B. This is exceeding clear; I pray you therefore pafs on to other Things. lation can A. You take no Notice of one Perfection, No Revethat we as neceffarily conceive in GOD; Í be Divine mean his Truth. No Revelation is to bear Con-that cleartradiction to this, any more than to his other ly contraAttributes. dias infelf. B. Pray, fhew me, how a Revelation would bear Contradiction to this Attribute. A. Very plainly; if GOD at the fame time fhould infpire two Perfons with different Revelations, or Doctrines, different Schemes of Worship and Religion, different Duties, and Rules of Living. B. What! The Holy Spirit inspire Men with different and contrary Doctrines at the fame time? This cannot be. A. Because this cannot be, befure GOD never does it. Both these Perfons may be Impoftors, but one of them muft needs be fo. B. How abfurd and nonfenfical are the Quakers in this Cafe! Their Prophets evidently, grofsly contradict each other; and yet as far as I can conceive, Friends, by their way of Talking, feem to take them to be all Infpired. In this Cafe, as the Primitive Church heretofore, they should furely declare which are the true Apoftles, the true enlightned and inspired Men amongst them; feeing, because of the difference of Doctrine, they cannot all be truely inspired by the fame Spirit. And yet, as far as ever I could hear, they never undertook to declare this, which of their Authors they efteem Canonical, and which depart from their Rule of Faith. For if they have any Truth and Infpiration among them, in this Difference of Sentiments and Doctrines, fome muft deliver it, and fome not; and who are those that deliver the Truth? From From whence are we truly to learn their Opinions? They have not yet told us, but James' Nayler, George Fox, William Whitehead, William Penn, all are truly infpired, who do not agree in Sentiment amongst themselves; neither at this Day do many of the Quakers agree with them: Which fhews demonftratively clear their Pretenfions to Infpiration, ridiculous; for either their first Founders were in the wrong, or downright Impoftors, in introducing their Religion and Separation from other Chriftian Churches, upon the foot of Divine and Extraordinary Inspiration; and the Quakers of the prefent Age, muft thus efteem of them, in their departing from their Doctrines, (for furely, while they look upon their Founders Infpired, they cannot believe it Lawful for themselves to reject their Doctrines; and if they fay, they were mistaken in fome Things, and inspired in others, and they forfake them only where they are mistaken; they might as eafily imagine, were they mistaken in fome Things, in which they pretended Infpiration, they might be mistaken in all, and confequently Inspired in nothing, and the whole Pretence as to Infpiration to be falfe) or else they must conclude themfelves Apoftates; because this is the greatest Apoftacy, to forfake the true Doctrines deliver'd through Inspiration; and which way they can fairly unwind themselves from this Charge, I cannot conceive. A. It is more useful to them as it now ftands for no body knowing where, or what their Opinions are, they are fecurer from all Attack: And they are at liberty to own, or difown, as they think fit. This faves a world of Labour, and Books may be anfwer'd in a few words, that aim to difplay the Abfurdity of their Opinions, where where the Abfurdities appear too grofs, by denying they hold any fuch Opinions. And this is more advantageous likewife to the common Sort, that know not what Opinions or Doctrines they hold; all that they know being a few peculiar Expreffions about the Light, (which is the conftant Subject of their Preaching, and which they know nothing of neither) and more efpecially the outward Modes of Drefs, Carriage and Deportment, by which the Party is diftinguish'd from others. What they know befides this, is generally nothing, or little or nothing different from what other Chriftians hold; and there are many Quakers diftinguifh'd from other Profeffors, more by outward Drefs, Cartiage and Language, than by real Opinions; which makes all thofe Anfwers, which are round and pofitive Denyals of the Opinions, charged against them, look fo Gracious and Popular; and all fuch as charge them as moft Wicked and Odious Calumniators, as meer Priests (for they are generally fuch too, as do it, and it adds not a little to their Prejudices against them) that fix on them moft Impious and Blafphemous Opinions, and instead of Confuting their Religion, moft horridly abufe and bely them. And how can it be otherwife, when thefe Poor and Innocent Men (for fuch furely many of them are) well know they entertain no fuch Doctrines themfelves, and their Leaders tell them others do not? But poffibly of this more hereafter. We were difcourfing of a Contradiction of Opinions and Doctrines deliver'd under the Pretence of Inspiration. And in this Cafe we fuppose Men will not do, as the forementioned People do ; never examin this Pretence, but confider and compare thofe Doctrines and Opini ons ons together. Where there is a Competition between Perfons profeffing Infpiration; and there is a plain and an evident neceffity of admitting one of them Infpired; what must be done, or by what muft we diftinguish the True Apoftle from the Impoftor?Muft we not observe which of them has the cleareft Title to it, brings the beft Proofs of his Inspiration? B. Pray was this ever a real Cafe, or only fpeak you by way of Suppofition? A. How read you the new Teftament,to doubt whether this was ever 'a Real Cafe? You find there it was the very Cafe of the Apostles; Men fprang up in their time, that through the Pretence of Infpiration introduced new Doctrines, different, and fometimes contrary to what they Taught; to the great Disturbance of the Church. B. This was high Impudence indeed; but pray what faid the Apostles? A. Among Men profeffing the Gofpel, it could not reasonably be matter of Queftion, Whether the immediate Apostles and Difciples of Our Saviour, were not Divinely Infpired? Whether the whole Truth and Purposes of this Revelation were not communicated to them, because they had many Advantages above any others; they were Our Saviour's Companions here on Earth, chofen by him to be the first Teachers and Publishers of his Doctrine; and likewife to the People, they firft Convers'd with, and Preach'd to; they gave the moft clear and undeniable Teftimony of their Divine Miffion by Miracles, upon all thefe Inducements, who fhould the People stick to but them? B. True. 4. And ( 4. And therefore this always the Apoftles maintain'd, to preferve their Converts from the Corruptions and Innovations of Seducers; Taught them conftantly to make this a Teft of trying all Doctrines and Pretences to Infpiration by, as they agreed to theirs. Thus the Apoftle St. Paul, If any Man think himself to be a Prophet, or Spiritual, let him acknowledge the things that I write unto you, to be the Commandments of the Lord. From whence you may take Notice: First, That a Man may really fancy himself a Prophet, or very Spiritual, when there is no fuch Matter.And this may juftify us, in alledging those outward Signs and Marks of Infpiration, which may be thought more proper to convince others of it, than ones felf; for the Apoftle here advifes, before a Man be over Confident and Peremptory, as to his being Infpired, he fhould look to preceding Revelations to Authorities more certain and unqueftionable than his own: And if this, viz. the comparing the ::Contents of ones Infpiration or Revelation, with others more certain, be a good Method of confirming or undeceiving him touching his Infpiration; for the fame Reafon a Man may look to other outward Proofs of his Inspiration as well as this. و B. It feems to me from this, as if the greateft ground of a Man's believing himself falfely to be Infpired, were, for want of looking to thefe outward Proofs, the only Means according to the Apostle of undeceiving him. A. Seeing a Man may run away with a Conceit of being Infpired, or a true Prophet, when there is nothing in it; and then the best Means of detecting his own Delufions, would be to ex |