Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	soul_n	whole_a	13,673	5	5.8632	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A82528	A friendly debate on a weighty subject: or, a conference by writing betwixt Mr Samuel Eaton and Mr John Knowles concerning the divinity of Iesus Christ: for the beating out, and further clearing up of truth.	Eaton, Samuel, 1596?-1665.; Knowles, John, fl. 1646-1668.	1650 (1650)	Wing E121; Thomason E609_16; ESTC R205964	49,997	66

In those days shall Iudah be saved and Ierusalem shall dwell safely and this is the name wherewith she shall be called Iehovah our righteousness Also the City Ierusalem is called Iehovah Ezek. 48.35 And the name of the City from that day shall be Iehovah is there Yea the Altar which Moses erected when the Amalekites were discomfited is called Iehovah Nissi The Lord my Hunter Exodus 17.15 I know you will not say that the Church is the most High God much less the Altar or City Ierusalem yet you may see that the Incommunicable name Iehovah is communicated to them How your inference concerning Christ may be justified is yet not evident but remains dubious not onely for the commonness of the name but also because this Iehovah is said to be raised by another v. 5. THE Scripture which occupies the next place hath been already insisted on wherefore that which follows being Iohn 8.58 John 8.58 Before Abraham was I am is now to be spoken to Answ The words rightly understood will no ways countenance your inference from them In the words we have a Grammaticall Figure which they call Enallage whereby one time is put for another as here the present tense for the praeter Am for Was Before Abraham was I was and so they note out and signifie one or both of the things that follow 1. That Iesus Christ was instituted and revealed before Abraham had a being If we take the word I to signifie the Whole of Christ there is a necessity that the words be thus understood for Christ according to the flesh was not in being before Abraham was That he was revealed before Abraham was is clear and evident for the seed of the woman at the beginning was made known to Adam That he was ordained before Abraham had a being is from Scripture not a little manifest as 1 Pet. 1.20 And by the same reason he may here be said to be before Abraham was as he is elsewhere called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Rev. 13.8 2. That he had a reall being and existence before Abraham was this cannot be asserted of whole Christ and therefore according to this Exposition the Figure Synecdoche whereby the whole is put for a part must be understood in the Text. It is granted by all that contend for and by some that deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ that he had a being and existence before Abraham was but what this being was is the onely doubt Some affirm that Jesus Christ before he was born of the Virgin Mary had no other existence but in the Godhead and was onely to be considered as the Son eternally begotten of the Father Others assert that this conceit is neither Scriptural nor Rational but unsound and absurd and that he had a created being before Abraham was yea that he was the first creature and so Lord of all That this Controversie may be decided I shall lay down three Positions 1. That whole Christ doth consist of flesh and spirit Position 1 Every man is constituted of two parts flesh and spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 Iam. 2.26 and so is Christ as in Rom. 1.3 4. where the Apostle speaking of whole Christ mentions nothing but flesh and spirit According to the flesh that is the body of Christ he was of the seed of David But after the spirit of holiness he was the Son of God He that can finde another part besides those two or any nature besides what belongs to his flesh and spirit may have liberty to bring forth for ought I know what he may find out Position 2 That Christ before he took upon him the seed of Abraham did exist onely according to the spirit He had no being but a spiritual one But this is no controversall thing being on all hands concluded for truth The onely disagreement is whether this spirit of holiness after which Christ is the Son of God doth signifie the Divine Nature and Godhead or else the soul which was created or formed and did exist distinct from the flesh or body of Christ Wherefore the third Position is Position 3 That the Spirit of Christ according to which he was the Son of God is a Creature To support this take these Reasons 1. Because to affirm that the Spirit of Christ did exist distinct from his body and may be spoken of as a person is not in the least absurd For the spirit or soul of a man may exist distinct from the body and is spoken of as a person What are those spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 but the souls of good men glorified in Heaven whose bodies were in the graves In Luke 23.43 saith Christ to the Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Thou that is thy soul or spirit shall be with me that is with my spirit in Paradise 2. Because the titles which most properly belong to Christ before he took flesh do hold him forth to be a Creature first he is called the Son of God Luke 1.35 Now this title informs us of his Inferiority to God his Existency of God and his Superiority over all things 1. It holds forth his Inferiority to God God is his Father but a son is inferiour to a father and by the Law is bound to honour and obey him Wherefore Christ confesseth that his Father was greater then he Iohn 14.28 My Father is greater then I. And professeth that he did honour his Father Iohn 8.49 Iesus answered I have not a Devil but I honour my Father and ye do dishonour me That this might be put past all doubt he is called the Son of the Highest Luke 1.32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David And therefore not the Highest for there can be but one Highest and he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 2. This title Son of God proclaims his Existency on God A Son is of a Father and therefore the being of a Father is before the being of a Son God as he is a Creator is the Father of all Eph. 4.6 And all men as creatures are Gods off-spring Acts 17.28 Angels and Men who are principall creatures are called the Sons of God Job 38.7 Luke 3 38. They that hold the Deity of Christ do affirm that the Son was of the Father by an Eternall Generation But what this Generation is they cannot declare and therefore call it ineffable Yet M. Perkins will tell us that the Son was generated of the Father in that the Divine Essence was communicated to him But who can tell what this Him was to whom this Essence was communicated And who can affirm that this Essence was communicated to this Him and yet assert and evidence that he was never without it And that he was God and yet distinct from the Essence for it is said that the Essence was communicated to Him Where Scripture

doth assert and how reason will make out an Eternall Generation and whether the phrase Eternall Generation doth not contain in it a meer contradiction let him that can shew Now let it be asserted That Jesus Christ is the Son of God as he is a creature and then let us see whether a definition may not be made of his Generation His Generation is that act of Creation whereby the God of all beings did immediately and in the first place bring forth and produce him Generation and Creation to beget and create are sometimes in Scripture terms equivalent As is evident from the work of God in changing the creature which is sometimes called a new Creation sometimes Regeneration and the person changed is in one place said to be created in another to be begotten In the last place this title Son of God sets forth his superiority over all things We shall find that Son of God Christ are terms convertible if we compare Matth. 16.16 with Mark 8.29 when Christ asked his Disciples this quaery Whom think ye that I am Then Simon Peter answered and said Thou art Christ the Son of the living God So Matthew But Mark in relating the same answer gives it thus Thou art the Christ From which is evident that Christ and the Son of God are terms equivalent for one Evangelist useth both that one might expound the other but another leaves out one of the terms because either was sufficient both being Synonama's So likewise in Acts 9.20 compar'd with vers 22. of the same chap. And 't is as manifest in the scripture that Christ King of Israel and chosen of God are convertible terms noting out one and the same thing to wit Authority Dominion and Power It will appear to you as clear as the sunn if you compare these Texts together Matth. 27.42 Filij dicuntur qui aliqua exparte alicui sunt similes Mark 15.32 Luke 23.35 Magistrates and Princes by reason of that Dominion they have over others are called the the sons of the most High Ps 82.6 I have said ye are Gods and all of you are sons of the most High So David is called in Psal 2.7 which mystically and more properly belong to Christ Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee which sets forth the Kingly Office of Jesus Christ according to the confession of all Now Christ is named The son of God in way of Eminency as being King of Kings and Lord of Lords That this superiority which Christ hath over all things might be the more perspicuous he bears this name also The onely begotten Son of God Jo. 3.16 which title points at his Heirship Jesus Christ by whom God made the world was appointed to be heir of all things Heb. 1.2 now he that is an Heir is as the Apostle speaks Lord of all Gal. 4.1 In this sense Isaac is said to be Abrahams onely begotten son Heb. 11.17 not that Abraham had no other son for he had one by Hagar and diverse by Keturah but because Isaac was his heir To the rest he gave gifts but to Isaac all that he had The second Title is the word of God Rev. 19.13 And his name is called The Word of God This name is imposed on him for two Causes First because he is the Image of Gods invisibility God is invisible and dwels in unaccessible light and therefore in this life he cannot be known as he is notwithstanding because the knowledg of God is eternal life he hath reveal'd himself so farr as necessary and in a way suitable to our capacity This discovery of God is made in his son Jesus who is therefore called Col. 1.15 the Image of the invisible God and also the brightness of the Fathers glory character of his substance Heb. 1.3 And this Image Jesus Christ hath his Shadows whereby he reveals himself and so consequently the Father His shadows are the works of God Christ being Gods principall and immediate Instrument in all his works And also the words of God are a shadow of Christ for by them are the works of God made known or made more clear unto us and therefore Christ is fitly called The word of God in that a word or speech is the discoverer of mans invisibility The excellency or deformity of the minde the tongue makes evident Secondly because he was produced by God immediately This title declares not only that he was made but also that he was Gods immediate work Facere verba to make words is no unusuall phrase mens words are their creatures And for the producing or making of words no instrument distinct from the Agent intervenes but the Agent is the instrument Therefore a word is a lively shadow of Jesus Christ who was the first creature that ever God made and the instrument by which he made all things The third title is this The first-born of every Creature Coll. 1.15 It is evident from the Text that this title is appropriated to Jesus Christ by whom all things are made and it cannot be applyable to him any otherwise but as a creature and it holds him forth to be the first of Creatures A mans first-born is the first that he begets and is brought forth to him The same word is used to express the first-born among the Egyptians children Heb. 11.28 The fourth title is The beginning of the creation of God Rev. 3.14 The beginning of the creation of God that is the first of Gods creatures the words will bear this exposition for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beginning signifies the first part of any thing or the first of things in the same kinde so in Luke 1.2 Mat. 24.8 Joh. 2.11 But some will say that he is called the beginning because he is the Prince of the creation But where the word is used in the singular number to signifie a Prince I doe not at present minde True it is that Christ is the chief because he is the first of all the Creatures Others will affirm that he is thus called because he is the Author of the creation But this exposition is excluded in that the creation whereof he is the beginning is called the Creation of God who is the author of all created things Now for the third reason which doth confirm the third position That the Spirit of Christ according to which he is the Son of God is a Creature Reason 3 Because whole Christ is a creature If whole Christ be then doubtless every part of Christ is a creature That whole Christ is a creature these following Arguments will demonstrate Argum. 1 That which is distinct from GOD is a creature But whole CHRIST is distinct from GOD therefore whole CHRIST is a CREAIVRE The Major is evident to sense and Reason for God is but one and 't is absurd to imagine him distinct from himself But some peradventure will make use of the usuall distinction betwixt person and essence and so affirm that one may be distinguished from God