of Isaack and the God of Jacob for he is not the God of the dead but of the living and living they could not be if the Soule were mortall and so it is for the Power of God still that the soule be immortall And now my soule wilt thou rather detract from Gods Glory from his Justice from his Power than believe and acknowledge that the soule is immortall Shall Heathen men who had scarce any hope of good after this life Shall a Heathen Poet say Et cum frigida mors Anima seduxerit artus making death not a destruction of the soule but onely a separation of it from the body and shall we whose chiefe blessednesse consists in the expectation of our soules blessednes after this life make a doubt whether the soule of man be immortall or no Are there not manifest Arguments to evince it and such as are obvious to sense both in the dead and in the living For is it nothing that in all ages there have beene apparitions of man departed whereof though some perhaps be Fables and some delusions yet many no doubt are true Relations and have beene Reall Representations which could be none if the soule were mortall And if it be doubted whether any such apparitions have been or no have we not the learned Melancthon a reverend Writer of late time affirming himselfe to have beene an eye-witnesse Have wee not the learned Ludovicus Vives affirming many of his acquaintance men worthy of credit to have seene and spoken with them and heard many things related by them above the pitch of Nature that nothing is more certaine than such apparitions which could be none if the soule were mortall What though it were not the true Samuel that appeared to Saul but a delusion of Satan yet was there no ground for his using such delusion which could be none if the soule were mortall Is it nothing that the Devill oftentimes makes Pacts and bargaines with wicked men to doe great matters for them in this present life upon a hope and desire of their destruction in the next which could be none if the soule were mortall and if any doubt of such Pacts with the Devill have we not Confitentes reos daily examples of Delinquents themselves averring it at their deaths no time to dissemble that nothing is more certaine then that such Pacts are made which could be none if the soule were mortall Is it nothing that the consciences of all men whether good or bad give evident testimony of this truth of the soules immortality For why else should good men dye so patiently indeed so joyfully if they had not a hope of a better life after this which could bee none if the soule were mortall Or why should wicked men dye so unwillingly indeed so fearefully if their conscience did not give them there would be sense of paine remaining after death which could be none if the soule were mortal Have not all wise men a the world over affirme and beleeved the soule oâ— man to be immortall onely some few fooles whâ— have said in their hearts there is no God havâ— said also with theiâ— mouthes The soule iâ— mortall and shall we rather joyne in assent witâ— these few fooles thaâ— with those many wise men No my soule let Epicureans and Sadducees and Atheists doubt their pleasures till their doubt be resolved by the feeling Argument of eternall paines but let this be thy Pillar or rather thy Murus Aheneus that after this life there will be reward for the Godly and punishment for the wicked that In memoria aeterna erit justus the Righteous shall bee had in Everlasting remembrance that the number of Angels that fell from Heaven shall be filled up with Saints from the Earth and especially that God is the God of Abraham the God of Isaack and the God of Jacob and then I doubt not thou wilt be satisfied of this doubt and not onâ—y of thine owne but of â—hy bodies immortality that so thou maist por â—onely immortally be Spiritus but immortally be Anima for though thou wilt properly bee but Spiritus till the body rise againe yet after the Reâ—urrection thou wilt proâ—erly be Anima againe and have all thy Faculties not onely in Habit but in Operation and Animate the Body in a greater perfection than ever before for the body will then have greater endowments of thy Facultie 〈◊〉 thou art properly 〈◊〉 by a more vigorous vegetation and perspicacity of sense and greater endowments also of thy Faculties as thou art properly Spiritus by celerity of motion and by subtilty of dimension by which perhaps it was that Christ after his Resurrection came in amongst his Apostles when the doores were shut for so it was fit for a body being then spirituall Now indeede Corpus aggravat Animam the body is a burthen to the soule but as much as the body aggravates the soule now and makes her participate of its infirmities so much and more will the scale then alleviate the body and make it participate of her perfections And who now is so stupid that findes not a sweet showre of perswasion to fall upon him from this cloud of Reasons whereof though every drop by it selfe may seeme to wet but little yet all together make a showre able to wet to the roote but if any mans temper be so hard that no showre will mollifie it if any man be so unreasonable that no reason will satisfie him yet there is hope that Faith will for Faith raines downe a stronger showre of perswasion than Reason can and this beliefe of the soules Immortality is the mayne Root upon which all Faith is grounded For if the soule bee not believed to bee Immortall where is the assurance of forgivenesse of sinnes where the hope of Resurrection from the Dead where the expectation of life everlasting And if any man still be possest with a stupidity of this doubt that neither Reason can perswade him as a man nor Faith over-rule him as a Christian I must then leave him to feede upon grasse with the Beast of the Field like Nabuchadonozer untill like Nabuchodonozer he recover his senses and recant his Errour and then hee will bee able and shall have leave to make a benefit and to take the benefit of this cloud of Reasons And now my soule thou art sure of immortality a Fee Simple that no time can weare out no forfeiture extinguish but alas what good is it to have Immortality if it be not accompanied with Beatitude and accompanied with Beatitude it will never bee if God vouchsafe not his Beatificall Vision and that Vision hee will never vouchsafe thee if thou bee not Mundo Corde of a pure heart in his sight For Beâ—ti mundo Corde quoniam â—psi videbunt Deum Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God O therefore my soule endevour so to serve God with a pure heart in this mortall life that whâ—â— thou commest to thy true Immortality in the next thou mayst be admitted to see that Beatificall Vision â—nd mayst be immortall in â—â—joying of Happinesse and not in feeling of torments thy Joy may bee â—mmortall and not thy Misery And let this bee â—y Pillar upon which to â—â—xe thy Thoughts
but for himselfe and not love my selfe but only for him And yet O my soule that thou couldest love God but as David did though but onely for his Benefits for then at least thou mightest bee a soule after Gods owne heart as David was And why my soule shouldest thou not Alas why dost thou not love him as David did seeing thou hast as great Motives as David had For what was his Motive but that God heard his supplication and what was his supplicatioÌ„ but that God would defend him from his Enemies from Sin and Satan and doe not these assault thee as strongly as they did David And have they not overcome thee at least had they not overcome thee if God had not defended thee O my soule It is the great mercy of God that sinne hath not already swallowed thee up and that thou hast not long since beene made a prey to Satan If therefore my soule thou canst not apprehend the greatnesse of Gods mercy by considering it in it selfe then take a view of it by considering the greatnesse of thy sin For as they that cannot looke upon the brightnes of the sunne as it is in it selfe doe by looking in the water come to discerne it in some measure so though thou canst not apprehend Gods mercy as it is in it selfe yet by viewing it as it were in the water of thy sinnes Alas in themselves a filthy puddle but for this purpose a cleare streame thou maist come to apprehend it at least in some proportion For according to the greatnesse of thy sin is the greatnesse of Gods mercy in forgiving thy sinne But in considering thy sinne let this be a part of thy Pillar of Thoughts that as Christs wounds were remaining on his body at his ResurrectioÌ„ so the wounds of thy sinne will remaine upon thy soule at the day of Judgement and least thou shouldest thinke in so long a time they might all be forgotten let this also be added to thy thoughts that there will then bee kept a sessions where al the circumstances of thy sins will be summoned to meet together to give Evidence against thee and then Time it selfe will come in and tell the very houre when Place it selfe will come in and shew the very roome where the Persons themselves will come in and present the very faces of them with whom or against whom thou didst commit any sinne in the whole course of thy life al as visibly as when the sinnes were a doing and even thy evil thoughts which yet never came further then the cloyster of thy heart will then come forth as fresh as when they were a thinking and all thy prophane words as audible as when they were a speaking and all thy filthy writings as legible as when they were a writing and lest there should want an accuser as there did to the Adultresse in the Gospel Satan himselfe will take that Office upon him and doe it most spitefully in such sort my soule that it cannot be said whether thy shame or thy Horrour will then be greater thy shame to see thy filthines discovered and laid open before all people or thy horrour to finde thy case desperate and past all hope or possibility of relieving And is it not time before this time to thinke of that time a fearefull thing to thinke of I confesse but without thinking of it now there will be no helping of it then and therefore thinke of it my soule but thinke of it to prevent it and as desperate as thy case may be yet doe not despaire Never yeelde how great so ever thy sin be or be made appeare to be that it can be greater or any thing neere so great as Gods mercy For compare them my soule together Thy sin is great because a transgression of Gods law but Gods mercy must needes be greater because a law to himselfe Thy sinne is no more then thou art able to doe but Gods mercy is more then thou art able to think thy sin is but a Plot of Satans to entrap thee but Gods mercy is his owne purpose to relieve thee thy sin is but infinite in Relation but Gods mercy is infinite in it self and absolutely thy sin is but an Accidentall thing in thee but Gods mercy I may say is his very substance that as much as himself is greater then thy self so much his mercy is greater then thy sin and indeed if thy sin could be greater then Gods mercy there should be somthing in thee greater then that which is greatest in God for of all the things that humane capacity conceiveth to be in God there is none greater then his mercy none so great as his mercy at least as greater and lesser may be conceived where all are Infinite But though Gods mercy bee greater then any mans sinne yet any mans sinne may come to bee greater then Gods mercy if either despaire reject it or presumption slight it for both these are of force to make Gods mercy of no force at least of no force to forgive because they leave no capacity to be forgiven For all capacity of Forgivenesse is then clean barred up when either Despaire or Presumption stand at the Enâ—rance In all other cases Gods mercy hath the Preâ—eminence and makes the greatest sinnes become like â—loudes either blowne away as with the wind of his goodnesse or else dissolved as with the sunne of his kindnesse And now my soule thy â—houghts me thinkes are come to some fashion of a Pillar they are solid and firme and want but Erecting but all the difficulty is to erect them for though Gods mercy if once attayned bee greater then any mans sinne yet it is no easie matter to attaine it seeing there is no attaining it but from his Mercy seate and his Mercy seate is the highest part of all his Arke and this must needes bee a great height farre higher then wee of our selves are ever able to reach No my soule there is no way to reach it no meanes to climbe up to it but onely by Iacobs ladder which ladder is Christ and if in climbing up this ladder there bee not the greater heede taken in stead of raysing thee up it will but cast thee down give thee the greater Fall Thou must not therefore doe as the Apostate Angels did ascend first and then descend ascend first in Presumption and then descended in Despaire Ascend first in scorning this ladder as thinking their owne nature more worthy for the Sonne of God to take then the seed of the woman and then descend by falling off the ladder and have their heads broken by the seed of the womaÌ„ no my soule thou must take a contrary course Descend first and then Ascend Descend first in Humility theÌ„ Afcend in Hope Descend first into a serious confideratioÌ„ of thy sin and then Ascend to a stedfast apprehension of Gods mercy Descend first with Christ into Hell by Patience in Adversity and then Ascend up
thou have raysed thy thoughts to a great height they seeme to have some solidnesse in them yet there is one doubt must bee cleared before they can come to be a Pillar for if the soule perish with the body as some vaine men Imagine what will then become of thy thoughts For the breath of man goeth out he returnes againe to Earth and then all his Thoughts perish and if all his thoughts perish he can then think no more if he can thinke no more there can be no soule For as thesoule is the life of the Body so thinking is the life of the soule That without thinking at least without a power to think it is a thing vaine to think there can be a soule It is more vaine conceite the to build castles in the ayre to think the soule lives whâ— it is vanished into ayre anâ— of which when it dyes it iâ— truly said Et procul in tenuâ— em evanuit auram For thâ— soule is a Breath and thâ— death of the soule is thâ— last gaspe of that breath and this is so plaine thaâ— Salomon affirmes plainely As a Beast dyeth so dyeth a man for they have all one Breath all goe unto one place and who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward and the spirit of a beast that goeth downeward And shall wee now thinke the soule lives because we know not how it dyes shall wee therefore thinke there is a difference after death betwixt the soule of a man and the soule of a Beast because we see there is no difference nor none to be seene What is this but to give the soule a Being out of our owne not-knowing and to make our ignorance her Foundation Had the soule any being but by being in the body and how then can it have any longer being then while it is in the body If it be truely said Infundendo creatur creando infunditur why is it not as truly said Extinguendo Exit Exeundo Extinguitur Is the soule any thing but a temper of the Body and when that temper ceaseth then also the soule as well in man as in beast ' ceaseth If the soule should remaine after the body it must remaine without its Faculties at least without a power to vse its Faculties And were not this a blemish to nature to give the soule Faculties and not give a power to be able to use them and use them it cannot without the body and therefore without the body without wrong to nature we cannot think there can be a soule But O my soule what aspersions are these upon Nature Or rather what blasphemies against the God of Nature For did not God breath the soule of man into his body at first and can Gods breath be ever out of breath No more can the soule ever cease to be Did not God make the body and soule asunder and shall they not continue to be when they are asunder The body gives not life to the soule but it is the soule that gives life to the body and shall that which giveth life cease to bee because that to which it giveth life ceaseth to bee can any thing perish that hath no contraries at least nothing within it or without it to oppose it For all things perish by one of these opposites but the soule is a simple substance uncompounded without mixture and therefore neither hath contraries nor any thing within it or without it to oppose it and therefore cannot perish and therefore is immortall Can any thing perish that is Principium sibi ipsi is life to it selfe and such a Principium hath God made the soule of man and therefore cannot perish and therefore is immortall The body perisheth not by Annihilating but by being turned into its first matter which was not the same that now it is but dust and earth Neither can the soule perish by Annihilating but by being turned into its first matter which was the same at first that now it is and therefore other then now it is it can never bee and therefore is Immortall If the soule were made by God and not made Immortall either it was because hee could not make it such or because hee would not to say hee could not is to make him no God because not omnipotent To say hee would not is to make him not good because no rewarder of his servants for what rewarding if the soule be mortal An Angell can put on a body though nature have ordained it none and yet bee a perfect Angell still and why not the soule put off a body though Nature have assigned it one and yet remaine a perfect soule still God made man in his own image and where iâ— is Gods image so apparâ—â— as in mans immortality and wherein is mans immortality so apparent as in his soule The soule had a beeing when it came into the body and shall it not have a being when it goes out of the body was it separate then and is it inseparable now But then we must not conceive the soule of man to be such a kinde of thing as the soule of a beast is For the soule of a Beast is perhaps nothing else but the very life of the beast or if a soule yet such a one as is endued onely with the Faculties of sense and vegetation which depending upon bodily Organs must needes decay with the decay of those organs and perish with the body but the Soule of man is a heavenly substance endued besides sense and vegetation with the divine Facultie of reason and understanding which not depending upon bodily Organs neither decayeth with their decaying nor yet perisheth with the body but is a substance subsisting of it selfe and as being a spirit when once it leaves the body ascends up to the place of spirits where God himselfe is who is the Father of Spirits as Ecclesiastes saith The Spirit returnes to God that gave it And if the Soule be a Spirit and God the Father of Spirits Then must the soule be needes immortal For though all things perhaps perish of which God is the Creator yet nothing perisheth of which God is the Father God made the Beasts living creatures all at once at least made the Earth bring them forth all at once and as they were made all at once so they perish all at once body and soule such a one as they have both together but God made man a living Creature by parts and if his parts were made severally shall they not continue and subsist severally And although the body separated from the soule cannot long continue because it wants the cement of life that should keepe it together and being a compound matter without its proper forme must needes be soone dissolved into the first matter yet the soule separated from the Body may continue long enough seeing it is a simple forme and a Cement to it selfe which can never be dissolved and therefore is Immortall Is not the soule of
man of a middle nature betweene Formae simpliciter separatae and Formae simpliciter Inseparabiles between Formes that can never be but separate formes that can ne'r be but inseparable and therfore the soule may informe the body and yet subsist without informing it But if the soule depend not upon the body how happens it that if the heart or braine of a man bee wounded or hurt the man dyes I say not therefore that the soule depends not upon the body but that the Rationall Soule depends not upon it For the sensitive and vegetative parts of the soule depend no doubt upon the Heart and braine the Animall upon the Braine the Vitall upon the Heart for these are their proper forges I may say seats and if any of these places bee so hurt that it is made unfit to be their forge or seate any longer they have then no longer any being in the body because no longer any operatiō in the body as wanting their Forges to operate in fit instrumēts to operate with then a man dyes But yet why should not the Rational soule stay in the body though the sensitive be gone for seeing it depends not upon any part of the body why should the hurt of any part of the body drive it away It is not that Quoad Existentiā in corpore as to subsisting in the body the soule is indivisible that if one Faculty bee abolished the other cannot stay at least not the superiour without the inferiour not the Sensitive without the Vegetative not the Rationall without the sensitive For as the Elements of fire and earth could never be joyned in one cōpound if the aire water did not intercede between them so the Rational soule the body could never bee joyned in one subsistence if the sensitive and vegative parts did hot mediate between thē and were the bond of connexion to hold them together the same perhaps which Ecclesiastes calls the silver cord that if this bee loosened there is nothing to hold them any longer toge ther but they are prefently parted from one another And indeede when the Rationall is left alone by it selfe it is then Purè spiritus meerely simply a spirit being such it can not rest any where but either in Heaven or Hell the two proper Centers of all separate spirits And seeing these places are immortall Mansions what should the soule do in either of thē if it were mortall The soule therefore at least the Rationall soule which is also in Habit the whole soule must needes be immortall If it may be made good that the Rationall faculty can exercise its operation without bodily Organs there needes then no other proofe for the immortalitie of the soule seeing Modus operandi sequitur modum Essendi As every thing operates so it is that if the soule can ope◠rate without bodily Organs it may then also sub◠siistwithout them if sub◠sist without them then i◠it separable from the body and thereupon immortall And that the Rationall faculty can exercise its operation with out bodily Organs is a thing of all o◠other the most apparent for what is the proper worke of the Rationall faculty but to contemplate and to view it selfe in it selfe as in a glasse by reflection who can deny but that the soule can doe this of it selfe without the helpe of any other and then certainely without the helpe of bodily Organs The sensitive facultie indeede hath parts of the body made of purpose for the exercise of her operation the eye to see the eare to heare the tongue to taste and for a spring head to them all the braine in the Head but the Rationall faculty hath no parts of the body made for her and why hath it none but because it needes none as that which can exercise its operatiō without them For if the Rationall faculty did use bodily Organs as the sensitive doth what reason can be given why Beasts should not be reasonable creatures as well as men seeing they have as many and all the same parts as mē have that it must be acknowledged some parts of the body to bee either superfluous in Beasts or defective in Men superfluous in Beasts if they have parts proper for understanding and yet understand not or defective in men if they should have parts proper for understanding and have them not which because both of them are in prejudice of Nature therefore neither of them is to be admitted It is true the Rationall Faculty makes use sometimes of the Fantasie an issue from the Braine and may therefore be counted a Bodily Organ at least Germen Organi but this is not of necessity but for convenience whilst it is in the Body and that chiefly if not only In ordine ad sensibilia and if you will say that the Rationall Faculty must needs directly have dependance upō the Brain seeing when the Braine is hurt the understanding is hurt when the Braine is distempered the understanding is distempered as in drunken or Phrantick men May it not be justly answered that the operation of the understanding in this case is not meerely the worke of the Rationall Faculty but rather a mixt worke of the Rationall and Senfitive both together seeing the hurt or distemper of the Braine workes not Primò Per se upon the Rationall Faculty but upon the Sensitive and from thence is transmitted to the Rationall onely Compatiendo by reason of the Sympathy that is betweene them and this is no cause to inferre a necessity of Dependence For when upon the separation of the Soule from the Body the operation of the sensitive Faculty shall absolutely cease this Sympathy betweene it and the Rationall Facultie shall then cease also and neither directly nor indirectly ther shall be then any more dependence upon the Braine Indeed the Soule once separated from the Body hath no more use of the Braine because no more need of the Fantasie at all but moves then upon its owne hinges and exerciseth her operation within her owne Spheare as that which can make its owne objects and as being Speculum sibi ipsi a Glasse to it self by so much the cleerer by how much the freer for though the body be a necessary helpe to the sensitive Faculty yet to the Intellectuall at least Quoad Intelligibilia it is an impediment and a clogge that from hence wee may draw an Argument which drawes an Inference with it greater then it self That to which the Body is no helpe but an impediment not only may subsist without the Body but may subsist the better and if it may then at last it must For Frustra fit potentia quae non reducitur in actum Nature is no such unskilfull Artificer to make a power that comes not into act and so it is for the credit of Nature that the soule be immortall And why hath Nature implanted in the Soule of man a desire of immortality if it be
not capable of immortality Can any thing bee more vaine then to desire impossibility If it be not more vaine to thinke that Nature makes any thing in vaine and so it is for the credit of Nature still that the soule bee immortall Nature hath made man in Duration of Body like to those Inferiour Creatures to whom shee hath made him like in faculties of the Body and hath she not as well in duration of Soule made him like to those Superiour Creatures to whoÌ„ she hath made him like in Faculties of the Soule And so it is for the Equity of Nature that the Soule be immortall But more than this Nature hath given to her meanest creatures as Trees and Beasts folong a continuance that though they be not Eternall yet they seeme to be Aeviternall at least farre exceed the continuance of man and would shee doe this and not make man her Noblest Creature some amends for it by a longer duration in another life and so it is for the Equitie of Nature still that the Soule be immortall Who knowes not that the Soule of man hath in it three Faculties the Vegetative the Sensitive and the Rationall of which the two first are common to man with Beasts the third proper only to man The two first have relation onely to the Body and depend upon it The third hath no relation at least no necessary relation to the Body nor dependance on it and therefore the two first make a Soule which may properly bee called Anima the third a Soule which may properly be called Spiritus as Ecclesiastes calleth it Not saying the Soule but The Spirit returnes to God that gave it Yet not that Anima and Spiritus are two distinct Soules as the ancient Didymas thought but that they are both but one Soule under two names expressing a two-fold Existence and Operation properly Anima as it Animates and is sensitive and inseparable properly Spiritus as inseparable and intellectuall And although the Soule separated from the Body reteine all the three Faculties in Habit yet the third onely in Operation because only the third operates without bodily Organs which the other two cannot and yet reason enough to call it the immortality of the Soule not onely of the Spirit And further it may perhaps be that as while the Soule is in the Body the Rationall Faculty makes use of some things which were made of purpose for the Sensitive Faculty So when the Soule shall be separated from the Body the sensitive Faculty shall have the power of reflexion and be Speculum sibi ipsi a Glasse to it self which was proper before to the Rationall Faculty at least by the like Endowment whereby Angels see and heare be enabled to doe that without bodily Organs which it could not do before but with them If the Soule of man were not immortall it should be Ex Traduce from the Patents as the soules of Beasts are which are drawn E potentia materiae from the power of the matter of which their bodies are made but the Soule of man is not drawn from the power of the matter but Extrinsecus advenit commeth to the Body from a forraigne power as Christ saith Pater meus usque nunc operatur and therefore is not Ex Traduce and therefore is immortall That which is drawne from the power oâ— the matter must needes be materiall but the soule of man is a substance immateriall for if it were not immateriall how could it coÌ„prehend things that are immateriall seeing Modus operandi sequitur modum Essendi Every thing operates according to its Essence but the soule of man coÌ„prehends things immateriall Angels and Spirits Formes and Universals and could it doe this if it were not that could it appreheÌ„d things immateriall if it self were not immateriall A stream can never naturally rise higher than its Spring lower it may fall levell it may runne but higher it cannot rise so if the soule were materiall it could never rise to apprehend things immateriall which are higher than it selfe but being immateriall it may apprehend things materiall which are lower than it self and things also immateriall which are but levell with it selfe and then if it be immateriall it is also incorruptible For all corruption is from matter where no matter is there can be no corruption and if incorruptible then also immortall for all Mortality is from corruption where no corruption is there can be no mortality and so of these linkes I may say is made up the chaine of the soules immortality It is not drawne from the power of the matter and therefore is immateriall and therefore is incorruptible and therefore is immortall But if the soule be not Ex Traduce from the Parents why is it said in Genesis that sixty six soules went down with Jacob into Aegypt which came all out of his loynes for what is it to come out of his loines but to be Ex Traduce Is it not that they are called soules because they were persons then living when they went downe into Aegypt Or is it that they are called soules à Notiori parte not à meliori from â—he sensitive and vegetative parts which are visible and in a kinde common to man with Beasts and therfore in a kind also transmitted from the Parents but the intellectuall part which onely is the soule that properly is immortal was never in the loynes of Jacob and therefore issued not to his issue froÌ„ thence nor is Ex Traduce from the Parents But how then comes oâ— riginall sinne to be in the soule if it be not transmitted from the Parents and how is it transmitted if the soule be not Ex Traduce O my Soule is not this the doubt that gravelled the great Saint Austin a knot that hath busied the most learned wits to untye and yet perhaps is not so untyed but that it remaines intangled still at least the solution to ordinary capacities not made so plaine but that there are seeming difficulties still in it For is it enough to say that Adams sinne was not onely personall but extends to all mankinde Or to say that he sinned not as a private person but as one that obliged his whole Posterity For doth it not follow by this that originall sinne should be by imputation rather than by inherencie when yet the saying of David I was coâ—ceived in sinne pretends to more then imputation And if it be inherent then must it bee transmitted from the Parents and if transmitted from them then must the soule also be Ex Traduce and so this seemes not to cleare the doubt but leaves us in the bryers with S. Austin still Is it then that as Saint James saith He that breaketh one Commandement is guilty of the breach of all so if some part of the soule be tainted with sinne it sets a taint upoÌ„ the whole And is it not that so much of the soule as is common to man with Beasts which are the sensitive and
vegetative may well enough be said to be Ex Traduce from the Parents and with them the concupiscible part which is the proper seate and origin of sin and they being originally tainted with sinne as being transmitted from the Parents set a taint also upon the intellectuall part by the union with them and yet no consequence that this as they should be Ex Traduce from the Parents What though the soule were breathed by God entire at first into the body Is it necessary it should be so continued as it was at first given Why more then that the body was made by God all at once at first and yet now by generation is continued and made up by parts For who knowes not the order of Nature in forming the parts of the Body in the Mothers wombe First the heart is formed and lives anâ— this is yet but the vegetative part of the soule theâ— after the forming of some Ministeriall parts the Braine and this is yet buâ— the sensitive part of the soule and thus farre Ex Traduce from the Parents may not unprobably bee allowed but the Rationall part is behind still as having no part of the body for the Fountaine of her operation This therefore remaines to be infused by God and is perhaps one of the workes which Christ meant when hee said Pater meus usque nunc operatur and differs from the first worke but onely in this that where hee then breathed the whole soule into the Body at once hee now leaves to Nature the two inferiour parts and reserves to himselfe onely the consummating part which is the Rationall But would it not follow by this there should bee two soules in man one generated by the Parents another immitted into the Body by God Indeede no for they make all but one soule onely augmented by a Faculty or rather not a Faculty but the true substance which makes it properly to bee a soule For where onely the vegetative is as in Trees or only the vegetative sensitive as in beasts though they be commonly called soules yet truly considered they are but Faculties of life drawne Eâ—potentia materiae from the power of the matter of which the creatures are made and are but as degrees and stages to the Rationall this only that which consummates and perfits it to be a soule and is so a part of the soule that it makes the wholâ— soule indivisible into parts and as comming immediately from God himselfe 〈◊〉 can never be dissolved but by God himselfe and is therefore by his Decree immortall which the vegetative sensitive could never be if the Rationall did not take them into her society or rather joyne them as unisons in Musick â—nd make them one with â—er owne being That which is a Roofe to a lowâ—r roome is but a Floore â—o a higher and so the â—egetative which was a â—oule in Plants is but a Faculty to the sensitive in Beasts and the sensitive which was a soul in Beasts â—s but a Faculty to the Rationall in man for the Rationall is the supreme Roofe that perfits it to be a soule and makes it fixt and therefore immortall But as the Rationall makes the sensitive immortall in one kinde so the sensitive makes the Rationall mortall in another not in duration but in corruption as tainting it with that fin which brought the sentence of Morte morieris upon Adam and justly in Adam upon all his posterity But whether the corruption of the sensitive before the Rationall come to it which according to the best Writers is not till the fourth month after conceptioÌ„ make the Embryon dying within that space obnoxious to originall sin or no is a depth that exceeds the line of my knowledge and perhaps of any mans else without Divine Revelation For though the soule be not actually perfitted till that time yet it is actually prepared and hath an actuall Praeviam pravam dispositionem in it before that time and who can tell whether this may not serve and be sufficient to make obnoxious For why else should David say I was conceived in sinne when the Rationall is not infused till after the conception Or is it not that to say The soule is Ex Traduce from the Parents and the soule is not Ex Traduce from the Parents are both true in the Disjunctive because the Rationall is not the sensitive is but that the whole Soule is guilty of originall sin not onely when borne but when first conceived universally may passe without disjunctive Or is it not that when God at first created Adam it is said Male and female created hee them and therfore though the soule be Ex Traduce from the Parents yet till the Embryon be so farre growne that it may bee said to be Male or Female which is not till the parts be all formed and that it hath its perfit shape which is not till a certaine time after the conception but that certaine time uncertaine how long it cannot be justly thought to bee obnoxious to originall sin because not be murder in any that shall destroy it And this may appeare by the Law which Moses sets downe Exod. 21. If one strike a woman that her fruit go from her which in some Copies is thus exprest that her fruit goe from her not perfitly shaped the punishment shall be the lighter but if perfitly shaped thâ— punishment shall be death And as long as it is in state not to make it murder iâ— any that shall destroy it so long neither can it beâ— in state to be obnoxious to originall sinne Or may it not perhaps be true thaâ— the whole soule with all its Faculties is Ex Traducâ— from the Parents as hath been held by many and so indeed it will be plaine how originall sinne is propagated But then it will not be so plaine how the soule shall be immortall For if it bee Ex Traduce from the Parents it must be drawne E potentia materiae from the power of the matter and if drawn from the power of the matter then must it be materiall as the soule of a Beast is and if materiall then also corruptible and if corruptible then also mortaâ—â— Indeed no for though 〈◊〉 be drawne E potentia materiae from the power of thâ— matter yet not from thâ— power of the matter simply but E potentia materiae inspiratae à Deo from the power of the matteâ— inspired by God as iâ— was at first in Adam and as in Beasts it never was and though the being drawne from the power of â—e matter would make it â—â—e mortall yet Inspiratio â—â—ei the being inspired by God makes it be as himselfe is immortall When God at the Creation breaâ—ed the soule into the boâ—y of Adam there is â—othing spoken of the â—oule of Eve because shee was taken out of Adams â—ide and if it served her â—or a soule that she was made of a part of Adam body why not as well also for all other Descendents
from Adam Et natis natorum qui nascentur abâ— illis seeing as the soule was then Tota in toto tota in qualibet parte all in the whole and all in every part of Adams body so it is still in every one of ours Or lastly if this also be refused Is it not then that we are all borne of that â—cursed seed upon which â—e sentence of Morte moâ—eris was for the sinne of â—isobedience justly proâ—ounced and though the â—oule be not Ex Traduce â—om the parents yet when 〈◊〉 once joynes with this â—ccursed seed and is made â—ne with it it justly beâ—omes both guilty of the â—inne and subject to the â—urse and shall so continue untill the seede of the woman take both the guilt of the sinne and the curse of the Law upon himselfe to free us from both and now if you will say It is hard measure in God to lay the penalty of one mans offence upon all his posterity you must withall say it is great mercy in God to impute the merit of one mans righteousnesse to all his followers that as the most you can say in that case is that God is a just Judge so the least you can say in this case is that he is a Mercifull Redeemer and now and ever a Faithfull Creatour If the soule did die with the body why should it not as well be sicke with the body and grow old with the body But this is found by daily experience that in the sicknesse of the body the soule is commonly best in health and in the age of the body the soule is yet yong still or rather hath the greatest vigour in these two seasons the sensitive part indeed because it useth bodily Organs must needes decay with their decaying but the intellectuall part which neither useth any nor hath use of any continues to be it selfe still what ever they be corrupted perhaps in her quality but not made corruptible in her substance and even when it is at the very point of disbanding and leaving the body yet then she exerciseth the operation of her Faculty in as great vigour as ever understands as much knowes as much apprehends as much as at any time before And could it doe so if it depended upon the body which is then all out of frame and in confusion It is indeed plainly to be seene that while the vegetative Facultie is in the greatest vigour all that while wee use the sensitive but little the Rationall not at all as is seen in Infants and little Children and while the sensitive Faculty is in the greatest vigour all that while we use the Rationall but little which makes youth commonly so intemperate as it is but when the sensitive and vegetative Faculties grow to decay as in old age they doe then comes the Rationall to be in greatest force which makes old men commonly to be of soundest judgements and therefore seeing the Rationall Faculty decayes not with the body as the other doe neither is it possible it should be extinct with the Body as the other are If the soule perish together with the body then it perisheth before the body for the body reteines its proportion and shape at least for some time after the soul hath left it but the foule if it perish then reteines nothing at all of all her Faculties they are all extinct and gone and so by this reckoning the body should be a longer laster than the soule which though it be true in Beasts whose soule is perhaps nothing but the life yet it is false in man whose soule is a substance subfisting by it selfe and separable from the body But though by these words of Salomon Who knoweth the Soule of a man that goeth downward or the soule of a man that goeth upward It may be gathered there is Aliquid imperceptibile in the soule of man something so obscure and hidden that makes it impossible to be thorowly understood and therefore no demonstrative Arguments can bee drawne from thence to make a peremptory conclusion of its immortality yet there are Arguments enow some drawne from the nature of the soule it selfe and some from forraigne circumstances that evidently evince it against all opposition to bee immortall For the soule of man can apprehend immortality which Beasts cannot and shall it not bee capable of immortality though Beasts are not And more then this the soule of man can discharge the Function of immortality which is to make of all times one reducing the time past and that which is to come into the present and is it possible it should doe the worke of immortality and not bee immortall If the soule of man bee not immortall then neither are the Angels immortall for they are all made of the same immateriall mettall which if it be durable in the one why not as well durable in the other must not those creatures be needes of the same nature and condition which do all alike the same actions insist all alike upon the same object have all alike the same Summum bonum but all these are common alike to men and Angels to both which the Summum Bonum is to enjoy Gods Presence the chiefe Object is the blessed Face of God the Finall actions are to glorifie God if then Immortality be granted to the Nature of Angels how can it be denyed to the Soule of man The Soule of man can apprehend God who onely is immorall and can that be mortall which apprehends him that is immortall and more then this the soule of man is the onely Creature in this inferiour world that can praise God and seeing Gods praise shall never cease can that cease which is to praise him And so it is for the glory of God that the soule be immortall Hath not God made the Heavens and the Earth for the use of man therein to glorifie him and shall he use them no longer than this life and longer he cannot use them if the soule be mortall and so it is for the glory of God still that the soule be immortall If the soule be not immortall when is it that God punisheth the wicked and rewardeth the godly seeing not in this life if not in another and not in another if the soule be mortall and so it is for the Justice of God that the soule be immortall If the soule bee not immortall what good is it that In memoria aeterna erit justus the Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance of which hee can neither be sensible nor intelligent and so it is foâ— the Justice of God stil that the soule bee immortall If the soule be not immortall how shall the places of the Angels that fell be filled up againe Or shall they stand empty for ever as though God had not power to fill them up and so it is for the Power of God that the soule bee immortall If the Soule be not immortall how is God the God of Abraham the God