HEAD>A POSTSCRIPT relating to the Doctrin of the Re&s;urrection and Eternal Judgment.</HEAD>
<P>AT the la&s;t trump of God, and Voice of the Archangel, the Dead &s;hall be rai&s;ed Incorruptible, the Dead in Chri&s;t &s;hall ri&s;e fir&s;t, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.52. 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.16. compared with <HI>Mat.</HI> 24.31.</P>
<P>Many are often alarum'd, in Con&s;cience here by the Word and Voice of God, who &s;top their Pars, and &s;light tho&s;e Warnings; but the great and final Alarum of the laft Trumpet, they cannot &s;top their Ears again&s;t nor e&s;cape, it will unavoidably &s;eize upon, and further awaken them finally to Judgment. They that will not be alarum'd in their Con|&s;ciences unto Repentance, nor out of their Sins here, mu&s;t certainly be alarum'd to Judg|ment hereafter.</P>
<P>Who&s;oever do now wilfully &s;hut their Eyes, hate, contem or &s;hun the Light of Chri&s;t, or his Ap|pearance within, &s;hall, at la&s;t, be made to &s;ee, and not be able to &s;hun or hide them&s;elves from his glorious and dreadful. Appearance from Heaven with his mighty Angels, as with Lightning and in flaming Fire, to render Ven|geance on all them that know not God, and
<PB N="20" REF="12">obey not the Go&s;pel of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 7.8. <HI>Mat.</HI> 24.27. <HI>Luk.</HI> 17.24. <HI>Dan.</HI> 10.6. <HI>Job</HI> 37.3.</P>
<P>And though many now evade and reject the Inward Convictions and Judgment of the Light, and &s;hut up the Records or Books thereof in their own Con&s;ciences, they &s;hall all be at la&s;t opened and every one judged of the&s;e things, recorded therein, according to their Works, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.12, 13, 14, 15.</P>
<P>Signed in behalf of our Chri&s;tian Profe&s;&s;ion and People afore&s;aid,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><LIST>
<ITEM><HI>George Whitehead,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Ambro&s;e Rigg,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>William Fallowfield</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>James Parke,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Charles Mar&s;hall,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>John Bowater,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>John Vaughton,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>William Bingley.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
