The Project Gutenberg eBook of A True Interpretation of the Witch of Endor, by Lodowicke Muggleton

The Project Gutenberg eBook of A True Interpretation of the Witch of Endor, by Lodowick Muggleton

Produced by: deaurider, David King, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.)

1. How She and all other Witches do beget or produce that Familiar Spirit they deal with, and what a Familiar Spirit is, and how those Voices are procured, and Shapes appear unto them, whereby the Ignorant and Unbelieving People are deceived by them.

2. It is clearly made appear in this TREATISE, that no Spirit can be raised without its Body, neither can any Spirit assume any Body after Death; For if the Spirit doth walk, the Body must walk also.

3. An Interpretation of all those Scriptures, that doth seem as if Spirits might go out of Men's Bodies when they die, and subsist in some Place or other without Bodies.

Lastly, Several other Things needful for the Mind of Man to know; which whoever doth understand, it will be great Satisfaction.

Penman hereof, and the last chosen Witness unto that Ever-Blessed Body of Christ Jesus Glorified, to be the only Wise, very True God alone, Everlasting Father, and Creator of both Worlds, and all that were made in them.

I Have been desired by several Friends, to set forth the Interpretation concerning the Witch of Endor and King Saul; how it may be understood how she raised Samuel, and how Familiar Spirits came to be procured, and with what Power they do such strange Things. Many Enemies also have objected this Place, to prove that Spirits may be raised without Bodies, and that Spirits may walk, or be happy or miserable without Bodies: Though I have given an Answer in Discourse to these Doubts and Questions, but few can retain in their Memory what is spoken in Discourse; therefore I thought it convenient and necessary to set it forth in Print, for the Information and Satisfaction of many Friends who desire it, and for the Convincement of all Gain-sayers. And let them seriously read it over without Prejudice, and they may see this Point clearly opened, which hath laid hid this many Hundred Years, with other Places of Scriptures opened, which many have objected against this Interpretation, and all those Places of Scripture that is commonly brought, or doth most seem to hold forth, that Spirits may be without Bodies, are likewise opened and expounded in short in this Treatise, as followeth.

I Shall give the Interpretation, what is meant by that Familiar Spirit the Witch of Endor which did raise Samuel, so much spoken of in the Book of Samuel, and other Places of Scripture; and so much objected by many to prove that Spirits may be raised without Bodies, and may appear unto People in what Shape they please.

The Belief of this lying Principle, it did proceed out of the Imagination of Reason, the Devil——The Imagination that doth arise or proceed from the Seed of Reason in Man, is that Familiar Spirit that Witches deal with, and that Familiar Spirit it proceedeth from no Spirit or Devil without a Man, but from the Seed of Reason within Man; for look what evil Thoughts doth arise out of the Heart of Man, it proceedeth out of the Seed of Reason in Man, and not from any thing without Man; for the Imagination of the Heart, it is plac'd in the Seed of Reason, therefore it is said in Scripture, That the Imaginations of Man's Heart was evil, and that every Imagination of the Thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually, as in Gen. vi. 5. So that there is no other Devil, or Spirit, or Familiar Spirit for Witches to deal withal, or to work any Enchantments by, but their own Imagination; there the Familiar Spirit is produced from whence it came, and there it ceases to be when they are put to Death, or over-power'd by the Knowledge, and the Power of Faith in other Men, then the Familiar Spirit centers in the Imagination again, it being over-powered by the Power of Faith; so likewise, the good Thoughts that doth proceed out of the Heart of Man, they do arise or proceed from the Seed of Faith, concerning the true God, or any heavenly Secret, or temporal Judgments, or temporal Blessings; if the Foreknowledge of these Things doth arise, or be foretold by the Revelation of the Seed of Faith, they are and may be called the Spirit of God.

Because they were foretold and declared by the Revelation of the Seed of Faith, which Seed of Faith is the Seed of God, it being of God's own Nature, therefore called the Spirit of God, and so foretold and declared by the Spirit of God: So likewise, what Foreknowledge or Declaration of Things, that are above that which is common to the Seed of Reason, (as raising of Spirits and such like;) I say, they do proceed from the Imagination of Reason, the Devil; and this strong Imagination from the Seed of Reason, is that Familiar Spirit by which Witches do divine or foretel Things. So that the strong Imagination of Reason, being exercised about Things that are beyond Trades and Sciences, that are necessary, needful, and lawful; so it becomes a Familiar Spirit, because it proceeds from the imagination of Reason, and the Seed of Reason being the Devil, and the Devil being the fallen Angel; for the Devil is Man and Woman; and the Seed of Reason is their Seed. And that Seed of Reason it came from, that Serpent that beguiled Eve; and that Serpent was an Angel, and his Seed was Reason, and this Reason in Man is the Devil; and the Imagination of Reason is the Father of that Familiar Spirit, by which a Man or Woman doth Divine, Soothsay, raise Shapes, or hear Voices, or any such Thing of that Nature, they all proceed from the Imagination of Reason in Man, and the original Being of this Seed of Reason. It came from that Serpent-Angel, that was cast down from Heaven unto this Earth, who deceived our first Parents, as I have abundantly shewed in Rev. xi. and in the Interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation.

Now I have laid a Foundation for the Reader, that he may the better understand the Foundation, from whence these Familiar Spirits that Witches have, do proceed, and how they are procured, and what Power they have over the ignorant Mind of Man; therefore to satisfy the Thoughts of many, who hath desired and requested of me, that I would interpret some chief Sayings in the Scriptures, that speaketh of Witchcraft, and Familiar Spirits, and such like; which Sayings are very strange and hard to be understood; so that most People are very much unsatisfied in these Things, though clear in their Judgments, in many other Things that are of more Concernment. And as I have given the Interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation, with many other Places of Scripture, to the great Comfort and Satisfaction of many, so I shall add the Interpretation of this thing also.

The first Place of Scripture I shall insist upon, is that in 1 Sam. xxviii. beginning at the 11th Verse, concerning the Witch of Endor; this is commonly the Place that most People fetch to prove, that Spirits may be raised in what Shape the Witch please by their Familiar Spirits; therefore let the Reader mind the Discourse that followeth. The Words are these, Then said the Woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, bring me up Samuel. And in the 12th Verse, And when the Woman saw Samuel, she cried with aloud Voice, and the Woman spake to Saul, saying, why hast thou deceived me, for thou art Saul? And in the 13th Verse, And the King said unto her, be not afraid, for what sawest thou? And the Woman said unto Saul, I saw Gods ascending out of the Earth. The 14th Verse, And he said unto her, what Form is he of? And she said, an old Man cometh up, and he is covered with a Mantle. And Saul perceived it was Samuel, and he stooped with his Face to the Ground, and bowed himself. The 15th Verse, And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed: For the Philistines make War against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by Prophet, nor by Dreams: Therefore I have called thee, that thou mayst make known unto me what I shall do. Verse 16. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine Enemy? Verse 17. And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me; for the Lord hath rent the Kingdom out of thine Hand, and given it to thy Neighbour, even to David. Verse 18. Because thou obeyest not the Voice of the Lord, nor executed his fierce Wrath upon Amalek; therefore hath the Lord done this Thing unto thee this Day.

This Familiar Spirit the Witch of Endor and other Witches have, whereby they do such Things, it is the Imagination of Reason, the Devil in themselves; that is, they set themselves apart with the Thoughts of the Imaginations of their Hearts, to dive into the diabolical Power; that is, that they might know the Depths of Satan, their Imagination conceiving that the Devil is a Spirit flying in the Air, and that this Spirit can assume or take up any Shape it please. So that the Imagination of the Heart hath produced an evil Spirit in it self, so that this Familiar Spirit is begotten out of the Womb of Reason: For the Seed of Reason in Man is the Womb or the Mother, and the Imagination of the Heart is the Father that begets this Familiar Spirit, and this Familiar Spirit is the Son of Imagination. So that all Thoughts of the Heart, and that wonderful Knowledge declared by them, it is revealed through this Son the Familiar Spirit, begotten in themselves by the Seed of Reason the Mother, and Imagination the Father. So that there is no Devil, nor Familiar Spirit without them, as People do vainly imagine, but the Devil and Familiar Spirit is always within them, and no where else; yet all People fear a Devil without them, but he is no where to be found but in Man and Woman, this I do certainly know to be true.

Again, These Witches doth suppose the true God to be an Infinite Spirit, without any Body or Substance, as all People almost do; and that the Devil is a Spirit that can assume Bodies or what Shape he pleaseth, or what Shape or Form the Witch shall call for. This is the Opinion of most People in the World as well as Witches, yea, even of the most of the greatest learned Men; Darkness hath overspread the Minds of all learned Men in the World, so that they cannot find out what the true God is, nor where he is; nor what the right Devil is, nor where he is; yea Man, himself is he that cannot find out himself: But no more of this now.

To the Matter in hand, the Witches they do not know any Divine Being, or Power, or Form of God, but what their Imagination doth conceive to be God, for they have full Faith in this Knowledge of theirs, to be the true Knowledge of God; only the Laws of Men they fear, but no other God, but that Familiar Spirit which they have produced in themselves, by giving themselves either to Fasting and Prayer, unto an unknown Divine Being or Power; supposing this Power to be a Spirit that can appear in any Shape they shall call for or desire. And all People being ignorant of the true God, and the right Devil, as they themselves are, so that the People have a Faith in these Witches, being ignorant as aforesaid.

What the true God and right Devil is, and the Witches Faith, and their Faith being joyn'd together, it becometh strong to atchieve such Apparitions as their Faith hath chose to be the Object of their Imagination: For he that enquireth of a Witch, his Faith and the Witch's Faith is all one.

Also this is to be minded, that all Witches have some Rule by which they do perceive those Apparitions, and hear those Voices; for their is no wicked Knowledge or wicked Wisdom as the Wisdom of the World, neither is there any good Knowledge or good Wisdom as the Wisdom of God. I say, there is no Knowledge or Wisdom good or bad, but those that have it they must go by some Rule, else it is meer Nonsense; as most of your Quakers Matters or Principles are meer Nonsense, that hath neither Bottom nor Top.

But to the Matter in hand, we see the natural Astrologers they go by a Rule, and their Wisdom and Knowledge in Things of Nature, it is declared by them from and by a Rule, else that they say would be meer Nonsense and Foolishness.

Yet I say, your natural Astrologers they are Witches, and have their Figure to judge the Effects of the Stars; but this Witchcraft is allowed by the Powers of the Nations.

So I say, these Witches that doth do Things by a Familiar Spirit, they have a Rule to walk by as the other hath; for as the Imagination of the other hath by the Study of the Figure, attained to give some Judgment upon the Effects of the Stars, upon a particular Person or Nation. So likewise those Witches that hath a Familiar Spirit, they have attained to this Familiar Spirit out of their Imagination of Reason, as I said before.

And this Familiar Spirit being begotten in themselves by the Strength of Imagination their Father; now understand thus much, that this diabolical Wisdom that is begotten in Man and Woman by the Imagination of Reason, the Devil is that Familiar Spirit that Men and Women do act by.

And after this Familiar Spirit is begotten in Man or Woman by Imagination their father, as I said before, then this Familiar Spirit of the Witch will motion in the Mind too fast, and pray unto the Host of Heaven, the Sun, Moon and Planets, supposing that the good Spirit in some of them, and imagining the evil Spirit or Devil to be in other some of them.

Now observe, when this Familiar Spirit is produced in them, then they observe every Motion of the Mind, and their Faith being in every Motion of their Minds, it produceth either some farther Knowledge in their own Apprehension, or else some Visions are presented to their Phantasies; for they have dedicated some certain Words to be said in their Minds motional, to be used when they would do any Feats, besides their Fasting and Prayer. And this Thing they have dedicated to enquire of, is that which they divine with, or tell any Thing from it, is much like unto the Astrologers, their Figure is dedicated for that Purpose, that he may tell Things from, and without the Knowledge of the Figure. He can tell nothing except he were skilled in it before, but the Figure was the Thing he came to know more than others at the first; for wonderful Things may be accomplished through the Imagination of Reason, when it hath set it self apart on purpose to attain unto such Things.

For I find by Experience within this seventeen Years, what strange Things hath been atchieved by Man and Woman, who hath given themselves up to an unknown God upon a Religious Account. Some hath by their Fasting and Prayer unto an unknown God, attained unto Visions, Apparitions, Appearance of Angels, Voices, and many other strange Things; yet altogether ignorant of the true God and the right Devil, and what Angels are; so that these Things hath been all within them, and they thought that God had revealed these Things unto them; when as they did attain unto these Things aforesaid by their own Endeavours; as many Quakers and others can Witness at this Day, if they would, by hearkening to the Light within them, and Fasting, and such like. Neither did God present any Vision, or speak any Voice unto them, but they do produce those Things aforesaid by their own Imaginations.

So is it with Witches, they do raise Shapes and Voices out of themselves, and those Voices they hear, they are no other but motional Voices in themselves; and the ignorant People that believes them is Partakers of those motional Voices also with the Witch.

For their is no Spirit of the Devil without them, that doth assume any Shape, or speak any Voice unto the Witch, neither doth any Spirit without the Witch reveal any Knowledge unto them; it is all produced by their own wicked Imagination, who hath begotten within themselves that Familiar Spirit they deal with, and not from any Devil or Spirit without them.

But all cometh from the Imagination within, that is, the Devil and no other; yet this Familiar Spirit is produced from within them, to see Shapes, and hear motional Voices, meerly by watching the Motion of the Imagination that is placed in their Minds or Hearts, even as the Quakers do by hearkening to the Light within them, they do procure many strange Visions and motional Voices, but they being Groundless and Nonsensical they come to nothing.

Let the Reader observe when King Saul asked the Witch of Endor, What Form the Gods was of, she had seen ascend out of the Earth; The Woman answered and said, An old Man with a Mantle, &c. But Saul saw nothing but as the Woman told him, and Saul believed her Words, and bowed himself to the Ground.——Now mind the 15th Verse, Samuel said to Saul, why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up; the Meaning is this, now the Witch had full Power over Saul, so that he did really believe the Witch, that she had indeed raised up Samuel, though he saw nothing——yet the Fear of being destroyed by the Philistines, and the Belief of the Woman's Words, Samuel began to speak in Saul's Conscience; there came into Saul's Mind the Words which Samuel had told him in his Life-time.——So that these was no speaking to Saul by Samuel, but the Reasonings of Saul's own Heart; and these Voices that Samuel spake to Saul, they were motional Voices that did arise in Saul's own Heart.——For an accusing Conscience will speak dreadful Voices in the Conscience; as the Blood of Abel cried for Vengeance in Cain's Conscience, and the Saints that were slain under the Altar; cried for Vengeance upon those that shed their Blood; so that a sinful Conscience will have Voices enough to torment him, though God himself, nor Prophet without him, doth never speak unto him. A guilty Conscience will speak with a motional Voice their great Terror and Torment, which is greater than can be born, as it was with Cain, Saul, and Judas. Yea, it was Fear, and the Remembrance of Saul's Disobedience to Samuel's Words in his Life-time, this did arise afresh in Saul's Mind, and spake with motional Voices in Saul's Conscience, accusing him for his Disobedience to Samuel's Words.

For the Remembrance of Samuel's Words, may be said to disquiet Samuel; for Samuel's Words were buried in Saul's Conscience.

But now, by his going to enquire of a Witch, Samuel is revived again in Saul's Mind, and there Samuel speaks Fear, Wrath, and Terror; for Samuel's Words spake in Saul's Conscience one motional Voice, and the Guilt of Saul's Disobedience spake Fear and Horror in Saul's Conscience, this was a motional Voice in Saul's Conscience also; for the Voice of Truth will speak, or the Voice of Obedience, and the Voice of Sin and Disobedience will speak in Man's Conscience, as if they were two distinct Spirits.

This many guilty Consciences can witness, as we may read by Cain that killed his Brother, and Judas that betrayed his Lord, and many others who hath been guilty of the like Crimes.

So that the Witch did raise no Samuel, nor Spirit, but a meer Shadow it was the Witch saw, which she could raise by her Art; neither was there any Samuel or Spirit not at all that did speak to Saul, but that motional Voice in Saul's Conscience as aforesaid.

And in this Sense Samuel may be said to be disquieted; for if Saul had never gone to the Witch to enquire of her, Samuel's Words had been quiet in Saul; neither would Saul have had such Reasonings in himself, nor have been so sensible of the Worm of his Conscience.

So that there was no Voice of Samuel spoke unto Saul, but a motional Voice in Saul's own Mind or Conscience; his Fear and his Disobedience, and what Samuel had told him before, these all speaking with Voices in his wounded Conscience. Samuel's Words spake one Voice, and his own Disobedience spake another; so that the Witch of Endor did neither raise Samuel, but only made the King believe she did, neither did Samuel speak to the King but as aforesaid.

For the Kingdom being rent out of his Hands, his Sons being destroyed, and all other Threatnings of Samuel, they came into Saul's Mind afresh with strong Motions, so that they became as Voices in Saul's Heart, as if Samuel had spake to the hearing of the Ear: For there was no Samuel raised, nor no Samuel spake, but what was motional in the Mind of Saul, and what did visionally appear unto the Witch, which was a meer Shadow which she could produce by her Witchcraft-Art, to all those that were more ignorant than her self, or had Faith in her Power.

For the Reader must mind, that Witches and all those that doth attain to the Visions, and hear Voices within them, they do use Means to attain unto it; also they have some standing Rule or Art, by which they come to enquire or to know Things, that are above that Knowledge which is common to other People, it is much like unto the Ways of God.

Therefore let the Reader mind the Ground work laid down at the first, that the Imagination of Reason had begotten a Son out of the Womb of the Seed of Reason in Man, which I call the Mother, and Imagination the Father, and the Son that is begotten in the Womb of Reason; by Imagination the Father is that great Wisdom, Knowledge and Power, by which they go beyond other People who are of a lower Capacity.

This Son is that Familiar Spirit Witches doth deal with; it is another Spirit begotten in them, which was not in their Birth, when they were born, but begotten in themselves since by Imagination as aforesaid; Neither is this Familiar Spirit produced, or doth come from any Thing, or any Devil without them, as People do vainly imagine; but the Familiar Spirit it is produced, and doth come from within, for out of the Heart cometh evil Thoughts, Murder, Adultery, &c. And all Familiar Spirits, they are all conceived in the Heart, and being conceived there, in its Season it bringeth forth such Spirits as are conceived in the Heart; if Envy and Murder be conceived, as it was in Cain, then it bringeth forth the Spirit or Deed of Murder; if Lust be conceived in the Heart, it bringeth forth the Spirit and Act of Adultery, as it did in David; and if a Familiar Spirit be conceived in the Heart, then it bringeth forth such a Spirit that shall speak motional Voices within them, as if some Spirits without them did appear without a Body, and speak to them, and reveal those Things unto them.

Many wicked Spirits more then is mentioned, are conceived in the Hearts of Men and Women, and acted by them, Spirits, I say, that were never of God's Creation, but hath been conceived in the Mind of Man since; for when Sin is conceived, as in James i. 15. When Lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth Sin; and Sin when it is finished, bringeth forth Death: so that there is a Conception of Sin first in the Heart; and if it doth not die before it quickens into Life, that is, into act; then it bringeth forth Death, which is the Punishment due to such Sins, that are alive in Man's Actions, after they were conceived in the Heart. And as the Evil of Murder, Adultery, and Theft is conceived first in the Heart, so is that Familiar Spirit Witches and Wizards have; they are first conceived in the Mind, and in a little Season it groweth alive in them, and speaketh unto them, as if it were without them: For this I say, that a Familiar Spirit is conceived and begotten in the Heart of Man and Woman, as the other Sins aforementioned are, and the Cause why God is more angry with those that deal with a Familiar Spirit, and hath commanded them to be put to Death, more than for other Sins conceived in the Mind is, because they imitate the Way of God. Or the Spirit of Prophecy, which causeth the People to believe in a meer Fiction or Shadow without any Substance, that a Spirit may be raised out of the Ground without a Body, and so they forsake the living God, who hath a Body of his own, and gave Life to every Creature, that hath a Body and doth believe a Lie, which hath been conceived in the Mind, and hath quickned into a Familiar Spirit, and this Spirit doth always live within the Witch, and not without her; and this Familiar Spirit thus conceived, first in the evil Mind, and afterward quickning in the evil Heart, it goeth from Strength to Strength, and from one Degree of Knowledge, to a farther Degree of evil Knowledge, and evil Wisdom, as all Things else doth that hath Life; for Sin hath Life in it, and the outward Law causeth Sin to revive in every one that doth evil, as St. Paul saith, Rom. vii. 9. Thus in some Measure the Reader may understand what a Familiar Spirit is, and how it comes to have a Being in Witches and Wizards, and how the ignorant are Partakers with the Familiar Spirit.

In the next Place, I shall shew how those that have a Familiar Spirit do imitate the way of God, or the way of true Prophets; observe the Way and Manner of true Prophets, High-Priests, and all other People, who are richly gifted with the Spirit of Prophecy, or Revelation; for the Seed of Faith planted in the Heart, is the Seed and Nature of God, as Reason is the Seed and Nature of the Serpent or Devil; and as the Seed of Reason is the Womb or Mother for Imagination to get a Son.

So likewise the Seed of Faith in Man, is the Womb or Mother for the Revelation of Faith, to beget a Son out of the Seed of Faith, answerable as the Imagination doth out of the Seed of Reason.

And this Son the Revelation hath begotten out of the Seed of Faith, is that heavenly Wisdom, discerning Knowledge and Power over the Spirits of others, and Knowledge of Things above the Stars, and knoweth the true God in Form and Nature, with many other heavenly Secrets, which none else can know but those that believe them.

So that the Revelation of Faith hath begotten this heavenly Wisdom, Power and Glory out of the Seed of Faith, which is the Seed of God, even of his Divine Nature; and this Wisdom, Power, and Glory, is that Son or Spirit, by which all Prophets, High Priests, Apostles and others that have it.

I say this is that by which they can truly divine by, in that they can foretel truly what shall come to pass, according to the Knowledge of the Revelation of Faith; and this Wisdom, and Knowledge being produced by Revelation out of the Womb of the Seed of Faith, it may and is called the Spirit of God in Man, that doth teach and shew the Wisdom of God to others, so that others cometh to be taught and subjected by it, to their great Peace here, and eternal Joy hereafter.

And this Spirit of Wisdom, Knowledge and Power, which is produced by the Revelation as aforesaid, it hath motional Voices in the Conscience, as the Familiar Spirit hath in the evil Conscience; but the motional Voices in a good Conscience speaketh Peace. Likewise this motional Voice in Prophets, High-Priests, Apostles, and others, is that by which they do foretel Things by, whether it be good or bad, that shall befal those that shall enquire.

Also the Spirit of Revelation hath a standing Rule to enquire by, as those have that doth tell Things by a Familiar Spirit, as I said before; for the Witches doth imitate the way of the Prophets, and the Devil's Way is as like God's Way as he can.

Now let the Reader mind, and he may see how Men have enquired of the Lord by motional Voices in the Mind, by that Spirit of Faith which is gotten by Revelation, which is called the Spirit of God.

In the Time of the Law of Moses, the Ephod was a standing Rule, for to enquire of God for good or bad Success. Now there was no Man could tell what the Event would be that looked upon the Ephod, but such Men as had the Spirit of Revelation and Prophecy in them; as David and the High Priest, as soon as ever they looked upon the Ephod, they could tell whether they should prosper in Battle or not; but if any other Man which had not the Spirit of Revelation and Prophecy should look upon the Ephod, they could tell nothing by it.

Though the Ephod was appointed of God, on purpose to enquire of God, yet none could find out God's Mind, but such Men aforesaid; for as soon as ever David or the High-Priest looked upon the Ephod, they could tell what the Event would be, as may be seen, 1 Sam. xxiii. 6, 9. how David called for the Ephod and Abiathar the Priest to bring it to enquire of the Lord.

Yet God never spake to them by Voice, yet they had motional Voices in themselves in their Hearts, assuring them that they prosper or not prosper; yet God never appeared himself, nor any Angel, neither did God speak by any Voice, yet they are bid to go and prosper, as if they had heard some Voice by looking upon the Ephod, so that those Voices that bid them go and prosper, they were motional Voices that did arise from the Revelation and Spirit of Prophecy within them by that Skill they had in the Ephod, which was appointed of God for that Purpose. So that all David's Voices, and the High-Priest Voices, that were motional Voices, yet called the Voice of God, because they did arise from the Seed of Faith in David and others, which is the Divine Nature of God, therefore called the Spirit of God.

For this I say, if Saul had not lost that Spirit of Prophecy by his Disobedience, as he once had, when the good Spirit departed from him, he might have enquired of the Ephod, and have been answered with a motional Voice by the Ephod, as he was by enquiring of a Witch.

For the Spirit of Samuel did speak no more to Saul, then the Spirit of God did speak to David, they were both motional Voices that did arise from their two Seeds the one Voice spake Peace and Deliverance, and the other spake Wrath and Destruction; the one did enquire in the Way that God did appoint, even of the Ephod, or of the Lord's Prophets; the other did enquire of that which was forbidden, and forsook the Lord and his Prophets, and went to a Witch to enquire: It was because one was the Seed of Adam, which is the Seed of God, and so chosen of God in Mercy, even David; and the other was the Seed of the Serpent, even the Devil, who was chosen King in God's Wrath even Saul.

This is the true Interpretation of those Voices that Samuel spake to Saul, and of his being raised by the Witch of Endor.

Therefore you that can understand these things as aforementioned, you may see how the whole World lieth in Darkness, and are cheated of their Sense and Reason by this lying and vain Imagination, to believe that Spirits can be without Bodies, or that Spirits can be raised without Bodies, or that Spirits can speak without Bodies, or that Spirits departed can assume any Shapes afterwards; these Things and many more are produced by the dark Imagination of the Heart of Man: And if the Reader hath any true Light of Faith in him, he may understand the Interpretation I have given of the Witch of Endor, and how a Familiar Spirit is produced or begotten in them, and be satisfied in his Mind as to that Matter; so much concerning those Words in Samuel aforementioned.

Again, it is said, Isa. viii. 29. the Prophet speaking there to unbelieving Israelites that did not believe the Word of the Lord through the Prophets Mouths, concerning the Destruction that should come upon Israel; this Judgment did the Lord threaten by the Mouth of his Prophet Isaiah to bring upon Israel for their Unbelief; and this Prophet seeing the People would not hearken unto the Voice of the Lord's Prophets, nor inquire of them, but altogether persecuted them as false Prophets, Deceivers and Liers, and the Inclination of their Hearts was more willing and desirous to enquire of a Witch or Wizard, who had a Familiar Spirit then of the Prophet of the Lord, as you may see Chapter and Verse above-written; the Words are these as followeth.

And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have Familiar Spirits, and unto Wizards that peep and that mutter, should not a People seek unto their God for the living to the dead. The Meaning of these Words is this, that unbelieving Men do think and believe that Witches and Wizards who hath a Familiar Spirit, can rise out of the Ground where dead Men were buried, living Spirits without Bodies that can reveal Things unto them, by that motional Voice that doth proceed from these Familiar Spirits, which doth peep and mutter.

That is, the Whisperings that proceeds from this Familiar Spirit, that is begotten by the Imagination of Reason the Father, and the Seed of Reason the Mother, as I said before, is that motional Voice all Witches and Wizards have, whereby they peep and mutter in themselves, as if they did hear Voices and see Shapes, and living Spirits arise out of the Ground, as the Witch of Endor said to King Saul, She saw Gods ascend out of the earth. When as there was no Spirit nor Shape came out of the Ground, at all; but the Gods she saw ascend out of the Earth came out of her own Imagination, even that Familiar Spirit begotten in her, it seemed unto her as if it did ascend out of the Earth, but those Gods she said she saw ascend out of the Earth, they ascended out of her own Imagination, and Saul believed her, and so was Partakers with her, and he did believe that she had raised Samuel's Spirit out of the Earth, as the Witch had said.

And this is to be minded by the Reader, that when Spirits are to be raised by Witches, her Familiar Spirit always ariseth out of her own self, even from the Seed of Reason and Imagination of her own Heart, whereby she doth hear Voices within her, whispering low Voices, as if some other Spirits without her did spake with a low Voice unto her, and present Shapes unto her dazled Eyes, which seemeth to the Witch to be real Voices of a Spirit without her, and a real Shape without her; when as in Deed and in Truth, it ariseth out of her own self, even from the Seed of Reason, and Imagination of her own Heart, whereby she doth hear Voices within her, whispering low Voices, as if some other Spirit without her did speak with a low Voice to her, and present Shapes to her dazled Eyes, which seemeth to the Witch to be a real Voice of a Spirit without her, and a real Shape without her, when as in Deed and in Truth it is nothing else but a motional Voice begotten in her self, and Shapes begotten in her self, by the Imagination in the Womb of Reason as aforesaid, which is that Familiar Spirit.

Which is that Familiar Spirit she doth deal with, she thinking it is from some Spirit without her, she not knowing it is begotten in her; and this Familiar Spirit begotten in her, it whispers within her with a low motional Voice, as if some Spirit did whisper out of the Ground. According to that saying of the Prophet, Isa. xxix. 4. concerning the Destruction or Judgment of God upon Jerusalem; the Words are these, And thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the Ground, and thy Speech shall be low out of the Dust, and thy Voice shall be as one that hath a Familiar Spirit out of the Ground, and thy Speech shall whisper out of the Dust.

As if the Prophet should say, Seeing you have refused to hearken to the Voice of the Prophets, which hath declared the Mind of the God of Israel openly with a loud Voice; you have heard them speak plain Words with your Ears, but you have not believed they spoke Truth unto you; therefore you have rejected the Word of the Lord by his Prophets, and have persecuted and slain some of them as false Prophets, because they spake unto you in the Name of the Lord, as it was revealed by the Spirit of Revelation in them.

They spake plain Words unto you, as might be heard to the outward Ear by the Standers-by; they were visible Men that spake unto you, so that you need not to enquire after any that hath a Familiar Spirit, who speaketh so softly and so low, that no Standers-by can hear this Familiar Spirit speak, but he or she that hath it.

But as for plain Words openly declared by the Prophets, and publickly heard by the outward Ear, these you have rejected, despised, persecuted, and counted them Liars, Deceivers, false Prophets, and such like: Therefore God hath given you over to strong Delusions, to enquire of a Witch, who makes you believe that Spirits may be raised out of the Ground, and that Spirits do come out of the Dust, and whisper to the Witch with a low Voice, that none can hear but her self. So that those that enquire do believe as King Saul did, that a Familiar Spirit can enter into the Dust or Ground, and bring up another Man's Spirit that is dead without its Body, and so their two Spirits whisper so low together, that none can hear that stands by, nor tell what this Spirit that is raised did say, nor whether the Spirit so raised is gone into the Body again, or into the Ground from whence the Witch said it was raised; which Spirit that is said to be raised, or said to speak out of the Ground, I say, it was raised out of the Witches own Body, and no where else; and those low Voices and Whisperings were both within her, and not without her.

Now how a Man may be said to be brought down, and shall speak out of the Ground, and their Speech shall be low out of the Dust: The Meaning is, when a particular Man or Woman, or a People or Nation, be in the same Distress and Condition as King Saul was; that is, in Danger of loosing his Crown and Kingdom, his natural Life; and not only so, but his Soul is tormented with the Fear of eternal Death; this maketh the Heart of Man to melt in him; it makes his Speech to grow weak and feeble, so that his Speech can hardly be heard; it is even as if a Man did speak out of Death, or out of the Ground.

A Man with the Extremity of outward and inward Trouble, he becomes Speechless, yet he speaks in his Thoughts, but so low, that none that stands by can hear or tell what he saith. This many can experience, that have seen their Friend or Relation in this Condition; this is like speaking out of the Ground, and low out of the Dust. And the Voice of every such troubled Soul, who hath the Plagues of this Life, and the Horror of Conscience as to the Life to come, as King Saul had the Voice such People have, is as one that hath a Familiar Spirit out of the Ground, and their Speech shall be as if one did whisper out of the Dust.

This Place of Scripture hath the same Meaning as the Place before-mentioned, Isa. viii. 19. where such as King Saul was, are bade to seek unto them that have Familiar Spirits, and unto Wizards, that peep and mutter, (that is) that whisper out of the Ground; for whisper, peep, and mutter, signifies all one Thing.

These Things did Manasseh, 2 Kings xxi. 6. he dealt with Familiar Spirits, and did great Abominations; he made his Sons to pass thorough the Fire, in offering them up a Sacrifice to an unknown Devil, which he thought was God; and this he did by the Whisperings of the Familiar Spirit within him, and being acquainted with others, who were known to have Familiar Spirits also. And so did several other Kings of Israel deal with Familiar Spirits, and had those low whispering Voices in themselves, as if Spirits had risen out of the Ground, or from the Dust to speak unto them; and this they did attain unto by Industry, in that they forsook the Words of the Prophets, and would not hearken unto them, but gave themselves up to follow the Imaginations of their own Hearts; imagining they might as well know God, and what Worship would please God as well as the Prophets; therefore why should we, being Kings, hearken unto such mean inferiour Men as these? May not we by our Familiar Spirit as well know God, and what Worship will please him by our Familiar Spirit, as the Prophets do by the Spirit of Prophecy? Why should we be in such Bondage, that we can do nothing but what they say, the Lord commands us to do? So the Imagination saith, Come, we will not be tied up thus; we will see what our Familiar Spirit begotten in us will do; we will erect and build Altars in several Places, and sacrifice Bullocks and Lambs to an unknown God; and so by this Means they procure in themselves low motional Voices, which whisper in themselves, which becomes in them a Familiar Spirit, is produced in themselves: And there is a more Increase of low motional Voices, which doth whisper in the Mind, moving them to a further Degree of Knowledge, and endeavour after more Voices, so that to attain to this diabolical Wisdom in a more high Measure. They are moved by this low Voice within them to offer up their own Children in Sacrifices to their imaginary God, which they believe is an invisible Spirit without a Body, which reveals these Things unto them, and whispers and speaks those Voices unto them.

They count nothing too dear for this their imaginary God, no not their own Sons and Daughters, as Manasseh and others did, that made their Sons and Daughters pass through the Fire as a Sacrifice to their imaginary God, that had spoke so many Voices to them, and had whispered to them.

But all these Whisperings and low Voices, and peeping of Spirits out of the Ground, as they thought, I say, they were all within them; for when they came in any Trouble, their Familiar Spirit departs from them, and will not comfort them any more, let it be either in Poor or Rich, nay, Kings that have dealt with Familiar Spirits, when they have been in Trouble, all their comfort hath been lost, as the poorest Witch that is, as may be seen by Manasseh and other King spoken of in the Scripture.

Now observe, when God doth bring upon a People, Nation, or particular Person, some great Judgment and Destruction, let it be either outward or inward in the Mind, when it comes upon a People, Nation, or particular Person, for their Sins and Wickedness they have committed, in forsaking the Lord's Prophets, and dealing with Witches and Familiar Spirits; as Saul forsook the Lord and went to a Witch, and Manasseh, and several other Kings of Israel, who ought only to have obeyed the Prophets of the Lord; but they forsook him, and enquired of Witches and Wizards, and dealt with Familiar Spirits themselves, and caused the People to worship the Devil (whom they imagined to be God) instead of the true God, whom the Prophets would have had them to worship.

But when this Punishment for Sin is inflicted upon a People, Nation, or particular Person, for dealing with Familiar Spirits, and worshipping of Devils; when Punishment comes, it makes the Heart or Hearts to fail, for the Spirit is brought down by this Judgment even to Death, and so goeth to the Ground; so that the very Fear, Trouble, and Sorrow of Heart, shall speak as it were out of the Dust, or out of Death; for Sin will speak out of the Ground, and the Speech of Death will be low in them that have escaped the Destruction which others did go through; for there will be a Resemblance in those that have escaped, how their Friends and Relations are fallen to the Ground or Dust of the Earth for their Wickedness, so that Sorrow and Grief will speak in the Mind of those that have escaped with a low Speech, even as one doth who hath a Familiar Spirit. Or as if their Friends and Relations, the Remembrance of their Destruction being taken away in Wrath for Sin, it speaks a small low Voice of Grief and Sorrow in the Heart of those that are alive, even as one that hath a Familiar Spirit, even a low motional Voice of Sorrow and Grief, and it cometh as it were out of the Ground, or out of the Dust.

That is the very Influence of Grief and Sorrow, for their dead Friends and People; it causeth, where Grief is, to hear as it were low Voices and small Speeches, even out of the Ground or out of the Dust of the Earth: Just as it was with Cain in another Case, the Lord said to Cain, Thy Brother's Blood crieth from the Ground for Vengeance; and so the Blood of those that were slain under the Altar did from the Ground cry for Vengeance, as in Rev. vi. 10. it crieth for Vengeance in the Consciences of all bloody Persecutors. So in like Manner doth the Death and Destruction of a People, who are destroyed for wicked Idolatry, as those were the Prophet Isaiah speaketh of, they spake from the Ground a low Speech in the Conscience of those that were concerned, Grief, Sorrow, and Fear of the same Punishment, and such like.

For where Grief and Sorrow is rooted and settled in the Heart, it speaketh with low motional Voices in the Mind; that is, the thought of Fear in the Mind, both of temporal Losses and the Loss of eternal Peace. The Fear moves to and fro in that Mind, as if it were a Speech out of the Ground; for the Thoughts of the Heart are low Voices which cannot be heard by any but themselves.

So is it with those that have a Familiar Spirit, their Voices and Speech they hear from Spirits without them, as if Spirits did speak to them out of the Ground: Which Speech they say they hear, is nothing else but the Thoughts that pass to and fro in their own Minds, a low motional Voice in themselves, as if Spirits did speak to them with a low Voice out of the Ground, or out of the Dust. For their Faith is strong, and above all those that come to enquire of a Witch, they do all believe that Spirits may be raised without Bodies out of the Ground, as the Witch doth; so they both do believe, that the Spirit came out of the Ground that spake those low Voices to the Witch, and she tells it to the other that enquire of her, and they believe her as King Saul did.

So they are wholly departed from the Lord, and believe a Lye, to think that Spirits can be raised out of the Ground without Bodies after Men have been dead; it is a Thing God never did; we never read in Scripture, that God or his Prophets did ever raise any Spirits out of the Ground without Bodies after they were dead; but we read in Scripture, that God and his Prophets have raised some from the dead with Bodies, as that of Lazarus being raised out of the Ground by Christ, and the Child that was raised from Death by the Prophet Elijah, and another Child raised from Death to Life by the Prophet Elisha, and several others come forth out of the Ground at the rising again of Christ from Death, as those Saints that did arise out of the Graves, and appeared to many that were alive; these all did arise out of the Graves with Bodies after they were dead, and Lazarus came forth out of the Ground after he was dead, but his Spirit came not out of the Ground without his Body, but Body and Soul came out of the Ground together.

For it was always God's Practice to raise Soul and Body together; and because the Imagination of Reason in those that have a Familiar Spirit cannot do so, nor those that enquire of them, therefore they do imagine that Spirit may be raised out of the Ground without Bodies, or assume a Shape and appear like a Body, yet it shall be of no Substance, a Shape that can neither be felt nor handled by the Hand of Man.

Now mind, all those God doth raise out of the Ground after they were dead, they may be handled and felt, though they be Spiritual Bodies, yet they may be felt and handled, as Christ said to Thomas, Feel me and handle me, after he was risen from the dead, and Thomas laid his Fingers in the Print of the Nails, and on his Side. Yet Christ was at that time a Spiritual Body that was risen from the Dead, that might be felt and handled, and not a Spirit without a Body, as most People do vainly imagine that Spirits may be raised without Bodies.

And as for that Lazarus and others, that were raised by the Power of God out of the Ground after they had been dead, they had Bodies as well as Spirits that might be seen with natural Eyes, and handled and felt with natural Hands. So that God's Power in raising the Dead, it is no Cheat; the Creature is not cheated nor deceived, but is fully satisfied in his Mind.

But for a Familiar Spirit to say or tell People, they do or can raise Spirits out of the Ground in such a Shape without a Body or bodily Substance; or shall say, they hear Voices from this Spirit so raised, is a mere Cheat to the Ignorant and Unbelieving, and leads them into the Pit of Darkness, and makes them fear where no Fear is, and are afraid of their own Shadows; for it is the Nature of Reason the Devil to imagine, that this way of raising of Spirits without Bodies, to be of a more high Nature then to raise Spirit and Body together, as God doth; and the Imagination doth conceive it a more greater Power, to raise Spirits without Bodies out of the Dust of the Ground, than it is to raise Spirit and Body together, as Christ did; for Christ always raised Spirit and Body together, as the Scriptures do testify.

For the Reason in Man doth send forth the Imagination of the Heart, the unclean Spirit in Man walking through dry Places, seeking rest but can find none; the ignorant dark Thoughts of the Imagination goeth out of a Man, to enquire of one that hath a Familiar Spirit, seeking rest but can find none, as King Saul did: For the Imagination of the Heart being continually Evil, it always walketh through dry Places, where no matter of Life is to be had, to quench the Thirst of Sin or a defiled Conscience; neither can the Thoughts of Imagination be satisfied with what a Witch or a Familiar saith; therefore called dry Places: They may be called dry, because the Heart is never satisfied with what a Witch saith, for she always saith a Lie.

To tell a Man or Woman, that she doth or can raise Spirits out of the Ground without Bodies, as the Witch of Endor did to King Saul, or that she did hear any low Voice or Speech of Samuel out of the Ground, as she told the King; I say, she did but cheat the King, and made him believe she had raised Samuel, and had heard him speak to her with a low Speech out of the Ground, which had revealed unto her what sad Things would befal the King: so he believing her Words, his Spirit fainted, so that no Strength was in him; when as in Deed and in Truth, that Samuel she said she saw arise out of the Earth, he did arise out of her own Heart; and that low Speech she said Samuel spake, it was all in her self by the Motions of the Familiar Spirit begotten in her. And King Saul believing her, being Partaker of her Faith, Samuel spake a low motional Voice or Speech in him also, he believing it was Samuel spake out of the Earth, but it was nothing else but the Voice of his own guilty Conscience within himself, as it was the Voice her Familiar Spirit in her self that spake as aforesaid.

So that the Meaning of the Prophet Isaiah, Chap. xxix. 4. concerning the Destruction of Jerusalem, that Grief and Sorrow of Heart should speak in themselves; as if the Speech came put of the Ground, because they saw in themselves nothing but Death and Destruction did approach, and was like to follow upon them all, fearing they should all be destroyed by their Enemies, and slain and fall to the Ground: So that Fear of Heart of Destruction, it spake a low Speech in every Man's Heart, even as if it spake out of the Ground, or as one that hath a Familiar Spirit; for it is the Nature of a Familiar Spirit to speak as if the Speech did proceed from the Earth, and the Speech doth seem to the Witch, and those that enquire of her, to whisper out of the Dust: When as the Speech cometh not out of the Ground, neither doth it whisper out of the Dust, as is imagined by most People, because Ignorance and Darkness hath overspread the Minds of most People in the World. But that low Speech the Familiar Spirit speaks or whispers, it is out of her own Heart, even that Wisdom begotten by the Imagination in her own Thoughts, that speaks as aforesaid, and no Spirit without her, as hath vainly been imagined.

So likewise the People of the Jews, the Fear, Grief, and Sorrow of Heart, being begotten in them for such like Sins, as that of Witchcraft, Idolatry, dealing with Familiar Spirits, causing their Sons and Daughters to pass through the Fire as burnt Offerings and Sacrifices unto Devils, which they supposed to be Gods; these Things caused their Hearts to fail and faint, and their Thoughts were troubled within themselves, which causeth their Speech to grow weak and low within them, even as if some Familiar did speak out of the Ground, or whisper out of the Dust, Fear, Grief, and Sorrow of Heart: But all come out of their own grieved Hearts, who were punished for their Sins; and not out of the natural Ground or natural Dust, as People do vainly imagine. This is the true Meaning of the Prophet's Words, and how Familiar Spirits may be said to speak out of the Ground, and whisper out of the Dust.

Again, it hath been objected by many, that Spirits may be raised without Bodies, and that Spirits may be talked with after they have been dead and buried; and that Spirits have appeared in a Shape to several People, yet this Spirit so appearing hath no Body nor Substance at all, neither can it be felt or handled by mortal Man, nor no immortal Creature neither: this is the vain Conceit of most People.

But to satisfy the Reader in this, I declare, that there is no immortal Spirit whatsoever, but it hath a Spiritual Body suitable to its Spirit; if the Spirit be immortal, the Body is immortal also: For this I say, no Spirit can have any Being at all without a Body, no not God himself, who was from Eternity; his Spirit could not be from Eternity without a Spiritual Body, in Form like Man; they were both from Eternity, and the one was never divided nor separated from the other, but they were both Eternal. And further I declare, that God was a Spiritual Body from Eternity, in Form like a Man; therefore God created Man in his own Image and Likeness. Now observe, if Man hath a Body suitable to his Spirit, so hath God a Body suitable to his Spirit, else Man was not created in his Image, if God hath never a Body, but is all Spirit, as People do vainly imagine. For this I know, that God was Spirit and Body, in Form like a Man, from Eternity, and his Spirit was never divided nor separated from his Body, but they were both Eternal.

So likewise is it with Angels and Men, and all other Creatures; where-ever the Spirit of Life is, there is Bodies of Life also; let it be either in Spiritual Bodies, or in Natural Bodies. For if the Body of either of these be dead, the Spirit is dead also; and if the Spirit be dead either in Spiritual Body or Natural Body, the Body is dead also: For the one cannot have any sensible Being without the other. And further I say, that they were both together Spirit and Body from Eternity in God the Creator, and he hath ordered and created all his Creatures, both celestial and terrestrial, that Spirit and Body should be one living Being, and that one should not subsist nor have no sensible being without the other: Even as God himself could not enjoy no sensible Living being without a Body, he knowing this in himself.

Therefore he created all his Creatures Spiritual and Natural, with Bodies suitable to their Spirits, and Spirits suitable to their Bodies, so that one might not be divided nor separated from the other; for if one dieth, the other dieth; and if the Spirit live, the Body liveth also. For this I say, that if the Spirit of God himself could not be without a Body from Eternity, how then is it possible that his Creatures should have Spirits without Bodies, seeing he himself his Spirit could not have any Being without his Body from Eternity.

But this Conceit, that the Spirit or Soul of Man is immortal, and cannot die, and may have a Being without a Body, and appear in a Shape without any Substance; this vain Conceit proceeded first from the Imagination of Reason in Man, even from Cain, the first Devil in Flesh and Bone. And this Imagination in Cain his Posterity, being Heathen Men, who had no Communion with God, nor Revelation of Faith, as the Sons of Adam and the Sons, of Seth, the Generation of the Righteous, had; they knew that the Spirit and Body was all one Substance.

But the Imagination of Reason, Cain his Posterity, the Heathen Opinion, do imagine the Spirit of Man to be immortal, and cannot die; and that Spirits may appear in Shapes without Bodies; and that Spirits may go out of the Body, and go to Heaven or Hell and leave the Body to be laid in the Ground, as the Quakers and others do.

And this Imagination of Reason in Man hath created to it self a new Creation, which God never created. Man hath created and made in his Imagination a Spirit without a Body, and that this Spirit so created is immortal, and cannot die, nor is not capable of Death, that it can slip out of the Body, and that it can have a Being when it is gone out of the Body, and appear in a Shape without Substance or hath Power to assume what Shape it please, and yet this Shape, it doth assume, shall have no Substance yet it shall appear in a Shape and fright People.

And the Imagination of Reason in Man hath created Man in his own Image and Likeness, as God did Adam: As thus, First, he hath conceived in his Imagination, that God is a Spirit without a Body. Secondly, he conceiveth in his Imagination that the Devil is a Spirit flying in the Air, which can neither be seen nor felt; yet this Devil or Spirit without a Body doth tempt Man to Evil, whereby Man is punished, and the Tempter he is escaped away without Punishment.

Also it is conceived by the Imagination, that this Devil or Spirit is in Hell-fire, and in Chains of Darkness, and can go no further then God will permit him, because his Chain is no longer then God hath limited him.

Also it is conceived in the Imagination, notwithstanding the Devil is chained, and in Hell-fire tormented, yet he being a Spirit without a Body, he is so swift that he can be in all Places at one Time, so that he can tempt thousands of Men and Women to sin at one and the same Time, and they themselves never the wiser, nor know him when he tempted them. All this the imaginary Devil can do, and much more; and yet be in Hell fire, and tied in a Chain at the same Time, and all but one Devil, a Spirit without a Body.

Also the Imagination hath conceived that the Soul of Man is a Spirit infused or put into the Body by God himself, and that Man begets the Body, but not the Soul or Life of Man, that is conceived to be immortal, or a Spirit that is so invisible, that cannot be seen nor known what it is, and that it can live of it self when it is gone out of the Body.

Thus the Imagination of Reason the Devil, hath created its own Soul in its own Image and Likeness; and this hath been the Occasion of producing of Familiar Spirits, and of dealing with those that have a Familiar Spirit, being conformed to the very Image of the Devil. Many Things more of the like Nature might be said in this Point.

But here the Reader may see if there be any true Light of Faith in him, how the Imagination of Reason in Man hath created Spirits without Bodies, and that the Devil is a Body-less Spirit, and in Hell-fire, and in a Chain of Darkness, and yet at Liberty at the same time to tempt People; and in Hell-fire, and yet out of the Fire when he pleaseth; and that he may be called out of Hell, or out of the Ground, when a Witch by her Familiar Spirit doth call; and that he shall appear in any Shape they will have him, yet he shall have no Body nor Substance, but a mere Shadow; yet this Shadow shall speak with a low Voice or Speech out of the Ground; as if Speech could proceed from a Shadow without Substance.

So that the Imagination of the Heart of Man hath created to it self a Devil, that God never created; and the Imagination of Man's Heart hath created his own Soul in the Image and Likeness of the Devil, that is to say, a Spirit without a Body; and that a Spirit without a Body may be capable of Joy or Sorrow; and that a Spirit may subsist and have a being in Joy or Sorrow without a Body, which Thing is impossible.

But observe the Creation that the Imagination of Man hath created to himself; for it is the Nature of Imagination of Reason the Devil, he always creates Spirits without Bodies, but God the Creator he always creates Spirits and Bodies together, for God never created any Spirit without a Body; for when God made Man after his own Image and Likeness, he made him with a Body as well as a Spirit, else Man could not be made in the Image and Likeness of God, if God had a Body of his own as well as a Spirit.

So that Adam was made or created in the Image and Likeness of God; for Adam had a visible Body and Spirit, undivided and unseparable one from the other; they were but one visible sensible Being, and when the Life was dead the Body was dead, and when the Body is really dead, the Spirit and Life was and is dead also; and both are laid in the Ground together, as is declared in all our Writings, but more especially in that Book entituled, The Mortality of the Soul.

Also I do further declare, that God did never create any Spirit without a Body, neither of Angels, nor Men, nor no other Creature, neither in Heaven above, nor in the Earth beneath, nor the Waters under the Earth. There is no Spirit or Life whatsoever that is created of God, but it hath a Body to that Life or Spirit; but if a Spirit have any Being without a Body, that Spirit is none of God's Creation; for God never created any Spirit whatsoever without a Body, as I said before.

But the Imagination of Reason in Man, which is the Devil, hath created all Creatures in the Imagination to have Spirits without Bodies, both of Angels above and Man here on Earth, and all Creatures upon the Earth, and in the Waters, that have the Breath of Life, the Imagination of Reason saith, their Spirits may subsist without Bodies, or go out of those Bodies they have, and enter into other Bodies, and appear in the Shape of a Body, and yet be of no Substance: so that the Devil's Creation is all of Spirits without Bodies, and God's Creation is all with Bodies and Spirits together.

And this Darkness hath overspread the Nature of Man all the World over, which is the Occasion of that Opinion of Houses and Places being haunted with evil Spirits, and Spirits walking without Bodies, and dealing with Familiar Spirits, that peep, and mutter, and whisper as it were out of the Ground. These Things and many more are produced by the Imagination of the Heart of Man, for the Imagination of Man's Heart is evil, and continually evil; for it hath given a Being to Spirits without Bodies, to fright it self to that which hath no Being of it self.

For I declare and perfectly know, that there is no such Thing as Spirits to walk without Bodies, nor assume any Shape after Death, nor be raised out of the Ground by any Witch or any Familiar Spirit whatsoever; it is all produced out of the dark Imagination of the Heart, where Ignorance beareth Rule, for there is no such Thing can be presented but to the Ignorant and dark minded People.

Thus I have given the Reader to understand something more concerning the Power of Witches, and how they may be said to raise Spirits out of the Ground, and from whence that low Speech doth come, with those Scriptures opened that speak as if a Familiar Spirit did hear whispering out of the Dust.

Also I have given the Interpretation of that in Samuel concerning the Witch of Endor, and those Places of Scripture in Isaiah; these Places are the most concerning Spirits being raised without Bodies, of any in the Scriptures; but there have been some other Places of Scriptures, that do seem to carry a shew as if Spirits might rise again without Bodies, and I have been desired by some to open those Scriptures that seem to tend to that Purpose, though the common and general Objection amongst all People is, that of the Witch of Endor and King Saul, which I have opened before; yet for the further Satisfaction of the Reader, I shall open and interprete the other Places objected, that seem to tend to the same thing.

The Places of Scripture are three; the first is Isa. lxi. 1. the Words are these, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good Tidings unto the Meek: He hath sent me to bind up the Broken-hearted, to proclaim Liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound——So Luke iv. 18. the Words in Luke are much to the same Purpose, and little Difference; only that which Isaiah did prophesy of, it was fulfilled by Christ in his time——So the first Epistle of Peter, Chap. iii. and 18, 19, 20. Verses; the Words are these, For Christ also hath once suffered for Sin, the Just for the Unjust; that he might bring us to God, being put to Death in the Flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. Verse 19. By which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison: Verse 20. Which sometime were disobedient, when once the Long-suffering of God waited in the Days of Noah, while the Ark was a preparing, wherein few (that is) eight Souls were saved by Water.

As for that Saying of the Prophet Isaiah, it was a Prophecy of Christ, that he should be anointed to preach Glad-tidings, unto the Meek, and that he was sent to bind up the Broken-hearted, to proclaim Liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound. This Prophecy was fulfilled when he was upon Earth, as may plainly appear by those Words in Luke aforementioned.

Also the Reader may understand, that these Places of Scripture have no Relation at all to the raising of Spirits without Bodies; nor of Spirits being in Prison, nor delivered out of Prison by the Power of Christ without Bodies.

But the Meaning is this, that the Spirit of the Lord Almighty was upon Christ, and in him, and did anoint him to preach Glad-tidings of Salvation to the Meek in Heart, who did believe in him and trusted in his Words; all such as were broken-hearted, who were led Captive by the Error, Ignorance, and Darkness of the Mind; he came to proclaim Liberty to the Spirit of Man, who was in Captivity; and to open the Prison-door of Mens Hearts.

For this I say, all Mens Spirits by Nature are shut up in the Prison of Spiritual Darkness in the Mind, and are lead Captive by the Ignorance of Truth; so that the Spirit or Soul of Man is shut up a Prisoner in the Body of Man, until the true God and Saviour hath been preached to them, as it was by Christ himself, when on Earth he was anointed to preach Glad-tidings of Salvation; and he anointed his Apostles to preach Glad-tidings of Peace to Men, and to open the Prison, and to deliver the Captive out of Captivity, and to set the Spirits of many that were in a Prison of Darkness in their own Minds go free: This Prophecy was fulfilled at that Time by Christ and his Apostles in their Commission.

But the same Captivity and Prison of Darkness is now upon the Spirits of all Men, as it was at that Time: For this I say, and many People can Witness, that their Spirits have been shut up Prisoners in Spiritual Darkness in their own Bodies, until the true God the Saviour hath been preached unto them by his last Messengers.

For this I declare, that those Words of the Prophet Isaiah, they were spoken with Relation to a Spiritual Liberty, and to a Spiritual Captivity, of the Mind or Spirit of Man, and not to a Natural Captivity. Neither was it meant the opening of the natural Prison Doors, to them that were bound by the Powers of the Nations; but the Doors of Mens Hearts were opened at the preaching of Christ and his Apostles, in that Light, and Life, and Salvation was preached unto them, that whoever Believed that this Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour of the World, should be saved and delivered from the Fear of Eternal Death: So that the Soul of Man that was lead Captive into Prison, and bound in Chains of Darkness, and strong Doors lockt fast to keep the Spirit of Men in Prison, by the Works of the Law, and the Expounders of the Law before Christ came, the Spirit of Reason in them did lead the Generality of People their Spirits into Spiritual Captivity, and shut them up in Prison, and tied their Spirits up in the Observation of the Ceremonial Law of Moses.

Which was as Chains of Darkness: and not only so, but shut the Door of Hope upon them, so that there was no Hope to be saved in them, but by observing the Law aforesaid, which Paul calls beggarly Rudiments, Gal. iii. So that this Spiritual Captivity and being bound in Prison, and the Doors being shut, it was the Spirits of People that were Captives and Prisoners in their own Bodies, kept by the Legal and Ceremonial Righteousness of the Law of Moses; and when Christ came to preach, and to give Power to his Apostles to preach the Gospel of Truth, both to Jew and Gentile, then was the Door of Hope opened in People's Hearts, and many that were bound in Prison, whose Spirits were led Captive, they were set at Liberty from that Bondage of the Ceremonial Law, wherein they were bound, and brought out of that Prison of Darkness in the Mind, into the glorious Light and Life of Faith, by the preaching of Christ and his Apostles.

Then was this Prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled in the Apostles Commission; then was Liberty preached to the Spirits of many that were bound and in Prison in their own Minds, the Word of Faith preached unto them, it opened a Door of Hope of Deliverance from the Bondage of the Law as aforesaid, wherewith they were bound; so that by Faith they had in Christ, their Chains fell off their Feet, and Darkness of their Understanding; so that they were at perfect Liberty, and delivered out of Prison, and the Prison-Door of Hope in Christ being opened, all true Believers in Christ were set at Liberty, free from Captivity, and out of that Spiritual Prison of Darkness into the glorious Liberty of the Sons and Daughters of God for ever and ever.

So is it now in this Commission of the Spirit, we the Witnesses of the Spirit have preached Glad-tidings of Salvation, and have opened the Prison-Doors of Mens Hearts, and have let many out of that Spiritual Prison, that were bound to the Righteousness set up by the Imagination of Reason now in these last Days, who were led Captive by their own Traditions, and kept in Prison in their own Bodies for many Years; but by the Declaration of Truth in all our Writings and our Speakings, many People have been delivered out of Captivity and out of Prison, their Spirits have been let loose out of the Chains of Darkness, because the Door of their Hearts hath been opened by the Word of Faith in the true God, which we have preached and written; this many can witness at this Day the Truth of it. So that now that Scripture is fulfilled again these last days; and this is the true Meaning of the Prophet Isaiah, in those Words concerning opening the Prison, and giving Liberty to the Captives that were imprisoned in their own Bodies by the Conceptions of the Imaginations of their own Hearts.

So that there is not the least Colour or Ground from those Words, for the Reason of Man to think that Spirits may be let out of Prison without Bodies, or that the Spirit of Christ did Preach to any Spirit in Prison without his Body.

And as for those Words of Peter aforenamed, where he saith, Christ was put to Death in the Flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; by which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison, which sometime were Disobedient, when once the Long-suffering of God waited in the Days of Noah, while the Ark was a preparing, &c.

The Meaning of those Words are as followeth; that Christ was put to Death in the Body of his own Flesh, this is confessed by most People that profess the Scriptures of Truth, but very few do truly believe, that the Soul or Spirit of Christ did die, or was put to Death at all, notwithstanding the Scripture saith, that He poured out his Soul unto Death; and he himself saith, His Soul was heavy unto Death. Therefore that the Reader may understand what is meant in that Christ was put to Death in the Flesh but quickened by the Spirit; mind,

I declare, that it was the Soul or Spirit of Christ, which was the Godhead-life that dwelt in that Body of Flesh and Bone of Christ; for, as the Scripture saith, In him all the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt Bodily: And this Godhead-life that dwelt in the Body of Christ's Flesh, it was put to Death in the Body of Christ's Flesh, and the same Godhead-life that was put to Death in the Body of his Flesh. And when Christ's Body was crucified upon the Cross, then was the Soul and Life of Christ, or the Godhead-life did die, and was put to Death in that Flesh of Christ; for that Flesh of Christ was God become Flesh, as the Scripture saith; and the Soul and Life of Christ was the Soul and Life of God. And,

When Christ poured out his Soul unto Death, it was the Godhead Life that was poured out unto Death; so that the Godhead Spirit was put to Death, and did die in the Flesh of Christ when he was Crucified. But this Godhead Life which was put to Death in the Flesh of Christ, it quicken'd again where it was put to Death, even in the same Flesh where it was put to Death. And in its quickening again, it raised the same Flesh again, and so spiritualized the same Flesh that suffered, and made it uncapable to suffer Death any more.

For this I say, no Spirit or Life that is put to Death whatsoever, could possibly quicken again in the same Body, but the Life of God only, so that Christ must needs be God as well as Man; for it was Christ that was put to Death in the Flesh, and the same Life that was put to Death, and did die, that which did die did quicken again, and so is called a quickening Spirit.

Now observe, it cannot properly be called a quickening Spirit, if it had not been once dead: For if the Spirit and Life of Christ did not die, nor was not dead, then I say, there was no need that this Spirit and Life, should quicken again, for it was always quick and alive.

For the Spirit quickening doth imply, a sensible Life is quickned out of an insensible Life; as a Child in the Womb before it is quick, it feeleth no Pain, neither doth it stir in the Womb, and the Midwife doth not care to destroy it to save the Womans Life, because the Child was not quick, it was an insensible Life, no more capable of Pain then there is in Death, or a dead Lump of Earth; but when a Child is quick in the Womb, it is capable of Pain, though it hath not Strength to express it to us that are strong, yet it is capable of Pain, because it is quickened into a sensible Life, that is, a living Soul, a living Spirit, and so may be called a quickened Spirit of Life, out of that which was dead; yet by the Appointment of God in his Creation, and the Warmness of the Womb, there is new Life or Spirit doth quicken in the Womb in its Season, according to the Appointment of God when he created all Things, and placed a Law of Generation in them.

So likewise the Spirit or Life of Christ was put to Death in his own Body of Flesh, as aforesaid; and in its Season he himself had appointed before, namely three Days and three Nights, this Spirit of Christ so put to Death, it quickened again in the same Flesh a new and Glorious Life, which made that Flesh that suffered Glorious also.

And this is the true Interpretation of Peter's Words, and the Faith of all true Believers, that the Spirit, Life, and Soul of Christ did die, and was put to Death in the Body of his own Flesh, that was Crucified on the Cross by the Jews; and that the same Spirit that was put to Death, it did quicken again out of Death into a new and Glorious Life by his own Power, therefore called a quickening Spirit.

So that here is no Ground at all for that vain Conceit in People, who do believe that Spirits may be raised without Bodies, or appear without Bodies, but altogether to the contrary. And as for that saying of Peter, By which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison, which sometime were disobedient, when once the Long-suffering of God waited in the Days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing.

These Words do seem to carry some shew, as if the quickening Spirit of Christ, after he was risen from the Dead, or in the time he did lie in the Grave, as if his Spirit in that Interim of Time went into some local Place where Spirits were in Prison without Bodies, to preach unto them, who had been Disobedient in the Days of Noah: This is the vain Conceit of most People from those Words of Peter, who saith, By which he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison, as if the Spirits of the Disobedient People in the Days of Noah had been in Prison in some local Place in the Earth without Bodies, who had been departed in the Days of Noah, in the Destruction of the World by Water.

This the Imagination of Reason in Man doth imagine, that Spirits may be shut up in Prison without Bodies, and that the quickening Spirit Christ might Preach unto them without a Body.

But the true Light and Revelation of faith doth know to the contrary, that no Spirits can have any Being at all without Bodies, neither of God, Angels, nor Man, nor no other living Creature, who hath the Breath of Life in it.

But to give the Interpretation of this Scripture, that the Reader may understand, it is thus; the Spirit of Christ, that quickened from the Dead to Life again, I say, is the same Spirit that preached to the Spirits in Prison in the Days of Noah, and the Spirits of the disobedient World were in Prison in their own Bodies in the Days of Noah, as they were when Christ came upon Earth, for then he opened the Prison to them that were bound, by preaching Glad-tidings of Freedom to those that were bound, and Liberty to those Spirits that were in Captivity.

Now (as I said before) this Captivity is Spiritual Captivity, and to be bound and in Prison, it is meant a Spiritual Imprisonment in the Mind, and not a natural Imprisonment of the Body. And this I say, the very same Spirit of Christ that preached to the Jews when he was upon Earth, did preach to the old World in the Days of Noah, though in a twofold Manner.

And as the Spirits of Men were in Prison in their own Ignorance, Blindness and Darkness of Understandings, in that they were led Captives and Prisoners by their wicked and unnatural Lusts in the Days of Noah: So were both Jews and Gentiles in the Days of Christ when on Earth, their Spirits were led Captive, and into the Prison of Unbelief and Persecution of the Lord of Life, in that their Fathers persecuted the Lord's Prophets and Messengers he did send; so did these Jews persecute the Lord himself, when he preached to their Spirits that were in Prison, and led Captives by their wicked murdering Wills into the Prison of Unbelief; for he did preach when on Earth, that whosoever did believe in him should be saved. And as many as did truly believe in him, their Spirits were brought out of that Captivity of Unbelief, and out of the Prison of Darkness in the Mind, into a glorious Liberty and Light of Life Eternal. And thus did the preaching of Christ Spirit deliver many Spirits of Men and Women out of Prison, in the Days when he was upon Earth.

So likewise this quickening Spirit of Christ, it preached unto the Spirits in Prison in the Days of Noah. And why were their Spirits in Prison in the Days of Noah? Because they were disobedient. And how may they be said to be disobedient? Because they did not believe that good Man Noah, who was a Preacher of Righteousness. And how did he preach Righteousness unto that wicked People? In that he prepared the Ark, and being so many as a hundred Years in building, all that while God is said to wait for their Repentance, and that they might believe that God would destroy the World by Water.

But instead of Repentance and believing they hardened their Hearts, and mocked at Noah and the Ark; so that while the Ark was preparing, God waited for the People's Repentance; and all that while that Noah was building he preached to the People, that the World would be drowned.

And the Spirit of Christ, which is the Spirit of God which was put to Death in the Flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by which he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison in the Days of Noah, it was the same Spirit that instructed Noah to build the Ark; so that the building of the Ark by Noah, he being a Preacher of Righteousness, in that he believed God, and built it as the Spirit of God had commanded and instructed him; as God did Moses, shewed him the Pattern of the Tabernacle in the Mount.

And in as much as Noah did obey the Commandment of the Lord, according as the Spirit of the Lord did reveal unto him, Noah may be said to be a Preacher of Righteousness; and he doing all things by Inspiration of the Spirit of Christ, which was not at that time made of Flesh, but in the Fulness of time became pure humane Flesh, and suffered the Pains of Death. And the same Spirit that suffered Death, that very same Spirit that quickened, was that Spirit that preached to the Spirits in Prison in the Days of Noah, as aforesaid.

And the making of the Ark by the Inspiration of God's Spirit in the Sight of the People, who were in Prison in Ignorance and Darkness of Mind, is called by the Revelation of Faith, A preaching to the Spirits in Prison: So that the Spirit of God in Noah may be said to preach unto those Spirits in Prison, in the Days of Noah, and that there was but eight Persons saved from the Flood.

So that this Place of Scripture doth no way prove, that the Spirit of Christ did ever preach to Spirits in Prison without Bodies; neither did Christ's Spirit preach in the Days of Noah without a Body; for he always preached with a Body himself, or else chose Men that have Bodies, and gave them Power to preach to Spirits in Prison, and to deliver the Captives, and to set the Prisoner at Liberty, and the bound in Prison to go free.

So that the Reader may see how and in what Manner the Spirit of Christ did preach unto the Spirits in Prison in the Days of Noah, and how their Spirits may be said to be in Prison, and how their Unbelief in the Days of Noah was called Disobedience, to the preaching of Noah all that while the Ark was building. And being built by the Inspiration of the Spirit of God, it may and is called the preaching of Christ's Spirit to them that were in Prison in Spiritual Darkness in their Minds; for their Minds being darkened, they did those Things that were unseemly; yea, unnatural as the People of Sodom did. Now, were not the Spirits of these People in Prison, and led Captive of those unnatural Lusts, I think no sober Man will deny; yet these were those Spirits in Prison that Christ's Spirit preach unto in the Body of Noah, in the Days of Noah; and that there was but eight Persons in the Days of Noah, that were saved from the Destruction by Water, by the preaching of that Spirit of God in Noah. This is the true Interpretation and Meaning of those Words of Peter the Apostle aforementioned; and how the Spirit of Christ went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison in the Days of Noah.

Again, there are some other Places of Scripture, which several People have objected, as if the Spirit or Soul of Man might go out of the Body, and subsist in Bliss and Happiness, or in Misery and a tormented Condition, without its Body it always lived in; from that Place Luke xxiii. 43. Jesus said to the Thief on the Cross, Verily I say unto thee, This Day shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Now observe, this no way proves that the Thief's Soul went out of his Body into a paradisiacal Place, and so escaped suffering Death, or did not die; for if the Soul of Christ did die at that time, as is clear by Scripture it did; then the Soul and Life of the Thief did die also.

Then where was the Paradise the Thief's Soul, and Christ's Soul that was heavy unto Death, where did they go? To this, I say, they went to a Place of rest, where all righteous Souls go, which is to the sleep of Death, for their was nothing did die but the Souls of them both; and the Paradise Christ and the Thief went into that Day they suffered Death, I declare it was this, that Christ was sure in himself that he should rise from the Dead the third Day, and afterward should enter into eternal Glory, and this Assurance in Christ that he should rise again the third Day, it was Paradise and Peace to his Soul, that he should pass through that Death, he was now to suffer that very Day into a new Life, that should not be capable to die any more.

So likewise when the Thief did truly believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Saviour from eternal Death to those that did believe; as it is certain he did when he said, Lord, remember me, when thou comest into thy Kingdom; for he did really believe, that Christ would rise the third Day, and that he would raise him to eternal Joy and Happiness at the last Day; and the Thief dying in this Faith, he entred into Peace of Mind, and had Rest and Freedom to die, in Hope and full Assurance that Christ would raise him up Soul and Body to eternal Happiness at the last Day.

And this was that Paradise that Christ and the Thief were in, that very Day they both suffered Death; for the Assurance of everlasting Life in a Man's self here in Mortality, is the Paradise of Peace in this Life. This I know to be true, and this was the Paradise Christ did mean the Thief should be in that very Day he believed; and not that either of their Souls went out of their Bodies to any other Place or Paradise, then what was in their own Bodies, as aforesaid.

In like Manner People imagine, that the Soul of Man goeth out of the Body at his Death, from that Saying Acts 7. 59. from those Words of Stephen, when he was stoned to Death, he said, Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit. The Meaning is this, that when any Man died in the true Faith of Christ, in the Hope and full Assurance that Christ will raise him up to eternal Happiness at the last Day, he commits his Spirit into the Hands of Christ, knowing that though he doth lose his Life for Christ's Sake here, that Christ will raise it again, and save his Soul hereafter; and so Christ may be said to receive his Spirit. For this I must tell the Reader, that there is not a quarter of an Hour's time to the Dead to his rising again, no not a Minute; for there is no time to the Dead, not a Minute of an Hour, though a Man have been dead five thousand Years, yet it is not a Minute of an Hour to him that is dead.

For all time belongs to the living; for after Death there is nothing but Eternity, on the other side of Death either eternal Happiness or eternal Misery: So that when Men die, they may be said to go immediately to Heaven or to Hell, to Joy or Torment, to be receiv'd into Christ's Hands of Mercy, or into the Hands of Christ's Wrath, where they shall be tormented with the Devil and his Angels, yet shall never see the Devil, nor his Angels, nor themselves, to Eternity; as they did not know the Devil here, neither shall they know or see him hereafter, yet be tormented with him.

And in this Sense a faithful Spirit or Soul, as Stephen was, may be said to commit his Spirit into the Hands of Christ, and that Christ doth receive his Spirit into his Hands, and will raise it up at the last Day, which will not be a Minute of an Hour's time to the Dead, as I said before; therefore let not the Seed of Faith think the time long between Death and the Salvation of their Souls, because so many of the Faithful have been so many hundred Years in the Grave: And let not the wicked unbelieving People comfort themselves, that the Dead shall never rise again, because the Fathers are Dead, and the Prophets are dead, and we see none of them rise again; therefore we conclude, their Spirits are gone to Heaven without Bodies, and the Spirits of the Wicked are gone to Hell without Bodies, but a Minute of an Hour's time will decide this Matter, when the dead are raised: For they shall not remember they have been a Sleep in the Dust one Minute of an Hour, for their is no Remembrance of time in the Grave. Therefore let that vain Conceit that is in most People fall, of Spirits going to God without Bodies: For I can assure you there is no such Thing, neither can there be any true Peace in that Conceit. I know it by Faith now, and by Experience, for I was of that Opinion once my self, when I was zealous in Religion according to the Puritan Way; but I knew no Scripture truly, neither was there one true Interpreter of Scripture, no not one in those Days, that could shew a Man the true Righteousness of God, or the true Way to everlasting Life.

There is another Place of Scripture that is objected, that seems as if the Soul went out of the Body when they die; as in 1 Kings xvii. 21. where Elijah prayed, that the Child's Soul might come into him again. The Meaning is this, that Elijah did pray in Faith unto God, that he would assist him in this or other Things; as in shutting up the Heavens that it should not rain, and calling for Fire from Heaven to destroy those two Captains and their Fifties, and many other wonderful Things he did; so he prayed unto God to strengthen his Faith, so that he might have Power to raise this Child's Life out of Death again.

Therefore he stretched himself upon the Child, and prayed that the Child's Soul might come into him again; that is, that the Child's Soul or Life might quicken in the Body of the Child again; for Elijah knew the Soul of the Child was dead, and by the warm Flesh of the Prophet laid upon the Child's dead Flesh, and the Faith and Prayer of the Prophet together, it begot Life in the Child again; so that the Soul that was dead it became Life in the Child again; and that Life that was quickened, it run through the Veins of the Childs Body, and so the Child's Soul did come into him again.

For this I say, if the Soul of the Child had been gone out of the Body, then Elijah did not raise the dead Child to Life again; for how can a Man be said to be dead, when as Life doth not die, but slips out of the Body, as most People do vainly imagine; but it may be clear to those whose Understandings are enlightened, that Elijah did raise the Child from Death to Life, and that the Child's Soul was dead in its Body, and that the Soul of the Child was revived in the Child's Body again by the Power of Faith in Elijah.

And the very same thing was done by the Prophet Elisha, as in 2 Kings iv. 34. the Prophet Elisha did the same thing to the Sunamite Woman's Son, he went up, and lay upon the Child, and put his Mouth upon his Mouth, and his Eyes upon his Eyes, and his Hands upon his Hands, and he stretch himself upon the Child; and the Flesh of the Child waxed warm, and Elisha stretched himself upon the Child a second time: Here the Reader may see, that the Child was dead, and by the Faith and Prayer, and by the Warmness of the Prophet Elisha his Flesh, the Child revived to Life again both Body and Soul. And Elisha did use the same Means and Way as Elijah did? for he went in and shut the Door, and prayed unto the Lord as Elijah did, and stretched himself upon the Child as Elijah did, and raise the Child to Life again by the Power of Faith.

Yet Elisha maketh no mention of the Soul coming into the Child again, but he delivered the Body and Soul of the Child, that were both dead together, he delivered them both alive together to the Child's Mother. It was the same thing done by Elijah, only some difference in the Words, but the Sense and Meaning is all one.

So that the Reader may understand, if any true Light of Life be in him, that the Soul of the Child went not out of its Body, but died in the Body; and by the Power of Faith in the Prophet, it quickened alive out of Death in the Child's Body again; for the Soul or Life of the Child never went out of the Body as is vainly imagin'd; but the Soul, Life, and Spirit of the Child was absolutely dead in the Body, and by the Power of Faith in the Prophet, the dead Soul or Life of the Child was quickened alive again, and caused the Body to live also. For if the Woman should have had the Soul of the Child given unto her without the Body, she would have given the Prophet no Thanks for raising her Child's Soul without a Body; but the Body and Soul being one Person, they were both dead together, and the Prophet raised them both together alive, and the Woman received them both together, and rejoyced greatly in God, and gave Honour to the Prophet.

Thus in short, I have given the true Interpretation of all those Scriptures that most seem, or most commonly are objected against the Mortality of the Soul, or to prove that Spirits do go out of the Body at the time of Death, or that Spirits may be raised without Bodies, or have any Being without Bodies, or that a Spirit may appear in a Shape without a Body, or that a Spirit can assume what Shape it please, yet have no Body or Substance.

These things the vain Imagination of Reason in Man hath created in it self, to fright it self with, for their is no such thing as Spirits walking without Bodies, neither doth any Spirit go out of the Body when Men die, as is imagined by most People; but these are Fictions of Mens Brains, created by the Imagination in the dark Minds of Men and Women, for God never created any such thing, as I have shewed before.

And as for that saying of Solomon, Eccl. xii. 7. Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return to God who gave it. His Meaning (I suppose) in these Words is, as is generally conceived by all People, the Body to the Dust, and the Spirit returns to God that gave it when Men die: But these Sayings of Solomon are no Scripture, for Solomon was no Scripture Writer, for his Writings were not written by the Revelation of Faith, but by the Revelation of Reason; yet it was the purest of Reason, and he had the greatest Measure of the Wisdom of Reason, and the Knowledge of Nature, of any that was before him since Adam, or any that shall come after him.

Therefore God chose him King, and gave him the purest Wisdom of Reason, according to his Desire in his Prayer to God, that his Wisdom might resemble Heaven for Glory, as it did; for what Glory could a King have upon Earth greater than he had? Which was a true Resemblance of the Glory of Heaven; and this Glory was procured by that Power and great Wisdom of Reason in him; yet for all this he was ignorant of the Revelation of Faith, and of spiritual and heavenly Things, ignorant of the true God, and of the right Devil, and of some things in Nature.

As that the Spirit of a Man should return to God that gave it without a Body; when as God never gave any Spirit to Man without a Body, nor to no other Creature: But Solomon being ignorant, that the Spirit or Soul of Man is generated and begotten by the Law of Generation as well as the Body; this was in the Creation when God made Man in his own Image, the Ignorance of this caused him to speak thus; for he knew not where the Spirit went when the Body is laid in the Earth, no more than the learned Philosophers do, who say, A Spirit cannot die; as if the Spirit and Life of every Creature were the Spirit or Life of God, else they think no Creature could move and have a Being.

And though Solomon was a wise Man, as the Heathen Philosophers were wise Men in Nature; yet they were all ignorant in this one thing, of the Law of Generation or Procreation, to increase and multiply, as God hath placed in Nature, when he created the World in the beginning; for every Creature as well as Man, were to increase and multiply by the Law of Generation; and this I am sure, they begot Spirit, Life, and Soul by Generation, as well as Bodies.

But if it be objected, that God breathed into Man the Breath of Life, and he became a living Soul; and so Man's Spirit is of a more noble divine Life or Spirit than any other Creature.

To this I say, the Law of Generation to increase and multiply, was placed in Man's Seed and Nature by God the Creator, as in other Creatures: For this is to be observed, that Adam did not come to be a living Soul by Generation, as we do ever since; but he and Eve were first made as a Foundation for Generation; so that God made or created but one Man and one Woman, all Men and Women that have been generated and begotten ever since, cannot properly be said to be made nor created, but begotten by Generation; for God never made and created but one Man and one Woman, all others are generated and begotten.

Therefore when Man begets a Son or Daughter in the way of Generation, he begets the Soul or Spirit of the Child as well as the Body; and the Soul or Spirit came out of the Man's Loin well as the Body: As it was said by Jacob, Seventy Souls came out of his Loins; if so then that Spirit or Soul that is begotten by Generation, it must and doth die: For this I say, God never breathed the Breath of Life into no Man, but into Adam: The Spirit of Life in all Men and Women else or since have been generated and begotten, and what Spirit and Soul of Man that is generated, it doth die and turn to Dust, till the Regeneration, when God shall raise it again, which will not be a Minute of an Hour to the dead Spirit, as I said before. So it may be clear to those that have the true Light of Faith in them, that the Soul or Spirit of Man doth die as well as the Body: They both came into the World together alive, and they shall both go out of the World again dead, as I have shewed before. Also the Reader may see, that those Scriptures have been misunderstood through the Ignorance and Darkness of Mens Minds, to think that the Soul or Spirit of Man doth not die, but slips out of the Body; but to imagine that Spirits may walk without Bodies, or that any Witch can raise any Spirit without a Body; and many other Conceits that do arise out of the dark Mind of Man; which have been grounded upon those Scripture Words; therefore I have given the Interpretation of all those Places of Scripture that are of most Concernment, and seem to bear such a Sense, as is generally conceived among Professors of the Scriptures: So that whoever understands the Interpretation, may receive great Satisfaction in their Minds in this Point; so much for Satisfaction of the Understanding in Heart, and for the Discontent of the Ignorant and Dark-minded People, who believe by Tradition that their Spirits do not die, but slide out of the Body at the time of Death; and if they have been evil and wicked Livers, their Spirits do walk afterwards, and cannot be at rest. These Conceits have been exceeding brief in the World heretofore, when People were in Darkness, and so is still where the Darkness of Mind ruleth.

There is one thing more that would be necessary for the wise in Heart to know, which the Scriptures speak of in several Places; but I never heard any of the Ministry tell what that Satan is the Scriptures speak of, therefore I shall speak a Word or two to shew what Satan is, and so conclude. 1 Chron. xxi. 1. And Satan stood up against Israel; and Job i. 6. And Satan came also among them; and Chap. xxi. 22. And the Lord said to Sathan, From whence comest thou? And God said to Satan, Hast thou considered my Servant Job? Ezek. iii. 1. And Satan standing at his right Hand. Mat. xvi. 23. Get the behind me, Satan. Luke x. 18. I beheld Satan as Lightning fall from Heaven.

1 Chron. xxi. 1. And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. This Satan that provoked David, it was the Motions of Reason in himself, being lifted up in his own Mind, in that he had overcome the Children of Ammon, he thought to make nothing of the Philistines; therefore the Thoughts of his Heart moved him to number the People, to know his Strength. And this Motion that did arise in his Heart, it was Satan, it is called Satan, because those Motions proceed from the Spirit or Seed of Reason in him. In 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. it is said, The Anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel: that is, the Lord suffered the Motions of Reason in David to be powerful and strong in him, that no Arguments should disswade him from it, but the People must be numbred; and this was that Satan in David, and no Spirit without him.

So Job i. 6. The Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. To this I say, the Book of Job is no Scripture, neither are Men to build their Faith upon it, because the Book of Job was written before Moses, therefore no Scripture; for Moses his Writing is the first Foundation of Scripture. Yet this I do confess, that Job was a good and faithful Man; and because he was afflicted by Satan, and Satan is spoken of in several Places of Scripture, yet none of them did declare what this Satan is, therefore I shall declare now what that Satan was, that came among the Sons of God.

I declare, the Sons of God they were the Sons of Job, who feasted their three Sisters, as you may read. They were called the Sons of God, because they were that good and faithful Man Job's Sons; as the Sons of Seth were called the Sons of God, and they looked upon the Daughters of Men, and saw that they were fair, &c. as you may read in Genesis. Now that Satan came amongst them when they presented themselves before the Lord, it was the Spirit of Reason in Job's seven Sons, when they feasted their three Sisters, they were moved in their Minds to Voluptuousness, Drunkenness and Lust, as the rest of the Heathen were where they lived; so that they did Wickedness in the Absence of Job their Father: And Job fearing in their Wickedness his Sons had cursed God in their Hearts, as you may see in the Verse before. So Job caused his Sons to present themselves before the Lord, and to worship the Lord, as it was the Manner for Job to do in those times, and Satan came with them, that is, the Spirit of Reason in his Sons came with them, reasoning in themselves; why should their Father Job reprove them for their Wickedness in their Feasts; this was that Satan that came amongst them, for he was in them, and no other Satan but what was within them.

And this is that Satan that goeth to and fro in the Earth, to tempt and destroy those that are faithful: So that this Spirit of Reason, this Satan, it goeth to and fro in the Earth, to tempt and destroy the faithful.

It was that Satan that did motion the Sabeans and Chaldaeans to take away Job's Oxen, and slay his servants as they were plowing; and fired the Sheep, and burnt up Job's Servants; and the Chaldaeans came with a Band of Men, seeing Job smitten and destroyed by the Sabeans; and they came with three Bands of Men, and destroyed the Camels and the rest of his Servants.

For this must be minded, that in those Times there was no Law to deliver or help the Innocent, but he that had the strongest Sword carried the Day. And the Lord for Trial of Job's Faith and Patience, and for a Pattern for the Ages to come, he suffered the Spirit of unclean Reason in the Sabeans and Chaldaeans to go to and fro in the Earth, to stir up their People to destroy Job and all his House and Cattle.

Also God suffered the natural Wind to blow down the House where Job's Sons were feasting, and destroyed them according to the Desire of the Spirit of unclean Reason in the Sabeans and Chaldaeans. For the Sons of Job were wicked Children, though called the Sons of God.

And last of all the Spirit of unclean Reason in Job's Wife was that Satan that tempted Job to curse God and die: So that there is no other Spirit or Satan without Man: But that Satan spoken of in Job, it was the Spirit of unclean Reason in the Minds of the Sabeans, Chaldaeans, and in Job's Wife and Sons; that was the Satan, and no other.

And as for those Disputes; God had with Satan, and Satan with God; it was nothing else but the Motions of Job's Heart passing through his troubled Soul, the Seed of Faith disputed in him for God, persuading him to be patient, and let that have its perfect Work, and so Hope did increase in him; and the Seed of Reason, which was Satan in him as well as in others, it pleaded against God, Reasoning in him as if God did not do well or justly by him, that had been so righteous in his Life, one who never did no Wrong to his Neighbour, but always feared God; yet that God should suffer the wicked to destroy his Cattle and Servants, and suffer the Wind to blow down his House, and destroy his Children; and not only so, but suffer his Body to break out with Boils and Botches most loathsome, as if he had been the greatest Sinner in the World; so that he thought that God dealt more cruelly with him then with any other Creature. And further, he thought God dealt hardly with him, that he would neither take away his Life, that he might die out of this troubled Mind and Pains of Body, nor restore him to Health. These and such like Reasonings and thoughts passed through Job's troubled Soul even from the Spirit or Seed of Reason in him, which is the Dispute of Satan: For as the Seed of Faith in Job disputed for God so did the Seed of Reason in Job dispute for Satan; for there is no other Satan but what is in Man, as I said before.

So in Zach. iii. 1. here Zachariah the Prophet saw in a Vision the Redemption of the Seed of Faith by Christ under the Type of Joshua the High-Priest, standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. This High-Priest was Christ clothed with filthy Garments, when he became Flesh, when on Earth he appeared unto Men, to be clothed in filthy Garments, being so mean, and had not a Place to lay his Head yet professed himself to be the Son of God, the High-Priest that should offer up himself for to save his People; for High-Priests in former Times did appear to the People with rich and glorious Garments; but this High-Priest doth appear to the Seed of Reason, to be clothed in filthy Garments, not fit (as Reason thinks) to stand before the Angel of the Lord.

And this Satan that stands as his right Hand to resist him, it was the Spirit of unclean Reason in those People of the Jews when Christ was upon Earth, and when that Devil that tempted Christ, spoken of in Matthew, disputed with Christ, he resisted the High-Priest, and stood at Christ's right Hand at that time; and this Devil that tempted Christ, it was a Man endued with an high Pitch of Reason, and that Spirit of Reason, or Wisdom of Reason, in that Man that tempted Christ the High-Priest, it was Satan that strove to resist Christ in dispute, whereupon Christ said, Get thee hence Satan.

This Satan was a Man, and the Spirit of Reason in this Man is that Satan that always resisteth the Wisdom of Faith, which is the Wisdom of God. But this hath been more largely treated upon in our other Writings, so I shall speak no more of that Devil and his Temptations here.

So in Matth. xvi. 23. Christ said unto Peter, Get thee behind me Satan. Here you see Peter is called Satan, because it was the Spirit of Reason in Peter that said, Master, pity thy self: That is, the Thoughts of Peter's Heart they did savour of the fleshly part, that is, those Motions to persuade Christ to save himself from Death, they did arise from the Seed of Reason in Peter, therefore called Satan; for there was no new Spirit that came into Peter at that time to cause him to speak those Words, but those Words proceeded from the Seed of Reason in him, as aforesaid, therefore called Satan.

And wheresoever that Expression is used, as Peter said himself in the Acts, Why hath Satan filled thine Heart to lie unto the Holy Ghost? that is, why hath the Motions of Reason in thee persuaded thy Heart to tell a Lie unto us, that have the Holy Ghost in us?

So the Reader may clearly see, there is no other Satan to tempt God or Man, but the Motions and Words that proceed from the Seed of Reason in Man and Woman.

So in Luke x. 18. And Christ said unto his Disciples, I beheld Satan as Lightning fall from Heaven. This Christ spake, because his Disciples rejoyced that the Devils were subject to them. The Meaning of Christ was, that he saw the Spirit of Reason, that was in the Rulers of the Jews, very high in the Righteousness of the Law of Moses, even as if they were in Heaven, thinking in themselves that none could be more happy and surer of Heaven and Peace with God, then they that kept to the Law of Moses.

Now Christ knowing that this Righteousness of the Jews, should be thrown down by the Righteousness of Faith, which his Apostles should preach, therefore he saw by Faith that the Spirit of Reason in the Rulers of the Jews should fall like Lightning from Heaven; and so it did, and the Disciples of Christ should, by the Doctrine and Righteousness of Faith, tread upon Serpents, and upon their Persecution, and upon their Righteousness of the Law of Moses, and upon all that which did fall like Lightning from Heaven; they should tread upon Satan, that is, upon the very Wisdom of Reason the Devil.

This is the true meaning of Christ, when he beheld Satan fall from Heaven like Lightning, and what Satan is so much spoken of in Scripture. Much more might be said to enlarge this Point, but I have spoken more already then I did intend; but I suppose there is enough written here in short to satisfy those, that can understand by a little what a great deal Means. And also People may know when they speak of Satan what Satan is, and when they speak of the Devil, they may know what the Devil is.

So much concerning the Interpretation of Satan, and the Conclusion of this Epistle, written by

I Received your Letter, wherein I perceive you are a Man that hath been led through several Opinions, yet not suffered to joyn with any, but have been made to wait upon Jesus Christ the only God for Satisfaction; and now it hath been his great Love, which he hath loved you, to let you have a Sight of those infinite Truths, written by the Hands of his two Witnesses, and Lawrence Claxton; which Writing of ours, I perceive by your Letter, have given you more Satisfaction than any that ever you read before.

Only this I perceive, that you did and do still much approve of Jacob Bemon's Works; and for this Cause, because you were as I perceive by his Writings, exhorted to resign your Will unto God's Will, and to come unto that happy State, neither to Will or Desire any thing, but to abide in the Will of God, which is Jesus Christ, into which Estate the Lord did twice bring you in some Measure.

Also you say, That it is a hard thing to cast out that Devil that is in us, nor can it be done as we say or think, but by that Resignation and Faith in the true God.

Likewise you say, that you were a great Disputant against all Forms and formal Worship, till the Lord silenced you, and did let you see it was but a vain Thing to wrangle and jangle with the Devil more.

But I shall pass by part of your Letter, and I shall answer you to those things that are of most Concernment.

You say, that there was that Portion of Scripture brought into your Remembrance of his Promise, I will send the Spirit of Truth, which shall guide you into all Truth, and there have you had your rest reposed.

In the last Place I find, that you would have some Answer to some Doubts, concerning that Devil that doth appear to Witches, and suck of their Bodies, and what that is that doth appear to Conjurers, and the Authors of lying Wonders of John Robins; though you do believe there is no Devil but Man, you do believe also that the Soul of Man is mortal, and must needs die, and so cannot appear, though you thought otherwise in your Reason.

You say, Whether is there a Spirit in Man that surviveth and is allured by them, or do they stir up awaking the Power of the first fallen Angel through their devillish Faith, or is these Things from their vain Imaginations. If so, how? if not, what it is, is your Desire to know of me.

To which I shall give you some Answer both to the first of Part your Letter, and also to the latter Part of it.

First you say, that you have been made to wait upon Jesus Christ the only God; for Satisfaction thereof, I would have you to consider, how could you wait and be satisfied in the Belief of such a God which you never knew. For the Letter of the Scriptures did never declare to you, that Jesus Christ was the only God, neither did God commissionate no Prophet nor Apostle for to declare it, though their Declarations was as necessary to be believed in their Time and Place, as this Commission of the Spirit; which Commission of the Spirit hath deeper Mysteries held forth in it, than the other two Commissions had: For God never did give to any Prophets or Apostles, the Knowledge of his own Form or Nature before he became Flesh. If they did know it, they did not reveal it. But he hath given it to his two last Spiritual Witnesses and Prophets, John Reeve's and Lodowicke Muggleton, who were those chosen Witnesses of God, which should have more Understanding of the Mind of God in the Scriptures, than all Men in the World.

Which Knowledge of God's Mind in the Scriptures, doth consist of these six Heads.

Upon the Knowledge of these six Principles, depends the eternal Happiness of many. And the Knowledge of the two Seeds, is those two Keys that doth open those two, namely, the strait and narrow Gate that leadeth unto Life, and the broad and wide Gate that leadeth to Destruction. And those two Keys are given unto us two aforesaid, which hath the Commission of the Spirit given unto us.

So that there is no coming unto the Knowledge of the true God, nor the right Devil, but where the Declaration of this Spiritual Commission doth open the Doors or Gates of Mens Hearts, and lets them see what Seed they are of, and so Men come to know the true God and the right Devil. And then a Man may truly say, that he can resign his Will to God's Will, as you say Jacob Bemon in his Writings doth declare.

Yet this I would have you to know that Jacob Bemon had no Personal God at all not to resign his Will unto, but his God was an Infinite, Incomprehensible, Formless Spirit, as all the World hath.

Neither had his Devil a Person nor Form; neither had his Angels he speaketh so much of any Body or Form at all, but they were all Spirits without Bodies, which in the Conclusion was no more but so many Letters, that is, three Letters, G, O, D, and so of the Devil and Angels.

And yet this Man would resign his Will into God's Will, and yet his God had no Form nor Nature at all; therefore they could be no Will in his God, whereby any Man should resign his Will into God's Will; whereas there can be no Will in God, except he hath both Form and Nature.

And this is that Will of God which you call Jesus Christ, into which Estate the Lord did twice bring you, which Estate of yours in that Faith of Jacob Bemon's, could not be a true Estate, because there was not the Knowledge of the true God; and where there is not the Knowledge of the true God, there cannot be the Knowledge of the right Devil; without the Knowledge of these two, there can be no true lasting Peace in Man.

And as for your being a great Disputant amongst all formal Worship, I do not question the thing, because I know that the Wisdom of Reason, which is the Devil, doth love to be uppermost in Disputes.

But how can you say, that the Lord did Silence you, and made you to see the Vanity of all Disputes; whereas you did not know any other God, but what is generally believed on in the World; that is, an Infinite, Incomprehensible Spirit, not minding whether God had any Nature or Form at all.

Therefore it could not be the true Lord that did silence you, but it was something that did arise out of your own Seed, which did shew you the Vanity of all Disputes.

In the next Place you say, that there was brought into your Remembrance that Portion of Scripture concerning his Promise, that he would send his Spirit of Truth, which should guide you into all Truth, and there have you had your rest reposed.

Answer, That this Place of Scripture did not belong unto you, nor to any Man in the World at this Day; for that Promise was given only unto his Disciples; which Disciples of his to whom those Words were spoken, were afterwards made Apostles of Christ; so that the Promise which Christ did promise to his Disciples before his Death, was that of the Blood which was given unto his Apostles, which was called the Spirit of Truth, because they should witness unto the Truth; that is, unto his Death and Resurrection and Ascension.

Therefore take Notice of this, that that Promise was fulfilled upon his Apostles after he was ascended up to Heaven, as you may read in the second of the Acts, and to every Man that doth read the Promises, which God did make to his Commissionated Apostles, it doth not belong to every Man that doth read them, but every Man is to mind that Commission which he is under.

Therefore for you to repose your Trust upon such Promises as was given to other Men in their Commissions, that Peace will not endure to the End, but will vanish like Smoke in the Fire.

In the next Place, I shall give you some Answers to those Doubts, which you spake of concerning that Devil which doth appear to Witches and Conjurers, and how those lying Wonders were acted by John Robins.

Answer, There is a twofold Witchcraft, the one is Natural, the other is Spiritual.

Now this natural Witchcraft is acted by such as are called Witches and Conjurers. Now as for those ignorant Women which are Witches, their Witchcraft lies in their wicked Nature, by giving themselves up to believe, that there is no God at all but Nature only, and so by that strong Faith that they have in Nature, they have Power over those whose Understandings are of a lower Capacity than themselves, and so People being ignorant and fearful of them, doth many times disturb and search their Blood with Extremity of Fear, which they have of one that is suspected for a Witch, and so by their own Fear and Imagination, they come to be bewitched. As a Man being overcharged with extream Grief, or being prevented by one that he loves, he goes Distracted or runneth Mad, which is no other but his being bewitched. And so it is with all those that are ignorant, and over charged with Fear: and as for those Children and Cattle that are bewitched, it is by some other Sorcery which they do use with Herbs and Plants, and some other things of Nature, they having some small Knowledge of that Sympathy, and Influence the Stars have over those Bodies and Herbs, and so mix their Faith and Experience together, pretending to do all Manner of Good, but intendeth nothing but Evil. So that there is no such thing as People do vainly imagine as for Spirits to suck Witches, but all the Devil that is, is their own dark Reason; and that Spirit that doth bewitch any Creature, it doth arise out of their own Imagination: And as for Conjurers and Magicians, their Reason is more enlightened than the others is, because they do go altogether by the Figure, which is an Art by which the Reason of Man hath produced Characters and Figures for the several Stars and Planets, and so they came to imagine the Influence of those Stars and Planets upon the Bodies of Men, and many times they do hit rightly, yet it is still but Witchcraft. For it is nothing else but the Imagination of Reason, that doth pry into the Secrets of Nature. And the first Witchcraft that ever was, it was produced by learning of Numbers and Figures; I say, it was first from the Egyptians Arts, and from thence came Conjuration, and the Knowledge of the Influence of the Stars and Planets and the Knowledge of Physick, which are no other in the Original but Witches, only this their Witchcraft is more tolerated by the Power of the Nations; but I am confident that there is more People in the World bewitched with them, than there is with the other Sort of Witches, that is, they are deceived both in Body, and in Mind, and Estate. For when a Man is deceived in his Expectations and Faith which he had in that Art, he may very well be said to be bewitched: But as for raising Spirits without Bodies, there is no Witch, no Conjurer, or Magician, nor the greatest Artist in the World can do; neither can any Spirit assume any Body but its own. So much for natural Witches.

And for those lying Signs and Wonders which John Robins did act, it was by a more Spiritual Witchcraft; his was not by the Knowledge of the Stars, though he had some Skill in that too, but the Power of his Witchcraft did lye in the assuming and taking upon him the Title of the Great God, as you may read in our Books: And so that his Reason being more exercised in the Scriptures upon Spiritual Matters, because the whole Body of the Scriptures doth consist of Spiritual and Heavenly Matter; and he having more Knowledge in the Mystery of the Scriptures at that time than all Men in the World, therefore he had many that did fall down and worship him; because his Knowledge in the Scriptures, did surpass other Men, and so produced Voices in himself, and could present lying Signs and Wonders, unto all those that were deceived by him, or that where afraid of him; yet he did not deal with Spirits that, had not Bodies; but all that Wisdom and Witchcraft that he did shewn it came or arose out of his own Spirit of Reason, which was inclosed in his own Body.

And there is the Influence of the same Spirit of Witchcraft doth now remain upon those People called Quakers, notwithstanding there seeming Holiness, for they have many Times such fleshly Fits falling upon them, which doth seem as if they had the Falling-Sickness, and be as Men dumb, and will not speak a Word for three or four Hours together, and upon a Sudden they will break forth into strong Language, as if the Spirit did immediately move them to speak. This I say, it is nothing else but an Influence of John Robins's Spiritual Witchcraft, which is produced out of their own Spirit within them, and not from any Spirit which hath no Body without them. And all this is, they have no Knowledge of the true God or the right Devil.

Therefore it is that the greatest Part of the World doth lie under Witchcraft, either a Natural Witchcraft or a Spiritual Witchcraft, there is a very few that is delivered from being under one or both of them; there is none delivered but those that are come to have Faith in this Spiritual Commission, which is now extant in the World; for Faith in it doth lead Men to the Knowledge of the true God and the right Devil, with all those deep Mysteries which doth depend on them, the Knowledge of which doth free a Man from all Witchcraft whatsoever.

Therefore I would advise you to read the Books of ours called the Divine-Looking-Glass, for that you may see there, that there can be no Spirits without a Body, neither can any Witch or Conjurer raise any Spirit without a Body: But these Conjurers may do through the Ignorance and Darkness of Man's Reason, and that Fear and Belief that is in the Ignorant, they may by their ignorant Power raise a Shadow of things, as if they were real Bodies, or Spirits in the Shape of Bodies; as the Egyptians did before Pharaoh King of Egypt, they did seem to raise Frogs and Grashoppers in the Sight of Pharaoh King of Egypt; but I say, they were not real Frogs and Grashoppers, but Shadows of such things, which as soon as ever the Witchcraft Power or Art was over, their Frogs and Grashoppers were gone also, else would the King and his People been as much troubled at those Frogs which the Magicians did bring upon their Land, as they were with those which Moses brought up, which went into their Houses. And now if Moses had not raised Bodies as well as Spirits, or if he had raised Spirits without Bodies, they would have been as little troubled at those things which Moses did, as they were at those Shadows or seeming things, which the Magicians of Egypt did. There is something more in your Letter you sent to me, but I have not time at present to answer; So resteth your Friend,

Loving Friend, Calling to Mind the Letter thou readest to me, which was sent thee out of the Country, I am moved to present these Lines to the View of thy ponderous Spirit; for as Words of Truth flowing from a real Foundation, drew forth Humility and Love to God and Man, from that Soul that hath received an hearing Ear, so likewise thou mayst know the glittering Words proceeding from Man's Carnal Wisdom, is that which hath occasioned many Men to be exalted above Measure, and to imagine himself so essentially united to the Divine Glory, that at length that Man hath been so bewitched through the Adorations of Men and Women in deep Darkness, with high Conceits of his own Spiritual Wisdom, that he hath been willing to deny his creaturely Condition, and to embrace the Holy Titles and Honour of an infinite Creator. Yea, and to say in his Heart and Tongue also, that there is no Spiritual God or Personal Glory in the least, but what is in Man only, notwithstanding, as sure as the Lord Jesus liveth, both he and all that is in him must turn into silent Death and Dust for a Moment, yea, and would so remain unto all Eternity, if there were not a distinct personal Majesty living without Man to raise him again, to everlasting sensible Glory or Shame, according to the Royal Pleasure of that God, that neither will nor can give his Glory to another.

My Dear Friend, be not deceived with Mens crafty Words, who have no true spiritual Distinction in them; for if any mortal Man have dwelling in him the eternal Spirit, all the Motions, Thoughts, Words and Actions of that Man must needs be as pure, holy and powerful as God himself, because thou knowest they proceed from a pure, holy, and glorious Spirit: But of the contrary, if thou perceivest a Measure of Light only abiding in thee, which thou in Mercy hast received from an everlasting Jesus without thee, then thou often seest Darkness in thee as well as Light. For Light entred not into Sinners to make them spiritual Gods one over another, but it shined into them to discover their natural Enmity continually warring against a God of eternal Love towards them; and not only so, but to prevent also their former Darkness from tyrannizing in them for ever, yea and to consolate their elect Brethren by their spiritual Experiences.

Wherefore, from a Divine Gift which I have freely received from an unerring Spirit, I say unto thee, that those Men which labour to perswade their Hearers, that if they diligently hearken to the Light that is in them, they may attain to such a Power, as to be dead in this Body from all Kind of inward Darkness, Sin, or Evil, have uttered the falsest Doctrine that ever was declared to Men. Moreover, if the Light of Life Eternal be thy Guide, though must needs know then, it was neither the justifying Light of Christ within Man, no nor the Spirit of Christ without Man, that moved those Men to speak or write to the People; but it was their own lying Imagination which hurried them about to beget Proselytes to themselves in the Man Christ Jesus's stead, who alone is God over all Blessed for ever and ever. Amen.

He that is born of God sinneth not, that is he is not left to his own Heart to commit the unpardonable Sin of Unbelief in the true God, in despising the Spirit of Christ Jesus, to be the only Lord God of his Salvation. He that believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth not is condemned already, not because he hath not believed in a God, or Christ that is within him, but because he hath not believed in a personal God or Christ that is without him, whose divine Majesty is crowned with such immortal bright burning Glory, that if he did not vail his fiery Nature within his own blessed Body, the Glory of it is so transcendently infinite, that he in a Moment would consume all created Beings to Powder. He that committed that Sin of calling God a Lyar, which is the Sin of not believing in our Lord Jesus Christ as aforesaid, or he that maketh glorious Pretences of unfeigned Love to Christ and his tender-hearted People, and yet secretly lyeth under the Power of carnal Filthiness; such a Man is not only of his Father the Devil, (cursed Cain) but he also is a very Devil himself. He that saith he hath no Sin in him, is a Lyar, and the Truth is not in him; that is, he that saith Christ is so powerfully risen in him, that all Motions, Thought and Desire of Sin against God or Man, is perfectly done away, that Man is an horrible Lyar, and a deadly Enemy to all humble and broken-hearted Saints; for their natural rebellious warring against the Light within them, and the Lord of Glory without them. Oh! my precious Friend, for whom my Soul spiritually travelleth, till thou art firmly established with glorious Things which are Eternal; not with empty Notions proceeding from an imaginary God or Christ within Men, only which with Syrenion Songs is very pleasing to the carnal Ear, which may delude some undiscerning Spirits for a Season, nor with Pharisaical Looks, Sighs and Groans, to be seen of Men, which is nothing else but the Effects of Mens crafty Words and Gestures proceeding from Man's fleshly Wisdom, which is abominable in the Sight of our God, who is the Lord Jesus Christ in the Eternal Heavens above the Stars.

My beloved Friend, give me leave a little to reason with thee, about Things of the greatest Concernment: What excellent Truths above other Men hast thou heard from the chief Speakers of the Quakers? Didst thou ever hear them speak to the Purpose? Or speak at all of any God or Christ, but what is in Man only? Or didst thou ever hear them speak of a bodily Glory and Misery to come sensibly to be enjoyed by the Saints in the highest Heavens, and to be endured by the Serpents in this World at the Day of eternal Accounts? Or dost thou see the Image or Likeness the true Jesus in that Ministry, the true and living Jesus, rejected not the Company of Publicans and Sinners, even when his Light appeared not in them; but on the contrary, do they not rashly condemn those Men that soberly oppose them, and shun the Company of those that are not of their Opinion, as Serpents; much like unto those Hypocrites of old, who said, stand farther off, for we are more holy than you. Moreover, in all their Speakings and Writings to the People, do they not make a grand Idol of the Word Light, and occasion Men to worship it as their only God; as if meer Words, were to be adored without a Person, or worshipped within the Bodies of sinful Man as a God: Or as if those that enjoy true Light in them, have such a Measure of God in them, that they stand in no need of any God without them in the least.

My Dear Friend, thou knowest Men of unstable Spirits, Child-like, or rather Fool-like, are easily taken with every Wind of Doctrine: But if thou hast a Spirit of true discerning in thee, thou wilt be made thorowly then to try the Spirits and Doctrines of Men, whether they be of God or no, before thou embrace them; having been in the Fire of the Devil already, I hope thou hast gained Experience. Wherefore for thy clearer Sight concerning of the Fallacy of all Speakers, which say, the Lord Jehovah, or Jesus sent them, I shall give some discovering Characters; he that saith the everlasting spiritual God or Father, became not a perfect Man of unspotted Flesh, Blood, and Bone, was never moved by the Spirit of God or Christ, to preach or speak to the People; or he that saith, that Spirit which is dwelling in the glorious Body of Christ Jesus, is not the alone everlasting Father, God and Man in one distinct Person glorified, is none of Christ's Messenger; or he that saith, God is not in the Form of a Man, but is an infinite Spirit essentially abiding in all Creatures, that Man is a Lyar, and the Truth is not in him; or he that saith, Christ's Godhead died not in the Flesh, and did not quicken and raise his Manhood to Life again, and in that Body of Flesh and Bone, did not ascend into a Kingdom of Glory in another World, the deep Things of God is utterly hid from that Man; or he that saith all Mankind proceeded from the Loins of the first Man Adam, is ignorant of the two Scripture Seeds (namely) the Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent, therefore he is none of Christ's sending; or he that saith Mens Souls do not die with their Bodies, and sleep together in the Dust of the Earth, till the Lord Jesus by the mighty Power of his Word speaking only, do raise them unto Life again at the last Day, that Man is in deep Darkness, not knowing the Scriptures or the Power of God; or he that says Mens Bodies only perish (and not the Souls) will be saved at the last, that Man is a Lyar, and the Truth is not in him.

Thus far was I moved to write unto thee, as an eternal Witness between us, when the Secrets of all Hearts shall be opened. If thou seest good, thou mayst present this Epistle to the View of those Men called Quakers, not that I can expect a good Issue from any of them, unless God hath endowed them with hearing Ears, unjudging, meek and patient Spirits.

Dear Friend in the eternal Truth, my Love to you and the rest of our Spiritual Friends remembred.

It seems very strange to me, That you with the rest of former Friends, make no Enquiry after me whether I am dead or alive. What have the unnecessary Things and Cares of this World swallowed up your former Love to the Truth? Though I am moved in this manner to write unto you, I trust you have not so learned Christ.

Friend, The Reason of my not sending unto you this long Season is this, because my Wife and I were both very sick and weak, of which Sickness the 29th of March last my Wife died.

Immediately after I had buried my Wife, the Lord our God called me to visit some of his People living near Cambridge, as he once called me to visit you; yea, it was in the very same Manner: For one of the chief Speakers of the Ranters being convinced by this Truth, who formerly had deceived them, took a Parcel of my Books and presented them to them, upon which they greatly desired me as you formerly did; I hope there is about half a Score of them that have received the Truth in Sincerity of Heart, they are Husbandmen and Tradesmen that Labour for their Bread as you do; they rejoyce in those that really possess this Truth though by Face unknown.

You seem to forget your Engagement to your Father-in-Law, you know the Time is expired concerning your Payment of the Money, which was lent to you, and not to him; wherefore as you love the Truth, I desire you to send me the Money remaining behind speedily, that I may restore it to the right Owner.

Now concerning my own Condition it is thus; on May Day last, I was Senseless two or three times, insomuch, that if a faithful Friend had not been by me to relieve me with a little Cordial, I had immediately died. I still continue very sick and weak, so that of Necessity, I must either mend or end in a little Space. As for Relief now I have most need of it, it hath been very small of late; I wish it may not be a Burthen to the Conscience of some when I am gone; the Widow's Mite will be a Witness against all Carnal Excuses in those that own this Truth. It may be you may think, I have no need of your Charity now, because the Merchant for a little Season allowed me a small Matter Weekly; but if you think so, you are much mistaken, for I have had none from him a pretty while, neither do I know whether I shall have any more from him at all: For when he took Ship for Barbadoes, he had not wherewithal to leave his Wife and Children, through the unjust Dealings of unreasonable Men. Brother Hill, You may remember you sent me Word, that if the London Christians would contribute Weekly or Monthly to my Necessity, you would do the like, you will do well to keep your Covenant.

My Dwelling is in Bishopsgate-street near Hog-lane End, with three Sisters that keep a Sempstris Shop.

Direct your Letters to our Brother Muggleton, to be conveyed to me, and the Money to him for me, you know where he dwells; it is in Trinity-lane, over against a Brown-Baker's.

For his Loving Friend Christopher Hill, Heel-maker in Stone-street in Maidstone, in Kent. These

I Have received your Letter and your kind Token, for which I acknowledge your Kindness to Truth.

As for my Neglect in Writing to you, my great Troubles of Sickness and Mortality hath hindred it, I hope whilst I am able to write, for time to come, you shall not charge me with any such Neglect; in the mean Season, I do not desire your Charity unless you can spare it. Remember my kind Love to your Mother Wyles, to Tho. Martin, and Goodman Young, and I rejoyce in the Lord for you, that the Truth abides in you. As for the Money, I am glad of your Care for the Truths sake, because it was lent to me upon that Account.

No more at present, but desiring my God abundantly to establish you in all spiritual Excellencies, unto whose infinite Grace I commend you in all Righteousness,

My Love to you and the rest of our Friends; this is a Spiritual Love Letter that I am moved to write unto you, wherefore by Virtue of my Commission, I pronounce thee Tho. Martin, William Young, and Eliz. Wyles, the Blessed of the Lord to Eternity; the Remembrance of this the Lord's Blessing, will do you no harm when I am in my Grave; in the mean Season, our good God cause you to love one another more than your temporal Enjoyments, and that will become a Heaven upon Earth in your innocent Souls; Faith fetcheth Spiritual Comfort, the Fountain to each particular Soul; but Love fulfilleth all Righteousness both to God and Man. Oh! the transcendent Excellency of the Love of Christ in his new-born People, it is not to be express'd by the Tongues of Men or Angels.

Desiring your Eternal Happiness in that Place of Glory above the Stars, I am moved from the Spirit of the Lord to write these Lines unto your Serious Consideration.

This I know assured as God knows himself, that Jesus Christ from his Throne of Glory, spake to me by Voice of Words three Mornings together, which Speaking of his hath opened my dark Understanding to declare such Spiritual Light to the Chosen of God, as never was so clearly manifested before, especially in these Six Foundations.

Thirdly, What the Persons of the Devils are and their Natures, and what the Person of the Devil was before he became a Devil, and begot Millions of dark Angels or Devils, it being all one.

Fourthly, In what Condition the Man Adam was created in, and by what Means he lost his first estate and the Effects of it.

Sixthly, What Hell and eternal Death is, and the Place where it shall be to Eternity.

This I know certainly, That before the Lord sent me to declare his Pleasure unto his People, no Man upon this Earth did clearly understand any one of these Six Fundamental Truths, which to understand is Life Eternal, and to be ignorant of them is Death Eternal. Now the Lord hath sent his two Messengers to declare them, I mean, to all those that may be informed in these Spiritual Things, and do reject us (that are the Lord's Messengers of these Things of Salvation) through the Love of carnal Things, they must all perish to Eternity.

Again, We know from the Lord by that infallible Spirit that he hath given us, of divers Persons that shall be eternally blessed with us: and all that we pronounce Cursed to Eternity are eternally Cursed, as sure as Jesus Christ the Lord of Life is Blessed, because it is his Curse and not ours.

Again, If the Lord Jesus do not bear Witness unto our Testimony, and make it evident that he hath sent us in a few Months, then you may conclude, that there never was any true Prophets nor Christ, nor Apostles, nor Scripture spoken from the Mouth of God to Men. But there is nothing but the Wisdom of Men and Nature their God. But this we know, that those that are joyned with us, are Partakers of those Truths, and shall be blessed for evermore, and shall in the mean time patiently wait for the fulfilling of our Prophecy, and shall have Power over their Thoughts, Words, and Deeds, purifying their Hearts by Faith in the Person of God even as he is pure, trampling all the Riches and Honour of this World, under the Feet of their Souls as Dung, because they have tasted of that Glory to come, that no Tongue of Men or Angels can express, and this makes them not only love one another in carnal Things, but for the Truth's sake they are ready if (need require) to forsake all Relations, and Life itself for one another; and is that Power of that one only Faith and Truth, declared from the Spirit of God, the Man Jesus by us, which none enjoys but those of this Faith.

Much more might I write, but speaking Face to Face, (if it may be) is far more profitable: Farewell.

John Reeve, the true Prophet, of the only true Personal God, the Lord Jesus Christ upon the Throne of immortal Glory in the highest Heavens.

That Elect Angels are distinct from him who visibly beheld him Face to Face, and what that Reprobate Serpent-Angel was in his Creation, which by the secret Council and unsearchable Wisdom of God, fell from his created Glory like Lightning from the invisible Heaven above, to this visible Earth beneath; and through his super-seeming God like Counsel, he overcame innocent Eve; and she yielding unto him, he wholly entred into her Womb and naturally changed himself into her Seed, and so became the first-born Son of the Devil, and afterwards a cursed Cain, and the Father of all those Cananitish Reprobate Angels, spoken of in the visible Records of the Scriptures; Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his Brother, the 1st of John, the 3d Chapter, and 18th Verse. And the Tares are the Children of the wicked one, Math. 13th Chapter, and the 18th Verse. Also in what Condition Adam was created in, and how he come to fall from his created Estate, and what that sin was that Eve and he were guilty of, and how Sin came first in their pure created Natures.

Again, what that heavenly Glory is and where it is, that God's Elect Wheat, which are the Seed of Adam, and not of Cain shall possess when time shall be no more, and what that shameful Eternal Death is, and where it is reserved for the Seed of Cain and not of Adam, who are either a Spirit given up to Persecution of Mens Consciences, or else they are left in Darkness to condemn the Things of Eternity, because they cannot comprehend them for want of a true distinguishing Spirit, which is a Gift of the Holy Ghost, unto him which is immediately sent by the Lord of Glory, that he may be distinguished by the new born of God, from all those counterfeit or deceived Preachers or Speakers in the World, who are apt and ready to judge Men in Darkness, if they soberly ask them needful Questions concerning things of Eternity; the understanding of those glorious Excellencies, which is the Saints Inheritance, being utterly hid from them, because they went before they were sent.

By this infallible Demonstration, you may know a Man that hath not a Commission from the true God, to preach and speak unto the People.

If a searching Speaker or Writer, deliver any thing unto those People that joyn with him, then for fear of his Weakness or Ignorance being discovered, he will counsel the Hearers to stick close to the Ordinances in the Word of God, or to hearken to them, or to that in their Consciences, and to beware of false Christ's and false Prophets, and such like borrowing Scripture Languages, to prevent the People of ever hearing the Glorious and Dreadful Things of Eternity from the ever-living God, revealed both by Voice of Words without, and Inspiration within, unto his two last despised true Messengers.

Thus it is clear, they have not the true Spirit of Paul in them, who gave the true Saints Liberty to try all Things or Opinions of Men, (for that was his Meaning) but to hold fast to that which was good.

Again, that Speaker or Preacher to People, whether publick or private, that declares against all Appearances that are contrary to his Way, discovers himself to a discerning Spirit, not to be of the Lord, unless he can demonstrate a Spiritual Commission received by Voice from Heaven, from the Mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that no Man can disprove him, though few from a true Understanding received him.

Again, he that preaches or teaches only of a God or Christ in Mens Consciences, doth he not question the Scripture Records concerning the Resurrection and Ascension of the glorious Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, who through Faith in his invaluable Blood-shedding, the Consciences of the Elect being sprinkled, are purified from the Power of all Unrighteousness of Flesh and Spirit, and so doth he not question the Resurrection of Mankind after Death.

Again if after Death there be no bodily Resurrection for the Spirit to possess an immortal God-like Glory, or to suffer an eternal Devil-like Shame, according to their Deeds done in their Bodies; is it not one of the vainest Babblings under Heaven, for Men to talk of a God or Christ, or of Righteousness, or Purity, or Mercy, or pure Love without Envy, or of any Spiritual Excellency whatsoever, unless it be for Gain or Glory amongst Men.

The eternal Spirit and alone everlasting Father, which essentially reigneth in the glorified Body of our Lord Jesus Christ his eternal Son, and spiritually, or motionally, or virtually liveth or reigneth in elect Men and Angels, bear Record between me and you for Everlasting, or World without end, whether this Witnessing be not sent unto you, and all the Elect that shall view it principally for the re-establishing of your tender Spirit, upon that spiritual Rock of all Ages, the Lord Jesus Christ God and Man, in one distinct Person Glorified and everlastingly Honoured, with all Variety of Spiritual new Songs and Praises, from his Redeemed or Elect Men or Angels, when all Time or Times is swallowed up into Eternity or Eternities.

Your Replication to mine doth but still harp upon the same Matter as your former, and yet you suppose you have given such Arguments as may quite silence my former Assertions, were that there are no Spirits without Bodies, but such as mere Shadows; and that God is not a bodiless Spirit, but hath and ever had Form, Substance, and Shape, and that is no other but the Form of a Man.

1st, You take at those my Words which said, that if a Spirit have no Body or Shape, then it is no more then a meer Shadow: This you deny, by saying, that a Shadow is only privative, but a Spirit, say you, is positive.

2dly, You further say, that there is such immaterial Substances, which have a separate Existence from such gross Bodies which we have about us; witness say you the Soul of Man, which is immaterial, and lives after the Body is dead, which is, say you, confirmed by Paul, 2 Tim. i. 10. which saith, that the Gospel brings Life and Immortality to Light.

3dly, This Doctrine, say you, was known by the Light of Nature to the Heathen Philosophers, and hath since been confirmed by Scripture of the New Testament to us, and so conclude it no ways repugnant to right Reason.

4thly, You charge me with quoting the Scripture falsly, when I said, that Christ reply'd to the young Man, saying, That no Man was good but one, which was God; therefore say you, it is false that the Scripture saith, that God is a Man.

To each of these take this particular Answer, 1. If your Spirit have neither Shape nor Substance, it is but a Shadow, and no more then what the Egyptians Sorcerers produced before Pharaoh, what Moses brought up were real Substances, but their's no other but Shadows, but therefore a Spirit without Substance is not positive; for that which is privative can have no Being without a positive, because that which is positive hath a Being or Substance: Now he that will not admit God to have a distinct Being of himself, his God that he worships is nothing but a Shadow.

2dly, Where you speak of Spirits being immaterial Substances; if they be immaterial, how are they Substances, and what Existence can they have, and how can a Soul be immortal in a mortal Body; it is said, the Soul that Sins, it shall die; yet say you, it is immortal and cannot die, and would prove it in 2 Tim. i. 10. when as that Place shews plainly, that it was Christ's Death and Resurrection which brought Life and Immortality Light; so that if there be not a Resurrection, then can there be no immortal Life.

Therefore it is, that the Scriptures doth affirm, that there can be no Salvation without a Resurrection, so that if the Dead should not rise, then were all Faith vain, and God the God of the Dead (seeing Death is not abolish'd) and not of the Living; so that there is no Spirit that can subsist or have any Existence without a Body, either Spiritual or Natural.

Again, doth not the Gospel bring Life and Immortality to Light, and is this Life and Immortality brought to Light without a Body, but it will have a Spiritual Body suitable to that mortal Spirit made immortal. And doth not the Scripture affirm, that it shall have a Body like unto God's own Glorious Body, and yet you say, God hath no Body, and a Soul hath no Body.

Do you not read also, that Christ had a Body, and that it was after the express Image of his Father's Person: Would you trace substantial Truth into an Allegory, and say Righteousness, Knowledge, and Holiness is the Image of God, and yet must have no Body to act for it self in. When God said, be ye holy, as I am holy, must we turn our Souls out of our Bodies, to make them like your bodiless God.

When we are said to worship God in Spirit and Truth, is this spiritual Worship performed without a Body, although there is a Mental, Privy, and Praise without a vocal Expression, yet it must arise from a Heart, and that Heart must be placed in a Body.

There is no Light without a Sun, no Stream without a Fountain, and no Spirit without a Body.

3dly. As to your third particular, this I must tell you, that no Light of Nature can discover Spiritual and Evangelical Truths, and it is very gross for any Man to subject the Spiritual Truths of the Gospel, to the heathenish Principles of Philosophers, making the New Testament no other but for the Confirmation of the Principles of Nature, which Nature you call right Reason, which say, you never repugns the Gospel, nor the Gospel it.

By this your Discourse I find, that you own that Christ came, but to confirm the heathenish Principles of Nature, as, that God, and Spirits, and Angels, were all without Bodies, being immaterial Beings, and you know not what.

Now give me leave to be plain with you, and to tell you, that I could never read that the Gospel of Christ was ever sent to enlighten Nature, Nature or Reason hath no Interest in it at all. In the moral Law it hath, and therefore it is written, the Law came by Moses; and what to do, but only to enlighten Reason unto whom the Law was given: But as to the Gospel, it came by Jesus Christ, and particularly belonged to another Seed; namely, to the lost Sheep of the House of Israel; so that you can no more distinguish between the Law and the Gospel, than between the two Natures of Faith and Reason, it is all a Mystery to you. Do you know what right Reason is, if you do, you must ascend up into the Kingdom of Heaven, and view it in the holy Angels; for you will not find neither pure, nor right, nor uncorrupted Reason any where in this Orb below the Stars: For it is evident that Reason, Notion can never be capable to comprehend Spiritual Truths, as from the Power of its own Nature, it only serves to comprehend natural and temporal Things, it being but natural it self; but Gospel Truths are comprehended by another Light, according as it is written by David saying, in thy Light shall we see Light, &c.

So that from what is said, we need not fear (as the World have) of the Heathens rising up in Judgment against us, for maintaining Gospel Truths against their Darkness of Reason.

4thly, As to your fourth Point, where you charge me of fathering upon the Scripture those things that are not, and you make a Wonderment of it, that I should say, that God was a Man, and to quote Christ's Words for it, telling the young Man, that there was no Man good but one, which was God; this you tell me was false, for you say, the Text saith that none is good but one, which is God. Here your Ignorance appears very great, and may be wonder'd at, considering your great Learning and continual Study; but it appears, it is but in those heathenish Philosophers; for observe for better Instruction, did not that young Man call Christ Master, and own him to be a Man and no more: Now to this you may find that Christ's Answer did tacitely imply, that if he was but a Man, he was not perfectly good, and that no Man could be perfectly good.

And furthermore, for a more full Answer in the Old Translation, attending to mark it, is render'd thus Word for Word, that there is no Man good but one, which is God.

This is plain Scripture, and yet you are ignorant of it; I perceive you are not very conversant in Scripture, your Philosophy turns you out of all Scripture Knowledge. But to proceed farther, cannot you find by Scripture, that God was ever called a Man, did not you ever read that Scripture that saith, God was a Man of War.

Much more might be said of this, and several positive Proofs from Scripture might be produced to confirm it withal, but because it is not the general received Opinion, therefore it must be quarrelled with; for the Honour of this World must be both sought after and submitted to.

And whereas you farther say, that the Apostles of Christ did ever teach after they had received their Commission, that Spirits were immaterial and could subsist without Bodies, now answer to this:

It is most certainly evident, that the Apostles never taught, that any Spirit could subsist without a Body, but the contrary altogether; for their Doctrine was, that as the Soul and Body lives together, so it dies together, and at the Last Day rises together, and is ever without Separation.

When the Apostles said, That many Spirits were generate into the World, which denied that Christ was come in the Flesh, did he mean Spirits without Bodies: And when Paul said, that the Spirit speaketh expresly, that some shall depart from the Faith: Now what Spirit was that, but Paul's own Spirit of Faith, in his own mortal Body; for without a Tongue it could not be expressed.

And where the Apostles tells of the Doctrine of Devils, were those Devils bodiless, and teached damnable Doctrine.

So that the Apostles never taught that there was any Spirits without Bodies, but always Spirit and Body went together, and so makes Longitude and Latitude profoundly, as your Philosophical Notions teacheth, although you cannot apply it to any sublime or spiritual Thing, you knowing nothing of it, but all is nothing and of no Substance; and so in that your Darkness I leave you, seeing you are no Friend to the Light; and rest yours in all civil Respects,

John Reeve's, the only true Witness unto the very true God, amongst many pretended Spiritual Messengers in this confused Age.

In your Self-return, you seem to mourn over the sunk Spirit of both Creations, so termed by you. Also you write as though many from a Satanical Spirit write most accurately, both of the Works of Creation and Mystery of Redemption by an immediate Gift of God from our Lord Jesus Christ. To this I answer, a little Season will produce Mourning enough in you, when you shall see your Angelical Motions like Lightning, cast down with Confusion of Fear from their former Perfection of imaginary Glory, rational Dreams and Visions, Revelations, Inspirations, Experiences, or Voices proceeding from an incomprehensible Spirit.

Again, I have both read and heard a Voice to say, that the Secrets of the Lord are his Choice Treasures, reserved only for Redeemed ones; but I never read or heard from any Spiritual wise Man before now, that any Satanical Spirit was able to intellect deceived Persons, exactly to write of the hidden Mysteries of the Everlasting God. Again, you pretend unto no such Revelations as I proceed upon, but say you, there is another Way more certain than Reason or Revelation, which whether as I presume you were led into, the Lord will one Day make manifest, from the true Light of Life Eternal. To this I answer, your Light as terming of the true Inspirations of the Lord Jesus Christ, written by me to you, is because as yet his Holy Spirit vails them from your Eyes; but as for your new Sound of teaching them from your God, more certain than Reason or Revelation, from the Divine Voice spoken in the Ear, through the Glorious Mouth of my Lord. I declare that in all Ages the Elect lost Sheep of Israel, did never read or heard of any more than two original Ways either Natural or Spiritual in Mankind, whether you call them Creature or Creator, Light or Darkness, Truth and Error, Revelation and Reason, Inspiration and Imagination, Truth and Unbelief, Flesh and Spirit, and such like.

'Tis confess'd, that visible Appearances of God or any else unto Mortals is teaching of all, but he that expects that kind of Teaching any more until Men are immortalized, lieth under at present as great an imaginary Deceit, as ever yet appeared in this Land. It is also granted that the most holy God speaketh to his Chosen Messengers by Voice of Words, even to the hearing of the Ear, unto which Truth for Ends best known unto himself, by his gracious Power only, can bear Record in this present Generation, unto the Grief only of all Angelical, Wise, Envious, Proud, Inglorious, Hypocritical Reprobates that hear of it.

Moreover, yet if your more sure way of teaching from God were Vision it self, yet it is impossible for you to enjoy any true and lasting Peace, unless it swallows up all your former Writings produced from your own Spirit, without an immediate Commission from God, and in the room thereof, perswade your Soul to pour in your Oil, into the natural Wounds of oppressed Persons, under what Opinions or Appearances whatsoever.

Again, you say, O Lord God, pity the Captivity of Man, yea, pity the Captivity of thy own poor Seed, hear the Prayers of that Spirit that interceedeth with thee for every thing, not according to any fleshly Imaginations, but according to Truth and Righteousness of thine one Ballance. From the God of Truth, to this I answer, concerning that Spiritual Captivity of the Elect, in Reference of a right understanding of the Creator, you need not trouble yourself about that, unless you think through much importuning the unchangeable God, may be perswaded to loose their Bonds before the decreed time thereof; but if you think that Glory of God's Eternal Love towards them, will provoke to their Spiritual Darknesses through the invisible Appearances of his own pure Light, then you may know, until his own Glorious Season, that all the Desires of Men or Angels are of no Effect, no nor of the Son himself, if you imagine a Father besides. 'Tis confess'd, when the Time draweth near of some great Deliverance of the Chosen of God, usually the Lord provokes his People to cry unto him with Sighs and Groans, which cannot be uttered but from the innocent Spirit of his Spiritual redeemed ones, as his Due, he may receive all Honour, Praise and Glory for their Deliverance out of their natural Darknesses, unto his marvellous Light.

Again, I declare from the true Light of the true God, that the Spirit which entereth with the Creator for all Mankind, upon the Account of his Eternal Happiness, was never principled upon a Spiritual Foundation of Truth, whatever subtile Expressions of God's righteous Ballance proceedeth from him. Moreover, is it not the new heavenly Glanses of Christ Jesus in Man's dark Soul, which upon an immortal Account, becomes all Light, Life, or ravishing Glory in him; and of the contrary, is it not the absenting Voice or Virtue of the uncreated Spirit of the Lord Christ Jesus, that occasions Mens Spirits to be full of Satanical aspiring Wisdom about the Creator; and whence think you cometh this to pass, or possible could be of the Spirit, if the Creator were, and Angels were essentially living in one another there.

Again, if your literal Request unto the Lord God, as in Reference unto the miserable Captivity of poor Mankind, lying under the miserable Yoak of unmerciful rich Tyrants, especially over his own innocent Seed or chosen People, then this will most necessarily follow; nay, you cannot deny it, if there be any Light in you, that all your conceived Spiritual Speakings, or Writings, or Prayers, in the Great Day of the Lord Jesus Christ, will become but fiery burning Death in you of utter Darkness, according to the true Saying, If that Light in you be Darkness, how great is that Darkness. Unless as before said, answerable to your Profession of Love unto God, and Pity unto Man, you are a bountiful Reliever of his oppressed Ones, according to his Bountifulness towards you, then mind the Virtues of Christ Jesus thus shining in you, will occasion from the refreshed Bowels of his own Seed new Spiritual Acknowledgments, and a loving Return in the Lord for you, why because it is rare to find a merciful rich Man.

Friend, I certainly know that if you are one of God's Elect, you cannot be offended with me for writing the Truth, though at present, I be contrary to you in Spirit. Again, you write that you would beg unto the Lord for me, both with Tears and Blood, and you would speak somewhat concerning me, but you are afraid to open the Spirit before the Season thereof. Friend, As to that if ever the Lord of Life and Glory manifest himself to your Soul, then you will see clearly the Vanity of those Words.

Moreover, if I should tell you, that in the pure Eyes of the Lord Christ Jesus, that one Handful of your Silver Tears, are of more Value than a Horse Load of your Tears and Blood, you might account it a very strange saying from me; truly I unfeignedly believe it will be found a principal Truth, when our Lord Jesus Christ shall say in the Day of Judgment, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, for when I was a hungry, ye fed me; Go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire, when I was an hungry ye fed me not. So that without Controversy, there is nothing in Man comparable to Love, Mercy and Forgiveness, even to his greatest Enemies.

Again, It is a marvellous thing, if you or any other Man, should have a Spiritual Gift to distinguish between Divine and Diabolical Appearances, and yet defer the Examination thereof to another Season, or did the most wise God ever Commission any Man or Angel to make a Discovery of any Spiritual Counterfeits, and yet that Messenger remaineth dark in his own Understanding, concerning the Creator that sent him. I remember such a like Scripture Saying as this, him whom you ignorantly worship, declare I unto you. Moreover, if the most wise Creator, either visible or invisible by himself or Angel, hath appeared in your Spirit, whereby unto your thinking, I was clearly discovered as a deceived Person among the rest, is it not a strange thing that you should have Power over that Light above Men or Angels, before you for the producing of it at another Season, the Creator himself will visible make it manifest, even so come Lord Jesus Christ, for thy glorious Namesake, come quickly, and in the visible Sight of Men and Angels bear Record whether thy Holy Spirit sent me (as I have declared almost these three Years) or no. Again, when the Lord made Choice of such a simple poor Man as I was, as many can witness in the City of London, that have known me about these twenty Years, that I might instrumentally discover the two principal Heads of mischievous Darkness in the Land; as namely, John Robins past, and John Tawney almost spent, truly I had no Power in me to put by his Message until another time; why because (whether you can believe it or no) his Voice was so Glorious in me, that it shun as the Sun, and it was of Motion swifter than Thought, and so pleasant to be declared by Tongue; yet for all that Godlike Glory piercing in me, and through me, there arose a Desire in me to be eased of that Burden of the Lord committed to my Charge, because of that sharp Sentence that I was to declare against any Man that should despise it; then the Lord spake again unto my Soul, Words of turning Death, of sensible unutterable Darkness, answerable to that Jonas-like Rebellion in me, against so great convincing Glory; and truly I was compelled immediately to cry unto him for Deliverance from the Wounds or Anguish of my Soul, that I might presently obey his Word that shined in me with such Light, and Majesty, and Glory in whatsoever it should command me.

Wherefore Friend, happy are you if preserved from slighting an Appearance, that is contrary unto your Light, though it strike at the Foundation on which is built all your Spiritual Enjoyments; for alas, you know in the End, all false Lights will be made manifest unto those that possess the true Light of Eternal Life in them; Blessed therefore are those, that in Obedience unto the Creator from a purified Spirit are compassionate to all Men, but especially to those innocent Appearances, in the Name of the Lord, though they all differ in their Declaration for them. If there be but one true Messenger from the Lord among the rest, they shall as formerly, receive an Angel of God unawares, and with him be Partakers of the Glorious Secrets of the everliving God, to their eternal Consolation: For this I know, from the Spirit of Truth, that those that are left under a Spirit of rejecting and despising of false Appearances, coming forth in the Name of the Lord, they not clearly knowing them to be so, they will as readily despise a true Messenger of the Lord to their eternal Hurt; wherefore are all those, that neither Honour nor Life it self is dear unto them, but upon an Account of Spiritual Wisdom amongst wise Men, when the Glorious Things of Eternity, though in base Appearance presented unto them, from that Spiritual Rock of all Ages, which is our Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man, is one distinct Body or Person glorified; for whatsoever Men dream from their imaginary Gods, of two or three Persons, or a vast incomprehensible Spirit, essentially living in all Things and Places; from an immediate Voice from the highest Heavens, I positively affirm against Men or Angels, that there neither is, nor ever was any other God or Creator, but that God-man Christ Jesus, which was nailed to the Cross, the which Glorious God will one Day visibly appear with his mighty Angels, to the Everlasting Terror of those that reject his Person, as to love a thing for an infinite God to dwell in or to be; yea this very true God in Opposition to all other Gods, Men, or Angels, is already come with his invisible pure piercing Light, to make an everlasting Distinction between the imaginary notional Mysteries of Men in rational Darkness, and the Spiritual Mysteries of his everlasting Kingdom, by true Inspirations from an holy and unerring Spirit. Even so come Lord Jesus Christ, visibly also according to thine own Word, come quickly. Amen.

Yours with all the Elect, in that only wise very true God, which in the Sight of Men and Angels visible appeared in Flesh, and in that very Body of Flesh and Bone, is ascended far above all Gods, Heavens, Angels, or Men, and there to remain until the Resurrection of all elect Things, or the Judgment-Day, whose uncreated Spirit of fiery Love, is all Variety of immortal Crowns of new ravishing Glories, prepared for all those that long for his visible appearing, to make an everlasting Separation, between the merciful Elect, and unmerciful Reprobate.

John Reeve, the only true Witness unto the very true God, amongst many pretended Spiritual Messengers in this confused Age.

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A True Interpretation of the Witch of Endor

TO THE READER.

CHAP. I.
1 Sam. XXVIII. from the 11th to the 18th Verse.

CHAP. II.

CHAP. III.

CHAP. IV.

CHAP. V.

CHAP. VI.

CHAP. VII.

CHAP. VIII.

CHAP. IX.

CHAP. X.

CHAP. XI.

CHAP. XII.

CHAP. XIII.

CHAP. XIV.

CHAP. XV.

CHAP. XVI.

A Copy of a Letter written by the Prophet Lodowicks Muggleton, to Mr. Edward Fewterrill of Chesterfield, bearing Date from London March 29. 1660.

The Prophet Reeve's Epistle to his Friend, discovering the dark Light of the Quakers; written in the Year 1654 September the 20th.

An Epistle of John Reeve to Mr. Hill.

Another Epistle of John Reeve's to the same Person.

Another Epistle of John Reeve's to the same Person.

A Copy of a Letter wrote by the Prophet John Reeve to Mrs. Alice Webb, containing her Blessing and the Six Principles, on August 15. 1656.

An Epistle of John Reeve to a Friend, written in May 1657.

Another Epistle of John Reeve's.

An Epistle wrote by the Prophet John Reeve to Isaac Pennington, Esq; dated 1658. concerning an Answer to a Book of his, with several Mysteries and Divine and Spiritual Revelations declared by the Prophet, concerning God's visible appearing in the Flesh.

A True Interpretation of the Witch of Endor

TO THE READER.

CHAP. I. 1 Sam. XXVIII. from the 11th to the 18th Verse.

CHAP. II.

CHAP. III.

CHAP. IV.

CHAP. V.

CHAP. VI.

CHAP. VII.

CHAP. VIII.

CHAP. IX.

CHAP. X.

CHAP. XI.

CHAP. XII.

CHAP. XIII.

CHAP. XIV.

CHAP. XV.

CHAP. XVI.

A Copy of a Letter written by the Prophet Lodowicks Muggleton, to Mr. Edward Fewterrill of Chesterfield, bearing Date from London March 29. 1660.

The Prophet Reeve's Epistle to his Friend, discovering the dark Light of the Quakers; written in the Year 1654 September the 20th.

An Epistle of John Reeve to Mr. Hill.

Another Epistle of John Reeve's to the same Person.

Another Epistle of John Reeve's to the same Person.

A Copy of a Letter wrote by the Prophet John Reeve to Mrs. Alice Webb, containing her Blessing and the Six Principles, on August 15. 1656.

An Epistle of John Reeve to a Friend, written in May 1657.

Another Epistle of John Reeve's.

An Epistle wrote by the Prophet John Reeve to Isaac Pennington, Esq; dated 1658. concerning an Answer to a Book of his, with several Mysteries and Divine and Spiritual Revelations declared by the Prophet, concerning God's visible appearing in the Flesh.

CHAP. I.
1 Sam. XXVIII. from the 11th to the 18th Verse.