Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	nature_n	soul_n	2,893	5	5.2542	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47040	The future state, or, A discourse attempting some display of the souls happiness, in regard to that eternally progressive knowledge, or eternal increase of knowledge, and the consequences of it, which is amongst the blessed in heaven by a country gentleman, a worshipper of God in the way of the Church of England.	Whitaker, Edward.; Jones, George, d. 1704.	1683 (1683)	Wing J941B; ESTC R13197	63,632	160

Ways or Methods they may be Communicated unto it unless you will suppose it of very Large and Extensive Presence and Capacity 9. So that if the Humane Nature of Christ Jesus have any Knowledge of the State and Condition of the Church which is his Body as I think can't reasonably be doubted whether Mediately or Immediately in my Apprehension an Extension of Presence must be granted thereunto And if it be granted to Christ Jesus I know nothing that will hinder the same Concession to the Blessed tho not in the same Degree for in all things he must have a Supremacy and Advantage 10. But besides all this Christ Jesus is the Head of his Church and as an Vniversal Cause under God conveys his Grace and Spirit to all the Members of it As the Sun is the Vniversal Cause of Light Heat and Motion in Sublunary Bodies so is Christ of all Grace and Spiritual Influences and Virtues to the Souls of Men and there is no other means or way of Conveyance but by Him 11. The Humane Nature of Christ Jesus by its being Personally united to the Divine and exalted to God's Right Hand is by the Office of Mediator Authorized and by a Participation of the Fulness of the Spirit enabled for the Communication of this Spiritual Influx and Benediction to Humane Minds 12. Yet it is not to be imagined or do I affirm That the Humane Nature of Christ Jesus is any Cause of any Immanent Act of the Divine Spirit but He is the Cause of the Spirits Operation as that Operation signifies the Effect upon the Mind of Man And of this He is no Superiour but only a Ministerial Cause as a Prince rewards the Valour of his Souldiers as the General doth determine it 13. Christ Jesus is the Political Cause of this Spiritual Influence He as Mediator is authorized to determine of the Measure Time Conditions and Persons that shall partake therein Whether He be also a Physical Head and Cause of this Influence and Grace and by proper Efficiency do Communicate of this Spirit and by any Physical Operation of his Humane Soul He operate upon Our Minds is a Controversie that I am not obliged to determine my Cause not requiring it For if He be only the Political Cause of this Grace and Spirit He must have Knowledge of the State Case and Condition of Mankind and that in my Opinion will infer a Large and Extensive Presence which is all that I am concerned to prove AND now having annexed thus much to the Book in regard to one Particular Point I shall superadd no less in regard to the General Subject for the obviating some Objections and preventing Misunderstandings in what I have Asserted or rather Proposed to indifferent Consideration 1. I would not be thought to Place the Happiness of the Blessed in the Knowledge of Creatures Whoever should Thus understand me would Very much mistake and misapprehend me I Place the Happiness of Saints and Angels in the Knowledge and Love of God and being Beloved by Him The Knowledge of Creatures is only the Medium by which we come to the Knowledge of the Creator and by the Knowledge of Him we become capable of Loving Him and Rejoycing and Delighting in Him God is Vltimately the Object of Man's Felicity and Love Delight and Joy are the Great Felicitating Acts and both these Compleat and make it Perfect 2. One great Reason that inclines me to believe that Knowledge will be Progressive in the World to come is because I do suppose that Man will remain a Limited and Finite Essence There yea and Limited to that degree that he will not be Able at one Grasp to comprehend the Nature Qualities and Perfections of the Vniverse A great Enlargement of Capacity Immediately upon his Departure hence I do readily concede and if any shall please to call it Supernatural I will have no Contest with him about it But this Enlargement I conceive will not make his Capacity of Equal Extent with the Vniverse and consequently his Knowledge of it cannot be Simul and Semel but Successive 3. How Various the Limitations of the Essences and Capacities of the Blessed will be I will not affirm Peradventure they may be as Various and Different as their Rewards will be Those that have Loved and Served God in This World with the Greatest Sincerity and Vigour of Affection and Endeavour will have the Largest Capacities in the Other they will be capable of knowing Most of God and consequently of loving Him Most and being Most beloved of Him It seems to me I say probable that the Remunerating Grace of God will Diversify Men's Capacities in the Kingdom of Heaven according to their Works Here on Earth 4. If any Man should think that because I affirm an Alteration for the better in the Future State that therefore there may be an Alteration for the worse and to the Disadvantage of the Blessed I answer That I see Nothing in what I have Said that may give any Reason for Such an Inference or Conclusion For why Confirming Grace may not secure the Blessed from Any Defection on Supposition that Knowledge and consequently Happiness be Increasing and Progressive as well as on supposition that it be Instantaneously Compleat and Perfect I confess I do not understand 5. St. Paul I do acknowledge doth assure us That Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor hath it entred into the Heart of Man to conceive what God hath laid up for those that love Him 1 Cor. 2.9 Which words he transcribes from Isaiah the Prophet But how they are any Prejudice to the Doctrine that I have proposed I do not find For besides that the Words were spoken by the Prophet with respect to the State of the Gospel and the great Revelations and Discoveries that were to be made of the Divine Grace and Mercy at That time and in That State I shall readily grant that no Eye hath seen nor Ear heard nor hath the Heart of any Man conceived what and how Various how Great and Stupendious those Objects will be that the Future State will present unto our Thoughts and Contemplations Who can tell what Variety of Wonders the House of the Living God may set before us Who can imagine the Lustre and Glory of the Heavenly Jerusalem and what are the Beings that do Embellish and Adorn the Palace of the Great King Who can tell or who can conceive what Species or Kinds of Beings may be comprehended in the Whole Universe and of what Various and Amazing Natures Qualifications and Perfections 6. And as we cannot Vnderstand what will be the Number Kinds Nature nor Perfections of these things so we cannot Tell what will be the Joy Pleasure Satisfaction yea Extasies and Ravishments that we shall Conceive and have Experience of in the Contemplation and Knowledge of them Who can imagine what Joy he shall feel at the Sight and First Aspect of the Magnificent Structure of the Heavenly Palace At the Vision of those Holy Myriads that encompass the Throne of God At the Vision of the Holy Jesus that Prince of the Kings of the Earth At the Sight of all the Holy Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles At the View of all the Holy Confessors and Martyrs together with all the Holy and Good Men of all Generations Who can imagine what Pleasure and Joy every Object that is offered to our Meditation may Raise and Awaken in our Souls Who can Think what Joy we shall Conceive from our Exercise of Love to God and 〈◊〉 the Sense and Apprehension of our 〈◊〉 Beloved of Him and of the Eternal D●●ation of it 7. But though we cannot Conceive nor have not Seen nor Heard what are the Beings and Objects that the Future State will furnish to our View and Consideration and though we cannot Imagine what will be the Joys and Pleasures that they will introduce upon our Minds Yet we may know that there will be Objects of Various and Illustrious Qualities and that the Knowledge of them will make Very Great and Pleasant Emotions and Affections upon our Souls and that This Knowledge and These Affections may be of Progressive Nature and Increase to All Durations Which is all that I have Asserted and I think Sufficiently consistent with the Words of the Apostle in the Text above-mentioned 8. I know nothing Momentous that may be objected against what I have Said on this Subject which I have not Answered or Obviated in Some Place or Other of This Discourse Nevertheless 't is no Article of my Faith nor am I zealous to Proselyte any Man to the Belief of it I will Conclude with those Words where-with Cartesius concludes his Principia At nihilominus memor meae tenuitatis nihil affirmo sed haec omnia tum Ecclesiae Catholicae Anglicanae Authoritati tum Prudentiorum Judiciis submitto nihilque ab ullo credi velim nisi quod ipsi evidens invicta ratio persuadebit FINIS

ought that I know And from this Diversity may proceed very great Difference in their Powers Capacities and Perfections the Knowledge whereof may Increase perhaps to all Durations 13. The Science of Theology will not only Continue but be very much Inlarged Much more of God will be Revealed in the Future State than ever was Revealed in This and our Faculties will be much more Capable of considering and understanding those Discoveries and Revelations I do not doubt but that Heaven will present to the Blessed far more Illustrious Demonstrations of the Divine Perfections than any that have been made here below The Creation Providence and Word of God I do acknowledge have unfolded much of God yet I do believe that Heaven will discover Much more For Here we See through a Glass darkly but there Face to Face Here we see Him very Obscurely and Imperfectly but There we shall see Him as He is And as the Revelations of Him will be more Clear and Full so will our Minds be More Capable of receiving and entertaining them 14. And who can guess what Abysses there may be in the Theology of the Blessed Who can imagine what may be the Treasures thereof And what Time may be spent to Exhaust them And whether after Millions of Ages there may not remain much Vnexhausted The Inquiries that Job makes Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty to Perfection It is as high as Heaven What canst thou do Deeper than Hell What canst thou know The Measure thereof is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea may be as truly made in the Other World as in This And in my Apprehension the Perfections of God and the Knowledge and Theology of them are truly Inexhaustible in both 15. The Mysteries of the Sacred Trinity and Personal Vnion may afford Subject and Matter for Eternal Contemplations and it may be there may be those Depths in them which the Blessed may never be able to Fathome or Comprehend They are such things as in This World we cannot Vnderstand our Reason draws back at the Contemplation of them And had we not some Reverence for the Holy Scriptures that do Reveal and Propose them we should utterly refuse All Assent unto them They are Too Bigg for our Minds in the Present State and therefore we live under some Temptation to reject them and were we not awed by the Word of God we should certainly do it In the Other World these things will be more Clearly revealed and more fully Vnderstood But whether there be not something which after all Search and Inquiry will remain Vnknown even to the Blessed themselves I think very Probable if not absolutely Certain 16. The Perfections of the Person of our Saviour I mean of his Humane Nature are without all scruple exceeding Great and Large and there is not an Essence unless God himself Equal with it much less Superiour to it in the whole Vniverse of Beings The shining Lustre of his Body with the several Perfections of it will be exceeding Great but the Powers Excellencies and Capacities of his Soul will be much more Stupendious Admirable and Amazing And I see no reason why the Blessed may not obtain the Knowledge of them and other things before-mentioned by Ratiocination Why may not much of the Knowledge that they have there both of Bodies and Spirits be gotten by Inference and Deduction Why may they not argue from those things that are Plain to those that are Dark Why may they not argue from Causes to their Effects and from Effects to their Causes too 17. Here 't is the ordinary Method of proceeding Men argue from the Fabrick of Heaven and Earth and the several Creatures in it the Certainty of a First Cause of Infin●te Power Wisdom and Goodness and from the Immateriality of the Divine Essence its Incorruptibility and from its Spirituality its Simplicity with sundry other Inferences of like Nature And why the Blessed may not do the Same I cannot Vnderstand if their Reasonable Faculties Continue as Surely they do the Use of them may Continue If it be consistent with the Glory and Happiness of Heaven to Injoy them I see no Valid Reason why the Vse and Exercise of them may not consist with it 18. What hinders but that there may be such Effects and Images of a Trinity in Vnity and of an Hypostatical Vnion as may much Reveal the Nature of those Mysteries and make the Inference as Necessary and Easie as from an Effect to a Cause or from a Copy to an Original Some Images of them we do observe here In the Humane Mind there is a Trinity of Essential Principles and yet but One Soul In Man the Body and Soul do constitute but One Person But 't is not improbable but there may be more Perspicuous Images of them there and that those that here we do observe will be More fully understood And in consequence thereunto these Mysteries may be as Evident to the Blessed as that the Whole is bigger than any Part and that all the Parts taken together are equal to the Whole I do not mean they shall Fully understand them but they shall Clearly understand them and to the Satisfaction and Quiet of their Souls 19. The Reconcileableness of the Infallibility of God's Will with the Liberty of Man's is an Insuperable Difficulty Now but perchance it may be none Then The Blessed may possibly see and understand those Principles Premises and Suppositions from whence they may be easily deduced without any Inconsistency or Opposition The Difficulty of reconciling these things proceeds from our Ignorance of the Nature of God and Man and the Influence that the One and the Other hath upon Humane Actions Did we know what God and what Man is and what are the Operations Peculiar to One and the Other in the producing those Effects that are ascribed to Men probably much or all of this Difficulty would Disappear Now 't is not questioned but that the Blessed will very much Vnderstand all these and from them will argue and infer an easie and obvious Agreement between them 20. The Power Wisdom and Goodness of God are Infinite they are Oceans without either Bank or Bottom if I may so express it His Power is Omnipotent God can accomplish whatsoever he pleases No Opposition can be made to his Mighty Arm. If he will work none can hinder it His Wisdom is unsearchable the Depths thereof are unfathomable no Created Being can find them out unto Perfection His Goodness is of very vast Extension Who can take the just Measures of it 'T is wider than the Earth larger than the great Abyss yea more extensive than the Poles of Heaven And what vast Numbers of Inferences and Conclusions may be made from the Consideration of them How far may they be Propagated and where will they determine 21. From the Knowledg of the Divine Nature and Attributes the Blessed may 't is like infer and deduce the

Administrators of it in those Other Worlds as well as in This of which there is no doubt or the least scruple or peradventure among those that bear the Name of Christians 6. By this means the Blessed may be informed of the Nature of the several Beings Existent there and what was the Vse the Virtue and Perfections of them and especially what Reasonable Creatures did inhabit There as also what was the Government and Laws that God prescribed unto and imposed upon them and what the Obedience they gave unto them To which I might add many other things as what was the Period of their Existence and by what Subordinat Means and Causes their Beings were preserved and continued what and where they do receive Rewards and Punishments 7. Thus also they may be informed of all the great Emergencies that happened to them and what were the Causes and Occasions of them as also what Laws what Order and Government was observed among them and into what Various and Different sorts these Reasonable Beings were distinguished and how they employed and spent their Time For Reasonable Souls must have something upon which they may Exercise their Powers either by Action Contemplation or both else their Powers are of No Vse but are made in Vain which cannot be imagined it being beneath the Wisdom of a Prudent Man and much beneath that of the All-Wise God to give Being to Rational Creatures to no End or Purpose 8. How many and numerous the Notices may be that the Blessed may receive after this manner is neither safe nor possible to determine for should they descend to things minute and particular and who knows how low they may descend how almost Infinite and beyond all Computation would they be Should there have been many Worlds Pre-existent to This or Co-existent with it what Infinite Matter of Communication and Discourse would their Affairs afford to the Holy Angels or other Intellectual Agents that had Knowledge and Cognizance of them And how much of Eternity would be Employed in these kind of Histories and Narrations And if we may judge any thing of the Agreeableness of things Then to the Temper of our Minds by what we may find Here below and observe concerning them we must say That such things will be very Pleasant and Delightful not barely as Histories but as Reports and Evidences of the Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness of God not as bare Narrations of such and such Events but as Effects of the Infinite Power Admirable and Vnsearchable Wisdom and Immense Goodness of the Creator of all things 9. After the Same Manner the Blessed will obtain the Knowledge of the Affairs of This World since the Creation of it The Holy Angels will certainly give them a large Account of the World before the Flood how and by what Gradations they corrupted themselves departed from God and abandoned themselves to Sensuality and Prophaneness What Moses hath very briefly reported they will discourse more at large and give to the Blessed a Full Clear and Satisfactory Knowledge of them Many things that are Dark and Obscure to us will be set in Open Light by their more Large and Ample Discourses That which now ministers Matter for Many and almost Insuperable Objections will be totally freed from them by their Larger Commentaries and Explications concerning them 10. The Holy Men of that Age may also contribute something towards the Increase of the Knowledge of the Blessed Adam and Abel and Seth and Enoch and Noah knew very much of the Affairs of the World from the Creation to the Deluge and since their Removal to Heaven there is no question but that they have very much improved it And surely they will Communicate their Knowledge and entertain the New-Come Saints with the Reports and Narratives of it 11. The Holy Angels also will acquaint them with the History of the World after the Flood till the Days of Abraham they will give them Account of the Re-peopling of it by the Posterity of Noah of the Tower of Babel that they began to build of the Confusion of their Language and of their Dispersion into several Parts of the World thereupon Of these things I make no question they will give very large and particular Accounts Of those things of which we now know almost nothing then and there I mean in the Society of the Blessed we shall have a Clear Full and Perfect Knowledge 12. Noah himself lived four hundred and fifty Years after the Flood and there is no doubt Saw and Knew much of the Affairs of the World And there is as Little Doubt in my Opinion that he doth and will Communicate the Knowledge thereof among the Blessed And so will other of the Pious Patriarchs and Good Men of that Age. They will all contribute to the Increase of the Knowledge of those that in succession of Times are admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven 13. And surely the History of the Church of God in all Ages of the World by the Narrations of Saints and Angels will be most perfectly delivered to the Blessed They will acquaint them with the several Accidents that have happened to it how it hath suffered Many and Great Calamities from its Enemies and sometimes hath Almost perished from among Men and then how and by what Means it hath risen as from the Ashes and become Illustrious again in the World 14. They will declare and propose to their Knowledge and Consideration by what Improbable Means God hath raised and preserved it In the First Ages of Christianity God raised and increased His Church by the Preaching and Discourses of a few Poor Fisher-men in despight to all the Opposition that was made against it by all the Wisdom Learning Power and Policy of the World yea those very Means by which the Enemies of God's Church thought to destroy it were by the Wise and Over-ruling Providence of God made instrumental of advancing it They persecuted all that were called by the Christian Name they despoyled them of their Estates their Friends their Liberties and their Honours they treated them as the Vilest Miscreants they killed and murthered them by Thousands they invented the most Cruel Lingering and Painful Deaths that they could imagine And yet all this would not destroy the Church of God the Blood of the Martyrs was the Seed thereof and the More they mowed and cut them down the More they increased 15. As God raised his Church at first I mean the Christian Church by very Improbable Means so hath he recovered it from a Lapsed and Corrupted Estate by Means altogether as unlikely After it had lain divers Hundreds of Years under the Papal Yoke after it had long sat in Ignorance and Darkness and been accustomed to Superstition and Idolatry and all the Kings of the Earth were ingaged in the Defence thereof was it likely that Luther a poor mean Monk should so Leaven the World by his Doctrine as to cause a Separation from the Romish Falshoods and

that All do so I cannot believe That there is no Difference between the Soul of the greatest Divine Philosopher or Statesman and that of the veriest Dolt or Ideot is to me an Improbable Paradox and I cannot but think that there is a Gradual Difference at least among Souls themselves 10. This Diversity I humbly conceive is found in all the Faculties and Powers of the Soul I mean in the Vnderstanding Will and Active or Executive Power In all these the Difference is Various according as Men's Love Service and Good Works may have been Various Here below Those that have been most Pious Holy and Abundant in the Works of Righteousness will have the Largest Understandings the most Vigorous Affections of Love Delight and Joy and the most Prompt and Ready Power and Method of Expressing them in Such Ways and by Such Means as are fit and congruous thereunto They will know most and love and rejoyce most and express this Love and Joy most readily in the Other World that served the Honour of God and the Good of Men most Industriously in This. They that have been Most Holy and lived Most to the Acceptation of God in Time will know Him Most fully and love Him Most passionately in Eternity And yet their Knowledge and Love as well as that of others may be capable of Increase and Augmentation as I have discoursed before 11. And there may be as great Diversity in the Bodies and Bodily Organs and Senses of the Blessed as there is in their Minds Some may be more Pure and Spiritual than others and consequently more Agile and Fit for Motion Some may have their Senses and the several Organs and Instruments thereof More Perfect and Compleat than Others and consequently more Capable of apprehending their Objects and Perceiving all the Perfections and Curiosities in them Some may have a More Large and Extensive Presence than others and therefore be capable of inspecting at One View more of the Works of God which renders them More affecting and More amazing He that stands upon a High Hill or Turret beholds More things than he that stands in a Valley and is much More pleased and delighted therein yea is much more ravished with Admiration of them 12. How great may be the Variety and Gradual Difference among the Blessed in these things cannot be determined Great have been the Numbers of Men that since the Creation have dwelt on the Face of this Earth and yet perhaps there were never Two among them in All things and Totally alike Some Difference in the Mixture of the Elements of which they were Compounded in the Shape Figure and Proportion of their Bodies in the Features of their Faces and Beauty of their Countenances might be seen and observed upon them And as Various may be the Difference of the Glorious Bodies of the Blessed The Starrs are Vastly numerous and yet perchance the Difference of their Glory may be as Great as their Number and that None of them are in all things Alike and Equal And such may be the Inequalities among the Inhabitants of the Celestial Kingdom 13. And it may be Modestly supposed that the Love of God to the Blessed may be as Various as their Glory and Perfections are The more Glorious and Perfect any Creature is the more Like he is to God and certainly the More Like any Creature is to God the More it is Beloved of Him Why else doth God despise the Heaven and the Earth in comparison of an Humble and Contrite Spirit and one that trembleth at his Word Isa 66.1 2. Is it not because there is More of his Image on such a Person than on the Frame and Fabrick of the Material Earth and Heavens Why doth God love and take more delight in the Man Christ Jesus than in Men and Angels and all the Holy Myriads that are About his Throne of which I think there is no doubt Is it not for this Reason that He is a far more Illustrious Image of his Attributes and Perfections than Any or All of them 14. How God will manifest a Various and Different Affection to the Blessed according to the Difference of their Perfections I cannot affirm Whether he will do it by Internal Effusions of Joy and Consolation or by External Effects and Demonstrations or by both which seems most probable I know not that 's a Question that I will leave for the Determination of the Other World But that God can and doth do it is past doubt with me He manifests a Peculiar Love to his Only Beloved Son and can do so to All the Members of his Body in Several Measures and Proportions 15. This great Variety of Love and Affection will Cause no Envy or Emulation Among the Blessed for they are free of all Sinful Passions Affections and Inclinations and do rejoyce in the Effusions and Manifestations of the Love of God to Others as well as to Themselves Particular Advantages are Matter of Common Joy As All the Heavenly Quires do Rejoyce in the Preheminence of Christ Jesus so do they in the Advantages of Each other 16. But tho this Variety causes no Envy or Emulation in Heaven yet methinks the Meditation of it should be a great Spur and Incentive to Piety Virtue and Good Works here on Earth Certainly it ought to make us abound in all the Fruits of Righteousness that so we may be capable of the Greatest Manifestations of the Love of God since those that are most Diligent in his Service since those that are the most Pious and Virtuous in This World will be the most Glorious and Excellent in the Other and those that are most Worthy will be most Beloved of God and receive the Greatest Evidences and Demonstrations of his Affection The Consideration of it should put us upon vigorous Endeavours after a mighty Holiness and Virtue that we may be the Objects of God's Choice and Peculiar Love in Heaven 17. 'T is a Question controverted among Divines whether the Blessed have any Knowledge of each other in the Kingdom of Heaven And I humbly conceive that from what I have said in the Fore-going Pages 't will not be Difficult to resolve it So Long a Tract of Time as Eternity may minister sundry Occasions and Opportunities to Friends and Relations for the Knowing of Each other And since 't is not spent in Solitude and Retirements but in Mutual Presence Society and Conversation 't is not possible Almost that they should escape the Knowledge of one Another 18. The Memory and Narration of the Mighty Works and Providences of God of which they had Knowledge in This World will bring Men to the Cognizance of each other There There is a Twofold Memory in Man there is a Sensitive and an Intellectual Memory The First of these depends upon those Ideas and Similitudes of things that by the Mediation of our Senses have been Impressed upon our Minds The Other depends of Such things as by Reason and Discourse are fixed