^^aj^^Bgaitf iiig %i^l rti(^i|-TJ? .-4--9.§:^37 THE CONTENTS. Page TH E JntroduBion : The SubjeB, and Method of handliiig it. 3 Chap. I. T^hat human Happinefs does not depend only on this Life, but that we are to expeB another, 5 Chap. II. 'Thai the human Soul is an immortal Subfiance^ diftinB from the Bod)\ and from all Matter. 20 Chap. III. What will be the future Condition of the Soul when the Body is difjohed ; or of the Middle State of Souls in the Interval, between Death and the RefiirreSfion, as to the Manner and Degrees of Hap- pinefs or Mifery. C4. Chap. IV. Of the natural State of Souls in the Litervaly between Death and the KefurreBiony whether they are naked and feparate from all cor- poreal Subftance^ or whether they are united to an aerial, or any other Body, 116 Chaf The CONTENTS. Cha>. V. A 'Tranjition to the remain- ing Farts of this Work : Firjl, co?2- cerning the coming of Chrtjiy and the Conflagration of the World. 137 Chap. VI. Of the lafi Judgment ; of the Preparation^ Manner^ End and Effea of it. 158 Chap. VII. Of the RefurreSfion of the Dead, and of the Mate, and the Bo- dies of thofe rifen from the Dead. 197 ChaK VIII. What Sort of Body we I are to have at the RefurreSlion ? i ^he fame that we have at prefent^ 1 or a different one. 253 Chap. IX. Ofthefirfl and laft Refur- reBion : Of the neiv Heavens, and the new Earth, and the Renovation of Nature : Of thf Millenian King- dofu of Chrifi, and the Confumma- t ion cf all Things. 280 Chap. X. Of Heaven and Hell : What the Heaven of the Chriftians is, and how it may be faidto he local : What Hell is, whether there is, or will be any fubterranean, or any other locals cor- poreal, and external Hell, before the Day of "Judgment, and Conflagra- tion of the World. Of the Rumjhments of Hell, whether they are to be looked upon as fiiiite or infinite or indefinite* 346 %he Co NC J, us ION. 405 A TREATISE Concerning the STATE O F T H E DEAD, AND OF Departed SOULS, AT THE RESURRECTION. To which is added. An APPENDIX concerning the future Restoration oJ the JEWS. Tranllated from the Original Latin of Dr. BURNE r. LONDON: Primed, and Sold by the Bookft-llers of Lo'idon ar.d Wiflmiajler. 1^1 U C C X i X Y i i ■ M THE STATE O F T H E DEAD, AT THE RESURRECTION. T^he IntroduSiion : T'he SubjeBj and Method of handling it. H E narrow, uncertain, and of- tentimes miferable State of our Affairs in this Life, gives us fuf- ficient Caufe to enquire, whether human Happinefs depends on that alone: A 2 And 4 Of the %T AT -E of the T)^ AD. And, as we are compounded and made up entirely of two Parts, the Soul and Body ; and as the Life of the Body mud perilb, and be wholly extinguiflied in the Compafg of one Age, it is farther to be confidered, whether the Soul, that other Part of Man, furvives, or whether, like infeparable Com- panions, they live and die together. If the laft be the Q;i(t^ there is an End of us ; jior.is it worth enquiring after Things that are iiow no more. But if, on the contrary, the Soul remains after the Dilfolution of the Body, and be- ing freed from that, lives and flourilhes apart, then are many Enquiries to be made, concerning the Soul thus feparated and thus exifting,- as what Life it enjoys, and in what State ? and whether it be to remain the fame for ever ? Or, if it be to undergo another Change, w'hether it is to inform a fecond Body of any kind ? What Diftin^fli- on there is to be made between thofe that ^re good, and thofe that are evil ? what fort of Rewards, what Puniiliments will be diftributed to every one, according to their Merit ? Laftly, It will be a pleafmg Curi- ofii-v to purfae the Fate and Fortune of the immortal Soul, from its Departure and Deliverance from its earthly Body, even to the Confummaticn of ail Things. Thefe Of theS TATE of the Dead. § Thefe are the Things which, according to our beft Abilities, we fliall treat of in the following Work; and dlftinguiOi, as far as may be, between what is clear and what is obfcure, between Things that are Secrets, and Things that are popular ; that every thing may have its proper Place, whether it is in Light or in Shade. In the mean time, may God the Father of Light dire6l our Steps, expelling Darknefs and the falfe Images of Things, that we may at length behold the pure and uncorrupted Tmth, with whofe Love our Deiires are inflamed. C H A P. I. Tbaf human Happinefs does not depejtd onh ■ on this Life J but that we are to expeSi another. THAT there is a God, the Author and Ruler of all Things, the beft and greateft of all Beings, Holy, Righte- ous and Juft: This the nature of Things requires: This the common Confent of Men. x\nd this being once eftabliihed, the human Soul from beholding its prefent State, is immediately forced to prefage fomething ^.. Of fh^'S TATE of tbe'DEAty, foirfething of a Future. For when it ob- ferves in the Government of this World, or in t}5isPartof the divine Oeconomy, that in the Diftribution of Good and Evil, the Laws of Juftice and Equity are not preferv- ed J it eafily concludes from thence, that there is fomething ftill remaining, that all the Parts of this Drama are not filled up ; and thence is raifed to an Ex:ped:ation of fome things to follow in another Life, as in the next Scene. The Goods of Fortune and external Happinefs do not, in this Life, accompany Wifdom and Virtue. They are neither lefs, nor lefs frequently enjoy 'd by foolifh and wicked Men : But if human Happinefs were ultimately placed in thefe, and were to be finally determined here, the fupreme Governor of the World, and the fame a inofl righteous Judge, would never endure fb great Confufion in the Order of Things. That the Good ihould be happy, and the Wicked mifefable, is the Voice of God^ the Voice of Man, and the Voice of uni- verfal Nature : But witnefs Heaven, and Earth, and confcions Stars, that this .eter- nal and moft facred Law, among us mifera- hle Mortals, in the Compafs of this Life, is never kept inviolable j therefore grant but this, that God is juil and holy, and the neccfiary Of the Sr AT -E of the Ve A jy. 7 necelTary Confequencc will be, that there will be Rewards and Punifliments in aoo^ ther Life, and that human Happinefs and human Mifery do not altogether depend oft this. ^ . ;'^ Nor do we here complain of 6ur owti Times, as unhappy Men are often ufed to do ; nor do we believe the Age which we live in more corrupt or more profligate than ieveral which have preceded it : The World is now what it always was. Confult all Times and all Nations, Roman, Grecian^ or wliat you will, and every where you will find the Socrates s and Cato?, excellent Men, endowed with the greateft Accomplifh- ments of Mind and Manners, yet opprefs- cd by hard Fortune, hated by the profane and noify Vulgar, and followed with Ca- lumnies by the Envious : Nor can Tyrants, or Men in Power endure the Freedom of a noble Spirit, tenacious of Truth and Vir- tue. This is the State of our Affairs. Befides, as the divine Juftice and Righte- oufnefs, could not allow this promifcuous Fortune of the Virtuous and the Wicked ihould always continue ; fo the Meannefs, and as I may ^y, the Vilenefs of our pre- fent Condition, if it wats to be the only one we are to know, firft to none, and fe- cond to none, would neither anfwer to the Dignity 8" Of the St AT -E of the Ti-E AD, Dignity of God the Creator, nor to the Dignity of the Earth's Inhabitants, that is of human Souls. If we believe that God has created innumerable Worlds befides this in which we live, the Difficulty under which we labour will not be altogether fo great. But they who, befides this Globe of Earth, (an Atom, with Refped: to its Lit- tlenefs, a Dunghil, with Regard to its Fil- thinefs,) acknowledge no habitable World, own no Inhabitants in any other Part of the Immenfity of the Univerfity ; thefe Pcrfons are greatly injurious to the di- vine Majefty, and fancy a God inferior to a magnanimous Man. And then if, befides the Earth itfelf, you obferve thofe human Affairs which are tranfadted on it, you will find them fo trifling, orfo confufed, or fo miferable, you would fufped: they were by fome wicked Deity appointed, and by fome impotent one indured : For what is there but Blood and Slaughter among Princes ? What among private Men but Contentions, Quarrels, Reproaches, Calumnies, and dai- ly litigious Difputes ? And too frequently about the verieil Trifles. A great deal of Folly and trifling every where! Of Wif- dom very little ! And, which is mere grie- vious to be endured, Pleafures very Siort and Of the Sr AT "E of the 'D'E. A.iii. 9 ^hd rare ; many and lafting are our Griefs and Complaints ariiing from Difeafcs, Po- verty, Enmity and other Evils. So that this Farce of Life does not feem worthy of having God for its Author, or even Spec- tator, if you take from it all Confequences^ and its Connexion v^ith a future State* But I go farther ; the trifling Concerns of this Life, if the Hope and Profpedl of Futurity were taken away, are not only unworthy of God, but even of the human Soul. We are depreffed in this mortal State beneath the Rank, the Degree, and Ex- cellence of our Nature. From whence is that Shame which we difcover in fome of our Adtions, and fome of our natural Af- fedions ? From whence that Modefty or Perturbation in human Nature, not only when we fin, but when we obey the De- lires or Neceffities of Nature herfelf ? Why are we afhamed of ourfelves and of our own Nature ? If we a6t 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 ? Beiides, we are deftined, in this Life, to mere Toys and Trifles, which neither be- come nor fatisfy a reafonable Soul, capa- ble of greater and better Employments. That which is the beft, the noblefl, and B divine 10 Of tbeSr ATE of theDEAo, divine Part of us, is almoft overwhelm- ed with the Burthen and Care of the Body, and by mean and Uttle Offices ne- ceflary for the Feeding, Cloathing and Pre- ferving the Health of it. * The Soul wants not thefe, but is forced into Servitude as the Property of the Body. Here, fubdued by Vanity, it groans under the Meannefs of its Employment : But wherefore is that Under- Handing given, by which it contemplates Things eternal and divine, by which it meafures the Heavens and the Earth ; and that noble Ardour and Inclination to learch ftill farther ? Wherefore that Thirft of Im- mortality that is never to be quenched? Wherefore that heroick Virtue in fome, which furmounts their own private Intereft, and fets it afide for the publick Good and Love of Virtue ? Thefe Things confider'd, makes me believe, that God, who makes nothing in vain, gave us not this Inflind to no * Can any one imagine, that Man was born only to di- gefl what he eats a;id drinks ? To watch the Winds, and follow all his Life-time vain fallacious Hopes ; and that after this fhort Madnefs is over, he mull be laid once more in the Earth from which he was taken, and refolved into liis original Dull ? And is this the End of Man and of hu- man Affairs ! " We were not rafhly and fbrtuitoufly created j ♦' but there was a certain Power, confulting the Good ** of Humankind, which he would not have produced •' and nourilhed if after it had undergone fo many La- ** hours, it was to fall into the everlafting Evil of Death. Cic. ^ejl. fufc. I . in fnt. Of the St ATE of the Dead. it no Purpofe ; but that at length we fhall be delivered from this Prifon of the Body, to {hine in a new and more glorious Light, where we fhall enjoy eternal Felicity. You may perceive the human Mind, and. its free Motions reftrained and ftifled, as it were, in this Body ; and the more fublime and excellent it is in its Cogitations the more is it fenfible of this Impediment. To what End have we this Force and Vi- gour of Mind to tranfport us beyond the Bounds and Limits of Life, if indeed there is nothing beyond them ? God and Na- ture have given us Wings in vain, if we are only to crawl upon the Earth, never to be lifted from the Ground, and never to reach the Sky. They are indeed incom- modious and burthenfome to us ; for the more elevated the Mind is in its Contem- plations, and the more abftraded in its Rea- ibnings, fo much the lefs Regard has it for earthly Affairs, and the lefs Ability to at- tend the common Offices of Life. If this is all that we are capable of, this the whole of Human Life, then the Soul perifhe* in its own Virtue : All Wifdom is nothing, but what is Worldly, and who fees not the Folly of that ? Infamous Slander and In-' dignity, offer'd both to God and Man ! Who can bear this, endued with one Grain B 2 of 12 0/ the St ATE ef the'DEA'D, of Generofity? Who is not enraged at fuch Injuries impofed upon himfelf and Hu- mankind ? I will fay this, that if fuch was the Condition of human Aifairs, and I could know it before I came into the World, I would refufe, with Indignation, the Profer of fuch a Being. We have hitherto drawn our Reafons. and Argument, for the Proof of a future Stat€, from the divine and human Na- ture, another Method of arguing occurs to us from the Nature of Things jointly with the Nature of God. If there is a God, there muft be alfo eternal and immutable Laws of Good and Evil ; there muft be a Diilindion between Things that are bafe, and Things that are. valuable, between the Juft andtheUnjuft j and this has always been the State and Order of human Affairs. The Conncdion of thefe Things may not be feen at firft View, but a few Words will make it plainly appear. By the Name of God all Men underftand he is the Higheft, and infinitely perfedt Deity, wife, good, juft and pure i tnefe Perfedions as they are ia God, iQ will they be found in fome De- gree of Proportion in all intelJejftual Beings, created by God. The Diftindtions there- fibre of Good and Bad, Juft and Unjuft, ipafe aad Worthy, wer^ made from Eter- nity 5 Of ibe St AT -B of the Dead, tj nity ; not conftituted by the Impofition of Men and human Laws only, but are derived from the Nature and Perfection of the im- mutable God : And as God is this chief Perfedtion, this Meafure and Rule of Right and Wrong, whatever deviates from this Rule, and what Qualities are oppofed to it, have been Vices, Stains and Errors, fix>m all Eternity. And this is the lirft Part of our Argument. The Second is, that Things are not only thus diftinguiflied, but that Men are divided into two Orders, the Good and Bad, the Juft and Unjuft, the Worthy and the Bafe : Thofe pleafe God, thefe diijpleafe him : Thofe he loves and thefe he hates. For God cannot but love his own Image and acknowledge his own Perfcdtions wherever they are found ; what is conformable to himfelf, and partakes of the divine Nature, he cannot but love and cherifli : And, on the contrary, abhor and put from him what is incongruous, dis- agreeing and oppolite to his own Nature. And as God is the greateft and mod pow- erful Lover of Right, he will not be an idle Spectator, but will take care to do Juf- ticc ; neither will he beftow the fame Fe- licity on Friends and Enemies alike, but, according to their Deferts will give every one the Portion that is due to him. And the 1 4 Of the State of the D e a b."^ the mofce perfed: any one is in Virtue, Pie-s ty and Wifdom, and the nearer he comes to the Difpofition and Nature of God, the. more exalted and the happier will he be : But as it is'plain to all Men that this is not ib in this Life, it is a certain' Confequence,. aS; fure and immoveable as God himfelf, th^t it will be fo.in a future State. And to what has been faid before, let us add, as the, chief Argument, and to crown- the; whole, the univerfal AJjhtt of Nations- to a future State: And not without Caufe, as, it feertis to me, for the Voice of Nature is both the Index and Evidence of Truth : But the Favourers of :the contrary Opini- on, by two Ways, endeavour to overthrow the Force of this Argument. In the firft Place, they deny that this Opinion or Hope of a future State is univerfal among all Na- tions, at leaft, if barbarous Nations be in- cluded j farther they fay, that among po-^ lite, and learned Nations, fome have been more inclined to the contrary Opinion. As to the Firfl:, as manv of thofe Na- tions that worfliipp'd any God, or infti- tuted any religious Rites or Ceremonies, they did by that Pradice teftify the Hope or Fear they had of a future State j and that they expeded Rewards or Puniihments as their Adions pleafed or difpleafed their* Gods. Of the State of the Dead. 15 Gods, The other Heathens, who under- itood nothing of Divinity, feem to have know^^n as little of Humanity, but Uke mere Cattle to have led a beftial Life. It would be, therefore, unjuft to meafure human- kind by this Sort of Men,, the very Dregs of Humanity, nay, the Dregs of Barba- rity, and by fuch to eftimate the Pow- ers and Virtues of other Men. If any one had a mind to inquire into the Properties of an Herb, he would not gather it with- out Juice and withered, or only from a Dunghil, but as it grows in fruitful Fields^ receiving the Dew of Heaven and the Rays of the Sun, according to the Ufe of Na- tufe ; and what he finds in this Herb, he will determine to be what belongs to its Species, and proper and natural to all of the fame Kind. Or if you would know the Worth and Luftre of a Diamond, you would not examine it, rough, as they call it, with' all the Dirt and Filth of the Quar- ry, where it grew, but would view it cut and polifhed, and the Appearance it then has, the Luftre it then fhews and the Vir- tue it then emits you will attribute to the Porce of its Nature, and from thofe fet a Price on the Stone. As to the fecond Point, if there are, or ever have been, any, among learned Men and i6 Of the Stat t of tbe Dead. and Philofophers who deny a future State, they have been in the Number of thofc who acknowledge nothing in Nature but Matter } or at leaft no natural Diftindion in Affairs of Men between what is baie and what is worthy. The Firft of thefe fhall be reflitcd in the following Chapter, and for what concerns the other, if we have already proved from the Nature of God, that there have been, from all Eternityj Diftinftions between Good and Evil, we have already deftroyed the Error on which that Opinion depends j and we have (hewn in the fame Place, and in the fame Thread of Difcourfe, the ConneE AD, 25 Immortality for us at any Rate, whether he derive it from Nature or from divine Favour. To proceed in our Argument: They who would take from us Immortality, the deareft Thing that can be thought of, will have the Soul to be not only an extended Subftance, but really and truly corporeal ia every Refped:, and (Oy like Body, capable of being diffolved. Thefe I every where behold as Enemies to human Nature : But even with Enemies there are certain Rights and Decorums that ought to be obferved. Let us not, therefore, teaze one another with Contumelies and Reproaches, but, laying afide all Prejudices, calmly debate the Matter. For the Sake of {hortening the Caufe, if you pleafe, it Ihall be granted, by com- mon Confcnt, that there is fomething I?i- ^corporeal in the Nature of Things ; or if you care not to make any Conceffions, which are not extorted from you by the Force of Reafon, we will prove, in the firft Place, that God is not a Body, or is not Corporeal. This Foundation being laid, we will proceed to examine the Nature of the Soul, which is the Point in Quef- iion. Although 24 Of the'^T ATT. of fheY>EAV), Although it may be jiiflly reckoned among thofe Abfurdities, that need no Proof, That the Corporeal World created itfelf without the Hand of an Artift, with- out any preceding Defign, or Thought, or Counfel ; and the' it be no lels abfurd to foppofe that the fupreme Wifdom and Pow- er, which fhine forth fo brightly in the Workmanfliip and Government of Nature, Ihould be innate or implanted in blind and grofs Matter, yet fo oddly arc the Minds of fome Men turned, that whatever does not ftrike the outward Senfes, or fill the Imagination, or, to fpeak more plainly, whatever is not corporeal, all that paiTes with them for nothing. Well then, let us examine this thing in a few Words. If God is corporeal, he muft either be the •W'hole corporeal World, all the univerfal Mafs of Matter, or fome certain Portion, fome Species, or fome fingular Kind of it/ If you lliould fay the latter, it is faying nothing, becaufe no kind of Matter is im- mutable. All Matter, indeed, as to its Subftance, is one and the fame ; but as to its Modes and Qualities alters daily ; That which is hard To-day, grows foft To- mon-ow, or is rrielted j and that which is thin and fubtle To-daj'-, congeals To-mor- row and lofes its Motion. For Motion paflea Of fh St ATE of the Dead. 25 pafTes continually from Ibme Parts of Mat- ter to other j as likewife the other Quali- ties of Matter by the Mediation of Motion ; and nothing remains under the fame Form perpetually. Therefore your God would be like Proteins ; or rather^ by the various Mutations of Matter, would often die, and revive. Beiides, as he is not univerfal Mat- ter, he could not be prefent every where j nor only that, but he w^ould be broken afunder, and his Subftance would have Chafms in feveral Places, by the Interpofi- tion of other Bodies ; for if your God is the thin and fluid Portion of Matter, by the Interpofition of hard Bodies there would be a Solution of Continuity : If the hard and grofs Part of Matter, he would be of- ten and varioufly torn from himfelf by the Fluid that would run between his divided Parts. So that, by this Means, you will have not One, but numberlefs Gods j not a whole God, but fo many broken Limbs^ and Fragments of a God. Finally, yoit include all your God, in {ingle Particles of Matter ; or Part of him in one, and Part of him in another : Either' Suppofition is mere Folly, and not worth while to Confider any farther. You fee how ill a God is made up of any particular Part of Matter, choofe what you D will ?6 Of the St AT z of the Ve A d. will for the Purpofe ; nor is it lefs abfurd, or impoffible, that the whole univerfal Mafs of Matter can be exalted into a God or Divine Nature. If the *whole Stru(5ture of the vifible World, and all Bodies what- foever, celeftial, terreflrial, animated, un* animated, Stones, Stocks, Metals , and whatever is more fordid, be the God you feign, then does your Folly exceed that of all Pleathens -, for they believed that the Deity which they adored was very different from the Marble or Wood, or whatever Statue they confecrated to him ; they believed in- deed that the God inhabited in fome Man- ner the Statue ; but they diftinguifhed the Inhabitant from the Houfe, and Sword from the Scabbard : But you confound one in the other. Befides, according to your Opinion, we daily eat and drink the God we worihip ; nay, tread him under our Feet. And whatfoever Matter fuffecs when it is tofs'd to . and fro, cut, burnt, ground, or any other way tormented, all that God fuifers : For Matter you fay is God, and certainly whatever is divine can- not be infenfible. Thefe Things are con- trary tp all Reafpn : But you are prefTed by a greater Abfurdity j for you not only make God fuffer, but, what I dare hardly venture to pronounce, you make him wick- ed Of f^e St AT E of the D t At)] 27 ed and impious : For if the Univerfe is God, he muft be in all Parts, whether ani- mated or unanimated^ bafe or worthy, pure or impure, and finally in wicked Men and Devils themfelves ; but from thefe Things iiot to be mentioned we ought to refrain. Thefe, and other Things of this kind, unworthy the Majefty of the fupreme Dei- ty, go along with your Hypothefis, which depreffes the Nature of God, and con- founds it with Matter. Nor do you lefs contend with Reafon on the other hand, when you carry Matter into the Divine Nature, and cloath it with Perfe(5tions that it is neither willing nor capable to put on. Let us recolledt, if you pleafe, what all Men underftand by the Word God : They all underftand, as I imagine, a Nature />;- finitely perfeSi j but is there any Man, who can perfuade himfelf or others, that all Per- fedtions are inherent in Matter, that they all flow from that Fountain, and all fpring from that Root? In the firft Place, the Mafs of Matter has in itfelf neither Force nor Adtion ; nor could it receive it from Abroad, if nothing was more excellent than itfelf : And then, after it had received it from fomething elfe, it could not poffibly exercife it, unlefs by the Divifion of itfelf into various Parts, and local Motioi> of D z ihgfe fi3 Of the St ATE of the Dead, thofe Parts ; but neither Divisibility nor lo- cal Motion agree with infinite Perfection. Secondly, if the Mafs of Matter contains 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 Perfedions, in which the Divine Being out-fhines all other Things. But you will fay perhaps, (that we may not indulge our own Caufe) that Co- gitation indeed is not manifeftly inclu- ded and contained in the Conception of Matter, or of the Mafs of Bodies j but that perhaps, it is fecretly or remotely con- tained beyond the Reach or Capacity of our Souls. To which I anfwer, that a- mong all the Ideas of the human Mind, there is none that is more prefent to us, none that is clearer to us, than the Idea of Matter, or of an extended Subftance. We moft evidently conceive all its Dimen- fions ; befides its Divifibility, Mobility, Figures, Pofitions, and Proportions. And the Sciences which treat of thefe Proper- ties of Matter, are of all the moft evident and demonftrable. And when we can find no Connediion between Cogitation and any of thefe Properties of Matter, or any Of theSr A.T-E. of tbe Dead. 29 any other Property of it, that falls within the Compafs of human Underflanding, it feems to be a groundlefs Sufpicion, and without the lead appearance of Truth, that this moft excellent Property, or Perfediion of Matter, according to your Imagination, fhould be contained in the fame Idea, and yet fhould not {hine out in it j nor the Mind be able to come at it there, or de- rive it from thence. I fay, T'his moji excellent Property ; for the other Properties, which I enumerated, are of fmall Moment, of little Dignity, if compared with Cogitation^ and the P^r- fed:ions which flow from 'it ; thefe con- ftitute the Divine Nature, and all that is noble and eminent in human Nature : The others have neither Life, nor Sen'le, nor any Thing of the Force and Virtue of the greateft of Beings. Thus that Idea which appeared to us, of all Ideas, the moffc entire, and the mofh accomplKhed, that is to fay, the Idea of Matter^ or of Corporeal Nature^ is cut (liort by one half, and that the more noble half: God hath concealed from us, to our great Difadvan- tage, 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 impoling this defective, and there- fore ai 30 Of tbe State of tbeDEAtfl fore fallacious, Idea on us. But this is a Calumny that has been invented againft God, and againft Men : Whatever is pro- per to Matter is included in the Idea of it ; and whatever is foreign to it, and of another Kind, as Cogitation and the Power of Thinking, that neither is nor ought to be included in it, unlefs you would include any Thing in any Thing, and (o wholly confound the Diftindions of all Things. But that we may go on with our Argu- ment : The divine and corporeal Nature are fo far from agreeing, that they are re- pugnant to each other, and contradidlory. One is infinitely perfedt, the other mani- feftly and varioufly imperfect, impotent and innervate in itfelf, and every way liable to fuffer from external Force : One immuta- ble J the other obnoxious to perpetual Mu- tations ; one fimple and uniform ; the o- ther variable by divers Modifications and innumerable Compofitions. By which it abundantly appears, that there is not only no Connexion, Affinity, or Similitude be- tween the divine and corporeal Nature, but a manifeft P^epugnancy j and that con- fcquently God is incorporeal. This Foundation being laid, that I may come nearer to what I propofed, I affert, in the fecond Place/ T^bat there may be fome* thing Of the St AT -E of the V BAD. 31 thifjg incorporeal^ befdes God. This is ma- nifeftly deduced from the Premifes, with- out Strife or Delay 5 for fince God is in- corporeal, it is plain from thence, that an incorporeal Nature implies no Repugnan- cy ; or that it may be a poflible Nature. And the Production of a poflible Thing is no Impoffibility : And when the fame God that is incorporeal is likewife omnipotent, it is in his Power actually and really to produce whatever is poffible. In the third Place, and finally, we af- firm, that the human Soul is of an incor- poreal Nature j or that it is an incorporeal Subftance. I could here before this Pro- pofition infert another, more general, and, as it were, intermediate j I mean, that it is not only pojjible there ficuld be^ but that there really and aBually are, exijiing in the Univerfe, incorporeal Subjlances^ befides God J and then have added, fuch, in its kind, is the human Soul. But, if you pleafe, they fliall be both comprehended in this Chapter. Firft then, I aflert, that in the vaft Compafs of the Univerfe, there arc other incorporeal Subftances befides God« For nothing from the Thing itfelf, as hath been fhewn, hinders the Sovereign ^nd All-powerful Being from creating thefe mcQrporeal Natures when he cre- ated 32 Of the St AT z of the 'D^ AD. ated the Univerle, and without them the Workmanlhip of it had been in a manner imperfed:, and mutilated in its nobleft Part. Jf any one fliould build a magnificent Edi- fice, and when he went about to adorn and furnifli it, {hould put nothing that was coftly therein, but let the Furniture be on- ly of Wooden or Earthen Ware, and all the Utenfils be made of the bafeft Mate- rials, negledling every Ornament that was beautiful and elegant, you would certainly fay, that Man, or that Mailer, was either mad, or ruined by his Expences, or mife- rably Covetous. So if the Creator of all Things, in compleating and adorning his Work, had omitted the moft excellent Or- riaments, incorporeal Natures, one would have been apt and ready to fay, That he had b«een either by Envy or Impotence de- prived of the Will, or of the Ability to fi-. nidi and accomplifli his Work. How grf at and how frightful a Chafm had there been ? Hov/ great a Vacuity in Things, if there had been nothing between God and Matter, the hlghefl and loweft Nature ? In this Interval there is room for number- iefs Orders of Beings, and Beings of the nobleft Kind -, which, if God had either not created, or had afterwards fuppreffed^ he had neither been mindful of his own Majefty, Of fJ^e St ATE of t/je Dead. 3 J Majefty, nor the Dignity of his Under- taking. Laftly, In the Nature of Things there arc many Phoenomena, which cannot be juftly referred to Matter or immediately to God : Thefe Appearances require inter- mediate Natures, and fecondary Caufes from God, fuperior to the utmoft Power of Mat- ter : But this is not the Place to dwell upoa thefe Things. The Way being now pre- pared, and as it were levelled, we come at length to the Conclufion itfelf, which ter- minates the Argument t Which is. That among thefe incorporeal Subfiances^ the hu- man Soul has a Place^ or that it is one of their Number. The whole of the Bufinefs, you fee plainly, turns upon this, to know to which of thefe GlafTes, the Corporeal or Incorporeal, the human Soul belongs: * But iince the EfTences of Things in a E great * Thit this may ajipeaf more clear> and diftinftly, let us examine a little, and look as it were; into ourlelves, that we may fee what we are, and what Value we ought to put upon ourfelves. Every Man is confcious of himfelf>, and of his own Exiftence. If any one fhall happen to doubt of thisj he muft be convinced by that very Doubt, and confefs that he exifts. But what Sort of Beings we are, who doubt, will, will not, rejoice, grieve, and think a thoufand different Ways j here, I fay, lies the great Queftion, what we are who aft, and who fuffer thefe Things. In the firft Place, I perceive that I am a Beihg diftin^ from all others. Nor does any other feel my Pain^ 34 Of the ^T 'AT -L of the "D E AD. great Meafure lie hicl from us, and we haVe hardly any other Way to difcover the Dif- ferences between them, than by their Pro- perties and their EfFedls, it will not be fo- reign to our Piirpofe 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 frorii thence, whether they are different, or are one and the fame ; and if they are different, in what Manner tliey differ, or are oppofed to each other. We jior I that of another ; nor Pleafure or the other AiFeiSti- ons. Moreover, I am more or lefs knowing than others. And as every one has his own Will fo have I. I am Sick and in Health, I hunger, I fleep myfelf only, and laftly, I live or die for myfelf alone. On Account of this Confcioufnefs of Aftions and Paf- fions, proper and peculiar to ine, and incommunicable to any Thing elfe, I call myfelf a certain Individual, divided and diftinft from every other Being ; diftinft from God, as I am an imperfeft Being, obnoxious to the Errors bdth of my Underllanding and Will ; diftindt alfo from every other Being, when they neither perceive my Thoughts, nor my Senfations, nor have I any Senfe of theirs. In the mean while, thofe Aftions or Paffions, of which I alone am confcious, mull neceflarily belong to fome Sub- ftance, as the Properties and Faculties of that Subfiance : They cannot belong to God, as we have ftewn abov«, and will be ftill more clear below ; they muft belong then to fome created Subftance, corporeal or incorporeal. ; Thefe Things being premifed, you fee very clearly that the whole Point in Debate turns upon this, •vi^. to what Clafs of created Beings, corporeal or incorporeal, the human Soul bek^ngs ? Of the St AT z of the T>'s,Ary. 35 . We have (c^n above, that Cogitation is not included in the Idea of corporeal Na- ture ; and on the other Hand that none of the Properties of Body are included in Cq- gitation j and therefore the Author of Na- ture has deceived us both Ways if Cogitar tion belongs to Matter ; and therefore un- lefs we pretend to underftand beyond the Reach of our Faculties, or bcfides them, or againft them, no Motive or Handle cai^ fpring from our Ideas, that rn^y occafion our uniting or confounding Cogitation with corporeal Nature. But you will fay, perhaps, that we fomc- times learn thofe Things by Experience, which we could never have deduced frorn. our Ideas alone. If we {hould grant it, yet never has it been foupji t>y ^ny Experi- ence, that the Mind either adts or fuffers after the Manner of Matter j or that Mat- ter either ad:s or fuffers the fame Way that the Mind does, that is, by the Power and Force of its own Thought or Cogitation. y^Q all know very well, that Matter either afts or fufters by Motion, Touch, or Im- pijlfe ; but never has it yet t^een made to appear, that the Mind either ads or fuifers by Touch, qx by Impulfe, or by any of the Motions which they excite. For Ex- ample, when I move by a voluntary Mo- E 2 tion 36 Of the Sr AT z of the DzAv, tion cither my Tongue or my Finger, or any other Part of my Body, I am confcious of no Impulfe, or any Manner of Strefs whatever made by my Mind upon that Part of the Body. There is, indeed, a Motion of the Spirits, or of the thinner Juices, from which the Motion of that Part of the Bo- dy uhimately proceeds: But we are now in- quiring into the iirft Original, or Caufe of that Motion of the Spirits in the Brain, as far as it lies in our Power, and after the Manner by which it proceeds immediate- ly from the Mind, or from the Adtion of the Mind ; But I affirm, that I am con- fcious of no Action of my Mind in the pro- ducing or efFedting this Motion, but Foli- iion^ or the Command of my Will. But that this Ad:ion, or Command of my Will, is performed by Touch, or Impulfe, or has its EfFe(^ by thofe, I am able to difcover by no Confcioufnefs, nor find by any Ex- perience. And as for the Paffions of the Mind, impreffed by the Body, or by corporeal Gb- jedts, thefe Objects, as far as they are in the Soul, have no Refemblance or Relation to local Motion, or ta thofe Motions of the Body by which they are excited. For Ex- ample, the Heart is contracted in Grief and Sadijiefs, and dilated in Mirth and Joy : " But Of the S>r AT -E of the 'D'E AD. 37 But no Man can imagine that this Con- tradtion, or this Dilation, can be in the Soul itfelf, as if the Soul of Man were muf- cular, and compofed of Fibres and Ten- dons. For the Senfe of 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 fingular Idea, having no Refem- blance to any other, and leaft of all to Local Motion. Laftly, In external Senfations, in the Per- ception 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 Percep- tion is performed ; nor can they more, when they are in Diforder and Confufion, repre-^ fent the Obje£l (by their own Force) dif tinBlyto the Soul. But we ou^ht leaft of all to' fufped:, 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 Image§j vvhich we may call Memorial Marks, 38 Of the St AT v^ of the T>z An. Marks, which are very imperfed: an4 there- fore unequal to their original Types. Fi- nally, If there are befides any other Thoughts, that may be referred to this Clafs, you will find upon inquiring into them, that they include nothing extended, or figured, or corporeal. Thus far have we treated of the firft Operation of the human Soul, which is called fimple Apprehenfion, whether it be a pure and abftrad:ed Idea, or joined toge-* ther with Motion in fome Part of the Bo- dy : But there are in us, befides Ideas or fimple Apprehenfions, fuperior and nobler Principles, or Faculties of the Soul, as Judg- ment, Reafon, and a Chain of Reafons link^ ed to one another ; and laftly, There is a fovereign Principle that prefides over all thefe, and is therefore jaftly called by the GreekSy To nyzuoviKhy {5? TO ct,C']ilov^ AD. 39 into Raticx:inations, and, if you pleafe, in- to Methods, or into a Series of Thoughts that are marflialled in exadt Order j for Method comprehends and difpofes of fe- veral Ratiocinations. Raticionation is em- ployed in the Connexion of feveral Judg- ments, Judgment in comparing and com- prehending feveral Ideas, or feveral Senfa- tions. So, if you will proceed in Order, Ideas are the firll Elements of Knovi^ledge, and, as it were, the Letters of the Alpha- bet, from which Words are compofed, as Sentences and Periods are of Words, and a whole Difcourfe of Sentences : And thus the Scale or Gradation of Thoughts or Co- gitation, in fome Sort anfwers to the fe- veral Parts of Speech. Enough has been faid of Ideas : The Judgments and Ratiocinations follow, in which the Mind contemplates the Relati- ons, Proportions, and mutual Regards of the Ideas ; for we ought to take Notice of this, that the Ideas, confidered 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 Refpeds, that there is between thefe Ideas, (lunderftand Ideas here in the largcjft Senfe) 4© Of 'the St AT -E of the Dead, Senfe) affirm or deny fomething concern*- ing theni) and confequently concerning the Things which they reprefent, as they ac- cord or differ, imply or exclude, agree or are oppofed to each other, and this accord- ing to their different Meafure and Degrees* Now fancy, if* you pleafe, that the Ideas themfelves are corporeal Motions ; what are thefe Relations between the Ideas, thefe Con*- catenations 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 Propofitions, and Con- catenations of Propofitions ? Laftly, Can you believe that this Progrefs that is made in thinking, from fimple Per- ception to Judgment, from Judgment to Ra- tiocination, and from thence to a well or- dered Series and Context of Arguments ; can you believe, I fay, that this rrogrefs is made by the Impulfe of one Part of the Soul on another, or by any Succeffion of Motions, according to the Laws of Mat- ter and Local Motion ? Moft certainly you do not believe it : Turn your Eyes inward, confult yourfelf, interrogate your Soul, that is mafter and confcious of itfelf j ask it, if thefe Of fheSvATE of tbeDE.Ai>l 41 thefe Operations are nothing but corpo- real Mutations, but Touches, Impulfes, or Dafliings againft other of corpufculariaa Particles, and that they are produc'd one from the other, according to the Laws of local Motion. Your Soul, unlefs it lies a- gaiiift the Truth and itfelf, and is induftri-* ous to deprefs itfelf into an inferior Order of Things, which God did not ordain for^t, but which yet it^eierves, by reafon of the Wrong and Injuflice jvhich it does itfelf; I fay, unlefs it docs that, it will ingenuoufly confefs, that it finds Notliing at all of that in itfelf, nor is able to gather from any Indica« tion, that thefe Operations arc performed in it after a corporeal Manner, by Virtue of its own or of any other Body j but that by a Power peculiar to itfelf, and according to the Laws of a thinking Nature, from the Contemplation of its Ideas, and the Rela- tion between thofe Ideas, new Contempla- tions more compounded arife, as it were, fo many new Births, or new Conceptions, af- ter them* To confirm this Teftimony which the Soul gives of itfelf, if it is frank and inge- nuous, let us recolledt a litde what we have faid above : That 7'rufb or Falfiood^ pro- perly called fo, does not confift in the bare Ideas taken feparately from each other, but F in 42 Of the St AT -E of the Deat>. in the right Difpofition of feveral Ideas a- mong themfelves to their different Kinds, and their feveral Relations ; for fo Propo- fitions and Judgments are formed in the Mind, from which Ratiocination is after- wards wrought ; and from them both, Dif-^ courfe of whatever Nature, Oration, or Dif- fertation. From what has been faid, we form two Obfervations : The firft is, that the greateft Force of Mind that can pofli^ bly be conceived, is ieen in its contemplat- ing, diftinguifliing, deteunining the Rela-r tions that Things have to one another, or the Ideas of Things. As Argumentation turns upon thefe, or makes its Progrefs from one to another, according to their mutual Con- nexions or Relations, the whole Series, and Progrefs, and Concatenation of Thoughts depends entirely upon thefe. The Ideas of Things that fall under the Imagination, being Jeparately taken from thefe, are like fo much Sand without Lime : The Things which cement them, are the forefaid Relations ^^r- ceived by the XJnderJianding only. I fay, per^- reived by the U?iderjlanding only ; for the fecond Obfervation that we make is this, that the Relations of Things in this Nature have no Images of themfelves in the Brain, no Marks in the Imagination j nor can they be reprefent^d by jiny corporeal Image, wheu Of the S>T AT u tf the T> E A D.' 45' when they are without Parts, without Shape^ and without Exterifion. However^ the ex- pirefs T'ermSj or the Words which we annex: to our Idea, may in fome Degree be repre- fented j as for ExamplCj a Triangle or Qua- drangle, or fomething of that Nature : But the Comparifon or Proportion between the J'e?-mSy or the Parts of either of them, ot between any other Things whatever ; this is Ratiocination refulting from divers Things compared with each other, which can be reprefented by no Linesj and which no Co- lours can paint. We may apply to this what the Prophet faid concerning the Divine Na**- ture; ifa. x. 18. ^0 whom will ye liken AU mighty God f or what Likenefs will ye com-* pare to him ? What Similitude of his Like* nefs, or what Effigies of abftradted Propor- tions can you poffibly conceive could be drawn in the Brain, or in any other ma-** terial Subftance whatever ? Thus the Rea*- fons of Truth and Falfhood, of Bafenefs and Worthinefs, of Poffibility and Impoffibility^ and of thofe univerfal Notions i^hich arife from the comparing feveral Things together, I fay, thefe, and Ideas of this Nature, have not tlie leaft Trace or Fold, the leaft Sha- dow^ or Form, or Figqre, in the narrow of fmalleft Fibres of the Brain. But enough of this Argument. Fa Jlitherti 44 Of the St ATE if the Dead. Hitherto we have followed only one Thiead of Difcourfe, viz. the gradual Pro- grefs that the human Soul makes in its Ope- rations ; in which, from fimple Perception, it proceeds to Judgments and Arguments; and trom thence to a Series and Syftem of Thoughts in the Arts and Sciences, ranked in the moft beautiful and the exadieft Or- der, and to a long Range and Sequel of Pro- pofitions, as well for Contemplation as Prac- tice, and the Government of human Affairs. How juftly are thefe Virtues and this Force zdm'ncd in the human Soul, by which it i& diftinguiihed from the Machine of its Body, and from all material Subftance ? Let us now return to that other no lefs ad- mirable Principle or Faculty which we mentioned above, by which the Soul is like- wife diAinguiflied from the Machine of its Body, and by which it vindicates its Em- pire over all the Motions of the other : This Principle we have called rh Auri'^Ca-m ; the Latins call it Liberum Arbitrium, or the voluntary %nd fpontaneous Force of the Mind. In the firft Place, by the Force of this Principle we govern the Body, and coinmand the Spirits which way we pleafe, to move this or that, or any Part of it : By this Principle we refift the Propenfions of the Body, we controul our Appetites, and its Of the St AT "E of tbeDEA-D. 45 ks Affedions, and its external and internal Senfes, as often as it is our Pleafure. But what Sort of Thing, I befeech you, is this that thus ilruggles with the Body, if we are nothing but Body ? When a River runs either this Way or that, can it, by its own Force, put a Stop to its Stream, and turn it a contrary Way ? No Matter what- ever a<5ts again ft itfelf, no Machine is con- fcious of its own Motions, or from that Confcioufncfs a Corredor and Reformer of its Errors. If it err, as it is not confcious of it, it continues to err, till the Hand of the Artift or Mafter being applied to it, it is brought into Order, and reftored to its right State. This Refiexi've Principle, if I may fo call it, cannot be imitated by any Machine or any Part of Matter. This Force that is a Reformer of itlelf, and that repents of itfelf, tranfcends all the Force, the Neryes and the Springs of thofc corporeal Engines that ap- pear to move of themfelves : And as it is lingular and peculiar to an intelled:ual Na-* ture, fo it is 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 raifed above all Matter, but there is fomething yet more fublime, which lords tti 46 Of fJje Sr ATE of the D-EAjy. lords It over the Mind itfelf ^ as well as over the Body, that with fovereign Authoriry ex- ads an Account of all the Motions of eachj and, as it were, another I, and a fu-^ preme Judge, flridly reviews the Actions of both one and the other, and corredls or confirms them at Pleafure *\ 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 Dominion with which it was at iiift created, applies itfelf to profecute whatever Thought it pleafes, dwells on it a 'longer or a ihorter Time, deferts it, and turns itfelf to another, according to its fovereign Plea- fure. Befides, we are to obferve, that this (tyxef^V/oc, in exercifing its fovereign Power, either * Tell me, I pray, what is the Difference between Sleep- ing and Waking ? When we dream, ibme Thoughts follow others fortuitouflv, according as the Phantoms ofE;r them- felves, without the Government or Command of the Mind, whether they are aptly or abfurdjy joined. But when we ;Kre awake, there is fomething in us that correfts thefe Thouf^hts, -^^uides them, commands them., flops them, and turns them which way foever it pleafes ; and rejefting the •Abfurd, connects and compoies the reft into a rational Series. What fs that fuperior Principle that prefides overall thef* Motions of the Body, and nil thefe Thoughts of the Mjnd-, and governs them at its Pleafure ? 1 his fuperior Principle, I call the high, the Sovereigni and impsratoriai Mind* Of the Stat e of the Dead. 47 cither on the Body, or on the Soul, fome- times takes the Advice of Reafon, and fol- lows that for its Guide; and fometimes, and that but too often, it takes a contrary Courfe, and then it lofes all Command of itfelf, and often runs headlong upon its own Defiruc- tion. But when it calls in Reafon to its AlTiftance, and choofes her for a Compani- on, then {lie is like the Deity, 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 Imagina- tion, and thofe of the Paffions ; nay, and the Errors even of Reafon itfelf. In this the divine Force of the Soul ihines out with the greateft Glory. Indeed, in every A6lion, in every Paffion of the Soul, let it be ever fo weak, let it be ever fo abjed:, as in Senfation, or in any Affedtion or Appetite, there is fome- thing fuperior to all corporeal Force, I mean that confcious,perceiving,and comprehending Quality, which is every where prefent ; for which Matter can be never fufficient,^. nor any Thing compofed of Matter. But when we afcend by the aforementioned Steps to the fupreme Perfection of our Natures, then we are immenfely diftant from Earth, and from earthly Things ; then we are raifed to the very Heaven of Heavens, ten thoufand Degree? higher than any organical or me- chanical 4^ Of the^r ATE of theV>^AX>. chanical Engine could ever have the Force to carry us *. Laftly, That I may wind up all this to- gether, there is fomething within us that may be called an univerfal Percipient, or an univerfal confcious Principle, that runs thro* all the Operations of the Soul, and is difFufed through all its Adions and Paffions. Now I would fain know of you what this is : Is it fome Limb, fomc Part or Particle of the E^ody ? It is one and the fame Thing that diiccrns external Objects, that judges and reafons, that wills, refolves, underftands ; kftly, that receives all Impreffions, and ex- erts or accompanies all A(ftions. There is a Neceffity that this univerfal Perceiver fhould be very fimple, and of an Unity in- expreffible, that it may be capable of re- ceiving fo many ImprefTions without Con- fiilion, and of contemplating with one View fo many Reafons and Relations of Things* ISo Part or Portion of Matter kerns to me to * But that we may proceed. In a cogitative Nature two Things concur, which never concur in Matter or a corpo- real Nature, that is to fay, Action, and the Unity of Aftion; "Oar Conception of Thought includes in it Adlion, and that ■she molt united A<5\ion : But Matter is either void of A^ion, as the more hard, ponderous, unweildy Bodies are ; or it is void of Unity, as fluid and volatile Matter, which confifts ^f numerous Particles, which are carried this way and that, without Connexion or Unity, Of tbe^T ATE of the "Dead. 49 to be capable of fo much Unity and Sim- plicity. Whatever is received, is received according to the Meafure of the Receiver ; and where there are feveral Parts or Particles in the Receiver, the Impreflion mufl be con- fufed or diftradled. If the whole Impreflion falls upon the fame Point, there will be Con^ fufion J if upon feveral, there will be Diftrac^ tion. In Matter there can be no one Part that can perceive the Whole, or that can be confcious of the whole Impreflion, and the whole Objedt : But as in the perceiving external Objed:s, fo in the comparing and difl:inguifliing them, there mufl: be fome-' thing one, that comprehends the Reafons of them, and handles, or divides, or con- necfls them, like fo many Threads ; and ei- ther lengthens them, or breaks them ofl-^ and in various Manners winds and works them together. And in all thefe Variations and Operations, befldes the proper Force which is in each of the Angular 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 Perceiver or univerfal confcious Principle, mufl: not only be fomething one, but fomething mofl: per-r fedly one, and mofl: Ample; of fuch Unity and Simplicity, as was faid before, that can never be conceived to be in any extended Sub- G fl;ance, 5© Of the St AT Y. of the Jy-E A ft. ftance, divifible and compofed of diftant Parts. Thefe Things thus difcuffed with all pof- iible Brevity, it appears dear to me, on eve- ry Side, that our Souls are of a different Nature from our Bodies, and fuperior to all corporeal Force whatfoever *. And this ap- pears evident, whether we contemplate the Ideas of both Natures, or the Motions and Operations of the Soul, or that univerfal confci'jus Principle, which is infeparable from the meaneft of them. Many other Argu^ ments, and thofe unanfwerable ones, are ufed by learned Men to prove the Diftinc- tion between the Soul and the Body, and any particular Part of the Body. Certainly, the Soul of every Man is fomething perma- nent, and is, during Life, the fame nume- rical Being. But no Part of the Body is, during Life, the fame numerical Thing : but one Part flies fenfibly off, and a new one fucceeds unconfcious and ignorant of the Things which the other knew or adted. But there is no Occafion to dwell longer here upon this, when the Chriflian Infiitu- ■fion hath inflrud:ed us clearly and fully in the Dodlrine of the Immortality of the Soul, and the Diflinftion between that and the Body, as well in Creation, as in Death. Speaking of the Creation of Man, the fa- cred * r/V. Antients concerning the imperfedl Happi- nefs or Mifery of human Souls before the Day of Judgment. But, as for what relates to the Mifery and Punifhments of the Wick- ed, we fliall let that pafs at prefent ; it will be fufficient at this Time to (hew, that the Opinion of thofe who are for tranilating the Souls of the Righteous departed to the King- dom of Heaven, and that fupreme Glory which is called the Beatifick Vifion, before the Refurre6tion of the Dead, and the Com- ing of Chrift, is neither agreeable to. the Holy Scriptures, nor to the Faith of the primitive Chrillians. They who promife themfelves or others, that they fliall enjoy the beatihck Vifion immediately after their Deaths, ought in Reafon to fliew us fome Promife in Scrip- ture that may fupport 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 Appointment of God, a Hope is rafli that is not founded on a di- vine Promife. Tell me then what facred Writers are the WitnefTes and Prophets of fo great a Hope and fo fadden a Felicity. In thofe Places of Holy Writ that affure us we fliall one Day fee God, fuch are Mat, V. 8. I Ccr.. xiii. 12. we are not told that it {hall be immediately after Death. We are rather Of the S> T AT -E of the Ti^ AXi, 57 rather told, on the contrary, that it iliall ngt be till Chrift fhall appear, nor fhall it be made manifeft to the Sons of God, uniefs in the Refurredlion. John iii. 2. Rom. viii. 19, 23. Co/, iii. 4. Befides, according to the fame facred Ora- cles, and the Apoflolical Writings, the Saints are not to attain to their Glory and their folemn Reward before the coming of Chrift, and the Refurredlion of the Dead. St. Pe- ter promifes a Crown of Glory to the faith- ful Shepherds of Chrift, when the Prince of Shepherds {hall appear : Neither am I of Opinion that the People will receive their Reward before their Paftor. St. Paul, fe- cond to none in the Chrift ian Warfare, tells us, 2 TzV;/. iv. 8. that he is not to receive bis Crown till the Day of the Lord ^ and that he is perfuaded that he fliall then at laft receive from God the Soul which he has committed to him, together with Eter- nal Life. / am perfuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him. againft THAT DAY. 2 "fim. i. 12. And the intermediate Time, between the Day of Death and that Day, being lilent and in- glorious, he feems to fet at nought. Which that holy Man would never have done if he had believed that in that Interval of Time we were to enjoy the Fulnefs of Gio^ H ry, 58 Of the St AT E of iheDE ad. ry, and the beatifick Vifion. Laftly ; When he prays to God (2 Tim. i. 18.) to have Mercy on any one, when he promifes Joy, or threatens Revenge and Torments, the Apoftle is wont to refer them all to fbat Day. 2 ^hef. i. 7, 8, 9, 10. And yet, if human Souls immediately after their Departure were either to be plunged in un- iJDeakable Torments, or exalted to the Height of Glorv, he ought to have refer- red both the Happinefs and the Mifery on- ly to the Hour of Death. Moreover it is tobeobferved, that where- as the Apoftle, like one who is about to lie down, and 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 faid to Jleep, or to fall ajleep, and to awake?! at laft on the Day of Judgment and of the Refurredlion. 3 Cor. XV. 6, 18, 20, 51. I T'heJJ. iv. 13, 14. I know very well thefe Things are not to be underftocd altogether in a literal Senfe, much lefs are they to be underftood fo grof- ly, as if the Soul after Death were void of Life and of Adion ; for all the Power of Thinking can never be driven from the Mind of Man ; yet, neverthelefs, this Man- ner of fpeaking can never be applicable to the Condition of thofe who are in Poffeffion of Of the St AT i: of the D EAT). 59 of the beatlfick Vifion, which both in Di- vinity and Philofophy is efteemed the moft perfedl Operation of the Soul, and therefore can never be compared to a Sleep or a Dream, in which the Actions of the Soul are fo very far from Perfection . It is certainly worth while to weigh and confider both thefe Difcourfes of St. Paul to the Corinthians and ^heffaknians^ concern- ing the Hope and State of the Dead. He exhorts the T'hejjalonians not to grieve im- moderately, like Men who are without Hope, for thofe who are dead, or \}s\2Xfleep in y ESUS. But with what Argument does the Apoftle comfort thefe, and repel their immoderate Grief? Is it with this that the Souls of the Righteous, as foon as ever they are freed from their Bodies, enter into Heaven, and partake of celeftial Glory ? This, indeed, had been the greateft Confo- lation imaginable, and a moft prefent and efFedual Remedy. But it is not from this Confideration, nor from the Dead's immedi- ate Poffeffion of Happinefs, that he de- rives the Comfort which he gives to the Living, and the Fomentation which he ufes to affwage, but from the certain H^ope of a blifsful Reiiirredion, and of a fiiture Return with Chrift when he (liall come in his Glory, I would ?20t, fays he, i. 7keffl H 2 . iv. 6o Of the State of the Dead. iv. 13, 14, 18. have you to be ignorant^ Brethren^ concerning them which are afleepy ' that you for row not even as others that have no Hope : For^ if we believe that fefus died and rofe again^ even fo them which fleep in Jefus^ will God britig with him.- — Where- fore comfort 07ie another with theje Words. Moreover St. Paul in another Difcourfe to the Corinthians^ Chap. xv. 30, 31, 32. feems to argue in fuch a Manner, as if our whole Hope depended on the Refurredlion, that the Life to come would not be worth looking after, unworthy the Labours that we undergo, and the Dangers that we pafs through in expecting it, unlefs we were one Time to rife from the Grave. But if at our Departure from this Life we are to be immediately carried to that beatifick Glory, we fhall then be happy, ay, moft happy, altho' no Refurredlion were to fol- low. That divine State of the Soul would •be the moft ample Reward for Virtue, and whatever we have endured in this Life, and it would be the moft fupreme Felicity to dwell for ever in that celeftial Light. Neverthelefs the fame Apoftle, in the eighth Chapter to the RojnanSy comparing the Sufferings of this prefent Life, with the Glory that we fhall hereafter enjoy, takes no Notice of this j^eatifck Vifion^ but regards the Of the St AT •?'of the Dead. 6t the Time of the Refurrecftion only, as if be- fore the Arrival of that Day, the Saints would have no Reward. Roffj, xv. l8. For I reckon that the Sufferings of this pre/enf 'Time are not ^worthy to be compared ivith the Glory ivhich fhall be re'vealed in us. But when is this Glory to be revealed,in us? \s it to be immediately after Death ? No ; but when we wait for the Adoption, to wit, the Redemption of the Body, that is, at the Reliirred:ion. And in the fecond Epif- tle to the Corinthians iv. 17. he fays, after the fame Manner ; That our light AffABi- ony ivhich is but for a Moment, worketh for ns a far more exceedi?ig and eternal Weight €f Glory. For we know, that this Taber- nacle being diffohed : Well, 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 Buildi?ig (2 Cor. v. i.) for he afcended not thither himfelf till the third Day after his Death j nor do antient Writers, either * fcws or Chrifiiam give that Interpretation to the Word Paradife, Ail thefe Things if we weigh with a free- Mind, and follow what the Light of the facred Writings does eafily lead us into 5 and turn not on any Account from this Path, or move a Step beyond it, we muft fay, or rather repeat, Blcjed are the Dead who die in the Lord, even at prefent blefled, be- * The JeiMs fuppofe the Happinefs of the Dead to be. imperfedl till the Day of Judgment. Vide Pocock. Nctmi/c.. c. yi. p. 176, 64 Of tbe Sr A T E of tbe D E AD. becaufe they enjoy Peace, and Reft, and Comfort ; and will be hereafter tranfcen- dantly blefTed, when, upon the fecond com- ing of Chrift, having put on their glorify'd Bodies, they fliall enjoy the ravifhing Sight of God, in an inexpreffible Manner. Nor is it any Obje(5tion to our Opinion, that St. Paul hath faid, T'bat if he dyd he fiould be frefent with Chriji \ and, as it were, at home with the Lord : Thil. i. 23. 2 Cor. V. 8. For whatever Prefence you can fuppofe that the Apoftle means here, whether the vifible and corporeal one, or the fpiritual and internal one j neither of them will at all weaken our Caufe. If the Apoftle means the corporeal Prefence, he means it from the Time of the Refurred:!- on, the Interval of Reft between Death and that being accounted as Nothing : For Souls being feparated from their Bodies, and 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 ^wn Term, of Obdormition, is reckoned by him as Nothing. But by Reafon of the Certainty of the Thing, and the infenfible Delay, he joins the P^.elllrre(3:ion immedi- ately Of the S>r ATE of the X^^ An, 65 ately together with Death. And I am the lefs averfe to this Explication, when I ob- ferve the Apoflle's Opinion, in feveral Places of his Epiftles, of the Approaching and fud- den Coming of Chrift. Befides, in the firft Verfe of this Chapter to the Corinthians^ he has joined the Time of throwing off the terreftrial Body, with that of putting on the celeftial Body, making no Account of the intermediate Time : ¥or we know^ faith he^ 2 Cor. V. I. Heb. ix. 23. that if our earthly Houfe of this I'abernacle were diffolvedj we have a Building of God^ an Houfe not made with Ha7ids^ eternal in the Heavens : Where he immediately joins the DifTolution of this mortal Body with the Affumption of the other, though more than Fifteen hundred Years are pafTed fince the Death of St. Paul^ and he has not yet his celeflial Body. But the imperceptible Time, in which no Al- terttion either happens, or can poffibly hap- pen to the Matter depending, is to be look- ed on as Nothing. Befides, the Apoflle has faid in that Chapter, ver. 4. to the Cori?!- thians^ that he would not be uncloathed^ but cloathed upon^ that is, that he would not be divefted of his prefent Body j but here to the Philippians he fays, that he defires to depart^ or to be difmilTed from his Body. But this lad Saying is to be fo temper'd and I ex-* 66 0/ ^/6^ S T A T E of the Dead. explain'd that it may not be repugnant op contradi<5tory to the other. And if this Phrafe, to be with the Lord^ is ufed by the Apoftle, Eph. ii. 6. in the fame Senfe that he ufed it in other Places ; a7id fo floall we ever be with the Lord y i T^hejf. iv. 17. Eph. iv. 10. we muft neceflarily conclude , that the fame Time, and the fame State of the Refurre6lion is to be underftood in both *. Lailly j We muft obferve from the Nature of the Thing, that Chrift has al- ready afcended above the higheft Heavens cloathed with his glorious Body ; and that the Saints cannot poffibly afcend thither, or inhabit there, till they have likewife put on their celeftial Bodies; which being grant- ed to none before the Refurredtion, unlefs to thofe who are rapt up to Heaven like Enochs neither the Reafon of the Thing, nor eftabl idled Order, nor divine Diipenfa- tion, will allow us to expound thefe Say- ings of the Apoflle, as meant of the locai and corporeal Prefence. If therefore, you are more willing to un- derhand here the fpiritual and internal Pre- fence of Chrift, I am not againfk it. The Saints even in this Life, are in this Man- ner * It is certain that when Chrift was about to afcend into Heaven, he did not promife his Difciples that he would re« ceivc them to himlelf before his Return to the Earth. bf the St AT E of the Jy E AD; 6j her prefent with Chrift, and will be prefent with him in the Life to corne after feveral Manners : By all which, according to this Interpretation, the Souls of the Righteous may be fa id to be prefent with Chrifl after his Death. Firft, They may be faid to be with Chrift, as they will be under the Guar- dianfliip and Protedtion of Chrift ; for Chrift being about to expire, recommended his Soul into the Hands of his Father, that is, into the Cuftody and Protection of his Father, Luke xxiii. 46. But when Chrift: by dying had conquered Death, and fo was become the Lord both of Life and of Death, St. Stephefi expiring, depoftted his Soul into the Hands of Chrift, and dying, cry'd out. Lord yefus receive my Spirit. ABs vii. 59. After the fame Manner the Soul of St. Paul would be with Chrift, de- poftted with him, and in hisProtedion to the Day of the Refurre(5tion. Again, the Souls of the Saints are faid to be with Chrift after his Death, by Reafon of the internal Con- folation and Joy which they receive from Chrift : For fince Chrift came into the World and became vidtorious over Death, I make no Doubt but he has made a great Acceflion to the Comfort and Feliciiy of thofe who are dead in hini, as well from the Influx of divine Virtucj as from the moi^ I ^ certain 63 Of the ^ TAT ^ of the T>^ AD. certain Hope, and, as it were the ravifliing Profped of a glorious Refurredion : And therefore, in the Interval between Death and the Refurredion, it is rightly faid, that Chrift is with us, and that we are living, and prefent with him. Laftly -, In this Manner of fpeaking, there is a Regard to be had to the Oppoiition, as is evident from both the PafTages to the Philippiam 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 aboliflied, or annihilated. What are we then ? We are with God, we are with Chrifl ; we live to God, we are prefent with Chrift, who will bring us back to the Stage of the World, full of Life and Spirit, hiike xx. 38. Col. iii. 3,4. There is no wonder then that St. Faul fliould fay, Death is Gain to me : We ought rather to w^onder that fo great an Apoftle (hould fay fo very little. He who in this Life had gone through fo many Calamities and Difquiets, fo many Fatigues and fo many Dangers j who had endured Hunger, and Thiril, and Cold, and Nakednefs, and Stripes, and Beatings, Imprifonmenis, and Stoning, and Shipwreck ; all kinds of Evils, all kinds of Hardfliips both by Sea and by Of ibe St AT E of the D E AT>, 69 by Land, that he fhould pronounce Death more delireable than this prefent Life, is not at all to be v/ondered at. If Death v/ere nothing but Reft, and a Truce from the Evils and Calamities of this prefent World, it would ftill be preferable to Life. Let us, littlo^ Wretches as we are, learn to know our felves better, and think more modeftly of the Rewards we are to look for, than to promife our felves and others the Enjoy- ment of the beatifck Vifion^ as foon as ever our Eyes are clofed -, when the great Apo- ftle of the Gentiles, who, if ever any Man deferved highly of the Chriftian Religion, certainly it was he, feems to promife him- felf nothing fo great and fo delireable. 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 confci- ous to itfelf of its Immortality, and breath- ing forth nothing but divine Love, flaould acquiefce in God and itfelf, having at the fame Time a joyful and, lively Hope of the coming of Chrift, and the Glory w^hich it is to partake with him. Laftly > Let me add this, that they feem to me to weaken and overthrow the Chrif- tian Dodrine of the Refurre^lion, and as it were, render the Refurred;ion itfelf ufe- lefs. 7©' Of the Sr ATE of the Dead. lefs, who allow that Souls enjoy the beatifick Vifion^ and a State of Glory immediately after Death : For what need is there of a Body to Souls already efl-ablrflied in the fu- preme Light of Heaven ? You will, per- haps, fay, that the Body may participate of the Glory and the Reward, as it was once a Partaker of the Calamities which the Soul endured in this Life, or of the good Worksj which is wrought. You trifle with me : The Soul of every Man is the Man : It is the Soul that feeSy mid the Soul that hears*' The Body perceives nothing of Good or Evil : Matter neither enjoys Pleafure, nor is affedicd with Grief; turn it whicli way you will, and join it to what you will, in Vain you^may endeavour to crown with Glory a Lump of fenfelefs Clay, or make that the Author of Good or Evil, which is equally void of Underftanding and Will : Beiides, of fo many Bodies which, in the Courfe of this Life, we wear out, at leaft one in every feven Years, which will you bcftow on the Soul, to be the Partner and the Partaker of its Glory, and its Reward ? Of what Age fliall this Body be ? a young or an old one, a blooming or a decrepit one ? The Body that the Soul (hook off the laft, or that in which it exceedingly rejoiced and was pleafed ? And for what Reafon will you choofe Of the St ATE of the DzATi, yt choofe one rather than the other ? The reft will put in their Claims, that they may come in for their Share of the Flappinefs. If any Perfon fliould all his Life-time, lead the Life of a true Chriftian, now iiiffering Death for the Sake of Chrifl, and now be- flowing his Goods in Charity ; and this Man at laft (liould go out of the World an old Martyr of eighty Years, which of this Man's Bodies will you receive into Glory ? Muft we not anfwer as Chrift did former- ly, when he was ask'd, which of all her feven Husbands a certain Woman fhould enjoy in the Refurredtion ? viz, Te err, not knowing the Scriptures^ nor the Power Qj God. It is not for the Sake of the Body, but of the Soul, that the Refurreftion is ap- pointed ; and God gives to every Soul, as. he gives to every Seed, a proper and apt Body, the former being putrify'd in the Earth. 'T'his 'Tabernacle being dtjjohed^ we ihall have a Building from God. i Cor. xv, 37, 38. 2 Cor. v. i. But more of this be- low : Let us now proceed in what we pro- pofed. We have faid, that the Strength of the Refurredtion is enervated by the Suppofi- tion, that Souls may enjoy iupreme Feli- city before the Arrival of that Day. For St. Augiijiin makes a very juft Enquiry, Whaih^ 72 Of the St AT -^ of the D^Ajy. What Occafion there is that the Souls of Men ficuld receive their Bodies upon the Refur- reBion^ if they are capable of fupreme Fell- cits icithout any Bodies at all f And there- fore, among the Antients, and in the firft Ages of the Church, thofe Heretlcks who deny'd the Refurred:ion of the Body, were either the only Perfons who maintain'd the Enjoyment of fupreme Felicity by the Souls of Men immediately after they had left their Bodies, or the Perfons who main- tained it with greateft Earneftnefs, as we fliall fnevv beneath. But who is not fenfi- ble, that in rliefe latter Ages, this new Ar- ticle of Faith was introduced into the Romijl> Church, by the politick Deligns of their crafty Priells, 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 gaintul Doctrines that attend upon this nev/ Article ? Bellarmine^ [ De Beat. SanB. Ord. Dijpui. ] has very juftly ob- ierved, that this new Dodlrine is the Foun- dation of all the Doctrines that relate to the Saints, that is, thofe which concern the Worfhip of Saints, the Canonization of Saints, the Images and Reliques of Saints ; snd laftly, the Pilgrimages, and folemn Vows that arc made to them. You fee how weighty Of the ^T AT 'E. of the Dead. 73 weighty a Chain of Silver and Gold this Dod;nne draws along with it : To which, if you add Purgatory, or the Condition ia which the Souls of Men are, that afcend not dired:ly to Heaven, but that are fooner or later carried thither by the Affiftance and Prayers of the living Saints, you have a Mine of Gold more rich and inexhaulHble than any in either Lidies : But Woe be to all thofe Wretches, who thus adulterate the Word of God, 2 Cor, ii. 17. Neverthelefs thofe Men do not deferve this Cenfure, who without the Hope of any Gain, 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- ty ', and the Things that are faid to them through a pious Compaffion, in order to leffen the Terrors of Death, are not, like fo 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, fecurs from Pain, and from the Danger of Sin- ning : And though as yet they enjoy not the external Heavens, and the Kingdom pre- pared for them from the Foundation of the World, yet have they an hereditary and in- defeafible Right to it ; and therefore^ they K may 74 Of the Sr ATE of the De a d. may be faid, by an eafy Anticipation, to pof- fefs it already. We are all of us in hafte to take PofTeflion of our Inheritance, and we are carried by a natural Impetuofity to the Enjoyment of that Glory and that Felicity which we fo impatiently defire. Many of the firfl Chriilians believed that the coming of Chrift was even then approaching, as it is mofl evident from the Apoftolical Epif- tles, and from the antient Fathers ; and thofe firft Chriftians, ftrengthened and ani- mated by that Belief, bore Perfecution and painful Deaths, with the more undaunted Spirit. But the Courfe of Years having na- turally detedted this Error, let us not, I be- feech you, fall into another j let us not feem to be pulling the unwilling Heaven to us, and as Ircnaus fays, lib. v. c. 3 i . y?c'/>/>/ wg" over the Order of the Promotion of the fuJK feem rather to invade thofe Heavens, than to receive them as our Inheritance. At length the Evening of the World is come, Chrilt is at hand, and even at our Doors ; we there- fore, want no Confolation but this : Behold I come quickly^ and bring my Reward along with me^ that I may render to every one ac^ cordifig to his Works, Amen. Even /by Lord Jejiis, come. O Death, where is thy Sting f O Grave, where is thy ViSfory f Thefe Of the Sr ATE of thiT>Y. AD. 75 Thefe Things are briefly {hewn in the lacred Writings, concerning the State of the Dead. Befides, it ufed, in Matters of Con- troverfy, to be of no fmall Weight with moft People, to enquire into the Faith of primae- val and uncorrupted Antiquity. For, tho' we attribute Infallibility to no Mortals in any Age whatever, the Apoftles alone excepted, neither to the firft Ages of Chriftianity, nor to the Middle, nor to the Modern j yet, when the Chriftian Religion was not as yet degene- rated into Artifice, nor grown up to Empire, Chriftians with moreSimpHcity and Sincerity followed the Naked Truth. It will, therefore, be worth our while, briefly to enquire what was the Opinion of the antient Chriftians concerning the immediate Beatitude of the Saints 5 or concerning the State in which they who depart this Life are, before the Time of the Refurredtion. Rivers are wont to be the purer, the nearer they are to their Fountains, and the nearer the Chriftian Fathers come to the Apoftles, or the Apoftolick Times, the more approved and more unexceptionable Witnefles of or- thodox Faith are they efteemed to be. And therefore, though I make no Doubt, but that the Greek Fathers generally fpeaking, were of cur Side in the prefent Caufe, it will be fufficient in his Chapter to inquire into the K z three 76 OJ the St AT ^ of the Xy^E AID. three firft Ages of the Church, in which, if I am not miftaken, you will find neither Greek nor Latin, unlels the Hereticks, and perhaps %X.Cyprian only, who transferred the Soulsof theDead,as foon as ever they had left their Bodies, to the Enjoyment of the beati- jick Vifion, and the Poifeffion of celeftial Glory; that is, in the fame Manner as it has been decreed in the latter Ages by the Church of Rome. That this was the Opinion of numerous Hereticks in the firfl Ages of the Church, who at the fame Time deny'd the Refur- redlion of the Body, is apparent from yujlin Martyr^ Irenceus, T^ertulUan, and feverai others, y^iftin Martyr has thefe Words in the Dialogue with T^ryphon : " Never believe " that thofe can be Chriftians who deny the *' Refurredion of the Body, and affirm, that *' their Souls, as foon as ever they die, are *' carried up into Heaven," Obferve how thefe two are joined together by yujiin, as if there were fome Relation between them ; at lead, the fame Hereticks who deny'd the Refurredion of the Body, transferred their Souls to the Heaven of Heavens as foon as ever they had left their Bodies. To this Place of St. yiijlin we receive Light from Irenceus, who, in the Thirty-firft Chapter of his fifth Book, attributes at once both Of the State 0/ the D e ad. yy both Errors to the Hereticks of that Age. *' Bat becaufe, fays he^ fome of thofe who *' are believed to be Orthodox, ftep over the *' Order of the Promotion of the Juft, and *' are ignorant of the Means of meditating " on Incorruptibility, being pofTefled with ^* an heretical Spirit. For the Hereticks " beholding on every Side the wonderful " Workmanfliip of God ; yet not looking '* up to the Salvation of their Bodies, but " contemning the Promife of God, fay, " that as foon as ever they fhall die, they *' immediately afcend up to Heaven, and to *' the Creator of all Things, and f: all go to " the Mother, or to him ivhom they pretend '■'to be the Father. What Wonder then *' is it, if they, who believe no Refurred:ion *' at all, {hould be ignorant of the Order of " it ? Thofe Perfons are wilfully blind ; for " if what they affirm were true, then cer- *' 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 his " Body below, ^c. " This is certainly evi- dent from the primitive Fathers, and from the other Authors v/ho have wrote about Herefies, that the antient Hereticks, the Gnofticks, the Bafilians, the Valentinians^ $he MarcioniteSy and the reil of that Rab- ble. yS Of tbe S T A T E of t/je D E A d. ble, were the firft Authors, and the firft Maintainersof the Opinion which we refute. We are acquainted in the niean time with the Opinion both of ytijihi and Irenc^us m this Argument. You fee that they do not immediately thruil Souls up to Heaven, and to the Seats of Glory, while they are yet warm, from the Body. Jujiin iikewife tef- tifies the fame Thing in another Place, that is, in his Dialogue with 'Trypbo7i. " The " Souls of the Righteous after their Deaths, " are in a better Manfion than they were *' before it ; but the Unrighteous and Wick- " ed in a worfe, waiting till the Time of " Judgment comes at length." Irenceus, to the End of the Chapter we before quo- ted, follows the fame Opinion. *' If there- *' fore, fays he, our Lord obferved the Law of *' the Dead, that he might become the Firfl- *' born from the Dead ; and having llaid " even to the third Day in the inward Parts *' of the Earth, then rifmg in the Flelli, " that he might fliew the Marks of the ** Nails to his Difciples, afcended thus to *' the Father , how can it be but that they " muft be confounded, who alTert that Hell *' is the World in which we dwell; but that *' their inward Man, as foon as it leaves their *^ Body, fliau afcend up to a Place above " the higheft Heaven ? For fi^ice the Lord^ *' in Of the St AT -E of the 'D'EA-D. yg "in the Midft of the Shadow of Death, " departed to the Place where the Souls of *' the Dead were, and after that corporeally *' rofe again, and after his Refurred:ion was " taken up into Heaven ; it is manifeft, that " for that Reafon the Souls of his Difciples, *' for whofe Sake the Lord performed all " this, fnall likewife, after their Deaths, go ^\ into an invifible Place which God has " prepared and preordained for them ; and " {hall there remain till the Time of the " Refurredtion, and there waiting for the " Refurredtion ; and after that receiving Bo- " dies, and perfedly, that is, corporeally '' riiing again,as the Lord himfelf rofe again, " {hall thus be brought to the Enjoyment of " the Sight of God." * Something like this Explication of Ire- naus^ taken from the Example of Chri{l, is in the Forty-fifth Chapter of TeftuIUan% Treatife of the Soul, which PafTages illuf- trate and confirm each other. " For, fays he, if Chrifl, who was God " as well as Man, being dead, according to " the Scriptures, and buried according to " the fame, paid exadt Obedience to this '' Law, * There is fomething very like this, in a Difcourfe upon human Life, and the Dead, by And,eas, a Crcte-nfian Arch- bifliop. But he, I believe, was of the fixth Century. The Difcourfe was printed at Leydin, in 1619, in 9uart9 B B. ox. - 8o Of the S T AT E of Ihe D E a d. ** Law, defcending formally like the Souls " of Men into the lower Parts of the Earth ; " nor afcended into the Heaven of Heavens^ " before he defcended into the lower Parts " of the Earth, that there he might blels " the Patriarchs and Prophets with the " Sight which they had fo long defired ; ydii " have Reafon from this to believe the fore- " faid fubterranean Region, and to infult *' thofe who are fo foolifhly proud, as to be- " lieve the Souls of the Faithful too good for " the forefaid fubterranean Region ; Servants " more proud than their Lord, and Difci- " pies more haughty than their Mafter, if " thty difdain to be comforted in the Bo- " fom of Abraham, by the certain Hope " and Expectation of a glorious Refurred:i- " on." Then, in the fame Chapter below, he fays in plainer Terms : " Heaven can be *' open to none, fo long as Earth remains en- " tire, and, as one may fay, {hut up j for " the Deftrudtion of the Earth alone, can " open the Gates of Heaven to us." And at the End of the fame Chapter, quoting his own Treatife of Faradifcy the Lofs of which has been no little Lofs to us, he fays, " That it was his Opinion, that every Soul " was fequeftered in that infernal Region a- *' gainft the Day of the Lord." And in fe- veral Paffages of this Treatife of the Soul, he '* repeats Of the Sr AT -E of the "D T. AH. 8 f repeats the fame Thing, though in othec- Words. Nor does he fay lefs in other Places, as in his Apologetick : " 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 : " That Region I call Abrahams Bofom ; " a Place, though not of celeftial Height^ " yet higher than the infernal Region which " we mentioned before, adapted to afford " Refrefhment to the Souls of the Righte- " ous, 'till the Confummation of all Things " compleats the Fulnefs of their Reward in " confequence of their Refurre6lion." You may fee more like this, if you pleafe to con- fult his Treatife of the Refiirrediion of the FleJJj, Chap, xxiii. But we need fay no more of 'T'ertuUian, lince no Body doubts of his Opinion concerning the Point in dif- pute. Of the fame Opinion of the Fathers, as well of the Old, as of the New Teftament, whom I mentioned before, is Origen, con- cerning the Souls of the Saints. He gives them an inferior Degree of Happinefs 'till the Time of the Refurredlion. You will find his Opinion in his feventh Homily upon Leviticus^ in the fallowing Words : " For L ^' even 82 Of the ^T AT !£. of the D-E AD. *' even the Apoflles themfelves have not " hitherto obtained their Fulnefs of Joy ; '' but they are ftill in Expectation, that I *' may become a Partaker of their Felicity." And he proves this by the Authority of St. Paul^ the great Inftrudlor of the Ge?itiles, in the 1 1 th Chapter to the Hebrews, and adds, *' You fee, therefore, that Abraham ** flill v^aits, expedling to obtain Perfection : ^■' Ifaac and Jacob exped: the fame Thing, *' and all the awful Society of the Pro- *' phets experts us, that, together with us, " they may receive complete Felicity." Towards the End of the third Century, Vi^lorhms the Martyr and LaBa7itius lived, who were both Maintainers of our Caufe. The Words of LaSiantius, in the feventh Book of his Inftitutions are known : " Nor *' let any one beheve that the Souls of the ** Dead {hall immediately be brought to '■Judgment: For all of them are detained *' in one common Cuftody, 'till the Time ^* fhall come when the fovereign Judge of " the World fhall examine all their Me- ** rits 5 then they whofe Righteoufnefs fliall " be approved of, fliall receive the Reward *' of a blifsful Immortality." In like Man- ner ViBorinus, upon Revel, vi. 9. concern- ing the Souls that are under the Altar, after he had obferved that the external Altar^ not the Of the ^r AT -E of the D e a d." S^ j the Internal, that is Heaven, was to be underftood here, there it is his Opinion, that the Souls muft attend 'till the coming of the Laft Day, the Day of the Diftribution of Rev/ards and Punifhments. " But, becaufe, ^^fays he, in that laft Time the Saints will find " a perpetual Recompence, and the wicked *' perpetual Damnation, therefore they are " commanded to WAIT j and for their bo- *' dlly Comfort, they have received, 72?)' jZ'^, " white Garments, that is, the Gift of the " Holy Ghoft. Befides, when feveral of the moft antient Fathers, if not, indeed, all of them, were of Opinion that the Souls of Men, after their Deaths defcended I/? a/k, to Hades^ they declared by that, that it was their Opi- nion, that they were not immediately to be carried up to the Heaven of Heavens, and to the Enjoyment of the fupreme Glory : For though iJ^^^j, v/ith relation to feparate Souls, as well the Jufl as Unjuft, is of a large Signi- fication, yet none of them ever faid, that any of the Souls that defcended thither, enjoyed the beatifck Vifion there. Since then the an- tient Fathers placed all the Souls that had left their Bodies there, they by That exclude them all, as long as they remain there, from the Felicity of that glorious Vifion. We have now done with Juftiii^ Jren of Hades, in "which the Spirits of the Juji and Ufijufi are detained, it is neceffary to fpeak. And thus he afterwards dilHnguiflies their feve- ral Man lions : '\the yujl indeed are now de- tained in Hades, but not in the fame Place where the Vrijuft are ; for there is one En- trance to this Place, ofivhich the Gate, &c. where he places Angels as fo many Guards, who fcparate the Souls as they enter, and either fend or condu what Clemens the Holy Place, Chryfoftome calls the facred Gates. Thefe Things a- gree perfectly well together, and anfwer exadily to that Temperament in which the facred Writings tell us, that the Souls of departed Saints enjoy Felicity before the Refurrediion. Thus when Chrift fpeaks of the State of the Righteous j who are at reft in the Bofom of Abraham, he calls that Reft Paraklefin, Luke xvi. 25. a Comfort only, and not a fupreme Glory ; which in other Places of Scripture is called Repolb and Relaxation, and is compared to a pleaf- ing Slumber. Behold here the Style of the Holy Spirit, and of the apoftolick Writers 1 Behold, on the other Side, the Style of the Romijh 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 fee God, as he is in Trinity and , M Unity ! po Of the St ATE of tbeD EAT). Unitv ! Good God ! from whence have they taken this Dodlrine ? from what Book of the facred Scriptures ? or from what Re- mains of the primitive Church ? When Chrift was about to die, he faid to his Dif- ciples, jfobn xiv. 23. I go to prepare a Place for you ; and if I go to prepare a Place for you^ I will return^ and take you to fnyjelf] that where I am^ there ye may alfo be. You fee, therefore, that this glo- rious Place, this Place prepared for them by Chrift, is not to be pofTeffed before the coming of Chrift ; and that then, at laft, ac- cording to his Prayer to the Father, the Saints {hall dwell together with Chrift, and {hall behold his Glory. I fiall he fatisfied^ O Lord, when I awake, with the Sight of thy Coiintenaftce. Johnxvn. P/aL xvii. 15, Be{ides, it is neither agreeable to Scrip- ture, nor to the Light of Nature, to exadt extreme Punishments, or expedl fupreme Rewards, before the Matter is brought to Judgment, and the Merits of the Caufe con- iidered. But the Scripture makes m.ention of no Judgment before the End of the "World. That is the Day in which God will judge the World by Chrift. Acls xvii. 31. Then at laft, Evety one's JVork jhall be tried. 1 Cor. iii. 13, 14, 15. Then, every one f]:all receive according to what he has done Of the Sr ATT. of the Dead. 91 done in the Body. 2 Cor. v. 10. Then, the T^hrones 'will be placed^ then the Books ivill be opened^ and e'uery Man will be judged accord- ing to his Works, Revel.xx. 11.12,13. 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. Thefe Things we have received from the Mouth of Chriil himfelf : But, when the Son of Man flmll come in his Glory ^ and all the Holy Angels with him^ then fiall he fit on the '^throne of his Glory ; ajid before him fl:aU be gathered all Nations : Aiid he fiall feparate them one from another^ as a Shep-^ herd dii'ldeth his Sheep Jrom the Goats : And he [Irnll Jet the Sheep on his Right Hand^ but the Goats on his Left. Then Jhall the King fay unto them on his Right Handj Come ye blefjed of my Father,, in- herit the Kingdom prepared for yoUy from the Foundation of the World. Then Jhall he jay aljo to them on the Left Hand^ Depart from me ye Curjed into F^oerlajling Fire,, prepared for the Devil and his Aiigels. Mat, XXV. 31, 32, &c. So that here you have the Time of Judgment, and likewife the Manner of it, ai^.d the Sentence that is given in order to the Execution. And all thefe M 2 Things. pz Of the Sr at: ^ of the D e a d^ Things ihali be when the Son of Man fhall come. But all this, you will fay, is to be under- flood pf a general Judgment : But there is befides a private and particular Judgment, which is appointed to be immediately after every Man's Death ; and which is paiTed up- on every Soul as foon as it leaves its Body. Produce the Places of Scripture, if you pleafe, where thefe Things are teftify'd, let me fee the Validity of them j and whe- ther, or not, they clearly prove a private and particular Judgment before the la ft fo- lemn one ? The PafTages that we have quoted are plain, and clearer than the Light itfelf J nor do they give us the leaft Hint of a previous Judgment, but rather exclude it. Now in Things that depend upon the Will of God, and upon divine Revelation, we ought not at pleafure to invent a new Or- der, and a new Difpenfation of Things, only to ferve an Hypothefis. We may juftly, indeed, fay this, that every Soul, when it leaves the Body, undergoes a pri- vate and a lilent Judgment, as far as it is confcious to itfelf of a Life ill fpent, or Ipent in Virtue 5 and carries in itfelf its own Witnefs, and its own Sentence ; and, according as it is by this difpofed and af-. feded. Of the St ATE of the Jy-EA-D, 93 feded, feels the Deity angry with it, or fa- vourable to it ; and has, as it were, a near and clear View of its impending Fate. But all this pSilTes in the Soul itfelf, and from no external Influence i The Soul in the mean Time remains in the fame Place, and the fame State and Habitude even 'till the Refurredion *. We obferved before that the Roinijh Church by thus anticipating the Glory of the Saints, makes the Refurredion to be of no Validity or Utility j nor does it lefs, by the fame Anticipation, make the gene- ral Judgment fuperfluous. For it every Individual has been already judged accord- ing to his Works, if the Juft are already feparated from the Unjuft j and the Juft are already bleft in the Enjoyment of Hea- ven, and of the ravifhing Sight of God, while the others groan under infupportable Torments, both from without and within, what room is there for a future Judgment ? Why * Nor yet can any one believe that Souls come to Judg- ment immediately after Death. F«r they are all of them in one common Cuftody, detained 'till the Time fhall come, in which the fovereign Judge ftiall inquire into their Merits. LaSlantiuif lib. vii. cap. xxi. -p. 653. Genebrardus too is quoted enumerating many of the Fathers, who did not believe that Souls would enjoy the beatijkk Vijion before the Refurredion j who at the fame Time cxcufes Pope John awl. G offend de Animorum hnmort, 'torn. ii. M. p. 65^. Col. ii. ult. 94 Of tbe St ATE of f he De AD. Why the fame Thing over again ? Why is a Caufe, that has been already determined, brouo;ht a fecond Time to a Hearing: ? What, is it brought to a Rehearing, lead there fliould have been an Error in the firft Determination ? Or are the Damn'd to ap- peal to fome fuperior Judge ? Not lb ; you'll fay, but that the Juftice and Equity of a Sentence privately given, may be apparent to all the World. Right, if the Party ag- grieved brought any Complaint : But you fuppofe that all the Damn'd are Self-con- vidted, and fuffer by their own Sentence ; and it feems fomething of the lateft to en- quire into the Juilice of their Puniihments -, 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 Enjoy- ment of Heaven, by the PofTeffion not only of one Age, but, perhaps, of a thoufand years. That we may return from the laft Judg- ment to the Refurredion ; it will be worth while to enquire of what Advantage the Refurrection can be to us, according to the Popifli Theology. They affirm that the Beatitude of Souls will not be more intenfe after the Refurredion, than it is before it ; and take it for a Thing determined, that the Of the St ATE of the Dead. g^ the Glory of the Bleft will receive no Aug- mentation from the Relurredlion, unlefs exteniively j as they exprefs themfelves, but not inteniiv^ly j or accidentally, but not in itfelf. For, fay they, the Soul continues to enjoy the fame beatifick Vifion, the fame Lights the fame Glory ^ the fame FerfcBion of its 0W71 Operations : In fne, the fame Happinefs within itfelf, with which it was blefl before the RefurreBion. How inconfi- derable an Acceflion of Happinefs, accord- ing to thefe Divines, accrues to us from the Refurredion ? How ill do they agree with St. Paid"^ Is that fo fmall an Addition of Happinefs, which the Refurreftion brings with it, that without it the bleffed Apoflle would pronounce us to be of all Men the mofl miferable F that without it, he would value the Immortality of the Soul as no- thing ? that without it, he fnould believe that we have no Hope, but in this Life alone ? Lailly ; That without it, he fhould believe all previous Beatitude, be it what it will, even the Sight of God himfelf, not fo much as worth the Naming ? From this alone the Apoftle expedts his Reward, from this his Crown of Glory. It is from this that he principally comforts others againft the Power of Death, or any other formid- able Evils. Laflly j What the Apofcle calls an eternal 96 Of fbe S T AT E of the D E AQ. €ternalWeight of Glory, That they fpeak of only as an inconfiderable Over-weight 5 and ■what St. Peter calls a Crown of Glory, that will never wither, never decay, of That they are pleafed to make not the greateft or the principal Part, but a little Addition of Glo- ly. Laftly -, Chrift himfelf teaches us, that the Redemption of .the Saints will not draw near, and is not to be expeded before the End of the World: Nor does he promife any Retribution before the Re- furredion of the Juft. So great is the Dif- tance in this Matter, between the Dodlrine of the Gofpelj and the Decrees of the Ro- miJJj Church. Tlius^ what the Apoftles^ what the bleffed Martyrs, what the antient Fathers of the Church, all of them account-^ ed the greatefi Promife of the Gofpei, the very Foundation of the Chriftian Faith, and the chief Anchor of our Hope, That, by their Decrees, is rendered ufelefs and fuperfluous. What is more : Chriil purchafed this Return of Life for us, this Renovation of Hope, at no lefs a Price than that of his own ineftimable Blood, and confirm'd it by his own Refurredlion. And whatever does not rife again, he accounts as loft in that facred Difcourfe, as afterwards St. Paul did in his Difcourfe to the Corinthians^ upon Of the St ATE of the !> -EAT)'. 97 upon the fame Argument. This is the Myftery full of Wonder, the Work of di- vine Virtue, our Vidory and our Triumph by his Death derived to us: This is the Ne plus ultra of our Perfed;ion, towards which we all ftrenuoufly tend, to which we all afpire. Nor can the mod ambitious of our Defires foar to a greater Height, nor wifli for a farther Progrefs. Then we ihall be like to the bleffed Angels, cloathed with that glorious Light with which they are cloathed, and perpetually beholding the fame God, which they perpetually behold. From what has been hitherto faid, it ap- pears plainly to me, as well from the fa- cred Writings, as from the Teftimonies of the moft antient Fathers, that the Beatitude of the Saints depends folely or chiefly upon the Refurrediion y and that the Acme o£ Perfection, that Height of Felicity and Glory, which is commonly known by the Name of the beatifick Vifion^ is not im- parted to human Souls before the Day of Judgment, and the coming of our Lord. But yet if this Caufe were to be determined by the Number of WitnelTes 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 facred Writings which alone is fufficient, N would «■ gS Of the St ATE of the Dz AD. would be but obfcured and hid by too great an Attendance. And therefore I fhall fe- parately, by way of Appendix, mark feve- ral of the more manifeft Paffages relating to the fame Argument, from the Authors of the fubfequent Age, which every one may confult or throw by according to his Leifure or his Inchnation. AI^PENDIX. IT is fuppofed, that the Author of the §jieJIions and Anfwers to the Orthodox^ which we find in ^ufiin Martyr^ hved in the fourth Century, and he is of the fame Opinion with Juftin exadly, concerning the State of the Dead before the Refurrec- tion : For difcourfmg concerning the Time of Retribution, [Anfwer to Queftion 60.] he has thefe Words : No one before the Re- Jiirre5iion is rewarded or punifJ^ed^ according to the ABions which he did in his Life-time. Then anfwering the Objedlion concerning the Thief, who was carried diredly to Pa- radife, he opens his Mind more fully in thefe Words: {^lefi. and Refpo?if. j6.'\ This was the Advantage that the Thief re- ceived Of the St AT Y. of the "D-E A B, 9^ celvedfrom his Entrance into Paradife^ that he aBually received by it the Benefit of his, Faithy through which be was refuted wor^ thy to be joi?ied to the AJfembly of Saints, a?nong them to remain 'till the Day fiould come of KefurreBion and Recompence. St. Chryfoftome thought fo highly of the Refurredtion, that without that he enter- tained but a mean Opinion of the Immor- tahty of the Soul, and reckons all the Ad- vantages that the Saints poffefled before that, but as a very inconfiderable Part of their Recompence and Felicity. Coofult him, if you pleafe, upon the fifteenth Chap- ter of the firfl: Epiftle to the Corinthians^ where upon theie Words of St. Faul^ If our Hope was only in this Lifey we were of all Men the moft miferabky he fays thus : What is it that the Apojile fays "^ Why^ un~ lefs the Body rifes again^ have we only Hope in this Lifoy notwithjlanding the Soul re- mainSy and remains immortal ? And thus he anfvvers himfelf : '\though the Soul re- inainSy and were yet* a thoufand T^imeSy if •poffibky more immortal than it is j yet fiever could it without the Body receive thofe inef- fable Advantages : And thereforCy the Soul before the Body rifcSy can neither be punijl:ed nor rewarded : For all Tubings will be laid open before the Tribujial of Chrijly that every N 2 on^ 100 Of the St AT -E of the T>E AD, one may receive in his Body the Recompence of the I'hings which he did in his Body, ivhether they are good^ or whether they are evil. And therefore^ fays the Apoftle, if in this Life only ive had Hope in Chriji, we were of all Men the moji miferable. For nnlefs the Body rifes again^ the Soul remains without its Recompence^ and without that fupreme Felicity which is enjoyed above in the Heavens, And St. Chryfofiome exprefTes his Opinion clearly, and by Examples and Similitudes confirms it in other Places, viz. upon that Saying of the Apoftle to the Hebrews , Chap, xij 40. l^heje have not received their Reward^ that without us they might not be tnadeperfeB. The Words of St. Chryfoflome are as follow : What I have not they receiv- ed their Reward^ but are Jiill kept in Ex- pect at ion ? What ! have not they yet receiv- ed their Reward^ who died as they did, in fo much T^ribulation^ i?ifo much AffliBion F Havefo tnany Ages paffedfmce they conquer- ed^ and have they not yet triumphed'^ and do you impatiently brook Delays^ tho youf Contention is not over F T)q you co?iJider of what vaf Importance it is^ that Abraham and St. Paul have iiot yet received their Re- ward^ but wait 'till you fi all be made per- feB^ that they may receive it together with you Of the St ATT. of the Dead. ioi you ? He goes on in working up the fame Argument and fays, T'bat Abel the Proto- martyr, and Noah the Preacher of Righte- oiifnefs^ both to the Antediluvian World and ours J will not he crowned before we are : For he has appointed one and the fame T^ime for all to receive their Crowns. 'Till that Time, he fometimes names for Seats to the Souls of the Righteous, J era Prothura, the Holy Gate^ but oftener the Bofom of Abraham. See at your Leifure his twenty-fourth Ho- mily upon the firft Epiftle to the Corijithi- anSj and the fortieth Homily upon Ge?ie/is -, where he fays, 'That it is the principal Am- bition^ and the only Wijh of all the Right e- ous, from the Times of Abraham to the E?id of the World, that in his Bofom they may find Reji to their Souls. But the Bofom of Abraham, as you know, is not taken for the principal Glory and the fupreme Hea- ven. Laftly ; All thefe Things are con- firmed in St. Chryjbfome's firft Sermon con- cerning the Refurred:ion ; where he refers all our Hope, and all the Retribution which we expert, to the Day of the coming of our Lord : Nor does he give us the leaft Ground to believe, that before that Day we {hall find any Reward, except that which arifes in this Life, from our very Contention for Vidtoryj and from the e:;ercifing ourfelvcs in 102 Of fbe St ATE of the Dead. in Virtue, and in Chriftian Conftancy^ hj which the Soul is made flronger, and, to ufe his own Words, more PhilofophicaL For as Wrejilers, fays he, by contending for Vidiory become more nervouSy and more ro- biijl ; Jo from our Coii'cention in Virtue, we Jball reap this great Reward j that our Souls will become more firm and philofophical^ even before the Heavens are opened to us, before the coming of the Son of God j arid before we receive the Kecompence which we contend for. Thefe Things concerning the State and Happinefs of the Saints before the Refur- red:ion, are according to St. Chryfoftome : But you will fay perhaps, that the fame Fa- ther, in other Places, fpeaks with more Freedom, and greater Sublimity of this in- termediate Happinefs. That indeed may very well be, for Orators, fometimes, when they come to conclude, are apt to grow fomething warm, nor fcrupuloufly weigh in the Balance every Word that pr-oceeds from them ; and when they are endeavour- ing to give Ornament to popular Harangues, or to funereal Orations, there are feveral Rea- sons 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 dim.inifli it, ex- cept Of the St ATE of the Dead, lo^ cept their Confcioufnefs of the Truth alone. This Method might be of great Advan- tage 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 Happi- nefs that the Saints are to enjoy immediate- ly after their Deaths, would be of great Ufe in exciting Mens Affedions and con- firming their Piety : But it could be fervice- able to no Deiign, nor to any View or Ufe whatlbever, to reprefent it more coldly or more lightly than is convenient. And there- fore, in order to difcover the Truth, and the real Opinion of every Author who has wrote upon this Subjed:, one Place alonej that confines this Felicity within the Bounds that we have prefcribed to it, is of more Validity than many of thofe which with Pafiion exalt it, and more highly extol it. It has been juftly obferved by others, ^hat every Word of the Preacher is not to he un-^ derjiood by the Reader with the fame Rigour^ with which it at firfl eiitered into the Ear of the Hearer : For Per fans while they de- claim y deliver y and inculcate fever al 'I'hi'ags hyperbolicalh\ as the Place, the T'i?ne^ or the Audience give Occafion, or as they are tranf- ported by the Force of their Paffions, or in- fiatned by the Currenc\' cf their Difcourlc. This 104 Of the St AT -E. of the Ty-EAjy. This is moft prudently, and moft judicioufly obferved, and ought certainly to be of chief Confideration in the prefent Argument. Let us not wonder then, if facred Ora- tors, moved either by their AfFedion for the Dead, or a Defign of comforting and foothing the Living, have ufed a fofter and lefs rigorous Style, and have talked of an immediate Poffeffion of Heaven, and of feeing God as he is. The Word Heaven taken in a larger Senfe may fignify any happy Condition of Souls, after their De- parture from their Bodies r, which yet is more ufually by the Fathers called Para- dife^ or Abraham s Bojom^ and which fig- iiifies an intermediate State of Beatitude, and inferior to the Celeftial. Says St. An- fiin^ [Epifl. ^"j^ and de Gen. ad lit. 1. 12. c. 34.] 5y Faradije is generally meant a Place where the Inhabit a?2ts li^ve happily. And that is likev/iie the general Notion or Signification of Heaven. The Saints, in- deed, enioy a Sort of internal Heaven im- mediately after their Deaths j but without their Bodies cannot enjoy the external orie. Then the Sight of Gcdy or the divine P re- fence ^ of which Chryfojhme fome where makes mention, can be no other before the Rellirredion than intelledual. The Soul in- deed v/ill be nearer to God in that feparate State Of de St AT -E of f be Dead. lO'f State, than in this Prifon ; and will feel his Influence more intimately within itfelf, and more prefent and efficacious, than if it was before him, and in his very Sight. But by thefe or the like, to underftand fupreme Fe- licity, or the moft glorious Vilion of God, is to make this Father moft apparently con- tradid: himfelf. In reading Authors, whe- ther facred or others, this has been wont to be obferved as a Rule, to interpret Things that are obfcure by thofe that are clear, and Things that are vulgarly and popularly fpoke, by thofe that are more exadt and fevere j and the Obfervation of this Rule, will, in a good Meafure, keep us from erring. Laftly 5 That we have truly explained the Words of St. Chryfojiome, may be concluded from hence, that the other Interpreters, and the Grecian Fathers, who were the greateft Followers of Chryfojlome^ as T'heodorety OecO" menius, ^rheophylaSi^ and Euthymius, efpoul- ed the fame Opinion that we do *. Theodo- ret explains his Opinion in the fame Place that St. Chryfoftome had done it before him, viz. upon the laft Verfes in the eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews, where he afferts, that none of the Righteous are fooner re- warded than others, or enjoy their Crown * See more Fathers of this Opinion in AW. Corthoh, Juf. tin, xliv. Col. I & 2. O of 'jo6 Of the Sr A r -E of the Deav. of Glory fooner, but that all will at once in the Refurrec^tion be declared Vi6i:ors by God together. And upon thefe Words of the Apoftje, And thefe all having obtained a good Report through Faithy received not the Promife, God having provided fome better ^bingfor us^ that they without usfiould not be made perfeB^ he fays thus : Were their ConfiBs for Vi6fory then fo great and fo ma- tiyi and they have not yet received their Crowns f For God expedis^ 'till the ConJliBs and Contentions of all are over^ that all who have obtained the ViSiory^ may be together declared Conquerors by him^ and be rewarded together. Nor does Oecumenius underftand in any other Senfe that Saying of the Apof- tle, and that Account of thofe antient He- roes who were fo renowned for their Faith. ^hey^ fays the Apoftlej^?/ down without their "Recompencey expeBing our Miitiftration, or Coming. For fo T'heophylaB upon the Place; All thofe that are accounted Saint s, though they have a 'tefiimony that they were pleafing to God by their Faithy have not yet obtained that celefiial Felicity which tjoey were pro- mijed. And upon the following Verfe, he adds feveral other Things of the fame Kind, which he has almoft Word for Word tran- fcribed from St. Chryfofiome. Laftly ; This Author maintains the fame Opinion, in Vi what Of the ^ TAT I: of the t) e A tt.' 16^ what he fays upon the twenty-third Chapter of St. Ltike^ where he explains the Saying of Chrifl to the Thief, To Day jhalt thou he with me in Paradife : For when he had before diftinguifhed Paradife from Heaven^ and had by that Means reconciled the Evan- gelift with St. Patil^ in the Paffage quoted above, he adds j 7'he Thief therefore^ though he obtained Paradife ^ obtained not the King* dom 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 Pof- fefjion of Paradife^ the Kingdom of Spiritual Reji. The Explication of the fame Paflage by Euthymius^ is exadtly of a Piece with this, as appears by the following Quotation from him : Chrifi, knowing the Intention of the Thief promifed him what appeared moft defireable to him : For the Thief was ac^ quainted with Paradife by the Mofaick Doc- trine ; and Chrifl promifed that he Jhould be with him in Paradife^ as an Earneji^ that he fhould be one Day with him in his Kingdom^ where hefiould enjoy fuch Things as neither Eye has feen^ nor Ear has heard^ nor has it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive : For none of the Jufl, as yet^ have had the Performance of the Promifes, as the great Apoftle of the Gentiles has taught us : For Chrijl by granting him what he did, gave him Oz Jft io8 Of the Sr AT -£. of the D2 A d. AJfurance that in the T'ime of the univerfal Refiirrediion, he would give him a Place in his Kingdom. But fo much for St. Chryfojiome, and his Grecian Difciples and Followers. Among the Latiiis of the fame fourth Century, confult, if you pleafe, concerning the State of the Dead, St. Hilary^ St. Am- brofe^ and St. Aufiin. St. Hilary^ in his Commentaries on the Pfalms, has often touch- ed upon this Subject, and upon that PafTage of Pfalm cxxxviii. Ifldefcend into the lower Parts of the Earth, thou art there, he tells us, that there is a Law univerfal and invio- lable, for the Souls of Men to defcend to Hades ; and he adds, that for this Reafon Chriil did it, becauie by it he fulfilled the 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 Pfal. ii. and PJaL cxx. upon thefe Words, The Lord fj all guard thy going in, and thy coming out, he fays thus. That the Word Guard has no relation to that Time or Age ; but that it is an Ex- fetation of future Happinefs, when the Souls of the Faithful, departing from their Bodies to the Entrance of that heavenly Kingdom^ flail there be detained in the Ciifiody of the Lordj and confgnedto theBofom ^Abraham. This Of tbe St ATE of the Dead. 109 This is the Dodtrine of St. Hilary, con~ cerning the State of the Dead. He who hath a Mind to know what St. Ambrofe fays, may read his tenth, eleventh, and twelfth Chapters of his T'reatife of the Advaf2tage of Death. In the tenth Chapter he acknow- ledges the Repolitory and Receptacle of Souls till the Day of Judgment : For the Day of Recompence is expeBed by all, the Day on which the Conquered fi all blujh, and the Conquerors receive the Palm and Crown of their ViBory. And in the eleventh Chap- ter, fliewing the Gladnefs of thofe Souls in its feveral Degrees before the Refurred:ion ; Fourthly, fays he, they rejoice, becatfe they begin to underftand the Meaning of the Re- poje they take, ajid to forefee their future Glory ; and charmed with that Conflation, they take their Refi in their Receptacles with great T'ranquillity, Jurrounded 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 Subjedij for he gives a Sort of Hint that the Souls of the Dead are, till the Day of Judgment, uncertain of their future Condition j For though at the End of this Life, fays he, the Soul is releafed from the Body -, yet it is flill in Sifpence as to the Event 1 10 Of the St ATE of the Dead. Event of the future Judgment, Thus far fays St. Ambrofe. St. Aufin comes after him, and though he fometimes, through Caution and Mo- defty, declines the Difficulty, or rather the Envy, of deciding the Queftion j yet, gene- rally fpeaking, he detains the Souls of all the Righteous, at leaft, if you except the Martyrs, on this fide Heaven, and on this fide Glory, in fecret peaceable Receptacles, until the Refurredtion, and the Day of Judg- ment, as v^^ill manifeftly appear to you by the following Paffages, if you confult them, and compare them at Leifure. Expof. of Pfalm XXX vi. lo, Upon thefe Words, aSuc fufllum, Enchirid. ad Laurent, c. ii8. Gen. ad Liter am ^ 1. xii. c. 3 5. De Civ. Dei, 1. xii. c. 9, Retract. 1. i. c. 14. Confejj'. 1. ix. c. 3- It is hardly v^^orth vt^hile to call for more particular Witnefles from that or the fol- lowing Centuries ; But there are beiides, two general Heads, from which Arguments may be brought that may comprehend ie- veral Fathers, and feveral WitnelTes. One of thefe is from the confenting Opinions of the primitive Fathers, who take it for gran- ted, that the State of all Dead whatfoever, is but imperfedly happy before the Refur- redion. Of the S T AT E of the T) E AD. in redion. The other is from the Ufe and Pradlice of the Church, in their Prayers and Offerings for the Dead. As for what re- lates to their Opinions, there are two that are chiefly to be confidered : The one is, that the Saints {hall return in the Millen- nium, and reign together with Chrift upon Earth. The other teaches us, that the very Saints themfelves are to be purged in the laft Fire, and be renewed and purified, toge- ther with the World, before they are called up to Heaven, and the Sight of their Maker. Each of thefe Opinions had great and nu- merous Champions in the firft Ages of the Church, as will plainly appear below in the il^th and ninth Chapters. But each of thefe Opinions fuppofes, that the Saints are not yet in PolTeffion of fupreme Felicity, of celeflial Glory, or the bsatifickVifion of God; and that they neither are, nor can be pre- pared for that Enjoyment v/ithout the fore- faid Purgation. And whether thefe Doc- trines be true, or falfe, they acquaint us, however, with the Opinions and Sentiments of both thefe Claffes of Fathers, ( whofe Number is not fmall) concerning the State of the Dead, and how far, with relation to the Point in Queftion, their Belief and their Opinions are agreeable to our owUa The 112 Of the S>T AT'E of theXy-EATi. The other Head which takes in the Con- fent of many, is the Ufe and Pracftice of the Church in their Liturgies, and facred Offices for the Dead. Thefe Liturgies contain ei- ther Thankfgivings for the Dead, and Com- memorations of them ; with either of which we have nothing to do here, or Offerings and Supplications for them. And this fuffi- ciently ftiews, that in their Opinion, the Souls for which thefe Rites were performed were not yet arrived at fupreme Glory, and the moft bleffed Vifion of God ; but thefe Rites were performed for the Souls of the moft Holy, and moft illuftrious Perfons 5 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 (ttn. in both the antient Litur- gies, however doubtful, interlined, or cor- rupt, and in the Conftitutions of Clement^ in St. Cypriajt, in Dioji)fius whom they call the Areopagite and in Epiphaniiis. Of this Practice, whether lawful, lauda- ble or not, the Foundation feems to be, that the Antients believed all the Souls of the Dead, of what Order foever, excepting only the Soul of Chrift himfelf, were detained in Hades till the Refurredion of the Body -, and that they who were not yet made per- fect might receive fome Advantage from the Of the St AT T. of the "D-E A -d'. 1 1 j the Offerings and Prayers of the Church : I fay Prayers ; for that, befides their Offers ings, Supplications were alfo ufed, appears to me, both from the forefaid Liturgies and Authors, and others, to be certain and irre- fragable. Thus, for Example, in the Litur- gy which is called St. yamess. 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. Re- member, O Lord God, the orthodox Souh^ even of the FleJJj, thofe whom we remember^ andthofe whom we do not, from Abel the jujl^ unto this very Day : And do thou fnake them to reft hi the Place of the Living, ifi thy Kingdom, in the Delights of Paradife, in the Bofo7ns of our Holy Fathers Abraham, a72d Ifaac, a?id Jacob, &c. The fame is ap- parent from other Liturgies, as well the Greek as the Latin, as you may fee in thofe who have made it their Bufmcfs to colledt them, and examine them. They pray for Repofe to the Dead, and future Light and Glory. And in all their Omces relating to the Dead, they always look with a ftedfafl Eye upon the Refurred:ion. Laftly ; No- thing is to be found, as far as I know, in the Pradice of the antient Church, that does not anfwer to this our Hypotheiis of the State of the Dead and Hades, where all the P ' Souls 114 Of the St AT E of the Dead, Souls that are feparated from their Bodies wait the coming of Chrift, and the Sound of the lafl Trumpet. So much for the.Teftimonies of the Fa- thers, either taken feparately, or in a Body together. But perhaps you will fay, that all this, or at leaft a great Part of it, is to no Purpofe } fince the Papifts (whofe principal fecular Interefl it concerns, that the Saints fliould enjoy Heaven, and Glory, and the Vifion of God before the Refurredlion) con- fefs, that the Fathers are generally of the fame Opinion with us, and that from them , they expedl neither Affiftance nor Patron- age in a Caufe which, fay they, depends entirely upon the Authority and Determi- nation 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 Jhould, in a little Time, be received into Hea- 'ven, and Jhoiild fee God, as he is in Trinity and * Thus many, and thus celebrated are the antient Fa- thers, as Teriullian, her.aiuSy Origin, St. Chryfojlome, Theo- itoret, Oecu?ne7iius, Theophjlacl, St. Ambrofe, CUmens RomaauSy St. Bernarci, who do not sfTent to that Opinion, which at length has been determined by the Council of Fhreyice, after a great Debate, t'iz. that the Souls of the Jull enjoy the Vifion of God before the Day of Judgment, but are of a contr.-yy Belief. StapUt, Def, Au^orit, EuUJA. i. c. 2, Of the St AT ^ of the Ti -EAT), iii^ and in Unity, In the mean Time, we can hardly bear it, when we refledl that fo many- Fathers, who were fuch illuftrious Rulers, and fuch (hining Lights of the Church, fhould be pretended to have been in an Er- ror for fourteen Centuries together, and that Truth {hould be difcovered fo late at laft at Florence^ and, as the Hiftory of that Synod relates, extorted with fo much Violence, or fo much Fraud, from the Greeks^ whom yet we behold, either ill cured or relapfed. Let them conlider this, that arc concerned in it : But as for thofe that are reformed, this Romif}^ Authority of Popes and Synods is of no Validity with us : We are left en- tirely at Liberty, fairly and impartially to examine the Thing, to confider its Force and its Weaknefs, and diligently to weigh its natural Tendency ; to fee how the facred Scripture directs us, how the Reafon of the Thing itfelf, and how the uncorrupted Age of the Church ; and not to have only be- fore our Eyes what was done lately, or de- termined at Florence 2ig2i\n{}L the united Voice of them all. This Article of the State of the Dead, highly deferves to be thoroughly examined, that it may appear what it is that our Adverfaries and Vv^e contend for : For upon this Foundation depends the whole Superftrudure of Romrjh Religion, P z and J i6 Of the St AT "£. of the Dead. and Romip Pomp, with regard to their Saints, with regard to the Canonization, as fome are pleafed to exprefs themfelves, to the Invocation and the Adoration of them ; nor only with regard to the Saints themfelves, but to their Images and their Relicks. Upon this depend all their Pilgrimages, their meri- torious Vows, the Maffes of their Saints, and that new, but moft lucrative Invocation of Purgatory. Since therefore, fo great a Pro- vifion, fo great a Weight of Superftition de- pends entirely upon this Article, fo great a Superftru6ture upon this Foundation, or up- on this Corner Stone, it moft highly con- cerns us to make .no ralh Conceflions, nor to indulge too pious but ill-grounded Affec- tions in a Matter of fuch Moment. CHAP. IV. Of the natural State of Souls in the hiterval between Death and the Re fur region ; whe- ther they are naked and fcpar ate from all corporeal Subjlance, or whether they are united to an aerial^ or any other Body, TH E fir ft Queftion being difpatch'd concerning the Quality of an interme- diate State, as to Felicity or Mifery, or con- cerning Of theSr ATT. of the "De ATi. 117 cerning the moral Condition of Souls before the Refurredion, there follows another, and a much more ditiicuU one, concerning their natural State. That Souls furvive, live, and think after Death, or the Diliolution of the Body, has been proved in what went before. But what the Apoi^le laid of his Extafy, Whether it ivas in the Body, or out of the Body, I kno\D not, fays he, God knows, that I may be allowed to repeat here ; whether the Soul, having thrown oil this Body, puts on a new one, or remains naked, and with- out a Body, until the Time of the Refurrec- tion of the Dead, / know not, God knows : At lead I reckon this among thofe Obfcu- rities, which neither clearly appear by the Light of Nature, nor by any divine Revela- tion. Since there is no room here for Experi- ments, we mufi: derive our Knowledge, ei- ther from the Nature of the Thing itfelf, thofe Seeds of Knowledge with which we came into the World, or from the facred Writings. The Philoicphers are the prin- cipal Evidengies and Interpreters of the for- mer, and the Cba'iftian Fathers of the latter. But after we have ccnfuked all thefe, you will hardly find any Thing upon this Subject that is evident or conclulive, v/here one may fix one's Foot. As for the Light of Reafon, and ii8 Of the St AT -E of the "D-E AD. and the Nature of Things, very little Aflift- ance is to be expet^ed from them in the de- termining thisQceftion. For fmce 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 natural Neceffity, or any neceflary Connexion between thefe two Natures, but entirely from the Will of God and his divine Decree j when this Body comes to be diiTolved, it will depend upon the fame divine Will, or, which is the fame Thing, upon Laws of Nature unknown to us, whether the Soul fliall be fubjedled to a new Union, or remain feparated from all Matter : For fo it poflibly may remain, fince it is a Subflance, or a Thing capable of fubfifting by itfelf. If upon this Subject you confult the Phi- lofophers, they, for the moft Part, are filent. The Platonicks, indeed, or at leaft fome of the Platonicks^ alTert, that the Soul, imme- diately after its Departure from this Life, and the Body, will be fubjedied to an aerial Body ; and that from thence it will proceed to an stberial one, after it has fufiiciently improved itfelf in Wifdom and Virtue, by a retrograde Order, from that by which it fell down by Degrees into this lovveft Sta- tion. [ Of the St at: •£. of the T) -E A-D. 119 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 Afcent and Defcent ? or that, laftly, no State intervenes of Silence and Separation from all Bodies ? Since there are innume- rable Worlds in the immenfe Compafs of the Univerfe, there may be many Orders, Modes, and Variations in the Revolutions of Souls, according to the manifold Wif- dom of God ; and what Order of Afcent or Defcent God has prefcribed to us, belongs to his fecret Difpenfation, which is hid from us in this Life. But from the Ghofts and Apparitions of the Dead, perhaps you may believe that it may be pofTible to pro\^, that human Souls, when they throw off this Body, immedi- ately affume another, by means of which they fometimes fhew themfelves vilible and confpicuous in a human Shape. I muff confefs, that it never was evident yet to me, nor could I be convinced that the Souls * of the * See the Words of St. Chryfoftome, Homily xix. on Mat. and Homily the laft, concerning Lazarus. Maldonatus upon St. Luke, Chap. xvi. towards the End, quotes TerluUiar?, Dt Anima, againft the Apparitions of the Dead : But I fup- I20 Of the St AT Y, of the Dead. the Dead ever yet appeared, or will appear before the Day of Judgment. Genii, per- haps, or Damons, may have the Power of condenfing the Air, or their proper Vehicles, and forming them into human or brutal Shapes, and may, perhaps, exercife that Power fometim.es, efpecially among barba- rous Nations, or Nations that are half bar- barous ; but I believe that this is rarely done among us ; and that among a thoufand Tales of fuch Apparitions we hardly find one. true. Thefe, however, by the Vulgar are fwallowed, and the Remembrance of a future Life is renewed, and their Faith is flrengthened. But the Monks are they who have imported the greateft Cargo of Fables on this Subjeft, by their own Inventions, or their imaginary Viiions, in order to in- troduce and confirm the Belief of Purga- tory. But let us now, if you pleafe, fuppole that the Souls of the Dead have aerial Bo- dies, and have an animal Life. Here many Queftions will occur, many Doubts to be clear'd up: Firiliofal), what Region of the Air would you have thefe new Comers inha- bit ? pole lie is miftaken, becaufe he quotes not the Chapter. He likewife quotes Athanaf.us, or the Author, whoever he be, Ci'LX^tTx&2X\{tX.o Anticchus,\%. xi. & xiii. If.odor. lib. viii. fLtjjmol. c. ix. and 1heo*>hyla^ on Matthevi viii. Of tbe St ATE of f be Dead, lit bit ? the fuperior or inferior ? If you place them below the Clouds, you then expafe them to all the piercing Extreams of Sea- fons, and all the Intemperature of the Skies, lince they always live in the open Air, de- fended by no Roofs, by no Houfes of any kind whatfoever. When it rains, when it fnows, when it hails, when it thunders, they flill lie expofed in the open Air j and thele Meteors muft of Neceffity, not only rudely infult their tender Bodies, but ftrike 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 the Evil as the Good, above the Clouds and the At- mofphere of the Earth, you carry them from Hades J into Regions ferene and lucid, of which the impure and wicked Souls arc moft unworthy, and for which they are moft improper j nor would you, I believe, have thefe feparated 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, it is neceffary that there ftiould be fome Polity, fome Govern- (^ meat 122 Of the St ATE of the Dead. ment among them. Would you then, have them live all in the fame Republick promif- cuoufly ? or would you have them feparated and diftributed, as they v^^ere here on Earth into feveral Nations, both by their Names and their Manners diftinguiflied ? As for Example , Would you have the French dwell altogether, and feparately from the reft ? Would you thus have the Spaniards^ th& Italians^ the Germans^ the Britons^ and all the reft of the Nations upon the Face of the Earth, liave their own Seats in the Air, each of them likewife have their antient Government, their own Language, their own Religion and Cuftoms ? Thefe are the Queftions that are to be determined, and explained to the Inquirers. But f>';ft of all it will be difficult to fix and preferve in a fluid Element, the Bounds of the feveral Empires 3 in an Element where there can be neither Ditches, nor Rivers, nor any Forti- fications : Nor will the Difficulty be lefs in appointing their Kings ; for, which of the old ones, the firft or the laft, will they reftore to the Throne ? or what Royal Pedigree will they prefer to the reft ? or, rejeding all an- tient Titles, ffiall they give the Crown to the worthieft ? I can eafily fee that Conten- tions will arife from hence, and Parties and FadionSj and Wars 5 but v/hat Manner of fight- Of theSiT ATi£. of the Dead. I'l'i fighting, or what Weapons they will ufe in the Air, I do not yet underfland : The Dead certainly can die no more ; nor do I know whether they can be wounded. Some little Queries likewife arife 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 ufed here on Earth, as the Grecians fpeak Greek, the Latins La~ tin, and fo for the reft of the Nations : But Times, and People, and Languages, from Age to Age are charged. Our rhodern Ro^ mans are very little skill'd in the Language of the antient Latins, nor do the vulgar Ita- Hans underftand any Latinity whatever : How {hall thefe People hold Difcourfe with their Romulus, or their Numa. The Lan- guages of the Celtcz and the Scythians, are no more remembred by thofe who inhabit the fame Seats in the North and the Weft, that they did. Laftly j What is to be done by us the Inhabitants of this Ifland, who have had fo many Languages, and fo many Originals? Shall v/e Ipeak /^6'^7j in our aerial Bodies, or Saxon, or Norman, or as we do at this Day, a Mixture and Com- pound of them all ? If the Life to come were 0,2 to 124 Of the State of theTi-EATt, to be regulated at this rate, I am afraid there would be a Confufwn of Tongues, worfe than that of Babel. We are born Infants in this World, and learn the Ufe of Speech by Degrees, in- ftru6ted by our Mothers, or our Nurfes ; but in the aerial World I fuppofe 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 Diftindtion of Age. They do not come out from the Womb of their Mother, and gradually, like our little ones, grow up to Youth and Man- hood ; but as foon as they have a Tafte of ^etherial Air, grow reafonable and polite at once, without any Apprenticefhip in Learn- ning. I fpeak of thefe Things, not as I be- lieve them, but according to the forefaid Hypothecs. Nor do I fee how the Dead can retain their old Languages, or fwallow down a new at one Draught. But io much for their Difcourfe. There yet remains a no lefs Difficulty concerning their Religion ; for thefe aerial Men mufl of Neceffity have among them divine Worfhip, and fome Inftitution and Form of Religion. Is every one then to embrace the fame Religion which he pro- fefled on Earth, and his own particular Sed: of it ? Are the Jeivs to follow the Law of Mofes, Of the St ATE of the Dead. 125 Mofs, the Mahometafis that of Mahomef, the Heathens to worfhip their own Gods, and the Chridians Chrift ? Would you have the Papifts have their Pope as they have here below ? and the Reformed have the Scrip- ture as the Rule of their Faith ? But what do I talk of the Scripture, when I have no Notion of aerial Books or Writings ? 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 Ori- ginal to this very Day, live together in the Air, the Jews will find theif Prophets there, and the Chriflians their Apoftles. The yews being better informed of the tniQ Mef- Jiahy from the oraculous Interpretation of the Prophets themfelves, will immediately become Chriftians. Thefe, in like Manner, will, from the Mouths of the Apoftles them- felves, receive the infallible Deciiion of ail the Controverfies v/hich are now depcndino- between the Reform'd and the Romans, The Confequence of which will be, both the Converfion of the fews, and the Union of the Chriftians. O happy State ! O thrice more happy, thofe who are dead, than thofe who are yet living ! Laftly 5 When the reft 126 Of the St ATE. of the Dead. reft of human kind fhall be clearly inftruft- ed in the Nature of the true God, and the Myftery of the Meffiah, inftruded by Men divinely infpired, they reje(fting their Errors, will forthwith be converted to the Chriftian Faith and Worlhip. Behold now the glo- rious Kingdom of Chrift, a Kingdom not upon Earth, nor in Heaven, but among the Dead in the Air. But all this very little agrees with the Chrifbian Difpenfation, as it is explained in the facred Writings j and, indeed, is foreign to common Belief and Senfe : For who can beHeve that Adam and 'Eve^ or the firft Men of all their Pofteri- ty, Sons and Daughters, live together in the Clouds, or the Air j and have lived there to- gether for feveral thoufand Years ? Do they ftill keep to their Families, and to their an- tient Relations ? Are they fenfible of what is done upon Earth, and efpecially among their ov/n Countrymen, and moft of all a- mong their own Relations ? But i am v/ea- ry of asking fo many Quefllons, and of be- ing thus inquifitive in an Affair that is fo uncertain, and indeed incredible. If vou form Queries upon other Heads, the An- fwerer will be no lefs at a Stand. For my Part, the more I refled: upon this in my Mind, the lefs can I nnd that there can be any poiTible way of ellablilhing a Common Wealth Of ibe St ATE cf fbe Dead. 127 Wealth among the Dead, that is to fay, an external, corporeal, animal, and vifible State, Hitherto we have had Recourle to Reafon ^ alone, and to Arguments fetched from the Nature of the Thing : But we ought, be- fides, to confult the Holy Scriptures, if that by chance fliould have any Thing to offer to us concerning the Bodies of the Dead be- fore the Refarredlion. But quite contrary, there are many Things in the facred Writ- ings, which, according to my Apprehen- fion, are by no Means favourable to aerial Bodies in the intermediate State. Firft ; Becaufe the facred Writings mention only two Sorts of animated Bodies, related to hu- man Souls, the Terreftrial and the Celeftial; that which we have at this Time, and that which we are to have at the Refur- red'ion of the Dead. In the fifteenth Chap- ter of the firfl Epiflle to the Coriiitbiajis, the Apoflle St. Paul handles this Matter a little m.ore diffufely j and after he had dif- tinftly mentioned two Sorts of Bodies, and only two, belonging to the human Soul, he adds, ijer. 49. And a^ ive baije born tbe Image of tbe Eartbly, ice Jball likewife bear tbe Lnage of tbe Heai:c?2h\ making not the leaft Mention of any intermediate Body, which he feems more plainly to exclude in Uie fifth Chapter of the fccond Epiille to the 128 Of fhe St AT E of the Dead. the Corinthians J 'ver. i. in thefe Words : For we know that if our earthly Houfe of this I'abernacle were difolved, 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 celeflial Body 3 but in the Verfes which follow, he calls that State which, perhaps, may intervene, a State of Nakednefs: The Words are thefe, ver. 2, 3. For in this we groan earneftly, defiring to be cloathed upon * with our Houfe, which is from Heaven. If fo be that being cloathed^ we Jhall 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, figni- fies the fame with the naked Soul or the naked Mind, in a State of Separation from all Body whatever. And to be cloathed upon, can be applied to no one^ unlefs 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 Ad:ions in this Life j for in that to come there will be no Change, either of Manners, or * Concerning the Word 5///f;7W/«, or Chathid ii^on, fe^ ^e Explication of CreUhis, p . 315. Of the St AT -E of the 'D'E A -D. 12^ or of the Portion of HappinefSj or Mifery^' which we have merited from thofe Adions. Whether the 'T'ree falls to the South or to the Norths in the Place where it fell, there it miift lie, i2iys Ecclefaftes, xi. 3. Which Say- ing is generally referred to the Death of Man, and his unchangeable Condition af- terwards. And fo they are wont to inter- pret the Shutting of the Gate in The Parables of Chriit, Mat.xxN. 10. Luke xiii. 25. But St. Paul tells us that more plainly in the fe- cond Epiflle to the Corinthians, and the fifth Chapter, ver. 10. For we muji all ap- pear before the fudgmeiit Seat of Chrtji^ that every orte may receive the 'Things done in his Body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Which Words feem to determine and fix the future Condition of Men, from the Ac-- tions 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 Actions, of Virtue or Vice, as the prefent Life is, 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 Pvlen fliculd depend upon this prefent Life, which is io R fliort, 130 Of the St ATE qf the Dead. fhort, fo furrounded with Troubles, and to numberlefs Temptations liable, and that other, of much greater Moment, entirely nes[led:ed and accounted as Nothing. Thirdly, and laftly j according to a com- mon ExprelTion in the Holy Scripture, Death is called a Sleeps and thofe that die are faid to fall ajleep -, which feems to me to hint, that the State of Death is a State of Quiet, of Silence, and of Inaftion or Cef- fation 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. Belides, we are faid to rouze ourfelves, or to be awake upon the Refur- red:ion : But why ? becaufe changing our Condition, and fhaking ofif Sleep, we* rife again into Light and into the vilible World. But you will fay, perhaps, that the Phrafe of Scripture where Death is likened to Sleep, and by which thofe that die are faid to fall afleep, is only an Euphenifmy, or a figura- tive favourable Expreffion, and regards the Body only, which when dead appears to take pleafing Reft, like one that is over- whelmed with Sleep. Be it fo : But then the Expreffion will be fuller and flrcn- ger, if with the Body you comprehend the Mind, which refts from its ufual Actions, as Of the St ATE of the V) -EAT). 131 as it does in a State of Sleep j nor is it ftruck by external Objed:s. Therefore, the Senfes are not bound and fhut up, as they are in Sleep, but we are fnatched as it were in an Extafy, from the Body and the corporeal World. And when the Theatre of the vi- lible World opens itfelf again to us, we are aptly and juftly faid to (hake off Sleep, and to wake. But if, upon the Soul's Depar- ture from this Body, we immediately put on another more adive and more lively ; and the Souls of the Dead are fporting in the Fields of the Air, extremely awake and chearful ; I fee no Reafon why the Dead fhould be faid to deep till the Refurredlion, and upon that to awake, unlefs you refer all that to the Body, which feems fome- what hard to me. But we are here to obferve, that when Inaction, or a CefTatlon from Adiion, is at- tributed to the Souls of the Dead, we are not to underftand a total or an univerial In- a6lion, as well internal as external, but ex- ternal Inad:ion only j becaufe they have no Operation, or Adion, which regards the corporeal World, nor are they ' atteded by that any manner of way whatfoever. But ftill they have Life and the Faculty of Thinking remaining : For fo I underftand the Words of Chrift, when to prove the R 2 Im- 132 Of the St: AT -E of the "D-E A jy'. Immortality of the Soul, he fays, that God calls himfelf the God of Abraham^ oiJfaac^ and of Jacob . Luke xx. 37, 38. But he is not the God of the Dead, hut of the Liimng^ for they all Iroe unto him. By the Dead here Chrift underftands thofe who are void of all Life whatfoever ; and in this Senfe he denies that thefe Patriarchs are dead. For they live, fays he, imto God 5 that is, if I underfland the Thing rightly, though they do not live with regard to Men, and the refl: of the vifible World, yet, with regard to God, in the inviiible World, according to their intellcdlual Faculties, they enjoy both Life and Vigour. Let it fufnce to obferve all this from the facred Writings, in order to difcover the State and Kind of Life, whether corporeal or incorporeal, we are to have immediate- ly after Death ; and that for this End, that "we may be able to judge, whether we Ihall behold this Sun, thefe Stars, and this agree- able Light ; or whether, before the Refur- re<5lion of the Dead, we fliall enjoy the vi- fible W^orld in any Manner whatever: For, according to our Phiiofophy, unlefs the Soul is united to fome particular Body, to fome particular Portion of Matter, apart and fe- parately from all others, to which it is vi- tally, and after a peculiar Manner united, it Of the St ATE of the D'e AD. 133 it can have no Senfe or Perception of the external World, or of any corporeal Appear- ance, or of any Part or Motion of Mutter. This perhaps, may to fome appear a Para- dox, who believe that it may very well be, and, indeed, that-it adually is, that the Soul difcerns all external Objects, and the Moti- ons of the corporeal World, though it is united to no particular Body, nor to any one Portion of Matter, rather than to another : And though it be altogether naked, yet, according to the Place or Region in v/hich •it is prefent, it may receive Imprefiions from the furrcunding World, and from ad- jacent Bodies, in as equal a Manner, as if it had a Body peculiar to itfelf But I would fain knov/ how this can be, unlefs we fuppofe the Soul to be impenetrable : For all the Adiion that Bodies have is by Motion, Contad:, and Impulie ; and where- ever there is no Relifiance, there can be no PrelTure or Impulfe. Befides, the Motions of Bodies produce not Senlations, or Thoughts, or Reflections, in us by their own Power, (for at that rate the Effect would be more noble than the Caufe) nor can they by their ov/n- Power adl upon an incorporeal Na- ture : But that is brought about by a Law eftablidied by the Author of Nature, be- tween thefe Souls, and thefe particular Eo- dies3 '134 Of the ^T AT -E. ef the T)^ AH. dies ; by Virtue of which Law, they fym- pathize each with the other, a6t upon each other, and from each other iuffer ; and this we call a Vital ConjimBion or Union : So that Union is one Thing, and naked Pre- fence another Thing *. And unlefs you can fuppofe that naked Souls, or Souls that are feparated from their Bodies, fympathize with the whole Machine of the Univerfe, or with all Bodies of every kind, they can receive Senfations or fenfible Impreffions from none. Laftly ; that I may conclude upon this" Head, Pleafure and Pain, which are firft- rate Senfations, and of the greateft Impor- tance, cannot arife in the Soul without a Body that is peculiar to it, or that is vitally united to it : For thefe are Affections which happen to the Soul, by Reafon of fome Good or fome Evil that happens to the Body, as it is it's own Body. If you flrike with a Staff.an adjacent Wall, I behold the Motion of the Staif, and I hear the Sound of the Stroke or the Blow ; but I am fen- fible of no Pain from it : But if Vv^ith the iiime Staff, and the fame Force, you flrike againfl: my Body, or that Portion of Mat- ter * I might fee, altho' my Eyes were (hut, if the naked prefence, or the Nearnefs of the Objed were fufficient to excite Senfations in the Soul. Of the State of theVi^EK d. I35 ter which I call my Body, I immediately feel Pain from it j for a new Senfation ari- fes very different 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 Pi^in 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 affed:ed with the Prick of a Needle upon my own Finger, than with the Blow of a Cannon Ball upon any other Body whatever. After the fame Manner v^e may account for corporeal Plea- fure : But we have here faid enough to £hew that our Senfations 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 affed: us with the Mo- tions of Matter. But enough of this *. Now * That I may have done with this Subjed, the Dead feem to me to know nothing of the Afl^iirs of thofe who live in this World, nor to meddle with the Concerns 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 Vs^rite or read, nor to make the Mark of any Letter in the Alphabet, that much lefs knew how to paint or to engrave exadtly j I fay, I cannot eafily conceive, that this old Bel- dam faould be able to appear before us in her own Shape, and ^3^ Of the ^T ATT, of the "De Av. Now thefe Enquiries have we made, and thefe Determinations have we come to, concerning the Souls of the Dead, accord- ing to the Light which we have received, either from the Nature of Things, or from the facred Oracles : By w^hich it appears, firft, that the Soul furvives the Body j fe- concily, that the Souls of the Good will be happy after Death, and the Souls of the Wicked unhappy : But, thirdly, that before the Day of Judgment, the former will not be fupremely happy, nor the latter extreme- ly miferable. Laftly, that it is more pro- bable, that until the Refurredion the Souls will remain in a feparate State, than that they will be vefled in any Body. Yet, af- ter all, m.y Opinion is, that this is to be numbered amongft Things obfcure, 'or Things and with all the Lines of her Face, and Lineamerits of lier Body, like one of fuch an Age, and with thofe Wrinkles that are the Effects of it ; and all this to the greateft Exaft- nefs : Nor to appear only in her own Shape, but in her ufual Garments and her external Drefs : And all this io compleatly, fo exadtly, that neither Jppelks 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 amazed at the hearing of thefe Things, as Things beyond the common Belief of Alen : But as the Power and Fa- culties of the Soul, after 'tis fee free from this Body, and cloathed with a thinner, are altogether unknown to us, I muft own that all that I have faid, however it may h ve a Tendency to perfuade, yet does not come up to the Force df a Demonftration, Of t/je St ATE of the Dead.' f^f Things not expreily revealed. * Thus far have w^e gone, let us now proceed to the reft. CHAP. V. A I'ranfition to the remaining Tarts of this Work : Firji, concerning the coming of Chrift^ a7id the Conflagration of the World. Itherto we have been among the fi- lent Dead : Now we muft return in- to the World's pompons Theatre, where a new Face of Things entertain us, where new Fhcenomena^^^ themfelves. Behold the Meffiah coming in the Clouds of Hea- ven, the World in Flames on every Side, and the Dead with Amazement rifing, and 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 aftonilhing Scenes, S aflonilh- * APEKESTHAI, to aljlain; with Regari" to feme Things, is no lefs the Duty of a Chriftian, thsiiof a Phi-* lofopher. If within this grofs Body, which we carry about with us, there is feme internal Vehicle, with vyhich the Soul being invefted, takes its Flight in the Article of Death, I have nothing to fay againft it ; but we are found t(? philofophiae according to Allegations folidly proved- j^^ Of ihe St ATE of the Dead. aftonidiing Sights, fuch thefe will tranfcend- ently be. Then new Heavens, and a new Earth will fucceed ; then the Millenary Empire of Chrifc j and, laftly, the End of this Globe of Earth, and the Confumma- tion of all that belongs to it, Thefe are the Subjects of the greateft Concern and Weight to us, which we, according to our Capacity, and the Light that we came in- to the World with, or that we have re- ceiv'd from the facred Writings, {hall han- dle each in its Order. The firfl four of thefe, if I am not mif- 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 f'.me Time are to rife, 2 T^hefs. i. 7, 8. And thefe four Points, I believe to be more clearly revealed, as to the Things them- felves, or the Main of them : But when the Queftion is concerning Modes and Cir- cumftances, we mufl often diflinguifh be- tween the vulgar Hypothelis, and the rea- fonable one, the literal and the fecret one. Laflly, As for the Things which are wholly hid from our Knowledge, they are entirely to be referred to the fecret Difpenfation of the Almighty. As for what regards the burning of the World, and the coming of Chrift, thofe we have Of the St AT "E of the Til. A-D. 139 have formerly treated of, through an entire Book, which is the Third of the Theory of the Earth. And, therefore, we fhall treat of them only fuccindtly, and by Way of Abridgment 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 explained each of thefe to his Difciples, and called them to be his AffeiTors in either Throne. Matt. xix. 28. In the Regeneration^ when the Son of Man fiall fit in the Throne of his Glory y y^ alfo JJjall fit upon twelve Thrones^ judging the twelve Tribes of Ifrael. Chrift had be- fore, {peaking of the Life to come, joined both thefe together. Empire and Judg- ment : For the Son of Man /hall come in the Glory of his Father^ with his jingels^ and then he fiall reward every Man accord- ingto his Works. Matt. xvi. 27, 28. Lafl- ly, In the folemn 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 fiall appear the Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven^ and then fimll all the Tribes of the Earth mourn -, and they fid all fee the Son of Man corning in the Clouds cf Heaven with Power and great S 2 Glory. 140 Of the St AT Y of the Dead, Glory, jiiid he fiall fend his A?2ge!s with a great Sound of a Trumpet^ a?id tbey /Jjall gather together his Ele6f from the four IVinds^from one End of Heaven tojhe other. Matt. xxiv. 30, 31. In thefe, and other refembling Paffages, we are inftruded by the Mouth of Chrift himfelf in his future Return to the Earth ; which after him the Angels, and after them the Apoftles again and again pro- claimed. At the fame Time, I am not ignorant that thefe Sayings of Chrift, con- cerning his future Com.ing, are fo reftrain'd by fome, and have their Meaning fo maim- ed, as if nothing was meant by them, but the Deftrudtion of ferufalem, tho' during the Time ferufalem was deftroy'd, Chrill remained above in the Heavens j nor during that Time did he ever come, or ever fo much as appear, unlefs improper- ly, as far as the Works and the Judgments of God, are taken for God himfelf. Be- ' fides, the external Splendor, the Glory of the Father, the Concomitancy of Angels painted in thofe Defcriptions, denote his perfonal Coming, and can never be ad- jufled to any figurative Meaning. Laftly, the univerfal Judgment, and the End of the World are connected together with this coming of Chrift, in the forementioned Paffages. Of the St ATE of the Dead. 141 Paffages. The Preparation for Judgment is manifeftly defcribed in the forelaid Faf- fage, A^^tt. xix. 28. As you will find by comparing it with Rev. xx. 4, 11, 12. You will likewife find the judicial Reward or Punifiiment of every one according to his Merits, if you compare AJaft. xvi. 27, 28. with Rem. ii. 5, 6, &c. And in the twenty-fifth Chapter of the fame Evange- lift, njer. 31, 32, C^c. both the Prepara- tion for Judgment, and the judicial Sen- tences, are connected together with this Coming of Chrift : IVben the Son of Man fjall come in his Glory ^ and all the Holy Angels with him, then fiall he fit on the T^hrone of his Glory. And before him Jldall be gathered all Nations^ and he fiallfepa^ rate them one from another, as a Shep- herd diviJeth his Sheep from the Goats, &;c. As thefe Pafiages clearly denote the uni- verfal Judgment, and that at the Coming of Chrift J fo that Judgment as perfpicu- oufly means that 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 faid concerning the End of the World, or the utmoft Conlummation of Ages : But that all thofe Sayings, though ever fo great, yet 142 Of /^^ S T A T E of theV^^E KV). yet folidly regard the Deftrudlion of 'Je- riifalem only. A bold Affirmation, and very ill grounded, in my Opinion. What ? be- caufe in one or two Places, where a certain Coming of Chrift is mention'd, fome View- is had to the Defl:rud:ion of 'Jerufalem^ therefore wherever in the Gofpel mention is made of his coming, though fuperlatively glorious, and attended with a Thoufand Marks that can never in the leail regard Jeriifalem^ but mAift bs referred to Nature and the World about to perifh together ; fhall we dare to reftrain and to wreft thefe PafTages to the Deftrudtion of one People, and of one City only ? This feems to me to be highly raili, to fay ho other of it. We are next to confider that Chapter of St. Matthew^ in which the forel^id Inter- preters fay, that nothing is found that re- gards the End of the World, or that ought to be extended beyond the Deflrucftion of yeriilhlem, which if I am not mifiaken, may two ways he confuted. Firfl:, feveral Things are afferted and related in this Chapter, of which we have no Account in the Hiftory of the Deil:rudion of Jcriija- lem. Secondly, the Things that are related in the facred Writings, when the ultimate Comine of Chriil; in the End of the World is defcnbed, agree and anfwcr exaftly to v/hat Of tbe St AT E of the T>E AD. 143 what is faid in this Chapter j and therefore both ought to be underflood as meant of the fame Coming-. As to the fiifl of thefe, it is faid Fer. 14. Tbis Gojpel of the Kingdom fiall be preach- ed thrciigh all the Worlds for a Witnefs un- to all Nations^ and then f jail the Ejid come. Thefe Things are not yet come to pafs, much lefs were they come to pafs, before the Deftrudion of ferifalem. But fur- ther, thefe Perfons would have only Judea underflood by through all the World, and by all Nations only the various Tribes and Provinces of the ye"JDS ; which th^* it is fomething flrained, yet, if there were no farther ObjedLion, I iliould not dwell upon this alone. But, fecondly, the won- derful Appearances both in Earth and in Heaven, and the glorious Appearance of Chrift in the Clouds above all, which are faid to precede the Confummation of Things, vv'hich is here marked and fore- told, did neither precede, nor accompany the Deftrudion of Jcriifkni. Thefe Pro- phecies are thus related by St. Matthew : hmncdiaiely after the 'Tribulation of thofe Days, fiall the Sun be darkened, and the Moonjhall not give her Light, and the Stars fiall fall Jrom Heaven, and the Powers of the Heavens fiall be Jhaken, And then fiall • - appear 144 Of tbe St ATE of the Dead. appear the Sign of the Son of Man in Hea- *ven : Aiid then fmll all the ^I^ribes of the "Earth inoiirn^ and they fd all fee the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven^ laith Poiver and great Gloj-y. Matt. xxiv. 29, 30. But upon the Deftrudion of Jerufa^ le?n, Chrifl no where appeared in the Clouds of Heaven, nor did the Sun lofe its Splendor, or the Moon its Light, nor were the Powers of the Heavens fliaken. A Comet, indeed, did appear with its Tail refemblinga Sword, or a Faulchion, asufual : But the reft of the Portents which Jofephus mentions are quite of another Kind. But, belides, thefe Signs in the Heavens are attended by others on Earth, as the fhaking of the Earth, and the roaring of the Sea, and its tumultuous Waves. For fo St. Luke: And there fh all he Signs in the Sun J and in the Moon J and in' the Stars-, and upon the Earth Dijirefs of Nations^ with Perplexity^ the Sea and the Waves roarings Mens Hearts failing them for Fear, and j or looking after thofe 'T'hings which are coming on the Earth, for the Powers of Heaven Jl:allhefbaken : Luke xxi. 25, 26. But v/hat has Jerufale^n 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 no- thing Of fbeSxATiE, of the Dead. 14^ thing, but thefe and the reft of the T hings abovemention'd, rekte to another, and a greater Cataftrophe, the Deflrudion of the World : Andj therefore, in explaining this Matter, Chrift very aptly puts them in mind of Noah, and the Deluge, which was not a national, but an univerlal Deftrudion. In the mean Time, I am not ignorant that the Interpreters, of whom we have been here ipeaking, in expounding thefe Phasnomena, have Recourfe to Metaphors, and to Allegories, and to quote PafTages f om the Prophets, in which thefe or the like Ex- preflions are ufed in a figurative Senfe : It is granted that fome ^f them are, but it appears to me to be no juft Law of inter- preting, to pretend that thofe Things which are fometimes ufed figuratively by the Pro- phets, {hould be always and every where underftood in the fame Senie. The Style of the Gofpel is a great deal more chafte, nor does it eafily deviate from the literal Senfe ; from which an Interpreter ought pever to depart, unlefs the Necefiity of the Subjed:- Matter conftrains him : And we havefiiewii in another Place, that thefe Phaenomena in the Earth and the Heavens, though won- derful and extraordinary, will really hap- pen towards the End of the World, when Nature is in its Pangs, and the Gonflagra- T tion 146 Of the St AT E of the De A t>. tion impending. The Deftru(ftion of Je^ rtifakm was, indeed, a Type of the De- ftruclion of the World, and therefore we have lefs Reafon to wonder that they fhould both be mingled in a confufed Relation j for there is, in the facred Style, if I may fo exprefs myfelf, a Sort of a Communication of Idioms between the Types and the An- titypes J and there is in the Prophets a re- peated Completion of the fame Prophecy, afcending gradually to its Height. So 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 Proobecy another Period of Time, befides that of the Deflrudion of yeriijalem, and a Period pofterior to it j for thus we read in St. Luke xxi. 24. Jerufa- lem JJ:aIl be trodden down of the Gentiles, ■until the ^times of the Gentiles he fulfilled-, fee here another Period, different from that of yerifalem, and pofterior to it ; for the Delblation of the fews 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 r Or the Reftoration of the Jews towards the End of the World, after the Times are accomplifli'd that are predefined, for the preaching to and con- verting the Gentiles, But the Wonders in the Of the St AT "E, of the Dead. 147 the Earth, and the Heavens, and the glo- rious Appearance of Chrifl 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 Jerufalejn. Befides, when Chrifl iaySj T'haf of that Day and Hour knoweth no Man^ no^ nor the A77geh 'which are in Heaven^ he feems to mean fomething more remote than that Deftrudion, which whea it was fcarce at the Diftance of half an Age from the Time in which our Saviour fpoke, it is a great deal lefs propable that it fhould have efcaped the Knowledge of all the Angels in Heaven, than if you inter- pofe the Series of many Ages, and under- fland 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- lides you compare this Prophecy with other Paffages of the facred Scripture, where the laft Coming of Chrift, and the Day of Judgment are defcribed, you will eafily find by the Refemblance and the Relation which the Expreflions have to each other, that the fame Time is defigned by all of them, and the fame State of Things. In all of them you fee Chrift coming in the Clouds of Heaven j in all of them you fee an Army 1: z of 148 Of the St AT % of the Dead. of Angels attending him, and in all of them hear the Clangor of the laft Trumpet pro- claim him. Do you know, you who main- tain the contrary Side, tell me, I befeech you, in what Places do you own that the fa- cred Scripture Ipeaks of the true, the per- fonal, and the lafl coming of Chrift ? I know very well, that you believe in that Coming fo much expected, and fo much defirtd by Chriftians ; and according to my Opinion, Chrift fpeaks of the fame in ma- ny Places, in many alfo the Apoftles. 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 al- low it ; in Matthew xxvi. 64. but you will not allow it i Matthew xix. 28. and xxv. 31, 32. when you either deny, or heft- tate. Befides, the Apoftles, in our Opinion, often fpeak of the fame ; as for Example, 2 T^hef. i. 7, 8, ^c, but you are of another Opinion : Nor the Guards of Angels, nor the revenging Fire, nor the eternal Perditi- on of the Ungodly, which are all of them here commemorated, have Prevalency e- nough • See Dr. Hammond n^or^ thefe and the following Places, efpeciaiiy on Mi?//, xxiv. 3. Not.h. 2 Ihefs.'u and uport •a Pst> iJi. and Ughtfogt upon tlie fourth of St. Markt p. 1 8, Of the ^T AT -E of the Ti -E A-D. 1 49 noagh to prove to you, that the ultimate Coming of Chrift in the End of the World is here to be underftood. Then in the fe- cond Epiftle of Peter, Chap. iii. 4, 8, 9, 10, &c. we believe that the Coming of our Lord, that the Day of Judgment, and the DilTolution and Renovation of this World are clearly fhewn and exhibit- ed to us ; neither here do you give your Affent. Laftly, we in like Manner in- terpret the fourteenth and fifteenth Verfes of St. Jude, and the feventh of the firft Chapter of the Revelatio?2S , of the ju- dicial and viiible Coming of Chrifl j and here you likewife prevaricate ; as likewife in fundry other Places, too numerous to be mentioned here. With Pain it is, that v/e 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 Em- ployment 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 Senfe of Right, or Shame, in fpite of the Reludancy, both of the Spirit and the Let- ter ; as when the Preparation for the laft Judgment is manifeftly defcribed, or the Conflagra- 1 50 Of the State of the 'Dead. Conflagration of the World, or the Glory of the Father and the Angelick Guards ; or laftly, Chrift himfelf defcendingfrom Hea- ven, and confpicuous in the Clouds of Hea- ven ; they who pretend to reduce thefe Re- alities, fo illuftrioufly nanifeft, to Shadows and Figures, thefe Univerfals, comprehend- ing no lefs than a World, to the Deftruc- tion of one City and Nation j thefe Per- fons feem to me not only to convert a rich Vein into a fteril one, but by an Interpre- tation of this Nature, to do Violence both to Words and to Things -, for what can be more manifefl than that Conflagration and the End of the World defcribed in the forementioa'dPaflTagesof St. Paiihnd St. Pe- ter ; which yet they are pleafed to refolve into I know not what chymerical Allego- ries? But what we can ftill worfe endure, and what has flill a nearer Relation to our Argument, is, that they wreft and diftort the Defcent of Cbriji in the Clouds of Hea- ve?2y (Matt. xxiv. 30.) from the Letter and the Truth,* and pretend that there is no- thing meant by it, but the Judgments of God, * That the Word Clouds, is to be taken in a literal Senfe, you may fee fully proved by Gerard. Tom. ix. de extrem. Jud. p. 67, 68. This Word is taken from Dan. yii. 13- where the Prophet is fpeaking of the fecond Com, ins Of the St ATE of the De At). 151 God, and Punifliments that are fent from Heaven ; when yet they might have learnt the Force of that Expreflion from the Mouth and Information of an Angel, who tells us, that this Coming in the Clouds is both true and perfonal ; for faid the An- gel, A^s i. II. Te Men o/' Galilee, why Jiand ye gaziiig up into Heaven f ^his fame Jefus, which is fo taken up from you into Heaven, fi all fo come in like Manner as ye have fe en him go into Heaven^ that is, per- fonally and vifibly in the Clouds. It feemed to me to be of the greatefl Confequence, to make thefe fliort Remarks, that no Evidence might efcape me in an Affair of fo vafi Moment, and in fo re- nowned a Caufe \ for unlefs Chrift returns from Heaven, we are loft, vain is our Hope, and vain our Faith, as the Apoftle fpeaks concerning the Refuredion. But there are, befides, in the facre'd Writings, numberlefs Proofs and Teftimonies of this glorious and moft wifli'd-ior Coming, which is ex- prefted by various Names. It is for the moft Part called Paroufia, Prefence, in the Greek, and Sometimes Apokahipfis, Reve- lation, ing of Chvift. Ey the Chi^s of licazei, the Jervs un- derrtand Angels, or the Gunrdiaii Hoji of A'^gils, {ays Pear- /ow on the Creed, p. 322. marg. 152 Of fbe St ATE of fbe Dead. lation, I Cor. i. 7. 2 Thefs. i. 7. i Pf/f r 1. 7,13. and iv. 1 3 . Luke x vii. 3 1 . Ibmetimes it is named Epipbaneia, an illuftrious Appear- ance, 2 ^hefs. n. 8. i Tim. vi. 14. 2 7/'/;/. iv. I, and 8. Tit. ii. 13. fometimes it is named Fhanerofis^ Manifeftation, or ma- nifeft Appearance, Col. iii. 4. i Fet. v. 4. and that folemn Day is called by the Pro- phet and the Apoftle, ABi ii. 20. ^, erne- ra Kuriou e megale Kai epephanes^ that great and illuflrious Day of the Lord^ in which, fays God, / will Jhew Wo?iders in Heaven above ^ and Signs in the Earth beneath^ Blood and Fire, and Vapour of Smoak : The Sun fiall be turned into Darhiefs, and the 'Moon into Bloody before that great and illujirious Day of the Lord jlo all come. Thefe Prodigies, thefe Wonders have not yet been brought upon the Stage ; that Part of the Drama, the laft Ad: of it is yet to come, for which the greateft Machines, and the moil noble and moil terrible Scenes are wont to be refer ved. Nor is it any Objedion to what has been faid, that this Prophecy is cited upon the Effufion of the Holy Ghoft on the Apoftles, as if at that very Time it had received its Accomplifliment. It received it indeed in fome Meafure, as to the former Part of it, as to Gifts and Infpirations divine ; but it is Of the St AT -E tf the Dead. 153 is manifeft that the latter Part of it, con- cerning whicli we are now ipeaking, thefe Signs and Wonders in external Nature, have no Relation to this Effufion of the Holy- Spirit, for that nothing in the Time of that Effufion happened, but a rufhing and a mighty Wind. Many and mighty Things remain to be perfed:ed upon the Coming of our Lord, upon that wonderful and terrible Day^ as the Prophet expreffes himfelf. Nothing can be more terrible to the Impious and Irreligious, than the Sight of the angry Deity, upon whofe coming the Earth trem-- bles, the Heavens are troubled, the Sun is converted into Darkncfs, and the Moon in- to Blood, and all Nature languiflies as about to expire j then fall Mens Hearts jail them for Fear^ that is, the Hearts of the Wricked, and for looking after thofeT^hing^ which are coming on the Earth, as the Evan- gelift tells us, Liikexxi. 28. but the Righte- ous fhall look up, and lift up their Heads, when they fall fee the Son of Man comi?ig tn the Clouds with Tower, and great Glory, before whom ten thoufand thoufand Angels fliall fly, and illuminate his Way, flafliing and blazing before their angry God, like Lightening before the Thunder, an Army U pioie 154 Of the SrAr^E of the De An. more numerous, and more refulgent, than all the Stars in the Heavens. Hitherto we have proved the Coming of Chrift from the facred Writings : But to paint the Excefs of his Glory, or precifely to nominate the Time of lais Coming, is beyond all mortal Power. As for the form- er, we have given a Sort of a light Speci- men of it in the foremention'd Paffage, which we have left to be accurately per- form by others : As for the latter, it muft beconfeffed, that the primitive Chriftians, nay, and the Apoftles themfelves, as far as we can gather from the facred Hiftory, be- lieved that this Day of the Lord was com- ing upon their own Times, or was not very far diftant from them : But this Point will be difcuffed hereafter, when we fpeak of the Day of Judgment, that we may avoid being tedious in this Chapter. The Conflagration of the World is join- ed with the Coming of Chrift, as the fa- cred Oracles teach us. The Apoftle St. Paul exprefly tells us fo in his fecond E- piftle to the ^hejjalonians. Chap. i. 7, 8. JVhen the Lord Jefus fiall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels, in flaming Fire, taking Vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gofpel of our Lord Jefus Chrift, In the fame Manner the Of the S T AT Y. of the T) -E AD. 155 the Apoftle St. Peter joins the Coming of Chrift, or that Day of the Lord, with the Combuftion and the DilTolution of the World, 2 Epiji. iii. 10. But the Day of the Lord will come as a ^rhiefin the Nighty in the which the Heavens fdall pafs away with a great Noife, and the "Element Jhall melt with fervent Heat, the Earth alfo, and the Works that are therein fi all be burnt up, Befides, that the Lord will come to Judg- ment in Fire, feveral Paffages of both Teftaments witnefs j and in the fame Chap- ter, ver. 7. St. Peter fays thus : But the Hea- vens and the Earth which are now, by the fame Word are kept in fore, referved unto Fire againfi the Day of fudgment, and Per- dition of ungodly Men. The Apoftle of St. Paul likewife, if I am not miftaken, in the firft to the Corinthians, Chap. iii. 1 1, 12, 13. has the lame View with St. Pe- ter. For other Foundation can no Man lay^ than what is laid, which is, that fefus is the MeJJiah. Now if any Man build upon this Foundation, Gold, Silver, precious Stones, Wood, Hay, Stubble, every Maris Work Jhall be made manifeft -, for the Day fiall declare it, hecaufe it Jhall be revealed by Fire and Fire fi all try every Maris Work of what Sort it is. That Pailage likewife in the Epiflle to the Hebrews. Chap, x. 27. feenis U 2 " t© 156 of the Sr AT ^ of the DEAtf. to look the fame Way ; ^here remains a certain fearful Looking for of judgment, and fiery Indignation^ which fijall devour the Adverfaries. Nor do the Prophets lefs dreadfully fet before us the fiery Equipage and Provilion of a prefcnt, an angry, and revenging God, when they fpeak of the Coming of our Lord, and the Deftrudtion of his Enemies j that is often hinted at in the Pfalms of Davidf Pfalm, xi. 6. 1. 3. and Ixviii. 2, 3. and Ixxxiii. 15, 16, &c. xcvii. 3. And Ifaiah fpeaks plainly, Chap. Ixvi. 15, 16. For behold the Lord will come with Fire^ and with his Chariot like a Whirlwind ^ to ren-^ der his Anger with Fury, and his Rebuke with Flames of Fire. The fam.e Prophet has the k me Meaning, Chap, xxxiv. 8, 9, JO. Befides, in the Prophet Daniel, Chap. vii. 9, 10. the Antient of Days is defcribed, as lifting upon his Tribunal, and furVound- ed and covered with Flames: His T^hrone was like the fiery Flame, and his Wheeh like burning Fire : A fiery Stream ifued, and came forth from bejore him, and I'hou- fand Thoifands -minifierd unto him, and ten ^hoifand T'imes ten T^houfand flood before him ; the Judgment was fet, and the Books were opened. Laftly, the Prophet Malachy, Chap. iv. I. {hews us the fame Face of Na- ture Of the St ATE of the Dead. 157 ture upon that Day of the Coming of the Lord : Behold the Day cometh that will hum as an O'ven, and all the Proudy yea, and all that do loickedly fiall be flubbky and the Day that cometh fo all burn them up. Hitherto we have brought PalTages from facred Authors, as Proofs of the future burn- ing 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 Dodlrines of the Chriftian Faith, if we only have Regard to the Fads themfelves. But there are, be- lides, feveral Circumftances, Modes, and Conditions of this Conflagration, worthy of our Thoughts and our Contemplation, though not equally manifeft, nor equally neceflary to be knovv^n. It is certainly worth our while to endeavour to difcover the very Time of this future Burning, and to have feme Foreknov^ledge 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 ; how far it will pierce into the Bowels of the Earth, or penetrate the Re- gions of the Skies J and then to enquire in- to the Caufes and Seed of this univerfal Burning, as far as 'tis founded in the Na- ture of Things, and the Matter and Form of the Earth. Laftly, to give an Account of ijS Of the ^T AT-E of the Dead. of its Beginning, its Progrefs, and its End j and with what Shape and Countenance the Earth will appear, when the Conflagration's over. Thefe and other Things relating to theie, we have handled more at large in the foremention'd Treatife, to which the Read- er is dciired to have Recourfe, who has a Mind to be further fatisfied upon this Sub- jea. CHAP. VI. Of the laft Judgment ; of the Preparation, Ma?iner^ Endy a?id Eff'c^ of it. A T the Coming of the Lord the Dead arife, and ftand in Judgment. The Refurredlion, indeed, in the Order of Na- ture precedes this -j but of Things that are tranfaded at the fame Time, thofe are moft commodioufly handled firft, that can be fooneft difpatched. Now as of all Things that belong to our future State, the Dodlrine of the Refuredlion is of the mofl Import- ance, it moft of all requires our Care and our Application j and therefore we have referved the laft Place for it, of the four Things which we propofed to treat of. la Of fbe St ATE of the Dead. 159 In handling this Subjed: we fhall firft give the Reader a View of its principal Appearances, as it is reprefented and paint- ed by the facred Writers. Secondly, the Thing itfelf, and its facred Truth Ihall be explained according to a reafonable Hypo- thelis ; Laftly, and the End and Effedt of this Judgment upon the Innocent and the Guilty, upon the Acquitted or the Con- demned J and thefe Things appear to me to comprehend this Matter in general, and the moft ufeful Parts of it, rejeding feveral impertinent and fophiftical Dilputes, which are wont to be carried on with fo much Noife in the Schools, without Advantage to either Side, and by which the Force of the Mind, employ'd in fuperfluous Trifles, is diffipated and confumed. As for what relates to the View of its principal Appearances, in the firft Place the Judge is defcribed by the Prophet, Da- 72iely Chap. viii. 9, 10. fitting on his Tri- bunal, and furrounded by his Guards, in thefe Words ; / beheld, fays he, 'till the Thro?ies were fet, a?2d the Antie?it of Days did fit y whofe 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 iffued^ and came jorth from before him : J 60 Of //^^ S T A T E of the Dead. him : 'Thoiifa?id T^houfands mi?2ijiered unto himy and ten T^houfand Times ten Thotifand Jiood before him ; the fudgment ivasfet, and the Books were opened. In the Revelations of St. John, Chap. xx. II, &c. the Judge, the Judgment, and the Judged, are reprefented together. / faWy fays the Prophet, a great white Throne y and hira that fat on it, from whofe Face the Earth and the Heaven fed away^ a?2d there was found no Place for them : And I faw the Deady fmall and great ft and before Gody and the Books were opened , and another Book was opened y which was the Book of Life ; and the Dead were judged out of thofe Things y which were written in the Books, accordinsr to their JVorks. And the Sea ga've 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 ac- cording to their Works. And whojbever was not found written in the Book of Life, was caft into the hake of Fire. Thefe Things are handled more difiufely than they are hy Daniely but the former exadly agree with the latter, as the E.evelations are wont to do. Let us now attend to the Difcourfe of Chrift concerning the Proceedings of the lail; Judgment, and the Sentence that is pro- nounced Of the ^T AT -E of the Dead. i6 r nounced both upon the Good and the Wick- ed. Matt. XXV. 31. &c. When the Son of Man Jhall come in his Glory, and all the Holy Angels with him, then Jhall heft up- on the T'hrone of his Glory. And before him Jhall be gathered all Nations ; and he Jhall feparate them one Jrom the other, as a Shep- herd divide th his Sheep on his Right Hand^ and the Goats on his Left. T!hen Jhall the King Jay unto them on his Right Hand ; Come, ye Bleffed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Begin- ning of the iVorld. Then Jhall he Jay aljb to them on his Left Hand, Depart from mey ye Curjed, into the Fire prepared for the De- vil and his Angels, Thus faith Chrift in the forefaid PalTage. It is added in fome other Places, that the Saints and the Apo- flles will fit together in Judgment with him, I Cor. vi. 2, 3. Revel, xx. 4. If we compare thefe other Hke FafTages of the facred Writings, this will be the Re- prefentation of the laft Judgment, this its dreadful Appearance. A large burning Throne being eredied, Chrift fits upon it as Judge, and with him fit the Holy Apo- ftles. Chrift is attended and furrounded with his Minifters and Guards and An- gels. Then the Dead are placed before the Tribunal pale and trembling, fummoned X by i62 Of the St ATE of the D^adI by the Trumpet's Clangor. Which Things being thus fet in Order, and Silence com-, manded, the Regifter is brought, or the Memorial Books, in which the DeedSj 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 all Things being weighed and examined, the Wicked being placed on the Left Hand, and the Good on the Right, the Judge pro- nounces Sentence, a Sentence for the Wick- ed ineffably dire : Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlafting Fire 5 but a Sentence tran- fporting and beatifying for the Good : Come, ye Bleffed of my Father, P^Jj^fi ^^^^ Kijigdom prepared for you from the Foundations of the PVorJd. Li 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 Judicature, Things that will not happen literally upon the Day of Judgment. In this Part of the Subjecft, I believe, we fliall have no Adverfary : In. the other Part, likewife, it is manifefl:, that feveral Things will be literally accomplifh- ed, according as they are related. Chrift will defcend from Heaven perfonally, and vifibb Of the St AT -E of the V>^ AH. 163 vifibly 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 a- bundantly teftifies, Matt. xvi. 27. Johjz v. 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. It is the Part of a wife Man to diftinguifh what, and how much belongs to each of them. The Trial of Souls, in order to punifh or reward them, according as each of them is undefiled or wicked, is the Main of th€ Affair, the Defign, and the End of it. Nor is it of much Significancy, whether this Trial proceeds, after the Manner of exter- nal Judicatures, or a human Procefs, or by. any other Way j provided it is effedual, and obtains the End defigned by it. Some of i^ the Antients were of Opinion, that this -' Trial, at the Burning of the World, was to be performed by Fire, of which we fliall fpeak immediately. However, this is manifeft J that the Style of the facred Wi-i- ters, in reprefenting this judicial Proceeding, is accommodated to human Cufloms and In- X 2 ititu- 164 Of the S r AT •& of the T) ^ A d. ftitutions ; and that neither Books nor Re- giflers will be found in the Air, nor the Hiftory of his paft Life be recited to every Individual. That every one will deferve the Fate which he meets with, will fuffi- ciently appear by the Teftimony of his own Confcience, 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 hu- man Cuftoms and Inflitutions, and particu- larly to the Dod:rines and the religious Belief of the Heathens, who conftituted Judges in the infernal World, Obfervers of Juftice and Equity, and the Rewardersand Revengers of human Actions. Their Names and their Bulinefs, and their various Pu- nifhments which they inflidted upon flagi- tious Men, are fufficiently known from the Grecian Authors. Plato above all of them, has copioufly treated of this Matter in feveral Places, as in his Pbadoy and towards the End of his Gorgias, and in his Tenth Book of a Com- 7nonwealth, under the Perfon of Herus Ar- minim, who was come back from Hell to make the Relation. But thefe and feveral other Things, v/hich relate to the infernal World, and to the State of the Dead, were borrowed by the Grecians frpm the £g'v/'r tians^ Of the Sr ATE of the D-E AD. 165 tians^ according to Diodorus SiculuSy which he fays, were begun by Orpheus ^ whom afterwards feveral Grecian Poets and Theo- logues followed. But thefe Things by-the-by. What is iTiore worthy of Remark, is, that fome a- mong the Ancients were of Opinion, that there was no perfonal Miniftry, no artful Pomp or Ornament, in the Diftribution of Juftice to human Souls ; but that the Na- ture of Things was by divine Providence fo prepared and ordered, that it would fpon- taneoufly diftribute Juftice to every Soul that fliould be freed from its mortal Body. And, therefore, they gave the Name of Nemefis^ and fometimes of Adraflia^ to this Force of God or Nature : Anapodra- fion attian^ 01 fan Kata phi fin ^ becaufe, they believed no Body able to fly from this Caufe thus appointed by Nature : As the Author of the Treatife de Mundoy Lib. xiv. Jubfi- nem. fays. In the fame Manner Adraflia^ or Nemefis^ is faid by A?n?nianus Marcelli^ nus^ to be the Avenger of wicked ASiiqns^ and the Rewarder of the Good. Whom^ fays he, antient 'Theologues imagining to be fhe Daughter c/' Juftice, teach us, that fie over- fees all earthly Thi?2gs from hidden and remote 'Eternity -, that fi:e the Sovereign ^leen of Caifes, the Imperial Arbitrefs of Things 'j i66 Of the St AT -E of fheJ^EAD. Things ; that fie the deciding and determin- ing Judge^ 7ningles the Lots in the fatal Urn, and abfolutely governs and dijpofes of the Vicifjitiides of human Afairs, 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 ancient Philofophers or Theologifts, as to make it evident by what Methods and what Caufes this can be eifedled 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 involv'd, who were formerly Inhabitants of this Earth ; and that, according to the Degree of their Purity or Impurity, they would receive more cr lefs, or no Damage at all from it. And this Opinion is founded upon St. PauFs Difcourfe to the Corinthians, i Epiji. iii. 3. in thefe Words : Every Mans Work fiall he made manifejl ; for that Day fiall de- clare ity becaiife it fid all be revealed by Fire-, and the Fire fi: a II try every Maris Work, of isohat Sort it is. Origen aga^nfl Celfus fays. That this lafl Fire, ^ivould be the Fire that luould Of fbe St ATE of the Dead, 167 would purge the World. And then he adds. Not only the Worlds hiit^ in all Probabilityy every individual Soul that fjould have Oc- cafion for ity either for a Remedy ^ or for a Punijkment ; burning and not confuming thofe in whom this Fire finds no Matter to work upony and to confume j but both burning and coiifuming thofe who build the figurative E- difice oj their Adlions, Words^ a?td Thoughts, of Woody and Hay, and Straw j And in the Sequel he farther adds, This Dodlrine^ therefore, promifes that they only foall be un-^ touched by this Conflagration, and this Pu- ni[hment, whom it finds pure and cleanfed, both with Regard to their DoBrines, their Man?ierSy and their ABions ; but for them who are unlike ihefe, and who deferve to un- dergo thisfiej'y, and this penal I^ifpenfation, ^tis necefary that for a certain Time the Pu- nifhment Jhould be infliBedon them, which God thinks fit to infliB on them, who being form- ed after the Image of divine Nature, have yet the Will of God in Contempt, and do not endeavour to make their Lives anfwerable to that divine Image. But as this Dod:rine of the Trial of Souls by the laft Fire, cannot be demonftrated by the Light of Nature, its Champions declare, that it is founded on the lacred Writings, and chiefly, as we faid above, on the forefaid Diicourfe of St. i68 Of the ^ T AT -E of the V) -E A d. St. Paul to the Corinthians -, which we fliall therefore propofe to be examined as fuccindt- ly as may be. Numerous Diiputes have arifen concern- ing that Paflage of the Apoille. But as for the Bufineis that we have with it, the whole Controverfy depends upon twoWords, and the Interpretation of them, 'u/,??. what the Apoftle underftood by the Word Day^ or that Day, and what he underftood by Fire. Some Perfons here underftand a me- taphorical Fire, Tribv.lation and Affliction : But we, that real and natural Fire, which will deilroy the World : And by Day, they like wife mean the Day of Teniptation ; 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, jfirft, by parallel Places, in which we meet with the fame Word Day, and where it has the fame Force, and the fame Signifi- cation, which we have given it here ; as in I Thefs. v. 4. But ye, Brefhre?i, are not in Darknefs, that that Day f: all overtake you as a Thif. Here the Day of the Lord is underftood, as is evident from the le- cond Verfe. But what that Day of the Lord isi which comes as a Thief in the Night, St. Peter explains, when he fays, 2 Ep. Of tbe St ATE of t/je Dead. 169 2 Epi/i. iii. 10. it is the fame in which the World is to be deftroyed by Fire : But tbe Day of the Lord will come as a 'Thief in the Night, in the which the Heavens jhall pafs away with a great Noifc, and the Ele^ ments Jhall melt with fervent Heat ; the Earth alfb, arid the Works that are therein fiall be burnt up. And the Word Day is ufed in the fame Senfe, by the Apoftle in his Epiftle to the Hebrews, when he fays. Chap. X. 25. T^hat they fould exhort one another, and jo much the more as they fee the Day approaching. Where tne Word Day, plainly denotes the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment, and of the Conflagra- tion, as is apparent from ver. 27. Belides, the Word D^zv, emphatically fpoken, is the lame Thing with e emera ekeine, the Day of the Lord. But it is fufficiently known, that in the facred Writings, that ExprefTion al- ways fignifies, the Day of the Lord, or the Day of Judgment, 2 T^hefs. i. 10. 2 T^im. i. 12, and 18. iv. 8. Secondly, The Word Day, mentioned at firft by the Apoftle without Limitation, is afterwards limited and determined by the Words that immediately follow j it is a Day that is revealed in Fire, en puri apo- kaluptetai, a fiery Day in the Revelation of the Lord, en te apokalupjei ton kuriou en Y " ^ puri ijo Of the St AT -£. of the Dead. puri phlogos ; as the fame Apoftle fays after- wards to the T^hefj'alonians^ i Epift. i. j. Nor is there the leaft Room to doubt, but that thefe two Paffages regard the fame Time, and the fame Thing, . whether the Word re- "cealed^ apokah'ptetai^ relates to Day^ or the Lord, or the Work itfelf. Indeed the Com- ing of the Lord in the facred Writings is wont to be called Apckalupfs^ or Re-vela- t'lon^ and is marked and fhewn by Fire^ as every one knows ; and therefore is both Ways anfwerable to this Place. Befides, an- other Mark and Charad:eriftick of this Day is, that it is emera delotike, njiz. a Day of Manifeftation ; by which Expreffion is meant no lefs the Day of the Lord, or the Day of Judgment according to what fol- lows in the next Chapter, i Cor. iv. 5. therefore judge nothing before the Tifjie, un- til the Lord come, ivho both will bring to Light the hidden 'Things of Darknefs^ and 'will make tnanifeji the Counfels of the Hearts ; and then fh all every Man have Praife of God. And the fame Thing is faid to the RomanSy Chap. ii. 16. 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 explained the divers Spe- cies of Matter, as Gold, Silver, Wood, " " ~ Hay, Of the St AT Ts. of iheT> EAT). 171 Hay, Stubble, lubjoins, T'en de ton iilon dia- phoran ouk paron Bios^ alF mellon^ eleng- zeiy touto gar eipen [e gar emera delofei\ anti ton, e tes Krifeos. But it is not the prefent^ but the Life to come, that will di- Jiinguijlo a?jd make known the fever al species of Matter ; for the Apoftle faid, T^he Day will declare it, injiead of the Day of Jiidge- ment will declare it. Then he adds upon the following Verfe ; In the Day cf the glo- rious Appearance of the Lord, there will be an Examination and a ftridl Enquiry ^ and the Fire will render them who have lived righteoufy, like Silver and Gold, more bright, but will confume thofe who have been Workers of Iniquity, like Wood, and Hay, and Stubble. And I'heophyhM upon the PafTage, fays the. very fame Thing. By the Day, the Apoflle means the Day of Judge- ment : He fays, That the Works of Men will be revealed by Fire, that is, the Fire will make it evident of what Nature they are ; whether they are of Gold, or of what other Kind. St. Bafl, Nazianzen, andNy- ffen, St. ferom, and generally all the Fa- thers, efpecially the Greek Fathers, explain the Word Day after the fame Manner. Lafily, The Latin Verfion following either the Fathers, or feme old Manufcript, has the Word Lord expreily here. Y 2 Thus 1/2 Of the S T A T -E of the D E A d. Thus far concerning the Word Emeray ]Day. The other Word upon which the Explication of this Paflage depends, is, Pur, or Fi'f'c : But if we agree upon the Signifi- cation of the firft Word e Efnera^ Day, and take it to be evident that in this Place it denotes the Day of the Lord, or the Day of Judgment, the Signification of the other Word, Fh'e, will meet with little Doubt : For it muft be fuch as will attend upon the Day and coming of our Lord, that is to fay, it riiufl: be a real and material Fire ; and thev who here pretend, that a metaphorical and fie;uiative Fire ought to be underftood, offend againfl the Rule received by the In- terpreters of the facred Writings, which is, that we fliould never depart from the Letter "without Necefiity. 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 c:n there be the leafl Reafon for fancy- ing this metaphorical Fire, beiides the other real one, and for naufeoufly repeating their own Metaphor thrice in the fame Difcourfe. Hitherto Vv'e 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 flill remaining, jind that is, concerning the Force and In- fluence Of the St ATE of the TiE AD. 173 fluence of this Fire, hoW it can try or make every Man's Work manifeft, that it may be truly, Pur dokimajiicon Kai diakritikon, a fearching and diftinguilhing Fire. Works and Ad:ions that are paft, can never be re- called to a Trial by Fire : That indeed is certain ; but then the Habits and Difpoliti- ons of Mind, from v^^hence thofe Adlions flowed, remain ; and the Souls in which they are inherent, according as they are more or lefs pure, will be more or lefs affed:ed by this Fire. But you will fay, perhaps, that Fire cannot ad; upon unbodied Minds, or upon Natures purely fpiritual ; that they may feel the Force and the Adion of Fire, they mufl be invefted in fome Body. We are not able fully and clearly to folve this Difficulty ; but when there is the fame Dif- ficulty concerning the infernal Fire, which yetisuniverfally granted, 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 Matter ought to be referred to the fecref T)tjpenfati- on. In the mean while, that we may bring more Light * to this Opinion, and may come * John Erigen de Pnedejl. c. 1 9. fays, that the Bodies of the Saints will be changed into an sethereal Subftance, which Fire ih{ill have no Power over : But that thofe of the 1 74 Of the ^T AT •£. of the D-E A d. come as near to demonftrate the Thing, as poffibly can be done, we refolve to confult fome other PalTages of the facred Scripture, which feem to exprefs the very fame Notion, or, at leafb, to imply it ; to which we fhall afterwards add the Explications and Tenets of fome of the Fathers, concerning the fame Opinion. As for the Scripture, to this Opinion may be referred the Saying of Chrift concerning the fiery Sacrifice, and that other of John the Baptift, concerning the twofold Baptifm, that of Water, and that of Fire. The Words of Chrift are thefe : For every Man fball be faked with Fire, as alfo, every Sa^ crifce is faked 'with Salt. Matt. ix. 49. xxxi. 1 1, -f- For I am of the Opinion with others, that this Paffage is to be fo tranflat- ed and underftood, as if kai were a Com- parative, as it is in feveral other Places, Matt. vi. 10. yoh?2 vi. t^j. for Chrift fpeaks here of the future Deftiny of Men, as ap- pears by the Context, and of a certain Tri- al and Purification of them : But when he fays, Pas Puri alijihefetai, he feems to join Fire and Salt, each of which has an ab- fter- the Wicked (hall be changed irrto an a aerial Subftance, that will yield to the Force of Fire, and may be confumed by it. f Pas gar pari alifthefetai kia pa/a thuf.a all alijihefetai. of the St ATE of ibeDEA'D. 175 fterfive Quality. Salt prevents Putrefaction in foft and humid Bodies ; but Fire foftens, melts, and purifies the hardeft, and purges off the Filthinefs, and Ruft and Drofs, and Dregs of Metals, and clearing them of their Imperfed:ions, refines, and gives them a new Luftre and Purity. Thus fome believe that the Souls of Men, which the Apoflle in this figurative Sentence compares to Me- tals, are, as it were, melted down again, and recaft in this general Conflagration ; or that every Man who is acceptable to God, (liall be feafoned with a certain Acrimony of Grief, as it were v/ith Salt; but that the Wicked are to be purged by Fire, or, like a Sacrifice, to be confumed by it. It is pro- bable, indeed, from the foregoing Verfes that this relates to the lafl Fire; but thefe Expreffions of Chrifl: appear too obfcure to have any fingular Dod:rine or Conclufion founded upon them. I now come to yo':n the Baptift, who makes mention of a twofold Baptifm, that of Water, and that of Fire ; as the Antients affirmed, that the World was to be purged in a twofold Manner by Water, and by Fire. 7, indeed, fays the Baptift, baptize you with Water unto Repentance \ but he that Cometh after me jhall baptize you with 4h€ Holy Ghoji, md 'with Fire, Matt, iii. 1 1. That 176 Of the St ATE of tbe Dead, That this Saying has a Regard not only to the Times of the Gofpel, but likevvife to the fecond coming of Chrift, may be proved by that which follows : IVhofe Fan is in his Iland^ and he will throughly purge his Floor and gather his Wheat into the Garner^ hut he will burn up the Chaff with unq^iienchable Fire. Baptifm is faid to be Loutron tes palinge^ nefias kai anakainofeos^ the wajlnng oj Re- generation and Renovation ; Tit. iii. 5. And the Renovation of the World by Fire, is ufually called by the Grecians, Palifigenefa and anakainofis. Regeneration and Renovati- on. Waihing is twofold, warm and cold ; the Cold Bath is the wafliing with Water; the Hot and the Dry is the fiery Bath : But this latter is more effed;ual than the former, and more penetrating. They who allow that there is that Virtue and that Efficacy, the holy Spirit co-operating, in the baptif- mal Water, that by . it Infants are regene- rated, will hardly be able to deny, that the Fire muft have a much greater Power, the fame Spirit co-operating. The Holy Ghoft defcended in fiery Tongues, which alfo is called a Baptifm^ as if it were a Type of the future fiery Baptifm. The Deluge of Water was the Baptifm of the World. The Deluge of Fire will better defer ve that ■ • Title, Of f be St ATE of tbe Dead, tyf iTitle, will purge more ftrongly and more (harply, and will walli away its Filthineis more efficacioufly : And as God can reftrain the Power of the Flames to that Degree, that they {hall not fo much as touch a hu- man Body, as in the Babylonian Furnace j fo he can fo redouble their Strength and their Intenfenefs, that they (hall penetrate the very Souls of Men, or rather thofe new Bodies to which their Souls will then be joined. Thefe Quotations have we made from facred Writings, * to prove or to illuftrate the aforefaid Opinion: To which we have the Confent and the Agreement of feveral of the antient Fathers, whofe Teftimonies, it will now be Time to add. We brought Origen before, from his fifth Book againft Celjus', to which PaiTage there is anotiier in the Fourth, that is near akin : The Words are thefe, We do ?2ot deny but that this purg" ing and cleanjing Fire, will, together with the World, dejiroy all Malice, Jince we have learnt this in the facred Books of the Pro^ Z fhets. ' * That Saying of Chrift, Matt. xii. 32. Thas there is no Remiffion for Blafphemy againjl the Holy Ghofi, either in this World or the other, has been variouily explained by Interpreters : They that take it literally can uaderftand it of no other Remilfion, ihan that which is obtained by th» purging Fire at the End of the World. 178 Of the St ATE of the Dead. phets. He explains this Doflrine more at large in his Commentaries: In his third HoQ^ily 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 Egyp- tians 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 Dodrine exprefly, and calls this purging and cleanfing Fire, into ivhichy he fays, that we mujl all enter^ a fiery Forge. And likewife in the thirteenth Homily upon 'Jeremiah^ repeating the fame Dodrine, he calls this laft Conflagration by another Name, taken from the facred Writings, viz. a Baptifm, or Bath of Fire. Lajily, that I may pafs by feveral Things related to thefe, in the End of the eighth Book of his * Commentaries upon the Epiftle to the Romans^ he has thefe Words: But he who defpifes the Word of Gody * The Place of Origin is in S. Se». but fee the Place itfelf, and if he fays it ought to be concealed as a Myftery. Of theS-T A.T'E of the Dead. 179 God^ and the Purifications of the DoSlrin^ of the Go/pel, referves himfelf for dire and tormenting Piirificatio7is. But ivhat- ever Space of Time^ or how many ^ges, this very purging and cleanfingy which is performed by penal Fire, will torture Sin- ners who are to undergo it, he only can know to whom the Father has transjerred all 'Judgment. Nor ought we to fancy, as Ibme imagine, that this Opinion concerning this fiery Pur- gation and Trial, is peculiar to Origen^ when it was common to almoft all the Fa- thers, 'till the Time when St. Auftin lived. LaBantiuSj efpecially, fays the fame Thing plainly, both of the Juft and the Unjufl. PVhen God fiall fit in fudgmejit, fays he, even the fufi will he examine by FirCy then they whofe Si?is (I: all be found excefjive, either for their Weight, or their Number, fl:all be fcorclSd and con/iiind by the Fitr, but they^ whom impartial yujlice and mature Virtue Jhall have compleatly armed, Jhall remain untouched by the Flames j for they have fome- thing of Divinity in them, which will re- jeSl them, and repel them, Hilary, Biiliop of Poitou, no lefs boldly affirms this; nor does he wholly exempt the blelfed Virgin from paffing through thefe Flames. HoWy fays he, can we defire to come to that 'Judge- Z 2 ment i 8o Of tbe S T AT -E of the D E A B. nient by which we are to endure the Pains of unquenchable Fire^ in which we are to un- dergo the mojl grievous T'orments for the ex- piating the Sins of our Souls. A Sword has faffed through the Soul of the bleffed Mary, that the thoughts of the Hearts of many might be revealed. Ify therefore, that Vir- gin , who was capable of comprehending a God in her J mujl undergo the Severity of judgment, what Mortal jhall dare to defire to have that Godjor his Judge ? And in the fecond Canon upon the Third of St. Mat- thew, v/hen he explains that, JJmll baptize you with the Holy Ghoft, and with Fire j /'/ remains, fays he, that we who have been baptized with the Holy Ghoji, muft be made perfeSi by the Judgment and Baptifm of Fire. St. Ambrofe treading in the fame Foot- ileps, and fupported, as appears to him, by the Authority of facred Scripture, difcourfes after the fame Manner concerning the future Judgment, and the Trial in the Day of the Lord, ^hou hafi tryd us with Fire, faid David. Pfal. xxxvi. therefore we fiall all of us be tried by Fire. And Malachi fays. Behold he comes, the Lord, the Almighty God, and who fiall abide the Day of his cofning ? and who fiall Jiand when he ap- teareth f For he Jhall come like the Fire of Of the St ATE of the Deat>. i8i a Furnace; and he fh all fit as a Refiner and a Purifier of Silver ; and he (Idall -puri- fy the So?2S of Levi. Therefore^ the Sons of Levi fidall be purified with Fire, with Fire Ezekiel, and Daniel with Fire, &c. with feveral other Things that have the fame Tendency. Again in the Expofition of Pfalm cxviii. All thofe who defre to return to Pa- radife mufi be tried by Fire, &c. And this, fays he, is frgnified by the flaming waving Sword that is placed at the Entrance of Paradife. Lafily, He thus concludes, Since therefore, we are thus to be tried, let us (o • comport ourfelves, that we may merit the Approbation of the divine fujiice. Let us hold fafl our Humility while we are here, that when each of you fall come to the 'Judg- ment of God, to thofe Fires through which we mufl all pajs, he may fay. Behold my Humility, Lord, and deliver me. Bafilius Magnus was of the fame Age and Opinion, and fufficiently declares his Mind in his Commentaries upon the firft Chapters of IJaiah. And, firft, in his Commentary on the fourth Chapter, when the Prophet fpeaks of wafting away the Filth of the Daughters of Jerufalem by the Spirit of Judgment, and by the Spirit of Burning ; here Bafilius diflinguifhes the ^aptifm pf Water, from that of the Spirit, and i82 Of the St ATE of the Dead. and both from that of Burning, which, fays he, is e en to piiri tes krifeos Bafanos, I'he T'rial that in the Day of Judgment will be made by Fire. And he adds, I'hefe 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, in the ninth Chapter, Becaufe of the Indignation of the Lord, &c. he fays. He (hews that all that is earthly, is, for the Benefit of the Soul, to be committed to penal Fire. He then adds, The Prophet here does, not threaten a total DeJiruBion, an ujiiver- fal Exterminatiofi, but points at a Purifica- tion, according to the Opinion of the Apofile. If any Mans Work fioall burn, hefiallfuf fer Damage, but he himfelf fi:all be faved^ yet fo as by Fire. See alfo, if you pleafe, his Treatife of the Holy Ghoft, Chap. xv. and xxix. And his Obfervations upon feveral Palfages in Ifaiah. -j- So much for Bafilius, to whom we may join both the Grego?'ies, Nyfen and Nazi- anzen^ f And in his Hfptaemeron, where he treats of the For- mation of the Sun, p. 6i. he affert?, that in the future Conflagration, its enlightening Quality will be feparated from the burning Quality ; fo that the former will a^ft the Righteous, and the latter the Wicked. Uftbe State of the Dead. 183 anzen, who both agree with Bafilius. But Nvjj'en is the plainer of the two, in the Explication of this Dodtrine; and, there- fore, Germanus, the Conftantinopoletan Pa- triarch, writ an Apologetick Difcourfe, on Purpofe to free his Author from the Impu- tation of that Opinion, and from other Things relating to that Opinion, as from (o many Spots and Stains, which are here and there fcattered among his Works, as you may fee in Photius : But all in vain. Con- fult at your Leifure, Nyffens I'reatife of the Souly and the Refurrediioji, and his Cate- chetical Orations, c. viii, xxvi, and xxxv. and, upon reading thofe you willealily dif- cover what was the Senfe of the Author relating to this Matter. * Nazianzen feems to have a good deal in him of the Manner of Plato and Origen-y and even in this Subjeft, as well as in others: But Orators, and all that harangue the People, fometimes fpeak popularly and fometimes their real Sentiments ; which, in reading the Fathers, a fenlible Reader al- ways * Moreover, in his Oration fir the Dead, he has thefe Words about the purifying of Souls : They are either purify' d in this Life by Prayers and Philofophy, or after Death by the Means of a purifying Fire. Nor is it any Wonder that Nyf- fen followed Bajil fo clofely ; fince in his Hexaem, p. 2, and 5 . he efteems his Writings next to thofe that were di- vinely infpired, and equals them even io thofe of Mofes. i^ 184 Of fbe St At E of fbe Dead. ways ought to oblerve ; 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 thirty 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 everlafting Punifliments. Lajily^ in his twenty lixth Oration, where he fpeaks of the Cenfurers of this Dodirine, he has thefe Words, God only knows^ fays the divine Apofile^ and the Day of Revelation and the laji Fire will make it clearly appear, that Fire in which every Thing that belongs to Hmnanity rnufi he either tried or purged. Lajily, St, yerofn is accufed by Kufinus of being a fecret Favourer of the Doctrines of Origen, as is very well known, the moft diflinguiflied of which, is, that which puts an End to the Puniihments of the Damned as foon as their Malice is purged away. 'Tis none of my Bufinefs to reconcile this Quar- rel between St. ferom and Kufinus-, but as for what relates to the Subjed: I am now upon, St. ferom feems at feveral Times to incline to more Sides than one, either by changing or diffembling his Sentiments. And here I muft repeat what I faid a little above, that thofe Things go further towards dif. Of the St AT IE. of the 'Dead. 185 covering the real Sentiments of an Au- thor, which he dehvers contrary to the Senfe of the People, than thofe which are fpoke popularly, or which may be popu- larly underftood. In the mean Time, for what immediately concerns the Matter which we are upon, the purging and cleanfe- ing Souls in the Day of Judgment, and the putting an End, at length, to the Torments which they endure, (befides what he fays upon the fourth Chapter o£ Amos,) he clear- ly and diftindly opens his Mind, at the End of his Commentaries upon Ifaiah, in thefe Words: AjjcI as we believe that the 'Torments of the De'vil, will be eternal, and of thofe Sinners and impious Perfons who have faid in their Hearts there is no God; fo for thofe Sinners, and thofe impious Per- fons who are yet Chrifians, and whofe Worki are to be tryed and purged by Fire, we be-^ lieve that the Sentence oj the fudge will be moderate, and will be mi?2gled with Me?'- cy. But at the fame Time he gives us a Caution againft fpreading this Dodrine among the Vulgar, leaft they fhould abufe it, and grow more Licentious upon it. But when St. ferom excepts Demons and Atheifls, and Apoftates, he, by that Ex- ception, confirms the Rules as to thofe who are not excepted, and he fhews in another A a Place i86 Of the State of theVEAD. Place that he differs from Orige?t ; after this Manner, and by this Diftindion. * It is fufficient to have made thefe Obfer- vations from the Fathers who Uved before the Time of St. Aufiin^ in whofe Time this Dodrine began to degenerate, of the Purgation of Souls by the laft Fire, at the Day of Judgment. I fay, it began to de- generate into a fpurious and adulterate Pur- gatory, 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 immedi- ately after their Separation from their Bo- dies; yes, receives them before the Day of Judgment, before the coming of our Lord, before the Conflagration of the World, re- ceives them and torments them. This we may very juftly call a Siippofitious Furgato- 7^y ; 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 Fathei-s, have fub- * To thefe Suicerus (under the Word Baptifmos, p. 630.). adds 'Naxiafixen and Da?nafcene. Confult the Places quoted hy him. To thefe add Ccefarius Arlatenjls, who fays, that feme Sins of the Juftified will be expiated by Fire after the Refurredtion. Look for the Place in the Author in B. B. p. P. as Ca^ve cites him. Chryfoflome is likewife quoted to the fame Purpofe, bwt the Flaw does not occur to me atprefent. - - Of the St AT ^ of the V>'E,A-D. 187 fabftituted one of a very different Kind, the adulterate Offfpring of their own Brains. The purging Fire that is ipoke of in the facred Writings, and mentioned by the Fathers, is to be a Fire kindled in the Day of the Lord, in the Day of Judge- ment, in the Day of the Conflagration of the World, as is moft evident from thofe Authors and Paffages which we have cited above. But the Papifts pretend, that their purging Fire is burning at this Day/ nay, and has been burning ever lince the World began, that is, ever fince Death entered in- to the World, and the Souls of Tranfgref- fors 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 Inftindl do human Souls fpontane- oufly repair to it ? or by what potent Lid:or are they dragged to it, in fpite of their Re- ludtancy ? There is no fuch Fire as this to be found, fuch vaft, fuch lafting, fuch per- petual Fire, upon the Superficies of this Globe ; for by its own Light it would be difcoyered ; and if it lies buried in the Bowels of the Earth, it would, at leaft, require forae Vent, fome Breathing-place, like that of our mountainous Volcauds, A a 2 that j88 0/ the State of the Dead. that it might not be fiiffocated by its own Smoak, 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 Opinions, and in- digefted Thoughts, foreign from the Na- ture of Things. Behold this great and this dreadful Fire, which thefe Doctors have kindled for us, but they neither acquaint us with the Original of fo i^aft a Fire, nor with the Fuel by which 'tis fed, nor with any proper and commodious Place where it may fubfifl and vent itfelf. Thefe Things fay they, the People are never concern'd about. It is true, -indeed, but then by the Wife this will be efteemed a fantaftical Fire, of which no Account can be given, and it is next to Stupidity to lofe Men of Senfe, in order to gain Fools. It is both a Crime and a Weaknefs in the Popiili Re- ligion, that it defcends too much to the Capacities of the People, and not only ac- commodates itfelf to their Ignorance, but to their fuperftitious Affedions. We ought rather to exalt human Nature as high as is poffible, 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 increafed, and in- Of the St ATE of tbc Dead. 189 incrcafes daily : And whatever the Cafe was formerly, there is now no Neceffity of ufing pious Frauds, and no Advantage can accrue tooReligon from them. They rather feem to be detrimentel to Piety and Chri- stian Faith; when difcerning Men who find the Deceit, rafhly pronounce, from the Artifice that is us'd in fome particular Parts of it, that the whole of Religion is nothing but a gainful Myftery. Firft, that the Chriftian Religion is to be purged from human Inventions, and from human Ad- ditions; then, thofe Things which, in the facred Writings, are fpoken after the Man- ner of Men, and adapted to the Capacity of the Vulgar, are fo to be interpreted, that they may neither be detrimental to Truth itfelf, nor Stumbling-Blocks to the Wife. But thefe Things by-the-by. But enough has been faid by way of In- quiry into the Manner of the laft Judge- ment, the Punirhments that will be the Se- quel of it, and the Diftindlion that is to be made between righteous and wicked Men ; what will be the Pomp and Mag- nificence of its dreadful Appearance, and what will be tranfadled by influence Divine or by the Power of Nature. The Opinion of the antient Fathers in this Matter has an Appearance of Truth, and feems to be found- 190 Of the St ATE of f be De ad. founded on the facred Writings ; but fincc Revelation 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 Doftrine, as for the Thing it- 4elf,;:to/be among the Points that are clear, but as to the Manner of it, to be among the obfcure ones. Befides, feyeral Difputes are wont to arife Jiere, concerning the Signs antecedent to the general Judgment, and concerning the Time and Duration of it ; concerning each of which we have given our Opinion in the forefaid 'Treatije of the Conflagration of the World. I only deHre to add one Thing, and that is, that the Chriftians of the firft Ages, in their Accounts of Time, made a wrong Calculation; for they believed 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 lived : But though fevienteen Centuries have pafled lince then, that happy Day has not yet flione forth, nor have we hitherto difcerned fo much as the Dawn of it. This Opinion, that the End of all things w^as coming upon them, began in Apofto- lick Times; from which it ran down for feve- Of the Sr ATE of the Dead. 191 feveral Ages, as well to the * Learned as to the People. But when they found they were miftaken in the firfh Account, by which they daily exped:ed the coming of the Lord, or at leaft immediately after the Deftrudti- on of ferufalem^ they carried their Hope and their Expectation to a greater Length of Time, but never to a very remote one. That this Opinion began in the very Times of the Apo files, the Epiftles both of St. Paul ^nd St. Peter tMfy. St. Paul, in the fecond Epiftle to the Tbefalo/jians, warns them againft being terrified, as if the Day of the Lord were at Hand ; For frjl, fays he, Anticbriji miifl come. But he neither acquaints them with the Time of his com- ing nor with the Time of his Staying : All that he tells them is, that he will flay 'till the * lertull. de Cult. Tarn. I. 2. C. 9. and ad Uxor. L i. c. 5. LaSiant. 1. 7. c. 14, and 25, Amhrofe Orat. in Obit. Sa/yri frat- and 1. 9. upon Lu^e xxi. Chr^fojl. Horn, xxxiii, upon John, tiear the End. Jero?n. Epijl. xi. ad Ageruchiam^ and 1. 4. on Matt. xxv. Many of the Antients believed, that the coming of Chrift would immediately follow the coming of Antichrift, whom they thought to be at hand juft then, and confequently that the coming of the Lord, and the End of the World were very near. See TeriuIL de Ruftirr. Cam. c. 27, Cyprian, his Diiciple, Epifi. ad Triharitanos, m, 56. and Epiji. 58. ad Lucium Pap. and Prafat. ad Fortuiiatum de e:ihor. h'Lzrtyrii, with many Others. See i Johniu 18. and 2 The/s. ii. 8. 192 Of the St AT E of the DEAb. the coming of Chrifl. Then thole Scoffers which we read of in St. Peters fecond Epiftle, Chap. iii. 4. would hardly have upbraided the Cbriftians with the tardy corning of their Lord ; would hardly have asked then:i by way of Derilion, JVhere is the Fromije of his coming ? unlefs the Chri- flians had often profefTed and delared their Belief in thePromile of his fudden coming; nor does the Apollle, in his Anfwer or Apology, deny the Thing, but attributes this Dt^lay to the Mercy and long-fuffering of God. But why {hould we wonder that private Chriftians, or Chriftians of a lower ClafSj fhould be miftaken in this Particular, when the Interpreters gather, that the Apoftles themfeh'es, from their own Writings, were of the fame Opinion : Nor do they only 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. 11. Heb. ix. 26. I yohjzn. 18.) but from their ufing it as a Spur, or a more pungent Argument to excite 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. Of tbe St AT E of fbe Dead. 193 [HeL X. 24, 25. I Pet. iv. 7, 8. i Cor, vii. 29. 2 P^/. iii. II, 12. PMI. iv. 5.) Laftly, from their believing that the com- ing of the Lord, and the Day of Judg- ment might come upon them v^^hile they were yet Uving. St. Paul often inculcates that, I Thefs. iv. 15, 16, 17. 1 Cor. xv. 52. And, that his mortal Body w^ould be fwallowed up of Life, that is, by an im- mortal quickening Body, [ he either believes or defires, ] and that he may not be found naked, or diverted of Flefli and corporeal Subftance in the Day of the Lord, 2 Cor. Thus much for the Apoflles 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 underftood. Matt. xxiv. 3. His Difciples had enquired of Chrift what would be the Time of the Deftrudlion of Jerufalem, and of his own coming. And when Chrift had acquainted them with the Signs and Cir- cumftances of that Deftrudlion, he adds, eutheos meta ten thlipjin, &c. Immediately ajter the tribulation of thofe Days, the Sun fhall be darkned, and the Moon jhall not give, her Light, and the Stars fiall fall from Heaven, and the Powers of the Hea- B b ven 194 Of the Sr ATE of the Dead. 'uen fiall be fiaken : And then fiall appear the Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven: And then fiall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn ^ and they fiall fee the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven y with Poizfer and great Glory. Matt. xxiv. 29, 30. Ha- ving heard thefe Things from the Mouth of Chrift, that after the Deftrudlion of the City and the Temple, and the Overthrow of the Jewifij State, he would immediately come, or that the Son of Man would come In Clouds, with Power and great Glory: Having heard this, they believed that there would be but a fmall Interval of Time be- tween that Deflrudion and the Return of Chrift ; and they afterwards tranfmittad to their Difciples that Knowledge, and that Belief Befides, when they recolled:ed other Sayings of Chrift, it confirm'd and fixed them in the fame Opinion ; for he faid before, that fome of thofe who ftood near him (liould not tafte of Death before they faw him coming in the Glory of his Father to Judgment. And in the aforefaid Chapter, after he had fpoke concerning his coming, and the V/onders that ftiould at- tend it, he added, Verih\ I fay unto you^ there be fome /landing here, which fi:all not tafle of Death ^till they fee the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom : Heaven and Earth fijall Of tbe St ATE of the De AT>. 195 fiallpafs awa)\ but my Words fh all not pafs away. Laftly, when Peter enquired of Chrift, what ihould be the Fate of fohn, he anfwered, If I will that he tarry till I come J what is that to thee I* Johji xxi. 20, 21. Thefe Paflages being compared together, and underftood according to the Letter, I wonder not in the leaft that the Difciples of Chrifl fhould have imbibed the Opinion of his fudden Return to the Earth, to judge the Living and the Dead : And I as little won- der, that Providence would fuffer them to fall into thefe harmlefs Errors j Errors, by which Piety would be rather promoted than injured J and a noble Refolution to fuifer inftant Death in the Caufe of God, would be rather increafed than leifened. Laftly, we ought by no Means to wonder, that God fliould conceal that from the Apoftles, which he had hid from the Angels, and from the Son of Man himfelf: For, faith Chrift, Mark xiii. 32. Of that Day and Hour knoweth no Man \ no^ not the Angels which are in Heaven^ neither the Son, but the Father 3 or, as it is in St. Matthew^ Chap. xxiv. 36. but my Father only.^' B b 2 'And * See P. P. of this Way of interpreting this Place, Gerrard. Tom. 9. di Extreni. Jud. p. 126. 196 Of the S r AT "E of the T> E A d. And thus we have given a Relation of thefe Things conformable to the Letter and to the Hiftory. But if a literal Explication is not fo fuitable to the Subjed; of which we treat, we muft depart from the Letter, and fearch and look out for a more com- modious Interpretation : But this, at leaft, is apparent, that the certain* Time of the future Judgment, of the coming of the Lord, or of the End of the World, were Things unknown to the Apoftles : And the Anfwer of Chrift feems to imply, that we ought not to make too follicitous an Enqui- ry into them : When the Apoftle enquired after the Time of the Reftoration of the Kingdom of Ifrael, he fays to them, A5is i. 7. It is 7tot for you to know the T'imes and the Seafons which the Father hath put in his oivn Power. But if we are allowed to ufe a round Calculation, and to infert Con- I. jedlures among Certainties ; when now five ff thoufand Years compleat, and what is given of the fix thoufand, are pad and gone, fince the Creation of the World, I can find nothing in Scripture, or in Reafon, or in the Cdurfe of human Affairs, that can hinder the Accomplifhment of that Pro- phecy, which has been received by * Jews as f See the Hiftory of thie Prophecy, Gerard. Tom g. di Extrem. JuU- p. \2- . Of the St AT Y. of the V>-E. AH, igj as well as by the primitive Chriftlansj a Prophecy which allows fix thoufand Years for the Duration of the World, and then, the Sabbath is to enfue : But we have treat- ed of this Subject fufficiently in another Place. In the mean Time, let it be our principal Care that we may be found pure and unblamable in that Day ; and that the Trial which we are to undergo, what, or whenever it be, may have a happy Iffue, to the Glory of God and our own eternal Sal- vation. CHAP. VII. Of the RefurreBion of the Dead, and of the Statey and the Bodies of thofe rifen from the Dead, ■^ H U S far we have already gone ; but the Chapter of the greateft Con- fequence, and the mofl important Concern is ftill remaining, concerning the Refurred:i- on of the Dead, and in what Condition they v/ill find themfelves after they are rilen; in the handling which we fhall follow our ufual Method : In the firfi: Place, we {hall fpeak to the Thing itfelf, and afterwards to the igS Of fbe St ATE of fhe Dead. the Modes and Adjundts of it, and that ac- cording to the Light we have received either from the facred Writings, or from the Na- ture of the Things themfelves. As for the Thing itfelf, nothing is more clearly revealed than that in the whole Chri- ftian Dodrine : Both the Jews and the Gentiles had likewife fome Idea of a future Refurreiftion, but an Idea that was general and confufed. The former believed that the whole World would be reviv'd, and that every Individual of Mankind would, together with the World, be renew'd and reviv'd j and nothing is more commonly found than that among the Stoicks and the Pldtonicks: Nor was it only found among the Grecian Philofophers, but originally among thofe of the Eaflern Nations, Egyp- tians^ CbaiJea?iSj Perfa?is, 'Theopompus^ in Laertiiis^ fays, of the Magi, anabiofefthai kata tons Magous tons anthropous, that Men lived or "would live a fecond Life, according to the Docfrine of the Magi. As for what relates to the Jeivs, Mofes in his Law taught them nothing exprefly, either concerning the Refurrection of the Bodv, or the Immort^ility of the Soul j yet I make no doubt but that both thefe were known Of the St ATE of f be Dead. 199 known to Mofes and to the * SageSy in- ftruded by him, and confcious to the fecret Doftrine. Afterwards this Dodrine was delivered Sumbolikos, conjeSlurally^ by fome of the Prophets, and by fome of the facred Canonical Writers more clearly, and at length by Daniel the Prophet moft perfpi- cuoufly. But yet this Dodrine of Salvation was not to fliine out with a full Meridian Glare, nor to be compleat in all its Parts, nor accompliflied in all its Numbers, 'till the Days of the Mejjiah. In this then, we Chriftians triumph, up- on this joyful MeiTage, that Death being conquer'd, and the infernal World over- come, we fliall be brought and reflored to Light * But they, for the mofl: part, confine the Refurreftion to the Juft, and to the Ifraelites. See Buxtor. 5)n. 'Jiid. c. 1. p. 31. and Gerard de Refurr. Tom. 8. p. 869. jinte- phen and DaJJo-vmis. Again, they feem to mean the firft Refurreftion to a ter- reflrial Life, and to have no further Notion to celeftial Bodies. Some of their Rabbins fuppofe, likewife, that they are to riie 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 Ifraelites as have died in foreign Countries fhall return home through fome fubterraneous Caverns, or, at leaft, that the Bore Luz ftiall do fo ; and from thence, or from its Seed, the whole Body fhall grow up again : See Da^fo'v. de Refurr.. 7!:ort. Secundum Judaos. 200 Of the ^T AT ^ of the T>E AD, Light, and to the Enjoyment of a blifsful Immortality ; not in the coarfe Cloathing of thefe Carcafles which now we carry about us, but in heavenly Bodies j nor living and converfing upon this Dunghill, where we at prefent languifh, but above, in the Bright- nefs of iEtherial Regions , in the charming Seats and Society of Angels, through end- lefs Ages happy. Lift up your Heads then, oh ye Chriftians! raife your Minds and Thoughts to the Skies! And fmce ive have thefe Promifes, let us cleanfe ourfehes from all Filthinefs of the Flefi and Spirit^ per- feBing Holinefs in the Fear of God^ i Cor. vii. I. Having fufficiently made thefe Re- marks, let us now, with all our Diligence explore upon what PalTages of facred Scrip- ture, upon what Authority divine, this fo exalted Hope of the Chriftians, this ani- mating, this infpiring Hope, is founded and depends. In the firft Place, Chrift himfelf often affert- ed, that Men, after Death would rife again, and often promifed it to his; and affirm'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 demonftrate:., in that he was able to raife up Jiimfelf from the Dead. Firfl he maintained the Reliirredion againft the Of the St AT ^ of the D e a d^ 20 x SadduceSy and maintained it by the flrongeft Argument that could be drawn from the Mojaick Writings, which alone, by Perfons of that Se6t, were held authentick and ca- nonical : Then he promifes Rewards en te anajiafei ton dikaion, in the RefurreSfion of the Jujiy to thofe who are Benefadlors to the Needy and the Infirm, from whom in this Life, they can expedt no Compenfation, But to his Difciples, and to thofe who loft every Thing that they had in the World, in order to become fuch, he promifes. Matt, xix. 28, en te palifigenefia, at their fecond Birth, or at their KefurreBion, 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, by his own Voice, will caufe the Dead to arife from their Graves. Firfl of all, in the Beginning of the Reve- latiom, where in thefe Words he fpeaks to St, fohn. Chap. i. 17, 18. I am the firfl and the laft j / am he that liveth for ever- more. Amen, and have the Keys of Hell and of Death. In the next Place, in the Gof- pel of the fame St. John, he feveral Times fays the fame Thing, Chap. iv. ver. 40. And this is the Will of him that fent me that every one which feeth the Son, and be- lie veth on him, may have everlafling Life: C c And i02 Of the St Am of the Dead, And I will raife him up at the laft Day. In the next Place, in the fame Gofpel of St. yohn, he fays to Martha Chap. xi. / am the RefurreSfioii and the Life : He that helieveth in me^ though he were dead^ yet Jhall he live. And whofoever liveth^ and be- lieveth in me, Jhall never die. And laftly in the fifth Chapter of the fame Gofpel Ver. 26, 27, ^c. As the Father hath Life in bimfelfy Jo hath he given to the Son to have Life in him f elf . And hath given him Au- thority to execute Judgment aljo, hecauje he is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this^ for the Hour is comings when all that are in ike Graves Jhall hear his Voice, and Jhall come J'orth j they that have done Good, to the Refurreciion of Life ; and they that have done Evil, to the Refurreciion of Damnation, All thefe Things being taken from the Mouth of Chrift himfelf, abundantly prove the future Refurredlion of the Dead. But Faith is animated and confirmed when Fa6ts corroborate Words; and he has given us many Examples, that he is able to perform what he hath promifed us. Therefore Chrift 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 Prophets before him, but he like- wife raifed himfelf up from the Dead, after he Of tie St ATE of the Dead. 203 he had been crucify 'd, dead and buried j for {baking off the Bands of Death on the third Day, the Soul fled back to its facred Relicks, and infpired them with immortal Life. 'Tis in this, that \ye Chriftians glory, in this Victory thus extorted from the la ft and moft 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 rife from the Dead, lay down his Life, and refume it j was ever any of thofe vidto- rious over Death, and return'd to the Living? No, only this our Captain, this our God, led Death and Hell in Triumph : And 'tis from this Conqueror only, that we expedt both a joyful Deliverance from Death, and a blifsful Immortality. Nor did this Refurredion from Death happen to Chrift, as to one who never ^ thought of it, who never hoped for it, who never in the leaft expeded it, and as an Adion performed by an other's Power. He not only knew that this would happen, but he foretold it both to his Difciples and others, and foretold that it would happen within three Days after his Death. He faid to the Jews^ Mark] viii. 3 1 . Dejiroy this C c 2 ^empky 204 Of the St ATE of the Dead, 'Temple, and in three Days I will raife it up again. But he fpoke of the 'Temple of his Body, iays the Interpreting Apoftle. John ii. .22. And his Accufers afterwards brought this Saying as a Crime againft him. John ii. 19, 21. And the chief Priefts and Phari- fees remembring this, defired of Pilate that the Sepulchre might be guarded j which was accordingly done. Belides, Chrift had faid fomething like this to the Jews before, when they defired of him a Token of his divine Miffion : As Jonas was three Days and three Nights in the Body of the Whale, fQ will the Son of Man be three Days and three Nights in the Heart of the Earth. Matt, xii. 40. This is fufficiently plain, and the Angel reproaches the Woman who came to feek the Body of Chrift in the Sepulchre, after he was rifen, with the Forgetfulnefs of thofe Things: Luke xxiv. 6, 7, 8. He is -Jiot here but he is rifen : Remember how he Jpake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, ■faying, the Son of Man muji be delivered i?i^ to the Hands offnful Men, and be crucified^ and the third Day rife again : And they re- membred his Words ; as likewife did his Dif^ ciples, John ii. 22. Nor did he only by Signs and Parables, ^ut very often by exprefs Words, foretel both his Death and his Refurredion, and that Of the ^T KT^ of theT>EAD. 205 that each of them would be fpontaneous. '[therefore doth my Father love me becaufe I lay down my Life^ that I might take it up again. No Man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myfelf: I have Power to lay it down^ and I have Tower to take it up again. John x. 18. Then he fays after- wards, ^ little while and ye flmll not fee me j and again a little while and yeJJoall fee me^ becaufe I go to the Father j which he after- wards (hews is meant of his Death, and of his fecond Coming. And this Power that he had, when he pleafed to ufe it, of preferring his Life fafe and inviolable, appeared as clear as the Me- redian Sun Day, when his Enemies coming upon him, he'^all on a Sudden rendered him- felf invilible, and them confounded and im- potent. Nay, by the Virtue of his Look alone, by the very radiant Sight of his Countenance, he terrify'd and difpirited thofe who came with a Defign to deftroy him. John viii. 59. huke iv. 30. Laflly, in his Transfiguration upon the Holy Moun- tain, he converted himfelf wholly into a vital Flame, as it were, into a refulgent Body, of Angelick Form, or rather of di- vine Glory. By which Transformation of his Body, he fufficiently fhew'd, that he had Life in himfelf, and that it was in his Power as 2o6 Of fbe St ATE of the "D v. k d." as often as it was his Pleafure, to trample upon Death, and to fwallow up all Mor- tality. And let me add, fmce it is to my Puipofe, that in this his Glorification, bringing; down Mofes and Rlia^ from Hea- ven, both living, and both immortal, he, in them, gave us Pledges and Examples of our own Immortality, and our future Re- furred:! on ; which appealed mo'e openly afterwards, when upon the Refurredlion of Chrifl, divers of the Saints riling together from the Dead with him, appeared to ma- ny in Jerufaletn, Matt, xxvii. 52, 53. Laftly, That I may put an End to this Difcourfe, Chrift did not only rife from the Dead, but he afcended like wife into Hea- ven : After he had gotten a Victory he triumphed : And being carried in a radiant Cloud, his Difciples beholding him with Aflonifhment, and Troops of Angels at- tending 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 Ccefars^ and the Heroes of old, and others renown'd in the Heathen World for their furpaffing Merit, their Fortitude, and their Wifdom; all of them in vain affeded. And now, fince Chrift our Saviour has faid, and has done all this, both among the Living and Of the Stat -E of the Veav. 207 and the Dead, and reigns at length in the Heaven of Heavens, endued with a glorious Body, 'tis but juft that we fhould believe what he has taught, and promifed us con- cerning our own Refurredion to be certain, eftablifhed and unchangeable. Having thus compendioufly laid before you the Sayings, and the Adlions of Chrift, which relate to our Refurredlion, the Apof- tolical Dodrine * of the Refuried:ion fol- lows concerning the fame Subject, which being agreeable to what has been already faid, is fomething more diffufe, and com- prehends feveral Heads: But principally let us * Thefe Teftimonies of the Apoftles require fome farther Confideration . In the firft Place then, we muft obferve, that the Apoftles, in their Preachings to the j^eivs and Gevtiles after Chrift was afcended, always began with this AfTertion, That Chriji fwas rifen from the Dead: From whence they eftablifhed the Chriftian Religion on a double Foundation, That Je/us of Nazareth nvas the Meffiah ; and likewife. That there ivas to be a future Refurre^ion from the Dead. While Jefus was upon Earth, he prov'd himfelf to be the Meffiah by his Miracles, and the concurring Tefti- monies of the Prophets: But when he was rifen from the Dead, and had afcended up into Heaven in the Sight of the Apoftles, they thence took a new Argument to dc- monftrate, beth that the fame Jefus was the Meffiah, and likewife farther, that the Hopes of Chriftians, concerning a future Refurreftion and eternal Life, were firmly founded on him. Hence in the Afts of the Apoftles we find, that this Topick was always infifted upon by the firft Apoftolical Preachers of the Gofpel, in all their Sermons. See Ex- amples of this Kind in Gerard. Tom. viii. de Refurreii. p. 733. c. xvi. and***. 2o8 Of fbe St ATE of deD 2 AVi us obferve this, that the Refurredion of the Body is never attributed by the Apofttes to natural Caufes, or natural Power, but al- ways to divine Operation j and very fre- quently to Chrift our Lord, whom alone we have hitherto made the Author of this ad- mirable Work. In that folemn DifTertation of St. Pau/y I Cor, xv. concerning the fu- ture Refurred;ion of the Body, he makes Chrifh the Author of our Refurredion, both in the Beginning, Middle, and End of his Difcourfe j to which he gives fo ftrid: a Conne(Stion with the Refurredion of our Lord, that they muft both be granted, or denied together: If Chrijl^ fays he, Ver. 12. be preached that he rofe fro?n the Dead^ how fay fome amojig yoii that there is no Re- •JitrreBion of the Dead? Where he fuppofes our Refurredlion to be the undeniable Con- fequence of the RefurrecSlion of Chriil: But then, fays he, on the other Side, Ver. 13, 16. If there be no ReJurreBion of the Dead J then is Chrift not rifen : And there- fore, he very juftly, in the Beginning of this Difcourfe, proves the Refurredtion of Chrift by Abundance of Teftimonies, as the Foun- dation of his Dodrine and Inftitution con- cerning our own Refurrediion. Befides, he places the Root of all celeftial Life in Chrift, as in Adam^ the Root of all Mor- Of fbe St AT E'of the Deav. -209 Mortality, whom therefore he makes the Type, or the Antistoikon of Chrift : For as in Adam all Me?i die^ fo in Ch7-iji jJmll all be made alive ; whom, therefore, he fays, was made eis pneuma ZoopoiGtin, a quick- ening Spirit. Laftly, by the fame Jefus Chrift, he infults over Death and Hell, now conquer'd both and difarm'd, O Death! where is thy Sting ? O Grave where is thy ViBory f Thanks be to God who giveth us the ViSiory through Jefus Chrijt our Lord. For he had faid before. For he inujl reign till he hath put all Enemies under his Feet : The lafi Etiemy that JJjall be dejlroyd is Death ; but Death cannot be deftroy'd but by an univerfal Refurredion. Nor is it only in this Chapter but in others as often as Occafion offers itfelf, that he teaches us that the Caufe and Origin of our Refurredion is founded in that of Chrifl, and that he, by his Refurre(ftion, was con- ftituted Lord of the Living and of the Dead, and of the future Judgment that is to fuc- ceed the Refurredtion : For ye are dead, and your Life is hid with Chrtft in God ^ but when Chrijlj who is our Life, fljall appear y then ye jhall aljo appear with him in Glory ^ fays the fame Apoftle to the Coloffians^ Chap. iii. ver. 3, 4. And he fays like wife to the PhilippianSj For our Ccn":erfation is in D d Hea- 2IO Of the ^r AT -E of the "D^ AD. Hea-vejiy from whence alfo ice look for the Saviour, the Lord fefus Chriji, who Jhall change our vile Body that it may be fafnond like unto his glorious Body, according to the working whereby he is able to fubdue all ^hi?igs to hifnfelf I fhould be tedious if I fhould here pro- duce more PalTages, (efpeciallv fince they are fufficiently known, ) to prove from Chrift our Head, the firjl borii of the Dead {Col. i. i8.), the firft Fruit of thofe that Jleep, [i Cor. xv. 20.) to prove, I fay, that from his Influence and his Power the Hope of our Refurrediion depends ; nor yet does it fo far depend upon Chrift, that it does not likewife depend originally upon God the Father j both Chrift and his Apoftles often affirm that, A5ls ii. 24. and 32. Gal. i. i. Eph. i. 19. I Cor. vi. 14. Heb. xiii. 20. It depends alfo in fome Manner upon the Holy Ghoft, and both concur in this divine Op- eration. So the Apoitle to the Roma?2S teaches us, Chap. viii. 1 1. But if the Spirit of him that raifed up fefus from the Dead dwell in you, he that raifed up Chrifl from the Dead jldall alfo quicken your mortal Bo- dies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Nor do I at all wonder, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghofl, fliould, in Ibme Manner, co-operate in the Refurre6li- on Of the St AT "£, of the Dead. 211 on 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 feve- ralKindsj nay, the Souls themfelves have, as it were, a Regeneration, or a Palinge?t- ejia^ a new Life, and a new World, and all Things around them new: And therefore the Apoftle does, with a mighty Emphalis of Words, fet forth all the mighty Power of God, as employed and exerted in producing this wonderful Work, Eph. i. 19. Hitherto we have fet forth the Certainty or Stability of our Refurre(ftion, and the efficient Caufes of it from the facred Writ- ings : And all thefe are clearly reveal'd. Let us now proceed to Things that are lefs clear- ly and lefs exprefly determined. And here the Queftion firft offers itfelf which is pro- poled by the Apoftle ? With what Sort of Bodies Men f jail rife again F i Cor. xv. 35. How are the Dead raifed up ? or with what Body do they come ? That we may anfwer this Queftion, and difcover the Qualities of that Body with which we are to be cloathed the Refurredion, we muft obferve, in the lirft Place, what Powers and what Quali- ties the facred Writers attribute to fuch a Body. Upon this, allowing thefe, which D d 2 upon 212 Of the St AT •£ of the Deat)\ upon the Teflimonies of the Scripture, we know belongs to thofe Bodies, we are to enquire farther what other more particular Qualities, by a juft Reafoning, may be de- duced from them, and which may more nearly and intimately difcover the Nature and phyfical Conftitution of thofe Bodies. Laftly^ we muft confult the Nature of Things, which muft be call'd in to our Aid, when we are inquiring into corporeal Beings, that we impute nothing, through our Ignorance, to the facred Oracles, that is incongruous or abfurd. But that we may a6t compendionfly, that Queftion of the Apoftle, With what Bodies are we to arife ? feems chiefly to in- clude two Things ; Firft, PFith 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 BoJy that is inorganical, and of another Form, and an- other Order from that which we have at pre- fent. But fecondly, with what Body F that is, whether with a grofs and clofely compaded Body, fuch as we now have, or with a thin, a loofe, and a light one, refembling Air or Mther. One of thefe doubtful Points, you fee, refpeds the Form of our future Body, and the other the Matter i and if we caai give a good Account of both thefe, \v.e I Of the. ^T AT -E of the V^-EKY). 21^ we fliall, I prefume, give a liitisfad:ory Anfwer to the propounded Queftion. Now 'tis from the lacred Writings that we mufi: bring the Anfwer to both Parts of the Queftion 5 and not only from this Chap- ter of St. Paul to the Corinthians^ but from every Pafiage where either Chrift or his Apoftles explain the Conditions of thofe Bodies which we fliall enjoy in the Heavens. Of thefe Conditions, fome are general and common, which can difcover nothing cer- tain or difinidve in this Kind : Others are fpecial and proper, which may be called Chara<5lers, or charadleriftical Tokens j to which, if we diligently attend, they will bring us to a Difcovery of the Form or the Matter of the Bodies of the Beatified. We will, as the Nature of the Subjed: requires, divide thefe charad:erifl:ical Tokens in two Orders; the former of which will anfwer the firft Part of the Quefiion, and the lat- ter the fecond Part. The four following facred charadteriftical Tokens feems to dif- cover and give us a View of the Form of our immortal Body, whether it is to be or- ganical or inorganical. Firft, It v/ill have no Occaiion for either Belly or Edibles; Se- condly, Of Flefh and Blood it will not con- fift ; Thirdly, It will be a Body not made with Hands, akeiropoieton, and thereby. Fourthly, 214 Of the ^T ATE. of the Dead. Fourthly, It will be, ifajigelon^ a Body by W' hich we fhall be like to the Angels. Each of thefe four Charaders niuft be examin'd 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 fpeaks thus concerning it. Meats are for the Belly ^ and the Belly for Meats ; hut God pall aholifh both it and them. But when will he abolilh them ? Not in this Life ; 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, thofe Veffels, and all thofe Parts which are contained in the Cavity of that Belly : But all thefe being fubftraded, what Sort of Body will remain? Why, a Body that is maim'd, and. whofe Parts are feparated by empty Space j in fliort, a Bo- dy altogether imperfed:, 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 fliall fay more hereafter. Laftly, The Thighs, the Legs and Feet, are the necellary Inflruments of walking, and walking is performed upon a Subftance, that is itfclf immoveable. But fmce, in the Air^ Of the St AT B of the Dead. 215 Air, or in the Heavens, there is no im- moveable Subftance to tread on, there is nei- ther Pavtment, nor Porch, nor Gallery j their Local Motion will be perform'd, not after the Manner of walking, but in the fame Manner in which the Angels move. Thefe lower Parts of the Body then will be all of them aboliflied, as ufelefs and fuper- fluous. Befides, where there is no Food, there can be no Nutrition j but feveral Faculties, and feveral Organs were made on Purpofe to be fubfervient to Nutrition, which muft likewife be abolifh'd, when our Food is: Such are the Organs of Tafte, of Chewing and Swallowing ; the Organs of Conco6tion, of Sanguification, and thofe of Diftribution, and not a few of the Glands, are ufeful to Nutrition or Secretion. Now what Or- ganick Body can bear the Lofs of fo many Parts ! and yet the Body which we are to have mud endure it all, if we have rightly calculated. Thefe numerous Parts, then, being thus feparated, or cut off from the Body, let us next confider what we are to determine concerning Flefh and Blood, whether they two are like to perifli toge- ther with thofe which are mentioned before. After the Apoftle had treated of the Qualities of bleiled Bodies, at the End of that 2i6 Of the St ATE of fbe Dead. that Difcourfe he adds; But this I fay unto you J Brethren^ that Flejh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. * t Cor. xv. 50. The Apoftle fays abfolutely they can- not. There is, it feems, fome Repugnancy between the celeftial State and the Condi- tions of Fiefli and Blood; and therefore there is a Neceflity that the Body, with which the Soul is inverted in Heaven after the Refurredion, fhould be anaimou kai afarkon, without Flefh, and without Blood. But you will fay, perhaps, that Flefli and Blood, in this ExprefTion of the Apo- flle, are not to be literally underftood, but to be myftically, or allegorically, as they denote the Works of the Flefh, or moral Pravity and Impurity. To which I an- fwer, Firit, That this is faid without any Proof, but again ft the receiv'd Rule of In- terpreting; by which we are forced to de- part from the Letter, unlefs we are urg'd by Necefiity from the Nature of the Thing, and of the Subjed: Matter ; but here is no fuch Neceffity : Be fides, the reft of the charadteriftical Marks are fo asfreeable to this, and fo nearly related to it, ( as will clearly * In the Language of the \''ulgar 'twas called the Re- fiirreaion of the FUjt, but wife Men underftood it di&rent- ly. See 0/ vV. p. 132, mcd. tcnhksrug. Of the St hi z of the 'Die, An, 217 clearly appear by what is to follow, ) that we are rather on the other Side urg'd by Neceffity, a Neceffity of retaining the lite- ral Senfe: For the Words that follow in the fame Verfe fufficiently (liew, that Flep and Blood are to be underftood phyfically, and not morally j for that which follows, is. Neither doth CorriiptioJi inherit Incorruption^ Corruption is there underftood phyfically ; and by Phthoran the Apoftle defigns that we fliould underftand Phtharton^ this our corruptible Bodyj 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, iuch as we have at prefent, cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven ; but that another Sort of Flefli and Blood, fuch as we are to have after the Refurredtion, may inherit it. But to anfwer effedlually to this, the Apoftle no where at this rate diftinguifties between two Kinds of Fleih and Blood, the corruptible Kind, and the incorruptible. He, indeed, mentions feveral Kinds of Flefh, as of Men, of Beafts, of Fifh, and of Fowls, and all thefe are alike corruptible j but he no where makes mention of Flefh that is in- corruptible ; tho' a fair Occafion offers itfelf. He no where ufes this Diftindion among E e feve- 2 18 Of the St ATE. of the Dead. feveral others, Corruptible Flejh is one T'hing^ and Flejl:) incorruptible another 'Thing, On the contrary, he feems to fuppofe, or to take it for granted, that all Flefh and Blood are corruptible, and confequently lays down^ an univerfal Propofition, without Limita- tion or Difl:ind:ion, Flejlj and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Gody that is, a Bo- dy compos'd of Flefn and Blood j Corrup- tion^ in the latter Part of the Verfe, an- fwers exadly to Flejlj and Blood in the for- mer Part J and Incorruption in the latter Part, to the Kingdom of God in the former Part. They mingle Heaven and Earth together, who at this Rate, confound cor- ruptible and incorruptible. Incorruptible Blood feem to me to be what Logicians call a Contradi5iion in AdjeBo : For the Stamina of the Blood are of a very dilTolvable Tex- ture and Mixture; and when they are dif- folved, Corruption or Putrifadlion follows : And the fame Thing may be faid of Flefh, which is nothing but Blood and fimilar Juices coagulated. But we {hall fay more of this Matter anon, when we treat of the Blood and the glorious Body of Chrift. • Thefe Things, in the mean while, being thus difcufs'd, it appears to me to be fuffi- ciently evident, that the Saying of the Apoftle, That Flefi and Blood are incapa- bk Of the St ATE of tbe Dead. 219 Ifle of poffefpng the Kingdom of Heaven^ ought to be underftood as it is pronounced, literally and univerfally ; and that confe- quently our celeftial and incorruptible Bodies will be void of Flefh 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 Strudlure of Flefli, nothing will remain but a faplefs Skeleton, depriv'd of all the Ornament, the Beauty and the Ma- jefty of a human organick Body. Hitherto we have prov'd, from the facred Writings, that the Bodies of Saints in Hea- ven are not organical, with Regard to their feveral Parts: Now let us confult other charadteriftical Marks ^ AD, there will be no Antithefis between the Bo- dy 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 hu- man Art, but has its Source from liquid Seed ; and from a minute Drop, grows to a greater Mafs, and to an admirable Frame, by a Force internal, and as it were divine without the Afliftance of any Hand, or the Co-operation of any Art of Man. Second- ly, if you render akeiropoieton not artificial^ which feems to have a more extenlive Sig^- nification, neither by this means will you preferve the Antithefis or the Diftindtion from our prefent Body, which is equally with the other, inartificial, it being natural both in its Rife and Increafe : But yet, the Body which we have at prefent, in an- other Regard, has the Appearance of an artificial Body, or of a Body mecanically fram'd, that is, as far as it is compofed of numerous Parts of various Matter, aptly and articulately joined together, and, as it were, conglutinated. This Way you con- ftitute a mechanical or organical Fabrick, which may be faid to be keiropoieton, made 'With Hands j and according to this Analogy, akeiropoieton and inorganical, have one and the fame meaning ; by which Interpreta- tion the Antithefis is preferv'd between the two Of the St AT -E of the T>EAr>s 221 two Kinds of Bodies, that which we have at prefent, and the celeflial ; and we con- clude, that the Bodies of the Bleffed in Heaven are Bodies inorganical. But tho' in this Paflage of the Apoftle, the forefaid Antithefis is not both Ways ex- prefs'd, yet in another Place both Parts of the Oppofition or the Comparifon are ex- prefs'd : As in the Saying of Chrift in St. Mark Chap. xiv. 58. naos keiropoietos^ the I'emple made with Hands, is oppofed to to akeirppoietOj the Temple not made with Hands j and Chrift by both, means his own Body, and calls that which he had when he was here upon Earth, keiropoieton, made with Hands, and the other akeiropoietOHy not 7nade with Hands ; in which Compari- fon, the aforefaid Antithefis can hardly be explained any other Way than we have explained it above. And the Apoftle, in his Epiftle to the Hebrews, Chap. ix. con- firms this Explication, where he dwells up- on his Similitude of the Tabernacle, to which he tacitly here alludes. And as Chrift names the Temple, the Apoftle calls the Tabernacle, or the Sandluary, keiropoi- eton, ( Ver. 24. ) to which our terreftrial Body anfwers. Then he calls the celeftial Body of Chrift ou keiropoieton. (Ver. 11.) and adds by Way of Expolition, toutefiin, ou 222 Of f be St AT E of tbe Dead. ou tautes tes ktifeoSy that is to fay, not of this Building, or this Strudure, but of a different Form from this terreftrial and or- ganick Body. But concerning this Word, and this Charadler, we have fpoke fuffici- ently. The laft Chara£ter is taken from the Likenefs of the BlefTed in Heaven Wiih. the Angels. Chrifl fays to the S adduces, T^hat * the Sons of the Refurredlion fiall be ifcinge- louSy like to the Angels j which, at iirft View, feem only to regard Marriages and Copulations, yet not to the Exclufion of other Things : So far from it, that Chrifl: feems rather to have taken that Occafion to deliver a more general Sentence ; by which the Equality of the Sons of the Refurrec- tion with the Angels, both may and ought to be further extended : And it is adually further extended by St. Luke, who after this Manner delivers his Saying of Chrifl:: But * The Sons of the Refurreftion are^he Sons of God, lays Chrift, Luke xx. 36. Q^iT'^ / J''32> ^ ^^° Angels are called. I am not ignorant that tne Expreffion, 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 it is fpoken of a future Life, it feems to denote the Angelical State, according to this Saying of Chrift here, and in other Place?, Matt. v. ^, John i. 12. Of the St AT -E of the Dead. 223 But they which Jhall be accounted worthy to obtain that Worlds and the RefurreBion from the Dead^ neither marry^ nor are given in Marriage ; neither can they die any more^ for they are equal to the Angels^ LiikexXj 35, 36. From thefe Words it ap- pears to me to be evident, firft, that the An- gels have Bodies; then, that v^^e {hall have fuch Bodies as the Angels have, that is, in- organical Bodies. * As to the firft, if that Equality upon which the BlelTed fhall be with the Angels, confifts only in the ipiri- tual Part of each of them, and not in their Bodies ; then, our Bodies may be mortal after the Refurredion, notwithftanding this Equality. But we are told by Chrift, that by Reafon of this Equality we can die no more: * This St. Auftzn openly alTerted : Oar Bodies, fays he, after the RefurreSlion, Jhall be fuch as are the Bodies of Angels, upon Pfal. Ixxxv. at the Words, Thou haft delinjer'd my Soul from the lo^er?noft Hell. And upon Pfal. cxlv. not far from the Beginning, he calls our heavenly Body Cor- pus Angelkum, an angelical Body. Tertullian' s Phrafe is, Ca- ro Angelificata, Angel'fz!d Flejh, de Rcfurr. Cam. c. 26. And again, he calls it, Demutatio in Subftantiam Angelicam, a Change into an angelical Subftance, Lib. iii. co7itra Marc. C. ult. LaSlantius calls it, Transformatio in Similitudinem An- gelorum, a Transformation into the Likenefs of Ajigels, Lib. vii. c. 26. You may confult, at your Leifure, more Places of Auflin that fpeak the fame Senfe, as Epift. iii. ad Fortunat, Gen. ad Lit. 1. xii. c. 35. and again, 1. ii. c. 17. and I. iii. C. 10. of the Bodiea of fallen Angels, and thofe that are not fallen > ^nd others of the like Nature. 224 Of /^^ S T A T E of the "D IE. AD. more: This Equality then, muft regard the Bodies of each, or the corporeal Part of them ; for we die, or are mortal, only with Refpeifl to the Body, whether in this Life or the Life to come. Befides the Im- mortality, or Equality with the Angels, concerning which Chrifl: inftrudls us, are Privileges that accrue to us by and after the Refurredtion ) but the Soul has been always immortal, from its Creation, and that Im- mortality that comes to us by and after the Refurre<5lion, is the Immortality of the Bo- dy. 'Tis in this Refpedl, that we are equal to the Angels ; for, in fhort, we iliould be like to the Angels rather before than after the Refurredion, if the Angels had not Bodies. * Befides 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 conftitute the Attendance, and the Guard of Chrift, upon the glorious Day of his coming. They muft of Neceflity then, be vifible, and cloathed with Bodies, and thofe of a more noble Order, that they may augment and accomplifh the Majefty and * Of this Matter fee Huet. Ong. 1. ii. q. 5. Seft. S, 9. p. 71. Of the S r A t -E of theD-EAD, 2 2 j and the Magnificence of that celeftial Pomp : Nor will you, I believe, prefume to lay. that they will have Bodies at that Time, but Bodies which they will borrow, compofed of Air for that Occafion only; Bodies to be thrown oflE, and again diipers'd when the Pomp of the Spectacle is over: I believe you will hardly fuiFer this to be faid, that Chrift, ^\\\ return with innumera- ble Attendance, blit an Attendance, of Phan- toms only, with a thoufand thoufahd tran- fitory and fugitive Shadows, and idle empty Vifions, and that' fuch Angels as thefe in Mafquerade, furround the Throne of God. Befides, when in the facred Writings 'tis faid, thut Sktan fometlmes transforms him- felf to an Angel of Lights that Metamor- pholis fuppofes, that an Angel of Light as fome outward Form, and fome vifible Spe- cies by • which he is known and diftin- gui(hed from the others. But that, be it what it will, he cannot poffibly havb unlefs he has a Body. And as for the Evil Angels in general, when they are capable of Pain and Torment by Means of corporeal Fire, and are deftin'd to fuffer it, 'tis evident from this, that thofe degenerate Spirits have their Bodies, whiitever thofe Bodies are. Befides, on the ot"her Side, 'tis impoflible there can be any Society, any Commerce, between F f the tz6 Of the S^ At z of the De At). the good and the holy Angels, and Saints, and beatified Spirits, [unlefs both the one and the other are m fome Manner vifible and incorporated. Laftly, Give me leave to ask one Quefli- on ; Can any one of a found Underftand- ing, and who has a juft Eflimation of the. Works of God? can fuch a one, upon con- lidering the Thing ferioufly^ believe fincere- ly, and from his Soul, that the celeftial and aetherial Regions, vaft as they are, and almoft boundlefs, can be without any vifible intelligent Creature, without any Animal indued with Reafon, except a few human Souls ? What Wilds, what Solitudes, what, next to infinite Deferts, muft fuch a one fuppoie that there are in the Nature of Things, which Space, the good and.tlie. great God, wanted neither Pova^ejc nor Goodnefs to replenifh with proper Inhabi-, tants ? But if you are of Opinion with us,, that Angels have Bodies proper to their Kind and Order, not, indeed, organical Bodies, (for what have Angels to do with Bones, with Joints, with Bowels, with Stomach, and with the Frame and Fabrick. of Members ? ) but lucid and aetherial ones, fuch as feveral of the Fathers were of Opi- nion that they had, as we have obferved in another Place ? and if you grant that ours :- will Of the St AT E of the D "E. AH. 227 will be like to thefe Angelick Bodies * j from this Hypothefis Honour will redound to God the Creator of the Univerfe, to Heaven its Ornaments, its Majefly, and Magnificence, and Armies of illuftrious Inhabitants, to us a Society and eternal Commerce with Angels, and an Equality, and Refemblance, and Relation to them, both by glorious Endowments of Body and Mind, and byblifsful Immortality. Hitherto we have anfwer'd the 6rft Part of the Queftion, propounded by the Apo- ftle, which regards the Form of our im- mortal Bodies : Let us now proceed to the fecond Part, which comprehends the Mat- ter of them, and the Qualities of that Mat- ter. Here, therefore, the Enquiry is to be. What kind of Body we (hall enjoy in the Heavens, whether a thick or folid one, like that which we carry about us at prefent ; or a thin, a light, a refulgent, and a tranlpa^ rent one, like Light, or iEther or Matter a-kin to the Heavens. In examining this Part of the Queftion, let us proceed in the fame Method that we ufed in the firft Part, F f 2 by h * But Angels ufually appear cloathed in bright Bodies. See Places \n Gcrrard. Tom. 9.. p. 659. about the Middle. And St. Jude fays of them, that they left toidiou oike- geriou their proper Habitation, (Ver. 6.) may denote either their Bodies, or their corporeal Places. 228 Of the St ATE of the Deatk by thofe facred Charaders, or Tokens that are founded in the facred Writings. But the Body of the Blefled in Heaven, is called by St. Paulj celeftial, fpiritual, potent, glorious, and conformable to the glorious Body of Chrift. When it is called celeftial, that denotes the Matter of which it is com- pofed : For as the Body which we have at prefent conlifts of terreftrial Matter ; fo the Body, which is called celeflial, will confift cf celeftial Matter; or, as the Body of Adam was framed of Duft, or of terreftial Clay ; fo, on tlie contrary, the Bodies of the Sons of God. will be formed of celeftrial Matter, or Matter modify'd like it. O pro- ios anthropos ek Ges Choikos, Sec. The Jirji Man is of the Earth, earthy : I'he feco7id Man is the Lord from Heaven : As is the earthy, fo are they aljb who are earthy ; and as is the Heavenly, fiich are they alfo that are heavenly : And as we have borne the Image of the Earthy, we JJjall alfo bear the Image of the Heavenly, i Cor. xv. 47, 48, ^c. 2 Cor. V. J, 2. With Refpecft to the Body in this Life, we are made like to Chrift. But if our celeilial Body is to have the fime Qu^alities or Modifications with the celertial Matter, then this Enquiry only remains, vi%. What is the Nature of ce- leilial Matter, or after what Manner is it modi- Of the St ATE of the Dead. 229 modified ? To which I anfwer, That 'its not hard, nor folid, like Glafs or Chriftial, or Ice, as fome of the Ancients dreamt, but that 'tis as pure and thin, as the fineft Air or yEther : And, confequently, our celeftial Bodies will be of the fame Nature. Secondly, Our celeftial Body is called, by the Apoftle, a fpiritual Body ; to pneuma- tihou or pneiima^ either lignifies fomething void of all Matter, in which Signification it can be meant of no Body whatever, or it lignifies fome light and thin Body, like Wind, or Air, or Vapour ; in which Senfe likewife *l*^n ^^ ^^^^ ^7 ^^^ Hebrews, and Spiritus Spirit^ by the Lati7is, as when the thinner Parts or Particles of our Blood are called Spirits, whether they are animal or vital. Nor does that Word feem to me to be taken otherwife, when our celeftial Body is called a Spiritual Body, provided you add this as by Confequence, that the Heavenly one will be more vivacious than this mortal Body, and that Man, who will be then made to an enlivening Spirit, eis pneiimea Zoopoioun, will have the Power of pre- ferving his own Body without Meat, or Prink, or Sleep, or thofe other Things which the animal Body of Adam, foma pfhchikon, wanted for its Support. Thirdly, i^o Of fbe-Sr ATE offbeDEAD. Thirdly, The celeftial Body is called po- tent and aBive : Speiretai en astheneia, the Carcafs is /own hi JVeaknefs, and it is raifed in Power. The Power of the Bodv con- lifts in Motion, or in the Power it has to move itfelf and other Things; that which moves itfelf from Place to Place eafily and fwiftly, \s c2A\td. a6five -y and if befidesit has the Force of moving other Bodies, it is on that Account thought the more powerful. But it is here to be obferved, that a Body whofe Parts are quiet, and adhere one to the other, hath no Power of its own of moving itfelf; for Motion among Bodies is produced only by Motion, or by a Body moved. There is, therefore, a Necefiity that a Body to be adive mult 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 called elafiick^ refift, and recover their former Situation, and that with a great deal of Force ; But then the Power of moving does not proceed from the hard Body, but from feme other fubtle Matter in Motion, inclofed in the hard Body. Be- fides, in Machines which are compofed partly of Matter which is hard and firm, and partly of that which is fluid or volatile, the Solid may be moved by the fpirituous " . Parts^ Of the S T AT -E of the D e A d» 23 1 Parts, and the whole Compound be mov'd together, or any particular Part of it, as may be in the Motion of our own Bodies/ or of any particular Member of them. But if within the hard Bodies there is no Mat- ter in Motion, nor moveable Matter, nei- ther its own nor foreign, it remains motion-, lefs in itfelf, and can never be moved, un--. lefs by external Force. Now if thefe Things are rightly affirm'd^ and determin'd by us, it follows, that the Body which we are to have in the Heavens may be adtive and lively, it muft not confift of a {luggi{l:i 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 volatile; that fo, in Obedience to the Command .of the Mind, it may beealily carried to aijiy Part, may pafs through other Bodies, and rnay, at its own Pleafure, rarify or condenfe itifelf : In fine, the united Force of the Parts. or Particles of which fuch a Body confifts, muft be exeeeding powerful > and if they, are all direded the fame Way,, and to the; fame Objedt, they will penetrate or throw down every Thing that ftands in their Way, hke a Storm, or the Lightning of Thunder,, And here give me Leave to add, that we ought not to wonder that it fnould be in^ the 232 Of the St AT E of the Dead. the Power of the Soul to guide and dire(fl*J the Parts of this fpirituous Body whicl Way foever it pleafesj when even in this grofs and heavy and terreftrial Body, it!j fends forth the Spirits and the thinner Juices'] every Way into the Nerves and Mufeles/ according to the abfolute Pleafure and Com- mand of its own Will : And when all this fpirituous Body is nothing but a Frame of congregated Spirits, and of the nobleft Matter, 'tis but highly re'afonable that we fhould grant to a glorified Soul a plenary Power over iiich a Body j a Power of im- pelling, retaining, or guiding and directing its Parts which Way foever it pleafes. The fourth Charader follows, by which the Bodies of the BlefTed a:e RyVd glonoiis. That Word denotes fomcthing more ex- cellent than Beauty only, or than Propor- tion of Parts, ^/2r. u certain Light or Re- fulgency ; •hor - can Matter or Body, be it ever fo beautiful, appear glorious, unlefs 'tis illuftrated v/ith Light and P^adianty. Be- lides, the- Word -^ioxa. Glory j wherever in the facred Writings 'tis fpoke, either of natural Bodie?, or of divine or angelick Appearances, almofl always denotes fome- thing refplendent arid' illuflrious, as will^ immediately more fully appear : In the miean while, you fee that in this very Chapter Of tbt^ St ATE of the Dead. 23^ Chapter Mention is made of the Glory of the Stars, which confifts in Light, and that in order to explain the Glory of our celefti- al. Bodies. Laftly, The Prophet Daniel difcoLirfing of the Condition of the Righte- ous after the Refurredion, to lay it before us, has Recourfe to the fame Example o£ Stars, but applies that Example more jftrongly j Many of thofe, fays he, that now feep in the Diifl of the Earth will awake ; fome of them to Life eternal, and others to to eternal Contempt and Reproach : And the Wife fjallfhine like the Splendor of the Fir^ matnent ; aiid they that infruB many to Right eoufnefs, like Stars to Milliofis of Ages^ Chrift marked the fame State, the fame Time, and the fame Glory, when he faid, ^hen Jhall the Righteous Jhi?ie forth as the Sun iu the Kingdom of their Father. Matt, xiii. 43. It is evident, that the fame Glo- ry is defcribed 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. Whether this Light and this Splendor are inherent in glorified Bodies? or whether they come from Abroad, and are only re- fieded or tranfmitted, as in Gems or po- liih'd Metals, or in other folid Bodies? And yet, methinks, this too might be deter- G 2 min'd 234 Of the ^T AT "E. of the Dead. min'd by the Examples brought from the Sun and the Stars. However, we fliall ex- amine this farther in the following Charac- ter, by which our celeftial Body is faid to be form'd after the manner of the glorious Body of Chrift. In the mean while, this remains fix'd and eftabliflVd, that the Bodies of the BlelTed in Heaven are, in fome Mea- fure, lucid and refulgent, and by Confe- quence glorious. And now comes the laft and the moft illuftrious Characfter, of the Formation of our celejlial Bodies after the glorious Body of Chriji. This Charafter confirms the for- mer, and befides, difcovers to us, that the Light which thofe glorious Bodies emit, is inherent in them, and dwell in them, and proceeds from an internal Principle, as from an exhauftlefs Fountain : For Chrifi, when he was on the Earth, in his Trans- figuration, renders himfelf all Brightnefs, not by reflediing a borrowed Light, but from himfelf he emitted that Virtue which caufed him to overflow with Glory, and to be immers'd in a Deluge of Light : His Face did fnne as the Sun, and his Raiment was white as the Light : So fays the Evan- gelift. Matt. xvii. 2. Then after his Re- furre(flion he appeared in feveral Shapes, Mark XVI. 2. Ltdexx'iv. i6> yoh?i xx. 15,' and \ Of fbe St AT E of fbe Dead. 23^ and xxi. 5. render'd himfelf vifible or in- vifible according to his Pleafure, Luke xxiv. 31. and twice enter'd the Houles were his Difciples were, though the Doors were fhut, yolf XX. 19, 26. and yet he appeared with Bones and with Flefh to his doubting Dif- ciples, that he might convince them of the Truth of his Refurrediion.* And thus he {hewed by thefe feveral Tokens, that it G g 2 was * Clem. Akxand. Strom, p. 649. ephageti gar on dia to fo- ma. Sec. For he eat not for the Sake of his Body, which was fuftained by divine Virtue, but left thofe he appeared to fhould entertain falfe Notions of him, as we find after- wards that fome aftually did, fuppofing him to have been no more than a Ghoft or Apparition. Origen apud Hie- rox r« Pioe£fn ad 1. xviii. hi J fa. He eat after his Re- furreftion, and drank, appeared cloathed, and ofFer'd him- felf to be felt, to convince his doubting Difciples of the Reality of his Refurreftion ; but yet he plainly difcovers the Nature of his aerial and fpiritual Body, by entring into the Room while the Doors were fhut, and by his vanifhing &ut of Sight at the breaking of Bread. Damafcene likewife fays, that he did this ou noino phufeos, ice. not by the Law of his Nature but by Way of Proof of the Truth of his Refurreftion, DeOrtbod. Fid. 1. iv. c. i. There are befides quoted, as of the fame Opinion, Thea- phil. in cap. xxiv. Ltu. and Bede in cap. xx. yohan. in Ge- rard, torn. 9. p. 672. Med. Chryfoji. Ho?n. 87. Cod- Gr. in jfob. azion de diaporcfai, pos. but it mav be doubted how 9n incorruptible Body could receive the Impreffions of the Nails, and be touched by mortal Plands : But let not this fiiock thee; for this was by PermilTion only, [fuugkataba-' i'tos ) by Way of Condefcenfion : For a Body fo thin and fine as to come in when the J^oors vere Ihut, muft be void of all grofs Subllancc : But he fiiewed himfelf in that Manner for 23^ Of the ^T AT ^ of the 'Dead. was in his Power to refolve his Body into the thin and the volatile, and to reduce it at his Pleafure into a Body folid, and of ad-^ herent Parts. Laftly, When he afcended into Heaven, with the Swiftnefs of a winded Angel, mounting 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 af- cended alive into Heaven. In like Manner, when Chrifl was feen by St. John in the Ifle of Patmos, his Eyes were as a Flame of Fire, and his Feet like to fine Brafs, as if they burned in a Furnace; Rev. i. 14, i^. As the Son of Man was feen by the Pro- phet Daniel before. Dan. x. 5, 6. And laftly, he is at length to return in the fame glorious, refulgent, flaming Form 3 other- ^ife he would hardly be vifible both Night and Pay aloft in the fublime Sky, to thofe who for the Proof of the Rcfurreiflion . St. Augufi. de Ci'v. Dei, 1. ^xli. c. ig. \^'e mult believe, that the Brightnefs of the Body of Chrift at his Refurreftion, was ratlier hid from the Eyes of the Difciples, than really wanting in itfelf : For the weak Sight of Man could not have been able to have beheld fo glorious a Form with that Stedfallnefs as was ne- cefTary for him to be known by. He iKould tiot be touched [yohny.x. ly.) becciife he ijcas not in a tangible State, being then returned f I ciji the Dead, end upn his Afcenfion to thi Fstber.. Of the St AT -E of the T>E AH. 237 who inhabit the Earth: Nay, even the Glory of the Father, or the Ancient of DaySj is defcribed by the fame Prophet, with a luminous and flaming Majefty. Dan. vii. 9, 10. And to come to a Conclufion of this Point, I only defire to add, that the Glory of God, which is called by the Hebrews Shechinab, and which is the majeftical Prefence of God, has always the Ap- pearance of Light, or Flame, or of a re- fplendent Cloud ; as in the journeying out of Egypt ^ and in the Holy of Holies ; and the fame Thing which is called the Glory of Godj is termed likewife a Cloud, or a lucid Cloud, Num. xii. 5. andxvi. 19, 42. Matt, xvii. 5, and 2 Pet. 1. 17. and in many other Places in both Teftaments, it appears, that the Glory of God, or his glorious Prefence, is always (hewn in fome lucid, flaming, or fiery Matter ; but the Body of Chrift was the moft excellent Reiiding Place of this Shechifiahy of this divine Glory, and, as it were, the SajiBum Sa?ic^ torum in which it (hone out moft brightly ; to which alfo, the facred Auihors are often wont to allude, yohn i. 14. Heb. ix. ii. i?£'^'. xxi. 3. Thele Things being thus ex- plain'd, it feems to be determin'd, that the glorious Body of Chrift which he has in the 23 S Of the S T A T "E of the T) E a d. the Heavens, is like Flames, like ^Ether, or like liquid Light, and that confequently, our celeftial Body will be of no ditrimilar Matter, fince 'tis to be conformable to his. And indeed, if we confult Reafon and Phi- lofopy, * any other Kind of Matter can fcarce fubfift or fuftain itfelf in the Hea- vens, and the astherial Regions, were all Things are ferenc and pure, every Thing mofl: fine and fubtile. Laftly, Since in the Rank and Order of Bodies, or in material Nature, we know nothing more excellent than Light or Flame, 'tis but juft that we determine, that the glorious Body of Chrift, and ours in Proportion, mufl confift of thefe 'till we find fomething that is more excellent and furpalfing. Perhaps, it may be here objedled, that thus to explain the Glory of the Body of Chrift in the Heavens would be foreign neither to Reafon, nor the facred Writings, if it were not an Obftacle to the receiv'd Doarine of the Flefh and Blood of Chrift that are ftill remaining in his celeftial Body : To which I anfwer, that the Father either had different Sentiments, or remain'd doubt- ful concerning this Point of the Flefti and Blood of the celeftial Body of Chrift : 'Tis very t Sec Gy:gei:. cor.:. Ccls. I. iii m. p. 136. Of the St AT •£ of the Dead. 239 'Tis very well known that all the Difciples of Origen deny it, and phllofophize quite after another Manner. Befides, with the Fathers of the fecond Nice?ie Synod, among the Definitipifis and the Heads of the * Con- flantinopolitan Council, ( which is called the Council of the Iconoclaftes^ or the linage^ Breakers ) which, upon hearing them read over again, they approved of -f* this was one : T^hat Chriji was fet down at the right Ha?id 0} his Father, and that he would at length either return, ouk eti men farka, auk ajbmaton de ; but that he would not re- turn in the Flefi, and yet not without a Body, that is, a fubtle rarified Body : For it follows; that he may he feen by thofe who pierced him, and may remain God without the Grofsnefs of the FleJJ:. Can any Thing be * Ei tis o:ik Qtnogloei ton Kurion. Whoever does not oonfefs that our Lord Jefus Chrift, after his afluming the rational Nature and intelledlual flefh, is fet down with God the Father, and that he will fo likewife return, with paternal Alajefty, to judge the Quick and the Dead, not indeed with Flefh, but neither incorporeal ; fo that he may be feen of thofe by whom he was pierc'd ; and that he remains God without the Grofsnefs of Flefh, let him be accurfed. ■\ Mekri teuton eugnomanoufi. So far they think right, and fpeak agreeably to the Traditions of the Fathers ; or mhcr, by aflerting thefe Doftrines as their own, they do themfdves Credit and Honour. V Albi Cor.c. .Nu. 2. jia. 6. turn 6. p. ^J.1, 240 Of the St AT E of the De ad. be more plain than this ? For it muft be obferved, that thefe Words, cuk eti men farka^ ouk afomaton de, which chiefly re- gard the Point of which we are treating^ are the very Words of Gregorf-jNazianzen^ fpeaking of the fame Matter, -'u/2;. in his fortieth Oration, towards the End, he fays this concerning Chrill : kai anafianta trtn- meron aneleluthenai, &c. T^hat the third Day he return d to Life, and afcended into Heaven ; jrom 'whence he will return illu^ ftriotis and gloriouSy to judge the ^ick and the Dead, ouk eti men farka, ouk afomaton dey viz. no longer incarnated^ and yet not "-nDanting a Body, hut having a Body more augufl and more divine j and fuch a Body as none but the Son oj God can have, that he -anight both be feefi by thofe who pierdd him^ and might remain a God without any cor- poreal Mafsy or any carnal Grofsnefe. In vain the popifli Dod:ors labour to wreft thefe Words, ouk eti farka, to a me- taphorical or figurative Senfe, viz. to lig- nify not the Subftance of Flefli, but its Affedions and Infirmities j but the Words which follow as well in the faid Councils as in Gregory Nd-zianzen ; which in the Councils are, That he may remain a God without the Grofsncfs of the FleJIj 3 and in the Father, That God may remain without any Of ithe St ATE cf the Deav. 241 any corporeal Ma/sj without ajiy JleJJjly GrofsneJ's : Thefe Words, I fay, plainly dif- cover, that the Word farka^ Flejh^ is here taken phyfically, and according to its fpeci- fick Nature, as 'tis oppol'ed to a thin and li- quid Matter; and 'tis in this Sen fe, 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. Laftly, I faid, that fome of the Fathers were doubtful as to this Point, which is ufiially known by theAnfwer ofSt.Auftinto Confe^itius, who had propofed this Queftion to him. Whether now the Body of Chrijl has Bones and Blood, and the other Lineaments of Fleffj in it. To which Queftion, after that St. Auflin^ has given a general and partial Anfwer, he adds. Let not Faith be wanting, and no Doubt will remain, unlefs we ought to enquire concerning the Blood of Chrift -J becaufe when he faid, feel and fee y for a Spirit has not Flefh and Bones, he did not add Blood. Let not us, therefore, add to our Inquiry what he did not add to his Anjwer\ and, if you pleafe, let the ^eflion have the compendious End, or elfe, perhaps, forrie more trouble fome Enquirer, taking Oc- cafion from this Mention of Blood, may prefs us further, and ask if Blood, why not Phlegm, why not yellow and black Choler ? H h of 242 Of the St ATE oftheDEAD» of ivhich four Humours the Phyficians agree ^ that the Nature of Flejh is composed: But whatever any one adds^ let him beware of adding Corruption^ that he may preferve the Sou7idnefs and Chajiity of his Faith. Here, you fee, St. Aufiin remains cauti- ous and doubtful, and Confentius^ docile, but yet doubtful. Some, indeed, talk more boldly and grofly concerning the glo- rious Body of Chrift. This I deny not, but fome Things, at prefent, being balanced againil: others, let us proceed, if you pleafe on one Subjedt : For whatever has been de- termined, either by Councils or Fathers, it muft yield to Reafon and Scripture. Secondly then, I fay, or rather repeat from what was faid before, that Flefh and Blood cannot^ according to the Apoftle, in- ierit the^ Kingdom of Heaven. Thefe Words, if they are literally taken, and in their proper Signification, there is an End of the prefent Difpute, by the AlTertion 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, has been above fufficiently demonftrated. Thirdly, 'Tis repugnant both to Reafon and the Nature of Things, that Flefh and Blood can be incorruptible : As the Body of Chrift Of the St ATE of the Dead. 243 Chrift is now, fo will our Body be hereafter in the Heavens: But you will, perhaps, 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 denv ; yes, in in this Part we diffent : And left Deceit fliould lie lurking in generals, let us, if you pleafe, open the Matter fuccindtly, that the State of the Queftion may appear the more manifeftly. Every kind of Body has its Proprieties j of which, feme are accidental and mutable, others are eflential and un- changable, 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 paiTes into another Clafs or Order of Bodies. For •"Example : When the Herbs which we eat are convert- ed into Flefh and Blood, they are no longer Herbs, though the fame Matter remains, but Fle{h and Blood, Bodies of quite an- other Kind and another Nature. On the other Side, when Flefti and Blood, are in. their Turns, converted into Herbs and Grafs, which often happens when the Ground grows fat by the Blood of flaughter- ed Bodies, thus alter'd they ceafe to be FleQi and Blood When Chrift, in the Marriage H h 2 of 244 Of the ^T AT -E. of the Dead. of Cana, converted Water into Wine, the fame Matter remained, but differently mo- dified; and by Reafon of thofe new Modi- fications, loft both the Name and Nature of Water. Tell me tlien plainly, and leave the So- phifter behind you, what Alteration do you require fhould be made in the Parts or Par- ticles of Flefli and Blood, that from a cor- ruptible Matter they may become incor- ruptible, and yet preferve the Nature of Flefh and Blood ? Or, if you had rather, anfwer this Queftion : What are the Pro- perties, what are the Conditions of Flefh and Blood, which you affirm to be effential to both, and from both infeparable ? Yes, what are the Properties and the Conditions, which being preferved, Flefh and Blood remain ? and which being deftroyed, Flefh and Blood muft either perifti with them, or muft pafs into another Clafs of Bodies? If you anfwer, that that is unknown to you, when you confefs, 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 headftrong 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 qompos'd ? You Of the^T KT -£. of theJ^-EA-D. 245^^ You know what are the Principles of Blood, which all receive and acknowledge, viz. Sulphur, Spirit, Earth, and Water. But 'tis equal to me whether you take thefe or other, provided they are known, deter- min'd, and terreftrial. In the mean Time, thefe Things being thus laid down, I ask you, Is it your Opinion thefe Parts, and thefe Principles will remain in your celeftial Blood ? Do you believe that the Body of Chrift in Heaven is compos'd of Salt, Sul- phur, Water, and Earth ? Unlefs your cele- ilial Blood retains thefe Stamina, thefe Fun- damental Principles, it will be no longer Blood, unlefs equivocally and catechelH- cally, becaufe it will not have the Subftance of Blood, and if it retain thefe, it will not be a Body celeftial and incorruptible. 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 Mixture or Texture you pleafe, it will be diftblvablej nay, it will be adually diftblv'd and diffipated by the celeftial Matter fur- rounding it, and intermix'd with it, like Wood or Straw in our terreftrial Fire. 'Tis true, indeed, by Means of Power di- vine, it may be preferv'd incorrupted, as may 246 Of the ^T ATE. of the Dead. may the Blood that we now have, or as the young Men formerly were in the Baby- lonian Furnace j but flill it will be in its own Nature corruptible, provided 'tis com- pos'd of the fame Elements, however mix'd of which our Blood is conftituted : And what we have faid of Blood will hold good in Proportion of Flefi hkewife ; fo that there will be no Occalion 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, Corrup- tibility will likewife remain ; but if it be- comes hard and dry, it will then take the Nature of a Stone, or of a Glafs ; or at leaft, it will refcmble 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 repug- nant to Reafon, as they are to Faith. In the mean Time, the fummary and Conclufion of what has been faid upon this Subjedt is this. That the glorious Body of Chrift in the Heavens does not confift of any jointed Frame of Bones, of Flefh, and of Blood, or of any of the Humours or Entrails of this prefent terreftrial Body j but that 'tis of a more excellent Matter, of a higher Nature, and Purity, and Perfection : That I may fay all in a Word, it confifts of Of the Sr ATE of the De AD. 247, of Matter intirely celeftial, with refpedt both to its Subftance and Accidents. Laftly, The external and vifible Glory of this celefti- al Body, will confift properly in this. That it will be refulgent, and by its own Rays illuftrious j I fay, hy its own Rays, and not by any borrowed Light, either tranfmitted or refleded, but hving and in- nate like a Source of living Water. And of this refulgent Glory Chrift gave a Speci- men from Heaven, when he fpoke to Sau/^ and did, by the flafliing of his Rays, as it were by Lightening, throw him proftrate on the Ground, blinded, and amaz'd, and confounded, y^S^s ix. 3. pcrieftrapfen auton, fays the Apoftle, phcs apo ton ouranou, Kai pefon epi ten gen, &c. 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 A6is ix. 17, 27, with A5ls xxii. 6. and xxvi. This feems to me to be the proper Habit 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 pleafed. When he was here upon Earth he walk'd upon 248 Of the Sr AT ^ of the Dead. upon the Sea, and it gave no Way to his light Body. He was forty Days without Meat and without Drink, and had Power to ren- der his Body impaflive. He rendered it, likewife, thin, thick, heavy, Hght, dark, lucid, vifible, or invifible, according to his fovereign Pleafure : Much more has he now Power over his own Body in the Heavens, and can convert the Subftance of it, that is obedient to his Commands, into Blood or any other Juice, into Fleih or any other Concretion, according to his divine Will ; and, therefore, the Difpute is not concern- ing that Point, nor concerning the Power of Chriil, 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 celeftial: That, I fay, is neither bony, nor flediy, nor fanguinar}% but a Mafs of liquid Light, and of Air tliat glitters with its Radiancy, like the bright- eft Stars of Heaven 3 as is mofl agreeable to his divine Dignity, and thofe aetherial Re- gions where he chiefly refides. Thus have I treated Vv'ith all the Brevity, and all the Perfpicuity, that I poffibly could, of the Matter and Form of the Body of Chriil 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 Of fbe St AT ^ of the Dead. 24.^ We have found upon Examination, that each of thefe is inorganical and inconcrete : And tho' this Examination has been found- ed upon Characters and Tokens drawn from the facred Writings and adjufted to the Na- ture of Things, yet are we fo accuftomed to grofs Bodies, conftituted of Flefh and Bones, and a Frame of foHd Members, that we are fcarce able to conceive any other Kind of animated Bodies, or to give our AlTent to any Proofs whatever of them. But whoever is either moderately conver* fant in the Writings of the antient Philo- fophers, or has read what the Chriflian Fa- thers philofophically write concerning An- gels and Daemons, will, without Difficulty, get free from that Prejudice. Therefore I will perfume to advile tliem, that they would firft diligently enquire, whether An- gels have Bodies ? and if they have, what Sort of Bodies theirs are ? As for the Firft, you have the Suffrage and Confent of the antient Fathers, and of the Grecians efpe- cially, to that Opinion, that the Angels have Bodies, as we have (hewn in another Place. Then what the Bodies cf the An- gels are, you will learn from the fame Gre- dan Fathers j and in feveral Places of St. Anftin^ among the Latins, as in the T^rea- life de Gen,- ad Lit. in his Epiftles, in the 250 Of the St ATE of the Dead. 'Treatife de Civitate 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 iEther j but that the good Angels have the purer, and the grofTer the evil ones. This Docflrine of the Fathers being received, and their, as it were, fecon- dary Authority, (for the primary one is that of the facred Scripture, and of Rea- fon that bears Witnefs to it,) that vulgar Prejudice will difappear and vanifh, that there is one only Kind of animated Bodies, viz. the organical, and that which confifts of concrete Matter, of Flefli, and of ner- vous Members, like our terreftrial Bodies: But there is another Genus of Bodies, of a celeftial Kind and Order, fuch as the Bodies of Angels are, or fuch as ours will be, when we Ihall be like to the Angels. The grofs, heavy, fluggilh Bodies, fuch as we have at prefent, are in the lowefl Clafs of Bodies, which im.mortal Minds, and rati- onal Natures inhabit. And thofe which confift of a light, fubtle, and moveable Matter, are a much nobler Sort of animated Bodies, and are readier 'for Motion or for Difpatch in all the Actions, either of the Mind or the Body. Nay, even in this ter- reftrial Body, the thin, the fubtle, and the fluid Part, which we call Spirits, is the pro- Of the St AT -E of the Jy^ AD. 25 r proper Vehicle of the Soul, as the moft nearly allied to it. Thefe it commands, and thefe are the Inflruments which it makes ufe of to move the Members of the Body : And the Affedions and Operations of the Mind, depend upon the Subtilty, or the GrofTnefs, the Plenty or the Want, the re- gular or irregular Motion of the Spirits, and are accordingly more or lefs powerful and vigorous. This Syftem then and Col- lediion of Spirits, and of thin and fpiritous Matter, is the Seat of the Soul, and its primary and intimate Body ; and this Co- vering of Skin and Flefli which we wear, is only ufed as a Shell or a Casket for the furer Prefer vation of it. Away then with that vulgar ridiculous Dotage, repugnant both to Philofophy, and to Theology, 'uiz. that without the Trunk of a Body, and the Entrails which belong to it, no Body can be a fit Habitation for Souls, or for any fpiritual Nature, A Spirit, fays Chrifl, has not Flejlo and Bones. He does not fay that a Spirit is afomaton, 'without a Body, but that it has not a Body of Flefli and Bones. As, above, it was faid of Chrift himfelf by the Fathers, oiik eti farka, ouk afomaton de, that he was in the Heavens without Flejh, but not without a Body. Cer- tainly, if a Spirit had been without any I i 2 kind 2^2 Of the State of tbe Dead, kind of Body, it had been more ready for Chrill: to have faid, and had been as much to the Purpoie, A Spirit has jiot a Body as you fee that I have. Yet this he did not fay, but a Spirit has not Flefi and Bones ^ that is, a Spirit has not a grofs, vifible and palpable Body, fuch as mine appears to be, both to your Sight and Touch. * Hitherto we have explain'd, according to the utmofl of our Powers, the Points which are of greatefl: Moment in the Doc- trine of the Refurred:ion. There are others remaining, and though not of the fame Weight, yet worthy of our Confideration and * Laflly, The Philofophers In defining that Body, which they fay good Men will have in a future State, or in Hea- ven, make ufe of the very fame Words, and Epithets and Phrafes, as the Apoftle does in defcribing our future cele- ftial Body. Taul calls this Body we are to have, a celeftial or eternal one in the Heavens : They likewife term it oura- r.ion and aitherion ; and in like Manner oppofe it to a ter- reftrial one, St. Paul calls immortal and incorruptible; the Philofophers ufe Words of the fame Signification, atha- naton, aphtharton , ambroton, aidiov. The Apoftle compares it to the Stars ; they call it afieron eides. Pie ftiles it a lucid, and glorious Body ; they augoeidos. In fhort, both defcribe it by the fame common Epithet of foma pneumatlkon, a fpi- ritital Body. It is not to be queftioned but that the fame kind of Bodies is meant on both Sides. But it is well known, that the Philofophers did not defign a grofs Body mix'd up with Blood, much lefs, any kind of hard orga- pical Machine ; but a Vehicle, as they call it, compofed of a'rarified aftive Sort of Matter ; fo that this Body may be always of a like Nature with the Place, where the Souls are to refide ; an Opinign which they are often repeating. ^Oftbe St ATE of the Dead. 253 and our Enquiry. But the Remainder of the Things belonging to this Subjed: fhall be comprehended in the following Chapter, becaufe this is already grown too large. C H. A P. viir. IFb^t Sort of Body we are to have at the the RtjurreBio72 ? the fame that we have at prejent^ or a dlferent one ^ H Aving now finiflied the firft Part of the Difcourfe, which we begun con- cerning the Relurrection, which contains the Certainty and Caufes of the Thing it- felf, 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 Confequence. The firfl of which, is, Whether we fhall rife with the fame Body which we left off at our Death? The fame numerical Body is here underftood, a Body confifting of the fame Matter, and the very fame Particles. This is a very ce- lebrated Queftion, but it appears to me to be rather curious than necelTary. For how- can it be your Intereft or mine, whether we are to have the fame Particles, or others of 2^4 ^/ ^^^ State of the'D-EAjy. of the fame Virtue and Dignity ? how can it concern us what becomes of our Leavines and Carcafles, provided we live in the Light of Heaven, and in the Society * of Angels ? Yet, becaufe there are at this Time no Snail 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 fa- crcd Scriptures and free Reafon incline. In the firfl Place, I believe, both Sides are agreed, that the Bodies of thofe which at the coming of our Lord {hall be found among the Living, will be immediately changed, the fame Particles being reftrain'd, or, at leaft, a great Part of them ; that is to fay, as foon as this mortal Frame of Members is dillblved, the fame Matter^ ( the Filth of it excepted ) will be convert- ed into another Form, and into other Qua- lities, that is, into the fame Form, and the fame Qualities, which immortal and incor- ruptible Bodies have. This is called by the Apoftle, 7iot to be dhejled cf a Body, but to be cloathed upon with one, that Mortality may be Jwallovjed up with Life: Or, that this ■ * But as we make no Account of the Shaving of the Beard or Head, fa that divine Mind, when it makes its, Exit from the Body, is as little concerned what becomes of its Cafe, whether the Fire confumes it, wild Eeafts de- \c>vif it, or the Earth covers it,^ regards it no more than a, hew born Infant does the After-birth. Ssnec. Epijl. <)z. Of the St ATE of the Dead, 255 this Corruptive may put on Incorruption ; which Traniition can never be made with- out fome melting and dilTolving of the Parts ; as terrestrial Bodies are purified or converted to Flame. Befides, if I am not miftaken, both Sides are agreed, that the Body of Chrift, when he rofe from the Dead, con- fided of the lame Particles which it did be- fore } and, that when he afcended into Heaven he retained the fame, and carried them to a celeflial Purity, by Virtue of his enlivening Spirit. Thefe Things then being granted on both Sides, the only Debate and Doubt that re- mains, is, concerning ordinary CarcafTes, or concerning the Bodies of the Dead, which have rotted, have been diffolved and diffipated, their Parts and Particles having been changed a thoufand different Ways, and difperfed in a thoufand different Places : The Queftion then is, Whether thefe Particles fliall every one of them be recollected 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 fhall be worked up again into Limbs and Lineaments, and the entire Form and Shape of the former Body ? There i^6 Of fbe St ATE of f be Dead. There are, indeed, feveral Paffages of the facred Scriptures, which appears to me, at the firft Appearance, to favour this Unity, or, as it is wont to be calPd, this Identity of Bodies, the prefent and the future. Chrift himfelf fpeaking concerning the Re- furredlion. The Hour is comings fays he, in the which all that are in their Graves Jhall hear his Voice, i. e. the Voice of the Son of God, and Jhall come forth, &c. Here Chrift appears to hint, that at the Re- furred:ion, the very fame Carcaftes that lie in their Graves fliall hear his Voice, and come forth, as Lazarus, after he was brought to Life again, came forth frqm his Sepulchre. And confonaiit to this is what St. John fays in the Revelations, And the Sea gave up their Dead that ivere in it, at the univerial Refurrection. Each of the Elements, the Earth and the Water, fliall reftore the Carcafles which they have fwal- lowed, that being once again animated, they may be fet before the Judgment Seat. In like Manner, the Vilion of the fame Prophet, or the Scene of the Refarredion, teftifies the fame Thing j I jaw the Dead, fays he. Small and Great ft and before God. If little ones remain little ones after the Refurredtion, and the Prophet faw whole Troops of Infants, of Boys, of Youths, I and Of the State of the Dead. "Z^j and of Peifoiis at the Age of Maturity, fland before the Judgment Seat, that ap- pears to "difcover, that every one will have the fame Body with which he died, whe- ther it was Httie, or whether it was great. I pafs by that PalTage of 'Joh^ becaufe the Hebrews, and the beft Interpreters of other Nations, all expound that by tempo- ral Redemption and Reftoration. Nor, indeed, is it probable, that an Arabian, a Natfve of a foreign Land, and before the Promulgation of the Law, and the Age in which Mofes lived, fhould have a deeper Infight into the Myftery of the Refurredion than all the Hcdrews, 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, m more than one PafTage affirms, that thefe mortal Bodies will rife up again, 01 be changed into glorious Bodies ^ and though in tnis Chapter to the Corinthia/is, he feems at fiift to affert, that another kind of Bodies will arife different from that which fell, or was fown ; yet, in what follows, underftood according to the Letter, and the moll obvious Senie^ he leems to K k re- 258 Of tbe St ATE of the Dead. retain the very fame Body indued with new Qualities. To thefe Quotations, brought from facred Scripture, fome Perfons are pleafed to add Reafons and Arguments, by which they in- duftrioully pretend to prove, that 'tis. but juft and equitable that the fame numerical Body fliould arife, and be carried up into Heaven 3 that, as it performed its Part in the bearing Afflidlons, or the Performane of Duties in this Life, fo it fliould be made Partaker of the Rewards and Glories of another. That they cannot think it juft, that one fhould ftrive for the Vidory, and that another fhould be crown'd, or that one {hould have all that is due to another, whether it be Good or Evil. And upon this Rock ftruck feveral of the antient Fa- thers. But this Way of arguing, as we hinted before, is altogether unphilofophical, fup- ported by none, or by a falfe Foundation, becaufe no Matter whatever is capable either of Rewards or of Punifhments, either of Grief or of Joy, but muft be always in- fenlible, either in the prefent or in a future Body. The Mind alone not only under- ftands and wills, but alone is lenfible, either of Grief or Pleafure, and has alone either Good or Evil AfFedions. 'Tis, therefore, rightly Of f he St ATE of the Dead. 259 rightly affirm'd of the Soul alone, that it does either Good or Evil, that it either en- joys 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 alvv^ays the fame, but are in a perpetual 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 ourfelves well, and in another ill : How then (hall impartial Juftice be rendered to each of them ? But we have touched upon this Matter before; and 'tis hardly worth our while to dwell any longer upon refuting (o wretched an Argument. In the mean while, what fliall we con- clude from thofe Paflages which we quoted above, from the facred Scripture, vv^hich feems to affirm to us, that our mortal and immortal Bodies, as to their Subftance, are one and the fame. Why, we muft con- clude, that we muft adhere to the Letter, provided we find other Things confenting to it ; and we find no Obftacle on the Part of the Thing concerning which \vq treat, Wc are, therefore, firft to enquire what that Opinion contains, or comprehends in it, of the Identity of both the Bodies ter- K k 2 reftrial 263 Of the ^T AT ^ of the Dead. reftrial and celeftial ? What Conveniences or Inconveniences, or what Repugnancy atr tend that Opinion ? We obferved a little above, that our Body in this prefect Life is manifold, that 'tis diflipated and repaired daily ; and that after a few Years it becomes entirely new. And, therefore, in the whole Courfe of one's Life, one has, per- haps, fix or feven different Bodies, and even more if we live a great many Years. This brings, a-frefh to my Mind, the Queftion which the Sadducees formerly pro- pofed fo abfurdly, of the Woman that had feven Husbands, viz. which of them fhe fhould have at the Refurredion ? Let the Soul, for the prefent, be that Woman, which had feven Bodies, as it were, fo ma- ny Husbands: The Queftion is, which of the feven it fhall have upon the Refur- redion, for it had them all ? Perhaps you will fay, that of the itvQXi which it had lafl. But it may very well be that the Soul did more Good, or more Evil in fome other Body, than in the laft, and, there- fore, it ought rather to have that other Body the Companion of its Mifery, or its Glory. Bcfides, how ill would the decripit Body of an old Man, or the little helplefs one of an Infant, become the Court of Heaven, and the^ Affemblies of Angels? And Of the ^T AT Y of the Ti-EATi. 261 And either in the one or the other of thefe Bodies, the greater Part of human Kind 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 fo many, and fo great Addition on one Side, and fo many Amendments on the other, that like the Veflel Argus, that was former- ly a hundred Times repaired, it would be the lame Body only in its Name. For my own Part, I had rather have a new Struc- ture from Heaven, than a terreftrial Cot- tage, however augmented, or however re- paired. In the fecond Place, we are to obferve, that when the fame numerical Body is re- quired in the Refurrediion, 'tis likewife re- quir'd that it ftiould confift of Parts of the fame Kind, of the fame Bowels, Humours and Members, of which it confifted in this mortal Life: But how this can poffibly be I cannot fee, when 'tis manifeft from the facred Scripture, that fome of the En- trails and Members will be aboliih'd ; as the Belly, and all thofe Parts that regard it. 262 Of tbe St ATE of the Dead. it, or that are under it. * Befides, that our celeftial Body is not conftituted of Flefli and Blood, nor of any organical Strudure we have above, if I am not mif- taken, very clearly (hewn; fo that it can- not be the fame as to Form, tho' it fhould be the fame as to Matter. I am amazed to find that fome Perfons are arrived 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 terreftrial ; as the Palate, the Throat, the Bowels, and all thofe Parts which regard the Kitchen j as likewife thofe which diftinguiih the Sexes, or which were formed for the Procreation 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 Satvrical Reflections of fevcral, which St. Jerom mentions: For if, faid they, we are to have our Hair and our Beards in Heaven, the^i there li'ill be Occafion for Ton- * That there will be no Difference of Sex, was the Opi- nion of j4than. Serm. 3. contra Arian. Hilar. Can. 25 iSL Matt. Bafil. in fj'ul. cxiv. V:erJ. qucejl. 37 in Gen. Macar. Horn. 34. ^ Of the St AT E of the Dead. 263 Ton/brs there: If Infants are to be there, there will be Occafion for Nurfes : If the Blood is to be retained, fays St. Aiiflin^ it will be asked, why not likewife the Phlegm ^ why not the yellow and black Choler ? Let them give Anfwers to thefe Queftions who boldly pronounce that thefe Things are thus: In my Opinion thefe, and Things of the like Nature, rather become an Ani- mal than an Angelical Life, fuch as the Saints will live in Heaven ; who are then the Sons of God, fmce they are the Sons of the Refurredion. Gen. vi. fob. i. i. and xxxviii. 7. Pfal. Ixxxix. 7. Nor does the common Anfwer to thi>^ appear to have any Validity, mz. that thefe Entrails, thefe Parts will, indeed, be Parts of the celeftial Body ;' but that they will be wholly inadive, nor difcharge their feveral Fund:ions in it, as they do in our prefent Bodies. But I deiire you to tell me why they are there, if they have no- thing to do there ? To what Purpofe are they reftored, if they are to lie entirely ufelefs ? God never is redundant in Super- fluities , and if in this imperfedt and mor- tal Body which we now carry about us, \Kt have no Parts, no, not the very leaft, which are unufeful and fuperfluous, can you affirm, that in a much more perfed: and 264 Of t^he State of theTf-E ah. and excellent Body the whole Frame of it, or at leart the greatell Part of ir, (hould be fuperabundant ? But you retort upon this that all thefe Parts are requifite to make human Nature intire ; and that for this Reafon, they will not be wanting in Hea- ven. But what ? can unufeful Parts be requifite to make human Nature entire, or indeed, any Nature? Thofe Parts, in- deed, are requifite to make a terreflrial and mortal Body intire ^ but in the celeftial and immortal one there is no Occafion for them: But human Nature is equally capa- ble of both thefe Bodies. Nor will it be of any ufe to you to fay that they are fu- peradded for the Sake of Ornament : For what can be the Beauty, what can be the Comlinefs of thofe Parts, which the Apo- ftle himfelf pronounces to be uncomely ? I Cor. xii. 23. or of thofe Parts which are hid in the Trunk of the Body, or thofe Parts which are requifite for the taking in Nourifhment, or for the throwing out Ex- crements ? * Hither- * Some of the Ancients, indeed, efpecially the Epicureans^ gave their Gods the Human Form ; whom Cicero let'utes, in that they could have no Die for the external Parts, nor couid there be any Beauty in the Internal. But there is nothing fuperfluous in Nature . iVor do I approve of the out'v.'ard Farts 7/iore tha?i of the J.f.a.'d ; the Heart, the Lungs', the Of the St ATE of the D^ATfl 265 Hitherto we have enquir'd which of thofe Bodies which we wore in this Life, or what Parts of that Body they would have rife again, that it may be exactly to their Mind, the fame Identick Body. We are laftiy to enquire what Ways and Means they can find out for re- collecting the Parts or Particles of the Body which are wanting. The Afhes and the Particles of CarcafTes diffolv'd are fuhdry Ways, both by Land and by Sea, difpers'd ; and not only 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 fow'd loofely through all the Elements, but they are grafted into the Bodies of Animals, of Trees, of Foffils and of feveral other Bodies, from which they cannot eafily be brought back again. Laftiy, 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 being thus laid down and granted, L 1 the tie Li'vcr, tind the like, ijohere lies their Beauty ivhen fe- parated from their refpedt've U/es? De Nat. Dear. l.i. Se£t. 93. p. 134. As if nothing could be happy or immorraK unlefs it went upon t'wo Legs ; as fays the lame Philofopher la another Place. T ^66" Of the St AT -E of the Dead. the Queftion is, by what Means, or by what powerful Caufes, the Parts and Par- ticles of every fingular Body, however di- flant, and wherever hid, can poflibly be colleded ? In vain will you have Recoufe to Nature : She has no Powers that are equal to fuch, and fo vafl an EfFed: ; nor can you appeal to divine Omnipotence, without a juft, a worthy, and a neceflary Caufe. But lince it is plainly of no Significancy, that we Ihould have the fame Parts, either numeri- cal or fpecifical, 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 infignifi- cant ? Among Men it is faid, that the La- bour about Trifles is Folly i but fuch a Thing, with Regard to God, is neither to be uttered nor heard. To colled; the Duft and the Afhes of all human CarcafTes from the Origin of the World to the End of it, then to reduce every one of them to its own Mafs and to its own Heap, and to work lip and fafhion that Heap anew into its old Shape, and Size, and Bignefs, would be the moft aftonifhing of all Miracles. But of fuch a Miracle, fo manifold, and fo ufelefs, we have hitherto had no Example. Thus 0/ the Sr AT -E of the Dead. 267 Thus much concerning the Infignifican- cy and Impertinence of the Thing ; but it is doubted by many, whether it is in the Number of thofe that are barely poflible, fince the fame Part of Matter cannot be at the fame Time in different Places or in different Bodies. Some Nations, fay they, are Anthropophagi ; they fome of them feed upon others, and it is barely impoflible that the fame numerical Flefh can at the fame Time be reftored to feveral Bodies. But why do they mention fome Nations? we are all of us Allelophagoi 5 we all of us feed upon the Remains of each other > not indeed immediately, but after they have had fome Tranfmutations into Herbs and Animals : In thofe Herbs and Animals we eat our Anceftors, or, at leaft, fome minute Parts of them. If the Afhes of every one, from the Beginning of the World, had been feparately preferved in their own Urns or Coffins, or rather, if all CarcafTes had been converted into Mummy, and had fo remained, 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 Carcafles, for the moft Part, are diffolved and diflipa- ted^ and their Parts are mingled with the vafl Body of the Univerfe, are exhaled into L 1 2 Air, 26S' Of the Stated/ the D e a d. Air, and fall down again into Dew and in Rain, and are imbibed by the Roots of Plants, and fpring up again in Grafs, in Corn, and in Fruit j and from thence re- turn in; a Circle to human Bodies again; it may very well happen, that by taking this Compafs, the fame Part of Matter may have undergone feveral Metenfomatofeis, may have inhabited more Bodies than the Soul of Pythagoras ; but that it ihould be reftored to every one of thefe Bodies upon the Refurrediion is abfolutely impoffible. If it is reftored to the firft PofTeflbr, which feems to be but juft, it will be miffing in the others ; or if it is reftored to the laft, it will be wanting to the firft. Let us ad- mit, if you pleafe, for the Sake of Exam- ple, that the firft Pofterity of Adam, or the Men of the firft Ages, ftiould firft re- claim their Bodies, and then, in Order, the People of every Age fhould require theirs : Scarce * half Bodies will be remain- ing for the late Pofterity of Adam^ or the laft * In Towns and Cities that are deraolilhed, and turned into Fields, and in Frontier Countries, and the Boundaries of Kingdoms, fuch Tranfmutations are mofl remarkable ; See Plutarch's Account of the Maffalian Fields after the Battle of Cymbria, in his Life of Marcus. Thofe Lines of the Poet, to this Purpofe, are fufficiently known. Of tbe St ATE of the Deav. 269 laft Inhabitants of the Earth, all thofe Parts and Particles being torn from them which belonged to the Bodies of their Anceftors. Laftly, There is flill another Knot in this Caufe, which is not eafily folved: For iince the Parts of Matter are daily pafling from one Kind to another, their Figure and Magnitude being changed, and with them their other Qualities ; Flelh does not remain Flefli, nor does Blood remain Blood, from the Beginning to the End of the World, or from the Death of every one unto his Refurredlion. To explain the Thing more clearly : Every Species or Or- der of Bodies coniifts of Particles which are proper to it, and which are diflinguifhed from others by their Figure, their Bignefs, their Motion, or their Quiet 3 which Par- ticles being difpofed in a certain Manner, in a due Situation, Mixture, or Texture, the Body becomes a Body of fome deter- mined Species, Order, and Name. Let us fuppofe then, for Example, that Fleili and Blood conlift of Particles which are proper and peculiar to them : Now thefe Particles arc lam Seges eji uhi Troja fuit ; refuandaque fake liuxuriat Phrygio f anguine pinguis humza. Where Troy once jlood, ;;oxu grooving Corn is found. And Phrygrian Blood has fattened all the Ground. 270 Of the St ATE of f be De ad. are not unalterable ; and when, upon Pu- trefaction of the Carcafs, they are diffolved, and pafs into other Bodies, it is impoflibie but that by paffing through other Pores, and diffimilar Channels in diffimilar Bodies, they muft alter their Figures and their Mag- nitudes, and fo be transformed to Particles of another Kind; and therefore, if they were coUedted and mixed, they would not conftitute Flefh and Blood, but Subftances and Juices of another Kind. The few Things that have been faid, if I am not miftaken, have made it mani- feft, that for us to have the fame Bodies at the Refurreftion that we have at prefent, would be a Work of little Signiiicancy, and of vaft Operation, if it would not be abfolutely impoffible , which will ap- pear ftill the more clearly the m.ore we weigh and ccnfider all thofe Things that are included in that Identity. And befides, whatever we difcourfed of above, as well concerning the Matter as the Form of our celeftial Body, is to be added to thefe Ar- guments; for all that proves a Forfiori, that both Bodies cannot be the fame, fince they agree neither in Matter nor Form : And, therefore, both the feventh Chapter and this are confederated and related, and tranhnit their Light to the feveral Parts of each Of the St ATE of the Dead. 271 each other : Both manifeftly confpire in the fame Opinion, in the * Diverfity of our mortal and immortal Bodies j a Diverfity, as well fpecifical as numerical, as well with Regard to Subftances as to Accidents, -f- Hitherto we have examined what the facred Scripture on one Side, and what Reafon and the Nature of the Thing, on the other Side didate and determine con- cern- * But you will objeft, perhaps, that it cannot be the fame Perfon, unlefs there be the fame Body, or at leaft, the greater Part of it : Yes, certainly, the' the Soul was an- nexed to no Part of its late dead Body ; nay, tho' it were to have no Body at all, it would be ftill the fame Perfon. St. Paul fays, he was fnatch'd up into the third Heaven, and yet knew not whether in the Body or out of the Body. Let us fuppofe it were out of the Body ; was it not then the fame Pau/, and the fame Perfon ? Chrill faid to the Thief, To Day thou Jhalt be n.vith me in Paradife. The Body of this Thief remained flill upon the Crofs, and never went into Paradife. Whom was it then Chrili took with him ; another Perfon or this fame ? Befides, Chrift himfelf was the fame, or the fame Perfon, during the three Days of his Death, whilfl; 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, remain the fame Perfons before they take up their Bodies again, as is plain from every one's en- joying their proper peculiar Portion, and feparate from all others. f But if any one is fo very fond of his terreftrial 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 Particles ; I (hall not (land much againfl if, provided he will allow that terreftrial Body to be changed immediately into a Heavenly one of another Fo.-m, and other Qualities. tjH. Of /^ S T A T E of the D E A D. cerning 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 Difference, as it appears to me, mufl be this Way decided. According to the literal Hypothefis in Scripture, the fame Body which fell is to rife again, t lie fame Carcafs that lies in the Sepulchre is to come forth from it. At the Call of Chrifl, or at the Sound of the Trumpet, the Sea fhall caft forth its Dead, and the Earth likewife its Dead, and every Element, every Region of this inferior World fliall bring to Light the CarcafTes, either untouched or renev/ed, which it had fwallowed and concealed. This appears to me to be the Idea of the Refurredlion, that is the moft frequently to be met with in the facred Writings, and the Idea the moft adapted to the Capacity of the Vulgar J which, therefore, we may be allowed to call the Vulgar Hypothefis : But yet there are in the fame facred .Writ- ings fome occult Marks of the Body which we are to have at the Refurre6tion, which to thofe, v/ho look' more narrowly into the Nature of Things, fulficiently difcover, that when we fhall be equal to the Angels, and conformable to the Glory and the Re- fulgency of Chrifl himfeif, our Bodies will be Of f/je St ATE of the D e a d. 275 be then of another Order from thofe which we have at prefcnt, and vaftly different both as to Matter and Form, from this grofs Strudture of Members, and this Med- ley of Humours and Bowels; and there- fore, that :he fecret Dodlrine, or the rea- fonable Hypothefis upon this Point, is one Thing, ana the Vulgar quite another. And this often happens in the Style of the facied Scripture, that a Thing is exprelTed or re- prefented popularly, and adapted to the Ca- pacity 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, ^e /peak Wijdom among the Perjedl, fays the Apodle ; and among the Imperfedl, the Tilings that are more adapted to the Capacity of the People : By which Manner and Me- thod of Inftrudiiun, the Divine Wifdom appears to me to (liine very brightly out, becaufe at the fame Time that MUk is pro- vided for Children, folid Food is prepared for thofe who are come to Maturity. Hitherto wq have explainedj as iuccindlly and as diftimflly as we poffibly could, the weightier Points, as they appeared to us, in the Dodrine of the Refurredion, and of thofe facred Bodies which we are to have in the Heavens ; and that by laying before M m th« 274 Of the Sr ATE of tbeDEAjy, the R eader, both the one and the other Hypo- thefis, the Rational and the Vulgar. 'Tis known to every one, and granted by all, that the facred Scripture does often antkro^ folgein 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 Refurredion, is reprelented after the Man- ner of Men in its firft Appearance, and its external Ornaments ; but if you look more narrowly into the Thing, the Thing itfelf, indeed, will appear the fame, but will appear in a Form of a great deal more Simplicity : But fome of the Antients, by not diftinguifhing between this double Hy- pothecs, have rendered the Dodiine of the Refurrediion almoft unintelligible. But we ought to obferve, that there is ftill another Thing which occafioned Obfcurity or Confufion in the handling this Point 3 and that is, from not fufficiently diftinguifh- ing between the firft Refurredtion and the fecond, according to the Sentiments of the Antients ; For many of the antient Fathers greatly diftinguij[hed between thefe, and were of Opinion, that we fliould have one Kind of Body upon the firft Refurredlion, and another upon the fecond : That upon the fiift Refurredion we Ihould have a Bo- dy Of the State oJ theT>^A-D. 27^ dy compofed of Flefh 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 Paradije is believed to have been ; but that upon the fecond Refurredion, we {hould have a celeftial and fpiritual Body, without Flefh, and without Blood, like unto the glorious Body of Chrift, the fecond Adam -, fuch a one as is defcribed by St. Faul^ in his Difcourfe to the Corinthians, concerning the Refur- redtion. And as many of the Fathers as defended the Millennial Kingdom of Chrift, who were neither few nor inglorious, di- flinguifhed between the two Kinds of Bo- dies which we are to have after this Life. And this Diftindtion being once admitted, there are two different Ways of anfwering the Queflions above propofed, concerning the Nature and the Identity of Bodies, up- on the Refurredtion, which Anfwer is to be made according as the Queftion is un- derftood concerning the firfl: or fecond Re- furredlion. If the Queflion is, What the Body will be upon the firft Refurredion ? the Anfwer is, That it will be of Flefli, but not the fame numerical Body with that which we have at prefent. If the Queftion is concerning the fecond RefurreiE,K d. the RefurreBion of the FleJJo^ viz. in the M.illennium^ ( p. 307. ) and Irenceiis proves that that firft Relunedion will be a Re- furredion of the Flelh, Lib. v. c/33. Bat to return to that Saying o^Tertullian^ 'The Refurredlion of the Dead makes the great Confidence and the Dependmice of Chriftians, Chrift is our Hope, Chrift is our Life, who by his own powerful Word fhall call the Dead into Life, he himfelf being the Head, and the firft Fruits of the Refuiredlion. Bin that Day of the Lord is the Day of Retribution to the Juft, and the Reftitution of all Things. The com- ing of Chrift, or of the Mefliah, was the Hope and Expectation of all good Men. Arn ies of Angels celebrated his Birth, cry- ing, Glory be to God en high. Peace on Earth. But how much greater will be the Peace upon Earth, upon the fecond coming of Chrift, attended with a Guard of ten thoufand Angels. \i John, when he was fcarce alive, leapt in the Womb of his Mother, at the Voice of Mary fainting Elizabeth, Luke i. if the Virtue and Li- fluence 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 fee ; how Of the ^T AT -E of the "De AH. 279 how much a quicker and more powerful Senfe (hall the Souls of the Dead, in which State foever they He repofed, have of the coming of the fame Chrift in Tri.imph, have of the Approach of their God, while the Juft hft 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, be- tween the Day of Death, and the Refur- rcdlion, and afflids us with the Evils and Mifcries of this piefent Life, that we fhould be the more intent upon the Hope of the Relurredion to come, and fliould, at a mighty Diftance, with ered:ed Counte- nances, and, as it wer£, with ftretched out Necks, exped: the fecond coming of Chrift, that gloiious Eyipkaneian. Since then we have this Hope, and this Confidence, . let us perfift in Piety and in Virtue unfhaken, Ai kno. ing that our Labour will not be in *vain in the Lord. Rom.\\\\y 18, J9, 20, 21, 22. CHAP. 28o Of //'£' S T A T E of the Dy. AT). CHAP. IX. Of the fir ft and lafi Refurre5lio7i : Of the new Heave7is, and the new Eai'th^ and the Renovation of Nature; OJ the Mil- lennian Kingdom of Chrijl^ and the Con- fummation of all Tubings. WE have above taken Notice of a double Refurreaion: The Firft, which is to be particular j and the Laft, which is to he univerfal. Which Diftinc- tion, indeed, is rarely to be met with in the facred Writings, and only in the Re- velatioJis of St. fohn^ exprefly, if I am not miftaken. Nor does this in the lead hurt the Truth of the Thing, nor is it foreign from the Ufe and Manner of the holy Spi- rit. The Prophets in the Old Tefiajnent did not foretel a double coming of a Meffiah at leaft, not explicitly, or in an ExprelHon adapted to the Capacity of the fewi ; to whom it was neither known formerly, nor does it yet feem to be known. And, there- fore, no body ought to wonder, at Icall, no Body ought to be offended, if Provi- dence has been lefs frequent, or more flow in the Revelation of this double Refuriec- tion 5 or at its referving the unfolding of tiiUt Of the St AT -E of the 'D'E AD. 28 1 that Myftery for the laft of its Prophets: For fince it was his Bufinefs to comprehend and explain, in his Prophecy, both the profperous and the adverfe Fates of the Chriftian Church through every Age, to the Confummation of all Things ; both the Occafion, the Time, and the Reafon of the Thing required, that he (hould not pafs by unmentioned or in Silence the Millennial Kingdom of Chrift, or the firft Refurrec- tion of Saints. Therefore in the twentieth Chapter of his Prophecy, he has difcover'd and explain'd this Secret, which had lain hid fo many Ages. Belides, we are to obferve, that from this Error or Blindnefs of the Jews^ concern- ing one only coming of the Meffiah, many- other Errors proceeded. From hence they expeded 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 fame confounded. Then they referred feveral Things befides, which related entirely to the fecond coming of the Meffiah, to the Days of the Meffiah promifcuoully and without Diftincftion. And from thence they believed, that the Refurredtion would happen without any Diftind:ion in the Days N n of 282 Of the S T AT E of the D E A d. of the Mefliah. From hence the Renova- tion 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 Meffiah ; that then the Age would come, of which they place fo many, and fuch wonderous Things to the Days of the Meffiah. The Jeivs fore- tel that thefe and feveral befides, as Peace and Juftice, univerfal Plenty, and a Go- vernment entirely divine, would happen in thofe Days ; and all thefe Things they foretel moft truly, if they are referred to the fecond coming of the Meffiah. Di- ftinguifh but the Times, and all Things will then agree. But from the not rightly diftinguifhing thofe, no fmall Confulion formerly arofe in the Faith of the Jews, with regard to the fore-mentioned Heads, and no fmall Confufion to this very Day remains. After the fame Manner, there has arifen a Diffention and Obfcurity, concerning the Nature and State of the Bodies which we fliall have at the Refurredlion, .becaufe the Chriftian Authors have not diftinguiflied the firft Refurrecftion from the fecond ; fome, for Example, contending for Flefh and Blood, and an organical Frame, and Bodies compounded and fhap'd like thofe which Of the St AT 'E of the Dead. 283 which we have at prefent, while others arc of Opinion, that our grofs Bodies will be chang'd into to thin and astheriai ones. Each of thefe Opinions may be true, pro- vided you diftinguifh between the two Re- furred:ions. Upon the firft Refurredrion, for Example, when we are to live under the new Heavens, and upon the new Earth, our Bodies will be terreflrial, and com- pounded and (hap'd like thofe which we now have : But at the End of the Millennium, when we afcend into Heaven, the fame will be changed into celeftial and aetherial Bodies as the Nature of the Place and that angelical Life will manifeftly require 5 which we obferv'd above. But the Renovation of the World, and the Millennian Kingdom of Chrift, which are Things of the greateft Weight, will precede this Afcenlion into Heaven, and fecond RefurrecSion, concerning which we fpeak : We are obliged, 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 T^heory of the Earth, 1. iv. The general Conflagration being over, and the Earth, by the extream Force of thofe Fires, being reduced to a fort of a N n 2 Chaos i 284 Of the St ATE of the Dead. Chaos J from that Chaos, by the Influence of the divine Power and Wifdom, a new Earth is to be form'd, after the Image of the primitive and paradifaick one, that is, without any Ocean, without Mountains or broken Rocks, or rugged InequaHties ; to which will anfwer a new Heaven, ferene and mild, and without naufeous Vapours, and then will flourifh a perpetual Spring, free from the Viciffitudes of Seafons, or the Inconveniences of Heat and Coldj con- cerning which new and at prelent unufal Phaenomena's, in the forefaid Book, we have fufficiently treated. All Antiquity, as well facred as pro- phane, has celebrated this future Renova- tion of the World, as we have (liewn in another Place. Among the antient Pro- phets, Ifaiah twice declares, that there would be new Heavens, and a new Earth j and adds, that the Marks of this Renova- tion of Nature would be the Logevity, or rather the Immortality of its Inhabitants, and a Race of harmlefs Animals. St. Johrij in his ViHons concerning the new ferufalem, acquaints us, that he had be- held new Heavens and a new Earth ; and adds, that the Charaderiftical Mark of that new Earth would be, that it would have no Sea. This Refurredion of the World, if V-J Of tke Sr AT E of the Dead. 285 if I may ufe the Expreffion, is faid by Chrift to be pali7igenefia ; in which Term is included the Pre-exiilence of the World, which is underilood here, its Peftrudion, and its Regeneration. After the fame Manner St. Peter, in his Difcourfe to the Jews, A£ls iii. 21. makes ufe of apoka- laftasis^ the Times of the Reftttiition of all Thims : And both in one and the other o Paffage, you have for a Charadieriftical Mark a Time of Reward and Recompence, and by Confequence an Age to come. St. Paiil^ in feveral Places, hints at this, future Renovation of the World : Firft, he teaches us, that Nature, as it ftands now, is made fubjed: to Vanity, and fliall be freed from the Bondage of Corruption when the Sons of God {hall enjoy a glorious Liberty : But that this Difcourfe of the Apoftle is to be underflood of the natural World, has, I believe, in another Place been fufficiently proved. Laftly, The fame Apoftle acquaints us, that teji oikoumenen ten melloufan^ the future JVorld fall be in- habited when the Figure of this {hall have palled away , and fubjeds it to Chri{l:, as to its proper Mafter, Heb. ii. 5. i Cor. vii. 3 i. But the DifcourfQ of St. Peter, in his fe- cond general Epiftle, Chap. iii. is much more clear and open than all thefe j where he 286 Of the State of tJoe'D'EA d. he treats of this Matter diftindly, and not only afferts, that there will be new Hea- vens, and a new Earth, but likewife makes Mention of the two that precede them, and diflinguifties them into the Antedilu- vian and the Prefent. But now fince this Paffage of St. Peter feems to me to be ir- refutable and unanfwerable, befides what we have already faid fuccindly, it will be highly worth our while to dwell fomething longer upon it. The Adverfaries of this Opinion convert into Allegories whatever 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 Vn- devftanding, and no human Art, be re- folved into Allegories, or wrefied from the hteral Senfe. It is exprefly ordained, and induftrioufiy inftituted to fliew the mutable Nature of Things, and a fucceffive three- fold World ; I mean the natural World, concerning which, the Difpute was with thofe Scoffers. And it is remarkable, that by the Words Heaven and Earthy the He- brews underflood the vifible World, or the Nature of Things. ^ But let us, if you pleafe, take a View of the Words of the Apo- Of the St ATE of the Dead, 287 Apoftle relating to this Matter, {Fer. 1 1, 12, 13.) Seeing then that all thefe Thifjgs Jhall he dijjhhed^ ijohat Manner of Perjbns ought we to be in all holy Converjaticn and Godli- nefs ; looking for, afid hafting, unto the com- i?ig of the Day of God, wherein the Hea- vens being on Fire, Jhall be dijjohed, and the Elements Jhall melt with fervent Heat. Neverthelejs we, according to his Promifey look for new Heavem, and a fiew Earth, wherein Righteoufnefs fhall dwell. There are feveral Things in this Difcourfe of the Apoftle, which, compar'd with what precedes it, plainly difcover, that the Words new Heaven ajid new Earth, are confined in their Signification to the vifi- ble 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 : Secondly, The very Form, Strudure, and Context of Speech, by which this Renovation is ex- prefs'd ; and Laftly, The Time to which it relates. All thefe are as fo many Witnefifes, which prove that the Apoftle here fpeaks of material and real, and not imaginary and allegorical Earth, and Heavens. As for the firft Proof of this, the fame Didtion, or the fame Manner of fpeaking, no lefs than twice 288 Of fbe St ATE of the Dead. twice occurs to us fn this very Chapter. In the jBfth Verfe of it we have, the Earth and the Heavejis 'which formerly ivere, or which are pafl, that is to fay, the Antedi- luvian World. In the feventh Verfe we have, the Earth and the Heavens uhich now are, that is, which are prefent to us, or the Poft-diluvian Word. Laftly, in the thir- teenthVerfe we find, the ?iew Heavens and the new Earth, that are to come, that is, after the Conflagration. But now fmce, by the Confent of all, the Heavens and the Earth, both in the fifth, and the feventh Verfe, are to be undeftood literally of the material and natural Frame and Strudlure of the Earth and the Heavens, I would fain know by what Right or by what Rule of inter- preting, Vy-e can be juftiiied in wrefting the very fame Words, or the very fame Ex- preffion, in the fame Chapter, in the fame Context, in the Continuation of the farne Argument, to a foreign Signification ? So that by the firft and fecond PafTage we un- derltand the natural World ; but a figura- tive and allegorical World by the third Paflage ; and this without the leafl Mark from the Author, that he has chang'd his Style, or at leafl Neceflity on the Part of the Subjedt Matter. But Of the St ATE of the Deat>. 289 But now fecondly, the Form of this Difcourfe, and the Manner by which it is coherent with and dependant on what yrt- cedes it, both equally teftify the lame Thing. After the Apoftle had d^fcrihed the Burning of the prefent World, he adds. But, or jieverthelefs we expcB ne-w H avcns, and a new Earth. He fubrtiiute., thefe new Heavens and this new Ear*-^' in Jie Room of thofe that were burnt a:. 5 perifh- ed. Thefe, then, mufl be of th- hme Kind with thofe that periflied, that \^ to fay, material, and not allecrorical, vvnich is the fame Thing as if the Ap.jllie had faid, tho' the prefent Heavens and the prefent Earth mull one .Day peridi, as we have already .explained to you ; yet here will not be an abfolute End, (which perhaps you may fufpedt) but only a Renovation of all Things ; for we expect, according to the Promife which we have received from God, that other Heavens, and another Earth, in which the Righteous fliall dwell, will fuc- ceed thofe which are now. But thirdly, and laflly, 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 under- ftood any Evangelical Renovation, (as our O o ailego- 290 Of the ^T ATT, of the Dead. allegorical Adverfaries are pleafed to affert,) or any other in this Life. And thefe Ar- guments, unlefs I am miftaken, prove un- anfwerable, that the Heavens and Earth, in this Difcourfe of the Apoftle, are to be taken, kata kuriolexian according to the genuine Force of the Words, and the ma- nifeft Nature of the Thing. * Thefe Things being thus laid dovi^n and granted, let this be the firft Conclufion drawn from them, '^hat the natural Worlds or the Heave^is^ and the Earthy will be re- newed after the Conflagration: And then let this be the fecond Conclulion to be prov- ed by what is to follow, T^hat the Millenni- um^ or the Millennian Kingdom of Chriji is to be celebrated in the World renewed^ or the Renovation -of Earth ajid Hea'uen. The Millennian Kingdom of Chrift was efleemed an orthodox Dodrine by the pri- * We very juftly accufe the Socivians of their unfair and perverfe Interpretation, in wrelling what St. jfohn fays, in the Beginning of his Gofpel, about the natural World, into a moral and allegorical Senle : But they who, in the pre- fent Cafe, *** fall into the very fame Error, are equally culpable, whilft they interpret what St. Peter fo plainly fays of the material World, as though he had meant it of a Hioral and allegorical one. For I will be bold to affirm, that St. yobn, in the Beginning of his Gofpel, does not more clearly or diftindlly intend the natural World, than St. Peter does here^ when he fpealis of new Heavens and s new Earth. Of the St AT "E of the T>Y. AH. 291 primitive Chriftians, and continued for a while unpolluted, and for that Reafon un- controverted : But when the more modern Millennaries had partly corrupted this Doc- trine, and partly fasv lefs clearly into it, who placed the Seat of this Kingdom in the prefent Earth, and its Felicity in the prefent Life ; and when this Error had gi- ven a Handle to warm and fanatick Spirits, puff 'd up with a groundlefs Hope, of rai- ling great Difturbances in the Church, which gave Offence to the Good and the Wife ; this innocent and orthodox Dod:rine began to lofe its Reputation with many, and is, even to this Day, in Ibme Meafiire, inviduous. Wherefore, that we may find a Remedy for this Mifchief, it will be worth our while briefly to unfold what the antient Fathers determined concerning this Matter i and when and where they believed that this Kingdom would be. As to the Point itfelf, v/e have already, in another Place, if I am not very much miflaken, proved from the Writings of the Prophets and the Apoflles, that there will be, one Day, a Millennian Kingdom of Chrifl upon Earth, either the Earth which we have at prefent, or the new one which will fucceed it : And the mofl antient Fa- thers, of almoft all Nations, are produced Oca a^ 292 Of the St AT "E. of the "D-E An. as Witneffes in this Caufe. Many Gre- cians^ and likwife Latins and Africans. In jhis Nannber are chiefly Papias^ the Hieropolitan Bifliop, Jifin Martyr, and the Reviver or Enlarger of the Sibyllim Verfes before the Time of Jnftin ; the Writer of the Epiftle that goes under the Name of St. Barnaby Irenccus, Melito of Sardis, Methcdius: Befides thefe, there are ^ertiiUian, and St. Cyprian, his Difciple, Af- ricans : Then there is Nepos, the Egyptian Bifhop, and ViSlorinus and Lablantiiis, I^afir^ All thefe hved within the third Century, while the Apoilolick * Doctrine yet remained entire and uncorrupted. And of thefe Fathers there are fome, who do not only declare that this is their own Opi- nion, but the Opinion of the whole Church that was contemporary with them, and of all others v/ho had right Sentiments with Regard to the Chriftian Faith ; nay, fome of them do no doubt to affirm, that this Do6:rine defcended traditionally from St. 'Johii and the other Apoflles. But befides thefe exprefs Teftimionies which offer themfelves naturally the firfl in the Caufe before us, there are other Argu- ments * See rhe Place of GeniwJha. The Treatife of T^chonius is in B. B. P. P. and in Oithsdo^cgej;. Of the St AT E of the Deab. 293 ments and Proofs that are founded on the Hiilory of thofe Times, which manifeftly fhew that this Dodrine of the Kingdom, for fo it was formerly called, was efteemed a Chriftian Do6lrine ; and that, as well by the Heathens as ours. By the Heathens, I fiy, who dreaded that King whom the Chriftians expected fhould come; whom, therefore, they accufed of Ambition, or of fpreading the Seeds of Sedition, and of be- lieving that they fhould one Day obtain a Kingdom upon Earth. The forementioned yuftin, in the Apology which he made for the Chriftians to Antoninus Pius, has thele Words, which manifeftly relate to this very Matter : Tjneis akoufantes Bafileias profdokontas emas, akritos anthropinoji le- gein emas iipeilephcite, emon ten meta Theou legonton, &c. Ton hearing it faid that we expeSf a Kingdom, believe that we are fool- ijh enough to mean a human Kingdom, whereas we intend fuch a one in which "u-e are to reign together with God : For where- as the Chriftians were wont to exhort one another to fuffer Death with a dauntlels Spirit, becaufe they who were Martyrs in the Caufe of Chrift were to have the En- joyment of this Kingdom : The Heathens underftood by this Kingdom, in the piefent J^ite, as if the Chriftians were attempting fome- 294 Of the St AT Y, of the Y^y, ad. fomething again ft the Roman Empire, or entertained a Belief that they fhould become the Lords of it. To whom fiiftin^ in the following Words, returns a very proper Anfwer : Siiice we fiiffer Deaths in the Caufe of Chriftj %i,ith fo ch'earful a Spirit ^ it is manifejiy that either we have ?io Hope of a Kingdom in this Life^ or that we rajh- ly or Joolijlly throw away that Hope, and deflroy it together with Life. Befides, the fame Thing is proved by the Ads of Domitian: For as Herod, af- ter Chrift was born, was afraid he fhould take his Kingdom from him, by Reafon of a Report among the Jews, that the Meffiah, whom at that Time they expeded, would reftore the Kingdom to Ijrael ; fo after- wards Domitian che Emperor, as the Hifto- rians relate, caufcd all to be deftroyed that iprung from the Root of David-, and caufed the Relations of Chrift to be ex- amined, 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 Dif- courfes and Books of the Chriftians con- cern- Of the St ATE of the Dead. 295 cerning the Kingdom of Chrifl that was one Day to be upon Earth.* 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 Deady that they might * Our Saviour never deny'd (though he had many Op- portunities offered him of denying it) that he was a King, or that he fliould have a Kingdom. [See Luke xxiii. A3s xvii. 7.] He faid indeed, to Pilate, when he asked him, whether he was the King of the yenvs, that ^is Kingtbm ivas not of thh World ', which is true enough; for in the World the Wicked, Satan, and Antichrift reign ; but when thefe his Enemies (hall be deftroyed, and the World renewed, in that new World he {hall reign, together with his Saints. Chriit deny'd the Sons of Zebedee the firft Se^ts in his Kingdom, but never difowned the Kingdom itfclf : So likewife when his Difciples asked him about the Time of his Kingdom, Jcis i. 6. He did not think pro- per, it is true, to inform them as to that very Point, buc neither does he deny that he was to have a Kingdom fome Time. But that Chrift, as well as they that propofed the Thing to him, underftood it of the terreilrial,_^„aHd not the celeftial etecnal Kingdom, appears from tholejgarthly and temporal good Things, en te palinge-nefia. M^tt. .xix. 1 8. (which Words, we have before obferved, denote the Renovation of the World.) And at his laft Supper he tells them, That he ^juould not drink of the fuice of the Vine till he drank ■ it nexo 'voith them in the Kingdotn of his Father, Matt. xxvi. 29. And at the fame Time he fays, Luke xxii, 29, 30. / appoint unto ycu a Kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may cat and drink at my 'Ta- ble in my Kiirgdom. In Heaven there is no eating or drink- ing ; and altiio' thole WorJ.s are fometimes ufed meta- phorically, yet we mull keep clofe to the primary Sig- nification of all Words, uniefs Neceility obliges us to give them another Signification, which is not the Cafe here. 296 Of the Sr ATE of theT>-EA d. might have a Part in the firft Refurredlion. That Prayers and Oblations for the Dead were for fome Ages in Ufe, as we obferved above, is to me indubitable ; not that this was done always with the fame Defign, nor that they always in their Supplications defired the fame Favours and the fame Be- nefits for the Souls of the Departed : That they might enjoy Peace and Reft, and be free from the extream Violence of the tor- turing Fires, that they might quickly rife again, and have a Part in the firft Refur- rediion. This was the Sum of their Pray- ers. The laft of thefe is plainly exprelled by lertulliatty when in thefe Words he de- fcribes the Duty of a pious Wife towards her departed- Husband: She prays for his Soul; and in the mean T'ime defires RefreJJo- ment for him, and a Share Jor hijn in the firji ReJiirreBion. And in another Place he efteems the Delay of the Refurre6tion to be inftead of a Punilhment for the Expia- tion of lighter Faults. Nor were the Prayers unlike to thele, which St. Ambroje^ in his Funeral Oration for Valentinian the Second, put up to God for the two Bro- thers, Gratian and VaJentiiiian, fnatch'd from the World by an untimely Death. He ends the Oration with thefe Words : 1 befeech thee^ Almighty God, that thcu ivoiiidjL Of the ^T AT -E of the Ti -EAT). 297 wouldft raife up thefe tivo Touths, who were dear and amiable to me, and to all who knew them, by a timely KefurreSiion, and that thou would/i recompenfe their untimely Death by an early Refurredlion. And in another Place, purfuing the fame 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 Got hick Liturgy, * this Form of publick Prayers is prefcribed ; I'hat 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 firft Re- furre&ion, through J ejus 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 Vifion ; and when before that Time they expedied the firft Refurredlion, and the Kingdom of Chrift i and efteemed the Enjoyment of that as the firft Degree of Beatitude they put up Prayers to God that this State, that this Refurredion migiit be granted to thole that were fallen afleep in the Lord, as a P p Pledge * Confult other Liturgies, Mofarah and Amhofe, or hal\ See Daille de pa:n. p. 513. p. ult. 59^ Of the S T,A,T Y. of- theVi^K d. pledge of their future Glory, and a Sort of Incitation into celeftial Life. But enough of this: For there is no Oc- qafion to fay any more of a Thing that is l^nown and granted j for they v/ho are mofl converfant in the Writings of the Antients, or of modern and living Authors, though they are not of the Party of the Millenna- yies 5 yet they acknowledge, that this Doc- trine of the Kingdom of Chrift upon Earth, Was very much received in the firfl Ages of the Church. But in what Earth, the pre- fent, or the future, this Millennian King- dom of Chrifl is to be erected, 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 prefent Earth. But this Belief of theirs, if I am not extreamly miftaken, is neither agreeable to the Senfe of the An- tients, nor to the Senfe of facred Scripture ; nor Laftly, to the Nature of the Thing it- felf: As to thofe antient Millennaries, whofe Writings are flill remaining, they all of them fpeak of the Renovation of the natural World to be accomplifhed upon the coming of Chrift. Jiiflin mentions it more than once in his Dialogue with Tr)'- pho : And places the Millennium in the new and re-eftabliftied ferufakm^ quoting to Of ^'S T A f E of tbe Dead'. 29^ to that Purpofe the Words of the Prophets concerning the new Heavens and the new Earth. Then (p. 369.) he calls that Earthy in' which the Saints, together with Chrift, are to vGigii^'lfm ton agioH gen^ l^he Land of the Sdifits. Arid he attributes no lefs to Chriil: ten kainoiirgefin^ the Keno'uatioii^ the fVorld, ihiaw the firft Formationr of th^ World itfelf, /. 340. v /.. . It is after the fame Manner that Irehh^'Ui joins the Renovation of Nature with th& Times of the Kingdom. "The foremention-^ ed BenediBion, fays he, which is the Pro- mife that was made to Jacob concerning the Fertility of the Earth, belongs undoubt^ edly to the Times of the Kingdom^ when the yu/i flmll rife from the Dead and reign 5 and whe?i the Creature renewed and freed from its original Cur/e, Jhall bring forth abundantly 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 fo onward to the End of the Book. The following Words of haSiantim feem to have the fame Tendency : For God will come, fays he, to cleanfe this Globe from all its Pollution, and to raife up the reviving Souls of the Juft, infifed into new P p 2 Bodies^ 300 0/ tbe Sr ATE of the Dead. Bodies, to the Enjoyment of eternal Felicity. Laftly, if we may believe Gelafius of Cyzi- cum, the Nicene Fathers were of the fame Opinion, and placed the Kingdom of Chrift and the Righteous, upon the new Earth in thefe Words: Kainous ouranous iaj kainen gen profdokomen, kata iera grammata phainomenes emin tes epiphaneias kai Bajileias tou megalou T'heou kai Jbteros emon Jefou Chrijlou, &c. We expe£f new JleavenSy and a Jtew Earth, according to the facred Writings, -a hen the illuftrious Prefence and the Kingdom of our great Cod, and our Saviour fefus Chriji Jhall appear to us. And then, as faith Daniel, (Chap. vii. i8.) the Saints f^all receive the Kingdom of the moft high ; and the Earth /hall be pure, righteous, holy ; the Earth of the Living, and not of the Dead -, which David forefeeing by the Eyes of Faith, cries out, (Pfal. xxvii. 13.) I had fainted unlefs I had believed I fhould fee the Good- nefs of the Lord in the Land of the Living, the Land of the Meek and Humble. Blef- fed are the Meek, fays Chrift, for they foall inherit the Earth. And, fays Ifaiah, the Feet of the Meek and Humble fhall tread upon it. You fee, that according to thefe Fathers, the Seat of the Millennium will be in the new Heavens, and the new Earth ; and Of the St ATE of the "Dead. gaf and confequently, according to the Opinion of the anient Millenaries, that blell'ed Or- der of Things is not to be expedted before the Renovation of the World. I muft confefs the Antients do not al- ways agree concerning the Order of the Conflagration and Renovation of the World, which fhould precede, and which (hould follow. Tertullian feems to make the Conflagration follow the Renovation; but erroneoufly. And he might eafily have correded his Error from the Words of St. Peter, who, the Heavens and Earth be- ing burnt, has new Heavens and a new Earth immediately 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 fome vehement Concuflion or Conflagration, which fhould deftroy the Race of Men, efpecially, if, according to the Idea of St. John, Revel, xxi. i. the new Earth ihould have a new Form, and the new habitable World fliould be without a Sea. And this, perhaps, may give Oc- calion to many to err, becaufe there is to be a twofold Mutation of the World, one at the Beginning and the other at the End of the Millenniumi when the Earth and the Heavens (hall fly away, and their Place ihall ^02 Of the St ATE of the D e A i>. fhall be found no more. But this Flight of the Earth and the Heavens, and the defert- ing their antient Place, which is to be at the End of • the Millenniam, is by no Means to be underftood of the con^mon Conflagration, but of fome more remarka- ble Change, fuch as at the End of the Mil- lennium will accrue to the Bodies of the Saints which will then be tranfported into celeftial Regioils. But thefe Things by the Way : Let us proceed in what we defigned ; and let us hSw fee upon what Earth, whether the prefent or the future, the facred Authors place that Kingdom in which Chrift is to reign together with his Saints. St. fohn (Rev. xxi. I, 2.) faw new Heavens and a new Earth ; then he faw the holy City, or the new fenifalem^ defcending from the Heavens, that is to fay, into that new Earth, for whether could it elfe defcend? But it is plain, from the foregoing Chapter, that the holy City, (the fame with the be- loved City,) is the Kingdom of Chrift, or the Metropolis of that Kingdom, and con- fequently that the Prophet faw the King- dom of Chrift defcending upon the new Earth, upon which it was to have its Seat. Befides, the whole Series of the Apoca- lyptick Vifions, ajid the Length of Time in Of the State 0/ ^^^ Dead. 303 in which they are contained, leave no Room for the Millennium, and the Things that moil go before it, within the Limits of this prefent World. I really believe that this World will not at moft, remain a thou- land Years from this prefent Time: And if any Faith is to be given to that Prophecy of the Jews relating to the fix thou fan d Years appointed by God for ihe Duration of the World, (which Prophecy not a few of the Chriflian Fathers have comiC into) there cannot be above five hundred Years from hence to the End of all Things. But 10 dwell no longer upon this: It is however appa- rent that the fiypothelis of the more mo- dern Millenaries requires too much Time for the remaining Duration of theWoild, if we calculate according to St. jfohji in his Re-velatioiis : For according to that pro- phetick Syftem, many Things remain to be prepared and accomplifhed before the Kingdom of Chrift and the Saints can be- gin. The Reign of the Saints is not to be- gin 'till Antichrift is utterly dtftroyed, and Satan bound : But many Things are to precede the Deflrudion of Antichrift, which vve have not feen accornplilhed. The Witneffes have not rifen nor afcended: The third Part of the Citv has not fallen : The fecond Woe is not pail ^ nor the third be- 304 Of the St AT E of the ^Dt^ ad. begun. All which we are told in the ele- venth Chapter of the Revelations, aretocome to pafs before the Deftrudtion of Antichrift. 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 fuUow from hence to the twencieth Chapter, where the Kingdom of Chrift begins, re- main to be put in Execution againft An- tichrift, to diminifh, and at length utterly abolifh his Kingdom, and to prepare the Theatre of the Earth for the glorious Ap- pearance of Chrift. But how much Time will be required for the Accomplifhment of all thefe in their Order, I hardly dare fb much as conjedure. But let that Time be longer or {l:iorter, it muft necelTarily pre- cede the blefTed Age of the Millennium, and make the Age of the World extend fo much the farther. But as in the Accomplifhment of thefe Things, no fmall Time will elapfe ; fo ac- cording to the fame Revelation, thefe Things being accomplifhed, the End of the Woi4d immediately follows 5 nor is there Time or Space enough left for a thou- fand Years of Happinefs to intervene. As foon as the feventh Trumpet hath founded, the Time is faid to be at Hand, or prefent, of Of the St AT "E of the "D-EAxi. 305 of judging the Dead, and confequently the End of the World j for before that Time, the Dead are not to be judged. In hke Manner, the Beaft being overcome, , is • thrown into the Lake of burning Sulphur (Chap. xix. 20.) which feems to me to de- note the Conflagration of the World, if it is compared with the Vilions of Daniely (Chap. vii. 2.) and the Dodtrine of St.. Paul. 2 Thefs. i. 8. and ii. 8. The Epocha of the Kingdom of Chrifl,' and his Saints, is every where in Scripture (hewn by this Mark, that it is, joined w^ith 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 convince us, that \hat Kingdom is not to be expeded in this Life, or in the prefent Age. But let us, if you pleafe, compare a little the PafTages concerning this Matter of the Prophets Daniel and St. JohfZ, In the forementioned feventh Chapter of Daniel, from Verfe the Ninth to the End, the fitting of the Judgment is often repeat- ed, either as previous to the Kingdom of the Saints, or in Conjunction with it, Ver. 22. when the antient of Days fliall come. Judgment, together with the Kingdoms, (hall be deliver'd to the Saints. Then the Judgment being fet, Ver, 26, 27. The. Q_q King^: 3o6 Of the St AT t: of the Dead. Kingdom and Dominion^ and the Greainefs of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven jhall be given to the People of the Saints of the mo/i high. After the fame Manner St. John treads in the Footfteps of Daniel in this Matter, as he is wont to do in others 3 not only becaufe, being about to paint the Millennium, he firft caufes the Judgment Seats to be placed in the Twentieth Chapter, Ver. 4. but becaufe before in the Eleventh Chapter, as we obferved above, he had connected the Time of judging the Living and the Dead, with the Time of the Reign and Dominion of Chrift and the Saints. As foon as the feventh Trumpet had founded, it was proclaicned with a loud Voice in Heaven. Chap. xi. 15. The King- doms of this World are become the Kingdom of our Lordy and oj his Chrift^ and he (Jmll reign for ever and ever. And immediately afterwards, the appointed T^ime is come that the Dead fiould be judged^ and that thou fhouldfi give Reward to thy Servants the Prophets, and to thy Saifits, and to them that fear thy Name. Ver. 18. And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was feen in his Temple the Ark of his Te ft anient, &c. Ver. 19. It is manifeft, that here the Prophet re- prefents both the Kingdom and the Times of 0/ the St ATE of the Dead, 307 of the Kingdom, as the Antients exprefs themfelves : And this Idea anfwers in both its Parts to the Defcription of the fame Kingdom in the Prophet Daniel^ both as to the Dominion given to the Saints, and the Time of that Dominion, that is, whei; the Dead are to be judged ; which folemn Time, when it is not to arrive before the End of the World, neither will the bleiTed Millennium begin before that Time, ac- cording to thefe facred Oracles ; and then as for the lafl Part of the Defcription, of the Temple opened, 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 Sanc^ turn SanBoruniy and which will appear ftill more illuftrious in the Kingdom of Chrift, and the blefled Millennium of which we are now fpeaking, as will be explained be- low. To thefe Remarks and Calculations of the Prophets, concerning the Times of the Kingdom, confonant are the Words of Chrift, when he joins ten falingenefian, and the Judgment Seffion together, Matt. xix. 29. Tou^ fays he, who have followed me^ en te palingenefia^ in the Regeneration and Renovation of Things, when the Son of Man jliall fit upon the 'Throne of bis Glory ^ Q^q 2 you 3oS Of the S T A T E 0/ the Dead. you aljb fi all fit upon twelve T^hrones^ p^^g" ing the twelve bribes of Ifrael : And who- ever fjall leave Houfe, &c. Here the judici- al Pomp, you fee is exprefs'd : But that Chrift fpeaks here of his Millennian King- dom, there are two Things that difcover : The firft is, that both the foremen tioned Prophets introduce this Kingdom after the fame Manner that 'tis introduced by Chrift, as is manifeft by what went before. The fe- cond is, that Chrift marks and points to his Renovation, for the Time an(^ Place in which. Reward and Retribution fhall 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 fame State ; the Time is come of judging the Dead, and rendering Reward to thy Servants. Thus the facred Writers agree in marking out the Time. in which the Beginning of the Millennium is deferr'd 'till the End of the World. But fo riduch concerning the Time of the future Millennium : Let us now return to its Seat, which we have placed in the new Heavens and the new Earth ; accord- ing to the Vifions feen by St. John. And after the fame Manner the Prophet Ifaiah^ Chap. Ixv. "ver, 17, ^c. after he had faid that Of the ^T AT ^ of the "D -EAT). 309 that God would make new Heavens, and a new Earth, and a triumphant 'Jerufalem^ immediately fubjoins to them a new Order of Nature, and a joyful, a pacifick, and a happy State of Man -, by which he repre- ients to us the Kingdom of the Juft, and the Felicity of that Kingdom; which I fpeak the more confidently, and the more confidently thus interpret, when I fee St. Feter affigning the new Heavens and the new Earth, which the Prophets have pro- mifed as a Seat and a Habitation to the Juft to dwell in, which cannot be conceived or explained any other Way than of the King- dom of which v/e are fpeaking. Laftly, Befides thefe prophetick Ex- preffions, by which the Kingdom of Chrift is joined with the new Heavens and the new Earth, exprefly or implicitly, the fame may be proved by the Time of the coming of Chrift to his Kingdom, which the Mtllen- niariam 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 Re- novation of all Things; and by Confequencc the Millennium will not begin before die fame Term of Time. Apokataflafis pmi^ ton and palingenefia denote the Renovation of the Worlds but before thefe two, the coming 3 JO Of /^^ S T A T E of the D-EAD. coming of Chrift will not be. The firft of thefe we are taught by St. Peter fully and perlpicuoufly in his Sermon oi A£is iii. zu When he lays concerning Chrift, JVhom the Heavens mujl receive 'till the 'Time of the Reftitution of all Things^ which God bath fpoken by the Mouth of all his holy Prophets fince the World began. In like Manner, as to the other, Chrift himfelf has appointed his coming, by which he is torecompenfe thofe, who, for his Sake, have jfufFered Evil in this prefent Life, en te pa- lingenefa^ in the Regeneration^ Matt. xix. 28, 29. which we have ftiewn above, by the Things that are joined with it, is to be underftood of his Kingdom in the World renew'd ; when, like a King, or a mighty Conqueror, he (hall diftribute the Spoils and the Trophies, and the great Rewards which follow the Peace that is at laft ob- tain'd, to his Soldiers and his faithful Ser- vants, who bore all the Heat, and fuftain'd all the Fury and the Danger of the War: Nor does this Promife only regard the En- joyment of Heaven and eternal Glory, when it mentions temporal and external Goods befides eveilafting Life. And the Difcourfe of St. Paul, Heb. ii. 5, 6. is exactly agreeably to this, when he fubjeds to Chrift^ as to its King, the future habita- ble Of the St ATE of the Deat>. 311 ble World, fen * oikoumenen ten melloufan^ or Q7^y t*^Un> + ^^ ^^^ Hebrews ex- prefs themfelves, which they likewife fub- je is either taken largely for the Times of the Meffiah in general, or more particularly for the Time of the Meffiah's Reign. In this laft confin'd and more proper Senfe it is diftin. XXV. 8. a.nd Chap. xxix. 45, 46. and Chap. xl. 35. a.nd Deut, xxxiii. 16. So much for the Word j but what is the Thing you ask: Schechinah in a large Ex- tent, is us'd to Iignify any remarkable Effed: of the divine Prefence j but in a more confin'd Signification, 'tis us'd to ex- press the divine Prefence under fome Ap- pearance or vifible Sign ; and in the ftridefl Senfe of all, to fignify the majeflick Pre- fence of God, in fome refplendent, fiery, or flaming Matter, as in the fiery Bufh he ■appear'd to Mojes, ( Exod. iii. 2. Deut. xxxiii. 16.) and to the Ifraelites in the Wildernefs in the Pillar of Fire, or the cloudy Pillar, [Exod. xiii. 21, 22. Num, xiv. 14.) Upon Mount Si?2ai, [Exod. xix, 18. and xxiv. 15, 16, 17, &c. xxxiii. 18, 'gi, and Deut, xxxiii. 2.) Before the Ta- bernacle. 326 Of the St AT -E of the T^E A jy. bernacle, Exod, xxv. 8. and xl. 34, 35. Lev. xvi. 2. Num. ix. 15. and in the SanSium SanBorzim after the Temple was built, I Kings vm. 10, 11. 2 Chron.vn. And it is fuch a majeftick Schechinah'^^ that we here underftand, and that we ex- pert in that Age to come. And it confifls, as you fee, of two Parts, the Material and the Spiritual. The iirfl: is wont to be in fome Meafure lucid, or of a Colour whitifh ; as the Light itfelf, Fire, ^ther. Cloud, or whitifh Snioak. And this -f- lucid Sub- fiance is believed by Abarbinele, to be al- ways one and the fame, that is to fay, that very primogenial Light which God created in the Beginning, that very Light he ufes as a Vehicle, whenever he would render himfeif confpicuous. But however, that is, the principal Query is concerning the other Part, viz. what that fpiritual Sub- ftance is, that lies under that fubtle and re- fukent Matter. That beft and moil learn- ed Man, Jofeph Mede^ is of Opinion, that the Angels were always under the Schechi- nah ; and that there was no other Prefence or divine Epiphany, but the Angelical only, under the Name of God 3 that; other wife God * See a Paffage about the Schichinah in Whithy de Deit. Chriji. p. 57- f The Biihop of Elj takes Notice of this, p. 9. Of the St ATE of the Dead, 327 God himfelf is faid to be every where equal- ly prefent ; but that he is faid to be efpeci- ally prefent where the angelical Guard ap- pears. I can verily believe that an angelick Guard is not wanting to the Schechinab, but a Guard, over which fome very illuftri- ous Commander of furpafling Brightnels prefides. Juftin Martyr^ * Irenaus -f-, I'erful- lian J, and feveral other Fathers were of Opinion, ton logon^ that the Word was un- der the Schechinahj in all the Appearances that are mentioned in the antient Covenant. The Jews in general, and of the Chriftian Fa- • In Apolog. 2. p. 95, 96. and in Dialog, am Trxplon. p. 341, 342. and p. 356, 357. and frequently in other Places, f Lib. iv. c. 17, 23, 37. X AdEAT>, late to it, or to form any Hypothefis, in which fo many and fuch different QuaHties and Characters may meet and concur, as are to be found in the two lafl: Chapters of this wonderful Prophecy j and this likewife augments the Difficulty, which, and how many of thefe Charaders are to be inter- preted literally, and which figuratively, and comparatively. 'Tis the common Opinion, that the Chriftian Church is reprefented tri- umphant in the Idea of this glorious City.* And that principally for this Reafon ; be- caufe the N^mes of the twelve Apoflles are faid to be infcribed upon its Founda- tion, Ver. 14. and upon its Gates the Names of the twelve Tribes of Ifraely Ver. 12. By which Title and Name, and true People of God is wont to be defcribed in the Revelations. Lailly, this City is elegantly called by the Angel, Sponfa agni, the Bride of the Lamb, Ver. 9. and 10. But when they affert, that the Church trium.phant is here reprefented, my Opi- nion is, that we ought to underftand the Church triumphant upon Earth, or in the new Heavens and the new Earth, which the Prophet faw but a little before : And he faw * The Prophet Dai'id lik-wife feems to have an Eye to this futute State, in P/alm. xvii. 15. fee D. Ten. p. 366. Of tbeSr ATE of the Dead. 335 faw likewife this holy City defcending from Heaven, Fer. 2, and 10. that is a City confifting of thofe Saints who were rais'd up upon the firft Refurred:ion. Nor is there, ftridtly and properly fpeaking, any triumphant Church in the Heavens, either before or after the Refurredion. Before the Refurredlion, we have no Evidence that the Saints are in a vifible State, or a Society viiible : But that their Souls are repofited with God, and that they live alone to him. But after the Refurredlion, I mean the univerfal Refurre<5lion, when Chrift (hall have delivered iiis Kingdom into 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 Obje(5lion to this Opinion, that that City is called the celertial or the upper yerufakm ; for fo it is called, becaule it will defcend from Heaven, or will come from above, Chrift defcending together with it, as the Prophet more than once declares i and that it will confift of thofe who have their Share in the firft Refur- redion. That illuftrious Society, which is de- fcribed by St. Paul in his Epiftle to the Hebreivs^ though it fuits fomething better with the Chriftian Difpenfation, than with that 33^ Of the St ATE of the Dead. that of the Law ; yet can it be juflly and properly apply 'd to no Militant Church : For when it is called by him the City of Gody and the celejlial Jerufalem, we muft neceflarily conclude it to be the lame with that which is mentioned anddefcribed by St. fohiy though fome Things of another Or- der, according to the Manner of that Au- thor, feem to be mingled with it. Cer- tainly they who have their Part in the firfl Refurredlion, conftitute pa77egurin kai ekk- lefan prototogoii en oiiranois apogegramme- 7ion^ the Church and the Coiigregation of the Fir (Inborn of thofe whofe Names are writ in Heaven : And they are not yet dikaioi tete- leiotnefioiy pcrfeSlly jufl in every Senfe and Manner ; yet are they initiated into celeftal Life, the Candidates of Eternity, and the very next Heirs to Heaven and confummate Glory.* And * A Digrcjficn ccncernir.g the State of the Jews itj the Millennium, or the future Ki?igdom of the Meffah. And here occurs a celebrated QuelHon, W'hat Place the "Jen-vs will have in the Kingdom of the A'leffiah ? It muft be own'd, that the Promifes were firft made to the Jciajs, as well of the Meffiah, as of die Mcfliah's Kingdom ; and that their Canaan, or Land of Promife, was a Type of the new Land, and of the Kingdom of Chrift himfelf. And St. Paul has told us, that the Seed of Abrahatn (hould be Lleirs of the World, inz. of the World to come j for they are not fo of the prefent. Befides, as Chrift was upon coming into the World, the Angel fays to Mary, The Lord God pall gi-vt unto him the Ihnne of hit Father David. And Of the St AT "E of the D e A d. 337 And from thence we are brought to what we believed ought in the fecond Place to be obferv'd concerning the King- dom of Chrifl and his Saints, viz. That in that Kingdom, there will be, with Regard to this Earth, a Confummation of the Chri- ftian Religioji^ and of divine Providence. U u The JrJ he Jhall reign o'ver the Houfe of Jacob for enjery and of his Kingdom there (hall be no End, Luke i. 32, 33. But this Kingdom at prefent is not in his, but in Mahomet's Pofleffion. Add to this, the Prophets over and over pro- mife the Je^s a Reftoration j not only from the Bahylonijh Captivity, but a new Glory, and a happy Eitate, fuch as they never enjoyed before. The Prophet Ifaiah too. Chap. Ixv. 17, l^c. Ixvl. 22. defcribes a new Earth and new Heavens, in which they were to enjoy all this Happinefs. And other Prophets under different Charaders, have marked out this fame State. And Laftly, St. John in his Reatelatiotts, always mentions the fe^s, either plainly or indiredlly, whenever he is de- fcribing the Kingdom of Chrift, or his future Glory. From their Converfion he begins his Prophecy ; Behold he Cometh nxith the Clouds, and e'very Eye Jhall fee him, and they alfo ivhich pierc'd him ; and all the Kingdoms of the Earth /hall tvail before him. Then when the Throne of Chrifl is defcrib'd. Chap. iv. 4. and the four and twenty Elders Handing, the JeiJis are joined there with the Chri- ftians, ;. e. twelve Apoftles with twelve Patriarchs, or Heads of Tribes, of the Je^s. As afterwards, tie Foundation of the r\t\v Jeru/alem are the holy Apoftle , but on the Gates are wrote the Names of the twelve Tribes of Ifrael. Likewife in the eighth Chapter when the Serv'ants of God are fign'd, the i ribes of Ifrael are fign'd firft, and afterwards an innumerable Multitude of all Nations, Tribes, People, and Languages ; and in Chap 338 Of the St ATE of tbe Dead. The Chriftian Religion, indeed, will re- main in the new Heavens and the new Earth, under Chrift its Head ; but exceed- ly alter'd, as well with Regard to external Worfhip, as the Sandtity of the Souls of its Subjedls. And that which ought to out- Ihine either, there will be a more clear, a more Chap. xiv. I . thofe 144000 are numbered again Handing in Mount Sion with the Lamb. Add to this, when at the feventh Trumpet the King- dom of Chrift was come, the four and twenty Elders worfhip before him that fits upon the Throne, and fay. That the lime of the Dead is come, that they Jhould he judgd and that thou (hould'Ji gi^e Renxard unto thy Servants the Prophets, and to the Saints, and them that fear thy Name, Small and Great ; and Jhculdfi defray them ^j:hich defray the Earth. Then the Temple of God was open'd in Hea- ven, and there ^cvas feen in the Temple the Ark of his Tefa- inent. The Ark of the Teftament is the Monument of the Covenant entered into with Abraham and the Je^s, which God had promifed he would remember for ever, as an evprlafting Covenant that was to endure for ever. And that by this Token Chrift teftifies that he did not forget his Covenant and antient People^ but that he would bring them with him to be Partakers of his Kingdom, * * * * Not unlike to this, in the fifteenth Chapter, be- fore the Phials of his Wrath were poured out, when the Saints had fung the Song of Mofes, and the Song of the Lamb, the Temple of the Tabernacle of Teftimony was opened in Heaven, to fignify the divine Prefence, as for- merly at the going out of Egpyt, and afterwards in the Tabernacle, where the Tables of the Law were kept ; and (o the Je'ws fall in with Chriftians, and both make up one Church. Again, in the laft Chapter of this Prophecy Ave find many Paffages in Favour of the Je1^:s. In the eighteenth Chap. OffbeSrATE oftheDEAD. 339 more full, and a more diftindt Revelation of the Truth, than what we enjoy in this prefent Life. Religion, together with Mankind, makes a gradual Progrefs to Pu- rity and Perfedtion, and the Religion of Nature is the Foundation of every Religion that is inftituted, from which all particular Uu 2 Dif- Ck^p. Ver. 20. the Apoftles are joined with the Prophets triumphing with the Lamb over the Beaft, and praifmg God : And in the feventh Verfe of the following Chapter a Bride is prepared for the Lamb, cloathed with the Righteoufnefs of the Saints. I am not ignorant that this Wife of the Lamb's is held, by fome, to be the Chriftiatt Church only, feparate from the yenvijh, when in Coa- ftantitie's Time, the Roman Empire became Chriftian. But this is the Opinion of thofe who did not expeft or believe any thing of the Converfion of the "Jenus ; an Opi- nion contrary to the exprefs Words of Chrifl and St. Paul, and of many of the Prophets ; contrary to the Defign and Tenour of the Jpocahipfe, which terminates in the Union of the Je^vi/h and Chriftian Churches in the Kingdom of Chrift ; that Chrift may be the Shepherd of both Flocks, King of both People ; that the Gentiles and Je^s may be collefted under one Head, united into one Body. Laftly, when this earthly Difpenfation arrives to its Perfeftion, when all Things fhall be reftored, and Nature renewed, new Heavens and a new Earth, the new Jeru- fat'sm (hall defcend from Heaven, deck'd and prepared as a Bride for her Husband, Chap. xxi. 2. This is the fame Bride as was mentioned before ; and when it is called the New^ Jerufalcm, the Holj City, it puts us in 'Mind of the Jevjs, and of the Old Jerufakm, their Habitation. Although what follows in this and the laft Chapter is reprefented to us under the fame Name and Manner of fpeaking, yet we mull not deny this feoplc their Share in 34© Of the St ATE of the Dead. Difpenfations that are by divine Appoint- ment, have their Source, and to which they flow back and return again, as Rivers do into the Sea. Divine Providence feems to have infli- tuted three particular rehgious Oeconomies for the governing and perfeding Mankind : The in it. There can be no Dispute as to Precedency ; nor Ihould we be too pofitive in applying 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 fuiii- ciently plain, that all, both Jenjjs and Gentiles, will be col- ledled into one Body under Chrift the Head, when his glorious univerfal Kingdom fhall appear compleat upon Earth. This at leaft we may obferve, that thofe Things that are fpoken of the Tabernacle of God, or the Habitation of God among Men, were formerly promifed to the Jenxjs almoft in the very fame Terms. See Ezek. xxxvii. 26, 27, 28. Zeph. ii. 10. Ifa. xii. 6. V^hen therefore we read in the Writings of a Chriftian Prophet, that thefe Promifes are now accomplilhed, can we with any Co- lour of Juftice deprive thofe of a Share in fuch Glories, to whom they were firft of all direded ? The Time of this Reftoration of the Jen^js will be at the Sabbatifm, at their Refurredion 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 it is foretold and fpoken of hy the Prophets as a Refurreftion, Ifa. xxvi. 19, 20, 21. £2!f/§. 'xxxvii. 12. Has. xiii. 14. Rom. xi. 26, 27, ^c. I Cor. XV. 54. And that of Daniel xii. i, 2. regards the ^eivs in a fpecial Manner, and Michael, the Great Prince, is Chrift. The Jenx:s by their Sins, and the Abufe of their Law, have by the juft Judgments of God, made Way for the Chri- Gf the St AT E of the Dead. 341 The Firft of which was an Oeconomy of Senfe, and of external Works, with but a (hort fighted Knowledge of Things di- vine. The Second was an Oeconomy of Aftediions inftituted for an internal Life, and if I may fo exprefs myfelf, for a ^- cred Enthufiafm, with a much greater Light Chriilians; and Clirifiians by their Vices, and the Abufe of their Law, fhali in their Turn give Place again to the yevjs. Having alternately abufed the Goodnefs of God, and alternately flTiall fucceed one another. After thefe Remarks, it will be thought highly jull, that the yezvs fhould have no fmall Share in the Mil- lennian Kingdom of Chrift. But perhaps there may be two or three Objedlions made to this Opinion. Firft, that the Millennium fecms to be calculated entirely for Chriftians, or thofe [ Rc^el. xx. 4. ] that 'were beheaded for the Witnefs of fefus, and for the Word of God, and ijohich have not ilk d. he^ viz, with Regard to the Extent of their Science, to their Knowledge of Things di- vine, and to their worlhipping their God in Spirit and Truth. O Days deferving to be eternally celebrated! O truly golden Age! 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 thou would- eft come quickly, and v^^ouldeft renew all Things: Revel, xxi. xxii. Why does our God ftay ? What hinders the Motion of the Chariot? What ftops the Courfe of its Wheels ? Let all thy Enemies perifi^ O Lord; but let thofe who love thee, be like the Sim, 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 Vv^ho defire to fee the Reft that relates to it, may find it in the fore-mentioned Theory. At the End of this Millennium there will follow the laft Judgment and the feccnd Refurred:ion ; and then comes the Con- fummation of all Things. I muft confefs there is no Mention made in the facred Writings exprefly and nominally, either of a fecond Refurredion, or a fecond Judg- ment. But each of them is hinted at and implied in that Vifion o^ St. Jobn^ which gives Of the St ATE of the DEAt>. 345 gives us a View of the Millennium; that one will be at the Beginning, and the other at the End of it. Revel, xx. 4, 5, &c. And as for the Refurredtion, in other Places of the facred Writings, fometimes Regard is had to the Firft, and fometimes to the Second, without diflinguifhing accurately. St. Paul in his Epiftle to the Corinthians^ treats chiefly, if not folely, of the laft Re- furredion as was before obferved : But Chrift in St. Luke feems to point at the firft, which he calls the Re/urreSfion of the fufi^ not of all, but of the Juft feparately : Such as is the firft Refurredion, 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 Retri- bution. And this Refurredtion of the Juft, anfwers to te palingeiiefia^ the Regeneration^ in which like wife, Chrift promifcs the Re- ward to his Saints, Matt. xix. 28, 29. Laftly, in the Second and laft Refurredion, the Glory of the Juft will find its Accom- pliftiment, when Mortality being fwallow- ed up of Life, and their terreftrial Being converted into celeftial and glorious Bodies, they ftiall be really equal, and like to the Angels. This is the End of human Affairs, and this their Confummation. But now fome X X may 346 Of the Sr ate of the De a d. may enquire concerning the Earth, what will become of that, when its Inhabitants all have left it ? Concerning this Matter, and others that have Relation to it, we have, in the 7'beory of the Earth, given our Conjectures. But lince thefe are doubt- ful and problematical Points, and, as it were, out of the Compafs of the Chriftian Do6trine, we did not think it proper to infert any Thing of them here. And fo much for thefe Matters. CHAP. X. Of Heaven and Hell : What the Heaven of the Chrijiians is, and how it may be faid to be local : What Hell is , whether there is, or ,will be any fubterranean, or any other local, corporeal, and external Hell, before the Day of Judgment, and Conflagration of the World. Of the Tunifhments of Hell-, whether they are to be looked upon as finite or infinite, or in- definite. HAving done with all human Things upon Earth j next Heaven and Hell are to be confidered. By the Word Hea-^ 'ven, the Chriftians underfland a State and Place Of the St ATE of the Dead. 347 Place of future Felicity, or Seats of beati- fied Souls : And thefe Seats they place in a fublime Station, remote from Earth, and high in the Starry Regions, and call them Heaven. To this Point there is an Agree- ment between the Chriftian Dodrine, and the Opinions of the Wifeft among the Heathens, and the Sentiments of their Phi- lofophers, who fent back thofe Souls that had behaved well upon Earth, to that Heaven, from which they at firfl defcend- ed. But as for the Poets, a Generation audacious and lawlefs, and who reprefent and mifreprefent the Doctrines of the An- tients according to their Pleafure, and (hew the Truth in Difguife and Mafquerade, they place their Elyfian Fields, their Seats of the Bleffed, in I know not what Lands, and fortunate Illands ; or, which is yet more incongruous, under Ground, and in fubterranean Regions. Thus grolly does Virgil philofophize, to the Capacity and Tafte of the People j and that, perhaps, from an obfcure or corrupt Sort of Know- ledge, either of the antient or future Para- dife. 'Tis true, indeed, 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 the fupreme Beatitude and X X 2 Seat 34^ Of the St AT -E of the Dead. Seat of the Saints, after the laft Refur- redtion, at the End of the Millennium, when putting on their cekftial Bodies, and changing their Seats, they fhall enjoy a confummate Glory, and an inconceivable Felicity. That thefe Seats are celeftial, or fuper- celeftial, all Chriftians agree ; I fay, or fupercelejiialj for the Scholaftick Doctors aflert, that a certain Empyrean^ or fiery Heaven, fuperior 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 either of Senfe or Reafon, except the Bodies of the Sun, and the fixed Stars; there is no fuch Order of the Heavens, and no fuch Syftem of the World as thefe Dc(5lors imagine ; for they imagine that all the Heavens are concentrical, or that they belong to one and the fame Centre, and are involved and wrapt up in each other, like the Coats of an Onion, which is in fome Meafure true of the Planetary Orbs, but by no Means of the fix'd Stars : For neither are they all of them fixed in one Superficies, as it were in the fame Cieling, at an equal Diftance every where from the Earth 3 but fome of them are immers'd deeper than others in the celeftial Regions, and are un- equally Of the ^T AT^ of the Dead. 349 equally diftant from us by immenfe im- menfurable Spaces, and every one moves in its own peculiar Orb. And when thefe 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 pleafed to exprefs themfelves, and then , on the Sum- mit of all, or in the fupreme Circle of the Univerfe, or the 'Empyrean Heaven, they build up a Frame of the Heavens that is entirely fid:itious, 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 con- triv'd this Empyrean 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 ele- mental World, becaufe it is more light and fubtle than the reft, fo in the Heavens they place this fiery or this flaming Orb, as beincr more pure and excellent than them all, in the fupreme Region of the Univerfe ; but they talk in either Cafe abfurdly : For nei- ther is there any fuch fiery Sphere in the outward Part of the fublunary World 3 and in the Spheres of the fixed Stars, the fiery- Matter dwells not in the Ends or the Ex- tremity of the Orb, but has its Place in the Mid- 350 Of /^^ S T A T E of theTiE AD. 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 no- thing befides of Empyrean through all the Extent of Heaven. But tho* the 'Empyrean Heaven, in the Senfe and Situation in which it is fet forth above, 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 I may fo exprefs myfelf, more glo- rious than others. But wherever Schechi- nah is, or the glorious Body of Chrift, it fpeads its Rays like a new Star, and its Light around it, and in its Neighbourhood all around it, the blefled Saints ihall 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 thofe whom thou haft given unto me, where I am JJjould be with me, that they may behold the Glory which thou haft given me ', for thou lovedfl me before the Fouftda- tion of the World. But ftridlly to define thefe Seats and thefe Manfions of Blifs, is not in our Power at prefent j nor, indeed, does it much concern us: But fince the Saints Of ihe St AT E of the Dead. 351 Saints fhall have their Habitation in Hea- ven, and their Inheritance in the Realms of Light, it is very probable that their Seats will be not only above the Globe of the Moon, but above the Atmofpheres of 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 Father s Houfe there are many Manjions, Eph. iv. 10. John xiv. 2. it is but reafonable to fuppofe that every Saint, or AlTembly of Saints, according to the Degree of their Purity and Perfedtion, will have their Habitation nearer to Sche- cbinah, or to. the Throne of Glory. Thus much concerning the Station and Seat of the Blefled. As for their Condition (for we have faid that both of them are comprehended under the Name of Hea- ven,) that is, the Kind and Degree of Fe- licity, which the Saints will enjoy in thefe ^therial Regions, the Saying of the Apo- ftle has here defervedly a Place ; Eye hath not J'een^ nor hath Ear heard^ nor can the Mind of Man concei'ue the Happinefe that God has prepared for thofe who love him. I Cor. ii. 9. Thefe Things furpafs our pre- fent 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 352 Of fhe St ATE of the Deaj). either to the Body, or to the Mind. What the Body of the Bleffed will be in Heaven, both as to the Matter and to the Form of it, we have in the feventh and eight Chap- ters, to the beft of our Powers, explain'd; that befides its incomparable Endowments, it will be free from every Evil of Sicknefs, or Pain, or Trouble, which we are afflid:ed -with in our prefent Bodies : And that it will willingly, and without Reludance, obey the Commands of Reafon, prepar'd and ready for every kind of Obedience. As for the Soul, all its Faculdes in that State, will be greater and ftronger, and will alpire to the utmoft Perfedion. The Senfes the AfFedions, all the Faculties of the Soul will become *more lively, and will termi- nate in greater and more illuftrious Ob- jed:s. And firft of all, new and moft wonderful Objedts will not be wanting to entertain the outward Senles^ when being exalted above all the Planets, we (hall view the bound- lefs Ocean of the Univerfe, and innume- rable Globes of Worlds, floating along the vaft Stream of the Sky, each fiU'd with its proper Inhabitants : For the Force of the Eye, and the vifual Faculty will be fo or- dain'd and conftituted, that it will furpafs all the Power of the mofl artful Glaffes, and ] Of //&f S T A T E of theT>i^ATi. 355 and will reach and take in Objed:8 much greater and nobler, and rtiore remote than what we now difcern in this muddy Air, Then, when we {hall contemplate the fix'd Stars, thofe eternal celeftial Fires, thofe numberlefs Suns of prodigious Magnitude, fucceeding one another without End, thro' all the immenfe Spaces of the Sky, what Pleafure, what Raptures will not this Prof- pe(5l of the Univerfe raife in us? How great is the Lord, how great is our God, the Author and Creator of every Creature, of every Thing that fills this boundlefs All ? * Laftly, 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 difi-erent Kinds, will fhine with a thoufand feveral Glories, and a thoufand various Colours, when in the Confines of the Orbs, and their Approaches to each other, their Rays being varioufly refracted, 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, &c. This, befides, ought Y y to * Alas ! How vile does this Earth feem, when I look up to Heaven ! See the Places of Senecca, in his Nalur^ ^cs is two-fold, one in the new Earth, under the Reign of Chrift for a thoufand Years ; the other in the Heavens, upon the Confunimation 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 5 I fay to the former, as being nearer to us, and in the Way that leads to the other. Befides, we moreeafily conceive its State, and its Manner, becaufe 'tis terreftrial, and not much unlike to our prefent Life, except its incommodities, and its Calamities. But the otlier, or the celellial Felicity, differs wholly from the Ufe and Manner of our prefent Life, and comes up entirely to an angelick State, a State mofl foreign to the Capaciiy and Underftanding of the Vulgar. St. john has rightly taught us. It does ^ot yet appear ivhat we Jhall be^ that is, io the Heavens i but ,^Ji)e know that when he Of /^^ S T A T E of the Dead. 367 appears we fiall be like him. Then Chrift tells us, that we (hall be like to the Angels> ifangelous. 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 the various Perfedions. From hence we acquire new Force for all the Ads of the Underftanding, and for compleating the Contemplation of Truth j and the Love of God, and Happinefs increafes in us, as our Knowledge increafes. We ftill make a far^ ther Progrels in the Knowledge of Things divine, and are transformed from Glory to Glory, after the Image of God himfelf, till 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 j and that, defpifmg the empty Pleafures, and Glories of this World, we may enjoy fubftantial, never-ending Joys and Glories in Heaven, by and for the Sake of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, We 368 Of the St ATE of f he Dead. We now come to treat of He/i. By which Word the Chriftian Authors under- fland the Place and State of the Damned, and of Men and Demons wicked and mife- rable. The Latim by their Hell fome- times denote the State of the Dead in ge- neral, which the Greeks call adeji^ a State of abfconding, or if I may call it fo, of Inviiibility, in which Senfe and Significa- tion, 'tis ufed in the facred Writings, as by learned Men has been abundantly (hewn : But Ufe has obtain'd among m'any, that by the Word Hell, is underftood the Prifon of miferable and wicked Creatures, who are departed this Life, and the Place of their Punifhment and their Toiment ; and that in Regions under us. According to this Acceptation of the Word, let us firft, if you pleafe, enquire, whether there is any fuch Place in Being as a fubterranean Hell ? There is no doubt but that there are ma- "ny and moniiruous Cavities under Ground 5 fome of which are fiU'd with Water, fome with Fire, and fome with only Air: But among all thefe, vou will hardly find one with which the Conditions and Qiialities of Hell will exadlv agree. This infernal Place in the facred Writings, is call'd, Out- nvard Da7'k?icfs, and Unquefichable Fire : Tis hardly poilible, that the fame Place can Of the St AT -E. of the Dead.' 369 can be at once dark and fiery, unlefs very many and grofs Fumes, are intermixed with the Fire. And 'tis from hence, I be- lieve, that Ibme have taken Occafion to imagine that the Tops and the Vents of Mtna^ and the Mouths and Jaws of other vulcanian Mountains, are the Gates of Hell ; I can by no Means agree with thefe. For you mufl imagine, according to this Hypothelis, either that there are fo many ieparate Hells, as there are Mountains upon the Earth that vomit Fire, which would be abfurdj or that there is one continual or void Subterranean Region, which every where runs under the exterior Orb of the Earth j as formerly the Abyfs in the Ante- diluvian World. But according to the pre- fent Conftrudion of the Earth, 'tis im- poffible that fuch an 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 high- er, it would be interrupted by the inter- currency of the Ocean, between the Iflands and the Continents, and in feveral other Places, and fo would conftitute manifold and divided various Hells. But if you place this Region beneath the Ocean, be- fides that in the Origination of the Earth A a a from 37^ Of the St AT -E of theVi^KTt. from Chaos, this empty Region under the Abyfs could not poffible be formed or con- ftituted, if there were any Defcent or Paf- fage, or Entrance into this Hell, thither down would the Waters 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 3 and there- fore, others pretend that Hell is to be placed there. It would furely be very difficult, according to this Hypothecs, 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 Tor- ment, would be thus impervious and inac- cefiible :' How many folid Regions, what Bulk and Thicknefs of Earth, were to be perforated \xv this Journey ? How much Time would be fpent on the Way ? The Semidiameter of the Earth is believed to contain about 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 PafTage can be given to fo vaft a Profundity, we are utter- ly to feek. Befides, 'tis manifeft that the Devils are not entirely (hut up in this cen- tral Of the St AT E of the Dead, 371 tral Prifon ; but that they rather wander through the Regions of the Air, as it were in free Cuftody ; and the infernal Tyrant is called the^Prince of the Air in the facred Writings -, where we are taught by the fame Oracles, that he has his Habitation at prefent, and the Seat of his Empire ; and that he will, at length, be fhut up in the great Abyfs at the Beginning of Chrift's Millennian Kingdom. But, perhaps, you will objed: to me the Saying of the Apoftle, T'bat the evil Angels were cajl down into Hell, and delivered into Chains of Darknefs. And that befides Chrift defcended eis katotera tes ges. Laft- ly, by cuftomary fpeaking, as well facred as vulgar, we are faid to afcend into Hea- ven, and to defcend into Hell^ therefore there is a fubterranean Place. But thefe Arguments prove nothing at all : Firft, as to T'artaruSj or Hell^ this Word is ufed tp lignify the fubterranean World, and the gloomy Air, with which we are furround- ed, as is very well known to the Learned. And into this Tartarus, this Hell, or this inferior and 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 corn^ A a a 2 moi; 372 Of the St ATE of the De AD. mon Cuftom, becaufe Criminals are wont to be fo kept to hinder them from efcaping. Then as to what relates to the Defcent of Chrift eis ta katotera fes ges, that does not relate to the Death of Chrift, (as is abund- antly evident from other Places compar'd with it) but to his Incarnation j that is, when in order to procure Salvation for us, he left his Heaven, and vouchfafed to de- fcend to this lower Earth : I fay, lower^ or inferior, that is, with Refpe. Pain, if any, will caufe them ■ to be touch'd with Senfe of their former Crimes, and to grow weary of their prefent Mifery. Be- Sdes, in that other Life, there will be no longer Rcom, for the Infidelity of the Wicked : IVhen they jhall fee Chriji comirig In the Clouds^ furrounded with Glory ^ and 'with his mighty Angels, triumphing every iDhere over his Ene?nies^ and trampling them under , his Beet. And then that Fo- mentation of Evil, which dwells in this Body and this Fieih, will, in that State, be extinguifhed and ceafe : There will be no internal Concupifence, no external Nou* rifhment of Vice, nor any Allurements to Pleafure, to Ambition, or Avarice, or any Incitements of the Senfes or Pafiions to Wickednefs.' For my Part, I cannot per- ceive by what Argument, true or faife, or by what Impulfe internal or external, they can be moved to adhere eternally to their Vices and their Impiety, unlefs they (liould be hardcn'd by God himfelf. But if they are actuated from without, and by Force, and are Mafters neither of their Reafon jior Liberty, I cannot fee how they can be farther condemn'd. But we fhall prefently refume this SubjeCu ; in the mean while let us proceed to tlie refl, Be^ Of the St AT z of the D-E AD. 383 Befides, we appeal in this Caufe to di- vine Juftice and Equity. The Man, whom God created liable to fall, him, be- caufe he fell, God will not punifli eternally j nor will he deprive him, to whom he has given the Power, or rather the Impotence and the Liberty of falling into Vice, of the Power and the Liberty of relinquilhing 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 inlRexible. I anfwer, that according to your Hypothefis God has created them of fuch a Nature, that they cannot be otherwife than inflexible and ir- recoverable, after they have once departed this Life, and def;ended into their Tor- ments. Grant me but this, that thofe miferable Creatures are capable of repent- ing, and we will not throw away all Hope of their being receiv'd into Grace : But you deny they can repent ; I defire that you will prove that their Repentance is' impoffible. If they continue to be reafona- ble Creatures, indued with Undervlanding and Will, they can repent ; but if they are depriv'd of Reafon and Liberty, they can no longer fin. Others 384 Of the St ATE of tbe Dead, Others argue thus from divine Juftice: 'Tis againft all Equity, that the Offences of a fhort Life, of a Life prone to Vice, ihould be punifh'd with eternal Punifli- ments, when there is no Proportion be- tween the Offence and the Punifhment. But here, perhaps, you will retort, accord- ing to Cuftom, that every Sin carries with it infinite Guilt, as being committed againfl an infinite God. This in fome Meafure, indeed, may be faid; but this is not the Rule, nor the Meafure of the Adions of God towards his Creatures. According to this draconic Law, the fmallefl: Offences may be lawfully punifhed with eternal Punifhments, nay, and with the mofl grievous ; for the Reafon which you give is full as flrong for the greatnefs of the Pu- nifhments, as for their JDuration. Let us fuppofe then, fmce in flrid: Juflicc it may be done, that the lightefl Tranf- greffors will be punifhed with the greatefl, and thofe eternal Punifhments, what (hall be done with the more grievous Tranfgref- fors ? what to the mofl Grievous ? If the lightefl Tranfgreffors defcrve the greatefl, and thofe perpetual Punifhments, what does or can the mofl Grievous deferve be- yond it? for nothing is greater than the Greateft. This Account of yours, therefore, con- Of the St ATE of tbe Dead. 385 confounds all the Ends aod Purpofes of punitive Juftice, and make Sins in' fome Meafure equal. But let us proceed from the Juftice of God, to his Goodnefs. The ^greateft Ri- gour of Juftice is faid to be the higheft In- juftice : 'Tis at leaft, inconfiftent 'with Goodnefs and Mercy. But God, accord- ing to this your Hypothefis, in the Punifti- ment of Sinners, ufes the higheft and the fevereft Juftice, that I may fay nothing worfe J for he punifties them, with the moft exquifite Torments, and Torments which are to endure eternally, than which no Puniftiment can be conceiv'd more dif- mal or more intolerable ^ we read of the Torments which the Chriftians endured in the firft Ages of the Church, and what, be- fides, Sicilian and other Tyrants invented : But thefe are mild and gentle all, compar'd to infernal Torments; 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 tor- menting Cholick, as is to endure feven Years, who could be equal to the fupport- ing thefe cruel Pangs? But if inftead of feven, you put a thoufand Years, no one ' C c c could 386 Of the State of the Dead. 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 reduced them to nothing; and that by this Means he would ufe the ex- tream Rigour of his Juftice. I anfwer, that 'tis much more defirable not at all to be, and to be touch'd by no Senfe, either of Good or Evil, than to exift in perpetual Torments, without IntermifTion, without End. This feems to me 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 Senfation of any Thing but Pain. Take, O God, fays the mife- rable Creature, depriv'd almoft by torment- ing Flames of Reafon, take away what is thine ; I had rather to be out of the Num- ber of Things ; O let me perifh, that I may avoid Perdition. This is the Voice of Nature ; nor will we ftop to make any An- fwer to the little Subtleties and Quirks of Metaphylicians. I appeal to the Race of Men, and to all Men of Senfe whatever, if 'tis not more eligible to be depriv'd of all Life, of all Cogitation, of all Exiftence, than Of the State of theT>'E av. 387 tha^n to be tormented in eternal Flames, to groan under eternal Torments. And no- thing is more certain, than that if human Nature had not regarded, with more Horror, the Height of Mifery and eternal Torment, than Infenfibility and Annihilation, God had threatened the Wicked with Annihila- tion inftead of eternal Torments, and had ufed that as a more prevalent Way of de- terring Mankind from Vice : But 'tis Time to return to our Subjedt. Since this then is the Cafe, and Annihi- lation is the extreameft Rigour of Juflice 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 grie- vous and difmal, fomething more bitter and cruel again ft thofe whom he condemns, than the extreameft Rigour of his Juftice requires. The extream 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 Punifh- ing with the utmoft Rigour, or even be- yond the utmoft Rigour, does but little an- iwer to that infinite Goodnefs, loving Kind-- nefs, and I\tf ercy, which we afcribe to God. And yet not only the Light of Nature, C c c 2 but 388 Of the St ATE of the Ve An, but the facred Scripture reprefents him thus merciful and gracious, and long fuffering, and abounding in Goodnefs and T'ruth, He is drawn, as it were, againfl his Will to punifli ; 'Tis a Work that is ftrange to him, and foreign from his Nature. Have I any Pleafure at all that the Wicked fiould die, faith the Lord God, and not that he Jhould return from his Ways and live? But if he has no Pleafure in his temporal Death, much lefs has he in his eternal Death. But from whence at laft comes this eternal Death, or by whom is it in- flided, if 'tis neither plealing to God, nor to the Creature that fuffers, nor can be in the leaft beneficial to either ? Thefe Things being thus propos'd and debated, concerning the Nature of God, and the jult Government of created Things, we muft return to the facred Writings, and to the Interpretation of thofe Paffages, which feem to imply the Eternity of fu- ture Puni{l;iments. You know very well that the Senfe of thofe Paffages depends, in a great Meafure, upon the Signification of the Word aionios, in Hebrew 0*7^^ or D /ir 7 ' which we have rendered Eternal. In the mean while, it is very well known, that the Force ^nd Meaning of^this Word aionios. Of the State of the Dead. 389 aionios, or the Hebrew Q/^r, is doubtful in the facred Writings j and does not al- ways fimply lignify Etei^nal, only a long and undetermined Time. The Statutes of the Mojaick Law were frequently faid to be eternal: Exod. xxvii. 21. and xxviii. 43. Lev.^. 15. and xvi. 34. Num. xviii. 11, and in fundry other Places. And yet thefe Statutes, with the whole Mojaick Law, have many Ages fince been aboliflied, and therefore you muft own, that the Significa- tion of that Word is to be mitigated, unlefs you pretend that the Judaick Law is ft ill to be obferved.* In the fame Law, the Servant whofe Ear has been bored through by his Mafter, with his own Confent, is faid to be oblig'd to ferve him eternally, or for ever, Exod, xxi. 6. And yet it was appointed, by the fame Law, that all Servants were to be ma- numitted, or to be made free in the Com- pafs of half an Age, that is to fay every * The Temple of Jerufalem, it is faid, fhould be the Habitation of God for e'ver, z Chron. vi. 2. yet it has been demolilhed more than once ; nor is there now left one Stone upon another, or any Sign of its being the the Habitation of God. The Kingdom of Dwvid was faid to be eternal, and yet it went out of the Family of Damd, end is now utterly cxtindt. F. Epijc, p. 32, Col. ii. 6. fee 3. z Sam. vii. 13. 390 Of the St ATE of fbe Dead. Jubilee. .Befides, before the Mofaick Law, Circumcifion is faid to be an eternal In- flitution, Gen. xvii. 7. and yet Circumci- fion is now aboliflied by the fame divine Authority. Laftly, the Land of Canaan is given to Abraham and his Pofterity for an eternal Poffeffion, Gen. xiii. 15, and xvii. 8, and xlvii. 4. and yet his Poflerity* have been a long Time dirpofleifed of it. By thefe and many other Paffages like them, k is fufficiently evident, that Eternity is not alvi^ays fignified by the Word Q/^^ or D /ir / ' ^^ which, as you know very well, aion or aionios, anfwers in the Septua- gint, and afterwards in the New T^efiament where there is a Neceflity for the taking thefe Words in a loofer Senfe. Confult, if you plea fe, Philem. 15. Jude j. Rom.xvi. 2c. 2 ^im. I. 9. ^it. i. 2. Laftly, the Grammarians know very well, that both thefe Words are more remifily 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 ufed to exprefs the Duration of future Rewards. For the eternal Felicity cf the Saints is not in the leafl repugnant to any of the At- Of the St ATE of the 'D'E AT). 391 Therefore, from the Ufe and Force of the aforefaid Words, nothing can certainly be determined concerning the Eternity of infernal Panifhments. Befide, 'tis remarka- ble, that in that Picture of Hell which the facred Writings prefents to us, there are fbme Things that undoubtedly are figura- tively or tropically expreffed j which the Fature of Things themfelves will not fuffer to be ftridily and literally underftood. Nor befides that, it is difficult to alTociate, and to bring, as it were, into a triple Al- hance, the Extremity of Cold, and Dark- nefs, 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 it is faid that they never [die. Laftly, the Bodies of the Damn'd themfelves, let them be of what Nature they may, at leaft if they are compounded and organical, cannot without DilTolution endure eternal Fire : Nor will the Earth itfelf endure eternally in Attributes of God ; and therefore, in this Cafe, there's no Neceffity of departing from the common literal Senfe 6f the Word. And this ought always to be a Maxim, that Words muft yield to Things : Othervvife, this is my BoJj, is as clear an Expreffion, and ought as much to be taken in a literal Senfe, as go into everlajiing Fire. 392 Of the St At -E of tbe Dead. in the Form in which we now behold it, or in that which it will, after the Confla- gration, receive ; and in one or the other of them Hell is appointed to be. Hitherto we have examined the Force of -the Words, and the Nature of the Things which they fignify. I defire Leave to add in the third Place, that when our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift was converfant upon Earth, in the Form of a Servant, he fpoke not in the Language of a Philofopher, but in that of the Sons of Men; and ef- pecially in that of the Jews, to whom he was chiefly fent, as has been abundantly obferved by learned Men in their Com- ments on the Difcourfes of Chrift; and therefore he follows, for the moft Part, the receiv'd Opinion, and the Phrafeologies of his Country ; and in the Inftrudtions which he gave them for the promoting their Piety, he willingly ufes thofe Expre- ffions which were known to the People, and to their Magiftrates, either from the Law or the Prophets, or from vulgar Tra- dition : And therefore when he treats of Hell under the Name of Gehenna , and proportions the Degrees of Puniiliment to the Nature of the Crimes, he fpoke in the Style which the Jews fpoke, a Style accommodated to the common Capacity. Like- Of f he St ATE of ^he Dead, 393 Likewife in defcribing the Torments of Hell, Mark ix. 44. he makes ufe of the Expreffion of the Prophet Ifaiah Chap* Ixvi. 24. of which the very identical Words are to be found in the feventy Interpreters : O gar skolex auton teleutefei, kai to pur auton ou sbejihefetai* For their Worm Jhall never die, and their Fire Jhall not be quench- ed: And other Authors make it apparent, that this Manner of fpeaking was known and familiar to the Jews, viz. That Fire and Worms were the Punifhments of the Un- godly. Therefore; Chrift alter'd nothing in this Point, and believed that this Anticipa- tion and Prepofleffion of the People was juftly to be retained, when it appeared in- ftrumental in curbing the Audacioufnefs of the Wicked. Thus every Thing relating to the Tor- ments of Hell, on either Side, being weigh- ed, every Man is at Liberty to embrace that Opinion which his Confcience (hall pronounce to be mofl agreeable to found Reafon ; and let him adhere to that Inter- pretation of the facred Scripture upon this Point, which the weighty Reafons of the Caufe before us will be beft able to bear. If a State of eternal Mifery and Impiety in the Creature is inconfiftent with the Wii- dom and Jullice of the Creator, we mull D d d give 394 Of the St ATE of the t)^ A ti. give up the literal Interpretation in this Point, or we muft diftinguifh between the literal and the reafonable Hypothefis, the Vulgar and the fecret one, left, by a teme- rarious and unskilful Interpretation, we en- tertain Thoughts unworthy of the divine Nature. But if on the other Side, there appears nothing to you in fuch a defperate State, a State unchangeably evil and mife- rable, foreign either from the Nature of God, or from the Nature of Things, you muft adhere to the Letter, and you muft flop your Ears,, and haYden your Heart againft all the Lamentations, the Groans, the Wails, and the difmal Outcries of Men eternally undonp, and everlaftingly miferable. Yet^ if ypu will vouchfafe to hearken to me, not clamouroufly urging you, but gejitly advifmg you, I would ra- ther have you call thefe indefinite than in- finite Torments ; for 'tis not fufficiently evi- dent, or known to me, what End they ^re like to have -, but let us leave it to God to be determined by him, according to his Wifdom and Mercy.* I » That if it pleafe him, the Prifoners maybe releafed when jhey have paid the uttermoft Farthing, and fatisfy'd his Juitice. But, if after all, you cannot relilh this Doc- trine, let it be placed among the obfcure and doubtfiil ones. Of the State of tbe Dead, 39 3.96 Of the St ATE of the D^ AD, of Soul that is worthy of Commendation. Jn his Commentaries he has thefe Words on the fore-mentioned Paffage of Ifaiab, jChap. Ixvi. and the laft Verfe, 7'hey who are of the Opinion that thefe Punijhments will one Day be ended, and the torments one ^ime no more, have Recourfe to the follow- ing Teftimonies. Then quoting the Paffa^ ges which appear to be favourable to that Opinion, he adds thefe Words : Which are all repeated by thofe that are defirous to af fert, that after the Rack and the I'ortures are over, Rejl and Refrefhment will follow \ which at prefent is to be hid from thofe, to whom Fear is whole fome and ufeful; that while they are afraid of the Punijhmenf, they may be debarred from their Sins, which we ought to leave to the Knowledge of God alone, who weighs not only his Mercies, but thefe Tonnents likewife, as it were in the Pallance, and knows who, and how long every one ought to be punijhed. This fays St. ferom, upon the aforefaid PafTage : And he had faid Things related to thefe be- fore in the faid Commentaries, on the twenty fourth Chapter, towards the End. We ought to know that hutnan Frailty canr not penetrate the Judgment of God, nor be capable of giving any Opinion concerning the Great ne/s or the JPuration of Punifir metits Of the State o/' the Dead. 397 ments which he infliSfs, which is left entirely to the Will of the Lord. Thus far he : I make no Mention of Origeriy whofe Opinion concerning this Matter is univerfally known, who feems to have been follow'd in this Point, as in fe- veral others by both the Gregories^ * Na^ i^ianzene, and Nyjjene : -f- And feveral other Fathers, whom we mentioned a- bove, and who were of Opinion that the Flames of Hell were Pur katharfion, as well as kolafhrioriy a purgative as well as pu- * See Orat. 40. p. 665. When he had fpoken of the eternal Punifliment of the Damn'd, according to the received Opinion, he feems afterwards to correft himfelf, and dif- covers fome Doubt concerning it, by adding, Ei me tophilon kaiitauth a noein touto Philanthropeteron, kaitou kalax/mtos oupU' xios. TJnleJs any one is inclined to interpret this in a Ser.Je more mild to-ivards Man the Sufferer, and more iicorthy of God the Avenger. He. intimates, that 'tis more human, and better becoming the Deity, that thefe Punifhmentg fhould be moderated. Kdus, the Scholar of St. Chry. fofiome, and a Martyr, from this Place of Nazianzene, infers, that in thofe Times the Fathers were dubious about the Eternity of Hell Torments, and that it was aa Opinion very much controverted among them ; fmce Nazianzene, fays he, has left it free for any one, as pleajes, to underftand this Fire in a milder Senfe. •f" See Chap. viii. Orat. Catechet, where he fays, that they who are incorrigible in this Life, fhall, in the next, be cured by more fevere and bitter Remedies. And in lys de Anima and Refurr. p. 229. he treats of the univerfal Purgation and Reftoraiion ; and there he often repeats this fame or a like Opinion : As he does likewife de Opif, htminis, 6. 21. 398 Of the St ATE of the Dead. punitive Fire, lignified by that very Thing, that thofe Torments would one Day have an End. Laftly, St. Aujiin % calls the Pa- trons of this Opinion by no incongruous Title, the Merciful DoBors^ and treats them with Humanity. {| Now^ fays he,. / fee that I muft go to work with our merciful \Do5iorSj with whom I muji difpute pacifi- cally, who are of Opinion^ that the Funijh- ment will not be eternal^ either of all thofe whom the moft righteous Judge Jhall pro- nounce worthy of the Punlfhments of Hell, or of fome of them : But after the Limits of certain Time, which will be longer or /horter according to the Greatnefs of every one's Offence, they believe that they will be de- livered from it. Thus has St. Aufiin laid before us the Opinion of the Merciful Doctors. They who are of the other Party may be called, ^by the Reafon of Contraries, T^he DoBors with- rr. J Civit. Dei 1. xx. c. ij. and following, '■'jl Notwithftanding what he may have faid in fome ; Places, in others he feems doubtful in determining in what Senfe the Funifhments of Sinners are called eternal ; ^^ 5f>articularly- where he fays, rwr nvould 7 be underjiood^ by fpeaking thus, to hinder a more accurate Enquiry into the Meah- fit,g- of Scripture, luhen it pronounces the Punipmefits of the \Wicked to be eternal. (See D. //«««.**** and **** 1. 7. 'fFom' St. Auguft. I . de Serm. dom-. in mont. Tom. 4. on Matt. •Y..*':^5-, t6) B«t let US return to the Place about the },icrctful. Of the State of the Dead. 399. without Mercy : And one of thefe in the Name of the reft, has deliver'd his Opinioa of the Torments of Hell, after the follow- ing Manner : If all the Me?t that were ever born from Adam to this prefent^ and all thofe that will hereafter be horn^ fiould li've to the laft Day, and all the Blades of Grafs that ever fprung up were Men ; and if they were equally to dijlribute only one Funifli' ment which a Soul fuffers in Hell, for only one mortal Sin ; fo that every one Jhould have an equal Share of that Punijhment j then every equal Share of the Funifhment of that one Man, would be greater than all the 7or- ments, which all the Martyrs, and all Rob' berSy and the greatejl Malefactors have ever yet endured. Thus far he. Now, if to thefe cruel and outragious Torments, you add Eternity, you will fill up all the Parts, the * Did .we but ferioufly confider what Eternity is, how vaft, how boundlefs a Thing, we fhould be lefs forward in prO' noucing eternal Puni(hments upon the Miferable. Eternity has fomething dreadful in itsvery Sound ; 'tis infinite, inex- hauftible ! So ut to eternal Mifery*: And to have framed fuch a Na- ture of Things, * would not have requir'd 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, repent that ever God fw-r.-t i> creat- * That which happens in this World may poffibly hap- pen in others ; but here, as 'tis vulgarly believed, the greater Part of Humankind will perifh eternally. Make but the fame Suppofition of other Worlds, and then what a Havock, what Defolation will there be of the rational Nature, if you extend the Account throughout the Uni- verfe ? This loft ufelefs Part of Nature will far exceed the remaining Part. I call it u/ek/s ; for it will be, as it were, the Caput Mortuum of the Univerfe, or the curfed barren Dregs of Earth, from whence nothing good or valuable can be extraded. And not only fo ; it is not only an un- profitable Burden upon Nature, but an intolerable Burden to itfelf ; neither can it relinquifh, nor bear itfelf. It curfes the hateful Light, and the Day whereon it firft faw the Sun and the Stars ; curfee the over-officious Hour that call'd it forth from its primitive Nothing, where it lay quiet in a happy State of Silence and Obfcurity. Of the St AT-E of the Dead. 403 created him, lince it had been much better for him never to have at all exifted.* Let thus much fufRce concerning Hell, and the future Punifhments of the Wicked, provided you fubjoin that Admonition, which is always ufed by the fore-mention'd Fathers, whenever they handle this Subject, that is to fay, whatever your Opinion is within yourfelf, and in your own Breaft concerning thefe Puniftiments, whether they are eternal or not 5 yet always with the People, and when you preach to the Peo- ple, ufe the receiv'd Dodtrine, and the re- ceiv'd Words in the Senfe, in which the People receive them: For they are apt to run headlong into Vice, and are to be ter- rified from offending by the Apprehenfion of Punifliment only. Befides, among the Good there are the Children, and the Per- E e e 2 * fons * In fine, they who cannot approve of the Doftrine of abfolute Reprobation, becaufe it feems repugnant to the divine Nature and Attributes, ought to be as much dif. pleafed with the eternal Punifhments of the Wicked, fince they are equally repugnant to the fame Attributes ; as, on the other Hand, it is the Intereft of thofe who re- ceive that Dpdrine of Reprobation, to rejeft this of eter^^ nal Punifhment ; becaufe thereby they will much leffen the Force of the greateft Obje£lion, that lies againft them ; fince it will not be altogether fo fhocking for a Man to be pre-ordained and condemned to Punifhments that will have an End ; but to Punifhments eternal and intolerable would be the molt poignant and exay proclaim upon the Houfe Top. But Minds are gradually to be accuftomed to bear the more forcible Rays of Truth. Too much Light is hurt- ful to tender Eyes, or Light too fuddenly poured upon them. Few behold Things themfelves as they are, but only their Images as they appear when they are feen, as it were, 4n a; Glafs. But we fhall at length, if it pleafes God, fee the Things themfelves even Face to Face, as they fay, the -'^ And therefore, as this was written for the perufal of the Learned only, whoever ihall tranflate it into the Vul- gar Language, I can think no otherwjfe, but that he does it with an ill Intention and for wicked PurpofeSo Of the State of the De ad. 405 the Veil being taken from them. This we {hall do, partly towards the End of this World, but more fully in the next. The Conclusion, As the Matter of this Book is of va- rious Kinds, and comprehends divers Heads of the Chriftian Dodiine, and thofe for the moil Part beyond the Paths and the Light of Nature, it may eafily happen, that in treating of thefe, I may foraetimes 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 with- out any Fear, or Averfion, or Affection whatever, feeks the naked Truth, has God for his Affiftant ; God, I fay, will open to him who knocks, will give to him who askSj provided we ask for that pure and pacifick Wifdom which defcends from Hea- ven. Nor let any one blame me, becaufe that in treating of this Subjed:, I have found many Things obfcure in the facred Writings, many Things, if I may ufe the Expreflion, not adequately, or not abfolute- ly revealed. I defire that this may be un- derftood as fpoke, with Regard to my own Under^ 4o6 Of t.be St ATE of the Dead'. Underftanding and Capacity : And if any other Perfon (liall clear up thofe PaiTages better, I fhail be glad to embrace the Dif- covery, c.nd to congratulate the Author : But I hnd.this to be the chief Obftacle to true Knowledge, that we do not diftinguifh Things that are clear, from Things that are obfcure, as if we faw clearly and diftindtly every Thir^g alike. Moft of the Commentators on the facred Scripture underftand or pretend to under- hand every lingle Paffage, you fhall no where find them confcious of their Igno- rance and confeffing it. In like Manner, the Scholaftick Dodors, and they who pre- iide in Univerfity Chairs, folve every Pro- blem after their own Way, attain to Truth in them all, and comprehend them all. I really admire the Omnifcience of both Clafies of Divines. They think it fhame- ful, foriboth, or, at leaft, inglorious, for the Teachers of Chriftians to be ignorant of any Thing in 'their Art. Perhaps this their Ollentation of univerfal Science may con- tribute to the augmenting that Efteem, which their Difciples, or the Vulgar have conceived of them ; but it will be efteemed by the Wife to be a Proof of Defed of Judgment : For they who pronounce as boldly of Objeds remote, or latent in the Dark^ Of the St AT E of the Dead. 407 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 diftinftly. It has feemed Good to Providence, while we are in this Life, to lay before us the Accounts of myftical Points compendioufly, and, as it were, by Halves, that being rouzed and waken'd by thefe Hints and Specimens, we may be acquainted both with the Bounds of our prefent Difpenfation, and the Perfeftion of the future. " If ten " Men of Senfe, and of liberal Spirit, were to write at " the fame Time upon this very Subjed ; that is, upon " the Things of a future Life, or, as they are wont to call " them, the laft Tilings, I can hardly believe, that two *' of the Ten would be of the fame Opinion in every ** Point." And, therefore, if the friendly Reader differs from me in fome of them, nay, if in all, I (hall not at all wonder j and for the fame Reafon, let him not be angry with me : For Thebes is every Jot as far diftant from Athens, as Athens is from Thebes : Nor does he lefs diflenC from me, than I from him. The only Queftion is., v.hich of us comes neareft to the Truth ? Elias when he comes will folve many DifEculties ; 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'retain the Form of found Dodtrines and Words, the Immortality of the Soul, the Refurreftion of the Dead, Rewards and Punifli- ments in a future Life, according to every ones Works, and the Difpofition of his Mind : Laftly, the Conflagra- tion and Renovation of the World ; and that Chriit will come, and reign here : Thefe, and if befides thefe there are any other prim.ary Points, which relate to a future Life, let us preferve them with the utm.oft Care : But as for the Modes of Things that are to come, their * Order, . and * Concerning this Judgment, {meaning the laft Judgment^ we are informed of thefe Particulars ; the coming of Elias Thesbites, the Converfion of the Jeivs, the Perfecution of Antichrift, that Chrift Ihali be the Judge, the Refurreftion of 4o8 Of the St AT -£ of the D e ad. and their Circumftances, it is but jijft that we fhould in- dulge and affift each other in our Enquiries after them. We ought not with Bitternefs to conteft with each other about Things which God is not plealed that we fhould be fully inftrufted in, during this prefent State ; and they who for Caules 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 length, avoid thefe Mifchiefs, which, not with- out Diigrace to the Chriftian Name, alafs ! have too much prevailed. Let us at length ceafe playing the Fool, or rather being mad. Let every one be contented to propofe his own Opinion, fortify 'd with the beit Reafons and Proofs which he is able to bring without Quarrel or Con- tumely, which fignify nothing to Truth, and contribute nothing to the Defence of the Caufe. On the contrary, when the Patrons of a Caufe defert the juft Defence of it, to affront and abufe their Adverfaries, it is a fhrewd Sign of the Weaknefs of it. Let us, therefore, as many of us as are well inftrufted, or are fludious after Truth, re- tain this Opinion, and if any of you have other Sentiments God will reveal the Truth to you. of the Dead, the Separation of the Good from the Bad, the Conflagration of the World, and lalHy its Renovation: All which, we are alTured, wUl come to pafs ; but in what Manner or Order they will happen, we fhall then beil know, when we fhaU have feen and experienced the whole Procefs, the Underllanding of Man being, at pre- fent not able to arrive at a Certainty in thefe Particulars. LaSan. Fragm. de extr. Judic. Auguft. de CD. lib. XX. cap. 30. FINIS. 'K. ♦v J« ■^ ^V^ v>v^^ ^i, - Sam . -!>■ ^^: % ^a^ m "^iu-