Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	body_n	life_n	soul_n	1,744	5	5.1981	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65672	A new theory of the earth, from its original to the consummation of all things wherein the creation of the world in six days, the universal deluge, and the general conflagration, as laid down in the Holy Scriptures, are shewn to be perfectly agreeable to reason and philosophy : with a large introductory discourse concerning the genuine nature, stile, and extent of the Mosaick history of the creation / by William Whiston ...	Whiston, William, 1667-1752.	1696 (1696)	Wing W1696; ESTC R20397	280,059	488

this Earth or the Change of that Chaos into an habitable World was not a meer result from any necessary Laws of Mechanism independently on the Divine Power but was the proper effect of the Influence and Interposition and all along under the peculiar Care and Providence of God The Testimonies for this are so numerous and so express both in the Mosaick History it self in the other parts of Scripture relating thereto and in all Antiquity that I may refer the Reader to almost every place where this matter is spoken of without quoting here any particulars He who is at all acquainted with the Primitive Histories of this rising World whether Sacred or Prophane can have no reason to make any doubt of it III. The Days of the Creation and that of Rest had their beginning in the Evening The Evening and the Morning were the first Day And so of the rest afterward IV. At the time immediately preceding the six days Creation the face of the Abyss or superior Regions of the Chaos were involv'd in a thick Darkness Darkness was upon the face of the Deep To which Testimony the Prophane Traditions do fully agree as may be seen in the Authors before refer'd to V. The visible part of the first days Work was the Production of Light or its successive appearance to all the Parts of the Earth with the consequent distinction of Darkness and Light Night and Day upon the face of it God said Let there be Light and there was Light And God saw the Light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night And the Evening and the Morning was the first day VI. The visible part of the Second Days Work was the elevation of the Air with all it s contained Vapours the spreading it for an Expansum above the Earth and the distinction thence arising of Superior and Inferior Waters The former consisting of those Vapours rais'd and sustain'd by the Air the latter of such as either were enclosed in the Pores Interstices and Bowels of the Earth or lay upon the Surface thereof God said Let there be a firmament or Expansum in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament And it was so and God called the firmament Heaven And the Evening and the Morning were the second day VII The visible parts of the Third Day 's Works were two the former the Collection of the inferior Waters or such as were now under the Heaven into the Seas with the consequent appearance of the dry Land the latter the production of Vegetables out of that Ground so lately become dry God said Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear and it was so And God called the dry land Earth and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas And God saw that it was good And God said Let the Earth bring forth grass the herb yielding seed and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind whose seed is in it self upon the earth and it was so And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind and the tree yielding fruit whose seed was in it self after his kind and God saw that it was good And the Evening and the Morning were the third day VIII The Fourth Day 's Work was the Placing the Heavenly Bodies Sun Moon and Stars in the Expansum or Firmament i. e. The rendring them Visible and Conspicuous on the Face of the Earth Together with their several Assignations to their respective Offices there God said Let there be lights in the Expansum or firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so And God made two great lights the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night he made the stars also And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness and God saw that it was good And the Evening and the Morning were the fourth day IX The Fifth Day 's Work was the Production of the Fish and Fowl out of the Waters with the Benediction bestow'd on them in order to their Propagation God said Let the Waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven And God created great Whales and every living creature that moveth which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind and every winged fowl after his kind and God saw that it was good And God blessed them saying Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the Seas and let fowl multiply in the earth And the Evening and the Morning were the fifth day X. The Sixth Day 's Work was the Production of all the Terrestrial or Dry-land Animals and that in a different manner For the Bruit Beasts were produc'd out of the Earth as the Fish and Fowl had been before out of the Waters But after that the Body of Adam was form'd of the Dust of the Ground who by the Breath of Life breath'd into him in a peculiar manner became a Living Soul Some time after which on the same day he was cast into a deep Sleep and Eve was form'd of a Rib taken from his side Together with several other things of which a more particular account has been already given on another occasion God said Let the Earth bring forth the living creature after his kind cattel and creeping thing and beast of the Earth after his kind and it was so And God made the beast of the earth after his kind and cattel after their kind and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind and God saw that it was good And God said Let us make man in Our Image after Our likeness and let them have dominion over the Fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattel and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth So God created Man in his own image in the image of God created he him Male and Female created he them c. Vid. ver 28 29 30 31. and Cap. 2. 7 15 c. XI God having thus finish'd the Works of Creation Rested on the Seventh day from the same and Sanctified or set that day apart for a Sabbath or day of Rest to be then and afterward observ'd as a Memorial of his Creation of the World in

replenish'd with those first Pairs which by the Benediction they straightway receiv'd were enabled to become the original of all of the same Kinds which ever were to be the Inhabitants of those Regions afterwards Which time and procedure is no less agreeable to the State of the World in our Hypothesis than 't is to the express Affirmations of Moses who makes Fish and Fowl the sole Product of the fifth Day or Year of the Creation X. The Sixth Day 's Work was the Production of all the Terrestrial or Dry-land Animals and that in a different manner For the Brute Beasts were produc'd out of the Earth as the Fish and Fowl had been before out of the Waters but after that the Body of Adam was form'd of the Dust of the Ground who by the Breath of Life breath'd into him in a peculiar manner became a Living Soul Some time after which on the same day he was cast into a deep Sleep and Eve was form'd out of a Rib taken from his side Together with several other things of which a more particular account has been already given on another occasion X. The Earth being now grown more Solid Compact and Dry its Surface distinguish'd into Sea and Dry-land each of which were stor'd in some sort with Inhabitants and Vegetables the Air being fully clear and fit for Respiration and the other Dispositions of External Nature being equally subservient to this as well as it had been before to the last day's Productions 't was a proper Season for the Generation of the Dry-land Animals and the Introduction of the noblest of them Man which accordingly were the first Works on this sixth Day or Year of the Creation Any more particular account of which or of the following Works is not so directly the design of this Theory and so shall not be here farther insisted on We may only take notice of two things the one is the peculiar Manner the other the peculiar Time for the Creation of Man As to the former Tho' 't is granted that all the other Day 's Works mention'd by Moses were brought to pass in a natural way by proper and suitable Instruments and a mechanical Process as we have seen through the whole Series of the foregoing Creation yet 't is evident as has been already observ'd That an immediate and miraculous Power was exercis'd in the formation of the Body and Infusion of the Soul of Man as well as in some other particular Cases belonging to this Origin of Things In plain terms I take it to be evident That that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Blessed Mediator who was afterward very frequently conversant on Earth appear'd in a humane Form to the Patriarchs gave the Law in a visible Glory and with an audible Voice on Mount Sinai guided the Israelites personally in a Pillar of Fire and of a Cloud through the Wilderness inhabited between the Cherubins in the Holy of Holies and took the peculiar Stile Titles Attributes Adoration and incommunicable Name of the God of Israel and at last was Incarnate liv'd a true Man amongst us died for us and ascended into Heaven makes still Intercession for us with the Father and will come to Judge the World in Righteousness at the last Day That this very same Divine Person was actually and visibly in a humane Shape conversant on Earth and was truly and really employ'd in this Creation of the World and particularly in this peculiar Formation of Man so frequently ascribed to him in the Holy Scriptures It being both unfit and impossible for the Divine Nature it self or at least that of the Father to be so much and in such a manner concern'd with the Corporeal World and the sinful Race of Mankind as we find here and every where this Divine Person our Blessed Mediator to have been as the Texts quoted a little above compar'd together do I think fully prove Seeing therefore our Saviour Christ God-man was personally present and actually employ'd in this Primitive Creation of the World Seeing Man was to be a Creature intirely different from all the rest a Being compounded of a Spiritual and Immortal Soul and of a Material and Corruptible Body Seeing in both these he was to be made in the likeness of that Divine Person who created him and be constituted his Deputy and Vicegerent among the Creatures here below 't was but reasonable there should be as great a distinction in his Original as was to be in his Nature and Faculties his Office and Dignity his Capacities and Happiness from the other parts of the visible Creation and by consequence that peculiar Interposition of God himself in the Formation of the Body and Infusion of the Soul of our first Parents so particularly observable in the Mosaick History is both very agreeable to the Nature of things very suitable to the Wisdom of God and very reconcilable to the most Philosophick Accounts of this Origin of the World and withal a remarkable token of the Dignity of Human Nature of the distinction between his Soul and Body and of the great Condescension and Love of God towards us and so the most highly worthy of our consideration Neither is the other circumstance the peculiar Time of the Creation of Man to be pass'd over without a proper Reflection on it 'T were easy to shew That none of the preceding Days were in any degree so fit for nay most of them not capable of this Creation and Introduction of Man But upon this sixth Period when every thing which could be subservient to him and advance his felicity was compleated he who was to be the Lord of All and for whose sake the whole was fram'd was brought into the World When the Light had been penetrating into and clarifying this dark and thick Atmosphere for more than five compleat Years together when the Air was freed from its numberless Vapours and become pure clear and fit for his Respiration when the Waters as well superior as interior were so dispos'd as to minister to his necessities by Mists and Dews from the Heavens and by Springs and Rivers from the Earth when the Surface of the Earth was become dry and solid for his support and was cover'd over with Trees Shrubs Plants Herbs Grass and Flowers for his Sustenance and Delight when the glorious Firmament of Heaven and the beautiful System of the Sun Moon and Stars were visible and conspicuous to him the Objects of his Contemplation the Distinguishers of his Seasons by whose powerful Influences the Earth was invigorated and the World rendred a fruitful and useful a lightsome and pleasant Habitation to him when lastly all sorts of Animals in the Seas in the Air or on the Earth were so dispos'd as to attend benefit and please him one way or other when I say all these things were by the Care Beneficence and Providence of God prepar'd for the entertainment of this principal Guest then

is now well known those affections ought to be ascrib'd to the Earth because every thing as to sensible appearance is in the same condition as from the Annual and Diurnal Motions of the Sun were they real must and would obtain The Sun is said to be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Blood when without any alteration in themselves they appear of a dark or bloody Countenance to the Inhabitants of the Earth Nay which is most of all to our present purpose God is then said to make all things new and to create a new Heaven and a new Earth when he so changes the Constitution and State of our Earth as to render thereby this whole Sublunary World very different from and much excelling that which formerly appear'd In all which and innumerable other instances 't is plain and evident that the Holy Writers do not consider merely how things are in themselves but how they are to us not what is their proper nature but visible appearance in the World But here lest this Doctrine should be abus'd I must interpose this necessary caution That such a liberty is neither by other Authors nor the Sacred Penmen taken on all occasions or in every case but peculiarly when the sublimity of the Matter the capacities of the People the more easie instilling useful principles into Men or some other weighty reason requires such an accommodation 'T is chiefly with regard to the Spiritual Nature and sublime way of operation in God or such Physical and Philosophick Truths as relate to distant invisible or inaccessible bodies the absolute Essence or Affections whereof were not explicable to the vulgar in a plain and natural manner In which cases this Liberty in the Interpretation of Scripture is with the greatest Justice to be allow'd But 't were thence very unreasonable to extend it to all others or indeed to any where the same or as good reasons were not assignable He who should argue that because the Literal sense of Scripture about the Corporeal Members and Humane Passions of the Divine Nature is not to be strictly urg'd that therefore when he is call'd a Spirit and represented as the Rewarder of Good and the Punisher of Bad men those Expressions are no more to be depended on or he who should infer that because the First and Fourth Days Works the Origin of Light and the making of the Heavenly Bodies must not be strictly literal that therefore neither in the Mosaick Creation ought the other four to be any more esteemed so He I say that should thus argue or infer would be very unfair and unreasonable because he would assert that in one case without ground which on peculiar and weighty ones alone was allow'd in another Thus those things that are ascrib'd to God which evidently agree to his Nature and Idea are surely to be literally understood tho' the other which are repugnant thereto be not And in like manner 't is but just to believe that so much of the Mosaick Creation as related directly to the Earth and its appurtenances and so came at once within the comprehension of the History and of the capacities of the Readers ought literally to be Interpreted tho' some things extraneous to the Formation of the Earth and beyond the notice of the People be to be taken in a different acceptation Tho' the common use of Tropes and Figures make our Speech very often not to be literal yet generally we can understand one another very well without danger of deception or of turning plain Sentences into Allegorical Discourses in our Conversation one with another And 't is evident that the Holy Books ought not to be tormented or eluded as to their obvious sense on every occasion under pretence that some particular Texts are to be construed another way That SACRED RULE ought for ever RELIGIOUSLY to be observed That we never forsake the plain obvious easie and natural sense unless where the nature of the thing it self parallel places or evident reason afford a solid and sufficient ground for so doing Now this being presuppos'd I shall leave it to the impartial Reader to judge after the perusal of this whole discourse whether I have not substantial reasons for the present Exposition and whether therefore any one ought to blame my receding from the Letter in this single case or imagine that I give a just handle thereby to others to Allegorize this History of the Creation or any other parts of Scripture And I must here own and profess That tho' I think in case the common Translation be receiv'd there is an absolute necessity of receding from the Letter in the point before us and that this Venerable and Sacred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or history of the Creation is otherwise in the highest degree strange and unaccountable to the free Reason of Mankind yet I am fully of opinion that generally the difficulties occurring in the Sacred Books are to be clear'd not by a greater receding from but a closer adhering to the obvious and most natural Interpretation of the Periods therein contain'd And that the general nature of the Scripture Stile every where duely observ'd and consider'd several great scruples with relation to the Actions and Providence of God and other things contain'd in those Books would be taken away if we might be allow'd to recede a little from the receiv'd opinions of men and Placits of Systematical Authors on no other condition than that for a recompence we keep so much the closer to the Oracles of God and the obvious and literal Interpretation of them and explain the Bible no otherwise than the plain words themselves would appear most naturally to intend to any disinterested and unconcern'd Person Of which many instances might easily be given were this a proper place for it But I must leave this digression and return to what I before propos'd in the 4. Last place viz. To Assign some Reasons why in a History of the Origin of our Earth these remote and distant Bodies come to be taken notice of tho' their own proper formation did not at all belong to it Now tho' many might easily be alledg'd for this procedure yet I shall include the main I intend here to insist on in the two following 1. The Advantage of the Jews or securing them from the Adoration of the Host of Heaven could not otherwise have been provided for Now as the foundation of such Idolatry is taken away by their being included in this History which imply'd them to be such dependent and created Beings as could have no influence of their own but what were deriv'd from God and consequently were subject to his disposal and government which affirm'd them to be by Him plac'd in the Firmament and there subjected to such Motions Rules and Laws by which they became advantageous and serviceable to the World So had they been taken no notice of they would have seem'd exempted Bodies and when all Worship of Terrestrial things