James Nayler

Signature from a letter to Margaret Fell (1658)

James Nayler (1618-1660) was a prominent Quaker leader before his dramatic entry into Bristol led to his arrest and conviction on blasphemy charges.

He served in the New Model Army from 1642 to 1650, and became a Quaker in 1652. He was one of the Valiant Sixty missionaries who carried Quakerism from the north of England to the south.

His entry into Bristol re-enacted Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Parliament convicted him, and after much debate chose not to execute him. Instead they flogged him twice, branded the letter B on his forehead, pierced his tongue with a hot iron, and held him prisoner for two years. Nayler died in 1660 after a reconciliation with Fox, and his dying words ("There is a spirit...") are frequently cited for their inspiration.

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Trial in Parliament

The following are excerpts from an account of Nayler's trial before Parliament:

Q. Art thou the only Son of God?

A. I am the Son of God, but I have many Brethren.

Q. Have any called thee by the name of Jesus?

A. Not as unto the visible, but as Jesus, the Christ that is in me.

Q. Dost thou own the name of the King of Israel?

A. Not as a creature, but if they give it Christ within I own it, and have a Kingdom but not of this world, my Kingdome is of another world, of which thou watst not.

....

Q. Art thou the everlasting Son of God?

A. Where God is manifest in the flesh, there is the everlasting Son, and I do witness God in the flesh; I am the Son of God, and the Son of God is but one.

Q. Art thou the Prince of peace?

A. The Prince of everlasting peace is begotten in me.

....

Q. Is thy name Jesus?

A.———Here he was silent.

Q. For what space of time hast thou been so called?

A.———And here.

Q. Is there no other Jesus besides thee?

A. These questions he forbore either to confirm or to contradict them.

Q. Art thou the everlasting Son of God, the King of righteousness?

A. I am, and the everlasting righteousness is wrought in me, if ye were acquainted with the Father, ye would also be acquainted with me.

....

Q. Was Dorcas Erbury dead two days in Exceter? and didst thou raise her?

A. I can do nothing of my self: the Scripture beareth witness to the power in me which is everlasting; it is the same power we read of in the Scripture. The Lord hath made me a signe of his coming: and that honour that belongeth to Christ Jesus, in whom I am revealed, may be given to him, as when on earth at Jerusalem, according to the measure.

Q. Art thou the unspotted Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world?

A. Were I not a lamb, wolves would not seek to devour me.^[1]

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References

↑ From The Grand impostor examined, or, The life, tryal and examination of James Nayler the seduced and seducing Quaker, published anonymously in 1656, pp. 11-18.

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