divided into three Ranks First He asserts the Sensibility of the separate * Omnes ergo animae penes inferos inquis Velis ac nolis supplicia jam illic refrigeria Cur enim non putes animam puniri foveri in inferis interim sub expectatione utriusque judicii Novit anima apud inferos dolere fovere sine carne De Anim. cap. 58. Again Simplicior quisquis fautor sententiae nostrae putabit carnem etiam idcirco repraesentandam esse in judicio quia aliter anima non capiat passionem tormenti seu refrigerii utpote incorporalis Hoc enim vulgus existimat Nos autem animam corporalem hic profitemur in suo volumine probamus habentem proprium genus substantiae soliditatis per quam quid sontire pati possit Nam nunc animas torqueri foverique penes inferos licet nudas licet adhuc exules carnis probavit Lazari exemplum De Resurr c. 17. Soul That it is of its self capable of Rewards and Punishments is actually in some measure comforted or tormented before the Resurrection There are a multitude of other Passages of the same Father which testifie the same †De Anima cap. 7. 9. 55 56 58. alibi And no doubt but that this great Father is Orthodox here Secondly Notwithstanding in other places he seems to set up a quite opposite Doctrine viz. That the Soul is not capable of suffering without the Body and this he makes the Reason of the Resurrection a Apol. cap. 48. Certè quia ratio restitutionis destinatio judicii est necessario idem ipse qui fuerit exhibebitur ut boni seu contrarii meriti judicium a Deo referat Ideoque repraesentabuntur corpora Quia neqne pati quicquam potest anima sola fine materiâ stabili id est carne c. 48. And elsewhere he asserts the Necessity of the Resurrection because the Soul without the Body is not capable of feeling either Pleasure or Pain b Testim Anim. c.ult. Affirmamus te manere post vitae dispunctionem expectare diem judicii próque meritis aut cruciatui destinari aut refrigerio utroque sempiterno Quibus sustinendis necessario tibi substantiam pristinam ejudsdémque hominis materiam memoriam reversuram quod nihil mali ac boni sentire possis fine carnis passionalis facultate I shall reserve what I have to say to This to the last place and take leave to invert the Order and consider the other Opinion before it conceiving it more suitable and methodical to the Argument in hand And that is Thirdly He owns That separate Souls are actually c De Resurr carn cap. 17. Porrò si haec cogitatus concupiscentia voluntas satis essent ad plenitudinem meritorum ut non requirentur facta sufficeret in totum anima ad perfectionem judicii de his judicanda in quae agenda sola suffecerat Quum verò etiam facta devincta sint meritis facta autem per carnem administrantur jam non sufficit animam sine carne foveri sive cruciari pro operibus etiam carnis etsi habet corpus etsi habet membra quae proinde illi non sufficiant ad sentiendum plenè quemadmodum nec ad agendum perfecte Denique haec erit ratio in ultimum finem destinati judicii ut exhibitione carnis omnis divina censura perfici possit rewarded or punished before the Resurrection and he says 't is for those good or bad things it did without the Concurrence of the Body He farther says That tho' the Soul be in its own Nature capable of Rewards or Punishments yet it is not so fully capable as when united to the Body It is capable of greater Pleasure or Torment when united to the Body than in a State of Separation and therefore for those things which the Soul did in Concurrence with the Body must be punished and rewarded in the Body that the Pleasure or Torment may be perfect The Learned Author's Animadversion on this is p. 217. But this is very precarious and if once it be granted that the Soul is in its own Nature without an organized Body capable of Rewards and Punishments it cannot be denied but that it is of it self capable of being fully Rewarded and Punished I answer Not to take any notice of the Tertullianicum as his Learned Commentators call it of the gross Naevus here etsi habet corpus etsi habet membra which the Father applies to the Soul in a separate State and is by no means justifiable Nor to undertake a Defence of him here or elsewhere in an exact strict and rigid sense for 't is well known that this African Father is the most dark abstruse and intricate of the Latin Fathers makes use of uncouth obsolete Words which will no way bear a full and exact but require a moderate and sober Interpretation Premising this I cannot see how he is in the main here precarious to my Understanding there is no begging at all in the Case The Doctrine seems found and approvable supported and maintained by the Ancients who accordingly have placed the departed Souls in Abraham's Bosom in Paradise in outer Porches in Receptacles under the Altar the Promptuary of Saints the Earnest of the Kingdom with a multitude of other such Expressions to the same purpose 'T were easie here to fill up a great deal of Paper with the Names and Authorities of the most considerable Pillars of the Church who have espoused this Opinion but I industriously avoid the Vanity of it and think it altogether needless in the present Dispute because the Learned Author speaking of the Opinion of Pope John XXII tells us That he only held that the Soul does not at all enjoy the Beatisick Vision before the Resurrection and for Confirmation of it adds pag. 212. This indeed was the Opinion of the Primitive Fathers And albeit this Doctrine was Censur'd and Condemn'd in the Council of Florence yet this can have no Influence on us who know too well what this Council was and the Age of it And though it prevail with those of the Church of Rome yet 't is observable how that even the Learned Men that are Bigotted to that way do not stick to give us their Approbation of it Meminerint hunc errorem non efficere pietati eruditioni tam illustrium scriptorum saith Pamelius i.e. This Opinion is no prejudice to the Piety and Learning of those Great Men And another Eminent Writer of that Church calls it Pia beata opinio veritati facile reconciliabilis per duplicem beatitudinem perfectam imperfectam An holy and blessed Opinion easily reconcileable to the Truth by the distinction of a perfect and imperfect Happiness So that the difference between the Opinion and Council seems to be only about the Place in the Condition both agree About the Capacity of Separate Souls I
am not willing to dispute 't is too sublime a Subject and above our mortal Reach Nor will I eagerly contend for the Place where upon their dislodging here they are dispos'd of But this Opinion I readily embrace That before our Saviour's Ascension they were not admitted into Heaven whatsoever they are since Nor will I presume to determine for what Things the happy Soul is rewarded nor on the other hand for what the Soul of the Reprobate is punished but so far I conceive it to be plain and allowed by the Concurrence of all That Both at present have their different Enjoyments though imperfect So that in my Apprehension the Consequence of the Learned Author does Claudicare stand in need of a Crutch it is and always will be a Cripple The Soul of the Saint is at present admitted to Happiness I see nothing in Reason from hence to infer Therefore 't is capable of being fully rewarded On the other side the Soul of the Sinner is in its Separate State capable of Punishment Ergo 't is capable of being fully punished I must freely say I cannot see the least colour for the Inference Where-ever the Soul of Lazarus now is it must be without doubt allowed by all to be happy but that it is as happy as it will be after the Resurrection I utterly deny On the other side That the Soul of the Rich Glutton is now in a State of Punishment must be readily assented to but that it is in a full compleat State will can must never be granted This Assertion runs against the stream and current of Reason Scripture and Antiquity as will most manifestly appear in the Examination of the other Opinion of Tertullian which I now come to consider Thirdly He seems to affirm in the Passage above-cited That the Soul is not capable without the Body of Pleasure or Pain of Punishments or Rewards and therefore concludes for a Resurrection 'T is beside my intent to attempt the Defence of this Doctrine tho' the Centuriators have undertaken it And if the Fire of Hell be real as I believe no one will deny because constantly so represented in the Scriptures it would gravel the most accomplish'd of Philosophers from the Principles of Natural Philosophy only to resolve how this Fire can affect and reach the Soul how a Material can act upon an Immaterial Beside there are no mean Authorities and not a few neither to be produc'd who have asserted much the same thing Thus Maldonate as Learned a Man as most and incomparably well read assures us in Matt. 8. 29. Mirum quanto consensu plerique veteres Authores docuerint daemones ante diem judicii non torqueri It was it seems the general Doctrine That the Damned were not punished before the Day of Judgment which how it is to be understood he there tells you Notwithstanding all this I think the foresaid Passage in a strict literal gross Sense by no means defensible we must give some Grains of Allowance to the Writings of this Father or else we shall make mad Work We must consider the Drift and Carriage of the Discourse expound one Passage by another and judge charitably of all and then the Meaning will be plain One while he allows the departed Souls according to their different Deserts a present Portion of Pain or Weal Other while he says That the separate Souls are rewarded or punished at present for the good or bad things they did without the concurrence of the Body and that tho' they are capable without the Body of Pleasure or Pain yet they are not so fully capable as when united to it In other places he seems to affirm the quite contrary viz. That the Soul is not capable of suffering at all without the Body that in a divided State it can feel neither Pleasure nor Pain and upon this account concludes the Necessity of a Resurrection Now to a favourable Reader who shall govern himself as in reason he is obliged suitable to the method but now laid down here will upon mature deliberation appear no Contradiction no Inconsistency in all this the one leads us to the understanding of the other The separate Souls tho' in some measure they do now partake of Rewards and Punishments yet they are in a manner nothing in comparison to what they shall be the Height and Accomplishment of both awaits the Resurrection when Body and Soul shall be again united then and then only the Condition of all shall be compleat And that this is the Meaning of this Ancient Writer is abundantly evident not only from the whole Thread of the Discourse but also from some plain Passages in it As ad perfectionem judicii the Body is required to make the Judgment compleat And again Quae proinde illi non sufficiunt ad sentiendum plaenè quemadmodum neque ad agendum perfecté i. e. The Members of the Soul as he expresses it are not of themselves sufficient to enjoy or suffer fully Nay there are many other Passages frequently occurring which as a Key open the door to the Sense here as the places above noted where he again and again allows the separate Souls capable of Pleasure or Grief without the Body That they can feel or suffer any thing licèt exules carnis without the Body I shall neither trouble my self nor the Reader but with two places more and they are both in one Chapter Resur Carn cap. 17. non quâ sentire quid sine carne non possit sed quâ necesse est illum cum carne sentire And again Ad perficiendam autem operam carnis expectat sic itaque ad patiendam societatem carnis postulat ut tam PLAENE per eam pati possit quà m sine eâ PLAENE agere non potuit The blessed Soul to make up its Happiness full requires the Society of the Body and on the other hand the condemned Soul in its Torments calls for the Fellowship of the Body that the Punishment might be compleated in both parts in conjunction of which their Sins were committed This then being allowed to be the Sense of the Father as I do not see how it can well be denied viz. That the Soul is not capable of Rewards and Punishments without the Body but by no means as the learned Dr reports it p. 214 That the Soul is not capable in its own nature without an organized Body of any Perception how that it is not capable without ar humane Body of either Rewards or Punishments This seems to be a too rigid extream and unreasonable Construction of those passages and woud unavoidably involve the Father in the other Errors of the Death of the Soul or the slumber of it But though the Learned Author does represent the Opinion of Tertullian in this matter thus severely yet he confesses this notion very consistent with the Doctrine of the Resurrection and the General Judgment that is to follow after it but he has this to object against it pag.
it did here and ea quae corpori debentur as another of the Learned has Paraphrased it The Body shall receive the things which are due which of right belong unto it Sicut Justitia dicitur suum cuique dare as another of the Criticks comments it and this is the very nature of Justice that every Body shall have the proper Reward which is exactly suitable to his work And congruenter ad id quod gessit as another of no small Repuration has given us the sense of it The Judgment of every Body shall be tongruous and correspondent to his actions We see the main indictment is against the Body and all the deeds done in the former Life are applied to it and according to these it is we are either to stand or fall Fourthly 'T is farther to be noted how that St. Paul expresses himself by a Trope a Metonymie of the Cause for the Effect the Works for the Wages the things Done in the Body for what is Due unto them And if this be not plainly enough exprest to remove all scruples cavils doubts and gain-sayings we have here Lastly The Reason of all this assigned by the infallible Spirit THAT EVERY MAN MAY RECEIVE THE THINGS DONE IN HIS BODY ACCORDING TO WHAT HE HAS DONE WHETHER IT BE GOOD OR BAD … Which sounds to me as if the Apostle had said To this very end to this very intent for this very purpose for this very reason The Process of the Day of Judgment requires the appearance of our Bodies as well as Souls that Justice may be done to both I can make no other construction of it That every Man may receive the things done in the Body according to what he has done whether it be Good or Bad. Upon the whole I declare that ever since I met with the Objections of the learned Author against it I have been scarcely able to put the thoughts of it out of my Head and the more I considered it the more I am in love with the more I am established in it And whereas the Learned Author would enervate throw it aside and make it no reason at all I on the contrary must confess beside the will and pleasure of God that I look on it as the first and great Reason of the Resurrection I do give it the supremacy and precedency to all others I must freely acknowledge that I cannot after my utmost search and inquisition possibly find out any Reason that can pretend to equal or rival it that can stand in competition with it The Resurrection is in order to Judgment and Judgment and Justice here are all one I cannot for my heart Divine upon what other Account but this the Resurrection of the same Body should be so constantly by all the Ancients contended for and expresly asserted Resurrectionis vocabulum non aliam rem vindicat quam quae recidit Tertullian lib. 5. cap. 9. ad Mart. and the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the learned Doctor has also noted clearly implies the Rising again of that which Fell according to the vulgar saying Resurrectio est ejus qui recidit Suitable to this the Creed of Aquileia has expressed this Article by the Resurrection of this Flesh and accordingly their Bodies were particularly pointed at by those of that Communion as Ruffinus tells us when they made Publick Confession of their Faith I will not dwell upon this nor light a Candle to the Sun but refer you to the Elaborate Treatise of Dr. Beaumont on the present subject who has proved it to have been the constant Doctrine of the Fathers beyond a possibility of denial Now I desire the Philosopher to give me a reason of this Doctrine of which the Ancients have been so tenaâ—eâ—us Why this Body why this Flesh must arise for 't is but equal that I should give him a question to answer who in his Objections has made a precedent and done the like if the Body be no other ways concerned than an instrument only if it be not sensible if it be not capable of doing Good or Evil Rewards or Punishments as he has in down right words affirmed If this be so I earnestly request him to tell me Why it must be the SAME BODY that must arise Why not another Body Why not an Aereal Body Why any Body at all Dic Sodes dic aliquem Dic Quintiliane colorem I do verily believe he will have an hard Task of it and however he may be himself persuaded it will I presume be a a difficult matter for him to persuade or convince others For my part I look on the Doctrine as a most Divine Truth and am immoveably fixt in the belief of it notwithstanding all the Arguments the Learned Author has brought against it and I presume the greatest part of Mankind are and will be of my Opinion 'T is most certain that this Doctrine has a most natural tendency to the advancement of Piety and suppression of Vice There can be no Antidote or Cordial no Shield or Buckler more Sovereign than this to defend and support the devout Christian amidst all the difficulties and hardships with which he is engaged in his present Pilgrimage they are all silenced mastered disappointed and overcome by one word Resurgam There can be no more powerful motive to engage us in the pursuit of Holiness than this viz. The consideration of that plenteous recompense which shall be conferred on the whole Man hereafter with respect to his labours here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith St. Cyrill The hope of the Resurrection is the Root of well-doing This must carry us on with Courage and Resolution thro all the difficult rugged and uneven passages we meet withal in our present Race this must reconcile soften and sweeten all the assurance that we serve so good a Master who will not fail fully to reward all his faithful Labourers in the next World with respect to their deservings in this Lastly There can be no more effectual dissuasive against Sin than the Argument before us If Men have any sense of their State any love for themselves any kindness or regard for their Bodies as well as Souls they are carefully to avoid those ways which will inevitably implunge Both in everlasting Torments in the great and terrible Day when they shall be again united to the intent that they may be sharers in the Wages who have been Confederates in the Work FINIS
Tool and Machine an Instrument only i. e. barely agitates and moves it as the Snail does his Shell the Waterman his Boat the Rider his Horse the Fencing-Master his Weapon the Man his Cloaths No this has been sufficiently exploded by the Philosophers and Schoolmen in the colebrated Question on the present Subject being by Both constantly maintained in the Negative The Soul during its Residence with its beloved Bride is liberal in his Endowments towards her as in the foregoing Comparison furnishes and sets her up with great Accomplishments bestows Sense Vigour Activity Perception on on her so that derivatively she has the Benefit Use and Enjoyment of all these This is a Doctrine disputable and I believe will not go down with all but for the Truth of it I appeal to the Sense of Mankind and for its Support I briefly offer these Considerations 1. The Soul diffuses it self through every Part of the Body according to the known Maxim of the great Peripatetick and certainly to no other purpose but to bestow its Largesses The Vegetable Soul gives Life to every Particle of the Plant or Tree and the Rational Soul cannot be supposed to be less liberal 2. 'T is undeniable that there is a mutual and reciprocal Influence of each toward other The Soul impresses the Body on t'other hand That impresses the Soul The loving Pair mutually give and receive from each other the noble Spouse makes his Bride the generous Presents so often mentioned She on the other hand guides and directs the Soul in his Behaviour according to the known Axiome Mores animae sequuntur temper amentum corporis which I confess I do not understand unless it come home to the purpose The different Constitutions and Complexions of our Bodies have a powerful influence on our Souls and do in a great measure over-rule and command them This is allowed by all and manifestly appears in the Behaviour of Children suitable to their Progenitors They do for the most part follow their Way and tread in their Steps The Body is the perpetual Dictator and prescribes to the Soul the Manner and Method of its Government Thus according to the peculiar Composure of the outward we find the Dispositions of the inward Man He in whom the sanguine Complexion is predominant proclaims his Constitution by his Port and Actions is Bold Couragious Magnanimous and Heroick whereas the Cholerick Man tells the World what he is made of by his Peevishness and Petulancy And so in all other Cases as all here agree And least the Suspicion of Traduction which prevails with some should enervate the force of the Argument To put it altogether without dispute I lay down this as an undeniable Position That the Manners of Children are not only influenced by their Parents but Nurses too The Concessions of Philosophers Physicians and confirmed Experience of all do give me a Supersedeas here and pronounce the Proof of it altogether needless There is a Curious Dissertation in Aulus Gellius lib. 12. cap. 1. of Favorinus the Philosopher on this Subject to a Noble Woman perswading her to give suck to her own Child and not endanger the corrupting of his Manners by a strange Milk The Discourse is so full excellent and nervous that I can hardly forbear to transcribe it and whereunto for full Satisfaction I refer the Reader 3. That the Body is endowed with Life and Sensation is undeniable from the common and daily Experience of it in every part Even the Extream Parts are endued with a ready and most exquisite Sensation And 4. the Truth of it is abundantly confirmed from this usual Experiment That if at any time there happens a Sphacelus a Mortification in any extreme part instantly there is recourse to the Surgeon and his Saw to take off the dead part for the Preservation of the whole which to me is little less than a Demonstration That the other Parts are truly and actually alive The Body even of Adam if the Supposition may be allow'd before its Union with its Heavenly Partner was a senseless Clod of Earth but when God breathed into him the Breath of Life then Man became a living Soul a living Man though we allow it a Carkass upon its Separation CHAP. VII THE Objector goes on Neither is the Body capable of any Rewards or Punishments 't is the Soul only that is sensible and nothing but what is sensible can be capable of Rewards and Punishments Here again we are assaulted with the old Paralogism and therefore must dismiss it with the same Answer The Body without the Soul is capable of neither Rewards nor Punishments but in Conjunction with it is exquisitely sensible and enjoys either What have we to do to consider the Body in a separate state This is foreign impertinent and beside the Argument in all respects Our Dispute lies about the Good or Evil that Men do in this Life and that Remunaration which according to their Deserts shall attend them at the Resurrection In both which the whole Man is concerned and not one part neither the Body without the Soul nor the Soul without the Body but both in Conjunction And though I will not deny That the Soul while in the Body may and does sometimes act Abstractively without the Concurrence of the Body in a Spiritual and Intellectual Manner in good or bad Desires Cogitations and Contrivances which are by the Philosophers call'd Immanent Acts and so by consequence has a separate distinct Enjoyment of Pleasure or Pain according to the Result and Nature of them wholly peculiar to its self and altogether independent from the Body yet all other Rewards and Punishments here are conferred on the Soul by the Mediation of the Body so far is the Objection from being true as that the contrary is undeniable As the Body is beholden to the Soul for the Capacity of Rewards and Punishments so all the Rewards or Punishments that are or can be placed on the Soul in this Life are owing to the Body without which 't is altogether impossible it should be invested with either How is the Soul of the most deserving Courtier preferr'd but by the Body How is the Soul of the Valiant Soldier advanc'd to higher Dignity of Command but by the Body How is the Soul of the Learned Doctor bless'd with Plurality of Preferments in the Church and Vniversity but by the Body And so in all other Cases whatsoever On the other hand the same is no less visible in the Distribution of Punishments How is the Soul of the Malefactor brought to suffer but by the Body Ask the Prisoner in the Dungeon with his heavy Load of Fetters on how the Place and Irons come to affect his Soul he will readily tell thee 'T is by the Body Ask the petty Thief at the the Cart's Tayl how his Spiritual Part does rue for his Transgression and he 'll tell thee 't is by the painful Stripes inflicted on his Back Ask the Man that has undergone the
the WHOLE but God made the WHOLE Man Thus this most Excellent Man reasons on our side To the same purpose we may not omit the * Anima aptitudinem inclinationem habet ad corporis unionem sicut leve sursum Aquinas 1ae Q. 76. 1 6m Notion of the Philosophers and Schoolmen which the Learned Author knows much better than I can tell him viz. That the Soul hath as natural an inclination to be united to the Body as a light thing to mount upward beside if the Philosopher had been silent this Truth is undeniably established from the sacred Authority but now alledg'd viz. The earnest cries and longing desires of the Souls under the Altar to be again united to their Bodies Nay this Doctrine has not only been constantly maintained but also carry'd on and advanced by the Schoolmen who in this point are express and full That the happiness of the Saints shall be greater at the Day of Judgment than now it is or can be and they are so liberal withal as to give us the manner and reasons of it why it is so and how it is brought about †Extensive augetur in corpore extensive in animâ quia anima gaudebit de bono corporis intensive quia est corporis perfectibile omnis pars imperfecta est completur in toto Aquin. Suppl Q. 93. i. e. It is extensively augmented in the Body which before lay in the Grave under the enjoyment only of a negative happiness in an exemption from pain and a rest from all its labours But is in reunion admitted to a positive one is after a long separation placed in copartnership with the Soul 2ly 't is extensively augmented in the Soul which rejoices at the new Nuptials has no small satisfaction complacency pleasure in the advancement and injoyment of his Bride after so long a separation and Divorce When two intimate Friends that have not for many years seen one another happily meet again how great how ravishing how superlative is their Joy if there be joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth as we are sure there is Luk. 15 If it be one part of the happiness of the Inhabitants of that Jerusalem that is above that they shall know their ancient Acquaintance and Relations with whom they have lived on Earth and sit down with them there praising exalting congratulating each others condition as is by many asserted and is not at all improbable This offers fairly for the proof of what the Shools have here determined who in the procedure of the Argument further tells viz. That the Happiness is intensively also advanced Forasmuch as the Soul makes the Body perfect for the support of which they produce the known Axiom which is allowed of in all other cases and therefore ought to pass muster here That every part is by its self imperfect 't is perfected in the whole 'T is true if we consider the Body as it is represented by the School of Plato a Sepulchre a Prison or really as it now is a sink of Infirmities Diseases and Indispositions an heavy load and weight pressing down the Soul I do confess I see nothing Beautiful or Charming to make the Soul in love with it But when we shall draw the Curtain and change the Scene when we shall contemplate the glorious qualities wherewith it shall be enobled after the Resurrection when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal have put on immortality when it shall have obtained a most perfect Victory not only over Death but all its troublesome antecedents and consequences also the known miseries of this Life and the calamities of the Grave when I say the Body has surmounted all these and sits above 'em this must induce us strongly to conclude for the Argument in hand If this be the case as in Truth it is the Happiness of the Saint must be advanced to such a degree as surpasseth our understanding All that we have to do is for ever to admire and adore To conclude this part 't is a Truth too plain to be disputed That the separate Soulson all hands are not under the full injoyment of either Rewards or Punishments That this is the case of the Damned Spirits needs no laboriousness of proof the single interrogation of those disposed in the Gospel Mat. 8. 29. Art thou come to torment us before the time Alone is sufficient nor have we less evidence on the other hand Where-ever the Souls of the departed Saints under the Law were 't is certain they were not in Heaven for the Captain of our Salvation was the first that opened those everlasting Doors and made his entrance there that went before to provide mansion Places for his Faithful ones Wherever the Souls of the Gospel-Believers since departed have their Residence though as I believe notwithstanding the determination of the Council of Florence and others we can conclude nothing of certainty here nevertheless we have so much evidence that their State is imperfect as that I do not see how any Man can have the forehead to deny The Nail of this Doctrine is immovably fastned by the Author to the Heb. 11. and last where after he had given a large Catalogue of the most renowned Saints departed together with the Records of their most noble Atchievements says expresly That all these having obtained a good report through Faith received not the Promise God having provided some better things for us that they without us should not be perfect In the meaning of which place there can be no doubt because the stream of Interpreters here run in one Channel altogether undivided all agreed that this is the sence The Consummation of the Happiness of those under the Law shall not prevent those under the Gospel the Day of Judgment is the stated time of both whenthere shall be a general Resurrection The accomplishment of the great Patriarchs under the old dispensation must await ours under the new the Labourors that entred the Vineyard the first Hour of the Day shall not be paid off before those that came in the last Hour the wages of all is not to be expected before the end of all The Promise refers to the Resurrection as was noted in the Preamble and is put for the Thing Promised which can be no other than the Glorification of our Bodies in conjunction with our Souls and this makes the Happiness compleat which shall not be conferr'd on some before others but shall be bestowed on all assembled together in a Grand Consistory at the last Audit This also is the professed Doctrine of our Church as she has Taught and Injoyned us in her Liturgy to Pray Beseeching God of his Gracious Goodness shortly to accomplish the Number of his Elect and to hasten his Kingdom that we with all those departed in the true Faith of his Holy Name may have our perfect Consummation and Bliss both in Body and Soul in thy Eternal and Everlasting Kingdom
Cor. 5. 10. which at present I shall wave because I design to consider 〈◊〉 it at large in the latter Part of this Discourse industriously reserving it as the finishing and concluding Nail wherewith to fix the Doctrine and render it immoveable There is I confess some Variation in the Words and Manner of Expression but in the Sense there is very little or none at all if it be otherwise I must openly confess my Ignorance I appeal in this as in other Cases to the Impartial Reader I always have and ever will pay the Learned Authora just Deference and Regard I honour and admire him for his great Worth his vast Reading and his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his manifold Learning and I look upon it almost an Offence to differ from him But I hope he will pardon my Presumption for I cannot help it And 't is no small Comfort to me tho' we formerly differed yet we are now perfectly agreed the Variation of a few Words only excepted What he calls reasonable I call equitable and just what he calls Man that I can understand no other than his Soul and Body united which are allowed by all to be the two Essential Parts of his Constitution for my part I see no other Difference The Ancients and Modern and in a manner all Divines as has been above acknowledged and proved at large say That the Resurrection is founded upon Justice i. e. That the same Body is to be united to the same Soul hereafter that both may receive either Rewards or Punishments according to their Merits or Demerits here The Learned Author says expresly That 't is reasonable we should be Men when we are punished or rewarded for what we did when Men. And further adds That it seems much more reasonable that we should be the same Men Which to my Understanding is all one CHAP. XIV HAving hitherto attempted the Vindication of this great Catholick Doctrin to give some satisfaction to the Objections brought against it and to rescue it from Captivity Having also considered at large the Opinions of Tertullian to this purpose and the three Reasons assigned by the Learned Doctor That which remains now is to lay down some considerations for the safeguard and Protection of it for the time to come and I shall divide them into two ranks viz. Considerations drawn from First Reason Secondly Scripture I begin with the first in order whereunto I beg this as a modest Postulatum which I conceive cannot be denied me verily there is a reward for the Righteous doubtless he is a God that Judgeth the Earth the Judge of the whole Earth must do Right Gen. 18. 25. Justice is one of the most signal attributes of the Divine Nature more frequently and eminently ascribed unto him above the rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justice says the Heathen is the Eye of God he will and must sooner or later render unto every Man without respect of Person according to his doings First Now it is undeniable both from the frequent Assertions of Solomon and other Holy Penmen together with the universal Experience of all Ages that the course of it is interrupted suspended darkened nay inverted in the present administration of Affairs here All things come alike to all there is one event to the Righteous and to the Wicked to the Good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that Sacrificeth and to him that Sacrificeth not as is the Good so is the Sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an Oath Eccl. 9. 3. here just Men Perish in their Righteousness and Wicked Men prolong their Lives in their Wickedness Eccl. 7. 15. With a multitude of other Places to the same purpose The matter of Fact has always appeared so plain and visible as that there has no attempt at any time been made against it but constantly allowed as an undoubted Aphorism Upon all occasions taken up and made the out-cry the stumbling Block the grand Objection against Providence It were an easy matter to enlarge here and to report the loud and heavy Charges of the * Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet at Cato parvo Pompeius nullo credimus esse Deos Statius And Ovid upon this Account Sollicitor nullos esse putare Deos. and the And Propertius Et queritur nullos esse relicta Deos. Old Tragedian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Claudian Saepe mihi dubiam traxit sententia mentem Curarent superi terras an ullus in esset Rector incerto fluerent mortalia casu But the most nervous and gravest of all is that of Cotta in Cicero 3d. de Nat. Deorum Heathens in this Arguments as also the frequent complaints of Holy Men †Job 12. 6. Chap. 21 24 27. Psal 37. Psal 39. Psal 73. Jer. 12. 1 c. Habak 1. Mal. 3. 14. It may suffice to my purpose only to note how that the Wicked are so far from being treated according to their deserts in this Life as that the contrary for the most part is bestowed on them they go away with the Riches Pleasures Honours are accomodated with the prosperity pomp and Grandure of the World Secondly T is also certain that the Wickedness of some is so superlatively great as that it cannot be sufficiently punished in this Life by all that can be inflicted on them the repetition and accumulation of a multitude of Crimes each of which is in its own nature and by the Law Capital must be acknowledged too great to be compensated by one single Death He that has ran through the whole Circle of Sin as the case may be Stated tho he be handled according to the severest Method both of shame and punishments can make no equivalent or tolerable satisfaction for the same The firebrand of the World who with the furys of War has destroyed Countrys depopulated Nations sent thousands of Souls to the other World in their Blood and Sins can make no sufficient attonement by all that he can do or suffer here Thirdly nor is it less evident on the other side that the good Man does not I may safely say oftentimes cannot receive a just recompence for all his doings and sufferings here he is encompassed with so thick a Cloud of miseries that his whole Life is but one continued conflict with hardships and difficulties from the first to the last scene the most doleful of Tragedies Like the Poor Begger in the Gospel he has a full measure of evil things is pinched with Cold Hunger Nakedness boyls and sinks under his complicated calamities Or like the great Apostle 2 Cor. 11. 25 c. can give us a black Role of miseries that have on every side attended him thro the whole Race of his Life and have been his inseparable Companions to the grave this was more especially the case of these devout Christians that lived in the Fiery days of Persecution and has been and will always be more or less of Pious Souls to the World's end
Sin and consequences of it as in the 1 3 6 and 11. Verses O Man … Secondly That he is said to treasure up wrath by which elegant metaphor nothing less can be signified than that his sins are kept in a safe reconditory to be brought forth against the Man in the great Day of Reckoning Thirdly He is also here infallibly certified of the Justice of all the Proceedings then and that 1st From the Nature of the Judgment it self 'T is Righteous 2dly From the Character of the Judge set forth by this Paraphrase who will render to every Man according to his Deeds which most certainly carries an accent and emphasis with it being so often in Scripture repeated as Psal 62. 12. Mat. 16. 27. Rev. 22. 12. 3dly By another Property which makes his Justice altogether as conspicuous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is no respecter of Persons Fourthly We have here withal a large amplification of the different states which attend all according to their Deserts Lastly So universal is this last Scrutiny as that no Man whatsoever is exempt from it neither Jew nor Gentile that is no Person at all The Argument from this Authority runs thus There is a time coming when all Men which unavoidably supposes the conjunction of both parts shall make their Personal appearance before a most righteous Judge when all their Deeds of what kind soever shall be brought upon the Stage and they impartially treated without any other respects but their deservings When as St. Athanasius's Creed expresseth it All Men shall rise with their Bodies and give an account of their Works and they that have done Good shall go into life everlasting and they they that have done Evil into everlasting Fire And what is this but Justice both with respect to Body as well as Soul for both are here joined together and one is the inseparable concomitant of the other The Second Authority which I offer for the confirmation of the Doctrine which I endeavour to vindicate is John 5. 28. Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done Good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation To bring my Text home to the Argument we are necessitated to look back into the context where we find the occasion to be the cure of a Paralitical Man who had laboured under this Chronical Disease for no less a Space than 38 Years at which the Spectators deservedly wonder whereupon our Blessed Saviour gives them an account of a much stranger thing than this namely of the Resurrection of the Bodies of all Men from the first to the last at the end of the World Marvel not at this for the hour cometh when all that are in their Graves c. My observation from this Place for the Advantage of my Argument is First we have here a Resurrection how strange soever and impossible it may seem to be confirmed and established from the Mouth of Christ himself and secondly we have here the consequence of the Resurrection and the main Reason of it which is the matter of our Dispute and I most willingly appeal to the Reason of all Mankind whether it be not manifestly held forth in the latter Clause for tho the illative be suppressed yet t is manifestly implyed and the latter part is exegetical i. e. gives us the Reason of the former The Bodies of good Men are to rise again and to enjoy everlasting Happiness and the Bodies of the Wicked are to be united to their Souls to suffer those punishments in conjunction now which their Sins committed in their former Union have deserved The most natural Sense of the place is as if Christ had said All Men shall rise that they that have done Good may go into Life everlasting and that they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation The Third and next Text is Rev. 20. 12 13. I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were Judged out of these things which were Written in the Books and the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell deliver'd up the Dead which were in them and they were Judged every Man according to their Works In this Vision St. John represents the general Resurrection under the popular Scheme of a grand Assize with allusion in all probability to the like passages of the Prophets Daniel and Malachy Dan. 7. 10. Mal. 3. 16. at which time the Books of Records containing the Indictments and Charges of those Summoned to appear are produced faithfully Read and Examined And as these are found so do the Persons at the Bar either stand or fall Even so is it to all intents and purposes at the Resurrection tho there will be no real Written Books of Registers but the Metaphorical ones of God's Omniscience and every Man's Conscience which carries in it the whole Work of the Court all the Officers of it we are hereby infallibly secured of the Accuracy of Justice in all the Proceedings Every Line and Clause of this Text affords us ample evidence of the Doctrine we contend for As the Bodies of all Men shall arise to be brought to Judgment so shall all their Actions be laid open carefully Scanned Weighed and Exaamined to make the Sentence Righteous Of which the Books that is the Accounts Charges and Works contained in them are the unvariable Measure and Rule inviolably to be observed by the Supreme Judge in the final Determinations of all Men. Now that the force of the Argument of this Text may not be eluded I desire the Reader to consider these three Remarks First The Dead are raised in order to their Tryal and therefore must by all be allowed in a special manner concerned Secondly 't is said expresly that the Dead were Judged which cannot be referred to the Souls of Men which are Immortal no ways subject to Death in the Sense here it must therefore by an unavoidable necessity be understood of the Bodies and so by consequence all the Business of this Judgment from first to the last both the Works and Remuneration fastned here And for the full assurance of which it ought to be Thirdly Farther noted how that 't is twice repeated in the close of both the Verses The Dead were Judged out of these things which were Written in the Books and they were Judged every Man according to their Works Fourthly After these I cannot pass by that of Heb. 6. 10. God is not Vnrighteous to forget your Work and Labour of Love in Ministring to the Saints For our encouragment in well doing the Apostle directs us to cast our Eyes on the recompence of reward which shall attend good and charitable Men at last and secures us in this that Righteousness
of Confession that the Body properly speaking is not capable of Sinning or of doing well considered in its own Nature abstractively in its self 't is a passive principle and can pretend to no Life Energy Sense or Motion in a single state 'T is likewise granted that the Body without the Soul is a Dull Stupid Senseless Clod of Earth a Stinking Carcass a Sink of Rottenness and Corruption uncapable of Acting Doing Suffering Injoying all whatsoever or more than the Doctor can suggest but in a state of Conjunction with the Soul 't is far otherwise so that it injoys Life Sense and Motion shares and ingages with it in all its concerns So that in the two first Reasons there is a manifest Fallacy of Division which runs through every part visible to every common Eye and is no sooner deâ—â—rted but the whole Fabrick of his subtile Argumentation sinks and falls even with the dust Though the Body alone cannot yet in conjunction with the Soul it may When a Noble Lord takes to Wife one of the meanest Extraction who has no pretensions of her own to any thing that is great yet upon her Marriage she is Dignified and Indowed with all the Privileges of her Right Honourable Spouse This as near as I can represent it is the Case of the Soul and Body The Heaven-born Bridegroom stoops to the Earth for a Partner Advances Exalts the Beggar confers Life Sense Motion on her admits her to Bed and Board allows her a share in all his Dignities and Injoyments The Body without the Soul can neither Sin nor do Well But the happy wedlock has ennobled this piece of Clay and empowered it in conjunction to act with it So that I fancy the Doctor to be under a mistake when he calls the Body only the Instrument of the Soul Certainly 't is more 't is an essential Part and the Man can as well be without the Soul as without the Body to call the Body therefore an Instrument is too low a Term when 't is manifestly the Collegue and Companion of the Soul and together with it constitutes the Great Prince and Lord of the Creation I shall challenge the most Acute of Philosophers to give me the definition of a Man without a Body Nec caro sine anima Homo quae post exilium Cadaver est saith Tertullian The Soul without the Body is no more the Man than the Body without the Soul If then it must be acknowledged a Physical Indispensible Principle of his constitution the one half of the Man What a disparagement is it to call it an Instrument only Now that it is so the Learned Doctor himself expresly tells us Pag. 218. 'T is a great mistake to imagine that the Identity or Sameness of Man consists wholy in the Sameness of the Soul if Euphorbus Homer and Ennius had had one and the same Soul yet they would not have been one and the same but three distinct Men. It seems then it is the constituting the essential and most distinguishing Principle it can make three Men of one Soul and so by consequence threescore And how worthily 't is called an Instrument only let the World judge I confess 't is often by Philosophers and Divines set out by this Expression The Instrument of the Soul to denote as I suppose the transcendent excellency of the Soul above it and all that Life Sense and Activity it can pretend to as derived from the Soul and dependent on it yet That it is more than an Instrument is acknowledged by the Learned Author who calls it pag. 198. The Collegue and Companion of the Soul and pag 204. Her old Acquaintance and is undeniably proved from 1 Cor. 6. 18. He that comitteth Fornication Sinneth against his own Body Here it is manifestly a Party and so interpreted and understood by Commentators on the place The like might be observed of other sins as of Gluttony Drunkenness c. which are properly called the Lusts or Sins of the Flesh But 't is farther Objected That the Arm that stabs sins no more than the Sword Here then is a good plea for Criminals at the Bar and 't is much it has never been made use of but I believe the Homicide suspects that it would do him no kindness it would be received by the Court with Laughter and rejected with Scorn and Indignation and reason good for the Sword is a Tool in its self Innocent and Harmless 't is the Arm that weilds it that impresses it that ' gives it Force and Vigour to destroy so that if to gratifie the Objection we allow the Arm to be an Instrument yet that it is no more concerned in the Matter than the Sword is notoriously false because the one is a dead the other a living Instrument and there must be a vast difference between these The Arm considered a-part is no more able to kill than the Sword nay less able because that has not so fit a disposition to pierce thro' the Bowels as the other being made acute for that purpose But the Arm united to the Body has Strength Vigour Motion in every part and must be allowed the true efficient Cause of the Murther whereas the other is the Means the Weapon to effect it And here also the Fallacy of Division is very plain and visible CHAP. VI. BUT the Objector adds 'T is the Soul only that is the Murtherer If it be so I wonder then what the Judge Jury and Executioner the Gaol or Gallows have to say or do to the Body if it be so there is an horrible Scene of Injustice all the World over if so Delirant Reges plectuntur Achivi was not the single Case of the poor Grecians who went to pot for the Miscarriages of their Generals but the common and deplorable Fate of all Mankind Certainly if the Soul only be the Murtherer the Body is free ought not to be touch'd is by all Laws whatsoever discharg'd both from the Guilt and Punishment of that Crime in which it had no hand For as 't is Injustice on one side not to punish the Guilty so 't is no less on the other to punish the Innocent If this quaint Notion of the Philosopher could be made good before the Bench it would bring him in more Gain than all the Preferments beside But alas this nail will never drive He will never be able to perswade the World of the truth of it And indeed it does exceedingly labour For 't is not the Soul but 't is the Man that is the Murderer And here also is a manifest Tang of the old Sophism True indeed the Soul is the first chief and principal Actor in the Tragedy but we can by no means excuse the outward Part. 'T is the Soul that bestows on the Body Life and sense without which it could not possibly lay claim to either and even here 't is Ridiculous to imagine that the more Spiritual and noble Part uses the Terrestrial and earthy as a
Shame and Torment of the Hot Iron how the principal Actor in the Crime comes to have a share he will immediately by his woful Experience resolve the Question viz. by the scandalous Stigma in his Hand or Cheek which to his Anguish he has felt and to his Disgrace must retain In short Ask the Man in the Cart tyed with the fatal Halter and just ready to be turn'd over how the first and chief Contriver of the Offence for which he is condemned is brought to suffer and he can give thee no other Answer The Soul is a Spiritual Intellectual Invisible Being no way subject to the Pleasure or Jurisdiction of any Power on Earth 't is no way capable of the Preferment of a Palace nor of the Confinement of a Prison but above and out of the Reach of both and can have no Colour of pretence to any Rewards or Punishments whatsoever at present excepting those before mentioned but in Conjunction with and by the Mediation of the Body In Conclusion our Answer here is 'T is neither the one nor the other in a divided or separate Sense that has a Claim or Title to Rewards or Punishments here 't is the Compositum the Soul and Body in Vnion and Conjunction together i.e. 't is the Man that can challenge this And as for an Answer to the Objection with reference to the Body after the Resurrection which is the main Subject of the present Discourse if the Body be not capable of Rewards or Punishments I would fain have the Learned Dr. to tell me what doth the Body of the Saint in Heaven or what makes the Body of the Reprobate in Hell Sure I am because so taught by Christ himself as two Evangelists have recorded it Matt. 10. 28. Luc. 12. 4. That Men are able to kill the Body and God is able to destroy both Body and Soul Now you cannot be said with any Congruity of Speech to kill that which has no Sense no Life and what is liable to be destroy'd in Hell-fire must be allow'd capable of Punishment and by unavoidable Consequence of Sin whereof this is the Wages In short this sacred Authority lays the Axe to the Root of the two first Objections and fells them to the Ground If the Body can be kill'd can be destroy'd in Hell-fire it cannot be deny'd to be sensible capable of sinning of doing well of Rewards and Punishments All these are manifestly imply'd here CHAP. VIII THat our Bodies are more than Instruments only is a Truth that clearly shines forth from the Make and Creation of them Man was brought into the World last of all and therefore must be acknowledg'd the most perfect and compleat of all the Creatures He is upon this account called by the Philosophers the Microcosm the Little World the Epitome of the Greater And tho' the Fabrick of all others tho' never so mean must be own'd to be stupendous yet there is certainly somewhat in Humane Bodies surpassing and transcendent if not in the Matter yet in the Manner and Figure of ' em The Consultation of the Eternal Trinity about this Affair imports somewhat singular a Product more than ordinary Come Let us make man Gen. 1. 26. the Prince the Emperor of all the rest This is taught us in that passage of Elihu in Job 33. 4. The spirit of God hath made me and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life The Expression elegantly notes the Exactness of his Frame Man is the Master-piece of the Creation as his immortal Commentator Caryl has observ'd Our Bodies are Temples built and Temples sanctify'd A living Man Genes 2. 7. Man became a living Soul And upon this account the Royal Psalmist breaks forth into this sublime Rapture Psal 139. 14. I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy Works and that my Soul knoweth right well My substance was not hid from thee though I were made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth Thine Eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect and in thy Book were all my members written which day by day were fashioned when as yet there were none of them The Fabrick of Man is of all other the most exquisite This the Great Mrster of Physick has professedly asserted in a most Admirable Treatise of 17 Books which Gassendus thinks was penn'd with a Spirit of Enthusiasm for the Refutation of the Atheistical Doctrines of Epicurus and the Mirrour of of Learning Orig. Sacr. lib. 3. cap. 1. calls it the Hundred and nineteenth Psalm in Philosophy or A perpetual Hymn in Praise of the Great Creator a just Commentary on the former Passage of the Psalmist The whole Work is a full and pregnant Demonstration of a Deity to which end 't is apply'd by that incomparable Prelate who thereupon thinks it strange that Physicians of all Men should be Atheists who from the Subject of their Science have powerful Arguments to the contrary When we shall consider the admirable Contrivance of Man's Body the curious Formation of all its Parts in order to the various Designs Services and Uses of 'em its astonishing and innumerable Excellencies methinks we should account them more than barely Instruments The Philosophers and Divines have entertain'd Nobler Sentiments of it They have proclaim'd it aloud to be the One half of that finishing Piece which came last out of the Almighty's hands the One half of him for whose sake and service all others were made the One half of him who had the Dignity to be Lord over all who by his Frame Endowments and Advantages is directed to devote and conseerate his Whole Self all that he has or is to the Honour and Glory of his bountiful Master 2. But if this Consideration will not do let us for a while contemplate the Assumption the Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour He took such a Nature as ours such a Body as ours with all its Organical Parts To this purpose he stoop'd to Bethlehem to the Womb of a poor Virgin to the Stable and the Manger To this purpose He that was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God made himself of no Reputation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 emptied himself disrob'd himself of his Divine Dignity and took upon him the Form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man St. John tells us John 1. 14. That the Eternal Word that was in the beginning and created all things was made flesh and dwelt among us And the Author to the Hebrews chap. 2. 16. gives us a Confirmation of it with an Asseveration Verily he took not on him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham i.e. He was an entire Man like any of us sin only excepted Nay what is more that very Body which he assum'd in which he lived and in which he was crucified is ascended up into Heaven where he sitteth at the Right hand of God and by the
powerful Rhetorick of his Wounds the Impression of which he now retains is our Eternal Expiatory Sacrifice incessantly transacting the great Work of Advocation with his Father still making Intercession for us By this there is conferr'd on Humane Nature the highest Honour and Dignity imaginable and this must teach us to put a value on our Bodies and to look upon them as more than Machines and Tools only This if I mistake not is an Inference most genuine and naturally flowing from the Premisses and 't is most certainly the express Use which the Ancients would have us to make of it Thus St. Austine on the present Subject de Verit. Relig. cap. 6. Demonstravit nobis Deus quà m excelsum locum inter creatur as habet humana natura in hoc quod in hominibus in vero homine apparuit God saith the holy Father hath given us a Demonstration of the Dignity and transcendent Excellency of Humane Nature in that Christ a VERY MAN lived among Men. And to the same purpose another great Author Leo Serm. 1. de Nat. Dom. Agnosce O Christiane dignitatem tuam divine consors factus naturae noli in veterem vilitatem degeneri consuetudine redire i. e. Christ by taking such a Body has shewn thee the Dignity and Excellency of thine taught thee not to disparage dis-esteem it or use it unworthily 3. But if neither of these be sufficient come we in the third place to cast our Eyes a little on the Redemption and in that great Work the Whole Man is concern'd The Prince of our Salvation submitted himself to the Cross and all its shameful miserable painful Appendages to become a Propitiation for Both. Our Bodies as well as Souls are the Price of his Blood And can any one then account 'em no more but Instruments only The thing is so evident as that I think it needless to say any more for it nor can I imagine what can in the least colour be said against it 4. Wherefore I pass to the next Argument under this Head for Confirmation of the Doctrine in hand and that is Bodily Worship Have not all the Orthodox Pulpits echo'd and sounded this aloud How often have we been told That we are to serve God in our Bodies as well as Souls the one is but maimed and imperfect without the other the Great Creator has an undeniable and manifold Right to Both. How much the true Sons of the Church have labour'd in this Argument cannot be unknown to any who know any thing of the Controversies about the Modification of Worshipping God which has been the grand Subject of the Dispute of this last Age. How zealous good Men have been to relieve that abused and misapply'd Place John 4. 24. from Captivity and to discharge it from that hard and unworthy Service which the Dissenters would have imposed upon it and compelled it to bear still asserting that to serve God as in Truth we ought we must serve him more than in Spirit only How often has that of the Apostle been made the Text 1 Cor. 14. ult That in God's Service regard must be had to Decency and Order How often have we been told that we must not make our Approaches to the most High in a slovenly manner but in the most humble and becoming Postures To give Testimony of our inward by the uniform Port of our OUTWARD MAN and to make the Worship acceptable and compleat to be careful to join both these together The truth is the Body by its self is altogether incapable of the least Performance for as the Psalmist has observ'd The dead praise not God neither they that go down to silence But yet we have the same infallible Assurance that the living can and do praise him Do not our Lips Tongue and Mouth shew forth his Praise Do not our Hands serve God when we lift them up toward the Mercy-seat of his holy Temple Do not our Feet bear a part also here when they make chearful and direct Paths to the place where his honour dwelleth Do not our Eyes and Ears go Sharers here when they behold and hear the wondrous things of God's Law when they are attentively exercised in his Statutes In a word Do not our whole Bodies engage in this Divine Work in their Submissions Adorations and Prostrations before his Altar What Nonsense is it for any Man to imagine the contrary when we are so often and pathetically commanded and called upon by God in his Holy Word to do it Not to multiply Authorities here the winning and endearing Entreaty of the Great Apostle alone is sufficient Rom. 12. 1. Wherefore I beseech you Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your Bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service And if it be here said that the Apostle by Bodies means the Whole Man I have no mind to deny the Allegation but I reply that the Body is also concerned and as must be acknowledged from the Allusion to the legal Sacrifices in an especial manner pointed at And if this be not Proof enough there are other places which cannot be understood in any other sense which refer peculiarly to the Body Thus the same Apostle speaking of the abominable Sin of the Gentiles says Rom. 1. 24. That they did dishonour their own Bodies between themselves And to the same purpose he calls upon his Corinthians to glorifie God with their Bodies which are his and 1 Thess 5. 23. he prays that their Spirit Soul and Body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Where Both the Objections of the Learned Author are put to silence and quashed by one word Blameless which clearly supposes our Bodies capable of doing well or evil of Rewards and Punishments otherwise there can be no Congruity in the Discourse of the great Doctor of the Gentiles who was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel was so Accomplish'd an Orator as that 't was one of the three celebrated Wishes of the great St. Austin That he might have seen him in the Pulpit nay what is more was inspir'd from above And he must be allow'd by all to speak at a very impertinent Rate I cannot see any doubt or difficulty here The Wicked sin and dishonour God with their Bodies and that properly speaking by the Lusts of the Flesh the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Lusts of the lower Belly as the Father calls them The Sins of Gluttony Drunkenness Vncleanness and a multitude of others Nay St. John seems to fix Sin more especially on the Body in his first Epistle chap. 2. 16. where he reckons them up under three Heads All that is in the World the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life On the other hand the Case is altogether as undeniable The good Man serves honours worships and glorifies God with his Body in adorning it with Sobriety Temperance Chastity and other Exercises of Vertue
A most Heavenly Prayer this being incomparably the best Shield Buckler the best Antidote and Preservative against the loss of Friends or the Consideration of our own approaching Mortality with respect both to our selves and others to bouy up our Spirits amidst the Melancholy Apprehensions of the Rottentenness and Miseries of the Grave and exalts us above the Worms and Corruption of it directing us assuredly to know and believe that there is a time coming when there will be an happy meeting of both though they are now with Grief and Rluctancy divided when the happiness of both shall be complete And this is an Authority undeniably Authentick and must for any thing I can see to the contrary strongly and irrefragably establish the Doctrine contended for viz. That our Bodies are capable of Cewards and Punishments hereafter of doing Well or Evil here CHAP. XI THE Learned Author having laid aside the Opinions of Tertullian as not serviceable to his purpose not affording him a Satisfactory Reason of this Decree of Almighty God concerning the Resurrection To give a true Accounr of it thinks it necessary to mount a little higher and to look a little farther and passing by many conjectures which he finds in the Schools and in some of our Ancient Writers and among the Jewish Masters p. 217. lays before you his own Thoughts and here he assigns three Reasons why God has been pleased to decree that the Soul in the Day of Judgment shall be again united to a Humane Body In discussing of which I shall beg leave to invert the order of them as more suitable to the method of my Discourse and for the advantage of my present Argument which if I mistake not will gain one of those Reasons over to our side and party as falling over to it and therefore ought to go together The last Reason which I here place first why God will restore us to our Humane Nature and why he will raise up the very same Body is p. 219. HE WILL BECAUSE HE WILL a very bad Reason for the Actions of Man but a very good one for God's he will because he hath Promised Which the Learned Author irrefragably confirms from what follows p. 222. which I conceive my self obliged to transcribe and is as follows I am the Lord I have said it and who can say What dost thou There is nothing that God does but he does for a very good reason And who are we that we should call him to an Account for what he does His Ways and his Counsels are many of them unsearchable to us and as Job tells us Chap. 33 13. He gives not Account of any of his Matterâ— 'T is his part to Act ours to Admire and Submit and as long as our Reason and our Senses are not plainly contradicted we are only to enquire WHAT not How or WHY I would fain know of those who deny the Resurrection of the same Humane Body because they do not know what use we can make of the particular parts in the Life to come whether they deny or doubt the existence of all other things the Reason of which they cannot comprehend I would undertake to quiet the Scruples of these Men and to satisfie all their Queries if they would be pleased to answer a few Questions of mine I could ask them the reason of an Hundred things in Nature and Divinity Which he there supposes unaccconntable and particularly in the case about the Resurrection p. 221. He acknowledges a multitude of difficulties altogether inextricable i. e. for which there is no reason to be given and therefore must of necessity be resolved into this viz. the Will and Pleasure of God I willingly concur with the Learned Author here and presume there is no one that will oppose him For this without paradventure is the highest and most supream Reason which must put to silence all Objections remove all Difficulties whatsoever and make things which seem to us impossible easie Though with Mary we do not know how this can be Luke 1. 34 Though our reason cannot fathom cannot comprehend it yet our Faith must give us an assurance that it will be and teach us with the Mother of the Holy Jesus with submission to conclude Behold the Handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy Word This is a Reason above all Reasons allowed and approved of by all and to which all others however Philosophical and plausible must submit This I gladly and readily note because I expect to receive some advantage from it in the subsequent part of this Discourse for I am in hopes to prove the Doctrine I have attempted to defend to be the express determination of God's revealed Will and Word and then all the most powerful Arguments of the Profoundest Philosophers must truckle under and fall to the Ground But if I mistake not this Reason of Gods Word or Decree of the Resurrection of the Body was not in the least the Subject of the Dispute The Question only arose from the Reason of this Decree There can be no doubt but that the Resurrection will be because God hath said and ordained it The Subject of the enquiry can be no other than the Reason of God's Will and Pleasure here Namely why God has Decreed the Resurrection of the same Body and this obliges the Learned Author to look farther and therefore Secondly In the the next place he tells us p. 219. That another Reason why God has been pleased to ordain that the same Humane Body that Died shall Rise again and be reconjoined to the Soul I take to be this and that indeed I take to be the first and chief reason of that Decree we had all been immortal Men if Adam had not sinned 't was God's design that we should never Die but that our Souls should remain for ever united to their Bodies this Gracious design being frustrated by Adam's Transgression he was Graciously pleased to ordain that as in Adam all Die so in Christ the second Adam we should all at last Triumph over Death and be restored to those Bodies and that Humane Nature which he first designed should be immortal by the Death and Resurrection of Christ our losses are to be repaired which Adam's sin occasioned but our losses cannot be repaired unless we are restored to those Bodies which by his sinning we lost To this Second Reason I say First I have no mind to implunge my self or Reader in the Decrees of Almighty God which is an Abyss or Ocean never to be fathomed Nor am I disposed to concern my self about the examination of that Question Whether Adam and his Posterity had Died if they had not Sinned Only I shall briefly and freely deliver my Opinion in this matter That it seems to me very probable that allowing the supposition of his and their continuance in their spotless purity He and his Race after some time like Enoch or Elias or some other way with Analogy and resemblance to