THIS is for all the Priests , Professors and Prophane in Christendom , that say , The Scriptures are your Rule for your Doctrine , Faith , Life and Practice ; who ●se to brand the People of God , which you in scorn call Quakers , and say , That they deny the Scriptures , &c. and the Ordinances of God and Christ , which is false .

But let us see , whether you do speak truly , in saying , That the Scriptures are your Rule for your Doctrine , Faith and Practice , &c. and whether that which you call an Ordinance of God and Christ ( which you say the Quakers do deny ) be not an Ordinance , and Doctrine and Practice of your own Inventions , and not of God and Christ ; neither can ye make it good by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament .

For the Bereans , you will confess , were Noble , wh● searched the Scriptures daily , to see if those things were so , which the Apostles preached , Acts 17.11 . For the Apostle said , He believed all things which were written in the Law and the Prophets , Acts 24. And what , must not we be as noble as the Bereans , to search the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament , to see if those Doctrines and Ordinances ( as you call them ) be found written and expressed in the Scriptures ? and they not being found in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament , as we shall prove hereafter , that these your Doctrines , Ordinances and Practices , are neither according to the New Testament nor the Old ; then how can we follow you ?

Concerning your Sprinkling of Infants , and your Fonts , and your signing them with the Sign of the Cross , and your Gossips , and God-Fathers and God-Mothers , &c. These things you cannot prove in all the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament , who say , The Scriptures are your Rule for these things . But let us see if the Quakers do not own and walk according to the Scriptures more than you , who cannot make these things good by Scripture .

Genesis 5. In the day when God created Adam and Eve , he blessed them , and called their Name Adam .

So here God , that made Man and Woman , gave the Name to Adam .

And you do not read , that there was any God-fathers and God-mothers then : it was not like ; for he was the first Man , and Eve the first Woman .

And Adam said , This is Bone of my Bones , and Flesh of my Flesh ; she shall be called Woman , because she was taken out of Man ; and she became his Wife .

And again , Adam called his Wife's Name Eve , because she was the Mother of all Living .

Now prove that Adam did sprinkle his Wife with Water when he named her , or signed her with the Sign of the Cross .

And did not Adam and Eve give Names to Cain and Abel without God-Fathers and God-Mothers , and sprinkling them with Water , and signing them with the sign of the Cross ?

And Cain begat a Son , and called his Name Enoch ; had he God-fathers and God-mothers ? or did he sprinkle him with Water , or sign him with the sign of the Cross ?

And Adam had another Son , and Eve called him Seth ; For ( said she ) God hath appointed me another Son instead of Abel .

And Seth had a Son , and called his Name Enos , Gen. 4.

Now let all the Priests & Professors in Christendom prove that these had God-fathers , and God-mothers , and Gossips , and that they sprinkled them with Water , and had Fonts , or signed them with the sign of the Cross ; or any of them in the Old World , though they were gone after Bad Marriages and their hearts enclined to Wickedness continually ; so the Wicked did not practice these things that we read of , nor them that were Good .

And Lamech begot a Son , and called him Noah ; and Noah had three Sons , and called them Shem , Ham and Japhet : and then after the Flood till Abraham's time , Gen. 11. where did ever any sprinkle their Children with Water , and sign them with the sign of the Cross , or had God-fathers and God-mothers , or Gossips and Fonts ? prove this practice by plain Scripture , who say , It is your Rule .

And the Lord said to Hagar , Thou art with Child , and thou shalt call his Name Ishmael , because the Lord hath heard thy Afflictions : and Abraham called his Name Ishmael .

And God said unto Abram , Thy Name shall be called Abraham ; and thy Wife Sarai , shall be called Sarah , Gen. 16 , 17.

And Abraham had a Son , and he called his Name Isaac .

Now here you may see the Lord did give Names , and the Father and Mother did give Names to Children , without a Priest sprinkling them , or God-fathers and God-mothers , and without Fonts , or signing them with the sign of the Cross .

And Isaac had two Sons , and they called their Names Esau and Jacob .

And Abraham had many Children by Keturah , Gen. 25. and you read no Scripture that there was any Priest to sprinkle them with Water , or sign them with the sign of the Cross , or God-fathers or God-mothe●s .

And Lot's two Daughters bare two Sons , and they called one of them Moab , and the other Ben-ammj . But here is no mention of a Priest sprinkling of them , nor Gossips , nor God-fathers , nor God-mothers , nor signing them with the sign of the Cross , Gen. 19.37 , 38.

And Jacob had twelve Sons and a Daughter , and you may see how Leah and Rachel gave Names to the most of them , Gen. 29 , & 30. Chapters , without a Priest sprinkling of them with Water , and without God-fathers and God-mothers , and Gossips , and Commothers , and Fonts , and signing them with the Sign of the Cross . Yet Jacob saw Christ , and prophesied of him , and said , The Scepter should not depart from Judah , nor a Law-giver from between his Feet till Shiloh come .

And Judah had Children , and his Wife called one Err , and another Onan , and another Shelah , Gen. 38. So you see how that sometimes the Wife named the Children , and sometimes the Man , without a Priest sprinkling of them with Water , or Fonts , or God-fathers and God-mothers , or signing them , &c.

And Joseph had two Sons in Egypt , and he called one Manasseh , and the other Ephraim , Gen. 41. But no sprinkling with Water by a Priest , nor God-fathers nor God-mothers , nor Gossips , nor Commothers , nor Fonts , nor signing them with the sign of the Cross .

And Pharaoh's Daughter she call'd the Hebrew Child Moses , because she drew him out of the Water : Here was no Priest to sprinkle him , nor God-fathers nor God-mothers , nor signing him with the sign of the Cross , though she was an Aegyptian .

And Moses had a Son , and he called his Name Gershon ; here was no Priest to sprinkle him , nor God-fathers nor God-mothers , nor signing , &c. Exod . 2.

And all the time that the Children of Israel were in Aegypt , and all the time they were in the Wilderness , and all the time until Christ , you never read that any Priest sprinkled their Children with Water , o● 〈…〉 ●o●t , or God-fathers or God-mothers , and Gossips or Commothers , or that they signed them with the sign of the Cross .

And Manoah's Wife bare a Son , and called his Name Sampson , Judg . 13.

And Hannah bare a Son , and called his Name Samuel , because , said she , I have asked him of the Lord , 1 Sam . 1.

And Phineas's Wife bare a Son , and she called his Name Ichabod , saying , The Glory of the Lord is departed from Israel , 1 Sam . 4.

And Ruth bare a Son , and the Women her Neighbours gave him a Name , and called him Obed ; and Obed begat Jess , and Jess begat David , Ruth 4. And you cannot prove by Scripture , that any of all these had a Font and a Priest to sprinkle them with Water , or sign any of them with the sign of the Cross , or that they had Gossips or Commothers , or God-fathers or God-mothers , that did promise and vow , that they should forsake the Devil and all his Works .

And Bath-sheba David's Wife bare a Son , and he called his Name Solomon , and the Lord loved him , 2 Sam . 12.

And the Wife of Machir bare a Son , and she called his Name Peresh , 1 Chron . 7. And many others you may see in this Chapter , how they named them ; without a Priest sprinkling of them with Water , and without God fathers and God-mothers , &c.

And the Mother of Jabez gave him the Name Jabez , because , said she , I bare him with Sorrow , 1 Chron . 4. So here the Mother Named him without a Priest sprinkling of him , or God-fathers , or God-mothers , or Fonts , or Gossips .

And Hosea had Sons and a Daughter , and the Lord told him what he should call them , Hos . 1. But here is no mention of a Priest sprinkling them with Water , nor God-fathers , nor God-mothers , &c.

And Isaiah went to the Prophetess , and she bare a Son , and the Lord said they should call his Name Mahershallallhashbaz ; and before the Child should have knowledge to cry My Father and Mother , the Riches of Damascus and the Spoil of Israel should be taken away , Isa . 8. But here the Lord speaks nothing of a Priest sprinkling him with Water , nor of God-fathers and God-mothers , &c.

And the Angel said to Zacharias , Thy Wife shall bear a Son , and thou shalt call his Name John , Luke 1. But the Angel saith nothing of a Priest to sprinkle him , nor God-fathers , nor God-mothers , &c.

And the Angel said unto Mary , Thou shalt bring forth a Son , and shalt call his Name Jesus ; for he shall save his People from their Sins . Behold a Virgin shall be with Child , and shall bring forth a Son , and they shall call his Name Emanuel , which being interpreted is God with us , Isa . 7. Mat . 1. But here the Lord and his Angel doth not say , that a Priest should sprinkle him at the Font , and sign him with the sign of the Cross , nor that they should have God-fathers and God-mothers , and they should promise and vow , that he should forsake the Devil and all his Works ; neither do you read of any such things practised in the Apostles dayes .

And now you that say , The Scriptures are your Rule for your Faith , Doctrine and Practice ; prove your Practice herein by Scripture , your sprinkling of Infants , and signing them with the sign of the Cross , or that they had God-fathers , or God-mothers , or Gossips , from Genesis to the Revelations . Make these things good by Scriptures , which you call an Ordinance of Christ ; but if you cannot , then be not angry with us , that we follow not you in these things , which you cannot make good by Scripture : and acknowledge your Error , who say , that the Scriptures are your Rule for that which you cannot make good by Scripture : For we , like the noble Bereans , do search the Scriptures , and do find that your Practice and Doctrine herein is neither according to the Old nor New Testament , and therefore we cannot follow you . But now do not say , that we deny the Baptism of Christ Jesus , into the Name of the Father , Son and Holy Ghost .

There is one Lord , one Faith , one Baptism , which we own , as the Apostles and primitive Christians did , Ephes . 4.