The answer to William Penn Quaker, his book, entituled, The new witnesses proved old hereticks Wherein he is proved to be an ignotant [sic] spater-brain'd Quaker, who knows no more what the true God is, nor his secret decrees, then one of his coach-horses doth, nor so much; for the oxe knoweth his owner, and the ass his masters scrip, but Penn doth not know his maker, as is manifest by the Scriptures, which may inform the reader, if he mind the interpretation of Scripture in the discourse following. I. That God was in the forme, image and likeness of mans bodily shape, as well as his soul from eternity. ... VIII. What is meant by the armour of God, the wilderness, and the wilde beasts I fought with in the wilderness. / By Lodowick Muggleton.

CHAP, XII. (Book 12)

Pe••n ••ath read at the University some old blind Authors that 〈…〉〈…〉 ••••int of t••e so••••s Mortality to be Heresie and 〈…〉〈…〉 ••pinion.

••ift••ly. Penn saith, but their most admirable secret of all is, that God des••ended with his body in the shape of man, dissolved himself into the Vi gins womb, and so brought forth himself a M••n childe, who af••••r he ha•• liv••d to su h an Age, was crucified a••d really died, or c••ase•• t•• be either God or Man for three days an•• nights.

Penn saith, that this is ••n tht••e pa••ticulars highly inconsistent with Scripture: I prove first, sairh Penn, God did not so trans∣mute his divine nature i••to fleshly mortal nature: and the Scri∣pture he brings to p••ove this, is Iohn 8.56, 57, 58 the words are t••ese, Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day, then said the Iews unto him thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? I••sus said unto th••m, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.

Page 24 Penns Argument to this Scripture, saith he, If that which was b••fore Abraham, and yet then in b••ing, the same was G••d, as none that own the Scriptures do deny, then, saith he, be∣caus•• that outward visible body was not befo••e Abraham, that was not G••d; and saith, I hope none will believe the eternal Deity was transmuted or transubstantiated into that visible body. And in Penns s••cond Argumen he saith, Then that fleshly body, mean∣ing,

Chrisls Body was not God, or the eternal God was not sub∣stantially transmuted into that fleshly body of Christ.

In page 28. Penn saith, it was impossible for God to transub∣stantiate h mself from an immortal Deity to a mortal man. In Page 30. Penn saith, that the immo tal God could never die or cease t•• ••e, is manifest, and the contraty, saith he, blasphem••usly false; These are Penns own words and chief Arguments and Scriptur•• he doth alledge, against that admirable Secret or My∣st••ry of God manifest in flesh, as was spoken of by his servants t e Prop••ets, and now declar'd m••re plainly by Reeve and Mug∣glet••n.

Answer, That this heavenly secret it doth consist with Scri∣pture I prove, and that God did transmute his divine nature into fleshly mortal nature. Secondly, I shall prove by Scripture that Iesus Christ was that very God that bless••d Abraham, and Abra∣ham saw by faith, that this eternal God that blessed him, would in the fulness of time transmute that spiritual eternal body, into a pure natural body of fl••sh, blood and bone in the Womb of a Vir∣gin, so that Immor••ality and Life became pure Mortality and D••ath, that is Go•• became flesh that he might b••come capable to die; and Abraham by faith did see Christs day, that he was very God manifest in a body of flesh, and that God should eat and drink with man as man, and in this sense Abraham did see his day, and rej••yced that God would become a body of flesh, so that Christ mig••t well say, Before Abraham was I am, for I am the ve∣ry same God that blessed Abraham when I was a spiritual body in eternal gl••ry in Heaven ab••ve the stars, but I have transmuted that heavenly body which was eternal, into a pure natural body of flesh in the Womb of a Vir••in, and am become mortal, and hath made my self capable to suff••r the pains of death, to lay down my G••dhead-life for the redemption of the seed of Adam, so that Christ when he was upon earth was the same God that was before Abraham was, only he was not in the same condition

as he was in before Abraham was; this is hard to be understood by the seed of the Serpent, yet Serpents will confess with the mouth that nothing is too hard for God: if so, why should it be too hard for God to transmute his spiritual body into a pure natu∣ral body, in all things like man, sin only excepted, and so make himself in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ••apacity to die, to be put to death by his own c••ea∣tu••es, w•••• sh ul•• this be thought too hard for God t•• do, but Penn th Serp••nt devil saith, It was impossible for G d to t••••n∣substantiate himself from an immortal Deity to a mortal man, yet the Scriptures are full to prove the same.

Mind•• Reader, That God d••d descend from Heaven in that spiritual body he had when he created man in his own Image into the Womb of the Virgin, and transmuted that spiritual body he had from eternity into a pure natural body in all things like unto man, sin excepted, which was Iesus Christ: This was God be∣came flesh, and dwelt among men: This was that childe Isaiah by the Spirit of Prophecy called, The Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; This is he in whom all the f••l••ess of the Godhead dwelt bodily. This Christ was he Paul speaketh of, God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached unto the Gentiles, helieved on in the World, received up into glory. This is that Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the be∣ginning and the end: This ts he that was dead and is alive, and be∣hold he lives for evermore. This is he that said when he was upon earth, I have Power to lay down my life, and I have Power to tak•• it a∣gain, I lay it down of my self, no man taketh it from me. This is he that made his soul an offering for sin. This is he that poured his soul unt death, by which he became a Conquerour over sin, de••th and Hell. This is he that hath washed my soul, and the souls of all others, that hav•• faith in his bloud: This is he that did rise a∣gain from death to life: This is the Lord f••om Heaven who is that quickning Spirit: This is he that shall judge the quick and the dead; This is he that shall raise the dead at the last day.

And the dead souls in the Graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth of the Graves, some to the Resurrection of eternal glory, and some to the Resurrection of eternal damnation, as I am sure Penn is one of those that shall receive the sentence of eter∣nal damnation in the Resurrection, as hath bin given him here by me, because he hath trampled the blood of Christ under foot, as an unholy, unprofitable and useless thing; in that he saith the soul of Christ did not die, with other base undervaluing expres∣sions against Gods P••rson and bodily forme, but hath adored in his imagination a formless confus••d spirit, that hath neither form nor shape, to be above the Lord of Life, that never was without a form. This Iesus Christ is he that is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, even the mighty God of Iacob: This is he that was be∣fore Abraham in a spiritual body in form like man: This is he that transmuted his spiritual body into a pure natural body, even the body of Christ in the Womb of the Virgin, as afore∣said.

This is he that said to the Iews, Before Abraham was I am. These places of Scripture doth clearly prove, that God did transmute his spiritual body into a pure natural body, even the body of Christ, and that Christ must needs be God and man, therefore called God our Saviour, much more might be said in this ••oint, but there hath bin sufficient proof of this before in this Treatise and else∣where, that may satisfie the soul of any that hath the true light of faith in them.

But I know many Scriptures may be alledged against these Scriptures I have named, which would be too tedious to answer or to interpret, for the Scriptures without an interpretation and m••aning d••th contra••ict one the other more then any Writings whatsoever, theref••••e there is a n••cessity that p••ople should be∣lieve the Interpreter, else the Scriptures will be of little benefit to any man.

There is several Arguments mo••e t••at Penn hath raised out of the imagination of reason, the d••vil in him, against this point: but they are so confused and unprofi••able, that it would not be worth the while t•• disprove, for he ra••seth several Arguments against Elias r••presenting the place of God the Father, while God went that jou••ney in the flesh, 33 years, was Elias in the Throne of the Fat••er: b••t this hath bin so publickly proved by Scripture already, many y••ars 〈◊〉〈◊〉, so that I shall not give any Answer to tho••e A••guments he••e: but this is to be consi••ered by the Read∣er, that one while Penn will have the eternal God to be so big, that he cannot be su••sc i••ed to any particular place, and another while ••e ••oth ride upon the sky, and upon the Circle of the earth, which if God filled all places at one time, and could not be sub∣scri••ed ••r contained in no particular place, then h•• could n••t stir no w••ere, for all Places in Heaven and Eart•• are full with his Omnip••es••nce, so that it would be impossible for God to ride up∣on th•• sky, or upon the Circle of the Earth: for such a God that can ride or move from one place to another, doth not fill Heaven a•••• Earth with his Presence, as Penn doth assert; An••ther while Penn will have nothing too hard nor impossible for G••d to do, no, not to make the vast earth and d••••p waters of nothing; yet ano∣ther while he saith, it was impo••sible for God to transmute him∣self from an immortal D••ity to a mortal man, and that it is as impossible for God to become a creature, or to dissolve his own infinite, eternal and immortal nature, into a mortal nature, so that sometimes there is nothing too hard nor impossible for God to do, and at another time there is several things too hard and im∣possible for God to do, as aforesaid; but I shall desire the Read∣er to minde the first point treated upon, that God was in the form and likeness of mans bodily shape from eternity, and that will prove this point more clear, so I shall leave it to the Readers to consider and conclude this point, that the immortal God being in the forme of man did descend from Heaven into the Womb of the Virgin, and dissolved or transmuted himself into a pure natural body in the VVomb of the Virgin, which was Christ Iesus, as the

Scriptures doth testifie, and as I have proved at large in the fore∣going discourse.

I perceive Penn hath read, some old Authors Books that hath judged this heresie also; but he that leaneth upon their judge∣ments that condemned the truth of God for heresie, will surely perish to eternity, for they would have said as much by Christ himself had they lived in his time.