7 "And the Lord God formed man out of the duſt
( 114 ) 999999996 A TR E ATISE
OF THE SOUL OF MAN.
GEN. ii. 7. And the LordGod formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a livingfoul.
"T HREE things (faith * Athanafius) are unknown to "
men according to their effence, viz. God, angels, and thesouls of men."
Of the nature of the divine and high-born foul, we may ſay, as the learned + Whitaker doth of thewayofits infection by originalfin, " it is eafier fought than
" understood, and better understood than explicated:" And for its original, the moſt fagacious andrenownedfor wifdom amongst the ‡ ancient philosophers understood nothing of it.
It is faid of || Democritus, that " there is nothing in the " whole workmanship of nature of which he did not write ;" and in amore lofty and ſwellinghyperbole, they ſtile theireagleey'd Ariftotle, "the rule, yea, and miracle ofnature ; learning
64 itſelf, thevery fun of knowledge:" yet both theſe are not only faid, but proved by Lactantius tobe learned ideots.
How have the ſchools of Epicurus, and Ariftotle, the Carteſians, and other fects of philosophers, abuſed and troubled the world with a kind of philosophical enthusiasm, and a great many ridiculous
* Triafunt quæ fecundum eſſentiam hominibusfunt αγνωσα, και αρισα, Deus, angelus, et anima hominis.
Ath. in Tract. de deſin.
+Quæri facilius eft quam intelligitur, et melius intelligitur quam explicatur.
‡ Plato doubted. Aristotle denied, and Galen derided the doctrine of the world's creation.
||Nihil eft in toto opificio naturæ, de quo nonfcripfit Democritus.
And for Ariftotle, they ſtiled him, Regula natura, Naturæ miraeulum, ipfa eruditio, folfcientiarum, Antiftes literarumetfapien tie.
Lactantius, lib. iii, cap. 17, 18.
A Treatise of the Soul of Man.
fancies about the original ofthe foul of man! andwhen all is done, three words of God, by the pen of his inſpiredMofes*, enlightens us more than all their fubtile notions ofthe acciden talconcretion ofatoms, their materiafubtilis, and anima mundi, andthe rest oftheir unintelligible fancies could everdo. f The accountMoſes gives us in this context, ofthe origin of the world, and ofman the epitome of it, is full offenfe, reafon, congruity, and clearness; and ſuch as renders all the effays of all the Heathen philoſophers tobe vain, inevident, ſelf-repug nant, and inexplicable theories.
The inſpired penman gives us, in this context, acompendious narrative of the world's creation, relating more generally the rude, inform, and indigeſted chaos; and then more particularlythe ſpecificating, and diverſifying ofthe various beautiful beings, thenceeducedbythe motion of the Spirit of God uponthe face ofthe waters.
When the firſt matter was ſtrictly created out ofnothing, " the Spirit (as Moſes excellently expreſſeth it, chap. i. 2.) †
" hovered, or moved over it as abird over eggs, and, as itwere, " bywayof incubation,cheriſhing andinfluencingit," didtherebydraw forthall the creatures into their ſeveral forms, anddiftinct particular natures,whereinwe now, with delight and admiration, behold them .
Inthis manner and orderwas the ſtately fabric of the world produced, anderected; but, asyet, it remainedas a fair, andwell furnished houſewithoutan inhabitant. God had employed infinite wisdom and power about it, and engraven his name, upon • the meanest creature in it; but there was no creature yet made
(except angels, the inhabitants ofanother city) toread thename, and celebrate the name of the Almighty Creator,
He therefore thought the world imperfect till there was a creature made that could contemplate, praise, and worship the Maker of it : for this very uſe and purpoſe was man created, that he might not only fee, but confider the things he saw ; difcourſe, and rationally collect out ofthem the things he faw pot ; and both praiſe, and love the Maker for, and inthemall.
P2 * Philoſophy ſeeks or ſearches after truth, but theology finds it.
Jo. Picus Miran.
-Motus סחד מימחינס לע יתסהלמ םיתלא תורז+ , com motus, agitatusfuit ; non fimplicem motum denotat, fed ejufmodi quam Columba peragit, cum ovis ad excludendum pullos incubat.
Rab. Sol.
ATreatise of the Soul ofMan.
The palaces of princes are not beautified andadorned, to the intent men ſhould pay the reſpects and honours to the walls, but to ſhew the grandeur and magnificence of the king, towhoſe perſon their honour is due, as † Athenagoras in his excellent apology for the Chriſtians, ſpeaks. The world is a glorious and magnificent pile, raiſed deſignedly toexhibit the wisdom and power of its Creator to the reasonable creature man, that from him God might receive theglory ofallhis other works.
Of this creature man,the maſter-piece ofall the viſible world, (and therefore crowned king over it the firſt moment he was made, Plal. viii. 5.) Moles in the next place, gives us the account, both of his original, whence he came, and ofhis dignity,what he is. " The LordGod formed man out
" of the duſt of the ground, and breathed into his noſtrils the " breath of life ; and man became a living foul."
Where we fnd, The original I. Of the body | II. Of the foul ofman.
I. The original ofthebody ofman: " Formed out oftheduſt " of the ground."
"Duſt was its original matter : ofduft was " itmade, and intodust itmust be reſolved, Gen. iii. 19.
The "confideration is humbling, and ſerves totame the pride of 66 man ||", who is apt to dote upon his own beauty.
Man's body was not made of heavenly matter, as the radiant fun, and ſparkling ſtars : no, nor yet ofthe moſtpreciousandorientearthly matter ; Goddid not meltdown the pure and ſplendid gold and filver, or powder the precious pearls, and ſparkling diamonds ; buthe formed it ofthe vile and deſpicableduſt.
We find that the ſprinkling ofduſt uponnewwriting prevents manya foul blot: Iam fure, the ſprinkling ofour originaryduft upon ourmindsby ſerious conſideration, is the way to prevent many a proud boast.
However, the baſeneſs of the matter, and coarſeneſs of the ſtuff, ferves to ſet off the admirable ſkill ofthe moſt wife and ‡ This world is indeed moſtbeautiful, yet it is not the world itſelfthat is tobe adored,but that great Artificer its Creator : even as your ſubjects, when applying toyou for what they need,do not act fo foolish a part as to overlook you their lords and princes, omittingall thehonour due to you, and confining their regards to the magnificence ofyour palaces; but, on the contrary, viewing the fine ftructure ofyour palaces only by the by, they revere andhonour your ſelves before and above all things elſe.
Athen. Apol.
המדאה זמ רפ Pulveremtenuiſſimamaddomandamfupera biam.
Fagius, |
ATreatise of the Soul ofMan.
* powerful Architect, who out ofſuch mean,deſpicable materials, has faſhioned ſo exact and elegant a piece.
" formed man out ofthe dust."
" The LordGod " The LordGod.] The name ofGod is here ſet down at full " †, to let forth the dignity of man," the ſubject matter wrought upon, as fome conceive.
Formed.] Faſhioned, or curiously moulded, and figured it †.
The Hebrew verb, primarily ſignifies " to preſs, compreſs, or " ſqueeze together ; and by a mitalepsis, by preffing and compreſſing, to mould or faſhion, as the potter doth his clay."
The Pfalmiſt uſeth another word to expreſs the artificial elegancyofthebody of man, Pfal. cxxxix. 1516
קד acupictus fum, I am embroidered, painted, or flourished, as with aneedle.
We render it, curiouslywrought.
Whatsoeverbeauty and comely proportionGod hath beſtowed by creation upon it, " it is
" all answerable to that excellent idea, or model || before " conceived inhis mind and purpoſe."
All this care, and coſt wasbestowed upon the body of man, which, when all is done, is but the cafe in which that eſtimable jewel, the foul, was to be lodged.
This therefore I muſt lay afide and come to the more noble ſubject, II. Thefoul of man : about which we have before us four things toponder in this text, viz.
(1.) The nature, and property, (2.) The defcent, and original, (3.) The manner of infuſion, (4.) The nexus, or bond that unites, } the foul ofman.
(1.) The nature and property of it, a living foul. The word שפנ ,as alſo theChaldee Naphsba; and the Greek ψυχη, have oneand the ſame etymology, all fignifying to breathe, or refpire; not that the breath isthe ſoul, butdenoting the manner of its infufion by the breath ofGod, and the means of its continuation in the body, bythebreath ofour noſtrils. God's breath infuſed it, and our breath continues its union with the body.
It fignifies here the rational foul ; and the Hebrew word foul, hath a very near affinity with the word the heavens; and indeed there is a nearer affinity beםיחלא הוחי
Dominus Deus, Nomen Dei hicplenum eft, propter hominis dignitatem.
Nachm.
Prefit Compreffit,etperMetalepsin,premendo et comprimendoformavit.
+ ↑Imaginem mente divina conceptam, quafi manuformat. Fagius.
ATreatise of the Soul of Man. wixt the things, viz. foul andheaven, than there is betwixt thenames.
היח The epithet which we tranflate living, theArabic ren ders a rationalfoul and indeed, none but a rational, deferves thenameof a living foul , for all other forms or fouls, which are of an earthly extract, do both depend on, anddie with the matter out ofwhich thywere educed; but this being ofano. ther nature, a ſpiritual and ſubſtantial being, istherefore right ly ſtiled,a livingfoul.
The Chaldee renders it, aspeaking foul. Andindeed, itde ſerves a remark, that the ability of ſpeech is conferred on no other foul but man's.
Other creatures have apt and excellent organs; birds can modulate the air, and form it into ſweetdelicious notes, and charming ſounds ; but no creature, except man, whoſe ſoul is of an heavenly nature and extraction, can articulate the found, and form it into words, by which the no tions and ſentiments of one foul are in a noble, apt, and expeditious manner conveyed to the understanding of another foul.
And indeed, what ſhould any other creature do with the faculty or power of ſpeech, without a principle of reaſon toguide and govern it ? It is ſufficient to them, that they dif cern each others meaning by dumb ſigns, much after the manner that we traded at firſt with the Indians: but ſpeech is proper only to the rational, or living foul; however, we render it a living, a rational, or a ſpeaking foul, it diftinguishes the foul of manfrom all other fouls.
(2.) We find here the beſt account that was ever given of the origin of the foul ofman, or whence it came, and from whom it derives its being O, what aduſt and pudder have thediſputes and contests of philoſophers raised about this matter ! which is cleared ina few words inthis ſcripture ; * " God
"breathed into his noſtrils the breath of life, and man became " a living foul: which plainly ſpeaks it to be the immediate effect ofGod's creating power. Not areſultfromthe matter; no, no, refults flow efinu materiae, out of the boſom of matter ; but this comes exhalitu divino, from the infpiration ofGod.
That wich is born of the fleſh, is fleſh; but this is a fpirit deſcendingfrom the Father of ſpirits, God formed it, but not out ofany pre-existent matter, whether celestial or terreſtrial ;
T * He breathed the breath of life into man, to ſhew that man's foul is from an external cauſe by creation, and that at the fame time, in being created, it is infuſed into the body.. Pol. Synaps. on the place.
Treatise of the Soul ofMan
much less out of himself, as the † Stoicks ſpeak; but out of nothing. An high-born creature it is, but no particle of the Deity. The indiviſible and immutable eſſenceofGodis utterly repugnant to fuch notions; andtherefore theyſpeaknot strictly and warily enough, that are bold to call itarayor emanation fromGod.
A ſpirit it is, and flows by way of creation, immediately from the Father of ſpirits; but yet it is a ſpirit ofanother inferior rank and order.
(3.) We have alſo the account oftheway and manner of its infufion into the body, viz. by the fame breath ofGod which gave it its being. Itis therefore a rational, fcriptural, andjuſtifiable expreſſion of St. Auguftine, Creando infunditur, et infundendo creatur; itis infuſed in creating, and created in infufing ; though Dr. Brown $ too flightingly calls it a mere rhetorical antimetathesis. Someofthe fathers,asJuſlin, Ireneus, and Tertullian, were of opinion, That the Son ofGod affumed ahuman ſhape at thistime, inwhich afterwards he oftenappearedtothefathers, as a prelude to his true and real incarnation; andtook dust or clayin his hands, outofwhich he formed the body ofman, according tothe pattern of thatbody inwhich heappeared andthatbeingdone, he afterward, by breathing, infused thefoulintoit. But I rather think it isananthropopathy, orufual figure in ſpeech, by which the Spirit ofGod ſtoops to the imbecility of our understandings. "He breathed intohis
" noftrils the breath of life; " Hebrew, lifes.
But this plural word notes rather the twofold life ofman, in this world, andinthatto come; or, "the ſeveral faculties and powers belongingtooneandtheſameſoul, viz.the intellective,fenfitive,
" andvegetative offices thereof; than that there are more fouls " thanone, effentially differing, in one and the fame man ; for " that, (as§ Aquinas truly faith), is impoſſible."
We cannot trace the wayofthe ſpirit, or tell in what manner it was united with this clodof earth.
But it is enough, that he who formed it, did alſo unite or marry itto the body.
This is clear, not †The Stoicks, faith Simplicius, call the foul Μερος η μέλος τοΘες, i. e. a particle or member of the Deity ; and Seneca calls it, God dwelling in the human body, which comes near to Θεος εν σαρκι Φατ νερωθεις, i. e. God manifeſted in the flesh,
ReligioMedici, Sect. 36.
Impoffibile est in uno homine effe plures animas per effentiam differentes;fed una tantum eft anima, quæ vegetative etfenfitive. etintellective, officiis fungitur. Aquin. 12, Q. 26. art. 2.
A Treatise of the Soul of Man. by wayof natural reſultancy from the body, but byway of inſpiration from the Lord; not from the warm boſom of the matter, but from the breath of its Maker.
4. Lastly, We have here the nexus, copula, the tie or band bywhich it is united with the body of man, viz . The breath of his(i. e. ofman) nostrils. It is a moſt aſtoniſhing mystery, to ſeeheaven and earth married together inone perſon ; the duſt oftheground, and an immortal ſpirit claſping each other with ſuch dear embraces, and tender love; ſuch a noble and divine gueſt to take up its reſidence within the mean walls of flesh and blood.
Alas, how little affinity, and yet what dear affection is found betwixt them !
Now, that which ſo ſweetly links theſe two different natures together, andholds them inunion, is nothing elsebut the breath ofour noftrils, as the text ſpeaks : it came inwith the breath ; whilft breath ſtays with us, it cannot go from us; and as foon as the breath departs, it departs alſo.
All the rich elixirs and cordials in theworld cannot perfuade it to ſtay one minute after thebreath is gone. One puff of breath will carry away the wiſeſt, holiest, and moſt defirable foul that ever dwelt in fleſh andblood.
When our breath is corrupt, our days are extinct, Job xvii. 1. " Thou takeſt away their breath, they die, and re46 turn to their duſt," Pfal. cxiv. 19.
Outof the textthus opened, ariſe two doctrinal propofitions, which I shall inſiſt upon, viz.
Duct. 1. That the foul of man is ofdivine original, created andinspired immediately by the Lord.
Doct. 2. That the fouls and bodies of men are link'd, or knit together, by thefeeble band of the breathof their noftrils.
Inthe proſecution of theſe two propoſitions, many things will come to our hands, of greatuſe inreligion ; which I shall labour to lay as clearly and orderly in the reader's underſtanding, and preſs as warmly upon his heart as I can. And firſt,
Doct. 1. That the foul of man is of divine original, created and infpi. ed immediately by the Lord.
In this firſt propoſition, two things are to be diſtinctly pondered, viz.
1. The nature of thefoul.
Or, what it is, and from whence itcame.
The firſt thing which arreſt our thoughts, andrequires their attention andexerciſe, is thenature ofthe foul, or what kind
The nature of thefoul. ofbeingit is,
ATreatise of the foul ofMan.
Thoſethat are moſt curiouslyinquifitive intoallotherbeings, and putnature upon the rack to make her confefs her fecrets, are in the meantime found ſhamefully flight and negligent in the ſtudy of themſelves. Few there are that can prevail with themſelves to ſitdownand think cloſe toſuch queſtions as theſe.
Whatmanner ofbeing is thisfoulofmine? whence cameit ? why was it infused into this body? and wheremust it abide, when deathbath dislodged it out of this frailtabernacle? There is a natural averſation in man to fuch exerciſes of thought as theſe, although in the whole univerſe of beings in this lower world, a more noble creature is not to be found *.
The foul is the moſt wonderful and astonishing piece ofdivineworkmanship ; it is no hyperbole to call it the breathof
God, thebeauty of men, the wonder of angels, and the envy of devils.
One foul is of more value than all the bodies in the world.
Thenatureof it is ſo ſpiritual and fublime, that itcannotbe perfectlyknown by the moſt acute and penetrating underſtand-ing, aſſiſted in the ſearch by all the aids philoſophy can contributė.
Itis notmy deſign in this diſcourſe to treat of the ſeveral faculties and powers of the foul, or togive you the rife, natures, or numbers of its affections and paſſions : but I ſhall confine mydiſcourſe to its general nature and original. And feeing " none can ſo well discover the nature of it, as he who is
" the author of it," as Tertullian † ſpeaks, I therefore juſtly expect the beſt light from his words, though Iwill not neglect anyother aid he is pleaſed elsewhere to afford.
The foul is variouſly denominated from its ſeveral powers *Therefore they who at any time havediſputed concerning the foul, muſt be reckoned tohavedifputednot of avain thing, that has nothing but a name, but about a veryweighty ſubject, of the greatest moment, than which nothing under heaven is more excellent. Zanch. on thefoul.
†Si quid de anima certandum est, ad Dei regulas dirigat : certe nullum alium potiorem anime demonstrationem, quam Auctorem.
Tertul. de anima, &c.
†As it quickensthebody, it is called anima, i. e. the life; as it exerts acts ofthe will, it is called animus, i. e. power ofvolition ; asit isthe ſubject of knowledge, it is calledthe mind; when itre collects, it is calledthe memory; when it judges right, it is called reafon; as it produces breathing, it is called ſpirit. Ifidor. Etym.
VOL. III.
A Treatise of the foul of Man. andoffices, as the fea from the feveral ſhores it washes.
I will notſpendtime about the ſeveral names bywhich it is known to usin fcripture, but give you thatdefcription of it, with which my underſtanding is most fatisfied, which take thus :
The foulofman is a vital, spiritual, and immortalfubftance, endowed with an underThe deſcription tanding, will, and various affections; created of the foul.
T with an inclination to the body, and infused thereinto by the Lord.
Inthisdeſcription we have the two general parts intowhich Idiſtributed this diſcourſe: viz. its general nature, and divine original.
The nature ofthe foul is expreſſed to us in theſe followingterms.
It is a fubftance.
* That is toſay, nota quality, or an accident inhering inanother being, or ſubject; as whiteneſs doth in the ſnow: but a beingby* i felf.
Qualities and accidents have noexiffence of their own, but require another being, or fubject to their exif tence; but the foul of man isa ſubſtantialbeingofitfelf,which will evidently appearupon the followinggrounds.
(1.) Because it is, in a ſtrict and proper ſenſe, created by God. " He formeth, or createth the ſpirit in man," Zech. xii. 1.
To him we are adviledto " commit it, as toa faithful et Creator," 1 Pet. iv. 19.
The ſubſtantial nature of the foul is implied in the very notion ofits creation; " for whatsoever
" is created, is afubſtance, an ensperse t.
Accidents are not faid to be created, but con-created;" the crafis ofhumours, andrefuits of matter, arenot ſubſtances created, but things rifing in a natural way from created ſubſtances. They flow from, and, as to their effence, dependupon pre-existent matter; but the foul was created outofnothing, andinfuſed into thebody after itwas formed and organized; which evidenceth its ſubſtantial nature.
(2.) This evidenceth the foul to be a ſubſtance; that it can, and doth exiſt, and ſubſiſt by itſelfalone, when ſeparated from thebodyby death, Luke xxiii. 43. " To day ſhalt thou, (i.c..
" thy foul) bewith me in paradise;" und Mat. x. 20. " Fear " not them thatkill thebodybut cannot kill the foul."
Were *The foul is abeingby itself, i. e. itdoes not exiſt inany object, as apart or form ofit, depending on it, as to itsbeing.
Colleg Conimb..in lib.rr.
† Quicquid a Deo proprie creatum eft ; accidentia enim non di cuntur creari, fed concreari.
Polani Synt. p. 319.
ATreatise of the Soul ofMan.
the foul but an accident, a quality, or a refult, he that kills the body, muſt needs kill the foul too; as he that cafts a ſnow. ball inte the fire, muſt needs destroy the whireneſs with the Inow. Accidents fail andperiſh with their fubjects : but seeing it is plainin theſe and many other fcriptures, the foul doth not failwith thebody; nothingcan be more plainand evident, than that it is ofa ſubſtantial nature.
When the Spaniards came firſt among the poor Indians, they thought the horseand hisrider tobe one creature; as many ignorantones think the foul andbody ofman to be nothingbut breathandbody: whereas indeed theyare two distinct creatures, as vaſtly different in their natures as the rider and his horfe, or thebirdandhiscage. Whilethe man is on horfeback, he moves according to the motion of the horse; and whilst the bird is incaged, he eats anddrinks, and fleeps, andhops and fingsin his cage.
But ifthe horse fail, and die under his rider, or the cage bebroken, the man can go on his own feet, and the bird enjoyhimself as well, yea, better in the open fields andwoods, than in the cage: neitherdepend, as to being, or action, on thehorſeorcage.
(3.) Both ſcripture and philoſophy conſent in this, that the foul isthe chief, moſt noble, and principal part of man, from which the whole man is, and ought to be denominated.
So Gen xlvi. 26. " Allthefouls that camewith Jacob intoEgypt, " i. e. all the perfons; as the Latins ſay, tot capita, ſo many heads or perfons. The apoſtie, in 2 Cor. v. 8.ſeems to exclude the body from the notionofperfonality, when he faith, Weare willing rather to be abfent from the body, andto be present with the Lord: That we, a term ofperſonality, is theregiven to the foul, excluſively of the body, for the body cannot be abſene from itſelf: But we, that is, thefouls ofbelievers, may beboth abſent from it, and present with Chrift,
To this we may add, 2Cor. iv. 16. where the foul is called theman, andthe innerman too, the bodybeingbut the exter nal face, or ſhadowofthe man. Andtothis philofophers agree
The best philosophers are ſo far fromthinking that the body is the ſubſtantial part of man, and the foul a thing dependens on it; that contrarily they affirm, that the body depends upon the foul; and that it is the ſoul that conferves and furtains it
Q2 !
The foul preſerves and ſuſtains the animated body, butwhen itleaves thebody, the nature ofan animated body fubfitts no more : the foul exifts not inthe body, as ina place, feeing it cannot be circum
ATreatise of the Soul ofMan. andthat thebody is in the foul, ratherthanthefoul inthebody, and that which is ſeen not the man, but that is the manwhich is inviſible, that the bodymightbe killed and the man nothurt ; meaning the foul, which onlydeſerves the name ofman. Now ifitbe the chiefpart ofman, and that which is only worthythe name ofa man, andfrom which therefore the whole is, and ought tobedenominateda man; ifit be fo far fromdepending onthe body, or being containedwithinthebody, that the body rather dependson it, andis in it, thenſurelythe foul muſt be, whatwe deſcribe it tobe, a ſubſtantial being.
(4.) It is paſt all controverfy, that the foul is afubſtance, becauſe it is the ſubject of properties, affections and habits ; which is the very strict and formal notion ofaſubſtance.
All the affectionsandpaſſions ofhope,defire, love, delight, fear, forrow, andthe reft, are all rooted in it, and ſpringing out ofit; and for habits, arts and ſciences *, it isthe foul in which they are lodged and ſeated. Having once gotten apromptitude to act, either by ſome ſtrong, or by ſome frequently repeated acting, they abide in the foul, even when the acts are intromitted, as in fleep a navigator, ſcribe or muſician, are really artiſts, whenthey are neither failing, and writing or playing; becauſe the habits ſtill remain in their minds, as is evident in this, thatwhen they awake, they can perform their ſeveral works, without learning the rules of their art anew.
Il. Thefoul is a vitalſubſtance, i. e.
A ſubſtancewhich hath an eſſential principle oflife in itſelf: a living, active being. A living foul, faithMoſes inthe text; andhereby it is diſtinguiſhed from, and oppoſed to matter or body. The foul moves itſelfand the body too; ithatha felfmoving virtue or power in itſelf; whereas the matter, orbody is wholly paffive, and is movedand acted, not by itself, but by this vital fpirit. Jam. ii. 26. " The body without the fpirit is
" dead."
It acts not at all, but as it is actedby this inviſible ſpirit. This is ſo plainthatit admits ofſenſible proofanddemonſtration,
Take mere matter, and compoundordivide it, alter circumfcribedbyplace. The whole foul pervades the whole body; nor is there any part of it, in which it is not preſent: for itis not contained in the body, but rather itſelfcontains the body; neither is it in the body, as in a veſſel or bottle, but rather thebody is in it.
Nyf. on the foul. b. 2. c. 1Ι . εκ ἕσιν Ανθρωπος το ορωμενον, i. e Thatwhich is feen, is not the Man,but every man's foul ishimself.
* The foul is the ſubject and featof all the virtues and vices, arts and ſciences. Buchan. loc.com. p. 86..
ATreatise of the Soul ofMan.
it, and change it how you will,you can never make it ſee, feel, hear, or act vitally without a quickning and actuating foul :
Yetwe muſt ſtill remember, that this active principle, the ſoul, thoughit hath this vital power in itſelf, ithath it not from itſelf,
•but inaconſtantreceptivedependance uponGod, the firſt cauſe, both ofits being and power.
III. It is aspiritualſubſtance.
All ſubſtances are not groſs material, viſible and palpable ſubſtances; but there are ſpiritual, and immaterial, as well as corporeal ſubſtances, difcernible by fight or touch.
To deny this were to turn a downright Sadducee, and todeny the exiſtenceofangels and ſpirits, Acts xxiii. 8. The word substance, as it is applied to the foul of man, puzzles, and confounds, the dark underſtandings of ſome, that know not what to make of an immaterial ſubſtance, whereas in this place it is no more than ſubſtare accidentibus *, (i. e.) to be a ſubject in which properties, affections, and habits are ſeated and ſubjected.
This is a ſpiritual ſubſtance, and is frequently in fcripture calleda pirit; " Intothyhands I commit my ſpirit," Luke. xxiii.
46. " Lord Jeſus receive my ſpirit," Acts vii. 59. and ſo frequentlyallover the ſcriptures.
And the ſpirituality ofitsnature appears, ( 1. ) By its defcent, in a peculiar way,from the Father of ſpirits.
(2.) In that it rejoiceth in the eſſential properties ofa ſpirit.
(3.) That at death it returns to that great Spirit who was its efficient and former .
} (1.) It defcends, ina peculiar way, from the father of ſpirits, as hath been ſhewnin the opening of this text : God ſtiles himself its Father, Heb. xii. 9. its former, Zech. xii. 1. 'Tis true, he giveth to all living things ζωην και πνοην, life and breath,
Acts xvii. 25. Other fouls are fromhim, as well as the rational foul; but in a far different way and manner. They flow not immediately from him by creation, as this doth.
It is faid, Gen. i. 24, 27. " Let the earth bring forth the living creature " after its kind;" but " God created man in his own image :"
Which ſeems plainly to make a ſpecified difference betwixt the reaſonable, and all other fouls, (2.) It rejoiceth in the eſſential properties ofa ſpirit : For it isan incorporeal ſubſtance, as ſpirits are.
It hath not partes extrapartes, extenſion of parts; nor is it diviſible, as the body. is.
It hath no dimenſions, and figures as matter hath ; but is * A ſubſtance in this uſe ofthe word, is that which depends not, in reſpect of its being, upon any fellow creature as accidents and qualities do,whoſe being isbyhaving their in-being in anotherfellow. creatureas their ſubject; but this being, thefoul, exiſts in itſelf,
ATreatise of the Soul ofMan. amoltpure, inviſible, and(as the acute andjudicious Dr.More expreſſeth it) indifcernible ſubſtance.
It hath the principleof life, and motion in indelf, or rather, it is fuch aprinciple itielf, and is not moved as the dall, and Auggiſh matter is, per aliud, by another.
Its efficacyisgreat, thoughitbeunfeen, and not liable to the teſt ofour touch, as no ſpiritual ſubſtances are.
" A fpirit (faith Chrift) hath notfleſhandbones," Lukexxiv.
39. We both grant and feel, that the foul hath a love, and inclinationto the body, (which indeed is nomore than it isbeceffary it ſhouldhave) yet can we nomore infer its corporiety from thatlovetothe body, than we can infer the corporiety of angels from their affection, and benevolentlove tomen.
It is a ſpirit of a nature vaſtly different from the body in which it is immersed.
There is (laitha learned author*) no greater my. ſtery in nature, than the union betwixt foul and body : That a mindandspiritshould beso tied and linked to a clod ofclay, that while that remains ina due temper, itcannot by anyart orpower free itself!... Whatfo much a kin are a mindand apieceofearth, aclodandathought, that theyshallbe thus affixedto oneanother?
Certainly, the heavenly pure bodies do notdiffer ſo much from adunghil, as the foul and body differ : They differ but as more pure and leſs pure matter; but theſe, as material, and immaterial.
Ifwe conſider wherein confifis the being ofabody, and wherein thatofafoul, and thencomparethem, the matter will be clear.
We cannotcome toan apprehenfion oftheirbeings, but by confidering their primary paſſions andproperties, whereby they make diſcoveryof themselves.
The firſt, and primary affection of abody + (as is rightly obſerved) is that extenſion ofparts whereof it is compounded, and acapacity of divifion, upon which, as upon the fundamental mode, the particular dimenſions (that is, the figures) and the local motion dodepend.
Again, for the being of our souls, ifwe reflect upon ourſelves, we shall find that allourknowledge ofthem reſolves into this, that we are beings confcious to ourſelves ofſeveralkinds of cogitations ; that by our outward ſenſes we apprehend bodily things preſent; and by our imagination we apprehend things abſent; and that we oft recover into our apprehenfion things past andgone, and,upon our perceptionof things, we find ourſelves variously affected.
Let theſe two properties ofaſoulandbodybe compared, and upon the firſt view ofa confidering mind it will appear, that Mr. How's Fun. Serm. p. 9, 10, + Philofophical Effay, p. 3. § 2. p. 39.
ATreatise of the Soul of Man.
diviſibility is not apprehenfion, or judgment, or defire, or difcourie: That tocut a body into feveral parts, or put it into ſeveral ſhapes, or bring it to feveral motions, or mix itafter ſeveral ways, will never bring it to apprehend, ordefire. No mancan think the combining offires, and air, andwater, and earth, ſhould make the lump of it to know or comprehend, what isdone toit, or by it.
We ſee manifeſtly, that upon the divifion of the body, the foul remains entire and undivided.
It is not the lofs ofa leg, or arm, or eye, that can maim the underſtanding, or the will, or cut offthe affections. the Nay, it pervades the body itdwells in, and is whole in th whole, andin everypart, which it couldneverdoifit were material.
Yea, itcomprehendsinits under Understand it negatively, that the foul is not in the parts of the body per partes, part in onepart, andpart in fſtanding, the body or matter in which it is lodged; and more than that, itcan, anddoth from conceptionsofpure fpiritualand immaterialbeings,whichhaveno dimenſions or figures; all which ſhews it to be no corporeal, butafpiritual, andimmaterial ſubſtance.
W (3.) As it derives its being from the Father ofSpirits, in apeculiarway, andrejoiceth in its ſpiritual properties : So at death another,feeing it is indivisible andhath noparts. it returns to thatgreat Spirit from whence itcame.
It is not annihilated, or reſolved into foft air, or fucked up againbythe elementoffire, orcatchedbackagain intothe foul of the world, asſomehavedreamed; but itreturns to Godwho gaveit, to giveanaccountofitſelftohim,andreceive itsjugmentfrom him.
"Then ſhallthe dustreturn totheearthas it was,andthe fpirit " ſhall return toGodwhogave it," Eccl. xii. 7. Each part of man to its like, duſt todust, and ſpirit to ſpirit. Not that the foul is refolved intoGod, asthe body is intoearth ; but asGod created it a rationalſpirit, confcious to itſelfofmoral goodand eyil, ſowhen ithath finished its timein thebody, it must ap . pearbefore theGodofthe ſpiritsofall fleſh, its arbiter and final judge.
3 .
Byallwhichwefee, thatasit iselevatedtoohigh on the one hand,when it is madea particle ofGod himself; not only the creature, but a part ofGod, Ias Plutarch, and|| PhiloJudeas,
IAnima autemmentisparticeps falta, nonfolum Dei opus eft, verum etiam pars ; neque ab eo,fedde eo et exfacia Plut. deQu.
Platon.
I Quomodo credibile videtur tam exiguam mentem humanam mem-
ATreatise of the Soul of Man. andothers have term'd it; (ſpirit it is,but ofanother andinferior kind:) So it is degraded too low, when it is affirmed tobe matter, though the pureſt, fineſt, and moſt ſubtile in nature; which approacheth nearest to the nature ofſpirit. A ſpirit it is, as much as an angel is a ſpirit, though it be a ſpirit of another
Species. This is thenameitis knownby throughoutthe fcriptures.
In a word, it is void ofmixture and compoſition ; thereare no jarringqualities, compound element, or diviſible parts in the foul, as there are in bodies; butit is pure, ſimple, inviſible, and indiviſibleſubſtance, which proves its ſpirituality, and brings usto
the fourth particular, viz.
IV.
It is an immortal ſubſtance.
The ſimplicity, and ſpirituality of its nature, of which I ſpake before, plainly ſhews us, thatit isinits very nature, deſigned for immortality; for fuch abeing, or ſubſtance as this, hath noneof the feeds of corruption, and death in its nature, as all material, and compoundedbeings have.
It hath nothing within it tending to diſſolution: No jarring elements, no contraryqualities are found in ſpirits, as there are in other creatures ofa mixednature. Phyſicians, and Philoſophers have diſputed, and contended eagerly about the true cauſes of natural death ;
" * andwhilst theyhavebeen contending aboutthe way, they " have come to the end."
The ingreſs of the foul is obfcure, and its egrefs not clear. But this feems to be the thing in which they generally centre, that the expence, and deſtruction ofthe
+ natural moisture, or radical balfam, as others call it, which is as the oil that maintains natural heat, or the bridle that reſtrains that flame of life fromdeparting (as others expreſs it;) thisisthe cauſeofnaturaldeath : Others | aſſign the unequal remembranula cerebri, aut corde, haud amplisſraciis inclufam ; toà tam cæli mundique magnitudinem capere, nifi illius divinefælicif-
que animæparticula effet indiviſibilis ? Philo.
* Litigamusde via, interim ad terminum rapimur .
†Δει γαρ λαβείν ότι το ζωον εσι φύσει υργον και θερμον, και τοζὴν τοις Το ὃληρας ψυχρον, και ξηρον και το τεθνηκός φαίνεται λαρ ότως. i. e. For we muſt understand, that the animal hath a natural moifture and heat; which makes it to live.
Butold age drying up that moiſture, and changing that heat into coldneſs, occafions death.
Allthis is very plain.
Aristotle, on longandshort life.
†Tum flammatet micat calidum nativum corporis noſtri in humido primigenio, ejus humidi fubftantia consumitur, non aliter quam in lampade ileum a flamma exhauritur.
Heurnius.
Aphor. 1. Tamdiuduratvigorvitæ, quam diuflat caladium nativum, i i
ATreatise of the Soul of Man.
parationoftheparts of the body, as the cause ofdeath .
But be it one or another, 'tis evident the foul, which confifts neither of contrariant qualities, nor ofdiffimilar parts, must be above the reach and ſtroke of death.
For if the foul die, it muſt be either from fome feeds, and principles of death, and corruption within itſelf, or by ſome deſtructive power without itſelf.
In itselfyou fee there is no feed, or principle ofdeath; and ifitbe destroyed byapowerwithout itself, it must be either by the ſtroke of ſome creature, or from the hand ofGod that firſt formed and created it : But the hand, and power of no creature can destroy it; the creatures power reaches no further thanthebody, Mat. x. 28. " They cannot kill the foul." And thơ' the almighty power ofGod, that created itout ofnothing, can as easily reduce it to nothing ; yet he will never do fo. For befides the deſignation for eternity, which is discernible in its very nature (as before was obſerved) and which ſpeaks the intentionofGod toperpetuatehisthreatnings ofeternal wrath, and promiſes of everlasting life, reſpectively made to the fouls of men, as they ſhall be found in Chriſt, or out of Chrift, puts it beyond all doubt that they ſhall never die ; as willbe more fully evidenced in thefollowing diſcourſe.
Well then, I hope fo far our way is clear, in the fearch of thenatureofthefoul, thatit is a ſubſtance, a ſpiritualſubſtance, andbeing fo, it is alſo an immortal ſubſtance.
No doubt remains with me as to either of theſe.
Let us then proceed to the confideration of its faculties, and powers, by which itmay beyet more fully known, andwe ſhall find that,
It is a vital, spiritual, and immorta'fubſtance, enduedwith an understanding.
This is the noble leading faculty of the foul : We are not -diſtinguiſhed from brutes by our ſenſes, butby our understanding. Asgrace fets one man above another, ſo underſtanding fets themeanestman above the beſt ofbrutes. 'Strangeandwonderzivum, donec ad mortem fuerit deventum.
Et quantum à calido etbumido receditur, tantus ad mortemfit acceffus.
J. Bapt. Montan. Ortus noftri primordio, caloris et humoris nativi habentfummum complementum, doc.
Fernelius liber de ſpir. et cal. Vergente atate, inæqualis admodum fit reparatio, aliæ partes reparantur fatisfæliciter, fed aliæ ægre, et in pejus. Ut ab eo tempore cor porabumanafubiri incipiunt tormentum illud Mezentii, ut viva in amplex mortuorum immoriantur, Verulam. in additu Hift. vit,et mort. t :
VOL . III .
ATreatise of the Soul ofMan. fulthings areperformedby the natural inſtinct, and fagacityof beaſts; but yetwhat is faid ofone, is true ofthen all, "God
"hath not imparted underſtanding to them," Job xxxix. 17.
This is a jewel which adorns nonebut rational creatures, men andangels.
What the underItisafacultyof the reasonable foul, by Nandingis. whichaman apprehends, andjudgeth all intelligible things .
The object of it is every being, ſofar as it is true in itſelf, and apprehenſible byman.
Ithath a two-fold uſe in the life of man, viz.
(1.) To distinguiſh truth from error and falſhood. By this candle of the Lord, lighted up in the foul ofman, he may difcern betwixt duty and fin, good and evil: It is the eye ofthe foul, by which it feeth theway inwhich we should go, and the dangerous precipices that are on either ſide. It is the foul's tafter, anddifcernswholſomfood frombaneful poifon, Job xii.
11. " Doth not the ear (i. e. the understandingby the ear) try " words, as the mouth tasteth meat ?" It brings all things as it were, inthe lump before it, andthen ſorts them, and orderly ranks them into their proper claffes of lawful and unlawful, neceſſaryandindifferent, expedient, and inexpedient, thatthe foul may not be damnifiedby miſtaking one for another. Andthis judgment of discretioneverymanmustbe allowed for himself.
Noman isobliged to ſhut the eyes of his own underſtanding, and follow another man blindfold.
(2.) To direct andguideus in our practice.
This faculty is byphilofophersrightly called το ηγεμονικον, the leadingfaculty becauſethewill follows its practicaldictates. It fits at the helm, andguides the course ofthe foul; not impelling, or rigorously enforcing its dictatesupon the will ; for the will cannot be fo impoſedupon; but by giving ita directive light, or pointing, as it were, with its finger, what itought tochuſe, andwhat to refufe.
To this facultybelong two other excellent, and wonderful powers ofthefoul, viz .
1. Thoughts.
2. Conſcience.
1. The poweror ability ofcogitation : " * Thoughts are pro- " perly the actings and agitations of the What a thought is. mind, or anyactual operationoftheun- " derſtanding."
Theyare the muſings of "
* Διανοία, cogitatio eftmentis agitatio Paſcor. vel actiomentis.
Zanch.
* ATreatise of the Soul of Man.
the mind, which are acted in the ſpeculative part ofthe under. ſtanding. " It isobfervable that the †Hebrew word ach *" which isused for meditation, or thinking ſignifies both to " think and to speak inthe mind."
When the underſtanding, ormind refolves, and meditates the things thatcome into it, that very meditation is an inward ſpeaking, or hidden word in theheart, Deut. xv. 9." Beware left there be a thought in thy
" wickedheart," as fome renderit : IntheHebrew it is דבל םעברי word in thy heart."
So Mat. ix. 3, 4. αυτοίς, " they ſpake within themselves," i. e. " they thought in ΠΟΥ ΕΡ " their hearts."
The objects preſented to the mind are the companionswith whom our hearts talkandconverſe.
Thoughts are the figments and creatures ofthe mind: They are formedwithin it, inmultitudes innumerable. The power ofcogitation isinthe mind, yea, inthe ſpiritofthe mind.
" ‡The fancy indeed, whilst the foul is embodied, ordina- " rilyand for the moſt part preſents the appearances and like- " neffes of things tothe mind;" but yet itcan form thoughts of thingswhich the fancy can preſent no image of, as when thefoul thinks ofGod, or of itſelf. This power ofcogitation goeswith the ſoul, and isrooted in itwhen it is ſeparated from the body; and by it we speak to God, and converſe with angels, and other ſpirits inthe unboded ſtate, as willbe more fully opened inthe process ofthisdifcourſe.
2. The conscience belongs alſo to this faculty; for it being thejudgment of amanupon himself, with reſpect, or relation to the judgment of What confcience is.
God, it must needs belongto the underſtanding part, or faculty.
Thoughts are formedin thespecu lative, but * confcience belongs to the practical underfiand. ing."
It is a very high and awful power ; it isfalo Deo mi nor, andrides (as Joſeph did) inthe ſecond chariot ; the next
and immediate officer under God. He faithofconfcience, with R2 תוש + cum puncto finiſtro, locutus eftore, aut corde: et diaλογιζομαι eftfermocinari intrafe, (i. e.) apudfe in animisfuis. Mat. xxi. 25 .
†Phantasiamenti offertphantafmata.
Picol.
|| When we think ofGod, faith Max.Tyr. Diff. 1.we must think ofnothing material, μητε μεγεθος, μητε χρωμα, μητε αλλο τι ύλης παθος, i. e. Neither magnitude norcolour,nor anyotherproperty ofmatter.
* Judicium appello confcientiam, utad intellectum eampertine re oftendam.
Ames.
ATreatise of the Soul of Man . reſpect toeveryman, as he once faid of Mofes, with respect to Pharaoh, " See I have made thee a god to Pharaoh ,"
Exod. vii. 1.
The voice of confcience isthe voice ofGod; for it is his vicegerent and repreſentative. What it binds onearth, is bound in heaven : and what it looſeth on earth, is loofed in heaven.
It obierves, records, and bears witness of all our ac tions; and acquits and condemns, as in the name ofGod, for them.
Its confolations are moſt ſweet, and its condemnations moſt terrible : ſo terrible, that ſome have chofendeath, which is the king of terrors, rather than to endure the ſcorching heat of their own confciences.
The greatest deference, and obedi ence is due to its command, and a man had better * endure any rack or torture in the world, than incur the torments of it.
Itaccompanies us as our ſhadow, wherever we go ; andwhen all others forſake us, (as at death they will) confcience is then with us, andis then never more active and vigorous than at that time. Nor doth it forſake us after death; but where the fout goes, it goes, and willbe its companion in the otherworld for ever.
How glad would thedamnedbe if they might buthave left their confciences behind them, when they went hence!
But, as + Bernard rightly ſays, " It is both witneſs, judge,tormentor, and prison;" it accuſeth, judgeth, puniſheth, and condemneth.
And thus briefly ofthe underſtanding, which hath many of fices, and as many names from thoſe offices,
It is ſometimes called wit, reason, understanding, opinion, wif dom, judgment.
And whywe beſtow ſo manynames uponove and the fame faculty, the learned author of that ſmall, but excellent & tract de anima, gives this true and ingenious ac count.
The wit, the pupil of thefoul's clear eye, And inman's world the onlyshiningstar.
Looks in the mirror of thefantasy, Whereall thegatherings oftheſenſes are Andafter by discourfing to andfro, Anticipating and comparing things, * What deaths would I not chuſe ? Whatpunishmentwould I not undergo ? Yea, into what vault of hell would I not rather chuſe to bethrown, than to witneſs against my confcience?
+ Ipsa judicat, ipfa imperat, ipfa obfervat, ipfa torter, ipfa carcer.
Bern. lib. de Confc. cap. 9.
Nofce teipfum, P. 48, 49.
A Treatise of the Soul ofMan.
Shedoth alluniverfal natures know, Andall effects into their caules brings .
Whenshe rates things, and moves fromground toground, The name of reaſonſhe obtains by this :
Butwhen by reaſon ſbe the truthhathfound, Andftandethfixed,she underſtanding is..
Whenher affentſhe lightly doth incline To eitherpart, ſhe is opinion light :
But whenshedothbyprinciples define Acertain truth, Jhe hath truejudgment'sfight.
Andasfromfenfes, reason's work dothspring .
Somany reajons understanding gain ; Andmany understandings knowledge bring, Andby much knowledgewisdomwe obtain.
6. Enduedwith a will.
VI.God hath endued the foul of man not only with an understanding to dif. cern, and direct, but alſo a willto govern, moderate, and overrule the actions of life.
The will is a faculty ofthe rational foul, What the willis. whereby a man either chuſeth, or refuſeth the things which the understanding difcerns and knows.
This is a very high, and noble power ofthe foul.
The underſtanding ſeems to bear the fame relation to the will, as a grave counsellor doth to a greatprince. It glories in two excellencies, viz.
1. Liberty.
2. Dominion.
1. Ithath afreedom and liberty; it cannotbe compelled and forced: Coaction is repugnant to its very nature *.
In this it differs from the understanding, that the underſtanding is wrought upon neceffarily, but thewillactsſpontaneously.
This liberty ofthe will reſpects the choice; or refuſal of the means for attaining thoſe ends it proſecutes, according as it finds them more or leſsconducible thereunto.
The libertyof the willmutt be understood tobe inthings natural,which are within its own proper ſphere, not in thingsfupernatural.
It canmove, or not move the body, as it pleaſes, but itcannot move towards Chrift, in theway of faith, asitpleaſeth; it can open, or ſhutthe hand,
* Ελεύθερα εξίσια αυτό πραγίας, i. e, Ithath a free libertyofacfion. Zeno,
A Treatise of the Soul of Man. or eye, at itspleaſure,butnotthe heart.
True indeed, it isnot compelled, or forced to turn toGod, byſupernaturalgrace,but, inaway ſuitable to its nature, it isdetermined, and drawn to Chriſt, Pfal. cx. 3. Itis drawn bya mightypower, and yet runs freely; Cant. i. 4. " Draw me, and I will run after thee."
Efficacious grace, and victorious delight, is athing very different from compulſive force. " Pelagius (as a late ‡ author
" ſpeaks) at firſt gave allto nature, acknowledgedno neceffity " of divine grace; butwhen this prouddoctrine found little
" countenance, he called nature by the name of grace; and " when that deceit was diſcovered, he acknowledgedno other
" gracebut outward inſtruction, or the benefit ofexternal re- " velation, to diſcourſe, and put menin mind of theirduty.
Being yet driven farther, he acknowledged the grace ofpar- " don; andbefore aman coulddo any thing acceptably, there
" was a neceffity ofthe remiſſion of fin, andthen he might " obeyGod perfectly. But thatnot ſufficing, he acknowledged
" another grace, viz. the example of Chrift, which doth both " fecure our rule and encourage our practice. And last ofall,
" his followers owned ſome kind of internal grace, but they " made that to conſiſt in ſome illumination of the underſtand- " ing, or moral perfuafion, by probable arguments, to excite
" the will, andthis not abſolutely neceſſary, but only for fa " ciliation, as anhorſe toajourney, which otherwife a man
८८might go a foot.
Others grantthe ſecret influences ofGod's grace, but make the will of man a co-ordinate cauſe with "God, namely, thatGoddoth propound the object, hold forth
" inducing confiderations; give ſome remote power and affift "
" ance; but ſtill there is an indifferency inthe will ofman, to accept or refuſe, as liketh him beſt."
Thus have they been forced toquitand change theirground; but ftill the pride of nature will not letmen ſce the neceſſity of divine, efficatious influences upon the will, and the conſiſtency thereofwithnatural liberty.
(2.) Itsdignityinits dominion, as wellas in its liberty.
The willhath an empire, and ſcepter belongingto it; yea, a double empire, for itrules.
Imperium 1.Defpo1. Over the body, imperia defpotico, byway of ticum. abfolute command.
2. Politi 52. Over the other powers and paſſionsofthe foul, imperiopolitico, bywayoffuafion, cum.
‡ Dr. Manton in Pfal. cxix. v. 36.
ATreatise ofthe Soul of Man.
(1.) The will, like an abſolute fovereign*, reigns over the body(i.e.) itsexternal members by way ofabſolute command.
Itfaith, as the centurion did, Iam in authority, andGodhath putthemanymembers ofthe bodyin fubjectionto me ; i fay toone, move, and itmoves ; toanother, ſtop, and it ſtops; and toathirddothis, anditdoth it.
The obſequious members of thebody, likefo many fervants, have theireyes waiting on the imperial commands of the will, and it is admirable to behold with what diſpatch, and ſpeed theyexecute its commands, as iftheirobedient motions were rather concomitant, than ſubſequent acts to the will's mandates.
Let it but command to havethewindows ofthe body open or ſhut, and it is done in a moment, in the twink of an eye; and fo for the rest ofthe externalſenſes andmembers, they pay it moſt readyobedience.
YetwhenI ſay, the will hath a defpotical, and abfolute ſovereigntyover the members, itmust be understood with adouble limitation.
First, They are only at its beck for uſe and ſervice; itcanuſe them whilft well and rightly diſpoſed; but it cannot perpetuate them, or restore them when indiſpoſed.
If the foulwill the health, andlife ofthebody never ſo intenſely and vehemently, it cannot keep off death onemoment the longer from it. And, Secondly, Its ſovereignty no way intrenches upon, nor interferes with the dominion ofprovidence over the members ofthe body, and the various motions ofthem. God hathreferved afovereign, negative voice to himself, whatever decreesthe will pafſſes.
Jeroboam ſtretches out his hand against theman ofGod to ſmite him; but God puts a remora in the very inſtant tothe loco-motive faculty, that though he would neverfo fain,hecould not pull inhishand again tohim, I Kings xiii. 4. The will commands the ſervice of the tongue, and chargeth it todeliver faithfully ſuch or ſuch words, inwhich, itmaybe, the ruinofgood menmay be imported; and when itcomes todo its office, the tongue falters; and contrary to the commandofthe will, drops ſome wordthat discovers and defeats the deſign ofthe will, according to that in Job xii. 20.
"He removeth away the ſpeech of the trusty."
This is its defpoticaland fovereign power overthe externalmembers ofthe body.
*Manacts not by neceſſityofnature, but freely, namelyin a ra. tionalway, that isby way ofcommand; thiscommandrequires the finaldeterininationofthe practical underſtanding,andwhile the efficacyof thecommand ſtands, the will is moved freely.
Camel,de Volun. p. 50.
A Treatise of the Soul of Man.
(2.) It hath a political power over the faculties andpaffions ofthe foul, not byway ofabſolute command, but by way of fuafion and infinuation.
Thus itcanoft times perfuade,the underſtanding, and thoughts to lay by this or that ſubject, and apply themſelves to the ſtudy of another.
It can bridle, and reſtrain the affections and paſſions, but yet it hath no abſolute command over the inner, as ithath over the outward man. weakness and inability togovern the inner man appears in two
Its things, more eſpecially remarkable, viz. 1. It cannotwith allits power and ſkill command, and fetch offthe thoughts from fome ſubjects, which are ſet on, at ſome times, with extraordinary weightuponthefoul. However, thethoughts may obſequioufly follow its beck at ſome times, yea, for the moſt part ; yet they are cafes, andſeaſons, in which its authority, and perfuafions cannot difengage one thought.
As ( 1.) When God hath todowith the soul, in the work of converfion, when he convinceth of ſin anddanger, and fets a man's evils in order before his eyes : Theſe are terrible repreſentations, and fainwould the carnal will diſengage the thoughts from fuch ſad ſubjects, and ſtrives by allmanner ofperfuafions, and diverſions, ſo to do; but all to no purpoſe, Pfal. li. 3 .
" My fin is ever before me."
The thoughts are fixed, and there is no removing ofthem.
It may give them a little interruption, but they return with the more impetuous violence.
And insteadofgaining them off, they at last, or ratherGod by them gains over the will alſo.
(2.) When Satan hath todo with the foul, in the way of temptation, and helliſhſuggeſtion : Look, as the carnal will op. poſed itſelf to the thoughts in the former cafe to no purpoſe ; ſo that the fanctified will oppoſes itſelftothem in this caſe, ofttimes with as little effect or ſucceſs, as he that oppoſeth his weak breath to the ſtrong current of a mighty river.
Well were it, if the ſanctified will were now the maſter ofthe fantaſy, andcouldcontroul the thoughts of the heart; but, like a made horſe, thefancy takes the bit in its teeth, and runs whither it pleaſeth; the will cannot govern it.
Think quite another way, faith the will; turn thythoughts to other things; butnotwithſtanding, the foul turneth a deaf ear to its counſels.
2. It cannotquiet and compoſe a ragingconfcience, and reduce itat its pleaſure to reſt and peace.
This is the peculiar work ofGod. He only that ſtills the ſtormy ſeas, canquiet the diftreſſed and tempestuous foul. The impotence ofthe will, in this caſe, is known to all that have been in thoſe deeps of trouble. And this is the miſery of the devil and the damned,
ATreatise of the Soul of Man
thatthough they would never ſo fain, yet they cannot getrid of thoſe tormenting impreſſions made upon themby their own tremblingand condemning confciences.
There would not be fomany pale, ſweating, affrightedconfciences onearth, and in hell, ifthewillhad any command or power over them.
Tam frigida mens est Criminibus ; tacita fudant præcordia culpa.
Itisanhorrible fight toſee ſuch a trembling upon all the members, fuch a cold ſweat upon the panting boſom of a ſelfcondemned, andwrath-preſaging ſoul, inwhich itcan, byno means relieve or help itſelf.
Theſe things are exempt from the liberty, anddominion of the will ofman; but notwithstanding theſe exemptions, it is a noble faculty, and hath avaſtly extended empire in the foul of man; it is the door of the foul, atwhich the Spirit ofGod knocks for entrance. When this is won, the foul is won to Chriſt; and ifthis ſtand out in rebellion against him, he is barred out of the foul, and can have no favingunionwith it. The truth of grace is tobe judged and difcernedby its compliance with his call, andthe meaſure of gracetobe eſtimatedby thedegree of its ſubjection to his will.
VII.The foul of man is not only indued with an understandingand will, but alſo with various affections andpaffions, which are of great uſe and fervice to it, and ſpeak the excellency of its nature. They are originally deſigned, and appointed for the happiness of man, in the promoting and ſecuring its chiefeſt good, to which purpoſe they have a natural aptitude: for thetruehap7. Furnished with various affections andpaf. fions. pineſs andreſtof the foul not being in itſelf, nor in any other creature, butinGod, the foul muſt neceſſarily move out of itſelf, andbeyondallother createdbeings, to find and enjoy its truefelicity in him.
The foul confidered at a diſtance from God, its true reſtandhappiness, isfurnished and provided with defire andhope to carry it on, and quicken its motion towards him. Theſe are the arms it is to ſtretch out towards him, in a frateofabfence fromhim. And ſeeing itis tomeetwith many obſtacles, enemies, anddifficulties, in its courſe, which hinder its motion, and hazard its fruitionofhim, Godhath planted in it, fear, grief, indignation, jealousy, anger, &c. tograpple with, and break through thoſe intercurrent difficulties and hazards t.
†Paffio animæ nihil aliud est quammotus appetive virtutis pre
VOL. III .
ATreatise of the Soul ofMin.
By theſe weapons in the hands of grace, it conflicts with that whichoppoſes its paſſages toGod,as the apostle expreſſeth that holy fretand paffion ofthe Corinthians, and what a fume their fouls were in by the gracious motion of the irraſcible appetite;
2 Cor. vii. 11. " For behold this ſelf-fame thing, that ye for- " rowed after a godly fort ; what carefulness itwrought in you, yea, what clearing yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea,
" what fear, yea, what vehementdefire, yea, what zeal, yea, " what revenge ?" Much like the raging and struggling ofwaters, which are interrupted intheir courſeby fome dam or obftaclewhich they ſtrive to beardown, and ſweep away before them.
Butthe foul confidered in full union with and fruition of God, its fupreme happiness, is accordingly furnished with affections of love,delight, andjoy; whereby it refts in him, and enjoys its properbleſſedneſs inhis prefence for ever. Yea, even inthis life, theſe affections are in an imperfectdegree exerciſed uponGod, according to the prelibations and enjoyments it hath ofhimby faith, in itsway way toheaven.
Inaword, The true uſes, and most excellent ends for which theſe affections and paffions are bestowed uponthe foul ofman, are to qualify it, and make it a fit fubject tobe wrought upon in a moralway ofperfuafions and allurements, in order to its union with Chrift, (for by the affections, as Mr. Fenner rightly obferves, the foul becomes marriageable, or capable of being etpoufed to him;) and being fo, then to aſſiſt it in the profecutionofits full enjoyment in heaven, as we heard but now.
But, alas, how are they corruptedand invertedby fin! The concupifcible appetite greedily faſtens upon the creature, not uponGod; and the irraſcible appetite is turnedagainst holiness, not fin.
But I muſt inſiſt no farther onthis ſubject here, it deferves anentire treatifeby itself.
VIII.The foulofmanhath, inthe very frameandnatureofit, an inclination 8. And an inclination andlove to the bady. tothebody. Thereisin ita certainpondusor inclination which naturally bends or ſways it towards matter, or abody.
There are three differentnatures found in living creatures, viz.
1. The brutal.
2.The angelical. profecutione boni, velfuga mali. i.e. A paſſion of the foul is nothing elfe,but the motion of defire in ſeeking good, and ſhunning evil.
A Treatise of the Soul of Man.
3.Thehuman.
(1.) The foul of abrute is wholly confinedto, anddependentonthematter or body withwhich it is united.
Itisdependent on it, both in effe et in operari, in its being and working ; i it isbuta material form, which ariſes from, and periſheth with thebody. " The foul of a brute, (faith a great perſon *) is no " other than a fluid bodily ſubſtance, the more lively, and refin- " edpart of theblood(called ſpirit) quick inmotion, and from " the arteries by the branches of the carotides carried to the " brain; and fromthence conveyedto the nerves and muſcles,
" move the whole frame and maſs of the body; and receiving " only certain weak impreſſions from the ſenſes, and of ſhort
" continuance, hindered and obſtructed of its work and moti- " on, vaniſhes into the ſoft air."
(2.)An angel is aſpiritfree from abody, and created without anappetite or inclination tobe embodied.
The Stoics call the angels ὅσιας ψυχικας, ſoulyſubſtances; and the Peripatetics,formas abstractas, abſtract forms. They are ſpirits free from the fettersandclogs ofthebody.
" +An angel is a perfect ſoul, and an humanfoul is an im- " perfect angel."
Yet angels have noſuch rooted diſaffection to, and abhorrence ofabody, but theyhave aſſumed, and can, in a ready, obedience to their Lord's commands, and delight to ſervehim, aſſume bodies, for a time, to converſe with men in them, i. e. aerial bodies inthefigure and shape ofhumanbodies .
Sowe read, Gen. xviii. 2. threemen i. e angels in humanſhape andappearance, ſtoodby Abraham, and talked with him ; andat
Chriſt'sfepulchre, Luke xxiv, " There appeared two men in " ſhining garments."
But they abide in theſebodies, as we do in aninn, for anight, or ſhort ſeaſon; they dwellnot in them as our fouls in thoſe houſes of fleſh, which we cannotputon and off at pleaſure as they do; but as we walk in our garments, which we can put offwithoutpain.
(3.) The human foul is neither wholly tied to the body, as the brutal foul is ; nor created without inclination to abody, as angels are ; but loves and inclines to it, though it can both live and act without it, when it is parted from it at death.
The proofof this aſſertion, andthe reasons why God created it with fuch aninclination, will, in theirproperplace, be more fully ſpoS2
* Lord Chief Juſtice Hale, in his treatise de anima, p. 56.
+Angelus eft anima perfecta, et anima eft angelus imperfectus, Bell. de afcen. mentis.