I now proceed to perform what has been promised by most Undeniable Proof.

First,

REeves and Muggleton declare as a great Secret to the World, That God is not an Infinite Spirit in eve­ry Place at all Times (contrary to the Scriptures, which say, He measures out the Heavens with his Span, nor can the Heaven of Heavens contain him) but against men and Angels, and by Authority from the holy Spirit (to use their own words) God is but in the shape of a man; and that man, in respect of his Body, is the Image of God. Trans. Spirit. Treat. p. 15. Deu. Look. Glass p. 3, 4.

That this is against Scripture we prove.

First, There is none like to the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the Heaven in thy Help, and in his Excellency on the Sky: The E­ternal God is thy Refuge, and underneath are the Everlasting Arms, Deut. 33.26, 27.

If the God of Jeshurun be the true God, and none be like to him, then cannot mans bodily shape be the Likeness of the true God; con­sequently, if Muggleton's God [...] be in the likeness of mans bo­dily shape, he is not the True God, because he is not that God of Jeshurun, which none is like unto.

[Page 7]Again, If the Almighty God were but of the dimention of a middle statured man, how could he be said to ride upon the Hea­vens and the Sky; and to have his Everlasting Arms under a People, many of whom being singly bigger then himself; for by Muggleton's Principles, We are still to keep to the Litteral sence.

Secondly, But will God indeed dwell on the Earth? behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him, 1 Kings 8.27. 2 Chron. 2.6. chap. 6.18.

If the Earth, on which dwells so many Millions of Men, be not able to receive God, as he is, and in comparison of limiting him to any place, (suitable to such a Body as Muggleton saith he hath) the very Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him; Certainly this immence and infinite Beeing must be of a larger extent, then the Proportion of a Mortal Man, his own Creature.

Thirdly, Who hath measured the Waters in the hollow of his hand, and meeted out the Heaven with his Span, and comprehended the Dust of the Earth in a measure, and weighed the Mountains in scales, and the Hills in a Ballance, Isa. 40.12.

He that cannot measure the Waters in the hollow of his Hand? and meet out the Heaven with his Span, and comprehend the Dust of the Earth in a Measure, and weigh the Mountains in Scales, and the Hills in a Ballance, is not the true God; but a Godd of mans stature can never do that; therefore the true God is not such a one, neither can such a one be the true God.

Fourthly, To whom then will ye liken God? What Likeness will ye compare unto him? the Workman melteth a Graven Image, and the Gold-smith spreadeth it over with Gold: Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the Beginning? have ye not understood from the Foundations of the Earth! It is he that sits upon the Circle of the Earth, and the Inhabitants thereof are as Grass-Hoppers, that stretches out the Heavens as a Curtain, and spreads them out as a Tent to dwell in, Isa. 40.18, 19, 21, 22.

[Page 8]In this Passage is a most pregnant Overthrow of this vain Opinion.

1. That God of whom man can make a Likeness; is not the true God; but such a one is Muggleton's, therefore not the true God.

2. If God was of mans figure and stature, then Gold-smiths were able to make his Likeness; but this the Scriptures utterly deny, and ask, what likeness will ye compare unto him? therefore God is not in the bodily shape of a man.

3. God by his Prophet disdaineth all such vain Conceits, and lest any should think so meanly of him, he gives his own Chara­cter, Have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the Beginning? it is he that sitteth on the Circle of the Earth, and to whom the Inhabitants thereof are as Grass-Hoppers; who stretches out the Heavens as a Cur­tain, and spreads them out as a Tent to dwell in.

Fifthly, God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth, John 4.24.

If God be a Spirit, he is either a finite or an infinite Spirit; a finite he cannot be, and be God; therefore an infinite one.

If God be an infinite and immence Spirit (which are tearms reciprocal) then not a Body of a little more then five Foot high, as blas­phemous, ignorant and sottish Reeve and Muggleton darkly ima­gine; but the only wise and invisible God is that infinite Spirit, therefore not confin'd to any bodily shape.

Sixthly, For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh, for sin condemned sin in the Flesh, Rom. 8.3. But made himself of no Reputa­tion, and took upon him the form of a Servant, and was made in the like­ness of men, Phil. 2.7.

By the likeness of sinful Flesh, and was made in the likeness of men, we understand and grant Christ's taking upon him not only a shape of a man, but the Flesh and Blood of a Virgin; the Que­stion will then be this, Whether Christ had this shape before he took it? If he had, he took it after he had it, which is absurd; if not, he was before he had it; and if he was before he had it, [Page 9] either he was like his Father, or he was not; if not, then not his Son; if he was, then because the Scripture declares him to have taken upon him the likeness of a man, which supposeth him to have had a Beeing before he took it: God is not in the likeness of sinful Flesh▪ nor made in the likeness of men; but is the divine immortal Sub­stance, of which Christ was the express Image before he took upon him the form of a Servant, or was made in the likeness of men▪ which take notice are both joyned together, as Expressions of his Condiscension, as the following verse also shews; and in being found in the fashion of a man (as being a new and uncouth thing to him) he humbled himself, and became obedient unto Death, &c. This was in the day he took upon him the form of a Servant and likeness of Man, making himself of no Reputation; and not whilst he was in the form of God, when he thought it no Robbery to be equal with God.

In short, If that only makes equal with God, which is found in the form of God; then that which is in the form of a Servant, and in the likeness of men, is not in that state equal to God; and if that be so, as it is, if Scripture be true, certainly there is ground to believe, that Reeve and Muggleton are not a little out of the Way, in asserting, That God's Form is the Pattern or Image man's Body was made by.

But here I expect to meet with an Objection, that it may be fit to remove, as that only one which can carry any colour of an Answer with it.

Object. Most of these Scriptures, especially out of the Prophets▪ onely intend to shew God's Soveraign Power, and not that he is not a Peson, as I assert him to be. Thus far Muggleton and his Company.

I Reply, All Scriptures either import a literal or a mystical sense, and either would serve us against this false Witness; if he sayes they should be construed mystically, I will tell him, that he must give us the same liberty in that place to do the like, Let, us make man after our own Image; for they only collect from that Passage God's Image by man's likeness; but in many of the pla­ces urged by me, those Members, which in a litteral sense denote a Body like to man's, are particularly mention'd: We will [Page 10] never allow him to allegorize the more litteral, and litterize the more allegorical; if the one must be litteral, let the other be so too, especially there being more ground for it.

To Conclude, if he will interpret God's Hands, and Arms, and Span to signifie his Power, as is most true; then will I also explain God's Image to be Holiness, which is also true. But if he will have it, that because God made man after his Image, and that man has an Head, Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Ears, Hands, &c. therefore God has such too; I will infer, because the Scriptures say, He span'd the Heaven with his Right hand, and rid upon the Circle of the Earth, That he really and bodily did so span the Heavens with a great Hand, and rid with a mighty Body upon the Circle of the Earth; which how ridiculous and false soever it is, is as true as Reeve's or Muggleton's Conceit: Thus far indeed they would be in the right, by such a Consequence, That Almighty God would have a Body, but they would grosly lye in the dimen­sions of it, who say, 'Tis no bigger then a middle statured man. Thus much, If not too much upon this piece of old vain Anthro­pomorphitism.

That this idle Opinion is against that Understanding which God has given Men to judge of the Difference of Things, we also prove.

First, If God were a Person of mans stature; it would de­stroy his Ubiquity or Omnipresence, which is one of his most divine Properties, rightly attributed to him: For, how is it possible so inconsiderable a Body can be at all places at one and the same time, by which to see and understand all things, or to administer Strength and Comfort to his scatter'd Flock through­out the World?

Secondly, If they would say, he is present by his Spirit (as read Reeve's Epistle to his Divine Looking-Glass) I affirm against all Muggletonians upon Earth, That then not that Body, but that Omnipresent Spirit is the truly in infinite God.

[Page 11] Thirdly, But I would fain know how God and his Spirit can be divided or separated; Can any man be truly such, whose spirit is absent from him? What Body is a living Body without a spirit, any more than Faith can be living without Works? How then can God's Body, no bigger then a Mortal Man's, be con­tained in Reeve's and Muggleton's conceited Heaven, and his Spirit every where? Where God's Spirit is, God is; he can never be di­vided from his own Life and Spirit: for God is that Spirit, or that Spirit is God; they are synonimously or equivolently to be taken. This the Apostle believed, when he told the Athenians, That God was nigh to every one of them, and in him they lived, moved, and had their Beeing.

Fourthly, How was it possible for Reeve to hear God speak with a Voice of words from beyond the Stars, as one Body speaks to another, and no Body hear besides himself, nor the visible Firma­ment or Air to receive any Alteration or Disposure, as ever was when Voices of Words have been uttered, whether to Moses, or of Christ, or otherwise?

If any say, It was a spiritual Voice, such talk sottishly; no Car­nal Ear can hear a Spiritual Voice, as Reeve himself teacheth, page 47. T.S.T. concerning which something may be fitly hinted else-where.

Fifthly, But I would add from their wicked Principles, That if Man be God's Image, in reference to his Body, then, because Reeve and Muggleton declare that a select number of men's Bodies and Souls are pre-ordain'd to be eternally damned, therefore God has decreed his own Image to everlasting Vengeance, and that to glorifie himself too; which one Horrible Impiety I desire all to weigh, and then there needs no farther undertaking to his Con­futation.

[Page 12]That this OLD, and also Exploded HERESIE I prove.

This wonderful dark Secret is to be read in Theodorus of Here­sies, the 4th Book, and 10th Chapter, where he speaks of one Au­daeus, who lived in Coelosiria, in the time of Constantius the Em­peror, and grounded his Conjecture upon these words, Let us make man after our Image. Also several Monks inhabiting Aegypt conceited, the God that made Heaven and Earth to be no bigger then a Man. Of which Opinion, with Muggleton, was one Theaphilus of Alexandria, they were called Anthropomorphits, as may at large be seen in Eusebius Pamphilus his 6th Book and 36th Chapter; also in Socrates Scholasticus his six and seven Books: this was about the Year after Christ 403. and One thousand two hundred sixty nine years since.

Secondly,

THeir second Secret is That God did not create the Hea­vens and Earth out of Nothing, but the Substance was with God from Eternity, T.S.T. p. 12.

That this also inconsistent with SCRIPTURE we prove.

First, In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth, and the Earth was without form and void, Gen. 1.1, 2.

If they were created before they were formed, as saith the place, then Creation and Formation are not one and the same thing, as Reeve and Muggleton assert in their Transcendent Spiritu­al Treatise, p. 16. so that either the Authority of Scriptures must be denyed, or else Creation is first a bringing forth of the Chaos or rude Substance, and Formation the Disposition of it into such Parts, and Designation unto such Ends or Services, as [Page 13] that all wise Creator might think most befitting his great Work. Enough might be said on this one particular to confute all with whom the Scriptures remain of any force.

Secondly, Hearken unto me O Jacob, and Israel my called; I am he, I am the first, I also am the last; my Hand also has laid the Foun­dation of the Earth, Isa. 48.12, 13.

To be first, and to have laid the very Foundation of anothers Beeing, supposeth that thing neither to be before it, nor so much as in time equal with it; and therefore denotes priority and superi­ority: Wherefore thus I argue, If God was before so much as the Foundation of the Earth was laid, then was neither the Earth, nor Foundation of it, from Eternity with God. But the Text affirms, That God was first, or before the very Foundation was ever laid, therefore neither the Earth, nor Superstructure, as to its Form, nor yet its Foundation or first material Principle was Co-eternal.

In short, Nothing can be said to create any thing that is equal in time with it, because such Creation supposeth the one to re­ceive its being from the other: and since God gave its Foundati­on, or first bottom, the very material Principle, it follows, there could be no Co-eternity betwixt them.

Thirdly, — And the Word was God: All things were made by him, John 1.1, 13.

If all things were made by him, then both Heaven and Earth, be­cause they are part of all things, were made by him; but the place says, all things (or whatever has beeing) were made by him; there­fore a [...] Co-eternity of Earth or Heaven with the Everlasting God is ex­cluded and refuted.

To this answers that Passage of the Apostle Paul in the Acts, God that made the World, and all things therein, &c.

Fourthly▪ To c [...]nclude this Head, For by him were all things created, and [...] before [...] things; and by him all things c [...]n [...]st, Collos▪ 1 16.17. And thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the Foundation of the Earth, and the Heavens are the Works of thy Hands, Heb. 1.10.

[Page 14]That which had a Beginning, which was made and which was and is upheld by another, neither can have been contemporary nor co-eternal with that from which it received its Beeing; but that did the Heaven and the Earth, and from Almighty God, as the place proves: Therefore not Co-eternal with him.

Nor can their idle shift any wayes secure them from the dint of these Scriptures, nor the Arguments built upon them, viz. making is fashioning, so God made the Heavens and the Earth, as a Car­penter makes a Door or a Chest, he fashions it of Wood▪ but he does not make the Wood: A Distinction fitted for Bodlam, then▪ men preten­ding to be in their Wits: Can any rationally think, that when God is said to lay the Foundation of the Earth, and to make the Heavens, and all that live therein, that he only fashioned them up? Who made the Trees, Plants, Beasts, Fowls, Fishes, and rational Creatures? Do they strain at a Gnat, and swallow a Cammel? Can they think that it was harder to Almighty God, to create out of Nothing the more inanimate or Lifeless part of Heaven and Earth, then to compose that variety of excellent Creatures, and to infuse that great Spirit and Soul, by which they are respectively instincted or acted.

But how pertinent his Distinction is betwixt fashioning and making, we will manifest by that remarkable Passage to our purpose in Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, Chap. 2. And being found in fashion as a man; he humbled himself, &c.

Was Christ a real Man, or not? if not, then Reeve and Mug­gleton's Fleshly Mortal Notion of the Immortal Son of God falleth to the Ground; if a real man, then to be fashioned may import to be, and the Fashion of a thing passeth for the Beeing of a thing.

Of what value now their Distinction is, they may consider if they please.

But this Opinion is also against REASON.

First, It is the nature of what is Eternal, or from all Everlast­ing to be Infinite, Ʋnalterable and Almighty; for it oweth no Original or Preservation to another, and is equivolent in [Page 15] all other Properties to Eternity: Now where there is not proportion, it is highly to be suspected, That there is no such thing at all; but is a meer Chimera, and real only in a Fiction.

Secondly, That there is no resemblance is manifest, the whole visible World is full of Time, inconsistent with Eternity, as ha­ving Beginning and End; the Heavens have their set Moti­ons, the Earth her distinct Seasons, in which are various Revolu­tions, and both filled with divers Temporary Agitations and Motions: Therefore it is impossible that Heaven and Earth could have been from Eternity, which are so filled with and made up of all the Instances of Time and Mutation; for should they, The Sun must alwayes shine, the Rain descend, the Tide flow, the Winds blow, the Winter last, and every Alteration that is in Time be per­petual.

Thirdly, It is utterly impossible, that Temporal Beeings could receive their sustenence and growth from what is by nature E­ternal; there being as great Contrariety, at least, Difference between them, as there is betwixt visible and invisible, spiritual and carnal things.

Fourthly, Such as is the Food, such should the Life be; now if this visible World be eternal, then the Food that springs from it should nourish to a Life as Eternal as that World which does produce it. Nay, since mans Body was made of the Earth, we might well in­fer, That mans Body▪ as so made, is Eternal; and if Eternal, as such, not Mortal, which Experience tells us is an idle Tale. But let this suffice at present.

But that this Conjecture had other Founders then Reeve and Muggleton, I prove, and that by two Instances.

Augustine sayes, That there were several that affirmed, That the Water was not made by God, but was Co-eternal. Next, a [Page 16] certain Sect called S [...]luciani taught, That the substance of the Creation, or whereof the World was made, was not made by God, but Eternally with God (then no Creature, and then God) as may at large be read in the said Augustine's Book of Heresies; this Heresie raigned about Anno 300. after Christ. To say no­thing of that known Philosopher Aristole, who was sometimes Ido­lator; sometimes Athiest.

Thirdly,

THe third Secret, which only was revealed to Reeve and Muggleton, if we will believe them, is, That the Soul of man is generated or got by the Man and Woman with the Body, and that the Body and Soul are inseparable.

That this is contrary to SCRIPTURE Testimony I prove.

First, And the Spirit to God that gave it, Eccle. 12.7.

No Carnal Generation can bring forth a pure Spirit▪ External Matter producing only External Matter of its own kind.

But the soul of Man is a spirit, as the words exprest in Reeve's and Muggleton's own T.S.T. p. 44. Therefore no man gets the soul or spirit of a man when he generates the Body.

Secondly, That which returns to God came from God; but the soul of every man returns to God, and consequently came from him.

I omit mentioning more Scriptures, because the following Principle being a Consequent of this; what I prove there is pro­ved here, namely, The Immortality of the soul, against the Atheisti­cal Assertion, of the soul's mortality with the body: For where there is no Corruption, there could be no proper Generation; and if the soul be Immortal, it was not descended of Mortal Race, or begotten of elementory visible matter.

[Page 17]That this is against all Right UNDERSTAND­ING, I prove.

First, Such as is the Soul, such must that be which produceth it; but it is Spiritual. Now that which generates the Body of Man, being only and meerely visible Matter, it cannot produce or generate an intellectual Soul or Spirit.

Secondly, If Man got the Soul, then would that Soul be as well the Image of the Father as the Body, and partake as intirely of the Father's Nature and Disposition in all respects: But Experience shews us, That Sober Parents have Wild Children, and Re­ligious Children Debaucht Parents; therefore Parents do not gene­rate the Soul.

Thirdly, If Soul and Body be inseparably generated, then the Sexes as well belong to Souls as Bodies; the which as it is absurd, so would there be Men and Women in that very distinction to all Eterni­ty: And who ever read of She Souls, or Female Souls?

Fourthly, If Soul and Body were intermixtly and insepa­rably generated by Man, then in all Anatomies it were no more difficult to find out the Soul then any other Part: and in case of opening or dissecting of Living men, as I have at the Ʋniversity, seen living Beasts by Anatomists, it would not be impossible, but rationall, that one should behold the very Thoughts, Purposes, and Intents of such Mens Hearts and Souls. But because this were most vain, we shall conclude, The Soul is not generated with, nor inseparable from the Body, but of an Immaterial Nature.

[Page 18]That this is no newer then the rest, and was esteemed He­resie in the Primitive Times, I will Evidence.

There was a Sect called Lucifrians, from one Lucifer of Sar­dania, and the Tertullianists, who held, That the Soul was trans­fused by generation from the Parents to their Children, and that the Soul is of the Flesh, and Substance of the Flesh of which read Socrates, in his 3d Book, and 7th Chapter; also, Augustine of Heresies; and Theodorus, his 3d Book and 5th Chapter, about Anno 350.

Fourth,

THE Fourth sublime Mystery of those Phantastick and Imaginary Persons is a Consequence of the former, namely, the Mortality of the Soul, That the Soul and Body go to Dust, and rise together at a general Resurrection.

That it is inconsistent with SCRIPTURE, I prove.

First, And the Lord God formed Man of the Dust of the Ground, and breathed into his Nostrils the breath of Life, and Man became a Living Soul, Gen. 2.7.

If the Breath of Life made a dead Body live, then the Priva­tion of the Breath of Life makes a living Body dead; since the life it has was from and is whilst that Breath inspired remains in it; and if so, then not the Soul, but the Body dyes.

2. This is further proved thus, If it was living Breath before it entred into the Body, it must be living Breath after it is with­drawn from the Body; since the Body makes no alteration upon it, but it upon the Body; as from a life-less Heap to a living Body, and from a living to a dead Body again.

3. Though some of those things which are living may dye, [Page 19] because they live by the borrowed or lent Life of another; yet very Life, as Life, cannot dye; for since Life and Death are contrary, as Light and Darkness, because very Light can never in it self be utterly extinguished by Darkness, so as to become very Darkness, nor Truth Ʋn­truths by Error, it is impossible that the Breath of Life, or Soul of Man, can suffer death, as here understood; for that were very annihilation it self, or being from an intelligent Something made Nothing.

Secondly, And he cryed unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God hast thou also brought Evil upon the Widdow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her Son? And he stretched himself over the Child Three times, and cryed and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, Let this Child's Soul come into him again: And the Lord heard the Voice of Elijah, and the Soul of the Child came into him again, and he re­vived, 1 Kings 17.20, 21, 22.

If the Soul was with-drawn when the Body lay dead, as the place proveth, then the Soul lay not dead from all Motion, Life and Heat in the Body, as one inseparable Lump. But the Soul was separated, and when it did return, according to Elijah's Pray­er, and had resumed its forsaken dead Body, it revived the Body again; therefore the Soul dyed not with the Body, nor at all; inasmuch as if it had dyed, when separated, it could not have revived the dead Body, when returned.

In short, This place most expresly proves, 1st, The Body's death, from the Soul's separation: 2dly, The Soul's certain departure from the Body: 3dly, The Soul's living after separation.

Thirdly, Then shall the Dust return to the Dust, as it was; and the Spirit to God, that gave it, Eccl. 12.7.

This place very evidently harmonizeth with the former, and is a pregnant Instance to the Confutation of that Atheistical Opini­on, and as pertinent here, as where mentioned. For, as Man is composed of Body and Spirit, so they have two Originals; the one from below, Dust; the other from above, the Breath of Life: They have also two Dooms, the Dust to the Dust, from whence it came; the Soul to God, from whence it came, to be by him sentenced to the Blessed or Cursed State forever, according to [Page 20] the end of that Chapter, For God will bring every secret thing to Judg­ment; from whence I argue,

1. That only can properly return to Earth that came from it, that is Dust.

But the Soul never came from Dust nor Earth, as Reeve and Muggleton affirm, p. 45. T.S.T.

Therefore it is impossible that the Soul can truly be said to re­turn to the Earth.

2. That which returns to God is what more immediately and eminently came from him, and that cannot dye.

But the Soul doth to the end aforesaid.

Therefore the Soul came from him, and dyeth not, neither can it with the Body return to Dust.

Fourthly, Be not afraid of them that kill the Body, and after that have no more that they can do, Luke 12.4.

If Reeve and Muggleton speak Truth, then he that kills the Body kills the Soul too; for he cannot kill the one without the other.

But Christ Jesus, the Author of Truth and Salvation, saith, The Body may be killed by Man, and the Soul remain alive; there­fore Reeve and Muggleton are Lyars against Christ and his Do­ctrine.

The Body's Death is Natural, the Soul's Spiritual; Mans Pow­er extendeth but to one, and consequently the latter is indepen­dent of the former.

Fifthly, For me to live is Christ, to dye is Gain; but if I live in the Flesh (or Body) this is the Fruit of my Labour: yet what I shall chose, I wot not; for I am in a streight betwixt two, having a de­sire to depart, and be with Christ, which is far better, Phil. 1.21, 23. From whence I plainly argue,

1. If to dye was Gain, then he was not to enjoy less of that divine Consolation which he had living, since to live was Christ. But he that has lain Body and Soul One Thousand Six Hundred Years in the Grave, and may for ought we know One Thou­sand Six Hundred more, must needs have lost not only a little, but all that he enjoyed Living, instead of further Gain: Therefore I infer, [Page 21] Their Principle of the Soul's Mortality is contrary to the Testimony of the Apostle; for with him to dye was Gain. That this was the Apostle's sence I proceed yet further to make appear from his own words.

2. The Reason of his streight was, Whether to live to serve Christ, or dye to enjoy him: But this had been no streight, if he was to lose what he had, and not to enjoy him after departure in any sense, as the Dead don't; therefore it was not the Apostle's Judgment, though it was Wicked Reeve's, and Blasphemous Muggleton's, That the Soul is deprived with the Body by Death, of all Divine En­joyments of God, or Punishment from him, till the Day of Resurrecti­on. For the Apostle counted it far better, to depart, and be with Christ; which had been a Vain, if an In-obtain­able Desire, as would follow from their Anti-Scriptural O­pinion.

Sixthly, And when he had opened the Fifth Seal, I saw under the Altar the Souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the Testimony which they had held; and they cryed with a loud Voice say­ing, How long, O Lord Holy and True, dost thou not Judge and Avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth? Revel. 6.9, 10.

If their Souls lived after their Bodies were Slain, then they did not dye together; but the Scripture proves, their Souls lived after their Bodies were Slain: for they cryed for Venge­ance on the Blood-thirsty Inhabitants of the World; there­fore Souls are not Mortal, as Bodies are.

In short, Their Bodies were slain, their Souls were alive; their Bodies were in the Grave, their Souls under the Altar, worshipping God Day and Night forever and ever.

[Page 22]That this is against REASON I further Prove.

First, There is nothing Mortal that is not Elementary, or composed of visible Matter or Substance; but the Body is that only part of Man, which is so composed.

And consequently, the Body is the onely Mortal Part of Man.

Secondly, That only can be subject to visible and material Generations, Agitations, Motions, Privations, Diminutions, Increases, Alterations, Operations, and Corruptions, which is of a Visible, Elementary, and Corporal Substance (for an Invisible none ever saw subject to any one of them) but of such is the Body, and not the Soul (by Reeve and Muggle­ton their own assertion, of Man's Nature to be of the Faith which is God's Nature.)

Therefore the Body is subject onely to Generation and Corruption▪ and not the Soul.

That the Soul is not of the same Nature of the Body, I thus prove;

Thirdly, That which is intellectual, which in its pure Na­ture knows, comprehends, governs and orders all visible, ele­mentary and corporical Beeings, and yet is Invisible, Spiritual, Rational, and Internal (as is manifest from its Heavenly Medi­tations, its secret Thoughts, its serious Reflects, acute Memory, and profound Reasonings about the Causes and Effects of all things) cannot but be of a Nature more refined, exellent and noble, then to fall under the same Generations Revolutions and Corruptions, those inferior visible Beeings are subject to. But such is the Nature of Man's Soul, as daily experience manifests to all that will not wil­fully Blind their Eyes; therefore though Man's Body be Mor­tal as being of that grosser Substance and elementary Nature, yet his Soul is of an immortal Nature, and can receive no Alteration of [Page 23] Being by any that may or can happen to the Body, which is but a Well▪ Organz'd and disposed Instrument for the Soul to exert or put forth it self by, according to the good Pleasure of God, and that creaturely Prudence necessary to be eyed in and about all Worldly Con­cernments.

Thus much and enough to this Point.

That this is as Gray-headed as Atheism, we may sup­pose; and that it is not only their only Revelation I prove.

John the 22th Bishop of Rome, and some in the Countries of Arabia, held this very Doctrine, affirming, That Souls and Bo­dies dyed and rose together; of which read Origen, and Eusebius Pamphilus, lib. 6. chap. 36. nor can any be ignorant that converse with Story, that long before, since, and at this day, where Reeve and Muggleton were never thought on, this wretched Opinion is but too rise, Anno 249. 1423. years since.

Fifthly,

BUt their most admirable Secret of all is, That God descended with his Body in the shape of a Man, and dissol­ved himself into the Virgin's Womb, and so brought forth himself a Man; who after he had lived to such an Age, was Crucified, and real­ly dyed, or ceased to be either God or Man for Three Dayes and Nights.

That this is in three Paticulars highly inconsistent with Scripture I prove.

First, God did not so transmute his divine Nature into Flesh­ly Mortal Nature.

1. Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day: Then said the [Page 24] Jews unto him, Thou art not yet Fifty Years old, and hast thou seen A­braham? Jesus said unto thems Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am, John 8.56, 57, 58.

If that which was before Abraham, and yet then in beeing the same, was God, as none that own the Scriptures do deny; then because that outward visible Body was not before Abraham, that was not God: The first all grant, the second none reasonably doubt; for Christ was crucified about the Three and Thirtieth year of his Life: And then I hope none will believe the Eternal Deity was Transmuted, or Transubstantiated into that Visible Body; for so Christ's Answer would not have been true: for that Mortal Body, which say Reeve and Muggleton was the Eternal God, had a Beginning, and was not of that Age the Jews said it to be.

2. Whose are the Fathers, and of whom as concerning the Flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever, Rom. 9. 5.

If Christ, as concerning the Flesh, was not God, as the Text manifestly implieth (by a Distinction betwixt his Appearance in that Body of Flesh, and his Divine Essence or Beeing, with their Ori­ginals) then that fleshly Body was not God, or the Eternal God was not Substantially Transmuted into that Fleshly Body.

Secondly, Neither could Elias be God's Deputy to transact in his stead the Affairs of Heaven, during that Journey which these Impostors affirm God to have taken, from any Scripture Evidence.

1. For my Father is greater then I, John 14.28.

And he kneeled down and prayed, Father, if thou be willing, re­move this Cup from Me; nevertheless, not my Will, but thine be done, Luke 22.41, 42.

If Elias was that Father which Christ spake of, and prayed and cryed to, as Reeve and Muggleton assert; then either he that cry­ed to him was not God, but Elias really God (and so they both contradict their own Doctrine, who tell us, That he that was born of the Virgin, and dyed on the Cross, was the Everlast­ing [Page 25] Father) or else, that which needeth and cryeth for help of another, was greater then that, which was able to succour and deliver it; which how absurd it is let all sober men judge: therefore he to whom he cry'd and pray'd in all Streights, and whom he had affirmed to have received all his Doctrine and Commission from, and who was greater then all, was the only true God, and not any glorified Crea­ture. For God could not leave Elias his Deputy, and not leave him his Power, which if he did, be left Himself; since with­out his Almighty Power he were not God.

Secondly, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, be­cause thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent, and re­vealed them unto Babes. The Hour is come, glorifie thy Son, that thy Son also may glorifie thee. And this is Life Eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And now Father, glorifie thou me with the Glory which I had with thee before the World be­gan, John 17.1, 3, 5.

On this place I raise these three brief Arguments;

1. If Elias was not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor Lord of Heaven and Earth, but a created Being, as all confess, then it was not unto Elias that Jesus returned that Heavenly Thanks­giving, but to his own Father, greater then all, who is Lord of Heaven and Earth.

2. If he to whom he prayed be that only true God, and that to know him, and Christ Jesus whom he hath sent, be Life Eter­nal, then was it not Elias to whom he prayed, because all grant, that he is not the only true God, nor did he so love the World as to send his only be­gotten into the World, that through believing in him it might obtain Eter­nal Life. This most plainly knocks down all Conceits of a De­puted God, that Christ should pray unto, because supposing that such a thing could be, yet he could not be that only true God. whom to know were Life Eternal: but this to whom Jesus prayed, whom say Reeve and Muggleton was Elias, saith Christ Jesus, was that only true God, whom to know is Life Eternal.

3. This God to whom Christ prayed, that he would glorifie him, was the same Eternal God with whom he had Glory before the World began; but Elias was Two Thousand Years or more after [Page 26] the World was made, instead of being before the World began; and con­sequently, Elias was not that God and Father, unto whom the Lord God made his Supplications.

Object. But Muggleton will tell me, That Elias was enthroned with that God-like Power, Glory, Wisdom and Majesty, that rendred him all that which was needful to make able to answer all those Petitions, and what ever else was necessary.

Answ. If the Majesty, Power, Wisdom and Glory of God were left with Elias, I would fain know what God had to dye with; for 'tis his Power, Glory and Divine Wisdom that makes him, God; If Elias had them, God left himself destitute of what made him God: for how can a man leave his Properties alive behind him that truly man him, and yet be said to dye in Reeve and Muggleton's sence, which is, That all those Faculties And Properties dye with a man? would one not rather say, that such one does not dye, because, that which makes him a true man lives? So that their Conceit is spoil­ed in the over-turning of this one thing; for, shew the impossibi­lity of God's dying, and yet leaving his Power, Wisdom and Glory with Elias, and the whole Fabrick, filled with their many Chambers of Imagery, will fall to the Ground; for, say they, without a God's dying, and becoming from Immortal, Mortal, and from Mortal, Immortal again, the whole Heaven and Earth would be out of order, and no right Knowledge or Salvation can be procured or arrived at.

Much might be urged from many other Scriptures, as that God raised him, and that he is set down on the Right-Hand of the Most High, but let this suffice.

Thirdly, Nor is there any thing in the whole Scriptures of Truth, that so much as incourages any to believe the Mortality of the Immortal God.

1. Even from Everlasting to Everlasting, thou art God, Psal. 90.2.

He that was from Everlasting, and is to Everlasting, never ceaseth to be, as that which dyes▪ doth; but the true God was from Everlasting, and is to Everlasting; therefore Reeve and [Page 27] Muggleton's Mortal God is not the true God; or, the true God never ceaseth to be.

2. Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the Ends of the Earth, fainteth not? Isa. 40.28.

He that could never faint, could never dye, because Death is more then a Degree beyond fainting (though fainting be a Temporary with-drawing of Life) but the true God and Creator of the Ends of the Earth never could faint; therefore the true God could never dye.

3. And one of the Malefactors said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom? And Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in Paradice, Luke 23.42, 43.

If Christ, the Author of all Truth, spake Truth, as most un­questionably he did; then both himself and the Malefactor were in Paradice that day, and consequently, it was untterly impossible that they should both dye from all visible and invisible Life, Sence, Understanding and Enjoyment. But I hope, none are so impu­dent as to say, Christ spake not the very simple Truth, and so would have deceived the poor man; and yet I know not how far Muggleton will go in this matter, since he told me, that Moses in his Dis­course of the Creation, set the Cart before the Horse; and that if Paul were alive, he would reprove him, and so censure that holy Spirit by which he wrote.

Therefore it was not the Eternal Deity that suffered Death, but that Body of outward Flesh, subjected to all those natural Passions of Heat, Cold, Hunger, Thirst, Life and Death (as ours are, sin on­ly excepted) which the Eternal Infinite Creator had provided, through which to manifest his everlasting Wisdom, Councel and Mercy for the Redemption of Mankind.

[Page 28]That these three Branches, of this sottish Opinion are all of them greatly repugnant to that Understanding God has afforded men to measure and distinguish things by, I prove.

First, It was impossible for God to transubstantiate himself from an Immortal Deity to a mortal Man.

1. It must suppose God's begetting himself, which is absurd, and impossible; since being begotten, supposeth him to have had a Beginning (that gave Beginning to all) and to beget, supposeth him to have been before he was begotten, and so before he was.

2. Such as is the Begetter, such must the Begotten be: We see, Men get Men; Horses, Horses; Fish, Fish, and every Seed has its own Body, as say Reeve and Muggleton; then, by good consequence, the Immortal God must have begotten himself an Im­mortal God, one that could not dye by the Hand or Cruelty of his own Creature.

3. It is as impossible for God to become a Creature, or to dis­solve his own Infinite, Immortal, Eternal Nature, into a Fi­nite, Mortal, Created or Generated Nature; as for a Mortal Created Nature to be refined, preferred, and transmuted into an Infinite, Immortal, Creating Nature. In short, It is as impossible for God, as God, to become a dying Man, as for a dying man to be changed into an Immortal Eternal God: They are reciprocally impossible and Blasphemous.

Secondly, It is absurd, and Untrue affirm, that Elias was God's Deputy, and he to whom Christ prayed when in that Body of FLESH.

1. He that is Infinite, is every where, and circumscribed to [Page 29] no particular place; but Scripture, Reason, and Reeve and Muggle­ton (yet they are seldom of one mind) own and declare the Infinite­ness of God, therefore God is every where, and if every where, then not excluded Heaven, the Habitation of his Throne, and consequently Elias was not God's Deputy, neither was it any wayes needful that he should be.

2. That which in any sence may be said so want, is not God, who is all in all to himself; but who needed a Deputy, neither was Omnipresent, nor Almighty, and therefore not the only True God.

3. Either Christ did not stand in need when on Earth, or he did; if not, then he was not sincere in his Supplications; if he did, then the Omnipotency was with Elias (he that supplies Wants is greater then he that is supplyed) and consequently, he that cryed was not that Everlasting God and Father, but Elias.

4. Elias was not so considerable as Moses, who was the first Grand Commissioner of God's Dispensations to the Sons of men (as Reeve and Muggleton affirm) why then should Elias be pre­ferred to Moses, a Meek Man, Israel's Leader; and who said of Christ himself, That a Prophet like unto me shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, him shall you hear in all things (then not Reeve and Muggleton in any new thing) 'Tis strange therefore, that Moses was not rather of the two, elected to represent him in Heaven, who was a Figure of him on Earth. But though Reeve would not tell us so, I am of the mind I know the Reason of it, namely, That Christ did not call, Moses, Moses, but Eli, Eli, when upon the Cross; and I am perswaded he had no other Ground for that Conceit, not considering that Eli, Eli, are Hebrew words, im­porting no more Elias, Elias, then they do Moses, Moses, but My God, My God, as the place expresly shews us.

Much more might be said, but let this serve.

[Page 30] Thirdly, That the Immortal God could never Dye; or cease to be, is manifest, and the contrary Blasphemously False.

1. If God was he that made all things, and by whom they are upheld, as all believe, that believe there is a God at all, then had he ceased to be, the Creation had ceased to have been upheld; and consequently all had fallen into its first Chaos, or the World can subsist without Him.

2. That he, whose Nature it was never to have Beginning, and ever to live without Variation, could never become so con­trary to his own Nature and Being, as to change, dye or cease to be; but such was the true God, therefore he never dyed.

3. If Saints live, move, and have their being in God, as say Reeve and Muggleton, pag. 201. D.L.G. then either God never dyed, or there were no Saints when the Jews Crucified Christ, or the Saints dyed too. They deny them all; they say, God Dyed, and there were Saints, and they Lived, Moved and had their Be­ing in God, though Dead; which how all, or any of them can hang together, let sober People judge.

4. If God dyed, who lived, and by whom? for nothing can live of it self, that had beginning from, or dependance on ano­ther, as had all the visible World on God; therefore because all lived, and was preserved, that had its Being from God, He from whom they had their Being, could not be annihilated whilst they remained in being.

4. If God was raised by Elias, then either Elias was the True God, or Elias the Creature was stronger then Jehovah the Great Cre­ator. Let this serve to confute, and forever to overturn these idle Chimera's of those filthy Dreamers Reeve and Muggleton.

[Page 31]That this Blasphemous Conceit of the Immortal God's Mortality, is not new, I shall make appear.

1st, Valentinus is said, opened, to have published, at Rome, That Christ brought a Body down from Heaven, and that he after some time passed through the Virgins Body again. Noetus affirmed, That the Father, Son and Holy Ghost were Flesh, or that one Person of the Son of Man, or that Person so long since at Jerusalem, to be Father, Son and Spirit; and that when he suffered on the Cross, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit dyed. See Euseb. his 4th Book and 10th Chap. Ireneus Epiphanius Heres. 31. & 57. about Anno 150. which is 1522. years since. What Strange New Revelation this is!

Lastly,

I May mention another of their Tenets, held at this day by all Calvinists abroad, and of several Sects in these Nations; namely, Predestination, or that God from all Eternity, without any other Inducement then his own Pleasure, hath decreed some for Salvation, and some for Damnation; contrary to which, all their Obedience or Rebellion shall be in vain, to alter his Determination.

That this Principle is Accurst by SCRIPTURE, I prove.

First, The Righteousness of the Righteous shall be upon him, and the Wickedness of the Wicked shall be upon him; but if the Wicked will turn from all his Sins that he hath committed, and keep my Statutes, he shall surely live, he shall not dye, Ez. 18.20, 21.

1. If Righteousness or Wickedness are the Grounds of God's Rewarding or Punishing the Souls of men, then is there no Pre­destination previous, without consideration had to their Works; but the Text affirms most plainly, therefore such Decrees are denyed and disowned.

2. If Man may turn from his Righteousness and Wickedness, [Page 32] then are the Means no more inevitably predestinated for men to use, then before mentioned; but men may turn from either, and according­ly they will be rewarded; therefore no such Predestinated Dam­nation or Salvation.

Secondly, For it is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savi­our, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the Knowledge of the Truth, 1 Tim. 2.3, 4.

If the Apostle writ by the Spirit of God, that gives to know the Mind of God; then it was the Good Will of God, that all men, not excluding any upon a Predestination, should come to the Knowledge of the Truth, and be saved: And consequently, there is no Pre­destinated Restraint upon men's Understandings, from know­ing the Truth, nor fore-appointed Bar from their enjoying the End of such True Knowledge, even the Salvation of their Souls.

Thirdly, The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise (as some men count slackness) but is long▪suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Repentance, 2 Pet. 3.9.

The Long-suffering of God either related to the Elect, or Reprobate, or Neither.

Not to the Elect, because there is no need of fearing their Perishing.

Not to the Reprobate, for there is no possibility of their Repen­tance.

Therefore to neither; and consequently, either the place is spu­rious, or deceitful; or else those kind of Elections and Reprobations are meer Phantisms. Let these few Instances serve, of those hundreds that might be mentioned, most expresly to confirm the same.

That this is highly Inconsistent with REASON, I briefly prove.

First, It renders God most Ʋnwise, to make so many thou­sand Creatures on purpose to Rebel against him, to Kill, Lye, Steal, Blaspheme, and commit all manner of Outragious Wickedness to the [Page 33] grieving of his own Spirit, the making him Repent he had made the World, and Obstructing of his Glorious Work of Refor­mation.

Secondly, It greatly Disparageth his Justice, which consists in proportioning Rewards and Punishments to the Good and Evil Works of Men, and overturns both, by making the Eternal States necessary and unavoidable upon a Predestination, without any Regard to their Works; so that man is damn'd for not doing what he can't do, no more then it is possible for him to break an Almighty Decree.

Thirdly, It quite destroyes his Mercy, and renders him the most Cruel of all Beings; for instead of not being willing, or desiring the Death of a Sinner, He is here made to desire, and take Pleasure in it too; nay, so essential is this Unutterable Cruelty to his Glory (as say the Asserters of this Opinion) that it would be lessened or ecclipsed without it: Oh Infamous!

Fourthly, But above all things, it strikes at the very Root of God's Rectitude, and Faithfulness, and makes him worse then the worst of Men or Devils: for whilst he sayes, Your Sins have kept good Things from you; as I live, I delight not in the Death of a Sin­ner; Repent, and that Iniquity shall not be your Ruin; How long would I have gathered you, and ye would not? But now God commands all to Repent; God is no Respecter of Persons, but they that fear him in every Age shall be accepted, &c. with many more; they make him but to Complement with Wicked Men, and speak them fair in words, meaning nothing less in his Heart, having Pre-ordained them to eternal Wrath.

Fifthly, This Principle would defile his eternally inherent Holiness, by making him as well the Father of Sin, as of Destru­ction; for men are either Damned for something, or for no­thing; if for nothing, that were most Wicked in these Prede­stinarians account, then for something; and what is that? Sin: very well; and how came they to this sin? they committed it; and how came they to do so? they would do it; why? could they [Page 34] have avoided it? by no means; where's the Difference then betwixt being Damn'd for not doing what they could not, and doing nothing? The Predestination was not, that all Evil Men, that wilfully with­stood Mercy, should be Damned; for they were ordained never to receive it; but that such a Number, consisting of such and such particular Persons, should Ʋnalterably and Ʋnavoidably be Damned only to Glorifie God.

Sixthly, But this would stain the Glory of the Almighty, in that neither in himself, nor from the Redemption and Salvation of the souls of men, his Glory is great enough, unless it be com­pleated in the Eternal Destruction of far the greatest part of Mankind.

Seventhly, This destroyes, all Good Works; for, may all say, Neither can my Good nor Evil Works make one Hair white or black, add or diminish, in reference to God's unalterable Decree; and there­fore will I give my self unto the Liberty of the Flesh, and enjoy the Pleasures of this Life, whilst I can have them.

Eighthly, It destroyes all Government, since who cares how de­sperate he is, or what Injury he does, who conceiting to himself his Post is pitcht, his State set, and that unchangeably; but breaking all Laws, takes his Revenge on what would bring him to condign Punishment for his Exorbitancies.

To conclude, and come somewhat closer to the Persons concer­ned: What signifies their coming to call them to repent, that can­not be saved if they do? Or to warn such to repent that cannot be damned? What signifies their Commission? or their Cursing, or Blessing? For can they bless him to Life that is ordained before-hand to be damned? Or can they curse him to Death who is pre-ordained to Eternal Life? If therefore Men are pre-ordained to Salvation or Damnation, to what purpose should any fear their Curse, or prize their Blessing, since neither can alter or change the Condition of any Person; and what more contrary to the Mind of the Merciful God, who is willing that all should come▪unto the Knowledge of the Truth and be saved?

[Page 35]That Antiquity both knew and abhorr'd this Opinion is Manifest.

Josephus, in his 18th Book of Antiquities, and 2d Chap. also Epi­phanius in his Preface to his first Book of Heresie: again, Eusebius in his 5th Book chap. 13. and Socrates in his 1st Book and chap. 17. and you will be fully informed of the Abettors of this dangerous and Wicked Opinion,Note: about Anno 200. namely a Sect of the Pharisees; also Florinus & Blastus, against whom Ireneus Bishop of Lyons in France wrote two Epistles, and a Book call'd Ogdous, wherein he tells Florinus, Note: 1472. years since. ‘That when himself was a Child and with Famous Chri­stian Polycarpus, who conversed with John that conversed with Christ, he remembred him to be busie about the Emperors Court; and further tells him, that had the Apo­stle John but lived to have heard that Damnable Doctrine which makes God the Author of Evil, he would have said, Good God, unto what times half Thou reserved me? and tells him, that in Publishing so Wicked an Opinion, he had declared that which all the Hereticks before had never durst to pronunce plainly,’ with much more to this purpose, against him, the Sect called Manichees, from one Manes, held and promoted this Opinion of Fatal destiny, who Muggleton-like, is reported to have called himself Christ, and the Comforter, and published the Work of one Buddas in his own Name, calling It a New Dispensation; All which, Reader, I assure thee Histories do inform Us to have been known in the 2d, 3, 4, 5, and 600. Years after Christ, which is above a 1000. Years since; In which Time many were the Impudent Spirits that assum'd to themselves as great Authority as Muggleton in Reeve's Absence doth at this time; namely, Simon Magus, who had so far possess'd the Romans with his Sorcery, of his (pretended) Divinity (calling himself to the Samaritans the Father; to the Jews the Son, to the Gentiles the Holy Spirit) as the Heathens erected a Statue or Image of him in the time of Claudius at Rome having this Inscription, Simoni Deo Sancto, to the Holy God Simon. Next, One Helen a Woman, that accompanied him, whom [Page 36] he called the Principle Ʋnderstanding, much like Muggleton's Daughter, who Reeve said should be the Chiefest of Women. Eusebius in his 2d Book, and 12, 13, and 14, Chap. after this One, Me­nander, said, to have been a Sorcerer, and the Disciple of Simon, went up and down, deluding Silly Credulous People, by af­firming to them, he was the great Power of God, come down from Heaven, and that all were to believe in him, and be baptised in his manner, or they could not be saved, but those that did should never dye, read Eusebius in his 3d Book Chap. 23. Ireneus Book 1. Chap. 21. Epiphan. haeres. 22. Again, Carpocrates is reported to have (like Reeves and Muggelton) patch'd his Opinion (who was so vain Glorious as to affirm he knew all things) out of Simon, Menan­der, Nicholas, (from whence came the Nicolaitans in the Revela­tions) Saturninus Basilides, &c. and see Epiphan. Haeres. 27. also Augustin of Heresies. Again, We find that Eusebius tells us of one Montanus (whereof Montanists or Catafrygians are called) taught in Phrygia, that he was the Holy Ghost, as may be seen in the 5th Book of Eusebius 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, Chapters. Also that one Buddas affirm'd, that he was born of a Virgin (as true as Mug­gletons being the Last Witness of God) This Buddas writ a Book, and in his swelling Pride styl'd it Mysteries, much like the Whimsies of Reeve and Muggleton, in their Transcendent Spiritual Treatise; next, he wrote a Book called the Gospel, of the Nature of Reeve and Muggleton's Divine Looking Glass: His End was to break his Neck; 'Tis to be fear'd that a worse will be miserable Mug­gletons, even Torment of Spirit, as Reeve is said to have left the World in. To conclude, Noetus, the Ring-Leader of that great Mystery, (never revealed till within these 20. years, sayes Reeve and Muggleton) namely the Godheads being a Man, and so absolutely Flesh and Blood, as that when the Body dyed, the Godhead ceased, and lay under Death's Power three dayes and three Nights: He through the height of his Imaginations, called himself Moses, and Aaron his Brother, as Reeves called▪ himself and Muggleton, T.S.T. see Epiphanius Haeres. 57. By all which, Reader, I am not without hopes, but it does appear, how Falsly, and with what Treachery these Persons have dealt with poor silly People, who not being satisfied in what they did know, haye pin'd their Faith on the sleeves of such as told them things they did not know, and so have [Page 37] been given up to believe a Lye; For what is more evident, then that in this very Tryal he, and his deceased Colleague are found guilty of Error, Treachery, and great Deceit; There­fore, Reader, delay not to passe the Just Sentence of Impostor and Counterfeit upon them, and their Commission, who would raise to themselves a New Sect out of the Ruins of old Heresies, and that under the Pretence, of Choice Revelations, wherein there is no Proof beyond their bare Assertions, and to make them pass, forge an Authority from Heaven (which loaths both them, and their Lyes) to back and recommend them as unheard of Mysteries.

O! sell not thy Reason, who ever thou art, enslave not thy Judgment, nor rob God's Light and Grace of its Office, to guide and teach thee in the Denial of those Evils that are to be for­saken, and in Imbracing whatsoever ought to be followed; Bring not thy self under the Power of an Ignorant, Arrogant, Blasphemous, and Sottish Man, but remember that God Al­mighty, who cannot lye, hath promised, that in the last dayes He would be the Teacher of his People by his Spirit of Truth, and where is the Habitation of the most-High, but in the Contrite and Humble Hearts of Men? For whasoever may or can be known of God, is manifested within, who having illuminated all, and given to every Man a Talent; into it, Reader, have thy Mind re­tired, and wait to have it subject thereunto, and thou shalt come to know him, (whom to know aright is Life Eternal) But as I have plainly shown their abominable Cheat in obtruding Old Fables for New Revelations upon People (whereby I have discharg'd the first part of my Promise) So for a Confirmation of my Judg­ment concerning Muggleton, and to accomplish this abridg'd Discourse, take my following Relation, with the same im­partiallity that I give it thee.

I Have been twice to visit Lodowick Muggleton, and at each time I staid too long to repeat all, or the very words which passed betwixt us; yet shall I faithfully write something of the matter and words, as neer as I at present do remember them.

Art thou the last Witness that ever shall be? Muggleton, Yes; and there shall never be another.

Who sent thee?

God spoke to John Reeve, and he spoke to me.

Is that all thou hast to produce, only J. R's word for it? to this he avoided. Again,

Thou sayest, God did not create the Earth and the Hea­vens, he only fathom'd them; making them Co-eternal with God; but Moses said he did: Let me see a Bible!

Moses put the Cart before the Horse.

Paul the Apostle, who also wrote, by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost, saith, God created all things, or made them; and the World is a great part of all things: besides, if it was before he made it, in this sense, must it not be God? since nothing which is uncreated can be a Creature?

If Paul were living, I would have reproved him for that: Come not here to Dispute, but Believe; I say it, that's enough.

Canst thou reprove the Holy Ghost; for he spake by it?

Yes.

That's Blasphemy; besides, if thou sayst it, must I therefore believe it, because thou sayst it?

At this he grew inraged; and but for an Acquaintance by, and a Friend of his, I had doubtless been Curst at that time.

The next time I came (wich a Friend in company) I found him sitting by the Chimny Corner, quaffing with some of his Follow­ers and Benefactors, as what we saw before us did Evidence. My first salute was thus,

How is it Lodowick? methinks thou lookst with thy old thred-bare black Suit, like a sequestered begging Priest.

I am a Priest.

Art thou? Of what Order?

The Order of Aaron.

Aaron? where be thy Bells then?

I have them in the Mystery.

Mystery? for shame don't talk of a Mystery; for there was some such thing that did belong to that Order; things were al­together External, Typical and Figurative: Methinks this were enough to show, that thou art no wayes concern'd in any Christi­an Commission, who art not a Priest after the Order of Melchisedeck, but Aaron, whose Priesthood is at an end, as said the Apostle to the Hebrews, chap. 7. so that thou hast Ʋnchristian'd thy whole Commission, and brings it under the Law of a Carnal Command­ment; and therefore has no Part nor Portion in the Power of an Endless Life, as saith the same Apostle. He interrupted.

Have a care, Life and Death's before thee; therefore chuse Life and live, &c.

But Lodowick, Thou pretendest to know the Dimensions of God, how high may he be?

Betwixt your Height and his, (meaning a Friend then present.)

O Abominable! Well L. Muggleton, God will blast thee for­ever, thou Presumptuous and Blasphemous Wretch, If thou turnest not from the Wickedness, with much more.

Thou shalt be Damned, God has decreed thou shalt be Damned; thou art of the seed of the Serpent.

Why then didst thou set Life and Death before me just now, (saying thou hadst more mind I should be saved, then any of the Quakers) if I am ordain'd to be damn'd? Is it not great Deceit, to ex­hort a man to chuse what he cannot have, though he bid for it, and to refuse that which he is unable to avoid? But Muggleton, I will not say, that I serve such a God; no, my God never ordained thee to be Damned, whether thou dost Well or Ill: this destroyes all Rewards and Punishments, and makes Evil and Good unavoidable.

I would not give a Pinn for that God which would save us both, now I have Damn'd thee.

Why dost thou talk of a God; for thou sayst, Thy God can dye; did the Immortal God ever cease to be?

I would not give a Rush for that God which can't dye.

I say, thou and thy God shall to the Pit, from whence ye came, where is Death and Darkness forever: how can God cease to be, and yet be God; since if he ceast, every thing that re­mained in being must have been greater, since below ceasing to be is nothing? But suppose this Nonsense and Blasphemies; how rose he again?

God left Elias with Power.

Then Elias was greater then God; for that which raiseth is greater then that which is raised; but if the Power never dyed, the Power was God, and that which dyed not God: O, Hellish Impudence and Blasphemy! O, Muggleton, thy End will be Destruction.

I say thou art a Damned Devil; remember Thomas Loe, who was the Wickedst Devil that ever I knew, who never went out of his bed after I Curst him.

Thy Curses are under my Feet; Tho. Loe was known to be an infirm Man in his Natural Constitution (as well as by his great Labours) for near these sixteen years, who is gone to rest: But art thou not ashamed to say, he never went out of his Bed; who was as well as he used to be, and often after abroad? and when he fell sick, was often up, and changed his Lodging before he dyed, having been ill three Weeks. Is this thy Infallible Spirit, that thou suggests Lyes to thy self and others?

I heard so.

Is that enough for one that pretends, to be the last Witness of the High and Mighty God, to say for a Lye, I heard so? Cover thy Face for Shame.

He writ me a Curse, and he writ a very good Hand too; but for all that, He was a Damned Devil, and thou W.P. art as arrant a Devil as he, and you shall be Damn'd together.

Lodowick, in this thou hast told another Lye; for it was an Apprentice that writ it: Where is thy Unerring Spirit now, thou vile Impostor? And for being Devils, and Damn'd toge­ther, God rebuke thee; only this know, that I am willing to go where he went, and whither we go thou canst not come, without great and unfaigned Repentance.

Just so, many of you Quakers have dyed after my Curse, amongst others William Smith.

This is another Notorious Lye; for the man is yet Living: Well, Muggleton, God will reckon with thee for all thy Wickedness.

Thou art a Cheat, and a Deceiver W.P. (my Friend spoke)

G.W. Muggleton, have a care what thou sayst: for though it is our Religion, to forgive Injuries; yet perhaps his Friends would question thee, and make thee prove it.

I care not a Part for Him, nor his Friends, nor the Greatest Man in England.

Thy Black Mouth is no Slander; but know, Muggleton, That from my Youth I have sought God, and dared not willingly to abuse a Worm: and as my Friend has said, thou knowest there are Laws, other People make use of to vindicate their Credit by▪ but I forgive thee; thereby thou mayst know the Difference be­twixt our Gods, and our Religions: thou Revilest, and possest Curses upon me, I Freely Forgive thee.

I care not a TURD for you, nor the Laws neither.

This, with many more Unsavory Foul Expressions fell from his Mouth. He also affirmed, That God never gave a Law, but to Devils; and that Moses and the Israelites were so. I askt him, If he received a Law? He said, Yes. I askt him for whom? He said, For the People of these Nations to whom he was sent. I told him, Th [...] that render'd both himself, and those to whom he was sent, Devils by his own Assertion.

In short. Such Impertinency, such Blasphemy, such sottish Non­sense, and such Ʋnsavory, Ill-bred Expressions, I don't remember to have heard from the Mouth of any man, pretending to Religi­on. If this be your Prophet (you that believe in him) your last Witness, the only Messenger of the Spiritual Dispensation, and Grand Commissioner of Heaven, whom all must credit, or be damned: For Shame own not so manifest an Impostor, so foul a Wretch, so ill an Example; his Arrogancy, his Ignorance, his Sottish Life, his Cowardliness, and finally, his Abominable Lying spirit is far from the Holy, Patient, Suffering, Self-denying and Heavenly Life of Christ and his Apostles, who being Reviled, they Blessed. I therefore in­treat, nay, warn the Reader hereof; and to fear the Infinite [Page 42] Almighty God, whose Mighty Judgments (for Sin in the Con­sciences of Men and Women) are come; and not to Worship, this Beast, nor any Evil Thing, by bowing to his dark Imagina­tions: For know of a certain, the Time is at hand, when every Word, Faith and Work shall be tryed, that they who believe the Truth, and live in it, may have Rejoycing in themselves, and not in another; when Muggleton's airy Stories (which may per­haps swell and puff up the Minds of silly People) shall vanish; and such as have made his Lyes their Refuge, shall be swept away, and their place not to be found among the Living. There­fore mind the Light, the Grace, the Gift of God in your selves, which leads to Repentance, and all manner of Godly Conversation (a thing Muggleton meddles not with) that by it your Hearts may be sanctified, and settled in the Belief of the Truth, as it is plainly revealed to every particular in Christ Je­sus; so shall you obtain a sound Understanding, and possess the Habitations of True Peace, when Muggleton and his obsti­nate Brats shall Howl in the Lake that burns with Brimstone and Fire forever and evermore.

IT can be no Wonder unto such as have impartially read thus far, that these men should contradict themselves, and one another; who are filled in their Discourses (or ra­ther Ravings) with nothing sober and consonant; but Confu­sion heap'd upon Confusion, to the astonishing of every man that is in earnest about Religion, and has any due Fear and Reverence for God: but because they lay it down, as the Mark only of the True Commissioners of Heaven, in nothing to Jar or Contra­dict, I am the more induced to add to my own pains and the Rea­ders, in a Comparison of their Contradictions.

Doth not this Demonstrate those to be the Commis­sionated Witnessers of the Unerring Spirit, that are in­due with a Divine Gift, to write a Volumn as large as the Bible, and as pure a Language as that is, with as much Variety of Matter, without looking in any Wri­ting whatsoever, or HAVING ANY REAL CONTRADICTION IN IT, R. & M. Div. Look Glass, page 112.