Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A38307
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Discourse proving from scripture and reason that the life of man is not limited by any absolute decree of God. By the author of the Duty of Man, &c.
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E. R.
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1680
(1680)
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Wing E27D; ESTC R214813
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41,051
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142
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Period to every Mans Life the primitive threatning runs thus in the day thou eatest thou shalt dye And the Apostle hath as plainly exprest it as it can be Wherefore as by one Man Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin and so Death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned Rom. 4. 12. where it is plain that Death is a punishment inflicted for Sin so that if man had never sinned we have no reason ro think he should have died I confess without Revelation we could never have guessed this to be the cause of Death The Heathen Philosophers were exceedingly confused in their notions concerning the origine of Sin and the cause of Death many of them thought that Death was a natural accident originally appurtenant to Humane Nature And indeed if Revelation had not declared the contrary I had been fully satisfied that Death had been no other thing but such a natural accident but it is strange that any man that has conversed with sacred writ should be of this opinion And yet we find the Pelagians of old were great sticklers for it hence is it that the ancient Fathers and Councils have condemned it with a Curse In the Milevitan Conncil Can. 2. we read thus placuit ut quicunque dicit Adam primum hominem mortalem factum ita ut sive peccaret sive non peccaret moreretur in corpore hoc est de corpore exiret non peccati merito sed necessitate naturae anathema sit In after-ages the Scotists the most subtil of all Scholastick writers inclined much to this opinion against whom the Thomists their irreconcilable Enemies took up the cudgels amongst modern writers the seemingly rational Socinians have owned this groundless conceit But I cannot stay to debate this at length only in brief if Death had been natural to man in the state of Innocency it behoved to have been because of these following reasons 1. Because Adams natural constitution implied mortality the Materials of his constitution were not so amicable as to entertain a lasting amity and friendship 2. It was the primitive precept be fruitful and multiply now it is plain that procreation includes mortality in its notion and farther it seems to be unconceivable how this little Map of Earth should have contained a numerous multiplying and never dying off-spring 3. Humane Nature in the state of Innocency did stand in need of Meat and Drink as is plain from Gen. 1. 19. now the end of eating and drinking is not only to hold up but to repair the decays of our Bodies which would sudenly return to dust if they were not thus renewed and strengthened 4. If Death were only the effect of Sin and the Devil were called a Murderer from the beginning because of his tempting our first parents to eat of the forbidden Fruit it will follow that since Christ came to take away the sins of the World and to destroy the works of the Devil that he also took away the wages of sin which is Death than which nothing is more contrary to daily experience 5. Immortality seems to be entailed only to the state of future Glory where Corruption shall put on Incorruption and Mortality shall be swallowed up in life and then there shall be no more death Rev. 21. 4. These are the most material reasons I can find for the proof of this opinion in answer to which I shall desire the Five following considerations may be weighed Consid 1. It is not to be doudted that the eternal wisdom furnished our first parents with all these accomplishments their specifick nature could suffer the signatures of Wisdom and Goodness were legible in the lowest and least regarded piece of rhe creation but in Man in a more eminent manner conspicnous It is almost impossible for us in this fallen state to conceive what those endowments were with which his innocent condition was blessed We have no reason to think that there was any jar or disagreement amongst his faculties or opposition and sight of one quality with another It was mans disobedience that disturbed the whole universe and disordered every part of it while he was at peace with his Maker he enjoyed a serene condition and needed not fear any hurt either External or Internal then all the parts of his Body entertained a sweet harmony and there could be nothing except Sin that should have made any failure in his constitution or made a separation between his Soul and Body But Sin having entred the World every part of the universe changed its face and Man who was Heavens favorite in his first mould is now condemned to eat his bread in the sweat of his face till he return unto the dust This is all that we can learn from Revelation concerning the introduction of Death to suppose any other account of it were to give up our selves to the dictates of our extravagant fancies and farther it is very unreasonable to infer mans mortality from his constitution and because he is earthly unless we think it also rational that perfected Bodies in the state of Glory are not Bodies or that they are even there mortal Both which seem to be plainly opposite to Scripture Consid 2. The Phrase Immortal may fall under a double notion for First sometimes it is taken absolutely implying a being most perfect which had no begining and can have no end and in this sense Immortality is solely the prerogative of our Maker and can never be attributed to any creature Secondly Sometimes it is taken Conditionally and so under various considerations it may be attributed either First To perfected Saints who are stated in Glory where the primitive Image lost by mans fall is renewed and perfected and of those our Saviour in the Gospel of Luke tells us that they can dye no more Luke 20. 36. or Secondly to our first parents in the State of Innocency For so long as they remained obedient to the Laws of Heaven Immortality was entailed upon their nature for the tenor of the primitive threatning is in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye where temporal Death seems to be threatned which had been idle and vain if men had died although they had never eaten the forbidden Fruit. I know some men think that Sin only laid a necessary obligation upon men to obey and provoked God to remove that Supernatural and Superadded quality and gift which preserved them from Death With such sort of men I have no great quarrel although I think that God could as easily have made mans constitution so lasting and the constituent parts of his fabrick so harmonious that he should have never dyed if he had not sinned as to creat a superadded being to preserve him safe For reason would plead that that superadded gift required another and so in infinitum But farther 't is very unreasonable to infer mans corruption from that precept be fruitful and multiply for although in some sense generatio unius est alterius corruptio yet
arguements for the proof of the mutability of the Period of every Mans Life as shall be sufficient for the conviction of any man who is not blinded by prejudice or prepossess'd with some contrary notion And First Upon the observance of the Divine laws there are many promises in Scripture assuring us of length of days and on the other side there are many threatnings of cutting short the days of the wicked Thus God promises length of days to obedient Children Ex. 20. 12. Honor thy Father Mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy god giveth thee Deut 4 40. Thou shalt keep therefore his Statutes and his Commandments which I command thee this day that it may go well with thee with thy Children after thee that thou may'st prolong thy days upon the earth which the Lord thy god giveth thee particularly the Lord tells Solomon 1 King 3. 4. If thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my statutes my Commandments as thy father David did walk then I will lengthen thy days The Psalmist encourageth men to consider the case of the poor upon this Motive Psal 42. 1 2. Blessed is he that considereth the Poor the Lord will preserve him keep him alive c. And upon this account the Wise-Man also perswadeth men to observe and keep Gods laws Prov. 3. 1 2. My Son forget not my law but let thine heart keep my Commandments for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee How much the observance of the duties of Religion conduce to our health is a thing daily experience attests and therefore the Apostle very excellently exhorts Timothy to exercise himself unto Godliness for it is profitable unto all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4. 8. Religon is as a bridle to keep men within due bounds in their eating and drinking it forbids all manner of excess which impares our bodily health and obliges men to make use of lawful means for their preservation and recovery If we consult experience we shall find these to be the men who for ordinary enjoy the longest lives it is true some good men may be naturally of a brittle constitution and others Gâ—od may remove for secret ends known to himself yet for ordinary the Godly man whose natural temper is strong hath the advantage of the wicked man and certainly Religion in its due tendency prescribes the best rules for long life As Righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil as the Wise-Man tells us pursueth it to his own death Prov. 11. 19. We have a large Catalogue of the Punishments inflicted for sin Exod. 26. Where more particularly v. 16. the Lord threatens to appoint over those who obey not his Laws terror consumption and the burningague that Men may not foolishly think all these are but threatnings which God intends not to inflict upon poor Man the Prophet Isaiah tells us if ye refuse rebel ye shall be devoured with the Sword for the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Isa 1. 20. And the wise-man concludes it as certain Prov. 10. 27. The years of the wicked shall be shortned to conclude the Psalmist also tells us bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days Psal 55. 23. which the Poet very well expresseth Ad Generum Cereris sine caede ac sanguine pauci Descendunt Reges sicca morte Tyranni And the truth of this may be evident likewise from common Experience by which it will appear that no men are so obnoxious to Diseases as the wicked who spend their time in chambering and wantonness in riot and excess Who hath woe Who hath sorrow who hath wounds without cause they that tarry long at the wine Prov. 23. 29 30. What the Wise-man says of one kind of Vice may be said of all They lead down to the Chambers of death Prov. 7. 27. But these things are so obvious that I need not to enlarge upon them I shall conclude this Argument with this consideration that since God Almighty promises to extend and lengthen out or prolong their life who walk piously and observe his Statutes and theratens to shorten the days of the wicked who refuse to obey his Laws it cannot be rationally imagined that the Period of every Man's Life is absolutely determined Another Argument to confirm our Assertion may be taken from the pious devout prayers of the righteous and their turning from their sins by an hearty repentance both which conduce to the lengthening out of their days I put Repentance and Prayer together because of their near affinity to one another Now that both these may be the Moral Cause of extending our Lives may appear to be true from common Experience besides the many Assertions and Promises in Scripture to this purpose First The truth of this may be evident from Experience by which it will appear that if Men had hearkned to Noah's Doctrin if they had repented of their wickedness within the space allowed to them they had not perished in the Deluge of Water Of repenting Nineveh we read That God saw their works that they turned from their evil may God repented of the evil he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not Jonah 3. 10. It was Hezekiah's Prayers and Tears that prolonged his life Go saith the Lord to his Prophet Isaiah and say to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy Father I have seen thy tears behold I will add unto thy days fifteen years Isa 3. 8. 5. And if prayer were of no force to what purpose were men so earnest in their sickness to beg the prayers of others on their behalf I confess if the Period of every Mans Life were fatally determined our Prayers should be very needless For can we be so sensless as to imagin that our Prayers can move God to change his unalterable Statutes and Decrees But besides common experience the truth of this is likewise attested by plain evidences from Scripture At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation concerning a kingdom to pluck up to pull down and to destroy it If that Nation against whom I have pronounce turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them And at what instant I shall speak concerning a kingdom to plant it If it do evil in my sight that it obey not my voice then will I repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them Jer. 11. 7 8 9 10 Methinks this is so plain an evidnce of the efficacy of repentance that no reasonable man can have any doubt concerning it But alas if God had from the outgoings of Eternity fatally determined the destruction of Nations and Kingdoms by an absolute and inconditionate decree Repentance could never alter the determination It is the Apostles