Natural body c. Answ. This is another manifest perversion for it is plain by J. C. his words here cited by thee that J. C. doth not speak of the body of Christ but of the body of an ordinary man which goeth to dust and corruption whereas the body of Christ did not corrupt for it being conceived by the Holy Ghost and having a Heavenly Original it was more excellent then the body of any other man and therefore seeing it did not corrupt it was raised again according to the words of Christ concerning it Destroy this Temple and after three days I will raise it up and the same after fourty days Ascended into Heaven Pamphlet Animad 15. Yet according unto Keith the Philosopher though it be the same in substance it is no more a body of Flesh and Blood Answ. How or in what respect he calleth me the Philosopher as whether by way of Derision or not I am not careful to determine or inquisitive to understand for I affect no such Title unlesse it be understood according to the Etimology of the word to signifie a lover of Wisdome namely the true Wisdome and not that falsely so called and in this sense every true Christian is a Philosopher which is to say a lover of Wisdome but that Philosophy and vain deceit which the Apostle bids the Colossians beware of that is after the Tradition of men after the rudiments of this world and not after Christ wherein I have been formerly educated and exercised before I knew the truth as it is in Jesus I have renounced and do here openly declare my Renounciation thereof and count it all but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdome and Knowledge and what I have declared or given forth in any publick Testimony concerning the truth I have not received from the Worlds Philosophy or Wisdom but from the openings of the spirit of truth as they livingly fprung up in my heart and inward parts and unto the same and to nothing else I can and do recommend my Testimony to be judged in all who have the same living spring of truth as it is in the life and light of Jesus opened in them and unto the greater measure of the spirit of truth in any others I freely can and do submit any publick Testimony which I have given forth for the spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets what the spirit of truth opens in one can never be condemned by the same spirit in another Pamphlet Animad 15. The first Heavenly body of the man-hood of Christ which Keith saith he had from the beginning he allows to have Flesh and Blood and calls it so and it hath so now in Heaven surely according unto him yet the body born of the Virgin is changed so Etheriall that you must call it no more Flesh and Blood Answ. I have said nothing concerning the Flesh and Blood of Christ either before or after his outward coming in the Flesh but according unto plain Scripture nor have I medled to give any other names unto the body of Christ but what the Scripture giveth for Christ said the bread from heaven is his Flesh and of this Bread or Flesh all true believers did feed and thereby had life in them even from the beginning of the world and seeing Christ himself gave these names of Flesh and Blood to that inward Heavenly Spiritual and invisible substance which refreshes the soul and inward man of every one that believeth Who dare call these names into question or find fault with them although I do freely acknowledge they are Metaphorical and figurative as when Christ called himself the vine and those that believed in him the branches and I ask was not Christ the vine even from the beginning into which all true believers were grafted and did they not eat the Grapes of this Heavenly Vine-Tree and drink the Liquor or Juice or Wine thereof and what was that but his Flesh Blood even as the Grapes of the Vine may be called it's Flesh and its Wine or Liquor its Blood and as it is so called in Scripture the Blood of the Grape But when I say the body of Christ which was born of the Virgin and was crucified and rose and ascended did not remain a body of Flesh and Blood I am warranted by the Apostle who said Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God and the body at the last resurrection is raised spiritual conform unto the glorious body of Christ and therefore it is not Flesh and Blood in the Vulgar or common sense but if any call it so Metaphorically and spiritually I shall not contend Pamphlet Animad 15. If the body of Christ be turned into air and yet remain the same in substance we ask what it is that identifies and makes it the same in substance that it was when Flesh and Blood Ans. Here is another gross abuse and perversion of my words that he affirmeth I say the body of Christ is turned into Air. This is a gross lye and perversion I call it not Air but a body Etherial and Heavenly and it is a more excellent body than the purest Air beyond all comparison and as to his question what is that which Identifies and makes it the same in substance this is very easily answered the substance of the body it self remaining the same under these different modes or manners of being as when the Soul of a man is the same for substance when converted from Earthly Carnal and Natural to Heavenly and Spiritual Pamphlet Animad 16. As to the comparison that the Author uses as nothing of the Body of the Sun is here on Earth but in Heaven only its light and heat which are qualities in the Air So now that light within that these Quakers have made so much stirr about is nothing else but an accident and quality from the man-hood of Christ in Heaven adhering in our Souls as light and heat adheres in the Air. Ans. Here he passeth by the other examples given by me here and elsewhere and only noticeth that of the Light which having its center in the Sun emanates in most abundant Streams into all the World which emanating light that flows from the body of the Sun he denieth to be any part of the Suns body affirming it onely to be an accident or quality But what reason or prooff giveth he for his assertion Surely none at all But if he thinketh to defend himself by the authority of some called Philosophers who say the same with him I can tell him of other Philosophers so called more famous who speak indeed more according to the truth that deny it and affirm that the Light of the Sun that emanates unto us is a real substance and hath of the real body of the Sun in it which is the real Substance of Fire as it can be proved by the said
In Answer to my Arguments from some places of Scripture in the old Testament thou sayest By the same way of arguing Christ did from the beginning really take upon him Angelical Nature as well as mans Nature Ans. That Nature which Christ did take from the beginning did and doth excel in its very being the Nature both of all men and also of all the most glorious Angels and yet according unto the same Nature he is somtimes called Angel and somtimes Man Angel there not signifying the common nature of Angels but only his High Office and Dignity thereof for Angel is as to say Messenger or one that is sent and therefore it doth not follow from this that Christ took on him the common Nature of Angels as he did the seed of Abraham when he was born the son of David according to the Flesh. And thy other instance concerning the man riding upon a red Horse is no less impertinent Zech. 1. 18 For although some places of Scripture have only an allegorical sense it followeth not that none have a proper and the proper sense is to be kept where nothing doth perswade unto the contrary as indeed nothing doth perswade to the contrary in the present case but many things concurr together to establish the true and proper sense Pamphlet Animad 10. Here he bringeth forth no matter of argument but onely some queries which I might altogether wave yet for the sake of others I shall say that which may suffice unto any sober enquirer And to the First I say this Life and Spirit of the man-hood of Christ is one with the Holy Ghost by an oneness of union even as the man Christ is one with God but as the Holy Ghost doth signify the Spirit of God simply considered the Spirit of Christ as man is distinct from the Holy Ghost as really as the man-hood of Christ is distinct from the God-head but not divided or separated there-from To the Second I answer that the Spirit of Christ as he is the Heavenly Man is not properly a creature but only as it is taken improperly largely for a Divine Production Emanation but properly it is rather an Emanation or Generation than a Creation To the Third I say a Spiritual Body can well enough penetrate another that is either not Spiritual or if Spiritual yet not in that degree as the other Now when I say according unto the Scripture that Christ had Spiritual Flesh and Blood from the beginning wherewith he fed the Saints by that Flesh and Blood I mean a Spiritual Body in the highest degree and how one Body more Spiritual can penetrate another in a less degree we have a Figure or shaddowy resemblance in the outward light that doth easily penetrate both christal and air To the Fourth I say it is very easiy to conceive how Christ is called the Second Adam although as man he was before Adam who is called the first man namely in respect of the outward birth in the flesh and also in some respect in the inward birth of Christ in us when we are regenerated and made new creatures in him for commonly the first birth which is of the nature of the first Adam as in the Fall hath place in men before Christ the second birth be formed in them and yet Christ himself and his Spirit Life and Soul as he is the Heavenly Man was and is before Adam and all Creatures the first and the last of whom John said there cometh a man after me which is preferred unto me for he was before me And thus according to Solomons advice in the Proverbs I have answered the Fool in his folly lest he should seem wise in his own Eyes Pamphlet Animad 11. Here he bringeth no argument but only querieth and seeketh to ensnare but I am aware of his serpentine cunning and can easily escape it by the grace of God which is given unto me and whereas he laboureth to bring G. F. younger and me into a contradiction his work is vain for according to G. F. I say the true Eternal God is Light and that Light is in us But God doth shine in us in Christ the Heavenly Man or Second Adam who is in us for God was and still is in Christ Reconciling the world unto himself Again whereas thou sayst by way of query Was the man that appeared frequently to the Patriarches without the spring of this Soul and life of Christ. I answer Nay for that man was Christ even the same that afterwards came in the flesh of the Virgin Mary And whereas thou sayst let them produce one Scripture and they shall carry it where it is said The man or Man-hood became flesh it saith The Word was made Flesh I answer these words The Word was made Flesh cannot be restricted or limited to the outward birth of Christ in the Flesh for the Word was made Flesh from the beginning which Flesh was the Saints food in all Ages and the Word made Flesh dwelt in them according to Joh. 1. 14. The word was made Flesh and dwelt in us for so the Greek doth bear it and so was it Translated by divers of them called the Fathers But that Christ the Heavenly man took part of Flesh and Blood with the Children see Heb. 2. 14. And that this he who did so partake with men of Flesh and Blood was not God separately and abstractly considered but God in Union with the Heavenly Man-hood and Soul of Christ is clear from other Scriptures as 1 Cor. 15. 47. Joh. 3. 31. Joh. 6. 38. Now these words Joh. 6. 38. I came down from Heaven not to do mine own will most clearly signifie that the Soul of Christ came down from Heaven to take Flesh for God simply considered could not say I came down from Heaven not to do my own will for God always doth his own will which being most Holy is a Law both unto Christ the Heavenly man and also unto all others this Scripture with many others I did bring in my book The way cast up for proof of what I have affirmed whereof thou hast taken no notice so as to give any reply But lastly whereas thou sayst in this Twelve Animadversion In the next quotation Mark he saith As man he was the Son of God at which thou art offended it seemeth therefore that this is no part of thy Creed viz. That Christ as man was the Son of God even when born of the Virgin Mary But if thou denyest this I ask thee who was the Father of Christ as he was man but God For if he had another Father then he was not born of the Virgin which if this be not rampant blasphemy for any called a Christian to affirm I leave unto all true Christians for to Judge Or if thou denyest that Christ was the Son of God before he was born in the Flesh thou art Guilty of Gross Socinianisme and contradictest the Scriptures Testimony in many places Pamplet
more and more shew forth it self in him and that to increase is not always taken strictly is clear from the words of John He namely Christ shall increase but I shall decrease Now John was not to decrease as to any Perfection Grace or Vertue wherewithall God had endued him But again I do readily grant that Christ as in respect of the Nephesh of his soul might grow in Wisdome as other men as also he did grow in stature and Lastly even the Nismah although Omnipercipient of things present and Omniscient of things both past and present may and did grow in Knowledge for the Soul of Christ hath this Omnisciency of things past and present by the Perception of the objects or things as they dayly appear and therefore his Soul may grow in experimental Wisdome and Knowledge as properly as the soul of any other man although both his Wisdome and growth therein is incomparably beyond that of all other Men or Angels But whereas thou sayst Christs soul was subject to some kind of ignorance this is too grosly and rudly yea irreverently spoken He was nescient of some things that was to come as namely of the day and hour of the last Judgement as he declared himself but to say he was ignorant of any thing is gross and improper for ignorance signifieth always some defect of that Knowledge which one should have as blindness deafness c. Signifie a defect of the Natural senses of seeing hearing c. Pamplet Animad 12. Christ according to Keigh when he appeared in Flesh was more like to the Angels that appeared in Humane shape in the time of the Old Testament than like to men Answ. This I altogether deny for Angels have not real bodies of Flesh and Blood such as men have Angels are not born of women as men are Angels are not crucified and buried as men are and as Christ was and although Christ was called an Angel yet he had and still hath a nature more excellent than all the Angels and when he came in the likeness of our Flesh he took not hold on Angels but he took hold on the seed of Abraham Pamplet Animad 12. What spirit was that which Christ committed to his Father when he gave up the Ghost on the Cross Answ. Why not the same excellent spirit or soul that is above the Nature of all souls of men and that is Omnipresent for still the Father is greater than he and he hath his dependence on the Father in whose hand or power he is Pamplet Animad 12. And if they are for the pre-existence of the Soul of Christ's Man-hood why not for the pre-existence of the souls of all other men Answ. I have no time nor mind to answer all thy queries many of which are altogether unnecessary others vain and frivolous but if thou thinkest that the pre-existence of the Soul of Christ doth necessarily infer the pre-existence of the souls of all other men thou shouldest have proved it by a clear Deduction so to be which because thou hast not done I am not concerned to answer thy query in this particular and I advise thee with Augustine to be more earnest to know what shall be the state of thy soul after thou goest out of this world than what it was before thou camest into it And if thou repent not from thy heart for thy so long opposing the Truth and maliciously perverting the words of Truth the state of thy soul will be miserable after thy departure Pamplet Animad 13. I ask why is not this Man Christ in all the fallen Angels as well as fallen men Answ. He is in all the Creatures for hefilleth all things giving being unto every Creature and upholding the same therein and Consequently he is in the fallen Angels as also to Judge and condemn them for their sin but yet Christ Jesus hath a nearer Relation unto fallen men than unto the fallen Angels by reason of the seed of Abraham which he assumed and therefore the Apostle Paul Preached Christ in fallen men not only after that general manner of presence but in way of Grace and Mercy in order to restore and renew fallen man by Repentance according to his Commission which he received from Christ which was to turn fallen men from darkness to light but we read not that Paul had any such Commission to preach unto the fallen Angels and as for the fallen Angels they are reserved in Chains of darkness unto the Judgement of the great day and expect not any other thing from Christ but Torment as they said unto him when he came in the flesh and did cast them out of men What have we to do with thee Jesus of Nazareth Art thou come to Torment us before the time So here the Devils believe and tremble for they fear the Judgement of Christ to whom all power is given But how could they fear it if he were not present and how could he cast them out of those they possessed if his power which is one with himself did not reach unto them Pamplet Animad 13. As for the Greek proposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it must necessarily be Translated among in some places else see what sense you will make Answ. That it must be necessarily translated among in some places I do not deny but in many more places it must necessarily by translated not among but in and in every place it ought to be translated in where the sense doth permit it without any contradiction to truth or other inconveniency because it doth most properly and usually signify in and not among but improperly and less usually whereof many hundreds of examples may be given Now there is no contradiction unto truth nor any inconveniency to understand by the Greek particle ' Ev it 's proper and common Signification which is in in all these places mentioned in my Book And indeed these very places constrain us to translate the Particle in and not barely among For how was Christ Crucified among the Galatians but in them Gal. 3. 1. And how was the Riches of the Glory of the Mistery which is Christ among the Gentiles but in them and how could Paul Preach the Unsearchable Riches of Christ among the Gentiles if nothing of these Riches of Christ was in them but all without them And how could so many have been said to have pierced Christ if he was not in them For as touching the outward piercing of the outward Body of Christ we only read that some few did that and therefore their piercing of Christ must be meant of his tender Life and Spirit which both Jews and Gentiles have pierced in their own Hearts by their Sins according to Rev. 1. 7. Pamphlet Animad 14. They believe this man-hood of Christ perceives and knows all things past and present of it self and by it self considered without any Relation to or union with the Deity and that it needs not God as to the knowledge of any present or
Virgin To this I answer That I have no where affirmed any such thing nor such Words have I any where used For the Flesh and Blood whereof I speak according to Scripture that came down from Heaven is neither of the Air nor Stars but of a more excellent Substance and that beyond all Compare And also that the Body which he did take of the Virgin was a real Body of Flesh and Blood as I have above declared 3. He chargeth me with the Heresie of the Manichees that said Christ had an Imaginary Body To this I answer That I am altogether free of this Charge For I affirm That Christ hath no Imaginary Body for his Body is Real and Substantial Nor doth it prove that Christ his Heavenly Body is Imagińary because it cannot be seen or felt or heard by the outward Senses as he reasoneth For by the same reason God himself should be no Real Being but only Imaginary seeing God who is a Spirit cannot be seen or felt by the outward Senses And thus wee see what Spirit of Madness acteth this false Accuser who seeking to fix upon me but falsly the Error of Manicheisme salleth head-long himself into the Ditch of Gross Atheisme For what grosser Atheism than this to say That God is no real Being but only Imaginary which is the Necessary Consequence of his Doctrine 4. He chargeth me with the Heresie of Apollinarius who is said to have affirmed That Christ had no Soul distinct from the Godhead The contrary of which I have manifestly affirmed and do still affirm And when I say The Nismah is the Word Incarnate or Word made Flesh I do not exclude the Soul of Christ For if these Words namely the Word made Flesh exclude the Soul of Christ then by the perverse Reasoning of this Author he maketh the Apostle John equally Guilty with me of the Heresie of Apollinarius And thus we may see how commonly this Author falleth into the same Ditch which he hath prepared for another and sometimes into a worse 5. He chargeth me with the Heresie of the Nestorians who said There were two Persons as well as two Natures in Christ. To this I answer But I have no where said That there are two Persons in Christ nor do I say That there are two Christs or two Sons of God as the Nestorians affirmed Moreover whereas he saith The Quakers hold that there are Three Natures in Christ if not Four I answer 1. But this was no Part of the Nestorian Heresie if I had so affirmed and therefore instead of proving me a Nestorian he but proveth himself a gross Lyar Perverter and Calumniator But 2. I answer That I hold only that there are but two Natures in Christ Nature being taken as it ought to be in its full and intire Concept or Notion For the Nature of Christ his Manhood is still but one intire Nature of Man although consisting of various Principles And this the Author himself must needs acknowledge or then be guilty of his own Accusation For is not the Soul and Body of Man of distinct Natures and yet they make up but one intire Nature of Man And if he say they are two distinct Natures then Christ having these two Natures of Soul and Body and also being God he hath according to this Author three Natures which was the Accusation where-with he chargeth me and yet is guilty of the same 6. He chargeth me with the Heresie of the Eutychians who gave the Divine Attributes to the Human Nature To this I answer That I have abundantly cleared my self of this above where I have shewed that these Divine Attributes of Omni-presence and Omni-science which belong to the Manhood of Christ are neither the same nor yet equal to these of the Godhead and so I confound not the Manhood and Godhead of Christ but acknowledge them distinct Natures and Beings forever inseparably united together after the most Perfect manner whereas the Eutychians are said to have confounded the Manhood and Godhead into one Nature 7. He chargeth me with the Heresie of the Ubiquitarians but whom he meaneth he doth not express But for answer by the Ubiquitarians either he meaneth the Eutichians or them called Lutherans if the former concerning them I have answered already upon the 6 th If the latter namely the Lutherans I have at large in my Book discovered how I do not hold the Ubiquity or Omnipresence of Christ after that absurd and gross manner as they do but after another way that is both according unto Scripture Testimonies in many places and is no wise repugnant unto right reason but very agreeable thereunto Although in the general I do acknowledge that I do agree with the Judgment of Luther and those that wrote the Liber Concordiae as touching that particular and whereas I made use of some excellent testimonies both out of Luther and Liber Concordiae for the Ubiquity and Omnipresence of Christ this Author hath not so much as once named them far less answered them And thus Reader I have particularly replied unto all his false accusations and his beast with the Seven Heads that he hath conjured out of the Sea of his troubled Imagination I have easily slain with a few easy and simple strokes and here it were but very Just instead of his Counterfeit Creed of his own making concerning what the Quakers believe of the Man Christ Jesus to draw up an account of his Atheistical and Blasphemous Creed concerning both God and Christ which is truly his and which he must needs own either as his express words or as the genuine and most necessary consequences of his Words and Doctrine and when I have so done I should be more Just unto him than he has been unto me who hath alleadged upon me many false things which are neither my express words nor the true consequences of my words no not after the remotest manner But at present I shall spare this pains and refer the Reader to the places in my answer to his Pamphlet where I have proved him manifestly guilty of Socinianisme Arianisme Anthropomorphitisme Muggletonisme Judaisme Anti Christianisme and lastly of gross Atheisme and Impiety to which also I could add Manicheisme Ebionitisme and Cerinthianisme withal whom the author of the Pamphlet falsely called the Quakers Creed hath taken part and for which he is justly reproveable Some Testimonies out of Hilarius concerning the Manhood of Christ both as touching the Soul and Body Who although he doth expresly affirm that Christ hath the true and whole nature both of God and Man yet he no less expresly saith as followeth in his own words lib. 10. de Trinitate SUum rursum panem esse dixit ut per hoc quod descendens de caelis panis est non ex humana conceptione origo esse corporis existimaretur dum caeleste esse corpus ostenditur Et arguere nos solent Heretici quod Christum dicamus natum non nostri corporis atquae
THE True Christ Owned AS HE IS TRUE AND PERFECT GOD MAN Containing An ANSWER to a late Pamphlet having this Title The Quakers Creed concerning the Man Christ Jesus c. Writ by a Nameless Author Which Pamphlet containeth many gross Lies and wilful Perversions Beside some other great Mistakes occasioned by the Author his Ignorance and Blindness By George Keith Printed in the Year 1679. The True Christ Owned AS He is True and Perfect GOD AND True and Perfect Man Pamphlet TRanscribed verbatim out of a Treatise entituled The way cast up Ans. The false-hood of this shall plainly appear to any who readeth my Book how that the Author hath Omitted many particulars of great Moment that are necessary for the Reader to understand the whole beside the many Arguments made use of in my Book to prove the truth of what I have affirmed which he hath not so much as once named onely he hath taken notice of some few wherein he thought he could find any advantage but that he is therein also disappointed the following Answer I hope shall make sufsiciently apparent Pamplet Animadversion 1. The Quakers from hence believe that Christ had a Manhood differing in nature srom the man-hood of all other Men contrary to Heb. 2. 11. Ans. He hath given no answer to my argument from 1 Cor. 15. 45 46 47. that proveth that Christ as Man excelleth all other Men in Nature and Substance as the most high Heavens do excel the low Earth but only to oppose this he bringeth that Scripture Heb. 2. 11. which yet doth nothing oppose what I have affirmed for granting that Heb. 2. 11. proveth that Christ hath the same Nature of all other Men in respect of all the essentials of Man's Nature and that he had all belonging to Man's Nature which Adam had before the Fall although more is to be understood in Heb. 2. 11. all this doth not prove that he hath not somewhat more belonging to his Nature as he is the Heavenly Man than Adam had but indeed on the contrary it proveth very clearly that he had more which is implyed in these words He that Sanctifieth for Christ the Heavenly Man the Second Adam doth Sanctify the Earthly Man or First Adam as he believeth in him and giveth him Life both to Soul and Body even Life Immortal and therefore he hath a more excellent Nature which is Heavenly and Divine than the First Adam had for that which Sanctifyeth and Quickeneth is more excellent than that which is Sanctifyed and Quickened thereby but it behoved him to partake of the true Nature of all other men in all essentials which therefore accordingly he hath done according unto Heb. 2. 14. forasmuch then as the Children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he also himself took part of the same and ver 16. For he took not on him Angels but the Seed of Abraham But that more is to be understood also by these words Of One Heb. 2. 11. is manifest because he that Sanctifyeth and they who are not Sanctifyed but remain in their Unbelief and Ungodliness are not said to be Of One. Nor doth Christ call the Unbelievers his Bretheren but only them that believe and are Sanctifyed by him Christ therefore and true Believers are Of One because they are united together by a mutual participation of the Nature of each other so that as Christ the Heavenly Man doth partake of the Flesh and Blood of the Children they also partake of his Flesh and Blood and become one Flesh with him according to Eph. 5. 31 32. And therefore as he doth partake of the Nature of Men so these men who do believe in him are partakers of his Divine Nature who is the Heavenly man and of God through him according to 2 Pet. 1. 4. compared with 2 Cor. 5. 19. and John 17. 23. Moreover that the Man Christ Jesus hath a Nature excelling all other men as much as the Heavens do excel the Earth See also John 3. 31 32 33 34 35. and compare it with 1 Cor. 15. 45 47. Pamphlet Animad 2. They believe from hence that the Word was made Flesh or Man before the Creation of this World contrary to Gal. 4. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 20. Ans. These Scriptures prove nothing contrary to my assertion for they are only to be understood of his outward coming when he took Flesh in the Virgins Womb and came in the likeness of Sinful Flesh now I do not say that he took that outward Flesh from the beginning but only at that time but he namely the Heavenly Adam himself was from the beginning and was the Word made Flesh and gave unto the Saints srom the beginning his Flesh to Eat and his Blood to Drink otherwise they could not have had Life in them according to John 6. Pamphlet Animadversion 3. The Quakers have found out another kind of Flesh besides these four sorts 1 Cor. 15. 39. Ans. Here thou seemest rather to mock than to argue in good earnest But what I have affirmed of the Heavenly Flesh and Blood of Christ which he had from the beginning is no invention nor fiction of ours but grounded on the Scriptures Testimony and also on our own blessed experience for that Flesh and Blood of Christ which he had from the beginning is the Food and Nourishment of our Souls unto Eternal Life as it was also the Food and Nourishment of the Souls of all that believed in him from the beginning of the World for all before and after his outward coming in that Body of Flesh did Eat the same Spiritual Meat and Drink the same Spiritual Drink for they Drank of the Rock c. and that Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10. But when the Apostle is speaking of four kinds of Flesh he is only speaking of the Flesh of Terrestrial or Earthly Bodies but not of the Flesh of Christ that came down from Heaven which indeed is none of these four Sorts but hath a more excellent Nature for all these four Sorts are but Natural and Corruptible but the Flesh of Christ is Spiritual and Incorruptible And as touching the words of Grotius cited by thee Flesh is not understood by the Hebrews but of the Mortal Body it is easily answered by taking the word literally without any Metaphor or Figurative Speech but if we take it Figuratively it hath other Significations For how oft is all mankind comprehending both Soul and Body called Flesh in Scripture and yet the Soul is not the Mortal Body But how little hast thou considered how if thou stand unto the words of Grotius thou hast given a stone to break thy own Head for if nothing is to be called Flesh but the Mortal Body then the Body of the Resurrection namely both Christ his Body also the Resurrection Body of the Saints is not properly Flesh because not a Mortal Body Pamphlet Animad 4. The Apostles frequently speak of things to come as present as well might the Author say that