self to any image whatsoever, though dedicated to an holy use, he is an idolater, and guilty of the breach of the second commandment, and so liable to that punishment the living God, who is in the form of man, in heaven, hath threatened to those that worship idols.

In page 8, Penn brings that place in John to prove God to be a Spirit without a body, where Christ said to the woman of Samaria, God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Saith Penn to this, but the only wise and invisible God is that infinite Spirit, therefore not confined to any bodily shape.

Answer. 1. That a Spirit hath no being at all without a bodily shape, let it be infinite or finite; and except a Spirit be confined to a bodily shape, it is nothing at all; for a spirit can have no existence nor being no where, nor in no where, without a body; neither can there be any body that hath life in it without a spirit, for spirit and life cannot be separated from its body, for if the body be alive, the spirit is alive; and if the spirit and life be dead, the body is dead also; so that there is no spirit, neither finite nor infinite, can be without a body, neither in God, angels, nor men, nor no other living creature, neither in heaven above, nor in the earth beneath. Secondly, a man may as well worship God in spirit and in truth without a body, as for God to be a Spirit without a body; for God doth expect worship and obedience from bodies, and not from spirits without bodies; but if God himself hath no body of his own, as Penn saith, how shall his creature which he hath made worship such a God, a Spirit that cannot be confined to no bodily shape, neither in heaven nor in earth. Thirdly, if Penn could but let me see some of the Quaker's spirits when they go out of their bodies, as they, say, how they do worship God in spirit and truth without bodies, then I might see God's Spirit without a body also; but it is to be doubted that they do not know one another's spirits themselves, having no bodies, as they did when their spirits were confined to these bodies of flesh, blood and bone; in my thoughts, their bodies did become their spirits, when they had bodies, very well, for I have seen several of their spirits when they had bodies, but now they are gone out of

the body, there is none knows one Quaker's spirit from another, nor which was which, for want of bodies: nay, their spirits cannot be found by God himself, for he never saw any spirit whatsoever without a body; and this I know, that no spirit without a body shall ever stand before the Lord, nor come in his presence; neither did Christ intend to make the woman believe, that God was a Spirit without a body; neither did he expect her to worship God in spirit and truth without a body, for the one is as possible as the other.

CHAP. XVI.

FOR though Christ said, that God is a Spirit, and those that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth: he knowing that God is a spiritual body, therefore said to be a Spirit, and that man is a natural body; therefore he must worship this God that hath a spiritual body, in spirit and in truth of heart, that is, in man's natural body; for he that worships God, that hath a spiritual body of his own, doth worship God in spirit and in truth; and no man can worship God in spirit and in truth of heart without a body; so that if God were a spirit without a body, a man may as well be a spirit without a body, and may worship such a God in spirit and truth without a body, which is ridiculous and inconsistent with reason; but she understood that God was a spiritual body in heaven, and that his body and spirit was one personal God, and that her own body and spirit was natural; yet she knew that this natural spirit and life in her natural body, ought to worship God, her Creator and Redeemer, in spirit and in truth of heart, with all her soul, and with all her strength. And those that do so, doth worship God in spirit and in truth; so that if natural bodies and natural spirits can worship God in spirit and in truth, it will follow that God is a spiritual person also. More might be said in this, but I shall pass it by.

Likewise, Penn quotes Rom. viii. 3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, for sin condemned sin in the flesh, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man.

Penn's reply to this; he grants that Christ took upon him not only the shape of a man, but the flesh and blood of a Virgin, and saith, the question will then be this, Whether Christ had this shape before he took it? And in page 9, Penn saith, God is not in the likeness of sinful flesh, nor made in the likeness of man. And in page 10. Penn saith, To conclude, if he will interpret God's hands, arms, and span, to signify his power, as is most true, saith he; then, saith Penn, I will also explain God's image to be holiness, which, saith he, is also true.

Answer. Here Penn grants, that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Observe, if Christ was God's own Son, then he was the express image of his Father's person, he being the only begotten Son of God; and if the Son were in the form of man, then he that begot him must needs be in the form and shape of man also; for a Spirit without a body could never beget a son with a body like man, for every thing begets its like; so that if God begot a Son in his own likeness, and that in the shape of man, as the Scripture saith, then it will follow, that God the Father of Christ bwas in the form and shape of man before he begot him; neither ean Paul's words be true, except God hath a body, form, and shape of his own, because he hath begot a Son in the womb of a Virgin, in the form of man, nay, very man. And this man Christ Jesus is said to be the express image and brightness of God's person; so that Paul did conclude, that God's person was in the form of man's bodily shape, bas as is most true. Is it not gross ignorance for a man to say, that God was in no form nor shape, when he made man in his own image and likeness, seeing he hath begot a Son since; that which is the express image and brightness of God's person; and what testimony can be more sure, to prove that God was in the form of man, in respect of bodily shape,

from eternity; but because Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, was in the form and shape of man when he was upon earth, and when he was in the likeness of sinful flesh, he was at that same time the express image and likeness of God's person; and he doth retain that body, form and shape still in heaven; so that the visible body of Christ is sufficient to prove, that God had a body like man, when he made man in his own image and likeness, in respect of his bodily shape; let the reader consider, did ever Moses, the prophets, apostles, or Christ himself, pray to a Spirit without a body?" Did Christ say, Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me. Not my will, but thy will be done? Did he pray these words to an infinite Spirit without any body, that can neither hear, see, nor be confined to no particular place, what need soever his son had of his help? All this will not convince the spirits of these blind Quakers, that carrieth their God within them, who are hardened in their hearts, as Pharaoh was, for eternal damnation.

Secondly, Penn doth confess, that this Son of God took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man.

Thirdly, Penn doth confess, that Christ took upon him, not only the shape of a man, but the flesh and blood of a Virgin, and saith, the question will then be this,-Whether Christ had that shape before he took it?

Answer. That the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of God is all one and the same Spirit, this the Quakers doth acknowledge, and think none that doth own the Scriptures doth deny; and if it be granted, that the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of God are but one Spirit, as is most true, then this will be the result, that when Christ took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, God also took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man also. Secondly, Christ's Spirit and God's Spirit being but one Spirit, then when Christ took not only the shape of a man, but the flesh and blood of a Virgin also;

for God and Christ were always together, and never were divided nor separated one from the other in themselves, though it seemeth otherwise to us.

And to answer your question, whether Christ had the shape of a man before he took it of the Virgin: to this I say, he had the shape of a man from eternity; and this Christ was he that said, Let us make man in our own image and likeness. This he spake in relation to a two-fold condition, that is, he was now, when he made man in the creation, in a spiritual, heavenly, and glorious estate and condition, in the throne of the Father and Creator, the Almighty God, the great Jehovah: but I will become a child in the womb of a Virgin, and will take upon me the same seed of Adam, when I created him, even the seed of faith, which I sowed in his heart in the day when I created him, even my own seed of faith, and I will become in the condition of a servant, and will be found in the shape of man, and be as a servant to my own creatures, though I made them all, and am lord of them all, yet I will be as a servant to all so that Christ had the shape of man before he took npon him the form of a servant, and the flesh and blood of a Virgin : but flesh, blood, and bone he had not, before he took upon him the seed of Abraham; for flesh, blood, and bone, is proper only to natural bodies, and not to spiritual bodies.

So that God hath been in two states and conditions, but his form and shape hath been all one, even the form, image, and likeness of man: so that it may be clear to those that hath the true light of faith in them, that Christ was in the form and shape of man's body before he took the flesh and blood of a Virgin.

Thirdly, page 9, Penn saith, God is not in the likeness of sinful flesh, nor made in the likeness of men: observe a little before he did own that Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was found in the shape of man, and that he took upon him the flesh and blood of a Virgin, and took upon him the form of a servant, and that God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and that God's Son was made of no reputa