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Buckley places the promise in Christ and Mary interpretation
On: he shall bruise thy head
Source quotation · J. Buckley ·1811 Having given the Lord’s most clear and decisive truth, as to the line of the covenant and of its manifestation, I proceed to show the full import and meaning of the bruising of the serpent’s head; the which is to be fully understood thus:—it is to destroy the abominations of him, and to bring down effectually the enemy’s fort and strong hold, the which he had so powerfully erected in Adam and Eve; whereby the baneful, lustful false desire, and rebellious will became predominant, and the seed of the woman deeply impregnated and figured with the bestial property of the serpent, whence all unchastity, uncleanness, and evil concupiscence ariseth. Now, that the same is bona fide and effectually done, shall appear in the following as it stands in the living word. First, we are to consider the covenant of promise which the Lord gave to Adam and Eve in the garden; for God seeing the state of his created image, he looked upon the same as a compassionating father, and moved himself in the power of grace to give relief; and this moving was in Christ, in the name of Jesu, the great Emanuel God with us; whereby a limit of separation of the enemy’s power took place, through the inspeaking word, as the same incorporated itself in the woman’s seed, as hath been already noticed in the covenant line, the true limit and manifestation thereof, standing in Mary; she being of the seed of Abraham, who was the daughter of Joachim and Anna, according to the flesh; but, according to the will, she was the daughter of the covenant of promise.
We are further to consider, that, as holy writ gives it, according to the salutation of the angel, Mary was blessed above all women, as being, thro’ the extraordinary sanctification, adorned with the heavenly virgin, Luke i. 12, whereby she became a fit vessel, and prepared for the most high. Now it follows, that in the mystery of the incarnation, the Lord took upon him and assumed the humanity, in the seed of the woman, and was truly of Mary’s essence, in soul and body; for, as being the son of the woman as well as the son of man, he must be of woman’s natural seed, and made under the law. St. Paul’s epistle Gal. iv. 4.
A Defence of the Holy Scriptures · J.Buckley, A Defence of the Holy Scriptures, London: I.Reed, 1811. Printed pp.5–6, two complete consecutive paragraphs beginning Having given... and We are further..., before Seeing that.... Visually collated; line-end hyphenation joined, spacing normalized, italics plain. Printed Luke i.12 retained without correction.
Source reuse and transcription Original 1811 English text, public domain; scan-host apparatus excluded.
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Having given the Lord’s most clear and decisive truth, as to the line of the covenant and of its manifestation, I proceed to show the full import and meaning of the bruising of the serpent’s head; the which is to be fully understood thus:—it is to destroy the abominations of him, and to bring down effectually the enemy’s fort and strong hold, the which he had so powerfully erected in Adam and Eve; whereby the baneful, lustful false desire, and rebellious will became predominant, and the seed of the woman deeply impregnated and figured with the bestial property of the serpent, whence all unchastity, uncleanness, and evil concupiscence ariseth. Now, that the same is bona fide and effectually done, shall appear in the following as it stands in the living word. First, we are to consider the covenant of promise which the Lord gave to Adam and Eve in the garden; for God seeing the state of his created image, he looked upon the same as a compassionating father, and moved himself in the power of grace to give relief; and this moving was in Christ, in the name of Jesu, the great Emanuel God with us; whereby a limit of separation of the enemy’s power took place, through the inspeaking word, as the same incorporated itself in the woman’s seed, as hath been already noticed in the covenant line, the true limit and manifestation thereof, standing in Mary; she being of the seed of Abraham, who was the daughter of Joachim and Anna, according to the flesh; but, according to the will, she was the daughter of the covenant of promise.
We are further to consider, that, as holy writ gives it, according to the salutation of the angel, Mary was blessed above all women, as being, thro’ the extraordinary sanctification, adorned with the heavenly virgin, Luke i. 12, whereby she became a fit vessel, and prepared for the most high. Now it follows, that in the mystery of the incarnation, the Lord took upon him and assumed the humanity, in the seed of the woman, and was truly of Mary’s essence, in soul and body; for, as being the son of the woman as well as the son of man, he must be of woman’s natural seed, and made under the law. St. Paul’s epistle Gal. iv. 4.
Has the serpent already been defeated? interpretation
On: he shall bruise thy head
Source quotation · Joanna Southcott · response to B.H. for if his judgment be true in the 9th page, where he says—“that when our Redeemer finished the whole on Calvary, it gave the devil, the old serpent, at that time such a deadly blow on the head, that it destroyed him that hath the power of death, that is the devil.” Then there can be no more condemnation to the devil, for then all condemnation of sin must come upon man’s own head, he having no devil to tempt him to evil; as the world has been as sinful since Satan was destroyed, as before, then of what use can his destruction be to man? or what honour and glory hath it brought unto the Lord? for how few believe in a crucified Saviour! how few give honour or glory to his name! Oh, ye simple and unwise! whose tongues go before your senses, without your taking a serious view, how soon the powers of hell worked in the hearts of men to destroy the disciples, in the same cruel manner that they put the Lord of life and glory to death. Then to what purpose is the destroying the power of the devil, if his power still remains the same in men?
The True Explanation of the Bible · True Explanations of the Bible, PartIV, Remarks on Texts Quoted by B.H., pp.291–292: argument from for if his judgment be true through if his power still remains the same in men? Historical 1804 packet. Both pages visually collated; line-end hyphenation joined, whitespace normalized; original lower-case opening retained.
Source reuse and transcription Historical early-nineteenth-century English text, public domain; scan-host apparatus excluded.
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for if his judgment be true in the 9th page, where he says—“that when our Redeemer finished the whole on Calvary, it gave the devil, the old serpent, at that time such a deadly blow on the head, that it destroyed him that hath the power of death, that is the devil.” Then there can be no more condemnation to the devil, for then all condemnation of sin must come upon man’s own head, he having no devil to tempt him to evil; as the world has been as sinful since Satan was destroyed, as before, then of what use can his destruction be to man? or what honour and glory hath it brought unto the Lord? for how few believe in a crucified Saviour! how few give honour or glory to his name! Oh, ye simple and unwise! whose tongues go before your senses, without your taking a serious view, how soon the powers of hell worked in the hearts of men to destroy the disciples, in the same cruel manner that they put the Lord of life and glory to death. Then to what purpose is the destroying the power of the devil, if his power still remains the same in men?
Southcott challenges Brothers on the serpent interpretation
On: Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle
Source quotation · Joanna Southcott · introductory account and claimed divine answer MY heart was deeply wounded to hear read the blasphemy of this last book; as he makes God to be the author of the temptations to Eve; speaking through the serpent with a lie; and then to pronounce a curse on the serpent for obeying his voice; and also a curse on the man for listening to what the LORD had said. This blasphemy filled me with horror. But I was answered in the following manner:—
“As the sun is too strong for thy eyes, so is the truth too strong for thy senses; for, when they brought thee strong proofs of the truth of thy writings, thou couldest not look into it, but withdrew thyself; pondering in thy heart, if all was not a delusion. As I said he was the prophet Jonah, for whom I ordered thee to write, that he might be freed: and thou sayest in thy heart, “will the Lord free such a man as he, that hath so condemned his God, and screened the devil, and who is making the Lord worse than the devil, speaking in the serpent? first to tempt the Woman,—and then, for obeying HIS voice, pronounced the greatest curse upon him, above every living creature; and after, pronounce a curse upon man for a sin that the Lord tempted him to commit! Here he hath made his God both the author and finisher of every evil, unholy, unjust; both the liar and the murderer! and all my bible made false; and judged his God as a knave and fool, as speaking after the manner of men. First, to draw the serpent into sin, by shewing myself in the serpent, speaking through him; that is full of deadly poison: then I must be of that nature! and as soon as I made man, whom I pronounced good, to come in the form of a serpent to make him evil! Then I must act like a man, to present you with a glass of wine, and put poison in it, saying, “I made it good, but put poison to make it bad;” then where must the death be alluded to, but to him who mixed the poison with his wine? In this manner he has set forth his God to the world,—what men call a complete knave. In the second place, he hath made ME a complete fool: to pass sentence of death on MY SON for the remedy, and all HIS followers to die with him, for crimes that I tempted him to! O ye mad men and fools! how do ye judge your God! confess the Woman true, or fatal now will it be for you all that deny her words. “I said I had left the man to shew you Satan, and his every plan:” He came to the Woman, and found nothing in her, he then went to the Man in the same disguise; and as he had tried to turn the scriptures, and deceive the woman, to cast all the blame on the LORD, but could not; so now he hath gone to the man, and worked on him to blind his eyes, to cast all on his Maker, making his God, as the fallen angels did, worse than the devil!
A Communication Given to Joanna in Answer to Mr. Brothers’s Last Book · A Communication Given to Joanna in Answer to Mr. Brothers’s Last Book, title identifies 1802. Printed pp.1–2, full opening prose before the verse continuation on p.3. Visually collated; line-end hyphenation joined, spacing normalized, italic emphasis rendered plain. Opening speech continues beyond the selected prose.
Source reuse and transcription Historical early-nineteenth-century English text, public domain; scan-host apparatus excluded.
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Published revision history 2026-09-21T02:03:32+00:00
MY heart was deeply wounded to hear read the blasphemy of this last book; as he makes God to be the author of the temptations to Eve; speaking through the serpent with a lie; and then to pronounce a curse on the serpent for obeying his voice; and also a curse on the man for listening to what the LORD had said. This blasphemy filled me with horror. But I was answered in the following manner:—
“As the sun is too strong for thy eyes, so is the truth too strong for thy senses; for, when they brought thee strong proofs of the truth of thy writings, thou couldest not look into it, but withdrew thyself; pondering in thy heart, if all was not a delusion. As I said he was the prophet Jonah, for whom I ordered thee to write, that he might be freed: and thou sayest in thy heart, “will the Lord free such a man as he, that hath so condemned his God, and screened the devil, and who is making the Lord worse than the devil, speaking in the serpent? first to tempt the Woman,—and then, for obeying HIS voice, pronounced the greatest curse upon him, above every living creature; and after, pronounce a curse upon man for a sin that the Lord tempted him to commit! Here he hath made his God both the author and finisher of every evil, unholy, unjust; both the liar and the murderer! and all my bible made false; and judged his God as a knave and fool, as speaking after the manner of men. First, to draw the serpent into sin, by shewing myself in the serpent, speaking through him; that is full of deadly poison: then I must be of that nature! and as soon as I made man, whom I pronounced good, to come in the form of a serpent to make him evil! Then I must act like a man, to present you with a glass of wine, and put poison in it, saying, “I made it good, but put poison to make it bad;” then where must the death be alluded to, but to him who mixed the poison with his wine? In this manner he has set forth his God to the world,—what men call a complete knave. In the second place, he hath made ME a complete fool: to pass sentence of death on MY SON for the remedy, and all HIS followers to die with him, for crimes that I tempted him to! O ye mad men and fools! how do ye judge your God! confess the Woman true, or fatal now will it be for you all that deny her words. “I said I had left the man to shew you Satan, and his every plan:” He came to the Woman, and found nothing in her, he then went to the Man in the same disguise; and as he had tried to turn the scriptures, and deceive the woman, to cast all the blame on the LORD, but could not; so now he hath gone to the man, and worked on him to blind his eyes, to cast all on his Maker, making his God, as the fallen angels did, worse than the devil!
The woman and the serpent at the end interpretation
On: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman
Source quotation · Joanna Southcott To the Rev. STANHOPE BRUCE.
REV. SIR, Exeter, Nov. 7, 1801.
I RECEIVED your letter, and was provoked and surprised at the people who boast of sense without reason: and this depravity in the human creation hath worked their ruin in every age of the world; as it did that of the jews: for it was the ruin of them. Had they used sense with their reason they must have known it was impossible for all the powers of earth or hell to work the miracles our Saviour wrought; and they must dishonour God, by judging him such another as themselves, to let an impostor work such miracles, to be worshipped equal with the father, and in and through his blood man to look for redemption, did not the Lord know this would follow his miracles: and if they were not wrought by the spirit of God, and he was not, as he said, the Son of God, the Lord must have given his honour to the devil; by whom they erroneously said the miracles were wrought. But now I shall call both jews and gentiles together, when my writings are proved: and let the jews bring their Belzebub with them to work the miracles our dear Redeemer wrought, and I will give it up to them. If not, let their mouths be stopped, and their tongues be silent; when I put a book into your hands, when you are all assembled together, such as was never wrote before, nor since the foundation of the world, nor ever entered into the heart or thought of man. For though it is written the saints must judge the earth, they never understood in what manner. If it began with the woman, it must end with the woman.—If it began with the serpent it must end with the serpent.
Divine and Spiritual Letters of Prophecies · Opening letter to Stanhope Bruce, 7 November 1801, pp.49–50, complete opening prose before the verse. Historical scan visually collated 20 September 2026; long s rendered s, line-end hyphenation joined, whitespace normalized, emphasis rendered plain. Letter date printed.
Source reuse and transcription Historical English original, public domain; modern scan-host apparatus excluded.
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Published revision history 2026-09-21T02:03:32+00:00
To the Rev. STANHOPE BRUCE.
REV. SIR, Exeter, Nov. 7, 1801.
I RECEIVED your letter, and was provoked and surprised at the people who boast of sense without reason: and this depravity in the human creation hath worked their ruin in every age of the world; as it did that of the jews: for it was the ruin of them. Had they used sense with their reason they must have known it was impossible for all the powers of earth or hell to work the miracles our Saviour wrought; and they must dishonour God, by judging him such another as themselves, to let an impostor work such miracles, to be worshipped equal with the father, and in and through his blood man to look for redemption, did not the Lord know this would follow his miracles: and if they were not wrought by the spirit of God, and he was not, as he said, the Son of God, the Lord must have given his honour to the devil; by whom they erroneously said the miracles were wrought. But now I shall call both jews and gentiles together, when my writings are proved: and let the jews bring their Belzebub with them to work the miracles our dear Redeemer wrought, and I will give it up to them. If not, let their mouths be stopped, and their tongues be silent; when I put a book into your hands, when you are all assembled together, such as was never wrote before, nor since the foundation of the world, nor ever entered into the heart or thought of man. For though it is written the saints must judge the earth, they never understood in what manner. If it began with the woman, it must end with the woman.—If it began with the serpent it must end with the serpent.