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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	bring_v	sin_n	wage_n	4,080	5	11.1858	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67026	The true originall of the soule proving both by divine and naturall reason, that the production of mans soule is neither by creation nor propagation, but a certain meane way between both : wherein the doctrine of originall sinne, and the purity of Christs incarnation, is also more fully cleared then hath been heretofore published / by H.W. B.D.	Woolnor, Henry, d. ca. 1640.; Palmer, Elias.	1641 (1641)	Wing W3526; ESTC R15696	103,271	336

sinfull but spirit that is pure and holy For whatsoever comes immediately from God he makes it pure good yea Gen. 1.3 all things very good But man from his very beginning is corrupt and sinfull because he is borne of flesh for saith our Saviour of the whole man that being borne of the flesh he is flesh Eph. 2.3 and therefore the whole man hath need of a second birth that he may be borne of the spirit Either therefore we must deny originall sin or else make God the Author of evill if the soule be immediately created by him But seeing it is manifest we are borne of flesh and are by nature children of wrath and it is impious blasphemy once to imagine that God is the Author of sin I feare not to conclude that the soule is not borne of the spirit I meane created by God but of the flesh that is propagated by man The conclusion of the divine Testimonies Thus then for divine testimonies we have produced no lesse than a whole Jury of witnesses first God himselfe then Adam Moses Job David Salomon Jeremy Zachary Peter Paul the Angell Gabrell and our Saviour Christ himselfe and if humane Testimonies would serve the turne it were not hard to shew more than twelve Legions of Saints learned and unlearned that have lived and dyed in this beliefe It being the received doctrine of the westerne Churches in Saint Hieromes time as was before declared but if these will not satisfie much lesse would those and therefore I omit them CHAPTER XV. The propagation proved from the Doctrine of Originall sinne Reasons proving the soules propagation BEsides the Testimonies of Scripture this mediate manner of the soules propagation may farther be demonstrated by reasons drawne from them whereof there are two onely most materiall and indeed necessary to be considered the one concerning the doctrine of originall sin and the other touching the incarnation of our Saviour which two being the maine difficulties in this question the one hindering the soules immediate creation the other the immediate propagatiō therof if these two can be cleared but especially if both doe agree together to confirme this doctrine there will remaine no more place of disputation about it and therefore I purpose to insist so much the longer in them both 1. Originall sinne And for the better clearing the first reason drawne from the Doctrine of Originall sin I will first make way to it by a generall description of these three things First Originall sinne Secondly Creation Thirdly Propagation and then apply it particularly to the proving of the point in hand l. From the nature of the sin descending 2. From the goodnesse of God in creating 3. From the course of nature in propagating Of all which I will speake as briefly and plainly as I can and according to that divine light which is revealed in the Scriptures First therfore it must be shewed out of the Scripture whether there be any originall sin or no and what it is For the first that the streame of mans being first poysoned in Adam the fountaine hath infected every man that comes into the world with sinne is manifest through the whole Scripture Proofes out of the Scripture By one man namely Adam sin entred into the world and death by n = a Rom. 5.12 sin in the day that he did eate of the forbidden fruit wee began to die the n = b Gen. 2 17 death yea n = c Rom. 5.14 even Infants that had not actually sinned yet were tainted with originall sin so that in Adam all dye n = d 1 Cor. 15.22 because in Adam all did sin n = e Rom. 5.12 Hence it was that by and by after all the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart were onely evill continually n = f Gen 6.5 yea evill even from his youth n = g Gen. 8.21 And now who can bring a cleane thing out of an uncleane n = h Iob 14.4 And what is man that he should be cleane n = i Iob 15.14 and he that is borne of a woman that he should be righteous sayth Job Hence even David confesseth of himselfe I was borne in iniquitie and in sin did my n = k Psal 51.5 mother conceive me and of others he saith the wicked are estranged from the wombe n = l Ps 58.3 they goe astray as soone as they are borne Esay also calleth man a transgressor from the wombe n = m Isa 48.8 and Jeremy saith the heart of man is deceitfull above all things and desperately wicked n = n Ier. 17.9 hence also it is that the Apostle saith Wee are by nature children of Wrath n = o Eph. 2.3 and by the offence of one the fault came upon all n = p Ro. 5.18 men to condemnation And to conclude our Saviour saith plainly that which is borne of the flesh is flesh n = q Ioh. 3.6 Ioh. 3.3.5 and except a man be regenerate and borne againe he cannot enter into nor see the Kingdome of God Reasons to prove it Besides Reason teacheth that like begets like as touching the substance and accidents proper to the kinde 1. according to the Rule Generatum sequitur naturam generantis Beasts bring forth beasts Serpents serpents and sinfull man a sinfull of-spring We cannot gather grapes of thornes Mat. 7.16 nor figges of thistles but an evill tree bringeth forth evill fruit and corrupt Adam sinfull men otherwise how could Infants justly be punished with death seeing death is the wages of sinne And why were Infants circumcized and women purified after child-birth under the law but to shew that all that commeth of mans seed is defiled with sin Againe cōmon experience sheweth the fruit of this bitter roote to bud forth in childrē even from their very cradles and that by inclination before they can learne by imitation The necessitie also of our regeneration proves it for if by our first birth we were not corrupt then should not the second be necessary to salvation Lastly the double grace which we receive from the second Adam Christ Jesus namely Justification Regeneration shews that there floweth a double evill from the first Adam namely the guilt and corruption of nature If we had not this double sinne we should not need this double remedy What originall sin is And now that we see we are thus infected let us inquire a little more narrowly into the nature of it It appeares by that which hath beene said already that all men are become sinfull through Adams sin having lost those now supernaturall gifts wherewith he and we with him were at first indued and in stead therof are all over infected with a venomous qualitie or inclination to all manner of evill causing ignorance and blindnesse in the minde stubbornesse and rebellion in the will disorder in the affections making the senses sensuall and beast-like all the members

that can be and it must needs be and is granted by all that for a good soule to be thus united and set into such a condition is a punishment of Adams sin Now since Gods justice very nature proclaimes that the innocent child shall not be punished for the fathers offence how can a good soule be punished in so high a degree for the sin of another who was not the father of it no nor of the same kinde for Adam was not a soule but a man without injustice yea cruelty in God how justly might such a poore soule complaine of God in this case to be so farre from mercy as to be unjust and how justly may the unjust Anabaptists cry out of us as they doe that we make God the Author of sin The Lord hath taughtus in his word that he abhorres such courses for my part therefore I am so farre from beleeving this doctrine that I quake to thinke of it CHAP. XVIII That a soule newly created by God cannot be infected with Originall sinne 2. Not justly corrupted AS the soule cannot be justly united so being united it cannot be justly corrupted if it be immediately created For whence should the corruption come it must be either from the body or the soule or the union of both but it can be from none of these It is manifest it cannot be from the body for that alone cannot be corrupt and if it could it cannot corrupt the soule and if it could corrupt the soule yet not with originall sin 1. Not by ●he body That the body alone cannot be corrupt and sinfull may easily appeare by many reasons 1. It cannot be corrupt First even the thing it selfe declares that the simple substance of the body is no more capable of vertue or vice than a stone for sin can be onely in a subject that hath power to understand will and move of it selfe which the body of it selfe cannot doe but onely by reason of the reasonable soule So that the body cannot make the soule but it is the soule that makes the body sinfull Rom. 6.13 and so the Apostle also implyeth that our members are the soules instruments of sinne Although therefore the body may be cholericke melancholy c. all the world know that elementary qualities humors and affections are not of themselves sinfull but naturally good and so rather dispose to good than to evill Againe The body hath nothing in it of spirituall nature but onely that which is bodily and therefore cannot have sin which is of spirituall nature it being a spirituall evill even as obedience to God is a spirituall good Moreover if neither plants having life nor bruites having both life sense cannot be said to be sinfull because they want reason much lesse can the body the senslesse and livelesse body of man be infected with sin without the soule Lastly That which the body hath not first with that it cannot infect the soule in being united with it but the body hath not first in it ignorance unbeliefe c. in which the soules tainture originally consisteth and therefore cannot infect the soule thereby in being united with it and consequently not with originall sin neither 2. It cannot corrupt the soule But let it be granted contrary to all reason and truth that the body is first infected with originall sin can the body fasten the same upon the soule Nothing lesse And not onely because it is a spirit and bodies can work onely corporally according to their natures so as the impuritie of the body can neither affect nor infect the purest spirituall soule but also because the soule is the first mover and commander of all actions in the body Now if mens soules be created sound and sincere free from the contagion of sin every way absolute as were the soules of our first parents and so joyned unto their bodies why doe they not by vertue of that divine nature restore the ruine of that building which was defiled by the sin of Adam why doe they not clense and cleanse and purge the blots and filth of the body seeing they doe sit as Judges in the body and rule and guide it according to their owne pleasure If it be said that sin sometimes Obj. begins in the body as Davids eye when he saw Bathsheba bathing of her selfe it is easily answered For Ans 1. first the eye as a bodily part seeth not but the soule by the eye Oculus non videt sed anima per oculum Secondly His sin was not at all in seeing her but in lusting after her in his heart soule which lust conceiving I am 1.14 by consent brought forth death in act and therefore in his confession he ascends by this streame to the originall fountaine Psal 51.5 namely that originall sin wherein he was conceived Wherefore if the soule be created good and so infused into the body there is more reason that it should sanctifie the body than that the body should corrupt it and according to this doctrine it may much better be maintained that all men have originall righteousnesse because the soule comes from God than that we have originall sin because the body comes from Adam 3. It cannot corrupt it with originall sin But let this also be granted that the soule is corrupted by yeelding obedience to the body as Adam did to Eve yet we cannot have originall sin ever the more for this for the souls yeelding obedience to the body and following the sinfull motions thereof if any such there be is actuall sin and not that originall corruption wherewith the whole man is infected by descending from the loynes of Adam in whom as the Apostle saith We all sinned Rom. 5.12 and which onely was before proved to be originall sinne Not actually to commit something against the will of God is originall sin but that in-bred home-bred breathing of sin which is the spawne of all sin which if it be seated in the body how it can corrupt that new created pure soule without any provocation or inticement to sin cannot possibly be imagined Againe if Originall sin most properly consisteth in ignorance of minde aversenesse of will and perversenesse of affections none of which can be immediately in the body how can it give these things to the soule and that originall sin consists mainly in these besides the testimony of Scripture and all orthodox Writers it is manifest in reason for that from which actuall sin commeth in that doth originall sin consist now all actuall sin springs from ignorance unbeliefe c. and therefore therein especially originall sin must needs consist To conclude seeing the body alone cannot possibly have originall sin nor give that which it hath not Originall sin cannot possibly come by the body 2. Not by the soule Neither can it proceed from the soule if it be created good but it will be said it may for in the instant

thus I have finished my taske in proving this manner of the soules propagation both by divine and naturall reason CHAP. XXIX An answer to some objections against this manner of propagation BUt now me-thinkes I heare some call me backe saying I contradict my selfe in that I say and that even this meane way hath its extremities Having therefore shewed that the soule of man can neither be immediately created by God not yet meerely propagated by man and proved this middle way betweene both both by Scripture and naturall reasons I will now in the last place that there may remaine no just scruple to cavill at briefly answer some few Objections which I conceive may be made more directly even against this meane manner of the soules procreation and so conclude The Objections are these foure Objections First That the soule shall not be immortall if it may be resolved into a former principle namely Adams soule from whence all came Secondly God shall hereby still worke immediately in the creation of soules and so shall not yet have ended his worke and rest from his labours Thirdly Man shall still be inferior to beasts in that he cannot beget his like alone but must have more helpe from God than they Lastly God shall still be touched with sin in being the immediate efficient of our sinfull soules All which may be as easily answered as objected 1 Obj. That the soule must be mortall if it proceed from another For the first first although it is true that all mixt bodyes may be againe resolved into their former principles the elements whereof they are compounded and out of which they arise yet this is no impeachment to the soules immortalitie For the comparison is unequall and the causes nothing like unlesse wee should say that all bodyes must returne into Adams also whence they came as well as soules Secondly Mixt bodyes are not the simple elements but compounded of them where as our soules are of the same nature and no lesse simple than his was Thirdly If it were compounded yea even of the elements yet it would not presently follow that it must needs be mortall because corruption and death comes not onely nor so much from propagation or composition as from divine malediction for death is the wages of sinne without which even Adams body should have beene immortall as well as his soule Lastly To this objection I will oppose an infallible conclusion viz. that nothing can returne to nothing but by the same meanes whereby it receives the first being And hence it is that all creatures that are produced out of the elements by the power of nature doe by nature resolve into them againe but because mens soules cannot be propagated from their parents but by the immediate power of GOD concurring hence it necessarily followeth that neither can they be againe dissolved or annihilated but by the same omnipotent power This therefore doth invincibly prove so farre is it from disproving proving the soules immortalitie 2 Obj. That God still works in creating Soules For the second that God shall not yet rest from his labour but be still set aworke in the creation of soules I answer first here is no creation of any new kind of creature which they of the contrary part would have us to take for a sufficient answer Secondly Which is more here is no new substance created of nothing but onely produced out of former matter Thirdly It nothing oppugnes Gods resting to worke immediately in some things as by his holy Spirit in the hearts of Gods Elect Ioh. 5.17 in such things the Father worketh hitherto and the Sonne likewise Lastly This worke is no part of creation properly but of preservation which is ordinarily either mediate or immediate Mediate so all elementary creatures and individuall natures are preserved by God but by the meanes of nature or rather naturall meanes but now nature it selfe or as I may say the very nature or Symmetry of nature is preserved by his owne immediate power there being no nature above nature but onely his to preserve it And by the same immediate power it must needs be that the production of soule is conserved the excellency of whose nature is such as can have no naturall or mediate efficient cause and therefore of necessitie it must be his immediate providence onely and that even by course of nature 3 Obj. That ma● shall still be inferiour to other creatures To the third objection that if mans generatiō requires more helpe from God than other creatures his nature shall therein be still inferiour to theirs I answer That no creature can propagate the like alone no more than he and that he doth as much in the generation of his like as any other creatures doe in theirs For it is well knowne that in generation besides the matter and forme which proceeds from the generators it is necessary that there should bee an efficient power comming from an externall cause which all grant to be the influence of the celestiall Orbes whence is that common Proverb amongst Philosophers Sol homo generant hominem now seeing man gives the matter and forme of the whole man soule and body though in regard of his soule he hath a more excellent efficient than they or rather the same efficient after a more excellent manner that is immediately this is so farre from disparaging that it exalteth mans nature above all other creatures in the world Neverthelesse if man did not give both matter and forme this were indeed justly objected and he should be herein according to the order of nature inferiour to all others as we heard before 4. Obj. That God shall still be touched with sin Lastly The last objection that God shall be touched with sinne in being the immediate efficient of our sinfull soules is easily answered for God is simply the efficient cause of the soule and not of sin but that comes from our corrupt parents who supply the matter of the whole man corrupt and sinfull like themselves It being Gods just ordinance in nature Rom. 11.16 that as the tree is so should the fruit be And thus sin is meerly accidentall in respect of God who as he made man at the first perfect so also this ordinance of generation whereby he should have begotten children perfect like himselfe but he by his fall corrupting himselfe hath likewise corrupted all his posteritie albeit God still performes his part as perfectly as ever in conferring of his efficient power for the producing of them Thus then we see how the generation of men which should have been perfect is become sinfull through out faults and not Gods and why then God did not make man new againe or stop sin there but continue his first institution might be sufficiently cleared but is not in this place to be disputed CHAP. XXX The Conclusion recapitulating the summe of the premisses Use of this Tractate IT is now time to