TREATISE 
 
 Concerning the S TAT E of 
 
 Departed SOULS 
 
 Before, and At, and After the 
 
 RESURRECTION. 
 
 Written originally in Latin by the late 
 Rev. Dr. Thomas Burnet, Mafter of 
 the Charter-Ronfe, Author of the Theory 
 of the Earth, 
 
 Tranflated into EngliJI} by Mr. DENNIS. 
 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for John Hooke, at the Flower'dc-Lucc y 
 over-againft SuDunflari 's-Church in Fkst-Strect. 
 
 M.DCCXXX. 
 
Juft publijhedy 'Trice 4 s. 
 tfranjlated from ihe Latin of Dr. Burnet, late 
 Mafier of the Charter-Houfe. 
 The FAITH and DUTIES of Christians. 
 A Treatife in eight Chapters j giving an Ac- 
 count of, 
 
 I. The Foundation of Natural 
 and Instituted Religion. 
 
 II. The Authority and Ulcful- 
 nefs of the Jew'ijb Religion. 
 
 III. The Chriftian Difpenfation; 
 the Nature and Author of it. 
 
 IV. The Worfhip of God ; and 
 its facred Rites, according to 
 the Chriftian Law. 
 
 V. Moral Rules and Precepts ac- 
 cording to the Chriftian Law. 
 
 VI. The Chriftian Articles of 
 Faith. 
 
 VII. The Secondary Articles in 
 the Chriftian Doctrine ex» 
 plain'd. 
 
 VIII. The Chriftian Church i its 
 Government and Difciplinc. 
 
 Tranflated into EngUJb by Mr. Dennis. 
 
 - 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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 JUTT lll'U»,-JE 
 
 nfjra^glj 
 
 
 
 
 To the Honourable 
 
 Colonel BLADEN, 
 
 One of the 
 
 Lords Commiflioners of Trade 
 and Plantations. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 THINK myfelf obliged 
 to embrace this firft Op- 
 portunity of returning 
 my humble Thanks to 
 You in this publick Manner, x for 
 the Honour which you lately did me, 
 
 and 
 
The Dedication. 
 
 and the Favour which I received from 
 You ; a Favour attended with fo 
 many engaging Circumftances, that I 
 know not which of them render'd it 
 moft agreeable to me : For it was not 
 onlv done to one, who was fo entire- 
 ly a Stranger to all of You, but Your 
 Chara&er, and Your Writings, that I 
 whom Time and Fortune have depri- 
 ved of Sight, unlefs the Objeft is very 
 near to me, never had the Honour and 
 Pleafure of feeing You : But it was 
 done. at the moft feafonable Juncture, 
 and in fo handfome and graceful a 
 Manner, as gave me the Pleafure of 
 thinking, that fome Things which I 
 had publiihed had not been difagree- 
 able to You, but had gain'd me fome 
 little Share in the Efteem of a Gentle- 
 man whom every one efteems, whofe 
 Merit has fhone confpicuoufly out, 
 both in the Camp, and in the Repub- 
 
 lick 
 
The "Dedication. vi 
 
 lick of Letters ; in the Council of 
 Trade, and in the great Council of 
 the Nation ; who appear 'd able to 
 make Cefar fpeak like Gefar, fpeak 
 in Englifh with that Spirit with which 
 he conquered France, with which 
 his own Victories were fo nobly re- 
 corded by him. 
 
 HE who has uncommon Merit 
 himfelf, is alone capable of difcerning 
 and regarding it in others ; and he, 
 if he had Power equal to his Will, 
 would, by the Encouragement which 
 he would give to them, revive thofe 
 beautiful and noble Arts, which now 
 feem loft and. dead to us. For he 
 who in fo obliging a Manner has 
 made his Favour defcend to me, what 
 would he not do for more deferving 
 Lovers of the Mufes ? But though, 
 Sir, Your Power were equal to Your 
 A 3 Defert 3 
 
iv The Dedication. 
 
 Defert, or to my Wifhes, it would 
 never enable You to oblige a Man who 
 would retain a more lively Senfe of 
 Your Favours than does, 
 
 S I R, 
 
 Tour tnoft Humble, 
 
 And mofl Obliged Servant, 
 
 J. Dennis. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 PRE FACE. 
 
 SHALL not at prefent 
 trouble the Reader with a "De- 
 tail of the feveral Reafons, 
 which a long Time refrained 
 me from making the following 
 Treatife Englifh, though I was 
 very much prefs'd to it. But I am obliged 
 to acquaint him, that when I found it had 
 been done by another Hand, with Notes j 
 in which the Afoes of the venerable Author 
 were poorly and meanly infulted by low 
 and vile Bujfoonryj becoming neither the 
 Gravity of a Clergyman^ nor the Faith of 
 a Chriftianj nor the J-ujlnefs and Sprit of 
 a polite Writer, nor the Honour and Hu- 
 manity of a Gentleman, I wasprovok'd to 
 tranflate the forefaid Treatife anew,, that 
 I might have an Opportunity by this 
 Tranflation to do Jujiice to the Merit of 
 the excellent Author, with Regard to thofe 
 who are not yet acquainted with his Works y 
 
 an 
 
The PREFACE. 
 
 an Author famous through the Learned 
 World for his fublime ana noble Writings ; 
 efteem d by all the Learned World , one of 
 its fining Ornaments, an Honour to Great- 
 Britain, and to human Nature ; an Author 
 in his Kind fo admirable, that the under* 
 fianding, impartial Reader will find even 
 in this imperfect, rough drawn Copy, Things 
 that are fublimely beautiful. 
 
 I believe that the mofl inveterate of 
 fDr. Burnet'/ Enemies, will not for his own 
 JSake appear Jo malicious, as to affirm that 
 that great Man had a Tlefign to impofe up- 
 on his Contemporaries, and lip on 'Poflerity > I 
 fay upon c Pofterity, to which his Works will 
 certainly deft end : He flyews every where 
 too magnanimous a Soul for that. No Man 
 feems to me ever to have abhorred Faljhood 
 more. I will not pretend to fay that he is 
 without Error, no human Writer either is^ 
 or was, or ever will be without it. The 
 greateji of Men both may and muf err ', but 
 if we are to judge, as in Equity we ought, 
 of the Trofe of a Writer, by the fame Rule 
 by which Horace judg'd of the Verfes of his 
 Contemporaries, Ubi plura nitent in Car- 
 mine, non ego paucis, offendar maculis, &c. 
 Then will I venture to affirm, that if 
 1)r. Burnet has Errors, he has Beauties, and 
 great Beauties, fiffcient to make an ample 
 md a glorious Amends for them, 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 HE Introdu&ion : The Sub- 
 ject, and the Method of hand- 
 ling it. Page i 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 That human Felicity does not depend folely 
 upon this Life, but that we are to expecl: 
 a future State. 3 
 
 CHAP. If. 
 
 That the human Soul is an immortal Sub- 
 ftance, diftind from the Body, and from 
 all Matter. 18 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 What will be the future Condition of the Soul 
 after the Difiblution of the Body ; or of 
 
 the 
 
The CONTENTS. 
 
 the Middle State of Souls in the Interval 
 between Death and the Refurre&ion, as to 
 the Degrees of Happinefs or Mifery ? 49 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the State of Nature, in which departed 
 Souls are in the Interval between Death 
 ard the Refurredtion. Whether they are 
 nked and feparated from all corporeal Sub- 
 il.mce, or whether they are united to an ae- 
 rial, or any other Body? 106 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Tranfition to the remaining Parts of thisWork ; 
 and, firft, concerning the Coming of Chrift, 
 and the Conflagration of the World. 125 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Of the lalt Judgment : A View of its princi- 
 pal Appearances ; of its Manner, End, and 
 mcd. 144 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Of the Refur re&ion of the Dead ; and in 
 what State they will be after they are rifen, 
 and what Sort of Bodies they will have. 1 80 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 What fort of Body we are to have at the Re- 
 furrecYion ? the lame that we have at prefent, 
 er a different one ? 231 
 
 CHAP. 
 
The CONTENTS. xi 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Of the firft and laft Refurre&ion : Of the new 
 Heavens, and the new Earth, and the Re- 
 novation of Nature: Of the Millennian King- 
 dom of Chrift, and the Confummation of all 
 Things. 2$$ 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Of Heaven and Hell. What fort of Heaven 
 that of the Chriftians is, and how far it 
 may be faid to be local. What Hell is j 
 whether there is, or will be any Subterra- 
 nean, or any other local, corporeal, and ex- 
 ternal Hell, before the Day of Judgment, 
 and Conflagration of the World. Of the 
 Puniftiments of Hell ; whether they are to 
 be looked upon as finite, infinite, or indefi- 
 nite. 315 
 
 The Conclusion.' * 368 
 
 ERRATA 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 ■pASE 1 8. 1. 12. f. it treats ; r» they treat ; p .at. 1. 19. i.Reafons .t.Rtafon ? 
 p. 31.1.9. in the Notes, f. Confciencioufnefs, r. Confcioufneft ; ibid» 
 1. 15. f. »Aew, r.fmce; p. 33. 1. I. f. 3f"'«> r * jfaifM 5 P* 35* '• I, f- «* 
 t- are ; p. 4.9. chap. iii. 1. 1. t. When, r. Whereas ; p. j-j. 1. a. f. ffor, r. as 
 if i P« j8. 1. 17. f- tax, r. fays $ p. 60. 1. 10. i. Phrafe, r. ExpreJJion ; 
 ibid. 1. 1 1, 12. f. them, r. »» ; p. 6 .• 1. 30. f. eacA, r. iWi ; p. 84.. 1« 3a» 
 f- has, T' from ; p. 87. 1. 10 t. Beatitudes, r. Beatitude ; p 88. 1 aj. f. 
 Light which, r. Light with which ; p. 98. I. 13. f has had, r. havebai; 
 p. 1 06. chap. iv. f. the aerial, r. an aerial ; p. 1 2 1 . 1. aa. t. ObjeB, r. ObjeSs ; 
 ibid. I. aa. f. Imprtffwn, r. Imprefficns ; p. 124. 1. 8. f. Doraf i.Goodi 
 p. 129. 1. 14.. t. otm/ij fte, r. meant that the; p. J 36. 1. <?• dele fAej 
 p. 146. 1. 3. f. was, r. were 5 p- ijo. 1. 3. for within, r. therein; p. 151» 
 1. 21. f. Matters, r. Matter ; p. 170. 1. 20 f. Suppofmous, r. Suppefititious i 
 p. 187. 1. 21. f. 5»« Day, r. Sk« i» a ffrjgAf Day ; p. 190. 1. a9> f. whom» 
 r. it/jo; p. 193. 1. a 3. f. belongs, r. beltrng; p 19/. 1. 14* f« thereby, » 
 therefore ; p- 197. 1. 27. f. forced, r. «ever; p. 199. 1. 22. (.follow, r. 
 follows ; ibid. 1. 31. f. Apofiles, r. Apofile ; p. aoc>. 1. 9. f. 7m, r. /j- if; 
 p. ajj\ chap. ix. 1. 2. f. F/r/?, r. Thefirft ; ib. I.3. f. ./4W laft, r. ^<»i »fo /<«j? ; 
 p. 264.. 1.6. in the Notes, dele and ; p. 27?. 1. 23. f". this r. the; p. 279» 
 1. 1 a. i. of World, r. of the World ; p. 290. 1. 19. f. remains, r. remain ; 
 p. 308. 1. a4.. in the Notes, r. of Chriji ; p- 313- L 1. f-^ex, r. ./fge; 
 p. 337. 1. a9- f. Tartarum, r. Tartarus ; p. 34a. in the Notes, f. latter, 
 f. /<>«»«• ; p. 34.4. 1. 16. f. their, r. fci/j p. 3J0. !• 2. f. fta», r. thnt ; 
 V' 159' !• 3 1- /• JheulJ r. ra<yu 
 
TREATISE 
 
 Concerning the STATE of 
 
 Departed SOULS 
 
 Before, At, and After the 
 
 RESURRECTION. 
 
 The Introduction : The SubjeEl \ and the 
 Method of hand ting it. 
 
 H E mean, the uncertain, and 
 the too often mtferable State of 
 the Affairs of Men, with regard 
 to the prefent Life, gives us juffc 
 Caufe to inquire, whether human 
 Happinefs depends upon this alone: And 
 fince we are compounded, and intirely made 
 
 B up 
 
A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 up of two Parts, the Soul and the Bodyj 
 and fince the Life of the Body muft perifh, 
 and be totally extinguiftYd within the Com- 
 pafs of one Age, we are further to inquire^ 
 whether the Mind, that other Part of Man, 
 furvives the Extinction of the Body, or 
 whether, like two dear Friends, that are ne- 
 ver to be divided, they both of them live 
 together, and both of them together die. 
 If this latter be the Cafe, we are irrecove- 
 rably ruin'd ; the Whole of us is perifh/d and 
 loft ; nor is it worth while to make any In* 
 quiry concerning Things that have already 
 ceasM to be. 
 
 But if, on the other Side, the Soul re- 
 mains after the Diffolution of the Body ; if, 
 after 'tis deliver'd from it, it enjoys a fepa- 
 rate Life and Vigour ; then have we many 
 Queftions to ask, and many Inquiries to 
 make relating to the Soul thus ieparated, 
 and thus exifting : What Sort of Life it en- 
 joys ? what Sort of State ? and whether it 
 be to remain the fame for ever ? Or, if it be 
 to undergo another Change, whether it is to 
 inform a fecond Body of any kind ? what 
 Diftin&ion there is to be made between thofe 
 that are good, and thofe that are evil ? what 
 Sort of Rewards, what Punifhments will be 
 diftributed to every one, according to their 
 Merit ? Laftly, it will be a pleafing Curio- 
 Iky to purfue the Fate and the Fortune of 
 the immortal Soul, from its Departure and 
 
 Deliverance 
 
State of Departed Souls, Zsfc. j 1 
 
 Deliverance from its earthly Body, even to 
 the Coniummation of all Things. 
 
 These are the Things that in the follow- 
 ing Work we mall treat of, according to our 
 Power ; and as we treat of them, we fhall 
 diitinguifh, as far as we may, between Things 
 that are clear and that are obfcure; between 
 Things that are fecret and Things that are 
 popular ; that every Thing may be plac'd in 
 its proper Station, whether 'tis in Light or 
 in Shade. Mean time, I invoke God, the 
 Father of Light, that he would vouehfafe 
 to direct my Steps, and to difpel the Dark- 
 nefs within me, and the falte airy Images of 
 Things, that we may, at length, with Tran- 
 fport behold that Truth pure and naked, 
 and undefiTd, with whofe Charms we have 
 long been inflamM 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 That human Felicity does not depend filely 
 upon this Life j but that we are to exfec~t 
 a future State. 
 
 THAT there is a God ; that he is the 
 Author of all Things, and the fii- 
 preme Governor ; that he is the Bell and the 
 Greateft of Beings ; that he is holy, righteous, 
 and juft • this the Nature of Things requires * ? 
 this the univerfal Content of Men. This 
 B 2 Foundation 
 
A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Foundation being once eftabliih'd, the hu- 
 man Soul is ftrait obliged, by the View of 
 this prefent State, to prefage a future : For 
 when it obferves in the Government of this 
 lower World, or in this Part of the divine 
 OEconomy, that in the Diftribution of Good 
 and Evil the Laws of Juftice and Equity 
 are not prelerv'd ; it eafily from thence con- 
 cludes, that there is fomething ftill remain- 
 ing, that all the Parts of this Drama are not 
 compleated, that the grand Cataftrophe is 
 ftill to come : Thus the Soul is exalted by 
 the Expectation of Things which will come 
 to pafs in a future State, as it were in a 
 Scene that is next to follow. 
 
 The Goods of Fortune and external Hap- 
 pinefs do not, in this Life, accompany Wil- 
 dom and Virtue. They are neither lefs, nor 
 lefs frequently enjoy'd by foolifh and wic- 
 ked Men. But if human Happinefs were 
 ultimately placed in thefe, and were to be 
 finally determined here, the ilipream Go- 
 vernor of the World, and the fame a 
 moft righteous Judge, would never en- 
 dure fo great Confufion in the Order of 
 Things. That the Good mould be happy, 
 and the Wicked miferable, is the Voice of 
 God, the Voice of Man, and the Voice of 
 univerfal Nature : But witnefs Heaven, and 
 witnefs Earth, and witnefs ye confcious 
 Stars, that this eternal and moft facred Law, 
 among us miferable Mortals, in the Compafs 
 of this Life, is never kept inviolable ; there- 
 fore 
 
State of Departed Souls, (<rc. 
 
 fore grant me but this, that God is juft and 
 holy, and the neceffary Confequence of it 
 muft be, that there will be Rewards and 
 Puniihments in another Life, and that hu- 
 man Happinefs and human Mifery do not 
 altogether depend upon this prefent tranfi- 
 tory State. 
 
 Nor do we here complain of our own 
 Times, as unhappy Men are often wont to do ; 
 nor do we believe the Age which we live in 
 more corrupt or more profligate than feveral 
 which have preceded it : The World is now 
 what it always was. Run through the Re- 
 cords of all Times, of all Nations, the Gre- 
 cian, the Roman, whatever Country you 
 pleale, you will find in them all the Socra- 
 tes's, the Cato's, Men that were placed at 
 the Top of their Species, renown'd for the 
 Excellence of their Nature, and diftinguilh'd 
 by the fingular Endowments of their Minds 
 and Manners ; thefe you will find by the 
 Iniquity of Fortune opprefs'd, hated by the 
 impious and noify Vulgar, and perfecuted 
 by Envy, with her blackeft Calumnies : Nor 
 can Tyrants, and Men in Power endure the 
 Freedom of a noble Spirit, tenacious of 
 Truth and Virtue. This is the miferable 
 Condition of human Affairs. 
 
 Besides, as the promifcuous Fortune that 
 attends the Virtuous and Wicked could not 
 be agreeable to divine Juftice and Righteouf- 
 nefs, if it were to have no Alteration ; fo the 
 Meannefs, the Littlenefs, and, if I may fo 
 
 B ^ exprefs 
 
<$ J TREATISE concerning the 
 
 exprcfs myfelf, the Vilenefs of the prefent 
 Condition of Mortals, if it were folitary,firft 
 to none, and lecond to none, would neither 
 anfwer to the Dignity of God the Creator, 
 nor to the Dignity of Earth's Inhabitants, 
 that is, of human Souls. If you believe 
 that God has created innumerable Worlds 
 befidcs this in which you live, the Difficulty 
 under which you labour will not be altoge- 
 ther fo great. But they who, befides this 
 Globe of Earth, (an Atom, with refped to 
 its Littlenefs, a Dunghill, with regard to its 
 Filthinefs,) acknowledge no inhabitable 
 World, own no Inhabitants in any other Part 
 of the Immenfity of the Univeife • thefe 
 Perfons are greatly injurious to the divine 
 Majelty, and fancy a God inferior to a mag- 
 nanimous Man. And then if, befides the 
 Earth itfelf, you obferve thole human Af- 
 fairs which are tranfacled on it, you will find 
 them fo trifling, or fo confus'd, or fo mife- 
 rable, you would fufpeel: they were by fome 
 wicked Deity appointed, and by fome im- 
 potent one endur'd : For what is there but 
 Blood and Slaughter among Princes ? what 
 among private Men but Contentions, Quar- 
 rels, Reproaches, Calumnies, and daily liti- 
 gious Difputcs ? and too frequently about 
 the verieft Trifles. A great deal of Folly 
 and Trifle every where I of Wifdom a very 
 little 1 And, which is more grievous to be 
 endur'd, Pleafures very fhort and rare; ma- 
 ny and lauing are our Griefs, and Complaints 
 
 proceeding 
 
State of Departed Souls, Isfc. 
 
 proceeding from Difeafes, Poverty, Enmity, 
 and fuch like Evils incident to human Na- 
 ture : So that the Drama of this Life, if you 
 abftrad from it all Confequences, and its 
 Connexion with a future State, is neither 
 worthy to have God for its Author, nor even 
 for its Spectator. 
 
 But I go farther flill : The little Affairs, 
 and the trifling Bufinefs of this Life, if you 
 take from it the Hope and Profpect. of a fu- 
 ture, are fo far from being worthy of God, 
 that they are unworthy of a human Soul. 
 We are deprefsM in this mortal State beneath 
 the Rank, and the Degree, and the Excellence 
 of our Nature. From whence is that Shame 
 which we dilcover in fome of our Actions, 
 and fbme of our natural Affections ? From 
 whence that Modefty, or that Disturbance in 
 human Nature ? and not only when we fin, 
 but when we obey the Defires or the Necefli- 
 ties of Nature herfelf ? W hy are we afham'd 
 of ourfelves, and our own Nature, if we a6fc 
 nothing beneath our native Dignity ? if we 
 are not capable of a more excellent State ? 
 if we never had, and are never to have a 
 worthier ? Befides, we are deftin'd in this 
 Life to be employed about Toys and Tri- 
 fles, which neither become nor fatisfy a rea- 
 fonable Soul, capable of Employments in- 
 finitely better, and infinitely more exalted. 
 That which is moft excellent, moft noble, 
 and even divine in us, is ready to fink under 
 the Burden and Care of the Body ; and by 
 
 B 4 mean 
 
z 
 
 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 <S 
 
 mean and little Affairs, which are neceffary 
 for the feeding and clothing the Body, and 
 the Prefervation of Health.* And yet the 
 Soul ftands in need of none of all theie, but 
 is forcM into Servitude as a Slave to the Bo- 
 dy. She is fubjected to Vanity here, under 
 which fhe groans, and under her Occupa- 
 tion, about vile and paltry Matters. But to 
 what Purpofe is that fublime Underftand- 
 ing, by which fhe contemplates celeftial and 
 eternal Beings, by which fhe meafures Hea- 
 ven and Earth? To what Purpofe is that 
 noble Fire, and that afpiring to Things of 
 the greateft and moft exalted Nature ? To 
 what Purpofe is that Thirft of Immortality, 
 which is never to be fatisfied ? To what 
 Purpofe that heroick Virtue which appears 
 in fome, which furmounts and underva- 
 lues all private Advantage for the publick 
 
 Good, 
 
 * Can there be any one who believes that Man was bom 
 for no other End than to digejl what he eats and drinks, 
 than to watch the Winds, and purfue ail his Life-time pe- 
 riling and fallacious Hopes ; and that after this Jhort Mad- 
 nefs is over, he mufl be laid once more in the Earth front 
 which he was taken, and diJJolv\i into his original Dujl ? 
 And yet this,forfooth, is the End of Man, and the Ne- 
 plus- ultra of Humanity ! " We were not created, fays 
 " Cicero, either rafhly or fortuitoufly, but tb*~e was pre- 
 " fent a Power divine, which confulted the Advantage 
 u and Happinefs of Mankind; nor would he produce 
 " or provide for that, which, after it had endur'd all 
 " Fatigues, borne all the Calamities of Life, and had 
 " been victorious over them all, was at laft to lie 
 " down in Death's eternal Sleep." Cic. Quaeft. Tuic. I, 
 " in fine. 
 
State of Departed Souls, i$c. 
 
 Good, or the Love and Intereft of Virtue ? 
 Theie are the Confiderations that convince 
 me, that fince God has wrought nothing 
 without Defign, and infus'd into us no vain 
 and frivolous Inftin&s, that the Time will 
 come when we fhall be freed from this cor- 
 poreal Prifon; when we fhall enjoy a new 
 Light, a more excellent Life, and an ever- 
 lafting Felicity. 
 
 'Tis eafy to perceive, that the human Soul, 
 with all its freer Motions, is conftrain'd and 
 curb'd, and, if I may ufe the Expreffion, 
 fuffocated by the Body \ and the more it 
 llrains to exert itfelf, the more feniibly does 
 it feel the Weight of fuch Impediments. To 
 what Purpofe then has this Force, this Large- 
 nefs of Soul been given us, by which 'tis 
 carried beyond the Bounds and Limits of this 
 Life, if nothing remains or exifts beyond it? 
 In vain have God and Nature fupplied the 
 Soul with fuch Wings, if we are only al- 
 lowed to crawl upon Earth, never to raiie 
 ourfelves above the Ground, and never to 
 take our Flight to Heaven. If this be the 
 Cafe, they have not only given us theie 
 Wings in vain, but to our great Inconvenience; 
 for the more exalted the Soul is, and the 
 more abftracled from the Senfe, the lefs it 
 takes care of earthly Things, and the more 
 unfit it becomes to difcharge the common 
 Functions of Life : Then if this is the only 
 Life of which 'tis capable, and the Whole of 
 what belongs to Humanity, the Soul is un- 
 done 
 
10 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 done by its own Virtue j and all the Wifdom, 
 but that of the World, and that which re- 
 gards it, is Folly. A moft infamous Affront 
 both to God and Man, and an unpardonable 
 Calumny ! Who can bear it that has a Grain 
 of Senfe, or a Grain of Generofity in his 
 Nature ! Who mult not hear with a gene- 
 rous Difdain fuch Affronts imposed on him- 
 felf, and on Humankind! I have only one 
 Thing to add, which is, that if this be the 
 State of human Affairs which is here fup- 
 pos'd, and I had known this before I was 
 born, I would have rejected with Difdain 
 the Offer of fuch a Life y neither to live, nor 
 to die, had at all been worth the while. 
 
 Hitherto we have taken our Proofs and 
 our Arguments, for the proving the Certainty 
 of a future State, from the divine and hu- 
 man Nature ; but now another Method of 
 Reafoning offers itfelf, from the Confidera* 
 tion of the Nature of Things, in Conjunc- 
 tion with the divine Nature. And thus the 
 Argument ftands: If there is a God, {Jien 
 the Reafons and Foundations of Good «and 
 Evil are eternal and unchangeable; the Dif- 
 tin&ions between Vile and Generous, between 
 Juft and Unjuft, Eternal and Immutable. 
 Now thefe Things being thus laid down, it 
 follows, if I am not miftaken, that there will 
 be another Order and State of human Af- 
 fairs, befide what there is at prefent. Per- 
 haps, at the firft View, this Confequence 
 may not appear ; but I fhall 3 in a few Words, 
 
 lay 
 
State of Departed Souls, ifc. 1 1 
 
 lay open the Force of it in both Parts of the 
 Argument. By the Word God all Men un- 
 derftand the fupream Deity, a Being infi- 
 nitely perfect. Among the reft of his Perfec- 
 tions, they always acknowledge his Wifdom, 
 his Goodnefs, his Juftice, and the brighter! 
 Purity ; which, fince they are Perfections in 
 God, they muft be likewife fo in proportion 
 in all thofe intellectual Natures which have 
 been by God created. There have then been 
 Diftinctions from all Eternity, between Good 
 and Evil, Juft and Unjuft, Vile and Gene- 
 rous; Diftin&ions not conltituted nor ap- 
 pointed by human Authority, or human 
 Force, or human Laws, but flowing from the 
 immutable Nature and Perfections of God. 
 Now, fince God, or fupream Perfection, is 
 the Meafure of all Things, and that which 
 is right is the Difcoverer of itfelf, and 
 of that which is crooked ; the Things 
 that deviate from this Rule, and the Quali- 
 ties oppos'd to it, will, by that very Oppo- 
 fitian, become Vices, Stains, and Errors, 
 fo dftiftituted from all Eternity : And this is 
 the fkft'Part of our Argument. T-he fecond 
 is, that fince Things and Actions are thus 
 divided, the human Actors muft likewife be 
 divided into two Parties, the Good and the 
 Evil, the Juft and the Unjuft, the Worthy 
 and the Vile : Thofe are pleafing to God, 
 thefe are difpleafing ; thofe have his Love, 
 and his Averfion thefe : For that God fliould 
 pot love his own Image is altogether impof- 
 
 fiblc, 
 
12 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 fible, or that he fhould not acknowledge his 
 own Perfe&ions, wherever 'tis that he fees 
 them, and cherifh and embrace what he fees 
 conformable to him, and partaking of the di- 
 vine Nature ; and, on the other Side, re- 
 ject and abhor whatever is incongruous, dif- 
 cordant, and opposed to his own Nature : 
 But now fince God is the higheft Lover of 
 that which is juft and equitable, and is one 
 who has all Power in his Hands, 'tis certain 
 that he will not be an unconcerned Spectator, 
 but will take care that Juftice mall be done; 
 nor will bellow the fame Felicity upon his 
 Friends and his Enemies, the Deferving and 
 the Unworthy, but will fee that both the De- 
 ferving and the Unworthy fliall have the 
 Portion due to them ; and the more perfect 
 any one is by Virtue, Piety, Wifdom, and 
 the nearer to God by the Excellency of his 
 Nature, by fo much the more exalted mail 
 he be, by fo much the more happy : But 
 fince this is by no Means done in this Life, 
 as is apparent to all the World, 'tis a moft 
 certain Confequence, a Confequence firm 
 and immovable as God himfelf, that it will 
 be done in another. 
 
 Akd fo much for this Sort of Reafoning: 
 But to all this is ufually added, by way of 
 Conclufion, and as an Argument of the ut- 
 moft Weight, the univerlal Content of Na- 
 tions concerning a future State j nor, in my 
 Opinion, is this without very juft Reafon ; 
 for the Voice of Nature, if 'tis rightly un- 
 
 derftoodc 
 
State of Departed Souls, life, i j 
 
 dcrftood, is the Evidence and Touchflone 
 of Truth : But the Favourers of the con- 
 trary Opinion endeavour, by two Ways, to 
 weaken the Force of this Argument. Firft 
 they deny that this Opinion, or this Hope of 
 a future Life is univerfal to all Nations, 
 at leafr, if the barbarous ones be included ; 
 nay, they deny farther, that this Opinion is 
 univerfal, even among the polite and learn- 
 ed Nations, nay, among the very Philofo- 
 phers: Some of them, they fay, were more 
 inciin'd to embrace the contrary Opinion. 
 
 As for what relates to the firft, as many 
 Nations as ever worfhipp'd a God, or initi- 
 tuted any religious Worfhip, or any fuper- 
 iiitious Rites whatfbever, did, by this very 
 Practice, difcover their Hope or their Fear 
 of a future State, and that they expected 
 Rewards or Punifhments according as their 
 Actions were pleafing or difpl earing to their 
 Gods. As for the other Heathens, who 
 feem to underftand nothing of Divinity, they 
 appear to know as little of Humanity, but, 
 like errant Cattle, to lead a beftial Life ; 
 and therefore it would be unjuft to take the 
 Value of Humankind from thefe poor 
 wretched Creatures, and an Eflimate of the 
 Virtues and Powers of all the reil from thefe 
 Dregs of Humanity, nay, the very Dregs of 
 Barbarity. If any one had a Mind to in- 
 quire into the Nature and Virtues of an Herb, 
 he would not gather it wither'd and juice- 
 kfs, in a barren Ground, but fo as it grows 
 
 in 
 
14 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 in a generous Soil, where 'tis cherilh'd by the 
 Rays of the Sun, and nourifh'd by the Dew 
 of Heaven, according to the Cuftom and 
 the Order of Nature ; and the Strength and 
 Virtue that he finds in fuch a Plant, he will 
 reckon to belong to its Species, and to be 
 proper and natural to all the Kind. Thus 
 if any one would difcover the Luftre and 
 Worth of a Diamond, he will not examine 
 it rough, as they call it, and clouded with 
 the adherent Filth of the Soil where it grew, 
 but will view it cut, and fmooth'd, and 
 polifh'd ; and what the Worth of it then is, 
 what Luftre it darts, what Virtue it emits, 
 all that he will attribute to the Force of its 
 Nature, and from thence fet an Eftimate up- 
 on its Value. 
 
 A s for what relates to the fecond Point, 
 if there either are or have been any learned 
 Men or Philoibphers who deny a future 
 State, 'tis plain that they are of the Number 
 of thofe who acknowledge nothing in Nature 
 befides Matter •, or at leaft of thofe who al- 
 low no natural Diftin&ion in the Affairs of 
 Mortals of Juft and Unjuft, Worthy and 
 Vile. The former, that is, the Materia- 
 lities, fhall be refuted in the following Chap- 
 ter ; and for what relates to the latter, if we 
 have already prov'd from the Nature of God, 
 that there have been, from all Eternity, Difc 
 tinclions between Good and Evil, we have 
 already overthrown the Error on which that 
 Opinion depends ; and we have ffcewn in 
 
 the 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 1 5 
 
 the fame Piece, and in the fame Thread of 
 Difcourfe, that a future State is infeparably 
 joined with the Nature of God, and with 
 the Nature of Things. That 1 may fay all 
 in a Word, the Whole of the Matter lies 
 here : If there is a God, there is likewife a 
 future State ; and they who acknowledge the 
 former, are in vain induftrious to root out the 
 latter from the Minds of Men. 
 
 Hitherto we have trod in the Paths 
 that the Light of Nature difcover'd to us ; 
 but a brighter Light fhines forth from the 
 facred Oracles,whichfhew a future Life clear- 
 ly and openly to the Eyes of all the World. 
 I muft confefs, that in the Jewijh Difpenfa- 
 tion eternal Life was placed in Shadows, and 
 deferied only by the Glimmering of a doubt- 
 ful Light ; but in the Chriftian Religion, the 
 Sun mews nothing at Noon more clearly, 
 than the facred Authors difcover Immorta- 
 lity. That I may fay nothing in this Place 
 particularly of the Doctrine of the Refurrec- 
 tion, or of the laft Judgment, 'tis plain that 
 Chrift and his Apoftles have every where 
 diftinguiih'd the prefent Life from a future, 
 and the whole Hinge of the Chriftian Re- 
 ligion turns upon that Diftinction. What 
 will it profit aMan y fays Chrift, if be gains Mativiii. 
 the whole World, and lofes his own Soul. 5- 
 The Soul that is profperous to the utmoft of 
 its Wifhes in this World, cannot be loft or 
 be miferable unlefs in another. And Chrift 
 fays in another Place, Make your/elves Luke xvi. 
 
 Friends 9 * 
 
"l 5 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Friends of the Mammon ofVnrighteoufnefs, 
 that when you fail, they may receive you 
 into everlafting Habitations. And in ano- 
 
 Mat.x. 28. ther Place, Fear not them which kill the 
 Body j but are not able, to kill the Soul y but 
 rather fear him who is able to deflroy both 
 Body and Soul in Hell. And in another 
 
 Lukcxii.p. Place, He that denieth me before MaUj (hall 
 be denied before the Angels of God. And, 
 
 Mat. xix. Every one that hath forfaken Houfes, or Bre- 
 thren, or Sifters j or Father, or Mother,, or 
 Wife, or Children, for my Name fake,, (hall 
 receive an Hundred Fold, and /hall inherit 
 eternal Life. In thefe, and numberlefs other 
 Places, Chrift diftinguifhes the prefent from 
 a future Life, and treats of them as Things 
 oppofite and very different from each other : 
 Nor does he do this only when he fpeaks 
 plainly and openly, but dwells upon the 
 lame Subject in his Parables; as in that of 
 *Dives and Lazarus ; in that of the Pearl 
 of ineftimable Value ; in that of the Wheat 
 and the Tares; and in feveral others. He 
 has done the fame Thing in his Sermon on 
 the Mount, when he fpake to the People ; 
 the fame in his daily Converfation with his 
 Difciples : In all Places and at all Times he 
 proclaims aloud, that the good and evil 
 Things of this Life are to be utterly con- 
 temn'd, in reiped to future Mifery or Feli- 
 city. Laftly, by his Refurre&ion from the 
 Dead, and his vhible Afcenfion into Heaven, 
 he has not only verbally taught us, that 
 
 there 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 17 
 
 there is a Life to come, but has fet it really 
 before our Eyes. 
 
 The Apoftles walk'd in the fame Path 
 that their Mafter did before them, every- 
 where afferting that the Soul has two very- 
 different Lives, and two very different States. 
 If in this Life only we have Hope in Chrift, l c °r- xtf 
 fays St. Paul, we are of all Men the mojt Ip * 
 miferable. But we know,, fays he in ano- % cor. v. 
 ther Place, that if our earthly Houfeofthis ''+• 
 Tabernacle were dijfolv'dj voe have a Build- 
 ing of God j a Houfe not made with Hands, 
 eternal in the Heavens y for we that are in 
 this Tabernacle do groan _, being burthen d > 
 not for that we would be uncloathedj but 
 c loathed upouj that Mortality might be J wal- 
 lowed up of Life. In the fame Manner 
 St. 'Paul fays to the Romans _, that all Mature, 
 together with us^ does groan being burthen y d„ 
 and afpiring to a certain Immortality : For r< 
 I reckon^ fays he, that the Sufferings of l %> J 9- 
 this pre fent Time are not worthy to be com- 
 pared with the Glory which floall be reveal- 
 ed in us : For the earneft Expectation of 
 the Creature waiteth for the Manifejia- 
 tion of the Sons of God. To be fhort, e very- 
 Page in the Apoitolick Writings proclaims a 
 future State and eternal Life ; at once the 
 Foundation and Recompence of our Faith : 
 And Chrift is laid to have brought, by his 
 Gofpel, this Immortality to Light, that is, 
 he explain'd it more clearly, and more effica- 
 cioufly, than either Mofes in his Laws, or 
 the Philofophers in their Schools. 
 
 C C HAP. 
 
 Lorn, vnii 
 
i8 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 That the Human Soul is an immortal Sub- 
 fiance j difiinct from the Body, and from 
 all Matter. 
 
 IT being once granted that Men are to 
 enjoy a future Life, it neceffarily follows 
 that the human Soul is immortal. But fome 
 are of Opinion, that its Immortality is foreign 
 from its Nature, and only granted to it as 
 an Advantage by divine Favour : Others 
 are of Opinion, that it was created immor- 
 tal ; and that 'tis by its own Nature exempt 
 from DhTolution. The facred Writings ma- 
 nifeftly teftify, that 'tis immortal either one 
 Way or the other, as we have juft now feen, 
 when it treats of eternal Life, of the Refur- 
 re&ion of the Dead, of the laft Judgment, 
 of future Rewards and Punifhments, of 
 Heaven and Hell, and other Things that re- 
 late to them ; all which fuppofe, that the 
 Soul exifts after the Death and DiiTolution of 
 the Body, that it lives and enjoys both Senfe 
 and Thought. However, I am of Opinion, 
 that it will be worth while, in a few Words, 
 to enquire, whether, befides the extraordina- 
 ry Favour of God, whatever that is, the 
 Soul is not immortal and incorruptible, by 
 the Force and Principles of its original Na- 
 ture, 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. 19 
 
 ture, though depending ftill upon God : For 
 it greatly corroborates our Affent to this, and 
 Belief of it, to fee what we believe have its 
 Root and Foundation in the very Nature 
 of Things. 
 
 We can never difcern or difbover, with all 
 our Attention, any Quality in the human 
 Soul, befides Thought, and the Power 
 to think. Whatever the Soul does, ei- 
 ther within itfelf, or externally, it ads not 
 by Touch or Impulie, but by the Force of 
 fome Thought, whether that Thought is 
 called Will, or Underftanding, or Appetite, 
 or by any other Name. And like wife when 
 it fuffers, either from itfelf, or from without, 
 that Suffering too is a Species of Thought : 
 So that we can find nothing at all in the 
 Soul, befides the Power of Thinking, and 
 its various Manners. Now if the Nature of 
 the Soul, or the very EfTence of it, as fome 
 are us'd to ipeak, confifts entirely inThought, 
 'tis efTentially Life, and is active or confci- 
 ous of itfelf without ceafing ; nor can it 
 any otherwife perifh than by Annihilation. 
 For if you take away all Thought from it, 
 or the Power to think, you deprive it of its 
 very EfTence, which is the fame Thing with 
 annihilating or deftroying the Soul. We 
 own that this is in the Power of God ; nor 
 is that the Qiieftion at prefent : But we de- 
 ny that its Life, or its Power to think, can 
 poffibly perifh, the EfTence of the Soul re- 
 maining j which from this Conftitution of 
 G 3 the 
 
2 .4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 the Soul, if you admit of it, in my Opinion, 
 truly and neceffarily follows. 
 
 They who after this Manner conftitute 
 the Nature of the human Soul, by that very 
 Thing render it immortal, and inceflantly 
 active or confcious of itfelf, unlefs 'tis re- 
 duced to nothing. But they who, befides 
 this Force of thinking, and this vital Ener- 
 gy, if we may be allowed to borrow that 
 Word, attribute to the Soul Extenlion and 
 Dimension, and lay this as a Foundation an- 
 tecedent to all Thought, they are to confi- 
 der by what Means they are able to prove 
 the future Life of the Soul. I fay the fu- 
 ture Life, not the fimple Duration ; for 'tis 
 one Thing limply to endure, or to laft, like a 
 Stock or a Scone ; and another Thing to 
 live and to enjoy Senfe and Thought ; which 
 is what all Men underftand when they hear 
 the Name of Immortality, and of the Life 
 hereafter. But if once an extended Subftance 
 is placed in the room of a Soul, in which 
 Life or Thought are not neceffarily included, 
 it will depend upon external Caufes, or upon 
 divine Favour, whether it mail want or en- 
 joy Life and Thought. But I am unwil- 
 ling to quarrel with any one who is for pre- 
 ferving Immortality for us at any Rate, whe- 
 ther he derive it from Nature, or from di- 
 vine Favour. 
 
 But now to make a farther Progrefs in 
 my Argument : They who endeavour to 
 perfuade us out of Immortality, than which 
 
 nothing 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. zi 
 
 nothing can be dearer to our Thoughts, will 
 have the Soul to be not only an extended 
 Subftance, but really and truly Corporeal in 
 every Reipeft, and fo, like Body, capable 
 of being duTolved. Thefe Reaibners I look 
 upon as profefsM Enemies to Human Na- 
 ture. But even towards Enemies there are 
 certain Rights and Decencies that ought to 
 be obferved. Let us, therefore, lay aiide 
 all paflionate Reproaches and injurious Lan- 
 guage, and argue the Matter candidly and 
 calmly with them. 
 
 We will, if you pleafe, for the fake of 
 fhortening the Caufe, take it for granted, by 
 common Confent, that there is lbmething 
 incorporeal in the Nature of Things ; or if 
 you are unwilling to take any Thing for 
 granted, that is not extorted from you by the 
 Force of Reafons, we will, in the rirft Place, 
 prove that God is not a Body, or is not cor- 
 poreal. And, after we have laid this Foun- 
 dation, we will proceed to examine the Na- 
 ture of the Soul, which is the Point in Quef- 
 tion. 
 
 Though itmay juftly be reckon'd among 
 thofe Abfurdities which require no Proof^ 
 that the corporeal World created itfelf, with- 
 out the Hand of an Artift, without any pre- 
 ceedingDefign, or Thought, or Counfel ; and 
 though it be no lefs abfurd, that that High 
 Wifdom and Sovereign Power, which mine 
 forth fo brightly in the Workmanmip and 
 Government of Nature, fhould be innate or 
 G 3 implanted 
 
zz ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 implanted in blind and grofs Matter ; yet fo 
 oddly are the Minds of fome Men turned, 
 that whatever does not ftrike the outward 
 Senfes, or fill the Imagination ; or, that I 
 may fpeak more plainly, whatever is not 
 corporeal, all that they efteem as nothing. 
 Well then, let us briefly examine the Thing: 
 If God is corporeal, he mull either be the 
 whole corporeal World, all the univerfal 
 Mafs of Matter ; or fome certain Portion, 
 fome Species, or fome lingular Kind of it. 
 If you affirm the latter, you fay nothing ; 
 becaufe no kind of Matter is unalterable. 
 All Matter, indeed, as to its Subftance, is 
 one and the fame ; but as to its Modes and 
 Qualities, it alters continually : That which 
 is hard to Day, to Morrow grows fofter, 
 or is melted ; and that which is thin and 
 fubtle to Day, grows hard, and thickens to 
 Morrow, and is depriv'd of its Motion. For 
 Motion paifes without ceafing from fome 
 Parts of Matter to others ; as like wile the 
 other Qualities of Matter by the Media- 
 tion of Motion ; and nothing remains under 
 the fame Form perpetually. Therefore your 
 God would be like 'Proteus; or rather, by the 
 various Mutations of Matter, would often 
 die and revive. Befides, as he is not univer- 
 fal Matter, he cannot be omniprefent ; nor 
 only that, but he would be broken afunder ? 
 and his Subftance would have Chafms in 
 feveral Places, by the Interpofition of other 
 Bodies ; for if your God is the thin and 
 
 flui4 
 
State of Departed Souls, i*fc. 23 
 
 fluid Portion of Matter, by the Interpofi- 
 tion of hard Bodies there would be a Solu- 
 tion of his Continuity : If you make him of 
 the hard and grofs Part of Matter, he would 
 be often and varioufly torn from himfelf by 
 the Fluid that would run between his di- 
 vided Parts. So that by this Means you will 
 have not One, but Numberlefs Gods ; Nor 
 would it at laft be an entire God, but ib ma- 
 ny broken Limbs and miftiapen Pieces of a 
 God. Laftly, you include your God in 
 fingle Particles of Matter ; or Part of him in 
 one, and Part of him in another : Chufe 
 which Way you will, the Choice will be 
 down right Stupidity, which it is not worth 
 while to take any farther Notice of. 
 
 You fee how wretchedly God is made up 
 of fbme particular Matter, be it what it will 
 that you chufe : Nor is it lefs abfurd, or lefs 
 impoflible, to exalt the univerfal Mafs of 
 Matter into a God and a divine Nature. If 
 you imagine that all the vaft Structure of 
 this vilible World, and all Bodies whatever, 
 celeftial, terreftrial, animated, unanimated, 
 Stocks, Stones, Metals, and whatever is viler 
 and more fordid than thefe ; if you imagine 
 all thefe to be God, in this your Folly fur- 
 pafles the Folly of the grofleft Heathens in 
 the World ; for they believed that the Deity 
 which they adored was very different from 
 the Marble or Wood, or whatever Statue 
 they had confecrated to him. They believ'd, 
 indeed, that the God inhabited, after fome 
 C 4. Man- 
 
24 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Manner, the Statue which they had erected 
 to him ; but they diftinguifrYd the Inhabitant 
 from the Houfe, and the Sword from the 
 Scabbard : But you confound both the one 
 and the other. Befides, according to your 
 Opinion, we daily eat and drink the God 
 that we worfhip, nay, we tread him under 
 our Feet. And whatever Matter fufFers 
 when 'tis violently tofs'd or driven, when 
 'tis cut, burnt, ground, or tormented any 
 other Way, God fufFers in that : For you 
 fay that Matter is God ) and, fince 'tis di- 
 vine, it cannot be infenfible. Nothing can 
 be more foreign from all Reafon than this : 
 But ftill you are preifed with an Abfurdity 
 of a blacker Dye. You not only make God 
 iufFer, but, what I hardly dare to pronounce, 
 you make him impious, you make him vil- 
 lainous : For if the Univerfe is God, he 
 muft be all its Parts, whether they are ani- 
 mated or unanimated, bafe or noble, pure or 
 impure, nay, the molt profligate, and moft 
 accurs'd either of Men or Devils. But we 
 ought with a religious Care, to abftain from 
 thefe unutterable Things. 
 
 Thesf, and other Things of this Nature, 
 unworthy the Majefty of the fupreme Dei- 
 ty, are infeparable from your Hypothefis, 
 which depreffes the Nature of God, and con- 
 founds it with Matter. Nor, on the other 
 Side, do you lels contend againft Reaibn, 
 when you are for exalting Matter, in fpite 
 of its Unwillingnefs and its Reludancy, into a 
 
 divine 
 
State of Departed Souls, <&VJ 2 5 
 
 divine Nature, and clpathing it with Per- 
 fections, of which it is moft incapable. Let 
 us, if you pleafe, recoiled: what all Men 
 underftand by the Word God : They cer- 
 tainly all underftand a Nature that is infi- 
 nitely perfect. But is there any Man alive 
 who can perfuade himfelf and others, that all 
 Perfections are inherent in Matter, that they 
 all ipring from that Root, that they all flow 
 from that Fountain ? In the firft Place, the 
 Mafs of Matter has in itfelf neither Force 
 nor Action ; nor could it receive either from 
 abroad, if there were nothing more excellent 
 than itfelf: And then, after it had received 
 it from fbmething elfe, it could not poffibly 
 exercife it, unlefs by the Divifion of itfelf 
 into various Parts, and the local Motion of 
 thofe Parts. But neither does Divifibility, 
 nor local Motion, agree with infinite Perfec- 
 tion. Secondly, if the Mafs of Matter con- 
 tains and includes in itfelf neither Force nor 
 Action, much lefs does it contain and in- 
 clude in itfelf Cogitation ; and leaft of all, 
 Cogitations infinitely perfect, infinite Wif- 
 dom, Power, and Goodnefs ; befides other 
 Perfections, in which the Sovereign Power 
 incomparably out-fhines all Nature. 
 
 But you will fay, perhaps, (that I may 
 not be in the leaft indulgent to my own 
 Caufe,) that Cogitation, indeed, is not ma- 
 nifeftly included and contained in the Con- 
 ception of Matter, or of the Mafs of Bodies, 
 but that, perhaps, 'tis fecretly or remotely 
 
 contain'd, 
 
2 6 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 contain'd, beyond our Capacity and Ken of 
 Soul. To this I anfwer, that among all 
 the Ideas of the human Soul, there is none 
 which is either more prefent, or of which it 
 has a clearer View, than the Idea of Mat- 
 ter, or of an extended Subftance. We moft 
 evidently conceive all its Dimenfions ; be- 
 fides its Divisibility, Mobility, Figures, Por- 
 tions, and Proportions. And the Sciences 
 which treat of thefe Proprieties of Matter, 
 are of all the moft evident, and the moft 
 demonftrable. And when we can find no 
 Connexion between Cogitation and any of 
 thefe Proprieties of Matter, or any other 
 Propriety of it, that falls within the Com- 
 pafs of human Underftanding, it feems to be 
 a groundlefs Sulpicion, and without the leaft 
 Appearance of Truth, that this moft excel- 
 lent Propriety, or Perfection of Matter, ac- 
 cording to your Imagination, fhould be con- 
 tain'd in the fame Idea, and yet fhould not 
 fhine out in it ; and that we fhould not, with 
 our utmoft Effort of Mind, be able to come 
 at it there, or to derive it from thence. 
 
 I say this moft excellent'Propriety of Mat- 
 ter ; for the other Proprieties which I enume- 
 rated are of lmall Moment, of little Dignity, if 
 they are compared with Thought, and all the 
 Perfections which flow from Thought ; thefe 
 conftitute the divine Nature, and all that is 
 noble and eminent in human Nature : The 
 others have neither Life, nor Senfe, nor any 
 Thing of the Force and Virtue of the great- 
 eft 
 
State of Departed Souls, $sfc 27 
 
 eft of Beings. Thus that Idea which ap- 
 pear 'd to us, of all Ideas, the moft entire and 
 the moft accomplifh'd, viz. the Idea of 
 Matter, or of corporeal Nature, is cut fhort 
 by one Half, and that the more noble Half: 
 God has concealed from us, to our great Dis- 
 advantage, if not to our great Wrong, that 
 which was moft noble and moft worthy to 
 be known in the Nature and Notion of Bo- 
 dies, by impofing this defective, and there- 
 fore fallacious, Idea on us. But this is a Ca- 
 lumny that has been invented againft God, 
 and againft Men : Whatever is proper to 
 Matter is included in its Idea ; and whate- 
 ver is foreign to it, and of another Kind, as 
 Thought, and the Power of thinking, that 
 neither is, nor ought to be included in it, 
 unlels you would include any Thing in any 
 Thing, and entirely confound the Diftinclion 
 of Things. 
 
 But that we may proceed in our Argu- 
 ment : The divine and corporeal Nature are 
 fo far from agreeing, that they are repug- 
 nant to each other, and contradictory. One 
 is infinitely perfect, the other manifeftly and 
 variouily imperfect, in itfelf enervate and 
 impotent, and every Way obnoxious to fuf- 
 fer from external Force : One of them al- 
 way the lame, the other liable to perpetual 
 Mutations : One of them fimple and uni- 
 form ; the other, by various Modifications 
 diverfify'd, and by Compolitions numberlefs. 
 By which 'tis abundantly manifeft,, that there 
 
 is 
 
2 8 r A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 is fo far from being any Connexion, Affini- 
 ty, or Similitude, between divine and cor- 
 poreal Nature, that there is an apparent Re- 
 pugnancy, and that confequently God is in- 
 corporeal. 
 
 Now this Foundation being laid down, 
 that I may come the nearer to what I pro- 
 pofed, I alTert, in the. fecond Place, that be- 
 sides God, there may be fomething incorpo- 
 real in the Nature of Things. This, with- 
 out Delay or Contention, is manifeftly de- 
 duc'd from the Premifes ; for fince God is 
 incorporeal, 'tis plain from thence that an 
 incorporeal Nature implies no Contradic- 
 tion, or that 'tis a poffible Nature. Now, 
 to produce a poffible Thing, can never be 
 impoffible : And when the fame God that is 
 incorporeal is likewife omnipotent, 'tis in 
 his Power really and actually to produce 
 whatever is not impoffible. 
 
 Thirdly, and laftly, we affirm, that the 
 human Soul is of an incorporeal Nature, or 
 that 'tis a Subftance incorporeal. I could 
 here before this Propofition infert another, 
 more general, and, as it were, intermediate, 
 'viz,, that 'tis not only poffible there mould 
 be, but that there really and actually are, 
 exifting in the Univerfe , incorporeal 
 Subftances, befides God ; and then could 
 have added, that fuch in its Kind is the hu- 
 man Soul. But we will, if you pleafe, in 
 this Chapter comprehend them both. Firft 
 then, I aifert, that in the vail Compals of 
 
 the 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffc. 29 
 
 the Univerfe, there are other incorporeal 
 Subftances befides God. For nothing from 
 the Thing itfelf, as has been made to appear, 
 hinders the Sovereign and All-powerful Be- 
 ing from creating thefe incorporeal Natures 
 when he created the Univerfe, and without 
 them the Workmanihip of it had been in 
 a Manner imperfect, and maimed in its no- 
 bleft Part. If any one mould build a mag- 
 nificent Houfe ; and when he came to adorn 
 and furnifh it, fhould fupply it with no coftly 
 Furniture, but only with earthen or wooden 
 Ware, or Utenfils of fome more ignoble 
 Matter, to the Neglect of every fumptuous, 
 every gallant Ornament ; you would be apt 
 to fay, that Man, or that Mafter, was ei- 
 ther dilbrder'd in his Underftanding, or ex- 
 haufted by his Expence, or very miferably 
 covetous. So if the Creator of all Things 
 in compleating and adorning his Work, had 
 omitted the moft excellent Ornaments, incor- 
 poreal Natures, one would have been apt 
 and ready to fay, that he had been either by 
 Envy or Impotence deprived of the Will, or 
 of the Ability to finifh and accomplifh his 
 Work. How great and how frightful a 
 Chafm had there been ? how vaft a Vacuity 
 in the Nature of Things, if there had been 
 nothing between the higheft and the loweft 
 Nature, between God and Matter ? In that 
 immenfe Interval, there is Room for num- 
 berlefs Orders of Beings, and Beings of the 
 nobleft Kind ; which, if God had either not 
 
 created, 
 
jo A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 created, or had afterwards fupprefs^d, he had 
 been neither mindful of his own Majefty, 
 nor the Dignity of his Undertaking. Laft- 
 ly, in the Nature of Things there are very 
 many Phxnomenas, which can neither juftly 
 be referred to Matter, nor immediately to 
 God: Thefe Appearances require interme- 
 diate Natures, and fecondary Caufes from 
 God, fuperior to the utmoft Power of Mat- 
 ter: But there is here no room to dwell 
 any longer upon thefe. 
 
 The Way being thus prepar'd, and, as it 
 were, leveled, we come at length to the very 
 Conclufion in which the Argument termi- 
 nates, viz. that among thefe incorporeal 
 Subftances the human Soul has a Place, or 
 that 'tis one of their Number. The whole 
 Point in Debate, it is plain, turns upon this, 
 viz. to what Clafs and Order of Things, 
 corporeal or incorporeal, the human Soul be- 
 longs ? * But fince the EfTences of Things in 
 a great meafure lie hid from us, and we have 
 
 hardly 
 
 * That this may more clearly and diftinctly appear, 
 let us diligently examine, and, as it were, look into our- 
 1 s, that we may fee what we are. and what Value 
 \ o 't to fet on ourfelves. Every Man is confcious 
 of . nfelf and his own Exigence. If any one fhall 
 happen to doubt of this, be mult be convinced by that 
 very Doubt, nnd confefs that he txifts But what fort of 
 Beings we are, who doubt, who will, who will not, who 
 rejoice, who grieve, and who think, a thoufand different 
 Ways; here, I fay, lies the great Queftion, what we 
 are who acl, and who futfer thefe Things. In the firft 
 
 Place, 
 
State of Departed Souls, is?c. 3 1 
 
 hardly any other Way to difcover the Diffe- 
 rences between them, than by their Proprie- 
 ties and their Effe&s, it will not be foreign 
 to our Purpofe to compare, in the firft Place, 
 the Qualities and Effects of each Nature, the 
 corporeal and the incorporeal, or of our 
 Souls and our Bodies; that. we may learn 
 from thence, whether they are different, or 
 are one and the fame ; and if they are diffe- 
 rent, in what Manner they differ or are op- 
 pos'd to each other. 
 
 We 
 
 Place, I perceive that I am a Being diftincTt from all o- 
 ther Beings. Nor does any other feel the Grief or the 
 Pain that 1 do, nor I what another feels ; and fo for 
 Pleafure, and the reft of the Affections. Befides, I un- 
 derstand either more or lefs than others ; and as every 
 one has the Freedom of his own Will, I have that of 
 mine. I am lick, am in Health, I hunger, I fleep, for 
 my felf only; and laftly, I live, or I die formyfelf alone, 
 Byreafun ofthisConcienfcioufnefscf Actions and Paf- 
 fions proper and peculiar to me, and incommunicable to 
 anyThing elfe, I call myfelf a certain Individual, di- 
 vided and diftinct from every other Being; diftinct from 
 God, as I am an imperfect Being, obnoxious to the 
 Errors, both of my Underftanding and Will; diftinct: 
 likewiie from every ether Being, when they neither per- 
 ceive my Thoughts, nor Senfations, nor have 1 any 
 Senfe of theirs. In the mean while, thofe Actions or 
 Paffions, of which I alone am confeious, muft neceffa- 
 rily belong to fome Subftance, as the Properties and 
 Faculties of that Subftance: To God they cannot be- 
 long, as we have fhewn above, and will be ftill more 
 clear below; they muft belong then to fome created 
 Subftance, corporeal or incorporeal. 
 
 These Things being premis'd, you fee very clearly 
 that the whole Point in Debate turns upon this, viz. to 
 what Clafs of created Beings, corporeal or incorporeal, 
 the human Soul belongs ? 
 
A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 We have feen above, that Thought is 
 not included in the Idea of corporeal Nature, 
 or that on the other Side, any of the Pro- 
 prieties of Body are included in Thought ; 
 and therefore the Author of Nature has de- 
 ceived us both Ways, if Thought belongs to 
 Matter ; and therefore unlefs we pretend to 
 understand beyond the Reach of our Facul- 
 ties, or befide them, or againft them, no 
 Motive or Handle can fpring from our Ideas 
 that may occafion our uniting and confound- 
 ing Thought with corporeal Nature. 
 
 But you will fay, perhaps, that wefome- 
 times learn thofe Things by Experience, 
 which we could never have dedue'd from our 
 Ideas alone. If we Ihould grant it, yet never 
 has it been found by any Experience, that 
 the Mind either acts or fuffers after the Man- 
 ner of Matter ; or that Matter either acts or 
 fuffers the fame Way that the Mind does, 
 that is, by the Power and Force of its own 
 Thought. We all know very well, that 
 Matter either acts or fuffers by Motion, 
 Touch, or Impulfe ; but never has it yet 
 been made to appear, that the Mind either 
 acts or fuffers by Touch, or by Impulfe, or by 
 any of the Motions which they excite. For 
 Example ; when I move by a voluntary Mo- 
 tion either my Tongue or my Finger, or 
 any other Part of my Body, I am confeious 
 of no Impulfe, or any Manner of Stref what- 
 ever made by my Mind upon that Part of 
 the Body. There is, indeed, a Motion of the 
 
 Spirits, 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc: ?j 
 
 Spirits, or of the thinner Juice, from which 
 the Motion of that Part of the Body ulti- 
 mately proceeds : But we are now inquiring 
 into the rirft Original or Caufe of that Mo- 
 tion of the Spirits in the Brain, as far as it 
 lies in our Power, and after the Manner by 
 which it proceeds immediately from the 
 Mind, or from the Action of the Mind. 
 But I affirm, that I am confcious of no Ac- 
 tion of my Mind in the producing or effect- 
 ing this Motion, but Volition, or the Com- 
 mand of my Will. But that this Action, or 
 Command of my Will, is perfbrm'd by Touch 
 or Impulfe, or has its EfFeft by thofe, I 
 am able to difcover by no Conicioufnefs, nor 
 rind by any Experience. 
 
 And as for the Paflions of the Mind, oc- 
 cafion'd by the Body, and by corporeal OIj- 
 jec~isj theie Objects as far as they are in 
 the Soul, have no Refemblance or Relation 
 to Local Motion, or to thofe Motions of 
 the Body by which they are excited. For 
 Example : The Heart is contracted in Grief 
 and Sadnefs, and dilated in Mirth and Joy : 
 But no Man can imagine that this Contrac- 
 tion, or this Dilatation, can be in the Soul it- 
 felf, as if the Soul of Man were mufcular, 
 composed of Fibres and Tendons. For the 
 Senfeof Grief, of which we are confcious, 
 and which we clearly perceive, reprefents 
 neither Local Motion to us, nor any Thing 
 that is moveable, but is a lingular Idea, ha- 
 
 D ving 
 
34 'A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ving no Refemblance to any other, and leaft 
 of all to Local Motion. 
 
 And, laftly, in external Scnfations, in the 
 Perception of Tafte, Smells and Sounds, that 
 which we moft immediately feel, gives us 
 no Image, either of Matter or Motion. And 
 when we fee external Objects by Images 
 painted in the Eye, thofe Images can never 
 be carried with an equal Motion, and in the 
 fame entire Figure to the Seat of the Soul 
 in the Brain, or in whatever Part or Region 
 the Soul has its Seat and Perception is per- 
 form'd ; nor can they more^ when they are 
 in c l)ifbrder and Con f upon ^ reprefent the 
 Object {by their own Force) diftinBly to 
 the Soul. But we ought leaft of all to fufc 
 peel, that thefe Images, or Remnants of 
 Images, are the very Thoughts themfelves 
 that arife from them in the Soul. And the 
 fame Account is to be given of thofe little 
 Images, which we may call Memorial Marks, 
 which are very imperfect, and therefore un- 
 equal to their original Types. Laftly, if 
 there are befides any other Thoughts, that 
 may be rcferr'd to this Clals, you will find 
 upon inquiring into them, that they include 
 nothing extended, or figured, or corpo- 
 real. 
 
 Thus far have we treated of the firft Ope- 
 ration of the human Soul, which is call'd 
 iimple Apprehenfion, whether it be a pure 
 and abftracled Idea, or join'd together with 
 Motion in fome Part of the Body. But 
 
 there 
 
State of Departed Souls, teV. 35 
 
 there is in us, befides Ideas or fimple Ap- 
 prehenfions, fuperior and nobler Principles, 
 or Faculties of the Soul, as Judgment, 
 Reafon, and a Chain of Reafons linkM to 
 one another ; and, laftly, there is a fovereign 
 Principle that prefides over all thefe, and 
 therefore is juftly call'd by the Greeks, To 
 yye/ucovixov, c£ to otule^ovcriov. This lb vereign 
 Principle has Dominion and Empire as 
 well over the Operations of the Soul, as 
 over the Motions of the Body : And all 
 thefe are to be feparately weigh'd, when we 
 fearch into the Nature of the Soul. Let us 
 proceed then, if you pleafe, to a feparate 
 Examination of each of them. The Ope- 
 rations of the Soul then, as we faid above, 
 following each other in due Order, are divi- 
 ded into fimple Perceptions, into Judgments, 
 into Ratiocinations, and, if you pleaie, into 
 Methods, or into a Series of Thoughts that 
 are marfhall'd in exad: Order ; for Method 
 comprehends and diipofes of feveral Ratio- 
 cinations. Ratiocination is employ 'd in the 
 Connexion of feveral Judgments, Judgment 
 in comparing and comprehending feveral 
 Ideas, or feveral Senfations. Thus if you 
 proceed in Order, the Ideas are the firft Ele- 
 ments of Knowledge, and, as it were, the 
 Letters of the Alphabet of which Words 
 are compos'd, and of Words Sentences and 
 Periods, and Difcourfe of Sentences : And 
 thus the Scale of Thoughts anfwers, in fome 
 Meafure, to the feveral Parts of Speech. 
 
 D 2 We 
 
36 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 We have laid enough concerning the 
 Ideas. The Judgments and Ratiocinations 
 follow, in which the Mind contemplates the 
 Relations, Proportions, and mutual Regards 
 of the Ideas ; for we ought to take notice of 
 this, that the Ideas, confider'd feparately, 
 are incapable of offering any Truth to us, 
 and that they neither conclude, nor affirm, 
 or deny any Thing. This is another Ac- 
 tion, another Faculty of the Soul, which by 
 contemplating the Proportions, Regards, and 
 Refpects, that there is between thefe Ideas, (I 
 here take Ideas in the largeft Senfe,) affirm 
 or deny fomething concerning them, and 
 confequently concerning the Things which 
 they reprefent, as they accord or differ, im- 
 ply or exclude, agree or are oppos'd to each 
 other, and this according to their different 
 Meafure and Degrees. Now fancy, if you 
 pleafe, that the Ideas themfelves are corpo- 
 real Motions ; what are thefe Relations be- 
 tween the Ideas, thefe Concatenations and 
 Dependencies ? But, laftly,what is this Judge, 
 this Ruler of the Ideas, that examines as 
 well the Ideas themfelves, as the Relations 
 they have to each other ? compares them, 
 weighs them, determines and reconciles them? 
 and by comparing them, forms various Pro- 
 pofitions, and Concatenations of Propor- 
 
 tions? 
 
 Lastly, do you believe that this Progreis 
 that you make in thinking, from fimple Per- 
 ception to Judgment, from Judgment to 
 
 Ratio- 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 3 7 
 
 Ratiocination, and from thence to a well- 
 order 'd Scries and Context of Arguments ? 
 do you believe, I fay, that this Progrefs is 
 made by the Impulfe of one Part of the 
 Soul on another, or by any Succeffion of 
 Motions, according to the Laws of Matter 
 and Local Motion ? Molt certainly you do 
 not believe it: Turn your Eyes inward, con- 
 fult yourfelf, interrogate your Soul, that is 
 Mafter and confcious of itfelf; ask it, if 
 thefe Operations are nothing but corporeal 
 Mutations, but Touches, Impulies, or Darn- 
 ings againft other of corpufcularian Particles 3 
 and that they are produc'd one from the o- 
 ther, according to the Laws of Local Mo- 
 tion. Your Soul, unlefs it lies againft the 
 Truth and itfclf, and is induftrious to de- 
 prefs itfelf into an inferior Order of Things, 
 which God did not ordain for it, but which 
 yet it deferves, by reafon of the Wrong and 
 Injuftice which it does to itfelf ; 1 fay, un- 
 lefs it does that, it will ingenuouily confcfs, 
 that it finds nothing at all of that in itfelf, 
 nor is able to gather from any Indication, 
 that thefe Operations are perform'd in it af- 
 ter a corporeal Manner, by virtue of its own 
 or of any other Body ; but that by a Power 
 peculiar to itfelf, and according to the Laws 
 of a thinking Nature, from the Contempla- 
 tion of its Ideas, and the Relation between 
 thofe Ideas, new Contemplations more com- 
 pounded arife, as it were, fo many new 
 Births, or new Conceptions, after them. 
 
 D 3 To 
 
3 8 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 To confirm this Teftimony which the 
 Soul gives concerning itfelf, provided it be 
 frank and ingenuous, let us recollect a little 
 what has been laid above : That Truth or 
 Falihood, properly calPd fo, does not con- 
 fin in the bare Ideas taken feparately from 
 each other, but in the right Difpofition of 
 fevcral Ideas among one another to their 
 different Kinds, and their feveral Relations; 
 for fo Proportions and Judgments are form'd 
 in the Mind, from which Ratiocination is 
 afterwards wrought ; and from them both, 
 Difcourfe of whatever Nature, Oration, or 
 DifTertation. From what has been faid, we 
 form two Obfervations: The firftis, that the 
 greateft Force of Mind that can poilibly be 
 conceiv'd, is feen in its contemplating, dif- 
 tinguifhing, determining the Relations that 
 Things have to one another, or the Ideas of 
 Things. As Argumentation turns upon 
 thefe, or makes its Progrefs from one to an- 
 other, according to their mutual Connexions 
 or Relations, the whole Series, and Pro- 
 grefs, and Concatenation of Thoughts de- 
 pends intirely upon thefe. The Ideas of 
 Things that fall under the Imagination, be- 
 ing feparately taken from thefe, are like fo 
 much Sand without Lime: The Things 
 which cement them, are the forefaid Rela- 
 tions perce'rod by the c Onderftandiug only. I 
 fay, perceiv'd by the Underftanding only ; 
 for the fecond Obfervation that we make is 
 this, that the Relations of Things of this 
 
 Nature 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc, 29 
 
 Nature have no Images of themfelves in the 
 Brain, no Marks in the Imagination; nor 
 can they be reprefented by any corporeal 
 Image, when they are without Parts, with- 
 out Shape, and without Extenfion. How- 
 ever, exprefs Subject, or the Words which 
 we annex to our Idea, Termini Sub/ecJi, may 
 be in ibme Meafure reprefented ; as for Ex- 
 ample, a Triangle, or Quadrangle, or Ibme- -^ 
 thing of that Nature. But the Companion 
 or Proportion between thefe Termini j or the 
 Parts of either of them, or between any 
 other Things whatever j this is Ratiocina- 
 tion refulting from divers Things compared 
 with each other, which can be reprefented 
 by no Lines, and which no Colours can 
 paint. We may apply to this what the Pro- 
 phet laid concerning the divine Nature ; To 
 whom will ye liken Almighty God 2 or what ifa. x. 18. 
 Likencfs will ye compare to him ? What Si- 
 militude of his Likenefs, or what Effigies of 
 abftract ed Proportions can you poffibly con- 
 ceive could be drawn in the Brain, or in any 
 other material Subitance whatever? Thus 
 the Realbns of Truth and Falfhood, of 
 Bafenefs and Worthinefs, of Pofiibility and 
 Impoffibility, and of thole univerfal Notions 
 which arife from the comparing feveral 
 Things together • I fay, theie, and Ideas of 
 this Nature, have not the leaft Trace or 
 Fold, the leaft Shadow, or Form, or Figure, 
 in the narrow or lmalleft Fibres of the Brain. 
 But fo much for this Argument. 
 
 D 4 Hitherto 
 
40 ^ TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Hitherto we have follow'd one only 
 Thread of Difcourfe, viz. the gradual Pro- 
 gress that the human Soul makes in its Ope- 
 rations y in which, from fimple Perception it 
 proceeds to Judgments and Arguments ; and 
 from thence to a Series and Syitem of 
 Thoughts in the Arts and Sciences, ranked in 
 the molt, beautiful and the exa&eft Order, 
 and to a long Range and Sequel of Propor- 
 tions, as well for Contemplation as Practice, 
 and the Government of human Affairs. 
 How juitly are thcie Virtues and this Force 
 admir'd in the human Soul, by which 'tis 
 diftinguiih'd from the Machine of its Body, 
 and from all material Subftance ? Let us 
 now return to that other no lefs admirable 
 Principle or Faculty which we mentioned 
 above, by which the Soul is iikewife diC- 
 tinguihYd from the Machine of its Body, 
 and by which it vindicates its Empire over all 
 the Motions of the other : This Principle we 
 have call'd To dvre^yaiov ; the Latins call it 
 Liber um Arbitrium, or the voluntary and 
 fpontaneous Force of the Mind. In the firft 
 Place, by the Force of this Principle we 
 govern the Body, and command the Spirits 
 which Way we pleafe, to move this or that, 
 or any Part of it : By this Principle we re~ 
 fift the- Propenfions of the Body, we con- 
 troul its Appetites, and its Affections, and 
 its external and internal Senfes, as often as 
 'tis our Pleafure. 
 
 But 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 4 1 
 
 But, for God's fake, what ftrange kind of 
 Thing is this that refills the Body, if we are 
 nothing but Body? When a River runs 
 either this Way, or that Way, can it by its 
 own Force put a Stop to its Stream, and turn 
 it a contrary Way. No Matter whatever 
 ads againft itfelf, no Machine is confcious 
 of its own Motions, or from that Confciouf- 
 nefs a Corrector and Reformer of its Errors. 
 If it err, as 'tis not confcious of it, it con- 
 tinues to err, till the Hand of the Artift or 
 Mafter being applied to it, 'tis brought into 
 Order, and reftor'd to its right State. 
 
 No Part of Matter, and no Machine, can 
 imitate this reflexive Principle, if I may 
 have Leave to ufe the Expreffion. This 
 Force, that is a Reformer of itfelf, and that 
 repents of itfelf, tranfcends all the Force, 
 the Nerves and the Springs of thofe corpo- 
 real Engines that appear to move of them- 
 felves : And as it is lingular and peculiar to 
 an intellectual Nature, fo 'tis in that Nature 
 what is greateft and moft divine. I not 
 only admire that perpetual Motion in the 
 Mind of Man, by which it is rais'd above 
 all Matter ; but there is fomething yet more 
 fublime, which lords it over the Mind itfelf, 
 as well as over the Body, that with fove- 
 . reign Authority exacts an Account of ' all 
 the Motions of each, and, as it were, an- 
 other I, and a fupream Judge, firi&ly re- 
 views the A&ions of both one and the 
 
 other, 
 
4* A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 other, and corrects or confirms them at Plea- 
 sure. * 
 
 Now as to what relates to our Thoughts, 
 and to the feveral Motions of our Minds, what 
 we chiefly find by Experience is this, that the 
 Mind, according to that Liberty and Domi- 
 nion with which it was at firft created, applies 
 itfelf to profecute whatever Thought it plea- 
 fes, dwells on it a longer or a fhorterTime, de- 
 ferts it, and turns itfelf to another, according 
 to its lbvereign Pleafure. Befides, we are to 
 obferve, that this avre^tov, in exercifing its 
 lbvereign Power, either on the Body, or on 
 the Soul, fometimes takes the Advice of 
 Reafbn, and follows that for its Guide ; and 
 fometimes, and that but too often, it takes a 
 contrary Courfe, and then it loofes all Com- 
 mand of itfelf, and often runs headlong up- 
 on its own Deftruction. But when it calls 
 in Reafon to its Afliftance, and choofes her 
 for a Companion, then fhe is like the Deity, 
 
 and 
 
 *Tell me, I befeech yon, what is the Difference 
 between Sleeping and Waking? When we dream, ibme 
 Thoughts follow others fortuitoufly, according as the 
 Phantoms offer themfelves, without the Government 
 or Command of the Mind, whether they are aptly or 
 abfurdly join'd. But when we areawake, there is fome- 
 thing in us that corrects thcfe Thoughts, guides them, 
 commands them, (lops them, and turns them which Way 
 lbevcr it plcafes; and rejecting the abfurd, connects and 
 compotes the red into a rational Scries. What is that 
 fuperior Principle that prefides over all thefe Motions of 
 the Body, and all thefe Thoughts of the Mind, and go- 
 verns them at its Pleafure? This fuperior Principle, I 
 call the high, the fovereign, and imperatorial Mind. 
 
State of Departed Souls, ©V. 43 
 
 and calls to a fevere Examination all the 
 Errors of the Soul, the Errors of the Will, 
 and thofe of the Senfes ; the Errors of the 
 Imagination, and thole of the Paffions; nay, 
 and the Errors even of Reafon itfelf. In this 
 the divine Force of the Soul fhines out with 
 the greater!: Glory. Indeed, in every Action, 
 in every Paffion of the Soul, let it be ever 
 ib weak, let it be ever fo abjecl:, as in Sen- 
 fation, or in any Affection or Appetite, there 
 is fbmething fuperior to all corporeal Force ; 
 I mean that confcious, perceiving, and com- 
 prehending Quality, which is every where 
 prefent ; for which Matter can be never fuf- 
 flcient, nor any Thing compofed of Matter. 
 But when we afccnd by the forementioned 
 Steps to the fupream Perfection of our Na- 
 tures, then we are immcnfely diftant from 
 Earth, and from earthly Things ; then we 
 are rais'd to the very Heaven of Heavens, 
 ten thoufand Degrees higher than any orga- 
 nical or mechanical Engine could ever have 
 the Force to carry us *. 
 
 Lastly, 
 
 * But let us proceed: In a thinking Nature two 
 Things are join'd, which can never concur in a corpo- 
 real Nature; for Example, Action, and the Unity of 
 A£Hon. Our. Conception of Thought includes in it Ac- 
 tion, and that the moft united Action : But Matter is 
 either void of Action, as the more hard, ponderous, un- 
 wieldy Bodies are ; or 'tis void of Unity, as fluid and vo- 
 latile Matter, which confifts of numerous Particles, which 
 are carried this Way and that Way, without Connexion 
 pr Unity. 
 
44 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Lastly, that I may wind up all this 
 together, there is fomething within us that 
 may be called an univerfal Percipient, or 
 an univerfal confcious Principle, that runs 
 through all the Operations of the Soul, 
 and is difFufed through all its Actions and 
 Paffions. Now I would fain know of you 
 what this is : Is it fome Limb, fome Part 
 or Particle of the Body ? It is one and the 
 fame Thing that difcerns external Objects, 
 that judges and reafons, that wills, refoives, 
 underftands ; laftly, that receives all Im- 
 preffions, and exerts or accompanies all Ac- 
 tions. There is a Neceffity that this uni- 
 verfal Perceiver mould be very fimple, and 
 of an Unity inexpreffible, that it may be 
 capable of receiving fb many Impreflions 
 without Confufion, and of contemplating with 
 one View fo many Reafons and Relations 
 of Things. No Part or Portion of Matter 
 feems to me to be capable of fb much 
 Unity and Simplicity. Whatever is receiv'd, 
 is receiv'd according to the Meafure of the 
 Receiver ; and where there are feveral Parts 
 or Particles in the Receiver, the Impreflion 
 mult be confufed or diftra&ed. If the whole 
 Impreflion falls upon the fame Point, there 
 will be Confufion; if upon feveral, there 
 will be Diffraction. In Matter there can be 
 no one Part, that can perceive the Whole, or 
 that can be confcious of the whole Impref. 
 . fion, and the whole Object : But as in the 
 perceiving external Obje&s, fo in the com- 
 paring 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcfr. 45 
 
 paring and diftinguifhing them, there mull 
 be fomething one, that comprehends the 
 Reafons of them, and handles, or divides, 
 or connects them, like lb many Threads ; 
 and either lengthens them, or breaks them off, 
 and in various Manners winds and works 
 them together. And in all thefe Variations 
 and Operations, befides the proper Force 
 which is in each of the lingular Operations, 
 there is a certain common Force which runs 
 through them all, and is, as it were, the 
 Soul of the Soul. And this univerfal Per- 
 ceiver, or univerfal Confcious, mull not 
 be only fomething one, but lomething moil 
 perfectly one, and of the greateft Simplicity ; 
 of fo great Unity and Simplicity, as was 
 faid before, that can never be conceiv'd to 
 be in any extended Subftance, divifible and 
 compofed of Parts that are diftant from each 
 other. 
 
 Having thus difcu-fs'd thefe Things with ]; vid Su a r - 
 all poffible Brevity, it appears clear to me, « X x X .%." 
 on every Side, that our Souls are of a dif- <, * , 3»o*. 
 ferent Nature from our Bodies, and luperior 
 to all corporeal Force whatfoever. And this 
 appears evident, whether we contemplate 
 the Ideas of both Natures, or the Motions 
 and Operations of the Soul, or that univer- 
 fal Confeious, which is infeparable from the 
 meaneft of them. Many other Argument?, 
 and thofe unanfwerable ones, are us'd by 
 learn'd Men to prove the Diftinction be- 
 tween the Soul and the Body, and any par- 
 ticular 
 
46 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ticular Part of the Body. Certainly, the 
 Soul of every Man is ibmething permanent, 
 and is, during Life, the fame numerical Be- 
 ing. But no Part of the Body is, during 
 Life, the fame numerical Thing ; but one 
 Part flies fenlibly off, and a new one fuc- 
 ceeds unconicious and ignorant of the Things 
 which the other knew or a£ted. But there 
 is no Occafion to dwell longer here upon 
 this, when the Chriftian Inftitution hath in- 
 ftru&ed us clearly and fully in the Do&rine 
 of the Immortality of the Soul, and the 
 Diftin&ion between that and the Body, as 
 well in Creation, as in Death. Speaking of 
 the Creation of Man, the facred Text diftin- 
 guifhes between his Soul and his Body, when 
 
 Gen. ii. 7. it tells us, that God form'd his Body of Earth, 
 and then infus'd his Soul into it. Nor does 
 it lefs upon the Death of a Man, when the 
 compounded Being is diflblv'd, fend each 
 Part of him feparately to its proper Origi- 
 
 Eccl.xii.7. na l- Then /ball the 'Dujl return to Earth j 
 as it was,, and the Sprit to God who gave 
 
 Mat.x. 28. it. And Chrift has taught us, that we 
 jhould not fear them who kill the Body, but 
 are not able to kill the Soul : And he him- 
 felf, being about to expire, recommended his 
 
 Lukexxiii. Soul into the Hand of God, while his Body 
 
 * 6 - hung upon the Crofs. 
 
 Mat. xxii. Besides, Chrift has affirm'd, that the Souls 
 
 2 '- of Abraham, and of the Patriarchs are ftill 
 
 alive, (or, at leaft, that they were at that 
 Time.) And gives to pious, or penitent 
 
 Souls, 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. 47 
 
 Souls, after they have put off their mortal Luke *v"- 
 Body, a Seat in Paradife or in Abraham's "' 
 Bofom ; but fent the Souls of wicked Men ^kexxiii. 
 to Hell, or to Gehenna. Mofes and Elias 
 appeared in the Transfiguration of Chrilt, /ohnxi.45; 
 many Ages after they had departed this mor- 
 tal Life. Chrift likewife call'd back depart- Mat.ix.2/. 
 ed Souls to their Bodies, as often as it was 
 his Pleafure, and refum'd his own Body af- 
 ter it had been three Days buried, and as- 
 cended into Heaven full of Life, and fur- 
 rounded with Glory. Thus has Chrift tef- 
 tify'd, by what he faid, by what he did, by 
 what he fuffer'd, and every Way, that the 
 Souls of Men are diftinguifh'd from their 
 Bodies, and live after the others die. 
 
 That the Dead are faid to fall afleep in 
 the facred Writings,* is no folid Objection 
 to the Immortality of the Soul ; for neither 
 does the Soul perifh in Sleep, nor ceafe 
 from all Kind of Adion ; but the Senfes 
 being bound up, is not affected with the ex- 
 ternal World ; which may very well be the 
 Cafe in the State of Death, or in the fe- 
 farate State, as it is wont to be call'd, when 
 we live to God, and to the intellectual World, 
 till we wake again in the Refurre&ion, and 
 
 reluming 
 
 * It appears clearly in the facred Writings, that the 
 Dead enjoy a fort of Lire peculiar to them, or that the 
 middle State between the Death and the Rcfurre&ion of 
 the Body, is a State of Life, whatever that Lite is, 
 1 Tbef. v. 10. 
 
4? A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 refuming a vifible and corporeal Shape, re- 
 new our Commerce with the external World, 
 Rom.xiv. Chrift calling us back to it, who is Lord of 
 9 * the Living, and of the Dead. But we 
 
 fhall have Occafion to treat of this Matter 
 below. 
 
 That we may finifh this Part of our 
 Difcourfe, we are to obferve, that every 
 Man oblerves the Diftinction between the 
 Soul and the Body with Eafe, or with Diffi- 
 culty, according to his Genius and hisExtent 
 of Capacity. If any one could doubt, which, 
 perhaps, fome People may, of the Exiftence 
 of their own Bodies, and of all external 
 Things ; that very Man, notwithstanding 
 this, would be certain of the Exiftence of 
 his own Soul. Which fufficiently difcovers 
 the Body and the Soul to be two different 
 Things, and that there is no fuch Thing 
 as a neceffary Connexion between them. 
 This doubting Man, I fay, would be cer- 
 tain ftill of the Exiftence of his own Soul, 
 from his very Incertitude and his Doubting ; 
 for any fort of certain Operation, let it be 
 what it will, neceffarily demonftrates the 
 Exiftence of the Thing whofe Action or 
 Operation it is. Nor can the moft obftinate 
 Sceptick ever arrive at that Degree of Stu- 
 pidity, as to deny or doubt of their own Exif- 
 tence. Let them take away Motion from the 
 Nature of Things, let them take away Hea- 
 ven, and the Stars of Heaven, and all the fur- 
 rounding Objects that ftrike our Senfes, nay, 
 
 their 
 
State of Departed Souls, &ci 49 
 
 their own Bodies, if it be pofllble ; this 
 thinking doubting Thing, which denies the 
 Exiftence of all the reft, will ftili itlelf re- 
 main ; nor can it confound itfelf with thofe 
 of whofe Exiftence it doubts. Laftly, the 
 Soul which after this Manner is diftinguifh- 
 ed from its own, and from every other Bo- 
 dy, is to be accounted an incorporeal Sub- 
 ftance, as we faid at firft : Nor will it be 
 duTolvedat the Diflblution of the Body, nor 
 periih when that perifhes ; but, polTeiling 
 the Life that is proper to it, it remains fur- 
 viving and immortal, capable of enjoying 
 eternal Felicity, or feeling everlafting Mi- 
 fery. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 What will be the future Condition of the 
 Soul after the c Dijfolution of the Body ; 
 or of the Middle State of Souls in the 
 Interval between Tleath and the Re fur ~ 
 reclion, as to the degrees of Happinefs 
 orMifery. 
 
 WHEN we have already proved, as 
 well by Arguments drawn from 
 Reaibn and Nature, as by the moft evi- 
 dent Do&rines and Teftimonies of facred 
 Authors, that human Souls furvive the Ex- 
 tinction of their Bodies ; we are next to en- 
 
 E quire* 
 
5 o ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 quire, what Kind of Life they are like to 
 enjoy, or in what State they fubfift after 
 they are feparated from their Bodies. The 
 Queftion that naturally offers itfelf firft, is, 
 whether, after they are feparated from this 
 Body, they are to inform another, of what 
 kind ibever it is ? or whether they are to 
 remain naked, disjoined, and abftra&ed from 
 all Matter, even to the Refurre&ion ? The 
 Solution of this Queftion would lead us di- 
 rectly into the Knowledge of the future State 
 of the Soul : But when there is another 
 more general, and lefs obfcure, which in- 
 quires into the Degrees of Happineis or 
 Mifery before the Day of Judgment, I am 
 inclin'd, firlt, to examine by Way of Intro- 
 duction, the Opinions of certain Moderns, 
 who carry the Souls of Men, juft after Death, 
 immediately after they have left their Bodies, 
 either direclly up to Heaven, to the Height 
 of Glory and the beatifick Vifion ; or thruft 
 them down into the Torments of Hell and 
 unfpeakable Mifery. Either of which appears 
 to me in its kind to be carried to too great 
 an Extremity. 
 
 There are feveral of the Proteftant Di- 
 vines who will allow of no middle State of 
 Souls, through anApprehenfion of Purgatory. 
 Thus when we would avoid one bad Extream, 
 fuch is the Folly of Mankind, we often run 
 into another as vicious, and as blameable. 
 'Tis fumciently known, that the Papiftical 
 - Purgatory is a human Invention,, adapted to 
 
 the 
 
State of Departed Souls, Zsrc. 5 1 
 
 the Capacity of the People, and the Advan- 
 tage of the Priefts ; nor will we, through 
 Apprehenfion of this Fantom, defert the 
 Do&rine of the Ancients concerning the im« 
 perfect and unfiniuYd Happinefs or Mifery 
 of human Souls before the Day of Judg- 
 ment. But, as for what relates to the Mi- 
 fery and Punifliments of the wicked, we mail 
 at prefent pal's it by : It will be fufficient 
 to mew at prefent, that the Opinion of thofe 
 who tranilate the Souls of the departed Righ- 
 teous to the Kingdom of Heaven, and that 
 fupreme Glory, which is call'd the beatifick 
 Vifion, before the Refurreclion of the Dead^ 
 and the Coming of Chriff, is neither agree- 
 able to the facred Writings, nor to the primi^ 
 tive Faith of Chriftians. 
 
 They who promife themfelves, or others, 
 that they mail enjoy the beatifick Vifion 
 immediately after their Deaths, ought in 
 Reafbn to fhew us fome Promife in Scrip- 
 ture that may fuftain fo great a Hope : For 
 in thefe and the like Matters, which flow 
 not immediately from the Nature of Things, 
 but from the Will and the Appointment of 
 God, a Hope that is founded on no divine 
 Promife, is a temerarious Hope. Tell me 
 then the facred, the infpir'd Authors, who 
 are the Sureties and the Guarantees of fo 
 great a Hope, and of fo fudden and fo vaft 
 a Felicity. In thofe Paffages of the facred 
 Writings, which allure us that we fhall one 
 Day fee God, we are by no Means taught 
 Ez that 
 
52 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 that this mall be immediately after any one's 
 Mat.v. 8. Death. We are rather told, on the contrary, 
 l^"-" 8 - that this mail not be till Chrift {hall appear, 
 
 nor fhall it be made manifeft to the Sons of 
 
 Rom.viil' God > unlcfs in the Refurreftion. 
 19,2.3. Besides, according to the fame facred 
 
 Col.111.4. Oracles, and the Apoftolical Writings^ the 
 Saints are not to obtain their Glory and their 
 lolemn Reward before the Coming of Chrift, 
 and the Refurrection of the Dead. St/Peter 
 Ep.v. 4. promiles a Crown of Glory to the faithful 
 Shepherds of Chrift,when the Prince of Shep- 
 herds fhall appear : Nor can I believe that 
 the People will receive their Reward before 
 their Pallor. St. 5P^«/, who in the Chriftian 
 ^ m - Wt Warfare is fecond to none, tells us, that he 
 is not to receive his Crown till the Day of 
 the Coming of the Lord, the rightful Judge ; 
 and that he is perfuaded that he fhall then 
 at laft receive from God the Soul which he 
 has committed to him, together with eternal 
 zTim.i. Tife. / am perfuaded, fays he, that he 
 I2 - is able to keep what I have committed un- 
 
 to him againfl that ^Day : As if he was of 
 Opinion, that the Time that interven'd be- 
 tween the Day of Death, and that great 
 Day, was to be efteem'd as nothing, being 
 filent and inglorious; which that Holy A- 
 poftle would never have thought, if, in 
 the mean while, he had been confcious to 
 himfelf, that in that Interval of Time we 
 were to enjoy the Fulnefs of Glory, and the 
 beatifick Vifion. Laftly, when he prays to 
 
 God 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 53 
 
 God to have Mercy on any one, when he 
 promifes Joys, or threatens Revenge and 
 Torments, the Apoftle to that Day is wont 2 Tim.i. 
 to refer them all. And yet, if human Souls ,s - _. 
 immediately after their Departure were ei- 7,8,9,1«. 
 ther to be plung'd in unlpeakableTorments, 
 or exalted to the Height of Glory, he ought 
 to have referred both the Happinefs and the 
 Mifery only to the Hour of Death* 
 
 We are moreover to obferve, that where- 
 as the Apoftle, like to one who is about to 
 lie down, and to take his Reft, depofited his 
 Soul into the Hands of God, to be kept by 
 him to that great Day ; fo in the Style of 
 the facred Writings, the Dead are laid to 
 fleep, or to fall ajleepj and to waken at laft ' Cor.xv. 
 on the Day of Judgment, and of the Refur- ']•* io ' 
 rection. I know very well that thefe Things « Their, iv. 
 are not to be underftood in altogether a li- I? ' 14 " 
 teral Senfe, much lefs are they to be under- 
 ftood fo grofly, as if the Soul after Death 
 were void of Life and of Action ) for never 
 can all the Power of thinking be driven 
 from the Mind of Man ; yet, neverthelels, 
 this Manner of fpeaking can never be ap- 
 plicable to the Condition of thoie who are 
 in PolTeilion of the beatifick Vifion, which 
 both in Divinity and in Philofophy is ef- 
 teem'd the molt Perfect Operation of the 
 Soul, and for that Reafbn can never be com- 
 pared to a Sleep, or a Dream, in which 
 the Actions of the Soul are ib very far from 
 Perfection. 
 
 E 5 Both 
 
54 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 Both thefe Difcourfes of St. Taul to the 
 Corinthians and Thejfalonians, concerning 
 the Hope and State of the Dead, are cer- 
 tainly worthy to be well confidered. He 
 exhorts the Theffalouians not to grieve im- 
 moderately, like Men that are without Hope, 
 for thofe that are Dead, or that fleep in 
 Jefus. But what Argument does he make 
 life of to comfort them, and to repel their 
 immoderate Grief ? Is it from this, that the 
 Souls of the Righteous, as icon as ever they 
 are freed from their Bodies, enter into Hea- 
 ven, and partake of celeftial Glory ? This, 
 indeed, had been the greateft Coniblation ima- 
 ginable, and a moft prefent and effectual 
 Remedy. But 'tis not from this Confidera- 
 tion, nor from the Dead's immediate PofTef- 
 lion of Happinefs, that he derives the Com- 
 fort which he gives to the Living, and the 
 Fomentation that he ufes to alfwage their 
 Grief; but from the certain Hope of a blifsful 
 Refurrc&ion, and of a future Return with 
 Chrift in the glorious Day of his Coming. / 
 I Thefr. \v. would not have you to be ignorant \, Brethren, 
 ?*' ' 4 ' ' concerning them which are ajleepj that you 
 forrow not even as others that have no 
 Hope : For, if we believe that Jefus died 
 and rofe again, even fo them which fleep 
 
 in Jefus, will God bring with him. « 
 
 Wherefore comfort one another with thefe 
 Words. 
 _. ~ . Moreover St. Taul, in another Difcourfe 
 30,51. :i. to the IfOrmthianSj Chap, xv. teems tq 
 
 argue 
 
State of Departed Souls, i$c. 55 
 
 argue in fuch a Manner, as if our whole 
 Hope depended on the Refurreclion, that 
 the Life to come would not be worth look- 
 ing after, unworthy the Labours that we 
 undergo, and the Dangers that we pais 
 through in ex peeling it, unlefs we were one 
 Time to rife from the Grave. But now, if 
 at the End of this prefent Life we are im- 
 mediately tranfported to that bcatifick Glory, 
 we mail then be happy, nay, unfpeakably 
 happy, though no Refurre&ion mould fol- 
 low. That divine Condition of the Soul 
 would be the umpleft Reward for the rnofr. 
 heroick Virtue, fince to dwell for ever in 
 that celeftial Light would be fupream Feli- 
 city. 
 
 And yet the fame Apoftle, after the 
 fame Manner, in the eighth Chapter to the 
 Romans j comparing the Sufferings of this v. 18. 13. 
 prefent Life, with the Glory that we fhall 
 enjoy hereafter, takes no Notice of this im- 
 mediate beatifick Vifion, but regards the 
 Time of the Refurrection only, as if before 
 the Arrival of that Day, the Saints would 
 have no Reward ; for I reckon that the Suf- 
 ferings of this prefent Time are not worthy 
 to be compard with the Glory which (hall 
 be revealed in us. But when is this Glory 
 to be reveal'd in us ? Is it to be immediate- 
 ly after Death ? No ; but when we wait for 
 the Adoption, to wit, the Redemption of the 
 Body, that is, at the Refurrection. And in 
 the fecond Epiftle to the Corinthians j he— Wm 
 
 E 4 fays 
 
5 6 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 fays after the fame Manner • That our light 
 
 Affliction; which is but for a Moment^ 
 
 worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
 
 eternal JVeight of Glory. For we know y 
 
 i Their, v. that this Tabernacle being dijfolv^d: Well, 
 
 »i what follows ? That we fhall ftrait afcend up 
 
 to Heaven to the Enjoyment of the beatifick 
 
 Vifion: No, I find nothing like it. Well then, 
 
 what follows ? We have a Building of God, 
 
 a Houfe not made with Hands eternal in the 
 
 Heavens^ to wit, the celeftial Body, with 
 
 which we fhall then be cloathed. You fee, 
 
 therefore, that in the Chriitian Do&rine all 
 
 Su?" Things are referr'd to this : Nor will it be 
 
 Aa.iii.ip,eafy to find that there is any Retribution 
 
 a °The(T. i. befides Peace and Reft, and Comfort of 
 
 j. Mind, promis'd in the Gofpel, before either 
 
 Apoc. xx. t | ie £ r fl. or t h e fecond Refurre&ion. 
 
 I pass over, for the fake of Brevity, 
 Tit. H. i2, other Paffages which relate to the Point in 
 Coioff. iii. Queftion, which yet I earneftly advife you 
 3,4.. to weigh diligently. Let us now only 
 1 John iii. hearken to the Voice from Heaven, Blejfed 
 Apoc. -xiv.are the 'Dead who die in the Lord. But 
 s 3- why bleffed ? Is it becaufe they are imme- 
 
 diately to enjoy the beatifick Vifion? I find 
 nothing at all like this in the Prophet : 
 What then do we find in him? For they 
 %Cor.v.f. re f from their Labours ', and their Works 
 i ? e , 18.' follow them j which at length will have their 
 1 Cor. 1.7. Reward. This is the eftabliftVd Order of 
 Things ; this ? and no other, is the Beatitude 
 
 that 
 
STATE of Departed Souls, ifc. 57 
 
 that we are to expect. We affert then, ac- 
 cording to the Decrees of the Chriltian Re- 
 ligion, that the Felicity of departed Saints 
 will arife, either from the Hope of future 
 Glory, or from Reft and internal Joy, till 
 that happy Day fhall fhine forth, in which 
 Chrift will raife them from the Dead, make 
 them like to the Angels in Glory, and con- 
 formable to himfelf. 
 
 What we read further in the facred Story 
 of the Dead recall'd to Life, and of the 
 Seats and Receptacles ;of departed Souls, 
 anfwers to this Explication. For can any 
 one believe that Chrift tore Lazarus from 
 the beatirick Viiion, and fore'd him to come 
 back into this miferable Life ; or that Abra- 
 ham's Bofom, into which we read that the 
 other Lazarus was translated, was the fame 
 Place with the Kingdom of Heaven, and 
 the beatifick Vifion of God ; or that the 
 Souls that cry from under the Altar, or 
 that the Faithful, in their imperfect. State, , 
 can bear the Splendor of celeftial Light, Heb. xi. ' 
 and dwell in eternal Glory? If upon thefe 39. 4°- 
 PaiTages we confult the Fathers, they will 
 make quite other Anfwers. Laftly, when 
 Chrift carried with him the Soul of the Thief 
 into Paradife, he carried him not up to the 
 Heaven of Heavens, the Seat of beatifick 
 Vifion; for he afcended not thither himfelf, 
 during the three Days of his Death \ nor 
 do antient Authors, either Jews or Chrif- 
 
 tians, 
 
58 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 tians* give that Interpretation to the Word 
 Taradife. If we weigh all this with impartial 
 Minds, and readily follow where the Light 
 of the i'acred Wriings leads us ; if we turn 
 not afide from this Path for any Caufe what- 
 ever, nor take one Step beyond it, why 
 then we muft fay, or rather repeat, Blejfed 
 are the'Dead who die in the Lord y even at 
 prefent blefTed, becaufe they enjoy Peace, 
 and Reft, and Comfort ; and will be here- 
 after tranfcendantly bleft, when, upon the 
 fecond Coming of Chrift having put on their 
 glorify 'd Bodies, they mail enjoy the ravifh- 
 ing Sight of God in an inexpreffible Man- 
 ner. 
 
 Phil i ^ -^ OR * s lt an y ^ ^ 0bj e &i° n t0 tn i s our 
 aCcr!v.3. Opinion, that St. 'Paul has, That if he dy'd, 
 he jhould be prefent with Chrift and, as it 
 were, at home with the Lord : For whatever 
 Prefence you can fuppofe that the Apoftle 
 means here, whether the vifible and corpo- 
 real one, or the fpiritual and internal one, 
 neither of them will at all weaken our Caufe. 
 If the Apoftle means the corporeal Prefence, 
 he means it from the Time of the Refurrec- 
 rion, the Interval of Reft between Death 
 and that being accounted as nothing : For 
 Souls being feparated from their Bodies, and 
 
 from 
 
 * The Jews fuppofe the Happinefs of the Dead to be 
 imperfect till the Day of Judgment. Vid. Pocock. No>- 
 mfc. c. vi. p. 17$. 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. y^ 
 
 from all Matter, cannot, during that State, 
 have any corporeal or external Prefence with. 
 Chrift : This is, from the very Nature of 
 the Thing, impoffible. If, therefore, the 
 Apoftle means this corporeal Prefence, the 
 Time of Separation, or, that I may ufe his 
 own Term, of Obdormition, is reckoned by 
 him as nothing. But by reafon of the Cer- 
 tainty of the Thing, and the infenfible De- 
 lay, he joins the Refurrection immediately 
 together with Death. And I am the lefs a- 
 verfe to this Explication, when I obferve 
 the Apoftle's Opinion, in feveral Places of 
 his Epiftles, of the Approaching and fudden 
 Coming of Chrift. Befides, in the firft Verfe 
 of this Chapter to the Corinthians, he has 
 join'd the Time of throwing off the terreftrial 
 Body, with that of putting on the celeftial. 
 one, making no Account of the Interval of 
 Time between them : For we knoWj faith 2 Cor.v. r. 
 he, that if our earthly Houfe of this Taber- Heb.ix.22, 
 nacle were dijfolvedj we have a Building 
 of God, an Houfe not made with Hands j 
 eternal in the Heavens : Where he imme- 
 diately joins the Diffolution of this mortal 
 Body with the Alfumption of the other, 
 though more than fifteen Centuries have paf- 
 fed fince the Death of St. Taul, and he has 
 not yet received his celeftial Body. But 
 the imperceptible Time, in which no Alte- 
 ration either happens, or can poffibly happen 
 to the Matter depending, is to be looked on as 
 nothing, Befide, the Apoftle has faid in that 
 
 Chapter 
 
6o A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 — ver.4. Chapter to the Corinthians, that he would 
 not be uncloathedy but cloathed upon, that 
 is, that he would not be divefted of his pre- 
 fent Body ; but here to the 'Philippians, he 
 fays, that he dejires to depart, or to be dif- 
 mifled from h:s Body. But this latter Say- 
 ing is ib to be moderated and expounded, 
 that it may not be repugnant or contradic- 
 tory to the former. And if the Apoftle 
 
 Eph.ii.6. uies this Phrafe, to be with the Lord, in the 
 fame Senfe in thefe PafTages, that he has ufed 
 
 i Theff. w. them in others ; and fo we (hall be always 
 
 Evh.w.io.frffevt with the Lord, we muft necelfarily 
 conclude, that the fame Time, and the fame 
 State of the Refurre&ion is to be underftood 
 in both*. Laftly, we muft obferve from 
 the Nature of the Thing, that Chrift has 
 already afcended above the higheft Heavens, 
 cloathed with his glorious Body ; and that 
 the Saints cannot poflibly afcend thither, or 
 inhabit there, till they have likewife put 
 on their celeftial Bodies ; which being grant- 
 ed to none before the Refurrection, unlefs 
 to thofe who are rapt up to Heaven like 
 Enoch j neither the Reafon of the Thing, 
 nor eftablifh'd Order, nor divine Difpenfa- 
 tion, will allow us to expound thefe Say- 
 ings of the Apoftle, as meant of the local 
 and corporeal Prefence. 
 
 There- 
 
 * 'lis certain that when Chrift was about to afcend 
 into H.aven, he did not promife his Difciples that he 
 would receive them to himlelt before his Return to the 
 
 Earth. 
 
State of Departed Souls, Isfc. 61 
 
 Therefore if you had rather undcrftand 
 here the fpiritual and internal Preience of 
 Chrift, I am not againft it. The Saints even 
 in this Life are in this Manner prefent with 
 Chrift, and will be prefent with him in the 
 Life to come after feveral Manners : By all 
 which, according to this Interpretation, the 
 Souls of the Righteous may be faid to be 
 prefent with Chrift after his Death. Firft, 
 they may be faid to be with Chrift, as they 
 will be under the Guardianfhip and Protec- 
 tion of Chrift ; for Chrift being now about 
 to expire, recommended his Soul into the 
 Hands of his Father, that is, into the Cut- Luc.xxiil 
 tody and Protection of his Father. But when + * 
 Chrift by dying had conquered Death, and . 
 fo was become the Lord both of Life, and 
 of Death, St. Stephen expiring, depofited 
 his Soul into the Hands of Chrift, who dy- 
 ing, cry'd out, Lord Jefus receive my Spl- A€tMlf$. 
 rit. After the lame Manner the Soul of 
 St. Paul would be with Chrift, depofited 
 with him, and in his Protection to the Day 
 of the Refurrection. Again, the Souls of 
 the Saints are faid to be with Chrift af- 
 ter his Death, by Reafon of the internal 
 Confolation and Joy which they receive from 
 Chrift : For fince Chrift came into theWorld 
 and became victorious over Death, I make 
 no doubt but he has made a great Acceilion 
 to the Comfort and the Felicity of thole who 
 are dead in him, as well from the Influx of 
 divine Virtue, as from the molt certain Hope, 
 
 and, 
 
6z J TREATISE concerning the 
 
 and, as it were, the ravifhing Profpect ef 
 a glorious Refurrc&ion : And, therefore, *in 
 the Interval between Death and the Refur- 
 reclion, 'tis rightly faid, that Chrift is with 
 us, and that wc are living, and prefent with 
 him. Laftly, in this Manner of fpeaking, 
 there is a Regard to be had to the Oppofi- 
 tion, as is evident from both the PafTages 
 to the 'Plrilippians and Corinthians, To be 
 with Chrift, and to be in this World, are 
 each oppofed to the other : When we go out 
 of the World, we are not extinguifhed, we 
 are not abolimed, we arc not reduced to no- 
 thing. Where are we then ? We are with 
 God, we are with Chrift ; we live to God, 
 Luc.xx.38. we are prefent with Chrift, who will bring 
 £°J ■/"• us back to the Stage of the World, full of 
 Life and Spirit. 
 
 We have no Reafon to wonder then that 
 St. Taul fhould fay, T>eath is gain to me : 
 We ought rather to wonder that fo great an 
 Apoftle fhould fay fo very little. He who 
 aCor.xi. in this Life had gone through fb many Ca- 
 lamities and Difquiets, fo many Fatigues, 
 and fo many Dangers \ who had endured 
 Hunger, and Thirft, and Cold, and Naked- 
 nefs, and Stripes, and Beatings, Imprifon- 
 ments, and Stoning, and Shipwreck ; all 
 Kinds of Evils, all Kinds of Hardfhips both 
 by Sea and by Land ; that he fhould pro- 
 nounce Death more defirable than this pre- 
 fent Life, is not at all to be wondered at : 
 If Death were nothing but Reft, and a Truce 
 
 from 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 6$ 
 
 from the Evils and Calamities of this pre- 
 fent World, it would ftill be preferable to 
 Life. Let us then, that are fuch little and 
 wretched Creatures, learn from hence to 
 think more modeftly of ourfelves, and the 
 Rewards which we merit, and not to promife 
 ourfelves and others the Enjoyment of the 
 beatifick Vifion, as foon as ever our Eyes 
 are ihut ; when the great Apoftle of the Gen- 
 tiles, who, if ever any Man deferved highly 
 of the Chriftian Religion, certainly it was he, 
 feems to promife himfelf nothing fo great 
 and fo deferable. Let us be contented in 
 that middle World, if I may have leave to 
 call it fo, with far lefs Enjoyments; yet, let 
 us not think it a fmall Thing, that the Soul 
 being confcious to itfelf of its Immortality, 
 and breathing forth nothing but Love di- 
 vine, mould acquiefce in God and itfelf, ha- 
 ving at the fame Time a joyful and lively 
 Hope of the Coming of Chrift, and the 
 Glory which it is to partake with him. 
 
 Lastly, that I may add this Reflection 
 to the reft, they feem to me to weaken the 
 Force of the Chriftian Do&rine concerning 
 the Reiurrection, and to render the Refur- 
 re&ion itfelf, as it were, of no Significance, 
 who allow that Sou Is enjoy the beatirick Vifion, 
 and a State of Glory immediately after De?;th : 
 For what Occafion have Souls for a Body that 
 are already eftabliihed, and have their Dwel- 
 ling in the Refulgency of Light divine ? You 
 /will fay, perhaps, that the Body may par- 
 ticipate 
 
6 4 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ticipateof the Glory and the Reward, as it was 
 formerly a Partaker of the Calamities which 
 the Soul endured in this Life, or of the good 
 Works which it wrought. You trifle with 
 me : The Soul of every Man is the Man ; 
 
 N«? l<popa,x.ai rtfS e-ro-ax-ye. "*Tis the Soul that 
 
 Jees, and the Soul that hears. The Body per- 
 ceives nothing either of Good or Evil : Mat- 
 ter neither enjoys Pleafure, nor is affected 
 with Grief; turn it which Way you will, 
 and join it to what you will, you will in vain 
 endeavour to crown with Glory a Lump of 
 fenfelefs Clay, or make that the Author of 
 Good or Evil, which is equally void of Un- 
 derftanding and Will. Befides, of fo many 
 Bodies which, in the Courle of this Life, 
 we wear out, at leaft every feven Years one, 
 which will you befcow on the Soul, to be 
 the Partner and the Partaker of its Glory, 
 and its Reward ? Of what Age ihall this 
 Body be ? a young or an ancient one, a 
 blooming or a decrepit one ? The Body that 
 the Soul fhook off the laft, or that in which 
 it exceedingly rejoiced and was pleafed? and 
 for what Reafon will you choofe rather the 
 one than the other ? The reft will put in 
 their Claims, that they may come infor.their 
 Share of the Happinefs. If any Pcrfon mould 
 all his Life- time, lead the Life of a true 
 Chriftian, now fuffering each for the fake 
 of Chrilt, and now bellowing his Goods in 
 Charity ; and this Man at laii mould go out 
 of the World an old Martyr of eighty 
 
 Years, 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcte 65 
 
 Years, which of this Man's Bodies will you 
 receive into Glory ? Mult we not anfwer as 
 Chrift did formerly, when he was ask'd, 
 which of all her feven Husbands a certain 
 WV-man fhould enjoy in the Refurredtion ? 
 'viz. Te err, not knowing the Scriptures y 
 nor the 'Power of God. 'Tis not for the fake 
 of the Body, but of the Soul, that the Re- 
 furrection is appointed ; and God gives to 
 every Soul, as he gives to every Seed, a pro- 
 per and apt Body, the former being putrify'd 
 in the Earth. This Tabernacle being dijfol- lCor xy , 
 ved^ we fo all have a Building from God. But 37,38. 
 deferring the reft of this Matter till anon, aCor - v - x -* 
 let us proceed in what we propofed. 
 
 We have laid that the Force of the Re- 
 flirrection is weakened by the Suppofition, 
 that Souls may enjoy iupreme Felicity be- 
 fore the Arrival of that Day. For St. ^-Gcn.ad.Ht; 
 guftin makes a very juft Enquiry, What 1. «*.c.3 f 9 
 Occaflon there is that the Souls of Men 
 jhould receive their Bodies upon the Re fur- 
 re 61 ion, if they are capable of fupreme Fe- 
 licity without any Bodies at all <? And, there- 
 fore, among the Ancients, and in the firft Ages 
 of the Church, thofe Hereticks who deny'd 
 the Refurreclion of the Body, were either 
 the only Perfbns who maintained the Enjoy- 
 ment of iupreme Felicity by the Souls of 
 Men, immediately after they had left their 
 Bodies, or the Perfons who maintained it with 
 the greatefl Earneitnefs, as we ihall fhew 
 F beneath. 
 
66 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 beneath. But who is not fenfible, that in 
 thefe latter Ages, this new Article of Faith 
 was introduced into the Romiflj Church, by 
 the politick Defigns of their crafty Priefts, 
 that a more commodious Handle might be 
 given to the Invocation of Saints, and other 
 Inftitutions of that kind, and a powerful 
 Protection to the reft of thofe gainful Doc- 
 trines that attend upon this new Article ? 
 fi Bellarmine has very juitly obferved, that 
 
 fan&.o'rd. this new Do&rine is the Foundation of all 
 difput. t f le Doctrines that relate to the Saints, viz,. 
 that relate to the Worlhip of Saints, to the 
 Canonization of Saints, to the Images and 
 the Reliques of Saints \ and, laftly, to the 
 Pilgrimages, and the folemn Vows that are 
 made to them. You fee how weighty a 
 Chain of Silver and Gold this Doctrine 
 draws along with it : To which, if you add 
 Purgatory, or the Condition in which the 
 Souls of Men are, that afcend not directly 
 to Heaven, but that are fooner or later car- 
 ried thither by the Afliftance and Prayers 
 of the living Saints, you have a Mine of Gold 
 more rich and inexhauftable than any in either 
 a Cor. ii. Indies : But Woe be to all thofe Wretches, 
 who thus adulterate the Word of God. 
 
 Yet thofe Men defer ve to be exempted 
 from this Cenfure^ who, without any, venal 
 Proipect, comfort the Dying, as if they 
 were immediately to afcend to Heaven ; and 
 to the Enjoyment of fupreme Felicity. They 
 go from a Prifon to tafte of grateful Liber-^ 
 
State of Departed Souls, izfc. 67 
 
 ty ; and the Things that are faid to them 
 through a pious Companion, in order to 
 leffen the Terrors of Death, are not, like 
 fb many Articles of Faith, to be explained 
 with Rigour. The Souls of the Righteous, 
 as foon as they depart this Life, are in a 
 Place of Safety, fecure from Smart, fecure 
 from Pain, and from the Danger of Sinning: 
 And though as yet they enjoy not the ex- 
 ternal Heavens, and the Kingdom prepared 
 for them from>the Foundation of the World ; 
 yet have they an hereditary and indefeaiible 
 Right to it ; and, therefore, they may be 
 faid, by an eafy Anticipation, to poifefs it al- 
 ready. We are all of us in hafte to take 
 PofTeflion of our Inheritance, and we are 
 carried by a natural Impetuolity to the En- 
 joyment of that Glory and that Felicity 
 which we fo impatiently defire. Many of 
 the firft Chriftians believ'd that the Corning 
 of Chrift was even then approaching, as 
 'tis moft evident to me from the Apoftolical 
 Epiftles, and from the ancient Fathers ; and 
 thofe firft Chriftians, ftrengthen'd and ani- 
 mated by that Belief, bore Perfecution and 
 painful Deaths, with the more undaunted 
 Spirit. But the Courfe of Years having 
 naturally detected this Error, let us not, I 
 befeech you, fall into another; nor appear 
 endeavouring to pull down the unwilling 
 Heavens to us, and ftepping over the Order 
 o9 the Promotion of the Juft, as Iren£us 
 *pcpreiTes it, feem rather to invade thofe ^ lb,v - * 
 F 2 Heavens J 
 
62 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Heavens, than to receive them as our In- 
 heritance. At length the Evening of the 
 World is come, Chrift is at hand, and even 
 at our Doors ; we, therefore, want no Con- 
 folation but this : Behold 1 come quickly, 
 and bring my Reward along with me, that 
 I may render to every one according to his 
 Works. Amen j even fo, Lord Jefus, come. 
 O *Deathj where is thy Sting ? O Grave, 
 where is thy Victory ? 
 
 Thus far we are inftrucled by the facred 
 Writings concerning the State of the Dead. 
 Befides, in Matters of Controverfy, to en- 
 quire into the Belief of primaeval and un- 
 corrupted Antiquity, us'd to be of no incon- 
 fiderable Weight with moft People : For, 
 though we attribute Infallibility to no Mor- 
 tals in any Age whatever, the Apoftles alone 
 excepted, neither to the firft Ages of ChriC. 
 tianity, nor to the Middle, nor to the Mo- 
 dern j yet, when as yet the Chriltian Re- 
 ligion was neither degenerated into Artifice, 
 nor grown up to Empire, Chriftians with 
 more Simplicity and Sincerity follow'd the 
 naked Truth. It will, therefore, be worth 
 our while, briefly to enquire what was the 
 Opinion of the ancient Chriftians concerning 
 the immediate Beatitude of the Saints ; or 
 concerning the State in which they who de- 
 part this Life are, before the Time of the 
 Refurre&ion. 
 
 The nearer that Rivers are to their Foun- 
 tains, the more pure and unfoil'd are the^ 
 
 wont 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 69 
 
 wont to be ; and the nearer the Chriftian Fa- 
 thers come to the Apoftles, or the Apofto- 
 lick Times, the more appro v'd and more un- 
 exceptionable Witneifes of orthodox Faith 
 are they efleem'd to be. And, therefore, 
 thouph I make no doubt but that the Greek 
 Fathers, generally ipeaking, were of our 
 Side in the preient Caufe, it will be fuffi- 
 cient in this Chaprer to enquire into the three 
 rTrft Ages of the Church, in which, if I am 
 not miftaken, you will find neither Greek 
 nor Latiiij unlefs the Hereticks, and, per- 
 haps, St. Cyprian only, who transferred the 
 Souls of the Dead, as fbon as ever they had 
 left their Bodies, to the Enjoyment of the 
 beatifick Villon, and the Poifeilion of celef- 
 tial Glory ; I mean, after the fame Man- 
 ner, that in thefe latter Ages it has been 
 decreed by the RomijJj Church. 
 
 That this was the Opinion of numerous 
 Hereticks in the firft Ages of the Church, 
 who at the fame Time deny'd the Refur- 
 rection of the Body, is apparent from Juf- 
 tin Martyr j IrenaitSj Tertullian, and ieve- 
 ral others. J u ft in Martyr has thefe Words 
 in the Dialogue with Tryphon : " Never M 
 " believe that thofe can be Christians who 
 u deny the Refurrection of the Body, and 
 " affirm that their Souls, as foon as ever 
 cc they die, are carried up into Heaven. " 
 Obferve how thefe two are join'd together 
 
 /fry J u ft* n -> as if there were fome Relation 
 between them 3 at leaft, the fame Hereticks 
 F 3 • who 
 

 7o A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 who deny'd the Refurre&ion of the Body, 
 transferred their Souls to the Heaven of 
 Heavens, as foon as ever they had left their 
 Bodies. 
 
 There is a PalTage in Irenaus which 
 gives Light to this of St. J-ujlin : for the 
 former, in the thirty firft Chapter of his 
 fifth Book, attributes at once both Errors 
 to the Hereticks of that Age. " But be- 
 a caufe, fays he? fbme of thofe who are be- 
 <c lieved to be orthodox, ftep over the 
 " Order of the Promotion of the Juft, and 
 u are ignorant of the Means of meditating 
 <c on Incorruptibility, being poffeffed with 
 
 " an heretical Spirit. For the Hereticks 
 
 " beholding on every Side the wonderful 
 a Workmanlhip of God ; yet not looking 
 ci up to the Salvation of their Bodies, but 
 <c contemning the Promife of God, fay, that, 
 " as foon as ever they (h all die? they fh all im- 
 u mediately afcend up to Heaven „ and to the 
 " Creator of all Things? and fo all go to the 
 u Mother, or to him whom they pretend to be 
 " the Father. — What Wonder then is it, if 
 " they who believe no Refurrection at all, 
 cC fhould be ignorant of the Order of it ? 
 " Thofe Perfons are willfully blind ; for, 
 a if what they affirm were true, then cer- 
 iC tainly our Lord, in whom they fay they 
 " believe, had never rifen again the third 
 (< Day, but, expiring on the Crofs, had im- 
 " mediately gone up to Heaven, leaving 
 a his Body below, &c" This is certainly^ 
 
 evident '* 
 
A 
 
 State of Departed Souls, &V. 7 1 
 
 evident from the primitive Fathers, and from 
 the other Authors who have writ about He* 
 refies, that the antient Hereticks, the Gnof- 
 ticksj the BaJiliauSj the Valentiniam, the 
 Marcionites, and the reft of that Rabble, 
 were the firft Authors, and the firft Maia^ 
 tainers of the Opinion which we refute. 
 
 In the mean Time we have feen the Opi- 
 nion both of Juftin and Irenaus, with Re- 
 lation to this Argument. You fee that they 
 do not immediately thruft Souls up to Hea- 
 ven, and to the Seats of Glory, while they 
 are yet warm, from the Body. Juftin like- 
 wife testifies the fame Thing in another 
 Place, that is, in his Dialogue with Try- 
 phon. " The Souls of the Righteous after M.p.azj. 
 " their Deaths, are in a better Manfion than 
 " they were before it ; but the Unrighteous 
 " and Wicked in a worfe, waiting till the 
 " Time of Judgement comes at length." 
 Iretiseus likewife proves the fame Opinion at 
 Length, even to theEnd of the Chapter which 
 we but now quoted. u IfJ therefore, fays 
 41 he., our Lord obferved the Law of the 
 " Dead, that he might become the Firft- 
 <c born from the Dead \ and having ftaid 
 " even to the third Day in the inward Parts 
 a of the Earth, then riling in the Flefh, 
 " that he might lhew the Marks of the 
 li Nails to his Diiciples, alcended thus to 
 " the Father ; how can it be but that they 
 " muft be confounded, who alfert that Hell, 
 " or Hades , is theWorld in which we dwell ; 
 F 4 " but 
 
*2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 cc but that their inward Man, as foon as it 
 u leaves their Body, fhall afcend up to a 
 <c Place above the higheft Heaven ? For 
 " fince the Lord, in the Midft of the Sha- 
 " dow of Death, departed to the Place 
 <c where the Souls of the Dead were, and 
 " after that corporeally rofe again, and after 
 <£ his Refurrection was taken up into Hea- 
 " ven ; ^tis manifeft, that for that Reafbn the 
 u Souls of his Difciples, for whofe fake the 
 " Lord perform'd all this, fhall likewife, af- 
 " ter their Deaths, go into an invifible Place 
 " which God has prepared and preordained 
 " for them ;.and fhall there remain till the 
 " Time of the Refurrection, and there wait- 
 " ing for the Refurrection • and after that 
 " receiving Bodies, and perfectly, that is, 
 u corporeally riling again, as the Lord him- 
 u felf role again, fhall thus be brought to 
 " the Enjoyment of the Sight of God/''* 
 
 Tsp.TULLiAN, in the forty fifth Chapter 
 of his Treatife of the Soul has fomething 
 like the forefaid Explication of Irenaus, ta- 
 ken from the Example of Chrift ; which 
 Places illuftrate and confirm each other re- 
 ciprocally. 
 
 i; For, fays he, if Chrift, who was God 
 a as well as Man, being dead, according. to 
 
 "the 
 
 * Andreas, a Cretevfian Archbifiiop, has fomething 
 very like this in his Difcourfe upon human Life, andth\ s - 
 Dead. But he, I believe, was of the firth Century" 
 The Difcoufe was printed at Lexden'm 1619. in Quarto 
 BB.Ox. 
 
State of Departed Souls, Zsfc. 73 
 
 ic the Scriptures, and buried, according 
 " to the fame, paid exact Obedience to 
 Ci this Law, defcending io/mally like the 
 a Souls of Men into the lower Parts of the 
 " Earth j nor afcended into the Heaven of 
 " Heavens, before he deicended into the 
 " lower Parts of the Earth, that there he 
 " might blefs the Patriarchs and Prophets 
 <c with the Sight which they had fb long de- 
 <c fir'd ; you have Reafon from this to be- 
 a lieve the forefaid fubterranean Region, 
 ci and to infult thofe who are fo fooliihiy 
 li proud, as to believe the Souls of the 
 a Faithful too good for the forefaid fubter- 
 a ranean Region ; Servants more proud than 
 cC theirLord,and Difciples more haughty than 
 K their Mafter, if they dildain to be comforted 
 <c in the Bofom of Abraham, by the certain 
 cc Hope and Expectation of a glorious Refur- 
 iC redion." Then he fays in plainer Terms 
 below in the lame Chapter : u Heaven can 
 " be open to none, lb long as Earth remains 
 u entire, and, as one may fay, fhut up ; 
 44 for the Deftruclion of the Earth alone, 
 cc can open the Gates of Heaven to us. v 
 And at the End of the fame Chapter, quot- 
 ing his own Treat i fe ofparadife, the Lofs 
 of which has been no little Lois to us, he 
 fays, u That it was his Opinion, that every 
 u Soul was fequefter'd in that infernal Re- 
 " gion againft the Day of the Lord." And 
 
 /in feveral Paffages of this Treatife of the 
 $oul, he repeats the fame Thing, though c.xlvii. 
 
 in 
 
74 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 in other Words. Nor does he fay lefs in 
 other Places, as in his Apologetick : u And 
 " if at any Time we mention Paradife, a 
 " Place of divine Delightfulnefs, prepared 
 " for the Reception of the Souls of the 
 " Righteous, at the fame Time we mean 
 " not Heaven/' And in the fourth Book 
 againft Marcion : u That Region I call 
 c.xxxiv. cc Graham's Bofom ; a Place, though not of 
 c< celeftial Height, yet higher than the infer- 
 rt nal Region which we mention'd before, 
 " adapted to afford Refrefhment to the Souls 
 a of the Righteous, till the Confummation 
 u of all Things compleats the Fulnefs of 
 " their Reward, in confequence of their 
 u Refurrection." You may fee more like 
 this, if you pleale to confult his Treatife 
 of the Re 'far reft 'ion of the Flcjb, Chap, xxiii. 
 But we need fay no more of Tertullian, fince 
 no Body doubts of his Opinion concerning 
 the Point in Queftion. 
 
 Origen, concerning the Souls of the 
 Saints, is of the fame Opinion with the Fa- 
 thers, as well of the Old, as of the New 
 Teftament, whom I mentioned above. He 
 gives them an inferior Degree of Happinefs 
 till the Time of the Refurreclion. You will 
 find his Opinion in his feventh Homily up- 
 on Leviticus j in the following Words : 
 cc For even the Apoftles themfelves have not 
 " hitherto obtained their Fulnefs of Joy ; 
 u but they are ftill in Expectation, that I 
 " mav become a Partaker of their Felicity.'^ 
 
 And > 
 
/ 
 
 State of Departed Souls, isfc. 7$ 
 
 And he proves this by the Authority of 
 St. Taulj the 'great Inftrudtor of the Gen- 
 tiles ■, in the nth Chapter to the Hebrews j 
 and adds, " You fee, therefore, that Abra- 
 " ham Hill waits, expecting- to obtain 
 " Perfection : Ifaac and Jacob exped the 
 " fame Thing, and all the awful Society of 
 " the Prophets expects us, that, together 
 " with us, they may receive complete Fe- 
 « licity." 
 
 Towards the End of the third Century, 
 Vifiorinus the Martyr and Laft ant tus 
 liv'd, who were both Maintainers of our 
 Caufe. The Words of Lafiantius, in the 
 feventh Book of his Inftitutions are known : 
 " Nor let any one believe that the Souls of Sed.xxi. 
 " the Dead lhall immediately be brought to 
 " Judgment : For all of them are detained 
 a in one common Cuftody, till the Time 
 il ihall come when the Sovereign Judge of 
 " the World lhall examine all their Merits ; 
 " then they whofe Righteouiheis fhall be 
 u approved of, ihall receive the Reward of a 
 iC blifsfui Immortality. " In like Manner 
 ViEiorinus, upon Revel, vi. 9. concern- 
 ing the Souls that are under the Altar, af- 
 ter he had obferved t/hat the external Altar, 
 not the internal, thit is Heaven, was "to be 
 underftoodThere, there 'tis his Opinion, that 
 the Souls mull attend till the Coming of 
 the Laft Day, the Day of the Diftribution 
 of Rewards and Punifhments. " But be- 
 C J caufe, fays be,, in that laft Time the Saints 
 
 " will 
 
u 
 cc 
 
 76 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 will find a perpetual Recompence, and the 
 Wicked perpetual Damnation, therefore 
 u they are commanded to Wait ; and for 
 IC their bodily Comfort, they have received, 
 cc fays he j white Garments, that is, the 
 " Gift of the Holy Choir." 
 
 Besides, when ieveral of the moffc an- 
 tient Fathers, if not, indeed, all of them, 
 were of Opinion that the Souls of Men, af- 
 ter their Deaths, defcended to Hades, they 
 declared by that, that it was their Opinion, 
 that they were not immediately to be car- 
 ried up to the Heaven of Heavens, and to 
 the Enjoyment of fupreme Glory : For 
 though Hades, with relation to feparate 
 Souls, as well the Juft as Unjuft, is of a 
 large Signification, yet none of them ever 
 faid that any of the Souls that defcended 
 thither, enjoy'd the beatifick Vifion there. 
 Since then the antient Fathers placed all the 
 Souls that had left their Bodies there, they 
 by that exclude them a)l, as long as they re- 
 main there, from the Felicity of that glori- 
 ous Vifion. We have now done with Jvf- 
 thtj Irenausj and 'Tertullian, having fhewn 
 that from the Defccnt of Chrift to Hades, 
 they proved that all the Souls of Men muft 
 defcend thither, Jince the Ttifcipkj fay they, 
 is not above his Mafter. And from this ve- 
 ry Argument reverted, Macarins, Bifnop of 
 Gelaf.Cy- Jerufalem, explaining the Incarnation of 
 zin - a - . Chrift to aPhilofopher in the Nicene Coun-fc 
 i C °?c.^'. C 'cil 3 ftiews, that he defcended to Hades, that^ 
 
 he 
 

 State of Departed Souls, $?fc. 77 
 
 he might be in all Things like unto us. As 
 we were all of us carried after Tieath to 
 Hades, he accepted of this Condition _, and 
 voluntarily zveut to the fame Place. From 
 whence he fays, that he made the fame Re- 
 furre&ion from Death that we did. And he 
 afterwards adds to this, and the other Things 
 that are mentioned in the fame Chapter, viz. 
 This is the apoftolical and unblameable Faith 
 of the Church. And what Euftathius the 
 Patriarch of Antioch, fays in Theodoretj up- 
 on that Paffage of the Pialmift, Thou wilt In Dia j - u 
 not leave my Soul in Hades, has a Relation 
 to this, where he calls Hades the Place that 
 was the Receptacle of human Souls, and 
 where he proves that the Soul of Chrilr. was 
 truly a human Soul, becaufe that, as well in 
 this Life, as in the other, it underwent the 
 common Fate of Humanity : But the Soul^^ll 
 of befits had a Tryal of both States : For ad Phot. 
 he was in the 7 lace of human Souls, a?id 
 being without Flejh lived and exijledj, his 
 rati'.nal ("'Part) Soulj being like to the Souls 
 of Men. Laftly, in the old Fragment con- 
 cerning the Caiife of all Things, whether the 
 Author of it be Cuius, or lome other very 
 antient Chriftian, 'tis more than once afferted, 
 that the Souls both of the Righteous and of 
 the Wicked are retained in Hades. Thus he 
 begins : And this is the 'Dfcourfe concern- 
 ing the Angels ; but of Hades j in which the 
 Spirits of the Juft and Unjuft are detain V, 
 it is necejfary to /peak. And thus he after- 
 wards 
 
78 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 wards diftinguifhes their feveral Manfions : 
 Thejufljindeedj are now detain' din Hades _, 
 but not in the fame Tlace where the iJnjujl 
 are ; for there is one Entrance to this 'Placej 
 of which the Gate, SCc. where he places An- 
 gels as fo many Guards, who feparate the 
 Souls as they enter, and either fend or 
 conduct them feverally to the Seat they 
 deferve, to the Region that is fitting for 
 them, to the Place that is due to them. 
 Laftly, he affirms, that they remain there 
 till the Time of the Refurrection. This is 
 the ^Difcourfe concerning Hades ^ in which 
 the Souls of Men are retained till the Time 
 
 preordained by Godj who when that comes j 
 will raife them up all together. 
 
 Thus have we thefe Authors,who lived be- 
 fore the End of the third Century, as Wit- 
 nefTes of the primitive Doctrine of the Church 
 concerning the Souls in Hades : To which 
 we may add two Cafarean Bifhops, I believe 
 of a later, but of a very uncertain Age : I 
 mean Andrew, and Arathas, who from the 
 Commentaries of Andrew upon the Revela- 
 tions, colleded thofe which he purloin'd 
 himfelf. And thus they both of them write. 
 'Death is the Separation of the Soul and the 
 Body ; but Hades is the Country to us in- 
 vifible, that flies from our Enquiry > and 
 hides it fe If from our Knowledge, and that 
 receives our Souls as foon as they depart 
 
 from our Bodies. Laftly, the forementioned \^ 
 Bilhops, concerning the Souls that cry from 
 
 under 
 
State cf Departed Souls, isfc. 79 
 
 under the Altar in the fixth Chapter of the 
 Revelations j confirm the fame Things, and 
 are utterly and entirely averfe to the Ro- 
 mifo Opinion concerning the beatifick Vi- 
 fion, as appears by the following PaiTage. 
 "*Tis for this Re a fin that the Saints are 
 feen to dejire with Impatience the Con/urn- 
 mation of the World, becaufe they are com- 
 manded to wait till then, and to bear the 
 Delay till the "Death of all their Brethren, 
 that they may not., according to the divine 
 Apoflle, be made perfect before them. In 
 the mean Time the white Garments, which 
 they have on j intimate the Splendor of 
 thofe Virtues, which in them fljine fo ilhtf- 
 trwujly y with which being furrounded^ 
 though they have not as yet obtained the 'Per- 
 formance of the Promifes,yet the very Hope 
 of that Happinefs j which they view with 
 afpiritual Eye, caufes them juftly to rejoice-, 
 especially fince, in the mean Timej they are 
 freed from the Defilement of Matter, and in 
 the Bofom of 'Abraham, free from allDiftur- 
 bance, take their p leafing and their lafting 
 Rep oft : For many of the Saints are of Opi- 
 nion, that every one who in his Life -time 
 has endeavoured with all his Power to im- 
 prove himfelf in Virtue, foall find after 
 Death a Place that is worthy of his Ac- 
 tions ; from whence they may make a certain 
 Conjetlure at the Glory that is prepared 
 /or them. And thus much concerning Hades, 
 according to what the moll: antient Authors 
 
 have 
 
So A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 have faid of it, which they agreed to be the 
 common Receptacle of departed Souls, even 
 till the Refurre&ion. 
 
 Lastly, to confirm the Truth of every 
 Thing that has been faid, 'tis worth our 
 while to coniider with what Modeftv, with 
 what Moderation, the blelTed Martyr Poly- 
 carpe, Clemens RomanuSj and Ignatius, have 
 fpoke of the Refidence and the State of the 
 Saints, from the Time of their Death to 
 the Time of their Refurrection. They af- 
 fert not, that they are immediately received 
 into the higheif. Heaven, to the Enjoyment 
 in Epift. of tne beatifick Villon ; but, fays Polycarpe y 
 fua ad Phil. ^- ro7r ov civtoTs o^eiKofjLivov^ to a Place appoint- 
 ed for them, their own Place that is due to 
 them j, or that is proper for them y or *■ m 
 rw ayiov roirov, into a holy Station 3 as Cle- 
 mens Rom anus faid of St. 'Paul, y T ws oLttyiX- 
 
 KcLyi) Ttf %oajj,a, xco rev ea ocyion T07rov t7ropevSrn 9 
 
 fo he left the World and went to a facred 
 Art.li. Place. He afterwards calls that %Mpca> htre- 
 £&>j', the Place of the Righteous, in the fame 
 Epiflle. But that Paifage principally de- 
 ferves our Confideration, where he fays, that 
 all from Adam to this Day, who have died 
 perfected in Charity and Virtue, reft in the 
 Regions of the Good, as in their proper Re- 
 
 politories, 
 
 * They were not receiv'd up into Heaven or Glory* 
 but into a Place that was due to them, fays Clemens, ,j 
 Ejp. c. v. Le Clerc quotes him on Matt. xvii. 18. 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c 81 
 
 pofitories, ^till on the Coming of Chrift at 
 the Day of the Refurreclion, they fhall be 
 brought forth into open Light. All the 
 Ages of the World, from Adam even unto 
 this 'Day, are faffed away : But they who 
 have been made perfefl in Love, have by 
 the Grace of God, obtain d a P Hace among 
 the Righteous ; and fhall be made manifefi 
 in the Judgment of the Kingdom of Chrift. 
 For it is written, Enter into thy Chambers ifa.xxvi.io; 
 for a little Space, till my Anger and Indig- 
 nation fhall pais away : And I will remem- 
 ber the good Day, and will raife you up out 
 of your Graves. All thefe Things agree 
 exactly with the Opinion I am contending 
 for : And the fame PlaGe that Juft'tn calls 
 %£>pctv htreCwv, the 'Place of the Righteous, 
 Clemens terms, %u>pov x,p&Tiov<t y a better Place, 
 and others, xcopas <*-%&$, or toVss a§/»s, fit 
 Places i and what Polycarp phrafes to- 
 irov cujto7<s oq&Aouevov, a Place appointed for 
 them j Ignatius calls tottov Ifiov, their proper 
 Place ; what Clemens calls tottov ayiov, the 
 holy Place j Chryfoftome calls igo# TrpoSrvpciy 
 the facred Gates. Thefe Things agree per- 
 fectly well together, and anfwer exa&ly 
 to that Temperament, in which the facred 
 Writings tell us, that the Souls of departed 
 Saints enjoy Felicity before the Relurrection. 
 Thus when Chrift ipeaks of the State of the 
 Righteous, who are at Reft in the Bofom of 
 Abraham, he calls that Reft Tra,e>cLxAticriv y a LuexvU 
 Comfort only, and not a fupreme Glory j which *;-. 
 
 G in 
 
82 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 in other Places of Scripture is call'd Repofe 
 and Relaxation, and is compared to a plea- 
 ling Slumber. Behold here the Style of the 
 holy Spirit, and of the apoitolick Writers ! 
 Behold, on the other Side, the Style of the 
 Romiffj Church 1 that tells us that the Souls 
 of Saints, after they leave the Body, are im- 
 mediately taken up into Heaven, and there 
 clearly lee God, as he is in Trinity and in 
 Unity ! Good God ! from whence have 
 they taken this Doctrine ? from what Book 
 of the facred Scriptures ? or from what Re- 
 mains of the primitive Church ? When 
 Chriil was about to die, he faid to his Dif- 
 ciples, / qo to prepare a *Place for you ; 
 
 John xiv. * j -l t + / / en/ r J T 
 
 I* and if 1 go to prepare a Flace for you., I 
 
 will return, and take you to myfelf that 
 where I am, there ye may alfo be. You fee, 
 therefore, that this glorious Place, this Place 
 prepared for them by Chrift, is not to be po£ 
 felled before the Coming of Chrift ; and that 
 then, at laft, according to his Prayer to the 
 John xvii. Father, the Saints mall dwell together with 
 J£ xvii Chrift, and mail behold his Glory. I [hall 
 be fatisfy'dj O Lord_, when I awake ., with 
 the Sight of thy Countenance. 
 
 Besides, it is agreeable neither to Scrip- 
 ture, nor to the Light of Nature, either to 
 exact extreme Puniihments, or to expect fu- 
 preme Rewards, before the Matter is brought 
 to Judgment, and the Merits of the Caufe 
 are known. But the Scripture makes Men- 
 tion of no Judgment before the End of the 
 
 World. 
 
State of Departed Souls, tsrc. 83 
 
 World. That is the T>ay in which God ' A &- xvii. 
 will judge the fVorld by Chrift. Then atfc^.a 
 laft, Every one's Work fjjall be tried. Then, »?- 14« l f< 
 Every one ^9 all receive according to what * Cor ' v * 
 he has done in the Body. Then, The Thrones Apoc.xx. 
 will be placed, then the Books will be operid, ' '• l2 ' I3 ' 
 and every Man will be judged according to 
 his Works. Then the Juft will be feparated 
 from the Unjuft, the Sheep from the Goats ; 
 thofe being placed on the Right, and thefe 
 on the Left, and both of them receive their 
 Sentence. All this we have been taught by 
 the Mouth of Chrift himfelf : But when the , r!j *#<?. 
 Son of Man fto all come in his Glory, and all 
 the Holy Angels with him, then Jball he fit 
 on the Throne of his Glory f and before him 
 fhall be gathered all Nations : And he /ball 
 feparate them one from another _, as a Shep- 
 herd divideth his Sheep from the Goats : 
 And he ftiall fet the Sheep on his Right 
 Hand j but the Goats on his Left. Then 
 {hall the King fay unto them on his Right 
 Hand '_, Come ye Blejfed of my Father _, 271- 
 herit the Kingdom prepared for you, from 
 the Foundation of the World. Then foall 
 he fay alfo to them on the Left Hand, de- 
 part from me ye Cur fed in to ever laft in g Fire, 
 prepared for the T)evil and Ins Angels. So 
 that here you have the Time of Judgment 
 and likevvife the Manner of it, and the Sen- 
 tence that is given in order to the Execu- 
 tion. And aLl thefe Things fhall- be when 
 the Son of Man fhall come. 
 
 G2 But 
 
84 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 But all this, you will fay, is to be un- 
 derftood of a general Judgment : But there 
 is betides a private and particular Judgment, 
 which is appointed to be immediately after 
 every Man's Death ? and which is paffed up- 
 on every Soul as ibon as it leaves its Body. 
 Pray, if you pleafe, let me know the Places 
 of Scripture that teftify this ; let me fee 
 the Validity of them ; and whether, or not, 
 they clearly prove a private and particular 
 Judgment before the laft folemn one ? The 
 Paffages that we have quoted are plain, and 
 clearer than the Light itfelf ; nor do they 
 give us the leaft Hint of a previous Judg- 
 ment, but rather exclude it. Now in Things 
 that depend upon the Will of God, and up- 
 on divine Revelation, we ought not at Plea- 
 ilire to invent a new Order, and a new Dif- 
 penfation of Things, only to ferve an Hy- 
 pothecs. This, indeed, we may juftly fay, 
 that every Soul, when it leaves the Body, 
 undergoes a private and a filent Judgment, 
 as far as 'tis confcious to itfelf of a Life ill 
 fpent, or fpent in Virtue ; and carries in it- 
 felf its own Witnefs, and its own Sentence ; 
 and, according as 'tis by this difpofed and 
 affected, feels the Deity angry with it, or 
 propitious to it ; and has, as it were, a near 
 and a clear View of its impending Fate. 
 But all this paiTes in the Soul itfelf, and 
 and has no external Influence : The Soul 
 in the mean Time remains in the fame Place, 
 
 and 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 85 
 
 and the fame State and Habitude even till 
 the Refurre&ion.* 
 
 We obferved before that the Romijb 
 Church by thus anticipating the Glory of 
 the Saints, makes the Refurre&ion to be of 
 no Validity or Utility ; nor does it lefs, by 
 the fame Anticipation, make the general Judg- 
 ment fuperfl uous. For if every Individual has 
 been already judged according to his Works ; 
 if the Juft are already feparated from the 
 Unjuft ; and the Juft are already bleft in 
 the Enjoyment of Heaven, and of the ra- 
 vifhing Sight of God, while the others groan 
 under infupportable Torments, both from 
 without and within, what Room is there 
 for a future Judgment ? why the fame 
 Thing over again ? why is a Caufe, that has 
 been already determined, brought a fecond 
 Time to a Hearing ? What, is it brought to 
 a Rehearing, leaft there mould have been 
 an Error in the iirft Determination ? or are 
 the Damn'd to appeal to fomefuperior Judge ? 
 Not fo j you'll lay, but that the Juftice and 
 Equity of a Sentence privately given, may 
 G 3 be 
 
 * Nor yet can any one believe that Souls come to 
 Judgment immediately after Death. For they are all of 
 them in one common Cuftody, detain'd till the Time 
 fliall come, in which the Sovereign Judge (hall inquire 
 into their Merits. Lib. vii. Cap. xxi. p. 653. La&antiu \ 
 
 Genebrardus too is quoted enumerating many of the 
 Fathers, who did not believe that Souls would enjoy 
 the beatifick Vifion before the Refurre&ion ; who at 
 the fame Time excufes Pope John XXII. Gajjend. dc 
 Animornm Imrnort. "Tom. ii. M. p. 65-4. col.ti. ult. 
 
%6 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 be apparent to all the World. Right, if the 
 Party aggrieved brought any Complaint : But 
 you iuppoie that all the Damn'd are felf-con- 
 vi&cd, and fuffer by their own Sentence ; 
 and it feems ibmething of the lateft to en- 
 quire into the Juftice of their Punifhments, 
 after they have groan'd under them for fe- 
 veral Ages. Nor is it lefs abfurd, on the 
 other Side, to enquire into their Right, who 
 can plead Prefcription for the Enjoyment 
 of Heaven, by the PoiTefiion not only of 
 one Age, but, perhaps, of a thoufand Years. 
 
 But that from the laft Judgment we may 
 return to the Refuirection ; it will be worth 
 our while to enquire of what Advantage the 
 Refnrrection can be to us, according to the 
 haZJarJ. Popifh Theology. They affirm that the 
 sM&v. Beatitude of Souls will not be more intenle 
 after the Reiurrection, than it is before it ; 
 and take it for a Thing determined, that the 
 Glory of the Bleft will receive no Augmen- 
 tation from the Reiurrection, unlefs exten- 
 ilvely, as they exprefs themielves, but not 
 intend vely ; or accidentally, but not in itfelf. 
 For, fay they, the Soul continues to enjoy 
 the fame beatific k Vifion, the fame Lights 
 the fame Glory, the fame 'Perfection of its 
 own Operations j in fincj the fame Happi- 
 nefs within itfelf with which it was blefl 
 before the Refur reef ion. How inconfiderable 
 an Acceilion of Happinefs, according to thele 
 Divines, accrues to us from the Refurrection ? 
 Cor x How ill do they agree with St. Paul ? 
 
 Is 
 
State 0/ Departed Souls, &c. 87 
 
 Is that fo fmall an Addition of Happinefs, 
 which the Reiurreftion brings with it, that 
 without it the bleffed Apoftle would pro- yid.Chryn 
 nounce us to be of all Men the mojl mife- inloc - 
 rable ? that without it, he would value the 
 Immortality of the Soul as nothing ? that 
 without it, he fhould believe that we have 
 no Hope but in this Life alone ? laftly, 
 that without it he mould believe all previous 
 Beatitudes, be it what it will, even the Sight 
 of God himfelf, not fo much as worth the 
 naming ? From this alone the Apoftle ex- Ver - 3°. 
 peels his Reward, from this his Crown of 2 Tim.'iv. 
 Glory. 'Tis from this that he principally 8 - 
 comforts others againft the Power of Death, 
 or any other formidable Evils. Laftly, 1 Theft". iV. 
 what the Apoftle calls an eternal Weight of !?> *+• ... 
 Glory, that they fpeak of only as an incon- ,s, a j. 
 fiderable Over- weight ; and what St. JPe- 2 Co y ]V - 
 ter calls a Crown of Glory, that will never V cr. 1.'" 
 wither, never decay, of that they are pleas 'd ,Pct - v -f 
 to make not the greateft or the principal Part, 
 but a little Addition of Glory. Laftly, 
 Chrift himfelf teaches us, that the Redemp- 
 tion of the Saints will not draw near, and is 
 not to be expected before the End of the Luke xvi. 
 World : Nor does he promife any Retribu- 2S - 
 tion before the Refurre&ion of the Juft. So ' '*' 
 great is the Diftance in this Matter, between 
 the Dodhine of the Gofpel, and the Decrees 
 of the Romiih Church. Thus, what the 
 Apoftles, what the bleiTed Martyrs, what 
 the antient Fathers of the Church, all of 
 G 4r them 
 
gg A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 them accounted the greateft Promife of the 
 Gofpel, the very Foundation of the Chrif- 
 tian Faith, and the chief Anchor of our 
 Hope, that, by their Decrees, becomes only 
 a Thing not utterly vain, unufeful, and fu- 
 perfluous. 
 
 What Occafion is there for more ? Chrift 
 purchafed this Return of Life for us, this 
 Renovation of Hope, at no lefs a Price than 
 tf . ' ' ' that of his own ineftimable Blood, and con- 
 a Tim. i. firm'd it by his own Refurrection. And 
 i Pet. i. 3. whatever does not rile again, he accounts as 
 & . 2I \ loft in that facred Difcourfe, as afterwards 
 39, &c. St. c Paul did in his Difcourfe to the Corin- 
 thians, upon the fame Argument. This is 
 the Myftery full of Wonder, the Work of 
 divine Virtue, our Victory and our Triumph 
 by his Death derived to us: This is the Ne- 
 Phil.iii 10. plus -ultra of our Perfection, towards which 
 we all ftrenuoufly tend, to which we all 
 afpire. Nor can the moil ambitious of our 
 Defires foar to a greater Height, nor wifh 
 for a farther Progreis. Then we fhall be 
 like to the blelTed Angels, cloathed with that 
 glorious Light which they are cloathed, and 
 perpetually beholding the fame God, which 
 they perpetually behold. 
 
 From what we have hitherto faid, it ap- 
 pears to me to be manifeft, as well from the 
 iacred Writings, as from the Teftimonies of 
 the molt antient Fathers, that the Beatitude of 
 the Saints depends folely or chiefly upon 
 the Refurrection ; and that that Height of 
 
 Per- 
 
STaTe of Departed Souls, &c. 89 
 
 Perfection, that Height of Felicity, and of 
 Glory, which is commonly known by the 
 Name of the beatifick Vifion, is not imparted 
 to human Souls before the Day of Judg- 
 ment, and the Coming of our Lord. But 
 yet if this Caufe were to be determined by 
 the Number of Witnefles, it would be eafy 
 to add to thefe Fathers of the firft Ages, 
 thofe of the Fourth, and afterwards thofe of 
 lower Centuries. But the Force of the fa- 
 cred Writings which alone is fufficient, would 
 be but obfcur'd and hid by too great an At- 
 tendance. And therefore I fhall feparate- 
 ly, by Way of Appendix, mark feveral of 
 the more manifeft PafTages relating to the 
 fame Argument, from the Authors of the 
 following Age, which every one may either 
 confult or omit, according to his Leifure or 
 to his Inclination. 
 
 AT <P E NT) I X. 
 
 "^HE Author of the Queftions and An- see this m. 
 JL fivers to the Orthodox, whom we difcuflfed. 
 find in Juftin Martyr, is believed to have 2^'* 
 lived in the fourth Century, who is exactly Tom. viii. 
 of the fame Opinion with Juftin, concern- P396, ^7 
 ing the State of the Dead before the Refur- 
 re&ion : For difcourfing concerning the Time 
 of Retribution, (AniVer to Queftion 60.) 
 he has thefe Words : No one before the Re- 
 furrefiion is rewarded or pumped, accord- 
 ing to the ABions which he did in his 
 Life-time. Then anfwering the Objection 
 
 con- 
 
SO -4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 concerning the Thief, who was carried di- 
 rectly to Paradife, he opens his Mind more 
 fully in thefc Words: (<$ueft. & ReJponf']6.) 
 This was the Advantage that the Thief re- 
 ceived from his Entrance into 'Paradife, 
 that he actually received by it the Benefit 
 of his Faiths through which he was reputed 
 worthy to be joined to the Ajfembly of 'Saint s, 
 among them to remain till the T>ay foould 
 come of Refurreclion and Recommence. 
 
 St. Chryfoftome thought fo highly of the 
 Refurreclion, that without that he entertain- 
 ed but a mean Opinion of the Immortality 
 of the Soul, and reckons all the Advantages 
 that the Saints poiTeffed before that, but as 
 a very inconfiderable Part of their Recom- 
 pence and Felicity. Be pleafed to confult 
 him upon the fifteenth Chapter of the firft 
 Epiftle to the Corinthians, where upon thefe 
 Words of St. Paul, If our Hope was only 
 in this Life, we were of all Men the moft 
 miferable, he fays thus : What is it that the 
 Apoftle fays ? Why, tinlefs the Body rifts 
 again, have we only Hope in this Life, not- 
 withftanding that the Soul remains, and re- 
 mains immortal? And thus he anfwers him- 
 felf : Though the Soul remains, and were 
 yet a thoufand Times, if it were poffible, 
 more immortal than it is ; yet never could 
 it without the Body receive thofe ineffable 
 Advantages : And, therefore, the Soul be- 
 fore the Body rifes, can neither be punijhed 
 nor rewarded : For all Things will be laid 
 
 open 
 
State of Departed Souls, ifc. 91 
 
 open before the Tribunal of Chrift, that 
 every one may receive in his Body the Re- 
 commence of the Things "which he did in his 
 Body ^ "whether they are good, or whether 
 they are evil. And therefore, fays the 
 Apoftle, if in this Life only we had Hope 
 in Chrift, we were of all Men the moft 
 miferable. For utile Js the Body rifes again, 
 the Soul remains without its Recommence, 
 and without that fupreme Felicity which 
 is enjoy 'd above in the Heavens. 
 
 And thus St. Chryfoftome exprefTes his 
 Opinion clearly, and by Examples and Si- 
 militudes confirms it in other Places, viz. 
 upon that Saying of the Apoftle to the He- 
 brews, Chap. xi. 40. Thefe have not re- 
 ceived their Reward, that without us they 
 might not be made perfect» The Words of 
 St. Chryfoftome are as follow : JVhat ! have 
 not they received their Reward, but are 
 ftill kept in Expectation ? What ! have not 
 they yet received their Reward, who died 
 as they did, in fo much Tribulation, in fb 
 much Affliction ? Have fo many Ages faf- 
 fed fine 'e they conquered, and have they yet 
 not triumphed ? And do you impatiently 
 brook Delay s, though your Contention is not 
 over ? ^Do you confider of what vaft Impor- 
 tance it is, that Abraham and St. Paul have 
 not yet received their Reward, but wait 
 till you [hall be made perfect , that they may 
 receive it together with you ? He afterwards 
 proceeds in working up the fame Argument, 
 
 and 
 
S>z A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 and declares, that Abel the Protomartyr, and 
 Noah the Preacher of Righteoufnefs, both to 
 the Antediluvian World and ours, will not be 
 crown M before we are : For he has appoint- 
 ed one and the fame Time for all to receive 
 their Crowns. Till that Time, he fometimes 
 names for Seats to the Souls of the Righteous, 
 lepd irpoSrupcty the holy Gate,, but oftener the 
 Bolbm of Abraham. See at your Leifure his 
 twenty- fourth Homily upon the fir ft Epiftle 
 to the Corinthians, and the fortieth Homily 
 upon Genefis ; where he fays, that it is the 
 principal Ambition, and the only Wifh of 
 all the Righteous, from the Times of Abra- 
 ham to the End of the World, that in his 
 Bofom they may find Reft to their Souls. 
 But by the Bofom of Abraham, as you 
 know very well, is not meant fupreme 
 Glory, or the Felicity that the Angels en- 
 joy in Heaven. Laftly, all thefe Things 
 are confirmed in St. Qhryfoftomeh nrft Ser- 
 mon concerning the Refurrection ; where he 
 refers all our Hope, and all the Retribution 
 which we expect, to the Day of the Coming 
 of our Lord : Nor does he give us the 
 leaft Ground to believe, that before that 
 Day we fhall find any Reward, except that 
 which arifes in this Life, from our very 
 Contention for Victory, and from the exer- 
 cifing ourfelves in Virtue, and in Chriltian 
 Conftancy, by which the Soul acquires more 
 Fortitude, and, that I may ufe his own 
 Expreffion, a more philofbphical Temper : 
 
 For 
 
State of Departed Souls, istc. 93 
 
 For as Wre filers, fays he, by contending for 
 Vicfory become more nervous ■_, and more ro~ 
 buft y fo from our Contention in Virtue _, we 
 {hall reap this great Reward % that our 
 Souls will become more firm and philofophi- 
 cal, even before the Heavens are open'd to 
 us, before the Coming of the Son of God, and 
 before we receive the Recommence which we 
 contend for. 
 
 These Paflages have we quoted from 
 St. Chryfoftome, concerning the State and 
 Felicity of the Saints before the Refurrec- 
 tion. But you will fay, perhaps, that fome- 
 times the fame Father fpoke more freely 
 and more fublimely of this intermediate Fe- 
 licity. That, indeed, may very well be ; 
 for Orators, fbmetimes, when they come to 
 conclude, are apt to grow fbmething warm, 
 nor fcrupuloufly weigh in the Balance every 
 Word that proceeds from them ; and when 
 they are endeavouring to give Ornament to 
 popular Harangues, or to funeral Orations, 
 there are feveral Reafbns which in their 
 Conclufion may incite them to exaggerate 
 the Felicity of thofe who are dead in the 
 Lord, but not one that may incline them to 
 diminifh it, except their Conicioufnefs of the 
 Truth alone. This Method might be of 
 great Advantage to comfort, and exalt, and 
 raife up the Soul againft the Influence and 
 Power of Death, efpecially the Death of 
 Martyrdom. To fpeak warmly and freely of 
 the Happinefs that the Saints are to enjoy im- 
 mediately 
 
94 -A- TREATISE concerning the 
 
 mediately after their Deaths, would be of 
 great Ufe in exciting Mens Affections, and 
 confirming their Piety : But it could be fer- 
 viceable to no Defign, nor to any View or 
 Ufe whatfoever, to reprefent it more cold- 
 ly or more lightly than is convenient. And, 
 therefore, in order to difcover the Truth, 
 and the real Opinion of every Author who 
 has writ upon this Subject, one Place alone, 
 that confines this Felicity within the Bounds 
 that we have prefcrib'd to it, is of more Va- 
 lidity than many of thofe which with Pallion 
 exalt it, and more highly extol it. It has 
 six. Sen. beenjuftly obferved by others, That every 
 IVord of a Treacher is not to be wider flood 
 by the Reader with the fame Rigour ■, with 
 which it at firfl entered into the Ear of the 
 Hearer : For Terfons while they declaim, 
 deliver^ and inculcate fever al Things hyper- 
 bolically, as the Tlace, the Time^ or the 
 Audience give Occafion, or as they are 
 tranfported by the Force of their < PaJfions y 
 or inflamed by the Currency of their 'Dif- 
 courfe. This is molt prudently, and moll 
 judicioufly obferved, and ought certainly 
 to be of chief Confideration in the prefent 
 Argument. 
 
 Let us not wonder then if facred Orators 
 mov'd, either bv their Affection for the Dead, 
 or a Defign of comforting and foothing the 
 Living, have ufed a fofter and lefs rigo- 
 rous Style, and have talked of an immediate 
 PoiieiTion of Heaven, ahd of feeing God as 
 
 he 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 95 
 
 he is. The Word Heaven taken in a lar- 
 ger Senfe may lignify any happy Condition 
 of Souls, after their Departure from their 
 Bodies ; which yet is more ufually by the 
 Fathers called Taradifej or Abraham s Bo- 
 fom> and which fignifies an intermediate 
 State of Beatitude, and inferior to the Celef- 
 tial. By Taradife, fays St. Aaftin, is gene- Epift. rr , 
 rally meant a c Place where the Inhabitants ^?9 cn ' 
 live happily. And that too is the general c . 34. ' ' 
 Notion or Signification of Heaven. The 
 Saints, indeed, enjoy a fort of internal Hea- 
 ven immediately after their Deaths j but 
 without their Bodies cannot enjoy the ex- 
 ternal one. Then the Sight of God, or of 
 Chrift, or the divine Pretence, of which 
 Chryfoftome fomewhere makes Mention, can 
 be no other than intelle&ual before the Refur- 
 reclion. The Soul, indeed, in that teparate 
 State will be nearer to God than it is in this 
 Prifon of the Body, and will feel his Influ- 
 ence more intimately within itfelf, and more 
 preterit and efficacious, than if it was before 
 him, and in his very Sight. But by thete, 
 or the like, to underftand fupreme Felicity, 
 or the moft gloriousVifion of God, is to make 
 this Father moft apparently contradid him- 
 felf. In reading Authors, whether facred 
 or others, this has been wont to be obterved 
 as a Rule, to interpret Things that are 
 cloudy by thote that are clear, and Things 
 that are vulgarly and popularly fpoke, by 
 thote that are more exad and tevere \ and 
 
 the 
 
95 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 the Obfervation of this Rule will, in a good 
 Meafure, keep us from erring. Laftly, that 
 we have truly explained the Words and the 
 Senfe of St. Chryfoflome, may be concluded 
 from hence, that the other Interpreters, and 
 the Grecian Fathers, who were the greateft 
 Followers of Chryfoftome, as Theodoret, Oe- 
 comenius, Theophylactj and Euthymius^ 
 efpoufed the fame Opinion * that we do. 
 Theodoret explains his Opinion in the fame 
 Place that St. Chryfoftome had done it before 
 him, viz. upon the laft Verfesof the eleventh 
 Chapter to the Hebrews, where he aflerts, 
 that none of the Righteous are fooner re- 
 warded than others, or enjoy their Crown 
 of Glory fooner, but that all will at once 
 in the Refurre&ion be declared Victors by 
 God together. And upon thefe Words of 
 the Apoftle, And thefe all having obtained 
 a good Report through Faith j, received not 
 the Tromifi, God having provided fome 
 better Thing for us, that they without us 
 fbould not be made perfect, he fays thus : 
 Were their Conflicts for Victory then fo 
 great and fo many^ and they have not yet 
 received their Crowns ? For God expects 
 till the Conflicts and Contentions of all are 
 over, that all who have obtain' d the Victo- 
 ry, may be together declared Conquerors by 
 
 him* 
 
 *See more Fathers of this Opinion in Not. Cortbolt. 
 Jujiitt. xliv. Col. i, & 2. 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffc. 97 
 
 him, and be rewarded together, Nor does 
 OEcumenius underftand in any other Senie 
 that Saying of the Apoftle, and that Account 
 of thofe antient Heroes who were fo renown- 
 ed for their Faith. They^ fays the Apoftle, 
 fit down without their Recommence > expec- 
 iug our Miniftration, or Coming. For fo 
 Theophylatl upon the Place ; All thofe that 
 are accounted Saints ^ though they have a 
 Teftimony that they were p leafing to God by 
 their Faith, have not yet obtain 3 d that ce- 
 kftial Felicity which they were promifed. 
 And upon the following Verfe, he adds fe- 
 veral other Things of the fame kind, which 
 he has almoft Word for Word tranfcrib'd 
 from St. Chryfoftome. Laftly, this Author 
 maintains the fame Opinion, in what he fays 
 upon the twenty-third Chapter of St. Luke, 
 where he explains the Saying of Chrift to 
 the Thief, To Day foalt thou be with me 
 in Paradife : For when he had before di£. 
 tinguifhed Paradife from Heaven, and had 
 by that means reconciled the Evangelift with 
 St. 'Paul, in the PafTage quoted above, he 
 adds ; The Thief therefore, though he ob- 
 tain d Paradife, obtain d not the Kingdo?n of 
 Heaven ; but he will be let into that too 
 with all thofe others that are enumerated by 
 St. Paul : In the mean while he has Pojfef 
 fion of Paradife, the Kingdom of Spiritual 
 Reft. The Explication of the fame PafTage 
 by Euthymius, is exaclly of a Piece with 
 this, as appears by the following Quotation 
 H from 
 
98 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 from him : Chrift, knowing the Intention of 
 the Thief promifed him what appeared moft 
 deferable to him : For theThief was acquainted 
 with Paradife by the Mofaick ^Doctrine ; and 
 Chrift promifed that he [hould be with him 
 in c Paradife J as an Earneft^ that he ftoould 
 be one 'Day with him in his Kingdom, 
 where he foould enjoy eternal and inexpref 
 fible Happinefs ; where he jhould enjoy fitch 
 Things as neither Eye has feetij, nor Ear 
 has heard j nor has it enter'd into the Heart 
 of Man to conceive : For none of the Juft, 
 as yet j has had the Performance of the 
 Promifes^ as the great Apoftle of the Gen- 
 tiles has taught us : For Chrift by granting 
 him what he did,, gave him AJfurance that 
 in the Time of the univerfal Re furred ion, 
 he would grant him a Place in his Kingdom. 
 But fb much for St. Chryfoftome, and his 
 Grecian Difciples and Followers. 
 
 Among the Latin Fathers, who are like- 
 wife of the fame Century, (viz,. Fourth,) 
 you may confult, if you pleafe, about the 
 State of the Dead, St. Hilary, St. Ambrofe, 
 and St. Auftin. St. Hilary > in his Com- 
 mentaries on the Pfalms, has often touched 
 upon this Subject, and upon that Paffage of 
 Pfalm cxxxviii. If I defend into the lower 
 Parts of the Earth, thou art there '_, he 
 tells us, that there is a Law univerfal and 
 inviolable, for the Souls of Men to defcend 
 to Hades ', and he adds, that for this Reafon 
 Chrift did it, "becaufe by it he fulfilled the 
 
 whole 
 
State of Departed Souls, is?c. 99 
 
 whole Courfe and Order of human Nature. 
 He had taught us the fame before upon 
 Pfalm liii. where he fays again, that Souls 
 are retained in Hades, until the Day of 
 Judgment. And, upon Tf. ii. and c Pf. cxx. 
 upon thefe Words, The Lord (hall guard 
 thy Going in, and thy Coming out, he fays 
 thus, That the fVord Guard has no relation to 
 that Time or Age ; but that 'tis an Expecta- 
 tion of future Happinefs, when the Souls of 
 the faithful, departing from their Bodies to 
 the Entrance of that heavenly Kingdom _, 
 (hall there be detain d in the Cufiody of the 
 Lord j and configtfd to the Bofom of Abra- 
 ham. 
 
 This is the Doctrine of St. Hilary ^ con- 
 cerning the State of the Dead. He who 
 has a Mind to know what St. Ambrofe fays, 
 may read his tenth, eleventh, and twelfth 
 Chapters of his Treat ife of the Advantage 
 of Death. In the tenth Chapter he acknow- 
 ledges the Repofitory and Receptacle of 
 Souls till the Day of Judgment : For the 
 'Day of Recompence is expected by all, the 
 Day on which the Conquered §o all bhifi, and 
 the Conquerors receive the c Palm and Crown 
 of their Victory. And in the eleventh Chap- 
 ter, fhewing the Gladnefs of thole Souls in 
 its feveral Degrees before the Refurredion ; 
 Fourthly j fays he, they rejoice „ becaufe they 
 begin to tmderftand the Meaning of the Re- 
 pofe that they take^ and to fore fee their fu- 
 ture Glory 3 and charm' d with that Cou- 
 H 2 folation, 
 
ioo A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 folation, they take their Reft in their Re- 
 ceptacles with great Tranquillity; furround- 
 ed by Guards of Angels. Laftly, the fame 
 Author in Book ii. Chap. ii. of his ^Difcourfe 
 of Cain and Abel, appears to me to go a great 
 deal too far upon this Subject ; for he gives 
 a fort of a Hint that the Souls of the Dead 
 are, till the Day of Judgment, uncertain of 
 their future Condition : For though at the 
 End of this Life, fays he, the Soul is re leafed 
 from the Body ; yet 'tis ftill in Sufpence as 
 to the Event of the future Judgment, Thus 
 far fays St. Ambrofe. 
 
 St. Austin comes after him, and though 
 he fometimes, through Caution andModefty, 
 declines the Difficulty, or rather the Envy, 
 of deciding the Queftion \ yet, generally 
 fpeaking, he detains the Souls of all the 
 Righteous, at leaf!, if you except the Mar- 
 tyrs, on this Side Heaven, and on this Side 
 Glory, in iecret peaceable Receptacles, un- 
 til the Refurrection, and the Day of Judg- 
 ment, as will manifeftly appear to you by 
 the following Paffages, if you confult them, 
 and compare them at Leifure. Exfof. of 
 *Pfal. xxxvi. io. upon thefe Words, adhuc 
 'Pufillum, Enchirid. ad Laurent, c. 118. 
 Gen. ad Liter am, 1. xii. c. 3 5. 'De Civ. T)ei y 
 1. xii. c. 9. Retract. 1. i. c. 14. Confejf. l.ix. 
 c. 3. 
 
 'Tis hardly worth while to call for more 
 particular Witnefles from that or the follow- 
 ing Centuries : But there are befides, two v . 
 
 general 
 
State of Departed Souls, izfc, 101 
 
 general Heads, from which Arguments may 
 be brought that may comprehend feveral Fa- 
 thers, and feveral Witneffes. One of thefe 
 is from the confenting Opinions of the pri- 
 mitive Fathers, who take it for granted, that 
 the State of all the Dead whatfoever, is bnt 
 imperfectly happy before the RefurrecHon. 
 The other is from the Ufe and Practice of 
 the Church, in their Prayers and Offerings 
 for the Dead. As for what relates to their 
 Opinions, there are two that are chiefly to be 
 confidered : The one is, that the Saints iTiall 
 return in the Millennium, and reign together 
 with Chrift upon Earth. The other teaches 
 us, that the very Saints themfelves are to 
 be purged in the lalt Fire, and mult be re- 
 new'd and purified, together with the World, 
 before they are called up to Heaven, and the 
 Sight of their Maker. Each of thefe Opi- 
 nions had great and numerous Champions 
 in the firft Ages of the Church, as will plain- 
 ly appear below in the Sixth and the Ninth 
 Chapters. But each of thefe Opinions fup- 
 pofes, that the Saints are not yet in PoiTef- 
 fion of fupreme Felicity, of celeflial Glory, 
 or the beatifick Virion of God ; and that they 
 neither are, nor can be prepared for that En- 
 joyment without the forefaid Purgation. And 
 whether thefe Doctrines are true, or are falfe, 
 they acquaint us, however, with the Opi- 
 nions and Sentiments of both thefe ClaiTes 
 of Fathers, (whofe Number is not final 1,) 
 concerning the State of the Dead, and how 
 H 3 far, 
 
iGi -A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 far, with relation to the Point in Queftion, 
 their Belief and their Opinions are conlbnant 
 to our own. 
 
 The other Head, which carries with it 
 the Confent of many, is, the Cuftom and Prac- 
 tice of the Church in their Liturgies, and 
 thofe facred Rites that regard the Dead. 
 Thefe Liturgies contain either Thankfgi- 
 vings for the Dead, and Commemorations of 
 them ; with either of which we have nothing 
 to do here, or Offerings and Supplications 
 for them. And this fufficiently fhews, that in 
 their Opinion, the Souls for which thefe 
 Rites were performed were not yet arrived 
 at fupreme Glory, and the moil bleffed Vi- 
 fion of God ; but thefe Rites were perform- 
 ed for the Souls of the moft holy, and moft 
 illuftrious Perfons ; for the Souls of the 
 Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apoftles, the 
 Evangelifts, the Martyrs, and all the other 
 Lights of the Church ; as may be feen in 
 both the antient Liturgies, however doubt- 
 ful, interlin'd, or corrupt, and in the Con- 
 futations of Clement , in St. Cyprian, in 'D'zo- 
 nyfius whom they call the Areopagite, and 
 in Epiphanius. 
 
 Whether this Practice is lawful and 
 laudable, or other wife, it feems to be found- 
 ed in this, that the Ancients believed that the 
 Souls of all the Dead, of what Order foever, 
 excepting the Soul of Chrift himfelf, were 
 detained in Hades till the Refurrection of the 
 Body ; and that they who were not yet made 
 
 perfect 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. ioj 
 
 perfect might receive fbme Advantage from 
 the Offerings and Prayers of the Church : 
 I fay Prayers; for that, befides their Of- 
 ferings, Supplications were alio ufed, appears 
 to me, both from the forefaid Liturgies and 
 Authors, and others, to be certain and irre- 
 fragable. Thus, for Example, in the Li- 
 turgy which is called St. James's, Prayers 
 are put up to God, that he would grant 
 Light and Reft to all the Dead who are 
 orthodox Believers, from Abel even to this 
 Day. Remember, O Lord Godj the ortho- 
 dox Souls j even of all Flefij thofe whom 
 we remember ^ and thofe whom we do not^ 
 from Abel the juft, unto this very T)ay : 
 And do thou make them to reft in the 7 lace 
 of the Livings in thy Kingdom, in the 'De- 
 lights of Taradifej in the Bofoms of our 
 holy Fathers Abraham, and Ifaac, and 
 Jacob, &c. The fame is apparent from 
 other Liturgies, as well the Greek, as the 
 Latin, as you may fee in thofe who have 
 made it their Bufinefs to colled them, and 
 examine them. They pray for prefent Re- 
 pole to the Dead, and future Light and 
 Glory. And in all their Offices relating to 
 the Dead, they always look with a ftedfaft 
 Eye upon the Refurredion. Laftly, no- 
 thing is to be found, as far as I know, in 
 the Practice of the antient Church, that 
 does not anfwer to this our Hypothefis 
 of the State of the Dead and Hades, where 
 all the Souls that are feparated from their 
 H 4 Bodies 
 
104 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Bodies wait the Coming of Chrift, and the 
 Sound of the laft Trumpet. 
 
 So much for the Teftimonies of the Fa- 
 thers, either taken feparately, or in a Body 
 together. But perhaps you will lay, that all 
 this, or at leaft a great Part of it, is to 
 no Purpofe; fince the Papifts (whofe princi- 
 pal fecular Intereft it concerns, that the 
 Saints mould enjoy Heaven, and Glory, and 
 the Virion of God before the Refurre&ion) 
 confefs, that the Fathers are generally of 
 the fame Opinion with us, and that from 
 them they exped neither Ailiftance nor Pa- 
 tronage in a Caufe which 3 fay they, de- 
 pends entirely upon the Authority and De- 
 termination of the Church. * But does not 
 this Determination come fomething too late, 
 fince we had it not till the Council of Flo- 
 rence^ that is, till the fifteenth Century ? in 
 which Council it was decreed, that the Souls 
 of the Saints, when they leave their Bodies, 
 fbould, in a little Time, be receivd into 
 Heaven, and fyonld fee God, as he is in 
 Trinity and in % Vnity. In the mean Time, 
 
 we 
 
 * Thus many, and thus celebrated are the antient Fa- 
 thers, as TertulUan, Irenaus^ Origen, St. Chr^foflome, 
 Theodoret, OEcumenius, Theophylafi, St.Ambrofe, Cle- 
 mens Romanus, St. Bernard, who do not afTent to that 
 Opinion, which at length has been determined by the 
 Council oi Florence, after a great Debate, viz. that the 
 Souls of the Juft enjoy the Vifion of God before the 
 Day of Judgment, but are of a contrary Belief. Stapled 
 Def. Auiiorit. Ecclef. l.i. c.a, 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 105 
 
 we can hardly bear it, when we reflect that 
 fo many Fathers, who were fuch illuftrjous 
 Rulers, and fuch mining Lights of the 
 Church, mould be pretended to have been 
 in an Error for fourteen Centuries together, 
 and that Truth mould be difcovcr'd fo late 
 at laft at Florence, and, as the Hiftory of 
 that Synod relates, extorted with Co 
 Violence, or fo much Fraud, from the Gre , 
 whom yet we behold, either ill r 
 
 relaps'd. Let them conilder this,, 2 
 
 concerned in it: But as for thofe that 
 reform'd, this RomiJJj Authority of Popes 
 or Synods is of no Validity with us : We 
 are left entirely at Liberty, fairly and im- 
 partially to examine the Thing, to confider 
 its Force and its Weaknels, and diligently 
 to weigh its natural Tendency ; to fee how 
 the facred Scripture dire&s us, how the 
 Reafon of the Thing itfelf, and how the un- 
 corrupted Age of the Church ; and not to 
 have only before our Eyes what was done 
 lately, or determin'd at Florence againft the 
 united Voice of them all. This Article of 
 the State of the Dead, highly defer ves to 
 be throughly examined, that it may appear 
 what it is that our Adverfaries and we con- 
 tend for : For upon this Foundation depends 
 the whole Superftru&ure of Romifi Reli- 
 gion, and RomijJj Pomp, with regard to 
 their Saints, with regard to the Canoniza- 
 tion, as fome are pleas'd to exprefs them- 
 felves, to the Invocation and the Adoration 
 
 of 
 
io6 4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 of them ' y nor only with regard to the Saints 
 themfelves, but to their Images and their 
 Relicts. Upon this depend all their Pil- 
 grimages, their meritorious Vows, the Maffes 
 of their Saints, and that new, but moft lu- 
 cretive Invocation of Purgatory. Since, 
 therefore, fo great a Provilion, fo great a 
 Weight of Superftition depends entirely 
 upon this Article, fo great a Superftrudture 
 upon this Foundation, or upon this Corner 
 Stone, it moft highly concerns us to make 
 no rafh Conceffion in a Caufe of fo vaft 
 Importance, and not to indulge too pious, 
 but too ill-grounded Affections. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the State of Nature , in which departed 
 Souls are in the Interval between "Death 
 and the Refurrectton ; whether they are 
 naked and feparated from all corporeal 
 Subjiancej or whether they are united to 
 the aerial j or any other Body. 
 
 Vid. Dall. 
 
 i d A F c n i2. HP HE firfl Queftion being difpatch'd 
 
 l 
 
 p. 18 1, 8cc JL concerning the Quality of an inter- 
 Gcrard de mec ii a te State, as to Felicity or Mifery, or 
 Tom. 8. concerning the moral Condition of Souls be- 
 p 4.9. 8c f the ReiurrecYion, there follows another, 
 
 de ftatu A- J . * 
 
 nimarum and a much more aimcult one, concerning 
 feparata- ^^ natU ral State. That Souls furvive, 
 
 turn, p. ,. * 
 
 403. live, 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 107 
 
 live, and think after Death, or upon the Dif- 
 folution of the Body, has been provM in 
 what went before. But what the Apoftle 
 faid of his Exftafy, whether it was in the 
 Body, or out of the Body^ I know not, fays 
 he, God knows y that I may be allow'd to 
 repeat here ; whether the Soul, having 
 thrown off this Body, puts on a new one, 
 or remains naked, and without a Body, un- 
 til the Time of the Refurredion of the 
 Dead, / know not , God knows: At leaft I 
 reckon this among thofe Obfcurities, which 
 neither clearly appear by the Light of Na- 
 ture, nor by any divine Revelation. 
 
 Since there is no Room here for Experi- 
 ments, we muft derive our Knowledge, ei- 
 ther from the Nature of the Thing itlelf, 
 thole Seeds of Knowledge with which we 
 came into the World, or from the facred 
 Writings. The Philosophers are the prin- 
 cipal Evidences and Interpreters of the for- 
 mer, and the Chriftian Fathers of the latter. 
 But after we have confulted all thefe, you 
 will hardly find any Thing upon this Sub- 
 ject that is evident or conclufive, where one 
 may fix one's Foot. As for the Light of 
 Reafon, and the Nature of Things, very 
 little Ailiftance is to be expected from them 
 in the determining this Queftion. For fince 
 the Union of the Soul with this terreftrial 
 Body, or any other Body whatever, does 
 not, as far as is known to us, arife from any 
 natural Neceflity, or any neceifary Con- 
 nexion 
 
jc8 .4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 nexion between thefe two Natures, but en- 
 tirely from the Will of God, and his divine 
 Decree ; when this Body comes to be di£- 
 folv'd, it will depend upon the fame divine 
 Will, or, which is the fame Thing, upon 
 Laws of Nature unknown to us, whether 
 the Soul fhall be fubje&ed to a new Union, 
 or remain feparated from all Matter : For 
 fb it poffibly may remain, fince 'tis a Sub- 
 ftance, or a Thing capable of fubfifting by 
 itfelf. 
 
 If upon this Subject you confult the Phi- 
 lofophers, they, for the moll part, are fi- 
 lent. The Platonicks, indeed, or at leaft 
 fome of the Platonicks, allert, that the Soul, 
 immediately after its Departure from this 
 Life, and the Body, will be fubje&ed to 
 an aerial Body ; and that from thence it will 
 proceed to an aetherial one, after it has fuf- 
 ficiently improv'd itfelf in Wifdom and Vir-r 
 tue, by a retrograde Order, from that by 
 which it fell down by Degrees into this 
 loweft Station. 
 
 I cannot fee that there is any Thing of 
 Abfurdity in this Opinion ; but Evidence and 
 Proof are wanting. For how does it appear 
 that we, laft of all, at our Birth threw off 
 this aerial Body ? or that there ought to be 
 the fame Order and the fame Degrees of the 
 Afcent and Defcent? or that, laltly, no 
 State intervenes of Silence and Separation 
 from all Bodies ? Since there are innumera- 
 ble Worlds in the immenfe Compafs of the 
 
 Univerfe ? 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c 109 
 
 Univerfe, there may be many Orders, Modes, 
 and Variations in the Revolutions of Souls, 
 according to the manifold Wifdom of God ; 
 and what Order of Afcent or Defcent God 
 has prefcrib'd to us, belongs to his fecret 
 Difpenfation, which is hid from us in this 
 Life. 
 
 But perhaps you may believe that it may 
 be poflible to prove, from the Ghofts and 
 Apparitions of the Dead, that human Souls, 
 when they throw off this Body, immediate- 
 ly aflume another, by means of which they 
 lometimes fhew themfelves vifible and con- 
 fpicuous in a human Shape. I muft confeis, 
 that it never was evident yet to me, nor 
 could I be convinc'd that the * Souls of the 
 Dead ever yet appear'd, or will appear be- 
 fore the Day of Judgment. Genii^ perhaps, 
 or ^Dtemons, may have the Power of con- 
 densing the Air, or their proper Vehicles, 
 and forming them into human or brutal 
 Shapes, and may perhaps exercife that Power 
 lometimes, efpecially among barbarous Na- 
 tions, or Nations that are half barbarous j 
 
 but 
 
 * See the Words of St.ChryfoJiome, Homily xix. on 
 Matth. and Homily the laft, concerning Lazarus. Mal- 
 donatus upon St. Luke, Chap. xvi. towards the End, 
 quotes Tertullian, De Amma, againft the Apparitions of 
 the Dead; butlfuppofe he is miflaken, becaul'e he quotes 
 not the Chapter. He quotes likewife Aihanafin^ or the 
 Author, whoever he be, of the Treatife to Antiochus, ir. 
 xi. and xiii. IJiodor. Lib. viii. Etymol. c. ix. and Theo- 
 phylatt on Matthevj viii. 
 
1 1 o A T R EAT I S E concerning the 
 
 but I believe that this is rarely done among 
 us ' y and that among a thou land Tales of 
 iuch Apparitions we hardly find one true. 
 Thefe, however, by the vulgar are fwallow^d, 
 and the Remembrance of a future Life is 
 renew'd, and their Faith is ftrengthen'd. 
 But the Monks are they who have imported 
 the greateft Cargo of Fables on this Subject, 
 by their own Inventions, or .their imaginary 
 Vifions, in order to introduce and confirm 
 the Belief of Purgatory. 
 
 But let us now, if you pleafe, fuppofe 
 that the Souls of the Dead have aerial Bodies, 
 and have an animal Life. Here many 
 Queftions will occur, many Doubts to be 
 clear'd up : Firft of all, what Region of 
 the Air would you have thefe new Comers 
 inhabit ? the fuperior or the inferior one ? If 
 you place them below the Clouds, youthen 
 expole them to all the piercing Extreams of 
 Seaibns, and all the Intemperature of the 
 Skies, fince they always live in the open 
 Air, defended by no Roofs, by no Houfes 
 of any kind whatfoever. When it rains, 
 when it fnows, when it hails, when it thun- 
 ders, they ftill lie expos'd in the open Air ; 
 and thefe Meteors muft of Neceffity, not 
 only rudely infult their tender Bodies, but 
 Itrike and tranfpierce them through and 
 through ; and the Fury of tempeftuous 
 Winds muft drive and tranfport them, like 
 fo many Clouds, into new Habitations. But 
 if you place thefe Souls of the Dead, as 
 
 well 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 1 1 1 
 
 well the Evil as the Good, above the Clouds 
 and the Atmofphere of the Earth, you car- 
 ry them from Hades, into Regions ierene and 
 lucid, of which the impure and wicked Souls 
 are moft unworthy, . and for which they are 
 moft improper: Nor would you, I believe, 
 have thefe Separated from the reft, the Goats 
 from the Sheep before the Day of Judg- 
 ment. But fo much for the Seats and Sta- 
 tions of the Dead. 
 
 The fecond Query is concerning the Po- 
 lity of the Dead : For if they have Bodies, 
 and lead an animal Life, 'tis neceffary that 
 there fhould be fome Polity, fome Govern- 
 ment among them. Would you then, have 
 them live all in the fame Republick pro- 
 mifcuouily ? or would you have them fe- 
 parated and diftributed, as they were here 
 on Earth into feveral Nations, both by their 
 Names and their Manners diftinguim/d ? 
 As for Example ; Would you have the French 
 dwell all together, and feparately from the 
 reft ? Would you thus have the Spaniards^ 
 the Italians, the Germans ^ the Britons, 
 and all the reft of the Nations upon the Face 
 of the Earth, have their own Seats in the 
 Air, each of them feparated from the reft ? 
 Would you have each of them likewife have 
 their ancient Government, their own Lan- 
 guage, their own Religion, and Cuftoms ? 
 Thefe are the Queftions that are to be de- 
 termin'd, and explain'd to the Inquirers. 
 But flrft of all it will be difficult to fix and 
 
 prefer ve 
 
ii2 4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 preferve in a fluid Element, the Bounds of 
 the feveral Empires ; in an Element where 
 there can be neither Ditches, nor Rivers, 
 nor any Fortifications : Nor will the Difficul- 
 ty be lefs in appointing their Kings ; for 
 which of the old ones, the firft or the lalt, 
 will they reftore to the Throne? or what 
 royal Pedigree will they prefer to the reft? 
 or, rejecting all antient Titles, fhall they give 
 the Crown to the worthier!? I can eafily fee 
 that Contentions will arife from hence, and 
 Parties, and Factions, and Wars ; but what 
 Manner of righting, or what Weapons they 
 will ufe in the Air, I do not yet underftand : 
 The Dead certainly can die no more; nor 
 do I know whether they can be wounded. 
 
 Some little Queries like wife arile concern» 
 ing the Difcourfe and Language of the 
 Dead. Many have invented Dialogues of 
 the Dead ; but what Language the Dead 
 make ufe of, I am yet to learn. You will 
 fay their Mother, or their native Language, 
 the fame that they us'd here on Earth, as 
 the Grecians fpeak Greeks the Latins La- 
 tin, and fb for the reft of the Nations : 
 But Times, and People, and Languages, 
 from Age to Age are chang'd. Our modem 
 Romans are very little skilled in the Lan- 
 guage of the antient Latins, nor do the 
 vulgar Italians underftand any Latinity 
 whatever: How fhall thefe People hold 
 Difcourfe with their Romulus, or their Numa. 
 The Languages of the Celt a and the Scy- 
 thians 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 1 1 
 
 thians, are no more remember'd by thole 
 who inhabit the fame Seats in the North and 
 the Weft, that they did. Laitly, what is 
 to be done by us the Inhabitants of this 
 Ifland, who have had fb many Languages 
 and lb many Originals ? Shall we fpeak 
 fVeljh in our aerial Bodies, or Saxon, or 
 Norman, or as we do at this Day, a Mix- 
 ture and Compound of them all ? If the 
 Life to come were to be regulated at this 
 Rate, I am afraid there would be a Confu- 
 fion of Tongues more grievous than that of 
 Babel. 
 
 We come into the World, in which we 
 are now, Infants, where by Degrees we learn 
 the Ufe of Speech, inftructed by our Mo- 
 thers and our Nurfes ; but in the aerial World 
 I prefume there is no Infancy. They who 
 are Infants when they go out of this, when 
 they enter into that, are mature at once, 
 without any Diftinclion of Age. They do 
 not come out from the Womb of their Mo- 
 ther, and gradually, like our little ones, 
 grow up to Youth and Manhood ; but as • 
 foon as they have a Tafte of aetherial Air, 
 grow, reafonable and polite at once, with- 
 out any Apprenticefhip in learning. Thefe 
 Things I fpeak, not that I mean them, but 
 according to the forefiid Hypothec's : Nor 
 do I fee how the Dead can retain their old 
 Languages, or fwallow down a new at 
 one Draught. But fo much for their Dil- 
 courfe. 
 
 I But 
 
ii4 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 But a greater Difficulty ftill remains ; and 
 that concerns their Religion: For thefe 
 aerial Men muft of Neceflity have among 
 them divine Worfhip, and fome Inftitu- 
 tion and Form of. Religion. Is every one 
 then to embrace the fame Religion which he 
 profefs'd upon Earth, and his own particu- 
 lar Sect of it ? Are the Jews to follow the 
 Law of Mofes, the Mahometans that of 
 Mahomet i the Heathens to worfhip their 
 own Gods, and the Chriftians Chrift? Would 
 you have the Papifts have their Pope as they 
 have here below? and the reformed have the 
 Scripture as the Rule of their Faith ? But 
 what do I talk of the Scripture, when I 
 have no Notion of aerial Books orWritings? 
 If Men write in vain in Water, much more 
 will they do fo in Air. No Religion can, 
 in that Station, retain its Canon or its writ- 
 ten Law, nor its particular facred Rites, nor 
 its external OEconomy. Befides, if all the 
 Souls of the Dead, from the World's Origi- 
 nal to this very Day, live together in the 
 Air, the Jews will find their Prophets there, 
 and the Chriftians their Apoftles. The 
 Jews being better inform'd of the true Me£- 
 fiah, from the oraculous Interpretation of 
 the Prophets themfelves,will immediately be- 
 come Chriftians. Thefe in like manner, 
 will, from the Mouths of the Apoftles them- 
 felves, receive the infallible Decifion of all 
 the Controverfies which are now depending 
 between the Reform'd and the Romans. 
 
 The 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c 115 
 
 The Confequence of this will be, both the 
 Converfion of the Jews^ and the Union of 
 the Chriftians. O happy Seats! O thrice 
 more happy, thofe who are dead, than thofe 
 who areyet living! Laftly, when the reft 
 of human Kind lhall be clearly inftru&ed in 
 the Nature of the true God, and the Myi- 
 tery of the Meffiah, inftrucrcd by Men di- 
 vinely infpirM, they rejecting their Errors 
 will forthwith be converted to the Chriftian 
 Faith and Worfhip. Behold now the glo 
 nous Kingdom of Chrift, a Kingdom not 
 upon Earth, nor in Heaven, but among the 
 Dead in the Air. But all this very little a- 
 grees with the Chriftian Difpcnfation, as 'tis 
 in the iacred Writings explain'd ; and, in- 
 deed, is foreign to common Belief and Senfe: 
 For who can believe that Adam and Eve_, 
 or the firft Men of all their Pofterity, Sons 
 and Daughters, live together in the Clouds, 
 or the Air; and have liv'd there together 
 for feveral thoufand Years ? Do they ftill 
 keep to their Families, and to their antient 
 Relations ? Are they fenfible of what is done 
 upon Earth, and eipecially among their own 
 Countrymen, and moft of all among their 
 own Relations ? But I am weary of asking 
 lo many Queftions, and of being thus inqui- 
 1 litive, in an Affair that is {6 uncertain, and 
 indeed incredible. If you form Queries upon 
 other Heads, the Anfwerer will be no lefs 
 at a ftand. For my Part, the more I reflect 
 upon this in my Mind, the lefs can I find 
 
 I z that 
 
1 1 5 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 that there can be any poflible Way. of efta- 
 blifhing a Commcnweaith among the Dead, 
 that is to fay, an external, corporeal, animal, 
 and vifible State. 
 
 Hitherto we have' had Recourfe to 
 Reafon alone, and to Arguments fetch'd from 
 the Nature of the Thing: But we ought, 
 befides, to confult the Holy Scripture, if 
 that by chance mould have any Thing to 
 offer to us concerning the Bodies of the Dead 
 brie the RefurreCtion. But quite contra- 
 ry, there arc many Things in the facred 
 Writings, which, according to my Appre- 
 hension, are by no means fivourable to aerial 
 Bodies in the intermediate State. Firft, be- 
 caufe the facred Writings mention only two 
 Sorts of animated Bodies, related to human 
 Souls, the Terreitrial and the Ccleftial ; that 
 which we have at this Time, and that which 
 we are to have at the Refurreclion of the 
 Dead. In the fifteenth Chapter of the firft 
 Epiille to the Corinthians, the Apoftle St. 
 IPaul handles this Matter a little more dif- 
 fufely ; and after he had diftincUy mention'd 
 two Sorts of Bodies, and only two, belong- 
 ing to the human Soul, he adds, And as 
 
 v. 45. we have bom the Image of the Earthly, we 
 fljall likewife bear the Image of the Hea- 
 venly, making not the lean: Mention of any, 
 intermediate Body, which he feems more 
 plainly to exclude in the fifth Chapter of 
 
 V. 1. the fecond Epiftle to the Corinthians i 
 in. thefe Words: For we know that if 
 
 our 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 1 17 
 
 our earthly Houfe of this Tabernacle wer& 
 dijfolv'd, we have a Building of God; an 
 Houfe not made with Hands, eternal in the 
 Heavens. You fee here that no corporeal 
 State comes between the terreftrial and cclef- 
 tiai Body; but in the Veries which follow, 
 he calls that State which perhaps may inter- 
 vene, a State of Nakcdneis : The Words are 
 theie, For in this we groan earneftly, defi- Vcr. 2, 3. 
 ring to be c loathed * upon with our Houfe, 
 which is from Heaven. If fo be that being 
 c loathed j we (ball not be found naked', for 
 if we are cloathed with any Body, we fhall 
 not be found in a State of Separation, upon 
 the Coming of Chrift to raife up the Dead: 
 For the naked Soul, or the naked Mind, fig- 
 niries the fame with the naked Soul or the na- 
 ked Mind, in a State of Separation from all 
 Body whatever. And to be cloathed upon, can 
 be applied to no one, unlels to one who is 
 already cloathed. 
 
 Secondly, the Fate of every Man, ac- 
 cording to the Style and Account of the fa- 
 cred Scripture, depends entirely upon our 
 Acfions'in this Life ; for in that to come 
 there will be no Change, either of Manners, 
 or of the Portion of Happineis, or Mifery, 
 which we have merited from thole Actions. 
 Whether the Tree falls to the South or the 
 North, in the Tlace where it fell, there if 
 
 I 3 mujl 
 
 * Concerning the Word Cloathed upon, or Sufer'radui, 
 fee the Explication of Cretins, p. 315-. 
 
n8 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 C.xi.vcr.3. fnufi lie j lays Eccleflaftes ; which Saying is 
 generally refer f'd to the Death of Man, and 
 his unchangeable Condition afterwards. And 
 Mat. xxv. f tne y are WO nt to interpret the Shutting 
 Luc. xiii. of the Gate in the Parables of Chrift: But 
 25-. St. 'Paul tells us that more plainly in the 
 
 ycr. 10. fecond Epiftle to the Corinthians^ and the 
 fifth Chapter \ For we muft all appear be- 
 fore the Judgment Seat of Chrift, that eve- 
 ry one may receive the Things done in his 
 Body, according to that he hath done, whe- 
 ther it be good, or whether it be evil : 
 Which Words feem to determine and fix the 
 future Condition of Men, from the A&ions 
 which they have done, or ought to have 
 done, during this prefent Life. But if 
 another Life intervenes before the Day of 
 Judgment, and a Life of that Nature, that 
 it is as capable of good or of evil A&ions, 
 of Virtue or Vice, as is the prefent Life, 
 \ than which it is of much greater Length and 
 Duration ; I fee no Manner of Reafon, why 
 the whole Weight of Eternity, and of the 
 future Lot and Condition of Men fhould 
 depend upon this prefent Life, which is fb 
 ihort, fo furrounded with Troubles, and to 
 numberlefs Temptations liable, that other 
 of much greater Moment being entirely neg- 
 lected and eiteem'd as nothing. 
 
 Thirdly, and laftly, According to a com- 
 mon Expreilion in the Holy Scripture, Death 
 is callM a Sleep, and thole. that die are faid 
 to fall ajleep' 7 which fcems to hint to me, 
 
 that 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 1 19 
 
 that the State of Death is a State of Quiet, 
 of Silence, and of Inaction, or Celfation from 
 Action, that is, with regard to the external 
 World : So that in a State of Death we have 
 no more Commerce with the external World, 
 than we have in a State of Sleep. Befides, 
 we are faid to rouze ourfeives, or to be awake 
 upon the Refurrection : But why ? becauie 
 that changing our Condition, and lhaking 
 off Sleep, we rile again into Light and into 
 the vifible World. 
 
 But you will fay, perhaps, that thatPhrafe 
 in the facred Scripture, by which Death is 
 liken'd to Sleep, and by which thofe that 
 die are faid to fall afleep, is only an Euphe- 
 nifmy, or a figurative favourable Expreffion, 
 and regards the Body only, which when 
 dead appears to take pleafing Reft, like one 
 that is overwhelmed with Sleep. Be it lb : 
 But then the Expreflion will be fuller and 
 ftronger, if with the Body you comprehend 
 the Mind, which refts from its ufual Ac- 
 tions, as it does in a State of Sleep ; nor is 
 it {truck by external Objeds. Therefore, 
 the Senles are not only bound and fhut up, 
 as they are in Sleep, but we are fnatch'd, 
 as it were in an Extaiy, from the Body and 
 the corporeal World. And when the Thea- 
 tre of the vifible World opens itfelf again 
 to us, we are aptly and juftly laid to (hake 
 off Sleep, and to wake. But if, upon the 
 Soul's Departure from this Body, we imme- 
 diately put on another more active and more 
 I ± lively j 
 
120 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 lively; and the Souls of the Dead arefport- 
 ing in the Fields of the Air, extremely 
 awake and chcaiful ; I fee no Reafon why 
 the Dead fhould be faid to fleep till the 
 Refurrecticn,and upon that to awake, unlefs 
 you refer all that to the Body, which leems 
 ibmewhat hard to me. 
 
 But we are here to obferve, that when 
 Inaction, or a Ceflation from Action, is at- 
 tributed to the Souls of the Dead, we are 
 not to underftand a total or an univerlal Inac- 
 tion, as well internal as external, but external 
 Inadion only ; becaufe they have no Opera- 
 tion, or Action, which regards the corporeal 
 World, nor are they affected by that any Man- 
 ner of Way whatioever. But frill they have 
 Life and the Faculty of thinking remain- 
 ing : For ib I underitand the Words of Chrift, 
 when, to prove the Immortality of the Soul, 
 he fays, that God calls himfclf the God of 
 Abraham, of 1 [fa tfr, and of Jacob. But he 
 is not the God of the IDeadj, but of the 
 Living, for they all live unto him. By the 
 Dead here Chrift underftands thole who are 
 void of all Life whatioever ; and in this 
 Senfe he denies that thefe Patriarchs are dead. 
 For they live, fays he, unto God y that is, 
 if I underftand the Thing rightly, though 
 they do not live with Regard to Men, and 
 the reft of the \ inble World, yet with Re- 
 gard to God, in the invifible World, accord- 
 ing to their intellecluai Faculties, they enjoy 
 both Life and Vigour. 
 
 Let 
 
 37.3 
 
STaTe of Departed Souls, izfc» in 
 
 Let it fuffice to obferve all this from the 
 facred Writings, in order to diicover the 
 State and Kind of Life, whether corporeal, 
 or incorporeal, we are to have immediately 
 after Death ; and that for this End, that we 
 may be able to judge, whether we iliall be- 
 hold this Sun, thefe Stars, and this agreeable 
 Light j or whether, before the Refurrection 
 of the Dead, we mall enjoy the vilibleWorld 
 in any Manner whatever : For, according to 
 our Philofophy, uniels the Soul is united to 
 fome particular Body, to fome particular 
 Portion of Matter, apart and feparately from 
 all others, to which it is vitally, and after 
 a peculiar Manner united, it can have no 
 Senle or Perception of the external World, 
 or of any corporeal Appearance, or of any 
 Part or Motion of Matter. This, perhaps, 
 may to fome appear a Paradox, who believe 
 that it may very well be, and, indeed, that 
 it actually is, that the Soul difcerns all ex- 
 ternal Object, and the Motions of the cor- 
 poreal World, though, 'tis united to no par- 
 ticular Body, nor to any one Portion of Mat- 
 ter, rather than to another : And though it 
 be altogether naked, yet, according to the 
 Place or Region in which 'tis prefent, it may 
 receive Impreffion from the furrounding 
 World, and from adjacent Bodies, in as equal 
 a Manner, as if it had a Body peculiar to it- 
 felf. But I would fain know how this can 
 be, unlefs we fuppofe the Soul to be impe- 
 netrable : For all the Action that Bodies 
 
 have 
 
12 2 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 have is by Motion, Contact, and Impulfe ; 
 and wherever there is no Refiftance, there 
 can be no Preffure or Impulfe. Befides, the 
 Motions of Bodies produce not Senfations, or 
 Thoughts, or Reflections, in us by their own 
 Power, (for at that Rate the Effeft would be 
 more noble than the Caufe,) nor can they 
 by their own Power act upon an incorporeal 
 Nature : But that is brought about by a Law 
 eftabliihed by the Author of Nature, between 
 thefe Souls, and thefe particular Bodies \ by 
 Virtue of which Law, they fympathize each 
 with the other, act upon each other, and 
 from each other fuffer ; and this we call a 
 vital Conjunction or TJnion : So that Union 
 is one Thing, and naked Prefence another 
 Thing*. And unlels you can fuppofe that 
 naked Souls, or Souls that are feparated from 
 their Bodies, fympathize with the whole Ma- 
 chine of the Univerie, or with all Bodies of 
 every Kind, they can receive Senfations or 
 feniible Impreffions from none. 
 
 Lastly, that I may draw this Matter to 
 a Conclufion, Pleafure and Pain, which 
 are nrft-rate Senfations, and of the greateft 
 Importance, cannot arife in the Soul with- 
 out a Body that is peculiar to it, or that is 
 vitally to it united : For thefe are Affections 
 which happen to the Soul, by Reafon of 
 
 fome 
 
 * 1 could fee though my Eyes were (hut, if the naked 
 Prefence, or' the Nearnefs of the Object Were fuff 
 to excite Senfations in the Soul. 
 
State 0/ Departed Souls, isfc. 123 
 
 fome Good or fome Evil that happens to the 
 Body, as 'tis its own Body. If you ftrike 
 with a Staff an adjacent Wall, I behold the 
 Motion of the Staff, and I hear the Sound 
 of the Stroke or the Blow j but I am fenfible 
 of no Pain from it : But if with the fame 
 Staff, and the fame Force, you ftrike againft 
 my Body, or that Portion of Matter which 
 I call my Body, I immediately feel Pain 
 from it ', for a new Senfation arifes very dif- 
 ferent from Seeing or Hearing, which we 
 nominate Pain. In the fame Manner, if in 
 my Prefence, with a Sword or an Axe you 
 lop off a Branch of a Tree, no Pain is felt 
 by me from it ; but if with the fame Sword,. 
 or the fame Axe, you cut my Arm afunder, 
 I feel infupportable Grief and Pain, I am 
 more affected with the Prick pf a Needle 
 upon my own Finger, than with the Blow 
 of a Cannon Ball upon any other Body 
 whatever. After the fame Manner we may 
 account for corporeal Plcaiure : But we have 
 here faid enough to fhew that our Senfa- 
 tions do not arife from any Kind of Body, 
 nor from every Prefence of the Soul ; but 
 that, befides local Prefence, another State is 
 required, a State of Union, or of Sympathy, 
 to affect us with the Motions of Matter. But 
 enough of this.* 
 
 Now 
 
 * That I may have done with this Subject, tho> Dead 
 Jeem to aaei \o i;:,ow nothing of the Affairs or tho£e 
 
 "vyhQ 
 
124 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Now thefe Enquiries have we made, and 
 thefe Determinations have we come to, con- 
 cerning the Souls of the Dead, according 
 to the Light which we have received, ei- 
 ther from the Nature of Things, or from 
 the facred Oracles : By which it appears, 
 firft, that the Soul furvives the Body ; fe- 
 condly, that the Souls of the Dead will be 
 happy after Death, and the Souls of the 
 Wicked unhappy : But, thirdly, that be- 
 fore the Pay of Judgment, the former will 
 not be fupremely happy, nor the latter ex- 
 tremely miferable. Laitly, that ^tis more 
 
 pro- 
 
 who live in this. World, nor to meddle with the Con- 
 cerns of their Families, nor to be perplexed with their 
 Cares : They reft from their Labours. Nor can I eafily 
 conceive, that an old Beldam, for Example, who never 
 knew how to write or read, nor to make the Mark of 
 any one Letter in the Alphabet, that much lefs knew 
 howto paint or to engrave exactly ; I fay, I cannot eafily 
 conceive, that this old Beldam fhould be able to appear 
 before us in her own Shape, and with all the Lines of 
 her Face, and Lineaments of her Body, like one of fuch 
 an Age, and with thofe Wrinkles that are the Effects 
 of it ; and all this to the greateft Exacmcfs : Nor to ap- 
 pear only in her own Shape, but in her ufual Garments 
 and her external Drefs : And all this fo compleatly, fo 
 exactly, that neither Jpclles himfelf, nor Phidias, no 
 Art of the Painter, no Art of the Sculptor, was ever 
 able to equal the Art of this old Beldam. We are amaz'd 
 at the Hearing of thefe Things, as Things beyond the 
 common Belief of Men : But as the Power and Facul- 
 ties of the Soul, after 'tis fet free from this Body, and 
 cloathed with a thinner, are altogether unknown to us, 
 I mud own that all that I have faid, how r ever it may have 
 a Tendency to perfuade, yet does not come up to the 
 Force of a Demon ftration . 
 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 125 
 
 probable, that until the Refurrection the 
 Souls will remain in a feparate State, than 
 that they will be veiled in any Body. Yet, 
 after all, my Opinion is, that this is to be 
 numbered amongft Things obfeure,or Things 
 not exprefly reveal'd.* Thus far have we 
 gone, let us now proceed to the reft. 
 
 * Awex»0«H to abftain, with regard to fome Things, is 
 no lefs the Duty of a Chriftian, than of a Philofopher. 
 If within this grofs Body, which we carry about with 
 us, there is fome internal Vehicle, with which theSoul 
 being inverted takes its Flight in the Article of Death, 
 I have nothing to fay againft it; but we are bound tophi- 
 lofophize according to Allegations folidly proved. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Tranfition to the remaining 7 arts of this 
 Work ; and, fi'ft, concerning the Coming 
 of Chrifty and the Conflagration of the 
 World. 
 
 HITHERTO we have been among 
 the filent Dead : Now we muft return 
 into the World's pompous Theatre, where a 
 new Face of Things entertains us, where new 
 Th<enomena fhew themfelves. Behold the 
 Meffiah coming in the Clouds of Heaven, 
 the World in Flames on every Side, and 
 the Dead with Amazement riling, and the 
 
 Tribunal 
 
125 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 Tribunal prepared for the great Day of 
 Judgment. If ever fince the Beginning of 
 Time there were, if ever to the End of the 
 World there will be aftonifhing Scenes, af- 
 tonifhing Sights, fuch thefe will tranicen- 
 dently be. Then new Heavens, and a new 
 Earth, will fucceed ; then the millennary 
 Empire ofChrift j and, laftly, the End of 
 this Globe of Earth, and the Confummation 
 of all that belongs to it. Thefe are Sub- 
 jects of the greateft Concern and Weight to 
 us, which we, according to our Capacity, 
 and the Light that we came into the World 
 with, or that we have received from the facred 
 Writings, fhall handle each in its Order. 
 The firft four of thefe, if I am not mif- 
 i 7 , 8. taken, are to fall out at the fame Time to- 
 gether. Chrift is to come to Judgment in 
 Flames of Fire, and the Dead at the fame 
 Time are to rife. And thefe four Points, I 
 believe to be more clearly revealed, as to 
 the Things themfelves, or the Main of 
 them. But when the Queftion is concerning 
 Modes and Circumftances, we muft often dii- 
 tinguifh between the vulgar Hypothefis, and 
 the reafonable one, the literal and the fecret 
 one. Laftly, as for the Things which are 
 wholly hid from our Knowledge, they are 
 entirely to be referred to the fecret Difpenfa- 
 tion of the Almighty. 
 
 As for what regards the Burning of the 
 World, and the Coming ofChrift, thoie we 
 have formerly treated of through an entire 
 
 Booh, 
 
State of Departed Souls, fef* 1 27 
 
 Book, which is the Third of the Theory of 
 the Earth. And, therefore, we fliall treat 
 of them only fuccin&ly, and by Way of 
 Abridgement here, that we may not appear 
 to do the fame Thing over again. Chrift 
 will come to judge and to rule the World; 
 To judge Mankind, and to reign together 
 with his Saints. He has explair/d each of 
 thefe to his Difciples, and called them to 
 be his AfTeffors in either Throne. /// themt.*b£ 
 Regeneration, when the Son of Man (Jjall * s * 
 fit in the Throne of his Glory ^ ye a/Jo '{hall 
 Jit upon twelve Thrones _, judging the twelve 
 Tribes of Ifrael. Chrift had before, fpeak- 
 ing of the Life to come, join'd both thefe xvi • 
 together, Empire and Judgment : For the *8. 
 Son of Man {hall come in the Glory of his 
 Father, with his Angels ^ and then he fly a 11 
 reward every Man according to his JVorks. 
 Laftly, in the folemh and divine Oracle, 
 which he delivered upon the Mount of 
 Olives, a little before his Death, he more 
 than once reminded them of his Return to 
 the Earth : And then {hall appear the Signy^. 
 of the Son of Man in Heaven, mid then b°>3 1 
 {hall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn ; 
 and they fiall fee the Son of Man coming 
 in the Clcuds of Heaven with 'Power and 
 great Glory. And he flail feud his Angels 
 with a great Sound of a Trumpet _, and they 
 fiall gather together his E left from the four 
 IV inks, from one Eirtl of Heaven to the 0- 
 ther. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 
'12 8 A T R EAT I S E concerning the 
 
 Mar.xxvi. I N thefe, and other refembling PafTages, 
 we are inftru&cd by the Mouth of Chiift 
 himfelf in his future Return to the Earth ; 
 which after him the Angels, and after them 
 the Apoftlcs again and again proclaimed. 
 At the fame Time, I am not ignorant that 
 thefe Sayings of Chrift, concerning his fu- 
 ture Coming, are fo reftrained by fome, and 
 have their Meaning fo maimed, as if nothing 
 was meant by them, but the DeitrucHon of 
 Jerufalem ; though during the Time that 
 Jerufalem Was deftroy'd, Chrift remained 
 above in the Heavens ; nor during that Time 
 did he ever come, or ever fo much as ap- 
 pear, unlefs improperly, as far as the Works 
 and the Judgments of God are taken for 
 God himfelf. Betides, the external Splendor, 
 the Glory of the Father, the Concomi- 
 tancy of Angels painted in thofe Defcrip- 
 tions, denote his perfonal Coming, and can 
 never be adjufted to any figurative Meaning. 
 Laftly, the univerfal Judgment, and the 
 End of the World are connected together 
 with this Coming of Chrift, in the foremen- 
 tioned PafFages. The Preparation for Judg- 
 ment is manifeftly defcrib'd in the foreiaid 
 Paflage, Matt. xix. 28. as you will find 
 by comparing it with Rev. xx. 4, 11, 12. 
 You will likewife find the judicial Reward 
 or Punifhment of every one according to 
 his Merits, if you compare Matt. xvi. 27, 
 2*8. with Rom. ii. 5, 6„ &c. And in the 
 twenty-fifth Chapter of the lame Evangeliir- 
 
 ver\ 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffc. 1 29 
 
 *ver. 31, 32, &c. both the Preparation for 
 Judgment, and the judicial Sentences, are 
 connected together with this Coming of Ch rift : 
 When the Son of Man fo all come in his Glo- 
 ry > and all the holy Angels with him^ 
 then Jhall he Jit on the Throne of his Glo- 
 ry. And before him jhall be gathered all 
 Nations y and he jhall feparate them one 
 from another j as a Shepherd divideth his 
 Sheep from the Goats, cXc. 
 
 As thefe PafTages clearly denote the uni- 
 versal Judgment, and that at the Coming of 
 Chrift ; fb that Judgment as perfpicuoufiy 
 means the contemporary End of the World, 
 co-incides with the fame. Some have been 
 bold enough to affert, that in the twenty- 
 fourth Chapter of St. Matthew, and other 
 parallel Places, nothing is laid concerning 
 the End of the World, or the utmoft Con- 
 fummation of Ages : But that all thofe Say- 
 ings, though ever fo great, yet folidly re- 
 gard the Deftru&ion of Jerufalem only. 
 A bold Affirmation, and very ill ground- 
 ed, in my Opinion. What ? becaufe in one 
 or two Places, where a certain Coming of 
 Chrift is mention'd, ibme View is had to the 
 Deftru&ion of Jerufalem, therefore where- 
 ever in the Gofpel Mention is made of his 
 Coming, though fuperlatively glorious, and 
 attended with a thoufand Marks that can ne- 
 ver in the leaft regard Jerufalem, but muft 
 be referred to Nature, and the World about 
 to perifh together; fhall we dare to reftrain 
 and to wreft thefe PafTages to the Deftruc- 
 
 K tion 
 
130 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 lion of one People, and of one City only? 
 This feems to me to be highly rain, that 
 I may lay no worfe of it. 
 
 But the Qiieftion is now concerning this 
 Chapter of St. Matthew, in which the fore- 
 faid Interpreters fay, that nothing is found 
 that regards the End of the World, or that 
 ought to be extended beyond the Deftru&ion 
 of J 'erufalem ; which, if I am not miltaken, 
 may two Ways be confuted. Firft, ibveral 
 Things are aflerted and related in this Chap- 
 ter, of which we have no Account in the 
 Hiftory of the Deftruction of J erufalem. Se- 
 condly, the Things that are related in the 
 facred Writings, when the ultimate Coming 
 of Chrift in the End of the World is de- 
 fcrib'd, agree and anfwer exactly to what is 
 faid in this Chapter ; and therefore both ought 
 to be underftood as meant of the fame Coming. 
 
 s „ e- . As to the firft of thefe, 'tis laid. ver. 14. 
 
 fcxsjxivij. This Go/pel of the Kingdom pall be preach- 
 ed through all the World, for a Witnefs un- 
 to all Nations, and then /hall the End come, 
 Thefe Things are not yet come to pals, 
 much lefs were they come to pals be- 
 fore the Deftruclion of Jerufalem. But 
 further, thefe Perfons would have only Ju- 
 dea underftood by through all the Worlds 
 and by all Nations only the various Tribes 
 and Provinces of the Jews y which, though 
 it is fbmething ftrain'd, yet, if there were no 
 farther Objection, I fhould not dwell upon 
 this alone. But, fecondly, the wonderful 
 Appearances both in Earth and in Heaven, 
 
 and 
 
State of Departed Souls, foV. 13! 
 
 and the glorious Appearance of Chrift in 
 the Clouds above all, which are faid to pre- 
 cede the Confummation of Things, which is 
 here marked and foretold, did neither pre- 
 cede nor accompany the Deftruction of Je- 
 rufalem. Thefe Prophecies are thus related 
 by St. Matthew : Immediately after the Ver.29. 
 Tribulation ofthofe 'Days, ftoall the Sun be 
 darkened j and the Moon jhall not give her 
 Light s and the Stars ft) all fall from Hea- 
 ven, and the 'Powers of the Heavens jhall 
 be ftaken. And then ft all appear the Sign Ver.§3 
 of the Son of Man in Heaven : And then 
 ftjall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn , and 
 they jhall fee the Son of Man coming in the 
 Clouds of Heaven, with Power and great 
 Glory. But upon the Deftruction of yeru- 
 falem, Chrift nowhere appeared in the 
 Clouds of Heaven, nor did the Sun loie 
 its Splendor, or the Moon its Light, nor 
 were the Powers of the Heavens fhaken. A 
 Comet, indeed, did appear with its Tail re- 
 fembling a Sword, or a Faulchionj as ufual : 
 But the reft of the Portents which Jofephus ?* d B f l - 
 mentions are quite of another Kind. c . ii." 
 
 But, befides, thefe Signs in the Heavens 
 are attended by others on Earth, as the 
 Shaking of the Earth, and the Roaring of the 
 Sea and its tumultuous Waves. For fb St. 
 Luke : And there ftjall be Signs in the Sun, Ca P* XI * 
 and in the Moon, and in the Stars ; and up- 
 on the Earth T>ijirefs of Nations \, with Per- 
 plexity j the Sea and the Waves roaring, 
 K % Mens 
 
132 A T R EAT I S E concerning the 
 
 Mens Hearts failing them for Fear y and 
 for looking after thofe Things which are 
 coming on the Earth j, for the 'Powers of 
 Heaven (hall be foaken : But what has Je- 
 rufalem to do with the Sea, or the Raging 
 or Roaring of its tempeftuous Waves ? Is 
 any Thing like this related to have happen'd 
 at that Time ? Certainly nothing ; but thefe 
 and the reft of the Things above mentioned, 
 relate to another and a greater Cataftrophe, 
 the Deftru&ion of the World : And there- 
 fore in explaining this Matter, Chrift very 
 aptly puts them in Mind of the Times of 
 JSfoahy and the Deluge, which was not a na- 
 tional, but an univerfal Deftru&ion. 
 
 In the mean Time, I am not ignorant 
 that the Interpreters, of whom we have been 
 here lpeaking, in expounding thefe Pheno- 
 mena, have Recourfe to Metaphors, and to 
 Allegories, and to quote PafTages from the 
 Prophets, in which thefe or the like Ex- 
 preffions are usM in a figurative Senfe : 'Tis 
 granted that fome of them are ; but it ap- 
 pears to me to be no juft Law of interpret- 
 ing, to pretend that thofe Things which are 
 fometimes us'd figuratively by the Prophets, 
 fhould be always and every where under- 
 ftood in the fame Senfe. The Style of the 
 Goipel is a great deal more chafte, nor does 
 it eafily deviate from the literal Senfe ; from 
 which an Interpreter ought never to depart, 
 unlefs the Necefiity of the Subject-Matter 
 conftrains him ; And we haye Ihevvn in an- 
 other 
 
•State of Departed Souls, Zffc. 133 
 
 other Place, that thefe Phenomena in tbfe T^cor.TclU 
 Earth and the Heavens, though wonderful ' * 3, 
 and extraordinary, will really happen to- 
 wards the End of the World, when Nature 
 is in its Pangs, and the Conflagration impend- 
 ing. The Deftruction of Jenifalem was, 
 indeed, a Type of the Deftru&ion of the 
 World, and therefore we have lefs Reafon 
 to wonder that they mould both be mingled 
 in a. confus'd Relation ; for there is, in the 
 fkcred Style, if I may fo exprefs my felf, a 
 fort of a Communication of Idioms between 
 the Types and the Antitypes ; and there is 
 in the Prophets a repeated Completion of 
 the fame Prophefy, afcending gradually to 
 its Height. 
 
 But fo much for the fecond Argument, 
 taken from the external Signs ; the third 
 follows it, taken from hence, that we obferve, 
 that there is in this Prophecy another Period 
 of Time, beiides that of the Deftruction of 
 Jerufalem, and a Period pofterior to it ; for 
 thus we read in St. Luke 3 Jerufalem /^^//C.xxi.24. 
 be trodden down of the Gentiles > until the 
 Times of the Gentiles be fulfill' d. See here 
 another Period, different from that of Jem- 
 falem^ and pofterior to it ; for the Defla- 
 tion of the Jews is faid to endure to this 
 other Period : I defire to know then what 
 this pofterior Period is, unlefs it be that of 
 the World ? or the Reftoration of the Jews 
 towards the End of the World, after the 
 Times are accorrmliftYd that are pre- 
 K\ deftu'd 
 
134 ^ T R E AT I S E concerning tU 
 
 deftin'd for the preaching to and convert- 
 ing the Gentiles. But the Wonders in 
 the Earth, and the Heavens, and the glo- 
 rious Appearance of Chrift in the Clouds, 
 immediately follow the Mention of this pof- 
 terior Period, and are therefore properly to 
 be referred to that, and not to the Deftruc- 
 tion of Jernfalem. Befidcs, when Chrift 
 fays, that of that 'Day and Hour knoweth 
 no Man j no, nor the Angels which are in 
 Heaven, he feems to mean fomething more 
 remote than that Deftruction, which when it 
 was fcarce at the Diftance of half an Age 
 from the Time in which our Saviour fpoke, 
 -tis a great deal lefs probable that it ihould 
 have efcaped the Knowledge of all the An- 
 gels in Heaven, than if you interpofe the 
 Series of many Ages, and underftand by it 
 the laft Day of the expiring World. 
 
 Thus far we have treated of the Remarks 
 which are found in the very Text, If be- 
 fides you compare this Prophecy with other 
 Paffages of the ficred Scripture, where the 
 laft Coming of Chrift, and the Day of Judg- 
 ment are defcrib'd, you will eafily find by 
 the Refemblance and the Relation which the 
 Expreffions have to each other, that the fame 
 Time is dclign'd by all of them, and the 
 fame State of Things. In all of them you 
 fee Chrift coming in the Clouds of Heaven ; 
 in all of them you fee an Army of Angels 
 attending him, and in all of them hear the 
 Clangor of the laft Trumpet proclaim him. 
 
 Do 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffcl 13 5 
 
 Bo you know,you who maintain the contrary 
 Side, tell me, I befeech you, in what Pla- 
 ces do you own that the facred Scripture 
 fpeaks of the true, the perfonal, and the 
 laft Coming of Chrift ? I know very well 
 that you believe in that Coming fo much 
 expected, and fo much defir'd by Chriftians; 
 and according to my Opinion, Chrift fpeaks 
 of the fame in many Places, in many the 
 Apoftles likewife. Chrift, for Example, 
 fpeaks of it in the Gofpel of St. Matthew 
 xvi. 27. but you will not allow it*; in 
 Matthew xxiv. but you will not allow it ; 
 in Matthew xxvi. 64. but you will not al- 
 low it; Matthew xix. 28. and xxv. 31, 32. 
 when you either deny, or hefitate. 
 
 Besides, the Apoftles, in our Opinion, 
 often fpeak of the fame ; as for Example, 
 2 Thejf. i. 7, 8, &c. but you are of another 
 Opinion : Nor the Guards of Angels, nor 
 the revenging Fire, nor the eternal Perdition 
 of the Ungodly, which are all of them here 
 commemorated, have Prevalency enough to 
 prove to you that the ultimate Coming of 
 Chrift in the End of the World is here to 
 be underftood. Then in the fecond Epiftle 
 of Teter, Chap. iii. 4, 8, 9, 10, &c. we be- 
 lieve that the Coming of our Lord, that the 
 
 K 4 Day 
 
 * See Dr. Hammond upon thefe and the following 
 Places, efpecially on Matt. xxiv. 3. Not. b. 2 TbeJJ . u 
 and upon 2 'Pet. iii. and Lishtfoot upon the fourth of 
 St. Mark, p. 18. 
 
136 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Day of Judgment, and the Diflblution and 
 Renovation of this World are clearly ihewn 
 and exhibited to us ; neither here do you 
 give your AlTent. Laftly, we in like Man- 
 ner interpret the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 Verfes of the St. Jude, and the feventh of 
 the firft Chapter of the Revelations ^ of the 
 judicial and vifible Coming of Chrift ; and 
 here you likewife prevaricate ; as likewife in 
 fundry other Places, too numerous to be 
 mentioned here. 
 
 'Tis with Pain that we fuffer fo many 
 facred PalTages to be torn from us; Paflages 
 on which all our Hope was founded, of 
 the future Coming of Chrift. Nor is their 
 Employment either grateful to Chriftians, 
 or advantageous to Chriftianity, who make 
 it their Bufinefs to leflen the Weight of the 
 Prophecies, and to confine and conftrain their 
 Senfe, which fometimes they do without 
 Senle of Right or Shame, in fpite of the 
 Reluftancy, both of the Spirit and the Let- 
 ter ; as when the Preparation for the laft 
 Judgment is manifeftly defcrib'd, or the Con- 
 flagration of the World, or the Glory of 
 the Father and the Angelick Guards; or 
 laftly, Chrift himfelf descending from Hea- 
 ven, and confpicuous in the Clouds of Hea- 
 ven; they who pretend to reduce thefe Rea- 
 lities, fo illuftrioufly manifeft, to Shadows 
 and Figures, thefe Univerfals, comprehend- 
 ing no lefs than a World, to the DeftrucHon 
 of one City and Nation ; thefe Perfons feern 
 
 to 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 137 
 
 to me not only to convert a rich Vein into a 
 fteril one, but by an Interpretation of this 
 Nature, to do Violence both to Words and 
 to Things ; for what can be more manifeft 
 than that Conflagration and the End of the 
 World defcrib'd in the foremention'd PalTa- 
 ges of St. Taul and St. Teter ; which yet 
 they are pleas'd to refolve into I know not 
 what chymerical Allegories ? But what we 
 can ftill worfe endure, and what has ftill a 
 nearer Relation to our Argument, is, that 
 they wreft and diftort the Defcent of Chrifi 
 in the Clouds of Heaven, (Matth. xxiv. 30.) 
 from the Letter and the Truth, * and pretend 
 that there is nothing meant by it, but the 
 Judgments of God, and Punifhments that 
 are fent from Heaven; when yet they might 
 have learn'd the Force of that Expreflion 
 from the Mouth and Information of an An- 
 gel, who tells us, that this Coming in the 
 Clouds is both true and perlbnal ; for faid the 
 Angel, Te Men of Galilee, why ft and ye Aa • llt 
 gazing up into Heaven ? This fame Jefus, 
 which is fo taken up from you into Heaven, 
 {ball fo come in like Manner as ye have feeti 
 
 him 
 
 * That the Word Clouds is to be taken in a literal 
 Senfe, you may fee fullv prov'd by Gerard. Tom. ix de 
 extrera. Jud. p. 67, 63. This Word is taken from 
 2)«%. vii. 13. where the Prophet is fpeaking of the fe- 
 cond Coming of Chrift. By the Clouds of Heaven, the 
 Jews underftand Angels, or the Guardian Hoji of Angels, 
 fays Pearfcn on the Crecd^ p. 322. marg. 
 
ii 3 2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 him go into Heaven, that is, peribnally and 
 vifibly in the Clouds. 
 
 It fecm'd tome to be of the greateft Con- 
 ference, to make thefe fhort Remarks, that 
 no Evidence might efcape me in an Affair 
 of fo vaft a Moment, and in fo renown'd a 
 Caufe ; for unlefs Chrift returns from Hea- 
 ven, we are loft, vain is our Hope, and vain 
 our Faith, as the Apoftle fpeaks concerning 
 the Refurre&ion. But there are, befides, in 
 the facred Writings, numberlefs Proofs and 
 Teftimonies of this glorious and moll wifh'd- 
 for Coming, which is exprefs'd by various 
 Names. 'Tis for the raoft part call'd 7rap«- 
 trloL Prefence, and fometimes cliroy.xAv-^is Re* 
 velation, i Cor. i. 7. 2 Thejf. i. 7. 1 Tet. i. 
 7, 13. and iv. 15. Luke xvii. 31. fometimes 
 'tis named e7r«poiv&<x,, an illuftrious Appea- 
 rance, 2 Theffi ii. 8. 1 Tim. vi. 14. z Tim. 
 iv. i, cX 8. Tit. ii. 13. fometimes 'tis named 
 (pctvzpooo-ic, Manifefiation, or manifeft Appear- 
 ance, Col. iii. 4. 1 'Pet. v. 4. and that fo- 
 lemn Day is call'd by the Prophet and the 
 
 Act. S. 10i Apoftle 7] 71 ?JL€£p. KVgJUS 7] fJAycL?W Xj STltpCLvhSf 
 
 that great and illuftrious T)ay of the Lord,, 
 in which, fays God, / will {hew IVonders 
 in Heaven above, and Signs in the Earth 
 beneath ^ Blood and Fire, and Vapour of 
 Smoak : The Sun jhall be turned into *Dark- 
 nefsj, and the Moon into Blood, before that 
 great and illuftrious 'Day of the Lord fhall 
 come. Thefe Prodigies, thefe Wonders have 
 not yet been brought upon the Stage , that 
 
 Part 
 
State of Departed Souls, $s?c. 15 9 
 
 'Tart of the Drama, the laft Ad of it is yet 
 to come, for which the great Machines, and 
 the moft noble and moft terrible Scenes are 
 wont to be refer v'd. 
 
 Nor is it any Objection to what has been 
 faid, that this Prophecy is cited upon the 
 Effufion of the Holy Gholi on the Apoftles, 
 as if at that very Time it had receiv'd its Ac- 
 complifhrnent. It receiv'd it indeed in fome 
 Meafure, as to the former Part of it, as to 
 Gifts and Infpirations divine ; but 'tis mani- 
 feft that the latter Part of it, concerning 
 which we are now fpeaking, thefe Signs and 
 Wonders in external Nature, have no Rela- 
 tion to this EfFufion of the Holy Spirit, for 
 that nothing in the Time of that EfFufion 
 happenM, but a Rufhing, and a mighty 
 Wind. 
 
 Ma'ny and mighty Things remain to be 
 perfected upon the Coming of our Lord, 
 upon that wonderful and terrible "Daj/j as 
 the Prophet expreifes himfelf. Nothing can 
 be more terrible to the Impious and Irreli- 
 gious, than the Sight of the angry Deity, 
 upon whofe Coming the Earth trembles, the 
 Heavens are troubled, the Sun is converted 
 into Darknefs, and the Moon into Blood, 
 and all Nature languifhes as about to expire ; 
 Thenjhall Mens Hearts fail them for Fear^ Luc. xxL 
 that is, the Hearts of the Wicked, and for 
 looking after thofe Things which are coming 
 on the Earth j as the Evangelift tells us ; 
 |)ut the Righteous mail look up, and lift up 
 
 their 
 
 28. 
 
1 4 o A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 their Heads, when they (ball fee the Son of 
 Man coming in the Clouds with Tower^ 
 and great Glory, before whom ten thou- 
 fand thoufand Angels mall fly, and illuminate 
 his Way, flaming and blazing before their an- 
 gry God, like Lightening before the Thun- 
 der, an Army more numerous, and more 
 refulgent, than all the Stars in the Hea- 
 vens. 
 
 Hitherto we have prov'd the Coming 
 
 of Chrift from the facred Writings : But to 
 
 paint the Excefs of his Glory, or precifely 
 
 to nominate the Time of his Coming, is be- 
 
 Theor.Tcii. yond all mortal Power. As for the former, 
 
 jail. c. 12. we j iaye gj ven a f ort f a light Specimen of 
 
 it in the foremention'd Paffage, which we 
 have left to be accurately performed by others : 
 As for the latter, it mult be confefs'd, that 
 the primitive Chriftians, nay, and the A- 
 poftles themfelves, as far as we can gather 
 from the facred Hiftory, belie v'd that this 
 Day of the Lord was coming upon their own 
 Times, or was not very far diftant from 
 them : But this Point will be difcufs'd here- 
 after, when we fpeak of the Day of Judg- 
 ment, that we may avoid being tedious in 
 this Chapter. 
 
 The Conflagration of the World is join'd 
 
 with the Coming of Chrilt, as the facred 
 
 Oracles teach us. The Apoftle St. 'Paul ex- 
 
 prefly tells us fo in his fecond Epiftle to the 
 
 chip. i. Thejfalon'ians ; when the Lord Jefus jhall 
 
 • ' 8 * be revealed from Heaven with his mighty 
 
 Angels x 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 141 
 
 Angels, in flaming Eire, taking Vengeance 
 on them that know not Godj and that obey 
 not the Go/pel of our Lord Jefus Chrifl. 
 In the fame Manner the Apoftle St.fPeter 
 joins the Coming of Chrift, or that Day of 
 the Lord, with the Combuftton and the Dii- 
 folution of the World. But the c DajyofiE?.\u. 
 the Lord will come as a Thief in the Nighty ,0, 
 in the which the Heavens {hall pafs away 
 with a great Noifi. and the Elements jjjall 
 melt with fervent Heat, the Earth alfo, and 
 the JVorks that are therein, fiall be burnt 
 up. Befides, that the Lord will come to 
 Judgment in Fire, feveral PalTages of both 
 Teftaments witneis ; and in the fame Chap- 
 ter, yer. 7. St. 'Peter fays thus ; but the Hea- 
 vens and the Earth which are now, by the 
 fame Word are kept in Store, referved unto 
 Fire againfl the llay of yudgment^ and 
 Perdition of ungodly Men. The Apoftle 
 St. Paul likewife, if I am not miftaken, in 
 the firft to the Corinthians, has the fame chap. hi. 
 View with St. Peter. For other Founda- ^» 1 *» 1 *- 
 tion can no Man lay_, than what is laid, 
 which is that fefus is the Meffiah. Now 
 if any Man build upon this Foundation, 
 Gold, Silver j precious Stones, Wood, Hay^ 
 Stubble, every Man's Work fiall be made 
 manifefi ; for the 'Day {hall declare it, be- 
 caufe it {ball be revealed by Fire,, and the 
 Fire {hall try every Mans Work of what 
 Sort it is. That PalTage likewife in the 
 Epiftle to the Hebrews feems to lock the ch 2p . *. 
 
 fame 17 ' 
 
14 1 r A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 fame Way ; There remains a certain fear- 
 ful Looking for of Judgment , and fiery In- 
 dignation \, which pall devour the Adver- 
 faries. 
 
 Nor do the Prophets lefs dreadfully fee 
 before us the fiery Equipage and Pro virion 
 of a prefent, an angry, and revenging God, 
 when they fpeak of the Coming of our 
 Lord, and the Deftru&ion of his Enemies ; 
 that is often hinted at in the Pfalms of *Da- 
 f^'an/' v *d > and I/aiah fpeaks plainly, Chap. lxvi. 
 ixviii. 2,3. 1 <)> 16. For behold the Lord will come with 
 fclxxxih. Fire, and with his Chariot like a IVhirl- 
 xcvii. 5. wind, to render his Anger with Fury, and 
 his Rebuke with Flames of Fire. The fame 
 Prophet has the fame Meaning, Chap, xxxiv. 
 8, 9, 10. Befides, m the Prophet 'Daniel 
 the Antient of 'Days is defcrib'd, as fitting. 
 upon his Tribunal, and furrounded and co- 
 Chap, vii. ver'd with Flames : His Throne was like the 
 9> 10. fiery Flame j and his Wheels like burning 
 Fire : A fiery Stream ijfuedj, and came 
 forth from before him : Thoufand Thoujands 
 minijierd unto him, and ten thoufand times 
 Ten thoufand food before him ; the Judgment 
 was fet, and the Books were open'd. Laft- 
 Chap.iv.i. ly the Prophet Malachy fhews us the fame 
 Face of Nature upon that Day of the Co- 
 ming of the Lord : Behold the 'Day comet h 
 that will burn as an Oven,, and all the 
 'Proud, yea, and all that do wickedly jhall 
 be Stubble, and the Ijay that cometh foall 
 bum them up. 
 
 Hitherto 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. 145 
 
 Hitherto we have brought PafTages 
 from facred Authors, as Proof's of the fu- 
 ture burning of the World upon the Coming 
 of Chrift : And this Conflagration, and this 
 Coming, ought, in my Opinion, to have a 
 Place among the cleareft Doctrines of the 
 Chriftian Faith, if we only have Regard to 
 the Fads themfelves. But there are, befides, 
 feveral Circumitances, Modes, and Condi- 
 tions of this Conflagration, worthy of our 
 Thoughts and our Contemplation, though 
 not equally manifeft, nor equally neceffary 
 to be known. 'Tis certainly worth our 
 while to endeavour to difcover the very Time 
 of this future Burning, and to have lome 
 Foreknowledge of it ; to be able to fet forth 
 the Bounds and the Limits of it ; how far it 
 will reach upwards, and how far defcend j 
 how far it will pierce into the Bowels of 
 the Earth, or penetrate the Regions of the 
 Skies ; and then to enquire into the Caufes 
 and Seeds of this univerfal Burning, as far 
 as 'tis founded in the Nature of Things, 
 and the Matter and Form of the Earth. 
 Laftly, to give an Account of its Beginning, 
 its Progrefs, and its End ; and with what 
 Shape and Countenance the Earth will ap- 
 pear, when the Conflagration's over. Thele 
 and other Things relating to thefe, we have 
 handled more at large in the foremention'd 
 Treatife, to which the Reader is defir'd to Theory of 
 have Recouife, who has a Mind to be fur- the Earth. 
 ther fatisiied upon this Subject 
 
 CHAP, 
 
144 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Of the laji Judgment : A View of its prin- 
 cipal Appearances y of its Manner ', End t 
 and Ejfefi. 
 
 UPON the Coming of the Lord, the 
 Dead arife, and appear before their 
 Judge. The Refurre&ion, indeed, in the 
 Order of Nature precedes this ; but of 
 Things that are tranfa&ed at the fame Time, 
 thofe are moll commodioufly handled firft, 
 that can be fboneft difpatched. Now as of 
 all Things that belong to our future State, 
 the Doctrine of the RefurrecKon is of the 
 moft Importance, it moll: of all requires our 
 Care and our Application ; and therefore 
 we have refer vM the laft Place for it, of the 
 four Things which we propos'd to treat of. 
 
 In handling this Subjed we lhall firft give 
 the Reader a View of its principal Appear- 
 ances, as 'tis reprefented and painted by the 
 facred Writers. Secondly, the Thing itlelf, 
 and its facred Truth ihall be explained accord- 
 ing to a reafonable Hypotheiis : Laftly, and 
 the End and Effect: of this Judgment upon 
 the Innocent and the Guilty, upon the Ac- 
 quitted or the Condemn'd ; and thefe Things 
 appear to me to comprehend this Matter in 
 general, and the moft ufeful Parts of it, re- 
 jecting 
 

 State of Departed Souls, &c. 141 
 
 jccHng feveral impertinent and fophiltical 
 Disputes, which are wont to be carried on 
 with fb much Noife in the Schools, without 
 Advantage to either Side, and by which the 
 Force of the Mind, employ 'd in fuperfluous 
 Trifles, is diflipated and confum'd. 
 
 A § for what relates to the View of its 
 principal Appearances, in the firft Place the 
 Judge is defcrib'd by the Prophet 'Daniel 'chap.vii^ 
 fitting on his Tribunal, and furrounded by 9> IO - 
 his Guards, in thefe Words ', / beheld \ fays 
 he, till the Thrones were fit, and the An- 
 cient of Days did fitj, whofi Garment was 
 white as Snow, and the Hair of his Head 
 like the pure Wool; his Throne was like the 
 fiery Flame, and his Wheels like burning 
 Fire : A fiery Stream ijfuedj and came fortl) 
 from before him : Thoufand Thoufands mi- 
 nifter'd unto him, and ten thoufand times 
 Ten thoufand flood before him ; the Judg- 
 ment was Jet, and the Books were 0" 
 fen 3 d. 
 
 In the Revelations of St. Join, the Judge, chap, «i 
 the Judgment, and the Judged, are reprefent- "• &c, 
 ed together. I faw, fays the Prophet, a 
 great white Throne, and him that fat on it, 
 from whofe Face the Earth and the Hea- 
 -vens fled away, and there was found no 
 Tlace for them : And I faw the Dead, 
 fmall and great, ft and before God, and the 
 Books were open'd; and another Book was 
 ofien'd, which was the Book of Life ; and 
 theDead were judged out ofthofe Things \, 
 
 L which 
 
i^2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 which were written in the Books, according 
 to their Works. And the Sea gave up the 
 Dead which were in it, and Death and 
 Hell delivered up the Dead which were in 
 them : And they were judged every Man 
 according to their Works. And whofoever 
 was not found written in the Book of Life, 
 was caft into the Lake of Fire. Thefe 
 Things are handled more diffufely than they 
 are by 'Daniel, but the former exa&ly a- 
 gree with the latter, as the Revelations are 
 wont to do. 
 
 Let us now attend to the Difcourfe of 
 Chrift concerning the Proceedings of the laft 
 Judgment, and the Sentence that is pro- 
 nounced both upon the Good and theWicked. 
 
 Mattxxv. wh en the Son of Man {hall come in his Glo- 
 ry j and all the holy Angels with himj then 
 {hall he fit upontheThro7te of his Glory. And 
 before him {hall be gathered all Nations > 
 and he {hall feparate them one from the o- 
 ther, as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from 
 the Goats : And he {hall fit the Sheep on 
 his Right Hand j and the Goats on his Left. 
 Then {hall the King fay unto them on his 
 Right Handj Come, ye Bleffed of my Father, 
 inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from 
 
 Ver.41. the Beginning of the World. Then (hall 
 he fay alfo to them on his Left Hand; De- 
 part from me, ye Cur fed, into the Fire pre- 
 pared for the Devil and his Angels. Thus 
 faith Chrift in the forefaid Palfage. 'Tis 
 
 Matt. xix. a( ^ ec j - m f omc ot k er Places, that the Saints 
 
 and 
 
State of Departed Souls, istci 14?' 
 
 and the Apoftles will fit together in Judg- * Cor.vi. 
 ment with him. < Re*k*3 
 
 If we compare thefe and other HkePalTages 4. 
 of the facred Writings, this will be the Re- 
 prefentation of the laft Judgment, this its dread» 
 ful Appearance. A large burning Throne be- 
 ing ere&ed, Chrift fits upon it as Judge, and 
 with him fit the holy Apoftles. Chrift is at- 
 tended and furrounded with his Minifters and 
 Guards, the Angels. Then the Dead are 
 placed before the Tribunal pale and trem- 
 bling, fummon'd by the Trumpet's Clangor,; 
 Which Things being thus fet in Order, and 
 Silence commanded, the Regifter is brought^ 
 or the memorial Books, in which the Deeds$ 
 Words, Thoughts of every one, throughout 
 his former Life, are marked : Thefe being 
 opened and read, every one's Caufe is deter- 
 mined according to his Works, or conform- 
 ably to what he did in the Body. Then alt 
 Things being weigh'dand examin'd, the Wic- 
 ked being placed on the Left Hand, and the 
 Good on the Right, the Judge pronounces Sen- 
 tence, a Sentence for the Wicked unutterably 
 dire : 'Depart from me, ye Cur fed, into ever- 
 lafting Fire ; but a Sentence tranfporting and 
 beatifying for the Good : Come, ye Blejfedof 
 my Father j foffefs the Kingdom prepared 
 for you from the Foundations of the World. 
 
 In this Idea of the future univerfal Judg- 
 ment, there are fome Things, without doubt, 
 theatrically fpoken, conformably to the Man- 
 ner of a human Court of Jnltice, Things 
 
 L z that 
 
144 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 that will not happen litterally upon the 
 Day of Judgment. In this Part of the Sub- 
 ject, I believe, we fhall have no Adverfa- 
 ry : In the other Part, like wife, 'tis manifeft, 
 that feveral Things will be litterally accom- 
 plifhed, according as they are related. Chrift 
 will defcend from Heaven perfonally, and 
 vilibly, attended with his Angelick Guards, 
 upon whofe Coming the Dead will be raifed, 
 in order to undergo fome Examination or 
 Probation, upon which every one's Deftiny 
 will depend. But that thefe Things will 
 be actually done under the Command and 
 Conduct of Chrift, the facred Scripture 
 abundantly teftifies, Matt. xvi. 27. John v. 
 22, 27. AEis xvii. 31. Rom.xlv. 9. 2 Tim. 
 vi. 8. and in numerous other Places. 
 
 You fee now that in this Reprefentation 
 of the laft Judgment, there is a Mixture of 
 the vulgar and the fecret Hypothefis. ^Tis 
 the Part of a wife Man to diftinguiih what, 
 and how much belongs to each of them. 
 The Tryal of Souls, in order to punilh 
 or reward them, according as each of them 
 is undefiled or wicked, is the main of the 
 Affair, the Defign, and the End of it. Nor 
 is it of much Significancy, whether this Tryal 
 proceeds, after the Manner of external Judi- 
 catures, or a human Procefs, or by any other 
 Way ; provided 'tis effectual, and obtains 
 the End defign'd by it. Some of the An- 
 tients were of Opinion, that this Tryal, at 
 the Burning of the World, was to be per- 
 formed 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffc'. 145 
 
 formed by Fire, of which we mall lpcak 
 immediately. However, this is manifeft, 
 that the Style of the facred Writers, in re- 
 prefenting this judicial Proceeding, is accom- 
 modated to human Cuftoms and InfKtutions ; 
 and that neither Books nor Regifters will 
 be found in the Air, nor the Hiftory of his 
 pall Life be recited to every Individual. That 
 every one will deferve the Fate which he 
 meets with, will fufficiently appear by the 
 Teftimony of his own Conference, and that 
 State of Mind, in which he will be actually 
 found. 
 
 But we have faid that thefe Things are 
 in a great Meafure accommodated to human 
 Cuftoms and Inftitutions, and particularly 
 to the Doctrines and the religious Belief of 
 the Heathens, who constituted Judges in the 
 infernal World, Obfervers of JufHce and E- 
 quity, and the Rewarders and Revengers of 
 human Actions. Their Names and their 
 Bufinefs, and the various Punifhments which 
 they inflided upon flagitious Men,-*are fuffi- 
 ciently known from the Grecian Authors. 
 ^P/ato, above all of them, has copiouily trea- 
 ted of this Matter in feveral Places, as in 
 his 'Phado, and towards the End of his 
 Gorgiasy and in his Tenth Book of a Com- 
 tntnwealthy under the Perlbn of Herus Ar- 
 miniusy who was come back from Hell to 
 make the Relation. But thefe and feveral 
 other Things, which relate to the infernal 
 World, and to the State of the Dead, were 
 L 5 borrowe4 
 
j aS A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 borrowed by the Grecians from the Egyp- 
 tians^ according to * < Diodorus Siculus 7 
 which, he fays, was begun by Orpheus , 
 whom afterwards feveral Grecian Poets and 
 Theologues followed. 
 
 But thefe Things by-the-by. What is 
 more worthy of Remark, is, that fome among 
 the Antients were of Opinion, that there was 
 no perfonal Miniftry, no artful Pomp or Or- 
 nament, in the Diftribution of Juftice to 
 human Souls ; but that the Nature of Things 
 was by divine Providence fb prepared and 
 ordered, that it w T ould fpontaneous diftri- 
 bute Juftice to every Soul that mould be 
 freed from its mortal Body. And, therefore, 
 they gave the Name of Nemejls y and fome- 
 times of Adrafiia, to this Force of God or 
 Nature : 'AvcL7rc£p<x.q~ov outlclv vactv xcctcc (pvo'iv" 
 becaufe they believed no Body able to fly 
 from this Caufe thus appointed by Nature ; 
 
 rib. xw. As the Author of the Treatife de Mundo fays. 
 
 iib tinem. j n t h e f ame Manner Adraftia, or Nemefis^ is 
 faid by Ammianus Marcellinus _, to be the 
 Avenger of wicked Acfions., and the Re- 
 ivarder of the Good : Whom^ fays he^ an- 
 ftent Theologues imagining to be the 'Daugh- 
 ter 
 
 * But of the Punijhments of the Wicked in Hades, and 
 <af the Fields of the Good, and of the Introduction of the 
 raaking of Idols, and the imitating of what relates to the 
 Sepulchres of the Egyptians, &C, Thefe and Sentences 
 pf the fame Nature^ concerning Orpheus and the Bgff* 
 'tiays % sou may le? Ui iDiydcrns» I i. Tn.ftL $4 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c, 147 
 
 ter ^Juftice, teach us, that fly e over fees all 
 earthly Things from hidden and remote E- 
 ternity ; that jhe the Sovereign Queen of 
 CaufeSj the imperial Arbitrefs of 'Things ; 
 that /be the deciding and determining Judge, 
 mingles the hots in the fatal Urn, and ab- 
 folutely governs and difpofes of the Vicijfi- 
 tudes of human Affairs. 
 
 But this Force implanted in the Nature 
 of Things, this Force, that is able thus to 
 diftinguifh and to diftribute Juftice to every- 
 one in a future State, has not been fo well 
 explained by antient Philofophers or Theo- 
 logifts, as to make it evident by what Me- 
 thods and what Caufes this can be effected 
 without a judicial Procefs. Some of the 
 Chriftian Fathers, as we obferved above, 
 were of Opinion, that this Probation would 
 be effected, and this Judgment executed by- 
 Fire, at the general Conflagration of the 
 World ; in which they believed that the 
 Souls of all thofe would be involved, who 
 were formerly Inhabitants of this Earth ; and 
 that, according to the Degree of their Purity 
 or Impurity, they would receive more or 
 lefs, or no Damage at all from it. And this 
 Opinion is founded upon St. 'Paul's Difcourfe 
 to the Corinthians, \ Efiift. iii. 13. in thefe 
 Words : Every Man's Work fljall be made 
 manifeft } for that *Day (hall declare it,, be- 
 caufe it fljall be revealed by Fire ; and the 
 Fire /ball try every Man's Work, cfwhdt 
 Sort it is, Origen againft Qelfus fays, That u *• m » 
 
 L 4 this 2 
 
 241. 
 
14% ,4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 this laft Fire would be the Fire that would 
 purge the World. And then he adds, Not 
 only the Worlds but, in all Probability^ 
 every individual Soul that fhould have Oc- 
 cafionfor it^ either for a Remedy j or for a'Pu- 
 nijhment ; burning and not confuming thofe^ 
 in whom this Fire finds no Matter to work 
 upon and to confume > but both burning and 
 confuming thofe who build the figurative 
 Edifice of their Actions, Words, andThoughts 3 
 of Wood, and Hay, and Straw. And in 
 p. 142. the Sequel he further adds, This c Doctrine J 
 therefore j protnifes that they only {hall be 
 untouched by this Conflagration, and this 
 c Puni(hment, whom it finds pure and clean fed, 
 both with Regard to their 'Doctrines j, their 
 Manners j and their Actions. But for them 
 who are unlike thefe,, and who defer ve to 
 undergo this Fiery, and this penal Ttifpen- 
 fatiotij 'tis neceffary that for a certain 
 Time the c Punifhme7it (hould be inflicted on 
 them, which God thinks fit to inflict on them^ 
 who being formed after the Image of the di- 
 vine Nature, have yet the Will of God in 
 Contempt j and do not endeavour to make 
 their Lives anfwerable to that divine Image. 
 But as this Doctrine of the Tryal of Souls 
 by the laft Fire, cannot be demonstrated 
 by the Light of Nature, its Champions de- 
 clare, that 'tis founded on the facred Wri- 
 tings, and chiefly, as we faid above, on the 
 forefaid Difcourfe of St, 'Paul to the Corin* 
 
 thiansj 
 
State of Departed Souls, itfc. 149 
 
 thians ; which we fhall therefore propoie to 
 be examined as fuccin&ly as may be. 
 
 Numerous Difputes have arifen concern- 
 ing that PaiTage of the Apoftle. But as for 
 the Bufinefs that we have with it, the 
 whole Controveriy depends upon two Words, 
 and the Interpretation of them, viz. what 
 the Apoftle underftood by the Word Day,, 
 or that 'Day-) and what he underftood 
 Fire. Some Perfons here underftand a me- 
 taphorical Fire, Tribulation and Affliction : 
 But we, that real and natural Fire, which 
 will deftroy the World : And by Day, they 
 likewife mean the Day of Temptation ; but 
 we, the Day of Judgment, or the Day of 
 the Lord. And as this is the common, and 
 moft fimple Interpretation, it may feveral 
 Ways be proved to be the true one : As, 
 Firft, by parallel Places, in which we meet 
 with the fame Word 'Day, and where it has 
 the fame Force, and the fame Signification, 
 which we have given it here, as in 1 Theff. 
 v. 4. But ye j, Brethren j are not in Dark* 
 7iefsj that that 'Day fhould overtake you 4 t ifJ j. a , 
 as a Thief. Here the Day of the Lord is 
 underftood, as is evident from the fecond 
 Verfe. But what that Day of the Lord is, 
 which comes as a Thief in the Night, St. 'Pe- 
 ter explains, when he fays, 'tis the fame in 
 which the World is to be deftroy 'd by Fire : 
 But the Day of the Lord will come as ai Ep. m 
 Thief in the Night j, in the which the He a- lo - 
 yens (ball j>afe away with a great Noife,, 
 
 and 
 
i 5 © A TR EAT I S E concerning the 
 
 and the Elements {ball melt with fervent 
 Heat ; the Earth alfo, and the Works that 
 are within, {hall be burnt up. And the 
 
 fai?«; Word "Day is ufed in the fame Senfe by 
 the Apoftle in his Epiftle to the Hebrews, 
 when he fays, Chap. x. 2^. That they{hould 
 exhort one another, and fo much the more 
 as they fee the c Day approaching. Where 
 
 i, fait*, the Word 'Day, plainly denotes the Day of 
 the Lord, the Day of Judgment, and of 
 the Conflagration, as is apparent from ver. 27. 
 Befides, the Word Day, emphatically fpo- 
 ken, is the fame Thing with * jj/xipot hteivn, 
 
 z Their. 1. fhe cpayoftte £ orc i : But ' t i s fufficiently 
 
 a Tim. i. known, that in the facred Writings, that 
 lv!s. l8 ' E x preflion always fignifies, the Day of the 
 Lord, or the Day of Judgment. 
 
 Secondly, The Word ^Day^ mentioned at 
 firft by the Apoftle without Limitation, is 
 afterwards limited and determined by the 
 Words that immediately follow ; 'tis a Day 
 that is revealed in Fire, h tt^I <x,7rox<xAv7r- 
 rerctr a fiery 'Day in the Revelation of the 
 
 Lord, \v tv\ ct7rox,aXu*\>& tb avpia Iv 7rupi 
 
 <pAoyo$ ', as the fame Apoftle fays afterwards 
 iEp.i. 7. to the Theffalonians : Nor is there the leaft 
 Room to doubt but that thefe two Pafla- 
 ges regard the fame Time, and the fame 
 Thing, whether the Word Revealed, ec7ro->t<x.- 
 AuttW«, relates to Day, or the Lord, or 
 the Work itfelf. Iftdeed the Coming of 
 the Lord in the facred Writings is wont to 
 be called aTrofcaAu^s, or Revelation^ ani 
 
 is 
 
State of Departed Souls, Iffc. t\f 
 
 is mark'd and ftiewn by Fire, as every one 
 knows ; and therefore is both Ways anfwer- 
 able to this Place. Befides, another Mark 
 and Characleriftick of this Day is, that -'tis 
 Tifjiies^ SyXwriKhy viz. a Day of Mani- 
 feftation ; by which Exprellion is meant no 
 lefs the Day of the Lord, or the Day of 
 Judgment, according to what follows in the 
 next Chapter ; Therefore judge nothing be- x Cor.iv.j. 
 fore the Time, until the Lord come, who 
 both will bring to Ligfot the hidden Things 
 of Darknefs, and will make manifeft the 
 Counfels of the Hearts > and then jhall 
 every Man have Traife of God. And the 
 the fame Thing is faid to the Romans^ 
 Chap. ii. 1 6. 
 
 You may add to thefe Proofs, if you 
 pleafe, the Interpretations of the Fathers, 
 and of feveral others. Theodoret upon the 
 Place, after he has explain'd the divers Spe- 
 cies of Matters, as Gold, Silver, Wood, 
 Hay, Stubble, lubjoins, Tfo H mm vXw 
 S"icL<^QQ_guv s% q 7ra.poov j8/@l., aAA o jJithAoov? 
 thiy^ei' t&to yccp iiiriv \J\ yccp r\txB^j/, J>iAcea-«J 
 civri T8, r\ Tiis xplaeoos. But 'tis not the fire- 
 fent, but the Life to come that will diflin- 
 guifh and make known the feveral Species 
 of Matter ; for the Apoftle faid the *Day 
 will declare it, infteadof the 'Day of Judg- 
 ment will declare it : Then he adds upon 
 the following Verfe , Koctx tw ™ e7rupavet>x.s 
 
 V& <7«T>?£pS r\fJL7\Qp,Vy fioUTCCVOS !<ff, 5^ e%ST CUTIS 
 
 GQV 
 
hyz ,4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 gov xj GLpyuQfV) to Tug AotycsrpoTgpas Ct7rO'pOLV6i* i 
 T85 <^2 tjis jooMtias gpQ/aTcts, frnmv QiXtov, xj 
 %cpiv, itj x.aAa/u.«5j y.ctTccvctX(aa-&i. In the ^Day 
 
 of the glorious Appearance of the Lord, 
 there will be an Examination and a ftridl 
 Enquiry ; and the Fire will render them 
 who have liv'd righteoujly, like Silver and 
 Goldy more bright, but will confume thofe 
 who have been Workers of Iniquity, like 
 Wood, and Hay, and Stubble, And Theo- 
 fhylatl upon the Paffage fays the very fame 
 
 Thing, 'H/Xg'gaj/ fJLZV TW T«5 XptaSCiK (pVGLV' \v 
 
 nrv^). <P? 7\ky&. to, spycc obiroxoiXv7r\a^rca, TaTg<j-7, 
 (pxregjt, ywecTcJOU oiroict Tnv (pv&tv efiv <Z£j£%pv- 
 
 cosy a&i Tsvocvrlov. By the *Day the Afof- 
 tie means the T>ay of Judgment : He fays 
 that the Works of Men will be reveal d by 
 Fire j that is^ the Fire will make it evi- 
 dent of what Nature they are, whether 
 they are of Gold, or of what other kind. 
 St. Bajil, Nazianzen, and Nyjfen^ St. Jerom, 
 and generally all the Fathers, efpecially the 
 Greek Fathers, explain the Word Day after 
 the fame Manner. Laftly, the Latin Ver- 
 lion following either the Fathers, or fome 
 old Manufcript, has the Word Lord expreily 
 here. 
 
 * Thus far concerning theWord ^g'ea, *Day. 
 The other Word upon which the Explica- 
 tion of this Paffage depends, is tt^, or Fire : 
 But if we agree upon the Signification of 
 the firit Word * V^> ®*3S and ta ^e it to 
 be evident that in this Place it denotes th<? 
 
 Pay 
 
State of Departed Sotils, ifc. 153 
 
 Day of the Lord, or the Day of Judgment, 
 the Signification of the other Word Fire 
 will meet with little Doubt : For it muft be 
 fuch as muft attend upon the Day and Co- 
 ming of our Lord, that is to fay, it muft 
 be a real and material Fire : And they who 
 here pretend, that a metaphorical and figu- 
 rative Fire ought to be underftood, offend 
 againft the Rule received by the Interpreters 
 of the facred Writings, which is, that we 
 fhould never depart from the Letter without 
 Neceffity. Now this is certain, that upon 
 the Coming of the Lord there will be no 
 Want of a real Fire, when the Earth and the 
 Heavens are all in a Blaze ; nor can there 
 be the leaft Reafon for fancying this meta- 
 phorical Fire, befides the other real one, 
 and for naufeoufly repeating their own Me- 
 taphor thrice in the fame Difcourfe. 
 
 Hitherto we have fhewn the Day and 
 the Coming of the Lord, and that a genuine 
 and real Fire is here meant by the Apoftle \ 
 but the chief Difficulty is ftill remaining, 
 and that is, concerning the Force and Influ- 
 ence of this Fire, how it can try or make eve- 
 ry Man's Work manifeft, that it may be tru- 
 ly vug fcTtifjLotcftxov £ cTraxp/T/jtof, a fearching 
 and diftinguifhing Fire. Works and Actions 
 that are paft, can never be recalled to a Tryal 
 by Fire : That indeed is certain ; but then 
 the Habits and Difpolitions of Mind, from 
 whence thole Actions flow'd, remain ; and 
 the Souls in which they are inherent, accord- 
 ing 
 
1 54 ^ TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ing as they are more or lefs pure, will be 
 more or lefs affe&ed by this Fire. But you 
 will fay, perhaps, that Fire cannot aft upon 
 unbodied Minds, or upon Natures purely 
 fpiritual ; that they may feel the Force' and 
 the Action of Fire, they mull be invefted 
 in fome Body. We are not able fully and 
 clearly to folve this Difficulty ; but when 
 there is the fame Difficulty concerning the 
 infernal Fire, which yet is univerfally grant- 
 ed, a common Scruple ought not to detain 
 us, or to give us much Trouble. Since the 
 Things themfelves are evident, both of them, 
 as to the Manner, ought to be referr'd to the 
 the fecret c Difpenfation. In the mean while, 
 that we may bring more * Light to this Opi- 
 nion, and may come as near to demonftrate 
 the Thing, as pofiibly can be done, we re- 
 folve to confult fome other Paflages of the 
 facred Scripture, which feem to exprefs the 
 very fame Notion, or, at leaft, to imply it ; 
 to which we mail afterwards add the Ex- 
 plications and Tenets of fome of the Fa- 
 thers, concerning the fame Opinion. 
 Mat.ix.49. As for the Scripture, to this Opinion may 
 Mat. xxxi. fc e refers tfle Saying of Chrift concerning 
 
 the 
 
 * John Erigen. de Preedejl. c. 19. fays, that the Bo- 
 dies of the Saints will be chang'd into an ethereal Sub- 
 ftance, which Fire fhall have no Power over: Buc that 
 thofe of the Wicked fhall be chang'd into an aerial Sub- 
 fiance, that will yield to the Force of Fire, and may 
 be confum'd by it. 
 
State of Departed Souls, is?c. 155 
 
 the fiery Sacrifice, and that other of John 
 the Baptift, concerning the twofold Baptiim, 
 that of Water, and that of Fire : TheWords 
 of Chrift are thefe; * Uas ydg irv^}. cZaktS-ti- 
 cstoci' Xf itcLgcl ^rua'tcL ctKi ccKia^creToii. For 
 every Man foall be faked with Fire, as 
 alfo every Sacrifice is falted with Salt: 
 For I am of the Opinion with others, that 
 this PafTage is fo to be tranflated and under- 
 ftood, as if j§ were a Comparative, as it is 
 in feveral other Places, Mat. vi. 10. Joh.vi. 
 57. for Chrift fpeaks here of the future Def- 
 tiny of Men, as appears by the Context, 
 and of a certain Tryal and Purification of 
 them : But when he fays, Tras itvq). aA^o-G^Ve- 
 1au y he feems to join Fire and Salt, each of 
 which has an abfterfive Quality. Salt pre- 
 vents Putrefaction in foft and humid Bodies ; 
 but Fire fbftens, melts, and purifies the 
 hardeft, and purges off the Filthineis, and 
 Ruft, and Drols, and Dregs of Metals, and 
 clearing them of their Imperfections, refines, 
 and gives them a new Luftre and Purity, 
 Thus fome believe that the Souls of Men, 
 which the Apoftle in this figurative Sentence 
 compares to Metals, are, as it were, melted 
 down again, and recall: in this general Con- 
 flagration ; or that every Man who is accep- 
 table to God, mail be feafon'd with a certain 
 
 Acrimony 
 
 * For every one fhall be feaibn'd with Fire, that 
 s, fhall be prov'd by it ; as St. Paul fays, that all 
 Things fhall be try'd in Fire. Tbeopbil. in Lsc* 
 
i 5 5 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Acrimony of Grief, as it were with Salt ; 
 but that the Wicked are to be purg'd by 
 Fire, or, like a Sacrifice, to be confum'd by it. 
 'Tis probable, indeed, from the foregoing 
 Verfes that this relates to the laft Fire ; but 
 thefe Expreffions of Ghrift appear too ob- 
 Icure to have any lingular Doctrine or Con- 
 clulion founded upon them. 
 
 I kow come to John the Baptifl, who 
 makes mention of a twofold Baptifm, that of 
 Water, and that of Fire ; as the Antients af« 
 firm'd, that the World was to be purged 
 in a twofold Manner by Water, and by Fire. 
 
 Mat.iii.n./, indeed, fays the Baptift, baptife you with 
 Water unto Repentance ; but he that cometh 
 after me (hall baptife you with the Holy 
 Ghoft, and with Fire. That this Saying 
 has a Regard not only to the Times of the 
 Gofpel, but likewife to the fecond Coming of 
 Chriit, may be prov'd by that which fol- 
 lows : Whofe Fan is in his Hand, and he 
 will throughly purge his Floor, and gather 
 his IV he at into the Garner, but he will bum 
 up the Chaff with unquenchable Fire. 
 
 Tit. in. f. Baptism is faid to be XsTpov t$?s TraAiy- 
 ysveo-Us tcou ccvccxaivooc-zooSj the JVafoing of 
 Regeneration and Renovation \ and the Re- 
 novation of the World by Fire, is ufually 
 cali'd by the Grecians Trcttiiyfcveaict SC «Va- 
 -naivoHjii , Regeneration and Renovation. 
 Warning is twofold, warm and cold ; the 
 Cold Bath is the walhing with Water ; the 
 Hot and the Dry is the Fiery Bath : But this 
 
 latter 
 
21. 
 
 State of Departed Souls, iffc. \6i 
 
 is more effectual than the former, and more 
 penetrating. They who allow that there is 
 that Virtue and that Efficacy, the holy Spi- 
 rit co-operating, in the baptismal Water, 
 that by it Infants are regenerated, will hard- 
 ly be able to deny, that the Fire mull have 
 a much greater Power, the fame Spirit co- 
 operating. The Holy Ghofi: defcended in A<a.H. ?. 
 iiery Tongues, which alfo is called a Bap- c ' u *' 
 tijm, as if it v/ere a Type of the future fie- 
 ry Baptiim. The Deluge of Water was the iPet.i'ij 
 Baptiim of the World : The Deluge of Fire " 
 "will better deferve that Title, will purge 
 more ftrongly and more iharply, and will 
 warn away its Filthineis more efficacioufly : 
 And as God can reftrain the Power of the 
 Flames to that Degree that they mail not ib 
 much as touch a human Body, as in the Ba- 
 bylonian Furnace ; fo he can fb redouble their 
 Strength and their Intenfenefs, that they 
 mail penetrate the very Souls of Men, or 
 rather thofe new Bodies to which their Souls 
 will then be join'd. 
 
 These Quotations have we made from 
 the * facred Writings, to prove or to illus- 
 trate the fbrefaid Opinion : To which we 
 have the Confent and the Agreement of fe- 
 
 M vera! 
 
 * That Saying of Chrilt, Mat. xii. 32. that there is no 
 Remi/Jion for Blafphemy againji the Holy Ghoft, either in 
 this World or the other, has been vartoufly explain'd by 
 Interpreters: They that take it lite: ally, can understand 
 it of no other Remiffion, than that which is obtaia'd by 
 •the purging Fire at the End 01 the World. 
 
i6z A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 veral of the antient Fathers, whofe Tefti- 
 monies it will now be Time to add. We 
 brought Origen before, from his fifth Book 
 againft Cel/us • to which Paflage there is 
 another in the fourth that is near a-kin : 
 . The Words are thefe, 'Oux. dovd/xScc to xa- 
 ^fccpaiov 7Tvp y xcti tvw tb xoauu ©oooai', tin xct- 
 vccipeaei Tns kclxixs xctt ccvaxxivucrei tou tjuclvtos 
 ' Aeyovre? wapcc toov txrpoqwTciov ex tmv izpojv fii£~- 
 ?Joov fjLefjLa,$nx.ev<x.i : which the Interpreter has 
 render'd thus ; IVe do not deny but that this 
 purging and cleanfing Fire, will, together 
 with the World \ deftroy all Malice, Jlnce 
 we have learnt this in the facred Books of 
 the 'Prophets. He explains this Do&rine 
 more at large in his Commentaries : In his 
 third Homily upon the thirty fixth Pfalm, 
 after he has told that all Men whatever 
 the Apoftles themfelves not excepted, would 
 undergo this fiery Trial, he compares that 
 Ocean of Fire, .which would be at the ge- 
 neral Conflagration, to the Red Sea, and the 
 Wicked and the Righteous to the Egyptians 
 and the Ifraelites^ and that thefe latter 
 would pafs through that Red Sea> or that 
 Lake of Fire, without either Hurt or Pain, 
 but that the former would be fwallowed up 
 by it. In his fixth Homily upon Exodus 
 he gives us the fame Do&rine exprefly, and 
 calls this purging and cleanfing Fire, into 
 which, he fays, that we mnft all enter, a 
 fiery Forge. And like wife in the thirteenth 
 Hemily upon Jeremiah, repeating the lame 
 
 Do&rine, 
 
State of Departed Souls, Cta \5\ 
 
 Doctrine, he calls this laft Conflagration 
 by another Name, taken from the Sacred 
 Writings, viz. a Baptifm, or Bath of 
 Fire. Laftly, that I may pafs by feveral 
 Things related to thele, in the End of the 
 eighth Book of his * Commentaries upon the 
 Epiftle to the Romans, he has thefe Words i 
 But he who defpifes the IVord of God,, and 
 the 'Purifications of the 'Doctrine of the 
 Go/pel, referves himfelf for dire and tor* 
 
 menting 'Purifications : But what Space 
 
 of Time j or how many Ages., this very 
 Purging and Cleanfingj which is performed 
 by penal Fire., will torture Shiners who 
 are to undergo it, he only can know to whom 
 the Father has transferred all Judgment. 
 Nor ought we to fancy, as iome imagine, 
 that this Opinion concerning this Fiery 
 Purgation and Trial, is peculiar to Origen^ 
 when it was common to almoft all the Far- 
 thers, till the Time when St. Auftin liv'd. 
 Laflantius, efpecially, fays the fame Thing, 
 plainly, both of the Juft and the Unjuft. 
 IVhen God foall fit in Judgment, fays he, Inftfe Di>; 
 even the Jufi will he examine by Fire : L ' 7 ' c ' zli 
 Then they whofe Sins (Jj all be found excefi 
 five, either for their Weight or their Num- 
 ber, (hall be fcorch'd and confum^d by the 
 Fire > but they whom impartial Jufi ice and 
 
 M 2 mature 
 
 * The Place of Origen is in S. Sen. but fee the Place 
 iffelf, and if he fays it ought to be c-ouceal'd as a Myi- 
 tery. 
 
1^4 .4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 mature Virtue (hall have compleat ly armed^ 
 (hall remain untouched by the Flames ; for 
 they have fo?nething of 'Divinity in them^ 
 which will rejecJ them, and repel them. Hi- 
 lary >, Bifhop of Toitou, no lefs boldly af- 
 firms this : Nor does he wholly exempt the 
 Bleffed Virgin from palling through thefe 
 
 Pf.cxviii. Flames. HoWj lays he, can we defire to 
 come to that Judgment by which we are 
 to endure the 'Pains of unquenchable Fire, 
 in which we are to undergo the mojl grievous 
 Torments for the expiating the Sins of our 
 Souls. A Sword has paffed through the Soul 
 of the Bleffed Mary, that the Thoughts of 
 the Hearts of many might be revealed. If 
 therefore j, that Virgin _, who was capable 
 of comprehending a God in her, muji under- 
 go the Severity of Judgment, what Mor- 
 tal (ball dare to defire to have that God for 
 his Judge ? And in the fecond Canon upon 
 the Third of St. Matthew, when he ex- 
 plains that, Shall baptize you with the Holy 
 Ghoft, and with Fire ; it remains, fays he, 
 that we who have been baptized with the 
 Holy Ghoft, muft be made perfect by the 
 Judgment and Baptifm of Fire. 
 
 St. Ambrose treading in the fame Foot- 
 Heps, and fupported, as appears to him, by 
 the Authority of facred Scripture, difcourfes 
 after the fame Manner concerning the fu- 
 ture Judgment, and the Tryal in the Day, 
 
 Pf.xxxvi. of the Lord. Thou haft try d us with Fire, 
 faith 'David; therefore we (hall all of us 
 
 be 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 165 
 
 be tried by Fire» And Malachi /ays, Be- 
 hold he comes, the Lordj the Almighty 
 God r _, and who jhall abide the T)ay of his 
 Coming ? and who jhall /land when he ap- 
 peareth ? For he [hall come like the Fire 
 of a Furnace ; and heJJoallfit as a Refiner 
 and a 'Purifier of Silver ; and he [hall pu- 
 rify the Sons of Levi. Therefore, the Sons 
 of Levi [oall be purified with Fire, with 
 Fire Ezekiel, and Daniel with Fire, cXc. SecEzefc. 
 With feveral other Things that have the ™y c 8 ' & 
 iame Tendency. Again in the Expofition of Zach. xiii. 
 c Pfalm cxviii. All thofe who defire to re- 9- 
 turn to Taradife muft be tried by Fire^ SCc. 
 And this, fays he, is fignified by the flaming 
 waving Sword, that is placed at the En- 
 trance of c Paradife. Laftly, he thus con- 
 cludes ; Since, therefore _, we are thus to be 
 tried j let us fo comport curfelves, that 
 we may merit the Approbation of the divine 
 Juflice. Let us hold faft our Humility 
 while we are here^ that when each of you 
 floall come to the Judgment of God, to thofe 
 Fires through which we muft all pafs, he 
 may fay, Behold my Humility '_, Lord_, and 
 deliver me. 
 
 Basilius Magnus was of the fame Age 
 and Opinion,and fufficiently declares his Mind 
 in his Commentaries upon the firft Chapters 
 ofl/aiah. And, firft, in his Commentary on 
 the fourth Chapter, when the Prophet fpeaks 
 of wajhing away the Filth of the c Dangh- ver. 4. 
 ters 0/ Jerufalem by the Spirit of Judg- 
 M x 'ment- 
 
166 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 went, end by the Spirit of Burning, here 
 Bafilius diftinguifhes the Baptifm of Water, 
 from that of the Spirit, and both from that 
 of Burning, which, fays he, is jj h tw irvp\ 
 nm x.pl(re(6i fido-a,?®», The Trial that in the 
 \Day of Judgment will be made by Fire. 
 And he adds, to $\ ttviv^&ti xpicreooi koci wveu" 
 fxccTt otoivareas irpos tt.v ev rco jjlsAAovti a icon 
 Aid t« Trvpos £amjJLctmciVi Thefe Words, fays 
 he, by the Spirit of Judgment _, and by the 
 Spirit of Burning, relate to the Trial that 
 will be made by Fire in the Life to come : 
 With feveral Things befides to the fame 
 Purpofe. Befides, upon that of the Prophet, 
 Ver.Tj. in the ninth Chapter, Becaufe of the In- 
 dignation of the Lord,tkc. he fays, SeixwjL 
 
 OTi tcc yniva, too ttvoi to> xoAoce^ixcfj woipcc^iS'OTa.i, 
 zttl eveoyeo-iou nrns 4 U /C^'> ^e Jhews that all 
 that is earthly is, for the Benefit of tlie 
 Soul, to be committed to penal Fire. He 
 then adds, The Trophet here does not threa- 
 ten a total T>efruclion, an univerfal Ex- 
 termination, but points at a purification^ 
 according to the Opinion of the Apoftle : If 
 any Mail's IVorkjkall burn, he fiall fujfer 
 damage j but he himfelf floall be faved,yct 
 fo as by Fire : See alio, if you pleafe, his 
 ,. , : . Treat if of the Holy Ghoft, Chap. xv. S? xxix, 
 v chap. vi. and his Obfervations upon feveral PalJages 
 y-'r- in Ifaiab* 
 
 f & Chap. J 
 
 l 'Xl.p,214, 
 
 ■ \nd in his iitptaemeron, where he treats of the 
 ponn^tion pr'the $uu,/< 6i. he aliens, that in the fytue 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. \6-j 
 
 So much for Bafil'ins^ to whom we may 
 join both the Gregories, Nyffen and Na- 
 zianzeti) who both agree with Bafilius. But 
 Nyffen is the plainer of the two, in the Ex- 
 plication of this Doctrine ; and, therefore, 
 Germanus, the Conflanthiofoletan Patriarch, 
 writ an Apologetick Difcourle, on Furpoie 
 to free his Author from the Imputation of 
 that Opinion, and from other Things re- 
 lating to that Opinion, as from fo many 
 Spots and Stains, which are here and there 
 fcattered among his Works, as you may fee 
 in 'Photius : But all in vain. Confult at 
 your Leifure Nyffetfs Treatife of the Soul> Cod.z2j; 
 and the Refurretiion^ and his Catechetical 
 Orations ', c. viii, xxvi, and xxxv. and, upon 
 reading thole, you will eafily dilcover what 
 was the Senfe of the Author relating to this 
 Matter.* 
 
 Nazi an zen feems to have a good deal 
 
 in him of the Manner of ^Plato and Origen ; 
 
 and even in this Subject, as well as in others : 
 
 But Orators, and all that harangue the Peo- 
 
 M 4 pie, 
 
 Conflagration, its enlightening Quality will be feparated 
 from the burning Quality ; fo that the former will af- 
 fect the Righteous, and the latter the Wicked. 
 
 * Moreover, in his Oration for the 1)ead, he has thefe 
 Words about the purifying of Souls : They are either 
 ftirij^d in this Life by Prayers and Thilofophy, or after 
 Death by the Means of a purifying Fire. Nor is it any 
 Wonder that Nyffen followed Bajil fo clofely ; fince 
 in his Hexaem. p. z, & f. he efteems his Writings next 
 tQ thofe that were divinely infpired, and equals them 
 even to thofe of Mofes. 
 
x68 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 pie, fometimes fpeak popularly, and fome- 
 times their real Sentiments ; which, in read- 
 ing the Fathers, a fenfible Reader always 
 ought to obferve ; and the more what he 
 fays differs from the Notions of the People, 
 the more it difcovers the real Senfe of the 
 Author. Confult, if you pleafe, his thir- 
 ty-ninth, and his fortieth Oration, where he 
 treats of the Baptifm of Fire, in order to 
 purge the Soul, and at the fame Time doubts, 
 whether there are any fuch Things as ever- 
 lafting Puniihments. Laftly, in his twenty- 
 lixth Oration, where he fpeaks of the Cen- 
 iiirers of this Doctrine, he has thele Words, 
 
 S"gos olS'e, Gv\(riv o Sret(&* A7ro<j-oA@w 3 xa< 
 
 £eAoo<rei tramm ri t?7$ a7rojtct/\i/\Lg<ws ?j//.gW, -/.a/ 
 \ ., a. ~ ^ r , ,{ , 
 
 TO TeAeVTCLlGV TVpi <? ITOLVTCt XpiVZTCLl t\ XCLc^CU- 
 
 p?Tca rcl yuheccc. God only knows j fays the 
 divine Apoftle, and the 'Day of Revelation 
 and the laft Fire will make it clearly ap- 
 pear 'j that Fire in which every Thing that 
 belongs to Humanity mufi be either tried or 
 purged. 
 
 Lastly, St. Jerom is accufed by Ru- 
 jmus of being a fecret Favourer of the 
 Doctrines of Or igen y as is very well known, 
 the moil diftinguimed of which, is, that which 
 puts an End to the Punifhments of the 
 Damned as loon as their Malice is purged 
 away. 'Tis none of my Bufinefs to reconcile 
 this Quarrel between St. Jerom and Rufinus ; 
 but as for what relates to the Subject which 
 
 1 now am upon, St. Jerom feems at feveral 
 
 Times 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 169 
 
 Times to incline to more Sides than one, 
 either by changing or diflembling his Senti- 
 ments. And here I mull repeat what I laid. 
 a little above, that thole Things go further 
 towards difcovering the real Sentiments of 
 an Author, which he delivers contrary to 
 the Senfe of the People, than thole which 
 are Ipoke popularly, or which may be po- 
 pularly underftood. In the mean Time, for 
 what immediately concerns the Matter which 
 we are upon, the purging and cleanling Souls 
 in the Day of Judgment, and the putting 
 an End at length to the Torments which 
 they endure, (belides what he fays upon the 
 fourth Chapter of Amos^) he clearly and 
 diftincHy opens his Mind, at the End of his 
 Commentaries upon Ifaiah, in thele Words ; 
 And as we believe that the Torments of the 
 Devil will be eternal, and of all thofe Sin- 
 iters and impious 'Perjons who have faid in 
 their Hearts there is no God ; Jo for thofe 
 Sinners j and thofe impious c Perfbns who are 
 yet Chriftians, and whofe 7 Forks ARE 
 TO BE TRIED ANT) TVRGET) BT 
 FIREj we believe that the Sentence of 
 the Judge will be moderate^ and will be 
 mingled with Mercy. But at the fame Time 
 he gives us a Caution againfb fpreading this 
 Dochine amongft the Vulgar, leaft they 
 ihould abufe it, and grow more licentious 
 upon it, But when St. Jerom excepts De- 
 mons, and Atheifts, and Apoftates, he, by 
 Shat Exception, confirms the Rule as to thofe 
 
 ■J. who 
 
170 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 who are not excepted ; and he Ihews in ano- 
 ther Place that he differs from Ortgen y after 
 this Manner, and by this Diftin6tion.* 
 
 'Tis fumcient to have made thefe Obfer- 
 vations from the Fathers who livM before 
 the Time of St. Auflin y in whofe Time this 
 Doctrine began to degenerate, of the Purga- 
 tion of Souls by the laft Fire, at the Day of 
 Judgment. I fay it began to degenerate 
 into a fpurious and adulterate Pugatory, and 
 into an imaginary Fire, no where to be found 
 in the Univerfe; which Fire, according to 
 the Invention of thefe Innovators, receives 
 human Souls immediately after their Separa- 
 tion from their Bodies ; yes, receives them 
 before the Day of Judgment, before the 
 Coming of our Lord, before the Conflagra- 
 tion of the World, receives them, and tor- 
 ments them. This we may very juftly call 
 a Suppofitious 'Purgatory ; becaufe, forfooth, 
 thefe worthy Doctors in the room of genuine 
 Cathartick Fire, of which Mention is made 
 by the facred Writers, and by the antient 
 Fathers, have fubftituted one of a very dif- 
 ferent Kind, the adulterate Offspring of their 
 
 own 
 
 *To thefe Suicerm (under the Word Bxvne^^p. 630.) 
 adds Ndziottzen and Damascene. Confult the Places 
 quoted by him. To thefe add Cafarius Arlatenjis, who 
 fays, that fome Sins of the Jufh'ried will be expiated 
 by Fire after the Refurredtion. Look for the Place in 
 the Author in BB. PP. as Cave cites him. Cbryfoftome 
 is iikewife quoted to the fame Purpofe, but the Place 
 does not occur to me at prefent. 
 
State 0/ Departed Souls, i&c. 171 
 
 own Brains. The purging Fire that is fpoke 
 of in the facred Writings, and mention'd by 
 the Fathers, is to be a Fire kindled in the 
 Day of the Lord, in the Day of Judgment, 
 in the Day of the Conflagration of the 
 World, as is molt evident from thole Au- 
 thors and PatTages which we have cited a- 
 bove. But the Papifts pretend, that their 
 purging Fire is burning at this Day, nay, 
 and has been burning ever (ince the World 
 began, that is, ever fince Death enterM into 
 the World, and the Souls of TranfgrelTors 
 departed from their Bodies, with all their 
 Uncleannefs about them. But in what Part 
 of the Globe, I befeech you, is this Fire 
 burning? Is it beyond the Ocean in the 
 other Hemifphere? or is it here in ours ? 
 By what Inftindt do human Souls fponta- 
 neouily repair to it ? or by what potent 
 Li&or are they dragg'd to it, in fpite of 
 their Reluctancy ? There is no fuch Fire as 
 this to be found, fuch vaft, fuch lafting, 
 fuch perpetual Fire, upon the Superficies of 
 this Globe ; for by its own Light it would 
 be difcover'd : And if it lies buried in the 
 Bowels of the Earth, it would at leaft re- 
 quire fome Vent, fome Breathing-place, like 
 that of our mountainous Volcano's, that it 
 might not be fuffocated by its own Smoke, 
 and its own fuliginous Vapours. In Things 
 which relate to the natural World, or any 
 particular of it, Divines are often incurious 
 or unskilful, and therefore they bring forth 
 
 crude 
 
i 7 2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 crude Opinions, and indigefted Thoughts , 
 foreign from the Nature of Things. Behold 
 this great and this dreadful Fire, which 
 thefe Doctors have kindled for us ) out they 
 neither acquaint us with the Original of fo 
 vaft a Fire, nor with the Fuel by which 
 'tis fed, nor with any proper and commo- 
 dious Place where it may fubfift and vent it- 
 felf. Thefe Things, fay they, the People 
 are never concerned about. 'Tis true, in- 
 deed • but then by the Wife this will be ef- 
 teem'd a fantaftical Fire, of which no Ac- 
 count can be given ; and 'tis next to Stupi- 
 dity to loie Men of Senfe, in order to gain 
 Fools, 'Tis both a Crime and a Weaknefs in 
 the Popifh Religion, that it defcends too much 
 to theCapacites of the People, and not only 
 accommodates itfelf to their Ignorance, but to 
 their fuperftitious Affections. We ought ra- 
 ther to exalt human Nature as high as is 
 poflible, and to bring the People to Truth, 
 and to a found Underftanding. Ever fince 
 there have been Men in the World, the 
 Knowledge of Mankind has increas'd, and 
 increafes daily : And whatever the Cafe was 
 formerly, there is now no Neceffity of ufing 
 pious Frauds, and no Advantage can accrue 
 to Religion from them. They rather feem 
 to be detrimental to Piety and Chriftian 
 Faith ; when difcerning Men who find the 
 Deceit, rafhly pronounce, from the Artifice 
 that is us'd in fome particular Parts of it, that 
 theWhole of Religion is nothing but a gainful 
 
 Myftery 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. i^i 
 
 Myftery. Firft, that the Chriftian Religion 
 is to be purg'd from human Inventions, and 
 from human Additions ; then, thofe Things 
 which, in the facred Writings, are fpoken 
 after the Manner of Men, and adapted to 
 the Capacity of the Vulgar, are fo to be in- 
 terpreted, that they may neither be detri- 
 mental to Truth itfelf, nor Stumbling-Blocks 
 to the Wife. But thefe Things by-the-by. 
 
 But enough has been laid by way of In- 
 quiry into the Manner of the laft Judgment, 
 the Punifhments that will be the Sequel 
 of it, and the Diftinction that is to be 
 made between righteous and wicked Men ; 
 what willbe the Pomp and Magnificence of 
 its dreadful Appearance, and what will be 
 tranfacted by Influence divine, or by the 
 Power of Nature. The Opinion of the an- 
 tient Fathers in this Matter has an Ap- 
 pearance of Truth, and feems to be found- 
 ed on the facred Writings ; But fince Re- 
 velation in this Matter is neither full nor 
 explicit, nor is the Light of Nature power- 
 ful enough to penetrate to the Bottom of 
 this Myftery, I look upon this Article of 
 the Chriftian Doctrine, as for the Thing it- 
 felf, to be among the Points that are clear, 
 but as to the Manner of it, to be among the 
 obfcure ones. 
 
 Besides, feveral Difput.es are wont to 
 arife here concerning the Signs antecedent 
 to the general Judgment, and concerning 
 the Time and Duration of it ; concerning 
 
 each 
 
174 .4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 each of which we have given our Opinion 
 in the forefaid Treatife of the Conflagration 
 of the JVorld. I only defire to add one 
 Thing, and that is, that the Chriftians of 
 the firft Ages, in their Accounts of Time, 
 made a very wrong Calculation \ for they 
 believ'd in common, that the Day of the 
 Lord was coming upon them then, or that 
 it would be at leaft in the Age in which 
 they liv'd : But though fixteen Centuries 
 have pafs'd fince then, and half of the cur- 
 rent Century, that happy Day has not yet 
 Ihone forth, nor have we hitherto difcern'd 
 lb much as the Dawn of it. 
 
 This Opinion, that the End of all Things 
 was coming upon them, began in the A- 
 poftolick Times ; from which it ran down 
 for feveral Ages, as well to the * Learned as 
 to the People. But when they found they 
 were miftaken in this firft Account, by 
 which they daily expected the Coming of 
 
 the 
 
 * Tertull de Cult. Feera. I. i. e.g. and ad Uxor. I. i.c.f. 
 Laciant. /. 7. r. 14, £sf if. AmbrofeOrat.in Obit. Satyrs 
 frat. and /. g. upon Luke xxi. Cbryfofl. Horn, xxxiii. 
 upon Job*, near the End. Jerom. Epifl.\\. ad Ageru* 
 chiam, and /.4. on Mat. xxv. Many of the Antients 
 believed, that the Coming of Chrift would immediately 
 follow the Coming ot Antichrift, whom they though* 
 to be at hand julf then, and confequcntly that the Co- 
 ming of the Lord, and the End of the World were 
 very near. See "Tertull. de Refurr. Cant. c.17. Cyprian, 
 his Difciple, Epifl. adTribarhanos, m. f6. and Epift.^%. 
 ad Lucium 'Pap. and Pnefat. ad Fort nn at um de Exbor. 
 Martyr», with many others. See ijofail iS. and; 
 
 zneff.il 8. b 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. i j 5 
 
 the Lord, or at leaft immediately after 
 the Deftruction of Jerufalem, they carried 
 their Hope and their Expectation to a grea- 
 ter Length of Time, but never to a very 
 remote one. That this Opinion began in 
 the very Times of the Apoftles, the Epiftles 
 both of St. Paul and St. Teter teftify. 
 St. Taul, in the fecond Epiftle to the Thef- chap.ii.2, 
 falonians, warns them againft being terri- 
 fied, as if the Day of the Lord were at 
 Hand; fir fir ft, fays he, Antichrift mttft 
 come. But he neither acquaints them with 
 the Time of his coming, nor with the Time 
 of his ftaying : All that he tells them is, 
 that he will ftay till the Coming of Chrift, 
 Then thofe Scoffers which we read of in 
 St. Peters fecond Epiftle, Chap. iii. 4. 
 would hardly have upbraided the Chriftians 
 with the tardy Coming of their Lord ; would 
 hardly have ask'd them, by way of Deri- 
 lion, Where is the Promife of his Coming ? 
 unlefs the Chriftians had often profefs'd and 
 declar'd their Belief in the Promife of his 
 fudden Coming ; nor does the Apoftle, in 
 his Anfvver or Apology, deny the Thing, 
 but attributes this Delay to the Mercy and 
 Long-fufFering of God. 
 
 But why fhould we wonder that private 
 Chriftians, or Chriftians of a lower Clafs, 
 fhould be miftaken in this Particular, when 
 the Interpreters gather., that the Apoftles 
 themfelves, from their own Writings, were 
 of the fame Opinion : Nor do they only 
 
 conclude 
 
i*]6 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 conclude it from this, that the Apoftles of- 
 ten call thofe Times, and that current Cen- 
 tury, the laft of Times, and the End of 
 the World, (i Cor. x. n. Heb. ix. 26. 
 1 Joh. ii. 1 8.3 but from their ufing it as a 
 Spur, or a more pungent Argument to ex- 
 cite the Chriftians of their own Times to 
 Vigilance, to Sobriety, to Moderation in the 
 Ufe of worldly Things; to Patience, to 
 good Works, to Charity, and to Piety. 
 (Heb. x. 24, 25. 1 Pet. iv. 7, 8. 1 Cor. vii. 
 29. 2 Pet. iii. 11, 12. Phil. iv. 5.) Laftly, 
 from their believing that the Coming of the 
 Lord, and the Day of Judgment might 
 come upon them while they were yet li- 
 vid. Grot. ving. St. ^Paul often inculcates that, iTheJf, 
 Snloc. i v . !^ 9 I( 5 3 ij, 1 Cor. xv. 52. And, that 
 his mortal Body would be fwallowed up of 
 Life, that is, by an immortal quickening 
 Body, [he either believes or defires,] and that 
 he may not be found naked, or divefted of 
 * "^ Flefh and corporeal Subftance in the Day of 
 the Lord. 
 
 Thus much for the Apoftles, and their 
 Belief concerning the untimely Coming of 
 Chrift. But from whence did the Apoftles 
 derive this Opinion ? Why, it feems, from 
 the Words of Chrift himfelf, not rightly un- 
 Mat. xxiv. derftood. His Difciples had enquir'd of 
 Chrift what would be the Time of the De- 
 finition of Jerufalem, and of his own 
 Coming. And when Chrift had acquainted 
 them with the Signs and Circumftances of 
 
 that 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c 177 
 
 that Deftru&ion, he adds, htieeos fxera. tw 
 S-A/'4«'j & c - Immediately after the Tribu- 
 lation ofthofe 'Days, the Sun fljall be dar- 
 ken 'dj and the Moon fljall not give her 
 Light, and the Stars fljall fall from Hea- 
 ven, and the Towers of the Heavens flail 
 be fljaksn : And then fljall appear the Sign 
 of the Son of Man in Heaven : And then Mat. nfc 
 (hall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn, and Z9 ' 3 °- 
 they flail fee the Son of Man coming in the 
 Cloiids of Heaven j with Tower and great 
 Glory. Having heard thele Things from 
 the Mouth of Chriit, that after the Deftruc- 
 tion of the City and the Temple, and the 
 Overthrow of the Jewiflj State, he would 
 immediately come, or that the Son of Man 
 would come in the Clouds, with Power and 
 great Glory : Having heard this, they be- 
 liev'd that there would be but a fmall Inter- 
 val of Time between that Deftru&ion and 
 the Return of Chrift ', and they afterwards 
 tranfmitted to their Dilciples that Knowledge, 
 and that Belief. Befides, when they recol- 
 lected other Sayings of Chrift, it confirmed 
 and rix'd them in the fame Opinion ; for he 
 had faid before, that fome of thofe who 
 flood near him fhould not tafte of Death 
 before they faw him coming in the Glory 
 of his Father to Judgment. And in the Mar.xvi. 
 forefaid Chapter, after he had fpoke con- y^'t'xxW. 
 cerning his Coming, and the Wonders that 34, 37. 
 fhould attend it, he added, Verily, I fay 
 unto you j there be fome fandinghere which 
 
 N ball 
 
ao, ii, 
 
 178 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 (hall not tajie of TDeath till they fee the Son 
 of Man coming in his Kingdom : Heaven and 
 'Earth {ball fiafs away, but my JVords (hall 
 not pa fs away. Laftly, when *Peter enquired 
 of Chrift what fhould be the Fate of John, 
 
 It'??.' he anfwer'd, if I will that he tarry till I 
 come, what is that to thee ? 
 
 These Paflages being compared together, 
 and underftood according to the Letter, I 
 wonder not in the leaft that the Difciples of 
 Chrift fhould have imbib'd the Opinion of 
 his fudden Return to the Earth, to judge 
 the Living and the Dead : And I as little 
 wonder that Providence would fuffer them 
 to fall into thefe harmlefs Errors j Errors, 
 by which Piety would be rather promoted 
 than injur'd ; and a noble Refolution to fuf- 
 fer inftant Death in the Caufe of God would 
 be rather increas'd than lelTen'd. Laftly, we 
 ought by no Means to wonder, that God 
 fhould conceal that from the Apoftles which 
 he had hid from the Angels, and from the 
 
 Mar.xfii. Son of Man h i m f el f . p 0Tj f a ith Chrift, of 
 
 that IDay and Hour knoweth no Man ; no, 
 not the An&els which are in Heaven , net- 
 
 o ... 
 
 ther the Son, but the Father ; or, as it is in 
 St. Matthew, Chap. xxiv. 36. but ?ny Fa- 
 ther only.* 
 
 And thus we have given a Relation 
 of thefe Things conformable to the Letter 
 
 and 
 
 J2 
 
 * See PP. of this Way of interpreting this Place, Ge* 
 raid. Tom. 9. cte Extrern. Jud. p. iz6. 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffc: '179 
 
 and to the Hiilory. But if a literal Expli- 
 cation is not fb fuitable to the Subjed of 
 which we treat, we muft depart from the 
 Letter, and fearch and look out for a more 
 commodious Interpretation : But this at leaft 
 is apparent, that the certain Time of the fu- 
 ture Judgment, of the Coming of the Lord 3 
 or of the End of the World, were Things 
 unknown to the Apoftles : And the Anfvver 
 of Chrift feems to imply, that we ought not 
 to make too follicitous an Inquiry into them : 
 When the Apoftles enquired after the Time 
 of the Reftoration of the Kingdom to Ifrae/, Afts i. fi 
 he fays to them, 'Tzs not for you to know 
 the Times and the Seajons which the Father 
 hath pit in his own 'Power, But if we are 
 allow'd to ufe a round Calculation, and to 
 infert Conjectures among Certainties; when 
 now five thoufand Years com pleat, and what 
 is given of the fixth thoufand, are paft and 
 gone, fince the Creation of the World, I 
 can find nothing in Scripture, or in Reafon 3 
 or in the Courfe of human Affairs, that can 
 hinder the Accomplifhment of that Prophet 
 cy which has been received by * Jews^ 
 as well as by the primitive Chriftians ; a 
 Prophecy which allows fix thoufand Years 
 for the Duration of the World, and then 
 the Sabbath is to enfue : But we have treat- Theor.TelU 
 ed of this Subject fafriciently in another 1-3- c « s> 
 
 N 2 Place. 
 
 * See the Hiltory of this Prophecy, Gerard. Tom. 9, 
 deExtrem. Jud, p. 127. 
 
i go A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Place. In the mean time, let it be our 
 principal Care that we may be found pure 
 and unblameable in that Day- and that the 
 Tryal which we are to undergo, what, or 
 whenever it be, may have a happy Iflue, 
 to the Glory of God and our own eternal 
 Salvation. 
 
 2 Pet. iii. 
 14. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Of the Refurrefiion of the ^Dead^ and in 
 what State they will be after they are 
 r if en j and what Sort of Bodies they will 
 have. 
 
 THUS far we have already gone; but 
 the Chapter of the greateit Confe- 
 quence, and the moft important Concern is 
 fti.ll remaining, concerning the Relurrection 
 of the Dead, and in what Condition they 
 will find themfelves after they are rifen - y 
 in the handling which we mail follow our 
 ufual Method : In the firft Place, we fhall 
 fpeak to the Thing itielf, and afterwards to 
 the Modes and Adjun&s of it, and that ac- 
 cording to the Light we have received ei- 
 ther from the iacred Writings, or from the 
 Nature of the Things themfelves. 
 
 As for the Thing itfelf, nothing is more 
 clearly revealed than that in the whole 
 Chriftian Doctrine : Both the Jews and the 
 
 Gentiles 
 
State ^Departed Souls, iffc. 181 
 
 Gentiles had likevvife fbme Idea of a future 
 Refurrection, but an Idea that was general 
 and confus'd. The former believ'd that the Seethe 
 whole World would be reviv'd, and that thcSb. 
 every Individual of Mankind would, toge- B.4.. c.f* 
 ther with the World, be renew'd and reviv'd ; 
 and nothing is more commonly found than 
 that among the Stokks and the Tlatonicks : 
 Nor was it only found among the Grecian 
 Philofophers, but originally among thole of 
 the Eaftern Nations, Egyptians, Chaldeans^ 
 'Perfians. Theopompus y in Laertius, fays inProcem. 
 
 of the Magi, dvccQic^aia^ca JtctTa t»S Ma^s; 
 
 T85 arSpwVas, that Men liv*d or would live 
 a fecond Life, according to the 'DoEirine of 
 the Magi. 
 
 As for what relates to the Jews, Mofes 
 in his Law taught them nothing exprefly, 
 either concerning the Refurrection of the 
 Body, or the Immortality of the Soul ; yet 
 I make no Doubt but that both thefe were 
 known to Mofes and to the * Sages 9 inftruc- 
 
 N 3 ted 
 
 m * But they, for the rnofi: part, confine the Refurrec- 
 tion to the Juft, and to the Ifraelites. See Buxtor. Syn, 
 Jud. a. p. 31. and Gerard, de Refurr. Tom. 2. p.%69. 
 Antepen. and Dajfovius. 
 
 Again, they feem to mean the firft Refurrection to 
 a tcrreftrial Life, and to have no further Notion of 
 celeftial Bodies. 
 
 Some of their Rabbins fuppofe, likewife, that they are 
 to rife again not only with the fame Bodies, but in the 
 fame Cloaths alfo: But they confine all this to the Land 
 of Canaan only, and fay, that the Bodies of fuch Ifrae- 
 lites 
 
i§2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ted by him, and confcious to the fecret 
 jDo&rine. Afterwards this Do&rine was 
 deliver'd av^o Ajjcws, conje Bur ally, by fome 
 of the Prophets, and by fome of the facred 
 Canonical Writers more clearly, and at length 
 by 'Daniel the Prophet moft perfpicuoufly. But 
 yet this Do&rine of Salvation was not to mine 
 out with a full Meridian Glare, nor to be com- 
 pleat in all its Parts, nor accomplifhed in all 
 its Numbers, till the Days of the Meffiah. 
 
 In this, then, we Chriftians triumph, up- 
 on this joyful MelTage, that Death being 
 conquered, and the infernal World over- 
 come, we mall be brought and reftor'd to 
 Light, and to the Enjoyment of a blifsful 
 Immortality \ not in the coarfe Cloathing 
 of thefe CarcafTes which now we carry a- 
 bout us, but in heavenly Bodies \ nor living 
 and converging upon this Dunghill, where 
 we at prefent languiih, but above, in the 
 Brightnefs of xtherial Regions, in the charm- 
 ing Seats and Society of Angels, through 
 endlefs Ages happy» Lift up your Heads, 
 then, O ye Chriftians ! raife your Minds and 
 ip^r.fii. Thoughts to the Skies! And fine e vue have 
 thefe ^romifes, let us cleanfe ourfe Ives from 
 all Filthmefs of the Flejh and Spirit, fer- 
 
 fehing 
 
 fctes as have died in foreign Countries fhall return home 
 through fome fabterraneous Caverns, or at leaft that 
 the Bone Luz fhall ao fo; and from thence, as from 
 its Seed, the whole Body fhall grow up again. Stz 
 jDiJTozj. ds Refurr. -.von. fecundum Jzdaos. 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 18 3 
 
 feeling Ho line fs in the Fear of God. Having 
 iuccin&ly made thefe Remarks, let us now 
 with all our Diligence explore upon what 
 PafTages offacred Scripture, upon what Au- 
 thority divine, this fo exalted Hope of the 
 Chriftians, this animating, this infpiringHope, 
 is founded and depends. 
 
 In the iirft Place, Chrift himfelf often 
 afTerted that Men after Death would rife a- 
 gain, and often promifed it to his • and af- 
 firm 'd that the Power of doing it was in 
 himfelf, as Lord of Life, and of Death : And 
 that he was not unable to raife up others, he 
 plainly demonltrates, in that he was able to 
 raife up himfelf from the Dead. Firft he 
 maintain'd the Refurre&ion againft the Sa- Matt.xxii. 
 ducees y and maintain'd it by the ftrongefr, 
 Argument that could be drawn from the 
 Mofaick Writings, which alone, by Perfons 
 of that Se&, were held authentick and cano- 
 nonical : Then he promifes Rewards h t§ r^kexi^ 
 dvcLcfcicrei tZv S'ikcciwv-, in the Refir reef ion of\\. 
 the Juft, to thofe who are Benefactors to the 
 Needy and the Infirm, from whom in this Life 
 they can expect no Compenfation. But to 
 his Difciples, and to thole who loft every 
 Thing that they had in this World, in order 
 to become fuch, he promifes Things, \v tJ Mattxix.; 
 Trxhiyyzveaici, at their fecond Birth y or at * y * 
 their Refurretlion^ which are greater and 
 more confpicuous. Befides he openly and 
 clearly affirms that Dominion over Life and 
 Death is in him, and that he, by his own Power, 
 
 N4 by* 
 
i8 4 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 by his own Voice, will caufe the Dead to 
 arife from their Graves. Firft of all, in the 
 Beginning of the Revelations, where in theie 
 cha i i W° r d s ne fp e ^ks to St. John, I am the Firft 
 x 8. ' ' and the Laft ; lam he that liveth and was 
 dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore \, 
 Amen, and have the Keys of Hell and of 
 'Death. In the next Place, in the Gofpel 
 of the fame St. John, he feveral Times fays 
 the fame Thing, Cap. vi. yer. 40. And this 
 is the IVitt of him that fent me, That eve- 
 ry one which feeth the Son, and believeth 
 en him j may have everlafting Life : And 
 I will raife him up at the laft Day. In 
 the next Place, in the fame Gofpel of St. John, 
 Chap.xi. he fays to Martha. I am the Refurretlion, 
 and the Life: He that believeth in me, though 
 he were dead, yet ft all he live. And whofo- 
 ever liveth, and believeth in me, ft) all never 
 die. And laflly, in the fifth Chapter of the 
 fame Gofpel, you will find both thefe in 
 Z7& 6 ' Conjunction : As the Father hath Life in 
 him f elf, fo hath he given to the Son to have 
 Life in himfelf And hath given him Au- 
 thority to execute Judgment alfo, becanfe he 
 is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, 
 for the Hour is Coming, when all that are 
 in the Graves (hall hear his Voice, andjhall 
 come forth ; they that have done Good, to the 
 Refurretlion of Life ; and they that have 
 done Evil, to the Refurretlion of Damna- 
 tion. 
 
 All 
 
State 0/ Departed Souls, isfc. 185 
 
 All theie Things being taken from the 
 Mouth of Chrift himfelf, abundantly prove 
 the future Refurrection of the Dead. But 
 Faith is animated and confirmed when Facts 
 corroborate Words; and he has given us ma- 
 ny Examples, that he is able to perform 
 what he hath promis'dus. Therefore Chriit, 
 when he was here upon Earth, did not only 
 caufe others to rife from the Dead, which I 
 muft confefs was formerly done by the Pro- 
 phets before him, but he likewife raifed up 
 himfelf from the Dead, after he had been cru- 
 cify 'd, dead, and buried; for, making off the 
 Bands of Death on the third Day, the Soul 
 fled Back to its facred Relicts, and infpir'd 
 them with immortal Life. 
 
 'Tis in this that we Chriftians glory, in 
 this Victory thus extorted from the laft and 
 molt potent Enemy, from the King of Ter- 
 rors. Did ever any of the Grecian Sages, 
 or of the Oriental Magi^ did ever any of 
 the Philofophers of what Name or Nation 
 foever, did ever any of the renown'd Le- 
 giflators, or laftly, any of the facred Pro- 
 phets rile from the Dead, lay down his Life, 
 and refume it ? Was ever any of thofe vic- 
 torious over Death, and returned to the Liv- 
 ing ? No, only this our Captain, this our 
 God, led Death and Hell in Triumph : And 
 'tis from this Conqueror only that we expecl: 
 both a joyful Deliverance from Death, and 
 a blifsful Immortality. 
 
 Nob. 
 
1 8 6 ATR EAT I S E concerning the 
 
 Nor did this Refurrection from Death 
 happen to Chrift, as to one who never thought 
 of it, who never hoped for it, who never in 
 the leaft expected it, and as an Action per- 
 formed by another's Power : He not only 
 knew that this would happen, but he fore- 
 told it both to his Difciples and others, and 
 foretold that it would happen within three 
 Days after his Death. He faid to the Jews, 
 Markviii. ..Deftroy this Temple, and in three 'Days I 
 
 Toh. n. 22. wt ^ rat f e lt u f a & am - But he /poke of the 
 Temple of his Body, fays the interpreting 
 joh. ii. 19, Apoftle. And his Accufers afterwards 
 brought this Saying as a Crime againft him. 
 Mat.xxvi. And the chief Priefts and Pharifees remem- 
 * r - bring this, defired of 'Pilate that the Sepul- 
 
 Mat. xxvii. cnre might be guarded ; which was accord- 
 62,63,5cc.ingly done. Beiides, Chrift had faid fome- 
 thing like this to the jews before, when they 
 defired from him a Token of his divine 
 Mat.xii. Million : As Jonas was three Days and 
 three Nights in the Body of the IV hale, fo 
 will the Son of Man be three Days and 
 three Nights in the Heart of the Earth* 
 This is funiciently plain, and the Angel re- 
 proaches the Women who came to feek the 
 Body of Chrift in the Sepulchre, after he 
 was rifen, with the Forgetfulnefs of thofe 
 Luc.xxiv; Things: He is not here but is rifen : Re- 
 member how he fpake tint you when he was 
 yet in Galilee, faying, the Son of Man mufl 
 be delivered into the Hands offinful Men, and 
 be crucified, and the third Day rife again : 
 
 And 
 
State of Departed Souls, ifc. '187 
 
 And they remembered his Words s as like- Joh.ii. a*. 
 
 wife did his Difciples. 
 
 Nor did he only by Signs and Parables, 
 but very often by exprefs Words, foretel 
 both his Death and his Refurre&ion, and 
 that each of them would be fpontaneous. 
 Therefore doth my Father love me., becaufe Joh.x. 18. 
 / lay down my Life^ that I might take it 
 again. No Man taketh it from me, but 
 I lay it down of myfelf : / have Tower to 
 lay it down j and 1 have Tower to take it 
 up again. Then he fays afterwards, A little joh.xvL 
 while and ye ft) all not fee me $ and again a l6 - 
 little while and ye (hall fee me, becaufe I go 
 to the Father > which he afterwards fhews is 
 meant of his Death, and of his fecond Com- 
 ing. 
 
 And this Power that he had, when he 
 pleafed to ufe it, of preferving his Life fafe 
 and inviolable, appeared as clear as the Meri-< 
 dian Sun Day, when his Enemies coming 
 upon him, he all of a fudden rendered him- 
 felf invifible, and them confounded and im- 
 potent. Nay, by the Virtue of his Look 
 alone, by the very radiant Light of his £f' V111 * 
 Countenance, he terrifyM and difpirited thofeLuc.w.jo, 
 who came with a Defign to deftroy him. 
 Laftly, in his Transfiguration upon the ho-Mar.xvii. 
 ly Mountain, he converted himfelf wholly J ohxvI - 6 ° 
 into a vital Flame, as it were, into a reful- 
 gent Body, of Angelic k Form, or rather of 
 divine Glory. By which Transformation of Mat . 
 his Body, he fufficiently Ihew'd, that he had 3 
 
 Life 
 
 .XXV1IL 
 
r i88 .4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Dan.x. f, Life in himfelf, and that it was in his Power, 
 a*Per.i.i6, as often as it was his Pleafure, to trample up- 
 J 7- on Death, and to fw allow up all Mortality. 
 
 And let me add, fince 'tis to my Purpoie, 
 that in this his Glorification, bringing down 
 Mofes and Elias from Heaven, both living, 
 and both immortal, he, in them, gave us 
 Pledges and Examples of our own Immor- 
 tality, and our future Refurrection ; which 
 appealed more openly afterwards, when up- 
 on the Refurrection of Chrift, divers of the 
 Saints rifing together from the Dead with 
 him, appeared to many in Jerufalem^ Mat, 
 xxvii. 52, 53. 
 
 Lastly, That I may put an End to this 
 Difcourie, Chrift did not only rife from the 
 Dead, but he afcended likewife into Heaven. 
 After he had gotten a Victory he triumphed : 
 And being carried in a radiant Cloud, as it 
 were, in a triumphal Chariot, his Difciples 
 beholding him with Aftonifhment, and Troops 
 of Angels attending him, he returned to his 
 antient Seat, to what was his Country from 
 all Eternity, and to God the Father. This 
 is the only true Apotheofis, which the antient 
 CafarSj and the Heroes of old, and others 
 renown'd in the Heathen World for their 
 furpaffing Merit, their Fortitude, and their 
 Wiidom - y all of them in vain affected. And 
 now, fince Chrift our Saviour has faid, and 
 has done all this, both among the Living and 
 the Deadj and reigns at length in the Hea- 
 ven of Heavens endued with a glorious Body, 
 
 d 'tis 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 189 
 
 'tis but juft that we fhould believe what he 
 has taught, and promifed us concerning our 
 own Refurredion to be certain, cftablifhed, 
 and unchangeable. 
 
 Having thuscompendiouily laid before you 
 the Sayings, and the Adions of Chrift, which 
 relate toourRefurre&ion, theApoftolieai Doc- 
 trine* of the Refurredion follows concerning 
 thefameSubjecl:,which being agreeable to what 
 has been already laid, is fomething more dif- 
 fufe, and comprehends feveral Heads : But 
 principally let us obferve this, that the Re- 
 furre&ion of the Body is never attributed by 
 the Apoftles to natural Caufes, or natural 
 Power, but always to divine Operation ; and 
 
 very 
 
 * ThefeTeftimonies of the Apoftles require fome far- 
 ther Conlideration : In the firft Place then we mult ob- 
 ferve, that the Apoftles, in their Preachings to the Jews 
 and Gentiles after Chrift was afcended, always began 
 with this Aflertion,TiW Chrifi was rife» from the Dead: 
 From whence they eftabliftied the Chriftian Religion un 
 a double Foundation, That Jefus of Nazareth was the 
 Mefliah ; and likewife, That there was to be a future Re~ 
 furredion from the iDead. While Jefus was upon Earth, 
 he proved himfelf to be the Me ilia h by hfs Miracles, and 
 the concurring Teftimonies of the Prophets : But when 
 he was riien trom the Dead, and had afcended up into 
 Heaven in the Sight of the Apoftles, they thence took a 
 new Argument to demoniirate, both that the fame Jefus 
 was the Mefliah, and likewife farther, that the Hopes 
 of Chriftians concerning a future Refurredion find eter- 
 nal Life, were firmly founded on him. Hence in the 
 A&s of the Apoftles we find, that this Topick was al- 
 ways iniifted upon by the firft Apoftolieal Preachers of 
 the Gofpel, in all their Sermons. See Examples of this 
 Kind in Gerard. Tom. viii. de Refurrett. p. 733. c. xvi. 
 and * * *. 
 
190 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 very frequently to Chrift our Lord, whom 
 alone we have hitherto made the Author of 
 this admirable Work. In that Iblemn Dif- 
 
 * Cor. sy. fertation of St. "Paul, concerning the future 
 Refurre&ion of the Body, he makes Chriii 
 the Author of our Refurre&ion, both in the 
 Beginning, Middle, and End of his Dif- 
 courfe ; to which he gives fo ftrict a Con- 
 nexion with the Refurre&ion of our Lord, 
 that they both muft be granted or denied to- 
 
 Ver. 12. gether : If Chrift, fays he, be preached that he 
 rofe from the "Dead, how fay forne among you 
 that there is no Refurreflion of the "Dead ? 
 where he fuppofes our Refurrection to be 
 the undeniable Confequence of the Refur- 
 reclion of Chrift : But then, fays he., on the 
 
 Ver. 1 3,1 6. other Side, If there be no RefurrecJion of 
 the "Dead, then is Chrift not rifen: And 
 therefore he very juftly, in the Beginning 
 of this Difcourfe, proves the Refurreclion of 
 Chrift by abundance of Teftimonies, as the 
 Foundation of his Do&rine and Inftitution 
 concerning our own Refurreclion. 
 
 Br sides, he places the Root of all celes- 
 tial Life in Chrift, as in Adam the Root 
 of all Mortality, whom, therefore, he makes 
 the Type, or the drri<roL^ov of Chrift : For 
 
 Ver.ii.ii. as in Adam all Men die^ fo in Chrift fo all 
 all be made alive ; whom, therefore, he 
 
 Ver. 45-. fays, was made \u 'VuvsvpcL ^coottoisv, a quic- 
 kening Spirit. Laftiy, by the fame Jefus 
 Chrilt, he infults over Death and Hell, 
 now conquer'd both, and difarm'd, O 
 
 "Death ! 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 19 1 
 
 "Death ! where is thy Sting ? O Grave ! v ^ss>n- 
 where is thy Victory ? Thanks be to God, 
 who giveth us the Victory through Jefus 
 Chrift our Lord, For he had faid before, 
 For he muft reign till he hath pit all Ene- vcr.2j-.26. 
 mies under his Feet : The laft Enemy that 
 ft) all be deftroy'd, is *Death; but Death can- 
 not be deftroy'd but by an univerfal Refur- 
 re&ion. 
 
 Nor is it only in this Chapter, but in 
 others, as often as Occafion offers itfelf, 
 that he teaches us that the Caufe and Ori- 
 gin of our Refurrection is founded in that 
 of Chrift, and that he, by his Refurre&ion, Rom - »* 
 was conftituted Lord of the Living and of Jtg gXT $ 
 the Dead, and of the future Judgment that 3 *• 
 is to fucceed the Refurrection : For ye are 
 dead, and your Life is hid with Chrift in 
 God ; but when Chrift, who is our Life, 
 ft} all appear j then ftjall ye alfo appear with 
 him in Glory > fays the fame Apoftle to the 
 Colojfians, Chap. iii. ver. 5, 4. And he fays 
 like wife to the c Fhilippians, For our Con- Chap, in.- 
 ver fat ion is in Heaven _, from whence al/b 20,11 ° 
 we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift, who ftjall change our vile Body, that 
 it may be fajhion'd like unto his glorious 
 Body, according to the IV or king whereby he 
 is able to fubdue all Things to himfelf. 
 
 I mould be tedious if I mould here pro- 1 Per. V 
 duce more Paffages, (efpecially fince they f' c 4 - r • , 
 are fufficiently known,) to prove from Chrift 14. 
 our Head, the Firft-born of the Tteadf - Ioh ' v - 
 
 (Col. ,,,ia ' 
 
19 2, A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 (Col. i. 1 8) the fir ft Fruits of thofe that 
 Jleep, (i Cor. xv. 20.) to prove, I fay, that 
 from his Influence and his Power the Hope 
 of our Refurrection depends ; nor yet does 
 it fo far depend upon Chrift, that it does not 
 likewife depend originally upon God the 
 Joh.v. t6. Father; both Chrift and his Apoftles often 
 affirm that, Aci.w. 24. cC 32. Gal.ui. 
 Eph. i. 19. 1 Cor. vi. 14. Heb. xiii. 20. It 
 depends alio in ibme Manner upon the Holy 
 Ghoft, and both concur in this divine Ope- 
 ration. So the Apoftle to the Romans 
 teaches us, Chap. viii. n. But if the Spi- 
 rit of him that rat fed up Jefus from the 
 1)ead dwell In you^ he that raifed up Cbrlft 
 from the 'Dead [hall alfo quicken your mor- 
 tal Bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth In 
 you. 
 
 Nor do I at all wonder, that the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, fhould, in 
 lbme manner, co-operate in the Refurrec- 
 tion of the Dead, fince 'tis like a new Crea- 
 tion, when numberlefs Souls are all at once, 
 from an invifible State, brought forth into 
 Light, as it were, from nothing, and all of 
 them reinvefted with Bodies of their feveral 
 Kinds \ nay, the Souls themfelves have, as 
 it were, a Regeneration, or a <wa.XiyFei>eaict, a 
 new Life, and a new World, and all Things 
 around them new : And therefore the Apof- 
 tle does, with a mighty Emphafis of Words, 
 fet ibrth all the mighty Power of God, as 
 
 employed 
 
State of Departed Souk, 2sta 193 
 
 employed and exerted in producing this won- 
 derful Work, Eph. i. 19. 
 
 Hitherto we have let forth the Certain- 
 ty or Stability of our Refurrection, and the 
 efficient Cauies of it from the facred Wri- 
 tings : And all thefe are clearly revealed. 
 Let us now proceed to Things that are lefs 
 clearly and lefs exprefly determined. And 
 here the Queftion firft offers itfelf which is 
 proposed by the Apoftle, viz,. With what l P* -*s8 
 Sort of Bodies Men [hall rife again ? n&>s 3T ' 
 
 eysipovrca 01 vexpoi > 7roico q aoofjcctrt ep^ovrou > 
 
 How are the 'Dead raifed up ? or with 
 what Body do they come ? That we may 
 anfwer this Queftion, and difcover the Qua- 
 lities of that Body with which we are to be 
 cloath'd at the Refurrection, we muft ob- 
 ferve, in the firft Place, what Powers and 
 what Qualities the facred Writers attribute 
 to fuch a Body. Upon this, allowing thefe, 
 which, upon the Teftimony of the Scrip- 
 ture, we know belongs to thofe Bodies, we 
 are to enquire farther what other more par- 
 ticular Qualities, by a juft Realbning, may 
 be deduced from them, and which may more 
 nearly and intimately difcover the Nature 
 and phyfical Constitution of thofe Bodies. 
 Laftly, we muft confult the Nature of 
 Things, which muft be call'd in to our Aid, 
 when we are enquiring into corporeal Be- 
 ings, that we impute nothing, through our 
 Ignorance, to the facred Oracles, that is in- 
 congruous or abfurd. 
 
 O But 
 
1^4 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 But that we may aft compendiously, that 
 Queftion of the Apoftle, With what Bo- 
 dies are we to arife ? feems chiefly to in- 
 clude two Things : Firft, with what Body? 
 that is, whether with an organical Body, and 
 a Body like that which at prefent we carry 
 about us ; or whether with a Body that is 
 inorganical, and of another Form, and ano- 
 ther Order from that which we have at pre- 
 fent. But fecondly, with what Body ? t that 
 is, whether with a grofs and clofely com-' 
 pacted Body, fuch as we now have, or with 
 a thin, a loofe, and a light one, refembling 
 Air or iEther. One of thefe doubtful Points^ 
 you fee, refpecte the Form of our future 
 Body, and the other the Matter ; and if we 
 can give a good Account of both thefe, we 
 Ihall, I preiume, give a fatisfactory Anfwer 
 to the propounded Queftion. 
 
 Now 'tis from the facred Writings that 
 we muft bring the Anfwer to both Parts of 
 the Queftion ; and not only from this Chap- 
 ter of St. I^aul to the Corinthians y but 
 from every PaiTage where either Chiift or 
 his Apoftles explain the Conditions of thofe 
 Bodies which we fhall enjoy in the Hea- 
 vens, Of thefe Conditions fome are general 
 and common, which can difcover nothing 
 certain or definitive in this kind : Others are 
 fpecial and proper, which may be call'd 
 Characters, or Chara&eriftical Tokens ; to 
 which, if we diligently attend, they will 
 bring us to a Difcoyery of the Form or the 
 
 Matter 
 
State of Departed Souls, toV; 195 
 
 Matter of the Bodies of the Beatified. We 
 willj as the Nature of the Subject requires, 
 divide thefe Characteriftical Tokens into two 
 Orders ; the former of which will anfwer the 
 firft Part of the Queftion, and the latter the 
 fecond Part. The four following faered 
 Chara&eriftical Tokens feem to difcover and 
 to give us a View of the Form of our im- 
 mortal Body, whether it is to be organical 
 or inorganical. Firft, it will have no Oc- 
 casion for either Belly or Edibles; fecondly, 
 of Flefh and Blood it will not confift ; third- 
 ly, it will be a Body not made with Hands, 
 d^tiopiroiyTov '-, and thereby, fourthly, it will 
 be lo-oiyyehov) a Body by which we fhall be 
 like to the Angels. Each of thefe four Cha- 
 racters muft be examined apart from the 
 reft, that we may be able to difcern what 
 Validity each of them has, how much is 
 implied in it, and how far it extends. As 
 for the firft, the Apoftle Ipeaks thus con- 
 cerning it ; Meats are for the Belly, and 1 Cor. vi. 
 the Belly for Meats ; but God ffjall abolijfj J 3- 
 both it and them. But when will he aboliih 
 them ? Not in this Life j therefore in the 
 Life to come : Not in this mortal Body ; 
 therefore in the glorious and immortal Body. 
 But if that Body will want a Belly, it will 
 confequently want thofe Entrails, thole Ve£- 
 fels, and all thole Parts which are contain'd 
 in the Cavity of that Belly. But all thefe 
 being fubftra&ed, what Sort of Body will 
 remain ? Why, a Body that is maim'd, and 
 
 O 2 whofe 
 
196 A TREATISE Concerning the 
 
 whofe Parts are feparated by empty Space • 
 in fhort, a Body altogether imperfect, if 
 we regard the Nature of an organical Body. 
 And then, the Parts which are under the Belly 
 will either be wanting, or will be of no 
 Ufe ; of which we fhall fay more hereafter. 
 Laftly, the Thighs, the Legs, and Feet, are 
 the neceflary Inftruments of Walking, and 
 Walking is perform 'd upon a Subftance that 
 is itfelf immovable. But fince in the Air, 
 or in the Heavens, there is no immovable 
 Subftance to tread on, there is neither Pave- 
 ment, nor Porch, nor Gallery ; there local 
 Motion will be perform'd not after the Man- 
 ner of Walking, but in the fame Manner in 
 which the Angels move. Thefe lower Parts 
 of the Body then will be all of them toge^- 
 ther abolifh'd, as ufelefs and fuperfluous. 
 
 Besides, where there is no Food, there 
 can be no Nutrition ; but feveral Faculties 
 and feveral Organs were made on Purpofe 
 to be fubfervient to Nutrition, which muft 
 like wile be abolifh'd, when our Food is : 
 Such are the Organs of Tafte, of Chewing 
 and Swallowing; the Organs of Concoction, 
 of Sanguification, and thofe of Diftribution •, 
 and not a few of the Glands are ufeful to 
 Nutrition or Secretion. Now what orga- 
 nick Body can bear the Lois of fo many 
 Parts ! and yet the Body which we are to 
 have muft endure it all, if we have rightly 
 calculated. Thefe numerous Parts, then, 
 being thus feparated, or cut off from the 
 
 Body, 
 
State of Departed Souls, kfc. 197; 
 
 Body, let us next confider what we are to 
 determine concerning Flefh and Blood, whe- 
 ther they too are like to perifh together with 
 thofe which are mentioned before. 
 
 After the Apoftle had treated of the 
 Qualities of bleffed Bodies, at the End of 
 that Difcourfe he adds ; But this I fay unto l Cor - xv > 
 you, Brethren, that Flefh and Blood can- 
 not inherit the Kingdom of God.* The 
 Apoftle fays abfolutely they cannot. There 
 is, it feems, fome Repugnancy between the 
 celeftial State and the Conditions of Flefh 
 and Blood \ and therefore there is a Necef- 
 ilty that the Body, with which the Soul is in- 
 veiled in Heaven after the Refurrection, 
 fhould be olvca^ov $ <zo-<zgxov y without Flefhj 
 and without Blood. 
 
 But you will fay, perhaps, that Flefh. 
 and Blood, in this Expreffion of the Apoftle, 
 are not to be literally understood, but 
 myftically, or allegorically, as they de- 
 note the Works of the Flefh, or moral Pra- 
 vity and Impurity. To which I anfwer, firft, 
 that this is laid without any Proof, and not 
 only without any Proof, but againft the re- 
 ceived Rule of Interpreting ; by which we 
 are forced to depart from the Letter, unlefs 
 we are urg'd by Neceffity from the Nature 
 
 5 of 
 
 * In the Language of the Vulgar 'twas called tha 
 Refurreilion of the Fleft, but wile Men underwood i* 
 differently. See Orig, p. 132. med. t^v nB^vy. 
 
ji$8 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 of the Thing, and of the Subjed Matter; 
 but here is no fuch Neceflity. Befides, the 
 reil of the Characteriftical Marks are ib a- 
 greeable to this, and fo nearly related to it, 
 (as will clearly appear by what is to follow,) 
 that we are rather on the other Side urg'd 
 by Neceffity, a Neceflity of retaining the 
 literal Senfe: For the Words that follow in 
 the fame Verfe fufficiently fhew, that Flejb 
 and Blood are to be underftood phyfically, 
 and not morally ; for that which follows is, 
 Neither doth Corruption inherit Incorrupt 
 tion. Corruption is there underftood phy- 
 
 S< d otST ficall 7 '-> and b Y <p0°£*»' the Apoftle defigns 
 ' that we iliould underftand <p6ap)or, this our 
 corruptible Body •, and by Incorruption an 
 incorruptible State. 
 
 But, perhaps, you will attempt to elude 
 the Force of this Anfwer another Way ; you 
 will fay, perhaps, that Flefh and Blood, fuch 
 as we have at prefent, cannot inherit the 
 Kingdom of Heaven ; but that another Sort 
 of Flefh and Blood, fuch as we are to have 
 after the Refurrection, may inherit it. But 
 to anfwer effectually to this, the Apoftle no 
 where at this Rate diftinguifhes between two 
 Kinds of Flefh and Blood, the corruptible 
 
 Ver. 39. Kind, and the incorruptible. He, indeed, 
 mentions feveral Kinds of Flefh, as of Men, 
 of Beafts, of Fifh, and of Fowls, and ail 
 thefe are alike corruptible; but he nowhere 
 makes mention of Flefh that is incorruptible, 
 tho' a fair Occafion offers itfelf. He no 
 
 where 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffc. 1-99 
 
 where ufes this Diftinclion among feveral 
 others, Corruptible Flefi is one Thing, and 
 Flejh incorruptible another Thing. On the 
 contrary, he ieems to ilippoie, or to take it 
 for granted, that all Fleih and Blood are 
 corruptible, and consequently lays down an 
 univerial Propofition, without Limitation or 
 Diitin&ion, Flejh and Blood cannot inherit 
 the Kingdom of God , that is., a Body coni- 
 pos'd of Flelh and Blood : Corruption, in 
 the latter Part of the Verfe, aniwers exactly 
 to Flelh and Blood in the former Part ; and 
 Incorrupt ion in the latter Part, to the King- 
 dom of God in the former Part. They min- 
 gle Heaven and Earth together who at this 
 Rate confound Corruptible and Incorruptible. 
 Incorruptible Blood ieems to me to be what 
 Logicians call a Contradiction in adjetJo : 
 For the Stamina of the Blood are of a very 
 diflblvable Texture and Mixture; and when 
 they are diffol'/d, Corruption or Putrefac- 
 tion follow : And the fame Thing niay be 
 faid of Flefh, which is nothing but Blood 
 and fimilar Juices coagulated. But we ihall 
 fay more of this Matter anon, when we 
 treat of the Blood and the glorious Body of 
 Chrift. 
 
 These Things, in the mean while, being 
 thus difcufs'd, it appears to me to be Suffi- 
 ciently evident, that the Saying of the A- 
 poftle's, that FlefJj and Blood are incapable 
 of pojfejfing the Kingdom of Heaven ^ ought 
 to be underftood as it is pronounced, lite- 
 
 O 4 rally 
 
2oo A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 rally and univerfally } and that confequent- 
 ly our celeftial and incorruptible Bodies 
 will be void of Flelh and Blood, and like- 
 wife of all Organs and all Parts that are 
 compos 'd of Flefh and Blood : But if not 
 only Blood is wanting, but the whole Frame 
 and Structure of Flefh, nothing will remain 
 but a faplefs Skeleton, depriv'd of all the 
 Ornament, the Beauty, and the Majefty of 
 a human organic k Body. 
 
 Hitherto we have prov'd, from the fa- 
 cred Writings, that the Bodies of Saints in 
 Heaven are not organical, with regard to 
 their feveral Parts • now let us confult other 
 Characteriftical Marks that regard and com- 
 aCor.v.i.prehend the whole Body : As when our ce~ 
 ™ ar - xiv - leftial Body is faid by the Apoftle to be 
 Heb.ix. d<x<cipQ7roiy)TQv' and when, in regard to that 
 * ,# Body, we are faid to be laa-yyeKoi. As to 
 
 the nrft, the Apoftle, in that Paffage to the 
 Co? inthianSj forms a Comparifon, and, as it 
 were, an Antithefis, between the Body which 
 we have at prefent, and that which we fhall 
 have hereafter in the Heavens. The Quef- 
 tion is, therefore, what is his Meaning ? or 
 how that Word a^jupoiroi^rov is to be inter- 
 preted ? If you render it verbatim, not 
 made with Hands, from that Mark there 
 will be no Antithefis between the Body 
 which we are to have, and that which we 
 have at prefent; for this latter is by no 
 means made with Hands, nor by any human 
 Art, but has its Source from liquid Seed ; 
 
 «nd 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 201 
 
 and from a minute Drop grows to a greater 
 Mafs, and to an admirable Frame, by a 
 Force internal, and as it were divine, with- 
 out the Afiiftance of any Hand, or the 
 Co-operation of any Art of Man. Second* 
 ly, if you render d^eiepTror/jTou not artificial^ 
 which feems to have a more extenfive Sig- 
 nification, neither by this Means will you 
 preferve the Antithefis or the Diftinction 
 from our prefent Body, which is equally, 
 with the other, inartificial, it being natural 
 both in its Rile and Increafe : But yet the 
 Body which we have at prefent, in another 
 Regard, has the Appearance of an artificial 
 Body, or of a Body mechanically framed, 
 that is, as far as it is compos'd of numerous 
 Parts of various Matter, aptly and articu- 
 lately join'd together, and, as it were, con- 
 glutinated. This Way you conftitute a me- 
 chanical or organical Fabrick, which may 
 be faid to be ^g/gpWwTor, made with Hands $ 
 and according to this Analogy, d^i^pwolnr 
 nrov and inorganical, have one and the fame 
 Meaning ; by which Interpretation the An- 
 tithefis is preferved between the two Kinds 
 of Bodies, that which we have at prefent, 
 and the celeftial 5 and we conclude, that 
 the Bodies of theBlelfed in Heaven are Bo- 
 dies inorganical. 
 
 But tho' in this PafTage of the Apoftle 
 the forefaid Antithefis is not both Ways 
 exprefs'd, yet in another Place both Parts of 
 
 the 
 
201 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 the Oppofition or the Comparifon are ex- 
 prefs'd : As in the Saying of Chrift in St. 
 Mark, Chap. xiv. 58. vauos %zie?7roiy\r<&,, the 
 Temple made with Hands, is opposed to 
 tw cl%6i^7roiriTCfjj to the Temple not made 
 with Hands-, and Chrift by both means his 
 own Body, and calls that which he had when 
 he was here upon Earth, 'x^.^-womrov, made 
 with Hands, and the other a.y&i^iro^rov^ 
 not made with Hands ; in which Compari- 
 fon the forefaid Antithefis can hardly be ex- 
 plained any other Way than we have ex- 
 plain 'd it above. And the Apoftle, in his 
 Epiftle to the Hebrews, Chap. ix. confirms 
 this Explication, where he dwells upon this 
 Similitude of the Tabernacle, to which 
 he tacitly here alludes. And as Chrift 
 names the Temple, the Apoftle calls the 
 Tabernacle, or the Sanctuary, %«ep7ro:Vof, 
 (Ver. 24.) to which our terreltrial Body an- 
 fwers. Then he calls the celeftial Body of 
 Chrift » %(H£_o7rotnTov, (Ver. 11.) and adds, by 
 way of Expofition, rsrt^ivj a returns tj?s 
 'jtriviM) that is to fay, not of this Building, 
 or this Structure, but of a different Form 
 from this terreftrial and organick Body. 
 But concerning this Word, and this Cha^ 
 racier, we have fufficiently fpoke. 
 
 The only remaining Charact.eriftical Mark 
 is taken from the Equality upon which 
 the BlefTed in Heaven lhall be with the 
 Angels. Chrift fays to the Sadducees 9 
 
 that 
 
State of Departed Souls, izfc. 203 
 
 that * the Sons of the Refurreflion (hall be 
 to-ciyy&fis, like to the Angels ; which, at tirit 
 View, feems only to regard Marriages and 
 Copulations, yet not to the Excluiion of 
 other Things : So far from it, that Chriit 
 feems rather to have taken that Occaiion to 
 deliver a more general Sentence; by which 
 the Equality of the Sons of the Refurreo 
 tion with the Angels, both may and ought 
 to be further extended: And it is actually 
 further extended by St. Luke, who after 
 this Manner delivers this Saying of Chrift: 
 But they which $h all be accounted worthy Luke **, 
 to obtain that World, and the Refurretlion >*' 3<s * 
 from the T^ead, neither marry, nor are gi- 
 ven in Marriage ; neither can they die any 
 more, for they are equal unto the Angels v, 
 are yap airoixavw en ^vvavrai, icrayysAoi yap 
 eiai. From thefe Words it appears to me to 
 be evident, firft, that the Angels have Bo- 
 dies ; then, that we fhall have fuch Bodies 
 as the Angels have, that is, inorganical Bo- 
 dies. 
 
 * The Sons of theRefurreclion are the Sons of God, 
 fays Chrift, Luke xx. 36. DTrtSx '33, as the Angels are 
 called. I am not ignorant that the Expreflion, Sons of 
 God, is, in fome Senfe, to be applied to the Saints in 
 this Life, namely, as they have received the Spirit of 
 Adoption, and the certain Hope of a future Inheritance 
 and Glory : But when 'tis fpoken of a future Life, it 
 feems to denote the Angelical State, according to this 
 Saying of Chriil here and in other Places., Mat. v. 9. 
 John i. 12. 
 
2C4 -^ TREATISE concerning the 
 
 dies.* As to the firft, if that Equality upon 
 which the BlefTed fhall be with the Angels, 
 confifts only in the fpiritual Part of each of 
 them, and not in their Bodies ; then, our Bo- 
 dies may be mortal after the Refurrection,not- 
 withftanding this Equality. But we are told 
 by Chrift, that by reafon of this Equality we 
 can die no more : This Equality, then, muft 
 regard the Bodies of each, or the corporeal 
 Part of them; for we die, or are mortal, 
 only with refped to the Body, whether in 
 this Life or in the Life to come : Befides, 
 this Immortality, or Equality with the An- 
 gels, concerning which Chrift inftructe us, 
 are Privileges that accrue to us by and after 
 the Refurreclion ; but the Soul has been al- 
 ways immortal, from its Creation ; and that 
 Immortality that comes to us by and after 
 
 the 
 
 * This St. Auflin openly afTerted : Our Bodies, fays he, 
 after the Refurrefiion, fa all be fuch as are the Bodies of 
 Angels, upon TfaL lxxxv. at the Words, Thou hafl de- 
 livered my Soul from the lowermojl Hell. And upon 
 Pfal.cxlv. not far from the Beginning, he calls our hea- 
 venly Body Corpus Angelicum, an Angelical Body. Ter- 
 tullia-nS Phrafe is, Caro Angelificata y Angelizd Flejh, 
 de Refurr. Cam. c. 26. And again, he calls it, Demu- 
 tatio in Subflantiam Angelicam, a Change into an Ange- 
 lical Subjlance, Lib. iii. contra Marc, c. ult. Lailantius 
 calls it, Transformatio in Sim'tUtudinem Angelorurn, a 
 Transformation into the Likenefs of Angels, Lib.v'u. c.16. 
 You may confult at your Leifure more Places of Auflin 
 that fpeak the fame Scnfe, as Epijl, 11 1. adFortnaat. 
 Gen. ad Lit. l.xii. c.35-. And again, l.ii. c. 17. er I. iii. 
 c. 10. of" the Bodies of Fallen Angels, and thofe that 
 are not fallen ; and others of the like Nature. 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffc. 205 
 
 the Refurre&ion, is the Immortality of the 
 Body. 'Tis in this Reipe&, that we are e- 
 qual to the Angels ; for, in fhort, we mould 
 be like to the Angels rather before than af- 
 ter the Refurrection., if the Angels had not 
 Bodies.* 
 
 Besides, that the Angels are not naked 
 fpiritual Subftances, but cloathed with Bo- 
 dies of their own Kind and Order, feems to 
 be demonftrable to me from this, that they are 
 to confticute the Attendance, and the Guard 
 of Chrift, upon the glorious Day of his 
 Coming. They muft of Neceffity, then, be Mattxri 
 vifible, and cloathed with Bodies, and thofe I l^ hefr :i 
 of a more noble Order, that they may aug-7. 
 ment and accompliih the Majefty and the 
 Magnificence of that Celeftial Pomp: Nor 
 will you, I believe, prefume to fay, that 
 they will have Bodies at that Time, but Bo- 
 dies which they will borrow, composed of 
 Air for that Occafion only ; Bodies to be 
 thrown off, and again difpers'd when the 
 Pomp of the Spectacle is over : I believe 
 you will hardly fuffer this to be laid, that 
 Chrift, indeed, will return with innumerable 
 Attendance, but an Attendance of Phan- 
 toms only, with a thoufand thoufand tran- 
 fitory and fugitive Shadows, and idle empty 
 Vifions, and that fuch Angels as thefe in 
 Mafquerade furround the Throne of God. *Cor.dL 
 
 Befides, '*• 
 
 * Of this Matter fee Huet. Qrlg* I. 2. q. $• Sett. 
 8,9- P-7i. 
 
206 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Ecfides, when in the facred Writings 'tis faid, 
 that Satan fometimes transforms himfelf to 
 an Angel of Light j that Metamorphofis fup- 
 pofes that an Angel of Light has fome out- 
 ward Form, and fome vifible Species, by 
 which he is known and diftinguifhed from 
 the others. But that, be it what it will, he 
 cannot poflibly have unlefs he has a Body. 
 And as for the evil Angels in general, when 
 they are capable of Pain and Torment by 
 4 ,. " ' Means of corporeal Fire, and are deftinM to 
 fuffer it, 'tis evident from this, that thofe 
 degenerate Spirits have their Bodies, whaN 
 ever thofe Bodies are. Befides, on the other 
 Side,, 'tis impoffible there can be any Socie- 
 ty, any Commerce, between the good and 
 the Holy Angels, and Saints, and beatified 
 Spirits, unlefs both the one and the other are 
 in fome Manner vifible and incorporated. 
 
 Lastly, Give me leave to ask one Quef- 
 tion ' y Can any one of a found Underftand- 
 ing, and who has a juft Eftimation of the 
 Works of God? can fuch a one upon confi- 
 dering the Thing feriouily, believe fincere- 
 Jv, and from his Soul, that the Celeftial and 
 jEtherial Regions, vaft as they are, and almoft 
 boundlefs, can be without any vifible in- 
 telligent Creature, without any Animal in- 
 dued with Reafon, except a few human Souls? 
 What Wilds, what Solitudes, what, next to 
 infinite Defarts, muft fuch a one fuppofe 
 that there are in the Nature of Things, which 
 Space the good and the great God, wanted 
 
 neither 
 
State of Departed Souls*, iffc, icj 
 
 neither Power nor Goodnefs to replenifh with 
 proper Inhabitants ? But if you are of Opi- 
 nion with us, that Angels have Bodies pro- 
 per to their Kind and Order, not, indeed, or- 
 ganical Bodies, (for what have Angels to do 
 with Bones, with Joints, with Bowels, with ^ k - xxlv ' 
 Stomach, and with the Frame and Fabrick of 
 Members ?) but lucid and aetherial ones, Pfil.civ. 4. 
 inch as feveral of the Fathers were of Opi- 
 nion that they had, as we have obferved in Archxo]og> 
 another Place ; and if you grant that ours PhiloCl.*. 
 will be like to thefe Angelick Bodies *$ from c * 8 - 
 this Hypothecs Honour will redound to 
 God the Creator of the Univerfe, to Heaven 
 its Ornaments, its Majefty, and Magnificence, 
 and Armies of illuft rious Inhabitants, to us 
 a Society and eternal Commerce with An- 
 gels, arid an Equality, and Refemblance, 
 and Relation to them, both by glorious En- 
 dowments of Body and Mind, and by blifs- 
 ful Immortality. 
 
 Hitherto we have anfwered the firft 
 Part of the Queftion propounded by the 
 Apoftle, which regards the Form of our im- 
 mortal Bodies : Let us now proceed to the 
 fecond Part, which comprehends the Matter 
 of them, and the Qualities of that Matter. 
 
 Here, 
 
 * But Angels ufually appear cloathed in bright Bodies. 
 See the Places in Gerard, lorn. 9. p. 659. about the 
 Middle. And what St. Jude fays of them, that they left 
 to iSiovoiKnyfotcur their proper Habitation, (ver. 6.)- may de~ 
 note either their Bodies, or their corporeal Places. 
 
2o3 A TREATISE concerning tbe 
 
 Here, therefore, the Enquiry is to be, "what 
 Kind of Body we fhall enjoy in the Heavens, 
 whether a thick or folid one, like that which 
 we carry about as at prefent, or a thin, a 
 light, a refulgent, and a tranfparent one, 
 like Light, or ^Sther, or Matter a-kin to the 
 Heavens. In examining this Part of the 
 Qiieftion, let us proceed in the lame Method 
 that we ufed in the firft Part, by thofe fa- 
 cred Characters, or Tokens that are founded 
 in the facred Writings. But the Body of 
 theBleffed in Heaven, is called by St. < Paut y 
 celeftial, fpiritual, potent, glorious, and con- 
 formable to the glorious Body of Chrift. 
 When 'tis called celeftial, that denotes the 
 Matter of which 'tis compofed : For as the 
 Body which we have at prefent confifts of 
 terreftrial Matter ; lb the Body, which is 
 called celeftial, will confift of celeftial Mat- 
 ter ; or, as the Body of Adam was framed 
 of Duft, or of terreftrial Clay ; fo, on the 
 contrary, the Bodies of the Sons of God will 
 be formed of celeftial Matter, or Matter 
 modify 'd like it. 'O it^t®*, av^rpccT^ Ix. 
 
 yj^i-y. Oi@L, o jyoocc/?, toiutoi *j 01 %oikoi' xj 
 
 Gl^> g7T8££«'i(§^, TOLSTOI Xj 01 ZirU^OLVlOly CCC 
 
 i cor. xv. The firft Man is of the Earthy earthy : 
 
 v^'^ c 'The fecond Man is the Lord from Heaven, 
 
 \ iZ .' As is the earthy, fo are they alfo who 
 
 are earthy ; and as is the heavenly, fucb 
 
 are they alfo that are heavenly : And as 
 
 iv e have bom the Image of the earthy, we 
 
 /ball 
 
SctaTe of Departed Souls, isfci 209 
 
 fhalt'alfo bear the Image of the heavenly. 
 With refpect. to the Body in this Life, we 
 are made like to Adam ; and with reipect. to 
 the Body in the other Life, we are made 
 like to Chrift. But if our celeftial Body is 
 to have the fame Qualities- or Modifications 
 with the celeftial Matter, then this Enqui- 
 ry only remains, viz. what is the Nature 
 of celeftial Matter, or after what Manner 'tis 
 modify 'd ? To which I anfwer, that J tis not 
 hard, nor folid, like Glais, or Chryftal, or 
 Ice, as fome of the Ancients dreamt, but 
 that 'tis as pure and thin, as the fineft Air 
 or ./Ether : And, confequently, our celeftial 
 Bodies will be of the fame Nature. 
 
 Secondly, our celeftial Body is called 
 by the Apoftle a Spiritual Body : To ta-vevr 
 ftctrixov, or &vmfyuz 9 either fignifies fomething 
 void of all Matter, in which Signification it 
 can be meant of no Body whatever ; or it 
 fignifies fome light and thin Body, like Wind 5 
 or Air, or Vapour : in which Senfe like- 
 wife mi is us'd by the Hebrews _, and Spi- 
 ritus Spirit, by the Latiiis, as when the 
 thinner Parts or Particles of our Blood are 
 call'd Spirits, whether they are animal or 
 vital. Nor does that Word feem to me to 
 be taken otherwife, when our Celeftial Bo- 
 dy is call'd a Spiritual Body, provided you 
 add this as by Confequence, that the hea- 
 venly one will be more vivacious than this 
 mortal Body.; and that Man, who will be 
 "iade to a» enlivening Spirit, & -sri/go- 
 
iio A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 pa ^wo7roitft', will have the Power of pre* 
 ferving his own Body without Meat, or 
 Drink, or Sleep, or thole other Things 
 which the animal Body of Adam, o-u>fxcc -^u- 
 ^istor, wanted for its Support. 
 Ver.43. Thirdly, the Celeftial Body is call'd 
 potent and active : %7riiperai \v da-Srtvita,, 
 the Carcafs is /own in JVeaknefs^ and it 
 is raifed in 'Power, The Power of the 
 Body confifts in Motion, or in the Power 
 it has to move itfelf and other Things ; that 
 which moves itfelf from Place to Place ea- 
 fily and fwiftly, is callM active; and if 
 hefides it has the Force of moving other 
 Bodies, it is on that Account thought the 
 more powerful. But 'tis here to be obferv'd, 
 that a Body whofe Parts are quiet, and ad- 
 here one to the other, hath no Power of 
 its own of moving itfelf; for Motion among 
 Bodies is produc'd only by Motion, or by a 
 Body mov'd. There is, therefore, a Neceflity 
 that a Body to be active muft have its Parts 
 in Motion, as 'tis in Air, Wind, Flame, and 
 Light. Indeed, hard and coherent Bodies, 
 which fuffer themfelves to be bent, and are 
 call'd elaftick, refilt, and recover their for- 
 mer Situation, and that with a great deal of 
 Force : But then the Power of moving does 
 not proceed from the hard Body, but from 
 fbme other fubtle Matter in Motion inclos'd 
 in the hard Body* Befidcs, in Machines 
 which are compos M partly of Matter which 
 is hard and firm, and partly of tha£ which 
 
 is 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 211 
 
 is fluid or volatile, the fblid may be mov'd 
 by the fpirituous Parts, and the whole Com- 
 pound be moved together, or any particular 
 Part of it, as may be feen in the Motion of 
 our own Bodies, or of any particular Mem- 
 ber of them. But if within the hard Bodies 
 there is no Matter in Motion, nor moveable 
 Matter, neither its own nor foreign, it re- 
 mains motionlefs in itfelf, and can never be 
 mov'd, unlefs by external Force. 
 
 Now if thefe Things are rightly affirmed 
 and determin'd by us, it follows, that the 
 Body which we are to have in the Heavens 
 may be active and lively, it muft not con- 
 fift of a fluggifh and fpiritlefs Matter, as is 
 the Matter of concrete Bodies, or Bodies 
 whofe Parts are coherent to one another, 
 but of a Subftance light, and vivid, and vo- 
 latile; that fo, in Obedience to the Command 
 of the Mind, it may be eafily carried to any 
 Part, may pafs through other Bodies, and 
 may, at its own Pleafure, rarify or con- 
 denfe itfelf: In fine, the united Force of 
 the Parts or Particles of which fuch a Body 
 confifts, muft be exceedingly powerful ; and 
 if they are all directed the fame Way, and 
 to the fame Object, they will penetrate or 
 throw down every Thing that ftands in 
 their Way, like a Storm, or the Lightning 
 of Thunder. 
 
 And here give me Leave to add, that 
 we ought not to wonder that it fhould be 
 in the Power of the Soul to guide and di- 
 
 P 2 red 
 
2i2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 rect the Parts of this fpirituous Body which 
 Way ibever it pleafes ; when even in this 
 grofs and heavy terreftrial Body, it fends 
 forth the Spirits and the thinner Juices every 
 Way into the Nerves and Mufcles, accord- 
 ing to the abiblute Pleafure and Command 
 of its own Will : And when all this fpiri- 
 tous Body is nothing but a Frame of con- 
 gregated Spirits, and of the nobleft Matter, 
 'tis but highly reafonable that we ihould: 
 grant to a glorified Soul a plenary Power 
 over fuch a Body ; a Power of impelling, 
 retaining, or guiding and directing its Parts 
 which Way foever it pleafes. 
 
 Th e fourth Character follows, by which 
 the Bodies of the Bleffed are ftyPd glo- 
 rious. That Word denotes fomething more 
 excellent than Beauty only, or than Propor- 
 tion of Parts, viz. a certain Light or Reful- 
 gency ; nor can Matter or Body, be it ever 
 fo beautiful, appear glorious, unlefs 'tis il- 
 luftrated with Light and Radiancy. Be- 
 fides, the Word J^a, Glory, wherever in 
 the facred Writings 'tis fpoke, either of 
 natural Bodies, or of Divine or Angelick 
 Appearances, almoft always denotes fome- 
 thing refplendent and illuitrious, as will im- 
 mediately more fully appear. In the mean 
 vcr. 4°> while, you lee that in this very Chapter 
 4.1» 4 1 - Mention is made of the Glory of the Stars ? 
 which confifts in Light, and that in order to 
 explain to us the Glory of our celeftiai Bo- 
 dies, Laftly, the Prophet TJaniel difcour- 
 
State of Departed Souls, istc. 213 
 
 fing of the Condition of the Righteous after 
 the Refurre&ion, to lay it before us, has 
 Recourfe to the fame Example of Stars, but 
 applies that Example more ftrongly. Many 
 of thofe, fays he, that now flee f in theT)uftV™-™> 
 of the Earth will awake ; fome of them 2 ' 
 to Life eternal j and others to eternal Con- 
 tempt and Reproach : And the IVife fljall 
 flrine like the Splendor of the Firmament ; 
 and they that inftrudl many to Right eouf he fs, 
 like Stars to Millions of Ages, Chrift inark'd 
 the fame State, the fame Time, and the 
 fame Glory, when he laid, Then fl) all ^Mat.xiii. 
 Righteous (bine forth as the Sim in the**' 
 Kingdom of their Father. 'Tis evident that 
 the lame Glory is defcribM by the Prophet, 
 by Chrift, and by the Apoftle, and that 
 that Glory is a Participation of Light and 
 Splendor. 
 
 But the Queftion may here be ask'd, Whe- 
 ther this Light and this Splendor are inhe- 
 rent in glorified Bodies? or whether they 
 come from abroad, and are only reflected 
 or tranfmitted, as in Gems or polifrYd Me- 
 tals, or in other folid Bodies ? And yet, 
 methinks, this too might be determin'd by 
 the Examples brought from the Sun and 
 the Stars. However, we mail examine this 
 more fully in the following Character, by 
 which our celeftial Body is laid to be form'd 
 after the Manner of the glorious Body of 
 Chrift. In the mean while, this remains 
 iix'd and eftablifh'd, that the Bodies of the 
 
 P ? BleiTed 
 
2i4 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Blefled in Heaven are, in fome meafure, lu- 
 cid and refulgent, and by confequence glo- 
 rious. 
 
 And now comes the lait and the mofl 
 Phii.ui. 2. iliuftrious Character, of the Format ion of 
 i Cor. xv. our celeftial Bodies after the glorious Body 
 tjch. 9 iii.2. of ChriJL This Character confirms the 
 former, and belides difcovers to us, that the 
 Light which thofe glorified Bodies emit, is 
 inherent in them, and dwells in them, and 
 proceeds from an internal Principle, as from 
 an exhauftleis Fountain: For Chriit, when 
 he was on the Earth, in his Transfiguration, 
 rendered himielf all Brightnefs, not by re- 
 flecting a borrowed Light, but from him- 
 feif he emitted that Virtue which caufed 
 him to overflow with Glory, and to be im- 
 mers'd in a Deluge of Light: "EAa/x^g to 
 
 7Tgp&Ct)7T0V O.VTU WS 7i/./©k, TO. Q ItJ.XTlCC CtVTU 
 
 Mat.xyii. lyivsTo Agujca, cos ro <p&>5, His Face did jhine 
 *« as the Sun j and his Raiment was white as 
 
 the Light : So fays the Evangelift. 
 
 Then after his Refurrection he appeared 
 in feveral Shapes, (Mark xvi. 2. Luke xxiv. 
 16. John xx. 15. t§ xxi. 5.) rendered him- 
 felf vifible or invifible according to his Plea- 
 fure, Luke xxiv. 31. and twice enter'd the 
 Houfes where his Difciples were, though the 
 Doors were fliut, Joh.xx. 19. 26. and yet 
 he appeared with Bones and with Flefh 
 to his doubting Difciples, that he might 
 convince them of the Truth of his Refur- 
 
 redion. 
 
State ^Departed Souls, &c. 215 
 
 region.* And thus he fhewed, by thefe 
 feveral Tokens, that it was in his Power to 
 
 reibive 
 
 * Clem. Alexand. Strom. 6. p. 649. iqfetyep yzp u Six rb 
 f&pct, tsfi. For he eat not for the fake ofhis Body, which 
 was luitain'd by divine Virtue, but led thofe he appear- 
 ed to lhould entertain falfe Notions of him, as we find 
 afterwards that fome actually did, fuppofing him to have 
 
 been no more than a Ghoft or Apparition. Origea 
 
 apud Hieron. in Prooem. adl.w'xn. in If a. He eat after 
 his Refurreclion, and drank, and appear'd cloathed, and 
 ofFer'd himfelf to be felt, to convince his doubting Dif- 
 ciples of the Reality of his Refurrecfion ; bat yet he 
 plainly diicovers the Nature of his aerial and fpiritual 
 Body, by entering into the Room while the Doors were 
 fhut, and by his vanifhilig out of Sight at the Breaking 
 of Bread. 
 
 Damascene likewife fays, that he did this « v6(ia tyy*eu$» 
 CTt. not by the Law of his Nature, but byway of Proof 
 of the Truth of his Refurrefitfon, 2)e Orihod: FtdJ. 4. if. 1. 
 There are befides quoted, as of the fame Opinion, 
 Theophil. in cap.xxiv. Luc. and Bede in cap. xx. Johan. 
 in Gerard, tom.y. p. 6jl. med. Chryfjl. Hom.Sj. Cod. 
 Gr. in Job. a-iiiv 11 l^xito^cu, -km,?, k.t.k. But it may be 
 doubted how an incorruptible Body could receive the 
 Impreffion of the Nails, and betouch'd by mortal Hands: 
 But let not this (hock thee; for this was by < Permi{Jion 
 only, (svyxxTx€xa-)'^ by way of Condefcenjion:) For a 
 Body fo thin and fine as to come in when the Doors 
 were lhur, mud be void of all grofs Subftance: Bat he 
 ihewed Ivmlelf in that Manner for the Proof of the Re- 
 furre6Hon.\S>. Auguft. de Civ. Dei, I xxii. c 19. We 
 muft believe, that the Brightnefs of the Body of Chrift 
 at his Refurreclion, was rather hid from the Eyes of 
 the Difciples, than really wanting in itfelf : F'or the 
 weak Sight of Man could not have been able to have 
 beheld fo glorious a Form with that Stedfaftnefs as was 
 neceifary for him to be known by. He would not be 
 touched (John xx. 17.) becaufe he was not in a tangible 
 State, being then return d from the Dead, and upon his. 
 Afcenfion. to the Father. 
 
 P4 
 
5Y6 'A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 refolve his Body into the thin and the vola- 
 tile, and to reduce it at his Pleafure into a 
 Body folid, and of adherent Parts. 
 
 Lastly, When he afcended into Heaven, 
 with the Swiftnefs of a winged Angel, 
 jnounting to his native Seat, what was his 
 Body ? what was his Vehicle ? It was light 
 and rapid, as the fiery Chariot in which 
 Elias was formerly carried, when he afcend- 
 ed alive into Heaven. In like manner, 
 when Chrift was feen by St. John in the Iile 
 
 Rev. i. 14, of Tatmos, his Eyes were as a Flame of 
 
 'ff? Fire, and his Feet like to fine Brafs, as if 
 
 they burned in a Furnace ; as the Son of 
 
 Dan. x. s, Man was feen by the Prophet 'Daniel before. 
 And laftly, he is at length to return in the 
 fame glorious, refulgent, flaming Form .; 
 ptherwife he would hardly be viiible both 
 Night and Day aloft in the fiiblime Sky, to 
 thofe who inhabit the Earth : Nay, even the 
 Glory of the Father, with which 'tis faid 
 he is to appear, is this very refulgent Form, 
 as the Father, or the Antient of Days, is 
 
 Dan.vii. defcrib'd by the fame Prophet, with a lumi- 
 
 *» I0 » nous and flaming Majefty. 
 
 And to come to a Conclusion of this Point, 
 I only defire to add, that the Glory of God, 
 which is callM by the Hebrews Shechinahj 
 and which is the majeftical Prefence of God 3 
 has always the Appearance of Light, or 
 Flame, or of a refplendent Cloud - 7 as in 
 the Journeying out of Egypt, and in the 
 Holy of Holies ; and the iamc Thing which 
 X is 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 217 
 
 is called the Glory of God, is termed like- 
 wife a Cloud, or a lucid Cloud, Num. xii. 
 5. t§ xvi. 19, 42. Matt. xvti. 5.^2 "Pet. 
 i. 17. and in many other Places in both 
 Teftaments, it appears, that the Glory of 
 God, or his glorious Prefence, is always 
 fhewn in fbme lucid, flaming, or fiery Mat- 
 ter y but the Body, of Chrift was the moft: 
 excellent Refiding- Place of this Shechi- 
 nah, of this divine Glory, and, as it were, 
 the Sanfium Sanctorum in which it ihone 
 out moft brightly \ to which alfb the 
 facred Authors are often wont to allude, 
 Joh.\. 14. Heb.lx. 11. Rev. xxi. 3. Thefe 
 Things being thus explained, it feems to 
 be determined, that the glorious Body of 
 Chrift which he has in the Heavens, is like 
 Flames, like ^Ether, or like liquid Light, 
 and that confequently our Celeftial Body 
 will be of no diflimilar Matter, iince 'tis to 
 be conformable to his. And indeed, if we 
 confult Reaibn and Philofophy.* any other 
 Kind of Matter can fcarce fubfift or fuftain 
 itfelf in the Heavens, and the jEtherial Re- 
 gions, where all Things are ferene and 
 pure, every Thing moft fine and fubtle. 
 Laftly, fince in the Rank and Order of Bo- 
 dies, or in material Nature, we know no- 
 thing more excellent than Light or Flame, 
 3 tis but juft that we determine, that the 
 glorious Body of Chrift, and ours in Pro- 
 portion, 
 
 f See Origca. c out. C elf, Liii. m. p. 536. 
 
2i? ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 portion, muft confift of thefe till we find 
 fomething that is more excellent and iiir- 
 paffing. 
 
 Perhaps, it may be here obje&ed, that 
 thus to explain the Glory of the Body of 
 Chrift in the Heavens would be foreign nei- 
 ther to Reafon nor the facred Writings, if it 
 were not an Obftacle to the received Doctrine 
 of the Flefh and Blood of Chrift that are 
 ftill remaining in his Celeftial Body : -To 
 which I anfvver, that the Fathers either had 
 different Sentiments, or remained doubt- 
 ful concerning this Point of the Flefh and 
 Blood of the Celeftial Body of Chrift. 'Tis 
 very well known that all the Difciples of 
 Origen deny it, and philofophize quite af- 
 ter another Manner. Befides, with the Fa- 
 thers of the fecond Nicene Synod, among 
 the Definitions and the Heads of the * Con- 
 flantinopolitan Council, (which is called the 
 Council of the IconoclaJieSj or the Image- 
 Breakers ,) which, upon hearing them read 
 over again, they approved of \ this was 
 
 one : 
 
 * "£t ni; a'% 6fioAoy£? tov kJ()«c, k. t. a. Whoever does 
 not eonfefs that our Lord Jefus Chrift, after his afTu- 
 ming the rational Nature and intellectual Flefh, is fet 
 down with God the Father, and that he will lb. like- 
 wife return, with paternal Majefty, to judge the Quick 
 and Dead, not indeed with Flefh, but neither incorpo- 
 real ; fo that he may be feen of thofe by whom he was 
 pierc'd ; and that he remains God without the Grofmefs 
 of Flefh, let him be accurfed. 
 
 f Mt%pj THToiv lvyvtint.ovici,K. r. a. So far they think right, 
 and fpeak agreeably to the Traditions of the Father? ; 
 
 or 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 219 
 
 one : That Chrift was fet down at the Right 
 Hand of bis Father , and that he would at 
 length hither return _, sx, In jxh a-dpx.cc, &x 
 cLo-ujAOLTov q > but that he would not return 
 in the Flejb, and yet not without a Body^ 
 that is, a fubtle rariiied Body ; For it fol- 
 lows, that he may. be feeu by thofi who pier- 
 ced him j and may remain God without the 
 Groffhefs of the Flejh. Can any Thing be 
 more plain than this? For it rauft be ob- 
 ierv'd, that thele Words, bx. st* y.h acipxa, ax. 
 ao-vfJLcnov Q y which chiefly regard the Point 
 of which we are treating, are the very Words 
 of Gregory Nazianzerij fpeaking of the 
 fame Matter, viz. in his Fortieth Oration, 
 towards the End, he fays this concerning 
 Chrift ; x) dvcx.q' ccvtx r&rifJLepov aveAy?\.u£r£vcUy 
 
 &c. That the third "Day he returned to 
 Life j and afcended into Heaven ; from 
 whence be will return illuftrious and glo- 
 rious, to judge the Quick and the 'Dead: 
 
 ax, en fAv acc^x.ct, fax ccaoijxctTov Jv, VIZ, 110 
 
 longer incarnated, and yet not wanting a Bo- 
 dy, but having a Body more auguft and more 
 divine j and fuch a Body as none but the 
 Son of God can have ; that he might bath 
 be feen by thofe who pierced him, and might 
 remain a God without any corporeal Mafs, 
 or any carnal Grojfnefs* 
 
 In 
 
 or rather, by afferting thefe Dodtrines as their own, 
 they do themfelves Credit and Honour, VAbbd Com". 
 Nic. z. Ad. 6. torn, 6. p. f^i . 
 
zzq A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 In vain the ^Popijh Doctors labour to 
 wreft thefe Words, a*. Jti adpyccc^ to a meta- 
 phorical or figurative Senie, viz. to fignify 
 not the Subftance of Flefh, but its Affec- 
 tions and Infirmities ; but the Words which 
 follow, as well in the faid Councils as in 
 Gregory Nazianzen; which in the Councils 
 are, That he may remain a God without the 
 Grojfnefs of the Flejh > and in the Father, 
 that God may remain without any corporeal 
 Mafs, without any flejhly Grojfnefs : Thefe 
 Words, I fay, plainly difcover, that the 
 Word actpxct, Flejh, is here taken phyfical- 
 ly, and according to its fpecifick Nature, as 
 'tis oppofed to a thin and liquid Matter ; and 
 'tis in this Senfe, as you may plainly fee, 
 that Flefh is denied to be in the Body of 
 Chrift, by the Votes and Confents of thefe 
 two celebrated Councils. 
 
 Lastly, I faid that fome of the Fathers 
 were doubtful as to this Point, which is 
 Epift. 146. univerfally known by the Anfwer of St. Au- 
 flin to Confentius, who had propos'd this 
 Queftion to him, Whether now the Body of 
 Chrift has Bones and Blood, and the other 
 Lineaments of Flejh in it. To which Quef. 
 tion, after that St. Auftin has given a gene- 
 ral and partial Anfwer, he adds, Let not 
 Faith be wanting,, and no 'Doubt will re- 
 main, unlefs we ought to enquire concern- 
 ing the Blood of Chrift ; becaufe when he 
 faid, Feel and fee ) for a Sprit has not FleJJ) 
 and Bones j he did not add, Blood, Let not 
 
 us* 
 
State of Departed Souls, iztc. 21* 
 
 nsj therefore, add to our Inquiry what he 
 did not add to his Anfwer ; andj if you 
 pleafe, let the Que ft ion have this compen- 
 dious Endj or elfe, perhaps, fome more 
 troublefome Enquirer, taking occafion from 
 this Mention of Blood, may prefs us fur- 
 ther, and ask, if Blood, why not c Phlegm y 
 why not yellow and black Choler ? of which 
 four Humours the *Phyficians agree ^ that 
 the Nature of Flejh is compos' d : But what- 
 ever any one adds, let him beware of adding 
 Corruption j that he may preferve the Sound- 
 nefs and Chaftity of his Faith. 
 
 Here, you fee, St. Auftiu remains cau- 
 tious and doubtful, and Confentius docile, 
 but yet doubtful. Some, indeed, talk more 
 boldly and grofly concerning the glorious 
 Body of Chrift. This I deny not j but fome 
 Things, at prefent, being balanced againft 
 others, let us proceed, if you pleafe, on our 
 Subjedt : For whatever has been determined, 
 either by Councils or Fathers, it muft yield 
 to Rcafon and Scripture. 
 
 Secondly then, I fay, or rather repeat 
 from what was faid before, that Flejh and iCor.** 
 Blood cannot, according to the Apoftle, in- 5 °' 
 herit the Kingdom of God. Thefe Words, 
 if they are literally taken, and in their pro- 
 per Signification, there is an End of the 
 prefent Difpute, by the Affertion of our 
 Lord himfelf : But that they ought to be 
 received fo in this Place, according to the 
 received Laws of Interpreting, if I am not 
 
 miftaken, 
 
222. ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 miftaken, has been above fufficiently de- 
 monft rated. 
 
 Thirdly, ^Tis repugnant both toReafbn 
 and the Nature of Things, that Flefh and 
 Blood can be incorruptible : As the Body 
 of Chrift is now, fo will our Body be here- 
 after in the Heavens. But you will, per- 
 haps, anfwer, that Flefh and Blood, indeed, 
 are not incorruptible in their own Nature, 
 but that they may be rendered incorruptible, 
 their fpecifick Nature being preferv'd and 
 remaining. This is what I deny ; yes, in 
 this Part we difTent : And left Deceit ihould 
 lie lurking in Generals, let us, if youpleafe, 
 open the Matter fuccin&ly, that the State of 
 the Queftion may appear the more manifeft- 
 ly. Every Kind of Body has its Proprieties; 
 of which ibme are accidental and mutable, 
 others are efTential and unchangeable, which 
 being deftroyed or alter'd, that Portion of 
 Matter will ceafe to be a Body of the fame 
 Kind and Nature which it was of before, 
 but paffes into another Clafs or Order of Bo- 
 dies. For Example; When the Herbs which 
 we eat are converted into Flefh and Blood, 
 they are no longer Herbs, though the fame 
 Matter remains, but Flefh and Blood, Bo- 
 dies of quite another Kind and another Na- 
 ture. On the other Side, when Flefh and 
 Blood are, in their Turns, converted into 
 Herbs and Grafs, which often happens when 
 the Ground grows fat by the Blood of flaugh- 
 ter'd Bodies, thus alter'd, they ceafe to be 
 
 Flefh 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 212 
 
 Flelh and Blood. When Chrift, in the Mar- 
 riage of Canaj converted Water into Wine, 
 the fame Matter remain'd, but differently 
 modified ; and by reafon of thofe new Mo- 
 difications, loft both the Name and the Na- 
 ture of Water. 
 
 Tell me then plainly, and leave the So- 
 phifter behind you, what Alteration do you 
 require mould be made in the Parts or Par- 
 ticles of Flelh and Blood, that from a cor- 
 ruptible Matter they may become incorrup- 
 tible, and yet preferve the Nature of FJeih 
 and Blood ? Or, if you had rather, anfwer 
 this Queftion : What are the Proprieties, 
 what are the Conditions of Flefh and Blood, 
 which you affirm to be efTential to both, and 
 from both infeparable? Yes, what are the 
 Proprieties and the Conditions, which being 
 preserved, Flelh and Blood remain ? and 
 which being deftroyed, Flefh and Blood muft 
 either perifh with them, or muft pafs into 
 another Clafs of Bodies ? If you anfwer, 
 that that is unknown to you, then you con- 
 fefs that you know not whether that can be 
 done, which yet you affirm is done, which 
 feems to be the Part of a rafh and a head- 
 ftrong Man : Yet ftill let us try if, by fome 
 other Expedient, we can bring latent Truth 
 to the Light. Tell me, then, what are the 
 Principles, what are the Stamina of which 
 Blood is compos'd ? You know what are the 
 Principles of Blood, which all receive and 
 acknowledge, viz. Salt, Sulphur, Spirit, 
 
 Earth, 
 
2*4 A T R EAT l s E concerning the 
 
 Earth, and Water. But 'tis equal to me 
 whether you take thefe or other, provided 
 they are known, determin'd, and terreftrial. 
 In the mean time, thefe Things being thus 
 laid down, I ask you, Is it your Opinion 
 that thefe Parts and thefe Principles will re- 
 main in your Celeftial Blood ? Do you be- 
 lieve that the Body of Chrift in Heaven is 
 compos'd of Salt, Sulphur, Water, and Earth ? 
 Unlefs your Celeftial Blood retains thefe 
 Stamina, thefe fundamental Principles, it 
 will be no longer Blood, unlefs equivocally 
 and catechreftically, becaufe it will not have 
 the Subftance of Blood ; and if it retain 
 thefe, it will not be a Body celeftial and in- 
 corruptible. 
 
 For here we are to obferve, that this 
 Matter, this Subftance of the Blood being 
 thus laid down, the Form of it is to be 
 compos'd of the due Mixture of thefe Parts 
 and Principles : But now imagine what Mix- 
 ture or Texture you pleafe, it will be dif- 
 fblvable ; nay, it will be actually difTolv'd 
 and difiipated by the celeftial Matter fur- 
 rounding it, and intermixed with it, like 
 Wood or Straw in our terreftrial Fire» 'Tis 
 true, indeed, by means of Power divine, it 
 may be preferv'd incorrupted, as may the 
 Blood that we now have, or as the young- 
 Men formerly were in the Babylonian Fur- 
 nace ; but ftill it will be in its own Nature 
 corruptible, provided 'tis composed of the fame 
 Elements, however mix'd, of which our 
 
 Bloo3 
 
Stat£ of Departed Souls, fcfc 225 
 
 Blood is constituted : And what we havefaid 
 of Blood will hold good in proportion of 
 FUfo likewife; fo that there will be no Oc- 
 casion for going over the Argument again, 
 to fhew the fame of this latter. It will be 
 fufficient to obferve, that if Softnefs and 
 Humidity remain, Corruptibility will like- 
 wife remain ; but if it becomes hard and 
 dry, it will then take the Nature of a Stone, 
 or of Glafs ; or, at leaft, it will refemble 
 Mummy dried and hardened in the burning 
 Sands of Arabia or Egypt. But it will be 
 needlefs to dwell any longer on Things which 
 are as repugnant to Reafon, as they are to 
 Faith. 
 
 In the mean time» the Summary and Con- 
 clusion of what has been laid upon this Sub- 
 ject is this, That the glorious Body of Chrifl 
 in the Heavens does not confifr. of any joint- 
 ed Frame of Bones, of Flefti, and of Blood, 
 or of any of the Humours or Entrails of 
 this prefent terreftrial Body \ but that 'tis 
 of a more excellent Matter, of a higher Na- 
 ture, and Purity, and Perfection : That I 
 may fay all in a Word, it confifts of Matter 
 intirely Celeftial, with refped both to its 
 Subftance and Accidents. Laftly, the ex- 
 ternal and vilible Glory of this Celeftial Bo- 
 dy will conlift properly in this, That it will 
 be refulgent, and by its own Rays illui- 
 trious ; I fay, by its own Rays, and not by 
 any borrrowed Light, either tranfmitted or 
 reflected, but living and innate, like a Source 
 
 0. of 
 
2i6 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 of living Water. And of this refulgent 
 Glory Chrift gave a Specimen from Hea- 
 ven, when he fpoke to Saulj and did, by 
 the Flafhing of his Rays, as it were by Light- 
 ning, throw him proftrate on the Ground, 
 blinded, and amaz/d, and confounded, AcJs 
 
 ix. 3. -s7fe/>?Ve^4 g,/ avTWy f avs tne Apoftle, 
 (poos (tiro ts s&Lv'd» Ka) iric^v iiri tvv r yr\v- > cXc. 
 The glorious Body of Chrift pour'd out and 
 diffus'd its Light, a Light more bright and 
 more powerful than the Meridian Rays of 
 the Sun. Compare Affs ix. 17, 27. with 
 AEls xxii. 6. and xxvi. 15. 
 
 This feems to me to be the proper Ha- 
 bit and State of the glorious Body of Chrift ; 
 yet notwithftanding all this, we are willing to 
 allow that it is, and always was in the Power 
 of Chrift to change his whole Body, or any 
 Part of his Body, into whatever Form or 
 whatever Temperament he pleas'd. When 
 he was here upon Earth he walk'd upon the 
 Sea, and it gave no way to his light Body. 
 He was forty Days without Meat and with- 
 out Drink, and had Power to render his 
 Body impaffive. He render'd it, likewife, 
 thin, thick, heavy, light, dark, lucid, vifi- 
 ble, or invilible, according to his Sovereign 
 Pleafure: Much more has he now Power 
 over his own Body in the Heavens, and 
 can convert the Subftance of it, that is obe- 
 dient to his Commands, into Blocd or any 
 other Juice, into Flefh or any other Concre- 
 tion, according to his divine Will \ and there- 
 fore 
 
 »€ 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c: 127 
 
 fore the Difpute is not concerning that Point, 
 nor concerning the Power of Chrift, either 
 over the external Elements, or over his own 
 Body, but concerning his proper State, and 
 his Form, that is faid to be glorious and ce- 
 leftial : That, I fay, is neither bony, nor 
 flefhy, nor fanguinary, but a Mafs of liquid 
 Light, and of Air that glitters with its Ra- 
 diency, like the brighter!: Stars of Heaven ; 
 as is moft agreeable to his divine Dignity, 
 and thofe aetherial Regions where he chiefly 
 refides. 
 
 Thus have I treated with all the Brevity* 
 and all the Perfpicuity, that I poflibly couldj 
 of the Matter and Form of the Body of 
 Chrift in Heaven, and alfo of our own Bo- 
 dies, which are to be made like unto his, by 
 his divine Power and Influence. We have 
 found upon Examination, that each of thele is 
 inorganical and inconcrete: And tho' this Exa- 
 mination has been founded upon Characters 
 and Tokens drawn from the facred Writings, 
 and adjufted to the Nature of Things, yet 
 are we lb accuitomed to grofs Bodies, confti- 
 tuted of Flefh and Bones, and a Frame of 
 folid Members, that we are icarce able to 
 conceive any other Kind of animated Bodies, 
 or to give our AiTent to any Proofs whatever 
 of them. But whoever is either moderate- 
 ly converfant in the Writings of the ancient 
 Philofbphers, or has read what the Chriftian 
 Fathers philofophicallv write concerning 
 Angels and Demons, will without Difrkul- 
 
xi8 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ty get free from that Prejudice. Therefore 
 1 will prefume to ad vile them, that they 
 would riifl diligently enquire, whether An- 
 gels have Eodies ? and if they have, what 
 fort of Bodies theirs are ? As for the Firff , 
 you have the Suffrage and Confent of the 
 ancient Fathers, and of the Grecians efpe- 
 ciaily, to that Opinion, that the Angels have 
 Bodies, as we have fhewn in another Place. 
 Then what the Bodies of Angels are, you 
 will learn from the fame Grecian Fathers j 
 and in feveral Places of St. Auftiftj among 
 the Latins j as in the Treatife de Gen. ad 
 Lit. in his Epiftles, in the Treatife de Ci- 
 vitate 'Dei, and in feveral other Places. 
 You will find that they all teach us, that 
 thofe Bodies are thin as the Air, or the pure 
 .A ? ther ; but that the good Angels have the 
 purer, and the groffer the evil ones. This 
 Doctrine of the Fathers being received, and 
 their, as it were, fecond.try Authority, (for 
 the primary one is that of the facred Scrip- 
 ture, and of Reafon that bears Witnefs to it,) 
 that vulgar Prejudice will difappear and 
 vanifh, that there is one only Kind of ani- 
 mated Bodies, viz. the organical, and that 
 which confifts of concrete Matter, of Flefh, 
 and of nervous Members, like our terreftrial 
 Bodies. But there is another Genus of Bo- 
 dies, of a celeftial Kind and Order, fuch as 
 the Bodies of Angels are, or fuch as ours 
 will be, when we fhall be like to the Angels. 
 The grofs, heavy, fluggilh Bodies, fuch as 
 
 we 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 229 
 
 we have at prefent, arc in the Joweft Clafs 
 of Bodies, which immortal Minds, and ra- 
 tional Natures inhabit. And thole which 
 confilt of a light, iubtle, and moveable Mat- 
 ter, are a much nobler lbrt of animated Bo- 
 dies, and are readier for Motion or for Dii- 
 patch in all the Actions, either of the Mind 
 or the Body. Nay, even in this terreftrial 
 Body, the thin, the fubtle, and the fluid 
 Part, which we call Spirits, is the proper 
 Vehicle of the Soul, as the moft nearly 
 ally'd to it. Thefe it commands, and thefe 
 are the Internments which it makes life of 
 to move the Members of the Body : And 
 the Affections and Operations of the Mind, 
 depend upon the Subtilty, or the GroiTnefs, 
 the Plenty or the Want, the regular or ir- 
 regular Motion of the Spirits, and are ac- 
 cordingly more or lefs powerful and vigo- 
 rous. This Syftem then and Collection of 
 Spirits, and of thin and fpiritous Matter, is 
 the Seat of the Soul, and its primary and 
 intimate Body ; and this Covering of Skin 
 and Fleih which we wear, is only uied as a 
 Shell or a Casket for the furer Prefervation 
 of it. Away then with that vulgar ridicu- 
 lous Dotage, repugnant both to Philofophy, 
 and to Theology, viz. that without the 
 Trunk of a Body, and the Entrails which 
 belong to it, no Body can be a fit Habita- 
 tion for Souls, or for any fpiritual Nature. 
 A Spirit, fays Chriif, has not FlefJj and Llik 
 Bones. He does not fay that a Spirit is 39. 
 
 Q^5 q<T(t)y.c<,TGVy 
 
 XXIV. 
 
^o A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 d(TV[AccTov , without a Body, but that it has 
 not a Body of Flefh and Bones. As, above, 
 it was faid of Chrift himfelf by the Fathers, 
 
 «x. stz crap/ca, «x. dacofxccTov £e y that he WdS 
 
 in the Heavens without Flejh, but not with- 
 out a Body. Certainly, if a Spirit had been 
 without any kind of Body, it had been more 
 ready for Chrift to have faid, and had been 
 as much to the Purpofe, A Sprit has not 
 a Body, as you fee that I have. Yet this 
 he did not fay, but a Spirit has not Flefh 
 and Bones y that is, a Spirit has not a grols, 
 vilible, and palpable Body, fuch as mine 
 appears to be, both to your Sight and 
 Touch.* 
 
 Hitherto 
 
 *Laftly, thePhilofophers in defining that Body, which 
 they fay good Men will have in a future State, or in 
 Heaven, make ufe of the very fame Words, and Epi- 
 thets, and Phrafes, as the Apoflle does in defcribing our 
 future celeftial Body. 'Paul calls this Body we are to 
 have, a celeftial or eternal one in the Heavens : They 
 likewifeterm it upuwv and xdiptov ; and in like Manner 
 oppofe it to a terreftrial one. St. 'Paul calls it immor- 
 tal and incorruptible ; the Philofophers ufe Words of 
 the fame Signification, a.6xvarov, cLtyfaprov, cc^porov, «/•So*. 
 The Apoftle compares it to the Stars ; they call it a ? £po- 
 «<3e's. He ftiles it a lucid and glorious Body ; they <£uyo- 
 t&6$. In fhort, both defcribe it by the fame common 
 Epithet of aZ;j.a Kvtv[j.a.Tixbv, a fpiritual Body. 'Tis not to 
 be queftioned but that the fame Kind of Bodies is meant 
 on both Sides. But 'tis well known, that the Philofo- 
 phers did not delign a grofs Body, mix'd up with Blood, 
 much lefs any kind of hard orgauical Machine ; but a 
 Vehicle, as they call it, compofed of a rarefy'd active fort 
 of Matter ; fo that this Body may be always of a lilve 
 Nature with the Place, where the Souls are to rGfide; 
 an Opinion which ^hey are often repeating. 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 23 1 
 
 Hitherto we have explain'd, according 
 to the utmoft of our Power, the Points which 
 are of greateft Moment in the Dodtrine of 
 the Refurrection. There are others remain- 
 ing, and though not of the fame Weight, yet 
 worthy of our Confideration and our Enqui- 
 ry. But the Remainder of the Things be- 
 longing to this Subject mail be comprehended 
 in the following Chapter, becaufe this is al*- 
 ready grown too large. 
 
 CHAP. VIIT. 
 
 What fort of Body we are to have at the 
 Refurreclion ? the fame that we have at 
 prefentj or a different one ? 
 
 HAVING nowfinifhed the firft Part 
 of the Difcourle, which we begun 
 concerning the Refurreclion, which contains 
 the Certainty and Caufes of the Thing itfelf, 
 and the Matter and Form of our new Bodies ; 
 let us proceed to fatisfy the other Queftions, 
 which may be asked upon the fame Subject, 
 though they are of a much inferior Confe- 
 quence. The firft of which, is, Whether 
 we lhall arife with the fame Body, which 
 we left off at our Death ? The fame nume- 
 rical Body is here underftood, a Body con- 
 fifting of the fame Matter, and the very 
 fame Particles. This is a very celebrated 
 Qjj. Queftion, 
 
32 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Queftion, but it appears to me to be ra- 
 ther curious than neceiTary. For how can 
 it be your Intereft or mine, whether we are 
 to have the fame Particles, or others of the 
 fame Virtue and Dignity ? How can it con- 
 cern us what becomes of our Leavings, and 
 Carkaifes, provided we live in the Light of 
 Heaven, and in the * Society of Angels? 
 Yet becauie there are at this Time no fmall 
 Debates concerning this very Matter, let us, 
 if you pleafe, look into the State of the 
 Caufe, and then to what Part of it the far 
 cred Scriptures and free Reafon incline. 1 
 
 In the firft Place, I believe, both Sides 
 are agreed, that the Bodies of thofe which 
 at the Coming of our Lord fhall be found 
 among the Living, will be immediately 
 changed, the fame Particles being retained, 
 or, at leafr, a great Part .of them ; that is 
 to fay, as foon as this mortal Frame of Mem- 
 bers is dhTolved, the fame Matter, (the Filth 
 of it excepted,) will be converted into another 
 Form, and into other Qualities , that is, in- 
 to the fame Form, and the lame Qualities, 
 which immortal and incorruptible Bodies 
 
 have, 
 
 * But as we make no Account of the Shavings of the 
 Beard or Head, fo that divine Mind, when it makes its 
 Exit from the Body, is as little concerned what becomes 
 pf its Cafe, whether the Fire confumes it, wild Beads 
 devour it, or the Earth covers it, regards it no more 
 than a new born Infant does the Afterbirth. Senec, 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 23 < 
 
 have. This is called by the Apoftle, twt to tCor.v. 4. 
 be dive fled of a Body^ but to be c loathed up- 
 on with one, that Mortality may be /wal- 
 low' d up of Life : Or, that this Corrupt 
 tible may put on Incorrupt ion y which 
 Tranfition can never be made without fome 
 melting and diffolving of the Parts ; as ter- 
 reftrial Bodies are purify 'd or converted to 
 Flame. Befides, if I am not miftaken, both 
 Sides are agreed, that the Body of Chiift, 
 when he rofe from the dead, confirmed of 
 the fame Particles which it did before ; and 
 that when he afcended into Heaven be re- 
 tained the fame, and carried them to a ce- 
 leftial Purity, by Virtue of his enlivening 
 Spirit. 
 
 These Things then being granted on both 
 Sides, the only Debate and Doubt that re- 
 mains, is, concerning ordinary CarkarTes, or 
 concerning the Bodies of the Dead, which 
 have rotted, have been diilblved and diilipa- 
 ted, their Parts or Particles having been 
 changed a thoufand different Ways, and dif- 
 perfed in a thoufand different Places : The 
 Queftion then is, whether thefe Particles 
 mall every one of them be recollecled into 
 feparate little Heaps, according to the Num- 
 ber of Bodies that have died from the Be- 
 ginning to the End of the World ? Then, 
 whether every little Heap mall be worked 
 up again into Limbs and Lineaments, and 
 the entire Form and Shape of the former Bo- 
 dy ? 
 
 There 
 
234 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 There are, indeed, feveral PafTages of 
 the facred Scriptures, which appear to me, 
 at the firft Appearance, to favour this Uni- 
 ty, or, as it is wont to be called, this Iden- 
 tity of Bodies, the prefent and the future. 
 Chrift himfelf fpeaking concerning the Re- 
 joiin v. furreftion, The Hour is coming, fays he, in 
 »8, 29. ffo whi c h a ii tfo a t are i n th e ' tr Graves (ball 
 
 hear his Voice, i. e. the Voice of the Son of 
 God, and '/hall come forth , Stc. Here Chrift 
 appears to hint, that at the Refurre&ion, the 
 very fame CarkalTes that lie in their Graves 
 fhall hear his Voice, and come forth, as La- 
 zarus > after he was brought to Life again, 
 came forth from his Sepulchre. And conlo- 
 nant to this is what St. John fays in the 
 chap. xx. Revelations, And the Sea gave up the 'Dead 
 1 3- that were in it, at the univerfal Refurredion. 
 
 Each of the Elements, the Earth and the 
 Water, mail reftore the CarkalTes which they 
 have fwallowed, that being once again ani- 
 mated, they may be fet before the Judgment 
 Seat. In like Manner, the Viilon of the 
 fame Prophet, or the Scene of the Refur- 
 Vcr. ii. reftion, teftiiies the fame Thing; Ifaw the 
 gcChap. ^Deadj fays he, Small and Great fland be- 
 fre God. If little ones remain little ones 
 after the Refurreftion, and the Prophet faw 
 whole Troops of Infants, of Boys, of Youths, 
 and of Perfonsat the Age of Maturity, ftand 
 before the Judgment Seat, that appears to 
 diicover, that every one will have the fame 
 
 Body 
 
 XI. 1 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 235 
 
 Body with which he died, whether it was 
 little, or whether it was great. 
 
 I tass by that Paffage of Job, becaufe cbap.x». 
 the Hebrews, and the belt Interpreters of o- 2J ' 2 
 ther Nations, all expound that by a tempo- 
 ral Redemption and Reftoration. Nor, in- 
 deed, is it probable, that an Arabian, a 
 native of a foreign Land, and before the 
 Promulgation of the Law, and the Age in 
 which Mofes lived, mould have a deeper 
 Infight into the Myftery of the Refurreclion, 
 than all the Hebrews, or the Hebrew Pro- 
 phets, who lived many Ages after him. I 
 pafs by other Things, that are figuratively 
 fhadowed in the old Teftament, and by the 
 Prophets, which are wont to be brought to 
 prove this Point. That which comes nearer 
 to fuch a Proof is this, That St. 'Paul in 
 more than one Paffage affirms, that thele 
 mortal Bodies will rile up again, or be chan- 
 ged into glorious Bodies ; and though in this 
 Chapter to the Corinthians, he feems at firftRom.vHi. 
 to artert, that another Kind of Body will a- ";. ... 
 
 ' m J r hjl. 111. 
 
 rife different from that which fell, or was ai .' 
 fovvn ; yet in what follows, underftood ac- ' c ° r s - 
 cording to the Letter, and the moft obvious 
 Senfe, he feems to retain the very fame Bo- 
 dy indued with new Qualities. 
 
 To thefe Quotations brought from facred 
 Scripture, fbme Perfbns are pleafed to add 
 Reafons and Arguments, by which they in- 
 duftrioufly pretend to prove, that 'tis but 
 juft and equitable that the fame numerical 
 
 Body 
 
 37.3= 
 
A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Body fhould arife, and be carried up into 
 Heaven ; that, as it performed its Part in the 
 bearing Afflictions, or the Performance of 
 Duties in this Life, fo it fhould be made 
 Partaker of the Rewards and Glories of an- 
 other. That they cannot think it juft, that 
 one fhould ftrive for the- Victory, and that 
 another lhould be crown'd, or that one fhould 
 have all that is due to another, whether it 
 be Good or Evil. And upon this Rock ftruck 
 feveral of the ancient Fathers. 
 
 But this Way of arguing, as we hinted 
 before, is altogether unphiiofophical, fup- 
 ported by none, or by a falfe Foundation, 
 becaule no Matter whatever is capable ei- 
 ther of Rewards or of Punifhments, either of 
 Grief or of Joy, but muft be always infen- 
 fible, either in the prefent or in a future Bo- 
 dy. The Mind alone not only underftands 
 and wills, but alone is fenfible, either of 
 Grief or Pleafure, and has alone either good 
 or evil AfFe&ions. 'Tis, therefore, rightly 
 affirmed of the Soul alone, that it does ei- 
 ther Good or Evil, that it either enjoys or 
 fufFers, either offends or pleafes God, and is 
 either rewarded or punifhed : In fine, the 
 Soul alone can be either happy or miferable. 
 Befides, our Bodies have no Stability, nor 
 are they always the fame, but are in a per- 
 petual Flux, and Motion, and Mutation. 
 We have had more or fewer Bodies in this 
 Life, according to the Courfe of our Years ; 
 and, perhaps., in one we have behaved our- 
 
 felves 
 
State of Departed Souls, (zfc. 237 
 
 felyes well, and in another ill : How then 
 fhall impartial Juftice be rendered to each of 
 them ? But we have touched upon this Mat- 
 ter before ; and 'tis hardly worth our While 
 to dweij any longer upon refuting fo wretched 
 an Argument. 
 
 In the mean while, what fhall we con- 
 clude from thole PalTages which we quoted 
 above, from the f acred Scripture, which 
 feem to affirm to us, that our mortal and 
 immortal Bodies, as to their Subltance, are one 
 and the fame. Why, we muft conclude, 
 that we muft adhere to the Letter, provid- 
 ed we find other Things confenting to it ; 
 and we find no Obflacle on the Part of the 
 Thing concerning which we treat. We are 
 therefore firft to enquire what that Opinion 
 contains, or comprehends in it, of the Iden- 
 tity of both the Bodies, terreftrial and ce- 
 leftial ? What Conveniencies or Inconve- 
 niencies, or what Repugnancy attend that 
 Opinion ? We obferved a little above, that 
 our Body in this prefent Life is manifold, 
 that 'tis diffipated and repaired daily ; and 
 that after a few Years it becomes entirely 
 new. And, therefore, in the whole Courie 
 of one's Life, one has, perhaps, fix or feven 
 different Bodies, and even more if we live 
 a great many Years. 
 
 This brings a-frefh to my Mind the Quef- Mat.xxii. 
 tion which the Sadditcees formerly propofed 
 fo abfurdly, of the Woman that had feven 
 Husbands, viz. which of them fhe fhould 
 
 hayc 
 
2^8 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 have at the Refurre&ion ? Let the Soul, for 
 theprefent, be that Woman, which had feven 
 Bodies, as it were, fo many Husbands : The 
 Queftion is, which of the Seven itfhallhave 
 upon the Refurre&ion, for it had them all ? 
 Perhaps you will fay, that of the Seven 
 which it had laft. But it may very well be 
 that the Soul did more Good or more Evil 
 in fome other Body than in the laft, and 
 therefore it ought rather to have that other 
 Body the Companion of ins Mifery, or its 
 Glory. Befides, how ill would the decrepit 
 Body of an old Man, or the little helplefs 
 one of an Infant, become the Court of Hea- 
 ven, and the Affemblies of Angels ? And ei- 
 ther in the one or the other of thefe Bodies, the 
 greater Part of humanKind expires. But, if you 
 would carry that infantine diminutive Body 
 up to the Flower of Life, or bring back the 
 Body worn out with Age to the fame Youth 
 with the other, there would be Occafion for 
 ib many, and lb great Additions on one Side, 
 and fo many Amendments on the other, that 
 like the Veffel Argus, that was formerly an 
 hundred Times repaired, it would be the 
 fame Body only in its Name. For my own 
 Parr, I had rather have a new Structure 
 from Heaven, than a terreftrial Cottage, 
 however augmented, or however repaired. 
 
 In the fecond Place, we are to obferve, 
 that when the fame numerical Body is re- 
 quir'd in the Refurre&ion, 'tis likewife re- 
 quired that it fhould confift of Parts of the 
 
 fame 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 239 
 
 fame Kind, of the fame Bowels, Humours, 
 and Members, of which it confiited in this 
 mortal Life : But how this can poflibly be 
 I cannot fee, when 'tis manifeft from the fa- 
 cred Scripture, that fome of the Entrails and 
 Members will be abolifh'd ; as the Belly, 
 and all thofe Parts that regard it, or that are 
 under it.* Belides, that our Celeftial Body- 
 is not conftituted of Flefh and Blood, nor 
 of any organical Structure, we have above, 
 if I am not miftaken, very clearly fhewn - y 
 fb that it cannot be the fame as to Form, 
 tho' it mould be the fame as to Matter. I 
 am amaz'd to find that fome Perfons are ar- 
 riv'd at that Height of Audacioufnefs, or of 
 Temerity, that they are for having all the 
 Parts rife again, and compofe the celeftial 
 Body, which now compofe the terreitrial ; 
 as the Palate, the Throat, the Bowels, and 
 all thofe Parts which regard the Kitchin ; 
 as likewife thofe which diftinguifh the 
 Sexes, or which were form'd for the Pro- 
 creation of Children ; as likewife the Parts 
 which are accounted excrementitious, as the 
 Teeth, the Nails, the Hair, and the Beard : 
 All thefe Parts they will have to rife again, 
 and conftitute our celeftial Body. Thefe 
 Things formerly gave occafion for the Sa- 
 tirical Reflections of feveral, which St. 
 
 Jcrom 
 
 * Tnat there will be no Difference of Sex, was the 
 Opinion of Athan. Serm.%. contra Ar Ian. Hilar. Can. 
 2.3. in Matt. Bajil. in Pjal. cxiv. Tbeud. quajl. 37.«» 
 (a en. Macar. Horn. 34. 
 
240 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Jerom mentions : For if, faid they, we are 
 to have our Hair and our Beards in Heaven, 
 then there will be occafion for Ton for s there : 
 If Infants are to be there, there will be oc- 
 cafion for Nurfes : If the Blood is to be re- 
 tain'd, fays St. Aufiln^ it will be ask'd, why 
 not llkewlfe the Thlegm^ why not the yel- 
 low and black Choler ? Let them give An- 
 fwer to thefe Queftions who boldly pronounce 
 that thefe Things are thus. In my Opinion 
 thefe, and Things of the like Nature, ra- 
 
 Cen.vi. ther become an Animal than an Angelical 
 
 job. i. i. Life, fuch as the Saints will live in Heaven; 
 
 7# ' x " ' who are then the Sons of Godj fince they are 
 
 pf.ixxxix. the Sons of the RefurreBlon. 
 
 Nor does the common Anfwer to this ap- 
 pear to have any Validity, viz, that thefe 
 Entrails, thefe Parts will, indeed, be Parts 
 of the celeftial Body ; but that they will be 
 wholly inactive, nor difcharge their feveral 
 Functions in it, as they do in our prefent 
 Bodies. But I defire you to tell me why 
 they are there, if they have nothing to do 
 there ? To what Purpofe are they reftor'd, 
 if they are to lie intirely ufelefs ? God ne- 
 ver is redundant in Superfluities ; and if in 
 this imperfect and mortal Body which we 
 now carry about us, we have no Parts, no, 
 not the very leaft, which are unufeful and 
 fuperfluous, can you affirm, that in a much 
 more perfedt and excellent Body the whole 
 Frame of it, or at leaft the greateft Part of 
 it, fhould be fuperabundant? But you retort 
 
 upon - 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. 241 
 
 upon this, That all thefe Parts are requifite 
 to make human Nature intire ; and that for 
 thisReafon, they will not be wanting in Hea- 
 ven. But what? can unufeful Parts be requifite 
 to make human Nature intire, or, indeed, any 
 Nature ? Thofe Parts, indeed, are requifite to 
 make a terreftrial and mortal Body intire ; but 
 in the celeftial and immortal one there is no 
 occafion for them : But human Nature is 
 equally capable of both thefe Bodies. Nor 
 will it be of any Ufe to you to fay that they 
 are fuperadded for the fake of Ornament : 
 For what can be the Beauty, what can be 
 the Comelinefs of thofe Parts, which the 
 Apoftle himielf pronounces to be uncomely? * Cor - x, '< 
 or of thofe Parts which are hid in the Trunk : 
 of the Body, or thofe Parts which are requi- 
 fite for the taking in Nouriihment, or for 
 the throwing out Excrements ? * 
 
 Hitherto we have inquirM which of 
 thofe Bodies which we wore in this Life, 
 
 or 
 
 * Some of the Ancients, indeed, efpecially the £/>/* 
 vureans, gave their Gods the human Form; whom Cice- 
 ro refutes, in that they could have no Ufe for the ex- 
 ternal Parts, nor could there be any Beauty in the inter- 
 nal. But there is nothing fuperfluous in Nature: Nor 
 do I approve of the outward 'Parts more than of the in- 
 ward \ the Heart, the Lungs, the Liver, and the like, 
 •where lies their TSeauty when feparated from their respec- 
 tive Ufesl De Nat. Deor. /. i. Sett. 93. p. 134. As if 
 nothing could be happy or immortal, unlets it went 
 upon two Legs; as fays the fame Philosopher in another 
 Place, 
 
 R 
 
2^2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 or what Parts of that Body they would 
 have rife again, that it may be exadtly to their 
 Mind ? the fame identick Body. We are 
 laftly to inquire what Ways and Means 
 they can find out for the recollecting the 
 Parts or Particles of the Body which are 
 wanting. The Afhes and the Particles of 
 Carcafles diflblv'd are fundry Ways, both 
 by Land and by Sea, difpers'd ; and not on- 
 ly through this Globe, but being carried by 
 the Heat of the Sun into the aerial Regions, 
 they are fcatter'd through a thoufand Parts 
 of the Univerfe. Befides, they are not only 
 ibw'd loofely through all the Elements, but 
 they are ingrafted into the Bodies of Ani- 
 mals, of Trees, of Foflils, and of feveral 
 other Bodies ; from which they cannot eafily 
 be brought back again. Laftly, in thefe 
 Tranfmigrations from fome Bodies to others, 
 they are endued with new Forms and new 
 Figures ; nor do they retain the fame Nature 
 and the fame Qualities. Thefe Things be- 
 ing thus laid down and granted, the Quef- 
 tion is, by what Means, or by what power- 
 ful Caufes, the Parts and Particles of every 
 fmgular Body, however diftant, and where- 
 ever hid, can poflibly be collected ? 
 
 In vain will you have a Recourie to Na- 
 ture : She has no Powers that are equal to 
 fuch, and fo vaft an EfFecT: *, nor can you 
 appeal to divine Omnipotence, without a 
 juft, a worthy, and a neceflary Caufe. But 
 fince 'tis plainly of no Significance, that we 
 
 fhould 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 243 
 
 mould have the fame Parts, either numerical 
 or lpecifical, in our immortal Body, which 
 we had in our mortal one, fhall we dare to 
 imploy the fupreme Power of the Deity 
 upon a Matter ufelefs and infignificant ? 
 Among Men 'tis faid, that the Labour a- 
 bout Trifles is Folly ; but fuch a Thing, 
 with regard to God, is neither to be utter'd 
 nor heard. To collect the Dull: and the 
 Allies of all human CarcaiTes from the Ori- 
 gin of the World to the End of it, then to 
 reduce every one of them to its own Mais 
 and its own Heap, and to work up and fa- 
 fhion that Heap a- new into its old Shape, 
 and Size, and Bignels, would be the moil 
 aftoniming of all Miracles. But of fuch a 
 Miracle, fo manifold, and fo ufelefs, we 
 have hitherto had no Example. 
 
 Thus much concerning the Infigniflcance 
 and the Impertinence of the Thing ; buc 'tis 
 doubted by many whether 'tis in the Num- 
 ber of thofe that are barely poflible, fince the 
 lame Part of Matter cannot be at the fame 
 Time in different Places or in different Bo- 
 dies. Some Nations, lay they, are An- 
 thropophagi ; they lome of them feed upon 
 others \ and 'tis barely impoffible that the 
 fame numerical Flefh can at the fame Time 
 be reftor'd to feveral Bodies. But why do 
 they mention fome Nations ? we are all of 
 us txAhyAotpciyoi ; we all of us feed upon the 
 Remains of each other ; not indeed imme- 
 diately, but after they have had fome Tranf- 
 R 2 mutations 
 
244 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 mutations into Herbs and Animals : In thofe 
 Herbs and Animals we eat our Anceitors, 
 or at leaft fome minute Parts of them. If 
 the Afhes of every one, from the Beginning 
 of the World, had been feparately preferv'd 
 in their own Urns or Coffins, or rather, if 
 all CarcafTes had been converted into Mum- 
 my, and had fo remain'd, for the greater 
 Part, intire, there would be fome Hope of 
 recovering feveral Parts of the fame Body, 
 without a Mixture of others. But fince 
 CarcafTes, for the raoft part, are diffolv'd and 
 diffipated, and their Parts are mingled with 
 the vaft Body of the Univerfe are exhal'd 
 into Air, and fall down again in Dew and 
 in Rain, and are imbibM by the Roots of 
 Plants, and fpring up again in Grafs, in 
 Corn, and in Fruit ; and from thence return 
 in a Circle to human Bodies again ; it may 
 very well happen, that by taking this Com- 
 pafs, the fame Part of Matter may have 
 undergone feveral fxeTera-oofxccrcao-ei^ may have 
 inhabited more Bodies than the Soul of Ty- 
 thagoras ; but that it mould be reftor'd to 
 every one of thefe Bodies upon the Refur- 
 re&ion is abfolutely impoffible. If 'tis re- 
 ftor'd to the firft PofTefTor, which feems to 
 be but juft, it will be miffing in the others ; or 
 if 'tis reftor'd to the laft, it will be wanting 
 to the firft. Let us admit, if you pleafe, 
 for the fake of Example, that the firft Pos- 
 terity of Adam y or the Men of the firft Ages, 
 fhould firft reclaim their Bodies, and then, 
 
 in 
 
State of Departed Souls, iffc. 245 
 
 in Order, the People of every Age fliould 
 require theirs : Scarce * half Bodies will be 
 remaining for the late Pofterity of Adam^ 
 or the laft Inhabitants of the Earth, all thole 
 Parts and Particles being torn from them which 
 belong'd to the Bodies of their Anceftors. 
 
 Lastly, there is ftiil another Knot in 
 this Caufe, which is not eafily lblv'd : For 
 fince the Parts of Matter are daily paffing 
 from one Kind to another, their Figure and 
 Magnitude being changed, and with them 
 their other Qualities ; Flefh does not remain 
 Flefh, nor does Blood remain Blood, from the 
 Beginning to the End of the World, or from 
 the Death of every one unto his Rtlurrec- 
 tion. To explain the Thing more clearly : 
 Every Species or Order of Bodies confifts of 
 Particles which are proper to it, and which 
 are diftinguifh'd from others by their Figure, 
 their Bignefs, their Motion, or their Quiet ; 
 which Particles being difposM in a certain 
 Manner, in a due Situation, Mixture, or Tex- 
 R $ ture, 
 
 * In Towns and Cities that are dcmolifh'd, and turn'd, 
 into Fields, and in Frontier Countries, and the Boun- 
 daries of Kingdoms, luch Tranlmutations are moil re- 
 markable. See Plutarch's Account of the Maffalian 
 Fields after the Battle of Cymbria, in his Life of Mar- 
 cm. Thofe Lines of the Poet, to this Purpofe, are 
 fufficiently known. 
 
 yam feges eft nil Troja fuit : refecandaque fake 
 Luxuriat 'Phrygio fanguine pinguis humus. 
 
 Rank Herbs fprout o'er the Place where Ilium flood: 
 Now a luxuriant Soil, fatten d with Phrygian Blood. 
 
246 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ture, the Body becomes a Body of fome de- 
 termin'd Species, Order, and Name. Let 
 us iiippofe then, for Example, that Flefh. 
 and Blood confift of Particles which are pro- 
 per and peculiar to them : Now thefe Par- 
 ticles are not unalterable ; and when, upon 
 the Putrefaction of the Carcafs, they are 
 diffolv'd, and pafs into other Bodies, it is 
 impoffible but that by palling through other 
 Pores, and diffimilar Channels in diflimilar 
 Bodies, they muft alter their Figures and 
 their Magnitudes, and fo be transformed 
 to Particles of another Kind ; and therefore, 
 if they were collected and mixed, they would 
 not conftitute Flelh and Blood, but Sub- 
 ilances and Juices of another Kind. 
 
 The few Things that have been laid, if 
 I am not miftaken, have made it manifeft, 
 that for us to have the fame Bodies at the 
 Refurrection that we have at prefent, would 
 be a Work of little Significancy, and of vaft 
 Operation, if it would not be abfolutely 
 impoffible ; which will appear ftill the more 
 clearly the more we weigh and conflder 
 all thofe Things that are included in that 
 Identity. And befides, whatever we dif- 
 cours'd of above, as well concerning the 
 Matter as the Form of our Celeftial Body, 
 is to be added to thefe Arguments ; for all 
 that proves a Fortiori, that both Bodies can- 
 not be the fame, fince they agree neither in 
 Matter nor Form : And therefore both the 
 feventh Chapter and this are confederated 
 
 and 
 
State of Departed Souls, &£. 247 
 
 and related, and tranfmit their Light to the 
 feveral Parts of each other : Both manifeft- 
 ly confpire in the fame Opinion, in the 
 * Diverflty of our mortal and immortal Bodies ; 
 a Diverfity as well fpecifical as numerical, 
 as well with regard to Subftances as to Ac- 
 cidents. '|- 
 
 Hitherto we have examin'd what the 
 facred Scripture on one Side, and what Rea- 
 
 fon 
 
 * But you will obje£t, perhaps, that it cannot be the 
 fame Perfon, unlefs there be the lame Body, or at leaft 
 the greater Part of it. Yes, certainly, tho' the Soul 
 were annex'd to no Part of its late dead Body; nay, tho' 
 it were to have no Body at all, it would (till be the 
 fame Perfon. St. Paul fiys, he was fnatch'd up into 
 the third Heaven, and yet knew not whether in the Bo- 
 dy, or out of the Body. Let us fuppofe it were out of 
 the Body ; was it not then the fame Paul, and the fame 
 Perfon ? Chrift faid to the Thief, To-day /halt thou be 
 with me in Paradife. The Body of this Thief remain'd 
 (till upon the Crofs, and never went into Paradife. 
 Whom was it then Chrift took with him; another Per- 
 fon, or this fame? Bcfides, Chrift himfelf was the fame, 
 or the fame Perfon, during the three Days of his Death, 
 whilft the facred Trunk of his Body lay in the Grave-. 
 Likewife, all the Saints and Martyrs, Prophets and 
 Patriarchs; in fhort, all the Dead, good and bad, re- 
 main the fame Perfons before they take up their Bodies 
 again, as is plain from everyone's enjoying their proper 
 peculiar Portion, and feparate from all others. 
 
 f But if any one is fo very fond of his tcrreftrial Body, 
 that he cannot be contented without it, let it rife again, 
 and let him have it, under the fame Shape, and made up 
 of the fame P articles ; I (hall not (land much again ft it, 
 provided he will allow that terreftrial Body to be chang'd 
 immediately into a heavenly one of another Form, and 
 ether Qualitisj». 
 
 R 4 
 
24& A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 fon and the Nature of the Thing, on the 
 other Side, dictate and determine concern- 
 ing the fame or a different Body in this and 
 the future Life, in the Heavens and on the 
 Earth ; and as far as I am able to colled 
 from the Teftimonies on both Sides, the Dif- 
 ference, as it appears to me, mull be this 
 Way decided. According to the literal Hy- 
 pothecs in Scripture, the fame Body which 
 fell is to rife again, the fame Carcafs that 
 lies in the Sepulchre is to come forth from it* 
 At the Call of Chrift, or at the Sound of 
 the Trumpet, the Sea fhall caft forth its Dead, 
 and the Earth like wife its Dead, and every 
 Element, every Region of this inferior World 
 fhall bring to Light the Carcalfes either un- 
 touched or renew'd which it had fwallow'd 
 and concealed. 
 
 This appears to me to be the Idea of the 
 Refurrecfcion, that is the moft frequently to 
 be met w T ith in thefacred Writings, and the 
 Idea the moft adapted to the Capacity of the 
 Vulgar ; which, therefore, we may be al- 
 lowed to call the vulgar Hypothefis : But 
 yet there are in the fame f acred Writings 
 forne occult Marks of the Body which we 
 are to have at the Refur region, which to 
 thofe who look more narrowly into the Na- 
 ture of Things, fufficiently difcover, that 
 when we fhall be equal to the Angels, and 
 conformable to the Glory and the Refulgen- 
 cy of Chrift himfelf, our Bodies will be then 
 of another Order from thofe which we have 
 
 at 
 
State of Departed Souls, izfc. 249 
 
 at prefent, and vaftly different both as to 
 Matter and Form, from this grofs Struc- 
 ture of Members, and this Medley of Hu- 
 mours and Bowels ; and therefore, that the 
 fecret Doctrine, or the reaibnable Hypo- 
 thefis upon this Point, is one Thing, and 
 the Vulgar quite another. And this often 
 happens in the Style of the facred Scrip- 
 ture, that a Thing is exprefsM or reprefent- 
 ed popularly, and adapted to the Capacity 
 of the Vulgar in fome Places, while yet 
 in others there are not wanting Marks, by 
 which a diligent Searcher may bring forth 
 the latent Truth to Light. We fpeak JV'if- 1 Cor.ii. 5« 
 dom among the c Perfe5ij fays the Apoftle \ 
 and among the Imperfect, the Things that 
 are more adapted to the Capacity of theHeb.v. 13, 
 People : By which Manner and Method of ^* 
 Inftruction, the divine Wifdom appears to 
 me to mine very brightly out, becaufe at 
 the fame Time that Milk is provided for 
 Children, folid Food is prepared for thofe 
 who are come to Maturity. 
 
 Hitherto we have explained as fuccinct- 
 ly and as diftinctly as we pollibly could, the 
 weightier Points, as they appeared to us, in 
 the Doctrine of the Refurrection, and of 
 thofe facred Bodies which we are to have in 
 the Heavens ; and that by laying before the 
 Reader both the one and the other Hypo- 
 thefes, the rational and the vulgar. 'Tis 
 known to every one, and granted by all, 
 that the facred Scripture does often dvS-gwTro- 
 
 Aoyeiv 
 
250 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 Tioywy fpeak after the Manner of Men, in 
 handling abftrufer Points : And, if I am 
 not miftaken, both the Scene of the general 
 Judgment, and that of the general Refur- 
 rection, is reprefented after the Manner of 
 Men in its firft Appearance, and its ex- 
 ternal Ornaments ; but if you look more nar- 
 rowly into the Thing, the Thing itfelf, in- 
 deed, will appear the fame, but will appear 
 in a Form of a great deal more Simplicity : 
 But fome of the Antients, by not diftin- 
 guifhing between this double Hypothecs, 
 have render'd the Doctrine of the Refurrec- 
 tion almoft unintelligible. 
 
 But we ought to obferve, that there is 
 Hill another Thing which occafion'd Obfcu- 
 rity or Confufion in the handling this Point ; 
 and that is, from not fufficiently diftinguim- 
 ing between the firfl Refiirrection and the 
 fecond, according to the Sentiments of the 
 Antients : For many of the antient Fathers 
 greatly diftinguifh'd between thefe, and were 
 of Opinion, that we mould have one Kind 
 of Body upon the firft Refurreclion, and 
 another upon the fecond : That upon the 
 firft Refurreclion we fhould have a Body 
 composed of Fleih and Bones, and Blood, 
 like that which we have at prefent, but yet 
 more pure and more perfect, fuch as the 
 Body of Adam in Paradife is believ'd to 
 have been ; but that upon the fecond Refur- 
 re&ion we mould have a Celeftiai and Spi- 
 ritual Body, without Fleih and without 
 
 Blood, 
 
State o/ Departed Souls, is?c. 251 
 
 Blood, like unto the glorious Body of Chrift, 
 the fecond Adam \ fuch a one as is defcrib'd 
 by St. 'Paul, in his Difcourle to the Corin- 
 thians, concerning the Refurrection. And 
 as many of the Fathers as defended the mil- 
 lennial Kingdom of Chrift, who were neither 
 few nor inglorious, diftinguifh'd between 
 the two Kinds of Bodies which we are to 
 have after this Life. And this Diftinc- 
 tion being once admitted, there are two 
 different Ways of anfwering the Queftions 
 above propos'd , concerning the Nature 
 and the Identity of Bodies upon the Refur- 
 rection, which Anfwer is to be made ac- 
 cording as the Queftion is underftood con- 
 cerning the firft or the fecond Refurrection. 
 If the Queftion is, What the Body will be 
 upon the firft Refurrection ? the Anfwer is, 
 That it will be of Flefh, but not the fame nu- 
 merical Body with that which we have at pre- 
 fent. If the Queftion is concerning the fe- 
 cond Refurrection, the Anfwer is, That it 
 will be the fame numerical Body with that 
 of its immediate Predeceffor, but neither 
 carnal nor terreftrial \. fo that 'tis plain, that 
 in this Debate nothing certain can be deter- 
 min'd till the Parties are come to an Agree- 
 ment concerning the State of the Cafe ; 
 that is, whether the Queftion is concerning 
 one only Refurrection, or concerning a dou- 
 ble one. But whatever we have faid above, 
 from the facred Characters or Marks, con- 
 cerning the Refurrection, regards the laft 
 and univerfal Refurrection, and the Ceteftial 
 
 Bodies 
 
252 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Bodies which the Saints will then have : For 
 this is the moft noted and the moft celebrated 
 Refurre&ion in all the facred Writings ; upon 
 which alone, if I am not miftaken, the Apoftle 
 St. Taul founded his DilTertation. But con- 
 cerning the firft Refurrection in the millen- 
 nial Kingdom of Chrift, and the Renovation 
 of all Things, we mail treat in the following 
 Chapter ; and that being explain 'd, it will 
 be more manifeft and more perfpicuous what 
 Judgment we are to form concerning this 
 whole Matter. 
 
 In the mean Time 'tis rightly affirmed by 
 TertuUian, that the great Dependance of Chri- 
 ilians is upon the Refurrection of the Dead ; 
 which Affertion is true concerning either 
 Refurre&ion, and that Author has more than 
 once made Mention of that firft Refurrec- 
 tion ; for he was a Chiliaft : And, therefore, 
 we are to underftand that Treattfe of the 
 Refurretlion of the Flefi, (in which there 
 is more Wit than Judgment,) to be meant 
 of the firft Refiirre&ion ; when we are again 
 to put on the Flefh, or a carnal Body, and 
 that here upon Earth. But the fecond Re- 
 furredion is rather a total Change, than a 
 Refurreclion, and a Tranfition to an Ange- 
 lical Life, or, that I may ufe his own Words, 
 a * Mutation into an Angelical Subftance, 
 
 and 
 
 * We acknowledge we have a Kingdom promifed us 
 qpon Earth: And this, before we come to Heaven, but 
 
 yes 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c, 25} 
 
 and a Tranflation into the Celeftial Kingdom. 
 In the like Manner when Juftin Martyr 
 treats of the flrft Refurre&ion, he calls it, the 
 Refurreffion of the Ffefb, viz,, in the Mil» 
 lenrimm, {p. 307.) and Irenaus proves that 
 that flrft Refurredion will be a RefurrecHon 
 of the Flefh, Lib v. c. 33. 
 
 But to return to that Saying of Tertul» 
 liany The Refurrefiion of the *Dead makes 
 the great Confidence and the Defiendance of 
 Chriftians. Chrift is our Hope, Chrift is 
 our Life, who by his own powerful Word 
 ihall call the Dead into Life, he himfelf be- 
 ing the Head, and the nrft Fruits of the Re- 
 furrection. But that Day of the Lord is the 
 Day of Retribution to the Juft, and the Re- 
 ftitution of all Things. The Coming of 
 Chrift, or of the Meffiah, was the Hope and 
 
 Expectation 
 
 yet in another State, that is, after the Refurrection, to 
 continue for a thoufand Years in the divine Jerufalem, 
 a City brought down from Heaven, which the Apoftle 
 calls our Alotber which is above, csrV. This, I fay, is 
 provided by God for the Reception of the Saints at the 
 Refurretlion, for the Refreshment of all the Good and 
 Spiritual-minded, and to make Amends for thofeTnings 
 which we have neg !c£ted or loft in this prefent Life. This 
 is the Defign of this earthly Kingdom; and after this has 
 lafted a thoufand Years, within which Space the Refur- 
 re£tion of all the Saints ihall be compleated, fome riling 
 fooner, fome later, according to their Merits, then (hall 
 follow the Deltrudion of the World, and the Fiery 
 Judgment; and then we ihall be chang'd in a Moment 
 into Angelici'l Subllances, by putting on that incorrup- 
 tible Body, and be runuv'd into the heavenly Kingdom; 
 Tertul. /,3. contra Marc. cap. »lt* 
 
254 4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Expectation of all good Men. Armies of 
 Angels celebrated his Birth, crying, Glory be 
 to God on Highy *Peace upon Earth. But 
 how much greater will be the Glory in Hea- 
 ven, how much greater will be the Peace 
 upon Earth, upon the fecond Coming ofChrift, 
 attended with a Guard of ten thoufand An- 
 gels. If yohnj, when he was fcarce alive, 
 leapt in the Womb of his Mother, at the 
 
 Luke f. Voice of Mary faluting Elizabeth ; if the 
 Virtue and Influence of Jefus was fo great, 
 of Jefus yet a little Infant, of Jefus hardly 
 conceived, nay, hardly formed, and latent in 
 the Bowels of his Mother, that John felt 
 him approaching whom he was not able to 
 iee ; how much a quicker and more power- 
 ful Senfe mail the Souls of the Dead, in 
 which State ibever they lie repofed, have 
 of the Coming of the lame Chrift in Triumph, 
 have of the Approach of their God, while 
 the Juft lift up their Heads with Joy, the 
 Time of their Redemption being at hand ? 
 God has in a great Meafure concealed from 
 us the Conditions of the middle World, or 
 of the intermediate State, between the Day 
 of Death, and the Refurrection, and afflicts 
 us with the Evils and Miferies of this pre- 
 fent Life, that we mould be the more intent 
 upon the Hope of the Refurrection to come, 
 and fnould at a mighty Diftance, with erect- 
 ed Countenances, and, as it were, with 
 ltretched out Necks, expect the fecond Com- 
 ing of Chriftj that glorious e7r«pa.vcixy. Since 
 
 then 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 255 
 
 then we have this Hope, and this Confidence, 
 let us perfift in Piety and in Virtue unfha- Rom. viii. 
 ken, as knowing that our Labour will not lS ' I9,zo ' 
 be in vain in the Lord, 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Of the fir ft and laft RefurreBion : Of the 
 new Heavens j and the new Earthy and 
 the Renovation of Nature : Of the Mil- 
 lennian Kingdom of Chriftj and the Con- 
 fammation of all Things, 
 
 WE have above taken Notice of a 
 double Refurre&ion : Firft, which is 
 to be particular : And laft, which is to be uni- 
 verfal. Which Diftinclion, indeed, is rarely 
 to be met with in the lacred Writings, and 
 only in the Revelations of St. John, expre£- 
 ly, if I am not miftaken. Nor does this in 
 the leaft hurt the Truth of the Thing, nor 
 is it foreign from the Ufe and Manner of 
 the holy Spirit. The Prophets in the Old 
 Teftament did not foretel a double Coming 
 of a Mefliah, at leaft, not explicitly, or in 
 an Expreflion adapted to the Capacity of 
 the Jews i to whom it neither was known 
 formerly, nor does it yet feem to be known. 
 And, therefore, no Body ought to wonder, 
 at leaft, no Body ought to be offended, if 
 Providence has been lefs frequent, or more 
 
 flow 
 
255 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 flow in the Revelation of this double Re- 
 furrection \ or at its referving the unfolding 
 of that Myftery for the laft of its Prophets: 
 For fince it was his Bufinefs to comprehend 
 and explain in his Prophecy both the pros- 
 perous and the adverfe Fates of the Chriftian 
 Church through every Age, to the Con- 
 fummation of all Things ; both the Occafion, 
 the Time, and the Reafon of the Thing re- 
 quired, that he fhould not pafs by unmen- 
 tioned or in Silence the Millennian King- 
 dom of Chrift, or the firft Refurrection of 
 the Saints : Therefore in the Twentieth 
 Chapter of his Prophecy, he has difcover'd 
 and explained this Secret, which had lain 
 hid through fo many Ages. 
 
 Besides, we are to obferve, that from 
 this Error or Blindnefs of the Jews y con- 
 cerning one only Coming of the Meffiah, 
 many other Errors proceeded. From hence 
 they expected that the Meffiah would be 
 glorious, and illuftrious, and powerful, from 
 his very firft Appearance ; the Glory of his 
 fecond Coming being unhappily transferred 
 to the firft, or both being in one and the 
 lame confounded. Then they referred Se- 
 veral Things befides, which related entire- 
 ly to the iecond Coming of the Meffiah, 
 to the Days of the Meffiah promifcuoufly 
 and without Diftin&ion. And from thence 
 they believed, that the Refurre&ion would 
 happen without any Diftinction in the Days 
 of the Meffiah. From hence the Renovation 
 
 of 
 
State of Departed Souls, Or. 257 
 
 of Earth, and Heaven, and all the other 
 Marks of thofe happy and glorious Times, 
 Which the Prophets foretold would be in the 
 Days of the Mefiiah ; that then the Age 
 would come, of which they place fb many, 
 and fuch wonderous Things to the Days of 
 the Mefiiah. The Jews forctel that thefe 
 and feveral Things befides, as Peace and 
 Jultice, univerfal Plenty, and a Government 
 entirely divine, would happen in thofe Days y , 
 and all thefe Things they foretel moil truly, 
 if they are referred to the fecond Coming of 
 the Mefiiah. Diftinguifh but the Times, 
 and all Things will then agree. But from 
 the not rightly diftinguilhing thofe, no fmall 
 Confuiion formerly arofe in the Faith of 
 the yews, with regard to the forementiorVd 
 Heads, and no fmall Confuficn to this very 
 Day remains. 
 
 After the fame Manner, there has arifen 
 a DifTention and Obfcurity, concerning the 
 Nature and State of the Bodies which we 
 ihall have at the Refurrection, becaufe the 
 Chriftian Authors have not diftinguifhed the 
 firft Refurrection, from the fecond ; fome, 
 for Example, contending for Flefh and 
 Blood, and an organical Frame, and Bodies 
 compounded and ihap'd like thofe which we 
 have at prefent, while others are of Opi- 
 nion, that our grols Bodies will be changed 
 into thin and sctherial ones. Each of thefe 
 Opinions may be true, provided you diftin* 
 guifh between the two Rcfurrections, Upon 
 
 S the 
 
258 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 the firft Refurrection, for Example, when 
 we are to live under the new Heavens, and 
 upon the new Earth, our Bodies will be ter- 
 reffcrial, and compounded and fhapM like 
 thofe which we now have : But at the End 
 of the Millennium, when we afcend into 
 Heaven, the fame will be chang'd into Ce- 
 leftial and iEtherial Bodies, as the Nature 
 of the Place and that Angelical Life will 
 manifeftly require ; which we obferv'd a- 
 bove. 
 
 But the Renovation of the World, and 
 the Millennian Kingdom of Chrift, which 
 are Things of the greateft Weight, will pre- 
 cede this Afcenfion into Heaven, and fecond 
 Refurrection, concerning which we fpeak : 
 We are oblig'd, therefore, to fay a few 
 Things beforehand concerning them. But a 
 few Things will be fufficient, becaufe we 
 have treated more largely of each of them 
 in the facred Theory of the Earth, 1. iv. 
 
 The general Conflagration being over, 
 and the Earth, by the extream Force of 
 thofe Fires, being reduc'd to a fort of a 
 Chaos ; from that Chaos, by the Influence 
 of divine Power and Wifdom, a new Earth 
 is to be form'd, after the Image of the pri- 
 mitive and Paradifaick one, that is, without 
 any Ocean, without Mountains or broken 
 Rocks, or rugged Inequalities ; to which 
 will anfwer a new Heaven, ferene and mild, 
 and without naufeous Vapours; and then 
 will flourifh a perpetual Springs free from 
 
 the 
 
STa^e of Departed Souls, isfci 259 
 
 the Viciflitudes of Seaibns, or the Inconve- 
 niences of Heat and Cold ; concerning which 
 new and at prefent unufual Phenomena's, 
 in the forefaid Book, we have fufliciently Theor; 
 
 , ' J Praedic. 
 
 treated. c . f & 9 . 
 
 All Antiquity, as well facred as profane, 
 has celebrated this future Renovation of the 
 World, as we have fhewn in another Place. 
 Among the antient Prophets, Ifaiah twice 
 declares, that there would be new Heavens, ciwp.IxV. 
 
 - oC iXVl 
 
 and a new Earth; and adds, that the Marks 
 of this Renovation of Nature would be the 
 Longevity, or rather the Immortality of its 
 Inhabitants, and a Race of harmlefs Ani- 
 mals. St. John, in his Vifions concerning Rev.xxi. 
 the new yerufalem^ acquaints us, that he had *■ 
 beheld new Heavens and a new Earth ; and 
 adds, that the Chara&eriftical Mark of that 
 new] Earth would be, that it would have 
 no Sea. This Refurre&ion of the World, 
 if I may ufe the Expreflion, is faid byChrift 
 to be 'zuoL^iyysvearlx '-, in which Term is in- Mat. xix. 
 eluded the Pre-exiftence of the World, iS * 
 which is underftood here, its Deftruction, 
 and its Regeneration. After the fame Man- 
 ner St. Teeter, in his Difcourfe to the Jews, Aas'm.n: 
 makes ufe of cLttokcctxs-xo-is, the Times of the 
 Reflitution of all Things: And both \n 
 one and the other Paffags, you have for a 
 Chara&eriftical Mark a Time of Reward and 
 Recompence, and by confequence an Age 
 to come. St. Fard, in feveral Places, hints Rom. viii. 
 at this future Renovation of the World \ 10 > 11 ' 
 
 S 2 Firft, 
 
26© A TREATISE concerning the ' 
 
 Firft, he teaches us, that Nature, as it ftands 
 now, is made fubjeft to Vanity, and ihall 
 be freed from the Bondage of Corruption 
 when the Sons of God fhall enjoy a glorious 
 Liberty : But that this Difcourfe of the A- 
 Archxol. poftle is to be underftood of the natural 
 Phiiof. 1.2. World, has, I believe, in another Place been 
 fufficiently prov'd. Laftly, the fame Apo£- 
 tie acquaints us, that mv qixxjjiww tw fxeh- 
 Aao-ay, the future World fhall be inhabi- 
 ted when the Figure of this fhall have 
 pafsM away ; and iiibje&s it to Chrift, as to 
 its proper Mailer, Heb. ii. 5. 1 Cor. vii. 3 1 . 
 But the Difcourfe of St. 'Peter, in his fe- 
 cond general Epiille, Chap. iii. is much 
 more clear and open than all thefe ; where 
 he treats of this Matter diitinctly, and not 
 only alTerts that there will be new Heavens 
 and a new Earth, but likewife makes Men- 
 . tion of the two that precede them, and dif- 
 tinguifhes them into the Antediluvian and 
 the c PreJent. But now flnce this PaiTage 
 of St. Peter feems to me to be irrefutable and 
 unanfvverable, befides what we have alrea- 
 dy faid fuccin&ly, it will be highly worth 
 our while to dwell fomething longer upon it. 
 The Adverfaries of this Opinion convert 
 into Allegories what .ver has been faid by 
 the Prophets concerning this new Heaven, 
 and this new Earth, and fo pretend to elude 
 it ; but the forefaid Difcourfe of St. 'Peter 
 about thefe fame new Heavens and new 
 Earth, can, by no Strength of human Un= 
 
 ip" 
 
 derftandinp-- 
 
State of Departed Souls, izfc. 26$ 
 
 derftanding, and no human Art, be refolv'd 
 into Allegories, or wrefted from the literal 
 Senle. 'Tis exprefly ordain'd, and indui- 
 trioully inftituted, to fhew the mutable Na- 
 ture of Things, and a fucceilive threefold 
 World j I mean the natural World, concerning 
 which the Diipute was with thofe Scoffers, 
 Ver. 3. And 'tis remarkable, that by the 
 Words Heaven and Earth, the Hebrews 
 underftood the vifible World, or the Na- 
 ture of Things. But let us, if you pleale, 
 take a View of the Words of the Apoftle 
 relating to this Matter, (Ver. 11, 12, 13.) 
 
 SEEING then that all t he fe Things jhall 
 be dijfolv'd, what Manner ofPerfons ought 
 we to be in all holy Conversation and God- 
 linefs j looking for,, and hafting unto the 
 Coming of the T)ay of God^ wherein the 
 Heavens being on Fire, jJjall be dijfolv'd, 
 and the Elements fiall melt with fervent 
 Heat. Never t he lefs we, according to his 
 Tromifij look for new Heavens, and a new 
 Earth, wherein Right eoufnefs foall dwell. 
 
 There are feveral Things in this Dif- 
 courie of the Apoftle, which, compar'd 
 with what precedes it, plainly difcover, that 
 the Words new Heaven and new Earth, are 
 confin'd in their Signification to the vifible 
 and natural World : Firft, the Force, the 
 Ufe, and the Signification of the fame Words, 
 or of the fame Phrafeology, in the Verfes 
 that are antecedent to it ', fecondly, the very 
 Form, Structure, and Context of the Speech, 
 
 S 3 by 
 
z6z 'A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 by which this Renovation is exprefs'd ; and 
 laftly, the Time to which it relates. All 
 thefe are as fo many WitneiTes, which prove 
 that the Apoftlc here fpcaks of material and 
 real, and not imaginary and allegorical Earth 
 and Heavens. As for the firft Proof of this, 
 the fame Diction, or the fame Manner of 
 fpeaking, no lefs than twice occurs to us in 
 . this very Chapter. In the fifth Verfe of it 
 we have, the Earth and the Heavens which 
 formerly were y or which are paft, that is to fay, 
 the Antediluvian World. In the feventh Verfe 
 we have, the Earth and the Heavens which 
 now are, that is, which are prelent to us, 
 or the Poft-diluvian World. Laftly, in the 
 thirteenth Verfe we find, the new Hea- 
 vens, and new Earth, that are to come, that 
 is, after the Conflagration. But now fince, 
 by the Confent of all, the Heavens and the 
 Earthy both in the fifth and the feventh 
 Verfe, are to be underftood literally of the 
 material and natural Frame and Structure of 
 the Earth and the Heavens, I would fain 
 .know by what Right, or by what Rule of 
 Interpreting, we can be juftify 'd in wreft- 
 ing the very fame Words, or the very fame 
 ExpreiTion, in the fame Chapter, in the fame 
 Context, in the Continuation of the fame 
 Argument, to a foreign Signification? So 
 that by the firft and fecond Paflage we un- 
 derftand the natural World; but a figura- 
 tive and allegorical World by the third Pa£ 
 fage j and this without the leaft Mark from 
 
 the 
 
State of Departed Souls, is?c, i6 3 
 
 the Author, that he has chang'd his Style, 
 or the leaft Neceffity on the Part of the Sub- 
 ject Matter. 
 
 But now fecondly, the Form of this Dif- 
 courfe, and the Manner by which 'tis cohe- 
 rent with and dependant on what precedes 
 it, both equally teftify the fame Thing. Af- 
 ter the Apoftle had defcrib'd the Burning 
 of the prefent World, he adds, But, or tie- 
 verthelefs ive cxpecf new Heavens, and a 
 new Earth. He fubftitutes thefe new Hea- 
 vens and this new Earth in the roomofthofe 
 that were burnt and perifh'd. Thefe, then, 
 muft be of the fame Kind with thofe that 
 perinYd, that is to fay, material, and not 
 allegorical ; which is the fame Thing as if 
 the Apoftle had faid, Tho' the prefent Hea- 
 vens and the prefent Earth muft one Day 
 perifh, as we have already explained to you ; 
 yet here will not be an abfolute End, (which 
 perhaps you may fufpe£t,) but only a Reno- 
 vation of all Things ; for we expect, ac- 
 cording to the Promife which we have re-* 
 ceiv'd from God, that other Heavens, and 
 another Earth, in which the Righteous 
 fhali dwell, will fucceed thofe which are 
 now. But thirdly, and laftly, fince this new 
 World, or this Renovation, be that what it 
 will, is not to appear till after the general 
 Conflagration, we may certainly infer from 
 the Time, that by this Renovation cannot 
 be underftood any Evangelical Renovation, 
 (as our allegorical Adverfaries are pleas'd 
 
 S 4 to 
 
2 6 4 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 to affert,) or any other in this Life. And 
 thefe Arguments, unlefs I am miftaken, 
 prove unanfwerably, that the Heavens and 
 Earth, in this Difcourfe of the Apoftle, are 
 to be taken, xa-z-a 3tug*oAg£/ai', according to 
 the genuine Force of the Words, and the 
 mantieft Nature of the Thing.* 
 
 These Things being thus laid down and 
 granted, let this be the rirft Conclufron drawn 
 from them, That the natural Worlds or the 
 Heavens, and the Earth, will be renewed 
 after the Conflagration : And then let this 
 be the fecond Conclufion to be prov'd by 
 what is to follow, That the Millennium j, 
 or the millennian Kingdom of Chriftj is to 
 be celebrated in the World renewed^ or the 
 Renovation of Earth and Heaven. 
 
 The millennian Kingdom of Chrift was 
 efteem'd an orthodox Doctrine by the primi- 
 tive Chriflians, and continued for a while 
 unpolluted, and for that Reafon uncontro- 
 
 verted : 
 
 * We very juftly accufe the Soc'tnians of their unfair 
 and perverfe Interpretation, in wrefting what St. John 
 fays in the Beginning of his Gofpel about the natural 
 World, into a moral and allegorical Senfe: But they 
 "who, in the prefent Cafe, * * * * fall into the very 
 fame Error, and are equally culpable, whilil they inter- 
 pret what St. Peter fo plainly fays of the material World, 
 as though he had meant it of a moral and allegorical 
 one. * * * * For I will be bold to affirm, that St. John, 
 in the Beginning of his Gofpel, does not more clearly 
 or diilinctly intend the natural World, than St. 'Peter 
 does here, when he lpeaks of new Heavens and a new 
 Earth. 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. 265 
 
 verted : But when the more modern Mil- 
 lenaries had partly corrupted this Do&rine, 
 and partly faw lefs clearly into it, who plac'd 
 the Seat of this Kingdom in the prefent 
 Earth, and its Felicity in the prelent Life ; 
 and when this Error had given a Handle to 
 warm and fanatick Spirits, puff'd up with a 
 groundleis Hope, of railing great Diitur- 
 bances in the Church, which gave Offence 
 to the Good and the Wife ; this innocent 
 and orthodox Doctrine began to lofe its Re- 
 putation with many, and is, even to this Day 3 
 in fome meafure, inviduous. Wherefore, 
 that we may find a Remedy for this Mil- 
 chief, it will be worth our while briefly to 
 unfold what the antient Fathers determined 
 concerning this Matter, and when and where 
 they believ'd that this Kingdom would be. 
 
 As to the Point itfelf, we have already, 
 in another Place, if I am not very much 
 miftaken, prov'd from the Writings of the 
 Prophets and the Apoftles, that there will 
 be one Day a millennian Kingdom of Chrift 
 upon Earth, either the Earth which we have 
 at prefent, or the new one which will fuc- 
 ceed it: And the moffc antient Fathers of 
 almoft all Nations are produced as WitneiTes 
 in this Caufe. Many Grecians j and like- 
 wife Latins and Africans. In this Number 
 are chiefly 'Papias, the Hieropolitan Bifhop, 
 J uft in Martyr^ and the Reviver or Enlar- 
 ger of the Sibylline Verfes before the Time 
 of Juflin ; the Writer of the Epiftle that 
 
 goes 
 
z66 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 goes under the Name of St.Bamaby, Irenaus, 
 Mclito of Sardis, Methodius : Befides thefe, 
 there is Terttillian^ and St. Cyprian, his Difci- 
 ple, Africans : Then there is Nefos^ theEgyp- 
 tian Bifhop, and Viclorinus and LacJantius, 
 Latins, All thefe liv'd within the third 
 Century, while the Apoftolick * Doctrine 
 yet remain'd intire and uncorrupted. And 
 of thefe Fathers there are fonie who do not 
 only declare that this is their own Opinion, 
 but the Opinion of the whole Church that 
 was contemporary with them, and of all o- 
 thers who had right Sentiments with regard 
 to the Chriftian Faith ; nay, fome of them 
 do not doubt to affirm, that this Doctrine 
 defcended traditionally from St. John and 
 the other Apofties. 
 
 But befides thefe exprefs Teftimonies 
 which offer themfelves naturally the firffc in 
 the Caufe before us, there are other Argu- 
 ments and Proofs that are founded on the Hif- 
 tory of thofe Times, which manifeftly fhew 
 that this Dodrine of the Kingdom, for fo it 
 was formerly called, was efteem'd a Chriftian 
 Do&rine ; and that, as well by the Heathens 
 as ours. By the Heathens, I fay, who dread- 
 ed that King whom the Chriftians expected 
 fhould come ; whom, therefore, they accused 
 of Ambition, or of spreading the Seeds of 
 Sedition, and of believing that they mould 
 
 one 
 
 * See the Place of Gennadius. The Treatife of Ty* 
 chomps is in BB. ^P^P. and in Orthodoxogr. 
 
State of Departed Souls, Iffc. z6*j 
 
 one Day obtain a Kingdom upon Earth. 
 The foremention'd Juftin, in the Apology 
 which he made for the Chriftians to Anto- 
 ninus 'Pius, has theie Words, which mani- 
 feftly relate to this very Matter : 'Tpeis cIkh- 
 
 (tocvtss fictaiAeixs 'Zir^pcrS'ox.oovrcxi r\fxccs, ccyc^TMS 
 avupo)7rtvov Kiy&v yy-cts U7r&Ay(pcLT€y *ijjloov tvi> 
 fjLZTct 0g« teyovrwv, &c. Ton hearing it faid 
 that we expect a Kingdom, believe that we 
 are fooliflo enough to mean a human King- 
 dom, whereas we intend fuch a one in which 
 we are to reign together with God : For 
 whereas the Chriftians were wont to exhort 
 one another to fuffer Death with a dauntlefs 
 Spirit, becaufe they who were Martyrs in the 
 Caufe of Chrift were to have the Enjoyment 
 of this Kingdom, the Heathens underftood 
 by this a Kingdom in the prefent Life, as if 
 the Chriftians were attempting lomething a- 
 gainft the Roman Empire, or entertain 'd a 
 Belief that they ihould become the Lords of 
 it. To whom Juftin, in the following 
 Words, returns a very proper Anfwer: 
 Since we fuffer T)eath in the Caufe of Chrift 
 with fo c hear ful a Spirit, ^tis manifeft, that 
 either we have ?io Hope of a Kittgdom in 
 this Life j or that we raflfly and foolishly 
 throw away that Hope, and deftrqyit toge- 
 ther with Life. 
 
 Besides, the fame Thing is prov'd by 
 the A&s of T>omitian : For as Herod, after 
 Chrift was born, was afraid he fhould take 
 his Kingdom from him., by reafon of a Re- 
 port 
 
2 68 ,4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 port among the Jews, that the Meffiah, 
 
 whom at that Time they expected, would 
 
 | u ^ b : H if r 'reftore the Kingdom to Ifrael ; fo afterwards 
 
 c. if. ' ' 'Domitian the Emperor, as the Hiftorians 
 
 See r li J c T e - relate, caused all to be deftroyed that fprunp- 
 
 wiie Nice- n in r ct\ • J i -fi , ° 
 
 phor. l. iii. irom the Root oi David \ and causa the 
 c io, ii. Relations of Chrift to be examin'd, that 
 they might give an Account of Chrift and 
 his Kingdom, what it was, and when and 
 where it was to appear ; which Inquiry was 
 occafioned by the Difcourfes and Books of 
 the Chriitians concerning the Kingdom of 
 Chrift that was one Day to be upon Earth.* 
 
 So 
 
 7 * Our Saviour never deny'd (though he had many 
 
 ,_ . , Opportunities offer'd him of denying it) that he was f a, 
 xxii? U * C K' n S? or that he fhould have a Kingdom. He faid, in- 
 Adtsxvii. ^ eec ^ to Pilate, when he ask'd him whether he was the 
 7o " King of the Jews, that bis Kingdom was not of this 
 
 World', which is true enough; for in this World the 
 Wicked, Satan, and Antichrift reign; but when thefe 
 his Enemies fhall be deftroy'd, and the World renew'd, 
 in that new World he fhall reign, together with his 
 Saints. Chrift deny'd the Sons of Zebedee the firjl Seats 
 m his Kingdom, but never difown'd the Kingdom it- 
 felf: So lik'ewife when his Difciples ask'd him about 
 the Time of his Kingdom, Acisi. 6. tie did not think pro- 
 per, 'tis true, to inform them as to that very Point; but 
 neither does he deny that he was to have a Kingdom 
 ibmeTime. But that Chrift, as well as they that pro- 
 pos'd the Thing to him, underfiood it of the terreftrial, 
 and not the celeftial eternal Kingdom, appears from 
 thofe earthly and temporal good Things which he pro- 
 mifes or makes mention of to this his future Kingdom. 
 He promifes his Difciples temporal good Things, iv rfi 
 -rcaiyye-.acici, Matt. xlx. 18. (which Words, we have be- 
 fore obferv'd, denote the Renovation of the World:) 
 And at his laft Supper he tells them, that he would not 
 
 drink 
 
State of Departed Souls, izfc. 269 
 
 So much for the Heathens : To come to 
 the Chriftians. This feems to me to be a 
 Proof of their Faith as to this Point, that 
 they put up Prayers for the ^Dead^ that 
 they might have a Part in the firft Refur- 
 rection. That Prayers and Oblations for the See the Ap- 
 Dead were for fome Ages in Ufe, as we ob- JJ°£^'*£ 
 ferv'd above, is to me indubitable ; not that the fourth 
 this was done always with the fame Defign, copter. 
 nor that they always in their Supplications 
 defrVd the fame Favours and the fame Bene- 
 fits for the Souls of the Departed : That they 
 might enjoy Peace and Reft, and be free 
 from the extream Violence of the torturing 
 Fires, that they might quickly rife again, 
 and have a Part in the firft RefurredHon : 
 This was the Sum of their Prayers. The 
 laft of thefe is plainly exprefs'd by TertuU 
 lian, when in thefe Words he defcribes the 
 Duty of a pious Wife towards her departed 
 Husband: She prays for his Soul ; and i^ DeMonog: 
 the mean Time defires Refreftoment for himj cap. 10. 
 and a Share for him in the firft Refurrec~ 
 tion : And in another Place he efteems theoeAnim; 
 
 Delay «p.ulc 
 
 drink of the 'Juice of the Vine till he drank it new with 
 them in the Kingdom of his Father, Matt, xxvi- 29. And 
 at the fame Time he fays, Luke xxii. 29, 30. / appoint 
 unto you #■ Kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto 
 me, that ye may eat and drink at my 'Tah/e in my King- 
 dom. In Heaven there is no eating or drinking ; and 
 although thofe Words arefometimes ufed metaphorical- 
 ly, yet we muft keep clofe to the primary Signification 
 of all Words, unlefs Neceffity obliges us to give them 
 another Signification, which is not the Cafe here. 
 
270 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Delay of the Rcfurrection to be inftead of 
 
 a Punifhment for the Expiation of lighter 
 
 Faults. Nor were the Prayers unlike to thefe 
 
 You may w hich St. Ambrofe, in his Funeral Oration 
 
 places in for Valentinian the Second, puts up to God 
 
 Daiiiede for the two Brothers, Gratian zn&Valenti- 
 
 T7< PP 
 
 p.iBS.'uit. nian -> fnatch'd from the World by an un- 
 timely Death. He ends the Oration with 
 thefe Words : I befeech thee^ Almighty God, 
 that thou wGuldft raife up thefe two Touths, 
 who were dear and amiable to me, and to 
 all who knew them, by a timely Refurrec- 
 tion, and that thou wouldft recompenfe their 
 untimely 'Death by an early RefurrecJion. 
 And in another Place, puriuing the lame Point, 
 he eftablifhes divers Ranks and Degrees of 
 thofe that rife from the Dead, and makes 
 them rife at different Times. Laftly, in the 
 antient Gothick Liturgy*', this Form of pub- 
 lick Prayers is prefcribed j That God would 
 'vouchfafe to place the Souls of thofe who 
 are at reft in the Bofom of Abraham, and 
 admit them to a Share of the fir ft Refiar- 
 reclionj, through Jefus Chrift our Lord : 
 For when the Antients did not believe that 
 the Souls of the Righteous did afcend into 
 Heaven immediately after Death, there to 
 enjoy fupream Glory and beatifick Viiion ; 
 and when before that Time they expected 
 
 the 
 
 * Confult other Liturgies, Mofarab. and Ambrof. or 
 hat See fDaiilc dc foen. p. 513. »/& 
 
 
STATE of Departed Souls, Izfc. 271 
 
 the firft Refurre&ion, and the Kingdom of 
 Chrift ; and efteemed the Enjoyment of that 
 as the firft Degree of Beatitude, they put 
 up Prayers to God that this State, that this 
 Refurreclion might be granted to thofe who 
 were fallen afleep in the Lord, as a Pledge 
 of their future Glory, and a fort of Initia- 
 tion into celcftial Life. 
 
 But enough of this : For there is no Oc- 
 cafion to fay any more of a Thing that is 
 known and granted ; for they who are moft 
 converfant in the Writings of the Ancients, 
 or of modern and living Authors, though 
 they are not of the Party of the Millenna- 
 ries j yet they acknowledge, that this Doc- 
 trine of the Kingdom of Chrift upon Earth, 
 was very much received in the firft Ages of 
 the Church. But in what Earth, the prefent 
 or the future, this millennian Kingdom of 
 Chrift is to be eretted, they do not equally 
 agree. 'Tis vulgarly believed by the more 
 modern Millennaries, that Chrift will have 
 his Kingdom in this Life, and upon the pre- 
 fent Earth. But this Belief of theirs, if I 
 am not extreamly miftaken, is neither agree- 
 able to the Senfe of the Ancients, nor to the 
 Senfe of facred Scripture; nor, laftly, to the 
 Nature of theThing itfelf : As to thofe ancient 
 Millennaries, whofe Writings are ftill remain- 
 ing, they all of them fpeak of the Renova- 
 tion of the natural World to be accompliih- 
 ed upon the Coming of Chrift. fuftin men- 
 tions it more than once in his Dialogue with 
 
 Tryjpho : 
 
272 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Page 307. Trypho : And places the Millennium in the 
 new and re-eftablifhed Jerufalem, quoting to 
 that Purpofe the Words of the Prophets con- 
 cerning the new Heavens and the new Earth. 
 Then {p. 369.) he calls that Earth, in which 
 the Saints together with Chrift are to reign, rry 
 Twr dyioav ynv, The hand of the Saints. And 
 he attributes no lefs to Chriit tw xcavBpyvatv, 
 the Renovation of the World, than the firft 
 Formation of the World itfelf. p, 540. 
 / 'Tis after the fame Manner that Irenaus 
 
 joins the Renovation of Nature with the 
 L-b.v.c. Times of the Kingdom. The foremention'd 
 *3- Benediction, fays he, which is the Promife 
 
 that was made to Jacob concerning the Fer- 
 tility of the Earth, belongs undoubtedly to 
 the Times of the Kingdom, when the Juft 
 '{ball rife from the 'Dead and reign ; and 
 when the Creature renew 'd, and freed from 
 its original Cnrfe, {ball bring forth abun- 
 dantly all Sorts of Food, both from the 'Dew 
 of the Heavens, and the Fertility of the 
 Earth. He fays the fame Thing, or what 
 is equivalent to it, in the following Chapter, 
 and ib onward to the End of the Book. 
 Lib.vii. The following Words of Lactantius feem 
 to have r,he lame Tendency : For God will 
 come j fays he, to clean fs this Globe from all 
 its 'Pollution j and to raife tip the reviving 
 Souls of the Juft j infufed into new Bodies „ 
 to the Enjoyment of eternal Felicity. Laft- 
 ly, if we may believe Gelafius of Cyzicum, 
 the Nicetie Fathers were of the fame Opinion, 
 
 and 
 
 c.22. 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 273 
 
 and placed the Kingdom of Chrift and the 
 Righteous, upon the new Earth in thefe 
 Words: KcuvBi b&lv&s & xccivw yriv ir^yu S 'o- Hid. Aft. 
 xgoulsV) xcltcc, i€£$i yeftfAfAotTct: (pcuvofjiivm VfJUV Conc-Nic. 
 tyis eTTKpctveicts xj f2ct<ji?veicts th fjityccA's Gta *} 
 
 ffWT?)^ yj*.tov 'hers X^r») & c * We exfeS 
 new Heavens, and a new Earth j according 
 to the facred Writings ^ when the illnftrions 
 'Prejence and the Kingdom of our great God,, 
 and our Saviour Jefus Chrift fljall appear 
 to us. And then, as faith Daniel, (Chap. 
 vii. 18.) the Saints ft) all receive the King- 
 dom of the moft High ; and the Earth fljall 
 be pure j righteous j holy]', the Earth of the 
 Living, and not of the T)ead : Which Da- 
 vid fore feeing by the Eyes of Faith, cries 
 out (Pfal. xx vii. 1"$.) I had fainted, ttnlefs 
 I had believed I jhould fee the Goodnefs of 
 the Lord in the Land of the Living, the 
 Land of the Meek and Humble. Bleffed are 
 the Meek j fays Chrirr, for they fljall inherit 
 the Earth, And, fays liaiah, the Feet 
 of the Meek and Humble (hall tread upon it. n 
 
 •i ^ ■*- L.;,3D XXVI 
 
 You fee, that according to thefe Fathers, the 6. 
 Seat of the Millennium will be in the new 
 Heavens, and the new Earth ; and cenfe- 
 quently, according to the Opinion of the 
 ancient Millenaries, that blciTed Order of 
 Things is not to be expected before the Re- 
 novation of the World. 
 
 I must confeis the Ancients do not al- 
 ways agree concerning the Order of the Con- 
 
 flagration 
 
274 d TREATISE concerning the 
 
 flagration and Renovation of the World, 
 which fhould precede, and which fhould 
 Ibid. follow. Tertullian feems to make the Con- 
 flagration follow the Renovation ; but erro- 
 neoufly. And he might caiily have correc- 
 2 Epift. iii. ted his Error from the Words of St. 'Peter, 
 lz ' * 3< who, the Heavens and Earth being burnt, 
 has new Heavens and a new Earth imme- 
 diately at hand to fucceed them, for the 
 Juft to inhabit. Nor is it eafy to conceive 
 the Renovation of the World, without the 
 preceding Conflagration," or at leaft without 
 ibme vehement Concuflion or Conflagration, 
 which fhould deftroy the Race of Men, e- 
 Revel. xxi. fpecially, if, according to the Idea of St.Job% y 
 - 1 - the new Earth mould have a new Form, and 
 
 the new habitable World fhould be without 
 a Sea. And this, perhaps, may give Occa- 
 (ion to many to err, becaufe there is to be 
 
 J 7 
 
 a twofold Mutation of the World, one at 
 the Beginning, and the other at the End of 
 the Millennium ; when the Earth and the 
 Heavens fhall fly away, and their Place fhall 
 Revel, xx. be found no more. But this Flight of the 
 Earth and the Heavens, and the deferring; 
 their ancient Place, which is to be at the 
 End of the Millennium, is by no Means to 
 be underftood of the common Conflagration, 
 but of fome more remarkable Change, fuch 
 as at the End of the Millennium will accrue 
 to the Bodies of the Saints which will then 
 be tranfported into celeftial Regions. 
 
 But 
 
 ii. 
 
State of Departed Souls 5 isfci 27 5; 
 
 But thefe Things by the Way : Let u> 
 proceed in what we defigifd ; and let us 
 now fee upon what Earth, whether the pre- 
 lent or the future, the /acred Authors place 
 that Kingdom in which Chrift is to reign 
 together with his Saints. St. John {Rev. 
 xxi. i, 2.) faw new Heavens and a new 
 Earth ; then he faw the holy City, or the 
 new Jcrufalem, defcending from the Hea- 
 vens, that is to fay, into that new Earth, 
 for whither could it elfe defcend ? But 'tis 
 plain from the foregoing Chapter , that ctap.xxj 
 the holy City, (the fame with the beloved 
 City,) is the Kingdom of Chrift, or the Me- 
 tropolis of that Kingdom, and c0nlequentlyifa.ixv.x7j 
 that the Prophet faw the Kingdom of Chriit lS - 
 defcending upon the new Earth, upon which 
 it was to have its Seat. 
 
 Besides, the whole Series of the Aooca- 
 iyptick Vifions, and the Length of Time in 
 which they are contained, leave no Room 
 for the Millennium, and the Things that, 
 rnuft go before it, within the Limits of this 
 prefent World. I really believe that this 
 World will not, at moft, remain a thoufand 
 Years from this prefent Time : And if any 
 Faith is to be given to that Prophefy of the 
 yews^ relating to the fix thoufand Years ap- 
 pointed by God for the Duration of the World, 
 (which Prophefy not a few of the Chrtftian 
 Fathers have come into,) there cannot be a- 
 bove five hundred Years from hence to the 
 End of all Things. But to dwell no longer 
 T 2 upon 
 
276 -4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 upon this : 'Tis however apparent that the 
 Hypothelis of the more modern Millenaries 
 requires too much Time for the remaining 
 Duration of the World, if we calculate ac- 
 cording to St. John in his Revelations : For 
 according to that prophetick Syftem, many 
 Things remain to be prepared and accom- 
 plifhed before the Kingdom of Chrift and 
 Rev. xx. tne Saints can begin. The Reign of the 
 Saints is not to begin till Antichrift is utter- 
 ly deftroy'd, and Satan bound : But many 
 Things are to precede the Deftru&ion of An- 
 tichrift, which we have not feen accomplifh- 
 ed. The WitnelTes have not rifen nor af- 
 cended : The third Part of the City has not 
 fallen : The fecond Woe is not paft ; nor the 
 third begun. All which we are told in the 
 eleventh Chapter of the Revelations, are to 
 come to pafs before the Deftruction of An- 
 tichrifr. Befides, the Phials are not yet poured 
 forth, according to the fixteenth Chapter ; 
 nor do we certainly know how many yet 
 remain to be emptied. Laftly, the Things 
 that follow from hence to the twentieth 
 Chapter, where the Kingdom of Chrift be- 
 gins, remain to be put in Execution againft 
 Antichrift, to diminifh, and at length ut- 
 terly to aboliih his Kingdom, and to prepare 
 the Theatre of the Earth for the glorious 
 Appearance of Chrift. But how much Time 
 will be required for the Accomplifhment of 
 all thefe in their Order, I hardly dare lb 
 much as conje&ure. But let that Time be 
 
 longer 
 
State 0/ Departed Souls, iffc. 277 
 
 longer or lhorter, it muft neceffarily precede 
 the blefTed Age of the Millennium, and 
 make the Age of the World extend fb much 
 the farther. 
 
 But as in the Accomplishment of thefe 
 Things, no fmall Time will elapfe ; fo ac- 
 cording to the fame Revelation, thefe Things 
 being accomplished, the End of the World 
 immediately follows; nor is there Time or 
 Space enough left for a thoufand Years of 
 Happinefs to intervene. As foon as the fe- Cha P' x '*' 
 venth Trumpet has founded, the Time is ' 
 faid to be at hand, or prefent, of judging 
 the Dead, and ccnfequently the End of the 
 World ; for before that Time, the Dead are 
 not to be judged. In like Manner, the Beaft Cbp.xix: 
 being overcome, is thrown into the Lake of 20, 
 burning Sul phur ; which feems to me to de- 
 note the Conflagration of the World, if 'tis 
 compared with the Vifions of T>aniel, {Chap. 
 vii. 11.) and the Do£trine of St. Taitl^ 2 Thejf, 
 i.8. & ii. 8. 
 
 The Epocha of the Kingdom of Chrifr, 
 and his Saints, is every wherein Scripture 
 fhewn by this Mark,That 'tis join'd with the 
 Day of Judgment, or is introduced as foon 
 as that has preceded it. And there feems 
 to be Occafion for no other Proof to con- 
 vince us, that that Kingdom is not to be 
 expected in this Life, or in the prefent Age. 
 But let us, if you pleafe, compare a little 
 the PalTages concerning this Matter of the 
 Prophets ^Daniel and St. John. In the fore- 
 T 5 men- 
 
Z78 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 mentioned feventh Chapter of Daniel^ from 
 Verie the Ninth to the End, the Sitting of 
 the Judgment is often repeated, either as pre- 
 vious to the Kingdom of the Saints, or in 
 Conjunction with it, Ver. n. when the An- 
 cient of Days fhall come, Judgment, together 
 ■with the Kingdoms, fhall be delivered to the 
 Saints. Then the Judgment being fet, 
 (ver. 26, 27.) the Kingdom, and 'Dominion , 
 and the Greatnefs of the Kingdom tinder the 
 whole Heaven fhall be given to the People 
 of the Saints of the Mo ft High, After the 
 fame Manner St. John treads in the Footfteps 
 of 'Daniel in this Matter, as he is wont to 
 do in others ; not only becaufe, being about 
 to paint the Millennium, he firft caufes the 
 Judgment-Seats to be placed in the twentieth 
 yer.4; Chapter, but becaufe before in the eleventh 
 Chapter, as we obferved above, he had con- 
 nected the Time of judging the Living and 
 the Dead, with theTime of the Reign and Do- 
 minion of Chrift and the Saints. As loon as 
 the feventh Trumpet had founded, it was 
 proclaimed with a loud Voice in Heaven, : 
 Chap.xi. Xhe Kingdoms of this World are become the 
 Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Chrift p 
 and he /hall reign for ever and ever. And 
 Ver.iS. immediately afterwards, the appointed Time 
 is come that the Dead ftjould be judged,, and 
 that thoujhouldeft give Reward to thy Ser* 
 vants the 'Prophets _, and to thy Saints ,, and 
 
 Ver. 19. to them that fear thy Name. And the 
 
 Temple of God was, opened in Heaven j and 
 
 thtri 
 
ST aTe of Departed Souls, isfc, 279 
 
 vfjere was feen in his Temple the Ark of 
 his Teftament, &c. 
 
 'Tis manifeft, that here the Prophet re- 
 prefents both the Kingdom and the Times 
 of the Kingdom, as the Ancients exprcis 
 themfelves : And this Idea anfwers in both 
 its Parts to the Defcription of the fame King- 
 dom in the Prophet 'Daniel) both as to the 
 Dominion given to the Saints, and the Time 
 of that Dominion, that is, when the Dead 
 are to be judgM ; which fblemn Time, when 
 it is not to arrive before the End of World, 
 neither will the blelTed Millennium begin be- 
 fore that Time, according to thefefacred Ora- 
 cles j and then, as for the lafl Part of the 
 Defcription, of the Temple open'd, and the 
 Ark of the Covenant confpicuous in it, that 
 is to be underftood of the Schechinah, which 
 fhone upon the Ark of the Covenant in the 
 Sanctum Sanctorum, and which will appear 
 Hill more illuftrious in the Kingdom of Chriir ? 
 and the blefled Millennium of which we are 
 now fpeaking, as will be explain'd below. 
 
 To thefe Remarks and Calculations of the 
 Prophets, concerning the Times of the King- 
 dom, confonant are the Words of Chrift, 
 when he joins tw i3-aAiyyev6<ri<x,v, and the 
 Judgment Seflion together, Matt. xix. 29. 
 ToUy fays he, who have followed me^ \ v tJ 
 <z3-ctAiyyevs<7ia., in the Regeneration and Re- 
 novation of Things, when the Son of Man 
 jhall Jit upon the Throne of his Glory j you 
 alfo jhall Jit upon twelve Thrones > fudging 
 
 T a " the 
 
l8o A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 the twelve Tribes of Ifrael : And whoever 
 fljall leave Houfe, SCc. Here the Judicial 
 Pomp, you fee, is exprefsM : But that Chrift 
 fpeaks here of his Millennian Kingdom, 
 there are two Things that difcover: The 
 fir ft is, that both the foremention'd Prophets 
 introduce this Kingdom after the fame Man- 
 ner that 'tis introduc'd by Chrift, as is ma- 
 nifeft by what went before. The fecond is, 
 that Chrift marks and points to this Reno- 
 vation, for the Time and Place in which 
 P.eward and Retribution ihall be render'd to 
 the Saints, and to the faithful Servants of 
 Chrift; after the fame Manner that St. 
 fohn faid afterwards, defcribing the fame 
 Time and the lame State; the Time is come 
 of judging he Dead, and rendering Re- 
 ward to thy Servants. Thus the lacred Wri- 
 ters agree in marking out the Time in which 
 the Beginning of the Millennium is deferred 
 till the End of the World. 
 
 But fomuch concerning the Time of the 
 future Millennium : Let us now return to 
 its Seat, which we have placed in the new 
 Heavens and the nex Earth, according to 
 Rev. xxi. tne Villon feen by St. John. And after the 
 ifaiahixv. &me Manner the Prophet Ifaiah, after he 
 .17» & c * had faid that God would make new Hea- 
 vens, and a new Earth, and a triumphant 
 Jerufdlem, immediately fubjoins to them a 
 new Order of Nature, and a joyful, a pa- 
 cific^ and a happy State of Man; by which 
 .he reprefents to us the Kingdom of the Juft, 
 
 and 
 
State of Departed Souls, fcV. 28 1 
 
 and the Felicity of that Kingdom ; which I 
 fpeak the more confidently, and the more 
 confidently thus interpret, when I fee St. 
 'Peter afligning the new Heavens and the lF P l{t *" i - 
 new Earth, which the Prophets have pro- 13 ' 
 mifed, as a Seat and a Habitation to the Juft 
 to dwell in, which cannot be conceiv'd or 
 explained any other Way than of the King- 
 dom of which we are fpeaking. 
 
 Lastly, Befides thefe prophetick Expref- 
 fions, by which the Kingdom of Chrift is 
 join'd with the new Heavens and the new 
 Earth, exprefly or implicitely,the fame may 
 be prov'd by the Time of the Coming of 
 Chrift to his Kingdom, which the Mille** 
 narians acknowledge will be at the Begin- 
 ning of this Kingdom : But Chrift will not 
 come to his Kingdom before the End of the 
 World, or before the Time of the Renova- 
 tion of ail Things ; and by confequence the 
 Millennium will not begin before the fame 
 Term of Time. 'A7rox<xTaV<*-cn$ ttccvtoov and 
 'ZTxAiyysv evict denote the Renovation of the 
 World ; but before thefe two, the Coming 
 of Chrift will not be. The firft of thefe 
 we are taught by St. 'Peter fully and perfpi- 
 cuoufly in his Sermon of Ac~ls iii. 2 1 . when 
 he fays concerning Chrift, whom the Hea^ 
 *vens muft receive till the Time of the Re- 
 fiitution of all Things, which God hath 
 fpoken by the Mouth of all his holy Prophets 
 Jince the World began. In like manner, as 
 to the other, Chrift himfelf has appointed 
 
 his 
 
2 %z A TREATISE concerning thi 
 
 his Coming, by which he is to recompenfe 
 thofe who for his fake have fuffer'd Evil in 
 this prefent Life, h 7^ TrccXiyyiv^c-i^ in the 
 Regeneration^ Matt. xix. 28, 29. which we 
 have fhewn above, by the Things that are 
 joined with it, is to be underftoodof his King- 
 dom in the World renewed ; when, like a 
 King, or a mighty Conqueror, he ihall dis- 
 tribute the Spoils and the Trophies, and the 
 great Rewards which follow the Peace that 
 is at laft obtain'd, to his Soldiers and his 
 faithful Servants, who bore all the Heat, 
 and fuftain'd all the Fury and the Danger 
 of the War j nor does this Promife only re- 
 gard the Enjoyment of Heaven and eternal 
 Glory, when it mentions temporal and exter- 
 nal Goods belides everlafting Life. And 
 Heb. ii. ^g DLfeourfe of St. Taul is exactly agree- 
 able to this, when he iubje&s to Chrift, as 
 to its King, the future habitable World, 
 
 Try ^ OUCHfJiivVV TT,V fJLtWUGXV) OT Cj^iy 
 
 S*On_, f as the Hebrews exprefs them- 
 
 f elves, 
 
 * 'Ojjcb/xswi, according to its Etymology, fignifies an 
 inhabited Place, and by the Rules of Syntax, yjy, Earth, 
 muft be underltood. 
 
 f The Expreffion Su&v (xswi»y, or ?>t2n t)Sty, 1S either 
 taken largely for the Times of the Mefliah in general, 
 or more particularly for the Times of the MeiTiah's 
 Reign. In this laft conrin'd and more proper Senfe 'tis 
 diftincl both from the prefent Age and from Eternity, 
 or that Time when Chrift is to deliver up all Dominion 
 into the Hands of the Father. And in this proper Senfe, 
 viz. taken for fome Age between this Prefent and Etei^ 
 
 nity, 
 
 f><s. 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. >,$};. 
 
 felves, which they likewife fubjeft to the 
 Meffiah. 
 
 Lastly, That I may finifh this Matter, 
 the facred Scripture acknowledges no future .... 
 
 Coming of Chrift before his coming to 39 . ' 
 Judgment, or before the End of the World ; 
 and therefore the Apoftle St. 'Paul to 7/- * Ep.ir.tJ 
 motby joins thefe three together, the Judg- 
 ment of the Dead, the Appearance of Chrift, 
 and his Kingdom : / charge thee before God 
 and the Lord Jefus Chrift, izjho {ball judge 
 the Quick and the 'Deadj at his Appearance ', 
 and his Kingdom* 
 
 We have hitherto faid thus much by fa- 
 cred Authority, concerning the Seat of the 
 Millennian Kingdom in the new Heavens, and 
 the new Earth : Befides, the Thing fpeaks 
 itfelf, and Reafon enforces the fame Thing \ 
 for to what End mould there be a new 
 
 Earth, 
 
 nity, It is often us'd in Scripture. Chrift, it is laid, 
 will reign £p t£u.iZvi h»aa3;/t<, in the World to come, £- 
 ■phef. i. 22, 23. Heb. ii. 5", 6. But he does not as yet 
 reign in that Senfe; neither will he reign in that Senfe 
 when he fhall have deliver'd up the Kingdom into the 
 Hands of the Father, viz. after the final Refurreclion, 
 when all Ages fhall be compleated. 'Tis plain, there- 
 fore, that there mull be lome intermediate Reign of 
 Chrift between thefe two Periods, and that this is call'd 
 properly 6 aiuv (xih^mv, although that Exprefiion, largely 
 taken, may include all the Days of the Meffiah. 
 
 * And the fame Apoftle agrees with St. Peter in join- 
 ing the Coming of Chrift with the Conflagration of the 
 World, zThejJ'.W. 7,8. zPet. iii. 10. Compare thefe 
 Arguments with fome of the like Nature in Gerard, 
 torn. nit. $.11% 140. \$t. 
 
2 ?4 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 Earth, if there were no one to dwell upon 
 it ? or why a new habitable World without 
 an Inhabitant ? And then the prelent Earth, 
 or the prefent Order of Nature being fub- 
 jecr, to Vanity, or to Corruption, is neither 
 able to bear nor receive the Felicity of that 
 blefTed Age. Befides, it would be incon - 
 gruous to bring Martyrs and Saints back 
 from the Dead to the prefent Life, and to 
 converfe with fuch Mortals as live now. 
 Let us conllder this in a few Words, if you 
 pleafe : As for the firft, it is both proved 
 and granted, eftablifh'd and fix'd, that the 
 natural World will be renew' *d, that is, our 
 Heaven, and our Earth, in a ftrid and a lite- 
 Ses juft. ral Senfe. 'Tis the clear Voice of the fa- 
 quLftSJT cred Scripture, and a Belief that was for- 
 ad Grccc. merly efteem'd to be orthodox, as it is like- 
 p- J 9$- w if e n ow. Tell me then, I befeech you, 
 with what Defign, or to what End is the 
 Earth to be renewed ? or to what Ufe will 
 be fubfervicnt this reviving Paradife? 'Tis 
 acknowledged by all, that the Earth is to 
 be changM for the better; and we have 
 fhewn by the Authority of facred Scripture, 
 to a Form, a Fertility, and a Beauty wor- 
 thy of Paradife, and of divine Workmanfhip. 
 Tfiecry ofLet us go on then ; God and Nature pro- 
 l.+. E c f' duce nothing in vain, much lefs the intire 
 & 8. Orders of Things, and whole habitable 
 Worlds; nor only habitable, but adorned 
 and furniih/d with all the Benefits of Na- 
 ture, all the Indulgences of Earth and of 
 
 Heaven 3 
 
State of Departed Souls, i5?c, 28 5 
 
 Heaven ; Seats intirely bleffed and beatiiick. 
 But fince 'tis abiurd to imagine that thefe 
 bleffed Seats, and this moft beautiful World, 
 will be produced without any Defign, tell 
 me once more, I befeech you, to what Pur- 
 pofe, to what End will they be then pro- 
 duced ? If you know any more rightful and 
 more noble than that which we have aflign'd, 
 freely and kindly impart it; but if none more 
 becoming or more noble is to be found, ac- 
 cept of what I have offer'd you, and look 
 upon this future World as the trie Land of 
 the Livings the Que Canaan, the Land of^¥^^ 
 Tromife, the Land in which the Saints ^^^ 
 /ball reign, the Land in which the Jufl foall^tv.v. 10. 
 inhabit. Laftly, the Land which the Meek *f et - iU - 
 and Innocent jkafo , fefi as their proper Mat.?.?. 
 Inheritance s they who have the leaft Portion 
 of all in the Earth which we now fee ; nor, 
 indeed, is the Whole of fo much Value, that 
 it is worth the defiring. 
 
 For, fecondly, the Earth which we now 
 fee, and the Heaven which is adapted and 
 appropriated to it, can neither afford, nor 
 fo much as receive that natural Felicity 
 which is appoint: 1 for the Saints in the 
 Millennian Kingdom of Chrift. I fay, that 
 natural Felicity : For betides the Goods of 
 the Mind, and thofe holy Affections with 
 which they will be continually ravim'd, ex- 
 ternal Nature will be golden all, and no- 
 thing will remain of thole Calamities which 
 afnid the prefent Life : For neither Pover- Rev.xxi.*; 
 
286 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ty, nor Scarcity of the Products of Nature, 4 
 nor fervile and illiberal Labour, nor Wars 
 and Difcords, nor Difeafes, nor Cares, nor 
 Troubles, will in the Millennium find any 
 Place. But thefe Incommodities cannot be 
 avoided, as long as Nature remains what me 
 is : They may, indeed, be diminifiYd by 
 the Afliftance of good Government, and by 
 good Laws ; but they cannot be wholly a- 
 bolinVd, unlefs the natural Order of Things 
 at the fame Time is alter 'd : Nor will this 
 Earth become the more fertile the longer is 
 her Duration, but rather the more dry and 
 more barren; and fb much the greater will 
 be the Want of Things that are neceffary 
 for Life and Subiiftance, and fervile La- 
 bour and Mifery will be augmented; nor 
 will Debates and Difcords, either private or 
 publick, ceafc, nor Contentions and the 
 Caufes of Wars. Befides, if the fame Face 
 and Temperature of the Heavens remain, 
 we fhall always endure the fame Injuries, 
 and the fame Incommodities from the Air, 
 according to the Viciffitudes of Times and 
 Seafons. Laftly, neither will Difeafes be 
 wanting, nor Pains, nor Troubles under 
 which we labour at prefent. But all thefe 
 are foreign from the very Idea of the King- 
 dom of Chrift, as 'tis exprefs'd by the Pro- 
 phets ; nor has a State of Life, no more hap- 
 py than the prefent, the Face of a Reward, 
 and much lefs of a Kingdom. 
 
 Thirdly, 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 287 
 
 Thirdly, Caufe the bleffed Martyrs, 
 and the other ^Saints to rife again from the 
 Dead, and to be converfant among the Mor- 
 tals of this Age : I cannot fee what kind of 
 Life, or what kind of Death you will give 
 to thofe whom you have thus reviv'd. 
 Would you have them die in a fhort Time, 
 after the Manner of other Mortals, or will 
 you have them live to a thoufand Years ? 
 If you lay the firft, fuch a Scrap of Life 
 certainly did not deferve, that for the fake of 
 that they mould break through the Bars 
 and the friendly Silence of Death ; for the 
 fake, I fay, of an earthly Life, among 
 Clouds and Darknefs, the Moleftations and 
 Incommodities of the prefent Earth and 
 Heavens. I am fure you believe that the 
 Martyrs were happy in the other World, 
 before their Return or their Defcent hither ; 
 wherefore, or for what Reafbn, fhould they 
 grow tirM or cloy'd with their own Felicity? 
 
 Anne aliquas ad cmlum bine ire put an- 
 
 dum eft 
 Sublimes Animas : itcrumque ad tar da r evert i 
 Corpora ? terrenofqtie artus^ moribnnddque 
 
 membra ? 
 Quae brevis cX miferas lucis tarn dira cupido eft? 
 
 Nor, on the other Side, will the prefent 
 State of Nature, or a State like to the pre- 
 fent, admit of Longevity of Life, a Life 
 of a thoufand or of five hundred Years. 
 
 But 
 
88 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 But let us proceed to that which remains: 
 Let the Martyrs and Saints return to this 
 prei'ent Earth ; what kind of Life, while 
 they are converlant among us, will you give 
 to thefe new Inhabitants? Shall they marry, 
 as formerly the Sons of God were enamour 'd 
 of the Daughters of Men ? Shall they be 
 intent on the Procreation of Children, and 
 the regulating their Lives after the Manner 
 of other Mortals ? What PolTellions they 
 can have here I cannot conceive ; or what 
 Inheritances they can have Recourfe to ; or 
 by what Law they can claim. All Things 
 have been feiz'd upon long beforehand up- 
 on this Earth, and long beforehand poflefs'd. 
 'Tis not lawful to force from others their 
 Patrimonies, nor can they fucceed to the 
 PoiTeinons and Lands of their Anceftors, 
 who have been dead many Ages fince, be- 
 yond ail Memory of Man, and all the Re- 
 cords of written Law ; fo that weighing all 
 the Endowments of the Mind, of the Body 
 and Fortune, I can fee nothing on any Side 
 worth their while to change the State of 
 Death for that of Life, fuch as it is at prefent. 
 But enough of this. 
 
 These few Things drawn from the fa- 
 cred Writings, and from the Nature of the 
 Thing itfelf, we propofe to be confider'd 
 by the more modern Millennaries, who, 
 neglecting the Footfteps of the Ancients, 
 make too much Hafte, and by their immo- 
 derate Heat bring the Kingdom of Chrift 
 
 precipitoufly 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. 28$ 
 
 precipitously down upon this Earth, and 
 this prefent Age, by which they draw upon 
 themfelves the Difpleafure of Princes and 
 other Rulers of the Earth, and render an 
 innocent and harmlefs Doctrine inviduoiis, 
 and by fuch a Proceeding retard the very 
 Thing which they chiefly defire to promote. 
 We do not deny but that by the Procels 
 of Time Mankind will be reform 'd, at leait 
 in Part, even in this Life, and that the Af- 
 fairs of Chriftianity will be in a better Con- 
 dition j that the Tyranny of Antichrift will 
 be weakened, and lome Parts of his Empire 
 torn from him. Befides, the Influence of 
 Piety and of Chriftian Charity will be aug- 
 mented among good Men ; as likewife the 
 Love of Truth, of Juftice, of Equity, and 
 every Virtue. And thefe Things being well 
 fecur'd, People will not plague and perfe- 
 cute each other for their DifTentions. Be- 
 fides, Science will be augmented, both na- 
 tural and divine, and particularly the ge- 
 nuine State of the Chriftian Religion, and 
 the Meaning, the Defign, and the Wifdom 
 of that Difpenfation will be better known. 
 Thefe, indeed, are Things that are moft de- 
 fir'd ; yet ftill, to compleat the Felicity of 
 the Kingdom of which we treat, there is 
 a Neceffity for a Concurrence of external 
 Nature, and for a new Order of Things ; 
 as alio a more full and more perfect Light 
 of Truth than we are capable of receiving 
 in this prefent Life. But we muft difpatch 
 
 U What 
 
25© A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 what remains to be treated of on this Sub- 
 
 J ed ' 
 
 These Things being thus expounded and 
 
 determined, it remains that we explain the 
 State of the Millennium. It confifts of two 
 Parts, Natural and Intellectual : What will 
 be the future Face, and what the Order of 
 Nature in that Age to come, or in the new 
 Heavens and the new Earth, we have fuf- 
 ficiently declar'd in the foremention'd Tbeo* 
 ry, and are unwilling to repeat here what 
 has been already faid upon that Point : And 
 as to the intellectual Part, that confifts chief- 
 ly in Contemplation and Devotion, in Ex- 
 ercifes like thofe in which the Angels with 
 Raptures pafs Eternity ; thefe likewife we 
 have gone through and defcrib'd in the fame 
 Treatife, according to our Power. There 
 remains only fome few Things to be added, 
 to what has been faid already, concerning the 
 extraordinary ^Prefence of Chrift in his 
 Millennian Kingdom, and the Confumpiation 
 of the Chrijiian O Economy. 
 
 But when we mention the Prefence of 
 Chrift in his Kingdom, we mean not by this, 
 that Chrift will defcend upon Earth in a 
 human Shape, and be converfant with Men, 
 as he formerly was in J tide a y nor that he 
 will lead a terreftrial Life, as in the Time 
 of his FleiTi ; this would be, in fome mea- 
 fure, a fecond Incarnation; but he will ap- 
 pear a- far off in his glorious Body, by means 
 of a perpetual or cohftant Shechinah, as he 
 
 formerly 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfci 291- 
 
 formerly appeared to the Sight in the Sanc- 
 tum Sancfornm ; and caufing his Seat to 
 defcend from the Heaven of Heavens, he 
 will refide in View of the Earth, the vifi- 
 ble Deity and the auguft King. But thefe 
 Things are further to be open'd and ex- 
 plain^. 
 
 After St. John had delivered the Doc- 
 trine of the Millennium, and had reprefent- 
 ed the new Heavens and the new Earth, as 
 he himfelf had feen them in his prophetick 
 Vifion,he immediately adds, Andl John /aw Rev.xxi. 
 the holy City, the New Jerufaleirij coming *' ? ' 
 down from God out of Heaven j prepared as 
 a Bride adorned for her Husband. And I 
 heard a great Voice out of Heaven j faying* 
 Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with Men* 
 and he will dwell with them, and they fo all 
 be his 'People ; and God himfelf ft all be with 
 them, and be their God: 'Ife f> cncmii t« Qea 
 fierce tcov aj/3*^a)7Tft)j'j ^ aytrivwGet [xel ctvroov, ^ 
 avToly &c* Thefe very Words, and the Uie 
 of thefe Words in the facred Writings, are 
 enough to convince any one that this is to be 
 underftood of the Shechinah. Behold the 
 Tabernacle of God is with Men, fays the 
 Voice from Heaven, that is, fuch a Pretence 
 or Habitation of God as there was in the Ta- 
 bernacle, where the Shechinah ihew'd its 
 Refulgency. And then he adds, to the fame 
 Purpoie, o->ty\vooaei fxe7 ccVTOOv o Qeos, God will 
 
 place his Tabernacle among them. Laftly, 
 that it may be the more manifeft that the 
 
 U2 Habitation 
 
2£2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Habitation of God with the Saints in his Mil- 
 lennian Kingdom, as he dwelt formerly with 
 the People of Ifrael in the San&uary, is 
 pointed at here, the Prophet adds, Kal tt u- 
 
 avTuv, 0go5 clutwv* which are the fame Words, 
 if you pleafe to confult them, with which 
 God promis'd that he would dwell with the 
 Israelites in the Congregation and in the 
 Sanctuary, Exod. xxix. 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. 
 Lev. xxvi. 11, 12. 
 
 Besides, St. John us'd the fame Manner 
 of fpeaking in his Gofpel, when he had a 
 mind to paint the Habitation of God in hu- 
 man Flefh, Joh/ll. 14. 'O Aoy<&, aag% eye- 
 rero, Xj eaxyvvcrBv eu yfx.iv 9 xj e^recca ct fj.eSrct tw 
 3 o^clv ccvT&) S o^xv us fxovoysv&s toccqjI YIa.T£ps y 
 
 The Word was made Flejh, and dwelt a- 
 mong us, and we beheld his Glory j the Glo- 
 ry as of the Only -begotten of his Father. 
 We meet with the fameExpreffion once more 
 in the Revelations, when the Felicity and 
 the Privileges are enumerated of the Palm- 
 bearing Multitude, who are the fame with 
 the Saints of the Millennium : For, among 
 Rev.vii. other Things, it is faid, O xaS^sr©^ W\ 
 \j t 1 , 17. ^g s-oovB) he that Jits tipon the Throne, that 
 is, Chrift, o-ttnveao-ei eir auras, that is, JJjall 
 dwell among them, or mall fix his Taber- 
 nacle among them, which anfwers fully to 
 our Explication of the Schechinah in the 
 Kingdom of Chrift. And in the fame Man- 
 c.xxxvii. ner Ezekicl y fetting forth the Beatitude of 
 **»7.»«. the 
 
State of Departed Souls, $s?c. 293 
 
 the Kingdom of which we fpeak, places in 
 it the Sanduary, or the Seat of God as in 
 the Sanctuary. I will add one Paffage more 
 to all thefe, from the fame prophetick Ora- 
 cles j where the Prophet treats of the Mil- 
 lennium, and where, at the fame Time, Men- 
 tion is made of the Temple's being open, 
 and the Ark of the Covenant beins; feen in 
 it, which Shechinah cover'd with its Efful- 
 gency. In the eleventh Chapter, after that Ver. \$\ 
 the Trumpet of the feventh Angel had 
 founded, the Kingdom of Chrift and the 
 Saints is defcrib'd : And 'tis laid, among 
 other Things, the Temple of God was open'dva. 19, 
 in the Heavens, and there was feen m his 
 Temple the Ark of his Teftament ; that is, 
 if I rightly interpret it, the Heavens being 
 open'd, Schechinah was feen, or the Glory of 
 Chrift, which cover'd the Ark of the Co- 
 venant in the Sanctuary ; as Stephen, the 
 firll of Martyrs, the Heavens being open'd, 
 faw the Glory of God, and the Son of Man A<fb ?ii. 
 at the Right Hand of God. And hither is ff>s 6 - 
 to be referr'd, if I am not miftaken, the ce- 
 lebrated Prediction of Jeremiah the Prophet, 
 Chap. iii. 16, ij,&c. when the New J era fa- 
 and not the Ark of the Covenant, mail be 
 the Throne of Jehovah. 
 
 By thefe prophetick Evidences and Dif. 
 coveries, 'tis, in my Opinion, fufficiently 
 manifeft, that in the Age to come, and in 
 the Kingdom of Chrift, there will be fome 
 \*fible and folemn Prefence of the Deity, 
 
 U 3 which 
 
jp^ A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 which we nominate Schechinah. But we 
 muft further obferve, that what the He- 
 brews call Schechinah is calPd in the Greek, 
 as well that of the New Teftament, as that 
 of the Seventy, <f oga, Glory, or S^a. tS 
 ©sa_, the Glory of God, as is fufficiently 
 known, and has been prov'd by divers Ex- 
 amples.* And the fame Exprellion St. John 
 ufes, and fays, that he faw the Glory of 
 God, Trij/ cTogar t£ @gy, reiiding on that holy 
 Jernfalem which defcended fromHeaven,Ver. 
 10, &C 1 1. The Angel fhew'd him nrnv dyiacv 
 
 ©eS, fyaaccv iw AOSAN TOT ©EOT. And 
 Compare then, in what follows, he iliuitrates this City, 
 7«*»*™- and paints it with all the moft glorious, 
 this. and the moft refulgent Colours of Light. 
 Chap.xxii. ^ nc [ he eloquently afferts, that they who 
 enjoy the Millennium mail behold the Face 
 of God. 
 
 Thus you fee theProphet fignified, in a two- 
 fold Manner and Style, that there would be 
 leen hereafter in the New Jerufalem, in 
 the Kingdom of Chrift and his Saints, the 
 divine Shechinah. But perhaps, you will 
 ask me what the Schechinah is, when both 
 here and in other Writers, there is fuch fre- 
 quent Mention of it, who yet, through their 
 own Neglect, or the Difficulty of the Thing, 
 
 do 
 
 * See Exod. xxiv. 16, 17. and xxxiii. 18. and xl. 34, 
 3f. 1 Kings vii'i. 11. 1 Sam. iv. 21, 22. Ifa. vi. HabbacL 
 jii. 3, 4. job. i, 14. and xii. 47, $f. Heb. ix. f. &&m< 
 
 iV\ .4. 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c, 295 
 
 do not clearly explain what is meant by the 
 Word. Nor indeed do I undertake to do it here, 
 or pretend to define it more accurately than 
 others have done before me. But if Pardon 
 and Place may be allow'd for a little Di- 
 greffion, I fhall open the State of the Quef- 
 tion, that it may be lefs difficult to others 
 either to quite clear up the Point, or at leaft 
 to find where the Difficulty lies. 
 
 The Word rU'DP is not, as far as I know, 
 to be found in the Hebrew Bible. We meet 
 with it often in the Tar gum, and in the 
 Writings of the Rabbins. ^Tis deriv'd, as 
 is very well known, from p*tf, to dwell, or 
 to fojourjiy and fignifies, in the common 
 Acceptation, to dwells or to Jbjourn. But 
 that it came to be made ufe of to fignify pe- 
 culiarly the divine Prefence, or the divine Ma- 
 jefty, proceeded from the Ufe of the fame 
 Word pttf, in the Writings of MofeSj when 
 the fmgular Prefence of God is exprefs'd ei- 
 ther in Mount Sinai, or in the Tabernacle, or 
 any other Place, Exod. xxiv. 15, 16. and 
 Chap. xxv. 8. and Chap. xxix. 4^, 46. and 
 Chap. xl. 35. and Ueut. xxxiii. 16. 
 
 So much for the Word ; but what is the 
 Thing, you ask : Schechinah, in a larger Ex- 
 tent, is us'd to fignify any remarkable Effect 
 of the divine Prefence ; but in a more con- 
 fin'd Signifkation,'tis us'd to exprefs the divine 
 Prefence under fome Appearance or vifible 
 Sign ; and in the ftri&eft Senfe of all, to 
 fignify the majeftick Prefence of God, in 
 
 U 4 fome 
 
ta 9 6 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 fome refplendent, fiery, or flaming Matter,' 
 as in the fiery Bufh he appeared to Mofes, 
 (Exod. iii. 2. T>eut. xxxiii. 16.) and to the 
 Jfraelites in the Wildernefs in the Pillar of 
 Fire, or the cloudy Pillar, {Exod. xiii. u, 
 22. Num. xiv. 14.) Upon Mount Sinai, 
 (Exod. xix. 18. and xxiv. 15, 16, 17, &c. 
 xxxiii. 1 8, 21. and T)eut. xxxiii. 1.) Before 
 the Tabernacle, Exod. xxv. 8. and xl. 34, 
 35. Lev. xvi. 1. Num. ix. 15. and in the 
 Sdnftum Sanfforum after the Temple was 
 built, 1 Kings viii. 10, 11. 2 Chron. vii. 
 
 And 'tis flich a majeftick Schechinah^ 
 that we here underftand, and that we expecl: 
 in that Age to come. And it confifts, as 
 you fee, of two Parts, the material and the 
 fpiritual. The firft is wont to be in fome 
 Meafure lucid, or of a Colour whitifh ; as 
 the Light itfelf, Fire, ^Ether, Cloud, or 
 whitifh Smoak. And this f lucid Subftance 
 is believed by Abarbinele^ to be always one 
 and the fame, that is to fay, that very pri- 
 mogenial Light which God created in the 
 Beginning, that very Light he ufes as a Ve- 
 hicle, whenever he would render himfelf con- 
 fpicuous. But however that is, the principal 
 Query is concerning the other Part, viz. 
 what that fpiritual Subftance is, that lies un- 
 der that fubtle and refulgent Matter. That beft 
 
 and 
 
 * See a Paiftge about the Sche china in Whitby de Deb, 
 Cbrtjl. p. 57.' 
 
 1- The Biflaop of Ely takes Notice of this» p. &, 
 
State of Departed Souls, i$c. 297 
 
 pnd moft learned Man, Jofefh Mede, is of Traft.de 
 Opinion, that the Angels were always under EccleC* 
 the Schechinah \ and that there was no other 
 Prefcnce or divine Epiphany, but the An- 
 gelical only, under the Name of God \ that 
 otherwife God himfelf is faid to be every 
 where equally prefent ; but that he is faid 
 to be efpecialiy prefent where the Angelic^ 
 Guard appears. I can verily believe that an 
 Angelick Guard is not wanting to the Sche- 
 china, but a Guard, over which fome very 
 illuftrious Commander of furpaffing Bright- 
 nefs prefides. 
 
 Just in Martyr*, Irenaas\, Tertullian^ 
 and fcyeral other Fathers were of Opinion, 
 
 Toy 
 
 *In Apolog. 2. p. 95-, 96. and in Dialog, cum Trypbon. 
 p. 341, 342. and p. 35-6, 35-7. and frequently in other 
 Places. 
 
 fLib. iv. c. 17,23, 37. 
 
 ■$. Adverf. Judccos, c. 9. de Came Chrifti, c. 6. Advert, 
 IWarcioa. 1. ii. c.27. and ad Praxeam. c. 14. and follow- 
 ing. Theoph. Anliuch. p. 99, ISO. Eufeb. c Demonft. cj ernen 
 Evtng. 1. v. c. 9. and following, where he' treats of it Afexandr 
 very largely; and Hi ft. Ecclef. 1. i. c. 2. Cyril. Hierof very often 
 Catech. c. 10. Befides thefe, you may confult Novatia» Protrep. 
 de Irin. c. 25". and following. Origen, 1. vi. com. Ceif. p. 6.Px- 
 Bafil adverf. Eunom. Chryfoft. in Gen. Horn. 41, 42, 48. pag.p-i'i. 
 and in A6i. Horn. 16. Theodore in Gen. Quaft. 92. in 
 Exod. qnxft. f. Hilar. de'Trinit. 4, $•, 12. Ambrof. de 
 Fide ad Gratian. Li. c. f. and de Fide contra Arian. cult. 
 'Prudent, in Apotbeoji contra P atrip aff. Snip. Sever . Hijl. 
 Sacr. 1. i. Cajjian. 1. vii. de incarn. c.9. Leon. Epijl. 13. 
 IJidor. Hifpal. de Nativ. 1)om. c. i. and many others. 
 
 In Cortbolt. Not. in J&ft. p. 34. and in Suicer. voc. 
 «77EA©-, and in Bull. Sec. i. c. i." 
 
2 $8 A TREATISE concerning thi 
 
 rrov Xoyov, that the Word was under the 
 Schechinah, in all the * Appearances that 
 are mentioned in the ancient Covenant. The 
 yews in general, and of the Chriftian Fa- 
 thers fome, are of Opinion, that the Soul 
 of the MeiTiah pre-exifted long before the 
 Time of his Incarnation, nay, before the 
 very Original of the Jewijh Nation, before 
 the Law, nay, and exifted through the 
 whole Difpenfation of the Law and the 
 Prophets, Now, if they fuppofe that his 
 Soul through the whole Series of that Time, 
 was in Conjunction with the Word, it would 
 not be inconfiftent to fuppofe farther, that 
 in Conjun&ion with the fame Word, it con- 
 flicted the Schech'mah of the Patriarchs and 
 the Prophets, and that thofe Motions from 
 Heaven to Earth, and thofe Returns from 
 Earth to Heaven, and thofe Apparitions 
 fbmetimes in a human Shape, and fometimes 
 in another, are to be attributed to the Met- 
 fiah ; and that neither thele, nor any Thing 
 like them, is confiftent with meer Divinity. 
 
 For otherwife, I can hardly underftand ei- 
 ther j%/?i// Martyr \ y or any of the foremen- 
 
 tion'd 
 
 * This is deny'd by Augufl. contra Maximin. 1. iii. 
 c. 26. as cited by Pamel. in Tertul. adverfus fud. c. 9. 
 p. 194. See like wife Auguji. de Trin. l.iii. c. 9. Cffc. 11. 
 
 f Juftin Martyr in his 2)ial. cum Tryfhon. often 
 difputes againft all local Motion, or Apparition, or Vi- 
 ability of God the Father; and p, 35-5', 35-6. he fays, that 
 when the Scripture tells us that God aicended upfrom 
 
 Abraham* 
 
STaTe of Departed Souls, &c. 299 
 
 tion'd Fathers, who pretend to prove by the 
 Invifibility of God the Father, and his Infi- 
 nity" and Omniprefence, that God the Father 
 never appeared, never afcended or defcended, 
 and never in anywife changed his Place. I 
 fay, I cannot fee how thefe Arguments, drawn 
 from the Invifibility, and the Omniprefence 
 of God, are of more Validity for God the 
 Father, than for God the Son ; unlefs you 
 fuppofe the Soul of the Meffiah to have 
 pre-exifted, and to have been united to the 
 Word before his Incarnation ; and that all 
 thefe Things were performed by that toge- 
 ther with the Angels: For otherwife J Ao^os, 
 
 the 
 
 Abraham* or, that the Lord talked with Mofes, that the 
 Lord defcended to fee the Tower which the Sons of 
 Men built, or when it fays, that God fhut up the Ark 
 
 of Noah , [xvi Viyeivbt canhv rbv uyevi/erov Qebv v.a.ra.QtQr)y-kvxi, 
 
 cjV. you muft not think that the unbegotten God either 
 afcended or defcended any whither ; for the ineffable 
 Father, and Lord of the Univerfe, does not move into 
 any Place, nor does he walk about ; he does not fleep, 
 
 nor arife from Sleep. He is not moveable, 
 
 nor to be comprehended by any one Place, no, not 
 by the World itfelf; as he exilled before the \Vorld 
 was built. How then can he fpeak to any one, or be 
 feen by any one, or appear in the leaft Part of the Earth? 
 You have Paffages like this in the other Fathers above 
 mention'd. 
 
 In the fame Manner as the Son returned to the Fa- 
 ther out of this World, fo he proceeded from the Father: 
 But his Return was local, and * * * his Afcenfion from 
 this Earth into Heaven was local. John xiii. i. and vi. 
 63. and xvi. 28. The Perfon of Chrift afcended, and 
 therefore the Perfon of Chrift defcended. Either his 
 Defcent and Afcent were real and local, or only Appa- 
 ritions» fometimes in Heaven» and fometimes on Earth. 
 
3 oo A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 the Word fimply taken, and united to no 
 Creature human or angelical, is invisible and 
 omniprefent as much as God the Father.* 
 
 But that we may return to our Subject. 
 Let this be as it will, with regard to the 
 Phenomena of the Old Teftament, before 
 the Incarnation of God, (of which, perhaps, 
 we ihall find Occafion to treat in another 
 Place,) the Schechinah, of which we are 
 fpeaking here, which will ihine forth in that 
 Age to come in the Kingdom of Chrift and 
 his Saints, is Chrift himfelf in his glorious 
 Body, which is fpoke openly enough by 
 the Prophet, Rev. xxi. 2$. And the City 
 had no Need of the Sun, neither of the 
 Moon to {bine in it : For the Glory of God 
 did lighten it, mid the Lamb is the Light 
 Lukeix. thereof Chrift gave a Specimen of this Glo- 
 ry upon Earth, while he was yet cloathed in 
 Flefh, in his Transfiguration ; and after- 
 wards in Heaven, when he ihewM himfelf 
 to St. Stephen and Saul. But that Appea- 
 rance, that Schechinah, will be the moft il- 
 luftrious, when Chrift Ihall defcend in Flames 
 of Fire, attended with Millions of Angels, 
 at the End and Deftruction of this World : 
 And the Word Glory, or the Glory of God \ 
 is wont almoft always to be join'd together 
 with the Coming of Chrift, which we ob- 
 
 ferved 
 
 * Nor is the Anfwer of Bull fufficient here j fee it 
 Sec. iv. c. 3. p. 462, CjrY. 
 
State of Departed Souls, J?V. 501 
 
 ferved above, anfwers to Schechinah* and 
 the Majeftick Prefence of God. And St. John 
 has in more than one Manner declared to us, 
 that this Glory, and this divine Prefence, will 
 have its Seat in the new Heavens and the 
 new Earth, as we obferved before. 
 
 But let us obferve further, that the fa- 
 cred Writers, in reprefenting the Kingly- 
 Glory and the Majefty of Chrift, firft fet 
 before us his Perfon ; then his Attendance, 
 or his Guards ; then his Seat and the Royal 
 City ; and laftly, the Throne of the Prince. 
 The Glory of ChriiVs Prefence is more than 
 once defcrib'd in the Revelations, and al- 
 ways in a lucid or flaming Form, Chap. i. 
 ver. 13, &c. The Prophet fpeaking of the 
 Son of Man, fays, His Head and his Hair 
 were white like IVool, as white as Snow $ 
 and his Eyes were as a Flame of Fire ; and 
 his Feet like unto fine Brajsj as if they 
 burned in a Furnace ; and his Voice as the 
 Bound of many Water s ; and his Countenance 
 was as the «SV/«, when he (hineth in all his 
 Strength. What can be ftronger than thefe, 
 what more bright or illuftrious ? unlels, per- 
 haps, that Defcription which follows in the 
 fourth Chapter, where the King, fitting upon Ver. 3. 
 
 his 
 
 * Schechlnah relates neither to the Father, nor to the 
 Holy Ghoft ; therefore it muft to the Son, or Aoy©-* ; 
 iince it implies in it fomething divine, and not meerly 
 Angelica!. See Grot, de Relig. Chrift. 1. v. p. 369. 
 Se&. iii. 
 
302 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 his Throne, was to look upon like a Jafter^ 
 and a Sardine Stone ; and there was a 
 Rainbow round about the Throne in Sight 
 like to an Emerald. Then, as to the Atten- 
 dance of Chrift, it will confift of Angels of 
 Light j as is abundantly exprefTed in the 
 facred Writings, which we quoted before : 
 Then, as to what regards the Royal City, 
 the City of the great King, the holy Jeru- 
 falem^ that defcended from Heaven, every 
 one knows that its Glory is painted by the 
 Prophet in the twenty-firft Chapter, by every 
 Sort of Glittering Jewels, and the moft reful- 
 gent Colours of Light, Ver. 10, n. then 
 Ver. 1 8, 19, 20, 21. Yet no Man ever here 
 underftood fimply and literally the Stones 
 themielves, whole Names the Prophet enu- 
 merates; yet it feems butjufl that it mould 
 be fomething vifible and illuftrious that is 
 painted by thefe mining Jewels : He who 
 paints the Pvainbow in Drops of Water, and 
 upon the riling or fetting Sun adorns the 
 Clouds with fo much Beauty, and with fo 
 many Colours, how much is it in his Power, 
 and how eafy for him, to excite and exprels 
 in his own JEtherial Body, or the adjacent 
 Heaven, all the various Sorts of Light, and 
 all the diverfify'd Glory, above all the Splen- 
 dor and the borrowed Lights of Jewels of 
 any Kind, or any other terreftrial Matter, be 
 it ever fo purged and fine ? 
 
 Nor does it feem to me to be at all new, 
 or foreign from the U& of the facred Writers, 
 
 to 
 
STATE of Departed Souls, isfc. 303 
 
 to paint Schechinah by the Imagery of 
 Jewels. The Breaft-Plate of the High- 
 Prieft, where was Uritn and Thummim^ and 
 Anfwers divine, was compofed by the Com- 
 mand of God himfelf, of feveral Kinds and 
 Orders of Jewels, Exod. xxviii. 15, 16, &c. 
 And when God appeared upon Mount Sinai, 
 he is faid to have Hood upon a Pavement of 
 Sapphir, furrounded with celeftial Brightnefs, 
 Exod. xxiv. 10. To thefe you may add, if 
 you pleafe, that when the future Glory of 
 the Church is defcribM by the Prophet Ifaiah, 
 (Chap. liv. 11,12.) and Paradife by Eze- 
 kiel (Chap, xxviii. 13.) the Representation 
 in both Places is made by Jewels and pre- 
 cious Stones, as in this Idea of St. John in his 
 Revelations. 
 
 But to proceed : Though by thefe Proofs 
 and Examples it is more than probable, that 
 Schechinah belongs to the Millennian State, 
 and to the holy City, yet is it difficult to 
 to go through the other Things which relate 
 to it, or to form any Hypothecs, in which 
 fo many and fuch different Qualities and 
 Characters may meet and concur, as are to 
 be found in the two laft Chapters of this 
 wonderful Prophefy. And this likewile aug- 
 ments the Difficulty, which, and how many 
 of thefe Characters are to be interpreted li- 
 terally, and which figuratively and compara- 
 tively. 'Tis the common Opinion, that the 
 Chriltian Church is reprefented triumphant 
 
 in 
 
j 04 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 in the Idea of this glorious City.* And that 
 principally for this Reafbn ; becaule the 
 Names of the twelve Apoftles are faid to 
 be infcribM upon its Foundation, Ver. 14. 
 and upon its Gates the Names of the twelve 
 Tribes of Ifrael^ Ver. 12. By which Title 
 and Name, the true People of God is wont 
 to be defcrib'd in the Revelations. Laftly, 
 this City is elegantly called by the Angel, 
 Sponfa Agni, the Bride of the Lamb, Ver. 9. 
 cX 10. 
 
 But when they afTert that the Church 
 Triumphant is here reprefented, my Opinion 
 is, that we ought to underftand the Church 
 Triumphant upon Earth, of in the new 
 Chap.xxi. Heavens and the new Earth, which the Pro- 
 phet faw but a little before. And he faw 
 like wife this Holy City defcending from 
 Heaven, Ver.i^S 10. that is, a City confifting 
 of thofe Saints who were raifed up upon the 
 firft Refurrection. Nor is there, itrictly and 
 properly fpeaking, any Triumphant Church 
 in the Heavens, either before or after the Re- 
 furrection. Before the Refurrection, we have 
 no Evidence that the Saints are in a vifible 
 State, or a Society vifible : But that their 
 Souls are repofited with God, and that they 
 live alone to him. But after the Refurrec- 
 tion, 
 
 * The Prophet D*vid likewife feems to have an Eye 
 to this future State, in Pfal. xvii. if. See D. Ten. 
 p. 366. 
 
XII. 11 
 
 State of Departed Souls, isfc. 305 
 
 tion, I mean the univerfal Refurre&ion, when 
 Chrift fhall have deliver'd his Kingdom in- 
 to the Hands of his Father, there will be 
 no farther any Form or Face of a Church, 
 but God will be all in all. Nor is it any 
 juft Objection to this Opinion, That thatRe7.iK.1i; 
 City is called the celeftial or the upper ^k- *»•*•* 
 rufalem y for fb it is called, becaufe it will & c . 
 defcend from Heaven, or will come from 
 above, Chrift defcending together with it, as 
 the Prophet more than once declares ; and 
 that it will confift of thofe who have their 
 ihare in the firft Refurreclion. 
 
 That illuftrious Society, which is de- 
 fcrib'd by St. 'Paul in his Epiftle to the He- 
 brews, though it fuits fomething better with 
 the Chriftian Difpenfation, than with that of 
 the Law ; yet can it be juftly and properly 
 apply'd to no Militant Church : For when it is 
 called by him the City of God, and the ce- 
 leftial Jerufalem, we muft neceflarily con- 
 clude it to be the fame with that which is 
 mention'd and defcrib'd by St. John, though 
 fome Things of another Order, according 
 to the Manner of that Author, feem to be 
 mingled with it. Certainly they who have 
 their Part in the firft Refurre&ion, conftitute 
 r jra.vnyvQ/.v Xj exxAyazv TrpcoToioKwv ev u&lvois 
 
 airoUUxiAf/Avon', the Church and the Congre- 
 gation of the Firft-born of thofe whofe Names 
 are writ in Heaven : And though they are 
 not yet <JV*aioi TgTgAgj«,agW, perfetlly juft 
 in every Senfe and Manner ; yet are they 
 X initiated 
 
jc6 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 initiated into celeftial Life, the Candidates of 
 Eternity, and the very next Heirs to Heaven 
 and consummate Glory .* 
 
 And 
 
 * 
 
 A Digrejfion concerning the State of the Jews in the 
 Millennium, or the future Kingdom of the Meffiah. 
 
 And here occurrs a celebrated Queftion, What Place 
 the Jews will have in the Kingdom of the Mefliah ? It 
 muft be own'd that the Promifes were firft made to the 
 jews, as well of the Meffiah, as of the Meffiah's King- 
 dom ; and that their Canaan, or Land of Promife, was 
 a Type of the new Land, and of the Kingdom of Chrift 
 R0I hT* bimrelf - And St - 2W has told us, that the Seed of 
 ij. Heb. Abraham fhould be the Heirs of the World, -viz. of the 
 See Ph'Io World to come; for they are not fo of the prefent. Be- 
 q u ; s h XT ' es fides, as Chrift was upon coming into the World, the 
 fit mundi. Angel fays to Mary, The Lord God /hail give unto him 
 SeDan.vii. the Throne of his Father David. And he fhall reign over 
 41. the Houfe o*' Jacob for ever, and of his Kingdom there 
 
 flj all be no End, Luke i. 32, 33. But this Kingdom at 
 Mie.iv. 7. prefent is not in his, but in Mahomet's Pofleftion. Add 
 Rev.iii.21. to this, that the Prophets over and over promife the 
 Jews a Rellauration; not only from the BabylonipCnp- 
 tivity, but a new Glory, and a happy Eftate, iuch as they 
 had never enjoy'd before. Confult * * * 
 Chap lxv ^"he P f0 phet Ifaiah too defcribes a new Earth and new 
 17, &c. ' Heavens, in which they were to enjoy all this Happi- 
 &kvi. 22. ne ^ s - And other Prophets, under different Chara&ers, 
 have marked out this lame State. 
 
 And laftly, St. John in his Revelations, always men- 
 tions the Jews, either plainly or indirectly, whenever he 
 is defcribing the Kingdom of Chrift, or his future Glo- 
 ry. From their Conversion he begins his Prophecy ; Be- 
 Chap. i. 7. hold he cometh with the Clouds, and every Eye pall fee 
 him, and they r.tjb which pierced him ; and all Kingdoms 
 of the Earth pall wail before him. Then, when the 
 Throne of Chrift is defcrib'd, Chap. iv. 4. and the four 
 and twenty Elders ftanding, the Jews are join'd there 
 with the Chriftians, /'. e. twelve Apoftles with twelve 
 
 Patriarchs, 
 
State of Departed Souls, fefc. 307 
 
 And from hence we are brought to what 
 we believed ought in the fecond Place to be 
 obferved concerning the Kingdom of Chrift 
 and his Saints, viz. That in that Kingdom, 
 there will be, with regard to this Earth, a 
 Confummation of the Chrift ian Religion, and 
 of divine Providence. The Chriltian Reli- 
 gion, indeed, will remain in the new Heavens 
 and the new Earth, under Chrilt its Head ; 
 
 but 
 
 Patriarchs, or Heads of Tribes, of the Jews. As after- c , xx j 
 wards, the Foundation of the new Jerufalc m are the holy I2> & i/ 
 Apoftles, but on the Gates are wrote the Names of the 
 twelve Tribes of Ifrael. Likewife in the eighth Chapter 
 when the Servants of God are fign'd, the Tribes of Ifrael 
 are fign'd firft, and afterwards an innumerable Multitude 
 of all Nations, Tribes, People, and Languages ; and 
 in Chap. xiv. i. thofe 144000 are number'd again land- 
 ing in Mount Sion with the Lamb. 
 
 Add to this, when at the feventh Trumpet the King- Ctap.xi, 
 dom of Chrift was come, the four and twenty Elders if, &c. 
 worfhip before him that fits upon the Throne, and fay, 
 That the Time of the Dead is come, that thev Jhould be 
 judged, and that thou fjjouldft give Reward unto thy Ser- 
 vants the Prophets, and to the Saints, and them that fear 
 thy Name, fmall and great ; and Jboztldjl dejiroy them 
 which dejiroy the Earth. Then the Temple of God was 
 open'd in Heaven, and there was feen in the Temple the 
 Ark of his Teftament. The Ark of the Teftament is the 
 Monument of the Covenant entered into with Abraham 
 and the Jews, which God had promifed he would re- 
 member for ever, as an everlafting Covenant, that was 
 to endure for ever. And that by this Token Chrift ter- 
 rifies that he did not forget his Covenant and ancient 
 People, but that he would bring them with him to be 
 Partakers of his Kingdom, * ******* 
 * * Not unlike to this, in the fifteenth Chapter, before 
 the Phials of his Wrath were poured out, when the Saints 
 X z had 
 
Vo 8 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 but exceedingly alter'd, as well with regard 
 to external Worfhip, as the SancHty of the 
 Souls of its Subjects. And that which ought 
 to out-fhine either, there will be a more clear, 
 a more full, and a more diftind Revelation 
 of the Truth, than what we enjoy in this pre- 
 fent Life. Religion together with Mankind 
 makes a gradual Progrefs to Purity and Per- 
 fection, and the Religion of Nature is the 
 
 Founda- 
 
 had fung the Song of Mofes, and the Song of the Lamb, 
 the Temple of the Tabernacle of Teftimony was open'd 
 in Heaven, to ijgnify the divine Prefence, as formerly 
 at the going out of Egypt, and afterwards in the Ta- 
 bernacle, where the Tables of the Law were kept; and 
 fo the Jews fall in with Christians, and both make up 
 one Church. 
 
 Again, in the Iaft Chapters of this Prophecy wc find 
 many PaiTages in Favour of the Jews. In the eighteenth 
 Chapter, Ver. 20. the ApofUes are join'd with the Pro- 
 phets triumphing with the Lamb over the Bealr, and 
 praifing God ; And in the feventh Verfe of the follow- 
 ing Chapter a Bride is prepared for the Lamb, clcath'd 
 with the Righteoufnefs of the Saints. lam not ignorant 
 that this Wife of the Lamb's is held by fome to be the 
 Chriftian Church only, feparate from the Jew'tjh, when 
 in C<jnftanune , % Time the Roman Empire became Chrif- 
 tian. But this is the Opinion of thofe * * * * w ho 
 do not expect or believe any Thing of the Cenverfion of 
 m . the Jews ; an Opinion contrary to the exprefs Words 
 Luke xxi. Q f Chriil and St. Paul, and of many of the Prophets ; 
 *4- . contrary to the Defign and Tenour of the Apocalypfe, 
 Rom. xi -which terminates in the Union of the Jewi/h and Chrif- 
 tian Churches in the Kingdom Chrift ; that Chrift may 
 be the Shepherd of both Flocks, King of both People ; 
 that the Gentiles and Jews may be collected under one 
 Head, unhed into one Body. 
 
 Laftly, 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 309 
 
 Foundation of every Religion that is infti- 
 tuted, from which all particular Difpenfa- 
 tions that are by divine Appointment, have 
 their Source, and to which they flow back 
 and return again, as Rivers do into the Sea. 
 
 Divine Providence feems to have inftituted 
 three particular religious OEconomics for the 
 governing and perfecting Mankind : The 
 iirft of which was an OEconom^ of Senfe, 
 
 and 
 
 Laftly, when this earthly Difpenfation arrives to its 
 Perfection, when all Things fhall be reftor'd, and Na- 
 ture renew'd, new Heavens and a new Earth, the new 
 Jcrufalem fhall defcend from Heaven, deck'd and pre- 
 pared as a Bride for her Husband, Chap. xxi. 2. This is 
 the fame Bride as was mentioned before ; and when 'tis 
 called the New Jerulalem, the Holy City, it puts us ill 
 mind of the Jews, and of the old'Jerufalem, their Ha- 
 bitation. Although what follows in this and the laft 
 Chapter is reprefented to us under the fame Name and 
 Manner of Speaking, yet we muft not deny this People 
 their Share in it. * * * * There can be no Difpute as 
 to Precedency ; nor fhould we be too politive in apply- 
 ing that which follows, however it may feem to belong 
 to that People ; for it is too obfcure. From what is faid. 
 I think it appears fufficiefitly plain, that all, both Jews 
 and Gentiles, will be collected into one Body under 
 Chrift the Head, when his glorious univerfal Kingdom 
 (hall appear compleat upon Earth. 
 
 This at lead we may obferve, that thofe Things that 
 are fpoken of the Tabernacle of God, or the Habitation 
 of God among Men, wereformerly promifed to the^wx, 
 almoit in the very fame Terms. See Ezech. xxxvii. 26, 
 27, 28, Zeph. ii. io. Ifa. xii. 6. When therefore we 
 read in the VVritings of a Chriftian Prophet, that thefe 
 Promifes are now accomplifhed, can we with any Co- 
 X 3 lour 
 
510 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 and of external Works, with but a fliort- 
 fighted Knowledge of Things divine. The 
 fecond was an OEconomy of Affections, in- 
 ftituted for an internal Life, and if I may 
 fo exprefs myfelf, for a facred Enthufiafm, 
 with a much greater Light and Knowledge 
 of Things divine, yet a Light and a Know- 
 ledge imperfect and incompleat. The Third, 
 in the Millennian Kingdom of Chrift, will 
 
 com- 
 
 lour of Juftice deprive thofe of a Share in fuch Glories, 
 to whom they were firft of all directed ? 
 
 The Time of this Reftauration of the Jews will beat 
 the Sabbatifm, at their Refurre&ion from the Dead, and 
 fo, after the Renovation of the Heavens and the Earth; 
 or in the Millennial Reign of Chrift, in the World to 
 come. And therefore 'tis foretold and fpoken of by the 
 Prophets as a Refurreclion, Ifa. xxvi. 19, 20, 21. Ezek. 
 xxxvii.12. Hof. xiii. 14. * * * Rom. xi. 26, 27, &c. 
 * * * * 1 Cor. xv. 54.. and that of Daniel xii. 1, 2. 
 regards the Jews in a fpecial Manner; and Michael, the 
 great Prince, is Chrift. * * * 
 
 The Jews by their Sins, and the Abufe of their Law, 
 have, by the juft Judgments of God, made Way for the 
 Chriftians; and Chriftians by their Vices, and the Abufe 
 of their Law, (hall in their Turn give Place again to the 
 Jews. Having alternately abufed the Goodnefs of God, 
 and alternately ***** fhall fucceed each other. 
 
 After thefe Remarks, it will be thought highly juft, 
 that the Jews (hould have no fmall Share in the Millen- 
 nian Kingdom of Chrift. But perhaps there may be two 
 or three Objections made to this Opinion. Firft, that 
 the Millennium feems to be calculated entirely for 
 Revel, xx Chriftians, or thofe thai were beheaded for the Witnefs of 
 a ' Jcfus, and for the I ford of God, and which have not wor- 
 
 jhifd the Beafl, neither his Image, neither receivd, &C. 
 and they fhall live with Chrift a thoufand Tears. Theni, 
 M&id, that in the holy Jerufalem to come, there Jh all be 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 311 
 
 comprehend all the three, and will be an OE- 
 conomy of Senfe, of Affe&ion, and of Rea- 
 ibn, with as clear, and as full a Knowledge 
 and Infight into Things divine, as can be 
 had on this fide Heaven. Rites, and Cere- 
 monies, and the Shadows of Things will va- 
 nifh : Virtue, pure Virtue, and Truth di- 
 vine, will, like the liquid Light, o'erflow 
 the whole Globe of Earth. Chrift laid to the 
 
 Jews, 
 
 no Temple therein, Rev- xxi. 22. which points out the 
 Jeivijh Worfhip. To the nrlt I anl'wer, that the Jews 
 are no where excluded from this Millennium, any more 
 than Chriftians. For the PafBges quoted above, (peak 
 plainly, that the former ought to have a Place 'here, and 
 that none of the lowed. But as the Series of St. John's 
 Prophecies run moftly upon the Reign of Antichriit, and 
 his Fall, it was natural when that was compkatcd, to 
 make Mention chiefly of the Triumph of Chriftians up- 
 on it, as it was they that oppofed his Kingdom, and are 
 placed all along in the Prophecy ns his Adverfaries ; when, 
 the Enemy is defeated, they receive the Honours of the 
 Vi&ory, whoperfonally fuftain'd the Battle, altho' others 
 fhare with them the Fruits and Advantages of it. 
 
 To thefecond I anfwer, That 'tis truly faid there will 
 be no Temple in the future Kingdom of Chrift, nor any 
 external Judaical Worfhip. For we fuppofe that at that 
 Time all Rites, as well Chriftian as Jeivip, will beabo- 
 lifhed : All and every one of both Denominations /hall 
 acknowledge Jefus for the Mefliah, and (hall alfo wor- 
 fhip God with a pure Heart, and a pure Mind, accord- 
 ing to that which is moll holy, univerfal, and perpetual 
 in both Laws. Nor (hall bloody Sacrifices of any Kind 
 have place there, but Sacrifices only of Praife and 
 Thankfgiving ; nor (hall Circumcifion or Uncircumci- 
 fion avail any Thing, but a new Creature, reciify'd ac- 
 cording to the Image of God. 
 
 X4 So 
 
2i2 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Jews, {Luke vii. 28.) Among thofe that 
 are bom of Women, there is not a greater 
 Trophet than John the Baftift ; but he that 
 is leaf in the Kingdom of Heaven j is grea- 
 ter than he, viz. with regard to the Extent 
 of their Science, to their Knowledge of 
 Things divine, and to their worfhipping their 
 God in Spirit and in Truth. O Days de- 
 ferving to be eternally celebrated ! O truly 
 
 Golden 
 
 So that notwithftandmg thefe Obje&ions, we muft 
 allow the Ifraeliies their Share in the future Canaan, 
 their Reftauration, and promifed Reft. For foit is that the 
 Apoftle to the Hebrews argues, that there JIM remainetb 
 a Sabbath for the People of God: By which Title he par- 
 ticularly marks out the Israelites, a People belonging to 
 God in a peculiar Manner, and in Covenant with him. 
 Now this Sabbath, although it may in fome Refpe&s 
 beapply'd to the Gofpel State, yet the Jews, we fee, 
 are not come to the Enjoyment of ( that Reft ; and 
 iince this Sabbath ought to be the Antitype correspond- 
 ing to thofe Types of it, the Septennial Sabbaths of the 
 Land of Canaan, thzjews may reatbnably expecr ano- 
 ther more glorious Sabbatical Reft, another happier Ca- 
 naan ; that fo the Antitype may more exa&ly anfwer to 
 its proper Type. 
 
 It muft be acknowledged that the Apocalypfe does 
 chiefly run upon the Millennium, and regards the Jews 
 above all others, as though the Millennium belonged to 
 them folely. 'Tis true, it does in a great Meafure belong 
 to them, but not to them alone, as is plain from Revel. 
 vii. 9. and xx. 4. 
 
 But that many Places, and indeed the main End and 
 Defign of that Prophecy, refpects the Jews, is apparent 
 enough to any Reader. See likewife Holmes, Vol. ii. 
 p. 125-, y 126, fcrV. ***** 
 
 Chrift is the Creator of both Worlds, the old, and the 
 new one that is to be. He is faid to be the Creator of 
 
 ths 
 
State of Departed Souls, tefc. 313 
 
 Golden Ages 1 O truly blifsful Life ! Let 
 this thy Kingdom come, O Lord ; and as 
 thy Will is done in Heaven, let it be done 
 on Earth. Thou gaveft thy Promife that Revel, «xi. 
 thou wouldeft come quickly, and wouldft x * a " 
 renew all Things : Why does our God ftay ? 
 what hinders the Motion of thy Chariot ? 
 what Hops the Courfe of its Wheels ? Let Judges v. 
 all thy Enemies periflj, O Lord j but let* 1 - 
 thofe who love thee, be like the Sun, when 
 he mounts the Skies , in all his Strength , 
 and in all his Glory, 
 
 Thus have we with Brevity treated of 
 the State of the Millennium. They who de- 
 fire to fee the Reft that relates to it, may 
 find it in the forementioned Theory. At the 
 End of this Millennium there will follow 
 the laft Judgment and the fecond Refurrec- 
 tion ; and then comes the Confummation of 
 all Things. I muft confefs there is no 
 Mention made in the facred Writings exprefly 
 
 and 
 
 the old World in many Places, Pfal. cii. Job. i. 3, io, 
 Col. i. 17. Heb. i. 10. 
 
 As to the World that is to be, the Mefiiah is called, 
 •xcLTvtf tb u.iZ.v®' (xItiaovt©*, the Father of the World to come, 
 Ifa. ix. 6. From whence the Author to the Hebrews, 
 Chap. ii. 5". fays, that the ootSfAtwr^ fx^Kacav, theH'orld 
 to come, is in a peculiar Manner fubjecl to him. The 
 J?ws call it NJinD^/', which regards the World, as 
 well the natural as moral. It is worth enquiring whe- 
 ther they make the Mefiiah the Author of this like wife. 
 
 I do not remember that the Mefiiah is any where in 
 Scripture faid to be the Author of the new Heaven, and 
 the nev/ Earth. * * * * 
 
l+.ly. 
 
 314 ^4 TREATISE concerning the 
 
 and nominally, either of a fecond Refurrec- 
 tion, or a fecond Judgment. But each of 
 Revel, xx. them is hinted at and implied in that Vifion 
 vefiV, & °^ ^t. J°k n > wh^h gives us a View of the 
 »*• Millennium ; that one will be at the Begin- 
 
 ning, and the other at the End of it. And 
 as for the Refurrection, in other Places of 
 the facred Writings, fometimes Regard is had 
 to the firft, and fometimes to the fecond, 
 without diftinguiftiing accurately. St. Taul 
 in his Epiftle to the Corinthians treats 
 chiefly, if not folely, of the laft Refurrec- 
 tion, as was before obierved : But Chrift in 
 St. Luke feems to point at the firft, which he 
 *f *f/ i7 - calls, The Refurreclion of the Juft, not of all, 
 but of the Juft feparately : Such as is the 
 firft Refurrection, in which the Wicked are 
 to have no Part, (Revel, xx. 4, 5, which 
 compare with *PfaL i. 5".) which will be the 
 Time of the firft Retribution. And this Re- 
 furrection of the Juft, anfwers to t*} nra.Xvy- 
 yeyecrictj the Regeneration, in which likewife 
 Chrift promifes the Reward to his Saints 5 
 Matt. xix. 28, 29. Laftly, in the fecond, 
 and laft Refurrection, the Glory of the Juft 
 will find its Accomplifhment, when Morta- 
 lity being fwallowM up of Life, and their 
 Terreftrial being converted into Celeftial and 
 glorious Bodies, they fhall be really equal, 
 and like to the Angels. 
 
 This is the End of human Affairs, and 
 this their Confummation. But now lome 
 may enquire concerning the Earth, What will 
 
 becomq 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 315 
 
 become of that, when its Inhabitants all 
 have left it ? Concerning this Matter, and 
 others that have Relation to it, we have, 
 in the Theory of the Earth, given our Con- 
 jectures. But iince thefe are doubtful and 
 problematical Points, and, as it were, out 
 of the Compafs of the Chriftian Doclrine, 
 we did not think it proper to infert any Thing 
 of them here. And fo much for thefe Mat- 
 ters. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Of Heaven and Hell. What fort of He a- 
 ven that of the Chriftians is, and how 
 far it may be faid to be local. What 
 Hell is ; whether there is, or will be a- 
 ny Subterranean j or any other locals cor- 
 poreal, and external Hell, before the ^Day 
 of Judgment j and Conflagration of the 
 World. : Of the Tunijhments of Hell; 
 whether they are to be looked upon as 
 finite, or infinite, or indefinite- 
 
 AN D now we have feen an End of all 
 human Things upon Earth •, and Hea- 
 ven and Hell come next to be confider'd. 
 By the Word Heaven, the Chriftians under- 
 ftand a State and Place of future Felicity, or 
 Seats of beatified Souls : And thefe Seats 
 they piace in a fublime Station, remote from 
 
 Earth, 
 
519 -A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Earth, and high in the Starry Regions, and 
 call them Heaven. To this Point there is 
 an Agreement between the ChriftianDo&rine, 
 and the Opinions of the wifeft among the 
 Heathens, and the Sentiments of their Phi- 
 lofophers, who fent back thofe Souls that 
 had behaved themfelves well upon Earth, to 
 that Heaven, from which they at firft de- 
 fcended. But as for the Poets, a Generation 
 audacious and lawlefs, and who reprefent 
 and mifrepreient the Doctrines of the An- 
 cients according to their Pleafure, and mew 
 the Truth in Difguife and Mafquerade, they 
 place their Elyfian Fields, their Seats of the 
 BleiTed, in I know not what Lands, and for- 
 tunate Iilands - y or, which is yet more incon- 
 gruous, under Ground, and in fubterranean 
 Regions. Thus grofly does Virgil philofb- 
 phize, to the Capacity and Tafte of the Peo- 
 ple • and that, perhaps, from an obfeure or 
 corrupt ibrt of Knowledge, either of the an^ 
 cient, or the future Paradife. 'Tis true, in- 
 deed, the Saints will enjoy a happy Life in 
 that new Earth, and that fecond Paradife : 
 But the Queftion is not here concerning that 
 intermediate Happinefs, but thefupream Bea- 
 titude and Seat of the Saints, after the laft 
 Refurreclion, at the End of the Millennium, 
 when putting on their celeftial Bodies, and 
 changing their Seats, they fhall enjoy aCon- 
 iummate Glory, and an inconceivable Feli- 
 city. 
 
 That 
 

 State of Departed Souls, &c. 3 1 
 
 That thefe Seats are celeftial, or fuper- 
 celeftial, all Chriftians agree ; I lay, or Su- 
 ■perceleftial s for the fcholaftick Doctors af- 
 fert, that a certain Empyrean _, or fiery Hea- 
 <vett) fuperiour to all the reft, will be the 
 Habitation of the Saints, and all that will be 
 eternally happy. But befides, that no fuch 
 fiery Heaven appears to us, by the Help ei- 
 ther of Senfe or Reafbn, except the Bodies 
 of the Sun 3 and the fixed Stars • there is no 
 fuch Order of the Heavens, and no fuch. 
 Syftem of the World as thefe Doctors ima- 
 gine : For they imagine that all the Hea- 
 vens are concentrical, or that they belong 
 to one and the fame Centre, and are invol- 
 ved and wrapt up in each other, like the 
 Coats of an Oniony which is in fome Mea- 
 fure true of the Planetary Orbs, but by no 
 Means of the fixed Stars : For neither are 
 they all of them fixed in one Superficies, as 
 it were in the fame Cieling, at an equal Dis- 
 tance every where from the Earth ; but 
 fome of them are immers'd deeper than others 
 in the celeftial Regions, and are unequally 
 diftant from us by immenfe immenlurable 
 Spaces, and every one moves in its own 
 peculiar Orb. And when thele Authors 
 place the Firmament, or the Orb of the 
 fixed Stars above the Planets, then, other 
 Orbs, Orb above Orb, till they come to the 
 firft Mover, as they are plealed to exprefs 
 themfelves, and then on the Summit of all, 
 gr in the fupream Circle of the Univerie, 
 
 "the 
 
J 1 8 A T R E AT I SE concerning the 
 
 the Empyrean Heaven, they build up a 
 Frame of the Heavens that is entirely fic- 
 titious, and an Order of Stars, that is not 
 incommodious for the Vulgar, but is utterly 
 unworthy of Aftronomers or Philofophers. 
 And they feem to have contrived this Em- 
 pyrean Heaven on the Summit of all the 
 Orbs, after the Example of their elemental 
 Fire : For, as they have difpofed of this Fire 
 in the fuperior Part of the elemental World, 
 becaufe it is more light and fubtle than the 
 reft, ib in the Heavens they place this fiery 
 or this flaming Orb, as being more pure and 
 excellent than them all, in the liipream Re- 
 gion of the Univerfe. But they talk in 
 either Cafe abllirdly : For neither is there 
 any inch fiery Sphere in the outward Part 
 of thefublunary World ; and in the Spheres 
 of the fixed Stars, the fiery Matter dwells 
 not in the Ends or the Extremity of the 
 Orb, but has its Place in the Middle, and 
 conftitutes there a bright and a flaming Star. 
 So that unlefs you will place the Habitation 
 of the Souls of the Juft amidft thefe Flames, 
 that is, in the Sun, or fome other Stars, you 
 will find nothing befides of Empyrean through 
 all the Extent of Heaven. 
 
 But tho* the Empyrean Heaven, in the 
 Senfe and Situation in which ^tis fet forth a- 
 bove appears to me to be a mere Fiction, yet 
 I fee nothing that can hinder our Belief, that 
 among the celeftial Orbs, as among the Stars, 
 fome are more bright, more flaming, and, 
 
 if 
 
State of Departed Souls, Isfc. 3 ic> 
 
 if I may £0 exprefs myfeif, more glorious Cor - vxl - 
 than others. But wherever Schechinah is, 
 or the glorious Body of Chrift, it fpreads 
 its Rays like a new Star, and its Light a- 
 round it, and in its Neighbourhood all 
 around it, the blefled Saints mail dwell, as 
 under a Throne of Glory. Chrift has often 
 told us that, and thus, being about to die, 
 accofts his Father, Father ', I will that John xH. 
 thofe whom thou haft given unto me^ where 26 -. xlv -3- 
 I am fbould be with me, that they may be-™ 
 hold the Glory which thou haft given me ; 
 for thou lovedft me before the Foundation of 
 the IVorld. But ftrictly to define thefe Seats 
 and thefe Manfions of Blifs, is not in our 
 Power at prefent; nor, indeed, does it much 
 concern us : But lince the Saints mall have 
 their Habitation in Heaven, and their Inhe- 
 ritance in the Realms of Light, 'tis veryaCor.iM. 
 probable that their Seats will be not only Col - i -*'- 
 above the Globe of the Moon, but above 
 the Atmofpheres of all the Planets, in thofe 
 iEtherial Regions where there is eternal Day, 
 and where Night never comes. Laftly, 
 fince Chrift has taught us, that in his Fa- 
 ther's Houfe there are many Manfions, 'tis Eph.iv.io. 
 but reafonable to fuppofe, that every Saint,^ ohnxiv,i " 
 or Alfembly of Saints, according to the De- 
 gree of their Purity and Perfection, will 
 have their Habitation nearer to Schechinah y 
 or to the Throne of Glory. 
 
 Thus much concerning the Station and 
 Seat of the Bleffed. As for their Condition, 
 
 (for 
 
3 2 o A T R EAT I S E concerning the 
 
 (for we have faid that both of them are com- 
 prehended under the Name of Heaven,) that 
 is, the Kind and Degree of Felicity, which 
 the Saints will enjoy in thefe ^Etherial Re- 
 gions, the Saying of the Apoftle has here 
 
 t Cor.U. 9. defervedly a Place ; Eye hath not feen, * nor 
 hath Ear heard, nor can the Mind of Man 
 conceive the Happinefs that God has fre- 
 fared for thofe who love him, Thefe 
 Things furpafs our prefent Capacities, and 
 the Force of human Thought. Yet this is 
 certain, that let them be what they will, 
 they muft all be referr'd, either to the Bo- 
 dy, or to the Mind. What the Body of 
 the BleiTcd will be in Heaven, both as to 
 the Matter and to the Form of it, we have 
 in the feventh and eighth Chapters, to the 
 beft of our Power, explain'd : That befides 
 its incomparable Endowments, it will be free 
 from every Evil of Sicknefs, or Pain, or 
 Trouble, with which we are afflicted in our 
 prefent Bodies : And that it will willingly, 
 and without Reluctance, obey the Com- 
 mands of Reafon, prepared and ready for 
 every kind of Obedience. As for the Soul, 
 all its Faculties in that State, will grow 
 greater and ftronger, and will afpire to the 
 utmoft Perfection. The Senfes, the Af- 
 fections, all the Faculties of the Soul will 
 become more lively, and will terminate in 
 greater and more illuftrious Objects. 
 
 Akd firft of all, new and moll wonder- 
 ful Objects will not be wanting to entertain 
 
 the 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c. in 
 
 the outward Senfes; when being exalted 
 above all the Planets, we fhall view the 
 bound] eis Ocean of the Univerfe, and innu- 
 merable Globes of Worlds, floating along 
 the vaft Stream of the Sky, each fill'd with 
 its proper Inhabitants : For the Force of 
 the Eye, and the vifual Faculty will be fo 
 ordain'd and conftituted, that it will furpafs 
 all the Power of the moll: artful GlalTes, 
 and will reach and take in Objects much 
 greater and nobler, and more remote than 
 what we now difcern in this muddy Air. 
 Then, when we mail contemplate the fix'd 
 Stars, thofe eternal celeftial Fires, thole 
 numberlefs Suns of prodigious Magnitude, 
 fucceeding one another without End, through 
 all the immenfe Spaces of the Sky, what 
 Pleafure, what Raptures will not this Pro- 
 ipe£t of the Univerfe raife in us ? How great 
 is the Lord, how great is our God, the Au- 
 thor and Creator of every Creature, of 
 every Thing that fills this boundlefs All ? * 
 
 Lastly, Befides this Magnificence of 
 the Works divine, there will be a matchlefs 
 Beauty in the Face of the Heavens, feeing 
 that the Stars, like fo many Gems of dif- 
 ferent Orders, and of different Kinds, will 
 mine with a thoufand feveral Glories, and 
 a thoufand various Colours ; when in the 
 Confines of the Orbs, and their Approaches 
 
 Y to 
 
 *Alas! How vile does this Earth feem,whenl lookup 
 to Heaven ! See the Place of Seneca, in his NatHr.@u<eft. 
 Arafat. 6>u(im juvat inter Sydera, &c. 
 
? z z A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 to each other, their Rays being varioufly re- 
 fracted, new Lights and painted Arches will 
 arife, and numerous Kinds and Forms of 
 Splendors will be feen, fuch as are painted 
 by the Prophet in the holy City, Revel, xxi. 
 18,19,^. This, befides, ought to be ad- 
 ded, that when we fhall have obtain'd a Sta- 
 tion, or Seat, in thofe iEtherial Regions, a 
 Station exalted above all the Planets, we 
 fhall not only fee one Hemifphere, or half 
 of the Heavens, as now we fee it, but fhall 
 behold the Sphere intire, and at one and the 
 fame Time become Spectators of the vaffc 
 Circumference and Amphitheatre of the 
 World, the Palace of the univerfal King, 
 with all its Ornaments, and its raoft fplendid 
 Furniture. What and how much will be 
 added to this celeftial Sight by the Prefence 
 and Influence of the divine Schechinah^ is 
 beyond all mortal Power to exprefs. 
 
 But why do we dwell fo long upon the 
 outward Senfes? The chief Felicity of the 
 Saints in Heaven will confift in the Con- 
 templation of their Minds, and the Mo- 
 tions of their Affections. But this Felicity 
 elcapes us, or, as the Apoftle exprelTes it, 
 does not enter into the Heart of Man in 
 this prefent State. But this, neverthelefs, 
 we know, that the greater and the more 
 excellent the Objecls of the Underftanding 
 are, the purer and the fuller Joy does the 
 Mind receive from the Contemplation of 
 them. This likewife we know, that there 
 
 is 
 
State of Departed Souls, feV, 323 
 
 is nothing in the Univerie, or the Nature 
 of Things, greater than the divine Nature ; 
 and the Perfections of it, to whom nothing 
 that is finite can be equal, or fecond ; from 
 which the Confequence is very clear, that 
 to Minds rightly prepared, the moll trans- 
 porting Happineis mull arife from the Con- 
 templation and the Love of God. So far 
 the Point is clear ; but we are not able, in 
 this Life, either to exprefs in Words, or to 
 reach in Thought, the very loweft Degrees, 
 or fo much as a light Idea of this high Bea- 
 titude ; fo foreign and fo remote is true Fe- 
 licity from our preient Condition. 
 
 But to proceed a little: By the fame De- 
 grees that we make an Improvement and Pro- 
 ficiency in the Knowledge of God, will the 
 Love and Admiration of him increafe in us, 
 than which AfFe&ions human Nature knows 
 nothing that brings more Felicity to it: Then, 
 the facred Scripture teftifies, and Reafon on 
 ieveral Accounts convinces us, that our 
 Knowledge of Things divine will be im- 
 proved in the Heavens, to the very utmoft 
 of our Endeavour, and our Capacity. Here, 
 fays the Apoftle, our Knowledge is like that 
 of Children ; but it will be there like that 
 in the Vigour and Maturity of manly Age j 
 Here we fee through a Glafs darkly 3 but \ Cor. xiii. 
 there Face t'o Face-, now I know in *Part, ,2, 
 but then I §j all know as alfo I am known. 
 Whatever fecret Senfe thefe Words of the 
 Apoftle may have, confider'd one by one, 
 
 Y 2 and 
 
 
324 ^ T R E AT I S R concerning the 
 
 and narrowly fifted, yet they teach us in 
 general, that our Knowledge will be corn- 
 pleat and perfect when we ihall be con- 
 veriant in Heaven, and among Celeftial In- 
 habitants. 
 
 Reason like wife fpeaks the fame Lan- 
 guage to us, and the fame the Nature of 
 the Thing, fince all Things concur in that 
 Celeftial Life, which may promote or en- 
 large our Knowledge. Thofe Afllftants to 
 Science, or thofe Incitements and Spurs to 
 Enquiry, which proceed from the external 
 Senfes, and the Knowledge which we re- 
 ceive from them, will be much ftronger, and 
 more efficacious, and wili much farther ex- 
 tend themfelves in difcerning either fmall or 
 remote Objects, than the Organs of our 
 prefent Bodies can ever be able to carry us. 
 Then the Force of Reafon, and the Force 
 of Genius will become much more clear, 
 and ftrong, and penetrating, by the Purity 
 and Subtlety of our Celeftial Bodies, and 
 the Soul will foar to Angelick Underftand- 
 ing and Excellency in every kind of its Af- 
 fections and Contemplations. Laftly, by 
 the Purity of the Mind, together with chat 
 of the Body, we mail be render'd rightly 
 difpos'd, and fit to receive God \ I mean, 
 to receive thofe divine Influxes and Illumi- 
 nations, which furpafs the Gifts of Nature, 
 be it ever fo much exalted. That eternal 
 Truth, that intellectual Light is diffused 
 throughout the Univerfe, but is received 
 
 only 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 325 
 
 only according to the Meafure of the Re- 
 ceiver ♦, and Souls, according to the Large- 
 nefs of their Knowledge, and the Purity of 
 their Affections, become more capacious of 
 the Deity, and take larger Draughts of Ce- 
 leftial Rays and Celeftial Infpirations. This 
 Cruft of Flefh, this Mais of Mud, with 
 which we are at prefent covered, fcarce al- 
 lows Entrance to Light divine ; but by the 
 Sparkles which we fometimes perceive, we 
 are brought to Defire, and to expect the 
 Blaze of Day, like Harveft by the firft 
 Fruits. 
 
 To all this is wont to be added, as the 
 Top and Accomplifhment of our Happinefs 
 in the Heavens, the Vifion beatifick. But 
 here we underftand either the corporeal and 
 external, or incorporeal and intellectual Vi- 
 fion. As far as 'tis corporeal, it will be the joim^. 
 Vifion of Schechinah, that is, of our Lord 24. 
 and Saviour Jefus Chrift in his glorious Bo- 
 dy \ * for God himfelf is invifible, as a moft 
 pure and unmix'd Spirit. The incorporeal 
 Vifion will be a Contemplation of the di- 
 vine Nature; and in that, as in a Glafs, a 
 Sight of both Worlds, the ideal or the eter- 
 nal, or the temporary and external World. 
 The ElTences or the Ideas of Things, and 
 the eternal and unchangeable Truths, which 
 
 Y 3 refuls 
 
 * As the Angels fee God, Mat. xviii. 10. fo (hall vvq 
 fee him. 
 
j 25 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 refult from the Regards and Relations which 
 they have to each other, I call the ideal 
 World : The Ranks and Degrees of all pof- 
 fibie Things, from the great Creator of all, 
 or from the Being infinitely perfect, down 
 through all intermediate Degrees, to the 
 lovvelt Order of all, and the neareft Ap- 
 proach to nothing; peripicuoufly to con- 
 template all thefe, as in the open Bolbm of 
 the Father, and as they are rang'd and fhine 
 in the divine Underftanding, is a Virion truly 
 beatifick. 
 
 . t we have faid, that this contemplative 
 Vifion comprehends both the one and the 
 other World ; that eternal and unchangeable 
 one in the divine Intellect: ; and this preient, 
 temporary, changeable one, which is go- 
 vern'd by the Will of God, on which it 
 entirely depends. And here too a bound- 
 lefs Field of Contemplation offers itfelf, of 
 which in this Life we are fcarce able to 
 reach to the leaft Part. We here are igno- 
 rant both of the Number, the Order, the 
 Magnitude, the Perfection, and the Vicifli- 
 tudes and Periods of created Things. We, 
 in a great Meafiire, are ignorant of the Im- 
 plements of our little World, the Earth ; of 
 the Hiftory of our Animals, our Plants, 
 and of Things inanimate; but of their Cau- 
 fes and their Influences we are much more 
 ignorant. But there are innumerable plane- 
 taryWorlds befides th at like ours are adorn 'd 
 and provided with Things and Creatures of 
 
 every" 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c: 327 
 
 every Kind, both animated and inanimated. 
 In contemplating thefe, we mail admire the 
 Wifdom of God, and his inexhauftible Fe- 
 cundity, that fhews itfelf in them a thou- 
 fand different Ways ; while we behold and 
 revolve in our Thoughts the Variety that 
 appears in Millions of Shapes, the new Ap- 
 pearance and the new Ornaments that are 
 feen in every one of them, yet every where 
 fit, and beautiful, and accommodated. 
 
 Fades non omnibus uncij 
 
 Nee diverfa tamen^ qualem decet ejfe fo- 
 re-ruin. 
 
 Each of their Faces is diftinguifh'd from 
 the others ; yet not fo diftinguzjfrd, but that 
 there is feme Refemblance ; and fuch a Re- 
 femblance^ and fuch a T>iftmc~fion is becoming 
 in Sifter j, as the EjfeB and Refnlt of Nature 
 in thofe who f firing from the fame Father. 
 
 But befides the Order of natural Things 
 that will be feen in every Planet, or in every 
 planetary World, there is likewife in each of 
 them a moral Order, or a religious OEcono- 
 my ; by which the Inhabitants of every 
 World are directed in their divine Worfhip, 
 in their Search after Truth, and their Im- 
 provement in Virtue, that they may at length 
 attain eternal Felicity. In thefe religious 
 OEconomies, (of which amongft innumera- 
 ble Worlds there is an infinite Variety,) not 
 
 Y 4 only 
 
pa A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 only the Glory of the divine Wifdom, but 
 likewife of his Goodnefs and his Juftice 
 fhine out moil brightly : In thefe the prima- 
 ry Myfteries of Providence are laid up. In 
 the OEconomy of our little World, the Myf- 
 tery of the Meftiah is the Alpha and the 
 Omega, and fills all Parts; what pafles in 
 the reft of the Worlds is hid from us : But 
 if by one Example we may judge of the 
 reft, we ought to believe, that in every 
 World there are new Proofs of admirable 
 Wifdom, under various and different Forms 
 and Minifteries. But to unlock and take a 
 View of thefe Treafures, thefe Secrets of 
 Providence, this Theory, if I may lb ex- 
 prefs myfelfj of all Religions fpread through 
 the Immenfity of the Univerfe : What Plea- 
 fures, what Tranfports, what ravifhing Sen- 
 fations, muft not this Profpecr, and thefe 
 Contemplations excite in us ? Nothing can 
 be more pleafing to the Soul, than to make 
 a Progrefs in the moft excellent Studies, and 
 to enjoy that Truth which we continu- 
 ally court, with which we are continually 
 charm'd. 
 
 Why fhould I mention thefix'd Stars, thofe 
 noble, thofe glorious Bodies, excelling vaftly 
 the Planets in Matter, and in Magnitude : 
 They are far from being all of them fix'd 
 in the fame vaulted Roof of Heaven, as to 
 us wretched Mortals they appear, but are 
 profufely fown at immenfe Diftances from 
 each other, through all the vaft Concave and 
 
 the 
 
State of Departed Souls, ifc. 329 
 
 the Profundity of Heaven. 'Tis reafbna- 
 ble to believe, that according to the Fulnefs 
 of the divine Power, Inhabitants are not 
 wanting to thefe morning, thefe rirft created 
 Stars, which fing forth the Praife of God, 
 according to that of Job, JVhen the morr: ng Jobxxxvi». 
 Stars fung together, and all the Sons ^pf alcxIviii 
 God foouted for Joy. Thefe have, I fay, 2/3. 
 their own Inhabitants, and Animals which 
 are peculiar to them, and every Thing elfe 
 in proportion greater than our contemptible 
 Trifles, according to the Dignity and the 
 Magnitude of the primary Bodies of the 
 Univerfe. 
 
 Lastly, we fhall in Heaven have a 
 clear ProfpecT: of the intellectual Syftem of 
 the JVorldy which is moft of all hid from us 
 here. I fpeak of the Orders of Angels and 
 Archangels, and all that illuftrious and glo- 
 rious Hierarchy, in Underftanding and Ma- 
 jefty next to God, and immediately under 
 him in the Administration of the Empire of 
 the Univerfe. When we fhall have a full 
 and a clear View of the Forces, the Num- 
 bers, the Degrees, the Endowments, the 
 Dignities, and the Splendors of this celef- 
 tial Army, how mean, and how vile will 
 all earthly Things appear to us? Things ifi.ixv. 17; 
 that are paft (hall not once be remember W, J er,lu ' l i< 
 nor ever come into the Mind again. This 
 the Prophet formerly faid concerning the 
 State of Things under the Kingdom of 
 Chrift in the new Earth: Much more fhall 
 
 the 
 
jjf A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 the Memory of all Things paft be obfbur'd, 
 and vanifh before Celeftiai Glory, There 
 will be no more Place for theie empty Tri- 
 fles with which we are taken up here : The 
 greateft, the beft ? and the nobleft Objects, 
 will be then the Obfervation both of the 
 Eyes and Mind ; and palling Eternity in the 
 Contemplation and the Enjoyment of theie, 
 we ihall be eternally rayihYd with the tranf- 
 porting Pleafures which will flow from that 
 fublime IrnploymenU And^ 
 
 Thus we have with Brevity Ihewn what 
 our Sentiments ought to be concerning the 
 Beatifick Villon. If you underftand the ex- 
 ternal Vifion, *tis the Vifion of the external 
 World after a fenfible Manner, but under a 
 much more illuftrious Appearance than it is 
 feen at preient, dpecially when we fhall be- 
 hold the divine Scbecbinab y or the Glory of 
 ChrifL If you fpeak of the Vifion incor- 
 poreal, that is another Scbecbinahy if I may 
 be allow'd to call it fo, or the internal and 
 intellectual Vifion of God ; the Objed of 
 which Vifion is twofold : Firit, there is the 
 Idea of God, and in him of all Things pof- 
 fible and eternal, which may be call'd the 
 Antemundane, and the immoveable Idea ; 
 and then the Idea of created Things, or of 
 the World external to God, perceived by the 
 Underftanding in all its Latitude, and 
 through all its Duration, through all its 
 Periods and its Viciffitudes, through all the 
 Regions of the Univerfe, and all the Orders 
 
 •f 
 
ST^TE of Departed Souls, tefc. 331 
 
 of Creatures j laftly, through all the Series 
 of A.ges, from the Beginning of Time to the 
 End of it : This may be call'd the Mundane 
 Idea, or the univerfal Mirror of Providence ; 
 and about nothing more great, more illuf- 
 trious, or more divine, can the Minds of 
 Men or Angels be converfant, than thefe 
 amazing Obje&s. And if Felicity fprings 
 from Villon or Contemplation, thrice happy 
 may they be pronounced, who in this glorious 
 Light behold the Light, who drink Draughts Pfal.xxxvt 
 of Life from this eternal Fountain of it ; 9» IO * 
 they who are thrown out of their natural 
 State by drinking of thefe Rivers of Pleafure, 
 are hurried beyond themfelves by Raptures 
 and Extafies, or with open Breafts receive 
 their God within them. 
 
 May we be allow'd to add one Thing to 
 thefe, in order to explain the Vifion of God, 
 that inexhauftible Myftery ? We are faid 
 in the Heavens to behold God Face to Face, 
 and to fee him as he is : Here we fee God 
 in his Works, as through a Glafs ; there we 
 fhall fee him in himfelf : Here we behold 
 him in his Attributes ; there we fhall view 
 him in his Effence, or in his proper Idea : 
 While we are in this prefent State, the di- 
 vine Goodnefs appears one Thing to us, the 
 Juftice of God another ; his Power another 
 Thing, and his Wifdom another : His Will 
 frill feems another Thing, and his Under- 
 ftanding another. Sometimes God feems to 
 us to act, and fometimes to be una&ive j and 
 
 now 
 
332 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 now to act one Way, and anon another. 1 
 Then, he neither appears to be a fimple nor 
 an immutable Being, but rather a Being the 
 moft compounded of all Beings, and more 
 or lefs, according to the Occafion, active ; 
 nor even this with Uniformity : But when 
 we Ihall fee God in his proper Idea, all thefe 
 will come into one moft fimple and immuta- 
 ble Nature. And to contemplate God after 
 this Manner, is to fee God as he is, viz. 
 a Being infinitely perfect, an univerfal Flow 
 of Light, and of unclouded Glory. 
 
 But I reftrain myfelf : For mould we, 
 like little Children, utter imperfect Sounds, 
 imperfect Senfe, concerning the fublimeft 
 Matters, which by fo many Degrees furpafs 
 our little Capacities, and which too haftily 
 fly the Search of thofe who live in this Dark- 
 nefs here on Earth? We ought, with St.Paul, 
 to be rappM into the third Heaven, in or- 
 der to learn thefe unlpeakable Things, thefe 
 fublimeft of all Myfteries. The facred Scrip- 
 ture itfelf is almoft lilent, and Ipeaks but 
 Sparingly and in general concerning the State 
 of Souls who are for ever happy in Heaven, 
 and of the Means and Degrees of their Hap- 
 pinefs. When it mentions Rivers of Plea- 
 fure, or the ^Delights of Paradife, or the 
 Crowns of Glory, or other Things of the like 
 Nature, to paint celeftial Glory and celef- 
 tial Felicity, its Language is according to 
 that of the Vulgar, for the Capacity and the 
 Ufe of the People, who are wont to meafure 
 
 and 
 
State of Departed Souls, i$c. 32* 
 
 and value the Sovereign Good by theie ex- 
 ternal little glittering Things. Befides, we 
 ought to obferve, 
 
 That fince the future Felicity of the 
 Saints is Two-fold, one in the new Earth, 
 under the Reign of Chrift for a thoufand 
 Years ; the other in the Heavens, upon the 
 Confummation of all Things, which latter 
 is to laft eternally ; there are many Things 
 more in the facred Writings which relate to 
 the former, than to the latter Felicity ; I fay 
 to the former, as being nearer to us, and in 
 the Way that leads to the other. Befides, we 
 more eafily conceive its State, and its Man- 
 ner, becaufe ^tis Terreftrial, and not much 
 unlike to our prefent Life, except its Incom- 
 modities, and its Calamities. But the other, 
 or the celeftial Felicity, differs wholly from 
 the Ufe and Manner of our prefent Life, 
 and comes up entirely to an Angelick State, 
 a State more, foreign to the Capacity and 
 Under ftanding of the Vulgar. 
 
 St. John has rightly taught us, It does 
 not yet appear what we {hall be _, that is, in 
 the Heavens ; but we know that when he 
 appears, we /hall be like him. Then Chrift 
 tells us that we fhall be like to the Angels, 
 ia-ayy£?ujs. And, therefore, as to the Body 
 we fhall be like to Chrift ; as to the Body 
 and Mind, we fhall be like to the Angels. 
 This we know in general : But this Two- 
 fold Conformity contains in it the Seeds of 
 various Perfections. From hence we acquire 
 
 new 
 
334 A TR EAT I S E concerning the 
 
 new Force for all the Acts of the Under- 
 Handing, and for compleating the Contem- 
 plation of Truth ; and the Love of God, 
 and Happinefs increafes in us, as our Know- 
 ledge increafes. We Hill make a farther and 
 a fartherProgrefs in the Knowledge of Things 
 divine, and are transformed from Glory to 
 John xvii. Glory, after the Image of God himfelf, till 
 *°'»I' S l ' we come to a Meafure of the Fulnefs of the 
 Stature of Chrift, and to an Union with God 
 and with Chrift ; what and how great we 
 know not. 
 
 Grant, O God, that the Felicity, which 
 yet we are not able fo much as to conceive, 
 we at length may know by Experience, and 
 by Fruition ; and that, defpifmg the empty 
 Pleafures and Glories of this World, we 
 may enjoy lubftantial, never-ending Joys 
 and Glories in Heaven, by and for the fake 
 of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift. 
 
 We now come to treat of Hell. By 
 which Word the Chriftian Authors under- 
 ftand the Place and the State of the Damn'd, 
 and of Men and Demons wicked and mife- 
 rable. The Latins by their Hell fometimes 
 denote the State of the Dead in general, 
 which the Greeks call <xc$V, a State of ab- 
 fconding, or if I may call it fo, of Invifibi- 
 lity. In which Senfe and Signification, 'tis 
 us'd in the lacred Writings, as by ^learned 
 Men has been abundantly fhcwn. But Ufe 
 has obtained among many, that by the Word 
 Hell } is underftood the Prifon of miferable 
 
 and 
 
State of Departed Souls, fife. 33$ 
 
 and wicked Creatures, who are departed this 
 Life, and the Place of their Punifhment and 
 their Torment ; and that in Regions un- 
 der us. According to this Acceptation of 
 the Word, let us firft, if you pleafe, en- 
 quire, Whether there is any fuch Place in 
 Being as a fubterranean Hell ? 
 
 There is no doubt but that there are ma- 
 ny and monftrous Cavities under Ground - 
 Some of which are filled with Water, fome 
 with Fire, and fbme with only Air : But a- 
 mong all thefe, you will hardly rind one with 
 which the Conditions and Qualities of Hell 
 will exa&ly agree. This Infernal Place 
 in the facred Writings, is called, Outward 
 c Darknefs, and c Unqttenchable Fire : 'Tis 
 hardly poffible, that the fame Place can be 
 at once dark and fiery, unlefs very many 
 and grofs Fumes are intermixed with the 
 Fire. And 'tis from hence, I believe, that 
 fome have taken Occafion to imagine that 
 the Tops and the Vents of JEttta^ and the 
 Mouths and Jaws of other Vulcanian Moun- 
 tains, are the Gates of Hell. I can by no 
 Means agree with thefe : For you mull ima- 
 gine, according to this Hypothefis, either 
 that there are Co many feparate Hells, as 
 there are Mountains upon the Earth that 
 vomit Fire, which would be abfurd ; or that 
 there is one continual or void fubterranean 
 Region, which every where runs under the 
 exterior Orb of the Earth ; as formerly the 
 Abyfs in the Antediluvian World. But ac- 
 cording 
 
3 3^ A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 cording to the prefent Conftruc~tion of the 
 Earth, 'tis impoffible that any fuch empty- 
 Region can extend itfelf under the whole 
 Globe of the Earth : For that Region would 
 be either under the Bottom of the Ocean, or 
 higher and fuperior to it. If it were higher, 
 it would be interrupted by the Intercur- 
 rency of the Ocean, between the Iflands and 
 the Continents, and in feveral other Places, 
 and fb would conftitute manifold and divi- 
 ded various Hells. But if you place this Re- 
 gion beneath the Ocean, befides that in the 
 Origination of the Earth from Chaos, this 
 empty Region under the Abyfs could not 
 poffibly be formed or conftituted, if there 
 were any Defcent, or PafTage, or Entrance 
 into this Hell, thither down would the Wa- 
 ters of the Ocean, and other fubterranean 
 Waters flow, and extinguish the Fire. 
 
 There is certainly no Abfurdity in be- 
 lieving that there is Fire, or a Mafs of Fire 
 at the Centre of the Earth ; and, therefore, 
 others pretend that Hell is to be placed there. 
 It would iiirely be very difficult, according 
 to this Hypothefis, to defcend or arrive at 
 Hell, thus fituated in the very Heart of 
 the Earth. The Wicked would rejoice 
 when the Place of their future Torment, 
 would be thus impervious and inacceflible : 
 How many folid Regions, what Bulk and 
 Thicknefs of Earth were to be perforated in 
 this Journey ? How much Time would be 
 fpent on the Way ? The Semidiameter of 
 
 the 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 337 
 
 the Earth is believed to contain above three 
 thoufand four hundred of our Miles : The 
 Ground itfelf, indeed, is not impenetrable : 
 But by what Hole, or what Opening, or 
 through what Part of the Earth's Superficies, 
 a Paflage can be given to fo vaft a Profun- 
 dity, we are utterly to feek. Befides, 'tis Matt. via. 
 manifeft that the Devils are not intirely fhut Huet!oHg. 
 up in this central Prifon ; but that they ra-p.8i.§2j. 
 ther wander through the Regions of the Air, Eph •"• a * 
 as it were in free Cuftody ; and the infer- 
 nal Tyrant is called the Prince of the Air in 
 the facred Writings ; where we are taught 
 by the fame Oracles, that he has his Habi- 
 tation at prefent, and the Seat of his Empire; Apoc. xx. 
 and that he will at length be fhut up in the 1>3 ' 
 great Abyfs at the Beginning of ChrifVs 
 Millennian Kingdom. 
 
 But, perhaps, you will object to me the 
 Saying of the Apoftle, that the evil An- 2. Pet. ii. 4. 
 gels were caft down into Hell, and deliver- 
 ed into Chains of Darknefs. And that be- 
 fides Chrift defcended as xctruTepcc ttis yns. 
 Laftly, by cuftomary fpeaking, as well fa- E P h - iv, -s N 
 cred as vulgar, we are faid to afcend into u 
 Heaven, and to defcend into Hell ; therefore 
 there is a fubterranean Place. But thefe Ar- 
 guments jprove nothing at all : Firft, as to 
 Tartarum, or He/l> this Word is ufed to fig- 
 nify the fubterranean World, and the gloomy 
 Air with which we are fiirrounded, as is ve- 
 ry well known to the Learned. And into 
 this Tartarum, this Hell, or this inferior and 
 Z impure 
 
338 A T R EAT I S E concerning the 
 
 impure Region of the Air, the degenerate 
 Angels are thrown down, being expelled 
 their native iEtherial Seats : But, whereas 
 they are faid to be kept in Chains, that is 
 fpoke alluding to a common Cuftom, becaufe 
 Criminals are wont to be fo kept to hinder 
 them from efcaping. Then as to what re- 
 pf. cxxxix. l ates to tne Defcent of Chrift «5 rd KctToore- 
 *f. mmm pec tv$ yrify that does not relate to the Death 
 -^chap.Vi.' °f Chrift, (as is abundantly evident from 
 Thenjoh. other Places compared with it,) but to his 
 Aft If '19 Incarnation ; that is, when in order to 
 procure Salvation for us, he left his Heaven, 
 and vouchfafed to defcend to this lower 
 Earth : I fay, lower or inferior, that is, with 
 refpeel: to the Heavens • for the Compan- 
 ion is founded here not upon the Parts of 
 the Earth, but upon the Parts of the Uni- 
 verfe. Laftly, when the Dead are faid to 
 defcend into Hell, ad Inferos, vellnfernum^ 
 that either denotes the Sepulchre, whither 
 the Bodies of the Good, as well as of the 
 Wicked, defcend ; or, it is particularly ap- 
 plied to the Wicked : For as contrary Fate 
 is, fo oppofite Places are affignM to the Good 
 and the Wicked ; and, therefore, as we pro- 
 vide Heaven for the former, a Region iub- 
 lime and refulgent, we believe that a fub- 
 terranean and a gloomy Manfion is well ad- 
 apted to the latter. Nor is it fo eafy to 
 conceive that the free Air ihouid be the 
 Receptacle of Souls, and their Prifbn, as 
 lome difmal Abode under Ground. But vul- 
 gar 
 
State ^Departed Souls, &cl 539 
 
 gar Opinions and imaginary Accounts, are 
 of no Ufe in determining theTruth of Things. 
 But let us proceed to what follows : 
 
 If no fuch Thing is to be found as a fub- 
 terranean Hell, the next Quellion is, Whether 
 there is any where a corporeal and local 
 Hell before the Day of Judgment, and the 
 Conflagration of the World ? or, Whether 
 before that Day of the Lord the Wicked are 
 only plagu'd with internal Stings, and tor- 
 mented by their own Furies. For my ownPart, 
 I am inclined to that Opinion, that before the 
 Day of general Judgment there will be no 
 external Punifhments.* If departed Souls, 
 till that Time comes, remain naked and with- 
 out Bodies, the Thing is then indubitable ; 
 at leaft for them who expect, that at the laft 
 Day there will be an external Judicature 
 with all the Formality of the Proceedings of 
 a human Court of Juftice : For neither can 
 naked and invilible Minds be brought before 
 a Tribunal, nor is it juft that any one 
 fhould be condemn'd to fufFer before his 
 Caufe is try'd and determined. 
 
 I know ^tis affirmed, as we obferv'd above, 
 that there is a private and particular Judg- 
 ment appointed before the general one, for 
 every Soul as fbon as it leaves the Body ; 
 and that in fome Meafure may be receivd, 
 Z 2 provided 
 
 * Some of the Fathers believed, that there was no lo- 
 cal corporeal Hell before the Day of Judgment. See 
 them in Maldonat.. upon Luke xvi. 
 
340 A T R E AT I S E concerning the 
 
 provided they who alTert it, mean nothing 
 external by it, but only an internal Punifh- 
 ment, by which every one fufFers according 
 as he has done, and his own Confcience be- 
 ing at once Witnefs and Judge, regards him- 
 felf already as one both guilty and con- 
 denin'd, and fufFers Punifhment according 
 to the Degree of his Guilt, avroxcLTCLxgnosy 
 being judged and condemned by himfelf. 
 But here we are fpeaking of an external or 
 corporeal Punifhment j for which it feems 
 impoffible that there can be any Room be- 
 fore the Reiurrection. I am not ignorant that 
 
 Luke xvi. * n the Parable of Dives and Lazarus, the 
 Souls of the Departed are foon carried, on 
 one Side, into the Bofbm oft Abraham, and 
 on the other, into Tormenting Fires : But in 
 the fame Relation, 'Dives has a Tongue, 
 and Lips, and the other Organs of Speech ; 
 and confequently his whole Body, as if he 
 had carried it entire with him to Hell ; which 
 evidently fhews that that Relation is not true, 
 occcrcc po-/ j', according the Letter j but that 
 'tis like a Fable or Emblem^ wtokjTna&sm-, ac- 
 commodated to the XJfc and Capacity of the 
 People, and contrived and invented to re- 
 prefent Truth by Fiction, viz. that the Soul 
 furvives after the Body is extinct, and that 
 in another Life the Good will be happy, 
 and the Wicked milerable. 
 
 These Things being thus laid open, it 
 feems to me to be highly probable, that the 
 Punifhments of the Wicked before the Day 
 
 of 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. 34 r 
 
 of Judgment will be only internal, that is 
 to fay, a total Privation of every Good, and 
 of every Comfort, befides the Stings of 
 Confcience, the Anguifh of Soul, and a reft- 
 lefs and dreadful Expectation of the Judg- 
 ment to come ; and that there will be no 
 external or general Hell open'd or kindled 
 before the Coming of Chriit, when the Lord . 
 
 Jefus fhall be revealed from Heaven,, with\, $. c 
 his mighty Angels in flaming FirCj taking Matt. xxv. : 
 Vengeance on them that know not God, and\ p et , iii. 
 that obey not the Go/pel of our Lord Jefus 7. 
 Chrifl. This is the judicial, the folemn, 
 the appointed Time, when Sentence being 
 paft, the Wicked fhall receive their Punifh- 
 ment ; and not only Men, but flagitious 
 Devils, who are deliver'd into Chains of 
 Darknefs, and referved to be tormented till 
 this Day, 2 Tet. ii. 4. Jud. Ver. 6. Nor is 
 it otherwife probable, that the Devils at pre- 
 fent ftiould live among Torments, or in tor- 
 menting Flames, when they wander about 
 the Air and the Globe of the Earth with too 
 much Life and Activity.* 
 
 Z 1 Thus 
 
 * Since there is aflign'd to wicked Men and Devils 
 the fame Place of Punifhment, and both are to receive 
 their Sentence at the fame Time ; but fince thefe latter 
 will not be caft into Hell, or the Place of Torment, be- 
 fore the Coming of Chrift, as is plain from the (acred 
 Writers and their Interpreters, [See PP. Gerard. Tom. 9. 
 de extr. Jud. p. 78. Maldonat. in Mat. viii. 29. *Tis 
 remarkable how tmammoHJly rnofl of the ancient Authors 
 
 taught 
 
34* A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Thus have we treated fuccin&ly of Hell, 
 and of the State and Manfions of theWicked 
 before the Day of Judgment : But when 
 that fatal Day arrives, and the impious Dead 
 being fummon'd to appear by the Sound of 
 the laft Trumpet, fhali be thrown down in- 
 to Hell, and condemn'd to external Punifh- 
 ments, the Queftion is, Whether thofe Pu- 
 niihments are to endure eternally, without 
 Ceffation, without Relaxation, without End? 
 Human Nature abhors the very Name of 
 eternal Punifhments, which fets before our 
 Eyes a Spectacle of infatiable, implacable 
 Revenge \ and this for no Manner of Profit 
 or Hopes of Amendment ; yet the facred 
 Scripture feems to declare for the contrary 
 Side. Jefus Chrift, though the greateft Lo- 
 ver of human Kind, yet plainly and exprefly 
 calls the Punifhments of the Devils and 
 Damn'd, eternal Punilhments, when laying 
 before us the Deftinies of the Righteous and 
 the Ungodly, he pronounces Sentence againft 
 the latter in the following Form : 'Depart 
 from me, ye Cur fed, into cverlajiing Fire^ 
 prepared for the 'Devil and his Angels, 
 Matt. xxv. 41. To the fame Purpole he 
 tells us, That the Wheat being gather } d into 
 the Gamer, the Chaff 1 is to be burnt with 
 
 tin- 
 
 taught that the 'Devils will not be tormented before the 
 Day of Judgment^ fo neither does it feem agreeable to 
 Scripture, that the latter fhould be thruft down thither 
 before that Time. 
 
State of departed Souls, isfc 343 
 
 unquenchable Fire y Mat. iii. 12. and that 
 in Hell the IVorm dieth not y and the Fire 
 is not quenched^ Mark ix. 44. 
 
 These Teftimonies we have from the 
 Mouth of Chrift himfelf, that the Punifh- 
 ments of the Wicked fhall be eternal, with- 
 out End : Nor do the Prophets and Apoftles 
 ipeak other wife, T)an, xii. 2. 2 Theff. i. 9, 
 At the fame Time on the other Side, Reaibn, 
 the Nature of God, and the Nature of Things, 
 cry out loudly againft it, and admonifh us, 
 that fbme Moderation is to be ufed, and fome 
 commodious Explication of the divine Paf. 
 fages, that both human Rights and divine 
 may not at once be violated, and the Chriftian 
 Religion fuffer in its Intereft or Reputa- 
 tion. 
 
 At the fame Time it is my Opinion, that 
 we ought firmly to adhere to that Rule for 
 the Interpretation of Scripture, which has 
 been received by Divines, That without ah- 
 Jolute NeceJJity^ we ought not to depart 
 from the Letter. Then, in the next Place, 
 we are to enquire, whether the Duration of 
 eternal Punifhment is not repugnant to ma- 
 nifeft Reafons, and to invincible Arguments : 
 For, if this is the Cafe, the moft rigid Cen- 
 furers ought to excufe us, if in this Point 
 we diffent from the common Interpretation. 
 The Soul flies from the very Thought, and 
 abhors the Remembrance of everlafting Mi- 
 fery ; and feveral Things have occurr'd to 
 me ; while I haye been thinking on this Sub- 
 Z 4 jed, 
 
544 'A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 je£r, by which I am fenfible that others 
 have been perfuaded, as well as myfelf, 
 that God neither will, nor can endure the 
 perpetual Afrli&ion and Torment of his own 
 Creature ; nor can Nature itfelf endure it. 
 Then, we conceive the God of the Chriftians 
 to be the belt and wifeft of Beings ; that 
 he is neither cruel nor unjuft to the Race 
 of Men ; that there is nothing barbarous or 
 difmal in his Worfhip ; that he has neither 
 instituted;, nor fuffered any Thing that is 
 barbarous, any Thing that is inhuman : No 
 Blood, or Wounds, or Tearing of the Skin 
 or Flefh ; nor does he love, after the Man- 
 ner of Moloch^ to embrace living Infants 
 with their Arms on Fire. Befides, Jefus 
 
 A°a. x. 42 the Head and the Ca P tain of the Chriftian 
 2 Tim.iv. Dilpenfation, to whom the Father has com- 
 '• mitted all Judgment, is the greateft Lover 
 
 of human Kind ; and fuffered his own Blood 
 to be fned to redeem us from Evil and Mife- 
 ry. This King and merciful Father, and 
 this moft righteous Judge, govern entirely 
 the Fates of Humankind ; and yet you a£- 
 fert that, according to the facred Scriptures, 
 the greateft Part of Humankind will be 
 damned to eternal Punifhments, even by 
 this moft merciful Father, by this moft righ- 
 teous Judge. 
 
 Concerning the Number of thofe who 
 will be mifcrable in another Life, I have no- 
 thing to fay, not being able to know any 
 Thing of it : But that God fhould condemn 
 
 his 
 
State of Departed Souls* iffc* 345 
 
 his own Creatures to a State of eternal Mi- 
 fery, and mould retain them in that State, 
 feems to be repugnant both to divine Wif- 
 dom and Goodneis, and, I may add likewife, 
 to Juftice : I fay repugnant to Wifdom ; for 
 a State like this, of everlafting and un- 
 changeable Mifery, would be in vain, and 
 of no Ufe, and therefore unwife and unwor- 
 thy of God ; for a Torment without Ceffa- 
 tion, and without End, can neither be of 
 Service to God, nor to Man. Not to Man 
 moft certainly, if there is no Room for Re- 
 pentance, and he who is Tormented can ne- 
 ver grow better ; if no Intermifiion, and no 
 Eafe is allow'd, that the Tormented may re- 
 fpire a little, and deliberate concerning the 
 Change of his State and his Mind. Let this 
 Punilnment be fevere, let it be bitter, nay, 
 let it be lafting, but let it at length have an 
 End; it can otherwife produce no Fruit, 
 no, not the leaft Degree of it ; nor would it 
 be poffible for thefe miferable Sinners to re- 
 pent, and lead better Lives, if amidft the 
 Pangs of their Bodies and their Minds they 
 fhould happen to be born again. 
 
 But you will fay, that their Punifhment 
 is defervedly continued, their Impiety being 
 continued \ but that the Damn'd are incura- 
 ble, and always perfift in their Malice. 
 But this is begging the Queftion, and this 
 Suppofition is injurious to the Dignity of 
 God the Creator \ for 'tis neither agreeable 
 to the divine Wifdom nor Goodneis, fo to 
 
 form 
 
346 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 form and conftitute the reafonable Nature 
 of Men, that it lhould be able to degene- 
 rate into a Depravity, from which there can 
 be no Recovery ; or into an unchangeable 
 State of Mifery and Impiety ; * for fuch a 
 State can be pleafing to no Deity, unlefs 
 perhaps to the evil God of the Manichees. 
 But if God, the greater!: and the beft of 
 Beings would create fuch a Being as this, 
 he would certainly on this Condition create 
 it, that as foon as it was arriv'd to this incu- 
 rable, this utterly defperate State, it mould 
 return to its primitive Nothing» Nor, in my 
 Opinion, can the Honour of Providence be 
 otherwife fafe, than by cutting off that from 
 the Number of Beings which once is grown 
 incurable, and by the utter Deftru&ion of 
 that, which is not only worth nothing, but 
 is iome Degrees worfe than nothing. 
 
 But by what Argument will you pretend 
 to convince me, that the Souls of the Wick- 
 ed are after Death incurable ? The Fathers 
 feem not to have believ'd that, who were of 
 Opinion, that the laft would be a purgative 
 Fire, concerning which we have treated in 
 the iixth Chapter. Nor does it feem juit 
 to limit the divine Power and Wifdom, and 
 to opprels it with an evil irrefiftable Defti- 
 ny, or an incurable Difeafe ; for whatever 
 this Di (temper of Souls may be, if it can by 
 
 any 
 
 * Knowing that no reafonable Creature ftiall perifh 
 everlaftingly. Hieron. in Gal. iv. 
 
State of Departed Souls, izfc. 347 
 
 any Method, or any Medicine be driven out, 
 no Remedy certainly is more powerful, or 
 more effectual than Fire, or than fiery Tor- 
 ments : This Pain, if any, will caufe them 
 to be touchM with a Senfe of their former 
 Crimes, and to grow weary of their prefent 
 Mifery. Befides, in that other Life, there 
 will be no longer Room for the Infidelity of 
 the Wicked : When theyftall have feen Chrift 
 coming in the Clouds _, furrounded with Glo- 
 ry, and with his mighty Angels, triumphing 
 every where over his Enemies, and trampling 
 them under his Feet. And then that Fo- 
 mentation of Evil, which dwells in this 
 Body and this Flefh, will, in that State, be 
 extinguifh'd and ceafe : There will be no 
 internal Concupifcence, no external Nourifh- 
 ment of Vice, nor any Allurements to Plea- 
 lure, to Ambition, or Avarice, or any In- 
 citements of the Senfes or Paflions to Wick- 
 ednefs. For my Part, I cannot perceive 
 by what Argument, true or falfe, or by what 
 Impulfe internal or external, they can be 
 mov'd to adhere eternally to their Vices and 
 their Impiety, unlefs they mould be hardened 
 by God himfelf. But if they are actuated 
 from without, and by Force, and are Mailers 
 neither of their Reafon nor Liberty, I can- 
 not fee how they can be further condemn 'd. 
 But we fhall prefently refumethis Subjed ; in 
 the mean while let us proceed to the reft. 
 
 Besides, we appeal in this Caufe to divine 
 Juftice and Equity. The Man, whom God 
 
 created 
 
548 A TREATISE concerning th§ 
 
 created liable to fall, him, becaufe he fell, 
 God will not punifh eternally ; nor will he 
 deprive him, to whom he has given the 
 Power, or rather the Impotence and the Li- 
 berty of falling into Vice, of the Power and 
 the Liberty of relinquiihing that Vice. 
 But you will fay, perhaps, that God does 
 not deprive the Wicked of this Power and 
 Liberty, but it proceeds from their own 
 Will, that they perfift in Evil immoveable 
 and inflexible. I anfwer, that according to 
 your Hypothefis God has created them of 
 fuch a Nature, that they cannot be other- 
 wife than inflexible and irrecoverable, after 
 they have once departed this Life, and de- 
 fcended into their Torments. Grant me but 
 this, that thofe miferable Creatures are ca- 
 pable of repenting, and we will not throw 
 away all Hope of their being receiv'd into 
 Grace : But you deny that they can repent ; 
 I delire that you would prove that their 
 Repentance is impollible. If they continue 
 to be reafonable Creatures, indued with Un- 
 derftanding and Will, they can repent; but 
 if they are depriv'd of Reafon and Liberty, 
 they can no longer fin. 
 
 Others argue thus from divine Juftice : 
 *Tis againft all Equity, that the Offences of 
 a fhort Life, of a Life prone to Vice, fhould 
 be puniflYd with eternal Puniihments, when 
 there is no Proportion between the Offence 
 and the Punifhment. But here, perhaps, 
 you will retort, according to Cuftom, that 
 
 every 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc. n§ 
 
 every Sin carries with it infinite Guilt, as 
 being committed againft an infinite God. 
 This in fome Meafure, indeed, may be 
 faid ; but this is not the Rule, nor the Mea- 
 fure of the Actions of God towards his Crea- 
 tures;, and therefore can have no Validity when 
 we give an Account of the Actions of God to- 
 wards his Creatures. According to this Draco- 
 nick Law, the fmalleft Offences may be law- 
 fully punifh'd with eternal Punifhments, nay, 
 and with the moll grievous ; for the Reafon 
 which you give is full as ftrong for the 
 Greatnels of the Punifhments, as for their 
 Duration. Let us fuppofe then, fince in 
 ftrid Juftice it may be done, that the light- 
 eft TranfgrefTors will be punifrYd with the 
 greateft, and thole eternal Punifhments, 
 what fhall be done to the more grievous 
 TranlgrelTors ? what to the molt grievous? 
 If the lightefl Tranlgreflion deferves the 
 greateft, and thofe perpetual Punifhments, 
 what does or can the moll grievous deferve 
 beyond it ? for nothing is greater than the 
 greateft. This Account of yours therefore 
 confounds all the Ends and Purpoles of pu- 
 nitive Juftice, and makes Sins in fome Mea- 
 fure equal. 
 
 But let us proceed from the Juftice of 
 God, to his Goodnefs. The greateft Rigour 
 of Juftice is faid to be the higheft Injuf- 
 tice: 'Tis, at leaft, inconfiftent with Good- 
 nefs and Mercy. But God, according to 
 this your Hypothecs, in the Punifhment of 
 
 Sinners, 
 
j jo A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Sinners, ufes the higheft and the fevereit 
 Jultice, that I may lay nothing worfe ; for 
 he punifhes them with the moft exquifite 
 Torments, and Torments which are to en- 
 dure eternally, than which no Punifhment 
 can be conceived more difmal or more into- 
 lerable. We read of the Torments which 
 the Chriftians endur'd in the firft Ages of 
 the Church, and what, befides, Sicilian and 
 other Tyrants invented : But thefe are mild 
 and gentle all, compared to infernal Tor- 
 ments j and not only gentle, but tranfitory^but 
 a Pain that is at the fame Time vehement and 
 eternal, carries with it all the Degrees of 
 Pain . Do but fancy fuch a raging Heat of 
 a Fever, fuch a racking Fit of the Stone, 
 or fuch a tormenting Gholick, as is to endure 
 feven Years, who could be equal to the fup- 
 porting thefe cruel Pangs ? But if inilead of 
 ieven, you put a thoufand Years, no one 
 could be found that would either purchafe 
 or bear that Millennian Life, upon that 
 Condition; and much lefs Eternity. 
 
 But perhaps you will fay that this is not 
 the extream Rigour of his Juftice; that God 
 could have annihilated the Wicked, and have 
 reducM them to nothing ; and that by this 
 means he would ufe the extream Rigour of 
 his Juftice. I anfwer, that 'tis much more 
 delirable not at all to be, and to be touched 
 by no Senfe, either of Good or Evil, than 
 to exift in perpetual Torments, without In- 
 termiffion, without End. This feems to me 
 
 to 
 
State of Departed Souls, $S?c. jyi 
 
 to be clear by the Light of Nature. Let 
 me, O God, return into Nothing ; I am 
 weary of my Being : ^Tis preferable much 
 to have no Senfation, than to have no Sen- 
 fation of any Thing but Pain. Take, O 
 God, fays the miferable Creature, depriv'd 
 almoft by tormenting Flames of Reafon, 
 take away what is thine: I had rather be 
 out of the Number of Things • O let me pe- 
 rifh, that I may avoid Perdition. This is the 
 Voice of Nature ; nor will we Hop to make 
 any Anfwer to the little Subtleties and 
 Quirks of the Metaphylicians. I appeal to 
 the Race of Men, and to all Men of Senle 
 whatever, if 'tis not more eligible to be de- 
 priv'd of all Life, of all Cogitation, of all 
 Exiftence, than to be tormented in eternal 
 Flames, to groan under eternal Torments. 
 And nothing is more certain, than that if 
 human Nature had not regarded with more 
 Horror the Height of Mifery and eternal Matth. 
 Torment, than Infenfibility and Annmila-^j-^' 
 tion, God had threatened the Wicked with 
 Annihilation inftead of eternal Torments, 
 and had us'd that as the more prevalent 
 Way of deterring Mankind from Vice : But 
 'tis Time to return to our Subje&e 
 
 Since this then is the Cafe, and Annihi- 
 lation is the extreameft Rigour of Jultice that 
 God can do to his Creatures, (that he might 
 not be the Author of greater Evil than Good 
 to any one,) yet he feems to decree and to 
 execute fomething more grieyous and difmal P 
 
 fome- 
 
3$* ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 lomething more bitter and cruel, againft 
 thofe whom he condemns, than the extream- 
 eft Rigour of his Juftice requires. The ex- 
 tream Rigour of Juftice comes near to cruel, 
 much lefs can that which goes beyond that 
 extream Rigour, efcape the Imputation of 
 Cruelty. At leaft, as we faid above, this 
 Manner of punifhing with the utmoft Ri- 
 gour, or even beyond the utmoft Rigour, 
 does but little anfwer to that infinite Good- 
 nefs, loving Kindnefs, and Mercy, which we 
 afcribe to God. And yet not only the Light 
 of Nature, but the facred Scripture reprc- 
 xSv 6. f cnts hi m tnus "merciful and gracious, and 
 ik.xxviii. long fiifferingj and abounding in Goodnefs 
 Ezek an ** Truth. He is drawn, as it were, againft 
 xviii. "23, his Will to punifh : 'Tis a Work that is» 
 & 3 2 - itrange to him, and foreign from his Nature. 
 Have I any 'Pleafiire at all that the IVick- 
 ed foould die, faith the Lord God, and not 
 that he Jhould return from his Ways and 
 live ? But if he has no Pleafure in his tern* 
 poral Death, much lefs has he in his eternal 
 Death. But from whence at laft comes this 
 eternal Death, or by whom is it inflided, 
 if 'tis neither pleafing to God, nor to the 
 Creature that fuffers, nor can be in the leaft 
 beneficial to either ? 
 
 These Things being thus propos'd and 
 debated, concerning the Nature of God, and 
 the juft Government of created Things, we 
 muft return to the facred Writings, and to 
 the Interpretation of thofe Paffages, which 
 
 feem 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfc* 353 
 
 feem to imply the Eternity of future Punifh- 
 ments. You know very well that the Senfe 
 of thole P^fTages depends, in a great Mea- 
 fure, upon the Signification of the Word 
 di<hvi(&,, in Hebrew oSlJJ or uzhtyh ; which 
 we have render 'd eternal. In the mean 
 while, 'tis very well known, that the Force 
 and Meaning of this Word dia>ri&, , or 
 the Hebrew O^iy, is doubtful in the fa- 
 cred Writings ; and does not always fimply 
 fignify eternal, only a long and undetermined 
 Time. The Statutes of the Mofaick Law 
 were frequently faid to be eternal : Exod, 
 xxvii. 21. and xxviii. 43. Lev. x. 15*, and 
 xvi. 34. Num. xviii. 1 1. and in fundry other Concern- 
 Places. And yet thefe Statutes, with the^ th {^£ 
 whole Mofaick Law, have many Ages fince x ii.ii. 
 been abolifh'd • and therefore you mull own, 
 that the Signification of that Word is to be 
 mitigated, unlets you pretend that the Ju- 
 daic k Law is ftill to be obferv'd.* 
 
 In the fame Law, the Servant whofe Ear 
 
 has been borM through by his Mailer, with 
 
 his own Confent, is faid to be obliged to 
 
 A a ferve 
 
 * The Temple of Jerttfalem, it is faid, fliould be the 
 Habitation of God for ever, i Chron. vi. 2. yet it has 
 been demolifh'd more than once; nor is there now left 
 one Stone upon another, or any Sign of its being the 
 Habitation of God. 
 
 The Kingdom of 2)avid was faid to be eternal, and 
 yet it went out of the Family of David, and is now 
 utterly excincl. V, Ep'fc, p. 32. Col. ii. b. fee. 3. 
 2, Sam, vii. 13. 
 
354 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 ferve him eternally, or for ever, Exod. xxi. 6. 
 
 And yet it was appointed by the fame Law, 
 
 that all Servants were to be manumitted, 
 
 or to be made free in the Compafs of half 
 
 an Age, that is to fay, every Jubilee. Be- 
 
 lides, before the Mofaick Law, Circumci- 
 
 lion is faid to be an eternal Inftitution, Gen. 
 
 xvii. 7. And yet Circumciflon is now abolifh'd 
 
 by the fame. divine Authority. Laftly, the 
 
 Land of Canaan is given to Abraham and 
 
 his Pofterity for an eternal Poffeliion, Gen. 
 
 xiii. 15. and xvii. 8. and xlvii. 4. And yet 
 
 his Pofterity have been a long Time dif- 
 
 poiTefsM of it. By thefe and many other 
 
 PafTages like them, 'tis fufficiently evident, 
 
 that Eternity is not always fignified by the 
 
 Word dfoy or O*?^: To which as you 
 
 know very well, ai&>v or diuvi©» anfwers in 
 
 the Septuagint, and afterwards in the New 
 
 Teftament, where there is a Neceility for 
 
 the taking thefe Words in a loofer Senfe. 
 
 Confult, if you pleafe, Thilem. 15. Jud.7. 
 
 Rom.xyi. 25. 2 Tim. i. 9. Tit. i. 1. Laftly, 
 
 John xiv. the Grammarians know very well, that both 
 
 l6 - thefe Words are more remifly taken by thofe 
 
 Grecians, who are Sojourners in a Country 
 
 not their own.* 
 
 There- 
 
 * And let me add, that it makes nothing againft this 
 Explication, that the fame Word is us'd to exprefs the 
 Duration of future Rewards. For the eternal Felicity 
 of the Saints is not in the kaft repugnant to any of the 
 
 Attri- 
 
State of Departed Souls, ijrc. 3 55 
 
 Therefore, from the Ufe and Force of 
 the forefaid Words, nothing can certainly be 
 determin'd concerning the Eternity of infer- 
 nal Punifhments. Befide, 'tis remarkable, 
 that in that Pi&ure of Hell which the lacred 
 Writings prefent to us, there are fome Things 
 that undoubtedly are figuratively or tropi- 
 cally exprefs'd ; which the Nature of Things 
 themfelves will not fuller to -be ftriclly and 
 literally underftood. For befides that, 'tis 
 difficult to affociate, and to bring, as it were, 
 into a triple Alliance, the Extremity of 
 Cold, and Darknefs, and raging Fire; how 
 can Worms be able to endure thefe Flames, 
 and live ? nay not only to live, but to be 
 in fome Meafure immortal, either in the 
 Individuals, or in the Species and Offspring, 
 iince 'tis faid that they it ever die. Laftly, 
 the Bodies of the Damn'd themfelves, let 
 them be of what Nature they will, at leaft 
 if they are compounded and organical, can- 
 not without Diifolution endure eternal Fire: 
 Nor will the Earth itfelf endure eternally in 
 the Form in which we now behold it, or 
 in that which it will, after the Conflagration, 
 
 A a 2 receive ; 
 
 Attributes of God; and therefore, in this Cafe, there's 
 no Neceffity of departing from the common literal 
 Senfe of the Word. And this ought always to he a 
 Maxim, that Words muft yield to Things: Gil u\u'tt\ 
 this is my Body, is as clear an Exprefli on, and cvght : s 
 much to be taken in a literal Senfe, as g u tut o 1 i tric£i*z 
 Fird 
 
3 5<S A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 receive ; and in one or the other of them 
 Hell is appointed to be. 
 
 Hitherto we have examin'd the Force 
 of the Words, and the Nature of the Things 
 which they iignify. I defire Leave to add 
 in the third Place, that when our Lord and 
 Saviour Jeius Chrift was converfant upon 
 Earth, in the Form of a Servant, he fpoke 
 not in the Language of a Philoibpher, but 
 in that of the Sons of Men ; and eipecially 
 in that of the Jews, to whom he was chiefly 
 lent, as has been abundantly obferv'd by 
 learned Men in their Comments on the Dif- 
 courfes of Chrift ; and therefore he follows, 
 for the moil Part, the receiv'd Opinion, 
 and the Phrafeologies of his Country ; and 
 in the Inftructions which he gave them for 
 the promoting their Piety, he willingly ufes 
 thofe Exprelilons which were known to 
 the People, and to their Magistrates, either 
 Mat.v.ii.fr° m the Law or the Prophets, or fromvul- 
 *9- gar Tradition : And therefore when he treats 
 
 of Hell under the Name of Gehenna, and 
 proportions the Degrees of Puniihment to the 
 Nature of the Crimes, he fpoke in the Style 
 which the Jews fpoke, a Style accommoda- 
 ted to the common Capacity. Likewife in 
 defcribing the Torments of Hell, Mark ix. 
 44. he makes ufe of the Expreffion of the 
 Prophet Ifa/ah, Chap. lxvi. 24. of which 
 the very identical Words are to be found in 
 the feventy Interpreters : f O ydp cx&An!; 
 ccu^-jy a TfAjprtfcreij %) to ttvo cIvtojv a o-fisoun- 
 
State of Departed Souls, &c, 3 57 
 
 o-stcci, For their Worm fhall never die, and 
 their Fire jliall not be quenched : And other 
 Authors make it apparent, that this Manner 
 of fpeaking was known and familiar to the 
 Jews, viz. That Fire and JVorms were the EccIu ^ vii -' 
 Tunijbfnent of the Ungodly. Therefore ] u j, th Xfit 
 Chrift alter'd nothing in this Point, and be- »1. 
 liev'd that this Anticipation and PrepolTe£. 
 lion of the People was juftly to be retain'd, 
 when it appear'd instrumental in curbing the 
 Audaciouihefs of the Wicked. 
 
 Thus every Thing relating to the Tor- 
 ments of Hell on either Side being weigh'd, 
 every Man is at Liberty to embrace that 
 Opinion which his Confcience fhall pro- 
 nounce to be moll agreeable to found Rea- 
 fon ; and let him adhere to that Interpreta- 
 tion of the facred Scripture upon this Point, 
 which the weighty Reafons of the Caufe be- 
 fore us will be bell able to bear. If a State 
 of eternal Mifery and Impiety in the Crea- 
 ture is mconiiftent with the Wildom and 
 Juftice of the Creator, we mull give up the 
 literal Interpretation in this Point, or wc 
 mull diflinguiih between the literal and the 
 reafonable Hypothecs, the vulgar and the 
 fecret one, left, by a temerarious and unskil- 
 ful Interpretation, we entertain Thoughts un- 
 worthy of the divine Nature. But if on 
 the other Side, there appears nothing to you 
 in fuch a defperate State, a State unchange- 
 ably evil and miferable, foreign either from 
 the Nature of God, or from the Nature of 
 A a 3 Things,, 
 
35? A TREATISE concerning tk 
 
 Things, you muft adhere to the Letter, and 
 you muft ftop your Ears, and harden your 
 Heart againft all the Lamentations, the 
 Groans, the Wails, and the difmal Outcries 
 of Men eternally undone, and everlaftingly 
 miferable. Yet, if you will vouchfafe to 
 hearken to me, not clamouroufly urging you, 
 but gently advifing you, I would rather have 
 you call thefe indefinite than infinite Tor- 
 ments ; for 'tis not fufficiently evident, or 
 known to me, what End they are like to 
 have; but let us leave it to God to be deter- 
 mined by him, according to his Wifdom and 
 Mercy.* 
 
 I know not by what Means it happens at 
 prefent, that fome Divines of a cruel and 
 fiery Temper are extreamly pleas'd with 
 eternal and infinite Torments, and can hard- 
 ly endure to have the Point fairly examin'd 
 and debated on both Sides. But feveral of 
 the Ancients have handled this Subject a 
 great deal more gently and more modeftly, 
 and left to the Wifdom and Pleafure of God 
 
 alone 
 
 * That if it pleafc him, the Prifoners may be releas'd 
 when they have paid the uttermoft Farthing, and fatif- 
 fied his Juftice. But it after all you cannot relifh this 
 Doctrine, let it be piac'd among the obfcure and doubt- 
 ful ones. But the Time will come when this Opinion 
 will be reckon'd as abfurd and odious, as Tranfubftan- 
 tiation is now. 
 
 See what the fifth OEcumenical Synod decreed againft 
 the finite Punifhments of Hell, in Gerard, de Lifer. 
 torn. 2. p a 467. and Huet. Orig. 1. 2. c. 11. p. 
 
State of Departed Souls, Isfc. 3 59 
 
 alone the Time that every one Jhall conti- 
 nue in. thofe Torments. .Thus Juftiu Martyr 
 in his Dialogue with Tryphon ; 'At y.h (***.&«• i % ■ 
 
 SVG-eftcOV -\v^Oii) CC^lCtt T8 ©gt? (pCCU€i(TCCl, «JC CC7T0^~ 
 
 vnaxiicnv zti' a.i S*e \tojv cc^ixoov) koXcl^ovtcll 
 Io"t' clv ccvTcts X) c-iVctA ocj xoAccQeavou ©eos Gg'Avi. 
 
 The Souls of the Righteous j which appear 
 worthy of God, are to die no more : But the 
 Souls of the 'Ungodly will be punijh'd, as 
 long as God will have them exift and be 
 punifrfd. Nor does St.jferom diffent from 
 thefe, though otherwile a Man of a very 
 high, and ibmetimes an impetuous Spirit ; 
 yet in this Point he fhews a Moderation of 
 Soul that is worthy of Commendation. In 
 his Commentaries he has thefe Words on the 
 forementioned PafTage of Ifaiahj Chap. lxvi. 
 and the laft Verfe, They who are of the Opi- 
 nion that thefe ^Puuifiments will one 'Day be 
 ended, and the Torments be one Time no 
 more j have Recourfe to the following Tefii- 
 monies: Then quoting the PafTages which 
 appear to be favourable to that Opinion, 
 he adds thefe Words : Which are all repeat- 
 ed by thofe that are defirous to affert^ 
 that after the Rack and the Tortures are 
 over, Reft and Refreshment will follow ; 
 which at prefent is to be hid from thofe, to 
 whom Fear is wholefome and tifeful ; that 
 while they are afraid of the Tunifoment, 
 they fhould be debarred from their Sins ; 
 which we ought to leave to the Knowledge 
 of God alone y who weighs not only his Mer- 
 A a 4 cieSj 
 
5^0 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 cies, but thefe Torments likewife, as it were 
 in the Balance, and Jinows who^ and how 
 and how long every one ought to bepunify'd. 
 This fays St. Jerom upon the foreiaid Paf- 
 fage : And he had laid Things related to 
 thefe before in the fame Commentaries, on 
 the twenty fourth Chapter, towards the End. 
 JVe ought to know that human Frailty can? 
 not penetrate the Judgment and the Jujiice 
 of God, nor be capable of giving any Opi- 
 nion concern'mg the Greatnefs or the 'Dura- 
 tion of Tuniftmeuts which he iuficJs, which 
 is left entirely to the Will of the Lord. 
 
 Th us far he : I make no mention of Ori- 
 geiij whofe Opinion concerning this Matter 
 is univerfally known, who feems to have 
 been follow'd in this Point as in feveral 
 others, by both the Gregories, *Nazianzene> 
 
 and 
 
 *See Orat. 40. p. 66$. When he had fpoken of the 
 eternal Punifhment of the Damn'd according to the 
 received Opinion, he feems afterwards to correct him- 
 felf, and d! (covers fonie Doubt concerning it, by add- 
 ing, E/ ,'-•>) Tea (pthcv xctirxCba vottv t£to tyihavSpwiraTepov, :tj tb 
 v.co.'j.w.vrQr iTx'Ju;. Unlefs any one is inclined to interpret 
 this in a Senfe vaorc mild towards Man the Sufferer, and 
 -snore worthy of God the Avenger. He intimates, that 
 'tis more humane, and better becoming the Deity, that 
 thefe Puniflurients fhould be moderated. Nilns, the 
 Scholar of S:. Qinyfofiome, and a Martyr, from this 
 Place of Nazi infers, that in thofe Times the 
 
 Fathers were dubious about the Eternity of Hell Tor- 
 ments, and that it was an Opinion very much contro- 
 verted among them ; fince Nazianzene, fays he, 3 E$iy<n 
 
 TOiq (ishoixivon; v^ccu to Tup Ixetvi (pihcivlpuTorepov, has lejt it 
 
 free for any one 1 as pleafes, to under fland this Fire i» a 
 pjilder Senfe, 
 
St ate of Departed Souls, &c. 361 
 
 and Nyjfene :* ^ And feveral other Fathers, 
 whom we mention'd above, and who were 
 of Opinion that the Flames of Hell were 
 7rup Y.a§cLgGiovi as well as jcoAatp^ov, a pur- 
 gative as well as punitive Fire, fignified by 
 that very Thing, that thofe Torments would 
 one Day have an End. Laftly, St.Auftin^ 
 calls the Patrons of this Opinion by no in- 
 congruous Title, the Merciful ^Doctors, and 
 treats them with Humanity. * NoWj, fays 
 he, / fee that I mufi go to work with our 
 merciful 'Doctors, with whom I muft dif 
 $ute pacifically ; who are of Opinion, that 
 the c Punijhment will not be eternal, either 
 of all thofe whom the mofi righteous Judge 
 jhall pronouitce worthy of the c PuniJbment 
 of Hell, or of fome of them : But after 
 
 the 
 
 * See Chap. viii. Orat. Catechet. where he fays, that 
 they who are incorrigible in tha's Life, fhall in the next 
 be cured by more fevere and bitter Remedies. And in 
 bis de Anima cs 5 Refurr. p. 229. he treats of the uni- 
 verfal Purgation and Reftoration; and there he often 
 repeats this fame or a like Opinion: as he does like- 
 wife de Opif. hominis, c. 21. 
 
 f Civit. c Dei, 1. xx. c. 17. and following. 
 
 % Notwithstanding what he may have laid in fome 
 Places, in others he feems doubtful in determining in 
 what Senfe the Punifhments of Sinners are calVd eternal; 
 as particularly where he fays, Nor would I be underflood 
 by [peaking thus to hinder a more accurate Enquiry into the 
 Meaning of Scripture , when it pronounces the P uniftoraents 
 of the Wicked to be eternal. (See D. Hamm. * * * *.and 
 ****]. y m f rom cj t Augnfl^ 1. de Serm. Dom. in 
 
 mont. torn. 4. on Matt. v. 2$-, 26.) But let us re- 
 turn to the Place about the Merciful. 
 
%6± A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 the Limits of a certain Time^ which will 
 be longer or Jhorter, according to the Great- 
 nefs of every one's Ojfence, they believe that 
 they will be deliver 'd from it. 
 
 Thus has St. Anft'm laid before us the 
 Opinion of the merciful c Doc7ors. They 
 who are of the other Party may be called, 
 by the Reafon of Contraries, The T)oc~iors 
 without Mercy : And one of thefe, in the 
 Name of the Reft, has delivered his Opi- 
 nion of the Torments of Hell after the fol- 
 ApudDif- lowing Manner : If all the Men that were 
 dp. de ever bom from Adam to this prefent, and 
 - temp ' all thofe who will iersafter he born, fhould 
 live till the laft Tlay, and all the Blades of 
 Grafs that ever /prang up, were Men > and 
 if they were eqixilly to dijiribute only one 
 'Pnnijhment which a Soul fujfers in Hell, 
 for only one mortal Sin ; fo that every one 
 JJjould have an equal Share of that c Puni(h- 
 tnent ; then every equal Share of the Tu- 
 nijhment of that one Man, would be greater 
 than all the Torments, which all the holy 
 Martyrs, and all Robbers ^ and the great eft 
 Malefactors have piier yet etidur'd. Thus 
 far he. Now, if to thefe cruel and outrage- 
 ous Torments, you add Eternity, you will 
 fill up all the Parts, the Numbers, and the 
 Meafures of Inhumanity.* 
 
 'Tis 
 
 * Did we but ferioufiy confider what Eternity is, 
 how vaft, how boundlefs a Thing, we fhould be lefs 
 forward in pronouncing eternal Punifhments upon the 
 
 mife- 
 
State of Departed Souls, isfh 3 6^ 
 
 Tis difficult to us to diveft ourfelves of 
 all Humanity y 'tis more difficult to God to 
 
 lay 
 
 miferable. Eternity has fomething dreadful in its very 
 Sound ; 'tis infinite, inexhauftible ! So vafi are the 
 Spaces of Eternity, fays a certain Divine, that if any one 
 of the Damn'd pould drop but one 'Tear every thoufandth 
 Tear, it would raife more Water than the IVorld could 
 contain. 
 
 To thefe Opinions of the Fathers, give me Leave to 
 add an Argument from Reafon, which to me feems 
 to be offome Weight: Iftherebeno Purgation, no 
 Mitigation, or Remiflion of Punifhment, what will 
 become of the Souls of a middle Condition ? Such 
 Souls I mean that have not dillinguifh'd themfelves in 
 any great Degree of Piety or Impiety; that are neither 
 very good nor very wicked ; fuch as in Reality the 
 greatelt Part of Mankind are. They have more of the 
 Brute than of the Devil in them. What will become, 
 I fay, * * * * 
 
 We have obferved above, that the human Species 
 may be divided into three Ranks ; the Good, the Bad, 
 and the Middling. The Good are plac'd in eternal 
 Felicity, the Bad in eternal Torments; but where are 
 the Middle Sort to go, or what will become of them? 
 They feem neither deferving of eternal Punifhments nor 
 eternal Happinefs. The Truth is, there mull be; a cer- 
 tain Degree ***** 
 
 There mud be the fameDifparity in the Recompence 
 of Perfons, as there is in their Defer ts. 
 
 There have been fome who have thought that the 
 Souls of the Wicked, worn out by a Length of 
 Punifnraents, fhall at lalt die, and lofe all Senfation and 
 Vitality; according to that of Arnobius, The Souls that 
 know not God are confumed after a long Run of Time 
 by their fiery Tortures : The fume fay Tatian and Ire- Seelren." 
 nceus. ^ l.a. c. <Sa. 
 
 Laftly, that is call'd ^ip iiaCeqov, an unquenchable Fire, 
 which burns without any Intermiffion ; that is not put 
 out by any external Force, but lalis as long as there 
 is any thing remaining to nourifh and feed it. 
 
3^4 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 lay aiide ail Mercy. And, if we are able 
 to corrupt or deftroy our own Nature, the 
 divine Nature we are able neither to cor- 
 rupt nor deftroy. Men formerly beat Drums 
 in the Valley of Himion, that the Cries of 
 the Children, who were facrifiVd to the 
 Fiery Idol, and who fhriek'd moil ruefully 
 among the Flames, might not be heard by 
 their Parents or the People. But though 
 you could make all Heaven refound with 
 perpetual Thunderings, yet you can never 
 bring it to pafs, that in this Tophct, con- 
 cerning which we ipeak, you can hinder 
 the Lamentations, and the piercing Cries of 
 fo many Millions of tormented Wretches, 
 from mounting up to the Ears of Jehova^ 
 the Father and the Fountain of all Mercy. 
 
 Now behold, if you pleafe, O merciiefs 
 Doctor, the Spectacle that you fet before 
 us j what Theatre of Providence ! Behold 
 by much the greater Part of the Race of 
 Men, weltering amidft the Flames for ever- 
 lafting Ages ! O Scene, deferving to have 
 God and Angels for its Spectators I And then 
 to charm your Ears, while you hear Heaven 
 and Earth refounding with the Screams, 
 the Shrieks, the Groans, the Roars of fo ma- 
 ny Millions of the tormented Damn'd, have 
 you not a divine Harmony in your Ears, a 
 truly celeftial Confort. Befides, this gives me 
 no fmail Dilpleafure, that I fee fo great a Part 
 of reafonable Nature, in this Manner en- 
 tirely loft and become the Outcaft of Things ; 
 
 like 
 
State of Departed Souls, istc. 365 
 
 like Salt that has loft its Savour, or 
 Wine that has loft its Spirit, thrown con- 
 temptibly out of Doors, too vile for any pre- 
 fent Ufe y or any future Hope. 
 
 Every Creature, as far as it appears to 
 us, is liable to fall, as well as the Wicked 
 and the Damn'd. But if they who fall af- 
 ter the fame Manner, are altogether irrecove- 
 rable, the whole intellectual Creation is then 
 expofed, not only to Vanity, but to eternal 
 Mifery : And to have framed fuch a Nature 
 of Things*, would not have required fo 
 much a divine Goodnefs, as the Cruelty of 
 fome evil Demon, or the hazardous Work 
 of Chance. God formerly repented, that he 
 had made Man, by reafon of his abominable 
 Wickednefs : Miferable Man will in his 
 
 Turn 
 
 * That which happens in this World may pofTibly 
 happen in others ; but here, as 'tis vulgarly believ'd, the 
 greater Part of Humankind will perifh eternally. Make 
 but the fame Suppolitionof other Worlds, and then what 
 a Havock, what Defolation will there be of the rational 
 Nature, if you extend the Account throughout theUni- 
 verfe ? This loft ufelefs Part of Nature will far exceed 
 the remaining Part. I call it ufelefs ; for it will be, as it 
 were, the Caput Mortuum of the Univerfe, or the cur- 
 fed barren Dregs of Earth, from whence nothing good 
 or valuable can be extracted. And not only fo;it is not 
 only an unprofitable Burden upon Nature, but an into- 
 lerable Burden to itfelf; neither can it reiinquifh, nor 
 bear itfelf. It curfes the hateful Light, and the Day 
 whereon it firft faw the Sun and the Stars ; curfes the 
 o^er-officious Hour that call'd it forth from its primitive 
 Nothing, where it lay quiet in a happy State of Silence 
 and Gbfcurity. 
 
$66 ^TREATISE concerning the 
 
 Turn repent that ever God created him ; fince 
 it had been much better for him never to 
 have at all exifted.* 
 
 Let thus much fuffice concerning Hell, 
 and the future Puniihment of the Wicked, 
 provided you fubjoin that Admonition, which 
 is always ufed by the forementioned Fathers, 
 whenever they handle this Subjed ; that is 
 to fay, whatever your Opinion is within 
 yourfelf, and in your own Breaft concerning 
 thefe Punifhments, whether they are eternal 
 or not ; yet always with the People, and 
 when you preach to the People, ufe the re- 
 ceiv'd Doctrine, and the received Words in 
 the Senle, in which the People receive them : 
 For they are apt to run headlong into Vice, 
 and are to be terrify'd from offending by the 
 Appreheniion of Punifhment only. Befides, 
 among the Good, there are the Children, and 
 i Cor. at. ^ p er fo ns grown up, to be nourifh'd with 
 Heb.v.i2,Milk, or more folid Food, according to the 
 '3- Strength 
 
 * In fine, they who cannot approve of the Doctrine 
 of abfolute Reprobation, becaufe it feems repugnant to 
 the divine Nature and Attributes, ought to be as much 
 difpleafed with the eternal Punifhments of- the Wicked, 
 fince they are equally repugnant to the lame Attributes; as, 
 on the other Hand, 'tis the Intereft of thofe who receive 
 that Doctrine of Reprobation, to reject this of eternal 
 Punifhment ; becaufe thereby they will much lefTen the 
 Force of the greateft Objection, that lies againlt them ; 
 fince it will not be altogether fo fhocking for a Man to 
 be pre-ordain'd and condemn'd to Punifhments that will 
 have an End; but to Punifhments eternal and intolerable, 
 would be the raoft poignant and exquifue Severity. 
 
State of Departed Souls, $$e t 36*. 
 
 Strength of each of them. No lefs Regard 
 is to be paid to thefe, nor is the Diet of the 
 little Ones, or the weak Ones to be rafhly 
 chang'd, leaft an Intcmperature in their Con- 
 stitutions Jhould arife, and throw them into 
 Difeafes. You ought to have always before 
 your Eyes, and always in your Defigns, the 
 Progrefs of Providence in gradually promot- 
 ing * Piety in the World, and in illuminating 
 Humankind ; and you ought in your En- 
 deavours and your Defigns, to proceed with 
 an equal Pace till we arrive to that, that 
 what has been whifper'd to us, we may 
 proclaim upon the Houfe Top. But Minds 
 are gradually to be accuftom'd to bear the 
 more forcible Rays of Truth. Too much 
 Light is hurtful to tender Eyes, or Light 
 too fuddenly pour'd upon them. Few be- 
 hold Things themfelves as they are, but only 
 their Images as they appear when they are 
 feen, as it were, in a Glafs. But we mail 
 at length, if it pleafes God, fee the Things 
 themfelves even Face to Face, as they fay, 
 the Vail being taken from them. This we 
 fhall do, partly towards the End of this World, 
 but more fully in the next. 
 
 The 
 
 * And therefore, as this was written for the Pernfal 
 of the Learn'd only, whoever (hall tranflate it into the 
 vulgar Language, I can think no otherwife, but that he 
 does it with an ill Intention and for wicked Purpofes. 
 
368 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 The CONCLUSION. 
 
 WHEN the Matter of this Book is of 
 various Kinds, and comprehends di- 
 vers Heads of the Chriftian Do&rine, and 
 thofe for the moft Part beyond the Paths 
 and the Light of Nature, it may ealily hap- 
 pen, that in treating of thefe, I may fome- 
 times have err'd from the Mark. I am but 
 a Man, but a little Man, and am far from 
 thinking myfelf above the Infirmities that 
 are incident to human Nature. But he who 
 with a fincere Mind, and who without any 
 Fear, or Averfion, or Affection whatever, 
 feeks the naked Truth, has God for his Af« 
 iiftant ; God, I fay, will open to him who 
 knocks, will give to him who asks, provided 
 we ask for that pure and pacifick Wifdom 
 which defcends from Heaven. Nor let any 
 one blame me, becaufe that, in treating of 
 this Subject, I have found many Things 
 obfcure in the facred Writings ; many Things, 
 if I may ufe the Expreffion, not adequately, 
 or not abfolutely revealM. I defire that this 
 may be underftood as fpoke, with regard to 
 my own Underftand'ing and Capacity : And 
 if any other Perfon ihali clear up thofe Paf- 
 fages better, I mall be glad to embrace the 
 Difcovery, and to congratulate the Author : 
 
 But 
 
State if Departed Souls, Cfc. 3 £9 
 
 But I find this to be the chief Obftacle to' 
 true Knowledge, that we are afham'd of our 
 Ignorance ; and that we do not diftinguifh 
 Things that are clear, from Things that are 
 obfcure, as if we faw clearly and diftinctly 
 through every Thing alike. 
 
 Most of the Commentators on the facred 
 Scripture understand, or pretend to under- 
 fland every lingular Paflage. You fhall no 
 where find them confcious of their Ignorance 
 and confefling it. In like Manner, the fcho- 
 laftick Doctors, and they who prefide in 
 Univerfity Chairs, folve every Problem af- 
 ter their own Way, attain to Truth in them 
 all, and comprehend them all. I really ad- 
 mire the Omnifcience of both ClafTes of Di- 
 vines; They think it fliameful, forfooth, 
 or at leaft inglorious, for the Teachers of 
 Chriftians to be ignorant of any Thing in 
 their Art. Perhaps this their Orientation 
 of Univerfal Science may contribute to the 
 augmenting that Efteem, which their Dilci- 
 ples, or the Vulgar have conceiv'd of them ; 
 but it will be efteemM by the Wile to be a 
 Proof of Defect of Judgment : For they who 
 pronounce as boldly of Objeds remote, or 
 latent in the Dark, as of thofe that are nearer, 
 and that are feen in the Light, will be 
 thought to have feen neither the one nor 
 the other clearly and diftinctly. ( 
 
 It has feem'd Good to Providence, while 
 we are in this Life, to lay before us the! 
 Accounts of myftical Points compendiously, j 
 B b and, 
 
370 A TREATISE concerning the 
 
 and, as it were, by Halves, that being rouz'd 
 and waken'd by thefe Hints and Specimens, 
 we may be acquainted both with the Bounds 
 of our prefent Difpenfation, and the Perfec- 
 tion of the Future. " If ten Men of Senie, 
 u and of a liberal Spirit, were to write at the 
 u fame Time upon this very Subject ; that 
 c( is, upon the Things of a future Life, or, 
 * as they are wont to call them, the laft 
 <c Things , I can hardly believe, that 
 " two of the Ten would be of the fame 
 <c Opinion in every Point. And, therefore, 
 " if the friendly Reader differs from me in 
 " fome of them, nay, if in all, I lhall not 
 " at all wonder ; and for the lame Reafon, 
 " let not him be angry with me : For 
 " Thebes is every Jot as far diftant from A- 
 lc thens, as Athens is from Thebes : Nor does 
 " he lefs diflent from me, than I from him 
 " diflent. The only Queftion is, Which 
 " of us comes neareft to the Truth V } Elias 
 when he comes will folve many Difficulties ; 
 Chrift will folve all when he comes. Let 
 there be Light, I fhall be glad to be refuted 
 in any Point which I have been miftaken in. 
 It is my hearty Prayer, I defire nothing more 
 than the Truth, and nothing but the Truth. 
 In the mean while, let us faithfully re- 
 tain the Form of found Do&rines and Words, 
 the Immortality of the Soul, the Refurrec- 
 tion of the Dead, Rewards and Punifhments 
 in a future Life, according to every ones 
 "Works, and the Dilpofition of his Mind : 
 
 Laftijr, 
 
State of Departed Souls, 1stc. 371, 
 
 Laftly* tne Conflagration and Renovation of 
 the World j and that Chrift will come, and 
 will reign here : Thefe, and if befide thefe 
 there are any other primary Points, which re- 
 late to a future Life, let us preferve them 
 with the utmoft Care : But as for the Modes 
 of Things that are to come, their * Order, 
 and their Circumftances^ 'tis but juft that 
 we fhould indulge and aflift each other in 
 our Enquiries after them. We ought not 
 with Bitternefs to conteft with each other a- 
 bout Things which God is not pleafed that 
 we fhould be fully inftruded in, during 
 this prefent State ; and they who for Caufes 
 of this Nature fatirize and rail at each other, 
 or are inflamed with Anger and Spleen for 
 the light and doubtful' Errors of others, they 
 fall themfelves into undoubted Sins, and I 
 may add, into grievous ones. Let us at ^m.ta.^ 
 length avoid thefe Mifchiefs, which, to thecal, v. 20. 
 Dilgrace of the Chriftian Name, have, alas ! » ?*>*- r - 
 too much prevail'd. At length, let us ceafe 
 
 to 
 
 * Concerning this Judgment, {meaning the laji Judg~ 
 ment,) we are inform'd or thefe Particulars; The Com- 
 ing of Rlias Thefbttes, the Converfion of the Jews, the 
 Perfecution of Antichrift, that Chriir (hall be the. Judge, 
 the Refurre&ion of the Dead, the Separation of the 
 Good from the Bad, the Conflagration of the World, 
 and laftly its Renovation : All which, we are affur'd, will 
 come to pafs ; but in what Manner or Order they will 
 happen, we fhall then befl know, when we fhall have 
 feen and experienced the whole Procefs ; the Understand- 
 ing of Man being at prefent not able to arrive at a Cer- 
 tainty in thefe Particulars. Lattan. Fragm. de extr. Jitdic. 
 Augufl ds C. 2), lib. XX. fap, 30, 
 
37* A TREATISE cbftcerning, {#: 
 
 to play the Fool, or rather to be mad : Let 
 every one be contented to propofe hisr own 
 Opinion, fortifyM with the bell: Reafons and 
 Proofs which he is able to bring, without do- 
 ing Hurt to his Neighbour, and without 
 Quarrel or Contumely, which flgnify no- 
 thing to Truth, and contribute nothing to 
 the Defence of the Caufe. On the contra- 
 ry, when the Patrons of a Caufe defert the 
 juft Defence of it, to affront and abufe their 
 Adverfaries, -'tis a ihrewd Sign of the Weak- 
 nefs of it. Let us, therefore, as many of us 
 as are well inflru&ed, or endeavour to be fo y 
 retain thefe Sentiments : And if any of you 
 have other Sentiments relating to this Mat' 
 ter, God will reveal even this to him. 
 
 F I N I & 
 
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 I. '"TT'HE Theory of the Earth : Containing an Ao 
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 Cuts. Price us. 
 
 II. Archasologia? Philofophicas ; five Do6trina Antiqua 
 de Rerum Originibus. Libri Duo. Ediu'o Secunda. 
 Accedunt Ejuidem Epiftolae duas de Archaeologiis Phi- 
 lofophicis. In 8vo. Pr. 6 s. 
 
 III. De Statu Ivlortuorum & Refurgentium traclatus. 
 Adjicitur Appendix de futura Judajorum R^ftauratione. 
 Editio Secunda. In 8vo. Pr. 6 s. 
 
 IV. De Fide & : - fficiis Chriftianorum. Editio Se- 
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1