“the very men that do deny God, Scriptures, and the Ordinances of God; and that turn the truths of the Spirit into a lie, by leaving the letter, and walking in their own inferences”; and also “by holding forth spiritual things by the imagination of the flesh, and not by the law and testimony of the Spirit within.”  And he contends that, in truth, he and his fellows are “those men that do advance God, Christ, Scriptures, and Ordinances in the spirituality of them.”

In the opening chapter of the book itself, Winstanley, with more than his usual directness, plunges into the heart of his subject in the following suggestive words: 

“I have said that whosoever worships God by hearsay, as others tell him, and knows not what God is from light within himself; or that thinks God is in the heavens above the skies, and so prays to that God which he imagines to be there and everywhere, but from any testimony within, he knows not how nor where:  this man worships his own imagination, which is the Devil.  But he who is a true worshipper must know who God is and how He is to be worshipped, from the Power of Light shining within him, if ever he have true peace.”

“Hence,” he continues, “a report is raised, and is frequent in the mouth of the teachers, that I deny God.  Therefore, first, I shall give account of what I see and know Him to be; and let the understanding in heart judge me.”

Winstanley then endeavours to formulate his theistic views and beliefs in a series of questions and answers, from which we feel compelled to quote the following: 

     “Q. What is God?

“A. I answer, He is the incomprehensible Spirit Reason;[63:1] who as He willed the Creation should flow out of Him, so He governs the whole Creation in righteousness, peace, and moderation.  And He is called the Father, because as the whole Creation comes out of Him, so He is the life of the whole Creation, by whom every creature doth subsist.

     “Q. When can a man call the Father his God?

“A. When he feels and sees, by experience, that the Spirit which made the flesh doth govern and rule king in his flesh.  And so can say, I rejoice to feel and see my flesh made subject to the Spirit of Righteousness.

     “Q. But may not a man call Him God till he have this experience?

     “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?