. . Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/sadduceedetectedOOrell ■i -// * / THE SADDUCEE Detected and Refuted, In Remarks on the WORKS RICHARD COPPIN. BY For tht Sadducees fay, That there is no Refurredion , neither Angel, nor Spirit. Acts x.xiii. 8. LONDON: Printed by M. Lewis, at the Bible and Dove, in Paternofe::- Rovj. 1764. [ Price One -Shilling. I , r r . i ■ ■■ i ■ ■ ■ I ■ — *» * ^ Hough I greatly difiike the fenti- ments of Richard Ccppin , yet their obfoletenefs would have effectually fecured them from my attacks : had they not been now re-publifhed and fold, as it were under my nofe ; many of my hearers, being lub- fcribers to the re-printing of them. From which circumflance, it being quite natu- ral for the public to fuppofe that our doc- trines are congenial ; I thought it right to undeceive them: by giving them, in ah thefe particulars, a fpecimen of my fenti- ments ; which mud; neceffarily be the fen- timents of all fuch, who underhand, and believe the dodtrines which I preach. Un- to this, with the defire of forne friends, the following Remarks owe their exiftence : much rather then to any fanguine expefta^ tions by me entertained ; of convincing fuch (of their error) who have already turned afide. For, where there is no heart for the authority of fcripture, nor an ear to receive the arguments of reafon, it is in vain for man to attempt the conviction and inftru&ion of his brother : as objefts of pity, all fuch muft be left to the wif- a 2 dom , dom, power, and goodnefs of him that made them : and who only can convince them of their error. As I am rather confident of my matter, than of my manner, I hope the candid reader will pafs over all faults of the latter, and attend particularly to the former, ho- nouring it with their credit, as far as it confifb with the feriptures and right rea- fon. THE C 5 J THE SADDUCEE Detected and Refuted, Sfc. My Dear Friends, C ONTROVERSY is not my element: yet, if (in the fmalleft degree) it will contribute to your pleafure, and fatif- fadtion, for me to caft my mite into the treafury, I fhall readily comply with your defire. You defire me to give you, and the public, •my opinion of Coppin’s works j as they are now re-publifiiing. That I might be able to do this fincerely and impartially, I applied myfelf with the utmofi: care, and candor, to the reading of them. — I read three numbers of a work, intitled, Michael’s cppofing the dragon , &c. and alfo another book by the fame author, intitled, The advance- ment of all things in Chrijl , and of Chrijl in all things : prefaced with a warm recommendation by Mr. Cayley . A 3 Having [ 6 ] Having thus far qualified myfelf to give you an anfwer *, I fhall firft tell you, as a matter not at all foreign to your enquiry, that I was not in the leaft degree acceffary, no, nor fo much as privy, to the prefent re-publicarion of Coppin ' s works, or to any part thereof. As to the author, I think him unneceffarily abftrufe : He labours to cloath himfelf with darknefs as with a garment, and carefully avoids fpeaking intelligibly, except when he rails at his antagonilfs : and then he ufes great plainnefs of fpeech. But, to darken counfel, with words without knowledge, is the grand arcanum of myfticifm : and by fome, reckoned to be the infallible criterion of fpiritual teach- ings : witnels Mr. Cayley ' s preface, to part of this author’s works. Again, inftead of fubmitting, when pinched by argument, or manifeftly oppoled by truth', he is very evafive : and often begs the queftion, that he may have an opportunity of befpattar- ing his adverfary, and of giving his own iyf- tern an air of plaufibility. One inflance of this, I fhall give you, out of the many that may be gathered from his works, No. 3. chap. 12. of Mi chad oppcfuig ibe dragon. Where, (becaule his opponents argue for the refurredtion of the fame body) he inlinuates that they plead for the refurrection ol a linfui body : .whereas there was nothing farther from their tkouahts : and this he very well knew. * It was Aippofed by many, and even afHfaed by fome, that 1 privately encouraged the re-publieAjioo of Ceppia's verks. Which accounts for my manner of fpeaking above, [ 7 1 If I affirm, that the fame body that died, and was buried, fhall rife again : doth it follow from thence, that it muft rife a finful body ? I muft deny it, except Coppin had proved, or, that his admirers will yet prove, that fin is a property, or part of the body, and eflential to its exiftence — And that would be juft the fame as to fay, that a leprofy, a fever, a delirium, being disorders in the body, are a part thereof \ and that the body cannot exift without them. Again, I think him opinionated, and con- ceited, even to ftllynefs : as appears from his boaftings of light, knowledge, purity, &c. above his fellows ; though there is not the leaft fpark of this pre-eminence difcQvprable : neither in his fpirit, nor manner. ■As to that infallibility which he pretends to, in all his filly, unfcriptural determinations ; I believe every man of fenfe, will attribute it to pride and ignorance. Though he affedts to treat his opponents in a very fupercilious manner, yet he cannot help difcovering, that their accu- lations give him fmart. He betrays a much greater fondnefs for himfelf, than becomes an apoftle : by complaining of his perfecutions, dsV. But I fhall now leave the author, and take notice of his dodtrines. In his book, intitled, tfbe advancement of all things in Chriji *, (the fame which Mr. Cayley hath authorized, and blefled with the higheft encomiums) he begins with this hypothefis : That there are two principles, or qualities, in man ; which he calls good, and evil : and that thefe principles are the eledt, and reprobate j the believer, and unbeliever ; the faved, and A 4 the [ 8 1 the damned j the Jacob and Efak ; the Chrifi , &c. in every man. And, that the Perfons of mankind are not at all concerned in any of thofe characters. For faith he, “ God hates 44 no man’s perfon, but the evil in the perfon : 44 neither doth he love any man’s perfon any 44 farther than as they fhew forth fomething of 44 himfelf.” This is not only unfupported by fcripture, and common fenfe; but diametrically oppofite to both. Doth the word of truth ever affirm, or even fuppofe, that there is any good in man ? did the prophets, our Saviour, or his apoftles, ever bear fuch a teftimony ? Is it not their con- Ilant language, that the imaginations of man’s heart are evil, and that continually ? that there is none, who doth good, no not one ? that we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righte- oufnefs are as filthy rags ? that there is none good but one, even God ? and that all the deeds of this world are evil ? that in our fklh (or perfon) there dwells no good thing ? And as to the fuppofition of the principles of good, and evil, refiding in man ; the fame word of truth enquires, What fellowjhip hath right eoufi- Ttefs with unright eoufnefs , and what communion hath light with darknefs , what concord hath Chrijl with Beiial, or what part hath he that believe tb with cm infidel ? If thefe cannot dwell together in the fame houfe, much lefs can they dwell together in the fame heart ; in the fame perfon. Our Saviour tells us, that the lame perfon cannot ferve two mailers, i. e. God and mammon. The apollle faith, that the lame fountain cannot fend forth bitter [ 9 1 bitter waters and fweet. Thus the fcriptures deteft, and explode, the notion of thofe prin- ciples being in man. For, if the lame perfon be an habitation in common; for God and th Devil, for Chrifi and Belial , for light and darknefs ; then would the apoftles be found falfe witnelfes : the fame fountain would then fend forth bitter waters and fweet : Cbrift and Belial would then have con- cord : and the believer would have part with an infidel. Again, it is contrary to experience, to fup- pofe the being of thofe two principles in man. The prophets, and apoftles, all confefied, that they were finners ; and that there dwelt no good thing in them. Their good confifted wholly in that which dwelt in Chriji : in what he was made of God unto them — and which was re- vealed in them by the Spirit -of truth. Every chriftian, in every age, who have tru- ly known themfelves ; have confefied, and do confefs, that according to the propenfities of their own hearts, they are carnal and fold under fin : and that in them, in their flefh, or in their own perfons ; there dwelletn no good thing. That all men are finners, their a&ions, fpirit, and manner, fully prove : We judge of this, according to what we are taught, to conceive of the nature, and properties, of the divine Being : and, if we are to judge by this rule, it is ob- vious even to common fenfe, that there is none that doth good, no not one. The fuppofed good, in man; is quite invi- fible : If you believe it, you mult believe it pnfeen : you muft take their word, for what they, [ 10 ] they, to a judicious eye, to an unbiaffed judg- ment, can never make appear. So that if God loves no man, but in proportion to the good that is in him, we may look upon the eternal ruin of every creature as inevitable. This antichriftian invention, owes its original to that fpirit, which attempts to inveftigate truth by the fluctuating paffions : by frames, and viflons, rather than by the teftimony of the prophets and apoftles. The felf-righteous fpirit was alfo deeply con- cerned in the fcheme : when fondly dreaming of goodnefs, and holinefs, in the creature ; and at the fame time convinced of the evil, by fcrip- ture and experience ; there remained no other way of folving the difficulty, but by propofing that there are two principles in man : or two diitinft qualities, i. e. good, and evil. Nor has oppofition to the true Chrift been wanting here. As appears from its afcribing to this phantafm in man •, the whole of the lal- vation, and characters of the Lord Jefus : which I fhall have occafion to fhew, more particularly, in my following remarks. Having denied, that the perfons of mankind are either the objeCts of God’s love, or hatred ; that they are either the fubjeCts of falvation, or condemnation, he, to maintain fome ffiadow of conflftency, denies alfo the refurreCtion of the body; No. 3. page 67. — So does he the af- cenflon of our Saviour’s body, if not his re- furreCtion, in No. 2. ch. 9. in which, he has falfifled the fcriptures, and made void the hopes of the children of God from the beginning. To [ II ] To do this, with impunity ; he pretends that the fcriptures are an allegory— that there are allegories in the fcriptures, I deny not. But they do not deftroy fads ; and make void the truth of relation , and narrative , contained therein: Paul , fpeaking of Abraham's affair with the bond-woman, calls it indeed an allegory — but Paul ,* in' fo frying, does not deny that there was fuch a perfon as Abraham , nor that he had a fon by a flave : but his allegory confided in a fpiritual dodrine, concealed under that fad ; until revealed to him by the Holy Ghoft. Where allegories have no affinity to fads, and to fads properly dated, and afcertainedf the man who attempts to build by them, is as though he attempted to build caftles in the air : 3uch kind of a building is Coppvi s : who will have it, that the refurredion, and afcenfion of the Lord Chrijl , is to be underftood fpiritually Dr allegorically only. This brings to my remembrance, the dream of a certain vifionary, who would be an in- flrudor of others : This perfon, not long fince, being in company where the fiege of Samaria was talked of, of what diflreffes the inhabitants .felt, how a woman in the rage and fury of hunger eat her own child, &c. The fame perfon, then afked, with a contemptuous fmile, whe- ther they thought the thing literally true, or not ? Upon their anfwering in the affirmative, the perfon replied: It is not true in your fenfe; I myfelf am the Samaria ; and have been fo very ftraitly 'befieged ; that I was obliged to eat my firfLborn, i. e, that inward ■ 1 ■ goqdnds [ 12 ] goodnefs, which I had brought forth in forrow ; and until then had nourished fo carefully. But to return •, I confefs myfelf fimple e- nough to believe all things that are written in the law, and in the prophets •, and that I have hope towards God, that there fhall be a refurre&ion of the dead : I particularly reverence the tedi- mony of the evangelids, concerning Jefus Chrift our Lord. And in them we learn, that our Sa- viour was God incarnate, God manifed in the flefh, the word made flelh, &c. and that he was a real man i he had a reafonable foul, and a material body: that from infancy to a perfeft date of manhood, he lived upon this earth *, going about doing good, and fulfilling all righteoulnefs. And, that as a man, he felt pain, ficknefs, wearinefs, hunger, third, joy, forrow, &c. That in the article of his (offer- ings, his foul was forrowful, even to death ; whild his body was fcourged, crowned with thorns, fpit upon, buffeted, and treated with the utmod indignity. And after all, by many wounds, he was nailed to a crofs ; where, having vented drong cries and tears, he expired tinder the torment. That, when dead, he was taken down from the crofs and laid in a fepul-^ chre, wherein never man was laid before — that a guard of foldiers was appointed to watch the tomb, led his dilciples (hould deal him away — that on the third morning, notwithdanding all their pre-caution, the angels defcended ; and fmiting the keepers with deadly fear, rolled the done from the mouth of the tomb : (this was altogether unneceffary if the material body did not rife again) — that the very identical body of our t f *3 1 our Saviour, which was laid in that grave, did then arife ; and fhewed himfelf alive to his diP ciples. All this I affuredly believe. He firft convinced his difciples of the truth of his refiir- redtion, by his well-known form and features ; by his voice, manner and matter of fpeech. He fecondly fhewed them the wounds in his hands and his feet, by which he had been nailed to the crofs- : as they well knew how he had been treated •, thofe marks, being perfectly corref- pondent, fhewed them it was he. Thirdly, he propofed to Thomas (who was the moft incredu- lous of them all) in the prefence of the ten, that he fhould put his hand into his fide, and his fingers into the nail-prints : and to them all, he propofed that they fhould handle him, and fee, for that a fpirit had not flefh and bones, as they might perceive him to have. He converfed with them, he eat and drank in their prefence •, and gave thenj every poffi- ble and neceffary proof of his refurre&ion, in that material, individual, identical body j which was crucified and laid in the fepulchre. After continuing with them for I the fpace of forty days, he, (in their prefence, before their eyes”) mfting up his hands and bleffing them, amend- ed up on high : an intervening cloud receiving him out of their fight. And., they were then told, that . , that fame Jefus fhould come in like manner as they had feen him afcend. Now, as it is manifeft, that he retained the identity, 'and corporeity of his body, to the moment of his alcenfion ; it belongs to the oppofers to tell us what became of his body, if it did not afcend j what mountain, or hill, was C r 4 ] was it found upon afterwards r did it dffibire into air ? or is it preferve^ fomewhere untii he come again ? (becaufe they were taught, that he fnould come again, in like manner as they had feen him afcend) If it is, let them tell* us where ? Did not the manner wherein they faw him afcend, and in which he was to come again, relate to the reality of his perfon, and the method of his afcent ? and alfo to their feeing him with their bodily eyes ? I think it dicf: Let fuch who think the contrary, con- vince nfe of my error if they can. Again, if the body of Chrift did not afcend, it will be pretty difficult to affix a meaning to the term : It cannot be applied to the god- head ; the nature and properties of which, denies all circumfcription and paffibility : nor can it be applied to the human foul only, for reafons given below *. I To * The terms defcenf, and afcend, implies ; either a change of frate, or change oLplace, or both. But the godhead as cmniprefent, impaffibfflt unchangeable^ fife. canno^' admit of change in either : Therefore, thefe terms ^cannot f)e Sn harc plied to our Saviour refpedling his godhead ly — Nor ha they a limited application to his foul : becaufe it dt^h not appear, that our Saviour ever mani felled his perfon, hjfclQr ry, his falvation, btjvas in the matter and form of a|Suma* body. — He is reprefented, as. inhabitant in fuch a body, at the formation of /l dan : — when, as_the image and likeneiCof God ; he was alfo the ^irft born, and thelbeginning of .his creation; exhibiting in himfelf, the model after which man was to be created. In the form, and manner, of a human body, he appeared unto Abraham — in the fame manner, and form, he wreltled with Jacob — in the fame' likenels he ap-*jj^ peared to Mofes, ‘Jvjhua, Job, 1/aiaf fife. And in iuch a body he always manifelled himfelf unto his apoftles, as well after his retur- [ 1 To turn all the fcripture-account of our Sa- viour’s refurrecftion, and afcenfion, into fuch an allegory, as deftroys the fafts ; is juft the fame, as if they denied that there ever was fuch a perfon as Paul the apoftle : but that all that is faid of him, relates to certain difpenfa- tions which mankind pafs under in their own minds. And again,, in hiftory ; it is as though we fliould aver, that there never was fuch a perfon as our king Harry the fifth : but, that the tradition of fuch a perfon, and of his bat- tles, and victories in France ; relate altogether to the good principle in man, the divine power fighting and conquering in the France of our nature. What would be our conceptions of fuch a ranting fpirit as this, madly drawing every thing into that devouring vortex, himself? I believe, that the moll charitable conftrudtions | we refurredtion, as before: and in the lame manner doth the Holy Ghoft now reveal him : when he takes of the things which are his, and Ihevvs them unto usj Hence it is mani- felt, that the Lord Jefus always occupied a human body; 4>oth in matter, and form : particularly in his defcenfion and ’afcenfion. When he defcended to a fellow-feeling with the creatures, even to the loweft depth of human mifery; it was the whole man, confiftirig of body and foul. When he jjefcended mto torment, where the pangs of death encompahed him round about, and the pains of hell gat hold upoa him ; 3t was as the whole man, confifting of body and foul. In the lame fenle he defcended into the chambers of death, ex- ploring the lides of the pit; and linking to the lower party of the earth. The apoftie allures us that, he that delcended, as the fame aMo that afcended, up far above all heavens. , » .Upon which authority, we affirm; that the body of the Lord Jefus is rifen from the dead, and afcended up on high— othery/ife he wh® defcended, is not the lame that afcended . * [ 16 } we could poflibly put upon fuch fentiments, would amount to this : The poor creature is altogether under the baneful influence of igno- rance and pride. And is not this the cafe with the author, whofe writings are the fubjed of my prefent confideration, and indeed with the myftics in general ? do not they pretend to account for the truth of all things in themfelves ? They certainly draw all fcripture-fads, fuch as the incarnation, perfonality, birth, life, fufferings, death, refurredion, and afcenfion of Chriji ; into their own vortex : and deny their reality, or at leaft their ufefiilnefs in any other fenfe. I need not ule many arguments to prove, that whilft a man, by fuch a conduct, betrays the molt wretched ignorance of himfelf : he alfo gives evidence fufficient, of his being one of the children of pride. The blefied Jefus faith of himfelf, I ai|pt the truth. But the perfon above- mentioned, contefts the point with him: by declaring that the truth of all things is to be looked for in man. And thus as a thief and a robber 1 , he deals the brighteft jewel in Immanu- el's crown ; to ornament felf with. Allow but the fads of the refurredion, ancf afcenfion of our Saviour’s body ; and then you may Ipiritualize as much, as high, as refined as you pleafe upon it ; provided you alwayl crown the head, by keeping the pre-eminence and exaltation of our Saviour’s perfon in view : otherwife, the fpirit which is in you, with all its niceties and appearances of piety, is but an antichrift. If [ T 7 J If the refurredion of our Saviour’s body, be afcertained in the fcriptures ; and guaranteed by all the apoftles, as it furely is ; we may eafi- ly come to a determination, concerning the re- furredion and future ftate of our own bodies : for the apoftle tells us, that our bodies fhall be fafhioned like unto the glorious body of the Son of God. The New-Teftament teaches us, that the refurredion of the Lord Jefus, his ftate, as then appearing and manifefting himfelf, is the perfed pattern, and fample of our ftate and con- dition eternally with God. What does the term refurredion imply, if not the riftng again to life, of that which was fubjeded to death ? But the foul is immortal, as proved from fcripture and reafon, and can- not die. It is the body only that dies : There- fore the future refurredion of the dead, if there be any, rnuft be that of the body, and of the body only : otherwife there is no meaning in the term. I confefs that the term is fometimes ufed in the fcriptures, as refpeding the raifing again of mankind in the fecond Adam *, from that death of trefpaftes and fin, wherein they were involved in the firft Adam. There are thofe alfo, who apply it to that quickening, or renewal, which is effeded and wrought in the fpiritof the mind, through the manifeftation of the truth. To limit and confine the term to this, is cer- tainly to deny a future refurredion, and to commence difciples of Hymeneus and Philetas % of whom hear what the apoftle Paul laith : 'Their word will eat as doth a canker , who con- B ceruing [ IS ] cerning the truth , have erred \ faying, that the refurreUion is puffed already : and overthrow the faith of fome. For an Infidel, a Deift, to fet up his own opinions in oppofitio.n to the apo- Itle, is not to be wondered at : but for peo- ple profefling themfelves Chridians, who ac- knowledge the fpirit fpeaking by the apoftles, to be infallible : for fuch to prefer the mitiga- tions of a private fpirit, to the public teftimony of the divine word : is very ftrange and incon- fident. For my own part, I do not fee that de2th dif- folves the union between foul and body, any more than what deep doth. In fleep, the body is paffive and inactive, as in a date of death : and yet the union of foul and body is difcover able in deep.— So alfo in epileptic fits, &c. when the body is deprived of motion, and fenfe- lels as a corpfe ; when all the channels of aid- vice are ftopt, and the common fenforium de- prived of intelligence : the foul doth then evi- dence her own exiftence *, and confeffes her uni- on to the body, by retaining its organs : which fhe occupies in the fpiritual world ; (of which world the foul herfelf is a native) though ac- cording to things prefent, fhe hath ceafed from the exercife of the material eye, ear, hands. Death being only a deep, a date of fufpen- don, refpecling the exercife of bodily functions, dedroys not the unity of foul and body ; nor does it hinder, but that the foul poffefies the bodily organs, in her confcioufnefs of unity to the body. Should [ T 9 1 Should it be objected, that death is fuch a Sleep as deftroys the body: I anSwer, The change, or alteration of the body in death, re- peats form and manner only, and doth .not im- ply the lofs of matter : or that it lofeth its iden- tity : And therefore, I deny that death anni- hilates the body. The Scriptures fpeak of man, as confifling of three parts : body, foul, and Spirit. The body is meerly material, earthly, inactive and fenfelefs : And yet the body itfelf, is fearfully and wonderfully made : That wif- dom, power, and glory which manifeft them- felves, in the exquifite workmanfhip and ftruc- ture of the human body, effectually demon- ftrate that it was built for eternity ; and not for a moment of time only. The Second part of man, called his Spirit, is his fenfes : This Spirit, dwells in, and is united unto the whole body ; even in, and unto every minute part thereof. This Spirit, is guardian to the body, difcovers bodily dangers, and con- cerns itfelf for the prevention of them. It aifo difcovers what is good for the body, affenting to it, and chufing it. This- is the Spirit, that immediately occupies the bodily organs in this material world. It hears through the ear; it fees through the eye; it fmells through the noftrils ; it taftes through the palate ; it feels ' through the Ikin : and Swifter than lightning, it fends intelligence of all its difcoveries to the common fenforium : where, in the head, as in the pre-eminent member, the Spirit hath its higheft refidence : according to the determina- tions there, which are as Speedily communica- B 2 .ted [ 20 ] ted to the whole •, the paflions predominate : either love, joy, forrow, hatred, anger, &c. Thus far this fpirit is in common to men and brutes. But this fpirit in man, as dwelling in, and united unto every minute part of his body, is alfo united to his foul : And thus becomes the medium of unity between foul and body, in the rational creature. The foul in man, is an immortal confciouf- nefs of exigence, having the powers of think- ing, reafoning, reflection, will, refolution, &c. — This foul, united to the animal fpirit in man ; improves, and raifes that fpirit in him, much above what it is in the brutes. Thus, though the faculty of fpeech be in common to man and other creatures, as birds, &c : yet the latter has not the power of invention, order and reafon, and can only fpeak at random what they hear. But man has reafon, invention, order and defign in his fpeech : which proves, that the principal, or head of the triad, in his compofition •, is a fpiritual dignity. As the foul in man, is immediately united to the fpirit, and the fpirit to the body ; I would obferve, that the foul always retains the fpi- rit : Hence it is faid, that the fpirit of a man goeth upward (i. e. in conjunction with the ioul which is divine) whilft the fpirit of a beaft (as not having a divine and immortal foul) go- eth downward. As the foul, in man, retains the fpirit, and lifts it upward with herfelf — lb does the Spirit al- fo retain the body, in its organical fyftem : even when [ 21 ] when the material machinery is fubjedted to cor- ruption, and ferment in the grave *. In a dream, when the body is as dead, the foul, by the medium of the animal fp:rit, occu- pies its organs ; and feels the paffions, fome- times to very great degree. Nor, doth the bo- dy’s being in the grave, hinder the foul, (who by the medium of the fpirit, holds the body in union through all its changes) from fo retain- ing the organical fyftem thereof, as to feel the paffions ; as perfectly at lead: as die does in a dream — for which reafon, the apoftle with the utmoft propriety calls death, a deep. And here, it may not be improper to obferve, that deep doth not always imply red:. There is a deep ; which, with very unpleafant dreams, extreamly troubles the mind •, and fatigues the body : Tired, diftrefied, and tormented j we find gladnefs in awakening from fuch a deep 5 and red:, in refledling that our mifery was but a dream. I have been credibly informed, by fome who have undergone the operation ; that after the amputation of a difeafed member, the patient has felt pain, (in every particular to their den- ies) as if in the feparated limb : jud: as though B 3 it * May we not fuppofe that the foul, by the medium of the animal fpirit, may (even after death) retain the body : refpedting its mode, and its neceifary conjunction ; for the operations of the foul: in a manner ineffable, and peculiar to fuch a ftate ? whence through the organs thereof, as fuited to the fpiritual world ; the foul may be capable of hearing, feeing, feeling, &c. and alfo of appearance in an aerial, or ihadowy form : and of fubjedtion to the paffions — fo far, as to render her fufceptible of joy, or mifery, in a future ftate ? [ 22 J it was yet in union with the body. The truth of this I fhall not attempt to inveftigate here : Yet I profefs to fee no caufe, why the foul, through the animal fpirit, may not, according to the laws and powers of union ; feel as by and in the body, though the latter according to fenfe be put off: And if fo, the foul cannot but long for the time •, when the body having undergone its necefiary ferment, fhall be raifed in glory and immortality ; like unto that of the fon of God : a fit habitation for a fpirit to dwell in. "We look for the reality of all the joys, and reprefentations, which we have, in dreams •, un to thofe that we have when awake : when the whole machinery is in exercife. So may de- parted fpirits look forwards, from their vifona- ry enjoyments : for perfection, for confummate blifs, to the refritution of all things. When the body fhall be raifed ^ when the creature it- felf fhall be reftored from the bondage of cor- ruption, and brought into the glorious liberty of the fons of God — w 7 hen the redemption (to wit, that of the body) fhall be fully come — - when every feed fhall have its own body. The apoftle faith, If ye be ChrijVs , then ore ye Abramb feed — And eifetvhere, fpeaking of our Saviour, he faith, that he took upon hint the feed of Abram — And again, that we are one fleflj with 'him— that we are his fulnefs — that we are members of his body, of his flefh, and of his bones. From thefe, and many other teftimonies in the divine word, it appears that we are compre- hended in Chfijl : our bodies, in his body; and - our t 23 J our fouls, in his foul : He being in himfelf, the fountain of lives. If it be true then, that Chrijl favecl himfelf, in the wholeman, confiding .of body and foul ; as his refurrebtion fufficiently demondrates : then were our bodies, faved in his body j and our fouls, in his foul. Unto which falvation, i. e. of our fouls, in his foul; we come up even in this life — when through the knowledge of the truth, we attain to the end of our faith. But we are yet obliged to wait, for the redemption : to wit, that of the body. We cannot come up, in the prefent date of things, according to our bodies, to the date of Chrift ' s perfect body : Therefore the apodle fays. We look for the Saviour, the Lord Je Jus Chrijl ; who Jhall change oar vile body. But, if the redemption of our fouls, in the foul of Chrijl , did not dedroy their indivi- duality ; nor prevent their being brought up, through the knowledge of the truth, unto the enjoyment of that falvation, which they had in his foul : Wherefore, fhould it be fuppofed, that notwithdanding the redemption of our bodies. In his body, they mud lofe their individuality, they mud not rife again, nor be brought up to inherit that falvation which they have in the bo- dy of Chrijl ? Let me fay, as there was a time for the one; fo there remains a time for the other : when the wffiole man Ihall be faved ; when both in body and foul, he fhall be for ever with the Lord. Again, the prabtice of thofe who deny the refurrebtion of the body, gives their opinion the lie. Why are they fo remarkably fond of their bodies ? to feed them, to drefs them, to B 4 beautify [ 24 ] beautify them, to preferve them in health and vigour, to honour them — ana to gratify their appetites, is the whole employment of life — what are all the cares, and toils of life, direct- ed to, but to the body ? Man, can reap no other advantage, than food, and cloathing, from all his labours beneath the fun. What fools then, to make fuch a momentary being, as the body •, the foie obje<51 of our care and concern ! And to be fo very unwilling to part with them ; which excepting lunacy, is manifeftly the cafe with every man : No man hateth his own body. I will i'uppofe that the apoftle, woho bare this teftimony, had at Jeafb, as much Underftanding as a man, and as much divine light and real piety, as a Chriftian •, as Coppin ; his admirers •, or, as any myftjc whatever — And yet he, though he knew •, that he had a building of God ; an houfe not made with hands, eternal in the heavens : and w r as de- firous of being cloathed upon, with that garment of immortality : (I fay) though he was well allured of this, yet he fays, not for that we would be uncloathed • — but cloathed upon , that mortality might be /wallowed up of life. By which, he means as 1 fuppofe, that he was not defirous of being found naked : by the lofs of his body — but his defire was to be cloathed upon — both body, and foul, with that glory and immortali- ty which God had prepared for him. And again, he faith in another place. Behold I Jhew you a myjlery ; we Jhall not all Jleep , but we Jhall all be changed , in a moment , in the twink- ling of an eye , at the lajl trump. ( For the trumpet Jhall feu,, f and the dead Jhall be raifed incorrupt- • t 2 5 ] bh\ and we Jhall be changed.) I apprehend his meaning in thofe words, to be, that fuch who are alive, at the end of time, lhall not die : but that they fleiall ceafe from all vile, earthly qua- lities, in a moment-, in the twinkling of an eye:. The body fhall be purified, and changed, with- out putting it off: into an incorruptible ftate — The dead Jhall he raifed incorruptible , and we Jhall he changed. He not only allures us here, of the body’s being faved, and of its entering into glory : but aifo of its falvation, and entrance into blifs, without taking death. Should fome poor anchorite in the defart, confumed with famine, expofed to cold, and nakednefs, finking under his infirmities, and whofe whole life in the body, is one continual penance. I fay, fbould fuch an one deny the refurreftion of the body, as not feeling much confolation from its exiftence : it would have fome appearance. But for thofe, whofe time, labour, and ftudy, are fpent altogether on ac- count of the body and whofe chief felicity in life, feems to confift in gratifying its appetites. I fay, for fuch to deny its future blifs, and to treat it only as a pampered beaft, whereon they ride for a feafon, is to aft a very unreafonable, and inconfiflent part. But fo it is: The child of affliftion believing, that his poor famifhed or hifeafed body fhall rife again, and be fafhioned like unto the glorious body of the fon of God ; he lays it down in hope — whilfb the worldly, jolly, pretended-fpi- ritual man — the refined genius, as he would be thought — (though poffibly he hath not one ab- |trafted idea, of exiftence, feparate from the body) [ 26 ] body) unreafonably fuggefts, that the body be- ing meerly brutal ; fhall as fuch, perifh in death everlaftingly. Becaufe the fcriptures fay, ’That flejh and blood Jhall not inherit the kingdom of God . — And that being fown a natural body , it is raifed a fpirituc.1 body : there are thofe who infer, that the body fhall not rife again. But I would obferve, that the terms flefh, and blood, as ufed in the lorip- tures •, doth not always imply, the material bo- dy. Sometimes it intends man’s natural wifdom, underftanding, and reafon *, as where our Sa- viour fays to Peter , Flejh and blood hath not re- vealed thofe things unto thee — but my Father which is in heaven. Are there any fo ftupid, as to ima- gine that the Lord meant, thy body has not re- vealed thofe things unto thee ? Upon a ferious consideration I hope there are none fuch. Again, the term intends eafe, honour, and profit, according to this world. Hence the apo- Itle tells us, that when it pleafed God to reveal his fon in him, he conferred not with flefh and blood : but gave himfelf up to preach Jefus un- to the Heathen. Again, it intends our own righteoufhefles. — The apoftle Paul , calls his circumcifion on the eighth day — his being of the flock of Ifrael — his being of an orthodox, and refpedlable fe£t — his zeal in his religion — his blameiefs righteoufnefs as touching the law. I fay, he calls all this flefh. And in this fenfe the divine evangelift un- . derflood it : When fpeaking of the fons of God, he tells us, that they were born , not of blood , nor of the will of the flefh , (Pc. Paul ufes the term flefh, in the fame fenfe, in another place, where [ 27 ] fie fays, So then , they that are in the flejh , can- not pleafe God. And again, having begun in the Spirit , are ye now made perfect by the flejh. But Paul does not mean, that they that are in the body, cannot pleafe God-— -becaufe he tells us elfewhere, that Enochs before his tranflation , had this teftimony , that be plea fed God. At other times the term is not limited to our fuppofed excellencies, &c. but ufed in a more indefinite lenfe •, including all the weaknelfes, frailties, and corruption of our mortal ftate— - and in this fenfe it is ufed in the abovemention- ed text, i. e. fiefh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It is evident, that the apo- ftle does not apply the term in thofe words, to the material body •, nor did he intend to deny the refurredtion thereof. But his defign was to fhew the neceffity of the body’s being purged, through death, from all the bafe qualities and infirmities, which conflitute what he terms fiefh ,.and blood ; and which, he fays, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. He explains himfelf more fully in the follow- ing words — Neither doth corruption inherit incor - yuption. But we are not pleading for the refur- redtion of a corrupt body — nay, we fhould then gain nothing by the change. The body of man, as the immediate creation of God, was incor- rupt — corruption as applied to man, in body or mind, certainly intends, the evil bias, and vile propenfities of human nature. Or, if by a cor- rupt body, we underhand, its purulency, its liablenefs to putrefaction — I would obferve that the latter, is only an effedt of the former. And that ft neither is dfential to the being, or ex- iftence, r 28 ] iftence, of the body nor foul : Corruption in the firft fenfe, is an accident only in man, and no part of him ; and difeafe, death, or corruption, in the fecond fenfe, is to be confidered, meerly, as the effedt or confequence of the former, and can only fubfift by it ; and where that is found. Chrijl being made fin for us, fuftained corrup- tion in the firft fenfe ; but as he totally eradica- ted it, put it away, and deftroyed it •, by his fufferings, and death, he did not fee corruption in the fecond fenfe : that is, his body did not putrify, nor moulder to daft — Thou wilt not fnjfer thy holy one to fee corruption. But our bodies are not thus privileged, be- came they are vile, fiefh and blood, or corrup- tion dwells in them — They like the houfe that had the leprofy in the walls, muft be taken down for the deftrudtion of the plague. We who make our exit, before the time of the end, muft fee corruption, becaul'e our bodies are vile. But we are taught that they fhall be raifed in incorruption : yea, we have the pattern exhibit- ed in perfection, in the glorious body of our di- vine Immanuel: In him, we view the glorious reality, of what we are with God, and to God, and of what we fhall be, in, and unto ourfelves, when railed from the dead. As to the propofition, that the body is fown natural, and railed fpiritual. I would obferve, that natural and fpiritual, are diftindt and oppo- fite qualities only ; and not diftindt beings. Therefore, the change from natural to fpiritual, doth not imply, that one being is loft, nor that one being becomes another : but it implies, that all thofe qualities which conftituted the natural charadter. [ 29 ] charafler, being deftroyed in death, the body rifes in the qualities which conftitute the fpi- ritual charadter. And thus the body is Town a natural body •, and raifed a fpiritual body : Firfl, the body is natural from its manner of fubfifting, as by meats, drinks, deep, &c. Again, it is natural from its infirmities ; fuch as hunger, third:, wearinefs, pain, ficknefs, and death. Again, the body is natural from its affec- tions, and operations, as generation, augmen- tation, motion, &c. The body as fubjedl to thefe, is a natural body; but having put off (by death) all thefe, it becomes a fpiritual body ; a body fubfifting without the ufe of natural means •, fuch as meats, drinks, deep, phyfic, &c. A body free from all infirmities, and from all earthly affec- tions, and operations. A body, though re- taining its materiality, yet in the refurrebtion as the angels of God. Know you not, faith the apoftle, that your bodies are members of Chriji ? Shall I then take the members of Cbrijl> and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. To which I may fay, fhall we take the members of Chriji and deflroy them ? fliall we affert, that they have no pre-eminence above a bead, but that they mud: perifh everlaftingly ? God forbid. When Lazarus died, and Jefus approached to raife him from the dead, one of the fillers of the deceafed, went forth to meet him ; and in reverence to the Saviour (whilft ihe bewailed her departed brother) die faid, Lord , if thou badft been here , my brother had not died. Unto which, the compaflionate High-Pried: anfwer- ed s [ 3° T cd, Thy brother Jhall rife again. Tea Lord , (faid fhe) 1 know that he Jhall rife again in the re- furrediion at the loft day. Jefus replied, I am the refurredlion and the life ; he that beheveth on me , though he were dead , yet Jhall he live: And whofoever liveth, and believeth on me , /hall never die. Believejl thus this ? She faid unto him. Tea Lord. That Martha believed the refurrec- tion of the body at the laft day, is declared in words as expreffive as can poflibly be ufed : nor did our Saviour reprove her fentiment (for it is highly probable that ftie had received it from him) he only taught her, that the refur- redtion of the human body, doth not proceed from natural confequences, but that it depend- ed altogether upon him. I am the refurredtion and the life , faith he. The fa<5t of our Savi- our’s refurredtion, doth not only afcertain that of ours ; exhibiting the moft glorious and fliining pattern thereof; but it is alfo the caufe, the means and fecurity of our refurredtion. It may alfo denote that power, wherewith he, as the Son of man, ftands inverted by the Father. Martha believed that her brother fhould rife a- gain at the laft day: But our Saviour taught her, that as her brother could not rife then, without him who was the refurredtion and the life : fo neither was his power confined to that day; but that he could exert it when it pleafed him fo to do : and which he then in- tended to do, by raifing her brother from the grave. It is faid of the apoftles, that they preached , through Jefus , the refurredlion from the dead. And again of Paul , that he preached Jefus , and [ 3 1 1 and the refurrcdlion : and when they heard of the refurredlion , fame mocked . Of the hope and re - fur re diion of the dead , (faith the fame apoftle) am I called in qu eft ion. Again, That there Jhall be a refurreblion of the dead , both of the juft? and of the unjuft. Our Saviour faith. The hour is coming , in which all that are in their graves Jhall hear his voice , and Jhall come forth : they that have done good , unto the refurredlion of life ; and they that have done evil , unto the refurreMion of damnation. And the graves were opened , and many bodies of faints which Jlept , arofe and came out of the graves , and went into the holy city and appeared unto many. — If the dead rife not , then is not Chrift raifed •, our faith is vain , and our preaching vain ; ye are yet in your fins. A- bram accounted , that God was able to raife up Ifaac, even from the dead. But not to multi- ply citations, it is manifefl, that the refurrec- tion of the body, is pofiitively and clearly taught in the New-Teflament : and was a prin- cipal article in the preaching of the apoftles. But fome man, fuch as Coppin , and his ad- mirers, will fay. How are the dead raifed up ? and with what body do they come ? Thou fool, faith the apoftle, that which thou foweft, is not quickened except it die. The intention of this anfwer is to teach us, that as the death, and ferment of the grain lown in the ground, hinders not its rifing again ; but is rather ab- folutely necefiary to its ipringing up in a plant : fo the death of the human body, is no hind- rance to it rifing again. And that which thou, foweft , thou foweft not that body that ftoall be. This C 32 ! , rh[s is to fhew us, that the body bemg fown natural, and raifed fpiritual, is not the lame in its reflirredtion, as it was in its death i becaufe (as I have Ihewn before) all thofe qualities which conflituted the natural character, are deftroyed in death : and the fpiritual charadter as no longer reftrained, and concealed by the former, is now perfectly fuftain- ed in the refurrediion. The body thus changed, is faid, not to be the fame body •, • that is, the comparifon, which proves, that the fown body, is not the fame as the rifen body ; doth not refpedt its materiality, or identical exigence, but its qualities •, or mode of exiftence only. Where the apoftle faith, Thou fowelt not that body that fhall be, but bare grain, ISc. There are none fo fimple, I fuppofe, as to imagine that the apoftle would not have us ex- pedt to reap wheat, where we fow wheat : or that by another body, we are to expedt bar- ley where wheat is fown. Nay , 7 his defign is to fhew us, that though the grain fown be bare, and fimple, yet it rifeth a glorious body, producing many-fold : as an emblem of the body, which is fown in corruption, but raifed in glory •, even an hundred fold, when com- pared with what it has in this life. The grain which is fown, refpedting its fub- ftance, is not loft : for though it ferments and dies, it fhoots upwards into the ftalk. Were you then to take the ftalk properly out of the earth, you fhall find that the fown grain, is fall at the root in appearance : but upon examina- tion, you may perceive, that all its fubftance, every material particle, containing all its genu- ine [ 33 1 inequalities afe fpent; are rifen in the plant; and nothing remains but the chaff, or huff, which is all of it that is loft. This is a fimile of the refurredtion : All the original genuine properties of the body are preferved ; and no- thing loft but the chaff : i. t. the bafe quali- ties that adhered to it. But God giveih it a body, as it hath pleafed him ; and to every feed its own body . The meaning of which, I appre- hend td be, that God, without accounting for his ways to man, without their being able to comprehend the depths of his wifdom, and power, is pleafed in an ineffable manner, to give a body to the fown feed. Bewildered, and loft, in the refearches off reafon, we are con- ftrained to refolve all into the good pleafure of God. God giveth it a bom’, as it hath pleafed him and to every feed, ids own body. But if God does not give a human body, to every human body fown , i how cfn every feed be faid to have its own body ? In the paffages above- cited, the apoftle is ma- nifeftly fpeaking of the future refurrecftion of the bpdy : but Mr. Coppin , and his admirers, will not fo underftand him. They will make it out in fuch a manner, as fays that the refur reffion is paft. Thus erring concerning the truth, and overthrowing the faith of fome ; in The ad- vancement of all things in Chrift, &c. Chap. 6. he fpeaks thus, “ God hath fowed the feed, “ or planted the image of eternity, the image of “ the divine Being, the image of himfelf, “ which is Jefus Chrif, in this world, as in “ general, fo particularly in Adam — in the “ ftefti of Chrift — in the fiefh of his faints — C “ in • [ 34 ] a in the whole world of things. 3 ’ What h*3 this unfcriptural, this unmeaning propofition, to do with the matter in hand? what hath it to do with that fcripture-pafiage, of which it is a pretended expofition ? what affinity has the phrafeology, or fenfe, (if it has any fenfe) of His propofitions, to this interrogation ? How are the dead raifed, and with what body do they come? And what relation doth it bear to the apoftle’s anfwer, ’Thou fool , &c. except an af* fertion of right, to appropriate the character ? The term* image i as applied to God, may be linderftood in various fenfes. Kings, and ma- giftrates, from their power and rule, may be laid to be the image of God. Any perfon, exercifing himfeif in works of mercy, com- panion, love, benevolence, &c. m.ay be faid, in fo doing, to be aln image ol Goo. — The fun is an image ol his^ brightnefs •, the rock of his liability ; the fire ol his purity, &c. In this lenie, all creatures may be confidered as having fomewhat of the divine image : The heavens declare thy power, and firmament ffieweth forth thine handy work. But, if by the image of God, we mean the afiemblage of all divine perfections ; reprefented, and reflected, as in a mirrour, which in the fcripture, is the primary fenfe of the term : there is then, none other image of God, than Jefus Chrijl : He is the brightnefs of the glory of God, and the exprefs image of his perfon The light of the knowledge of the glory of God, is in the face of Jefus Chrijl. Coffin fays, that God planted this divine image in Adam : but neither the prophets, nor apoftles, fay fo. t 35 ] Mofes indeed tells us, that God made man in ■his own image, and after his own iikenefs. But this image, and Iikenefs of God, in whom, and after whom, man was made •, was Jefus "Chriji : the fame yefterday, to-day, and forever. God, eternal* invifible, immortal, incompre- henfible, was pleafed to exhibit an image of himfelf, of his own nature, and properties, in the perfon of his Son ; who was with him, as one brought up with him from everlafbing. By which medium he wrought all his works. And in which he was known, and his glories reflected on the angels, and on all the heavenly powers. In this image, and after his model and fimilitude (he being the head of mankind) was Adam formed. Adam was fo far from being the ex- prefs image of God in himfelf, or from having it planted, or fown in him j that he, in his brighteft perfection and glory, was but an out- ward, fhadowy, fleeting figure, of him who is the perfeCt, exprefs, unchangeable, and eternal image of the invifible God. — Hence the apoltle ■calls Adam the figure of him that was to come. Again, inftead of acknowledging Chriji him- felf to be the image of God, he talks of the image of God, being fown, or planted in the human nature of Chriji and that when Chriji laid down his flefh, by the death of the crofs, this image was raifed up into the divine nature, where it lives forever. Here he fhews himfelf to be a divider of Chriji , by diftinguifhing the Chriji , from the perfon of Jefus of Nazareth. In this he feems to follow Cerinthus , a perfon who lived in the firfl: century *, who held, that Jefus was the fon of Jofeph and Mary ; but that C 2 Chrift [ 36 ] Chip, in the form of a dove, aefcended upon him at his baptifm : and that when Jefus buffered death, Chrijt flew up into heaven, without being fenfible of any inconvenience. To confute the errors of this heretic, and his followers, John is reported to have wrote his gofpel. Coppin in his definition of the true Chriji •, fays, he is to be in us, to redeem and fave us as he was in the man Chriji Jefus. He alfo fays, that when Jefus laid down his flefh, by the death of the crofs, (the Chriji , or) the image of God, was raifed up into the divine nature, where it lives forever. By faying that the image of God which Chriji had in his human nature, was at his death, raifed up into the divine nature, where it lives forever : he affirms, either that the body, or flefh of Chriji , did not rife again but that his human nature perifihed and ceafed to be in death : Or otherwife, that though his human nature doth now exift, it is not the image oi God : nay, the image of God doth not fo much as dwell in it now , according to him. But the image of God is raifed up into the divine na- ture, where it lives forever. According to which, there is no exhibited image of God now. Thefe things are fo horribly blafphemous, and antichriffian j that they need neither the argu- ment of reafon, nor fcripture, to confute them. Again, what a rant it is, to talk of the image of God being planted in the flefh of his faints 1 and then to quote fundry pafiages of fcripture, in fupport thereof ; which bear no mere re- lation to his propofltion, than they do to the Coran. I have already fhewn from fcripture, experi- ence, and reafon, that there is no fuch thing as the C 37 1 the divine image, or good principle dwelling in the individuals of mankind : neither in their fiefh, nor Ipirit ; and therefore fhall fay no more to it here. Nor will I fpend my time, to fhew the im- propriety of afferting, that this image is fown in the whole world of things ; but fhall leave the fuperladvely eniightned, to admire, and worfhip the divine image, in dogs, fwine, fer- pents, &c. which are not creatures of the fmall- efv confequence, in the whole world of things. Thus, according to this author, the dead, or the feed fown, is Jefus Chrift , or the di- vine image. And that this feed, was fown, died, and was buried, in the human nature, or flefh of man •, and in the whole world of things. ■ — -That God raifes this dead feed; or Chrijl , by his voice ; And being rifen in us, it returns to God again : whilft the nature and perfons of men, with the whole world of things, are all left behind to perifh. “ Thus, (faith he) God hath ‘ x carried the image of himfelf, through all things in the world, and to the end of all “ things again even to himfelf.” (And again^ “ This is the laft and general refurredtion.” Without doing him any injury, 1 may ven~ rure to affirm : that his dodtrines are unfcrip - 1 tural, and unreafonable : tending to the fub- verfion of chriftianity in general. For firft, with Hymeneus and Philetus , he affirms, that the refur- rection is paft already. Secondly, he denies that the body rifes at all. Thirdly, he denies that man, or any part of him, is the objeft of fal-r vation. Fourthly, he afferts that the perfons of men, having no pre-eminence above a beafly fhall perifh everlaftingly as the bead. C 3 Whether [ 3 * ] Whether this man underftood the apofHes, or payed any regard to their dodtrine, or not,. I leave the reader to judge : and fhall here ob- ferve, that if the matter in hand, had related only to the refurredtion of our bodies •, I fhould not have meddled with it r but fhould have left Coppin and his admirers, to the time of the re- flitution of all things ; when every man fhall be reftored to his right fenfes •, at leaft, fo far as to diftinguifh between truth and error. But the apoftle fhews us, that if the dodtrine of the refurredtion be not true, if there be no refur- redtion of the dead, then Chrijl is not raifed : and if he be not rifen, then our preaching is vain : our faith is vain : v/e are yet in our fins. Thus it appears to be, (not a meer opinion, a fpeculation, or fable ; butj a matter of the ut- moft importance : the fource, and evidence of our falvation : our happinefs in time and in eternity. Again, this author, denies the human nature of Chrijl , No. 2. page 26. where he feoffs at a corporal Chrijl: and No. 3. page 58, 59. where he more than once, treats the dodtrine of our Saviour’s having a body of flefh and bones, with fneers and derifion : as alfo in fundry parts of his book, intitled. The advancement of all things in Chrijl , &c. How amazing ! that any perfon who believes, or even pretends to believe the feriptures, fhould difpute the truth of our Saviour’s having a body of flefh and bones : when the evangelifts affure us, that the Lord Jefus , after his refurredtion, was particu- larly careful, to give his difciples the fulleft evidence, the moft indifputable proof, of his [ 39 1 being rifen ; in the very fame body wherein he fuffered and died. Of the truth of this, he convinced their eyes, their ears, their hands, and heart, — He who knew all things, forefaw that men of perverfe minds would arile : who, (though they confef- fed themfelves chriftians) would conteft, and deny, the reality of his refurredlion. His form, his features, his voice, his wounds, the mate- riality of his flelh and bones ; all which were manifeft, and proved to a demonftration & per- fectly convinced his difciples, that the- fame, in- dividual, material body of Jefius, which was crucified, died, and was buried, was rifen from the dead -, nor was it poflible for them to be deceived, by any phantom or fhadowy appea- rance ; becaufe he convinced them of his hav- ing flelh, and bones •, which they very well knew, were not the properties of a fpirit. Behold my hands, and my feet, (faith our Savi- our) that it is I myfelf: handle me, and fee, for a fpirit hath not flejh and bones, as ye fee tfte have. And again to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger , and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand , and thrufi it into my fide : and be not faithlefis , but- believing. But the Chrift, whom Coppin , and his admirers reverence, neither is, nor was ca- pable of making any fuch propofal to his fol- lowers becaufe he has no body of flelh and bones 5 nor indeed has he any other exiftgnce, than in their antichriftian conceit. That the Chrift whom the apoftles preached, had a body of flelh and bones, is manifeft ? where Paul tells the church, that they are mem- bers of his body , of his fi?j%—edd of his bones . C 4 guf [ 40 ] But this propofition, cannot poflibly be true, if Chriji has no body of flefh and bones ; as this author afiferts. Let God be true, and every naan a liar. The word of truth affures us, that he has a body of flefh and bones ; and that this body, notwithftanding all its wounds and bruifes, was fo preferved that not a bone there- of was broken. But it was preferved to no purpefe, if it did not rife again: or, if it was loft afterwards. — The Holy Ghoft, bearing witnefs of the Lord Jefus, by the prophets ; teftifies, that a bone of him fhould not be bro- ken. Speaking of the paflover, the type of Chriji ; he fays, Neither Jkall ye break a bone thereof, Lxod. xii. 46. And again, nor break any hereof it, Num. ix. 12. And again, He keepeth all his bones : not one of them is broken , Pfal, xxxiv. 20. And, that this related to the body of the Lord Jefus , the evangelift John bare witnefs. Gur Saviour, and thole who buffered with him, being < crucified on the eve of an high labbath among the Jews ; the latter be- Lught Pilate (as the crucified were long dying) that they might'have leave to break their legs : and to take them down, that their bodies might not be feen on their croffes on the following day : To this he confented •, upon w r hich, they brake the legs of thofe who were crucified with our Lord ; but when they came to Jefus , and.faw that he was already dead, they brake not his legs. And the beloved difciple in his remarks upon this, fays, for thefe things -were done that the feripture fhould be fulfilled, A bone of him flsall net be broken, John xix. 36, Thus, the apoftle ihews that it was not accident, but t 41 3 the purpofe and council of God, that defeated the defign of the Jews : when they would have broken his legs with the others. Nor are we to refpedt it as a trifling, or common occurrence : That would be to impeach the wifdom of God, who had fo long before his fufferings, declared by his prophets, that a bone of him fliould not be broke The prefervation of our Saviour’s body was for his own glory, and for the benefit and ad- vantage of mankind. As mankind were com- prehended in his body, flefh of his flefh, and bone of his bone ; it denoted their final prefer- vation and fecurity in the fame body : Not the fmalldl member, was to be feparated from the whole ; nor the body from the head : that we might live by him. It alfo denoted his faith- fulnefs, power, and love, in preferving the whole body, all that had been committed to his trull. Again, Mr. Richard Cop-pin by propofing Chriji to be a meer quality in man, denies his per- lon, No. i. page 13. He fays that Chriji “is to “ be in you to teach, redeem, and fave you, “ as he was in the man Chriji Jefus Thus acr cording to him, the man Chriji Jefus , who was born at Bethlehem of a pure virgin, who wrought many miracles, and went about doing good *, who fifffered, and died upon a crofs, in the reign of Tiberias Cafar ; and who rofe again from the dead, on the third day j I fay, ac^ cording to Coppin , this perfon was not the Chriji , in fpirit, and truth : but that the true Chriji was in him only, to redeem, and fave him j [ 42 ] him ; in like manned as he is to be in the peo- ple. And No. 3. pag. 59. he fays : tc And you fay, 44 When Chrift, who is our life, fhall appear *, ®. 4 then fhall we alfo appear with him in glory : u and this life, even Chrift, you fay is eternal 44 life. Then I anfwer, this muft not be meant of a body of flefh, and bones, for that can- 44 not be our eternal life. And this life, the 44 apoftles then waited for, and received •, which 41 was a fpiritual Chrift, even Chrift in them 44 the hope of glory : and not a flefhly perfona! 44 Chrift as you fay ; for how can filch a one be 44 in us to be our eternal life ?” If I miftake not, Mr. Coppin intitles his works, [in defence of which, that which now k a ' re-publifhing in numbers, was written :] A Blow at the Serpent. But whether his admirers will excufe me or not, I am obliged to give it a new title •, and as I think a very juft one ; i. e. A BLOW AT THE SEED OF THE WOMAN. He fays, that Chrift as a perfon, or as having a body of flefh, and bones, cannot be our eter- nal life. Thatour Saviour hath a body of flefh, and bones, I have already proved from the fcriptures. And I fhall now endeavour to prove, that the perfon of Chrift, as having fuch a bo- dy, is our eternal life. Our Saviour, in the 6th of John declares that his flefh is meat indeed, and that his blood is drink indeed. And faith, whofo eateth my flefh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life. But how can we eat or drink what hath no ex- iftence ? can a man fill his belly with the eaft wind ? I 43) wind ? can he drink of a river, whofe waters are cut off, and whofe ftreams are perfectly dried up ? We anfwer, he cannot. It is not meer- ly faying to the body, be fed, that feeds it : nor, will our bidding it be warm, adminifter any heat to it. As the Lord Jefus, has propofed to all gene- rations, that fuch who eat his flefh, and drink his blood, hath eternal life ; fhall live thereby, &c. I think I may venture to propofe, with as much confidence, and upon much better grounds than Cop-pin afferts the contrary ; that our Saviour always has a body, a material body, a body of flefh and bones. And that this bo- dy, as united with his foul, to the deity; in the glorious perfon of Immanuel, is the eternal life : Hence whofo eateth him, fhall live by him. To eat and to drink his flefh and blood, cer- tainly intends fuch an apprehenfion of our union and onenefs with Chrifl: ; as infpires us with wifdom, refolution, and power to appro- E riate him. So to mingle with his flefh and lood ; i. e. his human nature ; that all his la- bours, fufferings, victories, and triumphs, being ours as they are his ; we might eat his flefh, and drink his blood : that is derive life, purity, confidence, and blifs ; from our being one flefh and blood with him ; intitling us to his peace and joy, which is unfpeakable, and full of glory. What a perfon eats and drinks, being proper- ly digefted in the ftomach ; the nutritive part, after chylification, becomes blood ; and ming- les with the whole mafs : adding health, flrength, and magnitude to the body through- out. L 44 ] 6ut. Thus, what a perfon eats and drinks, be-* comes one with himfelf : and except it does fo, the perfon is not nourifhed, nor can he live thereby. In like manner, fo eat the flefh, and drink the blood of the Son of man ; is to apprehend our union with him, our memberfhip in his body, even of his flefh and of his bones : in fuch fort, that becoming one with his flefh and blood, we rejoice together with him ; in all the benefits of his humiliation, and exaltation in the body. And thus, that Chrift who hath a body of flefh and bones, is our eternal life. As Coppin tauntingly afks, how a perfonal Chrijl can be faid to be in us, as our eternal life ? I anfwer, Chrifl, in the fcriptures, is faid to be our eternal life, in a two -fold fenfe;. firfl, as he hath taken upon him the feed of Abraham , perfonating, and wearing the people in the body of his flefh : he was born in them, circumcifed in them, baptized in them, tempted in them, fulfil- led all righteoulnels in them ; he fuffered in them, died in them, rofe again in them, afcended in them, andliveth forever in them. Thus faith the pro- phet : Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us : for thou alfo haft wrought all our works in us. And thus is Chrift in us, the hope of glory. Thus did Job behold God in his flefh. Thus all the promifes, relative to God’s dwelling in the peo- ple, to his coming in the flefh, &c. are fulfil- ed in him. In Chrift Jefus, all the promifes are yea and amen. Here we underfland, how the perfonal Chrift is in us, and is our eternal life, and hope of glory. The life which he lives, in his own perfon, he lives in us, and for us : [ 45 ] m : Hence the apoftle tells us, that the eternal life which God hath given us, is in his Son. And our Saviour fays, Becaufe 1 live , you jhall live alfo. Again, Chrifi is faid to be in man by faith, by revelation, by manifeftation, by his fpirit, &c. In this fenfe, he is in us, according to cur individual perfons. Faith is the evidence of things unfeen, &c. Therefore it is that wit- nefs in, and with power, light, and love to our minds ; of the glorious perfon, and falva- tion of Chrifi : Though we have not ieen him, neither are v/e permitted to determine of him by what we feel, or know from ourfelves ; yet our underflandings are enlightened to difcern him, according to truth : our wills confent to his fal- vation, and fubmit to his glory : our affections rejoice in him : our conicience hath peace, pu- rity, and perfection in him. The Chrifi , thus explained to our judgment, thus glorious before the eyes of our mind, thus borne witnefs of in our hearts, by the Spirit of truth ; is not fome creature of fancy, or the off- fpring of enthufiafm : but a perfonal Chrifi ; that very Jefus whom the apoftles preached ; that identical perfon who died upon the crofs, without the gates of Jerufialem : who rofe from the dead, who afcended up on high, and who liveth forever. This perfon, according to his perfonal properties, glory, grace, and falvation ; being explained, revealed, and wit- neffed of, in, and unto our faculties, is Chrifi , dwelling in our hearts by faith : There, realized (though unfeen) in his perfon, and benefits : dwelling there, as the cbjeCt of our peace and purity, " Coppin [ 46 ] Coppin cannot conceive how a perfonal Chrijl can be laid to dwell in our hearts, no more than the Jews could conceive, how he could give them his flefh to eat : but this is certainly owing to his ignorance, both of the fcriptures, and of the power of God : Where he has not a mind to believe any thing, he exercifes his rea- fonings, afking, how can a perfonal (Thrift be in us ? He might as well have afked, how can the body, when dead, and mouldered to duft, ever rife again ? how could the body of Chrijl afcend in air; without fteps, or fome other con- venience to go up by, &c. &c. ? For thefe are matters which he pofitively denies, becaufe he cannot comprehend them : But with regard to his own fyftem, he is as far above all reafon in his proportions, as the heavens are above the earth : he is there, all inlpiration, and infallibi- lity : trampling the weak and beggarly elements of reafon, and common fenfe, under his feet. I hope, I have fufficiently proved, that our Saviour hath a material body ; a body of flefh and bones : and have alfo fliewn, how he, as having fuch a body, may be faid to be in us, as our eternal life. I would here obferve of Coppin, and his admirers, that their Chrift is no lady : They will neither allow him to have a human body; nor to be a perfon. Confe- quently, he is neither God nor man : nor is he a fpirit of any kind ; otherwife he muft be perfonal. Chrift , is by them, fuppofed to be a principle, or quality of good : originally im- planted in every creature. This fuppofed good, he calls the Jacob , which is. loved of God : the tect precious; the believer-, the Chrift , And [ 47 i And the evil principle, or quality in man, he calls the Efau , which God hates ; the repro- bate, the unbeliever, the antichrift, &V. If you compare the above, with the doc- trines of the Manichees \ you will foon perceive that Coppin’s fentiments, are only a revival ox the Manicheean herefy. They held that there were two principles ; the one of good, from which proceeded the good foul of man j and the other of evil, from which proceeded the bad foul, with the body * and all other -corporeal, and perifhable creatures. They, alfo held that the good foul, went to God, unto whom it was rejoined. They denied the refurreftion of the body. They denied that Chrijt had a real body.— -Whether Coppin gleaned his fentiments in the Manicheean field, or whether they were fown in him by the fame hand which firil fow- fed them in Manes., the leader of the feci ; I lhail not determine : But manifell it is, that they are perfe&ly fimilar ; and that they raife the fame inferences from them. Hence it is, that in No. 2. page 45. he fays “ Man is become one with God, in all that “ G6d was above man.” — I hope I fhall be able to cloath my ideas, properly ; and if I am, I doubt not but to detedl, and expofe, the fal- lacy, and danger, of this blafphemous propo- fition. He pretends that this propofition fol- lows of confequence, from man's reconciliation in Chrijl , to the JF ather : and thus denies the perfonaiity, pre-eminence, and medium of Chrijl. Excufe me, if 1 fubjoin part of a letter, which I wrote to a perfon in the country, not |ong fince, on a fimilar fubjeft. ' “I 1 48 ] i£ I cannot but greatly diflike that proportion in your letter, of our being equal with God. It is laid of our Saviour, indeed ; that he thought it no robbery to be equal r asith God. This was in- tended as a proof of his real godhead : fince in ■a ftridt fenfe of the word, God has no equal. "Whatever equality, our Saviour as a man, has to God ; it is according to that grace, and fa- vour only, which the deity hath conferred upon the human nature in his perfon. Hence he is called the man, God’s fellow. That is, his companion, his friend, whom he hath exalted at his own right hand, to be a prince, and a Saviour : And unto whom he is fo clofely, inyfterioufly, and eternally united ; that the Lord JefuS) according to the properties of his human nature, Hands inverted by the godhead, With all divine perfections : fo that it was no robbery for him to think himfelf equal with God. But it dees not follow from thence, that we are equal with God : It is manifeft robbery, for us to think in fuch a manner : we rob the feriptures of their truth ; for they declare the contrary : We rob that God of his honour ; who fays, my glory I will not give to another : We rob our Lord Jefus Chrifi of his pre-eminence, and are fchifmatics in the firft lenle of the word. It is, as if the foot fbould fay, I 2m the head ; therefore put the crown upon me •, or at leaft, let me have a crown, as Well as the head. If we claim a l ight to fay, that we are equal with God *, becaufe Chrift is' equal With him : Is it not as if the foot fhould fay, I muft needs be the feat of wifdom to the body ; becaufe the head is fuch P Or, I muft needs hav^ [ 49 ] have the pre-eminence and crown, becaufe the head hath them ? do not you perceive how groundless, and falfe, all fuch inferences are ? To infer that we are equal with God ; be- caufe Chrifi thought it no robbery to be equal with God ; is either to deny, that Ghrift is any other perfon than the church, and, that the feriptures have any other meaning than the peo- ple ; in what they fpeak of him : Or, if we confefs him to be an individual, a dillindt per- fon, wholly independent of mankind, in point of exillence : I fay, if we thus confefs him, and yet infill on our being equal with God ; be- caufe he is fo : we certainly rob him of his pre- eminence, and deny him as the mediator be- tween God and man. To fay, that Chrijt hath none other body, or perfon, than the people 5 is the fame in argument, as if we faid, the head hath none other reality of exillence, than what it hath in the hand, or in the foot. The Lord Jefus, in his perfon, and in the myllery of his body, may be confidered as fim» pie, and aggregate. Simple, as he Hands a- lone, in an uncompounded exillence ; where he is not the people, neither are the people him. In this point of view, he Hands high above eve- ry creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth ; he is there fairer than the fons of men, and the perpetual objedl of their worfhip. But in his office-capacity, as he reprehended* and perfonated mankind ; which he did in his birth, obedience, bufferings, death, refurredlion, and afeenfion ; and now doth in his everlalling life •, he was the aggregate. He was in all this , the fum total of mankind ; who were thus gathered D into [ 50 ] into one body. But the aggregate, was fub- jedt to the fimple. Hence it is, that the people, who are purified, and exalted in the aggregate ; pay eternal homage to the fimple ; falling be- fore his feet, and forever finging, Worthy is the Lamb, &c. And whilft they acknowledge him to be the Lord, to be the only holy, they con- fefs that the fimple is the head of the aggre- gate. The apoftle tells us, that the head of every man is Chrift, and the head of Chrift is God. From this, you may perceive, that we have no immediate union with God ; much lefs an e- quality with him. It is Chrift only, in his fimple exifbence ; who is united to God : he only, is one with the Father : In him , the deity is immediate head to the human nature : which branch of human nature, in the man Chrift Jeftus , is imme- diately head over all things, to the aggregate ; i. e. to his body the church. By Chrift , as the medium between God, and man every good, and perfect gift cometh. He is the immediate receiver of all good, from God. He is the exalted, he is the anointed, he is the crowned King of kings, and Lord of lords : whilft we, without envy, without re- pining, rejoice in his glory; and are joyfully lubjedt to him. Should it be granted, that the hand, the foot, or the more uncomely parts of the body ; have a right to claim an equality with the head, (which is not an unexceptionable rule) yet this right, in every member, muft be limited to its own head. With what propriety then t 51 3 then can we claim an equality with God, who is the head of Chrift , and not our immediate head ? We certainly can claim no more, than to be as our own head ; nor is that claim afcertained any farther, than as he is confidered the aggre- gate : for in his fimple, and individual exift- ence, he is anointed with the oil of giadnefs a- bove his fellows. He is there the objed of our worffiip, love, praife, delight, and eternal ad- miration. From all which, I conclude, that the propo- rtion of our being equal with God, is meer rant; and more than bordering upon blafphe- my. It is produdive of many hurtful and per- nicious errors : it infpires mankind with lucife- rian pride ; though in comparifon] of the Al- mighty, they are lighter than vanity, they are lefs than nothing. It dilhonours our Creator, by making him fuch a one as ourfelveS. It de- ftroys the medium between God and man ; which is Chrift Jefits the Lord. It denies the 'pre-eminence of our Saviour, as head over all things to his body the church. But as Mr. Richard Coppin y in his writings, does not gather with Chrijl as he denies the body, and perfon of the Lord JeJus : it will be objected probably, that my arguments do not comprehend the grounds of his propofition. I believe I am as well aware of his meaning, as his admirers are ; excepting none of them. But I con- fefs, there is fome difficulty, in framing argu- ments againft things which will fcarcely bear any : as is the cafe here. He fays that “ Man is be- “ come one with God, in all that God was above D 2 “ man.” [ 52 ] cc man.” But it is neither true in divinity, nor philofophy. Is man become one with God in- his eternity, wifdom, power, purity, &c. &c. ? the proportion is odious, and blaiphemous. Had he faid of Chrift , according to the pro- perties of his human nature ; that he is become one with God, in all that God was above him ; he had erred againft the truth. But, as he de- nies the perfon of Chrift ; he muft by man, whom he fays is one with God, mean the crea- ture, himfelf, his brethren, &c. And does it appear, either to men, or angels j that man, a worm, fubjedt to paflions, and compafled a- bout with infirmities, is one with God ; in all the tremendous height of his glory and majef- ty ? Nay, as the heavens are above the earth, fo are his ways, and his thoughts above ours. Again, as he denies the peribnality of Chrift— as he treats all the fcripture-account of things allegorically. — as he fays, that the believer, and unbeliever, are, in every man, (Ac. He adts confident with himfelf, in making out that fel- vation, [which our Saviour taking upon him the feed of Abraham by his obedience, buffer- ings, death and refurredfion, wrought out for us in his own perfon :] to confift in a work, or operation, wrought within us. “ God (faith he) reveals all his fecrets “ within, and all the works that he doth in “ this new creation, he doth within us : And “ therefore, let all thofe that defire to be “ made partakers of this new creation, look “ for it within them ; for there will God “ work it.” Advancement of all things in Chrift , Arc. png. 24. [ 53 ] God, who at fundry times, and in divers manners, fpake unto our fathers by the pro- phets, faid, Be ye glad, and rejoice in that which I create. But if this new creation is wrought in us ; it follows that we are to rejoice in our- felves. But the apoftle tells us, that Chrijl is made of God unto us wifdom, righteoufnefs, fantftification, and redemption ; that whofoever giorieth, fhould glory in the Lord. Chrijl fays. Look unto me all ye ends of the earth , and he ye faved : but Coppin fays, we mud look unto ourfelves for it. The apoftle fays, We are God's workmanffsip created anew in Chrijl Jefus , &c. But Coppin fays, we are created anew in our- felves. The promife, which God made, of creating all things anew •, Coppin fays he fulfills, by working it within us. But Chrijl told the apoftle John, that this promife was fulfilled in his perfon ; It is done, faith he, I am the Alpha, and Omega, the beginning and the end. The pro- phet fpeaking of mankind, (not excepting Mr. Coppin) fays, I he heft of them is as a briar, the moft upright is {harper than a thorn hedge, &c. &c. therefore will I look unto the Lord, &c. The apoftle fpeaks of the fentence of condemnation in ourfelves, that we fhould not truft in our- felve's, but in the living God. If we try it by experience, reafon, and com- mon fenfe, this new creation is not difcernable in man. There has no phyfical change pafied over him ; his body is the fame, fubjedc to pain, ficknefs, and death ; and compaffed about with manifold infirmities. Nor is there any inward change, anfwerable to a new creation : where old things are done away, and all things are , D 3 become [ 54 ] become new. Thofe who pretend to the high- eft refinements, and fp'irituality, are men lub- ject to like' paffions with others; as is very obvious in the author himfelf, who could not bear the leaft oppofition from his antago- nifts. Their cenfures, and reflections, wounded his vanity, and felf-importance, in fuch fort that he could not contain himfelf ; but refolving not to be behind hand with them, he gave them as good as they fent ; yea, I think rather exceeded them in the article of judgment and cenfure. But this I fuppofe he thought he had a right to do, as being more fpiritual than his opponents. And I have fuffkient reafon to conclude, that the cafe is ftill the fame, with fome of his admire; s. And if men are cenforious, proud, vain, and felfifh, with what propriety, or juftice, can they lc-ok for this new creation in themfelves ? and wherein doth it confift ? If its a truth, that they love God, it is an invifible one. But it is a truth vifible enough that they love the prefent world ; and yet the apoftle faith, If the love of the world is in any man , the love of the Father is not in him. They may tell us that they love their brethren, but it is a matter that we are no further flare of, then as we take their *bare word for it ; but this, we are very lure of, that they love themfelves ; that being notorious enough. And yet to be lovers ot their own felves, is ranked by the apoftle among the re- probate characters. In fasfb, where men differ nothing from others ; (except in partiallity to themfelves) opi- nion, fentiment, or theory,- is not fufficient to prove i 55 1 prove them fpirituai men , or that the new crea- tion is within them. Pray, is not this enthufiaftic conceit, this vain-glorious imagination, or the good princi- ple in man •, the beaft, that was , and is not ? that it is full of the names of blafphemy, I think is plain enough : for, it arrogates the per- fonal characters, names, works, bufferings, death, refurrection, afcenfion and glory ; of our only Lord and God, Jefus Chrift ; ufurps his crown, and throne •, and exalts itfelf againft all that is called God, and that is to be wor- ihipped. This is the bead: that all the world worfhip- peth, and goeth after. Pagans, Mahometans, Jews, Chriftians of all denominations, and of every feet, worfhipthis beaft; going after him per- petually, in their admiration, defires, and efteem. This beaft, bears different names, according to the different languages of men : The Hea- then call him virtue. The Jews, and Mahome- tans, call him obedience : only the one refpebt Mofes , (as their prophet and legiflator) and the other, Mahomet. Amo'ngft Chriftians, this beaft bears divers names, according to their various > diviftfcns ; and every diftindt name, by which it is called, may be confidered as the fhibboleth of the febt, making ufe of it. By fome he is called grace, and the falvation of man, very cordially im- puted to him ; to the dishonour of the Son of God. By others, he is called inward holinefs, fanc- tification, imparted righteoufnefs, inherent righteoufnefs, &c. Whilft others, call him the inward light, the Spirit, &c : and make him infallible in reproof, inftrudtion, and dobtrine, D 4 And [ 56 ] And again, there are others, as Coppin , &c, who call him Chrift , the eledt, the believer, yea, God himfelf. Now I fay, .that the deferent names, and epi- thets, made ufe of amongft all thefe ; (notwith- ftanding their various attachment to men and things) makes no difference at all, with refpedt to their objedt of admiration, and worfhip, or to their hope of falvation : for the terms, vir- tue, obedience, grace, holinefs, light, or Chrift as fuppofed to be naturally in man, are all congenial : and charadteriftics of the beaft that was , and is not : And this beaft is al- ways manifeft, from its being oppofed to the perfon of JeJus Chrift our Lord : and to that free, and gracious falvation which he has wrought out for mankind, without works of righteoufnefs ; as done by them. As to the origin of this fuppofed good in man, its admirers are not perfedtly agreed about it : there are fome, fuch as Coppin , &c. who con- fider it as the feed of God, fawn in man at his fir ft creation *, which was not totally loft, or ex- tinguifhed by the fall ; but buried only, as it were, under a heap of rubbilh : from whence, not being quite dead, it fends forth, iome|#ceak breathings by way of convidtion, repentance, deli re, &c. until it hear the voice of God, and come forth out ©f its grave. But others rejedl this, as unfcriptural, unwarrantable, andenthu- ftaftic ; and tell us, that this good is only to be attained by ftudy, by induftry, by obferving and copying good examples, &c. Others, tell us, that it proceeds from the imprefilons which the belief of particular dodlrir.es makes upon the mind. [ 57 ] mind. And others, that it is the free gift of God to them, without any conftderation what- ever. Thofe divers opinions, caufe difputes, and bickerings, even amongft fuch who are otherwife pqrfedtly agreed in patronizing the fame matter. But in the general, it is enough 5 to be or- thodox in this particular. To profefs it, to make pretenfions (at leaft) of being poffeffed of it, to converfe much of if, to declaim in its favour, to paint out its beauties, &c. this, in general, I fay, is thought fufficient to deno- minate a man virtuous and good. -But if he add to this, an appearance of care and diligence, in cultivating it ; by pradtifmg fome aufterities, relative to meats, drinks, reft, fleep, and things of that nature ; if his apparel, gefture, fpeech, and manner, bear any, even the leaft cor- refpondence with his pretenfion, it is then enough indeed: it makes no difference, whe- ther he believes in God, and in Chrift> or not : and though he may have many lufts, and vi- ces predominant in him fuch as pride, incon- tinence, covetoufnefs , deceitfulnefs, cruelty, fuperftition, &c. yet thefe, if known, are in the eftimation of mankind, abundantly over-bal- lanced by the fuppofed good which is in them : though the latter, in reality, can only be in ap- pearance, whereas the former is manifejl. Upon this principle it is, that numbers a- mong the Chriftians, both antient and modern, have thought it right to compliment the Hea- then, fuch as Socrates , Cicero , Seneca , and o- thers, with the favour and falvation of their God : and that not becaufe they were human creatures, [ 5 « ] Creatures, or the offspring of Adam but be- caufe they were great men ! good men ! wife men ! they faid a great many wife and good things^ Their admirers among the Chriftians, in order to make them fpeak fome knowledge of the true God, and of Chrift-, ftretch their fay- ings upon the tenter-hooks of their enthufia- ftic fancy, in fuch fort, that they break their connexion, and render their fine things quite Unmeaning. Thus the relator of Avfon's voyage, (Ac. tells us, how that a jefuit, (in favour of Mr. Anfon) explained that article of the Romifh church, which denies the falvation of he- retics ; in a lax and hypothetical fenfe : Where- fore ? why truly, on the account of fome fup- pofed goodnefs in him : he did not ravifh their women ; nor kill and eat their men ; that fell into his power : though it was not their per- fons, but their gold, that he was in fearch of : In the taking of which from them ; neither his modefcy, as a philofopher, nor his felf-denial, as a chriftian, was fo very confpicuous, as to en- courage them to canonize him. But conflitu- tion, or accident, (befriending him in fome o- ther particulars) gained him the reputation of a faint (in thofe parts) it feems. But It is faid of the grand vizior Cuprogli, that when dying j fome of the laft words that he fpake, fixing his eyes upon the Alcoran, were thele : “ Prophet, I fhall foon fee whe- «< ther thy wotds are true ; but be they true or falle, I am “ fure of being happy, if virtue be the bell of all reli- “ gions” He was certainly a perfon of much fagacityi courageous, and faithful to his mailer : But if this is virtue. [ 59 1 put a perfect, uniform practice, is not at all riqceiTary to the formation of this character ; to t>e a zealous tneorift is fu Indent: with feme fpecious appearances of virtue ; however irre- gular, or tarn ilhed with pride, felf-feeking, &c. Thus a perfon of this charadter, final! be judged to have a fure title to happinefs : whether he be- lieve in God, in Chrijl , in Mofes , or in Maho- met ; or indeed if he believe in neither. Diame- trically oppofite to truth, as refting upon rea- Ibn and experience : and in the moft glaring contradiction to divine revelation : it is afierted upon this principle, that every truly happy man, is wholly the fon of his own actions : without being under the lead obligation to the grace, mercy, and love of his God and Re- deemer, Mankind in the general, make this their fundamental, whilft matters of faith, are con- sidered, rather as a fcience to be ftudied : or as fomewhat calculated for men to employ their wits about. Thus, whatever they profefs to believe i in every time of danger, their ccrpfe of referve is their own goodnelk ' J I call it is not impoffible to find a virtuous dog. This man, fo virtuous in his own eyes, was, to all appearance, a firan- ger to humanity, to the univerfal love of mankind, and to that felf-denial, &c. which conftitute true virtue. He was proud, cunning, and cruel ; but affiduous in his office: and an inftrument perfeftly qualified to raife the pride and pomp of a tyrant, in the deftrudtion of thoufands of his fellow-creatures. And yet this is the perfon, who, in the article of death (when he can do no more mifehief) fings a requiem to his foul, becaufe virtue is the hell of all re- logins, [ 6o ] 1 call this the beaft, becaufe I think, it an- fwers to the character of that beaft fpoken of in the book of the Revelations, whom all the world goeth after : the character is there drawn up very brief; i. e. WHICH WAS, AND IS NOT. By which, I fuppofe, we may un- derftand ; that there was once, before the fall of Adam , fome truth, in what man now vainly, and falfly pretends to. Therefore, that which was, is not : it hath now, none other exiftence in man, than what it has in pride and igno- rance. Upon this beaft, rides the great whore, or the falfe church, compofed as I have fhewn, of all nations, kindreds and tongues ; and of all profefiions. And yet, notwithftanding there is fuch an admiring multitude, fuch a cloud of witnefies daily chaunting forth the praifes of this beaft : The moft curious fearcher, can never find out, by reafon and feripture, (nor by reafon alone, confiftent with its ideas of the divine perfec- tions) this boafted good, this divine ftamina in man : nor can the rnoft intelligible fpeaker de- feribe it, as exifting in the creature, in any de- gree of confiftency, with what is notorious, de- monftrable and certain in him. Nay, God himfelf, (whole eyes are as flames of fire, and whofe eyelids try the heart of the children of men) cannot find out this good in man : he fays, that he looked down from hea- ven upon the children of men , to fee if there were amp that did tinder ft and, that did feek God: every one of them is gone back ; they are altogether become filthy ; there is none that doth good , wo not one , Pf Ff. liii. 2, 3. and xiv. 2, 3. God, upon ex- amining the human heart, tells us, that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart, is evil and that continually 1 and that the heart, is defpe- rately wicked and deceitful above all things. And again, that the good man is periffied out of the earth ; there is none upright amongd men : the bed of them is as a briar ; and the mod upright, is {harper than a thorn hedge. Our Saviour and his apodles, tedify that this good is not in man. Our bleffed Lord, though holy, harmlefs, undefiled, would not differ them to give him the epithet of good, < whild they faw him only as man, faying. Why called thou me good ? there is none good, hut one., even God. And the apodles faith, if any man hath whereof he may glory in the fleffi, I more. Yet he counts it all but lofs, for the excellency of the knowledge of Chrift Jefus his Lord 5 yea, but dung, that he might win Chrift , and be found in him. How vain and frivolous then, are all the pretenfions of men, to this new creation, falvation, or holinefs as wrought in. them. Again, Mr. Coppin fays, with a great de- gree of boldnefs, and certainty ; that all man- kind fhall be faved, No. 1. ch. 6. Hence, I can account for the attachments of particular people, to his writings : for had he been a pro- feffed Infidel, with refpect to faith in Chrift , this very opinion, of univerfal laivation, would diffidently recommend him to thofe who have nothing befides to comfort their minds with which, it is to be feared, is the cafe with too many of fuch who make a point of it. f 62 ] But in this, the author is ftrangely incon* fiftent: for his hypothefis is, that falvation, the new creation, &c. is wrought in the crea- ture •, and that every man is to look for it in himfelf. But it remains to be proved, that this new creation, this falvation, is wrought in every man : And yet, except it be thus wrought within them, they cannot be faved, according to him : But the apoftle fays, All men have not faith. And as the terms faith, Chrift , falvation, &c. are fynonimous with Mr. Coppin •, either he, or the apoftle, are in the wrong, if he fay, that this falvation is in every man : For my own part, I fhall, for fome weighty reafons, always give the preference to the apoftle. Had he afterted the falvation of all mankind, upon the principle of Chrift ; through what he has done, and fuffered for them in his own perfon it would at leaft have had a more plaufible, and confiftent appearance : but to af- fert it upon the following principles, which are his : “ Let all thofe who defire to be made “ partakers of this new creation, look for it “ within them, for there God will work it.” And again, “ Not to look for the rifing of a “ flefhly body, but a fpiritual body within, “ for the truth of all things is within.” I fay, to aflert univerfal falvation upon thofe princi- ples, fo very repugnant to the fcriptures, and to common fenfe, was a moft unadvifed con- ceit. If every man is to judge of his future and eternal ftate, by thofe inward and divine appearances •, and not according to the love of God, manifeft through the fufferings, death, [63 3 and refurredlion of the Lord Jefus : there art but few, nay there are none, who will have- a juft and clear title to it. But alas, we are only upon the furface as yet, we have not founded the depths of this author.-— In the firft chapter of this book, iip* titled, The advancement of all things in Qhrift % he tells us, that he had obferved ajnongft pro= feftbrs, people of oppofite fentiments ; the one part holding, that all mankind fhould be faved * and the other afterting, that a part only fnouid fee faved : Upon which Mr. Cop-pin fays., There is a miftake in both thefe parties, nek “ ther of them underftanding the mind of God, nor the nayftery of his will, as laid down irj ** a dead letter. *’* A rnoft furprizing decla.^ ration * It is a very pernicious error, to call the fcripture a dead letter: for our Saviour faith, The words that 1 /peak mto you, they are fpirit and they are life. By which words, he ipeans, thofe which the evangelifts penn ? d from his mouth : As alfo thofe which he, in the Spirit of truth, put into the mouths of his apoftles. Again, to conhder the> fcriptures as a dead letter, is to deny them as a rule for jhe trial of fpirits : which is to give all private fpirits at* opportunity to alfert their being of God ? however incon-; fiftent and contrary to each other. Again, If the writings of the apoftles be a dead letter : then, every man hippo- ling himfelf to be led by the Spirit, is at liberty, not only to put what conftrudtion he pleafes upon their doctrines $ but alfo to correct them, and contradict them, where they do ?iot fuit him. Hence, may be eafily difcerned, what diforde? and confufion mult neceflarily follow the propolition that the fcriptures are a dead letter. It is not of the fcriptures, that the apoltle fpeaks where he fays the letter killetb. Nor i§ it of that fpirit, by which any man profeffes to be led, and inftrudted, in a manner independent of the fcriptures : that he fpeaks, where he fays the Spirit giyeth life . It is the meef SPi?}?g® 1 64 ] ration indeed ! neither the whole of mankind, nor a part of them are to be faved ! I fhould have thought, that the moft fimple, and un- biafied mind upon earth, would have readily concluded, that the one or the other was in the right : that where there was a falvation of man- kind, either the whole, or a part of them would be faved, though they might not deter- mine coinage of an antichriftian brain to call the fcriptures a dead letter : and as foreign from the defign of the apoftle, as light is from darknefs. The apoflle, by the letter underflands the law of commandments contained in ordinances ; which, by realbn of their darknefs and contrariety unto us, are a dead and killing letter. And by the Spirit, he intends the I.ord Jefus, the fubltance, and fulnefs of all grace, fignified by the ordinances ; who having abolilhed them in himfelf, as being the end of the law, is called the Spirit which giveth life. The law confifts of precepts, requifites and threatnings : and the depravity of human nature, being fuch; that mankind are utterly incapable of fulfilling the precept, of producing the requisite, or of enduring the punilhment, they are, in point of confolation, dependance, and hope from themfelves con- demned and flain by the law : therefore it is called, a killing letter. The life-giving Spirit, is the gofpel, or that infinite love, and difpenfation of grace : where the commandment is fulfilled in Chrift : where all requifites, as repentance, faith, love, &c. are produced in him, and the punilhment as perfedtly adequate to our offences fuftained by him. This, is Spirit, as being the alone work of the Spirit, wrought in Chrift ; and perfectly free from the fpot of human righteoufncfs. This be- ing the quickening Spirit, it is faid to give life, becaule it gives the perfedl falvation of Jefus, freely unto fuch W'ho ar« dead by the law'. And thus it is, that the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. With w'hat propriety then, can any man call the written word of God wherein thofe things are contained, a dead letter? or wherefore muft the perfon who believes, what he reads in the fcriptures, be accounted of as a miftaken man ? [ % ] mine which, but rather have waited for the day of decifion. But as the knowledge, and enjoyments, which are yet future, with refpedt to fuch as me ; were prefent to this author, (if you will believe him) and are fo now to his dif- ciples— -he immediately determines the matter, by affirming, that neither a part, nor the whole, of mankind ffiall be faved. He declares that the perfons of mankind are neither faved nor damned, that they are neither hated, nor loved of God : but, that it is the good and evil which is in them, that God loves, and hates, which he faves and damns. “ God, faith he, hates no man’s perfon, “ but the evil in the perfon : neither doth he “ love any man’s perfon, any further than as “ they fhew forth fbmething of himfelf; as they were created by him : and in this fenfe