Spirits would be Divisible which cannot be as hath been shewed § 83.84 because the Soul is a Spirit and therefore not subject to partibility § 86. For as much then as it follows from the Attributes of God that the Soul cannot be Annihilated because she hath been without beginning in God we may by the same consequence conclude that she is not Created out of nothing For to Create a thing out of Nothing imports that the thing Created did receive the first beginning of its Being in that Creation but this cannot be because all Souls have been without beginning in God and therefore before the Creation as may be seen § 24.25 27. Where the Creation is treated of and where it is shewed what Creation doth import or signify and what not § 87. Seing therefore that Souls are without beginning we are to understand and take Notice That all the Souls that belong to the World were in the Creation at once and altogether Created God That is Souls were put in such a state or condition in the Creation that they might subdue what is Tangible and Visible and have Dominion over it for that the word to Create can in no wise signifie the production of a thing out of nothing hath been abundantly shewed in § 27. Now that all Beings appertaining to this world must have been Created at once in the Creation is a consequence deducible from the Divine Wisdom as hat been shewed § 30.31 and have also demonstrated the same at large from the Nature of the Creation § 32. And for as much as the Soul belongs to man and Man is a part of the World therefore it necessarily follows that all Souls were Created by God at once in the Creation § 88. But to evidence the Impossibility of Gods Creating new Souls every day we will enquire a little what Absurdities do inevitably follow upon this Position that God Creates the Soul in the Body at the instant of Generation First therefore if God daily Creates Souls I would demand of those who grant according to the Holy Scriptures that we all sinned in Adam how according to their supposal of Gods daily Creating Souls there can be any Truth or so much as any possibility in this Assertion For is it not certain that man consists not only of a Body but also of a Soul And is it not of equal Truth that the Soul is much more worthy and excellent than the Body seing that she is immortal and doth govern the Body pursuant to her Will and Thoughts § 81.82 84. Seing therefore the Man consists not only of a Body but also of a Soul and that the Soul is much more excellent than the Body and the same which thinks desires or lusts and that lust or Concupiscence is the first Rise of Sin The Query is therefore if so be all Men have sinned in Adam and are partakers with him in his sin whether I say if this be so all Souls must not of necessity have been in Adam for as much as they are the most Excellent and by many degrees the most valuable Parts of Man and the Governours of the Body If any one say that it is not necessary that all Souls should have been in Adam at that time that he Sinned for that God hath imputed the sin of Adam to his posterity because they all as to their Bodies descended from him But I would demand of those what Reasonableness or Equity there would be in this if God in Creating Souls should make them sinful for the souls of Adams Posterity could not sin nor consent to his sin because according to their Opinion they were not yet Created and therefore cannot be now Created sinful by an imaginary Imputation of Adams sin Neither do those who Preach these devised Fables ever consider how repugnant the same is to the Essence of God For what will become of the Divine Justice if God punisheth men for a sin which was committed some thousands of Years before ever they were Created and consequently could not be guilty of or accessory to the same That this is absolutely inconsistent with Gods Justice see § 35. But perhhaps it will be said that Souls are therefore Created sinful by God because they are to be joined to asinful Body descended from Adam But let these shew me the least shadow or appearance of Reason there is in this Consequence viz. That God Creates Souls sinful because the Bodies to which they are to be joined are so For my part I boldly assert that no man will ever be able to give me any Reason coherent in all its parts and consistent with the Divive Wisdom why the Chiefest part of Man should be made sinful because the Inferior and servile part is so But suppose we should grant them this their absurd Position viz. That Souls because of the Sinful Bodies to which they must be joined have sin imputed to them by God and are therefore Created sinful yet I further demand of them what reason there is why the Souls when they are first Created at the instant of Generation are thrust into sinful Bodies Or what Communion or Felloship they can have with such sinful Bodies Seing that they never committed any sin Will they say that God would have it so Then it must follow from hence that as soon as God hath Created a sinless Soul his Will and Pleasure is immediatly to send it into a sinful Body But what Reasonableness or Equity would there be in this that God should punish a Soul and make it sinful by Imputation before ever it had committed any sin and this meerly for the sinful Bodies sake in which she is to dwell Moreover when they say that God doth not bestow this Perfection upon Souls in their Creation because of the imputation of Adams Sin Do not they hereby intimate that God doth not Create Souls perfect viz. So as Adams Soul was Created for this must be their meaning when they say that God now Creates Souls perverse for imperfect is the same as perverse but why then do they tell us upon other occasions that whatsoever God Creates is very good and that God is not the Author of sin For these things are contradictory to one another and by this means the Divine Attributes are made to oppose and clash against one another In the second place when they assert that the Souls are then first Created when their Bodies are Generated by their Parents what shadow of Wisdom or Reason is there in this that whereas the Souls are Created at once and all alike that one Soul should be thrust into a Beggars Body or into some other more miserable Circumstantiated Lodging and another advanced to a Royal State and Dignity by means of the Body to which it is preferred that one should be Born of Good and another of Bad Parents when yet in worthiness they are all of them equal and all of them alike pure and sinâ—ess Will they say that God
not what Objection II. But it will be again replyed here that all men were hid or lay dormant in Adam when they sinned in him but that all men were not so in Christ because that there were many thousands alive in the Body subsisting of themselves and consequently that Christs Righteousness did not pass over unto all men so as Adams sin did Answer As to this Objection to wit That all men were not so hid in Christ as in Adam I grant it because Adam was the first Man of this World and when he sinned had not begotten any Children whereas on the contrary at the time of the Incarnation of Christ there were many thousands upon the Earth and consequently did subsist of themselves But hence it doth not necessarily follow that therefore the Righteousness of Christ could not pass unto all men as the sin of Adam did But only this would necessarily follow thence that because many men did live in the time of Christ but when Adam sinned that there were none out of him and Eve alive in the Body that therefore at that time when Christ wrought that Righteousness all men were not hid in him just after the same Manner as they were hid in Adam out of whom all men were afterwards to be generated But this Consequence contradicts not our Position Yea tho' it seems to say something yet in very deed it says nothing For when they say that all men were not hid in Christ as they were hid in Adam I desire to know what they mean here by the Word hid Do they mean that all men were so hid in Adam as things are shut up in a Hutch Then I readily confess that all men were not so in Christ And if this be their meaning of the Word hid here then I say that it is impossible that all men should be made Sinners by Adams sin because there would then be no more fellowship betwixt Adam and his Successors then there is betwixt the Chest and the things that are therein lockt up But if by the Word hid they mean nothing else here as it cannot here signifie any thing else but that all men bein derived from Adam as from their Stem or Root are Partakers of his Life just as the Tree and all its Fruit were hid in the Seed that is that the Life of the Tree and its Fruit was in the Life of the Seed and so that they have fellowship with each other with respect to their Spiritual Being which is the Former and Maker of the Body as is proved in the Considerations concerning Man § 13.34 35 36 37. then it will be very easie for us to prove that the righteousness of Christ could pass over unto all men in the same manner as the Sin of Adam did to all his posterity that is to say If Christ did take upon him the Manhood of Adam which is here the Question For seing that all men are descended of Adam and so are a part of him as belonging to him because they do partake of his Life just as all that which is brought forth in this world remains always apart of this World it seems to subsist of it self it is certain that they always remain a part of Adam and have fellowship with him altho' they seem to subsist of themselves because the Life which they have received from Adam which life being once taken away they could subsist no longer because their life is rooted in Adams Life This being so as it is no otherwise throughout the whole frame of Nature that the Producer and the Produced are in a continual fellowship because the one partakes of the life of the other I say that seing Christ did take upon him the Manhood of Adam and so obtained Righteousness for Adam he also obtained Righteousness for all Adams Posterity as they being the Parts of Adam altho' they do not yet all actually feel it yea tho' the greatest part of them depart from Christ and lye sunk and drownd in all manner of ungodliness Objection III. But it will again be alledged here that all men do now subsist of themselves and consequently that men are not therefore saved because Christ hath taken upon him Adams Manhood Answer This Objection consists more in Words that signifie nothing than in truth For what do they mean by all mens subsisting now of themselves Is this their meaning that all men are now brought forth without Generation Or that being begotten and brought forth by their Parents they are arrived to those Years and to that growth that they know how to govern and to uphold themselves This last will doubtless be the meaning of these Words and not the first because there is no man born into this World but by generation which being so it is for ever true that tho' men can Rule and Govern themselves and in that sense do subsist of themselves that nevertheless every man hath his beginning of being a man from his Parents and so does continually remain a part of his Parents with respect to his bodily Being for if that life which he received from his Parents should fail his Body would Perish and so Adam being the Stem or Root from whence all men are descended and which consequently do retain in them continually a part of Adam it is very easie to understand that when Adam receives again the Image of God that his Posterity are thereby put into a capacity of receiving the Image of God again by vertue of their Fellowship with Adam Besides when they say that it is not needful that Christ should take upon him the Manhood of Adam that he might restore unto all men the injoyment of the Image of God because there were thousands of men subsisting of themselves at the time of Christs Incarnation I answer That if thousands do subsist of themselves then Christ could not satisfy for them because he could not then have had any Fellowship with them and therefore could not by his Death have reconciled the World to God But that he must have taken upon him the Manhood of so many men as he should have reconciled unto God and so have suffered and dyed as oft as there are men upon the Earth because nothing can be bettered except the restorer and the restored be united according to § 76. Objection IV. But here again this Evasion will be made use of Viz. That Christ could obtain Salvation for so many men because he is the Son of God who is so mighty that he could by his Spirit bring many Children to Salvation and consequently that it was not needful that he should take upon him Adams Manhood as the Root from whence all mankind is descended that he might thereby unite all mankind to God again Answer To this evasion I answer That it is indeed true that Christ is so mighty that being the Creator of man he could restore men again to the state of Integrity by his Spirit and this we have
by such Means as the Life can receive or as can be communicated unto it because the Life is the Former of our Body as I have proved in the Considerations of B. Van Helmont concerning Man in § 34.35 36 37 38. Now to apply this to the Case in hand I say then that if Christ had not taken upon him that particular Humanity or the nature of that Man from which all men are descended he could not have restored unto all men the Image of God again but only unto that particular Man-hood alone unto which he was united and yet that all men must recover the Image of God again we shall shew hereafter Just as a Branch which is Ingrafted upon another Tree is thereby indeed amended but not the whole Tree from whence it was cut off It is a thing contrary to Nature that all the parts of any thing should be bettered any where save in their Original or Source Yea this is contrary to every even the very least thing in Nature For as much then as this is an universal truth in Nature therefore it must also needs be a truth in the bettering of Mankind because Mankind stands united and subjected to the same natural Order as all other things and without which Order man cannot produce any thing Therefore that Christ might reunite Sinners to himself he was to take upon him that individual Humanity or Manhood of which all men are descended And if we diligently examine the Argumentation which the Apostle holds Rom. 5. We shall find that the Apostle signifies that Christ did take upon him such a Manhood or humane nature as by which all men could be saved such as was that of Adam by whom all Men became Sinners For the Apostle shews not only Vers 10. that being reconciled we are saved by the Life of Christ. But also Vers 11. that we joy in God to wit that we are assured that God is our Father who will communicate unto us of his Glory and the cause of this our Joying is that we have received the Atonement by Christ But some will perhaps ask here how or on what wise could Christ reconcile us This Question the Apostle answers in V. 12. saying Wherefore that is on this wise as by one man sin entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed upon all men in whom all have sinned that is to say just as by one man sin came into the World so on the very same manner is the Atonement made by one man to wit by Jesus Christ and that as by sin death so by the Atonement Life is received and as death is so passed upon all men so is the righteousness of Jesus come upon all men unto Justification of life And as death is passed upon all men because they all sinned In Adam For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot here signify for that as in our English but in whom as in the States Dutch Bible nor can it have any relation to any other but to that one Man Adam especially if you add unto it V. 18.19 So there is the very same reason of the Atonement of Christ For Christ has made the Atonement for all men because they are all justified in Christ Now this is plain seing the Apostle draws here a Parallel betwixt Adam Christ that that Parallel must hold so far as he makes it to go Let us then see how far this Parallel which he makes betwixt Christ and Adam v. 12 must go It is certain according to this saying of the Apostle That sin entred into the World by Adam and death by sin and so death passed upon all men because they all sinned in Adam that the true reason here rendered why all Men are Sinners is because they all sinned in Adam Now if they did all sin in Adam they must all have been in Adam and must all have depended upon him as upon their Head and Beginning or else they could not all have sinned in Adam Just thus must this Parallel hold also in Christ Righteousness is obtain'd through Christ and this Righteousness comes upon all because they are justified in Christ Now this must be as true in Christ as it was in Adam to wit that seing all men depended upon and were hid in Adam and therefore did sin with him so also must all men be dependent in Christ as on their Head that is they must depend on his humane Nature or manhood as well as on that of Adam if they are to be all justified in him For seing as § 76. nothing can be united to another except the Unitor and the thing united do meet in one and seing man cannot be restored to his former state except the image of God takes Manhood upon him According to § 77. it must needs follow that if the Image of God to wit Christ takes upon him such a Manhood as whereby all men are justified that that Manhood must be that of the first Man of whom all men are descended and have received their life because that otherwise all men could not be partakers of righteousness by the Manhood of Christ and for as much as all men descended of Adam and so do depend upon him as upon their beginning from whom they are Born so Christ could not justify all men in him except he took upon him Adams Mandhood of which all men are dependent And for further confirmation of what we say from that which the Apostle says to wit That Christ must needs have taken upon him the Manhood of Adam in the first place we must consider that the Apostle in the 14. V. saith That Adam was a Figure or Type of Christ and consequently Christ must be a man or must take upon him a Manhood as the Apostle affirms V. 15. where he calls Jesus Christ a Man 2d As death reign'd over all men by one to wit by Adam so life reigns over all Men by one to wit by Jesus Christ V. 17. Therefore the Antitype must also agree in this respect according to the saying of the Apostle that is Christ must be the Head of all men as well as Adam was and that the Apostle proves very strenuously V. 18.19 Because that as by the one transgression of Adam all men are made sinners so also by the one righteousness of Christ all men receive life If then all men do receive life by the one righteousness of Christ then Christ must be the head of all men as well as Adam was and all men must descend from him as well as from Adam because else Christs righteousness could not come upon all men which yet the Apostle does most expresly affirm V. 18. whence then does undoubtedly follow that seing Adam is the Head of all Mankind and seing Christ has done the same thing that Adam did to wit in the Antithesis that the Man Jesus Christ must needs also have been the Head of all Mankind And for as much as none but Adam
our selves proved § 68.69 c. But that 's not the Question here who it is that alone can restore man but we are here enquiring on what manner and by what means or way Christ could restore Sinners as may be seen from § 76. Now the Means to reunite sinners to the Image of God again I say is that Christ should take upon him manhood as is proved § 77. therefore we are here only to consider whether this means that is whether that Manhood which Christ did take upon him be a fit means whereby all men could be united again to the Image of God or no Therefore this exception has here no place and this our answer might very well suffice But to discuss this Shift a little more narrowly I say that if Christ has imparted Salvation unto all Mankind only in vertue of his Spiritual and Divine being then he needed not to have become man and to have suffered death and that Christs becoming man would then have been utterly needless and of no advantage unto sinners because Christ had that his Divine power before he became man and did not receive it by his becoming man But if they will say that Christ as he Saviour was to become man as we our selves have proved the necessity thereof § 76.77 I ask such what Advantage Christs becoming man has effected And whether Christ by becoming man could reconcile all men if he had not taken upon him the Manhood of Adam as the Stem or Root of all Mankind the contrary of which we have just now shewed Objection V. But against this Position that Christ must needs have taken upon him Adams Manhood to reunite all men to the the Image of God again this Objection will still be made Viz. That if Christ had taken upon him Adams Manhood and so had united Adam again with the Image of God he should at the same time have also united all men with the Image of God because they are the Parts of Adam as we our selves have affirmed in answer to the former Objection and yet we see nothing less than that all Men are one with the Image of God but daily experience shews us the contrary and consequeâ—tly that it seems to no purpose that Christ should have taken upon him the Manhood of Adam more than that of any other Man Answer But this Objection discovers more the Objectors ignorance of the Order of Nature than any real Contradiction for Example is it not evident from Experience that the Fruit of a Woman with Child is a part of her Verily yes because she does some times change the form thereof in the Womb wherefore her life has the direction over the Life of her Fruit while it is in the Womb But when she has brought forth her Chiâ—d then she has no longer power to change her Child according to her passion but then the Child stands upon its own bottom and it s own life must preserve it so as that it has then received an own out-working But altho Children and Aged People have an out working yet they do not therefore cease to be a part of their Parents and consequently do always retain an Union with them altho' they do also stand upon their own bottom for these two things must be well minded here to wit that they have their Corporeal Being of their Parents and so far are a part of them as Adam said of Eve She is Bone of my Bones c. and yet that they also have their own out-working because they are always in Union with their Parents and yet have a power to Work of their own according to § 27. Yet they cannot come into that state of their Parents altho' they do partake of their bodily Being unless their own out-working do incline to come into the same state in which their Parents are As for Example when the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 7.14 The Vnbelieving Husband is Sanctified by the Wife and the Vnbelieving Wife is Sanctified by the Husband Does he here signifie that when the Unbelievers are Sanctified by their believing Husbands or Wives that they do thereby become Believers or does he only signifie thereby that when two are become one Flesh and so do enjoy each others Spirit through love the Unbeliever becomes Sanctified through that Spiritual Fellowship which they have one with another that is That the Unbeliever receives by the Spirit of the Believer who is his Co-partner a Capacity or meet occasion of becoming a Believer if he does also co-operate thereunto but not else In like manner when the Apostle saith in the same Verse That the Children are Holy which are born of a Believing Father or Mother does he mean that the Children do thereby become Believers surely no for that would contradict all Sense and Experience For do we not see that the Faithful Abraham had an unbelieving Ishmael as well as a believing Isaac and that Isaac had as well an Esau as a Jacob But the Apostle signifies thereby that there is in them a Seed Beginning or Principle of coming to the Faith but yet that Principle or Seed never brings forth Fruit if they themselves do not join unto it and cooperate with it just thus it is now with Adam and his Posterity that Participation which they have of Adam gives unto all Men by vertue of that Union which they have with Adam that they are so far Co-partners of the Divine Image in so much and as far as they are a part of Adam and so have the seed or Principle that the Image of God can Work in them but because as they have their own out-working for which reason also Faith unto Salvation is required of every one so they do not feel the Working of the Image of God in them till their own out-working and desire inclines thereunto viz. That the Image of God may Rule in them instead of their own Carnal Drivings Lusts and Self Wisdom which do as long as they bear Rule in them hinder the Spirit of Christ from bringing forth Fruits in them altho' their Origine to wit Adam be actually and effectually reunited unto the Image of God again Objection VI. But it will here again be Objected That Christ as to his humane Nature or Manhood was without Sin but that Adam was sinful and that therefore if Christ had taken upon him Adams Manhood he could not have been without Sin but would therein have also partaken of Adams Nature Answer True it is that Adam was a Sinner but that it is also true that Christ took not Adams Manhood on him till after Adams death viz. About four thousand years after his Creation so that Adam suffered and dyed before Christ was united unto Adams Manhood Now because nothing can become better but by Suffering and dying according to § 66.67 And seing Adam did Suffer and dye it does not necessarily follow that because Christ took upon him Adams Manhood that therefore he must take upon him also his
Sin and so would not be without sin the more because Christ was born neither according to the Will of the Flesh nor according to the Will of Man and consequently had not the principle of Sin in him § 79. Seing then that Christ did take upon him the Manhood of Adam that so he might thereby redeem Sinners from their sins It was also necessary that Christ should suffer that for Sinners by which they were to beamended Now this amendment was to be through death as it is said Gen. 2.17 Dying thou shalt dye and Rom. 5.12 By Sin â—ame Death Now tho' death be the punishment and consequent of Sin yet doth this Punishment tend to the bettering of the Sinner For no punishment if duly administred can aim at any thing but the bettering of the Transgressor and the bringing of him off from his former ways Verily no Father will Punish his Child nor any equal Judge a Transgressor but with intent to Frighten him from his Wickedness and to make him the better for it If then a Worldly Judge does by Punishment aim at the reclaiming of Transgressors from their evil ways how much more then shall the most perfect Being which is Righteousness it self by punishing sinners design their amendment and the making â—hem to desist from their Unrighteousness 〈◊〉 Punishment then only in Order to the Conversion of the sinner from his sin and â—hereby to reunite him to the Image of God And is Christ the only one that â—n relieve Sinners according to § 73. â—4 And did he to that very end take Manâ—ood upon him according to § 77. and â—articularly that very Manhood from â—hence all Mankind are descended according to § 78. that so by his becoming man all men might be delivered from sin and reunited to the Image of God again then must Christ needs have undergone that by which the Evil must be amended and the sinner again be made one with theâ— Image of God unto which there is no coming but through Death according to § 66.67 Wherefore seing that Christ is the Saviour or the only one that can free us from sin he could do it by no other means or in no other way nor deliver us from the yoak and bondage of Sin but by suffering Death If now the Pious Reader well weighs what we have in this Chapter shewed concerning the Image of God where in it consists of what use and advantage it is unto man who this Image oâ— God is viz. Christ and that this Imagâ— of God alone is he who alone can free the sinner from Sin and that in Ordeâ— to it he was to take upon him thâ— Nature of Man and to suffer Death wâ— cannot in the least doubt but that hâ— will be fully satisfied and Believe noâ— from Tradition but from Knowledgâ— and Assurance that Christ alone anâ— none other but he is the only Saviour and that out of him there is no Salvation to be Obtained as also that so long as a Man has not recovered the Image of God so long darkness bears Rule in him CHAP. IV. Of the Soul or Life of Man § 80. AS Man in the state wherein he was Created by God had in him the Divine Image so God also bestowed upon him a Soul or Life which differs from the Image of God and cannot be taken for one and the same Essence For if we consider the Properties of the Spirit or Divine Image and what excellent Prerogatives and Advantages it affords Man as hath been shewed § 53 54 55 and 56. and on the other hand reflect how few at this day are possessed of the Image of God tho' they have a Soul or Life we shall not need any other Argument besides that of daily Experience to convince us that the Spirit or Image of God differs from the Soul or Life of Man according to what hath been declared § 39. § 81. In order therefore to our being informed what the Soul of Man is it will be necessary to enquire into the Properties of it Now the Properties of the Soul are that it Reasoneth or Discourseth Understandeth Willeth is self-Conscious and as long as it is joined to the Body doth uphold and continually guide and govern the same according to its Will and the like That these are the properties of the Soul every one finds in himself and is conscious of it if he be considerative and reflects upon his own Actions For as to Bodies they can neither Discourse nor move themselves as is visible in dead Cankasses So that these forementioned Qualities are no Properties of the Body but of the Soul because when the Soul Operates no longer in the Body these Properties cease also § 82. In Order therefore to make some Discovery of the Nature of the Soul from these its Properties it will be necessary that we consider every one of them apart that so from these we may be able to inferr or conclude what kind of Essence that is from whence they flow For as a Tree is known by his Fruit so may other things be known by their Effects In the first Place then The Property of the Soul is that She Discourseth and Vnderstands that is that the things that are present with her or represented to her from without are considered or weighed by her whether they be Good or Evil to her Profit or Loss and such like Moreover those things whereof the Soul Reasoneth or Discourseth must be either throughly known to her or in part for of things she is altogether ignorant of she cannot Discourse at all And if the things she Discourseth about be either throughly or in Part known by her then hath she also a Comprehension or Understanding of them and what she doth Comprehend she hath also an Image or Idea of as hath been shewed § 15. Now this Image or Comprehension and the Souls considering and Pondering of the same takes up no Room at all in her because a man comprehends many thousands of things without encreasing the bulk of his Body notwithstanding that the things he comprehends be much greater than it Whence it is evident that Reasoning and Understanding take up no space how great or ample soever the thing may be that is comprehended or understood But on the contrary that the Understanding can comprehend great things as well as little and consequently that she is neither great nor little Now that which is neither great nor small and yet comprehends things great and small cannot be Corporeal but Spiritual forasmuch as all Bodies are either great or small What hath been said here of Reasoning or Understanding the same may be said of the other Properties For to be self conscious is to reflect and be convinced that we have done or omitted these or the the other things Now this Conviction is not any thing that is Bodily but a Spiritual Being because there can be no Conviction without a Comprehension or Understanding of the Matter we are convinced of So
Emanation of Life because it can prolong the Lives of Children The same may also be experienced in a contrary Efficiency of the Life viz. In a hatred mixt with fear or in a Faith mixt with doubt as may easily and plainly be found in such as are young Persons coupled with old Wives or Husbands and are desirous of their Deaths For at the very same time that they earnestly desire to be rid of them they continually have secretly lurking in their minds and incessant belief or perswasion which is an efficient power of the Life that they will not dye whereby the hated is prolonged to a very old Age. For at the very same time that the young one earnestly desireth the death of the old one the life of the young one works a Faith or Belief which preserves the old one alive So that it is by their doubting that their own proper love life and faith do all co-operate together These and such like emanations of love and hatred many have experienced and have been sensible of but never could conceive what should be the Reason thereof which indeed was this viz. because from their youth they have been filled with other Carnal Corporeal and contrary desires and notions Quest 10. Can it be made out plainly and in the consequent Effect thereof even to the outward Senses that the life of Man can destroy another life or body either wholly or in part and immediatly form another new one in all its parts which hath no similitude with the former Answ Yes this cannot be denied because experience and Observation hath and doth evince it by manifold Instances whereof we will here insert one Narration relating to the change of an intire part of anothers Body The Example is this A certain Woman being with Child and neär her time in searching for something amongst old Raggs happened unexpectedly to touch with her Thumb the dried foot of a Hare which unknown to her lay amongst those Raggs which so affrightned her that she immediatly or soon after fell into labour and was delivered of a Child whose Thumb of its right Hand was changed into a Hares Foot perfect in all its parts as having all about it haire and divided into Claws with sharp Nails at the end of them c. Quest 11. How can it be proved and made out that persons deceased dead and gone do come to be born again and to appear in this world so as to be plainly discerned by their outward shape and features Answ This is and may be very evidently perceived in some places as great Cities of Trade where Persons of several Nations happen to be joyned together in Marriage as for example in Flanders whither are transported old swarthy Portugal Merchants who Marry with Young clear white Flemish Women And then it is frequently observed that these swarthy Men get many fair and clear Daughters by their Wives for by the way observe that the reason why they get rather Daughters then Sons is because old Men do commonly bear greater love to young Women then young Women do to old Men Now when these white Flemish Womens Daughters are grown up and Married to white Flemish men and are gotten with Child by them then will the Neighbour Citizens know by experience and cry that the old Portugeese Grand-father will then appear or be born again in that Child and accordingly it generally happens that that Child in all its parts resembleth the swarthy Portugees its Grand-father This is also often seen in a wise Father who begets a foolish Son and that Foolish Son begets a wise Son afterwards so as the wisdom of he Grand-father comes to appear in the Grand-son the same may be observed as to all other parts both of body and mind betwixt such Relations Moreover the like is also sometime experienced by very old persons that have lived to see four Generations descended from them how that the Grand and great Grand-fathers have appeared in their Off-spring even to the third and fourth Generation So that from hence we may in part understand what is said in Deut. 5.8 9 10. Where God strengthens his Commandment with this Reason For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the sins of the Parents unto the third and fourth Generation c. Quest 12. Whether the first Sin comittedted by Adam and Eve whereby they subjected themselves to the fleshly body be Infinite Answ No Their Sin could not be infinite because their understanding was but finite Quest 13. Is there then any number or Measure to be assigned whereby the Fall of Adam and Eve wherein they became Bodily and Carnal can be cleared and understood Answ Yes there is and the same is the Number Four for each of them consisted of two Beigns viz. Male and Female as all and every one fo Mankind doth every Man hath the Male nature as predominant in him and besides that he hath the Female Nature also So is it likewise with the Woman who hath the Female Nature predominant in her and likewise the Male Nature in her too And accordingly the Lord saith Gen. 1.27 That he had Created Adam and Eve Male and Female viz. In each person so that altogether make up the Number Four And therefore their Children and all their Posterity were to consist of Four Essences as being their Off-Spring And therefore for this Reason they could not sin beyond that Number whence it is said Exod. 20.5 also Ch. 34.7 Visiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children and upon the Childrens Children unto the third and to the fourth Generation c. Quest 14. How long a terme of time therefore was necessary for Adam and Eve to repent of and to suffer for their Sins and to attain to a restitution and a recovery Answ Both of them together require four Thousand Years because as was said they consisted of four Essences and accordingly the Psalmist saith in Psal 90.3 4. c. Thou turnest man to destruction and sayest return ye Children of men for a thousand years are but as yesterday c. Which place of the Psalms is also cited by St. Peter in 2 Peter ch 3. v. 8. One day is with the Lord as a thousand Years and a thousand years as one day c. Quest 15. From whence may we begin the Computation of the Thousand Years of the life of these four Essences Answ From the perfect number Ten beyound which we cannot Number also all men must consist of the Number Ten thu considered viz. his four Essences are as abovesaid two Male and two Female and the Subdivision of the two Male is into five out-working Powers an five likewise of the Female which make 10. to which also doth correspond the two Lobes of the Brain the right as being the Male working-out Images or Ideas and the left receiving them and then when thus compleated and born as it were are they sent into the little Brain which is the Root of all the
Nerves of Motion and thence through the Nerves are conveighed to the Right hand which may be accounted the Male Hand which hath five Fingers and also the like to the left or Female Hand to Work out all which together make ten and if we add to the former this other further Consideration viz. That the same may be said of the two Feet whose ten Toes added to the Hands ten Fingers make up twenty which hereafter is proved to be the compleat Working out of a Man he then becoming Ripe to bear Fruits or to beget and bring forth Children so as his Feet correspond to the Rootes and his Hands to the Branches And therefore hath no more then ten Fingers wherewith to effect and Work out their ten Properties or Powers as it appears in a Woman big with Child who upon some Fright or put into any other Passion doth there form on that very part of her Childs Body some strange live Impression of some external thing by an effective application of her own hand upon that very part of her own Body And forasmuch as man consisteth of ten Powers or Faculties therefore also ten Commandments have been given to him to observe according to that in Eccles ch 12. v. 13. Let us hear the Conclusion of the Matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole Man This very Text of Holy Scripture the Jews do make to be the Summary or chief Head of their whole Talmud Quest 16. How may this be further explained Answ Thus viz. Children must remain in the Womb of their Mothers for to attain or get by the influence or Government of the Moon over the Monthly Courses a perfect Body in the space of ten Lunary Months which consists of 40 Weeks And seeing that Man is made of the ten Lunary Operations That is the reason why when a Man doth Govern himself perversely and to his utmost power doth tye himself too much to his own Will and Fancy he becomes Lunatick or Mad and is then wholly under the Governing Rule of the Moon Quest 17. If the Terme of Mans life was appointed to be a thousand Years how then comes it to pass that Adam lived but 930. Years Answ The reason was because of his Fall or Sin And it became manifested in Cain why Adam finished not his thousand Years Seventy of them being wanting which number Seventy consists of ten times seven which was that vengeance that should be taken on any one that should kill Cain Quest 18. Why had Adam by his wife two Sons at one Birth neither more nor less as Gen. 4.1 2. doth shew Answ The reason seems to be this because Adam had been in two different States Conditions or Beings before that he knew Eve The one was antecedent to his Fall the other was after it For which reason she was to conceive Twins he knowing of her but once as appears by the Text whereof in the order of Nature the eldest must be born last and the first Born last conceived which is confirmed and made plain in that of Gen. 38. v. 27 28 29 30. Both in the Words and Action of Tamars Midwife and the red Threed used by her as it is there mentioned at large Quest 19. Why was Adam 130 Years of Age when he knew his Wife a second time and she brought forth Seth as it is in Gen. 4.25 and Ch. 5. v. 3. Answ May not this be supposed to be the Reason Because this was the full time of Cains being Seven-fold avenged by Lamech who had slain him so that then he was not longer the keeper of his Brother Abel when Lamech with great earnestness declared to his Wives The Revolution of Humane Souls saying Gen. 4. v. 23. Hear my Voice ye Wives of Lamech for I have slain a man to wounding and a Young man by Sodomy if the place in the Original be truly Interpreted Also this Number of 7. may be taken in the manner as were the 20 Years in which the Young men were appointed to serve in the Temple as it is in Chron. 23. v. 24 27. to the end Also in the manner of those who were to go out to War as in Num. Ch. 1. v. 3 18 20 22 24. c. To which if we allow to add about one Year and a half after they were married for the bringing forth of Children we shall find that the Number of 6 times 21 Years and a half will make 129 Years and then if we further allow one year more to Adam who was Created a perfect man and who had therefore no need to stay till he was twenty Years of Age before he begat Children Adams Years will be found to amount to 130. in which Cain was 7 times avenged that is he passed through 7 such Lives each containing 21 ½ Years And as the 130 Years of Adam make up the time of Cains Vengeance So the Number of Lamechs Vengeance viz. 77 times 21 ½ of Years will have for their Product the time from Adam to the Flood viz. 1656. with a small allowance of half a Year only Quest 20. Must not all men as to their peculiar individualities receives and keep their whole and perfect Essence and a continual descending flux of Generation from Adam and Eve as being parts of them Answ Yes for otherwise could those parts be taken away lost and Annihilated there would be remaing not so much as one single Man Quest 21. Whether in the first Man Adam were all men Created and comprehended in an infinite Number Answ No This could not be so for many reasons which might be given but let this one serve viz. Because had it been so then the World could never have come to an end in its out-working and Adam would have been an unchangeable Being which could never have died Quest 22. Whether all those men whom we find are born with one or more defects either in Body Mind or Both were so Created at first in Adam Answ No this cannot be admitted because if it were so Men could not be the cause of their own defects but the Creator should have been the cause of them which to suppose is altogether absurd and impossible Because he is all good Wise and just and could not be the cause of these the Defects of men viz. To make them to be Fools Blind Deaf Sickly Lame Criples Churlish Cruel and ill natured to be Monsters and Abortives c. which have a true and right beginning but are never brought to perfection Quest 23. Whether all men who were Created in Adam had not given them to have knowledge and free-will viz. To do that which is good and to forbear that which is Evil Answ This also cannot be denied by any rational man for many Reason needless to be recounted here Quest 24. Whether Adam and his posterity were not to live and abide so long till they had by Generation propagated and produced all those who were Created in him