if

For you do but imitate other Men's Commiffion and Practice, fo that you are traditional People, as all other Churches are; for you do not meet contrary to the Law, you need not fuffer the Lofs of a Groat for your Faith, nor your Chrift within you; for the Powers of the Nation are of your Mind as to your Doctrine; the Pope will agree with you as to that, but all the Strife amongst you is about Difcipline, this I am very fenfible-of.

Therefore I never rejoiced, nor defired the Sufferings of the Quakers for their Meetings, though I knew they fuffered for a Lie, yet I always pitied them when they were imprisoned and banished for meeting, though I know they rejoiced at my Imprisonment, and were forry there was not worfe Punishment inflicted upon me; the Truth of this is clear by the Writings of Richard Farnefworth and George Fox, and other Quakers that I know, who juftified the Magiftrates in what they did unto me, and thinks the Magiftrates might have punished me worfe if they would; but I know they would not have spared me fo much as they do the Quaker, had they had the Law on their Side as they have against the Quakers. But no more of that here.

7. Fox calls me a lying Spirit, because I fay it doth not belong to Chrift, now being in Heaven, to interpret Scripture; yet, faith Fox, doth not the Scripture fay all fhall be taught of God? And that he opens, and no Man fouts? And doth not John Jay, No Man was found worthy to open the Book but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah? And was not Chrift anointed to preach?

How it doth belong unto mortal Men, that are chofen of God, to interpret Scripture, and not unto Chrift himself.

Anf.

WHERE the Reader may fee the Ignorance of Fox the Quaker, and all the rest of them, of the true Meaning of the Scriptures; alfo I fhall make it appear to those that have any true Light in them, that the Interpretation of Scripture doth not belong unto Chrift now, nor never did, but it

belongs

belongs only unto fuch Men as he fends, and hath given them the Gift, as thus.

First, Mofes was a Man, and did not he interpret unto his Brethren, the Ifraelites in Egypt, the Sayings of God unto him concerning their Deliverance out of that Bondage? Did not Mofes and Aaron interpret, and fhew Signs and Wonders in Egypt, of thofe Things God had revealed and made known unto them? Was not thefe Men that did this?

2. Was not Jofeph a Man, that did interpret his own Dreams, and the Dreams of Pharaoh's Butler and Baker, and Pharaoh's own Dream? Will you, Fox, fay it was God that did interpret Pharaoh's Dream? Was it not Joseph, a Man like himself, therefore promoted to great Honour.

3. Was not Daniel à Man, that did interpret the King of Babylon's Dreams? Did God interpret the King's Dreams, or Daniel, that was a Man? Did not thofe Kings of Babylon promote Daniel to Honour, in that the Spirit of the Holy Ghost had given a Man fuch Wisdom and Understanding to interpret Dreams, Visions, and hard Sentences? All this was done by a mortal Man, and not by God himself.

4. Was not the Prophets mortal Men, and not God? Yet they did interpret to the Kings of Ifrael and Judab, the Council of the God of Ifrael what he would do if they would not forfake their Idolatry, and turn unto the Worship of the Law of Mofes, he would make them defolate? Yet thefe Prophets were but Men, and not God. Though Eliab did call for Fire from Heaven, and destroyed two Captains and their Fifties, and Fire to burn up the Sacrifice in the Sight of the People, and destroyed four hundred of Baal's Priefts, and fhut the Heavens that it rained not, yet he was but a Man; it was not God himself that the King would, or did seek after to kill him, it was a Man like himself.

Alfo Jeremiah, when he unfolded and interpreted the Council of God, that other Prophets had foretold of, concerning the Destruction of Jerufalem to Zedekiab, Was it God himself that did interpret it to the King, or was it Jeremiah, a mortal man, or no?

So all the Prophets little or much, gave Interpretations of the Council of God concerning Jerufalem, they were all but Men. And were not the People of the Jews bound to believe those Men whom God fent, except God would come himself?

M 2

Why

Why then doth the Prophet Ifaiab fay, Who hath believed our Report? Or to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed? His Meaning is this, whofoever doth believe we that are Prophets fent of God: Believe but our Report, and you shall know the true God, the God of Ifrael, and the Strength of his Arm, to fave and deliver you from your Sins: But except ye believe our Report, who are Men like yourselves, the Arm of God's faving Health will never be revealed unto you, for God will not do it by himself, but by us his Meffengers, who are Men, will his Arm of Salvation be revealed unto, if you believe our Report.

5. Was not Philip a Man that did interpret that Saying in Ifaiab the Prophet, which the Eunuch read, As viii. 32. He was led as a Sheep to the Slaughter, and like a Lamb dumb before the Shearer, fo opened be not bis Mouth. Here Philip ran to the Chariot, and asked the Eunuch, Undertandeft thou what thou readeft? As Verse 30. Mark. Said the Eunuch, How can I, except fome Man guide me? Here you may fee that the Eunuch did not expect that God himself should interpret Scripture unto him: But, faith he, how fhall I know the Interpretation of Scripture, except fome Man guide me? That is, except fome Man interpret it to me, as the Words doth imply for Philip opened thofe Sayings unto him, which made the Eunuch to understand, and believe, and be baptized.

Now will you Fox fay that Chrift himself did interpret this Scripture to the Eunuch, or did it belong to a mortal Man? I think you will not be fo grofly ignorant, to say that Chrift himself went into the Eunuch's Chariot, and interpreted thofe Scriptures to him; furely if the Interpretation of Scripture had belonged only unto Chrift, and not unto Man, as Fox doth affert, then Chrift must have come from Heaven, and have went into the Chariot in Philip's ftead, because Philip was a Man, and Interpretation of Scripture doth not belong to Man, as Fox the Quaker faith.

May not any Man that hath but the Light of Senfe and Reafon in his Understanding, fee the grofs Darkness of thefe Quakers, which pretends to be in the clearest Light of all the feven Churches, but, to my Knowledge, the darkest of all, in Point of Doctrine.

And

And as for that Saying of Scripture, We shall be all taught of God, it is not meant that God will teach every particular Man and Woman himself. Do you Fox believe fo? Why then do you prattle to the People when you meet, as if you would interpret the Meaning of Scripture, and teach the People the Knowledge of Chrift; for you are but a Man? Why do not you let Chrift teach the People himself, feeing you will have all taught of God, and allow no Man to interpret Scripture, nor teach the People? For if you fay Chrift doth interpret Scripture, and not Muggleton, becaule Muggleton is a Man, and the Interpretation of Scripture you fay belongs to Chrift, and not to Muggleton, for Muggleton is but a Man; fo Quakers are all taught of God, and not by Man.

I marvel why there is fo many Men-teachers amongst the Quakers, feeing teaching Knowledge of heavenly Things, and the Interpretation of Scripture, belongeth to God and Chrift, and not to Man! If I were of your Faith, I would give over teaching and talking of the Scriptures, and leave it to God and Chrift, to whom it doth belong, and it would be well for you Speakers of the Quakers, if you had done fo before you took upon you to preach Chrift within you; you have undertook to teach that which you fay God will do, and to interpret Scripture, which you fay doth belong unto Chrift.

But I fee all thofe People that will be taught of God, and have the Scriptures interpreted unto them by Chrift himself, and will not receive the Interpretation from Man, I say those People are more ignorant and dark in their Minds, than those that are taught by Man.

And I am fure the Quaker's People would have known more Truth if they had been taught by Man that hath a Commiffion from God, as Reeve and Muggleton hath, than they do by all that God ever taught them in their Lives.

And the Interpretation of Scripture we have given, if understood, would have informed their Judgments more than all the Interpretation of Scripture that Chrift ever did interpret unto the Quakers People fince the Name of Quakers was put upon them; yet we are but mortal men, and muft die.

But to clear the Scruple that may arife in Mens Minds, because I speak thus, I fhall fhew in a few Words how Men may

be

be faid to be taught of God, and how the Interpretation of Scripture may be faid to belong unto Christ.

First, When God chufeth any one Man, or more, to be his chofen Prophet, Meffenger, or Minifter, God doth furnish fuch with Wisdom and Underftanding, and Revelation, to declare the mind of God to the People, what God would have the People do ; and look how many People, or whoever doth believe this Meffenger fent of God, they may be said to be taught of God, and are taught of God.

So likewife he that hath the Gift of Interpretation of Scripture, as Prophets, Apoftles, and we the Witneffes of the Spirit hath, our Interpretation of Scripture may be faid to belong unto Chrift, and that it is the true Interpretation of Chrift himself, because we had our Commiffion from him to teach the People, and to interpret Scripture to as many as believe us, to their great Peace and Satisfaction of their Souls: And in this fenfe People may truly fay they are all taught of God, and that Chrift hath given the true Interpretation of Scripture by his Servants the Prophets, Apoftles, and Witneffes of the Spirit, to our everlasting Peace and Comfort, yet all this is declared by Men, yea, by mortal Men, and not by Christ himself, as the Quakers do vainly imagine.

6. Alfo Fox faith, Christ opens, and no Man fhuts: And faith, Doth not John Jay, No Man was found worthy to open the Book, but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah? And faith, Was not Chrift anointed to preach?

How every true Prophet and Minifter of Chrift bath Power to open the Book of Confcience.

HIS beareth the fame Sense as the other, whatso

Ans. The

ever the Prophets, and Apoftles, and Witnesses of the Spirit doth, it may be faid Chrift doth it, as the Prophets they preached of Balm in Gilead, and of Eye-falve to anoint the Peoples Eyes, that they might fee what did belong to their Peace, and where they might have Salve to heal

the