accidens but the first act of the body not Artificial nor Mathematical but of a Natural body nor of every Natural but that Natural body which is Organical and consists of many parts and members and this body Natural and Organical having life not actu sed potentia this is the Definition given by Aristotle in his book De anima where he also defines the soul to be that beginning by which we have life sense Lib. 2. ca. 1. Another Definition of the soul Lib. 2. c. 2. and understanding chiefly the which as it is a full and perfect definition of the Rational soul so take it disjunctively in it several parts and it will agree with the soul of Plants and of Beasts for the Soul of Plants is principium quo primò vivunt the soul of Beasts quo primò vivunt ac sentiunt the soul of Men quo vivunt sentiunt ac intelligunt primò the Soul is the beginning of life and Vegetation chiefly for when the soul is gone out of the body it ceaseth to live or grow any longer the soul is the beginning of Sense chiefly for the soul being absent the body is altogether insensible and the soul is the beginning of Understanding chiefly for the carcass or cadaver is voyd of understanding when the soul is departed out of the body And it is sayd chiefly because though the body Natural and Organical may be said to be the beginning of life sense and reason yet that is but Organically and Secondarily the Soul is the begining chiefly and primarily TotuÌ„ composituÌ„ dicatur principium ut quod cum sit illud quod agat forma vero principium ut quo cum agat beneficio formae instrumenta denique per quod cum per ipsa operetur Sennert These are the Definitions given by Aristotle the former being drawn from those things which are notiora secundum naturam though nobis ignotiora the latter from those things which are secundum nos notiora though secundum naturam ignotiora and those are the Effects and Faculties of the soul which are called the second act of the soul not the first act and are the companions associates of the soul neither of which do we reject but make use of both since in the subsequent Chapters we shall consider the soul not onely as it is principium corporis animalis tanquam forma or the act and perfection of a Natural Organical body which is according to the former Definition but as it is principium operationum tanquam eftrix as it is considered in the latter so making of two one Definition thus The Soul is the act the perfection and beginning of a Natural Organical body endued with life sense and understanding And now having traced thee O my soul from thy original the place and person à quo to the place and person ad quem from Heaven to Earth from God to Man and find thee clothed in humane nature I shall not raise a consideration from that close conjunction and mysterious union which is betwixt the soul and body flesh and spirit that being formerly couched in the first Chapter of this Book but finding thee seated in humane nature intombed and imprisoned in a body of flesh consider O my soul into what a body thou art come the body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Plato is quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the soul's prison and sepulcher a dungeon foul and noysom in materiâ primâ even in its first and best matter of which it is made slime and mud red earth and clay For God made man saith the Text of the dust of the ground And again Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return And again Behold I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord which am but dust and ashes And this first matter if we look into its original it was of meer nothing not of any other praeexistent matter for then it would not be materia prima It's true in the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth but as true not out of another Heaven and Earth but of meer nothing and thus much of the first matter of this body of flesh But if we look into the second matter this body of sinful flesh contracted by the fall of our first Parents what is it but sanguis menstruus worse than a menstruous cloth or polluted rag which is a thing so vile and filthy as cannot be expressed the eyes refusing to b hold and the hands to touch it and the mind abhorring to think of it into to such a dungeon art thou cast O my soul fettered and fast bound in the chains of carnal lusts and concupiscence having thy Understanding darkned and thy Will and reason captivated and scarce the essence and definition of a soul remaining in thee thy act being turned into power nay rather impotency and weakness thy perfection into much imperfection thy beginning of life into a beginning of death and misery There was a time when the soul of man enjoyed more immunities and though a prisoner as it were in the body yet as Joseph who was made ruler and overseer of the whole house and had the command of all in the prison and whatsoever was done there that did he The soul was not a captive to the flesh so long as man continued in his innocency but contrariwise had the care and command of all the body was subject to the soul the flesh unto the spirit the inhaerent justice in which man was created subjected the inferior and Sensual parts to the superior Intellectual faculty without the least predominancy at any time so long as the superior continued in obedience and subjection to God the body was obedient to the command of the soul but after that the soul had rebelled against God the body took occasion to rebel against the soul so that to this day there hath bin a continual civil war within us the law of our members warring against the law of our mind and bringing us captive to the law of sin which is in our members this is the miserable estate of mankind by nature that in the deep sense thereof we may all cry with Saint Paul O wretched creature that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death But stand thou still O my soul and see the salvation of our God seest thou thy self in the state of nature dead in trespasses and sinnes an heathen an alien from the Commonwealth of Israel without hope without God in the world There is a law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made thee free from the law of sin and death this Christianity teacheth to this Christian Religion not Heaâ—henish superstition leadeth There is a state of Grace which is Christian as well as a state of Nature corrupt and hea henish Rom. 6.14 they that are under this law sin hath power on but they that are under Grace sin shall have no power over Vnto this state
with his about this very point of the soules creation I demand of thee O my soul who gave thee thy being since thou hadst it not from eternity thou wast created in time and lately it was that thou hadst not a being certainly it could not be thy parents in the flesh for what is sprung from flesh is flesh but thou art spirit neither did Heaven or Earth or Sun or Stars produce thee for these are corporeal thou incorporeal neither could Angels or Archangels or any other spiritual creature be the authors of thy being for thou of no matter but meerly of nothing wast created and none but a power omnipotent can create a thing out of nothing therefore God onely without any companion or helper with his own hands which are his Wisdom and his Will when it seemed him best did create thee Again a little after Besides the conjunction of soul and body which is a principal part in the making of the humane nature can be made by none but a workman of an infinite power for by what art except divine can the spirit be joyned with the flesh in so close a bond as to become one substance for there is no likeness and proportion 'twixt the flesh and spirit therefore he onely must doe it who onely doth great wonders Consider then O my soul from whence from whom in what manner and into what thou art come First From whence From heaven thou art descended a pilgrim and a stranger here for a time thou art not here to continue and dwell thy country is above thither then aspire from whence thou camest mind not earthly things but seek those things which are above that when this my earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved thou be not pressed down lower with the weight of carnal l sts into the lowermost hell but maist have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens Secondly From whom From God thou camest thou art the spirit and breath of God in men O then breath again out of man to God whilst thou art in this prison of flesh send out thy hot breathings to God and draw in those cooler breathings of the Spirit from God thy hot sighs and zealous prayers to God his cool and gentle refreshments of love and pity from God that when I shall have payd all my rights of nature unto death and am gone into my silence though my body lie in the dust for a time my spirit may return to God that gave it Thirdly In what manner Not per media naturalia by any ordinary means but immediately and modo extraordinario without any companion without any helper 1 Learn then this O my soul that as God hath used no naturall meanes or secundary causes in the work of thy Creation so thou relie upon none in the work of thy salvation thou maist safely and boldly approach the Throne of grace without the mediation of Saints or Angels there is but one Mediator unto us who is both God and man Christ Jesus 2 Since God hath put nothing betwixt thee and him beware that thou thy self interpose nothing sever not what God hath not disjoyned let not thy sin be a Wall of separation twixt thee and him nor the mists and foggs of Carnall concupisence eclipss the Sun of righteousness from thee from whom thou borrowest all thy light and without whom thou art but Cimmerian darkness Fourthly consider whither thou art come into a Humane body a Humane nature fitted and prepared to receive thee but how not as a Subject but as a Prince thou to rule as a Queen it to obey as a Subject Therfore know this O my soul by the concurrent opinion of all Philosophers man is of a midle nature twixt mortal and immortal twixt terrestrial and caelestial things and some way resembles both participates of both in that man is indued with Vegetative and Sensitive faculties he is like unto brutes and ignobler creatures but in regard of his Intellectual faculty especially that which consists in speculation he is most like unto God twixt these two the Humane nature is sâ—ated and in a kind participates of both in this nature the soul sits as Emp ess if Sense rules here man lives as a beast degenerates into a brute if Reason and understanding rule especially the speculative Intellectual faculty man lives as God suffer not then O suffer not my soul thy vassals and slaves Sense and Appetite those ignobler faculties of thine to rule and reign over thee and so to transform the whole man into the nature of beasts but rule and govern thou by those more noble and Diviner faculties of thine Reason and understanding by which man resembles his Maker is made like unto him Lâ—stly consider O my soâ—l this mysterious conjunction of soul and body to become one man flesh and spirit one substance which cannot be but by a power Divine and thou wilt cease though not humbly to admire yet curiously to search into that sacred Mystery that Article of Christian faith touching the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ he Hypostaticall Union of the two natures in Christ St. Athanasius proves it and explaines it from this Union of the soul and body in one man saying The right faith is this that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God is God and Man God of the substance of the Father begotten before the World and Man of the substance of his Mother born in the World Perfect God and perfect Man of a Reasonable soul and Humane flesh subsisting Equall to the Father as touching his God-head and inferior to the Father touching his Man-hood Who although he be God man yet he is not two but one Christ One not by conversion of the God-head into Nan but by taking the Man-hood into God One altogether not by confusion of substance but by Unity of person For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man so God and man is one Christ The conjunction of soul and body is a secret and hidden thing but the Incarnation of Christ the Union of the God-head and Manhood far more secret for without doubt great is the mystery of godliness God manifested in the flesh and if it be so difficult a matter for man to find out the hidden things of this visible World that none as Solomon saith can comprehend the works thereof from the beginning to the end no not the workings of God within a mans self how shall man attempt to search out those invisible things of Heaven the hidden mysteries the unsearchable things of God therefore if thou beest wise O my soul seek saving knowledge and embrace the wisdom of the Saints which is to fear God and keep his Commandements delight more in supplication and prayer than in vain janglings and disputations in charity that edifies than knowledge that puffs up for this is the way that leads to life the Kingdom of Heaven where shall be
Essence or yet of the Operations of these Angels and Spirits Intellectual as a Doctrine less useful and necessary for Mans salvation than of the Nature of Man or God yet so much hath it imparted to her Disciples as may evidence by necessary consequence the truth of this Metaphysical Science of Natures Angelical the Fathers and Doctors of the Church having little varied in judgement from the Curiousest Naturalist and Philosopher in this point all concurring in this particular the School of Christ and School of Nature teaching one and the same thing without any grand Variation and dissenting The Creation of Angels though holy-Churches-creed is no where plainly pointed out in holy Writ otherwise than in the first daies Creation under that General notion of Heaven and Earth which may contain the whole host of Heaven so those words Genesis 1.1 In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth are by most understood viz. by Heaven not onely it but all things therein contained as Angels and the like whose proper seat is Heaven which may seem to be thus also explicated by St. Paul Col. 1.16 For by him are all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth Visible and Invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions Principalities or Powers viz. four of the Orders of Angels further also by God himself in the 38 Chapter of Job saying where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth when the morning Stars sang together and the Sons of God shouted for joy that is to say the holy Angels who were created together with Heaven and Earth even in the beginning or morning of that first day as some have hence gathered Of all created substances some were created Visible Material Corporeal others were created Invisible Incorporeal Spiritual of their own Nature that the Angels are such created Invisible Incorporeal and Spiritual substances may be gathered out of the word of God David and Paul Prophet and Appostle both terming them Spirits and if Spirits then Invisible by Mortal eye and then Incorporeal at least as unto Humane or other natural body of their own Nature for so our Saviour hath resolved it saying a Spirit hath not flesh and bone as I have And the Schoolmen have decreed and concluded that Angels are meerly Spiritual and Incorporeal substances and no bodies or Corporeal Natures and with them agree the Fathers not a few though Origen and after him Saint Jerome would seem to maintain that Angels as oft as they sinned and fell away were thrust into bodies and there remained as a punishment unto them which opinion is exploded by all both Antient and Modern as savouring of Platonism more than Christianity Yet may we not deny but that Angels have been in bodily shapes and so seen and appeared unto our Fathers of old wherefore we must either grant unto them real bodies or that they did delude and deceive the Patriarches with Phantasms and meer Apparations which is not to be conceived of the holy Angels and therefore St. Bernard put a kind of necessity in it that Angels should have bodies otherwise how could they be ministring Spirits sent out to minister unto them who shall be Heirs of Salvation to men who yet live in the body how shall they perform this Ministerial Function of discoursing of walking and talking of eating and drinking and the like without a body all which notwithstanding Angels have done as sacred Writ accordeth But it may be objected if we do grant unto them true real Visible bodies then must we also grant them all motions and mutations incident to such Bodies to wit of Generation Corruption Augmentation Diminution Altricion alteration then such as may be borne fed and nourished may die may suffer and the like as other corporeall Creatures doe how then are they meerly Spirituall and of an Incorporeall nature To which may be answered First 1 Negatively negatively True humane bodies Angels have not humane nature no spirituall substance ever assumed except the Son of God the second Person in the ever blessed Trinity of whom it is said He took not upon him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham and by whom it is verified A spirit hath no flesh and bone so no humane or fleshly Bodies are ascribed to Angels 2 Affirmatively Secondly affirmatively True reall bodies they have not newly generate created or begotten but assumed of Air and other Elements so condensate consolidate and contract together as that it may be seen felt touched c. Beyond the very nature of Air such a Body as is not essentiall but accidentall taken up for a time as we do put on our Cloathes and may be dissolved again at pleasure as soon as their Ministery is accomplish'd now such a Body is not subject to those Mutations of Generation Corruption and the like nor may it be said to die to suffer to feel o feed or the like as a humane Body may Thus is the nature of Angels Spirituall not carnall Incorporeall not corporeall and surpasseth the humane Nature in Understanding freedom of Will and externall Operations First in Understanding in regard of that Intuitive Vision they have of God per lumen Gloriae besidâ—s those superexcellent naturall Endowments Intellectual of seeing God per lumen naturae alwayes beholding his Face Vid. Hockers Eccles pol. 1. Sect. 4. fol. 53. as the Text expresseth they are so acquainted with the Mind and Will of God that Irrepercussa mentis acie divinorum judiciorum abyssum intuentur as St. Bernard hath it in comparison of which knowledge Angelicall all ours is but as that of Babes and Sucklings Out of whose Mouth notwithstanding God hath perfected his praise See Mr. Hooker his first book of Eccles pol. Sect. 6. fol. 56. or ordained strength as the Psalmist hath it here on Earth till such time as we grow up to perfect Man-hood to the measure of the fulness of the stature of Christ where shall be given to us little ones an equality of knowledge with the Angels to be like unto them who alwayes behold the Face of their Heavenly Father As touching their Freedom of Will and Power of working the Angelical far surpasseth the Humane Nature Bellarmine puts these differences betwixt them First in the Power and Rule over Bodies The humane Soul can onely move his own Body at his pleasure it cannot move others after the same sort Again the humane Soul moves its own Body upon the Earth in a slow motion step by step it hath not power to bear it upon the Water or elevate it above the Air or carry it whither it pleaseth but the Angels by the Power and Freedom of Will by the meer force of their spirit can lift up mighty Bodies and carry them whither they please Thus did an Angel take up Habacuc and in a short space brought him to Babylon with a Dinner for Daniel and carried him back again into the Land of Palestine Again
and Form cloged with the weight of misery and body of corruption as in its Operations and Faculties abstracted from Matter and use of the body which is a more Spiritual and Divine condition and this is the subject of the second Book whether we consider the Soul abstracted from the body in those purer workings of the Intellect the Soul still quickning and remaining in the body or consider it as the body lying in the grave and the Soul totally and really separated from it In another is touched the state of the Soul after death in a body glorified when this corruption shall have put on incorruption and this mortal have put on Immortality wherein as the Body so the Soul is in the highest pitch of bliss and glory that ever it was or can be capable of which is infinite therein being restored to the likeness of his Maker not onely by that Righteousnes Freedom of Wil and clearness of Understanding in which it was first created but in a far more eminent manner resembling his Maker in endless glory bliss and happiness we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is not in a glass darkly but then face to face And this Beatifical Vision of God is also a full Fruition of him who is our summum bonum the final cause of our Creation the Intrinsical end thereof viz. our perfection of state which consists in the full Fruition of God who onely is our summum bonum The first Book then is Natural or Physical the second is Metaphysical the third is Theological Consider we our Souls under the first Notion and as by a ladder whereof this is the first or lower most step we may raise up our selves in an orderly ascent into Heaven till we come to see God not onely as far as is possible to behold him in this Vale of tears and Veil of Flesh but till we come to be transformed into his Image to enjoy and see God even as he is If thou desire Knowledge the study of the Soul is most useful for thee what Science soever thou most affectest or what manner of Person soever thou art Bee'st thou a Philosopher it is necessary for thee for if thou addict thy self to Natural Philosophy and to know the causes of things the Soul is a subject for it it is principium animalium that which gives being to al living creatures so saith Aristotle is it the Mathematical Science which for certainty and plain demonstration thou desirest this thou hast in the Soul the Soul of Man gives this demonstration is it Metaphysicks thou affectest for the Nobleness of the subject therein handled Spirituall and abstracted from matter the Soul of man is spiritual immortal impassible abstracta à materia saith Aristotle so a Metaphysical subject Nay higher yet Art thou a Christian wouldst come to the knowledge and fruition of God the Soul of man runns through the whole body of divinity poynting and leading thee all along through the same Mistake me not I doe not judge it possible by any humane art and Science only to attain to true wisdome by any light of Nature to reach to saving grace or to that true light which lighteneth every man that commeth into the world by the eye of sense to come to the eye of faith I have not so learned Christ yet as Philosophy is said to bee hand-maid to Divinity and the Law a Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ so must the Reasonable soul be judged a necessary instrument towards the attainment of supernatural gifts for as natural Reason without Grace can never find the way to Heaven so Grace is never placed but in the Reasonable soul and proves by the very seat which it hath taken up that the end it hath is to be spiritual eye-water to make Reason see what by Nature it only cannot but never to blemish Reason in that which it can apprehend Grace hinders not the work of Nature wherein it is able to work nor faith blemish the eye of Reason in that which it can see and comprehend and doubtless that is very far even to the eternal power and God-head which makes the very heathens inexcusable where Nature is weak and cannot see Grace affords an helper and instrument to the eye of Reason to bring to its sight those things which for want of due requisites as convenient distance c. it was not of it self able to discern such are all the Mysteries of Divinity as the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity the Hypostatical Union the Incarnation of the Son of God c. all which are supra captum humanum Mans Reason cannot attain unto here Faith comes in and supplies this defect through the prospect of Faith Reason looks and without Reason Faith is useless here Faith perfects Reason and where it is wrong sets it right never undermines it may be above it but not against it nor without it So then is it Grace is it Faith thou seekest thou findest it in Humane Nature in a reasonable Soul This is a gift of God proper to man onely and to no other creature the meer Sensitive creatures have not this gift of Faith their nature is not capable of Faith they are below it this prospect of Faith would nothing avail the eye of Sense The meer Intellectual creatures as Saints and Angels in Heaven they have not need of Faith they are above it their Intuitive intellect needs no glass to see him whom they behold face to face onely to Man this glass is given this glass of Faith to the eye of Reason to make the soul see what by nature it cannot whilst it is veiled and imprisoned in this mortall and fraile body but after death Faith ceaseth then whether in the body or out of the body viz. before the Resurrection whilst the body sleeps or after the Resurrection when the body is raised to glory and both are reconjoyned we shall not need any help of Faih but shall see him even as he is know him even as we are known and be as the Angels in Heaven Reader being too conscious of my own weakness the importunity of my friends prevailed not with mee to make these papers publique till I had received encouragement herein from some more knowing men who took the paines to peruse them and then to return use this account ensuing MOSLEIO suo generoso Pietatis Philosophiae vindici ἘΥΧΆΙΡΕΙΠMUlta voluptate vir mihi charissime scripta tua quae pridiè hujus diei ad me dederas recensui ne dignitati tuae pro necessitudine nostra defuisse viderer quid de instituto tuo sentiam Doctissimo viro tuique amantissimo RUTTERO nostro palam feci omnia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gravia arguta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ita mihi apparent ut Sacramento quod ait Orator contenderim tua esse nec vero quicquam scriptione hac tua video quod non utile sit antiquae
given to us little children humbly ignorant here an equality of knowledge with the Angells which alwaies behold the face of their heavenly Father therefore sing thou with the Psalmist Lord I am not high minded I exercise not my self in things too high for me Psalm 131. But I refrain my soul and keep it low like as a child that is weaned from his mother Yea my soul is even as a weaned child CHAP. II. Of the Attributes of the soul Chap. 2. Book 1. AFter the Original of the soul it will not be amiss before we come to its Definition to treat of the Attributes of the soul viz. the Immortality and Eternity the Indivisibility impatibility Separability and Impermixture of the soul not but that these are more properly touched in the second Book the Metaphysicall science of the soul as it is abstracted from bodily Organs only here to shew as I have already done the Divine principle of the soul how far these properties of the soul have been or may be evidenced by the light of Reason by the truth of naturall Philosophie and first with the last of the soules Separability and impermixture from the body and so in order upwards The Separability and immixture of the soul The soul of man is inorganical and hath its operations out of the body and therefore it is separable from the body separable I mean not as it doth subsist after death without the body as some of the antient Plilosophers onely held but even in this life also whilst it is in the body it is separated from it so the Modern and most of the antients maintain Lib. 3. de anima cap. 5. 6. Aristotle every where affirms it to be a property of the whole Intellect as well the patient as the agent and from this property of the soul is gathered arguments of the souls Immortality by Scotus Piccolomineus Alexander Aphrodiensis Vicomeratus Julius Pacius and others Art thou maried to this weak and frail body O my soul seek not a divorce in any unwarrantable unnatural way for though it be better to be dissolved and to be with Christ yet but for the cause of Christ thou maist not put her away not kill her or hate her but love her as a Wife cherish her as a weaker Vessell yet if she command obey not if she intice consent not let not thy Affections overcome thy Reason to cap ivate thy love to her lust in this case separate thy self from her not in affection but action let thy Diviner faculties Reason and understanding be thy Counsellors and rule thou in her yet above her and without her The Impatibility of the Soul The soul of man is Impatible it suffereth not for the rule is quicquid patitur corrumpitur as the wood suffers by the fire till it be consumed of the fire the soul of man not so it receives Objects and Species yet no way suffers or is hurt by what it receives Object But this property you will say the Sensitive soul hath as well as the Rational for even as the Intellectuall faculty receives intelligible forms yet doth not thereby suffer viz passione corruptiva so doth the Sensitive also receive its forms and Objects and is not hurt by them and therefore saith Aristotle sensus est impaâ—ibilis To this I answer that though this property agree with the Sensitive as well as the Rationall faculty yet with the Rational in a higher and much more eminent manner the Sense is not hurt by any Objects nor suffers any detriment so long as the Objects are presented in an orderly manner and due proportion there the Sense in no sense is patible viz. passione corruptiva but if a due proportion of the Objects be not observed for quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis the Sense is destroyed of its more vehement Object for he that saith sensus est impatibilis meaning in the former sense saith also vehemens sensibile destruit sensum and this vâ—hemens Objectum corrumpit sensum as too great a sound makes a man deaf too great a light will make a man blind But this cannot be said of Humane intellect since there is no such vehement Object which can corrupt it yea rather perfects it for after we have understood the highest and difficultest matters we are not made incapable of understanding easier as with gazing upon the Sun our sight will be so dazled with the light thereof that we cannot presently see lesser lights but much more capable to understand them than before and herein is an argument of the Divinity and immortality of the soul For were it mortall it would certainly be destroyed or wounded by its more forcible Object but vehemens in elligibile perficit intellectum ergo intellellectus non debilitatur in operando so incorruptible so immortall 'T is Scotus his argument for the souls immortality Behold how sin overthroweth as it were the whole Fabrick of Heaven God hath created the Humane soul of an impatible nature not subject to pain or punishment sin enters the soul and makes it liable to greater grief and torment than is imaginable evill of sin begets evill of pain pain privative and pain positive paenam sensus and paenam damni pain of loss the privation of eternal felicity banishment from the heavenly Country loss of the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven absence of God and want of the vision of him and an utter exclusion from all good things for ever this is the privative pain which is more bitter to me saith Saint Chrysostom than the positive torments of Hell nor is it any wonder if this loss cannot be expressed for we have not yet known the beatitude of those things that are reserved for us how then shall we apprehend our misery in the loss of them but besides this pain of loss there is a pain of sense a worm that never dieth a fire that never goeth out nor can any tongue express or heart conceive this pain but such as know them experimentally but a general torture it is in all the parts of the body in all the faculties of the soul the soul as well as the body is passive a passion worst of all passions a passion voyd of corruption voyd of consumption the wood suffers in the fire till it be totally consumed by the fire and well were it with the damned had they such pains which might at last consume them but as the widdows barrel of meal should not waste nor her cruse of oyl be spent so though in a different sense hers in mercy these in judgement the worm shall continually gnaw and eat but they not wast the bush shall burn in the fire and the fire not consume the bush for ever These things are writ for thee O soul that thou come not into this place of torment that if thou canst not patiently abide the eternall fire of hell hereafter thou maist not so patiently suffer sin here but
and therefore they likewise hold there are rewards and punishments for souls departed according as they have acted in the flesh be it good or evill Onely they have differed about the state of souls departed in which some have held ridiculous things Touching which we will proceed to shew how far this verity is evidenced to us by Philosophical principles by the light of natural reason The Soul of man after this life remains and abides for ever whole and intire as to its essence for that is simple and undivided as hath been sayd though not as to all its faculties and operations all the faculties of the soul remain not with the soul after the death of man at least the operations in that condition as before and therefore may be said to be perished The Intellectual faculty abides for ever with the soul so is no way mortal but for as much as the Sensitive faculty is organical and cannot work without a body when the body dyes that faculty is sayd to perish but this in respect of the body not in respect of the soul which faculty abides with the soul for ever potentialiter though not actualiter but is idle and cannot work whilst the body sleepeth in the grave and as Aristotle saith An old man had he the eyes of a young man would see as well as a young man so if after death the soul should enter into a body it would doe all the operations which before it did now since all these faculties as to the soul remain though in respect of the body they are sayd to perish it is necessary and that according to the principles of Philosophy that sometime the soul should reassume a body or else these faculties are reserved and kept in vain But because no power or faculty can be in vain Vide Pacim in Arist de anima lib. 3. c. 6. sect 5. â— Et lib. â— c. 10. sect 5. yet that is in vain which is never reduced into act and that Deus natura nihil frustra operantur according to Aristotle and the rule of Philosophy therefore it must needs be confessed that the soul shall sometime come into the body again which Conclusion is confirmed by very good reason for the soul is according to its essence a Form and a Form naturally desires the Matter to which it relates and without the Matter it is but imperfect for nothing is perfect ex sola forma not by Form alone but Matter and form together so that Matter concurs to the perfection of all created compounded substances otherwise death would not be so terrible if all perfection and happiness consisted in the soul Being thus seasoned with these Philosophical verities thou maist more readily assent to those Theological truths of the soul's eternity and immortality thou seest O my soul how near nature rectified and rightly principled leads to Christ what Affinity there is 'twixt Reason and Faith Nature and Grace they thwart not one the other the Truth of Philosophy agrees with the Truth of Divinity and from this Philosocal Principle will I teach thee a Christian Article of the Resurrection of the body and life everlasting For let me argue with thee O my soul in thine own natural principles if the soul be a Form which naturally desires the Matter to which it is the Form and without which it is imperfect if it have Faculties which it cannot exercise without a body and that God and Nature have made nothing in vain therefore the soul must of necessity reassume a body it must either be the same numerical body or another different from what it had before if another then must thou grant a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Transmigration of souls an error of the Pythagoreans and is an impossibility according to the principles of Philosophy because as Aristotle every where affirmeth a determinate Form requires a determinate Matter a specifical Form a specifical Matter and a numerical Form requires the same numerical Matter so the same Individual Soul requires the same Individual Body and if the soul assume the same body then must thou hold the Resurrection of that body which Christian Religion teacheth also CHAP. III. Of the Definition of the Soul Chap. 3. Book 1. ONe and the same thing may be the subject of several Sciences though diversly handled and considered in every one of them and as it is diversly considered so may it diversly be defined Logick is not tied to certain matter but runs generally through all kind of things not standing so much upon the matter Mathematicks handles things abstracted from matter non re sedratione Metaphysicks handles things altogether separated from matter but Physicks handles things not separated from matter at all nec re nec ratione Thus are the Definitions of one and the same thing various according to the several Sciences which treat of it Aristotle puts an example of Anger that being considered in the Physical Science is defined to be A certain motion of the body for some injury received with desire of revenge being in Logick considered it s defined onely A desire of revenge the one expresseth the matter he other not The Soul of man is a subject for all Sciences Philosophical or Theological and therefore admits of several Definitions but for as much as it is not our purpose at present to treat of the soul of man either Theologically as the Image of God in man nor yet Metaphysically as incorporeal spiritual and abstracted from bodily organs in its diviner contemplative intellectual faculties which resembles the nature divine nor yet to handle it onely in its Sensitive parts which resembles the nature of beasts but as it hath assumed humane nature and is the Form of man and so a part of him who is compounded of Matter and Form who is in that respect of a middle nature 'twixt Terrestrial and Celestial 'twixt Mortal and Immortal creatures and participates of both and this nature too we consider not as in the state of integrity in which it was created but in this lapsed degenerate condition it groaneth under since the fall of man and is intombed in a body of weak and sinfull flesh and operates not but by and with the body The subject therefore of this Book is Physical material and inseparable from the body as well in its Affections which we here handle as in its Essence such then must our Definition be for quale est definitum talis esse debâ—s definitio The Definition of the soul The Soul is the act and perfection of the natural organical body having life in power I shall not stay to coment upon the words of this Definition to shew how the soul is an act and perfection which words are Synonima the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comprehending both and is the genus in this Definition and how this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not the second act to wit the Operation and Motion which is the soules
torquere nor verum rationis judicium impedire so are not evill in themselves and of their own nature but through error in mans judgement from whence the vitiosity passeth upon the Affections Other reasons may be given of the evill and exorbitant Passions which doubtless are stronger or weaker according to the temperature of the four elements in the body of man from whence the complexions have their denomination if the complexion be Sanguine it commonly feeds the Affection of Joy and Mirth and Love and the like if Cholerick expect Anger Hatred Malice c. if Melancholy then Sorrow Fear and Grief and thus according to the temperature of the body are Passions for the most part more or less predominant the more temperate the complexion the more moderate the Passions the better the constitution the purer and nobler the Affections are That all Affections of the Soul are vitious and not onely to be moderated but wholly to be extirpated and expelled from our nature was an error broacht in the School of the Stoicks condemned in Christianity as well as by the Peripatetick Philosophers of old Mr. Hooker It is not in our own power whether we will be stirred with Affections or no It is as possible to prevent them all as to go out of our selves or to give our selves a new nature no more than we can refuse to wink with the eye when a sudden blow is offered at it or refuse to yawn when we see a yawning sleepy fellow though by frequent and habitual Mortification and by continual watchfulnes Dr. Taylors life of Christ 2 part fol. 122. and standing in readiness against all in advertencies we may lessen the inclination and account fewer sudden irreptions saith a devout and judicious Doctor of our English Church Many ought to be corrected few totally to be rejected some Affections there are which are virtuous and godly in themselves some are wicked and diabolicall some are in themselves neither godly nor wicked The good and virtuous are Love Pitty Joy Charity c. the diabolical are Envy Wrath Malice and especially that which your Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a rejoycing at other mens ill hap and misfortune the indifferent Affections are Fear Sorrow Anger and the like which as they are not simply good so are they not morally evill since our blessed Saviour who knew no sin was notwithstanding subject to like Passions of Sorrow Fear Grief and the like such as accrewed to us by the Fall of our first Parents and are infirmities and defects of pure nature effects or fruits of sin and so an evill to wit of punishment as well as other bodily defects as hunger thirst sickness yea and death which come unto us but by the Fall all these our Saviour was subject to in all things being made like unto us sin onely excepted The evill of sin he took not though he took upon him the true nature of man so saith Saint Augustine As Christ took upon him a true humane nature so he took the true defects and evils of that nature but not all he took upon him the defects or evils of punishment but not the defects and evils of sin Such Passions and Infirmities of Fear Grief Anger of Sickness Death and the like as are evils of punishment only Christ was subject to as we are therefore such are not simply sinfull neither can they be simply good since they be effects and fruits of sin Nor was Christ subject to these Passions in the same manner and measure as we Christ onely in the first motions and sudden irresistible alterations those twincklings of the eye as the Philosopher calls them those Propassions as the Schoolmen term them or Passions transient but we not in Propassion onely for a flash and away but in Passion also in Passion permanent to entertain it and retain it many times either without just cause or longer than occasion requires or beyond due measure by which the Affections come to be inordinate the Mind moved perplexed and troubled Reason blinded Judgement perverted and depraved These are the Diseases and Maladies of my Soul far worse than any that can be of my Body whether it be Lethargy Phrensie Apoplexie Epilepsie burning Feaver or the like all which are the most dangerous diseases of the Body for though the outward Senses may be surprised by these and my Body thereby made insensible of pain yet whilst my Soul remains un-distempered my Reason is able to discover and judge of these bodily distempers either by its inflamation or beating of its pulse and arteries or by some extraordinary heat and lassitude but when my Soul is diseased my Reason is also wounded and being sick hath no judgement at all of that which she suffereth for the self same that should judge is diseased being surprised with those unruly Passions which like a tempestuous storm at Sea carrie this little Ship of my Body into the deep without Tacklings Mast or Rudder or any to steer her aright whereby she is exposed to splittings shipwracks and all other misfortunes of the Seas But in the way of more strict Religion it is advised that he that would cure his passions should pray often Dr. Taylors life of Christ par 2. fol. 125. A Remedy against passions in general it is St. Augustines Counsell unto the Bishop Auxilius that like the Apostles in a storm wee should awaken Christ and call to him for aid lest wee ship-wrack in so violent passions and impetuous disturbances Again a continual exercise Vigilancie and Circumspection of thy Reason is a Sovereign Antidote for the Ejection of these poysonsom passions out of thy Soul and therefore one advertisement given by Fundanus in Plutarch against such inordinate passions is not here to be pretermitted Whosoever saith he will live safe and in health ought all their life time to look to themselves and be as it were in continual Physick and not as the Herb Hellebore which we English Neeswort after it hath wrought the cure in a sick mans body is cast up again together with the malady so Reason also should be sent out after the passion it hath cured but ought to remain still in thy mind to keep and preserve the judgement for Reason is to be compared to wholesom and nourishing meates and not to medicines and purgative drugs Of all those several affections and passions incident to the Soul and are either as Lenitives or Corrasives viz. pleasant and wholesome or harsh and noysom to the Soul two onely as principal I shall insist on upon which the rest are founded from whence they spring viz. Love and Ire Anger though simply and as it is in it self considered to wit in its first motions and natural inclination be neither good nor evil yet is made good or evil according to the circumstances of time and adjuncts of manner and measure all anger in all causes and in all degrees is not simply unlawful to be angry when
attributes we know which are not Proper to them but Common with other things as that they are essences entia realia perse existentia substances not accidences that they are Incorporeal Immaterial Intellectual Incorruptible spirits of a finite power and perfection all this hath been found out by the strength of natural Reason heathen Philosophers have taught it and Aristotle writes a whole Book de deo intelligâ—ntiis abstractis wherein he acknowledgeth them to be entia realia for asmuch as he grants them a being in nature Substances for as much as they are per se existentes not inhaering like accidences in any Material or Immaterial entity if then Substance not Material nor Inhaering they must be Incorporeal and Immaterial and if Immaterial then Intellectual as hath been said whence cometh their name Intelligenâ—ae which is attributed to these spiritual essences by the heathen Philosophers and that they are finite in power and perfection their creation is an argument for no created substance is infinite but created they are and all of them though not all alike in a necessary and an Essential order among themselves depending one upon another and all upon one as head which is God whom Aristotle calls intelligentia prima And thus much of the Nature and Essences of Angells and Separated Souls by the light of Nature what they are now of their Operations what they do The power of Angells and Souls abstracted Of the power of Angels Forms abstracted in their unstanding is seen in three things viz. in their Understanding in their Will and in their External Actions and Operations as for the power of their Understanding for as much as wee have proved them to be Intelligences Immaterial and of an Intellectual Nature it must needs follow they have in them the Act and Operation of knowledge and this in a far more eminent manner than any Rational Soul in this life by it Natural strength can attain unto wee shall first speak of the Act and manner of knowing themselves then of their Act and manner of knowing others The faculty of knowing themselves Every created Intellectual spirit hath this power to know it self which is not difficult to demonstrate by Natural Reason since every Intellectual Spirit is of it own nature Intelligible yea of it self actually Intelligible and a proportionate Object to any Understanding much more to it own therefore doth e-Intellectual Spirit actually know it self yea with an Intuitive Quidditative and Comprehensible knowledge know it self and is known by it self And how The manner of knowledge which it hath of it self is not as ours in this life per species impressas by Intelligible Forms imprinted of some outward Object nor as it knows other things per species congenitas innatas but it knows it self per propriam subst antiam by its own substance It needs no Accidental Form to represent it self by but every spiritual substance knows it self by its own substance as an Adaequate and proportionate Intelligible Object closely conjoyned to it own Understanding this is the way of knowing themselves God is known by all Intellectual Spirits after the same manner they know themselves by their own Substance Their power of knowing God and how and God by it as their Cause Principle and Author no other Spiritual or Corporeal substance is known this way save onely God yet is not this knowledge God of a proper Quiditative adn Comprehensive but an Improper Imperfect and confused Science for God cannot properly be known as he is in himself of any creature either by his Substance or proper Form who is Incomprehensible by any finite Power much less perfectly known by the proper substance of any Intellectual creature which is but a very imperfect Analogical representation of the Divine Nature Therefore when it is said God is known by the proper substance of any creature it is not to be understood of such a Quidditative knowledge whereby he is known as he is in himself but a knowledge of God per substantiam tanqnam per effectum as the Cause is known by the Effect and thus the Angelical Natures know God by their substance yet as the Effect of such a Cause which standeth with very good Reason for if here we may attain to the knowledge of God in this life by Effects if the invisible things of him from the creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead much more and in a more eminent manner may Angelical Spirits and Separated substances know God by their own Substances as by Effects for as they know their own substances so must they know them to be Effects necessarily and Essentially depending upon God and so by their own Substance as by the noblest Effect made after the Image and likeness of God may they Naturally attain to the knowledge of their Maker Of their knowing others and how But the knowledge which Angels and separated substances have one of another and of other inferior creatures is after another manner not per substantiam but per speciem by Intelligible Forms nor are these Forms imprinted by any outward Object presented to the Senses and so to the Phantasie but are Innate Connatural and ingendred together with their Nature and altogether Intelligible The difference twixt Sensitive Rational and meer intellectual knowledge True it is the Sensitive knowledge is per speciem as well as the Intellectual but perfecter the Intellectual than the Sensitive and the Angelical perfecter than the Humane the Sensitive creatures know nothing but per species and those of Objects singular it knoweth nothing of Universals the Intellectual know per species too but by those he understandeth Universals as well as Singulars all à genere generalissimo ad infimam speciem as for example when we conceive in our mind Substance which is the highest Genus in the Scale of the Predicaments and understand it aright we understand also all its Species under it the whole with all its parts so the Intellectual creatures know per speciem but such as represents some Universal Nature with all its Singulars the Genus with its Species the whole with its parts thus the Intellectual creatures excel the Sensitive in the manner of knowing per speciem And as the Intellectual excel the Sensitive so do they differ in excellencie among themselves the Humane from the Angelical and abstracted Intelligences and these one from another the Separated substances know that at once unico intuitu by one and the same Form which we cannot but by many several Forms running over the Cause with its Effects the Universal Nature with its Singulars with one simple aspect and apprehension which we cannot but under many and divers Conceptions and notions And thus much touching the Operation of the Angelical Intellect Now of their Will and Freedom Where there is Knowledge there is Desire and Appetite where there is no
the dayes of their Pilgrimage upon Earth the flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh she who was earst Rebellious is now Obse quious to the Dictates of the Soul now is she wholly subject to the will of her Lord yielding obeysance and obedience with admirable Agility and Celerity of motion now not the least Ponderosity of a Massie substance or Natural body to foreslow her motion appears any more but the Perpensility of a Caelestial and Spiritual body mounted as it were on the wings and Plumes of a Cherub to expedite the Souls Injunctions such Homage and obedience the Body paies unto its Soul that as St Augustine saith ubi volet spiritus ibi protinus erit corpus nec volet aliquid spiritus quod nec spiritum nec corpus possit decere 1. Hereupon is the body enfranchised of sundry Praerogatives and Immunities which are altogether inconsistent with it in its Natural condition whilst it was Elementary its Natural motion tended downward according to the Nature of the Predominant Element the ascendent motion of a Physical body is Excentrique and Irregular which motion is Concentrique and Consonant to a body glorified solo voluntatis impetu c. at the beck and command of the glorious Soul is the body mounted from Earth to Heaven whose Nature it is to be wholly subject to that glorified Spirit from whose Redundancie the body likewise receives its Glorification 2. The Humane body in the state of Nature in a slow Progress marcheth forward step by step and that not without some Earth or other solid body to tread or go on whereupon the Earth is made a cause of our walking Causa fine qua non but in the state of Glory most swiftly and as it were in an instant it moves from place to place from one part of Heaven to another absque adminiculo without the benefit of Earth or other Element to impress the least Vestigias or footsteps of his treadings 3. In the terrene estate the body is Opaque and Luskie Dark and Purblind Beautified onely by the Additaments of External colour but the Spiritual body is Diaphanous transparent transplendent not like those lesser lights which onely appear in the night but like the Sun at noon day in the Firmament of Heaven Matthew 13.43 Then shall the Righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father The CoÌ„fulgurations of bodies glorifi'd are like the bright shining of the Sun or compare we them to our Saviours glorious Body after his Exaltation which no doubt exceeds all the glory can be expressed or conceived when this transfiguration upon the Mount was so glorious That his face did shine as the Sun Matthew 17.2 and his Raiment was white as the light yet such is the condition and state of these bodies which are fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Phillip 3.21 Yet doth not this transcendent Glory superadded to the Humane body alter the Nature and Essence of the same the same Humanity is retained as well after as before the Resurrection the same body that is laid in the dust the self same body ariseth and ascends into glory that body is resumed in the Resurrection which was assumed in the Conception onely one to a Mortal the other to an Immortal life alterius gloriae sed ejusdem naturae the glory is different but the bodie 's the same The glorified bodies of Saints and the glorious body of our ever blessed Saviour in Heaven all of them of one Nature and Substance made up of Flesh and Blood and Bone Nerves Sinewes Arteries and what else conduceth to the perfection of a Humane body To deny this is to run into the Heresie of Eutiches condemned in the several Councils of Constantinople and Chalcedon who affirmed that the body of Christ was not of the same Nature with ours and that ours also after the Resurrection were not Palpable or Visible but more subtle and slender than VVind or Air. But as we have said the same body that is laid in the dust the same ariseth and puts on Immortality and glory a body of flesh is sown in dishonor but the same body of flesh is raised in glory Consonant hereto are the words of Job Job 19.25 26 27. I know that thy Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day day upon the Earth And though after my skinne wormes destroy this body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and my eyes shall behold and not another though my Reines be consumed within me thus we read and thus is our Creed so is preached and so is believed for the Resurrection of the flesh is an Article of our Faith a Fundamental point of that Religion the Church Catholick professeth and that our Saviours body is of the same Substance is another Fundamental Athanasius is plain perfect God and perfect Man Of a Reasonable Soul and Humane Flesh subsisting yea Palpable flesh and Visible even after his Resurrection our Saviours words are full for it behold saith he my hands and my feet that it is I my self handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have And therefore those words of the Apostle flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God are to be understood of sinful lusts and corruptions of the flesh 1 Cor. 15.10 and not of the flesh and blood it self dismantled of these And as the substance of a Humane body continues intire so hath she her faculties and qualities perfect though not all for in as much as the body is purged of sin and corruption those qualities which argue corruption and infirmity must needs be perished also absit labes silicet corruptionis assit effigies assit motio absit fatigatio assit vescendi potestas absit esuriendi necessitas c. Soft soft O my Soul dash not thy self on the Rock of Contention be not prolix in Polemick discourses and points Controversal since thou art devoted to thy calmer Theoremes and Diviner Speculations The case standing thus that none have admittance to those glorious Mansions in the new Jerusalem the City of God but bodies purged from their filthy lusts and sinful corrâ—ption bodies morigerous submisse and pliant to Soul and Spirit see then and lament the wretched estate of us Mortals upon Earth An evil it is under the sun an error proceeding from the ruler folly set in great dignity and the rich set in low place servants on horseback and Princes walking as servants upon the Earth Eccles 10.5 6 7. whose lives and conversations Diametrically oppose the glorified Saints in Heaven Apame was but Concubine to the great and mighty King Darius yet was she seen sitting on his right hand and taking the Crown from off his head did set it upon her own she also stroke the King with her
from his voice from Heaven to St. Paul and his reply to the Quaere of St. Paul Such bodies and bodily Organs for Vocal musick have all the Saints to sing hear Halellujahs sung a great voice was heard of much People in Heaven saying and singing Hallelujah in a most Melodious tune the ditty or ballad whereof was Salvation and Glory and Honor and Power unto the Lord our God There is a ful Quire of Saints thousands of thousands harmoniously canting the praises of the Lord and as full a Chorus with the like affectionate melody again and again ecchoing and resounding the like praises and loving kindness of the Lord. And as the company of singers is great so are the songs and Canticles various though all of them Eucharistical some in Memory of our Creation others in Memory of our Redemption some in triumph of the Holy Martyrs some in joy of Converts and Penitents others in Honor of Chastity and Virginity and those who were not defiled with Women the redeemed from amongst men being the first Fruits unto God and to the Lamb others for the Victory of all Saints over the World the Flesh and the Devil over the Beast and over his Image and over his Mark and over the number of his Name others for the judgements of God inflicted upon the ungodly ones There is sung the song of Moyses and there is sung the song of the Lamb yea there is sung the Psalm of David misericordias domini in aeternum as St. Augustine affirmeth fortasse non solius dei laudes in civitate illa canentur sed etiam tâ—iumphi sanctorum martyrum confessorum praeconia virginum gloria sanctorum omnium contra diabolum victoriae cantibus extollentur haec enim omnia in dei laudes gloriam redundabunt And all these songs and cantons cannot but be wonderous pleasant and delightsom to the ears of all the blessed and glorified Saints of God for which Cause the Ear is Organical and serviceable to the Soul and Body in their state of glory In the next place consider we the Sense of Olfaction and those sweet smeling savours and Odors in the Nostrils of all the Saints to shew that the body is not destitute of an Organ for the exercise of this Sensitive faculty of the Soul no more than of the rest which are so useful to her in this state For though the Scriptures afford not so pregnant proofs for the two Senses of Smelling and Tasting as for the other three yet may we not in reason conceive a total Deprivation or Annihilation of them more than of the rest nor without injury to the Humane Nature to which we attribute so great perfection and integrity of parts in that condition debar her the freedom of exercising any of her faculties other than what argue and favour Corruption which so much tends to the perfection of a Humane body ther 's no Privation of Sight of Hearing or of Touching why then of the other are the Saints Hosmei and are not Goglites if the want of an eye or an ear be such a blemish and imperfection as may not befall a glorified body is not the want of a nose as great a deformity but Odors and Olfaction there is in this state and this Sense hath its Objects of delight as well as the rest Glorified bodieâ— are Odoriferous bodies sending forth most fragrant sents as they are glorious to the eye so are they Aromatical to the smell St. Hierom of the body of St. Hilarion affirmeth after its ten months burial it was found lively fresh and whole tantis fragrans odoribus ut delibutum unguentis putaretur the like doth St. Gregory witness of St. Servulus saying anima exeunte tanta fragrantia odoris aspersa est ut omnes qui illuc aderant inaestimabili suavi ate replerentur and a little after quousque corpus ejus sepulturae traderent ab eorum naribus odoris itlius fragrantia non recessi and Bellarmine hence inferreth the alive bodies of the Saints in Heaven must needs send forth most sweet perfumes when their dead bodies are so Fragrant But above all is the glorious body of our blessed Saviour being perfumed with Mirrh and Frankincense with all powders of the Merchant and whose Garments smell of Mirrh Alloes and Cassia whereupon the Church that Spiritual Spouse cries unto Christ her Head and her Husband melioria sunt ubera tua vino fragrantia unguentis optimis oleum effusum nomen tuum Ideo Adolescentulaedi lexeruntte trahe me post te curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum thus saith St. Bernard Now if the body of Christ be so Odoriferous it is most propable the Saints are likewise so the Members in a due proportion to their head as in brightness so in sweetness The like probability is of the Sense of Tasting that it should remain in the glorified estate For if the Power of eating then the Sense of tasting but the first is granted then why not the latter adest vescendi potestas abest esuriendi necessitas and so resolves St. Augustine non potestas sed egestas edendi corporibus refurgentium aufertur Lib 13. de civit dei and this puts the difference twixt the Humane Nature Spiritual and Caelestial and the Natural and Terrestrial the one eates necessitatis the other potestatis gratiâ Christ after the Resurrection did eat and drink with his Disciples yet not as his Disciples for refreshment and nourishment non alimentorum indigentiâ sed ea qua hoc poterat popotestate and therefore the Paraphrase of venerable Beda upon those words of our Saviour have you here any thing to eat is worthy our observation Luk. 24 41. Aliter obsorbet aquam terra sitiens aliter solis radius calens illa indigentiâ iste potentiâ manducavit ergo post resurrectionem non quasi cibo indigens sed ut eo modo naturam corporis resurgentis astrueret so glorified bodies may sometimes eat to shew their Power and Freedom but never for hunger or satisfaction of a Natural Appetite or an empty Panch And this Comestion is real and true not a Fictitious and feigned eating of the Angels as that of Raphaels for the bodies which Angels sometimes assume being no Humane lively bodies have not the true and Real faculty of eating though happily of chewing or grinding and swallowing down into the interior parts of the body for a true Comestion is accompanied with a gust or tast which Sense continues to the glorified bodies and hath its recreation and delight as well as the other faculties though not in the Act of eating which they seldom use de sensu gustandi scribunt Theologi non usuros beatos cibis mortalibus sed habituros tamen oblectationem aliquam in eo sensu ne supervac aneus esse videatur futuram tamen oblectationem illam loco statui beaterum immortalium congruentem Bellarmine de aeterna felicitate lib. 4. cap. 8.
As for the Sense of Touching there is no difference amongst Divines nor indeed can be any doubt but that it hath its Operations in this blissful state since the gloried bodies may be felt and touched as all other true and lively bodies may and as our blessed Saviours was after his Resurrection as well Palpable as Visible not miraculously but according to its own Nature handle me saith he and see for a Spirit hath no flesh and blood as you see me have Thus much of the Senses Corporeal External and those parts of the body which are Instrumental and serviceable in the state of glory to the Humane Nature as they were to her in her Natural condition onely with these exceptions and limitations 1. From hence is banisht all sensual lusts and carnal Concupisence the Eye hath no lascivious looks the Ear 's infected with no blasphemous breath or impious sound nor this Sense deflowred with any adulterous touch here is no lust or desire of generation no respect of blood they neither marry nor are given in marriage this grosser acquaintance and pleasure is for the Paradise of Turks not the Heaven of Christians here is as no mariage save betwixt the Lamb and his Spouse the Church so no Matrimonial affections 2. Banish we likewise from hence all Impatibility of Sense sensus non fallitur nec laeditur circa proprium objectum no vehemencie of Object can destroy the Sense in their Natural estate their objects many times confound and wound them too great a light may make a man blind too great a sound may make him deaf we may not long gaze upon the Sun without blemish to our eyes otherwaies here for the Senses are blessed and glorious and so made Impassible and Immortal he who strengthens the Eyes of the Soul with such a measure of light and glory that they may see God face to face and yet not be dasled and confounded with his glory doth also so confirm and strengthen the Eyes of the body that without any hurt or damage to themselves they may behold not one but infinite Suns and Illuminated bodies though in themselves never so glorious 3. All Acts of Necessity are hence excluded the Soul doth not exercise her Sensitive Faculties Necessarily but freely and rules with the body and bodily Organs when she pleaseth and when she pleaseth the Soul rules alone For she hath other waies of Operation out of the body more Excellent and Noble the Senses are Secundary means for acquiring Knowledge not the Primary only subservient and at command of the Soul In the Natural estate the Sensitive Knowledge precedes the Intellectual nihil est in intellectu quod non prius fuit in sense and without Sense there is no intelligence Not so in the Resurrection the Soul knoweth all things as fully and infallibly by Intuitive Vision and Inate Forms at once unico intuitu by one single aspect as by those various multiplyed Forms imprinted from sensible Objects under so many several notions and conceptions the Understanding stands not need of an Eye or an Ear or other bodily Organ to evidence the truth of what it apprehendeth it is not subject to Sense but Sense to it not the Soul to the Body but the Body to the Soul for the Nature of a glorified body is to be Spiritual that is subject to the Spirit not that it hath no flesh and bones but that it is so subject to the Spirit that at the beck and command thereof without any pains and difficultie it moves most swiftly Ascending Descending Coming Going and through every place penetrating as if it were not a body but a Spirit Ad hoc autem quod sit omnino corpus subjectum spiritui requiritur quod omnis actio corporis subdatur spiritus volunâ—ati saith Aquinas and therefore it is in the Power of the Soul to see or hear or the like to use or not to use these bodily Organs when and as often as she pleaseth without which in her Natural condition she could not Operate or reduce all her Faculties into Act. This is the state of that Church that part of Christs Body triumphant whose Organs and Senses are Spiritualiz'd to whom that part of Christs Church militant here doth hold resemblance the like Analogy and proportion bearing every Member one to another they on Earth to those in Heaven as every one beareth to Christ the H ad as the Spiritual Body in Heaven is Organiz'd so is the Organical Body on Earth Spiritualiz'd and hath five Spiritual Senses Senses refreshed with Spiritual Objects This I can assure thee O my Soul being a Member of that Mystical Body whereof Christ is the Head thou art entitled to yea and refreshed with such Sensitive Objects as the Saints in Heaven are refreshed and delighted with Objects for thy Eye thy Ear thy Nose thy Palat thy Hand as Form Sound Odor Sapor Spissitude but these made Spiritual and are so to be received I speak of Christ in the Eucharist who is made the Object of every Sense that the excellencie of the Knowledge of Christ may more fully be evidenced to us from him of whose fulness we all receive Christ is Visible to the Eye Audible to the Ear Sweet and fragrant to the Smel Savory to the Tast to the Nose Palat Hand sensible he is meat to the hungry and drink to the thirstie Angels food and mans repast Christ in the Sacrament is the Object of our Eyes and as real y present here as in Heaven and is as really exhibited to us who spiritually discern him though under other Forms hic ibi veritas sed hic palliata ibi manifesta he is palliated here but unveiled in Heaven here we see him darkly through the instrument of Faith for we walk by Faith and not by sight his real presence is believed our Corporal Eyes do not behold him otherwaies than veiled under those outward signes of bread and wine the eys of our Body seeth the signes the Eye of our Faith the thing signified aliud latet aliud patet what we see is Bread and Wine what we believe is the Body and Blood of Christ what our Souls cannot reach with Corporal Eyes it may discern by an Eye of Faith Faith is a director of the Soul or prospective to the Eyes to bring to their sight such things as are not discernable without in this Vale of tears through the prospect of Faith is Christ Visible to us though the Saints in Heaven have a cleaâ—er Viâ—ion of him seeing him face to face 〈◊〉 as they are seen This is but a glimpse of that beatifical Vision the glorified bodies have of Christ here per aenigma there facie revelata here veiled there revealed unde preciosior dicitur faciei visio quam speculi frequens imaginatio non enim pari omnino jucunditate sumitur cortex sacramenti medulla frumenti fides species memoria praesentia aeternitas tempus speculum vultus
with Consolatory bread and Angels food that true Bread descending from Heaven nor with the Wine of the Grapes of Gomorrha but of the true Vine Christ Iesus the Lamb the Head and Husband of the Church which at the heavenly Mariage shall be drunk new in the kingdome of Heaven There we drink not of this Wine made of water as at the Mariage in Cana but ex botro illo magno terrae promissionis qui interim in vecte portatur dum secundùm carnem novimus ChristuÌ„ hunc crucifixum which we drink at the Lords table in types signs here which are mortal and perishing but in Heaven at that great Supper of the Lord really and truly immortal and incorruptible enduring to eternal life For in Heaven is no labouring for the meat which perisheth the Saints glorified use not corruptible food their food is spiritual and immortal fitting and suitable to that state of glory and their tast is accordingly no carnal rellish no earthly savour nil quippe in his carnale sapit nil seculare nil vanum sed spiritus veritatis caelestis sapientia est cujus in utraque suavitas praelibatur He that cometh to the Lords Supper in his old garments hath not this spiritual relish nor shall he be thought worthy to be partaker of that great Banquet the Supper of the Lamb in Heaven or tast of that food as wel those that come here unworthily as those that refuse to come though invited shall all be excluded hereafter so saith the Lord of the Feast I say unto you none of those men who were called shall tast of my supper And to the unworthy person it is sayd also Friend how camest thou hither not having thy Wedding-garment take him c. And lastly Christ is the object of our sense of Touching we receive him into our hands we take him into our mouthes we feed on him in our hearts we dwell in him and he in us so to every sense is Christ spiritually sensible tangible by the hand as visible to the eye prae manibus as he is prae oculis CHAP. III. Of the Knowledge of the Soul by Intuitive Intellection or Beatifical Vision Chap. 3. Book 3. HItherto of the knowledge fetcht from External objects by the means of outward senses the Internall are not without their use viz. Phantasie and Memory but of these sufficient hath been said already Nor yet shall we further treat of that Internall intellectuall knowledge which the humane soul in its Glorified estate hath of all Material Immaterial created substances viz. of Angels and abstracted Forms other inferior creatures which are represented to its knowledge per speciem by an innate form and similitude chiefly and primarily in their universal natures secundarily in their individuals in one single aspect and intuition which manner of knowledge is natural and essential to Spirits and Essences intellectual for this hath also been elswhere handled But here we shall principally insist upon that Science of the Soul or rather Sapience which consists in the sole intuitive Intellection or Beatifical Vision of the divine Essence and Nature of God himself which is not per aenigma as in this life but facie revelata not in his back parts onely but the infinite Essence and Majesty the very quiddity and being of the great Iehovah as he is in himself so St. Iohn expresseth it fully and clearly manifested And the divine Sapience which comes by this Intuition or Intuitive Intellection surpasseth all other manner of knowledge whatsoever this is not natural to any created Angelical Intellect comes not by any strength of nature created by God into any finite being nor can it stand with natural reason how a finite capacity for so are all created intelligences should perfectly and distinctly clarè perspicuè cognitione perfecta non confusa apprehend see and know an infinite Essence as intensively Infinite this is supra captum humanum and exceeds all natural power Yet above reason is beleeved for so is the Faith of holy Church that the blessed Saints and Angels in Heaven do clearly and fully see and know God do behold him as he is in himself The Mind and Intellect glorified sees the Will enjoyes God its chiefest and most desirable good more fully and more certainly than any man here enjoyes any temporal estate In this Intuitive Vision and Fruition of God is Mans eternal felicity his beatitude his summum bonum seated here comes in the fulness of the Promises here 's the consummation of our Hopes this is the final intrinsical end of Mans Creation to see God clearly and to enjoy him fully our Beatitude consists in this and is the same beatitude wherewith God himself is blessed God is most blessed and therefore most blessed because he alwayes beholds himself as he is and eternally enjoys himself he hath made us partakers in hope of the same chiefest good to be like him in the same felicity together with all the glorious Saints and Angels so saith the Apostle We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is There were certain Hereticks Armenians and others but condemned of old by several Decrees and Councils who held it imposible for any created Intellect by any power whatsoever clearly to see God and therefore they held further the Beatitude which is promised by God and waited for by us to consist non in familiari illo quem speramus divine naturae intuitu sed cujusdam creati fulgoris ab ea manantis And indeed in the eye of Reason it is impossible unto Nature altogether repugnant that any created Intellect by any strength of it own should perfectly know the infinite Godhead but what is impossible with men is notwithstanding possible with God Multa fieâ—i possunt virtute divina quae naturae creatae viribus fieri non possunt saith Suarez nam etsi Deus à nullo intellectu creato clarè cognosci potest viribus naturae videri tamen clarè perspicuè poâ—est ab iis quorum mentes divina bonitas supra naturae modum illustraverit ad quandam divinae naturâ—e participationem evexerit saith Fonseca This is done by a supernatural power fide tenemus quod ratione improbamus Though all power is not excluded from the nature of created Intellection for an Obediential power is founded in the nature of the Reasonable Soul even unto acts of divine and supernatural quality to those supernatural habits of Faith Hope Charity c. not Acquisite by any intrinsical power of it own but infused by God drawn out of the power of the Soul eductione supernaturali ad quam non requiritur ex parte subjecti potentia naturalis receptiva sed obedientialis sufficit which obediential power is founded in the nature of the Soul Suarez tom 1 disp 15. sect 2.9 and in that respect is natural and essential to it In which sense Aquinas is to be understood saying * 1.2 q. 113.