Spirit, Soul and Body, &c. I Thef. 5. 23. The fubftance of his confus'd Anfwer to this Text is this, Their Conjunction in one Sentence, does not inferr any material Difference in the things; because such a Conjunction in Words, without fuch a Difference in Things, is ufual in Scripture; and because the feveral Words are interpretable in this, as he has interpreted them in other places, to fignify Life, Affections, Inclinations, &c. Here are fix Pages spent in explaining those Words, and not one Syllable mention'd of the true ground of their Conjunction in this Place, of the Doctrine or Opinion they allude to, of the Perfons to whom they were spoken, or laftly of the Senfe in which the Theffalonians must needs understand them. These methinks had been material Enquiries; but alas the refolution of every one of them wou'd have ruin'd his Cause, as I have fully prov'd in my Explication; and therefore, like a prudent Gentleman, he drop'd them all together; and chose to amufe his Reader with foreign Matter, such as this Remark on Dr. Hammond. This learned and pious Gentleman, having imbibed

from his Youth the Notion of an ImPag. 294. mortal Spirit in Man, call'd Soul; was forc'd to recur to that Notion, to bring himfelf off, or elfe he cou'd not rightly have explain'd this Text, as to every particular of it, according

cording to the foundation, or Principles of that Doctrine he had been taught originally. That is to fay, he cou'd not explain the Text according to that Principle, without recurring to that Principle. Tho' I have no great Opinion of Eftibius as a Divine, yet I must confefs he's almost qualify'd, as Qualifications have gone of late, to fet up for an Obfervator.

But we must not overlook a Philofophical Demonstration wherever we meet with

it, and here it is, in a Comment Pag. 297. upon St. Paul; When a Man lives, has Vigour, and all his Senfes, then [according to us] the Soul is properly Man; when Man dies, then [fay we] the Body is properly Man for all allow Man may properly be faid to live, and properly likewife be faid to die; fo that living and dying, Man properly dies, and not dies; which moves Eftibius's righteous Soul to that degree, that he crys out, Apage tot vexatiffima crepundia, & dignas Pueris nugas. I hope this was defign'd to be carry'd no farther; but let us for once try how far it will go; the Son of God liv'd upon Earth; was not the Divinity properly the Son of God? Yes: But then the Son of God died for us; cou'd the Divinity properly die? No. How then cou'd this Perfon Chrift, be confiftently faid to live and die? by the Separation of

the

the Divinity, together with Human Life or Soul, from his Body? Why! thus the Perfon of Man may be faid to die, by the Separation of his Soul from his Body; the inequality of the things compar'd, making no difference in this Cafe; because both are alike fuppos'd to be diffolv'd: From which, and many other Confequences already drawn, I have a right to demand thus much of my Adverfary, either that he will follow his Blow, or retract his giving of it. But I believe the Socinians will generously quit the Advantage; for they, I fuppofe, have form'd to themfelves fome tolerable Notion of Perfonality, before they apply it in Difpute; and if so, they cannot be ignorant of this, that tho', when we fpeak of Life in general, it is the Soul only that lives, and therefore not the Body that properly speaking can die; yet when we fpeak of this Life, it is the Perfon, as refulting from the Union, which both lives by that, and dies by the Separation. Thus the Crepundia turn upon Eftibius; and belong to no Body elfe, as they are plac'd here; tho' having just done playing with them himself, he has kindly laid them at his Adversary's

Door.

CHAP.

CHAP. VIII.

The receiv'd Doctrine of the Soul of Man, by the reform'd Churches, not chargeable with the false Doctrines of Purgatory, Prayers for the Dead, or Invocation of Saints; in Answer to his Ninth Chapter,

E

3

Pag.298.

Stibins concludes the preceding Chapter with his Hope that all unbiafs'd, Orthodox Divines and others, will no longer infift upon making the Scriptures to maintain, and justify such an abfurd and erroneous Opinion of a spiritual Substance united to the Body of Man whenas it has been the probable grounds of all these following Errors in Chriftianity. This gave me fome hopes to find an attempt, in this Chapter, not only to prove these Doctrines of the Church of Rome erroneous, but to charge them upon our Doctrine of the separate Existence of the Soul, but I find I am disappointed of my Hope, as Eftibius I fuppofe has by this time found himself feverely difappointed of his, with regard to Orthodox Divines He has laboriously infifted on the

firit Head, and left his Reader to supply the other; whereas cou'd he but have prov'd this, we shou'd never have fal'n out about that. To what purpose then does he apply himself to unbiafs'd orthodox Divines? If he believes there are any fuch in the World, they must be of the Reform'd Church; and is the Church of England to be exhorted to lay afide Purgatory, Prayers for the Dead, and Invocation of Saints?

But to tell him freely my Sentiments of the Controverfy, as he has undertaken it, I never hope to fee Babylon fall by the Hand of an Efiisius: It thou'd be the last Argument I wou'd offer againft Purgatory, that Heathens held a Purgation,

Pag. 300,

&c.

and Luftration not unlike it; for

they held a God and a Providence too. Thus much is certain, if this Doctrine be true, all theirs which relate to the intermediate ftate, are blown off at once; but I muft put him in mind that, after this forcible manner, to cut the Knot, is no reflexion upon the Skill of thofe that can untie it: And if it has been fairly unty'd let him not glory in his Discovery; He found the Truth fhining bright, and it will receive no Advantage from his rough Hand.