end and use of it is in all things naturally to worke mediately by the body For the soule is not such a strange nature dwelling in the body miraculously as some imagine but lovingly united by a sweet union and fit concordance in nature And therefore without question as the nature use end and all ordinary faculties and workes are naturally and mediately by these corporall natures so also is the originall and could not otherwise have such union and sympathy with the body But yet as the nature and workes also are some wayes extraordinary without and above all elementary natures so proportionably thereunto God hath an extraordinary and supernaturall worke in producing of it 5. The faculty of propagation seated in the soule Another reason that the soule is propagated may be because the faculty of propagation belongs as well to the soule as the body yea hath originally the chiefe seate in the soule onely For the body alone is but a dead instrument as the pen in the hand of the writer and therefore must needs be in the soule which is the first principle and principall cause of all actions unlesse wee should graunt more soules than one and disturbe yea destroy the uniforme government of nature by placing divers commanders in one body Now if the soule hath a part yea the chiefest power in propagation it were most absurd to say that all is spent in the producing of I know not what brutish thing which is neither nan not beast And seeing according to the rule of reason such as the cause is such also is the effect how can it be but the soule must produce a soule and coÌ„sequently the whole man the whole man 6. The soule present in conception Adde hereunto that the soule doth accompany the seede and perfecteth the body from the very first conception which not onely the ancient Philosophers acknowledge as most agreeable to nature and reason whence it is that nothing is more coÌ„mon with Aristotle Arist deâ— gen anim l. 1. cap. 3. than that the power of the soule is in the seed making its owne house fitly framing the bodily organs and bringing them to the highest perfection that the first constitution of the matter is capable of but even amongst our modern Philosophers and Divines it is acknowledged for such effects cannot be done without a soule as the most acute Scaliger abundantly proveth Scal. Exerc 6. Sect. 5. And if the soule informes the seede at the very instant of perfection when there are as yet no organs is it not more probable that it is mediately propagated with the seede than immediately created by GOD Yes doubtlesse Neither need any doubt how the rationall soule can 〈◊〉 the seede without organs know that the chiefe yea the only immediate organs of the soule are the spirits and these are as well in the seede as in the most perfect body The souls worke in the Embrio Although therefore there are as yet no eyes or eares for the soule to heare or see with yet there is worke enough for it to heate and coole moysten and dry and thereby to seperate and conjoine to thicken and thinne to extend and contract to make rough and smooth to harden and soften these and such other are the workes of the soule whereby it doth ordaine place number and forme the seede For though they be the prime and secondary qualities of the elements yet in such a naturall body all are doâ—â— by the power of the soule and none of all can be done without it 7. God the efficient cause Lastly It appeareth that not nature but God is the efficient cause of the soules procreation because even elementary bodies cannot be produced without a more excellent efficient than themselves For wee see that all naturall things yea every plant that growes out of the earth besides the materiall cause the elements whereof it is compounded and the seede whence it receiveth the forme hath also an externall efficient cause which certainly is the influence of the celestiall Orbes who by causing motion gives it the first hint and power of growing And seeing the soule hath such similitude with these corporall natures that though they have not matter and forme as they have yet having a spirituall kinde of composition which for likenesse justly meriteth the name therefore as the spirituall matter and forme thereof is propagated from the parents by the seede so it must also have a spirituall externall efficient cause more excellent than it selfe which can be no other but the immediate power of God the father of spirits For as all naturall bodyes have an efficient cause correspondent to their natures which in course of nature cannot be good immediately with whose nature they have so small affinitie yea so great contrarietie but these heavenly powers with whom they have such sympathy being of the same corporall nature though of a more excellent temper so the efficient cause of our soules must needs be agreeable to their natures which cannot be the Starres which are far inferior but God who is also a spirit and of a more excellent nature than our spirits even as the Sunne is more glorious than these earthly substances betweene whom there is such sympathy that even as plants welke and fade without the force of their efficients that heavenly lampe the Sunne and the rest of those celestiall orbes but grow and flourish with them so how a soule seperated from God and one united unto his and injoying the beames of his grace is either miserable or happy we know in part but cannot perfectly comprehend CHAP. XXVIII Reasons from other considerations Rarenesse of humane conceptioÌ„ BEsides these arguments taken from the ordinary course of generation and the nature of the soule divers other probable reasons may be produced As first the often failing and indeed rarenesse of humane conception in comparison of other creatures as common experience teacheth Now if the soule be created after the perfecting of the body then the first conception and breeding beeing by the power of nature onely why shoud there not bee as much frequency and certainty in the propagation of mankind as of other creatures This rarenesse of humane conception doth intimate unto us that it is not by the power of nature alone that man is conceived in the wombe but that there is some more speciall worke of God in it than in the generation of other creatures And if it cannot be denyed but God hath such a speciall worke in the conception of man why should we not thinke that the soule hath its beginning then also rather than with reverence be it spoken to put God to a double labour and to set him twice on worke in every man generation 2. God shuld be tyed to nature And this may farther appeare not only by testimony of Scripture which makes conception to be a speciall worke of God and never mentioneth any extraordinary power in the
right therein proceed wee now to their titles and so if it be possible to find out the truth in this most intricate questioÌ„ viz. whether the soul be naturally propagated from Adam or supernaturally created by God Not generated If we say the first it must needs be generated of the soule or of the body if of the body then it will follow that it is by nature corruptible and so not immortall And if we say it is spiritually produced of the soule that seemeth contrary to reason unlesse we should overthrow the excellent nature of the soule for if it be a spirituall and immateriall substance indivisibly subsisting by it selfe how can it be that one should ingender another Besides many other inconveniences would follow thereupon as afterward we shall see Not created Now if on the other side we say that they are daily created by God of nothing besides the oppositioÌ„ that this hath to Gods first institution of nature whereby all things were setled in a course to increase and multiply of themselves and God hath rested from the works of creation ever since it is no lesse opposite to divinitie For if this be true it cannot be conceived how there can be any originall sin without impeachment to Gods Justice Originall sin denied by some of the Ancients Whenee it is that not onely the old Anabaptists the Pelagians and our new Pelagians the Anabaptists holding that the soule is immediately created by God deny that there is any originall sin otherwise then by imitation but even divers of the antient Fathers seeme to be of the same minde and not onely Hierome and Chrysostome Zan. de operibus par 3. li. 2. c. 5. thes 1. but as Zanchy wintnesseth this was the chiefe reason that moved the chiefest Divines and most famous Doctors of those times to choose rather to hold the propagation of the soule than to fall into so many absurdities as follow upon â—he former Doctrine And as â—hey could not see how these two could stand together so neither can I see how it can be seene Not cleared by our moderne Divines Nay I dare say farther themselves that hold this opinion themselves cannot see it clearely neither can they herein satisfie either themselves or others As appeareth plainly first 1. because throughly urged they put it off by accounting it a curious question and so restraine diligent searching under a colour of modesty 2. Secondly they plainly confesse they cannot satisfie such 3. Thirdly they urge exhort us to faith without reason 4. Lastly they turne us from searching after the originall to make a good end with it and that indeed is good counsell but in the meane while if this opinion be contrary to the truth and staineth God by consequence they must give others leave to doubt and to dissent For as it is ridiculous folly to neglect quenching to finde out who fired our house so it is a great wickednesse to lay it upon him that did it not 1. Not by the soule For if the soule comes immediately from God the question is how we come to be defiled with originall sin this infection cannot proceed from the soule for if God created it he maketh it exceeding good and it is not good to say God forsakes it before it sinnes or it sinnes before it comes into the body or God punisheth for anothers fault a good soule for a mans sin 2. Not by the body Againe it cannot be polluted by the body for neither can the body be sinfull without the soule nor yet if it could could the divine nature of the soule be corrupted by the body and if it could be yet not with originall sin 3. Not by union Neither can it be by the union of both for that is done by God And how can it possibly stand with Gods Justice to put a new created soule that is good and without sin into such a condition as wherein it shall be straight way liable to eternall damnation for the fault of another that doth nothing perteine unto it or how can it belong to a good soule newly created of nothing that not a soule but a man some thousand yeares since sinned Neither will it availe any thing to say it is created in the infusion and infused in the creation for that is all one as if we should say in plainer word It s made in the marring and marred in the making for being a spitituall substance and nature distinct from the body if it come from another principle it must have a proper existence of its owne before it can be made part of another and if not in time yet in nature I am sure it must first be before it can be united to the body Neither can it helpe to say it is Cods decree for that cannot be proved and being unjust is most justly disproved 4. By neither by law of Iustice insufficient But the last and best refuge is that originall sin passeth neither by the soule nor by the body but by the offence of our first parents who standing in the roome of all their posteritie as looke what gifts they ieceived was no lesse for their posteritie than for themselves so what they lost they lost also for their posteritie And therefore in the instant that God createth souls although he creates them good yet for Adams sin he deprives them of those supernaturall gifts which otherwise they should have had which deprivation although it putteth no evill into the soule yet evill necessarily followeth and hence is Originall sin The reason why This indeed comes somewhat nearer the matter for if it be granted that the soule is not propagated from Adam it must be granted withall that we are not guilty of Originall sin simply because wee proceed from Adam but by some other means as namely because he stood in our roomes and we are men as he was but yet this will not serve the turne neither For first it stands not with the Justice of God that Adams sin should be imputed to us any other way then as it is our own 1. It must be our owne that is as we sinned potentially in him it being Gods just ordinance in nature Rom. 11.16 that all things should be potentially in their principles and pertake of their natures secondly 2. Not by imputation onely it is confessed as the truth is that originall sin is not onely by implication as this is but also by propagation yea I will say more and yet according to the truth that it is not by imputation 3. Chiefly by pâ—opagation but onely in respect of propagation For if wee could be without sin of our owne as a new created Soule is his sinne could not justly hurt us True it is that God may justly punish all mankinde for the sin of Adam yet this is and must be his posteritie onely neither they for his sin properly
of the man so it s owne form is the specificall difference or individuall existence which it hath as a reasonable soule in the coÌ„mon nature of man proceeding from the concurrence of all those causes 5. InstrumeÌ„tall And herein that body or rather the corporal seed the perfection of the body especially the pure spirits therein wherewith the soule naturally unites it selfe 1 by reason of sympathy and familiarity which is betweene them becomes an assisting or instrumentall cause Lastly 6. Finall the finall cause is the preservation of mankinde and his owne glory by them according to his first institution Now all this is done in conception soule and body beginning both in the same moment of time Time and neither being before or after other And thus we may conceive how the soule is propagated of the soule after a spirituall manner as the flame of one Lamp lighteth another by promotion or multiplication being blowne by the power of God Simile and sed with the oyle of the animall spirits And that this may not seeme strange Conclusions concerning the soules originall before I come to the proofe of it I desire that these few Conclusions might be considered 1. Of the union of the body and soule First that there is no such diametrall opposition betweene the soule the body but that they may be naturally coupled together Indeed the soule is far from such a grosse visible substance as the body is compounded of yet is it not without some spirituall kind of substance and that not altogether simple Neither doe I think the creatures of God to differ so much in kinde as in degree Besides it is manifest that the soule is of the lowest degree of spirits and not onely capable of but coveting union with corporall natures and so according to the course of nature may as well be propagated with them as united with them Secondly 2. Of the union of the soule with God as any nature is more excellent so it hath a neerer union with that first being wheron it depends is more immediately moved by it Now because all natures doe subsist and are sustained more or lesse immediately by that first being according as their natures are neerer unto it or farther removed from it answerable whereunto the worke thereof is more or lesse immediate in them Hence it followeth that the soule being more excellent and confequently neerer to God than any corporall creature can be as he workes more immediately in them than in others after they are made so by like reason it followeth that he doth so in their first propagation 3. The efficient cause in generation Thirdly there is nothing generated in the world but it hath some externall efficient cause Now this in corporall generations all grant to be the heavens which being of a more excellent nature send downe their influences to inferiour creatures by vertue of which next unto God they continue their kinds But the soule being a spirit is above all corporall creatures and being made by Gods owne immediate hand onely at first it can have no other externall efficient but the same immediate power still So that whereas it is commonly said Sol homo generant hominem it may more truly be said Deut homo generant aniâ—nam Neither is it absurd that man should have two efficients it is rather an honour that God nature should concurre together in his generation 4. The true cause of mortality Fourthly Mortality proceeds not so much from generation as divine malediction For had not â—an sinned it is confessed that â—he body should have beene immortall as well as the soule Alâ—hough therefore the soule were compounded and generated after a corporall manner without any immediate act of GODS power none of which are true yet if would not presently follow that it must needs be mortall 5. The cause of immortalitie Lastly Whatsoever hath the being immediately from God cannot be annihilated but by the same immediate power so that it is the act of his immediate power that is the proper cause of immortalitie and hence it appeareth that though the body which is produced by the power of nature onely may dye and perish yet the soule whose production is not without an immediate act of the Deity can never dye but by the same power omnipotent by which it lived How man is sinfull and the soule immortall Thus then it appeareth that though the soule be propagated in the manner aforesaid yet it is neverthelesse immortall since it is neither made of any corporall matter nor produced onely by the power of nature and God is never the more faulty though wee be sinfull because being wholy in Adam according to the just law of nature so sinning potentially in him he with us and we with him being then actually one the whole nature of mankinde is thereby so corrupted and this pure ordinance of God in producing soules so defiled that corruption passeth in the very conception and we are stained with originall sinne and so are liable to Gods eternall wrath Psal 51.5 Eph. 2.3 Rom. 11.16 Mat. 7.18 Gal. 6.7.8 so soone as we begin to be It being a just and necessary law in nature that as the roote is such are the branches and look what the tree is such must the fruit be CHAP. VI. Scriptures to prove the soules immediate creation answered The methode and reason of it HAving thus declared the manner of the soules creation or rather procreation for the better satisfying of the sober minded and silencing such as shall be wilfully contentious it behooveth me in the next place more fully to explaine prove the same Wherefore after this generall entrance having presumed to determine this so intricate a question that wee may have the freer passage my next indeavour shall be to cleare the same by removing out of the way such obstacles and objections as may seeme to oppose it And the rather because they are such as whereby I shall best explaine my selfe and shew that it may be so and so afterward prove the more clearely that it is so and thereby also take away that prejudice wherewith mens minds are forestalled before I proceed to the proofe of it Objections marshalled Here therefore I must first encounter with a whole army of Arguments that seeme to be set in battaile aray against me and then pitch a new field of reasons to maintaine what I have spoken The arguments that come marching against me seeme to be ranged in two severall battalions the former mainly intending to fight for the immediate creation of the soule the latter altogether against the propagation of the soule Those that most establish the soules immediate creation are of two sorts partly Testimonies of Scripture and partly reasons drawne from them Being thus greatly beset with enemies I have notwithstanding great hope of victory not onely because I have before well
resemblance in this case the soule of man may well be compared to a spirituall flame united to the body by the spirits as the flame of the Lamp by the oyle now as in the lighting of a Lamp every touch of fire doth not kindle it but as after blowing and fit applying of fire thereunto it sometimes flameth with a touch so the soule is not kindled at every conjunction of seedes but onely then when as I said before it is blowne by the efficient power of God which meeting with all other naturall causes out of the matter of these flames applied this new heavenly flame the soule is produced And as in that elementary inflammation the Lamp is not turned into the flame but inflamed by another so the corporall seede is not turned into the soule but informed with a soule by others Which soule being a spirituall flame not nourished by any elementary matter as the other is nor kindled without that everlasting breath whence it first came it can never after be extinguished as the other may And hence it commeth to passe not onely that soules perish not when any seede is lost but also that in case mans seede be mingled with other creatures as if sometimes happeneth such unkindly conceptiōs are never informed with reasonable soules not onely for that there is a want in the concurrence of all naturall causes but because God doth not conferre his efficient power but where and when he pleaseth To conclude therefore it appeareth that soules are neither lost nor choaked in the wombe nor yet constrained to live alone without bodyes when the seede proves not effectuall for then there is no soule produced I will not say but there may be fire but in that case I dare say there is no such flame kindled CHAPTER X. How one soule can proceede from two soules THe former objection being taken away 2. Obj. That the soule must be mingled of the parents soule we are to proceed to the second which is that if the soule be traduced from the parents it must needs be as well from the mothers soule as the father and if from both then either there must be two soules or else two soules must be mingled together and so grow into one both which are no lesse than impossible to which although it seemes unanswerable these things which shall be spoken being throughly considered I trust will give sufficient satisfaction For first why might wee not for the same cause say that there must be two bodyes also one from the father and another from the mother and if it be said that one partakes of both how comes it to passe then that it is sometimes like the father onely sometimes onely like the mother yea oftentimes a son like the mother and a daughter like the father In all other things most contrary to that part from whence the sex is received And if it must be confessed that the worke of nature herein is above reason what wonder if it be so in the soule also yea why should it not be so in that much rather than in this and if the former draw us onely to an admiration but not to a negation of if because the thing is apparent why should not the latter doe so also seeing in nature it is no lesse manifest then the former both being brought forth together as wee see To come a little neerer the matter One creature cannot be made of two souls I would first of all demand how it commeth to passe that among all living creatures of two divers seeds that is to say of the male and female is notwithstanding generated but one creature of the one kinde Since as Philosophers truely teach the species of things cannot be mingled no more than soules Vide Scal. de subti exer 268. and the essence of every thing is indivisible and two formes cannot be made one Now seeing the seede of any creature conteines in it both matter and forme thereof and is the same in potentiâ as they speake differing from the creature it selfe onely so much as power differeth from act that is ability to be or doe from being or being done how therefore can it possibly be that one creature can be produced from two seedes in univocall generations seeing also that vegetative nature have therefore but one seede These reasons made Aristotle deny that females had any seede at all being onely as the ground wherein seede is sowen Now if this be true the point is cleare without any farther opening for then the soule proceeding from the soule of the father onely there shall not need be two soules nor one mingled of two How the soule is from both as both are one But this is denied therefore some further answer is to be sought out For though the sex proceed not from the sex yet they say if this were true neither by the course of nature could ever be propagation by both Be it so yet I say that as two seeds produce but one creature because the seeds of male and female though they be two in number are but one kind else there must be two bodyes also so it is cōcerning the soule more plainly I say The seede of both but one seede that as the seede of either apart cannot properly be called seed-seed because neither of them alone conteines the matter and forme of the creature and is not Animal in potentiâ but at the instant of conception when both seedes are so mingled that therein is conteined the power of producing the like then onely it is rightly called seede and before onely because it may be thus for that is to be actually seede to have this potency in it so as the seede is properly but one in all sensitive creatures aswell as in vegetative in that sense that theirs is so in like manner I say that the spirituall seede of the soule if by way of resemblance I may so call it is not in the severall seede of either sex for there is no such materiall or locall division but rather in both when but one For in generation wee may not conceive one act to be made of two but two in act doe make one The mystery of which union lyes in this that the nature is one and the sexes two which againe united in one produce a third For by the spirituall seede of the parents soules What the soules seed is how generated I doe not meane any seperated matter as the bodies is but far otherwise namely that potentiall vertue in the parents soules which in conjunction uniting their forces together out of their owne matter doe enforme their seede with their nature that is a soule apprehended and united by the spirits therein It being the ordinance of God that mans nature should be distinguished into two sexes that by the more forcible union of both the whole kinde might be preserved And because the soule is rather facultie than matter
body it must also decrease and dye with it For answer whereunto I would first of all demand of them who hold that it comes by immediate creation how the soule of an infant newly quickened in the mothers wombe can be as perfect as when it is a perfect man Surely there is not so much difference at least in tho soules appearance betweene conception and quickening as is betweene quickning and manhood when therefore they answer the one I may happily thereby also answer the other But not to stay so long in the second place I answer that all soules as well the soules of beasts as of men are essentially as perfect in the first instant of conception as ever afterward yea even the soule of a plant when it is in the seed for though not being of such a fiery nature as living creatures and wanting meanes to exercise its power it may lye a while yea many years as dead as Mustard-seed will doe yet the vegetative soule in the effence thereof Reasons proving the soules perfection in the first conceptiō is as perfect as the most perfect plant as plainly appeareth so soone as the meanes of growing is administred to it 1. Now if the soules of other creatures which as they are soules doe neither increase nor decrease no more than the soule of a man doth may be perfect when they shew no perfection no nor action at all why should we thinke mans soule imperfect because it doth not manifest the perfections at all times alike 2. And if this be a good argument against the propagation of the soule because it should then seeme to be imperfect at the first and so to grow up with the body why should not that be as good against the immortalitie of the soule that it seemes also to dye and decay with the body 3. yea why should it not be much stronger seeing it may better stand with the nature of immortalitie to increase grow better than to decrease and wax worse But to put all out of doubt 4. seeing all confesse that the soule is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the prime act or first mover and essentiall forme of the creature it must needs be perfect at the first and alwayes the same For reason teacheth that that which is first and gives perfection to all the rest cannot have another before it to give perfection to that for so there should be a first before the first and a soule of the soule And seeing the soule is the essentiall forme it must needs be unchangeable also for it is impossible the forme should be altered so long as the creature continues the same what creature soever it be So that this never change but at death nor then neither in men because it is begotten of immortall seede and not brought forth without the immediate hand of GOD. It skilleth not therfore whether the soule can see heare or reason when it is in the seede it sufficeth that it hath that spirituall and divine nature which when the organs are perfected is able to doe it Herein it is with the soule as with the body the child newly conceived hath not the fashion of an humane body yet is there all that is essentiall to the nature of it as will in time appeare so is there all that is essentiall to the soule in conception but the bodily parts requiring time hath it imperfectly the soule being spirituall and above time hath it perfectly in the first instant yet in this case the soule must stay for the expression of it selfe till the body be perfected and then all those seeming new-come perfections are to the soules as cloths to the body onely accidentall ornaments and externall habits which doe not alter it indeed but onely in shew 3. Of conception of Twinnes Lastly concerning the question of superfetation whether twins be conceived at once or at divers times we need not much to dispute For whether it be either or both wayes it makes no matter for if nature hath power to worke so diversly for producing of bodies there is no question but that both God and nature is able to indue them with soules accordingly And it is sufficient for the point in hand that howsoever the manner of generation be there is at least of the soule whereof we dispute but one conception of one and that at once which once is in propagation For though among other creatures the receiving of the seede once sometimes produceth many and often many times but one yet we need not grant it so in humane propagation and yet if we should in regard of the former we need not doubt as I said but God is as powerfull to produce soules as nature is to bring forth bodies and for the other we must needs thinke either that the former is a propagation to the latter or else the latter a perfecting of the former otherwise there would be divers bodyes too any or all of which rightly understood may well stand with this manner of the soules propagation yet in all probability there is but one for one with us howsoever there are many for one and one for many in some other creatures Further then this I thinke no modest or reasonable man will or need inquire but rather conclude this point as the Psalmist begins it Psal 139.14 I will praise the Lord for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marveilous are thy workes and that my soule knoweth right well Conclusion of all the objections Thus we have seene I hope sufficient reason that it is not against reason that God should produce one soule out of the spirituall matter of another by the helpe of bodily organs And if it were against reason yet reason teacheth that we should rather teach it than that which is against Religion which we are now to prove for having thus explained my assertion cleered the way by answering all the materiall objections that I can meet with whether from divine or naturall reason against it whence it is manifest that it may be so I will now proceed to prove that it is so CHAP. XIII Testimonies out of the old Testament proving the soules propagation The methode observed in proving the soules propagation AS the former arguments to disprove this mediate manner of the soules propagation were of two sorts Scripture and naturall reasons so also shall the arguments to prove the same be For seeing God hath a two-fold voyce the one speaking in the Booke of the Scriptures and the other in the Booke of the Creatures when the divine Oracles of the former cannot be heard we must give eare to naturall reasons drawne out of the latter the voyce of natures agreeing with the Scriptures being indeed the voyce of God The proofes from the Scripture shall be of two sorts likewise either direct testimonies or reasons drawne from them And againe the testimonies shal be first from the old and then from the new
what absurdities will farther follow Absurdities That wee were in Adam in that wherein we were not 1. 2. we sinned without that without which wee could not sin 3. the whole man was in Adam and yet never came from him 4. and we left that in Adam which we never had in him viz. our soules 5. Then also Adam shall be still full of soules which yet he never had 6. and that I may not be endlesse in that which is needles who can abide a speech so contrary to it selfe the whole was in Adam but not that which is the whole All which are rather wholly to be laughed at than confuted in any part CHAP. XXII That the whole humanity of Christ was taken from the Virgin The use and order of handling this questiōn HAving thus shewed out of the Scriptures the necessity of the souls propagation by reason of originall sin I proceede now to prove it from the incarnation of Christ which yet is accounted the maine let why it cannot be propagated for because the Scripture saith He is like unto us in all things Heb 4.15 sin onely excepted and it is taken for granted that his soule was created of nothing this is used not onely as one of the chiefe weapons to maintaine the creation of ours but also as a shield to defend them from the force of many other Arguments which cannot otherwise possibly be avoided It is very necessary therfore fully to cleare this point and to shew both that it was mediately though extraordinarily produced from Adam as well as ours and how so it could be free from sin No Scripture for it That the soule of our Saviour was not immediately created of nothing may appeare first because it is more than is in the Scripture 1. The holy Ghost in the description of Christs incarnation saith nothing of any such thing no notwithstanding it is thought to be such a notable yea such a necessary way to cleare him from sin 2. And who dare say or think the holy Ghost should omit one of the most principal things in the mightiest matter that ever was revealed to men or Angels yea how contrary to all reasō is it 3. that when the foure Evangelists were so carefull to set forth every materiall circumstance touching his birth life death c. so as that which is wanting in one is supplied by another yet in this alone which is the chiefe of all they should all forget to mention it if there had been any such matter And why then should we thrust in our conceits of such things as never were heard of in the Scriptures For from the beginning of the world since Adam it was never heard that a soule was created of nothing and shall wee then father our imaginations upon the Scripture yea why or how dare man speake where the holy Ghost is silent know Deut. 14.2 that cursed is he that addeth ought to the word of God Scriptures against it But not onely doe the Scriptures not speake it but they plainly affirme the contrary as where it saith Gen. 3.15 The seed of the woman shall breake the Serpents head and in thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed 22.18 Where by seede is meant the whole nature of man which Christ tooke and how can it be denied then but his soule as well as his body was their seede Againe Christ was made of the seede of David according to the flesh Rom. 1.3 that is his whole humanity for it is there opposed to his divinitie As also where it is said God raised up Christ Act. 2.30 of the fruit of his loynes according to the flesh And how else can he be in all things except sin like unto us who as is abundantly proved before are mediately traduced from Adam both soule and body 3. Then Adams sin must be imputed to him Againe If his and all soules be immediately created by God then the imputation of Adams sin to all men must lay hold on Christ as man Neither is it sufficient to say that he is more than a man for if Adams sin be imputed unto all men eo nomine even because they are men it cannot be avoided but it must light upon him also so far forth as he is man And thus they must needs fall into that which they so much feare the making of Christs humane nature sinfull so slippery is it to walke out of the right way though never so warily 4. His soule and body conceived together This appeareth also in that his soule and body were conceived together both at once and not after the perfecting of the vegetative and sensitive soules as they say it is with us For this is generally confessed because the divine nature is immediately united to the soule and by the soule to the body so that unlesse we should say that his body did subsist by it selfe out of the divine nature before it was assumed or else that the divine nature was united with a brute body or unformed un-informed Embrio which no man I beleeve is so brutish to affirme it must of necessitie be granted so forcible is the truth that however it is with us his soule and body was conceived together Which being so it followeth by the same reason that if he be like unto us and we like unto him in all things except sin our soules and bodyes also conceived together as his was And if it be graunted that all souls are present at the first conception there will be small reason to thinke they come by immediate creation 5. His miraculous cōception Besides it is manifest from the manner of his conception for if his soule had come immediately from God he might have beene begotten after the common manner of men without sin but this could not be and therefore the former is not The connexion of the proposition is manifest for if his and all soules doe come immediately from God Originall sin cannot possibly come by propagation but either because God bereaves it of supernaturall gifts whereby it becomes evill or by the union with the body at the instant whereof it is guilty of Adams sin because the soule of man But seeing Christs soule so soone as it was was together with the body one person with the eternall word he must needs be exempted from the common condition of men and so even by their doctrine neither could be bereaved of those gifts nor guilty of Adams sin being more than a man Neither can it be said Generation not evill that there is evill in the act of generation for that is naturally good 1. and the soule they say is not then present 2. and the body alone is not capable of sin no though the soule were present if as they say man propagate the body onely Wherefore if his soule had been immediatly created by God
which necessarily serves to make up the perfect person of a sinner and so much so is sinfull and must and shall be punished in it selfe or Christ Sixthly There is no law given to substances but to creatures not to parts but persons neither can any other be accused condemned or convicted of sin Now where no law is Rom 4.15 there is no transgression saith the Apostle not simple parts therefore but onely persons can be sinfull Seventhly It is manifest it could have no actuall sin and originall sin is not of that nature as was before shewed that it cannot come to us neither by the soule nor body nor union of both if it be created and by propagation onely if it be propagated for which cause Christ onely was freed from the ordinary course of propagation Lastly If meere substances be sinfull it cannot be shifted but Christ was infected with originall sin for his substance was in Adam in as much as he was his sonne and so by this doctrine must needs be sinfull This doctrine not so well cleared of old But this seemes to be graunted by Divines and therefore they say that the holy Ghost did in the same moment that it was assumed cleanse that masse whereof his body was made from sin and so it was sanctified from the first conception in the Virgins wombe Whereof we give this reason that it became not the eternall sonne of God personally to assume unto himselfe a nature stained defiled and polluted with sin And farther they say that indeed Mary was a sinner but the masse of flesh which was taken out of her substance was at the same instant sanctified by the operation of the holy Ghost So that it is graunted that the substāce wherof Christs humanitie was made was sinfull before it was assumed This point not being so well cleared hath much troubled the Church in former ages being assailed with divers dangerous errours why else did the Marcionites and Manichees hold that Christ had an incorporeall or heavenly body which was not takē from the Virgin but only passed through her and what else caused Apollinarius to hold that Christ had no humane soule but only a body which was insould with the deity but to free him from sin 2. If it had been sinfull it could never have been sanctified That we may therefore fully cleare this truth from all such phantasticall opinions I deny that it can be truly and properly said that Christs humanitie was ever sinfull And not onely for the former reasons but because if it had beene sinfull it could never have beene sanctifièd the Sonne of God could never have beene incarnate nor any man ever saved For who should have purged away that sin the holy Ghost nay there is one onely Mediatour between God and man the man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 and it is through his blood that wee have redemption Eph. 1.7 even the forgivenesse of sinnes Col. 1.14.20 and it is the blood of his crosse that reconcileth all things 1 Pet. 1.2 And againe Heb. 9.22 it is the sprinkling of the blood of Christ that giveth power to the purging away of sin and therefore also it is said that without shedding of blood there is no remission So that the bloud of Christ onely cleanseth from sin Yea but the holy Ghost also sanctifies It is true Obj. Mat. 3.11 Ioh. 3.5 Rom. 8.14 the holy Ghost doth now sanctifie the elect purg out sin infuse grace but all by vertue of Christs redemption For if he had not first I meane in the order of nature takē away the guilt by his bloud no man could have been sanctified by the Spirit Now this he could not doe by his own humanitie for it was impossible that he shuld purge sin by that blood which he had not therfore if it had been necessary that Christ should have takē away the guilt corruption of his own nature which could not be but by the same nature taken before he tooke it it had been impossible that ever Christ could have bin incarnate Yea but God is omnipotent True Obj. 2. but his omnipotency cannot work cōtradictions such is this we must take heed therefore how we hold this lest at unawares we shut out Christ from being a Saviour and our selves and all other from salvation by him Now then if his substance was never sinfull the worke of the holy Ghost herein was not to cleanse it from sin but to seperate that which was not sinfull in it selfe from a sinfull creature that so being free it might be assured by the divine nature subsist in the person of the same CHAPTER XXIV How Christs Incarnation was free from corruption How Christ was free from sin THis ground being laid wee have a faire way opened for the freeing of our Saviour Christ from sin in every respect although his soule and body came from Adam as well as ours which we shall more fully conceive by shewing how it was 1. How free and why it was so 1. His person free For the first seeing neither the substance of soule or body can be sinfull as it is substance but as both together are a person for as much as Christs soule body is no person but as it is united with the divine nature he namely his person never was and so never could sin in Adam And thus is his person free If then it be said that though his person was not His humanitie free nor could sin in Adam yet seeing his humanitie was in him and came from him else he were not true man that must needs sin in him It cannot possibly be neither 1. From imputation For as is said his humanitie without the divinitie never was a person and not being a person but substance only 2. By propagation he is thereby exempted from the common condition of men and originall sin could not justly be imputed unto him 3. His substance in the Virgin free Neither could it be propagated because he was conceived after an extraordinary manner without man and thus is his humanitie free also If it be further said that though he be not sinfull as Christ nor yet as having the meer substance of man yet he must needs be sinfull as his substance was belonging to the person of corrupt Adam in whom it was and afterwards to the sinfull Virgin that cannot be neither For though it were sinfull as a part of their persons yet as it was so it was none of his Christ never assumed the person of the Virgin for one person cānot be another though sin were not but he tooke her nature or substance only which because it was good in it selfe though sinfull as hers the holy Ghost did seperate it by an unusuall course from belonging to her person and so being by it selfe it was sinlesse and then it was instantly assumed by the eternall Word and so made the
of a part onely unlesse a woman may be a womā without a soule as some silly ones have foolishly imagined Fourthly Gen. 2.22 Zan. de operibus par 3. li. 1. c. 1 Gen. 2.23 those that hold the contrary opinion yet graunt that God did not onely take out the bare bone only out of Adams side but some flesh together with it which made Adam to say this is not onely bone of my bone but flesh of my flesh And it seemeth an unlikely thing that being done instantly by the almighty power of GOD he should take out a dry and dead bone onely and not the life spirit soule that was in it after the manner of the soules being in such a substance together with it Now it he tooke it thus whole together as it was the soule not being shut out of any part of the body how easie is it to conceive how God might miraculously in the first creation seperate the whole matter of her person from Adam onely and so of that bone as of a living body produce a new creature in a short time which now in longer time usc to be seperated from both sexes and so perfected by degrees in naturall generation yea why may not this originall affinitie between the two sexes give strength to the course of nature in producing more by uniting them againe in generation Fifthly This is the more probable because herein we have a clear type of Christs incarnatiō whose whole humanity as we shall herafter see was also miraculously made of the substance of the virgin onely as Eves onely of Adam a man of a woman onely as a woman of a man only both being insensible of it and as is probable both asleep◠when it was done Lastly when she was brought to Adam he confessed that shee was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh that is of the same humane nature that he himselfe was both for soule and body and also taken out or him Neither needed he to say soule or my soule for flesh is usually put for the whole person as where even in the same book it is said All flesh had corrupted their wayes Gen. 6.12 which notwithstanding is chiefly in regard of the soule And least any should doubt of it he presently addes Shee shall he callea woman because shee was taken out of man where he plainly affirmes that her whole person was taken out of man and for that cause was named woman which cannot possibly be understood of the body onely I will therefore hereunto subjoyne the forgoing words of our Saviour Let no man seperate what God hath joyned together Mat. 19.6 and conclude that her whole person as well soule as body was taken out of man So that in this also that of the Apostle is true God hath made all of one blood even Adams Act. 17.26 Wherefore from this reason I also conclude the contrary that seeing in all probabilities Adams soule was of such a nature as thereon could be made another and ours are of the same nature that his was it is not absurd but very likely that others may be made of ours also The third and last reason of any weight is 3. that Christs soule was created of nothing and he is like unto us in all things sinne onely excepted ergo c. But first if it be necessary 1. From the creation of Christs soule that wee should be like unto him in all things except sin then it would follow that we should be conceived by the Holy Ghost as he was for that was without sinne especially if he might have been conceived without sin without that worke as by this doctrine it seemes he might as afterward wee shall see 2. Secondly it is not yet proved that Christs soule was immediately created of nothing yea it may be denied by the same reason for then wee should not be alike to him in all things except sin If it be said that if Christs soule had beene traduced by ordinary generation it must needs have beene sinfull I graunt it and therefore I say it was that his conception was extraordinary and supernaturall for it being impossible in nature for a Virgin to conceive without man therefore this was brought to passe by the miraculous power of the Holy Ghost who seperated a part of the Virgin for that purpose and supplied what was wanting in nature by supernaturall power which is signified in that it is said Shee was overshadowed by the holy Ghost But although he was not conceived after the manner that other men are that so he might be without sinne yet it followeth not from hence but his whole humanitie both soule and body might be made of the same matter that other mens are so as he be not corrupted with sinne Which how it may be we shall heare in the proper place where this also shall be brought as an Argument to prove the contrary so weake are objections against the truth Lastly Though it should be granted that Christs soule was immediately created by God as the first Adams was because it could not be propagated after the manner of mankinde without sinne yet it would not follow that all ours are therefore so as they collect Nay the contrary plainly appeareth for for the same cause that his must be created immediately to be without sinne ours must be mediately that they may be sinfull and tor the same cause he cannot be propagated without sinne we cannot be sinfull unlesse propagated And thus much for the Scripture and reasons drawne from them to prove the immediate creation of soules Whereby all men may see upon what weake grounds this opinion is fatherred upon the Scriptures And now I am to encounter with the other troope of Arguments taken from the impossibilitie of the soules propagation CHAP. VIII Whether propagation can stand with the spirituall nature of the Soule Objection ordered From the probabilitie of the Creation proceed wee now unto the impossibility of the propagation of the soule And indeed the reasons oppugning the soules propagation are very many and forcible and such as doe sufficiently prove that man cannot of himselfe alone without some more special work of God propagate his like as beasts doe theirs 1. From the nature of the soule The reasons that wee may not be confounded with the number of them are either such as do more specially respect the nature of the soule not without some respect to propagation or else such as doe more specially respect the nature of propagatiō not without some respect to the soule But before I come to the particulars the generall answer to all may be this 2. From the nature of propagation That all naturall reasons are taken from corporall generations and so doe onely prove that soules cannot be propagated as bodies are which is not denyed For neither doth the body propagate the soule neither yet is it propagated after a bodily manner but the whol
him so it is now ours because by course of nature wee are come out of him So that Adams sin is ours by imputation and by propagation but by imputation onely because by propagation yea so by this that the other may well loose the name For it is not the imputing of anothers sin to us which was not ours but by propagation that is made ours naturally which was before potentially onely And thus by the order of nature which is the rule we must goe by in this his sin is as truly ours we being potentially in him as his owne The Antithesis sheweth there can be no other This also farther appeareth by the Antithesis which the Scripture maketh betweene the first and second Adam Christ Jesus For saith the Apostle as in Adam all die 1 Cor. 15.22 so in Christ shall all be made alive And as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Rom. 5.19 And againe If one dyed for all 2 Cor. 5.14 then are all dead Whence it appeareth that as Adam was the stocke of mankinde in whom all men were by nature so was Christ the head of the Elect in whom all they were by grace For this is that admirable way in consideration whereof men and Angels may stand amazed whereby God had from eternitie decreed to give his creatures a higher perfection by grace than he could possibly give them by nature for therein stands the opposition which alone well considered may happily put an end to this question that mistake being indeed the ground of this errour Mark this difference or rather similitude betweene grace and nature For they are deceived that thinke Adams sin to be imputed as Christs righteousnesse the one being by the ordinance of nature and the other of grace the one a voluntary institution of the creator the other a necessary operation of the creature the one a work of mercy wherein kindnesse must bee shewed without cause the other a work of justice wherein punishment ought not to be inflicted but upon due defect So that if we will here make a true Antithesis we must say that as in Christ wee fulfilled the Law suffered death and are now in the seate of salvation because we are in him as members of his body by grace so in Adam wee did eate of the forbidden fruit and are under the condemnation of hell because we were in him and are still members of his body by nature And thus Adams sin shall be as truely ours by nature as Christs righteousnes is by grace For as Christ derives his righteousnesse to his childrē by grace so Adam communicates his sin to his children by nature The meanes whereby Christ doth it is by spirituall regeneration Adam by naturall generation Now therefore I conclude that as Christs righteousnesse can be no way imputed unto us but by meanes of regeneration whereby wee are ingrafted into him and made members of his body by the ordinance of grace so Adams sin cannot be imputed to us or become ours but by generation whereby we descend from him as members of his body by the ordinance of nature The Law of Iustice required it Againe it is contrary to Gods law of justice that one should be punished for anothers fault yea even innocent children for their wicked parents much more many thrifty brethren for one prodigall Hence it was that the Lord abhorred that wicked proverbe of the Israelites Ezek. 18.2 3 4 The fathers have eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge as I live saith the Lord yee shall not use this proverbe c. the soule that sinneth it shall dye And againe he saith Vers 20. The son shall not beare the iniquitie of the father neither shall the father beare the iniquitie of the sonne the righteousnesse of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickednesse of the wicked shall be upon himselfe True it is indeed the Lord will visit the sins of the parents upon the children unto the third and fourth generation but himselfe saith it is of them that hate him Exod. 20.5 And not simply for their fathers sins but for their owne and the rather to afflict the parents who oft live to see the fourth generation Hence also the Lord made a law that the fathers should not be put to death for the children nor the children for the parents but every man should die for his own sin and it is indeed no lesse contrary to justice than to the Lords own practise Deut. 24.16 for who was ever more excellent than some that came of wicked parents who more wicked than some that came of good parents whereof not onely the Scriptures but also daily experience yeeld innumerable examples and perhaps the more to confute this errour On the other side what can be more just and naturall than that all things should be in their first principles and partake of their natures Mat. 7.17 nature teacheth that if the tree be evill so must the fruit be Rom. 11.16 and divinitie allowes that if the roote be holy so should the branches be And hence God is just in making this order might easily be cleared but neede not here to be disputed Christs righteousnes proves it Lastly The originall righteousnesse of Christs humane nature plainly proves it for he was freed from this corruptiō by his extraordinary generation and why should hee herein differ from us to free him from sinne if we be not hereby sinfull Againe if Adams sin be imputed unto us simply for that wee are men as Adam was because whatsoever he received or lost was for all mankinde as well as for himselfe it cannot be avoided but it must be imputed to Christ so far forth as he is man as well as unto us But God forbid that we shuld say Christ was sinfull Woe were us if this were true And yet true it must needs be if the being man will make us sinfull for that his sin is to be imputed to all men If I say the meere being man without being meere man will doe it We must therefore beware of this and hold that not the being a man as Adam was but our sinning in him and now being sinfully propagated from him is both the cause means whereby his sin is derived unto us from both which by his extraordinary generation Luk. 1.35 Christ is not onely free but sanctified from the womb and holy from his first conception as presently wee shall see CHAP. XX. That Originall sin cannot be propagated unlesse the whole man be We sinned in Adam onely as we were in him IT being evident that originall sin cannot passe but by propagation I proceed now to prove that it cannot be propagated unlesse the whole man be and this will easily follow upon the former grounds for as we sinned in Adam onely as wee were in him so we
quickning giving of soules to children as when Rachel rashly cryed oud Give me children or else I dye Jacob gravely answereth Am I in Gods stead And so when Boaz went in unto Ruth it is said the Lord gave her conception but even reason it selfe will evince it For is it not an absurd thing that God should waite our leisures and be set on worke at our pleasures And yet this must needs be if God create soules after the forming of the body for then the former being done by the power of nature God shall be bound to give soules immediately whensoever nature produceth bodyes unlesse hee should suffer children to be born without soules or corrupt and kill their bodyes before they be informed and so indanger their mothers too both which are both against nature and reason Whereas if this mediate manner be admitted this cannot justly be objected for as much as God shall not then produce mans soule according to a particular immediate and new creation but according to his almighty blessing powerfull ordinance and constant conserving providence which though it be somewhat more immediate in this than in other cases yet it is still within the lists of nature nature it selfe so requiring 3. The excellency of mans nature requires it Yea farther it followeth both by divine and naturall reason that as God hath from eternitie decreed concerning man above all creatures both who shall come into the world and at what time therefore accordingly he must needs have a work in mans conception above all other creatures Which what can it be in the course of nature but that he is the immediate efficient of mens soules whereby he blesseth or blasteth furthers or hinders mans conception at the first and so by a speciall providence orders the same according to his owne most wise decree And hence it is that men cannot propagate either what or when they will 4. God and nature should worke in vaine Againe Otherwise this absurditie will also follow that there are many children begotten conceived formed quickned with sense and so well nigh perfected and yet dying before the rationall soule be infused they shall never rise againe at the end of the world that God might be glorified in their salvation or damnation unlesse he should then create new soules for un-informed bodyes And this besides crossing the word of God which teacheth that all that are conceived in sinne must be punished in Christ or themselves for the satisfying of Gods Justice wee must absurdly frustrate the workes both of God and nature notwithstanding neither can doe any thing in vaine 5. Unnatural conceptions voyde of reason Furthermore It is manifest that not nature alone but the efficient power of God is joyned with the propagation of soules because it is wholly denyed to such copulations as are out of kinde For nature alone would make a mixture whereas notwithstanding we see that some kinde of creatures as Apes and Satyres which as it is probable were at first begotten by such unkindly conjunctions are not indued with reasonable soules Or if not they yet it is possible that humane seed should be mingled with other creatures for which cause buggery is forbidden in the Law and yet such issue is altogether soulelesse and voyde of reason although it cannot be denyed but naturall sense may be and is the more perfect in them and so they more craftie than other creatures They therefore make a monstruous and prophane mingle-mangle that would have man propagate his like by the power of nature meerely as other creatures doe 6. Soules infused in adulterous generations On the other side it is plaine also that it is not altogether immediately created by GOD without naturall meanes because it is not denyed to children that are unlawfully begotten for then God should seeme to approve of that which is evill For albeit it is true as it is commonly answered that it is good in God to make stollen corne grow because that order of nature is good though the action of stealing bee naught and there is no reason he should alter that good institution of nature for the personall corruption of some men yet this helpeth them not at all who maintaine the immediate creation of the soule but onely freeth him in regard of this mediate manner and naturall order in propagating soules which is indeed this way sufficiently answered But if as they say there be no naturall order for the soules propagation but they come immediately from God he not being bound to infuse soules but where he pleaseth he cannot be free from tollerating if not allowing and approving of evill in this behalfe Whereas in the other though he be not bound neither unlesse by his owne band yet he may lawfully by the just order of nature 7. Sense ariseth out of the dead elements Moreover Concerning the matter of the soule seeing wee see by daily experience that nature by vertue of Gods first ordination doth out of the dead matter of the elements continually produce so admirable powers as seeing hearing c. yea common sense phantasie memory and all those cogitative vertues which are in brute beasts the manner of which working is above humane reason to conceive how can it seeme strange that the God of nature by his owne speciall assistance should out of that farre more excellent and divine nature in man produce others like unto it though we cannot conceive the manner how Even this well weighed will adde no small credit to this truth amongst the wise The corporall seed a fit instrument Lastly That the corporall seede is a fit instrument for nature to use in so high a worke is manifest enough in as much as it is of a more excellent temper especially the spirits therein being more purely subtle and temperate than they are in any other creature in the world And how this may farther the operation and consequently the propagation of the reasonable soule appeareth in that Elephants who being of a more excellent temper and comming neerer to the nature of man than other creatures doe both live longer and are as I may say indued with more reasonable parts than others So that although the soule cannot arise out of any elementary temper as appeareth by the immortall nature which even naturall reason is able to demonstrate yet there is no question but it may bee instrumentally furthered or hindred thereby yea even in the most excellent workes of reason this beeing indeed one of the maine reasons in nature why one man excelleth another in wisedome Now then seeing the Spirits in humane seed are of such a transcendent nature not meerely corporall but approaching very neere to the nature of the soule whereby they are soone acquainted and easily united and used as the hand of the soule even in the most divine operations of reason why should they not much more be a fit instrument for the conveyance of the soule in naturall generation And