the reasonable or humane Soul to be such The Rational and immortal Soul he owns expresly to be a Spirit quoting that of our blessed Saviour for it Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit An incorporeal substance and therefore immortal saith he out of Gassendus And so he expounds that Text of Saint Paul 1 Thes. 5.23 which makes the whole of man to consist in Spirit Soul and Body The Spirit that is saith he the ratiâ—nal mind And he well approves of Doctor Willis his arguments and proofs â—or two distinct Souls in man The one sensitive and corporeal and the other ratiâ—nal and incorporâ—al Nay saith he The Soul by the â—nanimous consent of all men is a spiritual and pure immaterial and incorporeal substance And It is manifest by divine Authority that the Spirit that is the rational immortal and incorporeal Soul doth return to God and exist eternally And again It is most evident that there are not only three essential and distinct parts in man as the gross Body consisting of Earth and Water which at Death returns to Earth again the sensitive and corporeal Soul or â—stral Spirit as he calls it consisting of Fire and Air that at death wandreth in the Air or neer the Body and the imâ—ortal and incorporeal Soul that immediatâ—ly returâ—s to God that gave it But also that after death they all three exist sâ—parately the Soul in immortality and the Body in the Earth though soon consuming and the Astral Spirit wandring in the Air and without doubt doth make these strange Apparitions and Bleedings We have then here a notion a manifest and most evident notion and that as he saith by the universal consent of all Men as well as Divine Authority of a spiritual and pure immaterial and incorporeal substance and that existing sepâ—â—atâ—ly and by it self in immortality which is the thing he said our faculties cannot conceive of And this I suppose whatever is pretended was the principal inducement to his excepting so sollicitously the humane and rational Soul from his intended discourse of the corporeity of Angels But we will view his three Reasons alledged for this Exception more distinctly as they lie in order First saith he because the humane Soul had a peculiar kind of Creation differing from the Creation of other things as appeareth in the words of the Text Gen. 2.7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of Life and Man became a living Soâ—l Upon which the Note of Tremellius and Iunius is Anima verò hominis spiritale quiddam est divinum Or more at large as he cites it p. 314. Thus in English That the difference between Man and oâ—hâ—r Animals might appear more clearly for the Souls of these came out of the same matter from whence they had their Bodies but his Soul was a certain Spiriâ—uâ—l and Divine thing Now it is evident upon first sight that Tremellius and Iunius here for I take his word for the Quotation not meeting with it in their Notes oâ— the place did not intend to lay down any difference between the creation of the Soul of Man and of Angels which alone would serve his purpose but of Man and other Animals only produced out of matter And therefore this could not be a reason for excepting the humane Soul from the dispute of Angels But yet it may be worth the while to stay a little upon the Text referr'd to for our better acquaintance with our selves and so a greater preparedness for the conception of material and immortal substances The Lord God saith the Text formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his Nostrils the breath of life and man became a living Soul His Body made of Earth but his Soul the Breath of God Divinae particula Aurae We must not understand it grosly for so Breath is not attributable unto God who is a simple and perfect Spirit but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a figurative expression of God's communicating unto Man that inward Principle whereby he lives and acts not only in common with but in a degree above other Animals Vatablus therefore renders it by injecerat sive immiserat He put or conveyed into his body a vital Spirit And so Iunius and Tremellius in their Notes upon the place tell us humanitus dictum pro eo quod ex virtute sui aeterni spiritûs c. It is spoken after the manner of men and the meaning is this that by vertue of his Eternal Spirit without any Elementary matter he inspired a Vital Soul which is by nature a simple form into that Elementary Body that it might use as an Instrument And Man became a living Soul that is say they quum virtute Dei fuit anima corpori adunata in unitatem personae c. ' when by the power of God the Soul was thus united to the body in one person the Earthy Statue became indued with life and was reckoned a principal species of Animals To a like purpose saith Clarius The Souls of other living Creatures were de materiâ eductae brought forth of matter Gen. 1.20 21. Let the waters bring forth the moving Creature that hath life and let the Earth bring forth the living Creature after his kind But the Soul of Man was for ìs inspirata from God immediately And thus much Iob also acknowledgeth The Spirit of God saith he hath made me and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life Ch. 33.4 The Learned P. Fagius takes notice of three things in the Text of Moses which do conclude the Immortality of the Soul of Man I. Insufflatio illa Dei This Inspiration from God spoken of For he that breaths into another contributes unto him aliquid de suo somewhat of his own And therefore saith he when our B. Saviour would communicate his Spirit to his Disciples he did it with Insufflation breathing on them thereby to signifie se Divinum de suo quiddam illis contribuere II. The Original word Nischmath which we render Breath or Spirit derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heaven imports somewhat Divine and Celestial III. The word Hajim added to it sounds plurally spiraculum vitarum the breath of lives Non simpliciter vitam sed longaevam significat a long and continuing life or as some will have it being of the dual number praesentis futuri saeculi vitam the life of this and the other world Or if I may add a farther conjecture both the rational and sensitive life What is here declared by Moses of Man's Origination was notably emblem'd out in the Fable of Prometheus which is by interpretation Providence where the Body is said to have been è molli luto of soft and yielding Clay And such we must suppose the dust of the Earth in Genesis Earth temper'd and prepared with moisture è pulvere sub jam macerato ac
sentiens movens In like manner Angels are Spirits that is living and understanding Beings capable in a more eminent way and manner than our Souls are by reason of their bodily cloggs and impediments of Knowledge Will and Action The Soul separated from the Body is the clearest representation we can have of a Spirit or Angel Whence Bellarmin saith very well that an Angel is Anima perfecta a perfect or compleat Soul and the Soul is Angelus imperfectus an imperfect and incompleat Angel Onely the Soul of Man perhaps hath that intrinsic habitude and inclination unto Body which the Angels have not The Soul saith Dr. More consider'd as invested immediately with that tenuious matter which is her inward vehicle hath very little more difference from the aerial Genii or Angels than a Man in prison from one that is free or a sword in the scabbard from one out of it or a Man that is clothed from one that is naked A Soul is but a Genius in the Body and a Genius a Soul out of the Body Thales Pythagoras Plato and the Stoicks call these Beings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 souly Substances if I may so speak and the Peripatetick School generally Formas abstractas separatas so that we may pertinently enough stile them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most sacred Choire of bodiless Souls or Ghosts S. Chrysostom I am sure frequently names them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bodiless Powers Hereunto well agrees the distribution which Apuleius gives us of Daemons or Genii viz. such as were sometime in an humane body and such as were always free from the bonds of Bodies And so Plutarch in the person of Ammonius the Philosopher makes two sorts of them Souls separated from Bodies or such as never dwelt in Bodies at all Of the former sort he makes 1. The Soul of man etiam nunc in corpore situs even now in the body Whence some conceived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dici quorum daemon bonus i.e. animus virtute perfectus est And so M. Antoninus often calls the Soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 2. s. 13. l. 5. s. 27. c. and so others also speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h.e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas ex innominato 2. The humane Soul emeritis stipendiis vitae corpore suo abjurans dismiss'd and parted from its Body by death whom the ancient Latines as he saith call'd Lemures Lares Larras and Manes To which purpose also Max. Tyrius tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diss. XXVII The Soul laying down or putting off its Body becomes forthwith of a Man a Daemon And such as these also as Plutarch notes they called Heroes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De placit But then for the latter sort he adds There is yet a more excellent and noble kind of Demons than these two specified qui semper à corporis compedibus nexibus liberi which were alwaies exempt from the fetters and ties of Body and of this sort and number saith he Plato supposeth every man to have a select witness and keeper And these he desines to be Genere animalia ingenio rationabilia animo passiva corpore aerea tempore aeterna A Definition I shall not stay to examine Saint Augustine sufâ—iciently exagitates and quarrels with it and especially for ascribing to them those passions which arise in us from folly or misery with whom Fulgentius consents in the same particular But I have offered enough to explain the notion of a Spirit and so of Angels from a reflection upon our own Souls which was the thing I aimed at They pass 't is true sometimes in Scripture by the name of men Thrâ—e men appeared to Abraham Gen. 18. So at our blessed Saviour's Sepulchre Behold two men in shining Garments Saint Luk. 24. Ovid hath it of Iupiter himself Et deus humanâ lustro sub imagine terras And Homer whom Apuleius in his Apology calls omnis vetustatis certissimum Authorem relates of these lesser Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is That in the habit of divers Pilgrims they perambulate Towns and Cities and take inspection of the good and evil doings of men Which calls to my mind that of the Apostle Hebr. 13.2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained Angels unawares But this was only say some because they assumed the likeness of men In specie virorum apparebant And so the Devil saith Drusius is call'd Samuel whose form he appeared in and he quotes it for one of Saint Augustine's Canons Specie's rerum appellantur de nominibus ipsarum rerum The appearances of things are call'd by the names of things themselves And whereas we read of the Angels eating Gen. 19.3 the Hierusalem Thargum hath it videbantur ac si ederent ac biberent And they seemed or appeared as if they eat and drank And so the Angel said to Tobit's Son and Daughter All these daies I did appear to you but I did neither eat nor drink but you did see a Vision Sed ità vobis videbatur as the Latin renders it Saint Augustin indeed glosseth on it Not that he imposed on the eyes of Tobias and others but that he did not eat in the same manner as they did or thought him to eat to wit out of a necessity of receiving nourishment or bodily refreshment But Theodoret having proved the verity of our blessed Saviour's Body from his feeding on Butter and Honey his Mother's Milk and other meat and drink agreeable thereunto starts this Objection of Abraham's Guests the Angels and answers it to this effect If any one shall out of folly urge the nourishment that was in Abraham's Tent let him know that he speaketh foolishly For those things seemed to be done but were consumed in another manner which he best knows that consumed them But if any one should also foolishly grant that the incorporeal nature was partaker of these Kates yet he can never find hunger or thirst there I need not explain the contents of this censure 'T is undeniable that we find many things in Sacred Writ spoken of Angels which border upon Body But then we must know it was the property of the Jews Language as a learned Man observes indeed of all other to give denomination to things unseen from analogical and borrowed expressions of things visible And here we may remember the saying of Saint Augustin concerning them Locutiones humanae etiam in eos usurpantur propter quandam operum similitudinem non propter affectionum infirmitatem They are sometimes clad in the dress of our passions as God himself is to shew forth a likeness of working but not of infirmity As also the admonition of Saint Chrysostom that when we hear
giv'n to hurt the Earth and Sea saying Hurt not till we have sealed the Servants of our God in the foreheads Revel 7.2 3. King Hezekiah in a great strait and distress begirt with the Assyrians whose Power and multitude he was no-ways able to resist prayeth to God and he sends his Angel to work a sudden and wonderful deliverance for him destroying in one night as hath been touch'd before an hundred fourscore and five thousand of the insulting Enemy 2 Kings 19. And such another story we have of the great deliverance of Maccabeus and the Jews by an Angel or helper from Heav'n in the Apochrypha 2 Maccab. 11.6 8 9 10 11. with his prayer at another time for the like aid encouraged by this example of Hezekiah Ch. 15.22 23 24. The three famous Confessors Shadrach Meshach and Abednego whose proper names were Hananiah Michael and Azariah Dan. 1. when cast into a Fiery Furnace heated seven times hotter than ordinary were yet strangely preserved from all harm and indemnified amidst the raging Flames by an Angel of God who appeared there with them so that that most furious and devouring Element had no power upon their Bodies nor was an hair of their Head singed neither were their Coats changed nor did the smell of the Fire pass upon them though it was so fierce and scorching that it consumed the men who cast them in Dan. 3. And when Daniel another of the Confessors of those times as they are reckon'd up Ch. 1. call'd there The four Children to whom God gave great knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom when he I say was cast into the Lions Den on purpose to be devoured an Angel of God there restrains the wild appetite of those greedy beasts of prey and after a most unwonted manner preserves him in the very Jaws of Death Dan. 6. My God saith he hath sent his Angel and hath shut the Lions mouths that they have not hurt me for as much as before him innocency was found in me and also before thee O King have I done no hurt Ver. 22. And these four are the persons plainly referr'd to in the Apostle's Martyrology Hebr. 11.33 34. Who are said through faith to have stopt the mouths of Lions and quenched the violence of Fire viz. God by his Angels as hath been said rescuing and delivering them When the Apostles were by the procurement of the High-Priest put in the Common-Prison the Angel of the Lord by night open'd the Prison-doors and brought them forth and animated them to speak openly to the People in the Temple Acts 5.18 c. And Saint Peter after that imprisoned by Herod and deliver'd over for security to four Quaternions of Souldiers to be kept was thence notwithstanding all their care set at liberty by an Angel loosing of his Chains causing the Iron-gates of the City to open to him and conducting of him through the Streets thereof in such a manner as he thought himself but in a Dream for a great while till he came at last to acknowledg Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his Angel and hath deliver'd me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the People of the Iews Acts 12.4 c. Thus the Angels we see are the Commissioned Instruments of extraordinary Escapes Preservations and Deliverances Sometimes too they are sent as Physitians to cure and heal in case of Hurt Sickness or Disease Hence we read of the Pool of Bethesda where lay a great multitude of impotent Folk Blind half-wither'd waiting for the moving of the Water For an Angel saith the Text went down at a certain season which Heinsius tells us out of Cyril was yearly at Pentecost into the Pool and troubled the Water and whosoever then fiâ—st after the troubling of the Water step'd in was made whole of whatsoever Disease he had Saint Iohn 5.3 4. To this head we may refer perhaps those choice Receits which M. Antoninus acknowledgeth himself a Debtor for to the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in the Book of Tobit we are told of the Angel Raphael whose name as I have said elsewhere signifies a Divine Physitian sent to heal old Tobit of his blindness and Sarah the Daughter of Raguel his daughter-in-Law of her reproached barrenness To scale away the whiteness of Tobit 's eyes and to give Sarah the daughter of Raguel for a wife to Tobias the son of Tobit and to bind Asmodeus the evil Spirit that had kill'd her seven former husbands before they had lain with her Tobit 3. And the good old man was so ready in his belief of this Divinity concerning the help and protection of God's Angels vouchsafed to his Servants upon occasion that he cheers and comforts his troubled and discontented Wife upon his Son's journey from her with it Take no care saith he he shall return in safety and thine eyes shall see him for the good Angel will keep him company and his journey shall be prosperous and he shall return safe Ch. 5.20 21. Hitherto I have given sundry apposite instances as I conceive of the Ministry of Angels to pious and good men throughout their life instructing defending comforting helping and delivering them And we may be sure their aid and assistance is then most ready at hand when they have most need of it At the Agony of Death therefore they may look for strength and support from them even as they ministred to our Lord and Saviour in his as hath been more than once suggested already That is a time certainly wherein their help cannot but be very acceptable all other visible help then failing and the Devil plying of his assaults because he knows his time is short which gave occasion to Gazaeus to insert this intercalare Distichon in a Poem of his to his Angel-keeper Angele mi bone dux animae bone mentis Achates Quo sine non possum vivere nolo mori In death as Gerhard speaks we fear especially the craft of our Adversary that Serpent who doth insidiari calcaneo ply at the heel The heel saith he is the extreme part of the Body an th extreme term of Life is Death In that agony of death therefore the custody of Angels is chiefly necessary to keep us from the fiery darts of the Devil and convey the Soul whâ—n it leaves the Body into the heavâ—â—ly Pâ—â—adise Tertuâ—â—â—â—â— stileâ— them 〈…〉 the Câ—â—lers forth of 〈◊〉 and â—uch a◠〈◊〉 â—hem 〈◊〉 â—uram diversorii 〈◊〉 pâ—â—paration 〈◊〉 those Mâ—nsions they are 〈◊〉 to agreeably â—o which we â—ave â—omewâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 among the Platonists Vide 〈◊〉 de Deo Socratis Plato docuit â—bi vâ—â—a edit◠〈…〉 est cundem illum Genium raptare illic◠〈◊〉 veluâ— custodiam suam ad juâ—â—â—ium c. And then after the separatâ—on of Body and Soul asunder they are careful and diligent in their attendance to Lodg the departed Spirit safely in
bestows as also that aspersion which he casts upon the Pious and profoundly Learned Dr. Hammond That he is â—lmost eveâ—y-wâ—ere guilâ—y of vain Traâ—itioâ—â—l Fancies These aâ—â— Epâ—thâ—â—es which howeâ—er they might be pardoned in a Practitioner of Physick whoâ— Age â—nd â—nfirmities may â—aâ—e 〈◊〉 froward and waâ—pish are not so agreeable to his other Character as a Presbyter of this Church ordained long since by the Right Reverend Dr. Tho. Morton Bishop of Durham and Câ—rate of Kildwick about the Year 1634 as himself acquaints us though he wholly baulk his Spiritual Titles in the Frouâ— of his Book as one that glories rather in another Function I do heartily both approve and commend his Piety in acquieâ—cing as he professeth in the determinations of holy Scripture and fully accord with him in what he lays down for the Rule of proceeding in these Controversies The Word of God saith he is the most proper medium with sound Reason to judge of the power of Spirits and Devils by And again That the Scâ—iptures and sound Reason are the only true and proper Medium to decide these Controversies by is most undeniably apparent beâ—ause God is a Spirit and the invisible God and therefore best knows the nature and power of the spiritual and invisible world and being the God of truth can and doth inform us Nay he is the Father of Spirits and therefore truly knows and can and doth teach us their Naâ—ures Offices and Operations And again The Scriptures and found Reason are the most fit Medium to determinâ— these things by Particularly he speaks of the Humanâ— Soul Angels and Devils 1. The Word of God saith he doth particulâ—rly teach us the state and condition of Souls after death that they shall be like the Angels in Heaven and all other things necessary to move and draw us â—o beliâ—ve the immortal existence of Souls 2. Hath not God in the holy Scriptures amply and plainly laid down the state of the other world in describing to us such a numerous Company of Seraphims and Cherubims Angels and Arch-Angels with their several Ordâ—rs Offices Ministries and Employments 3. The Scriptures do fully and abundantly inform us of the Devil 's spiritual and invisible power and against the same declare unto us the whole Armoâ—r of God with which we ouâ—ht to be furnished as the Apostle saith Ephes. 6. Now that which I purpose to observe and examine is chiefly this how consistent our Author is to himself and how well he hath acquitted him according to these Rules and Measures in his Discourses of Angels and Spirits And that so far only as I apprehend my self concern'd by some things which I have asserted and declared in the precedent Treatise I have suggested in the Epistle Dedicatory that the general dis-belief of Spirits may well be thought an Introduction to all manner of Irreligion and Profaneness which brings me in part under that condemnation wherein he involves both Dr. Casaubon and Mr. Glanvil The one for saying One prime foundation of Atheism as by many ancient and late is observed being the not belief of Spiritual Beings The other for affirming Those that will not bluntly say there is no God content themselvâ—s for a fair step and introduction to deny there are Spirits In opposition to whom he asserts that the denying of the Existence of Spirits doth not infer the denying of the Being of God because God might be without them and God was before them and the Sadducees believed a God allowing of the Books of Moses c. as he discourseth more at large Now this formal arguing of his as I conceive is weak and trifling For to say nothing that such Ethical propositions as these should not be scann'd over-rigidly but construed sometimes cum grano salis as holding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 However therâ— might be a God though there were neither Angels nor Devils in rerum natura yet those that deny in general the being of Spirits do therein implicitly impugn the being of God who is a Spirit whether themselves know and consider it or no. And as some have justified the Truth of that Royal Maxime No Bishop No King against them who would prove in like manner as this Author pleads that there is no necessary and immediate connexion of the terms Bishop and King or no essential dependence of King upon Bishop because nevertheless they that have opposed Bishops in the Church have been generally also against a King in the State and the same Antimonarchical principle inclines them to oppose both so may we answer here and 't is to be observed among our modern Atheists and Sadducees especially that their antipathy and aversation as to the notion and being of Spirits universally hath carried them on and naturally doth so to the dethroning of God the Supreme Spirit and Father of Spirits And although as he farther saith God had been God though he had not been Creator or there might be a God though there were no Creation Such a God as Epicurus and his Followers aâ— vitandam invidiam acknowledg yet should not I question to tax that person with real Atheism who denies a God under that notion as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first cause of all things the Maker and Governor of the World especially since the Apostle hath taught us that The invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are cleerly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead so that they even the Heathen are without excuse Those persons certainly suppose we never so charitably as Salvian saith of the Arrians that they may bono animo errare contribute very much towards the countenancing and support of Atheism among men who banish the belief of Incorporeal Beings out of the World as mere jargon and a thing which no man whatever he talks can possibly understand And though I am far enough from insinuating this Author to be such an one since he openly professeth his belief of God the humane Soul Angels and Devils and of all the holy Scripture which declareth these things to our faith and because there are some who by the goodness of their nature and prevalence of some better principles may not be effectually and in practice what otherwise certain evil tenets would incline them to be Many are too dull and stupid to understand or consider of the fatal and pernicious consequences of their own Opinions and others are too vertuously qualified to be influenced by them Yet it may not be amiss for him seriously to reflect and weigh within himself what a bad use others at least may make of such assertions of his as these are that follow There is no common notion saith he of a spiritual and immaterial Being in all or any man And again confidently We assert that our faculties or cognitive Powers how far soever some would magnifie and extol them
circumscribed in place and consequently can perform no operation in Physical things Contained and circumscribed in place are corporeal phantasmes and so is place it self as he describes it proper unto bodies But let him tell us how the incorporeal spirit of man is in it's body and that so as to perform undeniably Physical operations there and we shall soon inform him of the Vbi of Angels and their definitive being in it Let us see briefly whether he hath better success from Scripture than from Reason and I have done The Scripture saith he informeth us that in or at the Resurrection the bodies of men shall be as the Angels that are in Heaven Sicut Angeli Mark 12.25 Now this Analogy Comparison or Assimilation would be altogether false if Angels had no bodies at all but were meerly incorporeal Then it would follow that bodies after the Resurrection were made pure Spirits and so ceased to be bodies which is false according to the Doctrine of S. Paul who sheweth us plainly that after the Resurrection they are changed in qualities into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritual bodies 1 Cor. 15.44 From whence we conclude that Angels have bodies and that they are pure spiritual ones I will not dispute against the matter of his conclusion viz. that Angels have bodies and that those bodies are pure and refined such as he calls spiritual ones For my concern is only to defend that they are nevertheless incorporeal Beings as the Humane Soul is though united to a grosser body But yet I must add a word or two of his Scripture-premises And first here is violence offer'd to the Text of our B. Saviour by foisting in the word Bodies to it for the Text is only thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When they shall rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the Angels which are in Heaven And it is known well enough to be our Saviours Answer to the Question propounded concerning the Woman which had had seven Husbands In the Resurrection whose Wife shall she be of the seven Elsewhere I remember our Author puts in Souls instead of his Bodies here The Word of God doth particularly teach us the state and condition of Souls after death that they shall be like the Angels in Heaven But whatever Truth there may be in either Proposition apart and by it self the H. Text I am sure mentions neither Bodies nor Souls And if it did we must not stretch Similitudes to make them argumentative beyond the thing they are brought for They run not we say on all four It is enough that our B. Saviour there resolves us that we whether in Body or Soul or both shall at the Resurrection be like unto the Angels in Heaven in Immortality and an estrangement from the sensual inclinations and entertainments of this present imperfect state such as Marrying and giving in Marriage And we may be like the Angels in many perfections as we are said to be like to God himself though they should have no Bodies so that even upon that supposal this Analogy Comparison or Assimilation as he speaks would not be altogether false nor would it follow that Bodies after the Resurrection are made pure Spirits and cease to be Bodies as he infers Secondly for Saint Paul's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or spiritual Bodies Though upon the supposition that Angels have Bodies which for my part I gain-say not it may be an ingenious translation Such Bodies as Spirits or Angels have yet it is sufficient to the purpose of the Apostle there that our Bodies are participant of the spiritual perfection of immortality Or put on immortality Ver. 53. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod ad tempus vivit dum anima adest Anima est vox hujus vitae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habens in se vice animae Spiritum immutabilem c. Grot. in Loc. See Ch. 3. Sect. 3. of the fore-going Treatise And so he cannot conclude from hence that Angels have Bodies That I be not over-tedious I will end all with some few Reflections upon that noted Text of the Psalmist Who maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flaming Fire Psalm 104.4 From whence saith our Author the persons of the other opinion such as Aquinas and the rest of the Scholastick Rabble would positively conclude that they are spirits and absolutely incorporeal but fail of their purpose for these clear Reasons His clear Reasons I shall examine anon when we have first viewed the Text it self I can scarce pass over that Rude and Detracting Term of Scholastic Rabble He should have been obliged I think to a greater sweetness and civility to those whom he owes so much to and of whom he hath borrowed the chief ornaments of his Book as to this Subject those dear Maxim's I mean which he relies so much upon Imaginaâ—io non transcendit continuum Quicquid agit agit vel mediatione suppositi vel virtutis per contactum immediatum aut mediatum Immateriale non agit in materiale nisi eminentâ—r ut Deus And not to immind him of his own essential Identity and Alteriâ—y he can easily match their most Bombast and Barbarous Terms among his Occult and Magical Sophies But to the matter before us It is confess'd that the original word sometimâ—s signifies Winds as well as Spirits and the Hebrew Doctors so read it Ventos Angelos suos non ex accidente spirant sed sunt Dei nuncii Ignem ardentem fulgura So R. David And Munstâ—r translates it Facit flâ—tus nuncios suos ignem flagrantem ministros suos q. d. Violent and sudden Winds to execute his commands and Fire performs his pleasure fulfilling his word Ps. 148.8 And this is a great Truth But the holy Ghost in Hebr. 1.7 as Master Ainsworth well notes shews it to be spoken by the Psalmist of Angels properly who are named ministring Spirits Ver. 14. And our Physician allows The Author of the Epistle to Hebrews must needs be taken for the best Expositor of the words Yet among those that conceive them of Angels properly so call'd there is some difference Some refer them to the respective Vehicles of Angels either AEreal for Wind is but Air in motion or AEthereal and Ignâ—ous Thus Grotius Sunt enim Angelorum alii Acrei alii Ignei Angelis corpora sed subtilissima non Pythagorae tantùm Platonis Schola sensit sed Judaei veteres veteres Christiani And to the same effect Doctor Hammond paraphraseth Who though he be able to do all things by himself to administer the whole World as he first created it by a word by saying and it was done yet is he pleased to make use of the Ministry of Angels who some of them in subtile Bodies of Air others of Fire come down and execute his Commands here upon Earth And in his Annotations he tell us As Angels and Ministers are but several names of the same
temperato imbre qui deciderat q. d. ex massâ quadam terrae madefactâ as Vatablus hath it but the Soul ignis de Caelo a fire or spark taken from Heaven And agreeable to this first Production of Man is the description which Solomon gives us of his dissolution Eccles. 12.7 whereof I have spoken in the foregoing Treatise comparing it with Phocylides and Lucretius Ch. 11. § 1. from whence we learn saith Drusius how far this wise-man was from their Heresie who think that the Soul of man is mortal and doth unà cum corpore interire perish with the body A Note I shall have occasion to make farther use of by and by And Elihu in the Book of Iob phraseth man's dissolution much like Solomon If he i. e. God gather unto himself his spirit and breath all flâ—sh shall perish togethâ—r and man shall turn again to his dust But enough of this digression I proceed to our Author's second Reason 2 saith he because I find Solomon the wisest man making this Question Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the Earth Eccles. 3.21 How well now doth this second Reason hit and accord with the first There he told us from Iunius and Tremellius the plain distinction between the spirit of man and the souls of other Animals as a more Divine Being and here he starts forthwith upon it a sceptical doubt or question out of Ecclesiastes that seems plainly to confound both together And he sets it off too with the commendation of Solomon's Eximious Wisdom as if he had given us in it the inward sense of his own wisely-searching mind We had need of good assurance of our Authors right belief in this matter to construe his meaning in this alâ—edgment It were seasonable here to immind him of his own saying in another case It is a very froward and perverse way of arguing to make one place of Scripture to clash with another And to bring into his memory one of his Rules for the interpretation of H. Scripture That there be a due comparing of the Antecâ—dents and Consequents in the Context that the purpose scope theme arguments disposition and method may be perfectly and maturely considered otherwise by the slighting or omitting any one of these partiâ—ular points the whole place may be mistaken and an errour easily fallen into Turpe est doctori According to this good Rule therefore I will endeavour an Explication of this Text of Solomon's which the Friends of Atheism Epicuâ—ism and Profaneness are fond enough of and our Author it seems leaves them to chew the Cud upon The entire period runs thus I said in my heart concerning the state of the sons of men that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth the beasts even one thing befalleth them As the one dieth so dieth the other yea they have all one breath so that a man hath no preheminence above a beast for all is vanity All go unto one place All are of-the dust and all turn to dust again Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the Earth These words now at the reading of them may be thought by some to herd Man absolutely as a Fellow-commoner among the Beasts But if we duly consider them together with the Context and the several constructions which they admit of otherwise we shall be able to satisfie our selves and others to the contrary The wise Solomon in the Verses immediately precedent to this discourse rationally infers a future Judgment of God from the irregularities and disorders apparent in Humane Judicatories Vers. 16 17. I saw under the Sun the place of Iudgment that wickedness was there and the place of Righteousness that iniquity was there I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work Now what can be more directly cross and destructive to this Pious Inference of a Judgment to come which shall rectifie and set streight the enormities of Earâ—hly Tribunals than an Opinion that Men are as the Beasts and so are not accountable for what they do or end their accounts with this present life and therefore need not at all trouble themselves with the fore-thoughts and fears because they are not in a capacity of being call'd to a future reckoning What I say can be more contradictory to his Religious scope and purpose than this Some other sense then we must of necessity fix upon Iunius and Tremellius whom I the rather mention for our Author's sake tell us that the Wise Man having before express'd a true account and judgment upon those oppressions confusions and disorders which he had observed under the Sun doth here subjoyn judicium ex sensu carnis profectum another-guise sentence or opinion arising from Carnal Sense And this whole period say they is Narratio carnalis disceptationis ac judicii a Declaration of Carnal Reason only in the case Thus therefore they read the words Dixeramego cum animo meo secundum rationem humanam I said with my heart according to humane reasoning thus and thus And then of the 21 Vers. particularly they add Ironica confutatio quâ utitur caro adversus piam doctrinam de differentiâ inter animas eventu ex morte It is an Ironical or Mockconfutaton which the Flesh useth against the pious Doctrine of the difference between Souls and that which follows upon death q. d. I hear I know not what whisper'd of the substance of Man's Soul that it is heavenly and that it goes to Heaven at death And on the other side that the soul of beasts is a certain Earthy faculty so adhering unto body that iâ— cannot be separated without it's own destruction But who I wonder hath seen the one or other either or both of these It is a more certain course therefore to pass a judgment of both from those common facts and events which are before our eyes Thus far they And this also is the perswasion of Munster that these things are here spoken secundum stultam opinionem pecuinorum hominum according to the foolish opinion of bruitish men who conceit that the whole Man doth perish by death as other Animals and therefore repute it the chiefest happiness to increase themselves in all voluptuousness while they live seeking their portion in this life only To which purpose also it follows immediately by way of inference Vers. 22. Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoyce in his own works for that is his portion for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him As the Apostle reasons in behalf of a future state 1 Cor. 15.30 32. Why stand we in jeopardy every hour c. Let us
eat and drink for to morrow we die The right Epicurean reasoning here in Ecclesiastes Ede bibe lude post mortem nulla voluptas But S. Paul adds a peculiar Caution against it as dangerous kind of talk whatever wisdom some think in it Vers. 33. Be not deceived saith he evil communications corrupt good manners The Learned Grotius too gives us in effect a like gloss upon this period Contra illam cogitationem de judicio futuri aevi de quâ Sâ—rmo praecessit alia mihi cogitatio suborta est c. Against that meditation of judgment in the world to come of which the words before made mention another thought rose in my mind that God doth permit men thus to live together ferino more in the manner of beasts thereby the better to declare and shew that men are as the beasts And to this thought in his mind saith Grotius he adds it's Arguments But then on the 21 Vers. he paraphraseth thus Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward whether it abide and remain as a thing Celestial And the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the Earth whether it perish as the body that iâ— laid under ground And his Note upon it is That Man by his meer Natural Reason solà nativâ ratione hath no evident certainty about this matter and the doubts saith he of Socrates Tully and Seneca shew as much They had not I confess the compleat assurance vouchsafed us by the help of a Diviner Revelation which hath brought Life and Immortality to light But yet we find in them even in their state of darkness such strength of Reason and Argument sometimes urged that might well lay the Foundation of a greater confidence than at other times they discovered And Simplicius as I remember acquaints us that Socrates spent the time immediately before his death the season of greatest Tryal in discoursing strenuously of the Immortality of the Soul and recommending a Philosophical preparation for another life Vatablus lets us understand that some read the Words thus AEstimavi autem in animo meo conditionem hominum c. I have weighed in my mind the condition of Men how God made them most excellent and yet they may seem or one would think that saw them that they are Beasts to themselves in their own Judgment as the Beasts q. d. so great Ignorance nevertheless doth rule in Mens Hearts that they seem not to differ from the Beasts That therefore of the Psalmist is by some accommodated to this place Man being in Honour without understanding becometh like the Beasts that perish Now therefore though he was made to be Immortal he is excused no more from Death than other Creatures Drusius And so possibly when the Wise-man saith Who knoweth the Spirit of Man that goeth upward c. By Spirit here may be meant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aura vitalis aer spirabilis the Vital Breath in which sense we say Spiritum accipere reddere And this Spirit or Breath may be said to go upward or downward according to the different positure of the Body of Man and Beast the one with his countenance erect the other inclined to the Earth Pronaque cum spectant animalia caetera terram Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri c. But if we take Spirit here for the Soul it self we may render Quis novit with Drusius by pauci noverunt or with Clarius Quam rarus est qui interim id novit How few know the difference between the Spirit of Man and that of the Beast As when the same Wiseman saith elsewhere A vertuous woman who can find his meaning is not that such an one is not at all to be found but rara est inventu she is hard to be found as the good and wise have been in all ages rari nantes in gurgite vasto So here tantum sciunt sapientes qui ab illâ—s didicerunt ' none but the wise and such as have learn't of them ken the difference Or rather thus Quis novit Scilicet eventis communibus nam inde discerni nequit spiritus hominis à spiritu bestiarum Who that looks only upon common events who that keeps only to the visible effects ordinarily taken notice of at the death of either can understand the difference And yet notwithstanding all this a wide difference there is When Man's breath goeth forth and he giveth up the Ghost his Soul or Spirit doth undeniably return unto God that gave it as this Wiseman plainly asserts afterwards Ch. 12.7 to God to be judged 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 9.27 And such a judgment he had spoken of immediately before this period Ver. 17. which could not possibly be if Man died as the Beasts and his Soul perished with his Body So that by the help of our Author 's wholsome rule comparing the words of Solomon with their Antecedents and Consequents we may be able to vindicate this wisest of men from an imputation of siding with sensual Fools and Epicures in the matter before us And the Rule prescribed hath this real commendation that it hath long since been given Qui non advertit quod suprà infrà est in sacris libris pervertit verba Dei viventis To conclude this subject It is lively represented to us in the second Chapter of the Book of Wisdome as the speech of the wicked and unwise The ungodly said reasoning with themselves as we have found it in Solomon but not aright Our life is short and tedious and in the death of man there is no remedy For we are born at all adventure and we shall be hereafter as though we had never been For the breath in our Nostrils is a smoak and a little spark in the moving of our heart which being extinguished our body shall be turned into ashes and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air Come on therefore let us enjoy the good things that are present These are our only portion Let us oppress the poor righteous man Let our strength be the Law of Justice c. Such things they did imagine and were deceived for their own wickedness hath blinded them Vers. 21. And then in the next Chapter he speaks excellently of the happiness of good and godly men The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God Father into thy hands I commend my spirit and there shall no torment touch them In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die and their departure is taken for misery and their going from us to be utter destruction But they are in peace for though they be punished in the sight of men yet is their hope full of Immortality I have taken all this pains to shew that the wisest of men was not of the same opinion with these unwise and ungodly ones but that he did act or rather say their part only and sub aliena persona loqui without any design to assert or confirm what he