"_A._ No: for if he do, he lies, and there is no truth in him. For
whatsoever rules as king in his flesh, that is his God....

"_Q._ But I hope that the Father is my Governor, and therefore may
I not call Him God?

"_A._ Hope without ground is the hope of the hypocrite. Thou canst
not call Him God till thou be able in pure experience to say thy
flesh is subject to Him. For if thy knowledge be no more but
imagination or thoughts, it is of the Devil, and not of the Father.
Or if thy knowledge be merely from what thou hast read or heard
from others, it is of the flesh, not of the spirit.

"_Q._ When then may I call him God, or the Mighty Governor, and not
deceive myself?

"_A._ When thou art by that Spirit made to see Him rule and govern,
not only in thee but in the whole creation.... Wait upon Him till
He teach thee. All that read do not understand; the Spirit only
sees truth, and lives in it."

Winstanley subsequently explains his views at considerable length. True
knowledge, he contends, comes from within, not from without. "The whole
Scriptures," he maintains, "are but a report of spiritual mysteries held
forth to the eye of the flesh in words." The Gospel he explains to be
"the Father Himself, that is, the Word and glad tidings that speak peace
inwardly to pure souls." The writings of the Apostles and the Prophets
he regards as "the report or declaration of the Gospel, which are to
cease when the Lord Himself, who is the everlasting Gospel, doth