Head Psa 133. which ran down upon the beard of Aaron and went down to the skirts of his garments the ointment signified the Spirit and its graces In consideration of this Union by those three knots or ligaments just now mentioned the Fathers looked on Christ and his Members and considered them so united as upon one Body or one Man or one universal Person because there is no one man or woman in the World whose nature Christ hath not assumed whereof St. Ambrose saith In Christo summa universalitatis Ambr. de chit Saty. To. 4. p. 146. est portio singulorum Christ is as the total Summ of all men and a portion or parcel of every man To the same purpose Prosper saith Tota Ecclesia cum Christo capite Prosp Ps 102. Id. Ps 131. est unus homo and in another place he saith Tota civitas Dei est unus homo in capite corpore The whole Church with Christ the Head is one Man and the whole City of God is but one Man in the head and body St. Austin is very plentifull and Aug. in Joh. Tra. 108. plain in this matter of Vnion and saith Vnus est Christus caput corpus ipsi sunt ego and in another place Vnus Homo caput Aug. Ps 127. Id. Ps 30. corpus Christi sumus non solum Christiani and again Christus est multa membra unum Corpus The meaning of all is that they are but one Body and are considered as one Person for as the Head and the other parts altogether are but one man so Christ and all his mystical Members are but one whole Christ which whole mystical Body consisting of Christ the Head and Christians the members thereof the same Father often calleth Christum totum and Aug. in Ps 36. 37. alibi Christum plenum and Christum universum and Plenitudinem Christi and Christum diffusum that is the whole full universal diffused Christ or the fulness of Christ St. Paul also useth the same expression concerning Christ and his Members He God Eph. 1. 22 23. hath given him to be head over all things to the Church which is his Body the fulness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of him that filleth all in all So that Christ himself with his Church are here said to be the full Christ or fulness of Ps 82. Christ And as in Scripture many are called 1 Cor. 8. 5. Psal 105. 15. Gods although there is but one God because God distributes his Spirit to them So many are called Christs Nolite tangere Christos meos because Christ hath united himself with them both by his Spirit and by his Flesh of which union of his Flesh himself saith He that eateth my flesh dwelleth John 6. 56. in me and I in him because he hath taken his flesh from the same Original whence our flesh is derived therefore as our flesh dwelleth in him so his Flesh dwelleth in us St. Hilary in his 8. Book de Trinitate Hil. n. 3. declareth the union of the Flesh of Christ with the flesh of Men and those not only holy and spiritual men but also with unholy and carnal men in these words Habemus in nobis carnalibus manentem per carnem Christum we that are but carnal men have Christ by his flesh remaining in us And just so writeth the venerable and blessed Martyr Archbishop Cranmer in his Book against Bish Gardiner That Christ did unite himself with us as Man by his Incarnation But this necessary Doctrine of mutual union of Christ and Mankind hath been too much neglected by late Divines who have but only hinted or lightly touched it whereunto in their Disputes concerning the Eating of the flesh of Christ they have been necessarily driven which Doctrine is of such weighty concernment that it deserveth very serious and diligent inquisition There is a very hard and dark passage of St. Paul concerning Christs delivering up his Kingdom and of his subjection to God in the Exposition thereof many Divines have greatly and dangerously erred in dethroning Christ as if those words did signifie the Period and utter ending of his Kingdom which we are sure must last for ever The words of St. Paul are these When the end cometh he shall deliver up the Kingdom 1 Cor. 15. 24. 28. to God even the Father and then shall the Son himself be subject to him c. These words cannot possibly be rightly understood but only by considering Christ and his Members joyntly as one full and whole Christ for though the Man Christ considered only by himself in his own particular Person and only in his Manhood always was is and for ever will be subject to the Godhead yet the whole Christ that is not only his self alone but his mystical Members even his Saints and his Elect at or after the final Judgment shall be so subject and so perfectly and compleatly obedient to the Godhead as they never yet were nor ever will be during this World of which Subjection and Union I have elsewhere written at large CHAP. VI. BUt why doth Christ require this Eating in these terms and words of the Flesh of the Son of Man Why might he not rather have said Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of God For the flesh of Christ was the flesh of God the Son and God the Word St. John saith the Word was made Joh. 1. 14. Flesh and his Blood is expresly called the Blood of God by the great Apostle Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with Acts 20. 28. his own Blood and St. John calls his life and death the life and death of God Hereby we perceive the love of God because he hath 1 John 3. 16. laid down his life for us And his Virgin Mother is often called by the Fathers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Parent or Mother of God 1. To this we answer First That the Son of God considered only and singly as the Son of God in his pure Godhead and only as God the Word and as he was in the form of God only and without Incarnation could not be our Redeemer and if he had continued so as to be only the Son of God as he was from Eternity and had never taken our human Nature upon him so as to be thereby really the Son of Man he could not be the Christ neither could any obligation or engagement have been upon him to perform the Law which Law was imposed only upon Mankind neither could he have redeemed us because he could not die being not mortal otherwise then by assuming our Mortal nature into Personal union with his Immortal and Divine nature Therefore in order to the office of a Redeemer he must become a Man and his flesh must needs be the flesh of the Son of Man 2. Secondly We say That although the Son of God had really assumed a body and
out of the Man and not made of another piece of Earth for the Woman could not have been in union with Christ except she had been taken out of the Man as Christ and all Mankind are nor could she or we have been capable of Redemption by Christ without this union with Christ in the first Man Hence it is that the Apostle saith We are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Eph. 5. 30 31 32 Bones The like he saith of Christ and his whole Church They two shall be one Flesh but I speak concerning Christ and his Church This is said because all Men and Women with Christ also were originally joyned and united in Adam and therefore Prosper Prosp ad Cap. Gallorum observeth Nullus est hominum cujus natura non erat suscepta à Christo there is not any Man in the world whose Nature was not assumed by Christ Ipse Adam toto terrarum orbe sparsus est Aug. Ps 95. And St. Paul saith God hath made of one Blood all Acts 17. 26. nations of Men it is meant of the blood of the first Man by which word Blood something more is implied than only Flesh as will appear hereafter and more than Blood literally taken In the Old Testament where we read of Filius Hominis or Son of Man the same words in the Original are Ben-Adam often The Genealogy of St. Luke derives Christ from Adam and St. Paul calls Christ the Last Adam as children are called by the 1 Cor. 15. 45. names of their Progenitors therefore St. Austin to shew the original of all Men with Christ himself saith Omnis homo terrenus Aug. Retract l. 1. c. 16. est Adam every Man of the Earth is Adam for it is as easie to apprehend Christ to be the Son of Adam as to be the Son of David and of Abraham and as easie Mat. 1. 1. to understand that Christ was united with Mankind in the loins of Adam as to apprehend that Levi was in the loins of Abraham Heb. 7. 10 when Melchisedech met him which was long before Levi was begotten Moreover even when Adam was formed there was an original corporal union of all Mankind in that one parcel of Earth of which Man was made which is the reason why not only Adam but all his Posterity are called Earth and Dust O Earth Earth Earth hear the Word of the Lord. Gen. 3. 19 Jer. 22. 29. The reason why I have said that the Redeemer must be united and be one with the Redeemed is because God doth not punish or reward eternally one for another but the same that performeth or transgresseth his Laws is punished or rewarded The Wise man saith He that justifieth the Prov. 17. 15. wicked and condemneth the just are both abominable to the Lord. The Jews had a cursed and murmuring Proverb among them The Fathers have eaten sour grapes and the Eze. 18. 2 Jer. 31. 29. Childrens teeth are set on edge their meaning was that their Fathers had committed that sin for which their Children were punished but God did controll that false imputation saying Every one shall die for his own sin And He that eateth sour grapes his teeth shall be set on edge and the Soul that sinneth it shall die So it is said in the Gospel Every man shall bear his own burthen Gal. 6. 5◠1 Pet. 1. 17. and God judgeth according to every Mans work Therefore the Redeemer must be really united and be as one man with the Redeemed otherwise the passions and Death of Christ the Redeemer cannot in the exact Justice of the Godhead satisfie for the sins of the People Christ said to a young man If thou wilt Mat. 19. 17. enter into life keep the Commandments This must be confessed to be true that no man can be saved except he perform the Law If it be enquired how any meer man can enter into Life seeing every one transgresseth the Law We answer that every true and faithfull Member of Christ fulfilleth the Law because Christ hath performed it who is One with his Members This weighty and necessary Doctrine of the union of Christ with Mankind is evidently and plentifully declared both in the Holy Scriptures and also in the Writings of the Fathers which I have elsewhere shewed at large in the Gospel Christ said I am the Vine ye are the branches the root stock and branches of the Vine are Joh. 15. 5 but one Tree St. Paul saith of Christ and of men that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fellow Plants or planted together planted in Adam and we being many are one body in Christ and Rom. 6. 5 Rom. 12. 5. as the Body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so is Christ And your 1 Cor. 12. 12. 1 Cor. 6. 15. 1 Cor. 12. 27. Gal. 3. 28 bodies are the members of Christ and ye are the Body of Christ and members in particular and therefore the same Apostle saith of the Galatians Ye are all one in Christ Jesus The union or Oneness of men with Christ doth not consist only in this that Christ communicateth his Spirit to us men but also in that Christ and all Mankind were originally together in the first Man and are all derived from the flesh and blood of him as I noted before from the words of St. Paul Acts 17. 26. that God made of one blood all Nations of men and that one Blood was the blood of Adam For although we never were in the loins of Christ nor derived from him yet because Christ and we and all Generations of men were originally in the loins of Adam therefore in him we were then all united CHAP. V. IN the next place we are to enquire what was the Doctrine of the Fathers concerning the Body of Christ and also concerning the Union of the Head with the members thereof 1. The Body of Christ in Scripture hath a double signification 1. It signifieth the natural proper and individual or personal Body of Christ of which it is said a woman poured ointment on his Body and Joseph begged Mat. 26. 12 27 58 the Body of Jesus 2. The Body of Christ signifieth his Body Mystical that is the whole Corporation of Christ and his Members of which it is said He is the Head of his body the Church Col. 1. 18 Christs Natural body is but a part of his Mystical body as our head is but a part of our natural body And as the head and other parts of our natural body are visibly united so Christ and all his Members are united and joyned by an invisible Tie or knot both in Flesh and Soul as will hereafter appear as also in one Spirit proceeding from Christ the Head and communicating it self to every particular member of that great Mystical Body as it is said of the precious Ointment upon the
necessarily to have been united in soul as well as in body otherwise he could be but an Half-Redeemer and we but Semiredempti i. e. redeemed but in one part or half-redeemed for it would prove but a Redemption of our Bodies only and not of our Souls Gregory Nazianzen in an Epistle to Cledonius Naz. Orat 51. a Priest which goes under the title of the 51 Oration thus writeth The Son of God took upon him the Nature of Man and all that of Man which needed help and recovery therefore he must needs have taken the Soul as well as the flesh from Man for otherwise he would be like to a Man who having a sore eye and a sore foot and should apply a Medicine to the foot only and quite neglect the eye Thus he so that although our bodies were well provided for by having a Redeemer yet the souls would want a Redemption for themselves and so the sentence of God would be executed on them The Soul that sinneth it shall die Eze. 18. 4 But the Mercifull Godhead took care both of our bodies and of our Souls and therefore sent God the Son as the Apostle saith in the likeness of sinfull Flesh and Rom. 8. 3. for sin condemned sin in the flesh So likewise did he send the same Son of God in the likeness of a sinfull Soul thereby to condemn sin in the Soul the Lord Jesus is a Saviour not only of bodies but of souls also and is therefore called by the Apostle the Sheepherd and Bishop of Souls 1 Pet. 2. 25. as Moses and Aaron had formerly stiled him The God of the Spirits or Souls of all Num. 16. 22. Flesh The Son of God was the Creator not only of bodies but also of souls and the Son of Man was and is the Redeemer of both For this gracious purpose only God did unite himself with Mankind not only in Flesh but in Soul also and thereby he became a Compleat Emanuel And this union or conjunction of God with Man was effected by the Propagation or Traduction of the Flesh and Soul of Christ from the flesh and soul of the first Man as all our Bodies and Souls have been and now are and will be to the end of the World Of the Traduction of our bodies no Man boubteth but of the Original and Traduction of Souls great disputes have been and yet are of which we are next in order to consider CHAP. XX. THE Doctrine of the Original of the Soul of Christ and of all human Souls and consequently the Doctrine of the Redemption of our souls by the Soul of Christ hath been much obscured by the vain and trifling Arguments of some natural Philosophers and as much by the frivolous Queries of some late Theologues whereas some learned Physicians to whom Jacobus Horstius Geor. Horstius Animas propagari ab animabus parentum putat Keckerman Phys p. 630. Truth is more beholding in this point have with great judgment and by their Experiences shewed and proved that our Souls are derived by Traduction from the Souls of our Mothers in the Womb as the Soul of Christ certainly was and as one of them saith Instar surculi ex trunco as a young grift sucketh life from the stock And the Souls of all Mothers as is beforesaid are derived from the Soul of the first Man unto which Doctrine all men who do rightly apprehend and understand the order and method of Redemption to consist in the Vnion of Christ with Mankind will be driven at last to consent Those Men that oppose the Traduction of Souls from the Soul of Adam demand how it is possible that such an innumerable company of Souls can be derived from one single Soul seeing the Soul is a Spirit and indivisible and therefore not to be parted by Decisions and mincings into such several parcels for so in time it would have nothing left to it self but would be utterly annihilated But these Men may as reasonably doubt how so many thousands of Bodies could proceed from that one single Body of the first Man during the 930 years of his life without any diminution of the quantity or dimensions of his Body seeing they were all Originally in his Loyns Or how the Sun communicates his light to every star in Heaven without any diminution or lessening his Light nothing is more like the Soul than light The Philosophers called the Soul of Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propter cognationem cum lumine as Plutarch saith because it is Plut. con Colot so like to light and Christ is said to Enlighten every Man because he hath given a John 1. 9. reasonable Soul to all Men as Expositors agree St. Austin resembles the traduction of the Soul to the Light of a lamp Ignis Aug. cont Pelag. T. 7. n. 63 lucernae integer manet licet altera de illa accendatur Millions of Tapers may receive light from one single Taper without diminishing the light of that one Taper and so our Souls are propagated from that one Original Soul without any division or diminution thereof Let it be considered that the Soul of the first Man was created immediately by God of which it is said God breathed into his Gen. 2. 7. Bucan p. 86. 88. nostrils the breath of Life or of Lives this Breath of God was Spiraculum Omnipotens of which the Psalmist saith By the Breath Psal 33. 6 of the Lord the Heavens were made and all the Host of them by the Breath of his mouth The human Soul hath a prerogative of its Original above other inferiour Animals of whom it is never said that God breathed into them the Breath of life That first Soul of Man especially was like unto Fire as one saith of all Human souls Igneus est Ollis Virg. Aen. 6. vigor It surely had the vigour of fire and did extend it self into the grand Corporation of all Mankind as one spark of fire may enflame a whole City The brute Creatures ever since their first Creation did propagate their Souls to their kind and to this day those Creatures do receive their souls by Traduction from their Dams The greatest Sciolists in Natural Philosophy cannot reasonably prove any other Original of those brute Souls but only by propagation which yet they deny to human Souls It must be confessed by Christians that the souls of brute Creatures were at the beginning created by God as the reasonable Soul of Adam was yet the souls of Brute Creatures are mortal but the reasonable Souls of Men are immortal the reason is because the Divine Nature did personally unite it self with our whole human Nature which is the only reason why human Souls do not die and that human Bodies after death shall rise again to Life at the general Resurrection But the Divine Nature did not so unite it self with the nature of those other inferiour Creatures which are therefore left to perish utterly Of which something