the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father."-John xvi. 28. "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee, before the world was." John xvii. 5. THIRD QUERY. "Dost thou wish to be understood as denying the authenticity of the Scriptures of truth, or as wishing to undervalue them; or would thou encourage all to the frequent and diligent perusal of them, as being able, under Divine illumination, to make wise unto salvation ?" ANSWER. "As respects the Scriptures of truth, I have highly esteemed them from my youth up, have always given them the preference to any other book, and have read them abundantly more than any other book, and I would recommend all to the serious and diligent perusal of COMMENT. "And among other subjects, I have been led, I trust, carefully and candidly to investigate the effects produced by the book called the Scriptures, since it has borne that appel| lation, and it appears from a comparative view, to have been the cause of four fold more harin than good to christendom, since the Apostles days: and this I think must be indubitably plain to every faithful honest mind, that has investigated her history, free from the undue bias of education and tradition."-E. Hicks' Letter to P. Willis, dated 5th month, 1818. Although we value the Scriptures, which are written and bound up in the book we call the Bible, as well as other Scriptures written them; and I appre-by other wise and good men; but the Scriphend I have receiv- tures do not properly belong to any, but those ed as much comfort to whom they were written; they are so far and instruction from from being any rule to the true Christian, that them, as any other they are inconsistent and contradictory to man. Indeed they themselves, and there is not an agreement in have instructed me them, in any general way."-E. Hick's Serhome to the sure mon, Westbury Quar. Meeting, 7th month, 66 unchangeable foun-29, 1825. : dation; the light "We must have no dependance on any book, within, or spirit of or writing, as a means whereby we can be truth, the only gos-made wiser in the way of life and salvation." pel foundation, that Funeral at Jerusalem, L. I. 2d month 20th, leads and guides in- 1824. to all truth, and thereby completes man's salvation; which nothing else ever has, or ever can do. But why need I say these things, as all men know, that have heard me, that I confirm my doctrine abundantly, by their testimony and I have always endeavoured sincerely to place them in their true place and station, but I never dare exalt them above what they themselves declare; and as no spring can rise higher than its fountain, so likewise the Scriptures can only direct to the fountain from whence they originated, the spirit of truth as saith the Apostle : "The things of God, knoweth no man, but the spirit of God;" therefore, when the Scriptures have directed and pointed us to this light within, or spirit of truth, there they must stop-it is their ultimatumthe top stone of what they can do. "If the Scriptures were absolutely necessary, he had power to communicate them to all the nations of the earth. But they were not necessary, and perhaps not suited to any other people than they to whom they were written."-E. Hick's Sermon, Philadel phia edition, p. 119. "The New Testament has been the cause of great contention and blood-shed. Jesus himself, left nothing in writing, and for my part, I am by no means satisfied that his disciples were authorized to do so."-E. H's. Sermon, Pearl-st. Mecting House, N. Y. "Don't you suppose now, that Jesus Christ, that was the greatest teacher that ever was on earth, could have written better Scriptures than all that was ever written, or can be written? He lived nearer the fountain than any ever did; but he wrote nothing, and why? Because he saw how the people hurt themselves by what is written."-E. H's. Sermon at Wilmington, Qua. vol. 1, p. 207. "Nothing which has ever been done outwardly, or written, can ever be profitable to us; for we are to leave all those things, and not look back to them."- Sermon at Jericho, 6th month, 18th, 1825. "The moment we look back, or insist upon a belief in any thing that was written a thousand years ago, that moment we depart from the ground which we were designed by our Creator to occupy."--Sermon at Jericho, 6th month, 11th, 1825. "Jesus never wrote any thing, nor commanded any thing to be written; he spoke from fresh openings. Nothing that was written or spoken one day, can be useful another; because there is a constant advancement; and there can be no rule or law laid down, for there is no two men alike; of course, what applies to one, will not apply to another."Sermon at Jericho, 6th mo. 18th, 1825. "The reading of the Scriptures ought not to be enjoined by our discipline; we have no And no other exter- | such authority over one another: we are not at all accountable to each other for what we read, or whether we read any thing at all.”Declaration in meeting, at Jericho, 7th mo. 10th, 1823. nal testimony of men And "How absurd for any one to suppose that we must now look to men, or books, for instruction; or that we should look back to what was written eighteen hundred years ago, in order to be instructed in the way of life and salvation; seeing we have the unction in ourselves from the Holy One. It was no more intended that those of that day, such as Peter and Paul, should be instructors to us now, than that some of us should now be raised up to be instructors to those who may live a thousand years after us.”—Sermon at Jericho, 9th month, 21st, 1823. "All must go away; we must no longer look to the letter, let it come from what source it may; it is no difference."-E. H's. Sermon, Phil. ed. p. 315. ON THE SCRIPTURES. It is well known to those acquainted with the doctrines of Friends, that they have uniformly considered the internal manifestation of Divine light, or Spirit of truth, to be the foundation principle, or fundamental doctrine of the Society; so they likewise believe that the Scriptures of truth (which contain the doctrines of christianity) were written under the influence of this Holy Spirit: that "they were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope." Rom. xv. 4. George Fox, on behalf of the Society, saith, "Concerning the Holy Scriptures; we believe they were given forth by the Holy Spirit of God, through the holy men of God, who (as the Scripture itself declares, 2nd Pet. i. 21.) spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost: we believe they are to be read, believed and fulfilled; (he that fulfils them is Christ:) and they are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect; thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus." 2nd Tim. iii. verse 15 to 17.-George Fox's Journal, Vol. ii. P. 140. "In this respet above mentioned then, we have shown what service and use, the Holy Scriptures, as managed in and by the Spirit, are of the Church of God; wherefore we do account them a secondary rule. Moreover, as they are commonly acknowledged by all, to have been written by the dictates of the Holy Spirit; and that the errors which may be supposed by the injury of time, to have slipt in, are not such but that there is a sufficient clear testimony left to all the essentials of the christian faith; we do look upon them as the only fit outward judge of controversies among Christians, and that whatsoever doctrine is contrary unto their testimony, may therefore be rejected as false. And for our parts, we are very willing that all our doctrine and practises be tried by them; which we never refused, nor ever shall, in all our controversies with our adversaries as the judge and test. We shall also be willing to admit it as a positive certain maxim, that whatsoever any do, pretending to the Spirit, which is contrary to the Scriptures, be accounted and reckoned a delusion of the devil." Barclay's Apol. page 85, 86. FOURTH QUERY. "Dost thou believe there is no accountability beyond the grave, or that there is no state of reward and punishment after death?" The communications of Elias Hicks have generally been of such a nature, as not to induce Friends to apprehend, that he disbelieved in a future state of rewards and punishments. No charge of that nature was alleged against him in the testimony of disownment, issued by the Monthly Meeting, disuniting him from the Society of Friends; but inasmuch as he and his adherents have introduced this subject to the notice of the public in this way; a part of the evidence will be furnished, upon which some may have formed an opinion that he discarded those generally received truths. ANSWER. "This charge which I hear has been made against me, is altogether such a bare-faced and palpable falsehood, that I can hardly believe that any man could be ig REMARKS ON THIS QUERY. The insertion of this Query, has probably been occasioned by a letter published in the periodical paper, called "The Friend," Vol. 1, No. 35, dated 6th mo. 2nd, 1828. An extract from which is as follows: * "We have heard a great deal said about Elias Hicks's doctrine; but we have heard him ourselves in several meetings of late, where he has come out plainer than I ever norant and wicked heard him. At Purchase Quarter, he said enough to fabricate * there was a great deal such a story, nor of talk about judgment after death, which that any man that was all an ignis fatuus, held out to terrify men, knew any thing a- and cause them to bow to creeds and priestbout me, could give craft. For his part, he knew of no purgatory the least possible after death; but he went to judgment every credit thereto; as day, and so did every other man and woman, I have spent a great and that there was no other day of judgment: portion of my time all the heaven and hell there was, is in us: we in travel and exer- received our rewards and punishments every cise, having travel-day-our heaven and hell daily; and all, he led thousands and believed we ever should. To prove it, said tens of thousands the drunkard would get his bottle and get of miles, leaving be- drunk; this was his heaven-we saw him hind me, every ten-happy-he was then in heaven: and then he der and sweet en- would, when he got sober, feel miserablejoyment that this this was his hell: and if there was any healife can afford, for ven and hell hereafter, it was something we no other cause than could know nothing about." |