obtaining of an End which he design'd in it He Quotes in this Chapter the Words of the Prophet Zechariah saying Tell ye the daughter of Sion behold thy King cometh unto thee meek and sitting upon an asse and a colt the foal of an asse His Quotation shews that this Place of Zechary was known to him and his own Relation of the Story seems to Prove That he intended to make our Saviour's Fact in this Place agree punctually and in terminis with those Words of Zechary which he had before Quoted And the Observer conceives it somewhat likely that he has erred in like manner in delivering the Words our Saviour us'd in the Doctrine before-mentioned where our Lord Teaches his Disciples to Fear God rather than Men And to give a further strength to this Conception he Quotes Matth 28. which delivers many Circumstances concerning our Lord's Resurrection viz. In the end of the sabbath as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher And behold there was a great earth-quake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow And for fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men And the angel answered and said unto the women Fear not ye for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified He is not here for he is risen as he said come see the place where the Lord lay And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead and behold he goeth before you into Galilee there shall ye see him lo I have told you And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word And as they went to tell his disciples behold Jesus met them saying All hail And they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him Comparando with this Relation he Quotes John 20. where the Words are The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the sepulcher and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher Then she ran to Peter and John and saith unto them They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher and we know not where they have laid him And the two Apostles were so affected with this Relation that they arose and ran to the Sepulcher to make themselves Eye-Witnesses of the Truth of this Fact And coming to the sepulcher they went into it and saw the linnen cloths used at his Burial but the Body was clean gone Then the disciples went away again unto their own home But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher and seeth two angels who ask'd the cause of her VVeeping She answered Because they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him Then turning her self back she saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was he Jesus saith unto her Woman why weepest thou whom seekest thou she supposing him to be the gardiner saith unto him Sir if thou hast born him hence tell me where thou hast laid him and I will take him away Men that well examine these two Relations will find a great difference and even an incompatibility between them For that if Mary Magdelene had seen the Angel Discours'd of in the Text of St. Matthew and heard such Tidings from him and soon after had seen and spoken with our Lord himself it opposes the common Reason of Mankind to conceive she should so behave her self upon this Occasion as the Relation of St. John has described to us It seems somewhat clear to this Observer That there is error in one of these two Relations and he thinks That the Relation made by S. John is more credible and that the error lies on the side of St. Matthew because St. John was Pars magni facti He tells us what himself saw and knew whereas it is probable That St. Matthew's Discourse was rather grounded upon Relations of some of the frighted Women than proceeding from any thing of his own certain knowledge These two Instances Prove That all the Relations we find in St. Matthew are not Infallible Truths but some of them have need to be searched by Humane Sagacity and the comparing of them with other Scriptures The Observer inclines to take his Wording our Saviour's Doctrine against the over great fear of Men to be like one of the two former Instances and that it may stand in need to be compared with its parallel Text in the Gospel of St. Luke and to be Examined by it But he is resolved to leave this Point to the further Consideration of Mr. M. In this Chapter also he Quotes many other particular Texts of Scripture which he thinks may Prove or Strengthen his Assertion But the Observer finds not one among them whose Proof is so full or so clear as that before Quoted out of St. Matthew All his other Texts except the Parable of Dives and that of the Thief upon the Cross seem to arise from Collections upon Inferences and some accidental Expressions or Forms of Words in Places of Scripture which do not Teach any thing concerning the future State of Mankind nor are spoken in those Places with intent to Teach concerning it In which rank he places Solomon's short Saying The spirit returns to God who gave it He does not wonder that Mr. M's Quotations seem to him such clear and evident Proofs as he pretends they do For the reason thereof may be and very likely is because he Reads and Considers them with the Mind already satisfied and assured That the Soul is Immortal and capable of Subsisting in a State of Separation from the Body But to a Man that is otherwise perswaded the much greater Part of his Quotations will seem to be of very little force for the Proof of that Opinion which he produces them for The Observer can and does inform him That there is not one of them which is not mentioned and discussed in that larger Treatise of the Observer's which is before-mentioned He has no mind in this Place Acta agere but rather chuses to refer Mr. M. in this Point to that Treatise which he has a strong Inclination and Intent to Publish if God please to lengthen the feeble Thread of his Life and give him Opportunity so to do Chap. 3d. He directs Men to expect Proofs of the Soul's Immortality by Arguments and Rules derived from Nature and Reason without enough considering That before he determin'd concerning the Adjuncts he should endeavour to Prove the real Substance of that Subject to which they must belong It seems he has attentively Perused his Pamphlet entituled Observations upon Mr. B's Sermon but does not think fit to take Notice what is there demanded by
taking his Part of the Question for granted Truth seems to be a Folly and Vanity suitable to the rest of his Deportment throughout this Treatise P. 152 The Advers says In many Things we shall be in the Dark without the Assistance of supernatural Revelation The Observer says There is a Sufficiency of supernatural Revelation in the Scriptures of God for the bringing Men a happy Resurrection and a blessed State after it But for our better Illumination the Advers cites a Sentence out of Porphyry who was as great an Opposer of Christianity as any he could have named being a bare Platonist and no more To this he adds the Names of Plato and Socrates pretending to collect thence a more lofty Strain for his Imaginations to work upon than those which are deliver'd in Holy Writ and spares not to quote the Devil's Oracles in Confirmation of his own fantastical Idea's nor the Sibylline Verses dictated usually by a Spirit of the like nature The Advers says That the great Heathen Law-makers pretended to take Help of Spirits and Daemons for the Inventing and Establishing their Laws From which Example perhaps he may intend to derive a Confirmation of his Opinion That there are other supernatural Revelations to be expected at this Day for Mens Guidance and Direction in their Religion than those that are deliver'd us in Holy Scripture Which is an Opinion rejected by the Observer and not received by the Reformed Christian Churches After this Train of Heathen Oracles and Spirits the Adversary returns again to the Holy Scriptures as if he pretended to add some Credit or Authority to them by the Testimony of his Commendations which they neither need nor can his Credit any way extend to the advancing of their Reputation Men knowing it is rather a Disgrace than an Advantage to be prais'd or commended by a slanderous Tongue But those Records are so Sacred that they can suffer no Disadvantage by any Man's Commendations or Discommendations but stand fixed and firm as Pillars and Foundations of the Christian Faith not enduring to be compar'd with the Fictions of idle Oracles Philosophick Daemons or Poetical Inventions nor with the Miracles or Enthusiasms of the Romish Mahometical or Phanatical Imaginary Revelations There can be no reasonable Comparison of such Vanities with the Text of Holy Scripture and therefore whatsoever the Advers pretends to say to that Purpose seems a great Piece of Vanity in him and an idle Imployment of his Time P. 155 The Advers says If you believe that the Soul is Immortal be not over-fond of the Body The Observer replies If you believe the Resurrection and the Last Judgment be not so fond of the Body or any thing else as thereby to be drawn out of the way of endeavouring to make your Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 3.10 The Day of the Lord shall come as a Thief in the Night in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great Noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent Heat the Earth also and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of Persons ought ye to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness looking for new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwells Righteousness Wherefore seeing ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in Peace without Spot and Blameless St. Paul 1 Thess 4.13 directs That they should not sorrow for their dead Friends as if they were without Hope concerning them For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him and they shall be rais'd at the Sound of the Trumpet and the Voice of the Archangel He does not tell his Proselytes That their Friends Souls are gone to Heaven as any Comfort or Ease of their Sorrows but he builds their Comforts upon the strong Rock of the Resurrection And thus have we both Peter and Paul to sound and credible Witnesses in this Case directing to a good Life and a strong Comfort in Death from a firm Hope of a future Resurrection in due Time without one Word concerning the Soul's Immortality or drawing any Comfort or Help from thence at all P. 156 The Advers says Make not your Prison too strong as if he assented to the false Platonick Imagination That the Body was made by God for a Prison to the Soul Which every Man 's daily Experience contradicts and proves certainly to us as has been before said That the Conjunction of the Soul and Body is the most amicable of any thing in the World and their Separation most grievous and terrible and That the Body's being a Prison to the Soul is an Opinion both false and foolish tho' it seems very well fitted for the Adversary's Part. He goes on and says Think how quickly this Flesh must be laid aside He should have added And this Spirit extinguished and then there will be no miserable or happy Soul to take notice of P. 157 the Advers demands What Relief will it be to your Souls to remember that in this Life you had your good Things The Observer does not believe that before the Resurrection there will be any such Soul or Remembrance It is true that in the Parable of Dives Abraham says to him Son Remember that in thy Life-time thou hadst thy good Things But the Parable no where makes mention of a Soul but in all Places it applies to the Person Lazarus died and was carried by Angels into Abraham's Bosome And Dives died and being in Hell he lift up his Eyes and saw Lazarus afar off in Abraham's Bosome It seems fit to be consider'd how Dives cou'd see a Soul at so great a Distance and speak audibly to Abraham afar off without a Tongue Men do usually imagine This Discourse and Proposal shou'd be applied to the Souls of these two Persons But the Observer thinks there 's no Necessity to take it in that Sense but either to let it pass as a bare Similitude or Parable invented or that it may as well or better be intended concerning the Persons mentioned in the Text before quoted and the rather because Abraham calls Dives Son Remember This Term of Son cannot be applicable to a separate Soul because that Term is properly applied to the Person and also because if our Adversary say true such a Soul cou'd not be descended from Abraham but was newly created by God upon the Begetting of the Body of Dives Whence it seems still That the Relation concerning these Person is but a bare Similitude or Parable and proves nothing Or must be applied to the State of these two Person consider'd in the Contextures of their Bodies and Souls together The Adversary seems to doubt whether Souls go to appointed Places or hover about those Places where their Bodies are interr'd The Observer says It is no Wonder that Men of his Opinion have many Doubts concerning their
of those Spirits spread over the whole Body it comes to pass that the least Wound in the end of a Finger or Toe is immediately felt over the whole Body and so by Sight Hearing Smelling or Tasting the whole Person is immediately perceptive and affected therewithal like the String of an Instrument how long soever the same may be if touched to a vibration in any Part of it the whole String answers to that Vibration and sounds accordingly And this seems to be the Reason of the wonderful Velocity of Sensation and Perception in the Persons of Men and therewithal the Brutes may well be conceived to have a great Affinity upon a like Account This Spirit is not incaged or incarcerated in the Body but maintains as amicable a Conjunction with it and with as much Liking and Kindness to each other as any known Things in the World can do And the Athanasian Creed tells us That as the Body and Soul are one Man so God and Man are one Christ whence the Union of the former seems as amicable and kind as that of the latter tho' using a joint Contexture one of them with another this sort of Spirit acting in and by the Bodily Organs and Members they together effect in the Person all those Motions Faculties and Powers which the great Artificer intended and designed to be produced in the Humane Person be they those of Vegetation Sensation or Rationality all which Powers and Faculties they continue to maintain so long as their said Contecture has a Conrinuance Whence the whole Person both Spirit and Members are all alike affected one of them with another and never contrarily or differently one of them affected against another It is true that divers great Variances do often happen between the two different Faculties or Powers of Sense and Reason which Differences are as durable and lasting as the Life it self And these two Faculties St. Paul often calls by the Name of Flesh and Spirit which must pass in his Writings for tropical and figurative Expressions Upon which and divers other Accounts St. Peter says there are some Things in St. Paul ' s Writings which are hard to be understood Our Experience teaches us That there are no real Differences between the Bodily Organs and Members and this sort of Spirit of which we are now speaking but that they live and act together during the Time of their Contexture in the greatest Amity and Sympathy that can be imagin'd They are pleas'd and displeas'd rejoice and mourn together as two constituent Parts of the same Person they grow together to a State of Perfection are sick and well together decay and decrease in like manner And where Men live to the uttermost Age their Perceptions Understandings and Memories fail oftentimes before their Tasting and Feeling which continues with them the whole Extent of their Lives Then the Person consisting of such Flesh and Spirit dies together the Flesh and Members turning to Dust and the Spirit which is the Flame of Life extinguishing at the Time of that Separation And at the Time of the Resurrection the Body shall again be raised with such a Temperature of the Blood as shall then again be tinded and kindled into such a Flame of Life as the Person had enjoy'd in his former State as St. Paul declares 1 Cor. 15. whereby there shall arise and accrue to the same Person the same Sensation Perception Understanding Memory and Conscience that he had before in the Time of his former Life So as Mr. Lock seems to be in the right when Fol. 183. of his said Book he teaches That it is the same Consciousness which at the Resurrection makes the same Person such a sameness as St. Paul declares by his Similitude of Grains of Corn as much the same as Grains are of the same Nature which spring one out of another Thus united again by the Resurrection the Flesh and Spirit in a like Contexture as they were before shall come to Judgment at the last Day before the Tribunal of the Lord Christ and shall there receive Judgment Sentence and Doom according to their Works and shall thence depart to Places of Joy and Happiness or to those of Sorrow and Misery as by that Sentence and Judgment shall be appointed for them Thus from Experience it seems proveable That there is such a Soul or Spirit in Man as has been before specify'd That the same consists in the Spirits of the Blood inflam'd and made lucid and glowing That the Original of this Spirit proceeds from a Vital Principle in the Seed The visible quando of its Operation appears with the first Commencement of Vegetation in the Embryon The Vbi of its Residence is every Part and Member of the Body through which the same is contiguously spread or rather is one continuate Spirit mixed with the Flesh throughout the whole Body As to the Quo and what becomes of this Spirit at the Death of the Person it has been declared to go out by Extinguishment The only Point which the Observer professes Ignorance in is that of the Quomodo operatur He professes not to know how these Spirits of the Blood work in the Stomack a right and healthful Concoction and due Separation how in the sanguifical Parts the Chyle is converted into Blood how the Breath fans maintains and communicates such Vigour and Flame to Particles of the Blood which ascend to the Head how those Particles of Blood working in the Head and Brain produce there Sensation Perception Imagination Understanding or Memory how passing thence by the Nerves into the rest of the Body they cause Motion Activity Strength and Vigour all obedient to the Will of the Person and subjected to the Dictates of his Judgment Those are some of the chief Ways of God with Man and are most evident Proofs of his Divine Skill and Power concerning which and other-like Divine Operations Solomon says Eccles 8.17 Man cannot find out the Work that is done under the Sun because tho' a Man labour to find it out or the Wise among Men endeavour to come to the Knowledge of it yet shall they not be able to find it In this Ignorance therefore the Observer is contended to be a Partaker with the rest of the World without herding himself amongst those who because they cannot find out the Quomodo of this Performance are easily perswaded to believe That God has not Skill or Power enough to perform this and is therefore driven and must be driven to act those Things in Man by an immaterial intelligent Spirit which they fancy therefore is newly created by God upon every fruitful Coition of Man and Woman or Man and Beast where the Form of the Product happens to be Humane and that this new Soul which comes from his Hand innocent and pure shou'd presently be thrust by him into an impure Body at the best contaminated by Original Sin which presently communicates that Tincture to that pure innocent but unfortunate miserable Soul so newly created by him These Absurdities following upon and flowing from this Error prove the Opinion from whence they arise to be erroneous And from this and from all that has been spoken before on this Subject the Observer concludes That the Opinion of Man's being acted by an immaterial intelligent Spirit capable of subsisting in a State of Separation from the Body is an Error and that it is much more probable That the Person of Man is a Contexture of Matter and Spirit both rising from the seminal Agitation and both mortal and that the sound Foundation for the Expectation of Recompences future to this Life ought to be grounded upon the rocky Foundation of the Resurrection And herewithal shall be finish'd the present Observations upon this Treatise FINIS
Adversary has very little of the Power of Christianity in him for that the latter Part of his Treatise is full of censorious uncharitable Expressions without any Truth in there or Provocation to them but proceeding rather from his own natural Inclination and Practice perfectly Pharisaical which was to dignifie and magnifie themselves by vilifying and despising other Men. Upon which Practice Meekness it self was whetted to use sharp Expressions Our Lord says Mat. 23.33 Ye Serpents ye Generation of Vipers how can ye escape the Damnation of Hell Ch. 12.36 I say unto you That every idle World that Men shall speak they shall give Account thereof in the Day of Judgment What then is like to become of the Adversary at that Day concerning his many idle uncharitable censorious false Expressions purposely deliver'd in this Treatise without any just Provocation given him for so doing May not our Lord's Words be reasonably applied to this Person Thou Serpent thou Generation of a Viper how canst thou escape that Damnation of Hell which after the Day of Judgment shall be made ready to receive not the Souls of condemned Persons but their Souls and Bodies together into everlasting Burnings where the Worm dyeth not and the Fire is not quenched If Practice has made this Course so habitual to thee as that thou canst not forbear the Usage of it yet oughtest thou to be careful to confine it to thy own Flock or Herd who probably are much us'd to it illa te carcere regnare sit tibi satis Be thou therefore advis'd to follow thine own Trade within the proper Sphere of its Activity and be guided by the old Rule Ne sutor ultra crepidam Solomon directs Men to take care of their own Flocks and their own Herds and St. Paul forbears to judge them that are without And yet if the Adversary thought himself oblig'd to contend for the Truth against those who are without his Precinct he ought however to have done this modestly tho' earnestly and therein to have avoided those contumelious Expressions which he has frequently used especially all Injuries and false Aspersions laid upon his Opponent contrary to the clear Truth and the Civility of Manners which ought to be used by Men of his Profession not to name his Calling for that it does not appear whether he has any or no. P. 144 The Observer demands of the Adversary Is this Course which he has follow'd to imitate the Innocence of little Children Is this to demonstrate we are Christ's Disciples by loving one other Or is it not rather to proclaim to the World that he knows not what Spirit he is of May his Readers not have a just Cause of Suspicion that such Fruits are earthly sensual and Devilish The Adversary says further That the Love born to one another is the best Badge of Christianity acting thereupon like Rowers in a floating Vessel who look one way and row another P. 145 He speaks of such who would hear God's Words but not do them What shall then his Judgment be who will speak but neither the Words of God nor those of civil Persons amongst Men. The Adversary speaks of many good Duties Men may be able to perform to which he shou'd have added That wise and good Men are able to bear patiently with other Men who may fall into such Over-sights as they may think to be Weaknesses and Errors without reproaching and reviling them upon those Accounts remembring St. Paul's Admonition Take heed to thy self lest thou also be tempted P. 146 he quotes divers Texts of Scripture good in themselves without any of his Comments upon them We read Matt. 4. Texts of Scripture used by the old Serpent in his Temptation of Christ and we meet with like Things in divers other Places of Scripture and that Satan can change himself and is apt to change himself into an Angel of Light thereby to deceive and mislead such as he can perswade to hear and follow him P. 147 He says It is no easie Matter to be a Christian indeed The Observer grants it and that the Adversary's present Treatise is a good Proof of it P. 149 He says meaning it is likely concerning his own Congregation That there are many who know not what Regeneration means nor the other ordinary Duties belonging to the Christian Religion and if they be ask'd concerning them cannot answer Three Words of Sense about them The Observer replies That in the Catechism of the Church of England the Doctrines necessary for the Salvation of Men are well deliver'd and specified and that ali devout Members of that Church are taught and requir'd to learn the same Memoriter and are daily taught in their Churches the Sense and Meaning of those Articles and all other Doctrines contained especially in the New Testament So as that if there be not great Fault and Defect either in the Teachers or the Hearers either one or both of them the People of our Church cannot be so ignorant as he pretends Men commonly are so as not to know the Water of Baptism is the Laver of Regeneration the Catechism teaching them That by Baptism they are regenerated and ingrafted into the Church of Christ and are thereby directed and enabled for dying to Sin and to be Partakers of a new Birth unto Righteousness the Benefits of which are to be made a Member of Christ and an Inheriter of the Kingdom of Heaven And in Prosecution of that Design Men are thereby directed to forsake the Devil and all his Works believe the Articles of the Christian Faith and keep God's Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the Days of their Lives P. 150 The Advers does here wish to know many fine and curious Questions and Things concerning Angels and the future State of separate Souls The Observer thinks all his Conceit and Fancy thereupon to be vain and unedifying or else to be frivolous and false What he talks of the Angels is vain and utterly unknown to him what he pretends to know of Souls is false and frivolous He demands further Can ye believe two States so vastly different hereafter as a happy or cursed Resurrection and yet not consider there must be some suitable Preparatiens made whilst we are here for avoiding the one and obtaining the other The Observer assures himself There are very few Men who believe in that manner except they may be such as are of the Advers own Education The Advers says He has set a Description of Heaven before his Reader meaning it seems such a Heaven as Mens Souls go to presently upon the Death of the Person The Observer replies That he finds no Description of that or any sort of Heaven in this his Treatise and for Souls going thither at the Death of the Persons he and all they who read our Writings cannot but know that it is the very Point in Question And for him to think that any Body will be led away by his presumptuous