have given the working of miracles, in the wondrous manner that our Saviour wrought them, to a mere man, who was supported by false witnesses, that he should be worshipped as the Son of God. This erroneous opinion of mankind proves to me they have a faith without reason, without knowledge, or without understanding, and without the belief of the Bible; or having one thought of the knowledge of God, that the events of all things are known to him; that the Lord knew from the miracles our Saviour wrought, he would be worshipped as the Son of God, by those that believed in him. Then what idea can men have of the Lord, if they think he would give such power to a mere man, that asserted falsehoods, and was supported by nothing but false witnesses, from his birth to his death? In Luke xxiii. 44, 45, 46, it is said, there was darkness over all the earth, from the sixth hour, unto the ninth, and the veil of the temple was rent. Here sheweth the wondrous works of God at our Saviour's death, as well as at his birth; again when he was laid in the sepulchre, it is said, Matt. xxviii. there was a great earthquake, and the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and rolled back the stone, so that the keepers saw and fled. And though our Saviour went through such a death, to have his hands and feet nailed to the cross, the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, that blood and water gushed out, which made assurance of perfect death; yet it is affirmed by so many witnesses, and by the disciples that ran the hazard of their lives to preach his Gospel, that he rose again in his perfect body, and often appeared unto them; and he appeared to five hundred brethren at once. After his conversing with his disciples for some time, from his resurrection, it is said, in Acts 1. 9, to 11, that he was seen to be taken up in a cloud to heaven; and the angels of the Lord appeared to them, to assure them, that in like manner as they saw him ascend in the clouds, in like manner he should descend REMARKS ON THE ARIANS, BY JOANNA. 465 again. Now if all these confirmations were false, where is the man that can rely on a word of the Gospel, or a word of the Apostles? Yet of such madmen there are thousands in the world, who believe the whole a fabricated story; and yet profess to say our Saviour and his disciples were good men! This appeareth to me the deepest of insanity; a most wild and erroneous belief, and yet those madmen are not condemned by the worldly-wise; only men that do believe the truth of the Gospel say their belief is wrong, without discerning the depth of their madness and folly. And are these the men whose wisdom we are to rely on? Then we may as well trust on the broken reeds of Egypt, as trust to the wisdom of men, who believe it to be madness to rely on the written word of God, and the visitation of his Spirit, as he hath promised, and the beauty of the Gospel as it is joined together. This men call enthusiasm and madness; but to have a belief they have no grounds at all for, is not judged madness in men; for I see these Arians, in every part of the kingdom, looked upon as reasonable, sensible men, and only judged wrong in their belief, by those that believe the truth of the Gospel. Here I have shewed my firm belief that these Arians are madmen; and were my belief in our Saviour so erroneous, and were I visited by a spirit that taught me such doctrine, then I should believe it came from the devil; because it is inconsistent with sense or reason to believe the Gospel can be true, if all the witnesses of our Saviour were false; but if the witnesses are true, as I believe them to be, no man endowed with reason, can have a doubt of our Saviour's being the Son of God, who is spoken of in Psalm ii-Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Here I have shewed the inconsist ency of the Arians, on the one hand, in faint colours, (for I might fill a volume with the madness of their folly, in what they profess to believe); and now I shall come to another sect of people, which are the Calvinists, that from a few texts of Scripture, which they cannot understand, have wrested the whole Bible to their own condemnation. But I know they will be ready to answer me, they have placed the Bible for their own justification, that they were elected before the foundation of the world to be saved, and all the rest of the world were ordained to be lost. So they have picked out texts for their purpose, which they do not understand; because it is written-Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated before they were born; but they know not why that type was set in Jacob and Esau; nor what is meant by election and reprobation; but they go to St. Paul, whom they say was a chosen vessel of God, though he was a great persecutor at first; but they know not why he was a chosen vessel; yet from his own epistle, we might clearly see his heart was good, though his belief was wrong; and of that wrong belief the Lord convinced him, as he had a single and zealous eye to the glory of God; and for his honour and glory the Lord chose him. Here I believe, with all the Calvinists in England, when the Lord has any wondrous work to do, knowing the hearts of all men, he chuses instruments to work by. The foreknowledge of God must be allowed by every Christian believer; therefore in any work he has to do, the Lord certainly knows who is calculated and fit for the work: the Lord knew, when Moses was born, what he would be; therefore he preserved his life in a strange manner, and for a strange work; he knew the perverseness of Pharaoh's heart, and instead of cutting him off in his sins, as thousands are cut off, HE prolonged his life to shew his wondrous works in him. Thus we see the Lord, knowing what is in man, chuses the objects on both sides, to shew his wondrous works; but does this affirm, the Lord knowing what is in the heart of man, that it was his determination, before the creation of the world, when he created man, that he designed to create the major part of the world to be in opposition to his will and command? REMARKS ON THE CALVINISTS, BY JOANNA. 467. that he chose and ordained men for that purpose? Then I ask them what they make of the Bible? I shall come to the Revelation first-Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. But here the words must be turned by the Calvinists, and say -Whosoever the Lord hath ordained are to take of the water of life freely. So the will must be put out of the question. Chap. iii. 21-To him that overcometh I will grant to sit with ME in my throne. But what hath man to overcome, if he be ordained what he shall be? Then man hath nothing to overcome: if the decrees of the Lord are fixed, that he is born to go to heaven, all things are overcome for him; then why is he counselled to buy gold tried in the fire? that he may be made white? and anoint his eyes with eye-salve, that he may see? Here are Scriptures mentioned in the Revelation, that are wrested and turned by the Calvinists. Do men vainly imagine that the Lord invited men to mock and deceive them? Weigh deep Chap. iii. and hear what the Lord saith to the churches-that no man may take their crown from them: But who can take the crown from a man, if it be firmly fixed by the Lord unalterably, that cannot be removed? In Chap. ii. 26. it is said -He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. THE ANSWER OF THE SPIRIT. "Now I shall answer from the pondering of thy heart. Thou sayest, as the Arians err from the truth of the Gospel, just so do the Calvinists err from the truth of my Bible. This I know is thy pondering heart, from all the Scriptures thou hast read; and I now tell thee, the pondering of thy heart is worked by ME, to shew the madness and folly of mankind; therefore I tell thee, without my visitation to come and open the eyes of the blind, to unstop the ears of the deaf, the madness and folly that is in man would soon make my Bible to be but a form; for as T thou sayest from the Gospel, if they make every witness of mine talse, and all my assertions false, they must make my Gospel false; and this, I tell thee, is done by thousands, while on the other hand there are many that profess my Gospel to be true, and yet deny the truth it contains. Now let men answer ME, why I wept over Jerusalem, and said I would have gathered them together, as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, but they would not? why did I say, I came that they might have life; but they would not come unto ME that they might have life? Now I tell thee, as much as the Arians err from the truth of my Gospel, on the one hand, to make ME, and my disciples, the author of lies; just so do the Calvinists make my Bible the same'; therefore I worked in thy heart to differ in thy opinion from the opinions of men; and now I bid thee search the Scriptures-and where are the men who can answer for their belief on the one hand, any more than the Arians on the other?" After I had searched the Scriptures I found them full of the threatenings of the Lord against his own people; and the invitation of the Lord, to have them turn unto him that they might live. Now mark the words of the Lord, what he saith concerning the children of Israel-Oh, that there was such a heart in them as I could wish! As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather in them that repent and turn: turn ye, turn ye; for why will ye die, O house of Israel! saith the Lord: all day long have I stretched out my hand to a disobedient and gainsaying people: the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel do not know, my people do not consider. Now mark Jeremiah xxii. 5, the threatenings of the Lord if they would not hear. Let them mark Isaiah lv. 6-Seck ye the Lord, while he may be found; call ye upon him, while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways and return unto the Lord and he will haye mercy upon him. For my thoughts are not |