The Muggletonians principles prevailing being an answer in full to a scandalous and malicious pamphlet, intituled A true representation of the absurd and mischevious principles of the sect called Muggletonians : herein the aforesaid principles are vindicated, and proved to be infallibly true : and the author of that libel, his scandalous title and subject proved as false to truth, as light is to darkness, and that he knows no more what the true God is, nor what the right devil is, nor any true principle or foundation of faith, for all his great learning he so much bosts of, then those Jews that put the Lord of life to death, for learned and taught reason is but natural, and so falls short of the glory of God, as will appear in the following discourse / by T.T.

CHAP. IX. ANSWER.

The Scriptures, say that God purchased the Church with his Blood: Now the Blood of Christ was no other but the Blood of God, and when he power'd forth that Blood, then did he power forth his Life; for Life lay in that Blood.

Therefore it is said That he powered forth his Soul un∣to Death, and that he offered up himself through the eter∣nal Spirit: What is that, but that the eternal Spirit entered into Death, or passed through Death, in a Moment, into eternal Life; Death being too weak to keep him under; so that whatever Life was in Je∣sus did enter into Death.

Therefore he that was the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, was Dead, but is now Alive; and behold he now lives for ever more, and is that immor∣tal only wise God, blessed for ever: So that we do affirm, That God is immortal; and we also know that Eternity did become Time, for Flesh was in Time, and Time did become Eternity again.

Now, in that you Teach, That God cannot dye; it is evident that you do not belive that Christ was a∣ny

God at all; so that you Trenitarians, Arians, and Socinians, you are all a like, and that you are no more Christians then they: For it will necessarily follow, That if it were nothing but humane Nature, or Life in Christ, that died, then the Death of any other Man had been equevolent to Christ's Sufferings, and as Me∣ritorious as his; and so your Spirit God, without a Body, might have saved you by sheding of any other Man's Blood.

But the true Christian doth know that no Blood can make Attonement for Sin, but the most precious and unvaluable Blood of a God; to believe this, is to drink his Blood: And to believe that that blessed Bo∣dy of his was no less then the very body of God, this is to eate his flesh; so that whosoever eats his flesh, and drinks his blood so, hath by so doing gained the full assurance of Eternal Life; this is a standing Truth, and shall prevail.

But how is it possible you should believe this, when as you cannnot believe that any Life dies at all; for say you, The Soul of Man is alive after Death; here your Ignorance appears very great for all your Learn∣ing; Where did you ever find by Scripture, That the Soul of any man was ever alive without its body? The Scripture no where affirms it, if rightly understood; they are but old Wives Fables, or Monks and Fryers Forgeries, and heathenish Principles from their own blind Imaginations.

As for those Sayings concerning Dives and Laza∣rus, 'tis but a Parable, and so must have a Spiritual meaning; for Souls without Bodies have no Tongues, nor Eyes, nor Bosoms, as that Parable speaks of; but that Parable was only to set forth the two Seeds here in Mortality, which is largely opened by this Commission of the Spirit.

And as to Christ speaking of God being the God of the living, and not of the dead, it was spoken to the Saduces, who denyed the Resurrection; therefore Christ shews that there was a necessity of a Resur∣rection, seeing that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the Prophets were dead, and their Sepulchres are with us at this day; and if God do not raise them again to that Glory their Faith was pitch'd upon, then was he the God of the dead, and not of the living, in that all dyed to him instead of living to him.

And as to that saying, Fear not them which can kill the body, &c. That is, fear not him that may kill both Soul and Body by a natural death, but rather fear him that hath an absolute power in himself to slay both Soul and Body with an Eternal or second Death.

Moreover, when the Scripture saith the body dies, doth not that include the soul, or natural Life? What have you your natural Learning for, but to understand the natural sence of words? Do you not find, that that which our Translation calls body, the Greek calleth souls? as Numb. 6.6. there it is said, That he shall come at no dead body, in our Bible; but after the Greek, your own Doctors read thus; He shall come at no dead Soul.

Is it not said, That man was made a living soul? And was not the threatning charge given out, That that soul that sinned, that soul should dye? and yet say you, the soul cannot dye.

Now that which the National Ministry do make a ground of the Immortality of the soul, is to all spi∣ritual wise men, an evident proof of its Mortality; as where it is said, so such a one dyed, and was gathered to his people; now whether is it, that they were gather∣ed but into the grave? As for instance, see 2 Kings 22.20.

If the Soul can enjoy Heaven without its body, what matter of a Resurrection? but it is certain that the Scriptures affirms the contrary, and that there can be no Salvation without a Resurrection.

When God shall raise the dead, he hath his Angels attending to gather the Saints together, as God raiseth them; neither God nor his Angels doth not bring their Souls from Heaven to ••••ume their dead bodies; but our God raiseth Soul and Body together, out of the Grave by a word speaking, as he did the Body and Soul of Lazarus.

Again, on the other hand, must all the damned Souls come from Hell to fetch up their cursed bodies? What Hell do they come from, but out of the Grave, Soul and Body out of the Grave; and when the Soul and Body rises, then the Devil rises to his eternal Punishment; and this Earth will be the place of the Devils Torment, where he acted all his Lies and Cru∣elty; there shall he suffer eternally (after the Elect Men and Angels are assended with their God into E∣ternal Glory) the Plagues of Egypt were a Tipe of this.

These things will be so in their time: And so much in answer to this Principle.

In pag. 20th. you oppose John Reeve for saying, How that but one Angel fell from his Created Purity and Glory.

This Doctrine, say you, is quite contrary to Scrip∣ture; which tells us in Jude, That the Angels fell: and this, say you, cannot be apply'd to Kain and his Po∣sterity: For they, say you, by our own words never fell: And as for Kain, say you, He never was from that fal∣len Angel, but was of Adam's begetting as well as Seath. And again you affirm also, That all Kain's Offspring nerished in the Floud.

Notes

• Acts 20.28.
• Isaiah 53.12. Heb 9.14.
• Coll 2.9. 1 Cor. 15.54.
• Revel. 1.18.
• 1 Tim. 6.16. 2 John. 7. Revel. 1.18.
• John 6.54.
• Luke 16.
• Act 2.31. and 13.36.
• Gen. 2.17.
• Ezek. 18. vers, 20.
• Col. 3.4. 1 Thes. 4.14.
• Mat. 13.41. c. 24.31. c. 25.31. John 5.••8. c. 11.43.
• 1 Revel. 20.13. Isa. 66.24.
• Jer. 17.13. Mich. 7.71. Ex••d. 10.21. Revel. 10.10.
• The Accusation.