gross but some parts become grosser and grosser and the other Corporeal Parts of this Spirit which are its immediate Vehicle and wherewith it is most intimately united retain a certain Tenuity or Subtilty without which the Spirit could not be so moveable and active as otherwise it would and with these subtiler and more tenuious Parts of the Body the principal Spirit together with its ministring Spirits so many of them as it can possibly gather together departs out of those thicker Parts of the Body which it leaves as so many cadaverous Bodies which are no longer fit to serve the said Spirits in those Operations which they exercise in their present State And we may observe this departure of the subtiler and stronger Spirits out of the harder and grosser parts of the Body into the more soft and tenuâ—ous in a certain Spirituous Liquor which is congealed with great cold where the stronger Spirits forsaking the harder Parts which are outward and chiefly exposed to the cold do gather themselves into the middle Part of the Body which is always subtile and thin so that one only drop of that Liquor which is not congealed but remaineth still liquid in the innermost Part of the congealed Body hath in it the augmented force of all those Parts which are congealed so that here is a two fold grossness and hardness of Bodies the one palpable and visible to our External Senses the other invisible and impalpable which nevertheless is as gross as the other yea often grosser and harder which may be truly perceived by the Internal Senses although the External Senses may be insensible thereof for the invisible and impalpable grossness or hardness is that which is proper to those Bodies which are so small that our External Senses cannot perceive them when nevertheless they are really exceeding hard yea harder than any Flint or Metal which we can handle with our Hands And out of these hard and small Bodies visible Waters are for the most part composed although they appear to us very soft fluid and tenuious by reason of the great Plenty of certain other subtile Bodies which continually agitate and move the said hard Particles so that Water seems to our gross Senses to be one thing Homogeneal Simple and Uniform although it consisteth of many Heterogeneous and Dissimilar or differing Parts more than many other Bodies and many of these Parts are exceeding hard and stony whence proceeds Gravel bubbling sorth and all other little Sands and Stones which have their Original and Birth from the Waters springing from the bottom of the Earth and when those little Stones or stony Particles of Water grow into visible Sand and Stones the same after some time do again lose this hardness and become more soft and tenuious than when they belonged to the Waters for Stones do rot and are converted into soft Earth and out of this proceed Animals so also Stones putrifying do often become Water again but this Water is of another Species than the former for one is petrefying the other mollifying as it is observed that from one Mountain in Helvetia two Kinds of Water flow one whereof being drunken breeds the Stone and the other is a proper remedy against it so that one Water is changed into a Stone and the other Water proceeds from that Stone whilst it is in Corruption and so it alters and loseth its former hardness And so from what hath been said may the better be understood how the Heart and Spirit of a Wicked Man may be said to be hard and stony because indeed his Spirit hath in it a real hardness such as is found in those little stony Particles of certain Waters when on the contrary the Spirits of good Men are soft and tender which internal softness and hardness of Spirits we may also really feel and every Good Man doth as sensibly perceive the same as the external hardness of gross Bodies is discerned by the outward touch but such who are dead in their Sins have not this sense of the hardness or softness of Good or Evil Spirits and therefore they call these only Metaphorical Speeches when indeed the Things are really so in a proper sence and that without any Figure § 2. THE Second Reason that created Spirits are convertible into Bodies and Bodies into Spirits I shall deduce from a serious and due consideration of the Divine Attributes from which as from a Treasury of Instructions may be manifested the Truth of all Things For seeing God is infinitely Good and communicates his Goodness infinite ways to his Creatures so that there is no Creature which doth not receive something of his Goodness and that very largely And seeing the Goodness of God is a living Goodness which hath Life Power Love and Knowledge in it which he communicates to his Creatures How can it be that any dead Thing should proceed from him or be created by him such as is mere Body or Matter according to their Hypothesis who affirm that the same is wholly inconvertible to any degree of Life or Knowledge It is truly said of one that God made not Death and it is as true that he made no dead Thing For how can a dead Thing depend of him who is infinitely Life and Charity Or how can any Creature receive so vile and diminutive an Essence from him who is so infinitely Liberal and Good that should partake nothing of Life or Knowledge nor ever be able to aspire to it no not in the least degree Hath not God created all his Creatures for this end that in him they might be Blessed and enjoy his Divine Goodness in their several States and Conditions But how can this be without Life or sense Or how can any Thing that wanteth Life enjoy Divine Goodness But we shall urge this Argument a little farther The Divine Attributes are commonly and rightly distinguished into communicable and incommunicable the incommunicable are that God is a Being subsisting by himself Independent Unchangeable absolutely Infinite and most Perfect The communicable are that he is a Spirit Life and Light that he is Good Holy Just Wise c. But now there are none of these communicable Attributes which are not living yea Life it self And because every Creature hath a Communication with God in some of his Attributes now I demand In what Attribute dead Matter hath it or a Body that is uncapable of Life and Sense for ever If it be said It agrees with God in Entity or that it is an Essence I Answer In God there is no dead Being whereof he is or can be Partaker Whence therefore shall this have its dead Essence Moreover the Entity or Being of a Thing is not properly an Attribute thereof but an Attribute is properly tale quid or something that is predicated or affirmed of that Being Now what Attributes or Perfections can be attributed to dead Matter which do analogically Answer to those which are in God If we diligently enquire thereinto we
in Hungary where if Barley be sown Wheat springs up instead thereof but in other places more barren and especially in Rocky Places such as are found in Germany if Wheat be sown Barley cometh up and Baâ—ley in other places becomes mere Grass And in Animals Worms are changed into Flies and Beasts and Fishes that feed on Beasts and Fishes of a different kind do change them into their own Nature and Species And doth not also a corrupted Nature or the Body of Earth and Water produce Animals without any previous Seed of those Animals And in the Creation of this World did not the Waters at the Command of God produce Birds and Fishes And did not the Earth also at the same Command bring forth Beasts and Creeping Things which for that Cause were real and proper Parts of the Earth and Waters And as they had their Bodies from the Earth so likewise they had their Spirits or Souls from the same for the Earth brought forth Living Souls as the Hebrew Text speaketh but not mere Corporeal Figures wanting Life and Soul wherefore there is a very remarkable difference between Humane Creatures and Brutes Of Man it is said God made him after his own Image and breathed into him the Breath of Life and he became a Living Soul so that from hence Man received his Life that principal part of him by which he is become a Man which is really distinct from that Divine Soul or Spirit which God breathed into him And seeing the Body of Man was made out of the Earth which as is proved had therein divers Spirits and gave Spirits to all Brute Beasts then unto Man no doubt she committed the best and most excellent Spirits whom he was to contain but all these Spirits were of a far inferiour Species in regard of the Spirit of Man which he received from above and not from the Earth And the Spirit of Man ought to have Dominion over these Spirits which were all but Earthly so as to subdue them to himself and exalt them to an higher degree viz. into his own proper Nature and that would have been his true Increase and Multiplication for all this he suffered the Earthly Spirits existing within him to get Dominion over him and so became like them wherefore it is said Earth thou art and unto Earth thou shalt return which hath no less a Spiritual than a Literal Signification § 7. NOW we see how gloriously the Justice of God appears in this Transmutation of Things out of one Species into another and that there is a certain Justice which operates not only in Men and Angels but in all Creatures is most certain and he that doth not observe the same may be said to be utterly Blind For this Justice appears as well in the Ascension of Creatures as in their Descension that is when they are changed into the better and when into the worse when into the better this Justice distributes to them the Reward and Fruit of their Good Deeds when into the worse the same punishes them with due Punishments according to the Nature and Degree of the Transgression And the same Justice hath given a Law to all Creatures and written the same on their Natures and every Creature whatsoever that transgresseth this Law is punished for it But that Creature that observes and keeps it hath this Reward viz to become better So under the Law which God gave to the Jews if a Beast killed a Man that Beast was to be slain and the Life of Man is said to be required at the Hand of every Beast Gen. 9. 5. And if any one had to do with a Beast not only the Man but the Beast was to be slain so not only the Woman and her Husband did receive Sentence and Punishment from God after their Transgression but the Serpent also which was the brutish part in Man which he took from the Earth God hath also put the same instinct of Justice in Man towards Beasts and Trees of the Field for whosoever he be that is a good and just Man the same loves his Beasts that serve him and taketh care of them that they have their Food and Rest and what else is wanting to them and this he doth not do only for his own profit but out of a Principle of true Justice for should he be so cruel to them as to require their Labour and yet deny them their necessary Food then certainly he transgresseth that Law which God hath written on his Heart and if he kills any of them only to fulfil his own pleasure he acts unjustly and the same measure will again be measured unto him so likewise a Man that hath a certain Fruitful Tree in his Orchard that prospereth well he dungs and cleanses the same that it may wax better and better but if it be barren and incumbers the ground then he heweth it down with an Ax and burns it with Fire And so here is a certain Justice in all these as in all the Transmutation of Things from one Species into another whether it be by ascending from the Ignobler or Baser unto the Nobler or by descending into the contrary there may be found the same Justice For Example Is it not just and equitable if a Man on Earth liveth a pure and Holy Life like unto the Heavenly Angels that he should be exalted to an Angelical Dignity after Death and be like unto them over whom also the Angels rejoice But if a Man here on Earth lives so wickedly and perversly that he is more like a Devil raised from Hell than any other Creature if he dies in such a State without Repentance Shall not the same Justice tumble him down to Hell and shall not such deservedly become like Devils even as those who led an Angelical Life are made equal with the Angels But if a Man hath neither lived an Angelical nor Diabolical but a Brutish or at least-wise an Animal or Sensual Life on Earth so that his Spirit is more like the Spirit of a Beast than any other thing Shall not the same Justice most justly cause that as he is become a Brute as to his Spirit whilst he hath left the Dominion of his more excellent Part to that Brutish Part and Spirit within him that he also at least as to his External Form in bodily Figure should be changed into that Species of Beasts to whom he was inwardly most like in Qualities and Conditions of Mind And seeing this Brutal Spirit is now become Superior and Predominant in him and holds the other Captive is it not very probable when such a Man dies that the very same Brutish Spirit shall still have Dominion in him and carry the Human Soul with it whithersoever it pleaseth and compel it to be subservient unto it And when the said Brutish Spirit returns again into some Body and hath now Dominion over that Body so that its Plastick Faculty hath the Liberty of forming a Body after its own Idea
and Inclination which before in the Humane Body it had not it necessarily follows that the Body which this Vital Spirit forms will be Brutal and not Humane for the Brutal Spirit cannot produce and form any other Figure Because its Plastick Faculty is governed of its Imagination which it doth most strongly imagine to its self or conceive its own proper Image which therefore the External Body is necessarily forced to assume § 8. HEREIN the Justice of God marvellously appears whilst he assigns to every Kind and Degree of Transgression its due and proper Punishment neither doth he sentence every Sin and Transgression to Hell-Fire and the Punishment due unto Devils for Christ hath taught the contrary in that Parable where he sheweth the Third Degree only is Doom'd to Infernal Punishment viz. if one say to his Brother Thou Fool What can be here objected against the Justice of God If it be said it doth too much lessen and disparage the Dignity and Nobility of Humane Nature to suppose the same with respect to Body and Soul convertible into the Nature of a Brute To this I Answer according to the common Maxim Corruptio optimi fit pessima The best Things by Corruption become the worst For seeing Man by his voluntary Transgression hath so exceedingly polluted and brought down his own Nature which was so Noble into a far worse State and Condition that the same could wax as vile and base in Spirit as the most unclean Beast or Animal so that he is become as subject to Earthly Concupiscences and Desires as any Beast yea is become worse than any Beast What Injustice will this be if God should also compel him to bear that Image outwardly in his Body into the which he hath inwardly transformed himself Or which thinkest thou is the worst Degeneration to bear the Image of a Beast in Spirit or in Body Certainly every one will say to be like a Beast in Spirit is far the greatest Degeneration and there is not one who is indued with true Nobility of Mind who will not confess that to be like a Beast inwardly is worse than to be like the same outwardly for to be one with him in Spirit is far worse than to be one with him in External Form and Figure of Body But if any one shall say this Punishment is too little for such a Man who hath lived all his Days a Brutish Life if after Death he shall only return to the State or Condition of some Beast let such know that the most just Creator and Maker of all Things is wiser than he and knows best what Punishment is due unto every particular Sin who hath also so most justly and wisely disposed all Things that no Man that lives carnally and after the manner of Beasts can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and so also the Doctrine of Christ expresly informs us that all Sins are not to be punished with the pains of Hell And that where the Treasure is there is the Heart also and the Spirit of Man Also if a Man is joyn'd or united with any Things that then he becomes unum quid or one with the same and that he that cleaves to the Lord is one with him in Spirit and he that cleaves to a Harlot is one Flesh with her Why then doth not he that cleaves to a Beast by the same reason become one with a Beast And so in all other cases For to whom any one yields himself in obedience the same is his Master so far as he obeys him as the Scripture saith Moreover also it is said With what measure soever ye mete the same shall be meted unto you As if it should have said All Kinds and Degrees of Sin have their proper Punishments and all these Punishments tend to the Creatures Advantage so that Grace prevails over Judgment and Judgment is turned into Victory to the Salvation and Restoration of the Creature For seeing the Grace of God is extended over all his Works Why should we think God a more severe and rigid Master to his Creatures than indeed he is Seeing this doth wonderfully obscure and darken the Glory of the Divine Attributes neither doth it beget a Love towards God and an Admiration of his Goodness and Justice in the Hearts of Men as it ought to be but the plain contrary § 9. FOR that common Notion of the Justice of God that every Sin how small soever it be shall be punished with Hell Fire and that without all end begets in Men an horrible Idea or Conception concerning God to wit as though he were a cruel Tyrant towards all his Creatures rather than a Gracious Father But if the lovely Image of God was more known unto Men such as indeed he is and manifesteth himself in all his Dispensations to his Creatures and if our Souls could inwardly feel and tast him viz. as he is Charity and Goodness it self and as he inwardly reveals himself by the Light and Spirit of Christ Jesus our Lord in the Hearts of Men then indeed and not till then would Men come to Love God above all things and acknowledge him to be beyond all the most Lovely Just and Merciful who may not punish all Sinners with an equal Punishment § 10. AND moreover also Why did he drown the old World with Water and hath purposed to destroy this with Fire Such as was that of Sodom but that he would show that for diverskinds of Sin divers sorts of Punishment are to be inflicted And that the old World was indeed wicked but that which is to be destroyed with fire is worse which for that reason will have the greater Judgment But the different nature of these transgressions for which those different punishments are prepared seem to consist in this that the sins of the old World were more brutish and carnal as the word of God doth seem to point out when he saith My Spirit shall not always strive with Man because he is become Flesh that is he is become perfectly Brutish or Bestial by obeying the desires of the Flesh So that unless this Generation had been cut off all Mankind except Noah and his Family in the succeeding Generation would have become Bestial which Evil God would prevent by drowning them with the Waters that by this Punishment they might be reduced from the Brutish Nature to the Nature of Men But the Sins of this World which like Sodom is to be destroyed with Fire seâ—â—â— their own Nature to be more like the Sins of Devils than any thing else viz. by reason of Craft Deceit Malice Hostility and Cruelty and therefore their proper Punishment is Fire which also is the Original Principle of those Noble Spirits so greatly degenerated and so they ought deservedly by the same to be restored and regenerated For what is Fire but a certain kind of imperfect Aethereal Substance shut up in combustible Bodies as we observe the same still to mount upwards and by reason of
Magnet thereof whence also God is above all the most to be loved because he is the best which Goodness is in some measure in Creatures either really or apparently wherefore such are loved of their Fellow-Creatures I Answer It must be granted indeed that Goodness is a great yea the greatest Cause of Love and the proper Object of it but this Goodness is not a distinct Cause from those before laid down but is comprehended in them Wherefore do we call a Thing Good But because it either really or apparently pleases us for the unity it hath with us or which we have with it Hence it comes to pass that Good Men love Good Men and not otherwise for Good Men cannot love Evil nor Evil Men Good Men as such for there is no greater similitude than between Good and Good For the reason why we call or esteem a Thing Good is this that it benefits us and that we are made Partakers of its Goodness and so here the First Cause of Similitude is still Militant So likewise when one Thing gives being to another as when God and Christ give Being to Creatures as from whom have every true Essence proceeded here is in like manner a certain Similitude for it is impossible that the Creatures should not in some Things be like their Creator and agree with him in some Attributes or Perfections This being supposed a Touch-stone we shall now return to our subject matter i. e. to examine whether Spirits and Bodies are of one Nature and Substance and so convertible one into another Therefore I demand What is the reason That the Spirit or Soul so loveth the Body wherewith it is united and so unwillingly departs out of it that it has been manifestly notorious the Souls of some have attended on and been subject to their Bodies after the Body was dead until it was corrupted and dissolved into dust That the Spirit or Soul gave a distinct Being to the Body or the Body to the Spirit cannot be the reason of this Love for that were Creation in a strict sence but this viz. to give Being unto Things agrees only to God and Christ therefore that necessarily comes to pass by reason of that similitude they have one with another or some Affinity in their Natures Or if it be said there is a certain Goodness in the Body which moves the Spirit to love it certainly this Goodness must necessarily answer to something in the Soul which is like it otherwise it could not be carried unto it yea let them inform us what that Goodness in the Body is for which the Soul doth so servently love it or in what Attributes or Perfections a Body is like a Spirit if a Body is nothing but a dead Trunk and a certain Mass which is altogether uncapable of any degree of Life and Perfection if they say a Body agrees with a Spirit Ratione entis or in respect of Being that is to say as this hath Being so that hath the same this is already refuted in the former Argument for if this Being hath no Attributes or Perfections wherein it may agree with the Being of a Spirit then it is only a mere Fiction for God created no Naked Ens or Being which should be a mere Being and have no Attributes that may be predicated of it besides also Ens is only a Logical Notion or Term which Logicians do call Genus generalissimum or the most General Kind which in the naked and abstracted Notion of it is not in the Things themselves but only in the Conception or Humane Intellect And therefore every true Being is a certain single Nature whereof may be affirmed such and such Attributes Now what are those Attributes of Body wherein it resembles a Spirit Let us examine the principal Attributes of Body as distinct from a Spirit according to their Opinion who so much dispute that Body and Spirit are so infinitely distant in Nature that one can never become the other The Attributes are these That a Body is impenetrable of all other Bodies so that the parts thereof cannot penetrate each other but there is another Attribute of Body viz. to be discerpible or divisible into parts But the Attributes of Spirit as they define it are penetrability and indiscerpibility so that one Spirit can penetrate another also that a thousand Spirits can stand together one within another and yet possess no more Space than one Spirit Moreover that a Spirit is so simple and one in it self that it cannot be rent asunder or actually divided into separate parts If now the Attributes of Body and Spirit are compared together they are so far from being like one another or having any Analogy of Nature in which nevertheless the true Foundation of Love and Unity doth consist as before was said that they are plainly contrary yea nothing in the whole World can be conceived â—o contrary to any Thing as Body and Spirit in the opinion of these Men. For here is a pure and absolute contrariety in all their Attributes because Penetrability and Impenetrability are more contrary one to another than black and white or hot and cold For that which is black may become white and that which is hot may become cold But as they say that which is impenetrable cannot be made penetrable yea God and Creatures do not so infinitely differ in Essence one from another as these Doctors make Body to differ from Spirit For there are many Attributes in which God and the Creatures agree together but we can find none wherein a Body can any way agree with a Spirit and by consequence nor with God who is the chiefest and purest of Spirits wherefore it can be no Creature but a mere Non-entity or Fiction But as Body and Spirit are contrary in the Attributes of Penetrability and Impenetrability so are they no less contrary in Discerpibility and Indiscerpibility But if they alledge that Body and Spirit do agree in some Attributes as Extension Mobility and Figurability so that Spirit hath Extension and can reach from one place to another and also can move it self from place to place and form it self into whatsoever Figure it pleaseth in which cases it agrees with a Body and a Body with it To this I Answer Supposing the first that a Spirit can be extended which yet many of them deny yea most who teach that Body and Spirit are essentially distinct yet the Extension of Body and Spirit as they understand it do wonderfully differ for the Extension of Body is always impenetrable yea to be extended and impenetrable as pertaining to Body is only one real Attribute proposed in two Mental and Logical Notions or ways of speaking for what is Extension unless the Body wheresoever it is be impenetrable of its own proper parts But remove this Attribute of Impenetrability from a Body and it cannot be conceived any longer as extended Moreover also the Extension of Body and Spirit according to their Notion infinitely differ for
whatsoever Extension a Body hath the same is so necessary and essential to it that it is impossible for it to be more or less extended when nevertheless a Spirit may be more or less extended as they affirm and seeing to be moveable and figurable are only consequential Attributes of Extension for that a Spirit is far otherwise moveable and figurable than a Body because a Spirit can move and form it self as a Body cannot The same Reason which is good against the one is good against the other also § 4. BUT Secondly How can they prove Impenetrability is an Essential Attribute of Body or that Penetrability is an Essential Attribute of Spirit Why may not Body be more or less impenetrable and Spirit more or less penetrable as it may and indeed doth happen in all other Attributes For ex gr some Body may be more or less heavy or light condensed or rarefied solid or liquid hot or cold then why may it not also be more or less penetrable or impenetrable If it be said that in all those other Mutations we always observe that a Body remains impenetrable as Iron when it is heat red-hot yet remains still impenetrable I Answer I grant it may remain impenetrable of any other Body of equal thickness yet may and is entirely penetrated of a more subtile Body sc of the Fire which hath entred into it and penetrated all its parts whereby 't is made so soft and if the Fire be stronger begins wholly to melt But if against this they Object that the ingress of Fire into the Iron is not penetration in a Philosophical Sence nor as they understand it viz. as though the Fire and Iron did possess but one place and so the one could be intrinsecally present in the other because it is manifest to the contrary that Iron if it be made candent or glowing hot it swelleth and acquireth a greater Bulk than when it is cold and as it waxeth cold again it returneth to its former dimension To this I Answer If they mean such a Penetration which we call Intrinseck Presence viz. that one Homogeneal Substance should enter into another both being of equal Dimensions and yet the bulk or quantity not increased that seems wholly irrational And it would be a mere impossibility and contradiction to grant such an intimate Presence in Creatures which only agrees unto God and Christ as Creators whose Prerogative it is to be intrinsecally present in Creatures whereas no Creature can have that Intrinseck Presence in its Fellow Creature because then it would cease to be a Creature and obtain one of the incommunicable Attributes of God and Christ which is Intrinseck Presence This I say is primarily to be attributed to God and secondarily to Christ in as much as he is Medium quid or a certain Medium between God and Creatures and who as he is Partaker of Mutability and Immutability of Eternity and Time so he may be said to be Partaker of Body and Spirit and consequently of Place and Extension For in as much as his Body is of another Substance than the Bodies of all other Creatures as of whom he is the nearest Beginning to God it may be truly said he is intrinsecally present in them and yet not so as to be confounded with them For to suppose one Creature intrinsecally present in another so as to be mingled and most perfectly united with it and yet its Quantity or Extension not increased that confounds the Creatures and maketh two or more to be but one Yea according to this Hypothesis it may be said the whole Creation is reducible into the quantity of the least Grain or Dust because every part would be supposed to penetrate another and no greater extension follow than of one Part. But if it be said that only proves that Spirits may be reduced into so small a space but not Bodies Because Bodies are Impenetrable I Answer This is but a begging of the question because they have not yet proved that Body and Spirit are distinct Substances which unless they are it follows that one Nature is not more penetrable than the other according to their sence And indeed it seems very consentaneous to Reason that as Times are each of them so extended into their due Measures and Extensions that they cannot exceed those Bounds and so cannot be intrinsecally present one with another as ex gr the First Day of the Week cannot be present with the Second Day of the same Week nor the First Hour of the Day with the Second neither is the First Minute of an Hour present with the Second Minute thereof because such is the Nature and Essence of Time that it is successive and hath partes extra partes or parts one without another When nevertheless God is really and intrinsecally present in all Times and is not changed which cannot be said of the Creature sc that that is present in all or more Times and not changed for the Creature is perpetually changed with Times seeing Times are nothing else but the Motion or Change of the Creature from one State or Condition into another And as it is in the case of Time and Creatures which are in Time so also in the case of Place Bulk or Quantity for as in God there is no Time so also in him there is no Bulk or Corporeal Quantity but in Creatures there is both Time and Corporeal Quantity because otherwise they would be either God or Nothing which is impossible For whatsoever Quantity Bulk or Extension any Creature hath it retains the same as something which is of its own Essence as it is the Essence of Time to consist of more parts and those again of more and so ad infinitum For it may be easily conceived how a less Time is in a greater ex gr how so many Minutes are in an Hour and so many Hours in a Day and one Hour doth immediately touch the next but cannot be present in it the same is to be understood of the Creatures in regard of their Quantity or Bulk for indeed one Creature may immediately touch another but cannot be present in all its parts but only a less may be in a greater and a subtiler in a grosser and this is more properly Penetration which agrees to Bodies as well as Spirits as some Body that is less gross may penetrate another that is more gross but two Bodies of an equal thickness cannot penetrate each other The same may be said of Spirits which have their degrees of more or less grossness as Bodies have Neither is there any other difference between Body and Spirit if Body be not taken in their sence who teach that it is a Thing merely Dead and void of Life or a Capacity thereof but in a proper sence sc that it is an excellent Creature having Life and Sense which either actually or potentially agrees to it but this that a Body is the grosser part of a thing and Spirit the subtiler
whence also Spirit hath it's name from the Air which is the most subtile Nature in this visible World In Kabbal denud Tom. 2. Tract ult p. 6. § 13. Spirit is rather defined a central Nature having a Faculty to send forth a Sphere full of Light and to inlarge or contract the same which properly seems to be Aristotle's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and ibid. p. 28. § 4. Matter is defined A naked Centre or a Point wanting Eradiation which Aristotle understood by Privation Whence we must conclude that the Impenetrability of these Creatures is to be understood of their Centres For the Hebrew Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Spirit signifies also Air and because Air hath a very swift Motion all swiftness of Motion is imputed to the Spirit in the moved Body Hence out of Popular Ignorance when in certain Bodies they perceived no Motion they termed them Dead wanting both Life and Spirit But indeed there is no where any such Body that hath not Motion and by consequence Life and Spirit Therefore every Creature hath its due Quantity or Extension which it cannot exceed and wherein also it cannot be diminished Neither doth this hinder that we observe how some very small Body may be extended into a Space a Thousand times greater than it had even as Gun-Powder if it be set on Fire doth marvellously extend it self for all this Extension is made by Division of Parts into Parts still less and less which indeed do not fill all that Space so great as it seems when in the mean while each part hath neither greater nor lesser Extension than it had before Supposing this it must be concluded that all Creatural Spirits which are present in Bodies are either in the Pores of the said Bodies or in certain Concavities made there as Moles make in the Earth or else they cause the said Bodies to be puffed up and acquire a greater Extension as when Fire copiously enters Iron it notably puffs up and extends the same And although this Turgescency or puffing up of Bodies cannot be always observed by our External Senses yet it cannot therefore be denied For 't is possible that a certain Body may considerably grow or increase in its dimensions and become intirely greater and yet this increase of Magnitude may shun all outward Observation yea it may be so subtile that it cannot be expressed by Numbers ex gr let us suppose some Body whose Solidity or Cube may contain 64 Parts and another whose Solidity contains 100 where the root of the former Body whose Cube is 64 is 4 so that the side of that Body contains four Longitudes of the Parts so divided but the side or root of the other Body whose Cube is 100 can be expressed by no Number for it is greater than 4 and less than 5 and no Fraction can determine the same Therefore Bodies as was said may be considerably swoln or puffed up if more Spirits or subtiler Bodies enter into them and yet so as that our gross Senses may judge them not at all greater Now that we may come to the other Attribute which is said to be of Body but not of Spirit viz. Discerpibility if they understand it so that one only Body even the least that can be conceived if any such Body can be conceived may be divided that is certainly impossible for it is a contradiction in terms and supposes every the least Body to be discerpible into lesser Parts But if Body be taken individually only for one single Body that is indiscerpible and that which we call the Discerpibility of Body means only this sc that we may divide one Body from another by placing some Third Body between them and according to this sence Spirits are no less discerpible than Bodies for although one single Spirit cannot become two or more Spirits yet more Spirits co-existing in one Body are no less separable one from another than Bodies for however Bodies or Spirits may be divided or separated one from another in the whole Universe yet they still remain united in this separation seeing the whole Creation is still but one Substance or Entity neither is there a Vacuum in it How then can any thing be separated from it self I mean from that which is its proper Nature as considered Originally or in its Beginning or First Being But as there is a General Unity of all Creatures one with another so that none can be separated from his Fellow-Creatures so there is a more special and particular Unity between the Parts of one particular Species As when the Body is divided or torn asunder and the Members removed one from another unto a certain distance so long as these Members are not corrupted and changed into another Species they still send certain subtile Particles one to another and to the Body from whence they came and the Body sends the like unto them which we call Spirits and Bodies or Spirits for they are either by means whereof the Parts and Members so apparently separated still retain a certain real Unity and Sympathy as is manifest from sundry Examples and especially the two following The First of which is this A certain Man wanting a Nose ordered one to be made for him out of the Flesh of another Man which being vitally agglutinated as a Scion or Graft is united with the Trunk of the Tree into which it is put when the other Man died and his Body corrupted this Nose was likewise corrupted and fell from the Body of this living Man The Second Example is of a Man whose Leg was cut off which Leg being removed some considerable distance from the rest of the Body when a certain Chirurgeon cut it this Man complained of Pains and showed in what part the said Leg was wounded which manifestly proves that there is a certain Union of Parts though separated at a great distance one from another And so also Individuals of one Species or such who have a singular Affinity in Specie have a Union one with another although locally distant which is yet more manifest in Humane Kind For if two Men intirely love one another they are by this love so united that no distance of place can divide or separate them for they are present one with another in Spirit so that there passeth a continual Efflux or Emanation of Spirits from the one to the other whereby they are bound together and united as with Chains And so whatsoever a Man loves whether it be Man or Beast whether a Tree or whether Silver or Gold he is united with the same and his Spirit passeth into that very Thing and here is to be observed that though the Spirit of Man is commonly spoken in the Singular as though it were but one Thing yet the said Spirit is a certain composition of more yea innumerable Spirits as the Body is a composition of more Bodies and hath a certain Order and Government in all its Parts much more the Spirit
least diminished according to the present dignity or indignity capacity or incapacity thereof CHAP. VIII § 1. That Spirit and Body as they are Creatures differ not essentially is farther proved by three other Reasons And a Fourth is drawn from that intimate Bond or Vnion between Body and Spirit § 2. That would be altogether an unfit comparison to go about to illustrate the manner how the Soul moves the Body by an Example of God moving his Creatures § 3. The Vnion and Sympathy of Soul and Body may be easily demonstrated as also how the Soul moves the Body from the aforesaid Principle that Spirit is Body and Body Spirit § 4. A Fifth Argument is taken from Earth and Water which continually produces Animals of divers Kinds out of putrified or corrupted Matter § 5. How a gross Body may be changed into Spirit and become as it were the Mother of Spirits where an Example is laid down of our Corporal Aliment which by various Transmutations in the Body is changed into Animal Spirits and from these into Subtiler and more Spiritual § 6. Of the good or bad Angels of Men which are properly the Angels of a Man and proceed from him as Branches from the Root § 7. A sixth and last Argument is drawn from certain places of Scripture § 1. TO prove that Spirit and Body differ not essentially but gradually I shall deduce my Fourth Argument from the intiment Band or Union which intercedes between Bodies and Spirits by means whereof the Spirits have Dominion over the Bodies with which they are united that they move them from one place to another and use them as Instruments in their various Operations For if Spirit and Body are so contrary one to another so that a Spirit is only Life or a living and sensible Substance but a Body a certain Mass merely dead a Spirit penetrable and indiscerpible but a Body impenetrable and discerpible which are all contrary Attributes What I pray you is that which doth so join or unite them together Or what are those Links or Chains whereby they have so firm a connexion and that for so long a space of Time Moreover also when the Spirit or Soul is separated from the Body so that it hath no longer Dominion or Power over it to move it as it had before What is the cause of this separation If it be said that the vital agreement the Soul hath to the Body is the cause of the said Union and that the Body being corrupted that vital Agreement ceaseth I Answer We must first enquire in what this vital Agreement doth consist for if they cannot tell us wherein it doth consist they only trisle with empty Words which give a sound but want a signification For certainly in that sence which they take Body and Spirit in there is no Agreement at all between them for a Body is always a dead Thing void of Life and sense no less when the Spirit is in it than when it is gone out of it Hence there is no Agreement at all between them and if there is any Agreement that certainly will remain the same both when the Body is found and when it is corrupted If they deny this because a Spirit requires an organized Body by means whereof it performs its vital Acts of the external Senses moves and transports the Body from place to place which Organical Action ceases when the Body is corrupted Certainly by this the difficulty is never the better solved For why doth the Spirit require such an organized Body ex gr Why doth it require a Corporeal Eye so wonderfully formed and organized that I can see by it Why doth it need a Corporeal Light to see Corporeal Objects Or why is it requisite that the Image of the Object should be sent to it through the Eye that it may see it If the same were entirely nothing but a Spirit and no way Corporeal Why doth it need so many several Corporeal Organs so far different from the Nature of it Furthermore how can a Spirit move its Body or any of its Members if a Spirit as they affirm is of such a Nature that no part of its Body can in the least resist it even as one Body is wont to resist another when 't is moved by it by reason of its Impenetrability For if a Spirit could so easily penetrate all Bodies Wherefore doth it not leave the Body behind it when it is moved from place to place seeing it can so easily pass out without the least resistance For certainly this is the cause of all Motions which we see in the World where one Thing moves another viz. because both are impenetrable in the sence aforesaid For were it not for this Impenetrability one Creature could not move another because this would not oppose that nor at all resist it an Example whereof we have in the Sails of a Ship by which the Wind drives the Ship and that so much the more vehemently by how much the fewer holes vents and passages the same finds in the Sails against which it drives When on the contrary if instead of Sails Nets were expanded through which the Wind would have a freer passage certainly by these the Ship would be but little moved although it blew with great violence Hence we see how this Impenetrability causes resistance and this makes Motion But if there were no Impenetrability as in the case of Body and Spirit then there could be no resistance and by consequence the Spirit could make no motion in the Body § 2. AND if it be objected That God is altogether incorporeal and intrinsecally present in all Bodies and yet doth move Bodies whethersoever he pleaseth and is the First Mover of all Things and yet nothing is impenetrable to him I Answer This Motion by which God moves a Body doth wonderfully differ from that manner by which the Soul moves the Body for the Will of God which gave Being to Bodies gave them Motion also so that Motion it self is of God by whose Will all Motion happens For as a Creature cannot give Being to it self so neither can it move it self for in him we Live Move and have our Being so that Motion and Essence come from the same cause sc God the Creator who remains immoveable in himself neither is he carried from place to place because he is equally present every where and gives Being to Creatures But the case is far different when the Soul moves the Body for the Soul is not the Author of Motion but only determines it to this or that particular Thing And the Soul it self is moved together with the Body from place to place and if the Body be imprisoned or held in Chains it cannot free or deliver it self out of Prison or out of Chains Wherefore it would be a very unfit comparison if one should go about to illustrate that Motion the Soul makes in the Body by an Example of God moving his Creatures yea so great is the
he is the God of all those Things which have their Regeneration and Resurrection in their kind no less then Man hath in his Kind For Death is not the Annihilation of these Things but a change from one kind and degree of Life to another wherefore also the Apostle proves and illustrates the Resurrection of the Dead by a Grain of Wheat which being faln into the ground dies and riseth again exceeding fruitful CHAP. IX § 1. The Philosophers so called of all Sects have generally laid an ill Foundation to their Philosophy and therefore the whole Structure must needs fall § 2. The Philosophy here treated on is not Cartesian § 3. Nor the Philosophy of Hobbs and Spinosa falsly so feigned but diametrically opposite to them § 4. That they who have attempted to refute Hobbs and Spinosa have given them too much advantage § 5. This Philosophy is the strongest to refute Hobbs and Spinosa but after another method § 6. We understand here quite another thing by Body and Matter than Hobbs understood and which Hobbs and Spinosa never saw otherwise than in a Dream § 7. Life is as really and properly an Attribute of Body as Figure § 8. Figure and Life are distinct but not contrary Attributes of one and the same thing § 9. Mechanical Motion and Action◠or Perfection of Life distinguishes Things § 1. FROM what hath been lately said and from divers Reasons alledged That Spirit and Body are originally in their first Substance but one and that same thing it evidently appears that the Philosophers so called which have taught otherwise whether Ancient or Modern have generally erred and laid an ill Foundation in the very beginning whence the whole House and Superstructure is so feeble and indeed so unprofitable that the whole Edifice and Building must in time decay from which absurd Foundation have arose very many gross and dangerous Errours not only in Philosophy but also in Divinity so called to the great damage of Mankind hindrance of true Piety and contempt of God's most Glorious Name as will easily appear as well from what hath been already said as from what shall be said in this Chapter § 2. AND none can Object That all this Philosophy is no other than that of des Cartes or Hobbs under a new Mask For First as touching the Cartesian Philosophy this saith that every Body is a mere dead Mass not only void of all kind of Life and Sense but utterly uncapable thereof to all Eternity this grand Errour also is to be imputed to all those who affirm Body and Spirit to be contrary Things and inconvertible one into another so as to deny a Body all Life and Sense which is quite contrary to the grounds of this our Philosophy Wherefore it is so far from being a Cartesian Principle under a new Mask that it may be truly said it is Anti-Cartesian in regard of their Fundamental Principles although it cannot be denied that Cartes taught many excellent and ingenious Things concerning the Mechanical part of Natural Operations and how all Natural Motions proceed according to Rules and Laws Mechanical even as indeed Nature her self i. e. the Creature hath an excellent Mechanical Skill and Wisdom in it self given it from God who is the Fountain of all Wisdom by which it operates But yet in Nature and her Operations they are far more than merely Mechanical and the same is not a mere Organical Body like a Clock wherein there is not a vital Principle of Motion but a living Body having Life and Sense which Body is far more sublime than a mere Mechanism or Mechanical Motion § 3. BUT Secondly as to what pertains to Hobbs's Opinion this is yet more contrary to this our Philosophy than that of Cartes for Cartes acknowledged God to be plainly Immaterial and an Incorporeal Spirit Hobbs affirms God himself to be Material and Corporeal yea nothing else but Matter and Body and so confounds God and the Creatures in their Essences and denies that there is any Essential Distinction between them These and many more the worst of Consequences are the Dictates of Hobbs's Philosophy to which may be added that of Spinosa for this Spinosa also confounds God and the Creatures together and makes but one Being of both all which are diametrically opposite to the Philosophy here delivered by us § 4. BUT the false and feeble Principles of some who have undertaken to refute the Philosophy of Hobbs and Spinosa so called have given them a greater advantage against themselves so that they have not only in effect not refuted them but more exposed themselves to Contempt and Laughter But if it be Objected That this our Philosophy seems at least very like that of Hobbs because he taught that all Creatures were originally one Substance from the lowest and most ignoble to the highest and noblest from the smallest Worm Insect or Fly unto the most Glorious Angel yea from the least Dust or Sand unto the most excellent of all Creatures and then this that every Creature is Material and Corporeal yea Matter and Body it self and by consequence the most Noble Actions thereof are either Material and Corporeal or after a certain Corporeal manner Now I Answer to the First I grant that all Creatures are originally one Substance from the lowest to the highest and consequently convertible or changeable from one of their Natures into another and although Hobbs saith the same yet that is no prejudice to the Truth of it as neither are other parts of that Philosophy where Hobbs affirms something that is true therefore an Hobbism or an Opinion of Hobbs alone § 5. MOREOVER this Principle is so far from defending them in their Errours that nothing is so strong to refute them ex gr The Hobbists argue all Things are one because we see that all visible Things may be changed one into another yea that all visible Things may be changed into invisible as when Water is made Air and Wood being burnt for the greatest part is changed into a certain invisible Substance which is so subtile that it escapes all observation of our Senses add to which that all invisible Things may become visible as when Water proceeds from Air c. and hence he concludes nothing is so low that it cannot attain to sublimity But now that we may Answer to this Argument his Adversaries generally deny the Antecedent and on the contrary affirm that no Spicies of Things is convertible into another And when Wood is burnt many say that the Wood is composed of two Substances to wit Matter and Form and that the Matter remains the same but the Form of the Wood is destroyed or annihilated and a new Form of Fire is produced in this Matter so that according to them here is a continual Annihilation of real Substances and Productions of new Ones in this World But this is so frivolous that many others deny that in the case of Wood changed into Fire and afterwards into Smoak
its own Species that the Mutability of Creatures is wholly taken away Neither can any Creature variously exercise any greater participation of Divine Goodness or be advanced or promoted to any farther perfection § 6. ALL which we shall demonstrate by one or two Examples And First let us take an Horse which is a Creature indued with divers degrees of perfection by his Creator as not only strength of Body but as I may so say a certain kind of knowledge how he ought to serve his Master and moreover also Love Fear Courage Memory and divers other Qualities which are in Man which also we may observe in a Dog and many other Animals Seeing therefore the Divine Power Goodness and Wisdom hath created every Creature good and indeed so that it might by continual augmentations in its Mutability be advanced to a greater degree of Goodness ad infinitum whereby the Glory of those Attributes do more and more shine forth And seeing such is the Nature of every Creature that it is always in Motion or Operation which doth most certainly tend unto an higher degree of Goodness as the Reward and Fruit of its Labour unless the Creatures hinder that good by a voluntary Transgression and abuse of that indifferency of Will which God placed in them in their Creation Now I demand unto what higher perfection and degree of Goodness the Being or Essence of an Horse doth or may attain after he hath done good service for his Master and so performed his Duty and what is proper for such a Creature Is a Horse then a mere Fabrick or dead Matter or hath he a Spirit in him having Knowledge Sence and Love and divers other Faculties and Properties of a Spirit if he hath which cannot be denied what becomes of this Spirit when the Horse dies if it be said it passeth into Life and takes upon it another Body of an Horse so that it becomes a Horse as before which Horse may be stronger and fairer and of a more excellent Spirit than before Very well But if he shall die two three or four times c. shall he always remain a Horse though he be still better and more excellent by how much the oftner his Spirit revolves Now I demand whether the Spirit of an Horse hath in it such infinite perfection that a Horse may always become better and better ad infinitum and yet so as to remain a Horse For as the common received Opinion is this visible Earth shall not always remain in the same State which may be confirmed by undeniable Reasons Now it necessarily follows that the continual Generation of Animals in these gross Bodies shall cease also for if the Earth shall take on it another Form neither any longer bring forth Grass Horses and other Animals shall cease to be such as they were before And seeing they want their proper Aliment they cannot remain in the same Species yet nevertheless they are not annihilated as may be easily conceived for how can any thing be annihilated seeing the Goodness of God towards his Creatures always remains the same and the conservation or continuation of Creatures is a continued Creation as is generally granted and already before demonstrated that God is a perpetual Creator and as he is the most free so also the most necessary Agent But if it be denied that the Earth is unchangeable as before was said then it will come to pass that Horses and other Animals according to their proportion will be in like manner changed with the Earth and the Earth according to the same proportion will again produce or yield them Aliment or Food agreeable to their changed condition then I demand Whether they shall always remain in the same Species under such a change Or whether there will not be some difference between that State and this As for Example There is between a Cow and a Horse which is commonly granted to be Specifical Again I ask whether the Species of Creatures do so infinitely one excel another that an Individual of one particular Species may still go forward in perfection and approach nearer unto another Species but yet never reach so far as to be changed into that Species As for instance An Horse in divers Qualities and Perfections draws near unto the Nature and Species of a Man and that more than many other Creatures Is therefore the Nature of a Man distant from the Nature of an Horse by Infinite Degrees or by Finite only If by Finite then certainly a Horse may in length of Time be in some measure changed into a Man I mean his Spirit as for his Body that is a thing evident If infinitely distant then unto any Man even one of the vilest and basest Nature and Disposition may be attributed a certain Infinite Excellence in Act such as only agrees to God and Christ but to no Creature for the highest Excellence of a Creature is to be Infinite only in potentiâ not in actû that is to be still in a possibility of attaining a greater Perfection and Excellence ad infinitum though in can never reach this Infinite for how far soever any Finite Being may proceed yet that is still Finite although there be no limits to its progression As for Example If we could ever come to the least Minute of Eternity or the like part of Infinite Duration that would not be Infinite but Finite Neither do we herein contradict what is delivered in the Third Chapter of the Infiniteness of Creatures for it is not meant of their Infinite Goodness and Excellence but in respect only of Multitude and Magnitude so that the one cannot be numbred nor the other measured by the comprehension of any created Intellect Yet the Individuals of Creatures are always but Finitely good and Finitely distant quoad Species or as to Species and only potentially Infinite that is always capable of farther perfection without end As if there should be supposed a certain Ladder which should be infinitely long containing Infinite Steps yet those Steps are not infinitely distant one from another otherwise there could be no ascension nor descension made thereon for Steps in this Example signifie the various Species of Things which cannot be infinitely distant one from another or from those which are next unto them yea daily experience teaches us that the Species of divers Things are changed one into another as Earth into Water and Water into Air and Air into Fire or Aether and the contrary as Fire into Air and Air into Water c. which yet are distinct Species of Things and so also Stones are changed into Metals and one Metal into another but least some should say these are only naked Bodies and have no Spirit we shall observe the same not only in Vegetables but also in Animals like as Barly and Wheat are convertible the one into the other and are in very deed often so changed which is well enough known to House-keepers in many Provinces and especially
shall find none at all for all his Attributes are living yea Life it self Moreover seeing the Creatures of God so far as they are Creatures ought necessarily in some things to resemble their Creator now I demand in what dead Matter is like unto God If they say again in naked Entity I Answer There is none such in God or his Creatures And so it is a mere non ens or nothing But as touching the other Attributes of Matter viz. Impenetrability Figurability and Mobility certainly none of these have any place in God and so are not of his communicable Attributes but rather Essential Differences or Attributes of Diversity whereby the Creature as such is distinguished from God as also Mutability is of the Number of those differential Attributes whence it cannot be said that Mutability is of the communicable Attributes of God And in like manner Impenetrability Figurability and Mobility do not pertain unto the communicable Attributes of God but to those only in which the Creatures differ from him And seeing dead Matter doth not partake of any of the communicable Attributes of God we must certainly conclude that the same is a mere non ens or nothing a false Fiction or Chimaera and so a thing impossible If they say it hath a Metaphysical Goodness and Truth even as every Being is Good and True Again I demand What is that Goodness and Truth For if it hath no participation with any of the communicable Attributes of God it will be neither Good nor True and so a mere Fiction as before was said Moreover seeing it cannot be said wherein dead Matter doth any way partake of Divine Goodness much less can it be shown how it may be capable always to acquire a greater Perfection ad infinitum which is the Nature of all Creatures viz. to increase and infinitely advance towards a farther Perfection as is before demonstrated But what farther progress in Goodness or Perfection hath a dead Matter Because after it hath suffered Infinite Changes of Motion and Figure it is constrained always to remain dead as before and if Motion and Figure contribute nothing to the receiving of Life then certainly this is made never the better nay is not in the least degree promoted in Goodness For suppose this dead Matter had undergone all Forms and been transmuted into all Kinds of Figures even the most regular and exact What doth this profit this Matter or Body because it wants all Life and Sense So let us suppose the same to have undergone Infinite Kinds of Motion from slowness to swiftness Wherein therefore is it better by the way of its Intrinsecal Melioration For the Argument speaketh of Intrinsecal Melioration which is such a Melioration as the Nature of the Thing it self requireth and which is performed thereby but a mere dead Body or Matter requires no kind of Motion or Figure nor in it self is perfected more by one Motion or Figure than by another for it is alike indifferent to all Motions and Figures whatsoever and by consequence is not perfected or bettered by any of them And then what advantage will it have from all these helps if it always remain a dead and impassible Thing § 3. MY Third Reason is drawn from the great Love and Desire that the Spirits or Souls have towards Bodies and especially towards those with which they are united and in which they have their Habitation But now the Foundation of all Love or Desire whereby one Thing is carried unto another stands in this That either they are of the same Nature and Substance with them or like unto them or both or that one hath its Being from the other whereof we have an Example in all living Creatures which bring forth their young and in like manner also in Men how they love that which is born of them For so also even Wicked Men and Women if they are notextremely perverse and void of Parental Love do Love their Children and cherish them with a Natural Affection the cause whereof certainly is this That their Children are of the same Nature and Substance viz. as though they were Parts of them and if they are like them either in Body Spirit or Manners hereby their Love is the more increased So also we observe that Animals of one Species love one another more than those that are of a different Species whence also Cattle of one Kind feed together Birds of a Kind flock together and Fishes of a Kind swim together and so Men rather converse with Men than with any other Creatures But besides this particular Love there remains yet something of Universal Love in all Creatures one towards another setting aside that great confusion which hath fallen out since by reason of Transgression which certainly must proceed from the same Foundation viz. in regard of their First Substance and Essence they were all one and the same Thing and as it were Parts and Members of one Body Moreover in every Species of Animals we see how the Male and Female Love one another and in all their Propagations which are not Monstrous and contrary to Nature they respect each other and that proceeds not only from the unity of Nature but also by reason of a certain eminent similitude or likeness between them And both these Foundations of Love between a Man and a Woman are expresly mentioned in Genesis but that which Adam spoke concerning his Wife This is Bone of my Bone and Flesh of my Flesh c. pertains unto the Unity of Nature for she was taken out of him and was a part of him and therefore he loved her Moreover also concerning Similitude it is said there was no Help found for him or before his Face as it is in the Hebrew i. e. among all Creatures he saw not his like with whom he would converse until Eve was made for him But there is yet another cause of Love when Beings that love each other are not one Substance but one gave Being to the other and is the proper and real cause thereof And so it is in the case between God and Creatures for he gave to all Being Life and Motion and therefore he loves all Creatures neither can he not love them yea at the same time when he seems to hate and be angry with them this his Anger and what proceeds therefrom viz. Punishments and Judgments turns to their Good because he perceiveth they have need of them So on the contrary the Creatures which have not wholly degenerated and lost all sense of God do love him and this is a certain Divine Law and Instinct which he put in all rational Creatures that they might love him which is the fulfilling of the whole Law But those Creatures which draw most near unto God in similitude or likeness do love him the more and are the more loved of him But if it be thought there is another principal cause of Love to wit Goodness which is the most vehement or powerful