صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

when the body returns to the dust, the soul, o spirit, is said to return to God that gave it. And likewise from Matt. x. 28. Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, which is incapable of being put to death; otherwise, such is the malice of the persecutors of good men, that they would not spare it any more than the body; but having killed the body, after that, as Luke says, have no more that they can do, the soul being out of their reach, Luke xii. 4. This is to be proved from scripture-doctrines, and from scripture

instances.

peo

The ar

1. Frou scripture-doctrines; as from the doctrine of God's love to his ple, which is everlasting, Jer. xxxi. 3. But this would not be true of it, if the souls of God's beloved died; then there would be no objects of this love, and so, not everlasting; hence it would follow, that death can, and does, separate from the love of God, contrary to the apostle's firm persuasion, Rom. viii. 38. And from the doctrine of eternal election; which is of the persons of God's people both with respect to soul and body; and by it they are ordained to eternal life, Acts xiii. 48. But if the soul dies with the body, and is not immortal, how will God's elect possess eternal life, and eternal glory, they are chosen to? and consequently if they do not, the purpose of God, according to election, does not stand sure. Also from the covenant of grace, which is said to be an everlasting covenant. But it is well known, that as in all covenants there are confederates, and if one of the partics covenanting dies, the covenant is at an end; and if God's clect, with whom the covenant of grace is made, should become extinct, soul and body, the covenant would not be an everlasting one. gument used by Christ, to prove the resurrection of the dead, from covenant. interest, Matt. xxii. 31, 32. Luke xx. 38. equally, or rather more clearly proves the immortality of the soul. And particularly the immortality of the soul may be concluded from the grand promise of eternal life, in the covenant made before the world began, Tit. i. 2. But how can this promise be fulfilled, if the souls of those to whom it is made are not immortal? It may be argued from the doctrine of adoption, another blessing in the covenant; by virtue of which saints are heirs of an eternal inheritance; but how can the relation of sons subsist, which adoption gives, and the inheritance adopted to be enjoved, if the soul dies with the body? And the same may be evinced from the doctrine of rege neration: in virtue of which men are begotten again to a lively hope of a glorious inheritance; which yet can never be possessed, if the soul is not immortal. The same may be concluded from the doctrine of sanctification, every branch of which has eternal life connected with it; as knowledge of God in Christ, faith in Christ, and hope of eternal glory; but if the soul is not immortal, in which these graces are, they will not only fail themselves, but the glory and happiness amicxed unto them will not be attained. Likewise it may be argued fron the docuine of Christ respecting his work, the blessings of grace by him, and the services and benefits further to be expected from him; as the redemption of the soul by the blood of Christ, which must be shed in vain: nor can it be

called eternal redemption, if the soul is not immortal; nor will the saints' union to Christ be an indissoluble one; nor they enjoy that life which justification by his righteousness entitles to; nor his intercession and preparations for them in heaven be of any service to them: the second coming of Christ, with all his saints, and the resurrection of their bodies, at his coming, shew that their souls live in a separate state before the resurrection, or they could not be said to come with him; and that they will be alive at the resurrection, or to what purpose will their bodies be raised? The doctrine of the judgment, whether particular or general, is a proof of the soul's immortality; for if that dies with the body, there is nothing remains after death on which judgment can pass. Moreover, . the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, confirms this truth; for if the soul is not immortal, a good man cannot he rewarded in a way of grace, or enjoy happiness in consequence of his piety, since there will be no subject of it remaining; nor a wicked man be punished for his sins, for the same reason; yea, it will lie in the power of a wicked man, both to prevent the happiness of. the one, and the punishment of the other; since it is in his power to take away his own animal life, and so put himself out of the power of God to inflict nishment upon him, if his soul survives not; and so likewise to take away the life of a good man, and deprive him of any farther and future happiness; all which does not comport with the wisdom, justice, and goodness of God; and therefore it may be concluded the soul survives, that it may be the subject of reward or punishment". It is an observation of Hierocles, that a wicked man would not have the soul to be immortal, that he may not endure punishment, and therefore prevents the judge decreeing it, by inflicting death on himself; and so Plato observes, that if death is the dissolution of the whole, soul and body, it would be gain to the wicked to die, since they would be free from all evil, soul and body.

pu

11. The immortality of the soul may be proved from scripture-instances; as from the cases of Enoch and Elijah, who were translated, soul and body, that they should not see death; as not in their bodies, so not in their souls, which must be immortal, and so the souls of others: for of what different nature can their souls be supposed to be? and from the instances of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who died, and yet after death were living, even in the times of Christ, as he argues in a place before referred to; and this was the case =of all the Old Testament-saints, who died in the faith of the heavenly city and country, and now possess it; and also from the spirits in prison, in the times of the apostle Peter, who were disobedient to the warnings of Noal; and from the resurrection of some particular persons; who, after death. were raised and lived again, their souls, which died not, being returned to them, and from the souls un

This Dr. Watt's calls a moral argument for the immortality of the soul, see Miscellaneous Thoughts, Vol. IV. No. 74. p. 495. In Carmin. Pythagor. p. 165. In Phædone. p. 80.

Ed. Ficin.

[ocr errors]

der the altar, whose bodies were killed, but their souls were not, but were expostulating with God about taking vengeance on their persecutors, Rev. vi. 9. and from the instances of persons committing their spirits, or souls to God at death; which shews that they believed their soul, would survive their bodies, and therefore they committed them to the care of God, Psal. xxxi. 5. Luke xxiii. 46. Acts vii. 59. 1 Pet. iv. 19. Lastly, all such scriptures which speak of the joys of heaven, and of the torments of hell, as to be enjoyed or endured by men after death, prove the immortality of the soul; as, that good men, when they die, are received into everlasting habitations, and the souls of wicked men go into everlasting punishment, and therefore must remain immortal, or they could not be subjects either of joy or misery; and this the parable of the rich man and beggar plainly declares; for though a parable, yet as every parable has its scope, which ought to be attended to, so has this; which is to represent the different state and condition of the souls of good men and wicked men after death, when the one are happy and the other miserable, and therefore the souls of both must be immortal. But,

[ocr errors]

There are some objections made to the immortality of the soul; taken from reason. As, As, 1. That what has a beginning has an end. But this is not always true: angels have a beginning, but not an end, they die not; and since the souls of men are spiritual, immaterial substances, as they are, it may be concluded, as before observed, that they die not also. 2. The powers of the soul are said to decay, as the body decays; but this is only true of the powers of the sensitive soul, or part of man, not of the rational soul; not of the faculties of the understanding and will; for these, as we have seen, are clear, active, and vigorous, in the article of death.-3. When a man dies, nothing is seen to go out of him but his breath, which vanishes away: but it is no wonder the soul should not be seen at its departure, since being a spirit, incorporeal and imma terial, it is invisible; and as for the breath that goes out a man, that cannot be the soul, which cannot be imagined to be the subject of thought, understanding, and will. 4. Some will have it, that this is only a contrivance of men in power, a piece of state-policy to keep men in awe, and to their duty. those men who contrived it, were either bad men or good men: Bad men would be unconcerned about ways and means to serve the cause of religion and virtue, they have an aversion to; and good men would never make use of a known lie, and of hypocrisy, to serve such purposes. Besides, if this was the case, how comes it to be such a general belief in which all nations agree, and is so manifest by the light of nature?

[ocr errors]

But

There are other objections, which are taken from scripture. As,- 1. From such scriptures which threaten the soul with death in case of sin; so the first man was threatened with death of soul and body, should he eat of the forbidden fruit; and it is expressly said, The soul that sins, that shall die, Ezek. xviii. 4. To which may be replied: That there are various sorts of death; there is a spiritual or moral death, which took place in Adam as soon as he sinned; and is in all

his posterity by nature; in which sense they are dead in their souls, whilst alive in their bodies; it is a being dead in trespasses and sins; and lies, not in the substance of the soul, but in the qualities of it; in the loss of the image of God, as consisting of righteousness and holiness. And there is an eternal death, the destruction of both body and soul in hell; but this lies not in the destruction of the being of either, but in the misery of both: and there is a natural death, such as of the body, which the soul is not capable of; and if it was, it would put an end to the second death, called an eternal one; for then it would not exist, so as to be sent into everlasting fire, and to endure the vengeance of it, or undergo eternal punishment.-2. From what is said of man, Psal. lxxviii. 39. that he is but flesh, a wind that pas eth away, and cometh not again: but this is said of man with respect to his body, which is flesh, frail and mortal; and of the breath of his body, which is in his nostrils; a wind, a vapour, which appears for a little time, and then vanishes away; all expressive of the brevity of the bodily life of man.-3. From Psal. cxlvi. 4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to the earth: which signifies the same as before, and relates to the body, which returns to the earth, from whence it came: but it follows, in which the strength of the objec tion lies, in that very day, in which the breath of his body ceases, and the body returns to the dust, that is, dies, his thoughts perish; and now, since the soul is, by some, defined a thinking substance, and the thoughts of it perish at death, then that must cease to be. But the meaning is, not that at the death of the body the soul ceaseth to think; but that all its former thoughts, schemes, projects, and purposes, concerning either civil or religious things, are then at an end, and cannot be carried into execution; as Job says, having death in view, as just at hand, My days are past; my purposes are broken off; even the thoughts of my heart! so that he could not perform what he had thought of, devised, and determined on, Job xvii. 11.-4. From the likeness of the spirits of brutes and of men, Eccles. iii. 19, 20. But then Solomon either in these words, personates an atheistical man; or, if he speaks his own sense, he must be understood of the sensitive part of man, which he has in common with other animals; and it is plain he speaks of that part of man which is of the dust, and returns to it again, that is, the body, and of the breath of that; and in the next verse, clearly observes the difference between the spirits of brutes, and the rational souls of men, the one going upward to God, and the other downward to the earth, at death. -5. The immortality of the soul is objected to, from such passages which speak of man's going at death whence he shall not return; and as if it was not known where he was, Job x. 21. and xiv. 10. But these are to be understood, of his returning to his house, and former manner of living and employment of life, chap. vii. 10. And when it is asked, Where is he, when he dies? it is easily answered, His body is returned to the dust, and is laid in the grave; and his soul is gone to God, and is either in bliss or woe. 6. From those places which speak of the dead as not; Rachael was weeping for her children, because

-

they were not, Jer. xxxi. 15. But this cannot be meant of non existence. either of soul or body; for the body, though reduced to dust, yet is, and is something; and the soul, that is either in heaven or in hell.

۴

STATE OF THE SOUL UNTIL

THE RESURRECTION, AND ITS EMPLOYMENT. THAT the soul exists in a future state, after the death of the body, has been abundantly proved in the preceding chapter; and the business of this is to shew, that the soul, immediately after death, enters into a state of happiness or woe; in which it continues until the resurrection of the body, and that during that interval; it is not in a state of insensibility and inactivity; but that it is employed in various exercises; and what its employment is, will be pointed at.

I. That as soon as the body is dead, the soul immediately caters into a sepa. rate state of happiness or misery. The wise man, after a description of death, and the symptoms of it, in a most beautiful and striking manner; adds, Then shall the dust return to the earth; the body, composed of dust and earth, at death returns to its orignal dust and earth, and is interred in it, where it sleeps until the resurrection; and the spirit, or soul, which is a spiritual, immaterial, and immortal substance, shall return, even immediately, as soon as the body is become a lifeless lump of clay, unto God that gave it; the former of the spirit of man within him, the giver of it to the sons of men, to whom it returns as soon as it leaves the body, as to the original proprictor of it; and to whom it is accountable for all actions done in the body; being summoned and gathered by him, or carried by angels to hun; when a particular, personal judgment passes upon it; for after this, that is, death, comes judgment; that at once takes place; though the general judgment will not be until the resurrection of the dead; and according to the sentence passed on the soul, at its particular judg ment, it is disposed of. The souls of the wicked are sent down to hell, and cast into it; to this prison they are committed, there to remain to the judgment of the great day: this has been the case from the beginning of the world, wit ness the spirits in prison, who were disobedient in the times of Noah; the wicked of all nations in the world, in all ages, as asserted by David; and that with out respect to persons, rich or poor; the rich wicked man died, and in hell lift up his eyes, according to the parable of our Lord, Luke xvi. 22. And the souls of good men return. to God at death, are retained by him. into whose hands, at death, they commit them; and are immediately admitted into his pre. sence, and fulness of joy there; and so remain until the second coming of Christ, when he will bring them with him, raise their bodies, and re-unite souls and bodies; and when in both, they shall be for ever with him: and whereas the immediate state of the wicked after death, is but sparingly spoken of in

« السابقةمتابعة »