Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
soul_n blood_n life_n lord_n 4,921 5 3.7317 3 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A53583 Man wholly mortal, or, A treatise wherein 'tis proved, both theologically and philosophically, that as whole man sinned, so whole man died ... with doubts and objections answered and resolved, both by Scripture and reason ... : also, divers other mysteries, as of heaven, hell, the extent of the resurrection, the new-creation, &c. opened, and presented to the trial of better judgment. / by R.O.; Mans mortallitie Overton, Richard, fl. 1646.; Overton, Robert, ca. 1609-ca. 1668. 1675 (1675) Wing O629C; Wing O640_CANCELLED; ESTC R11918 46,615 138

There are 7 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

from the dead by the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life c. and to these adde 1 Cor. 15.29 Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all Why are they baptized for the dead These places joyntly holding forth the external Ordinance of Baptism or signe of the new Covenant which carieth the full representation of the whole worke of Redemption or perfect figuration of the new Covenant do manifestly set forth this Mortality for the death burial resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot in the external ordinance of bap●isme be represented as those places ●old forth it doth but by baptizing that is dipping or submerging the whole man into the water the evidence that whole man shall die and whole man be raised again by the total death and total Resurrection of Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 11.26 For as often as ye eat this bread and drinke this Cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come The bread and wine signifying his Body and blood as a sign of his death shew plainly that his death was total which could not be if his life shrunk into his soul and still lived But from hence is plain that not onely body but life it self was offered and dyed for Lev. 17.24 The life of all flesh is the blood thereof compare Gen. 2.4 5. But flesh with the life thereof which is the blood thereof shall you not eat and surely your blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require and at the hand of man c. will I require the life of man whoso sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed To these adde 2 Sam. 1.16.8.27 28. and 16.8 Mat. 23.30 35. with various such-like places all which plainly shew the life of all flesh as well of man as of beast is in the blood else Christs death by the representation of his blood could not be set forth nor could any by the effusion thereof die but his Soul blood or life was poured out unto death therefore his death was not in part but of the whole man Psal 89.48 What man is he that liveth and shall not see death shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave Acts 1.13 He seeing this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption Eccl. 4.1 2 3. doth shew that the living do suffer oppression but to the dead is none and chap. 9.4 5. they know not any thing For a living dog is better then a dead Lion Therefore Psal 146.2 David saith I will sing praises unto my God while I have any Being implying that in death there is no humane being James 4.14 Our life is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away Rev. 16.3 Every living soul in the sea died chap 20.4 5. dead souls lived again CHAP. IV. Objections extorted from Scripture Answered OBject 1. Therefore we are alway confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord we are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 8. Whence is inferred a present injoyment of Glory immediately after death I Answer that both the foregoing and subsequent matter deny such an Interpretation or consequence for before wishing to be clothed with our House from Heaven on which is this expression of being present with the Lord he expounds that his meaning is thereby that mortality might be swallowed up of life or as he saith 1 Cor. 15.53 that this corruptable man might put on incorruption and this mortal put on immortalty And the following matter of the said words being laid down as the reason or ground why he so spake prove that by his presence with the Lord he meant nothing else but his state after the Resurrection for saith he We must all appear before the iudgment-seat of Christ that every one c vers 1. Object 2. For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better nevertheless to abide in the flesh is much needful for you Phil. 1.23 14. I answer This is of the same nature therefore must have the same Interpretation for Paul did not preach one thing to the Philippians and the contrary to the Corinthians Besides such manner of expressions are not contradictory to this mortalitie for though there be long time to the Living till the Resurrection there is none to the Dead for from Adams death to his Resurrection at the end of the World will be to him as the twinkling of an eye to the Living yea the twinkling of an eye to the living is more time then a thousand yea ten thousand yeares is to the dead For Being onely commensurates with Time or length of days not to Be cannot possibly be capable thereof So that the Livings tedious anniversary expectation of the Resurrection and end of their faith is not a twinkling to the grave the livings Future is the deads Present Therefore it is well figurated in Scripture by sleepe as slept with his Fathers 1 Kings 11.43 fallen asleepe in Christ 1 Cor. 15.18 c. not that it is so long a time to the dead but that in nature there is nothing so represents death or non-being as sleepe So that this may take away all carnal security for who would not watch and pray over-night that knows he must dye in the morning live well and be wary to day that must rise and answer to morrow believe to day that would not be damned but saved to morrow This administers comfort to the righteous but terrour to the wicked Therefore Christ speakeing of his coming to Judgment saith I come quickly my reward is with me to let all men know that in death there is no delay their reward is present he will not stay an instant And further to confirm it saith again Surely I come quickely Amen even so come Lord Jesus Object 3. Thou fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee Luke 12.20 Answ The life of the whole person and not such as is fancied of the soul except it had a mouth to eate drinke c. as vers 9. Object 4. And it came to pass as her soul was in departing Gen. 35.18 Ergo there is such a thing as the Soul which continueth it's Being after death Answ No such matter for the sence of words is as she was dying or life a departing for the following words say she dyed which could not be if her soul her constitutive part lived still no more then a man can be said to lose his hand when he loses a finger Object 5. And he stretched himself upon the Child three times and cried unto the Lord and said O Lord my God pray thee let this
Job 14.1 2. Man that is borne of a woman is of few days and full of trouble he cometh up like a flower and is cut down he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not and vers 7 8 9 10 11 12. For there is hope of a Tree if it be cut downe that it will sprout againe and that the tender branch thereof will not cease though the roote thereof wax old in the ground and the stock thereof die in the earth yet through the sent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant But Man dyeth and wasteth away yea Man giveth up the ghost and where is He As the waters fail from the Sea and the flood decayeth and dryeth up so Man lyeth down and riseth not till the Heavens be no more they shall not awake out of their sleepe Psal 103.15 16. As for man his dayes are as grass as a flower of the field so he florisheth for the wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more From these places compared we may see that man not his flesh onely for that makes not man but flesh and Spirit sensu conjuncto make Man is not as a Tree when He is cut down whose Spirit liveth and sprouteth forth and continueth but as the flower of the field not the stalke but the bare flower which totally fadeth and perisheth Therefore Man is wholly mortal he shall die and the Son of Man shall be made as grass Isa 51.12 Ezekiel 13.19 To slay the souls that should not die and to save the souls that should not live Psal 7.1 2. Save me c. Lest he teare my soul like a Lion renting it in pieces c. Psal 89.48 Who can deliver his soul from the hand of the grave Psal 19.10 Lev. 21.1 11 and 19.28 Numb 5.2 and 19.11 13. Hag. 2.13 in all which places the words dead body in the Original is soul See Jun. Annot. Lev. 21.1 2 Cor. 5.1 2 3 4. there out Being after death is called a building of an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens with this the Apostle desires to be clothed and what it is he defines viz. mortality swallowed up of life whence it is most evident that all his hope of future life was grounded upon the Resurrection and that his hope was altogether grounded thereon he confirms 1 Cor. 15 arguing if Christ be not risen the dead should not rise and vers 18. They which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished and vers 14. Then is our faith also in vaine whose end 1 Pet. 1.9 is the Salvation of our Souls How should then all be in vaine if our souls as soon as breath is out of the body enter into glory and salvation For by that though there were no Resurrection of the flesh we should receive the end of our Faith the Salvation of our Souls Nay further he maketh all our hope to be in this life if there be no Resurrection for vers 19. having showne the evils that follow the denyall of the Resurrection faith If in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable vers 32. Saint Paul said If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus what advantageth it me if the dead rise not whence plainly appeares that the denyal of the Resurrection confines all our hopes and advantages within this life and so all our sufferings persecutions prayers faith c. were to no purpose which could not be by this Soulary fancy of present reward of beatitude after this life 1 King 2.2 David saith to Solomon I goe the way of all the earth that is as the earth must see corruption so must he and if his Soul were part of him yea himself so must it else should he not go the way of all the earth And the expression in Joshua 2.13 Deliver our lives from death importeth absolute mortality for if Death be not dissolution of life or its deprivation how can it be said to suffer death not by a bodily separation for that is but as the laying down of a burthen wherewith it was clogged and tyred whereby it is made more lively ten thousand times as my Opposites confess and so can no more be said to be dead then a Porter when he is disburthened of his Load Job 34.15 All flesh shall perish together and man shall turn again unto dust That which is born of the flesh is flesh John 3.6 and flesh and blood cannot inherite the Kingdome of God 1 Cor. 15.50 But this Spirit the soul so Idoliz'd if such a thing be is borne of the flesh for in the wombe a Child is a living soul and is so borne of the mother that is flesh Therefore this soul is fleshly and cannot enter into the Kingdome of glory till corruption have put on incorruption which cannot be but by death Thou foole that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die 1 Cor. 15.36 Eccl. 3.12 That which befalleth the Sons of Men befalleth Beasts even one thing befalleth them as one dyeth so dyeth the other they have all one breath so that they have no preheminence above a Beast for all is vanitie Wherefore if their Breath be all one then God breathed no other Breath that is life or soul into Man then he gave to Beasts So that if Man be Fallen and the Beasts be cursed for his sake Man must be equally mortal with them 1 Tim. 4.8 I have fought a good fight I have funished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crowne of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at THAT DAY and not to me onely but to all them that love his appeareing Here from the finishing of his course a Crowne being laid up which is even the same which Peter Epist 1 cap. 1.9 maketh the end of our faith the Salvation of our souls to be given at THAT DAY concludes an intermission to him and us till then 1 Tim. 6.14 16. Keepe this Commandment until the appeareing of our Lord Jesus Christ who onely hath immortality dwelling in light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seene nor can see Whence appeareth that none ever entered into Heaven since the Creation And it is in vaine for my Opposites to say it is meant of the corpulent matter onely for they make the Soul the very manhood and none that enter therein enter by halfes and peecemeal and this is confirmed by Joh. 3.13 And no man hath ascended into Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of man which is in Heaven Psal 6.5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee in the grave who shall give thee thanks Psal 89.11 12. Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave or thy faithfulness in destruction shall thy wonders be known in the darke and thy righteousness in the Land
born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit Here is the natural birth by nature and the spiritual birth by grace declared each in his kinde the one a meer natural the other a supernatural worke It is therefore inavoydablely true otherwise the Soul cannot be saved for what is not born again cannot be saved as the immediate words testifie except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God So then the Soul as well as the body is born that is proceeds from the flesh except we be born without it Wherefore they are no more twaine but one flesh I might declare how Purgatorie Limbo Patrum Infantum Prayers unto dead Saints to the Virgin Mary and a World of such-like fancies are grounded upon the Invention of the Soul but that I shall leave it to the conception of the ingenious Thus having found Mans Foundation to be wholly in the Dust from thence taken and thither to return Let this then be the use of all That man hath not wherewith at all to boast no more then of the dirt under his feet but is provoked wholly out of himself to cast himself wholly on Jesus Christ with whom in God our lives are hid that when he who is our life shall appeare we might also with him appeare in glory to whom be the honour of our immortality for ever and for ever Amen THere are many places of Scripture omitted in this Treatise which import man to be wholly mortal whereof I will here commend these few to the serious consideration of all such as desire to finde out truth The Prophet Isaiah Prophesying of Christ in chap. 53. vers 10. saith Yet the Lord would break him and make him Subject to infirmities When he shall make his soul an offering for sin vers the 11. he shall see of the travel of his soul and be satisfied vers 12. Therefore will I give him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death c. By Saint Matthew it is also recorded chap. 26. vers 38. Then said Jesus to them My soul is very heavy unto the death Tarry ye here and watch with me speaking to Peter and the two sons of Zebedeus ver 37. Rev. 16.3 where it is Recorded And the second Angel poured out his Vial upon the sea and it became as the blood of a dead man and every living soul died in the sea Psal 66.9 He holdeth our soul in life Here note That Soul and Life are distinct the Soul of all are held in Life by Christ else would they die Psal 22.29 For all that go down into the dust shall bow before him and none can keep alive his own soul Ezek. 18.4 The soul that sinneth it shall die Vers 20. The same soul that sinneth shall die Job 33.18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword 20. So that his life abhorreth bread and his soul dainty meat 22. His soul draweth neer unto the grave and his life to the destroyers 28. He will deliver his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light 30. To bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightned with the light of the living The diligent Reader is desired to correct the mis-quotations escaped in this little book as followeth Page 33. line 13. adde Gen. 1. p. 34. l. 23. read 1 Cor. 15. p. 46. l. 21. r. Eccl. 3.19 20. p. 47. l. 6. r. 2 Tim. p. 48. l. 14. r. Psal 88. p. 49. l. 5. adde 4. p. 56. l. 10. r. Lev. 17.14 l. 11. r. Gen. 9. p. 57. l. 7. r. Acts 2.31 p. 59. l. 15. r. Phil. 1.23 24. p. 63. l. 6. r. Jer. 53.12 p. 68. l. 2. r. Rev. 19. p. 69. l. 16. r. Mat. 8.29 p. 72. l. 22. r. Prov. 15.24 p. 93. l. 1. r. Object 21. p. 98. l. 17. r. Heb. 4.15 p. 118. l. 24. r. 11 12. The Postscript IN some ancient Chronicles of England we read of King Druis so addicted to learning that a Sect of Philosophers succeeded him named Druides and that this King the better to encourage his Subjects without dread of death to fight his battles taught them that their Souls were immortal not subject to death Hence as some think came the opinion that the Souls of men are immortal but others conceive it to have another rise namely The general Doctrine of the Philosophers being That Vertue was to be rewarded and Vice punished and these usually seeing Men to die without either punishment or reward and being ignorant of any Resurrection taught thence that mens Souls after death remained alive to receive the same yet this was contrary to the judgement of many of the Ancients who nevertheless deemed men to be wholly mortal as is cleerly proved by Pliny in the 55 chap. of the 7 th Book of his Natural History where treating of Ghosts or Spirits of Men departed he saith thus viz. After men are buried great diversitie there is in opinion what is become of their Souls and Ghosts wandering some this way and others that but this is generally held that in what estate they were before men were born in the same they remain when they are dead for neither Body nor Soul hath any more sence after our dying day then they had before the day of their nativity but such is the folly and vanity of men that it extendeth still even to the future time yea and in the very time of death flattereth it self with fond imaginations and dreaming of I know not what life after this for some attribute immortality to the Soul others devise a certain transfiguration thereof and there be again who suppose that the Ghosts sequestred from the Body have sence whereupon they do them honour and worship making a God of him that is not so much as a man as if the manner of mens breathing differed from that in other living Creatures or as if there were not to be found many other things in the world that live much longer then men and yet no man judgeth in them the like immortality But shew me what is the substance and body as it were of the Soul by it self what kinde of matter is it apart from the body where lieth her cogitation that she hath how is her seeing how is her hearing performed what toucheth she nay what doth she at all how is she imployed or if there be in her none of all this what goodness can there be without the same but I would know where she setleth and hath her abiding place after her departure from the body And what an infinite multitude of Souls like shadows would there be in so many ages as well past as to come Now surely those be fantastical foolish and childish toyes devised by men that would fain live alwayes and never make an end Qualis in novissimo vitae die quisque moritur Talis in novissimo mundi die judicabitur The Contens CHAP. I. Considerations from natural reason disproving the common opinions of the Soul and proving Man wholly mortal p. 1. CHAP. II. Considerations from the creation fall and resurrection disproving the opinion of the Soul imagining the better part of Man immortal and proving him as a reasonable creature wholly mortal p. 28. CHAP. III. Scriptures to prove this mortality p. 41. CHAP. IV. 21 Objections extorted from Scripture answered p. 58. CHAP. V. Of procreation how from thence this mortality is proved p. 94. CHAP. VI. Testimonies of Scripture to prove that whole man is generated and propagated by nature p. 117. FINIS The Argument lies in fallen nature for the dispute is not of creatures which kept their first station but of man that is fallen from it Acts 7.60 and 13.36 1 Thes 4.13 and Psal 76.6 it is a Dead sleepe No Hell till the Resurrection * Living Soul
Man wholly Mortal OR A TREATISE WHEREIN 'T is proved both Theologically and Philosophically That as whole Man sinned so whole Man died contrary to that common distinction of Soul and Body And that the present going of the Soul into Heaven or Hell is a meer Fiction And that at the Resurrection is the beginning of our Immortality and then actual Condemnation and Salvation and not before With Doubts and Objections answered and resolved both by Scripture and Reason discovering the multitude of Blasphemies and Absurdities that arise from the fancy of the Soul Also divers other Mysteries as of Heaven Hell the extent of the Resurrection the New-Creation c. opened and presented to the Trial of better Judgment By R. O. The second Edition by the Author corrected enlarged That which befalleth the Sons of Men befalleth Beasts even one thing befalleth them all as the one dieth so dieth the other yea they have all one breath so that Man hath no pre-eminence above a Beast for all is vanity Eccl. 3.19 Printed at London Anno 1675. To the READER Judicious Reader THy serious perusal but the scorne and devision of the multitude hereof is my expectation Startle not thou be patient reade ponder and Berean like-try whether these things be so or no If any thing in it be worth thy owning take it it is thine as well as mine and I have my end thy benefit I wish it well to all but I feare it will be a Parable so most however I have unbosom'd my duty freely as I have received I give it freely to the World it is my faith as I believe so have I spoken I expect an Answer if it it be such as will not hold tryal it is likely I shall vindicate my self but if by force of Argument it shall convince I shall be ready and free thankefully to embrace it and renounce my errour whether it be in part or in whole though in the maine I am nothing jealous had I therein doubted my weakeness had not been thus visible to the World Whereas in several places scattered thorow the Book the use of the word Soul may seem to some to imply that which I deny let such know it is for Argument sake not intending in the least any self-distinct being by it Thus desiring my endeavours may have a faire and equal tryal by Scripture and solid Reason I commit thee to the blessing of God in the perusal thereof and rest Thine in the love of the Truth R. O. Man's Mortality OR A Treatise proving MAN as he is a Rational creature a Compound wholly mortal CHAP. I. Considerations from Natural Reason disproving the common opinions of the soul and proving man wholly mortal IF we will rationally argue concerning the Soul it is necessary to define what that is to which this immortality is ascribed But since it is defined by some one way by some another way I shall produce some Opinions about it and then bring the most rationall to tryall omitting the more frivolous viz. The Stiocks held it a certain blast hot and fierie or the vitall spirit of the blood The Creatins Blood Gallen a certain exhalation of the purest blood Zeno Cleanthes Antipater and Possiodonius a hot complection or corporeall quality diffused through the whole body Democritus Firc and his opinion was the round atomes being incorporated by aire and fire do make up the Soul Pythagoras opinionated it a Number moving of it self Plato a substance to be conceived in the mind that received motion from it-self according to Number and Harmonie Aristotle the first continual motion of a body natural having in it those instrumental parts wherein was possibility of life Dinarchus an Harmonie of the four elements Nemesius divides it into Phantasie Judgment Memorie Aristotle in his Physicks into vegetative sensitive motive appetetive intellective And Ambrose Parey p. 895. saith the soul is the inward Entelechia or the primative cause of all motions and functions both natural and animal and the true Form of a man It seeth heareth smelleth toucheth tasteth imagineth judgeth c. And more exactly pag. 83. Lib. 3. Cap. 1. he saith the soule is commonly distinguished into three Faculties Animal Vital Natural The Animal into Princial Sensitive motive The Principal into Imaginative seated in the upper part of the braine Reasonable the middle part of the brain Memorative Cerebellum or after-braine The Sensitive into Seeing the eyes Hearing the eares Smelling the nose Tasting the tongue pallet Touching the body The Motive into Progressive legges Apprehensive hands The Vital into Dilative or parts for Respiration weazon lungs Concoctive or parts for vital motion heart and arteries understood by the Pulsificke Facultie The Natural into Nutrative Active Generative which three are performed by the helpe of the Attractive the gullet Retentive lower passage or the stomack Concoctive body of the ventricle Assimulative three small guts Expulsive three great guts Augustine and Athanasius say it is a substance created a spirit intelligent invisible immortal incorporeal like the angels And there be several Opinions of it's Body Lucippus and Hipparchus say it hath a fierie Body Critias and Anaxemines Woolnor and others an aeriall body Hesiod an earthly Epicurius fierie and airie Zenophon watry and earthly Drone a midle betwixt the spirit and the body Didimus and Origen a third substance Divers other conceptions and fancies there be to uphold this ridiculous invention of the Soule traducted from the Heathens who by the Booke of Nature understood an immortality after Death but through their ignorance how or which way this invention reported to be Plato's was occasioned and begot a general beliefe and so they and after them the Christians have thus strained their wi●s to such miserable shifts to define what it is but neither conclude any certainty or give satisfaction therein Yet since it is generally concluded to be in man and of man but what where or how no man knowes though such several opinions of it be if but examined I le pitch upon those which afford most conceptory definition that is that of Aristotle Nemesius or Ambrose Parey which make the Soule to be all the internal and external Faculties of man joyntly considered or Man Anatomized and thereto Reply thus All the Faculties of Man severally or together are all and each of them mortal as well those that are peculiar to man as those that are common to Beasts and if all those with his corpulent matter compleating Man be proved mortal then the invention of the Soule upon that ground vanisheth which I thus prove All elementary compositions or Temperatures are mortal and transitory But mans Faculties from the least to the greatest are Temperatures Ergo mortal The Minor is thus proved That which is subject to increase and diminish is a Temperature But all mans Faculties yea those of Reason Consideration Science c. all that distinguish Man from a Beast are augmented by Learning Education c. lessened by negligence
Childs soul come into him again And the Lord heard his voyce and the soul of the Child came into him again and he revived 1 King 17.21 22. And Job 14.22 It is said his flesh upon him shall have paine and his soul within him shall mourne Ergo there is such a thing as the soul Answ If it be meant life or breath whose Being is consistent and terminated in a corpulent union For by that of the Child is meant his breath or life the thing that his corpulent matter wanted as vers the 17. implyeth which saith his sickness was so sore that there was no breath left in him Therefore that which was gone was prayed for his breath or life as his Answer further proveth which was and it revived And by Soul in that of Job is meant his conscience whose seate is in the reasonable and memorative Faculties Therefore the use of the word Soul in those places doth not prove such a thing in man as is supposed For in Scripture it is variously used upon various occasions It is put for the Stomack Pro. 27.7 for the eyes Jer. 13.17 for the heart 1 Sam. 18. for God Pro. 9.16 Heb. 10.38 Jer. 14.17 for the dead body Psal 16.10 for the whole man Lev. 7.19 and 4.1 Acts 7.14 Num. 15.39 Rom. 13.1 Gen. 12.5 and 46. Acts 2.41 1 Pet. 3.20 for breath Act. 20.10 for life Isa 53.17 Therefore from those places those parts may as well be proved so many Souls or Spirits of immortalitie as from those where it is put for breath or life it 's Being be proved or such an immortal existence to be in the body But to this Objection might be added Christs raising of Lazarus and others from the dead and it would make a very good plea for Purgatory Because from hell there is no returning and from heaven none could be thankful to be called again and it cannot be supposed that Christ would work miracles for any for which they should not have cause to be thankful to him and therefore these persons raised from the dead if they shall be supposed to have immortal Souls their return must needs be from some one of the Popes supposed Lymbocs or other Object 6. For which cause we faint not for though our outward man perish yet the inward is renewed day by day Ergo there is soul and body in man Answ It is not said though our flesh perish yet our souls are renewed then 't were something to little purpose but it is said our outward man which compared with what is meant by inward man must needs be whole man for by inward man is meant faith or worke of grace 2 Cor. 5.17 which is no part of natural man so that without it or it's renewing we are men perfect as well as with it Object 7. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward and the spirit of a beast that goeth downward to the earth Wherefore man hath a soul that goeth presently to Heaven but the beasts to the earth Answ It cannot bear the sence for immediately before he saith their breath is all one there is no difference as the one dyeth so dyeth the other and goeth to one place the dust Therefore if the beasts be reversed into the elements so must mans The meaning I take to be thus that such a wonderful thing is the breath of a man that breatheth upward and the breath of a beast that breatheth downward for spirit signifieth breath according to that of Ovid Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terram Os Homini sublime dedit coelumque videre Jussit erectos ad sidera tollere vultus that it's Faculty how it is is past finding out for Art in all her imitations could never touch that secret with her pensill Object 8. Feare not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather feare him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell Answ This carries the face indeed of the souls immortality but if the interpretation must be confined to that sence it overthrowes the current of the whole Scripture Wherefore my opinion of it is that by not able to kill the soul is meant as Luke hath it chap. 12.4 have no more that they can do that is though they have power over this life or the natural Body that is sowne in corruption they have none over the Spiritual that is raised in incorruption which spiritual Bodies of men raised from the dead are by Saint John in Rev. 20 4 5. termed Souls I saw the Souls saith he of those that were beheaded for Christ and they lived and reigned with him a thousand years But the rest of the dead lived not again untill the thousand years were ended the Souls then that lived and reigned with him are none other then the persons that were first raised by him from the dead at his coming over whom none hath power but God alone who therefore is most chiefly to be feared This doth not set forth any immortality before the Resurrection but shews that onely that is in Gods hand and he onely able to touch it that is cast it into Hell That this must be so expounded I further prove from the non-entitie of Hell for there can be no casting into Hell before Hell be which though it be ordained of old Isa 30.33 it is but in posse not in esse till the Resurrection for satisfaction it is convenient to declare what we mean by Hell for Hell is diversly used in Scripture It is put for the grave Psal 16.10 and 55.15 Isa 14.15 for the Whale in which Jonah was Jon. 2.2 for Sathans Kingdome leading to Hell Mat. 16.18 for Satan or his malignant Spirits Jam. 3.6 for the place of the damned Mat. 5.29 and 10.28 Luke 12.5 and 16.23 2 Pet. 2.4 this last the place of the damned is that which we mean by Hell and it is likewise variously called as outer darkness Mat. 22.13 and 23.33 wrath to come 1 Thes 1.10 and 5.9 Chaines of darkness 2 Pet. 2.4 Jude 6. eternal fire Jude 23. second death Rev. 20.6 bottomless pit Rev. 9.2 place of torment Rev. 14.10 and 20.10 Lake of fire Rev. 29.20 and 21.8 everlasting punishment Mat. 25.41 46 blackness of darkness for ever Jude 13. Those several expressions are generally taken to set forth the end of the Reprobate or the execution of Gods wrath upon them Therefore if none of the forementioned places that Hell is put for save that of the place of the damned be taken for Hell then most of those several expressions suite with it yea declare it but the expressions in general grant no immediate execution after this death but imply the contrary as we may see if we examine them First in Mat. 22.13 when it is called outer darkness and 23. vers 33. damnation of Hell compared with cap. 25.41 where it is said Then shall he say unto them on the left hand
interim he there appeares in the presence of God for them as Heb. 9.24 Object 12. In 1 Pet. 1.3 4. Peter saith that it is an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for the Saints and S. Paul 2 Cor. 5. says it is eternal in the heavens wherefore it being for the Saints enjoyment the souls of the Saints presently after death must ascend to enjoy it else can they not enjoy it at all we nowhere read that their bodyes shall at any time ascend thither Answ Saint Paul there saith It is eternal in the heavens but saith not that it is eternally there for Saint Peter in the 13 vers of the same chap. saith that it is to be brought thence to the Saints at the Revelation of Jesus Christ and not that the Saints shall be taken up to it and this will not be so brought down to them for their enjoyment till after the Resurrection and when the new Heavens and the new Earth are created as is evident in Rev. 21.1 2 3. and When mortality is swallowed up of life then and not till then shall the Saints be clothed with this their house from Heaven as Paul in the same place vers 2 4. declares Object 13. By faith Enoch was translated Heb. 11.5 And Elijah went to heaven in a whirlewind 2 King 2.11 12. Answ This no way contributes any thing to the fancy of the soul in a Paradice but rather altogether confounds the conceit for Elijah left his mantle not his body behind him when he ascended and Enoch was also wholly taken up And therefore Christ in the speech of the Theifs being with him in Paradice did not intend that present day but at the time of his coming into his Kingdome he should be there with him according to the theifes petition which Kingdome was not then shortly to be expected but is yet to come nor will it be until after Christs coming again in the clouds with power and great Glory as is evident Luke 19.11 12 15. Luke 21.27 31. Besides if Christ himself was that day in Paradice a place of glory he was there unglorified or else being there glorified he afterward became unglorified again for so he told Mary he was after his Resurrection Joh. 20.17 neither of which can reasonably be imagined And it is palpable that many errors are grounded upon mis-translations of the Scripture this place though the genuine signification of the words thereof be rendred yet may it be reputed within the nature of mis-translation for we have manifestly cleared that the sense of this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise cannot as it is vulgarly taken stand with the foundation of Religion or with solid reason Therefore there must be some fault in the English Text which if narrowly examined may appear for if the words in the Original be thus rendered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is And Jesus said unto him Verily I say unto thee to day Thou shalt be with me in Paradise which differeth from the common copies onely in the transposition of a comma incident to transcribing and printing and then the objection from hence vanisheth i. e. To day I tell thee not This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise And well might he use that expression I tell thee this day as a trial of the sincerity of his faith for if he could believe in him that day or present time of his sufferings he should be with him in paradise or when he should appeare in his Kingdome he should appeare with him in glory or thus I tell thee to day Thou shalt be with me in Paradise is as if he should say I tell thee this day which is the day of my suffering and of thy conversion that as sure as this is the Day so sure thou shalt be saved or be with me at my coming into my Kingdome where the attestation of This Day is as an assurance pledge or witness of Christs mercy towards him and as a tryal of his faith therein The like expression Paul useth Acts 20.26 Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men Obj. 14. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it Eccl. 7.12 Answ By spirit cannot be meant such a thing as the soul except all souls go to God and none to the Devil for it is indifferently spoken of all but by spirit is meant life which hath various expressions in Scripture it is the will of God that dust shall be made man and live and it is done and he liveth and his will that it shall die and it dyeth or returneth to what it was he withdraweth his communicated power and man ceaseth The Spirit shall return the communication power or faculty of life shall cease to God that gave it to him that communicated or gave it in whom we live move and have our being no otherwise mans spirit or life returneth to God that gave it he taketh away the breath and the creatures dye and return to their dust Psal 104.29 for the life of man is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away Jam. 4.14 Object 15. And they stoned Steven calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit Act. ●7 59 Answ This is a commendation of his life or being into the hands of God in whom with Christ our lives are hid Col. 3.3 as a full assurance of hope and faith in the Resurrection that when Christ who is our life should appeare we also might appear with him in glory For God is not the God of the dead but of the living for all live unto him Luke 20.38 And thus and no otherwise was his spirit commended or returned to him that gave it whose spirit goeth forth we are renewed Psal 104.30 answerable to that of the two witnesses in whom the spirit of life from God after they had lien dead three dayes and an halfe entered into them and they stood upon their feet Object 16. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life Gen. 2.7 Ergo man hath an immortal soul Answ Then so is the soul of a Beast for Solomon saith their breath is all one Eccl. 3.19 and David reckoning up the creatures and man amongst them saith indifferently of them all God hideth his face and they are troubled he taketh away their breath they die and retrun to their dust Psal 104.29 and this is further amplyfied in Gen. 1.33 to every thing in the Earth wherein there is a living soul c. and cap. 7.21 22. all flesh dyed in whose nostrils was the breath of life and Num. 31.28 all which make no difference betwixt them but as the one dyeth so dyeth the other and man hath no preheminence above a beast For what man is he that liveth and shall not see death or deliver his soul from the hand
of the grave Selah Psal 89.48 Object 17. And it came to pass the Beggar dyed and was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome c. Luke 16. from the 22. to the end Answ There was never such a man as Dives or Lazarus or ever such a thing happened no more then Jothams Trees did walk and talke Judg. 9.8 but it was a Parable to prove that nothing is more effectual for conversion then the ordinary preaching of the Word by the true Ministers or Ambassadors of God such as Moses and true Prophets of old and as Christ his Apostles and Prophets and true ministers since Further the consequence concerning the soul is but drawn from the literal sence in which sence I shall deny it canonical Scripture for it makes in that sence more for bodys then the souls present being in Heaven or Hell v. 23 24. maketh Abraham the Father of the Damned vers 24 25 27 30. and vers 22. Dives dyed and was buried and yet vers 23. he lift up his eyes being in torment and seeth Abraham c. and vers 25. he cryed for Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger to coole his tongue which in the literal sence thus applicated must needs be contradictory unless his eyes tongue and Lazarus finger was not buried or their souls had corporeal corpulent members which to conceit is ridiculous Therefore from this place the Resurrection of the body before the day of Judgment even as soon as a man is buried may better be proved then such a present Soulary enterance into Heaven or Hell Object 18. By which also he went and preached to them in prison Answ By which that is by that whereby he was quickened or raised from the dead his divine Spirit as the foregoing words whereon the sence of those depend doth evidence vers 18. Christ once suffered c. dead in flesh but quickened by the spirit vers 19. by which also he went c. So that he went and preached by that whereby he was quickened or raised Therefore the preaching here meant was not by that which was raised but by that which did raise which was ministerially as the following words further evidence shewing to whom he preached even those which were disobedient in the days of Noah on whom the long-suffering of God waited while the Arke was a preparing those were the spirits here meant the wicked of those days which are now in prison that is dead or imprisoned in the Elements Here the grave or death is called a prison as indeed it is for therein all that dye are reserved in the chaines of death the Elements not to be delivered till Judgment Rev. 20.13 according to Job 3.18 there the prisoners rest together Object 19. Joh. 11.26 Whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die Answ Whosoever liveth doth not in this place import the state of this life for should it believers should not die this death but relateth to the state or life at the Resurrection as the foregoing words on which the sense of these depend evidence viz. I am the Resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live to which these words are annexed And whosoever liveth believeth in me c. which is to say Every believer though dead shall live or be raised again and living or raised again shall never dye any more that is shall scape the second death Joh. 5.24 Secondly This life may be reckoned from the action of belief for God calleth things that are not as if they were Rom. 4.17 yea all even the dead live unto him Luke 20.38 And so the believer never dyeth in Gods account Rom. 14.7 8 9. None of us liveth to himself and none of us dyeth to himself for whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord whether we live therefore or die we are the Lords for this end Christ both dyed and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living Object 20. Therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirits 1 Cor. 6.20 Answ Before he called the body the Temple of the holy Ghost vers 29. and vers 15. the members of Christ which needs must be the whole man and not his bare carcass for in death who can praise the Lord in it can be no habitation for the holy Ghost and therein were they to glorifie God to make Christ the head of such members were to make God the God of the dead and not of the living therefore by body and spirit is meant whole man aiming at a thorough and perfect sanctification as well in that which respecteth thought the spirit as in that which respecteth action the body inwardly to gloryfie God as well as outwardly to flee fornication c. Object 16. I saw under the Altar the souls of them that were slaine for the word of God c. and they cryed with a loud voyce c. Rev. 6.10 11. Answ They were such souls as lay under the Altar slaine or sacrificed or as vers 11. hath it were killed these therefore being dead souls or martyred Saints their crie must be as the crie of the blood of Abel And the like vision of dead Saints confirms it as cap. 20. vers 4 5. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand yeares but the rest of the dead lived not again till c. whence it is plaine that he beheld the Resurrection or restoration of life unto dead souls even of them that were beheaded but the rest lay dead or lived not again till c. Thus much of illegitimate Objections from Scripture Now to the probation hereof from Procreation or Generation and as neer as I can to resolve all occurrent Objections thereon that shall confront CHAP. V. Of procreation how from thence this Mortality is proved IT is supposed as I conceive by none that what naturally proceedeth from Man simply by the course of nature can be immortal but must first taste of mortality And therefore there are two sorts of Opinions to maintaine this Heathenish Invention about the soul whereon it's immortalitie is grounded which I shall chiefly encounter the one that it is created and infused at the conception and so onely Gods worke The other that it is concepted by the woman through the concurrence of the seed of both sexes but not simply by the course of nature but by the supernatural and extraordinarie assistance or efficacie of God in conception more then in other creatures and so partly mans and partly Gods worke But that I may utterly demolish the structure of this Invention I shall turn up the foundation of each kinde in it's place But first I shall speak a word or two in general of Procreation it self That whole man is generated by man Observe That as the whole Tree is potentially in the seed