THE ANSWERS TO THE SIX QUERIES,

COMPARED AND CONTRASTED.

FIRST QUERY.

"Dost thou wish to be understood by any thing thou may have said, publicly or privately, that thou denies the miraculous conception of the fleshy body of Jesus Christ; or dost thou believe that Joseph was his father?”

E. H'S. ANSWER TO QUE

RY FIRST.

"I have ever believed and asserted from my youth up, that I had as full a

belief in the miraculous conception of the fleshly body of Jesus Christ, as it was possible for the history to give belief. And I may now assure thee, that I never thought or said, that I believed Joseph was his father."

COMMENT IN E. H's. OWN LANGUAGE.

"Some parts of Scripture represent Jesus to be the son of Joseph; others, that he was brought forth by a miracle; and there is as other."-Westbury Quarterly Meeting, 7th much Scripture evidence one way, as the

month, 1821.

"I was brought up and educated in the historical and traditional belief, that the conception of Jesus of Nazareth, in the womb of Mary, his mother, was effected by the power of God; and this has been my belief, as far as history could produce a belief, for more than fifty years: and although I read, or have heard the Scriptures read many times over, yet, as I read them, or heard them read under the prejudice of a traditional belief, I never observed any thing that appeared to militate against it. But having in the compass of a few years past, been led into the examination of the ancient history of the professed Christian Church, wherein I discovered that many who made profession of the Christian name believed

otherwise; and these at times stood foremost in esteem."

(After some remarks upon the subject of the dissention, and wars, which he says resulted from the conflicting opinions on this subject, and by which the "Bishop of Rome gained the ascendancy," he proceeds :)

"Now in his creed, to which he made all the nations of Europe bow, by the dint of the sword, was this of the miraculous birth: therefore all children, for several hundred years, were brought up and educated in this belief, without any examination in regard to its correctness. Finding this to be the case, I examined the accounts given on this subject by the four Evangelists, and according to my best judgment on the occasion, I was led to think there was considerable more Scripture evidence for his being the son of Joseph than otherwise although it has not as yet changed my belief."

"But when we consider that he was born of a woman that was joined in lawful wedlock with a man of Israel, it would seem that it must shut the way to the enforcing any such belief, as all their neighbours would naturally be led to consider him the son of Joseph; and this it appears very clear they did, by the Scripture testimony."

"And although it has not, as above observed, given cause as yet to alter my views on the subject, as tradition is a mighty bulwark, not easily removed; yet it has had this salutary effect, as to deliver me from judging my brethren and fellow-creatures, who are in that belief; and can feel the same flow of love and unity with them, as though they were in the same belief with myself; neither would I dare to say positively, that it would be my mind they should change their belief, unless I could give them much greater evidence than I am at present possessed of; as I conceive in regard to our salvation, they are both non-essentials and I may further say, that I believe it would be a much greater sin in me, to smoke tobacco that was the produce of the labour of slaves, than it would be to believe either of these positions."-Extract from E. H's. letter to Thos. Willis, 10th month, 1821.

"We have no evidence of this event" (the miraculous conception)" but an historical account, and the Scriptures themselves, can be no evidence, for as no man can be an evidence for himself, so neither can any book be evidence for itself. We are not bound to receive and believe any thing as truth, but what is confirmed to us by the revelation of the spirit of truth in our own minds. We have only the woman's account for this, whose interest it was to make it appear so and Luke, in the beginning of his genealogy, says, he was supposed to be the son of Joseph, and that is as much as we can consistently say of any one." -Declaration in Meeting, at Jericho, 1st month, 21st, 1825.

"That account (the Angel's declaration to Mary, and to Joseph) can't be proved; who said it? It was only Joseph and Mary's testimony, or say so; and it was their interest to say so; but it ought not to be there."-Declaration to Gideon Seaman, at Westbury, near the 1st of the year 1822.

"Who was his father? He was begotten of God! We cannot suppose that it was the outward body of flesh and blood, that was begotten of God; but a birth of the spiritual life in the soul. * Nothing visible can be a son of God. * * By the analogy of reason, spirit cannot beget a material body, because the thing begotten must be of the same nature with its father. Spirit cannot beget any thing but spirit; it cannot beget flesh and blood: No! My friends it is impossible.". E. H's. Sermon's, Philadelphia edition, pages

10 and 11.

"The true Christian must become a son or a daughter of like nature and will with the Father, in the same sense, and same manner as Jesus Christ became his Son, by regeneration; not by generation; for the Almighty in his wisdom, has ordained the means whereby generation can be carried on; that flesh can only produce flesh, but flesh and spirit never can unite and make a being."-Sermon at Jericho, 1st month, 29th, 1824.

66

'Nothing born of a woman can be any thing more than flesh and blood; and flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,

because his kingdom is spiritual; and therefore the Son of God must not only have a spiritual father, but a spiritual mother: for you know what the effect is where two different species unite together in that relation, how abominable."-E. Hick's Serm. Qua. vol. 3d, page 107.

"If thee will read the Scriptures attentively, thee will believe Jesus to be the son of Joseph."-Declaration to Anna Braithwaite and others.

"I believe the first chapter of Matthew, and that of Luke, are fabulous.".-Declaration to William Jackson, of Pennsylvania. See his testimony in Court, at Camden, N. J.

"Jesus Christ was a mere man, begotten and brought forth, as other men, by the power of God on the virgin Mary; and undoubtedly he was the son of Joseph."-Sermon at Flushing, 9th month, 25th, 1823.

"He was begotten as every other man that ever came into the world was begotten. The Almighty performs a miracle whenever a human being is conceived."- Sermon at Flushing.

.

ON THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION.

The Society of Friends have always acknowledged as firm a belief in the miraculous conception of our Lord Jesus Christ, as recorded by the Evangelists.

In the approved doctrines of the Society, it is said: "For as we believe all those things to have been certainly transacted, which are recorded in the Scriptures, concerning the birth, life, miracles, sufferings, resurrection and ascension of Christ; so we do also believe that it is the duty of every one to believe it, to whom it pleases God to reveal the same, and to bring them to the knowledge of it; yea, we believe it were damnable unbelief not to believe it, when so declared."Barclay's Apol. page 141.

George Fox, in answer to a question, Who was Christ's father and mother? saith, "I told him Mary