Israel, so by parables they were condemned; as a treacherous woman departing from her husband, so was the house of Israel compared, as departing from their God., And now I tell thee, in that perfect likeness Hann hath brought forward his parables, to condemn the scriptures. Let men discern how I compared myself to a Husband and to a Bridegroom; and what were my promises made to the house of Israel, if they obeyed my command, in the chapters that I directed thee to send to him, where my promises stand great, and my threatenings severe. This, in like manner, is mocked by the Atheists, as he hath mocked my sayings to thee; that I forsook them, as Hann says I had forsaken thee; for in like manner as he hath mocked, so in like manner have the Atheists mocked the scriptures, that I demanded of him to explain. Thy Maker is thine Husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called.*

"From these words the same observation is made by the Atheists, as Hann hath made by thee, or my visitation to thee. After the promises were made, what love, or what affection did I shew to the Jews? is the inquiry of the Atheists, who see them as an outcast nation; and all the scriptures, that I pointed out to thee, to demand an explanation from him, are in like manner mocked by the Atheists; and so in like manner they are mocked by him. For, I ask thee, how he, or any man, can explain these scriptures, to believe them the word of God, and not discern, that I forsook them, and did not fulfil my promises at that time? Therefore, if he doth not allow, that these scriptures will be fulfilled in the end, he must mock the scriptures, and my sayings to the prophets, much greater

Isaiah, LIV. 5.

than he can mock my leaving thee for a short time; because thou knowest, it was but as it were for a moment, that I left thee, to be tempted and tried by the devil; but how soon was my loving kindness turned unto thee, to free thee from his power, arts, and temptations! But know what I have told thee before, he that condemneth my ways, in permitting the devil to try my friends, must condemn the Scriptures throughout, as he hath done; therefore I shall turn back his words upon his own head; for his discernment of the scriptures is no better than his discerning of my visitation to thee. For, as he saith, as soon as thy writings are united with the scriptures, they quarrel with one another; perfectly so is his observation of the scriptures, where he condemns ME in my visitation to thee, in giving a command, or in leaving thee for a while; and perfectly so he must quarrel with the scriptures, and condemn my ways and my decrees, because I have told thee, that in one likeness both stand together: and where is the Christian that was never tried and tempted by the devil? But I ask mankind, why it should be said in the scriptures, that he should be cast out? Why did I die to redeem man from the power of death, hell, and sin, if the devil had no power to tempt any, but such as were willingly led by him, and give themselves up to his will? If the followers of the Lord, and those that have the desire in their hearts to be freed from evil, were never tried and tempted by the devil, then my casting him out, to cut off his power, would be unjust; and my sentence must be unjust, to say, that the rebuke of my people should be taken away from off all the earth, which I have told thee is the devil; and not only their rebuke, but the disturber of their peace and happiness; for which reason my sentence is just therefore I said, hell should tremble, for I should chain the rebel down. But how

couldest thou be a judge of the different spirits working within thee, and the different feelings of thy own heart, if I had never permitted Satan to try thee, that thou mayest be a clear judge? And know, without ME thou couldest do nothing; and without ME thou hast no knowledge of any events that should take place. But here, I tell thee, in Hann is Satan's working, as an angel of light, to condemn my ways, through hypocrisy; because he hath made a profession of religion, in bringing forward my saying, "What is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his soul?" This is being a wolf in sheep's clothing, that I ordered men to beware of; for I said, Within they were ravening wolves: and this I shall plainly prove before thee; because the subtlety of the devil, when he worked in the serpent to betray Eve, was not so greatly to my dishonour, or to disgrace your Creator, as the subtle manner this man hath worked round, to make my ways appear contemptible. For there is not an infidel nor an atheist in the world, that ever wrote against the scriptures in so artful a manner, to condemn my ways and my decrees, as the arts of Hann have done; for, in a judgment like his, the whole bible is condemned throughout; and for that end it is designed; for here is Satan's working through hyprocrisy, which is worse than an open enemy; because it is a cunningly-devised fable, and doctrine of devils; for it was a cunningly-devised fable, worked on by the devil to cast the blame of the fall upon your Creator; and it is a cunningly-devised fable to condemn the scriptures, from the very thing that he hath condemned in my visitation to thee; for as thou pouderest in thy heart, that, as I gave commands to thee, I had given commands through the scriptures, just so will every one that hath a knowledge of the scriptures discern, that they are condemed by this cunningly-devised fable; because the likeness stands

together; and whoever supports and encourages a man like Hann, must be an enemy to God, and all his ways and decrees; and be another such as himself, however great may be his profession of religion; for here the tree is known by its fruit: and what but thorns and thistles can be proved from his works? Now come to his sayings of the bible, and I shall answer them.”

Hann says, "The writings exclaim against the bible, and the bible condemns the writings." "I answer: where will he find thy writings exclaim against the bible? Have I not told thee the scriptures are the written word of God; that what I have said I shall fulfil; that not one jot or tittle shall fall to the ground, till all be fulfilled, which I told thee I am coming to fulfil? Then where is the man who can prove that assertion, that in any of my visitations to thee, or any judgment thou hast drawn of thyself, that thou hast spoken against the scriptures, when I have asserted them to be true, and that the whole shall be fulfilled? Where is the man who can prove the bible is against thy writings, if I come to fulfil them, as I have told thee? This cannot be done by man. Now come further to his words."

Hann says, "The bible says the writings are a cunningly-devised fable, and the doctrine of devils; the writings say, the bible is full of contradictions."

"I answer: In a judgment like his, full of contradiction the bible must be; because, from the beginning, he hath freed the devil from being the author of any evil; and so his judgment is the doctrine of devils. But now come to my answers, and what I have revealed to thee, that there is no contradiction in the scriptures; because it is the scriptures I shall fulfil, and cast out devils, with all their doctrine, that they have worked in the hearts of men to despise and look upon as cunningly-devised fables; but I shall

make the fables true, and all the crooked paths I shall make straight in the end, and fulfil the scriptures that I have demanded of him to explain; but, without the fulfilment, contradiction must stand in the scriptures; nevertheless, this contradiction is in men, that deny the fulfilment thereof." Hann says, 66 The bible professes to be light, the light of life; the writings declare it to be total darkness, unintelligible, and not to be understood."

I answer: The bible not only professes to be light, the light of life, but in reality it is so. The prophets were a light to the people of old, to set before them good and evil, and to teach men what they should do to be saved. But the mysteries, that stand for the end, would have been of no use to them; for it would have been of no use to them to see a light, that was not to shine in their days; neither was it designed for their days; but the light, that was required of them, was placed before them, if they would walk in that light. And, so the light of my Gospel, my coming to suffer for man, to bear the transgression of the fall, was given by the prophets; and, to them that believed I was a true light of salvation, to give them a greater light than they had seen before; for as I came to fulfil the one, I promised tocome again in power to fulfil the other, as I have explained it to thee already. So that the scriptures have been a light to all them that walked in the light, and a light that led them to life everlasting. Thus there is no contradiction in the scriptures; but the contradiction is in mankind, who often wrest them to their own condemnation, as Hann hath done: and contradictory men must make them, if they say they will never be fulfilled; because the knowledge of the end, in what way they will be fulfilled, is sealed up from the understanding of men; neither were they designed to be revealed, till the time drew near

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