VM^ •4S A ''' "S^ ' "■. ",.''.'"■*".• -/K>>* r^ XL V.P,.. 'r^i*' \^,,JrJ ',^,A,j«^*^^-^-^ ^ ^>^4<*-' -g*..*!*.-' O/:/ p-^--'- r" ^a. -<^ OF PI?: OCT 13 1972 ♦v v'^^7^ jE fftaLe^r ^iutncrri^ A TREATISE Concerning; the STATE of SOULS Before, and At, and After the RESURECTIOK Written originally \n Latin by the late Rev. Dr. Thomas "^Burnet, Mafter of the Chart er-Hotife^ Author of the Thco7y of the Earth. Tfanflated into Engliflj by Mr. DENNIS. ',,l||i'iL N D N : iPrinted'for A.Bettesworth and C. Hitch, ♦ic the Red-Lyon in Pater-Nojier-Row. (M.DCXXXIII.) A TREATISE Concerning the S TAT E of Departed SOULS Before, At, and After the RESURRECTION. The Introduction : The SiihjeB^ and the Method of handling it. H E mean, the uncertain, and the too often miferable State of the Affairs of Men, with regard to the prefent Life, gives us juft Caufe to inquire, whether human Happinels depends upon this alone: And fmcc we are compounded, and intirely made B ' up A TREATISE concerning the up of two Parts, the Soul and the Body; and fince the Life of the Body muft perifti, and be totally extinguifh'd within the Com- pafs of one Age, we are further to inquire, whether the Mind, that other Part of Man, furvives the Extinction of the Body, or whether, like two dear Friends, that are ne- ver to be divided, they both of them live together, and both of them together die. If this latter be the Cafe, we are irrecove- rably ruin'd ; the Whole of us is perilh'd and loft ; nor is it worth while to make any In-^ quiry concerning Things that have already ceas'd to be. But if, on the other Side, the Soul re- mains after the DilTolution of the Body ; if, after 'tis delivered from it, it enjoys a fepa- rate Life and Vigour ; then have we many Queftions to ask, and many Inquiries to make relating to the Soul thus feparated, and thus exifting : What Sort of Life it en- joys ? what Sort of State? and whether it be to remain the fame for ever ? Or, if it be to undergo another Change, whether it is to inform a fecond Body of any kind ? what DiftincSion there is to be made between thofe that are good, and thofe that are evil ? what Sort of Rewards, what Punifhments will be diftributed to every one, according to their Merit ? Laftly, it will be a pleafing Curio- fity to purfue the Fate and the Fortune of the immortal Soul, from its Departure and Deliverance State of Departed Souls, ^c. Deliverance from its earthly Body, even to the Coniiimmation of all Things. These are the Things that in the follow- ing Work we fliall treat of, according to our Power ; and as we treat of them, we fhall diltinguifli, as far as we may, between Things that are clear and that are ohfcure; between Things that are fecret and Things that are popular ; that every Thing may be placM in its proper Station, whether 'tis in Light or in Shade. Mean time^ I invoke God, the Father of Light, that he would vouchfafe to dired my Steps, and to difpel the D^rk- nefs within me, and the falle airy Images of Things, that we may, at length, with Tran"- Iport behold that Truth pure and naked, and undefird, with whofe Charms we have long been inflamed. CHAP. I. That human Felicity does not depend filely upon this Life^ but that "we are to expeii a future State, ^\^ HAT there is a God ; that he is the \ Author of all Things, and the fu- preme Governor ; that he is the Beft and the Greateft of Beings ; that he is holy, righteous, and juft ; this the Nature of Things requires ; this the univerfal Confent of Men. This B 2 Foundation A TREATISE concerning tU Foundation being once eftablilh'd, the hu- man Soul is ftrait obliged, by the View of this prefent State, to prefage a future : For when it obferves in the Government of this lowey World, or in this Part of the divine OEconomy, that in the Diftribution of Good and Evil the Laws of Juftice and Equity are not preferv'd ; it eafily from thence con- cludes, that there is fomething ftill remain- ing, that all the Parts of this Drama are not compleated, that the grand Cataftrophe is ftill to come : Thus the Soul is exalted by the Expedation of Things which will come to pafs in a future State, as it were in a Scene that is next to follow. The Goods of Fortune and external Hap- pinefs do not, in this Life, accompany Wif- dom and Virtue. They are neither lels, nor lefs frequently enjoy'd by foolifti and wic- ked Men. But if human Happinefs were ultimately placed in thefe, and were to be finally determined here, the fupream Go- vernor of the World-, and the fame a moft righteous Judge, would never en- dure {o great Confufion in the Order of Things. That the Good iliould be happy, and the Wicked miferable, is the Voice of God, the Voice of Man, and the Voice of univerial Nature : But witnefs Heaven, and witnefs Earth, and witnefs ye confcious Stars, that this eternal and moft facred Law, among us miferable Mortals, in the Compals of this Life, is never kept inviolable ; there- fore State of Departed Souls, &c. fore grant me but this, that God is juft and holy, and the neceflary Confequence of it muft be, that there will be Rewards and Punifliments in another Life, and that hu- man Happinefs and human Miiery do not altogether depend upon this prefent tranfi- tory State. Nor do we here complain of our own Times, as unhappy Men are often wont to do ; nor do we believe the Age which wc live in more corrupt or more profligate than feveral which have preceded it : The World is now what it always was. Run through the Re- cords of all Times, of all Nations, the Gre- cian^ the Roman^ whatever Country you pleafe, you will find in them all the Socra- tes*s^ the Cato's^ Men that were placed at the Top of their Species, renown'd for the Excellence of their Nature, and diftinguifli'd by the fingular Endowments of their Minds and Manners ; thefe you will find by the Iniquity of Fortune opprefs'd, hated by the impious and noify Vulgar, and perfecuted by Envy, with her blackeft Calumnies : Nor can Tyrants, and Men in Power endure the Freedom of a noble Spirit, tenacious of Truth and Virtue. This is the miferable Condition of human Affairs. Besides, as the promifcuous Fortune that attends the Virtuous and Wicked could not be agreeable to divine Juflice and Righteouf- nefs, if it were to have no Alteration ; fo the Meannefs, the Littlenefs, and, if I may ^o B J exprels A TREx\TISE concerning the exprcfs myfelf, the Vilenefs of the prefent Condition of Mortals, if it were folitary, firft to none, and fecond to none, would neither anfwer to the Dignity of God the Creator, nor to the Dignity of Earth's Inhabitants, that is, of human Souls. If you believe that God has created innumerable Worlds befxdes this in which you live, the Difficulty under which you labour will not be altoge- ther fo great. But they who, befides this Globe of Earth, (an Atom, with relpeft to its Littlenefs, a Dunghill, with regard to its Filthinefs,) acknowledge no inhabitable World, own no Inhabitants in any other Part of the Immenfity of the Univerfe ; thefe Perfons are greatly injurious to the divine Majelly, and fancy a God inferior to a mag- nanimous Man. And then if, befides the Earth itfelf, you obferve thofe human Af- fairs which are tranfacled on it, you will find them fo trifling, or fo confused, or fo mife- Table, you would fufped they were by fome wicked Deity appointed, and by fome im- potent one endur'd : For what is there but Blood and Slaughter among Princes r what among private Men but Contentions, Quar- rels, Reproaches, Calumnies, and daily liti- gious Difputes ? and too frequently about the verieft Trifles. A great deal of Folly and Trifle every where ! of Wifdom a very little 1 Andj which is more grievous to be endurM, Pleafures very fhort and rare ; ma- ny and lafting are cur Griefs, and Complaints proceeding State of Departed Souls, ilfc. proceeding from Difeafes, Poverty, Enmity^ and fuch like Evils incident to human Na- ture : So that the Drama of this Life, if you ahftraft from it all Confequences, and its Connexion with a future State, is neither worthy to have God for its Author, nor even for its Spectator. But I go farther ftill : The little Affairs, and the trifling Bufinefs of this Life, if you take from it the Hope and Profped of a fu- turCj are fo far from being worthy of God, that they are unworthy of a human Soul. We are deprefs^d in this mortal State beneath the Rank, and the Degree, and the Excellence of our Nature. From whence is that Shame which we difcover in fome of our Aftions, and fome of our natural AfFedions ? From whence that Modefty, or that Difturbance in human Nature ? and not only when we fin, but when we obey the Defires or the Neceffi- ties of Nature herfelf ? Why are we afliam'd of ourfelves, and our own Nature, if we ad nothing beneath our native Dignity ? if we are not capable of a more excellent State ? if we never had, and are never to have a worthier ? Befides, we are deftin'd in this Life to be employed about Toys and Tri- fles, which neither become nor fatisfy a rea- fonable Soul, capable of Employments in- finitely better, and infinitely more exalted. That which is moft excellent, mofl: noble, and even divine in us, is ready to fink under the Burden and Care of the Body ^ and by B 4 mean 8 ^TREATISE concerning the mean and little Affairs, which are neceflary for the feeding and clothing the Body, and the Prefervation of Health.^ And yet the Soul Hands in need of none of all thele, but is forcM into Servitude as a Slave to the Bo- dy. She is fubjected to Vanity here, under which fhe groans, and under her Occupa- tion; about vile and paltry Matters. But to •what Purpofe is that fublimc Underftand- ing, by which fhe contemplates celeflial and eternal Beings, by which fhe meafures Hea- ven and Earth? To what Purpofe is that noble Fire, and that afpiring to Things of the grcatefl and moft exalted Nature ? To what Purpofe is that Thirfl of Immortality, which is never to be fatisfied ? To what Purpofe that heroick Virtue which appears in fome, which furmounts and underva- lues all private Advantage for the publick Good, * Cd}^ there he any one who helieves that Man was horn for no other End than to d'lgefl what he eats and drinks^ than to watch the Winds ^ and purfue all his Life-time pe- ri/hin^ and fallacious Hopes ; and that after this Jhort Mad- Hefs is over^ he mufi he laid once mere in the Earth from ■which he was taken^ and dijjolv^d into his original Dujl ? And yet this,forfooth, is the End of Man, and the Ne- plus- ultra of Humanity 1 " We were not created, fays " Cicero^ either rafhly or fortuitoufly, but there was pre- " fent a Power divine, which confulted the Advantage " and Happincfs of Mankind ; nor would he produce " or provide for that, which, after it had endur'd all " Fatigues, borne all the Calamities of Life, and had " been vidorious over them all, was at lafl: to lie " down in Death's eternal Sleep." Cic. Quxft. Tufc, I, " in fine. State of Departed Souls, ^c. Good, or the Love and Intereft of Virtue ? Thele are the Confiderations that convince nie, that fince God has wrought nothing without Dcfign, and infus'd into us no vain and frivolous Inftinfts, that the Time will come when we ftiall be freed from this cor- poreal Prifon* when we ftiall enjoy a new Light, a more excellent Life, and an ever- lafting Felicity. 'Tis eafy to perceive, that the human Soul, with all its freer Motions, is conftrain^d and curb'd, and, if I may ufc the Expreffion, fuffocated by the Body ; and the more it llrains to exert itfelf, the more fenlibly does it feel the Weight of fuch Impediments. To what Purpofe then has this Force, this Large- nefs of Soul been given us, by which 'tis carried beyond the Bounds and Limits of this Life, if nothing remains or exifts beyond it? In vain have God and Nature fupplied the Soul with fuch Wings, if we are only al- lowed to crawl upon Earth, never to raile ourfelves above the Ground, and never to take our Flight to Heaven. If this be the Cafe, they have not "only given us thefe Wings in vain, but to our great Inconvenience; for the more exalted the Soul is, and the more abftrafted from the Senfe, the lefs it takes care of earthly Things, and the more unfit it becomes to difcharge the common Funftions of Life : Then if this is the only Life of which 'tis capable, and the Whole of 'jvhat belongs to Humanity, the Soul is im- donc lo A TREATISE concerning the done by its own Virtue} and all the Wifdom, but that of the World, and that which re- gards it, is Folly. A moft infamous Affront both to God and Man, and an unpardonable Calumny ! Who can bear it that has a Grain of Senfe, or a Grain of Generofity in his Nature ! Who muft not hear with a gene- rous Difdain fuch Affronts imposed on him- felf) and on Humankind! I have only one Thing to add, which is, that if this be the State of human Affairs which is here fup- pos'd, and I had known this before I was born, I would have rcjedied with Difdain the Offer of fuch a Life; neither to live, nor to die, had at all been worth the while. Hitherto we have taken our Proofs and our Arguments, for the proving the Certainty of a future State, from the divine and hu- man Nature ; but now another Method of Reafoning offers itfelf, from the Confidera- tion of the Nature of Things, in Conjunc- tion with the divine Nature. And thus the Argument ftands: If there is a God, then the Reafons and Foundations of Good and Evil^ are eternal and unchangeable; the Dif- tindtions between Vile and Generous, between Juft and Unjufl, Eternal and Immutable. Now thefe Things being thus laid down, it follows, if I am not miftaken, that there will be another Order and State of human Af- fairs, befidc what there is at prefent. Per- haps, at the, firft View, this Confequence may not appear ; but I Ihall;, in a few Words, lay || State (?/ Departed Souls, ^c. 1 1 lay open the Force of it in both Parts of the Argument. By the Word God all Men un- derftand the fupream Deity, a Being infi- nitely perfeft. Among the reft of his Perfec- tions, they always acknowledge his Wifdom, his Goodnefs, his Juftice, and the brighteft Purity y which, fince they are Perfections in God, they muft be likewife fo in proportion in all thofe intelleftual Natures which have been by God created. There have then been Diftindions from all Eternity, between Good and Evil, Juft and Unjuft, Vile and Gene- rous; Diftindions not conftituted nor ap- pointed by human Authority, or human Force, or human Laws, but flowing from the immutable Nature and Perfeftions of God. Now, fince God, or fupream Perfedion, is the Meafure of all Things, and that which is right is the Difcoverer of itfelf, and of that which is crooked ; the Things that deviate from this Rule, and the Quali- ties opposed to it, will, by that very Oppo- fition, become Vices, Stains, and Errors, fo conftituted from all Eternity : And this is the firft Part of our Argument. The fecond is, that fince Things and Actions are thus divided, the human Adors muft likewife be divided into two Parties, the Good and the Evil, the Juft and the Unjuft, the Worthy and the Vile : Thofe are pleafing to God, thefe are difpleafing ; thofe have his Love, and his Averfion thefe : For that God fliould not love his own Image is altogether impof- fiblc. 12 A TRE AT I S E concerning the fible, or that he fhould not acknowledge his own Perfedions, wherever "tis that he fees them, and cherifh and ernbrace what he fees conformable to him, and partaking of the di- vine Nature ; and, on the other Side, re- ject and abhor whatever is incongruous, dif- cordant, and opposed to his own Nature: But now fince God is the higheft Lover of that which is juft and equitable, and is one who has all Power in his Hands, 'tis certain that he will not be an unconcerned Speftator, but will take care that Juilice Ihall be done; nor will beftow the fame Felicity upon his Friends and his Enemies, the Deferving and the Unworthy 5 but will fee that both the De- ferving and the Unworthy Ihall have the Portion due to them ; and the more perfe^ any one is by Virtue, Piety, Wifdom, and the nearer to God by the Excellency of his Nature, by lb much the more exalted fhall he be, by fo much the more happy : But fince this is by no Means done in this Life, as is apparent to all the World, 'tis a moft certain Confequence, a Confequence firm and immovable as God himfelf, that it will be done in another. And fo much for this Sort of Reafbning: But to all this is uflially added, by way of Conclufion, and as an Argument of the ut- moft Weight, the univerfal Confent of Na- tions concerning a future State j nor, in my Opinion, is this without very juft Reafon ; for the Voice of Nature, if 'tis rightly un- derftood^ State of Departed Souls, ^c. 15 dcrftood, is the Evidence and Touchftonc of Truth : But the Favourers of the con- trary Opinion endeavour, by two Ways, to weaken the Force of this Argument. Firft they deny that this Opinion, or this Hope of a future Life is univerfal to all Nations, at leaft, if the barbarous ones be included ^ nay, they deny farther, that this Opinion is univerfal, even among the polite and learn- ed Nations, nay, among the very Philofo- phers: Some of them, they fay, were more inclined to embrace the contrary Opinion. As for what relates to the firft, as many Nations as ever worftiipp'd a God, or infti- tuted any religious Worftiip, or any fuper- ftitious Rites whatibever, did, by this very Pradice, difcover their Hope or their Fear of a future State, and tiiat they expeded Rewards or Punilhmcnts according as their Aftions were pleafing or dilpleafing to their Gods. As for the other Heathens, who fcem to underftand nothing of Divinity, they appear to know as little of Humanity, but, like errant Cattle, to lead a beftial Life ; and therefore it would be unjuft to take the Value of Humankind from thefe poor wretched Creatures, and an Eftimate of the Virtues and Powers of all the reft from thefe Dregs of Humanity, nay, the very Dregs of Barbarity. If any one had a Mind to in- quire into the Nature and Virtues of an Herb, he would not gather it withered and juice- kls, in a barren Ground, but fo as it grows in 14 ^TREATISE concerning the in a generous Soil, where 'tis cherifhM by the Rays of the Sun, and nourilh'd by the Dew of Heaven, according to the Cuttoni and the Order of Nature ^ and the Strength and Virtue that he finds in fuch a Plant, he will reckon to belong to its Species, and to be proper and natural to all the Kind. Thus if any one would difcover the Luftrc and Worth of a Diamond, he will not examine it rough, as they call it, and clouded with the adherent Filth of the Soil where it grew, but will view it cut, and fmooth'd, and polifh'd ; and what the Worth of it then is, what Luftre it darts, what Virtue it emits, all that he will attribute to the Force of its Nature, and from thence fct an Eftimate up- on its Value. A s for what relates to the fecond Point, if there either are or have been any learned Men or Philofophers who deny a future State, 'tis plain that they are of the Number of thofe who acknowledge nothing in Nature befides Matter j or at leaft of thofe who al- low no natural Diftindion in the Affairs of Mortals of Jufl and Unjufl, Worthy and Vile. The former, that is, the Materia- lifls, Ihall be refuted in the following Chap- ter ; and for what relates to the latter, if we have already prov'd from the Nature of God, that there have been, from all Eternity, Dif- tindtions between Good and Evil, we have already overthrown the Error on which that Opinion depends j and we have Ibewn in the State of Departed Souls, ^c. 1 5 the fame Piece, and in the fame Thread of Difcourfe, that a future State is infeparably joined with the Nature of God, and with the Nature of Things. That 1 may fay all in a Word, the Whole of the Matter lies here: If there is a God, there is likewife a future State ; and they who acknowledge the former, are in vain induftrious to root out the latter from the Minds of Men. Hitherto we have trod in the Paths that the Light of Nature difcover'd to us ; but a brighter Light fhines forth from the facred Oracles,which fhcw a future Life clear- ly and openly to the Eyes of all the World. I muft confefs, that in the Jewijh Difpenfa- tion eternal Life was placed in Shadows, and defcried only by the Glimmering of a doubt- ful Light ; but in the Chriftian Religion, the Sun fliews nothing at Noon more clearly, than the facred Authors dilcovcr Immorta- lity. That I may fay nothing in this Place particularly of the Doilrine of the Refurrec- tion, or of the laft Judgment, 'tis plain that Chrift and his Apoftles have every where diftinguilh'd the prefent Life from a future, and the whole Hinge of the Chriftian Re- ligion turns upon that Diftindion. fr/Mi^ will it frofit aMan^ fays Chrift, if he gains Uitv the whole fVorld^ and lofes his own Soul, 3- The Soul that is profperous to the utmoft of its Wifties- in this World, cannot be loft or be miferable unlels in another. And Chrift fays in another Place, Make jyourfclves Luke xvi. Friends ^* ,V1II. i6 ^A TREATISE concerning the Friends of the Mammon ofUnrighteoufnefs^ that when you fail^ they may receive yott into everlajiing Habitations, And in ano- Uat.x. 28. ther Place, Fear not them which kill the Body J but are not able to kill the Soul y but rather fear him who is able to dejiroy both Jfody and Soul in Hell, And in another [.ukexii.p. Place, He that denieth me before Man^ jhall be denied before the Angels of God. And, Every one that hath forfaken Houfes^ or Bre- thren^ or Sifters J, or Father^ or Mother ., or Wife^ or Children^ for my Name fake., fljall receive an Hundred Fold^ and [hall inherit eternal Life, In thele, and numberlels other Places, Chrift diftinguiflies the prefent from a future Life, and treats of them as Things oppofite and very different from each other : Nor does he do this only when he Ipeaks plainly and openly, but dwells upon the fame Subjecl: in his Parables j as in that of *Dives and Lazarus ^ in that of the Pearl of ineftimable Value ; in that of the Wheat and the Tares; and in feveral others. He has done the fame Thing in his Sermon on the Mount, when he fpake to the People ; the fame in his daily Converfation with his Difciples : In all Places and at all Times he proclaims aloud, that the good and evil Things of this Life are to be utterly con- temnM, in refpeft to future Mifery or Feli- city. Laftly, by his Refurreftion from the Dead^and his vifible Afcenfion into Heaven, he has not only verbally taught us, that there State i?/' Departed Souls, ^ci, 17I there is a Life to come^ but has fet it really before our Eyes. The Apoftles walkM in the fame Path that their Mafter did before them, every- where aiferting that the Soul has two very- different Lives, and two very different States. If in this Life only we have Hope In Chr'tfi^ ^ Cor. xv: fays St. ^aid^ we are of all Men the moji '^* miferable. But we knoWj, fays he in ano- 2 Cor. v, ther Place, that ifotir earthly Houfeofthis ^'+- Tabernacle were dtjfolv^dj, z^e have a Builds ing of God J, a Houfe not made with Hands ^ eternal in the Heavens ; for we that are in this Tabernacle do groan., being burthen d ; not for that We would be tmcloathed^ but cloathed uponj that Mortality might be fwal- low'd up of Life. In the fame Manner St. 2^^^// fays to th^ Romans jthat all Nature^ together with us^ does groan being burthetPd., and afpiring to a certain Immortality : For Rom.vii'n I reckon J fays he, that the Sufferings of^^* ^9' this prefent Time are not worthy to be com- pared with the Glory which jhall be reveal- ed in us : For the earnefl ExpeBation of the Creature waiteth for the Manifefla- tion of the Sons of God. To be fhort, every Page in the Apoftolick Writings proclaims a future State and eternal Life ; at once the Foundation and Recompence of our Faith : And Chrift is faid to have brought, by his Gofpel, this Immortality to Light, that is, he explained it more clearly, and more effica- cioufly, than either Mofes in his Laws, or the Philofophers in their Schools. C CHA?. i8 A TREATISE concerning thS CHAP. II. T/jaf the Hufnan Soul is an immortal Sub^ JiancCj, diftinEi from the Body^ and from all Matter. IT being once granted that Men are to enjoy a future Life, it neceffarily follows that the human Soul is immortal. But ibme are of Opinion, that its Immortality is foreign from its Nature, and only granted to it as an Advantage by divine Favour : Others are of Opinion, that it was created immor- tal ; and that 'tis by its own Nature exempt from DiiTolution. The facred Writings ma- nifeftly teftify, that 'tis immortal either one Way or the other, as we have juft now feen, when it treats of eternal Life, of the Refur^ reftion of the Dead, of the laft Judgment^ of future Rewards and Punifliments, of Heaven and Hell, and other Things that re- late to them ; all which fuppofe, that the Soul exifts after the Death and DiiTolution of the Body, that it lives and enjoys both Senfe and Thought. However, I am of Opinion, that it will be worth while, in a few Words, to enquire, whether, befides the extraordina- ry Favour of God, whatever that is, the Soul is not immortal and incorruptible, by the Force and Principles of its original Na- ture, State (/ Departed Souls, isfc. ture, though depending ftill upon God : For it greatly corroborates our Affent to this, and Belief of it, to fee what we believe have its Root and Foundation in the very Nature of Things. We can never difcernor difcover, with all our Attention, any Quality in the human Soul, befides Thought, and the Power to think. Whatever the Soul does, ei- ther within itfelf, or externally, it ads not by Touch or Impulfe, but by the Force of fome Thought, whether that Thought is called Will, or Underftanding, or Appetite, or by any other Name. And likewife when it fuffers, either from itfelf, or from without, that Suffering too is a Species of Thought : So that we can find nothing at all in the Soul, befides the Power of Thinking, and its various Manners. Now if the Nature of the Soul, or the very EflTence of it, as fome ♦ are usM to fpeak, confifl:s entirely inThought, ^tis eflTentially Life, and is adive or confci- ous of itfelf without ceafing ^ nor can it any otherwife perifli than by Annihilation. For if you take away all Thought from it, or the Power to think, you deprive it of its very EflTence, which is the fame Thing with annihilating or defl:roying the Soul. We own that this is in the Power of God ; nor is that the Quellion at prefent : But we de- ny that its Life, or its Power to think, can pofTibly perifii, the EflTence of the Soul re- maining J which from this Conftitution of C 2 the A TREATISE concerning the the Soul, if you admit of it, in my Opinion^j truly and neccflarily follows. They who after this Manner conftitute the Nature of the human Soul, by that very Thing render it immortal, and inceffantly adive or confcious of itfelf> unlcfs 'tis re- duced to nothing. But they who, befides this Force of thinking, and this vital Ener- gy, if we may be allowed to borrow that Word, attribute to the Soul Extenfion and Dimenfion, and lay this as a Foundation an- tecedent to all Thought, they are to confi- der by what Means they are able to prove the future Life of the Soul: I fay the fu- ture Life, not the fimple Duration ; for 'tis one Thing fimply to endure, or to laft, like a Stock or a Scone ; and another Thing to live and to enjoy Senfe and Thought ; which is what all Men underftand when they hear the Name of Immortality, and of the Life hereafter. But if once an extended Subftance Is placed in the room of a Soul, in which Life or Thought are not necelTarily included, it will depend upon external Caufes, or upon divine Favour, whether it fliall want or en- joy Life and Thought. But I am unwil- ling to quarrel with any one who is for pre- ferring Immortality for us at any Rate, whe- ther he derive it from Nature, or from di- vine Favour. But now to make a farther Progrefs in my Argument : They who endeavour to perfuade us out of Immortality, than which nothing State of Departed Souls, <>r. nothing can be dearer to our Thoughts, will have the Soul to be not only an extended Subftance, but really and truly Corporeal in every Refpeft, and fo, like Body, capable of being diflblved. Thele Realbners 1 look upon as profefsM Enemies to Human Na- ture. But even towards Enemies there are certain Rights and Decencies that ought to be obferved. Let us, therefore, lay afide all paffionate Reproaches and injurious Lan- guage, and argue the Matter candidly and calmly with them. We will, if you pleafc, for the fake of fliortening theCaufe, take it for granted, by common Confent, that there is fomething incorporeal in the Nature of Things ; or if you are unwilling to take any Thing for granted, that is not extorted from you by the Force of Reafons, we will, in the firft Place, prove that God is not a Body, or is not cor- poreal. And, after we have laid this Foun- dation, Ave will proceed to examine the Na- ture of the Soulj which is the Point in QueC- tion. Though Itmay juftly be reckoned among - thofe Abfurdities which require no Proof^ that the corporeal World created itfelf, with- out the Hand of an Artift, without any pre- ceeding Defign, or Thought, or Counfel ; and though it be no lefs abfurd, that that High Wifdom and Sovereign Power, which fhine forth fo brightly in the Worl?:manfnip and Covernment of Nature, Ihould be innate or C 5 implanted zz ^ T R E AT I S E concerning the implanted in blind and grofs Matter ; yet fo oddly are the Minds of fome Men turned, that whatever does not ftrike the outward Senfes, or fill the Imagination ; or, that I may fpeak more plainly, whatever is not corporeal, all that they efteem as nothing. Well then, let us briefly examine the Thing : If God is corporeal, he mufl: either be the whole corporeal World, all the univerfal Mafs of Matter ; or fome certain Portion, fome Species, or fome Angular Kind of it. If you affirm the latter, you fay nothing ; becaufe no kind of Matter is unalterable. All Matter, indeed, as to its Subftance, is one and the fame ; but as to its Modes and Qualities, it alters continually : That which is hard to Day, to Morrow grows fofter, or is melted ; and that which is thin and fubtle to Day, grows hard, and thickens to Morrow, and is deprivM of its Motion. For Motion paffes without ceafing from fome Parts of Matter to others ; as likewife the other Qualities of Matter by the Media- tion of Motion ; and nothing remains under the fame Form perpetually. Therefore your God would be like Troteusy or rather, by the various Mutations of Matter, would often die and revive. Befides, as he is not univer- fal Matter, he cannot be omniprefent ; nor only that, but he would be broken aftinder, and his Subftance would have Chafms in feveral Places, by the Interpofition of other Bodies ; for if your God is the thin and fluid State of Departed Souls, ^c. 25 fluid Portion of Matter, by the Interpofi- tion of hard Bodies there would be a Solu- tion of his Continuity : If you make him of the hard and grofs Part of Matter, he would be often and varioufly torn from himlelf by the Fluid that would run between his di- vided Parts, So that by this Means you will have not One, but Numberlefs Gods ; Nor would it at laft be an entire God, but fo ma- ny broken LinAs and miftiapen Pieces of a God. Laftly, you include your God in fingle Particles of Matter; or Part of him in one, and Part of him in another : Chufe which Way you will, the Choice will be down right Stupidity, which it is not worth while to take any farther Notice of. You fee how wretchedly God is made up of Ibme particular Matter, be it what it will that you chufe : Nor is it lefs abfurd, or lefs impoflible, to exalt the univerfal Mafi of Matter into a God and a divine Nature. If you imagine that all the vaft Strufture of this vifible World, and all Bodies whatever, celeftial, terreftrial, animated, unanimated, Stocks, Stones, Metals, and whatever is viler and more fordid than thefe ; if you imagine all thefe to be God, in this your Folly fur- paffcs the Folly of the groileft Heathens in the World ; for they believed that the Deity which they adored was very different from the Marble or Wood, or whatever Statue they had confecrated to him. They believ'd, indeed, that the God inhabited, after fome C 4 Man- i4 ^TREATISE concermngthe Manner, the Statue which they had ereded to him ; but they diftinguifh'd the Inhabitant from the Houfe, and the Sword from the Scabbard : But you confound both the one and the other. Befides, according to your Opinion, we daily eat and drink the God that we worfhip, nay, we tread him under our Feet. And whatever Matter fufFers when 'tis violently tofs'd or driven, when ^tis cut, burnt, ground, or tormented any other Way, God fufFers in that : For you fay that Matter is God ] and, fince 'tis di- vine, it cannot be inlenfible. Nothing can be more foreign from all Reafon than this : But ftill you are prelfed with an Abfurdity of a blacker Dye. You not only make God fufFer, but, what I hardly dare to pronounce, you make him impious, you make him vil- lainous : For if the Univerfe is God, he muft be all its Parts, whether they are ani- mated or unanimated, bafe or noble, pure or impure, nay, the moft profligate, and moft accurs'd either of Men or Devils. But we ought with a religious Care, to abftain from thefe unutterable Things. Thesf, and other Things of this Nature, unworthy the Majefty of the fupreme Dei- ty, are infeparable from your Hypothefis, which depreffes the Nature of God, and con- founds it with Matter. Nor, on the other Side, do you lefs contend againll Reafon, wfien you are for exalting Matter, in fpite of its Unwillingnefs and its Reludancy, into a divine State ^/Departed Souls, ^cl 25 divine Nature, and cloathing it with Per- fedions, of which it is moft incapable. Let nsy if you pleafe, recolleft what all Men underftand by the Word God : They cer- tainly all underftand a Nature that is infi- nitely perfed. But is there any Man alive who can perfuade himfelf and others, that all Perfections are inherent in Matter, that they all Ipring from that Root, that they all fiow from that Fountain ? In the iirft Place, the Mafs of Matter has in itfelf neither Force nor Aftion ; nor could it receive either from abroad, if there were nothing more excellent than itfelf: And then, after it had received it from fomething elfe, it could not poffibly exercife it, unlefs by the Divifion of itfelf into various Parts, and the local Motion of thofe Parts. But neither does Divifibility, nor local Motion, agree with infinite Perfec- tion. Secondly, if the Mafs of Matter con- tains and includes in itfelf neither Force nor Adion, much lels does it contain and in- clude in itfelf Cogitation ; and leaft of all, Cogitations infinitely perfed, infinite Wif- dom. Power, and Goodnefs ; befides other Perfeftions, in which the Sovereign Power incomparably out-fhines all Nature. But you will fay, perhaps, (that I may not be in the leaft indulgent to my own Caufe,) that Cogitation, indeed, is not m-a- nifeftly included and contained in the Con- ception of Matter, or of the Mafs of Bodies, but that, perhaps, 'tis fecretly or remotely contained, 26 A TREATISE concerning thi contained, beyond our Capacity and Ken of Soul. To this I anfwer, that among all the Ideas of the human Soul, there is none which is either more prefent, or of which it has a clearer View, than the Idea of Mat- ter, or of an extended Subftance. We moft evidently conceive all its Dimenfions ; be- fides its Divifibility, Mobility, Figures, Pofi- tions, and Proportions. And the Sciences which treat of thefe Proprieties of Matter, are of all the moft evident, and the moft demonftrable. And when we can find no Connexion between Cogitation and any of thefe Proprieties of Matter, or any other Propriety of it, that falls within the Com- pafs of human Underftanding, itfeemstobe a groundlels Sufpicion, and without the leaft Appearanceof Truth, that this moft excel- lent Propriety, or Perfedion of Matter, ac- cording to your Imagination, fliould be con- tained in the fame Idea, and yet ftiould not ihine out in it ; and that we fliould not, with our utmoft Effort of Mind, be able to come at it there, or to derive it from thence. I SAY this mojl excellentT^roprtety of Mat- ter ; for the other Proprieties which I enume- rated are of fmall Moment, of little Dignity, if they are compared with Thought, and all the Perfedions which flow from Thought ; thefe conftitute the divine Nature, and all that is noble and eminent in human Nature : The others have neither Life, nor Senfe, nor any Thing of the Force and Virtue of the great- eft State ^/Departed Souls, i^c. 27 eft of Beings. Thus that Idea which ap- pear 'd to us, of all Ideas, the moll entire and the moft accomplilh'd, viz. the Idea of Matter, or of corporeal Nature, is cut fhort by one Half, and that the more noble Half: God has concealed from us, to our great Difl advantage, if not to our great Wrong, that which was moft noble and moft worthy to be known in the Nature and Notion of Bo- dies, by impofing this defeftive, and there- fore fallacious. Idea on us. But this is a Ca- lumny that has been invented againft God, and againft Men : Whatever is proper to Matter is included in its Idea ; and whate- ver is foreign to it, and of another Kind, as Thought, and the Power of thinking, that neither is, nor ought to be included in it, unlefs you would include any Thing in any Thing, and entirely confound the Diftindion of Things. But that we may proceed in our Argu- ment : The divine and corporeal Nature are fo far from agreeing, that they are repug- nant to each other, and contradiftory. One is infinitely perfeft, the other manifeftly and varioufly imperfed, in itfelf enervate and impotent, and every Way obnoxious to fuf- fer from external Force : One of them al- way the feme, the other liable to perpetual Mutations : One of them fimple and uni- form ; the other, by various Modifications diverfify'd, and by Compofitions numberlefs. By which 'tis abundantly manifeft, that there is ^B 2 TREATISE concerning the is fo far from being any Connexion, AfRni- ty, or Similitude, between divine and cor- poreal Nature, that there is an apparent Re- pugnancy, and that confequently God is in- corporeal. Now this Foundation being laid down, that I may come the nearer to what I pro- pofed, I affert, in the fecond Place, that be- fides God, there may be fome thing incorpo- real in the Nature of Things. This, with- out Delay or Contention, is manifeftly de- duced from the Premifes ; for fince God is incorporeal, ^tis plain from thence that an incorporeal Nature implies no Contradic- tion, or that 'tis a poffible Natures Now, to produce a poffible Thing, can never be impoffible : And when the lame God that is incorporeal is likcwife omnipotent, "'tis in his Power really and adually to produce whatever is not impoffible. Thirdly, and laftly, we affirm, that the human Soul is of an incorporeal Nature, or that 'tis a Subftance incorporeal. I could here before this Propofition infert another, more general, and, as it were, intermediate, vi^» that 'tis not only poffible there ffiould be, but that there really and adually are, exifting in the Univerfe, incorporeal Subftances, befides God ; and then could have added, that fuch in its Kind is the hu- man Soul. But we will, if you pleale, in this Chapter comprehend them both. Firft then, I affert, that in the vail Compafi of the State ^9/ Departed Souls^ i^c. 29 the Univerfe, there are other incorporeal Subftances befides God. For nothing from the Thing itfelf, as has been made to appear, hinders the Sovereign and All-powerful Be- ing from creating thefe incorporeal Natures when he created the Univerfe, and without them the Workmanfliip of it had been in a Manner imperfed, and maimed in its no- bleft Part. If any one Ihould build a mag- nificent Houfe ; and when he came to adorn and fiirnifh it, Ihould lupply it with no coftly Furniture, but only with earthen or wooden Ware, or Utenfils of fome more ignoble Matter, to the Negled of every fumptuous, every gallant Ornament ; you would be apt to fay, that Man, or that Mailer, was ei- ther dilbrder'd in his Underftanding, or ex- haufted by his Expence, or very miferably covetous. So if the Creator of all Things in compleating and adorning his Work, had omitted the moil excellent Ornaments, incor- poreal Natures, one would have been apt and ready to fay, that he had been either by Envy or Impotence deprived of the W ill, or of the Ability to iinifti and accomplilli his Work. How great and how frightful a Chafm had there been ? how vafl a Vacuity in the Nature of Things, if there had been nothing between the higheil and the loweft Nature, between God and Matter ? In that limmenfe Interval, there is Room for num- berlefs Orders of Beings, and Beings of the nobleft Kind ; which, if God had either not created, JO A TREATISE concerning the created, or had afterwards fupprefs^d, he had been neither mindful of his own Majefty, , nor the Dignity of his Undertaking. Laft- ly, in the Nature of Things there are very many Phaenomenas, which can neither juftly be referrM to Matter, nor immediately to God: Thefe Appearances require interme- diate Natures, and fecondary Caufes from God, fuperior to the utmoft Power of Mat- ter: But there is here no room to dwell any longer upon thefe. The Way being thus prepared, and, as it were, levelFd, we come at length to the very Conclufion in which the Argument termi- nates, viz. that among thefe incorporeal Subftances the human Soul has a Place, or that 'tis one of their Number. The whole Point in Debate, it is plain, turns upon this, viz* to what Clals and Order of Things, corporeal or incorporeal, the human Soul be- longs ? * But fince the Effences of Things in a great meafure lie hid from us, and we have hardly * That this may more clearly and diftin6l!y appear, let us diligently examine, and, as it were, look into our- felves, that we may fee what we are, and what Value we ought to fet on ourfelves. Every Man is confcious of himfelf and his own Exigence. If any one ftiali happen to doubt of this, he mult be convinc'd by that very Doubt, and confefs that he exifts But what Ibrt of Beings we are, who doubt, who will,, who will nor, who rejoice, who grieve, and who think a thoufand different Ways ; here, I fay, lies the great Queftion, what we are who ad, and who fuffer thefe Things. la the firll Place, State of Departed Souls, ^c. ? i hardly any other Way to difcover the Diffe- rences between them, than by their Proprie- ties and their EfFeds, it will not be foreign to our Purpofe to compare, in the firft Place the Qijalities and EfFefts of each Nature, the corporeal and the incorporeal, or of our Souls and our Bodies; that we may learn from thence, whether they are different, or are one and the fame ; and if they are diffe- rent, in what Manner they differ or are op- posed to each other. We Place, I perceive that I am a Being diftin6t from all o- ther Beings. Nor does any other feel the Grief or the Pain that 1 do, nor I what another feels ; and fo for Pleafure, and the reft of the Affedions. Befides, I un- derftand either more or lefs than others ; and as every one has the Freedom of his own Will, I have that of mine. I am fick, am in Health, I hunger, I fleep, for my felf only; and laftly,! live, or I die formyfelf alone, •ByreafunofthisConcienfcioufnefscf A6lions and Paf^ fions proper and peculiar to me, and incommunicable to any Thing elfe, I call myfelf a certain Individual, di- vided and diftin6l from every other Being; diftin(Sl from God, as I am an imperfed Being, obnoxious to the Errors, both of my Underftanding and Will; diftindl likewile from every other Being, when they neither per- ceive my Thoughts, nor Senfations, nor have 1 any Senfe of theirs. In the mean while, thofe A6lions or Pafllons, of which I alone am confcious, muft necefTa- rily belong to fome Subftance, as the Properties and Faculties of that Subftance: To God they cannot be- long, as we have fhewn above, and will be ftill more clear below; they muft belong then to fome created Subftance, corporeal or incorporeal. These Things being premised, you fee very clearly that the whole Point in Debate turns upon this, viz. to what Clafs of created Beings, corporeal or iacorporcal, the human Soul belongs ? 3z J TREATISE concerning the We have feen above, that Thought is not included in the Idea of corporeal Nature, or that on the other Side, any of the Pro- prieties of Body are included in Thought ; and therefore the Author of Nature has de- ceivM us both Ways, if Thought belongs to Matter ; and therefore unlefi we pretend to underltand beyond the Reach of our Facul- ties, or beiide them, or againft them, no Motive or Handle can fpring from our Ideas that may occafion our uniting and confound* ing Thought with corporeal Nature. But you will fay, perhaps, that welbme- times learn thofe Things by Experience, which we could never have deduced from our Ideas alone. If we Ihould grant it, yet never has it been found by any Experience, that the Mind either ads or fuffers after the Man- ner of Matter; or that Matter either ads or fuffers the lame Way that the Mind does, that is, by the Power and Force of its own Thought. We all know very well, that Matter either ads or fuffers by Motion, Touch, or Impulfe ; but never has it yet been made to appear, that the Mind either ads or fuffers by Touch, or by Impulfe, or by any of the Motions which they excite. For Example ; when I move by a voluntary Mo- tion either my Tongue or my Finger, or any other Part of my Body, I am confcious of no Impulfe, or any Manner of Strefs what- ever made by my Mind upon that Part of the Body* There is, indeed, a Motion of the Spirits, State of Departed Souls, ^c. 35 Spirits, or of the thinner Juice, from which the Motion of that Part of the Body ulti- mately proceeds : But we are now inquiring into the firft Original or Caufe of that Mo- tion of the Spirits in the Brain, as far as it lies in our Power, and after the Manner by which it proceeds immediately from the Mind, or from the Action of the Mind. But I affirm, that I am conlcious of no Ac- tion of my Mind in the producing or efFed- ing this Motion, but Volition^ or the Com- mand of my Will. But that this Adion, or Command of my Will, is performed by Touch or Impulfe, or has its EfFecl by thofe, I am able to dilcover by no Confcioufnefs, nor find by any Experience. And as for the Paflions of the Mind, oc- cafion'd by the Body, and by corporeal Ob- je£}sj thele Objeds as far as they are in the Soulj have no Relemblance or Relation to Local Motion, or to thofe Motions of the Body by which they are excited. For Example : The Heart is contraded in Grief and Sadnefs, and dilated in Mirth and Joy : But no Man can imagine that this Contrac- tion, or this Dilatation, can be in the Soul it- felf^ as if the Soul of Man were mufcular, composed of Fibres and Tendons. For the Senfeof Grief, of which we are confcious, and which wc clearly perceive, reprelents neither Local Motion to us, nor any Thing that is moveable^ but is a lingular Idea, ha- D ving 34 ^ TREATISE concerning the ving no Refemblance to any other, and leaft of all to Local Motion. * And, laftly, in external Senfations, in the Perception of Tafte, Smells and Sounds, that which we moft immediately feel, gives us no Image, either of Matter or Motion. And when we fee external Objeds by Images painted in the Eye, thofe Images can never be carried with an equal Motion, and in the fame entire Figure to the Seat of the Soul in the Brain, or in whatever Part or Region the Soul has its Seat and Perception is per- form'd ; nor can they more^ when they are in "^Diforder and Confnfion^ refrefent the Obje6i {by their own Force) dijlinBly to the SottL But we ought leaft of all to fuC- ped, that thefe Images, or Remnants of Images, are the very Thoughts themfelves that ariie from them in the Soul. And the fame Account is to be given of thofe little Images, which we may call Memorial Marks, which are very imperfed, and therefore un- equal to their original Types. Laftly, if there are befides any other Thoughts, that may be referrM to this Clals, you will find upon inquiring into them, that they include nothing extended, or figured, or corpo- real. Thus far have we treated of the firft Ope- ration of the human Soul, which is caird fimple Apprehenfion, whether it be a pure and abftraded Idea, or joinM together wdth Motion in fome Pait of the Body. But there State of Departed Souls, ^c. there is in us, befides Ideas or fimple Ap- prehenfions, fuperior and nobler Principles, or Faculties of the Soul, as Judgment, Reafon, and a Chain of Reafons linkM to one another ; and, laftly, there is a fovereign Principle that prefides over all thefe, and therefore is juftly calFd by the Greeks^ To 7\yefjiovL'itovj 2^ TO ccule^ov(Tiov. This Ibvereign Principle has Dominion and Empire as well over the Operations of the Soul, as over the Motions of the Body : And all thefe are to be feparately weigh'd, when we fearch into the Nature of the Soul. Let us proceed then, if you pleafe, to a feparatc Examination of each of them. The Ope- rations of the Soul then, as we faid above, following each other in due Order, are divi- ded into fimple Perceptions, into Judgments, into Ratiocinations, and, if you pleafe, into Methods, or into a Series of Thoughts that are marfhallM in exaft Order ; for Method comprehends and dilpofes of feveral Ratio- cinations. Ratiocination is employed in the Connexion of feveral Judgments, Judgment in comparing and comprehending feveral Ideas, or feveral Senfations. Thus if you proceed in Order, the Ideas are the flrft Ele- ments of Knowledge, and, as it w^re, the Xretters of the Alphabet of which VVords are composed, and of Words Sentences and Periods, and Difcourfe of Sentences : And thus the Scale of Thoughts anfwers, in feme Meaf ure, to the feveral Parts of Speech. D 2 We 36 A TREATISE concerning the We have faid enough concerning the Ideas. The Judgments and Ratiocinations follow, in which the Mind contemplates the Relations, Proportions, and mutual Regards of the Ideas ; for we ought to take notice of this, that the Ideas, confider'd feparately, are incapable of offering any Truth to us, and that they neither conclude, nor affirm, or deny any Thing. This is another Ac- tion, another Faculty of the Soul, which by contemplating the Proportions, Regards, and Refpeds, that there is between thefe Ideas, (I here take Ideas in the largeft Senfe,) affirm or deny fomething concerning them, and confequently concerning the Things which they reprefent, as they accord or differ, im- ply or exclude, agree or are opposed to each other, and this according to their different Meafure and Degrees. Now fancy, if you pleafe, that the Ideas themfelves are corpo- real Motions ; what are thefe Relations be- tween the Ideas, thefe Concatenations and Dependencies ? But, laftly,what is thisjudge, this Ruler of the Ideas, that examines as well the Ideas themfelves, as the Relations they have to each other ? compares them, weighs them, determines and reconciles them? and by comparing them, forms various Pro- pofitions, and Concatenations of Propofi- tions ? Lastly, do you believe that this Progrels that you make in thinking, from finiple Per- ception to Judgment, from Judgment to Ratio« State of Departed Souls, ^c. ^^ Ratiocination, and from thence to a well- order 'd Series and Context of Arguments? do you believe, I fay, that this Progrefs is made by the Impulle of one Part of the Soul on another, or by any Succeffion of Motions, according to the Laws of Matter and Local Motion ? Moft certainly you do not believe it: Turn your Eyes inward, con* fult yourfelf, interrogate your Soul, that is Mafter and confcious of itfelf; ask it, if thefe Operations are nothing but corporeal Mutations, but Touches, Impulfes, or Dafli- ings againft other of corpufcularian Particles, and that they are produced one from the o* ther, according to the Laws of Local Mo- tion. Your Soul, unlefs it lies againft the Truth and itfclf, and is induftrious to de- prefs itfelf into an inferior Order of Things, which God did not ordain for it, but which yet it deferves, by reafon of the Wrong and Injuftice which it does to itfelf; I fay, un- lefs it does that, it will ingenuoufly confefs, that it finds nothing at all of that in itfelf, nor is able to gather from any Indication, that thefe Operations are performM in it af- ter a corporeal Manner, by virtue of its own or of any other Body ; but that by a Power peculiar to itfelf, and according to the Laws of a thinking Nature, from the Contempla- tion of its Ideas, and the Relation between thofe Ideas, new Contemplations more com- pounded arife, as it were, fo many new Births, or new Conceptions, after them, D 3 To 38 J TREATISE concerning the To confirm this Teftimony which the Soul gives concerning itfelf, provided it be frank and ingenuous, let us recoiled a little what has been faid above : That Truth or Falfliood, properly callM fo, does not con- lifl: in the bare Ideas taken feparately from each other, but in the right Difpolition of feveral Ideas among one another to their different Kinds, and their feveral Relations j for fo Propofitions and Judgments are form'd in the Mind, from which Ratiocination is afterwards wrought ; and from them both, Difcourfe of whatever Nature, Oration, or Differtatlon. From what has been faid, we form two Obfervations: The firftis, that the greateft Force of Mind that can poffibly be conceived, is feen in its contemplating, dif- tinf^uilhing. determining the Relations that Things have to one another, or the Ideas of Things. As Argumentation turns upon thefe, or makes its Progrels from one to an- other, according to their mutual Connexions or Relations, the whole Series, and Pro- grefs, and Concatenation of Thoughts de- pends intirely upon thefe. The Ideas of Things that fall under the Imagination, be- ing feparately taken from thefe, are like fo much Sand without Lime: The Things which cement them, are the forefaid Rela- tions /^rm^'V by the Underjianding only. I lay, ferceivd by the ^nderftanding only^ for the fecond Obfervation that we make is this, that the Relations of Things of this Nature State of Departed Souls, i^c. 29 Nature have no Images of thcmfelves in the Brain, no Marks in the Imagination', nor can they be reprefented by any corporeal Image, when they are without Parts, with- out Shape, and without Extenfion. How- ever, exprefs Subjed, or the Words which we annex to our Idea, Termini StibjeBiy may be in fome Mcafure reprefented ; as for Ex- ample, a Triangle, or Quadrangle, or fbme- ., ^^. thing of that Nature. But the Comparifon or Proportion between thefe Termmi., or the Parts of either of then], or between any other Things whatever ; this is Ratiocina- tion refulting from divers Things comparM with each other, which can be reprefented by no Lines, and which no Colours can paint. We may apply to this what the Pro- phet faid concerning the divine Nature ; To whom will ye liken Almighty God? or what ifa.x. 18. Likenefs will ye compare to him ? What Si- militude of his Likenefs, or what Effigies of abftracled Proportions can you poffibly con- ceive could be drawn in the Brain, or in any other material Subftance whatever ? Thus the Reafons of Truth and Faliliood, of Bafenefs and Worthinefs, of PolTibility and Impoflibility, and of thofe univerfal Notion? which arife from the comparing feveral Things together •, I fay, thefe^ and Ideas of this Nature, have not the leaft Trace' or Fold, the leaft Shadow, or Form, or Figure, in the narrow or fmalleft Fibres of the Brain. But fo much for this Argument. D 4 Hitherto ^o ^ TREATISE concerning the Hitherto we have foUow'd one only Thread of Difcourfe, viz, the gradual Pro- grels that the human Soul makes in its Ope- rations ; in which, from fimple Perception it proceeds to Judgments and Arguments ^ and from thence to a Series and Syftem of Thoughts in the Arts and Sciences, rankMin the moft beautiful and the exacSeft Order, and to a long Range and Sequel of Propofi- tions, as well for Contemplation as Pradice, and the Government of human Affairs. How juftly are thefe Virtues and this Force admirM in the human Soul, by which 'tis diftinguifti'd from the Machine of its Body, and from all m.aterial Subftance? Let us now return to that other no lefs admirable Principle or Faculty which we mention"*d above, by which the Soul is likewife dif^ tinguifiiM from the Machine of its Body, and by which it vindicates its Empire over all the Motions of the other : This Principle we have caird To dvre^hio-iov^ the Latins call it Liber um Arbitrium^ or the voluntary and fpontaneous Force of the Mind. In the firft Place, by the Force of this Principle we govern the Body, and command the Spirits which Way we pleale, to move this or that, or any Part of it : By this Principle we re- jfift the Propenfions of the Body, we con- troul its Appetites, and its Affedions, and its external and internal Senfes, as often as 'tis our Pleafure. But State of Departed Souls, ^c. 4 1 But, for God's fake, what ftrange kind of Thing is this that refifts the Body, if we are nothing but Body? When a River runs either this Way, or that Way, can it by its own Force put a Stop to its Stream, and turn it a contrary Way. No Matter whatever a£ts againft itfelf, no Machine is conlcious of its own Motions, or from that Confciouf- nefs a Corredor and Reformer of its Errors. If it err, as 'tis not confcious of it, it con^ tinues to err, till the Hand of the Artift or Mailer being applied to it, 'tis brought into Order, and reftor'd to its right State. No Part of Matter, and no Machine, can imitate this reflexive Principle, if I may have Leave to ufe the Expreffion. This Force, that is a Reformer of itfelf, and that repents of itfelf, tranfcends all the Force, the Nerves and the Springs of thole corpo- real Engines that appear to move of them- felves : And as it is lingular and peculiar to an intellectual Nature, fo 'tis in that Nature what is greateft and moft divine. I not only admire that perpetual Motion in the Mind of Man, by which it is raised above all Matter; but there is fomething yet more fublime, which lords it over the Mind itfelf, as w^ell as over the Body, that with fove- reign Authority exads an Account of all the Motions of each, and, as it were, an- other I, and a fupream Judge, Itrictly re- views the Aftions of both one and the other, 4Z A TREATISE concerning the other, and correds or confirms them at Plea* fure. ^ Now as to what relates to our Thoughts, and to the feveral Motions of our Minds, what we chiefly find by Experience is this, that the Mind, according to that Liberty and Domi- nion with which it was at firft created, applies itfelf to profecute whatever Thought it plea- fes, dwells on it a longer or a fliorterTime, de- ferts it, and turns itfelf to another, according to its fov^ereign Pleafure. Befides, we are to obferve, that this ccuTe'^saiovj in exercifing its fovereign Power, either on the Body, or on the Soul, fometimes takes the Advice of Reafon, and follows that for its Guide; and fometimes, and that but too often, it takes a contrary Courfe, and then it loofes all Com- mand of itfelf, and often runs headlong up- on its own Deftrudion. But when it calls in Reafon to its AflSftance, and choofes her for a Companion, then fhe is like the Deity, and *Tell me, I befeech you, what is the Diiference between Sleeping and Waking? When we dream, Ibme Thoughts follow others fortuitoufly, according as the Phantoms offer themfelves, without the Government or Command of the Mind, whether they are aptly or abfurdly join'd. But when we are awake, there is fome- thing in us that corre6ls thefe Thoughts, guides them, commands them, flops them, and turns them which Way foever it pleafcs; and rejeding the abfurd, conneds and compofcs the reft into a rational Series. What is that fuperior Principle that preiides over all thefe Motions of the Body, and all thefe Thoughts of the Mind, and go- verns them at its Pleafure? This fuperior Principle, I call the high, the fovereign, and imperatorial Mind^ State (?/ Departed Souls 5 isfc. 43 and calls to a fevere Examination all the Errors of the Soul, the Errors of the Will, ^nd thofe of the Scnfes ; the Errors of the Imagination, and thoib of the Pallions; nay, and the Errors even of Reafon itielf. In this the divine Force of the Soul fhinesout with the greateft Glory. Indeed, in every Aftion, in every Paffion of the Soul, let it be ever ^o weak, let it be ever fo abjed, as in Sen^ lation, or in any AfFcdtion or Appetite, there is fomething fuperior to all corporeal Force; I mean that confcious, perceiving, and com- prehending Quality, which is every where prefent ; for which Matter can be never fuf- licient, nor any Thing compofed of Matter. But when we afcend by the forementioned Steps to the fupream Perfection of our Na- tures, then we are immenfely diftant from Earth, and from earthly Things ; then we are rais'd to the very Heaven of Heavens, ten thoufand Degrees higher than any orga- nical or mechanical Engine could ever have the Force to carry us *. Lastly, * Bat let us proceed: In a thinking Nature two Things are join'd, which can never concur in a corpo- real Nature; for Example, Action, and the Unity of Action. Oar. Conception of Thought includes in it Ac- tion, and that the moft united A6tion : But Matter is cither void of A6lion, as the more hard, ponderous, un- wieldy Bodies are; or 'tis void of Unity, as fluid and vo- latile Matter, which confifts of numerous Particles, which are carried this Way and that Way, without Connexion or Unity. 44 ^TREATISE concerning the Lastly, that I may wind up all this together, there is fomething within us that may be called an univerfal Percipient, or an univerfal confcious Principle, that runs through all the Operations of the Soul, and is diffufed through all its Adions and Paffions. Now I would fain know of you what this is : Is it fome Limb, fome Part or Particle of the Body ? It is one and the fame Thing that difcerns external Objeds, that judges and reafons, that wills, refolves, undcrftands; laftly, that receives all Im- prellions, and exerts or accompanies all Ac- tions. There is a Neceffity that this uni- verfal Perceiver Ihould be very fimple, and of an Unity inexpreffible, that it may be capable of receiving ib many Impreffions without Confufion, and of contemplating with one View fo many Reafons and Relations of Things. No Part or Portion of Matter feems to me to be capable of fo much Unity and Simplicity. Whatever is received, is received according to the Meafure of the Receiver ; and where there are feveral Parts or Particles in the Receiver, the Impreffion muft be confufed or diftraded. If the whole Irnpreffion falls upon the fame Point, there will be Confufion ; if upon feveral, there will be Diftradion. In Matter there can be no one Part, that can perceive the Whole, or that can be confcious of the whole Impref- fion, and the whole Objed : But as in the perceiving external Objeds^ fo in the com- paring State t?/ Departed Souls, isfc. 45 paring and diftinguilhing them, there muft be fomething one, thac comprehends the Reafons of them, and handles, or divides, or conneds them, like io many Threads ; and either lengthens them, or breaks then off, and in various Manners winds and works them together. And in all thefe Variations and Operations, befides the proper Force which is in each of the fingular Operations, there is a certain common Force which runs through them all, and is, as it were, the Soul of the Soul. And this univerfal Per- ceiver, or univerfal Confcious, muft not be only fomething one, but fomething moft perfedly one, and of the greateft Simplicity ; of fo great Unity and Simplicity, as was faid before, that can never be conceived to be in any extended Subftance, divifible and compofed of Parts that are diftant from each other. Having thus difcufs'd thefe Things with^'^i'^Suar. all poffible Brevity, it appears clear to me,uxxx.''^p.* on every Side, that our Souls are of a dif-'*i»3>6'uji return to Earth j as it was J and the Spirit to God who gave Mat.x. 28. /V. And Chrift has taught us, that we jhould not fear them who kill the Body^ bnt are not able to kill the Sonl : And he him- felf, being about to expire, recommended his Luke xxiii. Soul into the Hand of God, while his Body ^^' hung upon the Crois. Mat. xxii. Be SIDES, Chrift has affirm'd, that the Souls *3- oi Abraham-^ and of the Patriarchs are Itill alive, (or, at leaft, that they were at that Time.) And giycs to pious, or penitent Souls, State of Departed Souls, ^c. 47 Souls, after they have put off their mortal Luke xvi, Body^ a Seat in Paradife or in Abraham's ^^' Bofom ; but fent the Souls of wicked Men ^^^^^"^*- to Hell, or to Gehenna, Mofes and Elias appeared in the Transfiguration of Chrilt, Johnxi.43; many Ages after they had departed this mor- tal Life. Chrift likewife call'd back depart- Mat.ix.a^ ed Souls to their Bodies, as often as it was his Pleafure, and rcfumM his own Body af- ter it had been three Days buried, and as- cended into Heaven full of Life, and fur- rounded with Glory. Thus has Chrift tef- tify'd, by what he laid, by what he did, by what he fufFer'd, and every Way, that the Souls of Men are diftinguifh'd from their Bodies, and live after the others die. That the Dead are faid to fall afleep in the facred Writings,* is no folid Objeftion to the Immortality of the Soul ; for neither does the Soul perlfti in Sleep, nor cealc from all Kind of Aftion ; but the Senfes being bound up, is not afFefted with the ex- ternal World ; which may very well be the Cafe in the State of Death, or in the fe^ f urate State^ as it is wont to be call'd, when we live to God, and to the intellectual World, till we wake ag^in in the Refurredion, and refuming * It appears clearly in the facred Writings, that the Dead enjoy a fort of Life peculiar to them, or that the middle State between the Death and the Refurredion of the Body, is a State of Lite, whatever that Life is. \The[, V. 10. 4 2 A TREATISE concerning the refuming a vifible and corporeal Shape, re- new our Commerce with the external World, Rom.xiv. Chriil calling us back to it, who is Lord of ^* the Living, and of the Dead. But we fhall have Occafion to treat of this Matter below. That we may finifli this Part of our Difcourfe, we are to obferve, that every Man obferves the Diftinftion between the Soul and the Body withEafe, or with Diffi- culty, according to his Genius and hisExtent of Capacity. If any one could doubt, which, perhaps, fome People may, of the Exiftence of their own Bodies, and of all external Things ; that very Man, notwithftanding this, would be certain of the Exiftence of his own Soul. Which fufficiently difcovers the Body and the Soul to be two different Things, and that there is no fuch Thing as a neceffary Connexion between them. This doubting Man, I fay, would be cer- tain ftill of the Exiftence of his own Soul, from his very Incertitude and his Doubting ; for any fort of certain Operation, let it be what it will, necelfarily demonftrates the Exiftence of the Thing whole Adion or Operation it is. Nor can the moft obftinate Sceptick ever arrive at that Degree of Stu- pidly, as to deny or doubt of their own Exif- tence. Let them take away Motion from the Nature of Things, let them take away Hea- ven, and the Scars of Heav^en, and all the ilir- rounding Objeds that llrike our Senfes, nay, their State of Departed Souls, ^ci ^sJ their own Bodies, if it be poffible ; this thinking doubting Thing, which denies the Exiftence of all the reft, will ftill itfelf re- main ; nor can it confound itfelf with thofe of whofe Exiftence it doubts. Laftly, the Soul which after this Manner is diftinguifh- ed from its own, and from every other Bo- dy, is to be accounted an incorporeal Sub- ftance, as we faid at firft : Nor will it be j diflblvedat the DilTolution of the Body, nor perifli when that periflies ; but, polleffing the Life that is proper to it, it remains fur- viving and immortal, capable of enjoying eternal Felicity, or feeling everlafting Mi- fery. CHAP. Ill, What will be the future Condition of the Soul after the "TDiffblution of the Body ; or of the Middle State of Souls in the Interval between TJeath and the Refur- re6tion^ as to the T>egrees of Happnefs orMifery. WHEN we have already proved, as well by Arguments drawn from Rcalbn and Nature, as by the moft evi- dent Doctrines and Teftimonies of facred Authors, that human Souls furvivc the Ex- tindion of their Bodies j we are next to en- E ead who die in the Lord. But *3' why blelTed ? Is it becaufe they are imme- diately to enjoy the beatifick Vifion? I find nothing at all like this in the Prophet : What then do we find in him? For they '^or.v.f.reji from their Labours^ and their Works 2.1 z8.' follow them:, which at length will have their ^ Cor. 1.7. Reward. This is the eftablilhM Order of Tilings; this, and no other, is the Beatitude that STaTb of Departed Souls, ^c. 57 that we die to exped. We affert then, ac- cording to the Decrees of the Chrittian Re- [ ligicn, that the Felicity of departed Saints I will arife, either from the Hope of future I Glory, or from Reft and internal Joy, till that happy Day Ihall fliine forth, in which Chrift will raife them from the Dead, make them like to the Angels in Glory, and con- formable to himfelf. What we read further in the facred Story of the Dead recalPd to Life, and of the Seats and Receptacles of departed Souls, anfwers to this Explication. For can any one believe that Chrift tore Lazartis from the beatifick Vifion, and forc'd him to come back into this miferable Life ; or that Abra^ ham^s Bofom, into which we read that the other Lazarus was tranflated, was the fame Place with the Kingdom of Heaven, and the beatifick Vifion of God ; or that the Souls that cry from under the Altar, or that the Faithful, in their imperfed State, ^ ^^ ^. can' bear the Splendor of celeftial Light, Heb. xi. ' and dwell in eternal Glory ? If upon thefc 39^ 40- Paflages we confult the Fathers, they will make quite other Anfwers. Laftly, when Chrift carried with him the Soul of the Thief into Paradife, he carried him not up to the Heaven of Heavens, the Seat of beatifick Vifion ; for he afcended not thither himfelf, ' during the three Days of his Death ; nor do antient Authors, either Jews or Chrif- tians. 58 ^TREATISE concerning the tians * give that Interpretation to the Word ^aradife. If we weigh all this with impartial Minds, and readily follow where the Light of the facred Writings leads us ; if we turn not afide from this Path for any Caufe what- ever, nor take one Step beyond it, why then we muft fay, or rather repeat, Blejfed are the ^e ad who die in the Lord^ even at prefent blefled, becaufe they enjoy Peace, and Reft, and Comfort ; and will be here- after tranfcendantly bleft, when, upon the fecond Coming of Ghrift having put on their glorify 'd Bodies, they Ihall enjoy the ravifti- ing Sight of God in an inexpreffible Man- ner. p, ., . Nor is it any folid Objedion to this our tCor!v.^8. Opinion, that St. ^aul has. That if he dyd^ he (hould be frefent with Chriji^ and, as it were, at home with the Lord : For whatever Prefence you can fuppofe that the Apoftle means here, whether the vilible and corpo- real one, or the fpiritual and internal one, neither of them will at all weaken our Caufe. If the Apoftle means the corporeal Prefence, he means it from the Time of the Refurrec- tion, the Interval of Reft between Death and that being accounted as nothing.: For Souls being feparated from their Bodies, and from * The Jews fnppofe the Happinefs of the Dead to be impertca: till the Day of Judgment, rid. Pocock. No> mifc, c. vi. p. 176. State ^/Departed Souls, i^c. 5^ from all Matter^ cannot, during that State, have a^iy corporeal or external Prefence with Chriic : This is, from the very Nature of the Thing, impoffible. If, therefore, the Apoftle means this corporeal Prefence, the Time of Separation, or, that I may ufe his own Term, of ObdormitiuU^ is reckoned by him as nothing. But by realon of the Cer- tainty of the Tiling, and the infenfiHle De- lay, he joins the Refurreftion immediately together with Death. And I am the lefs a- vcrfe to this Explication, when I obferve the Apoftle's Opinion, in feveral Places of his Epiftles, of the Approaching and fudden Coming of Chrift. Belidcs, in the firft Verfe of this Chapter to the Corinthians^ he has joined the Time of throwing off the terreftrial Body, with that of putting on the celeftial one, making no Account of the Interval of Time between them : For we kmWj faith ^ Cor.v. i. he, that if our earthly Houfe of this Taber- Heb.ix.23i nacle were diffblvedj, we have a Building of God ^ an Houfe not made with Hands ^ eternal in the Heavens : Where he imme- diately joins the Diffolution of this mortal Body with the Aflumption of the other, though more than fifteen Centuries have paf- fed fmce the Death of St. Pauly and he has not yet received his celeftial Body. But the imperceptible Time, in which no Alte- ration either happens, or can poflibly happen to the Matter depending, is to be looked on as nothing. Belide, the Apoftle has laid in that Chapter ^6o ^A TREATISE concerning the — Ver,4. Chapter to the Corinthians^ that \ie would not be uncloathedy but cloathed w^on^ that is, that he would not be diyefted of his pre- fent Body ; but here to the Thtlifpam^ he fays, that he defires to defart^ or to be dif- mifled from his Body. But this latter Say- ing is lb to be moderated and expounded, that it may not be repugnant or contradic- tory to the former. And if the Apoftle Eph.ii.6. ufes this Phrafe, to be with the Lord^ in the fame Senfe in thefe Paffages, that he has ufed I Their iv. them in others ; and fo we jhall he always ^i^^h.iw.io.frefent with the Lord^ we mull neceffarily conclude, that the fame Time, and the fame State of the Refurredion is to be underftood in both^. Laftly, we muft obferve from the Nature of the Thing, that Chrift has already afcended above the higheft Heavensj cloathed with his glorious Body ; and that the Saints cannot poflibly afrend thither^ or inhabit there, till they have likewife put on their celeftial Bodies; which being grant- ed to none before the Refurre6tion, unlefs to thofe who are rapt up to Heaven like Enochs neither the Reafon of the Thing, nor eftabliftiM Order, nor divine Difpenfa- tion, will allow us to expound thefe Say- ings of the Apoftle, as meant of the local and corporeal Prefence, There- * 'Tis certain that when Chrilt was about to afcend into Heaven, he did not propaife his Difciples that he would receive them to himfelf before his Return to the Barth, \ StATE of Departed Souls, l^c\ Si Therp^ore if you had rather underftand here the fpiritual and internal Prefence of Chrifi, I am net againft it. The Saints even in this Life are in this Manner prefent with Chrift, and will be prefent with him in the Life to come after feveral Manners : By all which, according to this Interpretation, the Souls of the Righteous may be faid to be prefent with Chrift after his Death. Firft, they may be faid to be with Chrift, as they will be under the Guardianfhip and Protec- tion of Chrift \ for Chrift being now about to expire, recommended his Soul into the Hands of his Father, that is, into the Cut- Lucxxiii. tody and Prote61:ion of his Father* But when ^^' Chrift by dying had conquerM Death, and fo was become the Lord both of Life, and of Death, St. Stephen expiring, depofited his Soul into the Hands of Chrift, who dy- ing, cry'd out, Lord Jefus receive my Spi* m.vuff. rit. After the fame Manner the Soul of St. Taul would be with Chrift, depofited with him, and in his Proteftion to the Day of the Refurreftion. Again, the Souls of the Saints are faid to be with Chrift af- ter his Death, by Reafon of the internal Confblation and Joy which they receive from Chrift : For fince Chrift came into theWorld and became viilorious over Death, I make no doubt but he has made a great Acceflion to the Comfort and the Felicity of thole who arc dead in him, as well from the Influx of divine Virtue, as from the moft certain Hope, and, 6z J TREATISE concerning the and, as it were, the raviftiing Profpeft of a glorious Refurrcftion : And, therefore, in the Interval between Death and the Rcfur- redion, 'tis rightly faid, that Chrift is with us, and that wc are living, and prefent with hiin. Laftly, in this Manner of fpeaking, there is a Regard to be had to the Oppofi- tion, as is evident from both the Paffages to the Thtlifpans and Corinthians. To be with Chrift, and to be in this World, are each oppofed to the other : When we go out of the World, we are not extinguiftied, we are not abolifhed, wc are not reduced to no- thinp*. Where are wc then ? We are with God, we are with Chrift ; we live to God, Luc.xx.58. we are prefent with Chrift^ v/ho will bring ^""^ '^''' us back to the Stage of the World, full of ''*'^* Life and Spirit. We have no Reafon to wonder then that St. Tatil ftiould fay, T>eath is gain, to me : We ought rather to wonder that fo great an Apoftle fliould fay fo very little. He who iCor.xi. in this Life had gone through fo many Ca- lamities and Difquiets, fo many Fatigues, and fo many Dangers; who had endured Hunger, and Thirft, and Cold^ and Naked- nefs, and Stripes, and Beatings, Imprifon- ments, and Stoning, and Shipwreck ; all Kinds of Evils, all Kinds of Hardftiips both by Sea and by Land ; that he fliould pro- nounce Death more defn-able than this pre- fent Life^ is not at all to be wondered at : If Death were nothing but Reft, and a Truce from State ^/Departed Souls, i!fc. 63 I from the Evils and Calamities of this pre- I fent World, it would ftill be preferable to j Life. Let us then, that are fuch little and s wretched Creatures, learn from hence to think more modeftly of ourfelves, and the \ Rewards which we merit, and not to promife j ourfelves and others the Enjoyment of the I bcatilick Vifion, as foon as ever our Eyes j are fliut ; when the great Apoftle of the Gen- tiles, who, if ever any Man deferved highly j of theChriftian Religion, certainly it was he, feems to promife himfelf nothing fo great and lb defirable. Let us be contented in ; that middle World, if I may have leave to call it fo, with far leis Enjoyments ; yet, let us not think it a fmall Thing, that the Soul being conlcious 'to itfelf of its Immortality, and breathing forth nothing but Love di- vine, ftiould acquiefcc in God and itfelf, ha- ving at the fame Time a joyful and lively Hope of the Coming of Chrift, and the Glory which it is to partake with him. Lastly, that I may add this Reflection to the reft, they feem to me to weaken the Force of the Chriftian Doftrine concerning the Refurreftion, and to render the Refur- reftion itfelf, as it were, of no Significance, who allow that Souls enjoy the beatifick Vifion, and a State of Glory immediately after Death : For what Occafion have Souls for a Body that are already eftablifhed, and have their Dwel- ling in the Refulgency of Light divine ? You will fay, perhaps, that the Body may par- ticipate ^4 ^ TREATISE concerning the ticipate of the Glory and the Reward, as it was formerly a Partaker of the Calamities which the Soul endured in this Life, or of the good Works which it wrought. You trifle with me : The Soul of every Man is the Man ; NS^ e(popocj Tccci v8i l^woL'Ksei. ±is the Soul that fees^ and the Soul that hears. The Body per- ceives nothing either of Good or Evil : Mat- ter neither enjoys Pleafure, nor is afFeded with Grief; turn it which Way you will, and join it to what you will, you will in vain endeavour to crown with Glory a Lump of fenfelefs Clay, or make that the Author of Good or Evil, which is equally void of Un- derftanding and Will. Befides, of fo many Bodies which, in the Courfe of this Life, we wear out;, at leaft every feven Years one, which will you bellow on the Soul, to be the Partner and the Partaker of its Glory, and its Reward ? Of what Age Ihall this Body be? a young or an ancient one, a blooming or a decrepit one ? The Body that the Soul fhook off the laft, or that in which it exceedingly rejoiced and was plealed ? and for what EvCafon will you choofe rather the one than the other ? The reft will put in their Claims, that they may come in for their Share of the Happineft. If any Pcrfon fliould all his Life-time, lead the Life of a true Chriftian, now fuifering* each for the fake of Chrift, and now beftowing his Goods in Charity ; and this Man at laft fliould go out of the World an old 'Martyr of eighty Years, XV. State of Departed Souls, iffc. €$ Years, which of this Man's Bodies will you receive into Glory ? Mult we not anfwer as Chrift did formerly, when he was ask'd, which. of all her feven Husbands a certain Woman fhould enjoy in the Refurreftion ? 'viz. Te err J not knowing the Scrip tnres^ nor the Tower of God. 'Tis not for the fake of the Body, but of the Soul, that the Re- furredion is appointed ; and God gives to every Soul, as he gives to every Seed, a pro- per and apt Body, the former being putrify'd in the Earth. This Tabernacle being dijfol- ^^^^ n)ed^ we flj all have a Building from God, But ^7' 58. deferring the reft of this Matter till anon, ^^°^*^*'< let us proceed in what we propoled. We have faid that the Force of the Re- furrediori is weakenM by the Suppofition, that Souls may enjoy fupreme Felicity be- fore the Arrival of that Day. For St. ^/-ccn.ad.lit: gnjiin makes a very juft Enquiry, IVhat^-'^^'^-zS' Occajion there is that the Souls of Men jjjould receive their Bodies upon the Re fur ^ re^ion^ if they are capable of fupreme Fe-- licity without any Bodies at all ? Z\nd, there- fore, among the Ancients, and in the firll Ages of the Church, thofe Hereticks who deny'd the Refurredtion of the Body, were either the only Pcrfons who maintainM the Enjoy- ment of fupreme Felicity by the Souls of Men, immediately after they had left their Bodies, or the Perlbns who maintainM it with the greateft- Earneftncis, as we ftiall fiiew F ' beneath. 66 A TREATISE concerning the beneath. But who is not fenfible, that in thele latfer Ages, this new Article of Faith was introduced into the Romijh Church, by the politick Defigns of their crafty Priefts^ that a more commodious Handle might be given to the Invocation of Saints, and other Inftitutions of that kind, and a powerful Proteftion to the reft of thofe gainful Doc- trines that attend upon this new Article ? Bellarmine has very juftly obferved, that fanft.Ord. this ncw Dodriuc is the Foundation of all difput. the Doctrines that relate to the Saints, viz. that relate to the Worihip of Saints, to the Canonization of Saints, to the Images and the Reliques of Saints ; and, laftly, to the Pilgrimages, and the lolemn Vows that are made to them. You fee how weighty a Chain of Silver and Gold this Doftrine draws along with it : To which, if you add Purgatory, or the Condition in which the Souls of Men are, that afcend not directly to Heaven, but that are fooner or later car- ried thither by the Affiftance and Prayers of the living Saints, you have a Mine of Gold more rich and inexhauftable than any in either 2Cor. ii, Indies : But Woe be to all thofe Wretches, ^^* who thus adulterate the Word of God. Yet thofe Men defer ve to be exempted from this Cenfure, who, without any venal Profpecl:, comfort the Dying, as if they were immediately to afcend to H!eaven ; and to the Enjoyment of fupreme Felicity. They go from a Prifon to tafte of grateful Liber- ty ; State q/' Departed Souls, ^c. 6j ty ; and the Things that are faid to them through a pious Compaflion, in order to leffen the Terrors of Death, are not, like fo many Articles of Faith, to be explained with Rigour. The Souls of the Righteous, as foon as they depart this Life, are in a Place of Safety, fecure from Smart, lecure from Pain, and from the Danger of Sinning: And though as yet they enjoy not the ex- ternal Heavens, and the Kingdom prepared for them from, the Foundation of the World ; yet have they an hereditary and indefeafible Right to it ; and, therefore, they may be faid, by an eafy Anticipation, to polTefs it al- ready. We are all of us in hafle to take PofTeffion of our Inheritance, and we are carried by a natural Impetuofity to the En- joyment of that Glory and that Felicity which we fo impatiently defire. Many of the firft Chriftians believM that the Coming of Chrift was even then approaching, as 'tis moft evident to me from the Apoftolical Epiftles, and from the ancient Fathers ; and thofe firft Chriftians, ftrengthen'd and ani- mated by that Belief, bore Perfecution and painful Deaths, with the more undaunted Spirit. But the Courfe of Years having^ naturally detected this Error, let us not, I befeech you, fill into another; nor appear endeavouring to pull down the unwilling Heavens to us, and ftcpping over the Order of the Promotion of the Juft, as Irenaus expreiTcs it, feem rathe?' to invade thofe ^'^•^- ^^ F 2 Heavens^ 68 A TREATISE concerning the Heave7ts^ than to receive them as our In- heritance. At length the Evening of the World is come, Chrift is at hand, and even at our Doors ; we, therefore, want no Con« folation but this : Behold 1 come quickly^ and bring my Reward along with me^ that I may render to every one according to his Works. Amen J, even fo^ Lordjefus^ come. O "Deaths where is thy Sting ? O Grave^ where is thy Vi^oty ? Thus far we are inftruded by the facred Writings concerning the State of the Dead. Befides, in Matters of Controverfy, to en- quire into the Belief of primseval and un- corrupted Antiquity, usM to be of no incon- fiderable Weight with moft People : For, though we attribute Infallibility to no Mor- tals in any Age whatever, the Apoftles alone excepted, neither to the iirfl: Ages of Chrii- tianity, nor to the Middle, nor to the Mo- dern ; yet, when as yet the Chrillian Re- ligion was neither degenerated into Artifice, nor grown up to Empire, Chriftians with more Simplicity and Sincerity followed the naked Truth. It will, therefore, be worth our while, briefly to enquire what was the Opinion of the ancient Chriflians concerning the immediate Beatitude of the Saints ; or concerning the State in which they who de- part this Life are, before the Time of the Refurredion. The nearer that Rivers are to their Foun- tains, the more pure and unfoil'd are they wont State of Departed Souls, ^c. 69 wont to be j and the nearer the Chriftian Fa- thers come to the Apoftles, or th^ Apofto- lick Times, the more approved and more un- exceptionable Witnefles of orthodox Faith are they efteemM to be. And, therefore, though I make no doubt but that the Greek Fathers, generally fpeaking, were of our Side in the prefent Caule, it will be fuffi- cieiit in this Chapter to enquire into the three iirft Ages of the Church, in which, if I am not miitaken, you will find neither Greek nor LatiUj unlefs the Hereticks, and, per- haps, St. Cyprian only, who transferred the Souls of the Dead, as foon as ever they had left their Bodies, to the Enjoyment of the beatifick Vifion, and the Poiieilion of celef- tial Glory ; I mean, after the fame Man- ner, that in thefe latter Ages it has been decreed by the Romijh Church. That this was the Opinion of numerous Hereticks in the firil Ages of the Church, who at the fame Time deny'd the Refur- reclion of the Body, is apparent from yu/^ till Martyr^ Irenaiis^ TertuUian^ and feve- ral others. Jafiin Martyr has thefe Words in the Dialo2:ue with TrvPhon : '' Never ,, ^^ beheve that thole can be Chriftians who " deny the RefurreClion of the Body, and ^' affirm that their Souls, as foon as ever ^^ they die, are carried up into Heaven.^-' Obferve how thefe two are join'd together by Jtifiin^ as if there were fome Relation between them ; at Icaft, thefaine Hereticks F 3 . who ^% o A TREATISE concerning the who deny'd the Refurredion of the Body, transferred their Souls to the Heaven of Heavens, as foon as ever they had left their Bodies. There is a Paflage in Irenaus which gives Light to this of St. Jujiin ; for the former, in the thirty firft Chapter of his fifth Book, attributes at once both Errors to the Hereticks of that Age. " But be- ^^ caufe, fays bcj fbme of thofe who are be- ^' lieved to be orthodox, ftep over the *^ Order of the Promotion of the Juft, and " are ignorant of the Means of meditating ^^ on Incorruptibility, being poffeffed with " an heretical Spirit. For the Hereticks " beholding on every Side the wonderful ^' Workmanlhip of God ; yet not looking ^' up to the Salvation of their Bodies, but *^ contemning the Promife of God, fay, thaty " as foon as ever they ^ all dhj they (hall im- " mediately afcendup to Heaven :, and to the " Creator of all Things^ and ^ all go to the *' Mother^ or to him whom they pretend to be " the Father. — What Wonder then is it, if " they who believe no Refurrection at all, ^^ ihould be ignorant of the Order of it ? " Thofe Perfons are willfully blind ; for, " if what they affirm were true, then cer- ^^ tainly our Lord, in whom they fay they ^' believe, had never rifen again the third ^^ Day, but, expiring on the Grofs, had im- ^^ mediately gone up to Heaven, leaving ^^ his Body below, ^cT This is certainly evident State of Departed Souls, 'i^Jc. y i evident from the primitive Fathers, and from the other Authors who have writ about He^ refies^ that the antient Hereticks, the Grwf- ticks J the BaJilianSj, the Valentiniam^ the Marcionites^ and the reft of that Rabble, were the lirft Authors, and the firft Main- cainers of the Opinion which we refute. In the mean Time wx have feen the Opi- nion both of Jujlin and Irenatis^ with Re- lation to this Argument. You fee that they do not immediately thruft Souls up to Hea- ven, and to the Seats of Glory, while they are yet warm, from the Body, y^fti^t like- wife teftifies the fame Thing in another Place, that is, in his Dialogue with Try-- phon, ^' The Souls of the Righteous after M.p.223, " their Deaths, are in a better xManfion than " they were before it ; but the Unrighteous ^^ and Wicked in a worfe, waiting till thp " Time of Judgement comes at length." Irenans likewife proves the fame Opinion at Length, even to theEnd of the Chapter which we but now quoted. " If, therefore, fays " hC:, our Lord obferved the Law of the '' Dead, that he might become the Firfl- ^^ born from the Dead ; and having ftaid ." even to the third Day in the inward Parts '' of the Earth, then rifing in the Flefh, " that he might Ihew the Marks of the ^' Nails to his Difciples, afcended thus to " the Father ; how can it be but that they ^^ muft be confounded^ who affert that Hell, ^' ox Hades y is theWorld in w^hich we dwell; F4 " but ^2 A TREATISE concerning the " but that their inward Man, as foon as it «' leaves their Body, fhall alcend up to a " Place above the higheft Heaven ? For " fince the Lord, in the Midft of the Sha- ^^ dow of Death, departed to the Place " where the Souls of the Dead wxre, and ^' after that corporeally rofc again, and after ^' his Refurrection was taken up into Hea- " ven ; ^tis manifeft, that for that Reafon the " Souls of his Difciples, for whofe fake the " Lord performed all this, ftiall likewife, af- " ter their Deaths^ go into an invifible Place " which God has prepared and preordained ^^ for them ; and fiiall there remain till the " Time of the Refurreftion, and there v/ait- ^' ing for the Refurredion ; and after that ^^ receiving Bodies, and perfeftly, that is, ^^ corporeally rifing again, as the Lord him- ^' felf rofe again, ihall thus be brought to '^ the Enjoyment of the Sight of God/'^ TfiRTULLiAN, in the forty fifth Chapter of his Treatife of the Soul has fomething like the forefaid Explication o^ Iren^tis ^ ta- ken from the Example of Chrift ; which Places illuftrate and confirm each other re- ciprocally. '' P OR, fays hcy if Chrift, who was God ^' gs well as Man, being dead, according to "the * Andreas^ a Creienjlan Archbilliop, has fomething very like this in his Difcoiirfe upon human Life, and the Dead. Bat he, I believe, was of the fixth Century The Difcoafe was printed at Le\oicn.\w 1619. in Quarto BB,Ox. State of Departed Souls, i^c. 75 ^' the Scriptures, and buried, according " to the fame, paid exaft Obedience to " this Law, defcending formally like the " Souls of Men into the lower Parts of the *' Earth y nor afcended into the Heaven of ^' Heavens, before he delcended into the " lower Parts of the Earth, that there he " might blefs the Patriarchs and Prophets " with the Sight which they had fo long de- *^ firM ; you have Reafon from this to be- ^' lieve the forefaid fubterranean Region, '' and to infult thofe who are fo foolilhly ^' proud, as to believe the Souls of the '' Faithful too good for the forefaid fubter- '' ranean Region; Servants more proud than ^' theirLord,and Difciples more haughty than '^ their Mafter, if they dildain to be comforted ^'^ in the Bofom of Abraham^ by the certain '^ Hope and Expectation of a glorious Refur- ^' reftion/' Then he fays in plainer Terms below in the fame Chapter : " Heaven can ^^ be open to none, fo long as Earth remains ^' entire, and, as one may lay, fhut up ; *' for the Deftrudion of the Earth alone, " can open the Gates of Heaven to us.'' And at the End of the fame Chapter, quot- ing his own Treat ife ofparadifcj the Lois of which has been no little Lofs to us, he fays, " That it was his Opinion, that every *^ Soul was fequefterM in that infernal Re- ^' gion againft the Day of the Lord." And in feveral Paffages of this Treatife of the Soul, he repeats the fame Thing, though c.x in 74 -^ TREATISE concerning the in other Words. IS'or does he fay lefi in other PlaceSj as in his Apologetic k : ^*^ And " if at any Time we mention Paradile, a " Place of divine Delightfulnefs^ prepared ^^ for the Reception of the Souls of the ^' Righteous^ at the fame Time we mean . ^^ not Heaven/' And in the fourth Book againft Marcion : '^ That Region I call a Abraham's Bolbm ; a Place^ though not of '' celeftial Height, yet higher than the infer- '^ nal Region which we mentionM before, '' adapted to afford Refrefhment to the Souls ^' of the Righteous, till the Confummation " of all Things compleats the Fulnefs of " their Reward, in conlequence of their ^' Refurreclion/^ You may fee more like this, if you pleafe to confult his Treatife of the Re fur region of the Flcflj^ Chap, xxiii. Eut we need fay no more of TertMllian^ fince no Body doubts of his Opinion concerning the Point in Queftion. Origen, concerning the Souls of the Saints, is of the fame Opinion with the Fa- thers, as well of the Old, as of the New Teftament, whom I mentioned above. He gives them an inferior Degree of Happinefs till the Time of the Rellirredion. You will find his Opinion in his feventh Homily up- on Leviticus ■, in the following Words : " For even the Apoftles themfelves have not ^' hitherto obtained their Fulnefs of Joy ; " but they are ftill in Expeftation, that I ^' may become a Partaker of their Felicity.'^ And State ^/Departed Souls, ^c. 75 And he proves this by the Authority of St. Tatdj the 'great Inltrudor of the Gen- tiles ^ in the nth Chapter to the Hebrews ^ and adds, *' You fee, therefore, that Abra- " ham ftill waits, expefting to obtain " Perfedion : Ifaac and J-acob expert the ^^ fame Thing, and all the awful Society of ^' the Prophets expeds us, that, together ^' with us, they may receive complete Fe- " licity." Towards the End of the third Century, Vt^iorlnus the Martyr and La^antius liv'd, who were both Maintainers of our Caufe. The Words of Lafiantiusy in the feventh Book of his Inftitutions are known: ^^ Nor let any one believe that the Souls of sea.xxL " the Dead ihall immediately be brought to ^' Judgment : For all of them are detained ^' in one common Cuftody, till the Time '' fliall come when the Sovereign Judge of " the World Ihall examine all their Merits ; " then they whole Righteoulhefs ihall be '^ approved of, iliall receive the Reward of a ^' blifsful Immortality/' In like Manner Vi^orinns y upon Revel, vi. 9. concern- ing the Souls that are under the Altar, af- ter he had obferved that the external Altar, not the internal, that is Heaven, was to be underftood here, there 'tis his Opinion, that the Souls muft attend till the Coming of the Laft Day, the Day of the Dittributioa of Rewards and Punilhments. " But be- ^^ caufe, fays he^ in that laft Time the Saints " will ^6 A TREATISE concerning the " will find a perpetual Recompence, and the ^' Wicked perpetual Damnation, therefore *^ they are commanded to Wait ; and for ^' their bodily Comfort, they have received, '^ f^J^ h^j white Garments, that is, the '' Gift of the Holy GhoiV Besides, when fevcral of the moil an- tient Fathers, if not, indeed, all of them, were of Opinion that the Souls of Men, af« ter their Deaths, defcended to Hades^ they declared by that, that it was their Opinion, that they were not immediately to be car- ried up to the Heaven of Heavens, and to the Enjoyment of fupreme Glory : For though Hades^ with relation to feparate Souls, as well the Juft as Unjuft, is of a large Signification, yet none of them ever faid that any of the Souls that defcended thither, enjoy'd the bcatifick Vifion there. Since then the antient Fathers placed all the Souls that had left their Bodies there, they by that exclude them all, as long as they re- main there, from the Felicity of that glori- ous Vifion. We have now done with yuf- tin J Iren£USj and Terttdlian^ having fhewn that from the Defcent of Chrift to Hades ^ they proved that all the Souls of Men inuft defcend thither, Jince the T>ifciplej fay they,' is not above his Majier. And from this ve- ry Argument reverfcd, Macarius^ Bifhop of Gelaf.Cy- '^erufalem^ explaining the Incarnation of ain. de Chrift to a Philofophcr in the Nicene Coun- u"c!?5'^cil, fliews, that he defcended to Hades^ that he State of Departed Soul?, ^c. 77 he might be in all Things like unto us. j^s we were all of tts carried after 'Death to Hades, he accepted of this Condition^ and voluntarily went to the fame T^lace. ¥iom. whence he fays, that he made the lame Re- furreition from Death that we did. And he afterwards adds to this, and the other Thinas that are mentioned in the fame Chapter, viz>. This is the apojiolical and tmblameahle Faith of the Church, And what Etijiathius the Patriarch of Antioch^ fays in Theodoretj up- on that Palfage of the Plalmift, Thou i^'Ht i^r^^i j, not leave my Soul in Hades, has a Relation to this, where he calls Hades the Place that was the Receptacle of human Souls, and where he proves that the Soul of Chrift was truly a human Soul, becaufe that, as well in this Life, as in the other, it underwent the common Fate of Humanity : But the -tSb/// {"JJj)^j ofjefus had a Tryal of both States : For ad Phot/ he was in the Tlace of human Souls ^ and being without Fleflj lived and exifedj, his ratinnal {Tart) Soulj being like to the Souls of Men, Laftly, in the old Fragment con- cerning the Caufe of all Things^ whether the Author of it be Caius^ or Ibme other very antient Chriftian, 'tis more than once aiferted, that the Souls both of the Righteous and of the Wicked are retain'd in Hades. Thus he begins : And this is the 'Difconrfe concern^ tng the AngHs ; but of Hades ^ in which the Spirits of the Jujl and ^njuft are detairid^ it is necejjary to fpeak. And thus he after- wards 8 ^TREATISE concerning the wards diftinguifhes their feveral Manfions : Theynftjindeedj are now detain' din Hades j, but not in the fame ^Place where the Unjuji are ; for there is one Entrance to this T^lace^ ofwhich^ the Gate^ 6Cc. where he places An- gels as fo many Guards, who feparate the Souls as they enter, and either fend or conduft them feverally to the Seat they deferve, to the Region that is fitting for them, to the Place that is due to them. Laftly, he affirms, that they remain there till the Time of the Refurredion. This is the T^ifcoitrfe concerning Hades ^^ in which the Souls of Men are retained till the Time preordained by God,, who when that comes ^ will raife them up all together. Thus have we thefe Authors,who lived be- fore the End of the third Century, as Wit- nefTes of the primitive Dodrine of the Church concernins; the Souls in Hades : To which we may add two Cafarean Eifhops, I believe of a later, but of a very uncertain Age : I mean Andrew^ and Arathas^ who from the Commentaries of Andrew upon the Revela^ tions^ coUeded thofe which he purloin'd himfelf. And thus they both of them write. T)eath is the Separation of the Soul and the Body ; hit Hades is the Country to us in- 'vifibky that flies from our Enquiry:, and hides itfelf from our Knowledge^ and that receives our Souls as foon as they depart from our Bodies, Laftly, the forementioned Bifnops, concerning the Souls that cry from under State of Departed Souls, ^c. 79 under the Altai in the fixth Chapter of the Revelations J confirm the lame Things, and are utterly and entirely averfe to the Ro- mijh Opinion concerning the beatifick Vi- fion, as appears by the following PalTage. "^Tis for this Reafon that the Saints are feen to dejlre with Impatience the Con/urn- mat ion of the IVorld^ becatife they are com^ manded to zvait till then^ and to bear the ^elay till the Tieath of all their Brethren^ that they may not:, according to the divine Apojile^ be made ferfeii be fire them. In the 7nean Time the white Garments^ which they have on^ intimate the Splendor of thofe Virtues^ which in them, jhine fo illuf trtotifly y with which being furrottndedj, though they have not as yet obtained the Yer^ formance of the TPromifes^yet the very Hope of that Happinefsj, which they view with afpiritual Eye^ canfes themjujily to rejoice'^ e fp e daily fine e^ in the mean Time., they are freed fro7n the defilement of Matter ^ and in the Bofoni of Ahxdih^m^ free from all "Dijiur^ bance^ take their pleafing and their lajlinq^ Repoft : For many of the Saints areofOpi^ nion^ that every one who in his Life -time has endeavoured with all his 'Bower to im-- prove himfelf in Virtue j, {Jjall find after 'Death a Blace that is worthy of his Ac- tions y from whence they may make a certain Conjethtre at the Glory that is prepared for them. And thus much concerning Hades, according to what the moft anticnt Authors have 8o J TREATISE concerning the have faid of it, which they agreed to be the common Receptacle of departed Souls, even till the Refurredion. Lastly, to confirm the Truth of every Thing that has been faid, 'tis worth our while to confider with what Modefty, with what Moderation, the blefled Martyr ^oly* carpe^ Clemens RomamiSj and Ignatius^ have fpoke of the Refidence and the State of the Saints, from the Time of their Death to the Time of their Refurreftion. They af- fert not, that they are immediately received into the higheft Heaven, to the Enjoyment In EpiO. of the beatifick Vifion ; but, fays Tolycarpe^ fua ad Phil. ^5 toxoid ctJxo^S (^(peiAofJiSvoVy tO a TPldCe appoint^ ed for them^ their own Place that is due to them J, or that is proper for them ; or ^ m rrov clyiou Toirovy into a holy Station J as Cle- mens Romanus faid of St. 'Paul^ btcos dir-^K- fo he left the World and went to a facred Art.li. Tlace. He afterwards calls that x^poiv euae- ^couj the T lace of the Righteous^ in the fame Epiftle. But that PaiTage principally de- ferves our Confideration, where he fays, that all from Adam to this Day, who have died perfeded in Charity and Virtue, reft in the Regions of the Good, as in their proper Re- pofitories, * They were not receivM up into Heaven or Glory, but into a Place that was due to them, fays Clemens^ Ep. c. V. Le Clerc quotes him on Matt. xvii. 18. State of Departed Souls, ^a^ Zi pofitories, ^till on the Coming of Chrift at the Day of the Refurredion, they fhall be brought forth into open Light. All the Ages of the Worlds from Adam even unto this T)ciy^ are faffed away : But they who have been made perfect in Love^ have by the Grace ofGod^ obtained a Tlace among the Righteous y and jhall be made manifejt in the J-udgment of the Kingdom of Chr'ifl. For it is written^ Enter into thy Chambers ifa.xxvi.20i for a little Space, till my Anger and Indig- nation fhall pafs away : And I will remem- ber the good Day, and will raife you up out of your Graves. All thcfe Things agree exaftly with the Opinion I am contending for : And the lame Place that Juflin calls IP^wpai/ ixjdi&wv^ the ^Flace of the Righteous^ Clemens tQxms^ X^^pou xpeiT%votj a better Vlace^ and others, %o->f)y5 d^ii^^^ or tqttbs a^/a$, fit ^jP laces ; and what Polycarf ph rales to- TTov ccvTo7s ocpeiAofjLsvQVj u Place af pointed for them., Ignatius calls toVoi' '/cT/of, their frofer Tlace ; what Clemens calls tqttov ay in which Ge?^^^. xvii. \ will judge the IVorld by Chriji,^ Then at|cor.iii. jlalt, Every one^s IForkjhall be tried. Then, '3' h> 'r- 'Every one foall receive according to what\^^''^' ! he has done in the Body. Then, The Thrones Apocx-x. t will be -placed^ then the Books will be open'd^ i '»»*.» 5. and every Man will be judged according to his Works. Then the Juft will be feparated ifrom the Unjuft, the Sheep from the Goats ; Ithofe being placed on the Right, and thefe I on the Left, and both of them receive their I Sentence. All this we have been taught by ^^^ ^^^. the Mouth of Chrift himfelf : But when the 3 ,,32,^'^. \Son of Man ^0 all come in his Glory^ and all \the Holy Angels with hint:, then Jljall he fit \on the Throne of his Glory ; and before him fhall be gathered all Nations : And he ^ all \feparate them one from another j as a Shep^ \ herd divideth his Sheep from the Goats : \And he (hall fet the Sheep on his Right Hand J but the Goats on his Left. Then \fhall the King fay unto them on his Right Hand^ ComeyeBlefedofmy Father^ in- herit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World. Then jhall \ be fay alfo to them on the Left Hand^ T>e- part from me ye Cur fed into everlafttngFire^ prepared for the T>evil and his Angels. So that here you have the Time of Judgment and likewife the Manner of it, and the Sen- tence that is given in order to the Execu- tion. And all thefe Things fhall be when the Son of Man ftiallcomc. G2 But 84 ^ TREATISE concerning the But all this, you will fay, is to be un- derftood of a general Judgment : But there is belides a private and particular Judgment, which is appointed to be immediately after every Man^s Death ? and which is palfed up- on every Soul as foon as it leaves its Body, Pray, if you pleafe, let me know the Places of Scripture that teftify this ; let me fee the Validity of them ; and whether, or not, they clearly prove a private and particular Judgment before the laft folemn one ? The Palfages that we have quoted are plain, and clearer than the Light itfelf ; nor do they give us the leaft Hint of a previous Judg- ment, but rather exclude it. Now in Things that depend upon the Will of God, and up^ on divine Revelation, we ought not at Plea- fure to invent a new Order, and a new Dif- penfation of Things, only to ferve an Hy* pothefis. This, indeed, we may juftly fay, that every Soul, when it leaves the Body, undergoes a private and a filent Judgment, as far as 'tis confcious to itfelf of a Life ill fpent, or fpent in Virtue ; and carries in it- felf its own Witnels, and its own Sentence ; and, according as 'tis by this difpofed and affeclcd, feels the Deity angry with it, or propitious to it ; and has, as it were, a near and a clear View of its impending Fate. But all this paifes in the Soul itfelf, and and has no external Influence : The Soul in the mean Time remains in the fame Place, and State of Departed Souls, ^c, 8 5 and the fame State and Habitude even till the Rellirredion.^ We obferved before that the Romiflj Church by thus anticipating the Glory of the Saints, makes the Refurreftion to be of no Validity or Utility ; nor does it lefs, by the fame Anticipation, make the general Judg- ment fuperfluous. For if every Individual has been already judged according to his Works ; if the Juft are already feparated from the Unjuft ; and the Juft are already bleft in the Enjoyment of Heaven, and of the ra- vifhing Sight of God, while the others groan under infupportable Torments, both from without and within, what Room is there for a future Judgment ? why the fame Thing over again ? why \s a Caufe, that has been already determined, brought a fecond Time to a Hearing ? What, is it brought to a Rehearing, leatt there fliould have been an Error in the firft Determination ? or are the Damn'd to appeal to fome fuperior Judge ? Not fo^ you'll lay, but that the Jufticeand Equity of a Sentence privately given, may G J be * Nor yet can any one believe that Souls come to Judgment immediately after Death. For they are all of "Ihem in one common Cuftody, detain'd till the Time iliall come, in which the Sovereign Judge fliall inquire into their Merits. Ub. vii. Cap. xxi. p. 65-3. Laetantii, ^ Genebrardus too is quoted enumerating many of the Fathers, who did not believe that Souls would enjoy •the beatifick Vilion before the Refnrredion ; who at the fame Time excufes Pope John XXII. Goffend. dc Jlmmorum Immort, Tom, \\. M. p. 6f4, col. ii. alt. %6 A TREATISE concerning the be apparent to all the World. Right, if the Party aggrieved brought any Complaint : But you fuppofe that all the DamnM are felf-con- vifted, and fuffer by their own Sentence ; and it leems fomething of the lateft to en- quire into the Juftice of their Punifhments, after they have groan'd under them for fe- veral Ages. Nor is it lefs abfurd, on the other Side, to enquire into their Right, who can plead Prefer! ption for the Enjoyment of Heaven, by the PoiTeffion not only of one Age, but, perhaps, of a thoufand Years. But that from the laft Judgment we may return to the Refurredlion ; it will be worth our while to enquire of what Advantage the Refurredion can be to us, according to the i,^J'^,^'.JVop[{h Theology. They affirm that the c.ii.cpv. Beatitude of Souls will not be more intenfc after the Refurredion, than it is before it ; and take it for a Thing determined, that the Glory of the Bleft will receive no Augmen- tation from the Refurredion, unlefs exten- lively, as they exprels themlelves, but not inteniively ; or accidentally, but not in itfelf. jF(?r, fay they, the Soul continues to enjoy the fame beatifick Vijion^ the fame Lights the fame Glory, the fame ^erfeEiion of its own Operations J in finej the fame Happi- nefs within itfelf with which it was bleji before the RefurreBion. How inconfiderable an Acceffion of Happinefs, according to thefe Divines, accrues to us from the Refurredion ? ^Q^^ X How ill do they agree with St. Taul ? Is I State 0/ Departed Souls, CP'r. 87 Is that fo fmall an Addition of Happinefs, which the Refurredion brings with it, that without it the bleffed Apoftle would pro- vid.Chryf: nounce us to be of all Men the moji mife- ^"^°^- Table ? that without it, he would value the Immortality of the Soul as nothing ? that without it, he fliould believe that we have no Hope but in this Life alone ? laftly, that without it he ftiould believe all previous Beatitudes, be it what it will, even the Sight of God himfelf, not fo much as worth the naming ? From this alone the Apoftle ex- ^^''' 30. pefts his Reward, from this his Crown of iTim/iv. Glory. -^Tis from this that he principally ^• comforts others againft the Power of Death, or any other formidable Evils. Laftly, i ThefT.iV. what the Apoftle calls an eternal Weight of '^ H- ... Glory, that they fpeak of only as an incon- ,8, aj. fiderable Over- weight ; and what St. P^. iCor. iv. ter calls a Crown of Glory, that will never ye,'. ,/* wither, never decay, of that they are pleas 'd » Pet. v. 4. to make not the greateft or the principal Part, but a little Addition of Glory. Laftly, Ghrift himfelf teaches us^ that the Redemp- tion of the Saints will not draw near, and is not to be expeftcd before the End of the Luke xvf. World : Nor does he promife any Retribu- ^^• tion before the Refurrection of the Juft. So ' ^^' great is the Diftance in this Matter, between the Dodrine of the Gofpcl, and the Decrees of the Romijh Church. Thus, what the Apoftles, what the bleffed Martyrs, what ^he antient Fathers of the Church, all of G 4 theim gg A TREATISE concerning the them accounted the greateft Promife of the Golpel, the very Foundation of the Chrif- tian Faith, and the chief Anchor of our Hope, that, by their Decrees, becomes only a Thing not utterly vain, unufeful^ and fu- perfluous. - What Occafion is there for more ? Chrift purchafed this Return of Life for us, this Renovation of Hope, at no lefs a Price than ,^. '"* * that of his own ineftimable Blood, and con- iTim. i. firm'd it by his own Refurredion. And i°Pet. i. 3. whatever does not rile again, he accounts as ^ ii- loft in that facred Difcourfe, as afterwards %,'^i St. jP^///did in his Difcourfe to the Corin- thians^ upon the fame Argument. This is the Myftery full of Wonder, the Work of divine Virtue, our Vidory and our Triumph by his Death derived to us: This is the Ne^ VUViii 10. ■pltis^ultr a of our Perfection, towards which we all ftrenuoufly tend, to which we all alpire. Nor can the moft ambitious of our Defires Ibar to a greater Height, nor wifli for a farther Progrefs. Then we Ihall be like to the bleffed Angels, cloathed with that glorious Light which they are cloathed, and perpetually beholding the fame God, which they perpetually behold. From what we have hitherto laid, it ap- pears to me to be manifeft, as well from the lacred Writings, as from the Teftimonics of the moft antient Fathers, that the Beatitude of the Saints depends folely or chiefly upon the Refurredion ; and that that Height of Per- STATE of Departed Souls, ^c. 8$ Perfedion^ that Height of Felicity, and of Glory, which is commonly known by the Name of the beatiiick Vifion, is not imparted to human Souls before the Day of Judg- ment, and the Coming of our Lord. But yet if this Caufe were to be determined by the Number of Witneffes, it would be eafy to add to thefe Fathers of the firft Ages, thole of the Fourth, and afterwards thofe of lower Centuries. But the Force of the fa- cred Writings which alone is fufficient, would be but obfcurM and hid by too great an At- tendance. And therefore I Ihall feparate- ly, by Way of Appendix, mark feveral of the more manifeft Paffages relating to the fame Argument, from the Authors of the following Age, which every one may either confult or omit, according to his Leifure or to his Inclination. AT T E NT> I X. TH E Author of the §^ieft'tons and An- see this m. fwers to the Orthodox^ whom we ^^i^'^uflcd. find in Juftin Martyr^ is believed to have morT. lived in the fourth Century, who is exadly Tom. vili. of the fame Opinion with yuflm^ concern- P'^^^'^^^ ing the State of the Dead before the Refur- redion : For difcourfing concerning the Time of Retribution, (Anfwer to Queltion 60.) he has thefe Words : No one before the Re- furreEiion is rewarded or funtjhed^ accord- ing to the Anions which he did in his Life-time^ Then anfwcring the Objedion con- $0 J TREATISE concerning the concerning the Thief, who was carried di- te£tly to Paradife, he opens his Mind more fully in thefe Words: {^eji. ^ Re/pon/^jS.) This was the Advantage that the Thief re^ ceived from his Entrance into Varadife^ that he actually received by it the Benefit of his Faith^ through which he was reputed worthy to be join' d to the Ajfembly of Saints^ among them to remain till the T)ay jhould come of RtfurreSlion and Recompence. St. Chryfojiome thought fo highly of the Refurreftion, that without that he entertain- ed but a mean Opinion of the Immortality of the Soul, and reckons all the Advantages that the Saints pofTefTed before that, but as a very inconfiderable Part of their Recom- pence and Felicity. Be pleafed to confult him upon the fifteenth Chapter of the firft Epiftle to the Corinthians^ where upon thefe Words of Sto Tauly If our Hope was only in this Life^ we were of all Men the moji miferable^ he fays thus : IVhat is it that the Apoflle fays ? JVhyj nnlefs the Body rifes again^ have we only Hope in this Life^ not^ withjianding that the Soul remains^ and re^ mains immortal? And thus he anfwers him- felf : Though the Soul rejnains^ and were yet a thoufand Times ^ if it were poffiblcj, more immortal than it is ; yet never could it without the Body receive thofe ineffable Advantages : And^ therefore^ the Soul be- fore the Body rifes ^ can neither be puniftjed nor rewarded : For all Things will be laid open State of Departed Souls, iffc. 9 1 open before the Tribunal of Chrijij that every one may receive in his Body the Re- commence of the Things which he did in his Body J whether they are good ^ or whether they are eviL And therefore ^ fays the jifojile^ if in this Life only we had Hope in Chrift, we were of all Men the moft miferable. For unlefs the Body rifes again^ the Soul remains without its Recomfence^ and without that fufreme Felicity which is enjoy' d above in the Heavens. And thus St. Chryfofiome exprefles his Opinion clearly, and by Examples and Si- militudes confirms it in other Places, viz^, upon that Saying of the Apoftle to the He- brews ^ Chap. xi. 40. Thefe have not re- ceiv^d their Reward^ that without us they might not be made perfect. The Words of St. Chryfofiome are as follow : What I have not they received their Reward^ but are fill kept in Expectation ? What J have not they yet received their Reward^ who died as they did^ in fo much Tribulation^ in fo much AffiEiion ? Have fo many Ages faf- fed fine e they conquered^ and have they yet not triumphed ? And do you impatiently brook Delays^ though your Contention is not over ? T^o you confider of what vaft Impor^ tance it is^ that Abraham and St. Paul have not yet received their Reward^ but wait till you (hall be made perfect j that they may receive it together with you ? He afterwards proceeds in working up the fame Argument, and '^2 A TREATISE concerning the and declares, that Abel the Protomartyr, and Noah the Preacher of Righteoufnefs, both to the AntediluvianWorld and ours, will not be crown'd before we are : For he has apfomt^ ed^ne and the fame Time for all to receive their Crowns. Till that Time, he Ibmetimes names for Seats to the Souls of the Righteous, jgpo, Trpo^upcty the holy Gate^ but oftener the Bolbm oi Abraham. See at^your Leifure his twenty-fourth Homily upon the firfi Efiftle to the Corinthians, and the fortieth Homily upon Genefis 9 where he fays, that it is the principal Ambition, and the only Wifti of all the Righteous, from the Times of Abra^ ham to the End of the World, that in his Bolbm they may find Reft to their Souls* But by the Bofbm of Abraham^ as you know very well, is not meant fupreme Glory, or the Felicity that the Angels en- joy in Heaven. Laftly, all thefe Things are confirmed in St. Chryfbjiome^s firft Ser- mon concerning the Refurredion ; where he refers all our Hope, and all the Retribution which we expe6t, to the Day of the Coming of our Lord : Nor does he give us the leaft Ground to believe, that before that Day we fhall find any Reward, except that which arifes in this Life, from our very Contention for Victory, and from the exer- cifing ourfelves in Virtue, and in Chriftian Conilancy, by which the Soul acquires more Fortitude, and, that I may ufe his own Expreffion, a more philolbphical Temper : For State of Departed Souls, ^c. 93 For as Wrefllers^ fays he, by contending for Victory become more nervous,, and more ro» buft ; fo from our Contention in Virtue j we jhall reap this great Reward y that our Souls will become more firm and philofopht^ calj even before the Heavens are opeii'd to us^ before the Coming of the Son ofGod^ and before we receive the Recommence which we contend for. These Paffages have we quoted from St. ChryfoJiomCj concerning the State and Felicity of the Saints before the Refurrec- tion. But you will fay, perhaps, that fome- times the fame Father fpoke more freely and more fublimely of this intermediate Fe- licity. That, indeed, may very well be ; for Orators, fometimes, when they come to conclude, are apt to grow fomething warm, nor fcrupuloufly weigh in the Balance every Word that proceeds from them ; and when they are endeavouring to give Ornament to popular Harangues, or to funeral Orations, there are feveral Reafons which in their Conclufion may incite them to exaggerate the Felicity of thofe who are dead in the Lord, but not one that may incline them to diminifh it, except their Confcioufnefs of the Truth alone. This Method might be of great Advantage to comfort, and exalt, and raife up the Soul againft the Influence and Power of Death, efpecially the Death of Martyrdom. To fpeak warmly and freely of the Happinefs that the Saints are to enjoy im- mediately 94 J TREATISE concerning the mediately after their Deaths, would be of great Ufe in exciting Mens AfFedions, and confirming their Piety : But it could be fer- viceable to no Defign, nor to any View or Ufe whatfoever, to reprefent it more cold- ly or more lightly than is convenient. And, therefore, in order to difcover the Truth, and the real Opinion of every Author who has writ upon this Subjeft, one Place alone, that confines this Felicity within the Bounds that we have prefcribM to it, is of more Va- lidity than many of thofe which with Paffion exalt it, and more highly extol it. It has been juftly obferved by others. That every Word of a Treacher is not to be wider jlood by the Reader with the fame Rigour^ with which it at firfi entered into the Ear of the Hearer : For Perjons while they declaim^ deliver^ and inculcate fever al Things hyper- boUcally^ as the Tlace^ the Time^ or the Audience give Occafion^ or as they are tranfported by the Force of their Taffons^ or inflamed by the Currency of their T>if courfe. This is molt prudently, and moft judicioufly obferved, and ought certainly to be of chief Confideration in the prefent Argument. Let us not wonder then if facred Orators mov'd, either by their Aife£tion for the Dead, or a Delign of comforting and fbothir.'; the Living, have ufed a fofter and lets rigo- rous Style, and have talked of an immediate Polfeilion of Heaven, and of feeing God as he State 0/ Departed Souls, l^c. '95 he is. The Word Heaven taken in a lar- ger Senfe may fignify any happy Condition of Souls, after their Departure from their Bodies j which yet is more ufually by the Fathers called TaradifCj or Abraham's Bo- fom^ and which fignifies an intermediate State of Beatitude, and inferior to the Celef- tial. By Taradife^ fays St. Aupn^ is gene- Kpi/i. ^7. rally meant a ^Place where the Inhabitants f^j^^^^"' live haffily. And that too is the general c. 34. *^^' Notion or Signification of Heaven. The SaintSj indeed, enjoy a fort of internal Hea- ven immediately after their Deaths ; but without their Bodies cannot enjoy the ex:- ternal one. Then the Sight of God, or of Chrift, or the divine Prefenee, of which Chryfofiome fomewhere makes Mention, can be no other than intelledual before the Refur- redtion. The Soul, indeed, in that feparate State will be nearer to God than it is in this Prifon of the Body, and will feel his Influ- ence more intimately within itfelf, and more prefent and efficacious, than if it was before him, and in his very Sight. But by thefe, or the like, to underftand fupreme Felicity,' or the moft glorious Vifion of God, is to make this Father mofl apparently contradid him- felf In reading Authors, whether facred or others, this has been wont to be obferved as a Rule, to interpret Things that are cloudy by thofe that are clear, and Things that are vulgarly and popularly fpoke, by thofe that are more exaft and feycre \ and the 9^ A TREATISE concerning the the Obfervation of this Rule will, in a good Meafure, keep us from erring. Laftly, that we have truly explained the Words and the Senfe of St. Chryfojiome^ may be concluded from hence, that the other Interpreters, and the Grecian Fathers, who were the greateft Followers of Chryfojlome^ as Theodoret^ Oe- comenius^ TheophylaEt ^ and Euthymius^ efpoufed the fame Opinion ^ that we do. Theodoret explains his Opinion in the fame Place that St. Chryfoftome had done it before him, viz. upon the laft Verfesof the eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews^ where he aflerts, that none of the Righteous are fooner re- warded than others, or enjoy their Crown of Glory fooner, but that all will at once in the Refurredion be declared Victors by God together. And upon thefe Words of the Apoftle, And thefe all having obtained a good Report through Faith j, received not the Tromife^ God having provided fome better Thing for us ^ that they without us fbould not be made perfe6i^ he fays thus : Were their ConfliBs for ViBory then fo great and fo many^, and they have not yet received their Crowns ? For God expeBs till the ConfliEis and Contentions of all are over J that all who have obtained the ViBo- ry^ may be together declared Conquerors by him^ *See more Fathers of this Opinion in Not. Cortholi. Juftm. xliv. CqL 1,^2. State ^/ Departed Souls, isfc. 9-7 him^ and be rewarded together. Nor does OEctimenitis underftand in any other Senfe that Saying of the Apoftle, and that Account of thofe antient Heroes who were fo renow^n- ed for their Faith. Tbcy^ lays the Apoitle, Jit down without their Recommence ^ expcc- in^ our Minijlratton^ or Coming. For To TbeophylaEi upon the Place ; All thofe that are accounted Saints ., though they have a Teflimony that they were pleafing to God by their Faith^ have not yet obtained that ce- lejiial Felicity which they were fromifed. And upon the following Verfe, he adds le- veral other Things of the fame kind, which -he has almoft Word for Word tranfcrib'd from St. Chryfojiome. Laftly, this Author maintains the fame Opinion, in what he fays upon the twenty-third Chapter of St. Luke^ where he explains the Saying of Chrift to the Thief, To T)ay JJjalt thou be with me in ^Paradife : For when he had before dif^ tinguilhed Paradife from Heaven, and had by that means reconciled the Evangelift with St. Taul^ in the Paffage quoted above, he adds ; The Thief therefore^ though he ob- ' tai7t d Paradife^ obtain d not the Kingdom of Heaven ; but he will be let into that too with all thofe others that are enumerated by St. Paul : In the mean while he has Pofef fion of Paradife^ the Kingdom of Spiritual Reft. The Explication of the fame PaflTage by Euthymius^ is exaclly of a Piece with this, as appears by the following Quotation H from 9? A TREATISE concerning the from him : Chrift^ knowing the Intention of the Thief promt fed htm what appeared mo fl defirabletohim : For theThief was acquainted with "Paradife by the Moi:i\ckT)o^rine ; and Chrif promifed that he fljould be with him in Taradifej, as an Earnejij, that he fhould be one 'Day with him in his Kingdom^ where he (hotild enjoy eternal and inexpref fible Happinefs ; where he (hould enjoy ftich Things as neither Eye has feen^ nor Ear has heard:, '^lor has it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive : For 7ione of the Jujij as yet J has had the Performance of the PromifeSj, as the great Apofle of the Gen- tiles has taught tis : For Chriji by granting him what he didj gave him Ajfurance that in the Time of the univerfal RefurreEiion^ he would grant him a Place in his Kingdom. But io much for St, Chryfoftome^ and his Grecian Difciples and Followers. Among the Latin Fathers, who are like* wife of the fame Century, {yiz>. Fourth,) you may confult, if you pleafe, about the State of the Dead, St. Hilary^ St. Ambrofe^ and St. Aujiin, St, Hilary j, in his Com^ mentaries on the Pfalms^ has often touched upon this Subjed, and upon that Paffage of Tfalm cxxxviii. If I defend into the lower Tarts of the Earthy thou art there j, he tells us, that there is a Law univerfal and inviolable, for the Souls of Men to defcend to Hades ; and he adds, that for this Realbn Chrift did it, becaufe by it he fulfilled the whole State of Departed Souls, ^r. 99 whole Courfe and Order of haman Nature. He had taught us the fame before upon Tfalm liii. where he fays again, that Souls are retained in Hades, until the Day of Judgment. And, upon Tf, ii. and Tf. cxx. upon thele Words, The Lord jhall guard th^ Going in^ and thy Coming out^ he fays thus, That the IVordGxmxdi has no relation to that Time or Age y but that 'tis an Expe^a- tion of fiiture Hafpinefs^ isjhen the Souls of the faithful^ departing from their Bodies to the Entrance of that heavenly Kingdora^ fljall there be detained in the Cujlody of the Lord J, and configiPd to the Bofom ^Abra- ham. This is the Doctrine of St. Hilary ^ con- cerning the State of the Dead. He who has a Mind to know what St. Arabrofe fays, may read his tenth, eleventh, and twelfth Chapters of his Treatife of the Advantage ofT)eath, In the tenth Chapter he acknow- ledges the Repofitory and Receptacle of Souls till the Day of Judgment : For the T)ay of Recor/ipence is expe^ed by all^ the T>ay on -ivhtch the Conquered {I jail blufo^ and the Conquerors receive the ^Palm andCrovjn of their Vitlory, And in the eleventh Chap- ter, fhewing the Gladnefs of thofe Souls in its feveral Degrees before the Refurrection ; Fourthly _y lays he, they rejoice:, becaufe they begin to under ft and the Meaning of the Re- pofe that they take^ and to fore fee their fu- ture Glory ; and char?nd vutth that Con- H 2 folatiouy A TREATISE concerning the folatton^ they take their Refi in their Re* ceptacles with great Tranquillity j furround- ed by Guards of Angels, Laltly, the fame Author in Book ii. Chap. ii. of his T>ifcourfe of Cain and Abel, appears to me to go a great deal too far upon this Subjedt ; for he gives a fort of a Hint that the Souls of the Dead are, till the Day of Judgment, uncertain of their future Condition ; For though at the End of this Life J fays he, the Soul is re leafed from the Body y yet 'tis fill in Sufpence as to the Event of the future Judgment, Thus far fays St. Ambrofe, St. Austin comes after him, and though he fometimes, through Caution and Modefty, declines the DifSculty, or rather the Envy, of deciding the Queftion ; yet, generally fpeaking, he detains the Souls of all the Righteous, at leaft, if you except the Mar- tyrs, on this Side Heaven, and on this Side Glory, in fecret peaceable Receptacles, un- til the Refurrection, and the Day of Judg- ment, as will manifeftly appear to you by the following Palfages, if you confult them, and compare them at Leifure. Expof of TfaL XXX vi. lo. upon thefe Words, adhtic ^ufillum^ Enchirid. ad Laurent, c. ii8. Gen, ad Liter am ^ 1. xii. c. 5 5. T^e Civ. 2)^/, 1. xii. c. 9. RetraSi, 1. i. c. 14. ConfeffAAx. c. 5. 'Tis hardly worth while to call for more particular Witneffes from that or the follow- ing Centuries : But there are befides, two general State of Departed Souls, i5fc. general Heads, from which Arguments may be brought that may comprehend feveral Fea- thers, and feveral Witnefles. One of thefe is from the conlenting Opinions of the pri- mitive Fathers, who take it for granted, that the State of all the Dead whatfbever, is but imperfedly happy before the Refurrection. The other is from the Ufe and Pradice of the Church, in their Prayers and Offerings for the Dead. As for what relates to their Opinions, there are two that are chiefly to be confidered : The one is, that the Saints ihall return in the Millennium, and reign together with Chrift upon Earth. The other teaches us, that the very Saints thcmfelves are to be purged in the lait Fire, and muft be re- newed and purified, together with the World, before they are called up to Heaven, and the Sight of their Maker. Each of thefe Opi- nions had great and numerous Champions in the firft Ages of the Church, as will plain- ly appear below in the Sixth and the Ninth Chapters. But each of thefe Opinions fup* pofes, that the Saints are not yet in Poflef- fion of fupreme Felicity, of celeftial Glory, or the beatifick Vifion of God ; and that they neither are, nor can be prepared for that En- joyment without the fbrelaid Purgation. And whether thefe Dodrines are true, or are falfe, they acquaint us, however, with the Opi- nions and Sentiments of both thefe Clafles of Fathers, Cwhoft Number is not fmall,) concerning the State of the Dead, and how H 3 far, ioj J TREATISE concerning the far, with relation to the Point in Queftion, their Belief and their Opinions are conlbnant to our own. The other Head, which carries with it theConfent of many, is^ the Cuftom and Prac- tice of the Church in their Liturgies, and thcfe facred Rites that regard the Dead. Thefe Liturgies contain either Thankfgi- vings for the Dead, and Commemorations of them; with either of which we have nothing to do here, or Offerings and Supplications for them. And this fufficiently ftiews, that in their Opinion, the Souls for which thefe Rites were performed were not yet arrivM at fupreme Glory, and the moft blefled Vi- fion of God ; but thefe Rites were perform- ed for the Souls of the moft holy, and moft illuftrious Perfons ; for the Souls of the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apoftles, the Evangelifts, the' Martyrs, and all the other Lights pf the Church ; as may be feen in both the antient Liturgies, however doubt- ful, interlined, or corrupt, and in the Con- ftitutions of Clement^ in St. Cyprian^ in T>io- nyjiiis whom they call the Areopagite^ and in Epiphankis. Whether this Praftice is lawful and laudable^ or otherwife, it feems to be found- ed in this, that the Ancients believed that the Souls of all the Dead, of what Order foever, excepting the Soul of Chrift himfelf, were detainM in Hades till the Refurreftion of the Body ; and that they who were not yet made perfed State of Departed Souls, ^c. 103 perfed might receive fome Advantage from the Offerings and Prayers of the Church : I fay Prayers^ for that, befides their Of- ferings, Supplications were alfo ufed, appears to me, both from the forefaid Liturgies and Authors, and others, to be certain and irre- fragible. Thus, for Example, in the Li- turgy which is called St. James^s^ Prayers are put up to God, that he would grant Light and Reft to all the Dead who are orthodox Believers, from ylbel even to this ' Day. Remember^ O Lord God., the ortho^ dox Souls J even of all Flejhj thofe whom we remember J, and thofe whom we do not_, from Abel the jtif^ unto this very T^ay : And do thou make them to refi in the Tlace of the Living:, in thy Kingdom^ in the 2)^- lights of ^aradifej, in the Bofbms of our holy Fathers Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob, ©(T. The fame is apparent from other Liturgies, as well the Greeks as the Latin^ as you may fee in thofe who have made it their Bufinefs to collect them, and examine them. They pray for prelent Re- pofe to the Dead, and future Light and Glory. And in all their Offices relating to the Dead, they always look with a ftedfaft Eye upon the Refurredion. Laftly, no- thing is to be found, as far as I know, in the Pradice of the antient Church, that does not anfwer to this our Hypothefis of the State of the Dead and Hades, where all the Souls that are feparated from their H 4 Bodies A TREATISE concerning the Bodies wait the Coming of Chrift^ and the Sound of the laft Trumpet. So much for the Teftimonies of the Fa- thers, either taken feparately, or in a Body- together. But perhaps you will fay, that all this, or at leaft a great Part of it, is to no Purpcfe^ fince the Papifts (whofe princi- pal fecular Intereft it concerns, that the Saints ftiould enjoy Heaven, and Glory, and the Vifion of God before the Refurredion) confels, that the Fathers are generally of the fame Opinion with us, and that from them they exped neither Affiftance nor Pa- tronage in a Caufe which3 fay they, de- pends entirely upon the Authority and Dct termination of the Church. ^ But does not this Determination come fome thing too late, fince we had it not till the Council of F/o- rence^ that is, till the fifteenth Century ? in which Council it was decreed, that the Souls of the Saints^ when they leave their Bodies^ jhotild^ ill a little Ttme^ be received into Heaven^ and fbotild fee God^ as he is in Trinity and in ^Vnity, In the mean Time, we * Thus many, and thus celebrated are the antient Fa- thers, as Terttilltan^ IrenatuSy Or'igen^ St. Chryfoftome^ Theodoret^ OKcumen'tus^ Theophylad^ St.Ambrofe^ Cle- mens Romanus^ St.Ben^ard^ who do not aflent to that Opinion, which at length has been dctermin'd by the QoxanzW oi Florence^ after a great Debate, 'viz. that the Souls of the J LI ft enjoy the Vifion of God before the Day of Judgment, but are of a contrary Belief. Sta^k^ Def. Jsiihrh, Ecclef l.i, c.2. State <)/ Departed Souls, i^c. 105 we can hardly bear it, when we refled that ; fo many Fathers, who were fuch illuftrious i Rulers, and fuch Ihining Lights of the ; Church, fliould be pretended to have been in an Error for fourteen Centuries together, and that Truth fnould be difcover'd fo late at laft at Florence^ and, as the Hiftory of that Synod relates, extorted with fb much Violence, or io much Fraud, from the Greeks ^ whom yet we behold, either ill cur'd or relapsed. Let them confider this, that are concernM in it : But as for thofe that are reformed, this Romijh Authority of Popes or Synods is of no Validity with us : We are left entirely at Liberty, fairly and im- partially to examine the Thing, to confider its Force and its Weaknefs, and diligently to weigh its natural Tendency •, to fee how the facred Scripture direfts us, how the Reafon of the Thing itfelf, and how the un- corrupted Age of the Church ; and not to have only before our Eyes what was done lately, or determinM at Florence againft the united Voice of them all. This Article of the State of the Dead, highly deferves to be throughly examinM, that it may appear what it is that our Adverfaries and we con- tend for : For upon this Foundation depends the whole Superftrufture of Romish Reli- gion, and Romijh Pomp, with regard to their Saints, with regard to the Canoniza- tion, as fome arc pleas'd to cxprels them- fclyes, to the Invocation and the Adoration * of io5 ^ TREATISE concerning the of them ; nor only with regard to the Saints themleives, but to their Images and their Relicts. Upon this depend all their Pil- grimages, their meritorious Vows, the M affes of their Saints, and that new, but moil lu- cretive Invocation of Purgatory. Since, therefore, i^o great a Provifion, fo great a Weight of Superftition depends entirely upon this Article, fo great a Superftrudure upon this Foundation, or upon this Corner Stone, it moft highly concerns us to make no ralh Conceffion in a Caufe of fo vaft Importance, and not to indulge too pious, but too ill-grounded Affedions. CHAP. IV. Of the State of Nature ^ in which departed Souls are in the Interval between T)eath and the RefttrreBion ; whether they are naked and feparated from all corporeal Subjiance^ or whether they are united to the aerialj or any other Body, ^Y^ H E firft Queftion being difpatchM ' JL concerning the Quality of an inter- VZ'^'c^^ mediate State, as to Felicity or Mifery, or Tom. 8. concerning the moral Condition of Souls be- yftam A- *^^*^ ^^^ Refurredion, there follows another, nimarum and a much more difficult one, concerning feparata. ^^^^^ natural State. That Souls furnve, 403. live, Vid. Dall de poenis. J. 2. c. 12 p. 181, Sec. State of Departed Souls, iffc. 107 live, and think after Death, or upon the Dif- folution of the Body, has been provM in what went before. But what the Apoftle faid of his Exftafy, whether it was in the Body^ or out of the Body^ I know not^ fays he, God knows^ that I may be allowM to repeat here \ whether the Soul, having thrown off this Body, puts on a new one, or remains naked, and without a Body, un- til the Time of the Refurredion of the Dead, I know not ^ God knows: At leaft I reckon this among thofe Obfcurities, which neither clearly appear by the Light of Na- ture, ftor by any divine Revelation. Since there is no Room here for Experi- ments, we muft derive our Knowledge, ei- ther from the Nature of the Thing itfelf, thofe Seeds of Knowledge with which we came into the World, or from the facred Writings. The Philolbphers are the prin- cipal Evidences and Interpreters of the for- mer, and the Chriftian Fathers of the latter. But after we have confulted all thefe, you will hardly find any Thing upon this Sub- jed that is evident or conclufive, where one may fix one's Foot. As for the Light of Reafon, and the Nature of Things, very little Afliftance is to be expeded from them in the determining this Queftion. For fince the Union of the Soul with this terreftrial Body, or any other Body whatever, does not, as far as is known to us, arife from any natural Neceflity, or any necelTary Con- nexion o8 A TREATISE concerning the' nexion between thefe two Natures, but en- tirely from the V/ill of God, and his divine Decree ; when this Body comes to be diiC- folv'd, it will depend upon the fame divine Will, or, which is the fame Thing, upon Laws of Nature unknown to us, whether the Soul fhall be fubjeded to a new Union^ or remain feparated from all Matter : For lb it poffibly may remain, fince ^tis a Sub- ftance, or a Thing capable of fubfifting by itfelf If upon this Subjed you confult the Phi- lolbphers, they, for the moft part, are fi- lent. The Platonicks, indeed, or at leaft fome of the Platonicks, aflert, that the Soul, immediately after its Departure from this Life, and the Body, will be fubjeded to an aerial Body ; and that from thence it will proceed to an aetherial one, after it » has fuf- ficiently improved itfelf in Wifdom and Vir- tue, by a retrograde Order, from that by which it fell down by Degrees into this ioweft Station. I CANNOT fee that there is any Thing of Abfurdity in this Opinion; but Evidence and Proof are wanting. For how does it appear that we, laft of all, at our Birth threw off this aerial Body ? or that there ought to be the fame Order and the fame Degrees of the Afcent and Delcent? or that, laftly, no State intervenes of Silence and Separation from all Bodies? Since there are innumera- t)le Worlds in the immenfe Compafi of th^ Univerfcj State of Departed Souls, ^c. 109 Univerfe, there may be many Orders, Modes, and Variations in the Revolutions of Souls, according to the manifold Wifdom of God ; and what Order of Afcent or Defcent God has prefcrib'd to us, belongs to his fecret Difpenfation, which is hid from us in this Life. But perhaps you may believe that it may be poffible to prove, from the Ghofts and Apparitions of the Dead, that human Souls, when the]/" throw off this Body, immediate- ly affume another, by means of which they fometimes fhew thcmfelves vifible and con- fpicuous in a human Shape. I muft confefs, that it never was evident yet to me, nor could I be convinced that the ^ Souls of the Dead ever yet appeared, or will appear be- fore the Day of Judgment. Genii^ perhaps, or "Damons^ may have the Power of con- denfing the Air, or their proper Vehicles, and forming them into human or brutal Shapes, and may perhaps exercife that Power fometimes, efpecially among barbarous Na- tions, or Nations that are half barbarous j but * See the Words of St. Chryfoftome^ Homily xix. oa Maith. and Homily the lad, conccxnm^ Lazarus. Mai- donatns upon St. Luke^ Chap, xvi, towards the End,^ quotes T'ertullian^ De An'ima^ againft the Apparitions of the Dead ; but I fuppofe he is miltaken, becaule he quotes not the Cnapter. He quotes likewile Athaitajius^ or the Author, whoever he be, of the Treatife to Antiochus^ ix. xi. and xiii. Ifiodor. Lib, viii. Etymol. c. ix, and Theo- phylad on Matthew viii. 1 1 o A TR EAT I S E concerning the but I believe that this is rarely done among us; and that among a thoufand Tales of fuch Apparitions we hardly find one true. Thefe,'however, by the vulgar are fwallow^d, and the Remembrance of a future Life is renew'^d, and their Faith is fcrengthen'd. But the Monks are they who have imported the greateft Cargo of Fables on this Subjeft, by their own Inventions, or their imaginary Vifions, in order to introduce and confirm the Belief of Purgatory. But let us noW5 if you pleafe, fuppofe that the Souls of the Dead have aerial Bodies, and have an animal Life. Here many Queftions will occur, many Doubts to be cleared up : Firft of all, what Region of the Air would you have thefe new Comers inhabit ? the fuperior or the inferior one ? If you place them below the Clouds, youthen expofe them to all the piercing Extreams of Seafons, and all the Intemperature of the Skies, fmce they always live in the open Air, defended by no Roofs, by no Houfes of any kind whatfoever. When it rains, when it fnows, when it hails, when it thun- ders, they ftill lie exposed in the open Air ; and thefe Meteors muft of Neceffity, not only rudely infult their tender Bodies, but ftrike and tranfpierce them through and through; and the Fury of tempeftuous Winds muft drive and tranfport them, like fo many Clouds, into new Habitations. But if you place thefe Souls of the Dead, as well State of Departed Souls, ^c. 1 1 1 well the Evil as the Good, above the Clouds and the Atniofphere of the Earth, you car- ry them from Hades ^ into Regions ferene and lucid, of which the impure and wicked Souls are moft unworthy, and for which they are moft improper : Nor would you, I believe have thefe feparated from the reft, the Goats from the Sheep before the Day of Judp-- ment. But fo much for the Seats and Sta- tions of the Dead. The fecond Qiiery is concerning the Po- lity of the Dead : For if they have Bodies and lead an animal Life, 'tis necelfary that there ftiould be fome Polity, fome Govern- ment among them. Would you then, have them live all in the fame Republick pro- mifcuoufly ? or would you have them fe- parated and diftributed, as they were here on Earth into feveral Nations, both by their Names and their Manners diftinguifh'd ? As for Example ;Would you have thcFrench dwell all together, and feparately from the reft ? Would you thus have the Spaniards^ the Italians^ the Germans^ the Britons^ and all the reft of the Nations upon the Face of the Earth, have their own Seats in the Air, each of them feparated from the reft ? Would you have each of them likev/ife have their ancient Government, their own Lan- guage, their own Religion, and Cuftoms ? Thefe are the Queftions that are to be de- termined, and explained to the Inquirers. But lirft of all it will be difficult to lix and prefer ve I 12 A TREATISE concerning the preferve in a fluid Element, the Bounds of the ieveral Empires , in an Element where there can be neither Ditches, nor Rivers, nor any Fortifications : Nor will the Difficul- ty be lefs in appointing their Kings ; for which of the old ones, the firft or the laft, will they reftore to the Throne? or what royal Pedigree will they prefer to the reft? or,rejeding all antient Titles, ihall they give the Grown to the worthieft ? I can eafily fee that Contentions will arife from hence, and Parties, and Fadions, and Wars ; but what Manner of fighting, 6r what Weapons they will ufe in the Air, I do not yet underftand : The Dead certainly can die no more ; nor do I know whether they can be wounded. Some little Queries likewife arife concern- ing the Difcourfe and Language of the Dead. Many have invented Dialogues of the Dead- but what Language the Dead make ufe of, I am yet to learn. You will fay their Mother, or their native Language, the fame that they us'd here on Earth, as the Grecians fpeak Greeks the Latins La- tin, and fo for the reft of the Nations : But Times, and People, and Languages, from Age to Age are chang'd. Our modern Romans are very little skill'd in the Lan- e:ua2;e of the antient Latins^ nor do the vulgar Italians underftand any Latmity whatever: How Ihall thefe People hold Difcourfe with their Romulus^ or their Ntima. The Languages of the Celt£ and the Scj- thians j State of Departed Souls, ilfc- 1 1 3 j thians^ are no more remembGr'cJ by thofe I who inhabit the fame Seats in the North and ! the Weft, that they did. Laftly, what is j to be done by us the Inhabitants of this Ifland, who liave had fo many Languages ' and fo many Originals? Shall we fpeak JVelflj in our aerial Bodies, or Saxon, or Norman^ or as we do at this Day, a Mix- ture and Compound of them all ? If the Life to come were to be regulated at this Rate, I am afraid there would be a Confu- lion of Tongues more grievous than that of BabeL We come into the World, in which we are now. Infants, where by Degrees we learn the Ufe of Speech, inftruCted by our Mo- thers and our Nurfes ; but in the aerial World I prefume there is no Infancy. They who are Infants when they go out of this, when they enter into that, are mature at once, without any Diftindion of Age. They do not come out from the Womb of their Mo- ther, and gradually, like our little ones, grow up to Youth and Manhood ^ but as foon as they have a Tafte of aetherial Air, grow reafonable and polite at once, with- out any Apprenticelhip in learning. Thefe Things I fpeak, not that I mean them, but according to the forefaid Hypothefis : Nor do I fee how the Dead can retain their old Languages, or fwallow down a new at one Draught. But lb much for their Dif- courfe. I But J T R E AT I S R concerning the But a greater Difficulty ftill remains; and that concerns their Religion : For thefe aerial Men muft of Neceffity have among them divine Worfhip, and fome Inftitu- tion and Form of Religion. Is every one then to embrace the fame Religion which he profefs'd upon Earth, and his own particu- lar Sccl of it ? Are the Jews to follow the Law of Mofes^ the Mahometans that of Mahomet^ the Heathens to worlhip their own Gods, and the Chriftians Chrift ? Would you have the Papifts have their Pope as they iiave here below? and the reformed have the Scripture as the Rule of their Faith ? But what do I talk of the Scripture, when I have no Notion of aerial Books orWritings? If Men write in vain in Water, much more will they do fo in Air. No Religion can, in that Station^ retain its Canon or its writ- ten Law, nor its particular lacred Rites, nor its external OEconomy. Befides, if all the Souls of the Dead, from the World's Origi- nal to this very Day, live together in the Air, the Je^UL's will find their Prophets there^ and the Chriftians their Apoftlcs. The "^ews being better informed of the true Mef^ fiah, from the oraculous Interpretation of the Prophets themfelves,will immediately be» come Chriftians, Thefe in like manner,, will, from the Mouths of the Apoftles them- felves, receive the infallible Decifion of alt the Controverfies which are now depending, between the Reformed and the Romans^- State of Departed Souls, ^c. 1 1 5 The Coniequence of this will be, both the Converfion of the Jews^ and the Union of the Chrittians. O happy Seats ! O thrice more happy, thofe who are dead, thanthofc ' who are yet living 1 Laftly, when the reft of human Kind Ihall be clearly inftructed in the Nature of the true God, and the Myf- tery of the MeiTiah, inftruded by Men di- vinely infpir'd, they rejeaing their Errors Avill forthwith be converted to the Chriftian Faith and Worlhip. Behold now the glo lious Kingdom of Chrift, a Kingdom not upon Earth, nor in Heaven, but among the Dead in the Air. But all this very little a- grees with the Chriftian Difpenfation, as 'tis in the facred Writings explained ; and, in- deed, is foreign to common Belief and Scnfe: For who can believe that Jdam and Eve^ or the firft Men of all their Pofterity, Sons and Daughters, live together in the Clouds, or the Air; and have liv'd there together for feveral thoufand Years ? Do they ftill keep to their Families, and to their antient Relations ? Are they fenfible of what is done upon Earth, and efpecially among their own Countrymen, and moft of all among their own Relations ? But I am weary of asking 10 many Queftions, and of being thus inqui- fitive, in an Affair that is fo uncertain, and indeed incredible. If you form Queries upon other Heads, the Anfwercr will be no lets at a ftand. For my Part, the more I refled upon this in my Mind, the lefs can I find ^ I z that 1 6 A TREATISE concerning the that there can be any pofiible Way of efta- blilhing a Commonwealth among the Dead, that is to fay, an external, corporeal, animal, and vifible State. Hitherto we have had Recourfe to Realbn alone^ and to Arguments fetch'd from the Nature of the Thing : But we ought, befides, to confult the Holy Scripture, if that by chance fhould have any Thing to offer to us concerning the Bodies of the Dead before the Refurredion. But quite contra- ry, there are many Things in the facred Writings, which, according to my Appre- hcnfion, are by no means favourable to aerial Bodies in the intermediate State. Firftj be- caufe the facred Writings mention only two Sorts of animated Bodies, related to human Souls, the Terrefirial and the Celeftial ; that w^iich we have at this Time, and that which w^e are. to have at the Refurreftion of the Dead. In the fifteenth Chapter of the firft Epiftle to the Corhithians^ the Apoftle St. Vaul handles this Matter a little more dif- fufely ; and after he had diilinctly mentioned two Sorts of Bodies, and only two, belong- ing to the human Soul, he adds, jt^nd as V, 4p. 'i^'e have born the Image of the Earthly^ we fljall likewife bear tloe Image of the Hea- uenly^ making not the leaft Mention of any intermediate Body, which he feems more plainly to exclude in the fifth Chapter of V. I. the fecond Epiftle to the Corinthians , in thefe Words : For we know that if our State of Departed Souls, isfc, 1 17 eur earthly Houje of this Taberrtacle were dijfolv^dy isie have a Building of Godj a7i Houfe not 7nade with Hands ^ eternal in the Heavens. You Ice here that no corporeal State comes between the terreftrial and celef- tial Body ; but in the Verfes which follow, he calls that State which perhaps may inter- vene, a State of Nakednefs : The Words are thefc, For in this we ^roan earnejily^ dejl- Ver. 2, 3. rin(i to be cloathed ^ upon with our Houje^ which is from Heaven, If fo be that being cloathed J we (hall not be found naked '^ for if we are cloathed with any Body, we Ihall not be found in a State of Separation^ upon the Coming of Chrift to raife up the Dead ; For the naked Soul, or the naked Mind, fig- nilies the fame with the naked Soul or the na- ked Mind, in a State of Separation from all Body whatever. And to be cloathed upon, can be applied to no one, unleis to one who is already cloathed. Secondly, the Fate of every Man, ac- cording to the Style and Account of the fa- cred Scripture, depends entirely upon our Actions in this Life ; for in that to come there will be no Change, either of Manners, or of the Portion of Happinels, or Mifery, which we have merited from thofe Aftions. Whether the Tree falls to the South or the North^ in the Tlace where it felly there it I 5 mufl * Concerning the Word Cloathed u^on^ or Superindui^ •Ice the Explication of Crellius^ P- 3^5"' ii8 A TREATISE concerning the CxuvcT.s. mu/i lie, fays Ecclefiaftes ; which Saying is generally referred to the Death of Man, and his unchangeable Condition afterwards. And Mat. XXV. fo they ^j.^ ^^Qj^j. ^^ interpret the Shutting Luc.xiii. of the Gate in the Parables of Chrift: But ^5-. St. Taul tells us that more plainly in the Ver. 10. fecond Epiftle to the Corinthians^ and the fifth Chapter ; For we muft all appear be- fore the Judgment Seat of Chrijl, that eve- ry one may receive the Things done in his Body ^according to that he hath done^ whe-^ ther^ it be good^ or whether it be evil : Which Words feem to determine and fix the future Condition of Men, from the Adions which they have done, or ought to have done, during this prefent Life. But if another Life intervenes before the Day of Judgment, and a Life of that Nature, that it is as capable of good or of evil Aftions^ of Virtue or Vice, as is the prefent Life^ than which it is of much greater Length and Duration ; I fee no Manner of Reafon, why the whole Weight of Eternity, and of the future Lot and Condition of Men fliould depend upon this prefent Life, which is fo fhort, fo furrounded with Troubles, and to mimberlefs Temptations liable, that other of much greater Moment being entirely neg-- lecled and efteemM as nothing. Thirdly, and laftly, According to a com- mon ExprefTion in the Holy Scripture, Death is calFd d. Sleepy and thole that die are faid fo fall afieep j which feems to hint to me that State of Departed Souls, iffc. 1 19 chat the State of Death is a State of Qijiet, x)f Silence, and of Inaftion, or Cclfation from Adion, that is, with regard to the external World : So that in a State of Death we have no more Commerce with the external World, than we have in a State of Sleep. Befides, we are laid to rouze ourfelves, or to be awake upon the Refurreftion : But why ? becaufe that changing our Condition, and fhaking off Sleep, we rife again into Light and into the vifible World. But you will fay, perhaps, that thatPhrafe in the facred Scripture, by which Death is liken'd to Sleep, and by which thofe that die are faid to fall afleep, is only an Euphe- nifmy, or a figurative favourable Exprefficn, and regards the Body only, which when dead appears to take pleafing Reft, like one that is overwhelmed with Sleep. Be it fo :^ But then the Expreffion will be fuller and Wronger, if with the Body you comprehend the Mind, which refts from its ufuai Ac- tions, as it does in a State of Sleep ; nor is it ft ruck by external Objeas. Therefore, and they (hall fee the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with T^ower and great Glory, And he jhall fend his Angels with a great Sound of a Trumpet j, and they fljall gather together his EleB from the four IVinds^ from one End of Heaven to the 6?« ther^ XXiVa- 12 8 ^ T R EAT I S E concerning the Mat.xxvi. In thefe, and other refembling Paflages, ^' we are inftruded by the Mouth of Chrift himlelf in his future Return to the Earth; which after him the Angels, and after them the Apoftlcs again and again proclaimed. At the fame Time, I am not ignorant that thefe Sayings of Chrift, concerning his fu- ture Coming, are fo reltrained by fome, and have their Meaning fo maimed, as if nothing was meant by them, but the Deftrudion of Jerufalem ; though during the Time that yeriifalem was deftroy'd, Chrift remained above in the Heavens ; nor during that Time did he ever come, or ever fo much as ap- pear, unlefs improperly, as fir as the Works and the Judgments of God are taken for God himfelf. Befides, the external Splendor, the Glory of the Father, the Concomi- tancy of Angels painted in thofe Defcrip- tions, denote his perfonal Coming, and can never be adjufted to any figurative Meaning. Laftly, the univerfal Judgment, and the End of the World are conneded together with this Coming of Chrift, in the foremen- " tioned PafTages. The Preparation for Judg- ment is manifeftly deicrib'd in the forefaid Paffage, Matt. xix. 28. as you will find by comparing it with Rev, xx. 4, 11, 12. You will likevvife find the judicial Reward or Punifliment of every one according to liis Merits, if you compare Matt, xvi.i 27, 28. with Rom, ii. 5, 6^ ^Sc. And in the twenty.fifth Chapter of the fame Evangelift, 'ver. State of Departed Souls, 'ilfc. 1 29 "ver^ 51, 52, ^c. both the Preparation for Judgment, and the judicial Sentences, are conneded together with this Coming ofChrift: When the Son of Man (hall come in his Glo-~ rjij and all the holy Angels with him., then (hall he Jit on the Throne of his Glo- ry. And before him (hall be gathered all Nations ; and he (Ijall feparate them one from another J, as a Shej^herd divideth his Sheep from the Goats ^ ^q. As thele PafTages clearly denote the uni- verlal Judgment, and that at the Coming of Chrift ; fo that Judgment as perfpicuoufly means the contemporary End of the World ^ co-incides with the fame. Some have been bold enough to alfert, that in the twenty-' fourth Chapter of St. Matthew^ and other parallel Places, nothing is faid concerning the End of the World, or the utmoft Con- fummation of Ages : But that all thofe Say- ings, though ever fo great, yet folidly re- gard the Deftruftion of Jernfalem only. A bold Affirmation, and very ill ground- ed, in my Opinion. What ? becaufe in one or two Places, where a certain Coming of Chrift is mentioned, fome Viewis had to the Deftruftion of Jerufalem^ therefore where- ever in the Golpel Mention is made of his Coming, though fuperlatively glorious, and attended with a thoufand Marks that can ne* ver in the leaft regard Jerufalem^ but muft be referred to Nature, and the World about to perifli together^ fhall we dare to reftrairi and to wreft thefe Paflages to the Deftruc- K tioa 150 A TREATISE concerning the tioii of one People, and of one City only? This feems to me to be highly ralh, that I may lay no vvorfe of it. But the Queftion is now concerning this Chapter cf St. Matthew^ in which the fore- faid Interpreters fay, that nothing is found that regards the End of the World, or that ought to be extended beyond the Deftrudlion oi Jerufalem ; which, if I am not miftaken^^ may two Ways be confuted. Firft, feveral Things are afferted and related in this Chap- ter, of which we have no Account in the Hiftory of the Deftrudion of Jertifalem, Se- condly, the Things that are related in the facred Writings, when the ultimate Coming of Chrift in the End of the World is de- fcrib'd, agree and anfwer exactly to what is faid in this Chapter \ and therefore both ought to be underftood as meant of the lame Coming„ As to the firft of thefe, 'tis faid, ver. i4» This Gofpel of the Kingdom fljall be preach- ed through all the JVof'ld^ for a Wttnefs tin- to all Nations^ and then jhall the End come, Thefe Things are not yet come to pais, much lefs were they come to pais be- fore the Deftrudion of yerufalem. But further, thefe Perfons would have only Ju^ dea underftood by through all the Worlds and by all Nations only the various Tribes and Provinces of the Jews ; which, though it is fomething ftrain'd, yet, if there were no farther Objeflion, I ftiould not dwell upon this alone* But, fecondly, the wonderful Appearances both in Earth and in HeaveUj^ and £1/ 3 A^l TV) State of Departed Souls, ^c 131 and the glorious Appearance of Chrift in the Clouds above all, which arc faid to pre- cede the Conlumrriation of Things, which is here marked and foretold, did neither pre- cede nor accompany the DeftruSion of Je- rufalem. Thefe Prophecies are thus related I by St. Matthew : Immediately after the v^er.29. j Tribulation ofthofe T^ays^ ^3 all the Sun be j darkened J, and the Moon jhall not give her Light ) and the Stars l^h all fall from Hea- ven^ and the ^Powers of the Heavens jhall be fljaken. And then fhall appear the Sign Ver.307 I of the Son of Man in Heaven : And then \ jhall all the Tribes of the Earth mourns and ' they jhall fee the Son of Man coming in the \Clouds of Heaven^ 'with Power and great I Glory, But upon the Deftrudion of Yerti- \falem^ Chrift nowhere appeared in the ; Clouds of Heaven, nor did the Sun lofe ! its Splendor, or the Moon its Light, nor jwere the Powers of the Heavens Ihaken. A Comet, indeed, did appear with its Tail re- jfembling a Sword, or a Faulchion, as ufual : 'But the reft of the Portents which JoCephus ^^}f-, i mentions are quite or another Kind. c 12. But, befides, thefe Signs in the Heavens iare attended by others on -Earth, as the [Shaking of the Earth, and the Roaring of the I Sea and its tumultuous Waves. For lb St. \Luke : And there jJjall be Signs in the Sun^ ^!P;*/* \dnd in the Moon^ and in the Stars > and up' ^** \on the Earth T>tflrefs of Nations ^ with Per- flexity^ the Sea and the Waves roarings K % Mens 1^2 A TREATISE concerning the Mens Hearts failing them for Fear^ and for looking after thofe Things "which are coming on the Earthy for the Towers of Heaven fljall be fhaken : But what has Je^ rufalem to do with the Sea, or the Raging or Roaring of its tempeftuous Waves ? Is any Thing like this related to have happened at that Time? Certainly nothing; butthefe and the reft of the Things above mentioned, relate to another and a greater Cataftrophe, the Deftruftion of the World : And there- fore in explaining this Matter, Chrift ver aptly puts them in Mind of the Times of I Noah^ and the Deluge, which was not a na-g tional, but an univerfal Deftrudion. | In the mean Time, I am not ignorant that the Interpreters, of whom we have been here fpeaking, in expounding thefe Phseno- mena, have Recourfe to Metaphors, and to Allegories, and to quote Paflages from the Prophets, in which thefe or the like Ex- prellions are usM in a figurative Senfe :^ 'Tis granted that fome of them are ; but it ap- pears to me to be no juft Law of interpret- ing, to pretend that thofe Things which are fometimes usM figuratively by the Prophets, ftiould be always and every where undcr- ftood in the fame Senfe. The Style of the Gofpel is a great deal more chafte, nor does it eafiiy deviate from the literal Senfe ; from which an Interpreter ought never to depart, unlefs the Neceffity of the Subjed-Matter conlxrains him '. And we have fhewn in an- State ^/Departed Souls, iffc. ijj other Place, that thefe Phsenomena in the Theor.Tcli. Earth and the Heavens, though wonderful '^'^' and extraordinary, will really happen to- wards the End of the World, when Nature is in its Pangs, and the Conllagration impend- ing. The Deftrudion of Jeriijalem was, indeed, a Type of the Deftrudion of the World, and therefore we have lefs Rcafon to wonder that they Ihould both be mingled in a confus'd Relation \ for there is, in the lacred Style, if I may lb exprefs my lelf, a Ibrt of a Communication of Idioms between the Types and the Antitypes ^ and there is in the Prophets a repeated Completion of the fame Prophefy, afcending gradually to its Height. But fo much for the fccond Argument, taken from the external Signs ^ the third follows it, taken from hence, that we obierve, that there is in this Prophecy another Period of Time, befides that of the Deftruction of Jernfalem^ and a Period pofterior to it ; for thus we read in ?>t,Luke., Jerufalem jhall^-'^^^^H' be trodden down of the Gentiles^ tmt'il the Thnes of the Gentiles be fulJiWd, Sec here another Period, different from that of Jeriu faknij and pofterior to it,; for the Defola- tion of the ^ews is faid tp endure to this other Period: I defire to know then what this pofterior Period, is^, linlels it be that of ]$ht World ? or the Reftoration of the Jews towards the End^ of the World, after the Tim^s are accomplilh'd that are . pre- K 3 deftia'd 'J TREATISE concerning the deftinM for the preaching to and convert- ing the Gentiles. But the Wonders in the Earth, and the Heavens, and the glo- rious Appearance of Chrift in the Clouds, immediately follow the Mention of this pof- lerior Period, and are therefore properly to be referred to that, and not to the Deiiruc- tion of Jertifalem. Belides, when Ghrift fays, that of that T>ay and Hour knoweth no Man J no^ nor the Angels which are in Heaven^ he feems to mean fomething more remote than that Deftruction, which when it was fcarce at the Diftance of half an Age from the Time in which our Saviour fpoke, ^tis a great deal lefs probable that it Ihould have efcaped the Knowledge of all the An- gels in Heaven, than if you interpole the Series of many Ages, and underftand by it the laft Day of the expiring World. Thus far we have treated of the Remarks which are found in the very Text. If be- fidcs you compare this Prophecy with other PafFages of the facred Scripture, where the laft Coming of Chrift, and the Day of Judg- ment are defcrib'd, you will eafily find by the Refernblance and the Relation which the Expreflions have to each other, that the fame Time is defign'd by all of them, and the fame State of Things. In all of them you fee Chrift coming in the Clouds of Heaven ; in all of them you fee an Army of Angels attending him, andin all of them hear the Clangor of the laft Trumpet proclaim hiiu Do State of Departed Souls, iffc. 1 3 5 Do you know^you who maintain the contrary Side, tell me, I befeech you, in what Pla- ces i\o you own that the facred Scripture fpeaks of the true, the perfonal, and the laft Coming of Chrift ? I know very well that you believe in that Coming fo much expefted, and fo much defir'd by Chriftians; and according to my Opinion, Chrift fpeaks of the fame in many Places,, in many the Apoftles likewife. Chrift, for Example, ipeaks of it in the Gofpel of St. Matthew xvi. 27. but you wdll not allow it^; in Matthew xxiv. but you will not allow it ; in Matthew xxvi. 64. but you will not al~ low it; Matthew YAyi. x8. and xxv. 31, 32. when you either deny, or hefitate. Besides, the Apoftles, in our Opinion, often fpeak of the lame ; as for Example, 2 Thejf, i. 7, 8, i§c. but you are of another Opinion : Nor the Guards of Angels, nor the revenging Fire, nor the eternal Perdition of the Ungodly, which are all of them here commemorated, have Prevalency enough to prove to you that the ultimate Coming of Chrift in the End of the World is here to be underftood. Then in the fecond Epiftle oi Teter^ Chap. iii. 4, 8, 9, 10, ^c, we be- lieve that the Coming of our Lord, that the K 4 Day * See Dr. Hammond upon thefe and the following Places, efpecially on Matt. xxiv. 3. Not. b, 1 TheJI . u and upon 2 ^et. iii. and L'tghtfoot upon the fourth of 1^6 A TRE AT I S E concerning the Day of Judgment, and the Diffolution and Renovation of this World are clearly fhewn and exhibited to us ; neither here do you give your Aflent. Laflly, we in like Man- ner interpret the fourteenth and fifteenth Verfes of the StJ/udey and the feventh of the firft Chapter of the Revelations ^ of the judicial and viiible Coming of Chrift ; and here you likewife prevaricate; as likewife in fundry other Plages, too numerous to be mentioned here, 'Tis with Pain that we fufFer fo many facred Paffages to be torn from us; Paflages on which all our Hope was founded, of the future Coming of Chrift. Nor is their Employment either grateful to Chriftians, or advantageous to Chriftianity, who make it their Bufinefs to leffen the Weight of the Prophecies, and to confine and conftrain their Senfe, which fometimes they do without Senfe of Right or Shame, in fpite of the Reluftancy, both of the Spirit and the Let- ter ; as when the Preparation for the laft Judgment is manifeftly defcribM, or the Con- flagration of the World, or the Glory of the Father and the Angelick Guards; or laftly, Chrift himfelf defcending from Hea- ven, and confpicuous in the Clouds of Hea- ven; they who pretend to reduce thele Rea- lities, fo illuftrioufly manifeft, to Shadows and Figures, thefe Univerfals, comprehend- ing no lefs than a World, to the Deftrudion of one City and Nation ; thefe Perfons feem ' to State c?/ Departed Souls, i^c. i^y to me not only to convert a rich Vein into a fteril one, but by an Interpretation of this Nature, to do Violence both to Words and to Things ; for what can be more manifcft than that Conflagration and the End "of the World defcrib*d in the foremention'd PalTa- ^cs of St. Paul and St.PeUr; which yet they are pleas'd to refolve into I know not what chymeric^l Allegories ? But what we can ft ill worfe ^ndure, and what has ftill a nearer Relation to <>ur Argument, is, that they wreft and diftort the Defcent of Chrijl in the Clouds of Heaven ^ (^Matth. xxiv. 30.) from the Letter and the Truth, ^ and pretend that there is nothing meant by it, but the Judgments of God, and Punifliments that arc fent from Heaven ; when yet they might have learnM the Force of that Expreffion from the Mouth and Information of an An- gel, who tells us, that this Coming in the Clouds Is both true and perfonal ; for faid the Angel, Te Men of Galilee., "ujky JIand ye ^£> j ,1; gazing up into Heaven ? This fame Jefiis^ "which is fo taken up from you into Heaven^ fljall fo come in like Manner as ye have fe en him * That the Word Clouds is to be taken in a literal Senfc, you may fee fully prov'd by Gerard. Tom. ix de extrera. Jud. p. 67, 68. This Word is taken from ^m. vii. 13. where the Prophet is fpeakin^ of the fe- cond Coming of Chrill. By the Clouds of Heaven^ the 'Jqvjs underftand Aitgels^ or \.\\z Guardian llofl of Angeh^ fays Pearfon on the Creed^ p. 322. marg. 1138 A TREATISE concerning the him go into Heaven^ that is, perfonally and vifibly in the Clouds. It feem*d tome to be of the greateft Con- fequence, to make thefe ftiort Remarks, that no Evidence might elcape me in an Affair of fb vaft a Moment, and in ^o renown'd a Caufe ; for unlefs Chrift returns from Hea- ven, we are loft, vain is our Hope, and vain our Faith, as the Apoftle Ipeaks concerning the Refurreftion. But there are, befidcs, in the facred Writings, numberlefs Prooft and Teftimonies of this glorious and moft wilh'd- for Coming, which is exprefs'd by various Names. 'Tis for the moft part callM Trapy- (TiGL Prefence, and fometimes ctVo^c^Ai^-vJ./s Rc" velation, i Cor. i. 7. 2 Thejf, i. 7. i Tet. u 7, 13. and iv. 13. Luke xvii» 31. fometimes ^tis named ewKpciveioiy an illuftrious Appea- rance, 2 TheJjT- ii. 8. i Tim. vi. 14. z Tim. iv. I, SC 8. Tif.ii. 13. fometimes 'tis named (pctvspoDdis^ Manifeftation, or manifeft Appear- ance, Col. iii. 4. I Tef. y. 4. and that fo- lemn Day is calPd by the Prophet and the Aft. ii. 2 c= Apoftle -^ y]fxi^jL %v^H t) jxeydX)) Kj g7r<(pam, that great and illnftrious T)ay of the Lord., in which, fays God, I will ^ew fVoJtders . in Heaven above^ and Signs in the Earth beneath J Blood and Fire^ and Vapour of Smoak : The Sun fhall be turned into "Dark- nefsjy and the Moon into Bloody before that great and illujtrious "Day of the Lord {hall come. Thefe Prodigies, thefe Wonders have not yet been brought upon the Stage j that Part State of Departed Souls, is'k 139 Part of the Drama, the laft Aft of it is yet to come, for which the great Machines, and the moft noble and moft terrible Scenes are wont to be refervM. Nor is it any Objeftion to what has been faid, that this Prophecy is cited upon the ! EfFufion of the Holy Ghoft on the Apoftles, as if at that very Time it had received its Ac- complilhnient. It receiv'd it indeed in fome I Meafure, as to the former Part of it, as to j Gifts and Infpirations divine j but 'tis mani- feft that the latter Part of it, concerning which we are now fpeaking, thefe Signs and Wonders in external Nature, have no Rela- tion to this EfFufion of the Holy Spirit, for that nothing in the Time of that EfFufion happen'^d, but a Rufliing, and a mighty Wind. MaKy and mighty Things remain to be perfefted upon the Coming of our Lord, upon that wonderful and terrible T>ay^ as the Prophet expreffes himfelf. Nothing can be more terrible to the Impious and Irreli- gious, than the Sight of the angry Deity, upon whofe Coming the Earth trembles, the Heavens are troubled, the Sun is converted into Darknefs, and the Moon into Blood, and all Nature languiflies as about to expire ; ThenJJoall Mens Hearts fail them for Fear^ L"c. xxi. ■that is, the Heart3 of the Wicked, and for ^^* ^looking after thofe Things which are coming m the Earthy as the Evangelift tells us; ,|)ut the Righteous fliall look up, and lift up their 1 40 J! T R E AT I S E concerning the-^ their Heads, when they {hall fee the Son of Man coming in the Clouds with Tower^ and great Glory ^ before whom ten thou- fand thoufand Angels ftiall fly, and illuminate his Way, flalhing and blazing before .their an- gry God, like Lightening before the Thun- der, an Army more numerous, and, more refulgent, than all the Stars in the Hea-^ Hitherto we* have prov'd the Coming of Chrift from the facred Writings : But to paint the Excefs of his Glory, or precifely to nominate the Time of his Coming, is be- Theor.Teii. yond all mortal Power. As for the former, Lui. c. 12. ^^^ \x2,YQ given a fort of a light Specimen of it in the foremention'd Paflage, which we have left to be accurately performed by others : As for the latter, it muft be confefs'd, that the primitive Chriftians, nay, and the A- poftles themfelves, as far as we can gather from the facred Hiftory, believ'd that this Day of the Lord was conning upon their own Times,^ or was not very far diftant from them : But this Point will be difcufs'd here- after, when we fpeak of the. Day of Judg- ment, that wc may at void, being, tedious in this Chapter, .X .; ■ , The Conflagration of the World is join'd with the Coming of ^ Chrift, as the facred Oracles teach us. The Apollle St. '\Paul ex- prefly tells us fo in his fecond Epiftle to the Chap. i. Theffalouians ; when the Lord yefus jhall ^* ' be revealed from Hec{,yen with his mighty Angels^ State of Departed Souls, iljc. 141 Angels^ inflaming Fire^ taking Vengeance on them that know not God^ a^id that obey not the Go/pel of our Lord Jefus Chrijt. In the fame Manner the Apoftle St» Teter joins the Coming of Chrift, or that Day of the Lord, with the Combuftion and the Dif. folution of the World. Bttt the T>ayofi'E^.ii\. the Lord will come as a Thief in the Nighty ^°' in the which the Heavens fhall pafs away with a great Noi/e, and the Elements jhall melt with fervent Heat^ the Earth alfo^ and the Works that are therein^ jjjall be burnt up, Befides, that the Lord will come to Judgment in Fire, feveral Palfages of both Teftaments witne^ ; and in the fame Chap- ter, yen 7. Si.Teter fays thus; but the Hea^ vens and the Earth which are now^ by the fame Word are kept in Store^ refervedunto Fire againfl the ^)ay of Judgment ^ and Terdition of ungodly Men. The Apoftle St. Taul likewife, if I am not miftaken, in the firft to the Corinthians^ has the fame chap. x\i View with Si.Teter. For other Founda- ^^* '^''5- tion can no Man lay, than what is laid^ which is that Jefus is the Meffiah, Now if any Man build upon this Foundation^ Gold^ Silver J, precious Stones^ Wood^ Hay^, Stubble:, every Man^s Work jhall be made manifeft ; for the T>ay fjall declare it^ be- caufe it jball be revealed by Fire^ and the Fire fljall try every Mail's Work of what Sort it is. That Paffage likewifc in the Epiftle to the Hebrews feems to look the c/i:p. -: fame ^7- i4i ^ TREATISE concerning the fame Way ; There remains a certain fear-^ ful Looking for of yudgment^ and fiery In- dignation ^ which {hall devour the Adver-^ faries. Nor do the Prophets lefs dreadfully fet before us the fiery Equipage and Provifion of a prefent, an angry, and revenging God^ when they fpeak of the Coming of our Lord, and the Deftruftion of his Enemies; that is often hinted at in the Pfalms of ®^- Pfal.xi.6. ^/^y and 7/2?i^Z; fpeaks plainly, Chap. Ixvi. ixviii. 2,3. 15? 16. For behold the Lord will come with ^ ^^^^"^kr ^^^^f ^^^ with his Chariot like a Whirl- xcvii. 3. wind^ to render his Anger with Fury^ and his Rebuke with Flames of Fire. The fame Prophet has the fame Meaning, Chap, xxxir* 8, 9, 10. Befides, in the Prophet Daniel the Antient of "Dajs is defcrib'd, as fitting upon his Tribunal, and furrounded and co- Chap. vH. ver*d with Flames: His Throne was like the 9,10. fiery Flame., and his Wheels like burning Fire : A fiery Stream ijfttedj and came forth from before him : Thoufand Thoujands ' rninijier'd unto him^ and ten thoufand times Ten thoufand food before him ; thejudgment was fet^ and the Books were ofen'd. Laft- chap.iv.i. ly the Prophet Malachy fliews us the fame Face of Nature upon that Day of the Co- ming of the Lord : Behold the T)ay comet h that will burn as an Oven^ and all the Vroud^ yeay and all that do wickedly fhall be Stubble^ and the TJay that comet h jljall burn them ///. Hitherto State of Departed Souls, i7V. 143 Hitherto we have brought Paffages from facred Authors, as Proofs of the fu-. tiirc burning of the World upon the Coming of Chrift : And this Conflagration, and this Coming, ought, in my Opinion, to have a Place among the clearefl Doftrines of the Chriftian Faith, if we only have Regard to the Fads themfelves. But there are, befides, feveral Circumftances, Modes, and Condi- tions of this Conflagration, worthy of our Thoughts and our Contemplation, though not equally manifeft, nor equally neceflary to be known. 'Tis certainly worth our while to endeavour to difcover the very Time of this future Burning, and to have fome Foreknowledge of it ; to be able to fet forth the Bounds and the Limits of it ; how far it will reach upvvards, and how far defcend ; how far it will pierce into the Bowels of the Earth, or penetrate the Regions of the Skies ; and then to enquire into the Caufes and Seeds of this univerfal Burning, as far as 'tis founded in the Nature of Things, and the Matter and Form of the Earth. Laftly, to give an Account of its Beginning, its Progrefs, and its End ; and with what Shape and Countenance the Earth will ap- pear, when the Conflagration's over. Thefe and other Things relating to thefe, we have handled more at large in the foremencion'd Treatife, to which the Reader is defir'd to Theory of have Recourfe, who has a Mind to be fur- the Earth. ther fatislied upon this Subjed. CHAP. A TREATISE concerning the o CHAP. VI. Of the laji Judgment : A View ofitsprm- cij^al Appearances y of its Manner^ End^ and Effect. UPON the Coming of the Lord, the Dead arile, and appear before their judge. The Refurredion, indeed, in the Order of Nature precedes this ; but of Things that are tranfacled at the fame Time, thofe are moll commodioufly handled firft, that can be Iboneft dilpatched. Now as of all Things that belong to our future Stat;e, the Dodrine of the Refurredlion is of the moft Importance, it moft of all requires our Care and our Application ; and therefore we have refer vM the laft Place for It, of the four Things which we proposed to treat of In handling this Subject we ihall firft give the Reader a View of its principal Appear- ances, as 'tis reprefented and painted by the facied Writers. Secondly, the Thing itfelf, and its facred Truth fhall be explained accord- ing to a reafonable Hypothefis : Laftly, and the End and EfFecl: of this Judgeient upon the Innocent and the Guilty, upon the Ac« quitted or the Condemned ; and thefe Things appear to me to comprehend this Matter in general^ and the moft ufeful Parts of it, re- jeding State of Departed Souls, ^c. i^i jeding feveral impertinent and fophiltical Diiputes, which are wont to be carried on with fb much Noife in the Schools, without Advantage to either Side, and by which the Force of the Mind, employed in fuperfiuous Trifles, is diflipated and confum'd. A s for what relates to the View of its principal Appearances, in the firil Place the Judge is delcrib'd by the Prophet 2)^^/>/chap.vu^ fitting on his Tribunal, and furrounded by ^' ^*^- I his Guards, in thefe Words j I beheld j, fays I he, till the Thrones 'were fet^ and the An^ dent of ^ays did Jit^ whofe Garment was white as Snow^ and the Hair of his Head like the pure Wool; his Throne was like the fiery Flame^ and his Wheels like burning Fire : A fiery Stream ijfued., and came forth from before him : Thottfand Thoufands mi-- nifter^d unto him^ and ten thoufand times Ten thoufand flood before him y the J-udg- ment was fety and the Books were O" fen^d. In the Revelations of St. Joht^ the Judge, chap, xx^ the Judgment, and the Judged, are reprefent- »'» ^c. ed together. I faw^ fays the Prophet, a- great white Throne^ and him that fat on it^ from whofe Face the Earth and the Hea- *uens fled away^ and there was found no T^lace for them : And I faw the ^eady fmall a7id great ^ ft and before God^ and the Books were ofen^d-^ and another Book was j cpen'dy which was the Book of Life ; and j tbeT>ead were judged otit ofthofc Things^ L which i^z A TREATISE concerning the which were written hi the Books ^ according to their Works, And the Sea gave tip the *T>ead which were in it^ and T>eath and Hell delivered up the T^ead which were in them : And they were judged every Man according to their JVorks. And whojbever was not foimd written in the Book ofLife^ was caji into the Lake of Fire. Thefe Things are handled more difFufely than they are by T)aniel^ but the former exadtly a- gree with the latter^ as the Revelations are wont to do. Let us now attend to the Difcourle of Chrift concerning the Proceedings of the laft Judgment, and the Sentence that is pro- nounced both upon the Good and theWicked. ^^^&^^^* ^'^^hen the Son of Man {hall come in his Glo- \ ^ ' ' ry^ and all the holy Angels with him^ then jhallhe fit upon the Throne of his Glory. And before him (hall be gathered all Nations / and he {hall feparate them one from the o- ther^ as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats : And he {hall fet the Sheep on his Right Flan d J and the Goats on his Left, Then {ball the King fay unto them on his Right Hand ^ Come^ye Bleffedofmy Father^ inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from \^cr. 41. the Beginning of the World. Then (Jj all he fay alfo to them on his Left Hand., de- part from me^ye Curfed^ into the Fire pre- pared for the T)evil and his Angels. Thus faith Chrift in the forefaid Paifage. 'Tis Matt. XIX. .^^jj^j \^ fQj^^^ other Places, that the Saints and STATE ef Departed Souls, ilfci '\^^ and the Apoftles will fit together in Judg^ i Cor.vi. ment with him. 2. 5» If we compare thefeand other like Paflages^'''^'''^'^ of the facred Writings, this will be the Re- ' prefentation of the laft Judgment, this its dreads ful Appearance. A large burning Throne be- ing ercded, Chrift fits upon it as Judge, and with him fit the holy Apoftles. Chrift is at- tended and furrounded with hisMinifters and Guards, the Angels. Then the Dead are placed before the Tribunal pale and trem- bling, fummonM by the Trumpet's Clangor. Which Things being thus fet in Order, and Silence commanded, the Regifter is brought,^ or the memorial Books, in which theDeeds^ Words, Thoughts of every one, throughout his former Life, are marked : Thefe being opened and read, every one's Caufe is deter- :\ mined according to his Works, or conform- ably to what he did in the Body. Then all Things being weighed and examined, the Wic- ked being placed on the Left Hand, and the Good on the R.ight, the Judge pronounces Sen- tence, a Sentence for the Wicked unutterably dire : T>ep art from me^ ye Curfed^ into ever- lajling Fire s but a Sentence tranlporting and beatifying for the Good : Come, ye Blejfedof my Father^ foffefs the Kingdom prepared ■ for you from the Foundations of the World. In this Idea of the future univerfal Judg- ment, there are fome Things, without doubt, theatrically fpoken, conformably to the Man- ner of a human Court of Juliice, Things L ^ tliat 14 4 A TRE AT I S E (concerning the that will not happen litterally upon the Day of Judgment. In this Part of the Sub- jc&y I believe;; we Ihall have no Adverfa- ry : In the other Part, likewife, 'tis manifeft, that feveral Things will be litterally accom- pliftied, according as they are related. Chrift will defcend from Heaven perfonally, and vilibly, attended with his Angelick Guards, upon whofe Coming the Dead will be raifed, in order to undergo Ibme Examination or Probation, upon which every one's Deftiny will depend. But that thefe Things will be aftually done under the Command and Conduft of Chrift, the facred Scripture abundantly teftifies, Matt, xvi. 27. John v. 22, 27. J^^s xvii. 31. Rom. xiy. 9. 2 Tim, vi. 8. and in numerous other Places. You fee now that in this Reprefentation of the laft Judgment, there is a Mixture of the vulgar and the fecret Hypothefis. ^Tis 1 the Part of a wife Man to diftinguifh what, and how much belongs to each of them. The Tryal of Souls, in order to punifh or reward them, according as each of them is undefiled or wicked, is the main of the Affair, the Defign, and the End of it. Nor is it of much Significancy, whether this Tryal proceeds, after the Manner of external Judi- catures, or a human Procels, or by any other Way ; provided 'tis effectual, and obtains the End defign'd by it. Some of the An- tients were of Opinion, that this Tryal, at the Burning of the World, was to be per- formed State ^/Departed Souls, ^^. ^145 formed by Fire, of which we ftiall fpcak immediately. However, this is manifeft, that the Style of the facred Writers, in re- prefenting this judicial Proceeding, is accom- modated to human Cuftoms and Inftitutions ; and that neither Books nor Regifters will be found in the Air, nor the Hiltory of his part Life be recited to every Individual. That every one will deferve the Fate which he meets with, will fufficiently appear by the Teftimony of his own Confcience, and that State of Mind, in which he will be adually found. But we have faid that thefe Things are in a great Meafure accommodated to^ human Cuftoms and Inftitutions, and particularly to the Doftrines and the religious Belief of the Heathens, who conftituted Judges in the infernal World, Obfervers of Juftice and E- quity, and the Rewarders and Revengers of human Anions. Their Names and their Bufmefs, and the various Punifhments which they inflided upon flagitious Men, are fuffi- ciently known from the Grecian Authors. Tlato^ above all of them, has copioufly trea- ted of this Matter in fcveral Places, as in his Thado, and towards the End of his Gorgias, and in his Tenth Book of a Com^ m9frj:;ealth, under the Perfon of Herns Ar^ mmius^ who was come back from Hell to make the Relation. But thefe and feveral other Things, which relate to the infernal World, and to the State of the Dead, were X. 9 borrowed i^$ J TREATISE concerning the borrowed by the Grecians from the Egyp" tians^ according to ^ T)iodorus SiculuSy which, he fays, was begun by Orpheus^ whom afterwards feveral Grecian Poets and Theologues followed. But thefe Things by- the- by. What is more worthy of Remark, is, that fome among the Antients were of Opinion, that there was no perfonal Miniftry, no artful Pomp or Or- nament, in the Diftribution of Juftice to human Souls ; but that the Nature of Things was by divine Providence lb prepared and ordered, that it would fpontaneous diftri- bute Juftice to every Soul that fliould be freed from its mortal Body* And, therefore, they gave the Name of Nemefis^ and fome- times of Adrafiia^ to this Force of God or Nature : KvcLiro^^cic^'Qv clitlclv haoLv KccTcc (pvcrip'' becaufe they believed no Body able to fly from this Catife thus appointed by Nature : l^h. xiv. As the Author of the Treatife de Mundo fays. |ub liiiem. In the fame Manner Adraftia^ or Nemefis^ is faid by Ammianus Marcellinusj to be the Avenger of wicked ABions„ and the Re- warder of the Good : JVhom^ fays he^ an-^ \^^ tient Theologues imagining to be the T>angh-^ ter * Bzit of the IPumjhments of the Wicked in Hades ^ and of the Fields of the Good^ and of the IntrodtiSiion of the making rf Idols and the imitating of what relates to the 'Sepulchres of the Egyptians, l^c. Thefe and Sentence^ of the fame Nature^ concerning Orpheus and the EgjP' tians^ you mm fee ip. W^iadorns^ 1 1 m.fth S^ State of Departed Souls, ^c, 147 ter ^Juftice, teach iis^ that ^e over fees all earthly Things from hidden and remote E- terntty y that Jhe the Sovereign ^leen of CanfeSj, the imperial Arbitrefs of Things y that jhe the deciding and determining yudge^ ?ningles the Lots in the fatal 'Urn^ and ab^ fohitely governs and di/pofes of the Viciffi^ tildes of human Affairs. But this Force implanted in the Nature of Things, this Force, that is able thus to diftinguilli and to diftribute Juftice to every- one in a future State, has not been fo well explained by ant lent Philofophers or Theo- logiftsj as to make it evident by what Me- thods and what Caufes this can be efFedted without a judicial Procefs. Some of the Chriftian Fathers, as we obferved above, were of Opinion, that this Probation would be efFeded, and this Judgment executed by Fire, at the general Conflagration of the World ; in which they believed that the Souls of all thofe would be involved, who were formerly Inhabitants of this Earth *, and that, according to the Degree of their Purity or Impurity, they would receive more or lefs, or no Damage at all from it. And this Opinion is founded upon St, haul's Difcourfe to the Corinthians y \ Epijl. iii. 13. in thefe Words : Every Man^s Work {hall be made manifejt ; for that T)ay [hall declare itj be^ caufe it (hall be revealed by Fire ; and the Fire (Jjall try every Man's Work^ of what §ort it is. Origen againft Celfns lays, That^- ^- ™* L 4 this 2^1.'^°' A TREATISE concerning the this loft Fire would be the Fire that would furge the World. And then he adds, Not only the TVorld^ but, in all Probability^ every individtial Soul that jhould have Oc^ cafionfor tt^ either for a Remedy^ or for a Tu- nijhment ; burning and not confuming thofe,, in whom this Fire finds no Matter to work upon and to confmne ; but both burning and confuming thofe who build the figurative Edifice oft heir Anions ^ Words, andThoughts; of Wood, and Hay, and Straw. And in the Sequel he further adds, This T>o6irine^ therefore^ promifes that they only Jhall be untouched by this Confiagration^ and this Tumjhment, whom it finds pure andcleanfed^ both with Regard to their T>o6irines^ their Manners^ and their Anions. But for them who are unlike thefe^ and who deferve to undergo this Fiery, and this penal T>ifpen- fatton^ 'tis necefary that for a certain Time the Tunifljment fhould be inflicted on them, which God thinks fit to inflict on them,, who being formed after the Image of the di- vine Nature, have yet the Will of God in Contempt^ and do not endeavour to make, their Lives anfwcrable to that divine Image. -But as this Dodtrine of the Tryal of Souls by the laft Fire, cannot be demonftrated by the Light of Nature, its Champions de- clare, that 'tis founded on' the facred Wri- tings, and chiefly, as we faid above, on the torefaid Difcouife of St, Taul to the Corin- thians^ Stat e of Departed Souls, ilfc. 1 4 9 Mans ; which we Ihall therefore propofe to be examined as fuccindly as may be. Numerous Difputeshave arilen concern- ing that Paffage of the Apoftle. But as for the Bufinefs that we have with it, the whole Controverfy depends upon two Words, and the Interpretation of them, viz. what the Apoftle underftood by the Word 2)^^ or that T>ayj and what he underftood by Fire. Some Perfons here underftand a me- taphorical Fire, Tribulation and Afflidion : But we, that real and natural Fire, which will deftroy the World : And by T>ay^ they likewile mean the Day of Temptation ; but we, the Day of Judgment, or the Day of the Lord. And as this' is the common, and moft fimple Interpretation, it may feveral Ways be proved to be the true one : As, Firft, by parallel Places, in which we meet with the fame Word T)ay^ and where it has the fame Force, and the fame Signification, which we have given it here, as in i Thejf. V. 4. But ye J, Brethren j, are not in T>ar% nefsj that that 'Day jhould overtake yoUi,,^^^^^^^, as a Thief. Here the Day of the Lord is underftood, as is evident from the fecond Verfe. But what that Day of the Lord is, which comes as a Thief in the Night, St. "Pe- ter explains, when he fays, 'tis the fame in which the World is to be deftroy'd by Fire : But the T>ay of the Lord will come as ai Ep. wi Thief in the Nighty, in the which the He a- '°* vensjhall pafs away with a great Noife^ and 1 5 © ^ T R EAT I S E concerning the and the Elements jhall melt with fervent Heat ; the Earth al/Oy and the Works that are within^ jhall be burnt up. And the >^^cL, Word T>ay is ufed in the fame Senfe by the Apoftle in his Epiftle to the Hebrews^ when he fays, Chap. x. 25. That theyfljould exhort one another^ and fo much the more as they fee the ^Day approaching. Where \ ^ftipa. the Word ^ay^ plainly denotes the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment-^ and of the Conflagration, as is apparent fromver. 27. Befides, the Word 2)^, emphatically fpo- . ken, is the fame Thing with ^ rifjiepct e^vny 2 Their. 1. ^f^^ q)ayofthe Lord: But 'tis fufficiently 2 Tim. i. known, that in the facred Writings, that lv!8. * * Expreffion always fignilies, the Day of the Lord, or the Day of Judgment. Secondly, The Word T>ayj mentioned at firft by the Apoftle without Limitation, is afterwards limited and determined by the Words that immediately follow ; 'tis a Day that is revealed in Fire^ h ttu^I oLirov.aCKuir' nrsTcir a fiery "Day in the Revelation of the IjOrdy iv Tvj diro'itciKu'^&i tS jcup/e - - - gj/ ttv^l (pAoyos ; as the fame Apoftle fays afterwards aEp.i. 7. to the Thejfalonians : Nor is there the leaft Room to doubt but that thefe two Paila- ges regard the fame Time, and the lame Thing, whether the Word Revealed^ onrQ-^cL" XuirleroLiy relates to 2)^', or the Lord, or the Work itfelf. Indeed the Coming of the Lord in the facred Writings is wont to be called <%7ro)6a'Ay^l-/f, or Revelation:, and is State of Departed Souls, iffc. 1 5 \ is marked and fllewn by Fire^ as every one knows ; and therefore is both Ways anfwer- able to this Place. Befides, another Mark and Charafteriftick of this Day is, that ^tis TifjLse^c S'YiKooTLycv.j VIZ. a Day of Mani- feftation ; by which Expreffion is meant no lefs the Day of the Lord, or the Day of Judgment, according to what follows in the next Chapter ^ Therefore jtidge nothing he- » C0r.iv.5-. fore the Time^ until the Lord come^ who both will bring to Light the hidden Things of TDarknefs^ and will make manifefl the Counfels of the Hearts ; and then (hall every Man have ^Praife of God. And the the fame Thing is faid to the Romans^ Chap. ii. 16. You may add to thefe Proofs, if you pleafe, the Interpretations of the Fathers, and of feveral others. Theodore t upon the Place^ after he has explained the divers Spe- cies of Matters, as Gold, Silver, Wood, Hay, Stubble, fubjoins, T^' H Ta)v vxZv dvTi tS, Yi T>i$ x^picrecfjs. Bttt 'tis not the fre- fent^ but the Life to come that will dijiin- guijh and make known the feveral Species of Matter y for the Apojlle faid the Tjay will declare ity inftead of the T)ay of Judg- ment will declare it : Then he adds upon the following Verfe ; KaTa ^w tUs eTritpccmx^ rra acoTYif^i yijj^pjlVj (^cccravoi eq^iy :q e^iTcccns aov 152 ^ TREATISE concerning the cov J^ ccpyv^v^ TO TTVp ?\.ccy,iu-poreps9 cc7ro(pocv&,* ^oflsj '^ x(zXotfjiy)^y y.ccTctvctKwa€{, In the T)ay cf the glorious Appearance of the Lordy there will be an Examination and a ftriB Enquiry ; and the Fire will render them who have liv'd righteoujly^ like Silver and Gold^ more bright ^ but will confume thofe who have been Workers of Iniquity^ like Wood^ and Hay^ and Stubble. And Theo-' fhylaEi upon the Paffage fays the very fame Thing, 'H/xg^v \JJcv Ty\v TTis Tcpicreoijs (pyjo-iv- ev TTU^ cT? Xiya Tcc epyoc a7roy^cc?\.V7necr^cxAy TSTgV^j (pctvS^ yiveo-^cu GTFo'icc tvv Cpvatv eq^iv* oc&^p^" ay the Apof^ tie means the ^ay of Judgment : He fays that the Works of Men will be reveal d by Fire:, ^^^^ ^^^ f^^ i^/V^ will make it evi- dent of what Nature they are y whether they are of Goldj or of what other kind. St. Bafily Nazianzen^ and Nyjfen^ St.yerom^ and generally all the Fathers^ efpecially the Greek Fathers, explain the Word Day after the lame Manner. Laftly, the Z^^iifi/^ Ver- fion following either the Fathers, or fome old Manufcript, has the Word Z(?r^exprefly here. Thus far concerning theWord ^/>cge.a, ^ay. The other Word upon which the Explica- tion of this Paffage depends, is xu^, or Fire : I But if we agree upon the Signification of the firft Word ^ ijt>cg>^, 2)^, and take it to be evident that in this Place it depotes the I State 0/ Departed Souls, ^^, 153 I Day of the Lord, or the Day of Judgment, I the Signification of the other Word Fire \ will meet with little Doubt : For it muft be ' fuch as muft attend upon the Day and Co- ming of our Lord, that is to fay, it muft be a real and material Fire : And they who here pretend, that a metaphorical and figu- rative Fire ought to be underftood, offend againft the Rule rcceivM by the Literpreters of the facred Writings, which is, that we Ibould never depart from the Letter without Neceffity. Now this is certain, that upon the Coming of the Lord there will be no Want of a real Fire, when the Earth and the Heavens are all in a Blaze ; nor can there be the leaft Reafon for fancying this meta- phorical Fire, befides the other real one, and for naufeoufly repeating their own Me- taphor thrice in the fame Difcourfe. Hitherto we have ftiewn the Day and the Coming of the Lord, and that a genuine and real Fire is here meant by the Apoftle ; but the chief Difficulty is ftill remaining, and that is, concerning the Force and Influ- ence of this Fire, how it can try or make eve- ry Man's Work manifeft, that it may be tru- ly ttCi^ S^o'itijj.oic^L'itov Xj SiccKpnixoi'^ a fearching and diftinguilhing f'ire. Works and Atdons that are paft, can never ^be recalfd to a Tryal by Fire : That indeed is certain ^ but then the Habits and Difpofitions of Mind, from whence thole Aftions flowed, remain ; and the Souls in which they are inherent, accord- ing 154 ^ T R EAT I S E concerning the ing as they are more or lefs pure, will be nacre or lefs afFeded by this Fire. But you will fay, perhaps, that Fire cannot aft upon unbodied Minds, or upon Natures purely fpiritual ; that they may feel the Force and the Adion of Fire, they mull be invefted in fome Body. We are not able fully and clearly to folve this Difficulty ; but when there is the fame Difficulty concerning the infernal Fire, which yet is univerfally grant- ed, a common Scruple ought not to detain us, or to give us much Trouble. Since the Things themfelves are evident, both of them, as to the Manner, ought to be referr'd to the the fecret ^ijpenfation. In the mean while, that we may bring more "^ Light to this Opi- nion, and may come as near to demonftrate the Thing, as poffibly can be done, we re- folve to confult fome other Paffages of the facred Scripture, which feem to exprefs the very fame Notion, or, at leaft, to imply it ; to which we fhall afterwards add the Ex- plications and Tenets of fome of the Fa- thers, concerning the fame Opinion. Mat.ix.49. As for the Scripture, to this Opinion may Mat. XXXI. {^^ referred the Saying of Chrift concerning the ^ * John Erigen. de Pradeji. c. 19. fays, that the Bo- dies of the Saints will be chang'd into an ethereal Sub- ftance, which Fire Ihall have no Power over: Buc thac thofe of the Wicked fhall be chang'd into an aerial Sub- ftance, that will yield to the Force of Fire, and may be confamM by it. State of Departed Souls, ^c. i 5 the fiery Sacrifice, and that other of Jolm \ the Baptift, concerning the twofold Baptifm, I that of Water, and that of Fire : TheWords I of Chrift are thele; ^ Uas ydp tfv^ dAio-^ri' \ cerctL' y^TTcccroi, 2ruaicc ccAi cchicr2ryi(TeT(xi, Fov \ every Man {hall be faked with Fire^ as ' alfo every Sacrifice is falted with Salt .- For I am of the Opinion with others, that this Paffage is fo to be tranflated and under- ftood, as if 3^ were a Comparative, as it is in feveral other Places, Mat.y'x. 10. JoLwL 57. for Chrift fpeaks here of the future DcC. tiny of Men, as appears by the Context, and of a certain Tryal and Purification of them : But when he fays, iras ttu^ aA/o-GriVe- Icuj he leems to join Fire and Salt, each of which has an abfterfive Quality. Salt pre- vents Putrefadion in foft and humid Bodies ; but Fire foftens, melts, and purifies the hardeft, and purges off the Filthinefs, and Ruft, and Drofs, and Dregs of Metals, and clearing them of their Imperfedions, refines, and gives them a new Luftre and Purity. Thus Ibme believe that the Souls of Men, which the Apoftle in this figurative Sentence compares to Metals, are, as it were, melted down again, and recaft in this general Con- flagration ; or that every Man who is accep- table to God, fliall be feafon'd with a certain Acrimony * For every one fhall be feafon'd with Fire, that s, (hall be provM by it ; as St. P^ul Hiys, that all Things Ihall be try'd in Fire, Thffopbil. in Lcc. 1^6 J TREATISE concerning the Acrimony of Grief, as it were with Salt ; but that the Wicked are to be purg'd by Fire^ or, like a Sacrifice, to be confum'd by it. 'Tis probable, indeed, from the foregoing Verfes that this relates to the laft Fire ; but thefe ExprejQSons of Ghrift appear too ob- Icure to have any lingular Dodrine or Con- clufion founded upon them. I NOW come to John the Baptijty who makes mention of a twofold Baptifm, that of Water, and that of Fire ^ as the Antients at firm'd, that the World was to be purged in a twofold Manner by Water, and by Fire. Mat.iii.ii./, indeed^ fays the Baptift, baptife you with Water unto Repentance y but he that cometh after me {ball baptife you with the Holy Ghoft^ and with Fire. That this Saying has a Regard not only to the Times of the Golpel, but likewife to the fecond Coming of Chrift, may be prov'd by that which fol- lows : Whofe Fan is in his Handy and he will throughly purge his Floor ^ and gather his IVheat into the Garner ^ but he will burn up the Chaff with unquenchable Fire. Tit. iii. ^. Baptism is faid to be Tks^i^ov tyIs TrctKiy yeveo-iocs xcci dvcixccivooc-eoosj the Washing of Regeneration and Renovation \ and the Re- novation of the World by Fire, is ufually caird by the Grecians TrccAiyhueaioc & dvcc* y^ccLi'oj(7is, Regeneration and Renovation. Wafliing is twofold, warm and cold ; the Cold Bath is the waihing with Water j the Hot and the Dry is the Fiery Bath : But this latter State of Departed Souls, i5fc. 161 IS more efFedual than the former, and more penetrating. They who allow that there is that Virtue and that Efficacy, the holy Spi- rit co-operating, in the baptifmal Water, that by it Infants are regenerated, will hard- ly be able to deny, that the Fire muft have a much greater Power, the lame Spirit co- operating. The Holy Ghoft defcended in Aa.ii. 5; fiery Tongues, which alfo is called a ^<^/-^*^'^* tijmy as if it were a Type of the future fie- ry Baptilm. The Deluge of Water was the ^ Pet.iUg Baptifm of the World : The Deluge of Fire ^'' will better deferve that Title, will purge more ftrongly and more fliarply, and will wafii away its Filthinefs more efficacioully : And as God can reftrain the Power of the Flames to that Degree that they fhall not lb much as touch a human Body, as in the Ba^ by Ionian Furnace; io he can fo redouble their Strength and their Intenfenefs, that they fliall penetrate the very Souls of Men, or rather thofe new Bodies to which their Souls will then be join'd. These Quotations have we made from the ^ facred Writings, to prove or to illuC- trate the forefaid Opinion : To which we have the Confent and the Agreement of fe- M veral i * That Saying of Chrift, Mat. xii. 32. that there is tio ^emiffion for Blafphemy ay^awjl the Holy Ghoji^ either in this World or the other, has been varioufly explain'd hy i Interpreters: They that take it liteiaily, can ui'.derftand •t of no other Remiffioii, than that which is obaia'd by ihe purging Fire at the End of the World. A TREATISE concerning the veral of the antient Fathers, whofe Tefti- monies it will now be Time to add. Wc brought Origen before, from his fifth Book againft Cel/us ; to which Paflage there is another in the fourth that is near a-kin : The Words are thefe, 'Oux, d^vijjLi^oi to jccc- ^CLOdlOV TTVpy 36Cti TYIV Ttf TCOafJi^ (p^opCLV^ BTTl yCCC G^ / \ / \ 5 ) '•■> I ccipsaeL T7i$ x-ax-ias xoli ccvococctLpooaSL tou 'WccvTOi "hiyOVTeS TTCtpCC TOOV 'ZD-poCpJJTiWJ/ iY. TOOV iSpOOy /3i?- A/6JJ/ fj.efjicc^'icspai : which the Interpreter has rendered thus ; l^e do not deny but that this f urging atid cleanjing Fire^ will^ together with the World J defiroy all Malice^ fince we have learnt this in the facred Books of the Trofhets, He explains this Dodrine more at large in his Commentaries : In his third Homily upon the thirty fixth Pfalm, after he has told that all Men whatever, the Apoftles themfelves not excepted, would imdergo this fiery Trial, he compares that Ocean of Fire, which would be at the ge- neral Conflagration, to the Red Sea^ and the Wicked and the Righteous to the Egyptians and the IJraelites^ and that theie latter would pafs through that Red Sea^ or that Lake of Fire, without either Hurt or Pain, but that the former would be fwallowed up by it. In his fixth Honnly upon Exodus he gives us the fame Dodrine exprefly, and calls this purging and cleanfing Fire, into which^ he fays, that we muft all enter ^ a jiery Forge. And iikcwife in the thirteenth Homily upon Jeremiahy repeating the fame Doftrine^ State ^/ Departed Souls, iffc. 16^ Doftrine, he calls this laft Conflagratioa by another Name, taken from the Sacred Writings, viz, a Bapt'tfm^ or Bath of Fire. Laftly, that I may pafs by feveral Things related to theie, in the End of the eighth Book of his ^ Commentaries upon the Epiftle to the Romaiis^ he has thefe Words: But he who dejpifes the IVord of Godj and the Titrifications of the T)oEirine of the Gojpely referves himfelf for dire and tor^ meriting Purifications : But what Space of Time J or how many Ages,, this very Purging and Ckanfingj which is performed by fenal FirCj will torture Sinners who are to undergo it^ he only can know to whom the Father has transferr'^d all Judgment. Nor ought we to fancy, as fome imagine, that this Opinion concerning this Fiery Purgation and Trial, is peculiar to Origenj when it was common to almoll all the Fa- thers, till the Time when St. Auftin liv'd. LaEiantius^ elpccially, fays the fame Thing plainly, both of the Juft and the Unjuft. When God ^j all fit in Judgment^ lays he, infiit. Di>; even the Juft will he examine by Fire :^''^'^''^^' Then they whofe Sins (Jyall be found excef five^ either for their Weight or their Num^ ber^ (ball be fcorch'd and confnm^d by the Fire s but they who?n impartial Juft ice and M 2 mature ^ * The Place of Origen is in S, Sen, but fee the Place irfs^lf, and if he fays it ought to be coiiceal'd as- a M)f- tcry. 1^4 -^ TREATISE concerning the mature Virtue (hall have compleatly armed^ fljall remain untouched by the Flames ; for they have fomething of divinity hi them^, "which will rejeB them^ and refel them, Hi- lary^ Bifhop of To it ou^ no lefs boldly af- firms, this : Nor does he wholly exempt the Bieffed Virgin from palling through thefe Pf.cxviii. Flames. How„ fays he, can we defire to come to that Judgment by which we are to endure the Tains of unquetichable FirCy in which we are to undergo the mofl grievous Torments for the expiating the Sins of our Souls, A Sword has pajfed through the Soul of the Blejfed Mary, that the Thoughts of the Hearts of many might be revealed. If therefore J, that Virgin ^ who was capable of comprehending a God in her^ muf under-* go the Severity of yudgment^ what Mor- tal f jail dare to de fire to have that God for his fudge ? And in the fecond Canon upon / the Third of St. Matthew^ when he ex- plains that, Shall baptize you with the Holy Ghojij and with Fire y it remains^ fays he^ that we who have been bapti:z'd with the Holy Ghojiy mufl be made perfect by the Judgment and Baptifm of Fire. St. Ambrose treading in the fame Foot- fteps, and fupported, as appears to him, by the Authority of facred Scripture, difcouries after the fame Manner concerning the fu- ture Judgment, and the Tryal in the Day \ Filxxxvi. of the Lord. Thou haft try'^d us with Fire^ faith T)avidj therefore we {hall all of us „ i?e State of Departed Souls, ^c. \6^ he tried by Fire. And Malachi fays^ Be- hold he comes ^ the Lord., the Almighty God J, and who fljall abide the T>ay of his Coming ? and who fljall JI and when he ap- feareth ? For he fljall co7ne like the Fh^e of a Furnace ; and he Jl:alljit as a Refiner and a Tnrifier of Silver ; and he fljall fu^ rifj the Sons ofJ^QYi. Therefore^ the Sons of Levi fljall be purified with Fire^ with Fire Ezekiel, and Daniel with Fire^ &c. SceEzek. With feveral other Things that have the ^g^^^'gc fame Tendency. Again in the Expofition ofzach.xiii. ¥falm cxviii. All thofe who defire to re- ?• ttirn to Taradife muft be tried by Fire^i^c. And this ^ fays he, is fignified by the fiawing waving Sword^ that is placed at the En- trance of F^aradife. Laftly, he thus con- ckides ; Since^ therefore j we are thus to be tried J let tts fo comport curfelves^ that we may merit the Approbation of the divine Jtiftice. Let us hold f aft our Humility while we are here., that when each of yon flcall come to the Judgfnent of God^ to thofe Fires through which we muft all pafs^ he may fay y Behold my Humility j, Lordj and deliver me. Basilius Magnus was of the fame Age and Opinion,and fufficiently declares his Mind in his Commentaries upon the firft Chapters oilfaiah. And, firft, in his Commentary on the fourth Chapter, when the Prophet fpeaks of waflnng away the Filth of the "Daugh- Vcr. 4. ters of Jerufalem by the Spirit of Judg- M 3 ment^ i66 ^ T R E AT I S E concerning the ment^ and by the Spirit of Burnings here Bafilitts diftinguilhes the Baptilm of Water, from that of the Spirit, and both from that of Burning, which, fays he, is y\ \v tm ttvd} rrrii xpio-eooi ficlo-cci>(^y The Trial that in the T)ay of ^Judgment will he made by Fire. And he adds, to cT? nrvi'U}Jiani xpiascos 5cal ttvsv^ fxccTi "itcLvasoos Trpos tw eu too fx^AAovTi ccimvl cT/ci tS TTvpos S'OTcifjLOLo-iccv, Thcfe Words^ fays he, by the Spirit of Judgmentj, and by the Spirit of Bttrning^ relate to the Trial that will be made by Fire in the Life to come : With feyeral Things befides to the fame Purpofe. Befides, upon that of the Prophet, Ver.ip. in the ninth Chapter, Becaufe of the In- dignation of the Lord^^Q, he fays, S'e'iycvvtn OTL Tcc yhiva, too Trvpi tco -/.oAcci^ntc/o TrccpccS^iSoToci^ eiTL luspyeoricb tS'^ A^^x^^^ ^ fews that all that is earthly is^ for the Benefit of the Soul^ to be committed to penal Fire. He then adds, The ^Prophet here does not threa- ten a total T)efrti^ion^ an univerfal Ex- terminationy but points at a Purification^ according to the Opinion of the Apofle : If any Man^s JVorkfall btirn^ he jhall fuffer ^a^nagCj but he himfelf fljall be faved^yet fo as by Fire : See alio, if you pleafe, his * As in Treat ifc of the Holy Ghojf^ Chap. xv. §^ xxix, «* Chap. vi. and his Obfervations upon feveral PalTages *'xi.p.i24, ^^ ?C ^C. ' ' ^ : • ^ ^ ^ * And ill his Hcpaemeron^ where he treats ot the Formation of the Sun,/'. 6i. he afTertSjthat in the future State of Departed Souls, ^c. 16-] So much for Bajiltus^ to whom we may- join both the Gregories^ ^y^i^n and Na* z>ianz>en^ who both agree with Bafilins. But Nyjfen is the plainer of the two, in the Ex- plication of this Doftrine ; and, therefore, GermanuSj the Cojijianthwfoletan Patriarch, writ an Apologetick Difcourfe, on Purpofe to free his Author from the Imputation of that Opinion, and from other Things re- lating to that Opinion, as from ^o many Spots and Stains, which are here and there fcattered among his Works, as you may fee in Tbotius : But all in vain. Confult at your 'Ldi^mc NyJfefi^sTreatife of the Soul^Coi.ni: and the ReftirrcEimi^ and his Catechetical Orations^ c. viii, xxvi, and xxxv. and, upon reading thoie^ you will eafily dilcovcr what was the Senfe of the Author relating to this Matter.^ Nazianzen leems to have a good deal in him of the Manner of Tlato and Origen ; and even in this Subjed, as well as in others : But Orators, and all that harangue the Peo- M4 pie,' Conflagration, its enlightening Quality will be fcparated from the burning Quality ; io that the former will af- fe61: the Righteous, and the latter the Wicked. * Moreover, in his Oration for the 'Dead^ he has thefe Words about the purifying of Souls : They are either purijfd in this Life by Prayers and Thilofoploy^ ^ or ^ after Death by the Means of a purifying Fire. JNor is it any Wonder that Nyffen followed Bafd fo clolely ; fincc in his Hexaem. p. 2, & ^. he efteems his Writings next to ihofe that were divinely infpired, and equals them even to thofe of Mofes. 'J TREATISE concerning the pie, fometimes fpeak popularly, and fbme^ times their real Sentiments ; which, in read- ing the Fathers, a fenfible Reader always ought to obfervc ; and the more what he fays differs from the Notions of the People^ the more it difcovers the real Senfe of the Author. Conllilt, if you pleafe, his thir- ty-ninth, and his fortieth Oration, where he treats of the Baptifm of Fire, in order to purge the Soul, and at the fame Time doubts^ whether there are any fuch Things as ever- lafting Punilhments. Laftly, in his twenty- lixth Oration, where he fpeaks of the Cen- lurers of this Doftrine, he has thefe Words^ ^eos oTS'Sy (p7i(r\y o S*e/(^ 'Atto^'oA^u,, xcci TO TeAevTcciov Trvp^ co iroLVTCL xpivercti 77 KcCc:roLi'' psTccL Tct TjfjiSTepcc. God OTily knows J, fays the divine Apoftle^ and the "Day of Revelation and the lafi Fire will make it clearly ap- pear:, that Fire in which every Thing that belongs to Humanity mujl be either tried or purged. Lastly, St. yerom is accufed by Ru- jinus of being a fecret Favourer of the Doctrines o^Origen^ as is very well known, the moft diftinguilhed of which, is, that which puts an End to the Punilhments of the Damned as loon as their Malice is purged away. 'Tis none of my Bufinefi to reconcile this Quarrel between Sujerom and Rufinus ; but as for what relates to the Subjed which 1 now am upon, St. Jerom feems at feveral Time^ State of Departed Souls, ^c. Times to incline to more Sides than one, either by changing or diffembling his Scnti- iments. And here I miift repeat what I faid a little above, that thofe Things go further Itowards difcovering the real Sentiments of jan Author, which he delivers contrary to the Senfe of the People, than thofe which are Ipoke popularly, or which may be po- pularly underftood. In the mean Time, for |what immediately concerns the Matter which we are upon, the purging and cieanfing Souls in the Day of Judgment, and the putting an End at length to the Torments which they endure, (befides what he fays upon the jfourth Chapter of Amos^ he clearly and Idiftinftly opens his Mind, at the End of his Commentaries upon Ifaiah^ in thefe Words ; \ And as "we believe that the Torments of the \^evU will be eternal^ and of all thofe Sin- \ners and impious Verfons "laho have faid in their Hearts there is 710 God ; fo for thofe Sinners J, and thofe impious Terfons who are 'yet Chriftians^ and whofe JVorks ARE TO BE TRIET> ANT> TVRGET> BT FIRE J we believe that the Sentence of the Judge will be moderate^ and will be j mingled with Mercy. But at the fame Time jhe gives us a Caution againft fpreading this Dodrine amongft the Vulgar, leaft they I ftiould abufe it, and grow more licentious upon it. But when St. Jerom excepts De- mons, and Atheifts, and Apoftates, he, by that Exception^ confirms the Rule as to thofe who •JO A TREATISE concerning the who are not excepted ; and he fliews in ano- ther Place that he differs from Ortgen^ after this Manner, and by this Diftinction.^ "^Tis fufficient to have made thefe Obfer- vations from the Fathers who HvM before the Time of St. Jluftin^ in whofe Time this Dodrine began to degenerate, of the Purga- tion of Souls by the laft Fire, at the Day of Judgment. I fay it began to degenerate into a fpurious and adulterate Pugatory, and into an imaginary Fire, no where to be found in the Univerfe; which Fire, according to the Invention of thefe Innovators, receives human Souls immediately after their Separa- tion from their Bodies 5 yes, receives them before the Day of Judgment, before the Coming of our Lord, before the Conflagra- tion of the World, receives them, and tor- ments them. This we may very juftly call a Stippofitious purgatory ; becaufe, forfooth, thefe worthy Dodors in the room of genuine Cathartick Fire, of which Mention is made by the facred Writers, and by the antient Fathers, have fubftituted one of a very dif- ferent Kind, the adulterate Offspring of their own *To thefe Smccrus (under the Word BaTTfc-fjio^,/?. 630.) adds Nazianzen and Damafcene. Confult the Places quoted by b.im. To thefe add Cctfarius Arlatenfis^ who lays, that fome Sins of the Juft'iiied will be expiated by Fire after the RelarrcdHon. Look for the Place in the Author in MY^, PP. as Cave cites him. Chryfoftonze is likewifc quoted to the fume Purpofe, but the Place does not occur to me at prefent. j State {?/ Departed Souls, ilfc. 171 jDwn Brains. The purging Fire that is fpoJce of in the facred Writings, and mentionM by the Fathers, is to be a Fire kindled in the bay of the Lord, in the Day of Judgment, In the Day of the Conflagration of the World, as is moft evident iirom thofe Au- thors and Paflages which we have cited a« bove. But the Papills pretend, that their (purging Fire is burning at this Day, nay, |md has been burning ever fince the World began, that is, ever fince Death enterM into ':he World, and the Souls of Tranlgreffors departed from their Bodies, with all their jUncleannefs about them. But in what Part of the Globe, I befeech you, is this Fire jburning? Is it beyond the Ocean in the jother Hemifphere? or is it here in ours? jBy what Inftind do human Souls fponta- ineoufly repair to it? or by w^hat potent jLidor are they dragged to it, in fpite of |their Reluclancy ? There is no fuch Fire as this to be found, fuch vaft, fuch lafting, ifuch perpetual Fire, upon the Superficies of this Globe; for by its own Light it would - be difcoverM : And if it lies buried in the Bowels of the Earth, it would at leafl: re- quire fome Vent, fbme Breathing-place, like that of our mountainous Volcano's, that ic might not be fuffbcatcd by its own Smoke, and its own fuliginous Vapours. In Things j\yhich relate to the natural World, or any iparticular of it, Divines are often incurious \ox unskilful, and therefore they bring forth crude I -J 2 A TREATISE concerning the crude Opinions, and indigefted Thoughts^ foreign from the Nature of Things. Behold this great and this dreadful Fire^ which thefe Doctors have kindled for us; but they, neither acquaint us with the Original of I9' vaft a Fire, nor with the Fuel by which! ^tis fed, nor with any proper and commo- dious Place where it may fubllft and vent it- felf. Thefe Things, lay they^ the People j, are never concernM about. 'Tis true, in-' deed ; but then by the Wife this will be ef- 1 teemM a fantaftical Fire, of which no Ac- count can be given ; and 'tis next to Stupi- dity to lofe Men of Senfe, in order to gaini Fools. 'Tis both a Crime and a Weaknefs in"! thePopifh Religion, that it defcends too much ' to theCapacites of the People, and not only accommodates itfelf to their Ignorance^ but to their luperftitious Affedions. We ought ra- ther to exalt human Nature as high as is poffible, and to bring the People to Truth, and to a found Underftanding. Ever fince there have been Men in the World, the Knowledge of Mankind has increased, and increafes daily : And whatever the Gale was fonnerly, there is now no Neceffity of ufing pious Frauds/ and no Advantage can accrue to Religion from them. They rather leem to be detrimental to Piety and Chriftian Taith ; when difcerning Men who find the Deceit, rafiily pronounce, from the Artifice that is us'd in fome particular Parts of it, ihat the Whole of Religion is nothing but a gainful Myftery State t?/ Departed Souls, iifc. 17^ jMyftery. Firft, that the Chriflian Religion lis to be purg'd from human Inventions, and jfrom human Additions ^ then, thcfe Things iwhich, in the facred Writings, are fpoken lafter the Manner of Men, and adapted to |the Capacity of the Vulgar, are fo to be in- iterpreted, that they may neither be detri- mental to Truth itfelf, nor Stumbling-Blocks to the Wife. But thefe Things by-the-by. But enough has been laid by way of In- quiry into the Manner of the laft Judgment, the Puniihments that will be the Sequel of it, and the Diftindion that is to be made between righteous and wicked Men ; what will be the Pomp and Magnificence of its dreadful Appearance, and what will be tranfaded by Influence divine, or by the Power of Nature. The Opinion of the an- ticnt Fathers in this Matter has an Ap- pearance of Truth, and feems to be found- ed on the facred Writings ; But fince Re- velation in this Matter is neither full nor explicit, nor is the Light of Nature power- ful enough to penetrate to the Bottom of this Myftery, I look upon this Article of the Chriftian Dodrine, as for the Thing it- felf, to be among the Points that are clear, but as to the Manner of it, to be among the obfcure ones. Besides, feveral Difputes are wont to arife here concerning the Signs antecedent to the general Judgment^ and concerning the Time and Duration of it 3 concerning each 174 ^TREATISE concerning the each of which we have given our Opinion in the forefaid Treatife of the Conflagration of the World. I only defire to add one Thing, and that is, that the Chriftians of the firft Ages, in their Accounts of Time, made a very wrong Calculation ; for they believ'd in common, that the Day of the Lord was coming upon them then, or that it would be at leaft in the Age in which they liv'd : But though fixteen Centuries have pafsM fince then, and half of the cur- rent Century, that happy Day has not yet Ihone forth, nor have we hitherto difcern'd fo much as the Dawn of it. This Opinion, that the End of all Things was coming upon them, began in the A- poftolick Times ; from which it ran down for feveral Ages, as well to the ^ Learned as to the People. But when they found they were miftaken in this firft Account, by. which they daily expected the Coming of the * Tertull de Cult. Foera. L 2. f .9. and ad Uxor.L i.c.f. Lad ant. I. J. c. 14,^ 25'. AmbrofeOrat. in Obh.Satyri frat. and /. 9. upon huh xxl. Chryfoft. Horn, xxxiii. upon John^ near the End. Jerom. Epift.xl. ad /Igeru- chiam^ and 1 4^, on Tito. xxv. Many of the Antients believed, that the Coming of Chrifl: would hnmediately follow the Coming of Antichrift, whom they thought to be at hand juil then, and confequently that the Co- ming of the Lord, and the End of the World were very near. See 'tertull. de Refurr, Cam. c. 27. Cyprian^ his Difciple, Epft. ad Tribarkams, m. 5-6. and Eptfi. 5-8. ad Lucium ^ap. and Prcefat. ad Fortunatum^de Exkor. IvJartyrii^ with many others. See i Job}) ii. 18. and iTheJJ.u. 8. State of Departed Souls, ^c. 1-75 the Lord, or at kaft immediately after the Deftrudion of Jernfakm^ they carried their Hope and their Expedation to a grea- jter Length of Time, but never to a very : iremote one. That this Opinion began in the very Times of the Apoltles, the EpiiUes both of St. Taul and St. Teter teftify, St. Taul^ in the fecond Epiftle to the Thef^ Chap. a 2 Jalontans^ warns them againft being terri- (fied, as if the Day of the Lord were at Hand; for fir Jt^ fays he, Antichrtjt ?mijt come. But he neither acquaints them with the Time of his coming, nor with the Time of his flaying : All that he tells them is, that he will flay till the Coming of Chriii. , Then thofe Scoffers which we read of in I St. ^Peters fecond Epiftle, Chap. iii. 4. I would hardly have upbraided the Chriftians with the tardy Coming of their Lord; would , hardly have askM them, by way of Deri- fion, Where is the Tromife of his Coming ? unlefs the Chriftians had often profefs'd and declarM their Belief in the Promife of his fudden Coming ; nor docs the Apoftle, in his Anfwer or Apology, deny the Thing/ but attributes this Delay to the Mercy and Long-fufFering of God. But why Ihould we wonder that private Chriftians, or Chriftians of a lower Clafs, fliould be miftaken in this Particular, whea the Interpreters gather, that the Apoftlcs themfeives, from their own Writings, were of the fame Opinion: Nor do they only conclude \^6 A TREATISE concerning the conclude it from this, that the Apoftles of- , ten call thofe Times, and that current Cen- | tury, the laft of Times, and the End oft the World, (i Cor. x. ii. Heb. ix. 26. I Joh. ii. 18.) but from their ufing it as a Spur, or a more pungent Argument to ex- cite the Ghriftians of their own Times to Vigilance, to Sobriety, to Moderation in the Ufe of worldly Things ; to Patience, to good Works, to Charity, and to Piety. (Heb. X. 24, 25. I Pet. iv. 7, 8. i Cor. vii/ 29. 2 Pet. iii. II, 12. Phil. iv. 5.) Laftly, from their believing that the Coming of the Lord, and the Day of Judgment might come upon them while they were yet li- vid. Grot. ving. St. !P/^/// often inculcates that, iTheJf. inicc. iy^ i^^ i5^ ly. I Cor. XV. 52. And, that his mortal Body would be fwallowed up of Life, that is, by an immortal quickening Body, [he either believes or defires,] and that he may not be found naked, or divefted of 3,^4.^^* Flelh and corporeal Subftance in the Day of the Lord. Thus much for the Apoftles, and their Belief concerning the untimely Coming of Chrift. But from whence did the Apoftles derive this Opinion .^ Why, it feems, from the Words of Chrift himfelf, not rightly un- Mat. xxiv. derftood. His Difciples had enquired of ^' Chrift what would be the Time of the De- ftrudtion of Jerufalemy and of his own Coming. And when Chrift had acquainted them with the Signs and Ci^cumftances of th-it State of Departed Souls, ijpc. inj that Deftruftion, he adds, gi;6.-w$ fj^eroi rvu ^Ai-^LVj 8Cc. Immediately after the Tribu^ lation ofthofe ^ays, the Sun jhall be dar^ , kendj and the Moon jjjall not give her \ Light y and the Stars jjjall fall from Hea- ven^ and the Towers of the Heavens jhall bcjjjaben: And then jhall appear the Sign of the Son of Alan in Heaven : And then Mat. xxiv; \ jhall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn ^ and ^^' 3o- . \ they jljall fee the Son of Man coming in the \ Clonds of Heaven J with Tower and great I Glory. Having heard thele Things from the Mouth of Chriftj that after the Deftruc- ition of the City and the Temple, and the Overthrow of the Jewijlj State, he would j immediately come, or that the Son of Maa i would come in the Clouds, with Power and jgreat Glory: Having heard this, they be- 'liev'd that there would be but a fmall Inter- iVal of Time between that Deftrudion and the Return of Chrift ; and they afterwards tranfmitted to their Difciples that Knowledge, jand that Belief. Befides, when they recol- lected other Sayings of Chrift, it confirmed and iix'd them in the fame Opinion ; for he had faid before, that fome of thofe who ftood near him fliould not tafte of Death ibefore they law him coming in the Glory |of his Father to Judgment. And in the -Mar.xvi. iforefaid Chapter, after he had fpoke con- ^[arl^xiv. icerning his Coming, and the Wonders that 34, 3/. jlhould attend it, he added. Verily^ I fay 'unto you J there be fome fanding here which N ijoall i7t A TREATISE concerning the jhall not tajie of "Death till they fee the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom : Heaven and Earth fljall fafs away^ but my Words fhall not fafs away. Laftly, when P^^^renquirM of Chrift what Ihould be the Fate of Johnj Job. XXI. YiQ anfwer'd, if I will that he tarry till /' come^ what is that to thee ? These PafTages being comparM together, and underftood according to the Letter, I wonder not in the leaft that the Dilciples of Chrift fhould have imbib'd the Opinion of his fudden Return to the Earth, to judge the Living and the Dead : And I as little wonder that Providence would fuffer them to fall into thefe harmlefs Errors ; Errors, by which Piety would be rather promoted than injurM ; and a noble Refolution to fuf- fer inftant Death in the Caufe of God would be rather increased than leflen'd. Laftly, we ought by no Means to wonder, that God, Ihould conceal that from the Apoftles which he had hid from the Angels, and from the Mar.xiii. Son of Man himfelf : /7?r^ faith Chrift, oj that Day and Hour knoweth no Man y no^ 7iot the Angels which are in Heavenly nei- ther the Son^ but the Father y or, as it is in St. Matthew^ Chap. xxiv. j6. but my Fa- ther only.^ And thus we have given a Relation of thefe Things conformable to the Letter and * See PP. of this Way of interpreting this Place, Ge- rard. Tom. 9. de Extreni. Jud. p. 126. STAtE ^/ Departed Souls, ^d 'i-i§ and to the Hiftory.^ But if a literal Expli- cation is not fo fuitable to the Subjeit of which we treat, we mull depart from the Letter, and fearch and look out for a more commodious Interpretation : But this at leaft is apparent, that the certain Time of the fu- ture Judgment, of the Coming of the Lord, or of the End of the World, were Things unknown to the Apoftles : And the Anfwer of Chrift feems to imply, that we ought not to make too Ibllicitous an Inquiry into them : When the Apoftles enquired after the Time of the Reftoration of the Kingdom to Ifrael^ AasLy] he fays to them, 'Tis not for you to know the Times and the Seajons which the Father hath put in his own Power. But if we are allow'd to ufc a round Calculation, and to inlert Conjedures among Certainties; when now five thoufand Years compleat, and what is given of the fixth thoufand, are paft and gone, fince the Creation of the World, I can find nothing in Scripture, or in Realbn, or in the Courfe of human Affairs, that can hinder the Accomplifhment of that Prophe- cy which has been received by t^ yews^ as well as by the primitive Chriftians ; a Prophecy which allows fix thoufand Years for the Duration of the World, and then the Sabbath is to enfuc : But we have treat- Theor.Te^l; ed of this Subjed fufficicntly in another i-s-c.^. j N 2 Place, * See the Hiilory of this Prophecy, Gerard. Tom. 9. xieExtrem. Jud. p. izj. 1 Pet, iii. 14. A TREATISE concerning the Place. In the mean time, let it be our principal Care that we may be found pure and unblameable in that Day ; and that the Tryal which we are to undergo, what, or whenever it be, may have a happy Iflue, to the Glory of God and our own eternal Salvation. CHAP. VII. Of the ReftirreBion of the TI>ead\ and in what State they will be after they are rifeuj and what Sort of Bodies they will have. THUS far we have already gone ; but the Chapter of the greateil Confe- quence, and the molt important Concern is ftill remaining, concerning the Refurredion of the Dead, and in what Condition they will find themfelves after they are rifen ; in the handling which we Ihall follow our ufual Method : In the firft Place, we fhall fpeak to the Thing itfelf, and afterwards to the Modes and Adjunds of it, and that ac- cording to the Light we have received ei- ther from the facred Writings, or from the Nature of the Things themfelves. As for the Thing itfelf, nothing is more clearly revealed than that in the whole Chriftian Doftrine : Both the Jews and the Gentiles I State (?/ Departed Souls, ijfrJ \2i Gentiles had likcwife Ibme Idea of a future Refurxection, but an Idea that was general and confus'd. The former believ'd that the ^^^tlic whole World would be reviv'd, and that S^EaTth.^ every ladis^idual of Mankind would, toge- B.4. c.^-. ther with the World, be renew'd and revivM ; and nothing is more commonly found than that amon>9: the Stolcks and the Tlatonicks : Nor was it only found among the Grecian Phllofophers, but originally among thole of the Eaftern Nations, Egyptians^ Chaldeans^ ^eajians. Theopompus^ in Laertius^ fays inProcemo of the Magi dvct^ioda^a^oci xctTcc, T«$ Mccyi^s T8$ civ^oMTrBs^ that Men liv^d or would live a fecond LifCy according to the T^o£irine of the Maq^i, As for what relates to the Jews^ Mofes in his Law taught them nothing exprelly, either concerning the Refurreftion of the Body, or the Immortality of the Soul ; yet I make no Doubt but that both thefe were known to Mofes and to the ^ Sages^ inftruc- N 3 ted ^ * But they, for the mofi part, confine the Refurrec- tion to the Jaft, and to the Ifraelites. See Buxtor. Syn, Jud. c.i. p.^i. and Gerard, de Refurr. Tom.S. /'.809. Antepen. and ^Daff>vius. Again, they fetm to mean the firfl Refurrc6llon to a tcrreftrial Life, and to have no further Notion of celeftial Bodies Some of thdr Rabbins fuppofe, likewife, that they are to rife again not only with the fame Bodies, but in the fame Cloaths alfo: But they confine all this to the Land of Canaan only, and fay, that the Bodies of fuch Ifrae- lites :i8^ A TREATISE concerning the ted by him, and confcious to the fecret Doftrine. Afterwards this Dodrine was deliver'd avpiSoAiTcoosy conjeSiurally^ by fome of the Prophets, and by fome of the facred Canonical Writers more clearly, and at length, by ©^2^/^/ the Prophet moft perlpicuoufly. But yet this Doftrine of Salvation was not to Ihine out with a full Meridian Glare, nor to be com-*, pleat in all its Parts, nor accomplifhed in all its Numbers, till the Days of the Meffiah. Ik this, then, we Chriftians triumph, up- on this joyful Meflage, that Death being conquer^, and the infernal World over^ come, we Ihall be brought and reftor'd to Light, and to the Enjoyment of a blifsful Immortality ; not in the coarfe Cloathing of thefe CarcafTes which now we carry a- bout us, but in heavenly Bodies ; nor living ' and converfing upon this Dunghill, where we at prefent languifh, but above, in the Brightnefs of aetherial Regions, in the charm- ing Seats and Society of Angels, through endlefs Ages happy. Lift up your Heads, then, O ye Chriftians ! raife your Minds and ^tei^ii. Thoughts to the Skies! And Jince *i2je have '*' thefe Vrom'tfes^ let us cleanfe ourfelves from all Filthinefs of the Fle^ and Spirit ^ per^ feUin^ iltes as have died in foreign Countries fliall return home through fome fubterraneous Caverns, or at lead that the Bone Luz lliall do fo; and from thence, as from its Stt^^ the whole Body fliall grow up again. ■ S^| StaTe of Departed Souls, ^c, 183 feEitng HoUnefs in the Fear of God. Having fuccindly made thefe Remarks, let us now i with all our Diligence explore upon what Paffages of facred Scripture, upon what Au- Ithority divine, this fo exalted Hope of the iChriftians, this animating, this infpiringHope, is founded and depends. In the firft Place, Chrift himfelf often i^fferted that Men after Death would rife a- I gain, and often promifed it to his • and af- firmed that the Power of doing it was in himfelf, as Lord of Life, and of Death : And that he was not unable to raife up others, he plainly demonltrates, in that he was able to raife up himfelf from the Dead. Firft he maintainM the Refurredion againft the Sa- Matt.xxii, dticees^ and maintained it by the ftrongeft Argument that could l)e drawn from the Mofaick Writings, which alone, by Peribns of that Sed, were held authentick and cano- nonical : Then he promifes Rewards \v TiJiLukexiV. dvccr^a-a TMv S'lytcclcov:, in the RefiirreEiiou ofn- the Juji^ to thofe who are Benefadors to the Needy and the Infirm, from whom in this Life they can exped no Compenfation. But to his Difciples, and to thofe who loft every Thing that they had in this World, in order to become fuch, he promifes Things, h tIJ Matt.xlx,] TroLALyyevea-iobj at their fecond Birth^ or at *^- their RefurreBion^ which are greater and more confpicuous. Befides he openly and clearly affirms that Dominion over Life and peath is in him, and that he, by his own Power, ^ N4 byi A TREATISE concerning the j by his own Voice, will caufe the Dead to arife from their Graves. Firft of all, in the Beginning oi iht Revelations^ where in thefe . . J Words he fpeaks to St. John^ I am the Firjt 18, * ' andtheLaft; lam he that liveth and was dead; and^ behold^ I am alive for evermore j^ Amen, and have the Keys of Hell and of ,, ^eath. In the next Place, in the Gofpel i of the fame St. John^ he feveral Times fays the fame Thing, Caf, vi. ver, 40. And this is the IVill of him that fent me^ That eve- ry one which feeth the Son^ and helieveth on him:, may have evcrlafling Life: And I will raife him up at the laft i>ay. In the next Place, in the fame Gofpel of St. John^ phap^xl he lays to Martha. I am the Refurre£iion^ and the Life: He that believeth in me^ though he were dead^ yet jhall he live. And whoJo« ever liveth^ and believeth in me ^ (hall never die. And laftlyj in the fifth Chapter of the fame Gofpel, you will find both thefe in '^^^'^z' Conjiindion : As the Father hath Life in himfelfy fo hath he given to the Soft to have Life in himfelf Attd hath given him An- thority to execute Judgment alfOj becaufe he is the Son of Man. Marvel not at thisy for the Hour is Comings when all that are in the Graves (Jjall hear his Voice^ and jhall come forth ; they that have done Goodj to the Refurre£iion of Life ; and they that have done Evil^ to the RefurreSiion of ^amna* St AT E of Departed Souls, Ifc. 1 8 5 All thefe Things being taken from the Mouth of Chrift himfelf, abundantly prove I the future Refurredion of the Dead. But ' Faith is animated and confirmed when Facts corroborate Words ; and he has given us ma- ny Examples, that he is able to perform what he hath promised us. Therefore Chrill^ Avhen he was here upon Earth, did not only caufe others to rife from the Dead, which I I mull confefs was formerly done by the Pro- ' phets before him, but he likewile raifed up hinifelf from the Dead, after he had been cru- cify 'd, dead, and buried^ for, ftiaking off the I Bands of Death on the third Day, the Soul I fled Back to its facred Relicts, and infpir'd I them with immortal Life. 'Tis in this that we Chriftians glory, in ^ ihis Viftory thus extorted from the laft and I moft potent Enemy, from the King of Ter-» ' rors. Did ever any of the Grecian Sages, , or of the Oriental Magtj did ever any of I the Philofophers of what Name or Nation foever, did ever any of the renown'd Le- giflators, or laftly, any of the facred Pro- phets rife from the Dead, lay down his Life, and refume it? Was ever any of thofe vic- torious over Death, and returned to the Liv- ing ? No, only this our Captain, this our God, led Death and Hell in Triumph : And ^tis from this Conqueror only that we exped both a joyful Deliverance from Death, and ^ blifsful Immortality, Nor iZ6 A TREATISE concerning the Nor did this Refurredion from Death happen to Chrift, as to one who never thought of it, who never hoped for it, who never in the leaft expeded it, and as an Aftion per- formed by another's Power : He not only knew that this would happen, but he fore- told it both to his Difciples and others, and foretold that it would happen within three Days after his Death. He faid to the JewSj js^2xkm\\.i^eJiroy this Temple^ and in three ^ays I loh ii l^ '^^^^ Taife it up again. But he Jpoke of the Temple of his Body^ fays the interpreting 3°^- "• '5>> Apoftle. And his Accufers afterwards brought this Saying as a Crime againft him, Mat.xxvi. And the chief Priefts and Pharifees remem- ^^- bring this, defired of ^Pilate that the Sepul- Mat. xxvii. chre might be guarded ; which was accord- 62,63,6cc.ingly done. Befides, Chrift had faid fbmc- thing like this to the J-ews before, when they delired from him a Token of his divine Mat.xii. Million : As Jonas was three "Days and ^°* three Nights in the Body of the Whale ^ fo 'will the Son of Man be three ^ays and three Nights in the Heart of the Earth. This is fufficiently plain, and the Angel re- proaches the Women who came to feek the Body of Chrift in the Sepulchre, after he was rifen, with the Forgetfulnefs of thole ^"^^•™ Things: He is not here but is rifen: Re* ' ' " ' member how he fpake unto you when he was yet ///Galilee, faying^ the Son ofManmufl be delivered into the Hands offinful Men^ and be crucified^ and the third "^Day rife again : And State of Departed Souls^ ^e. '187 'And they remembered his Words i as like- Jq^i- ?»•«•*• i wife did his Difciples. j Nor did he only by Signs and Parables, \ but very often by exprefs Words, foretel both his Death and his Refurredion, and that each of them would be fpontaneous. ( Therefore doth my Father love me,, becaufe Joh.x. 18. i / lay down my Life,, that I might take it ' again. No Man taketh it from me^ but I / lay it down of myfelf : I have ^ower to lay it down J and 1 have Tower to take it ' up again. Then he fays afterwards, A little jo\^^x\'u while and ye {hall not fee me y and again a *<^- little while and ye {hall fee me^ becaufe I go to the Father y which he afterwards Ihews is meant of his Death, and of his fecond Com- ing, p And this Power that he had, when he pleafed to ufe it, of preferving his Life fafe and inviolable, appeared as clear as the Meri- dian Sun Day, when his Enemies coming upon him, he all of a fudden rendered him- felf invifible, and them confounded and im- potent. Nay, by the Virtue of his Look alone, by the very radiant Light of his ^^^' "^"^• Countenance, he terrify M and dilpirited thofe Luc.iv.30, who came with a Defign to deftroy him. Laftly, in his Transfiguration upon the ho- Mat. xvii. ly Mountain, he converted himlelf wholly J°^-^vi. 6. into a vital Flame, as it were, into a reful- gent Body, of Angelick Form, or rather of divine Glory. By which Transformation of ^^^^ xxvhX his Body, he fufficiently fliew'd, that he had 3- ■'•'-' Life i82 ^TREATISE concerning the Ban.x.f, Life in hinifelf, and that it was in his Power, a'pet.j.i6, as often as it was his Plcafure, to trample up .^7. on Death, and to fwallow up all Mortality. And let me add, lince 'tis to my Purpofe, that in this his Glorification, bringing down Mofes and Elias from Heaven, both living, and both immortal, he, in them, gave us Pledges and Examples of our own Immor- tality, and our fatin*e Refurreclion ; which appeared more openly afterwards, when up- on the Refurreftion of Chrift, divers of the Saints rifing together ftom the Dead with him, appeared to many in Jerufalem^ Mat. xxvii. 5" 2, 55. Lastly, That I may put an End to this I Difcourie, Chrift did not only rife from the Dead, but he afcended likewile into Heaven. After he had gotten a Vidory he triumphed : And being carried in a radiant Cloud, as it were, in a triumphal Chariot, his Difciples beholding him with Aftonifhment, and Troops of Angels attending him, he returned to his antient Seat, to what was his Country from all Eternity, and to God the Father. This is the only true Apotheofis, which the antient Cafars_y and the Heroes of old, and others renown'd in the Heathen World for their furpaffing Merit, their Fortitude, and their Wildom ; all of them in vain affefted. And now, fmce Chrift our Saviour has faid, and has done all this, both among the Living and the Dead, and reigns at length in the Hea- ven of Heavens endued with a glorious Body, 'tis State 0/ Departed Souls, ^c. 189 'tis but juft that we fhould believe what he has taught, and promifed us concerning our own Relurredion to be certain, eftablifhed, and unchangeable. Havimg thus compendioufly laid before you the Sayings, and the Adions of Chrift, which irelatc to ourRefurredion, theApoftolical Doc- Itrine* of the Refurrcdion follows concerning |thefamcSubjed,which being agreeable to what has been already faid, is fomething more dif- fufe, and comprehends fevcral Heads : But principally let us obferve this, that theRe- furredHon of the Body is never attributed by the Apcftles to natural Caufes, or natural Power, but always to divine Operation ; and very * ThefcTellimonies of the Apoftlcs require fome far- ther Confideration : In the firft Place then we mult ob~ ferve, that the Apoftles, in their Preachings to iht Jew^ and Gentiles after Chrifl: was afcended, always be^an with this Alfertion, T/j7^^ Chrift was nfen from the Dead: From whence they eitablifhcd the Chriftian Religion on a double Foundation, That Jefus of Nazareth was the Meffiah ; and like wife, That there was to be a future Re^ furredwnfrom the T)ead. While Jefus was upon Earth, he proved himfelf to be the Meffiah by hfs Miracles, and the concurring Teftimonies of the Prophets : But when he was rilen trom the Dead, and had afcended up into Heaven in the Sight of the Apoftles, they thence took a new Argument to demonflrate, both that the fame Jefus was the Meffiah, and likewife farther, that the Hopes of Chriilians concerning a future Refurredion mid eter- nal Life, were firmly founded on him. Hence in the j Ads of the Apollles we find, that this Topick was al- ways infilled upon by the firft Apoftolical Preachers of 1 eath ! j State of Departed Souls, isfc. 191 I ^eath ! where is thy Sting ? O Grave ! "^^"^-ss^si* \ where is thy Victory ? Thanks be to God^ I who giveth us the Vi&ory through Jefus \ Chrijt our Lord. For he had faid before, I For he muji reign till he hath put all Ene- ver.2;,z6j mies under his Feet : The laft Enemy that fljall be dejtroydy is ^eath'^ but Death can- not be deftroy'd but by an univerfal Refur- redtion. Nor is it only in this Chapter, but in others, as often as Occafion offers itfelf, that he teaches us that the Caufe and Ori- gin of our Refurreftion is founded in that of Chrift, and that he, by his Refurrediion, R^om. xiv, was conftituted Lord of the Living and of^'^asxvii. the Dead, and of the future Judgment that s^- is to fucceed the Refurredion : For ye are deady and your Life is hid with Chrijt in God ; but whe7i Chrift^ who is our Life^ fljall appear J then jhall ye alfo appear with him in Glory ^ fays the fame Apollle to the , ColoJJianSy Chap. iii. ver. 3, 4. And he fays like wife to the Thilippians^ For our Coji-chn^/ni ver fat ion is in Heaven j from whence alfo"^"^*^^' we look for the Saviour y the Lord Jefus Chriji^ who (hall change our vile Body^ that it may be fafhion'd like unto his glorious Body^ according to the Working whereby he is able to fubdiie all Things to himfelf, I fhould be tedious if 1 Ihould here pro- i Pet. «i duce more Paffages, (efpecially fince ^^^J^'c\[v are fufficiently known,) to prove from Chrift 14. our Head, the Firfi-born of the T^ead.^^"^^^'"^' (Col. ' 192 A l^REATISE concerning the (Col. i. I 8) the firjl Fruits of thofe that Jleep^ (i Cor. XV. 20.) to prove, I fay, that from his Influence and his Power the Hope of our R(^furre£tion depends ; nor yet does it fo far depend upon Chrift, that it does not likewife depend originally upon God the l^^-^^: ^^- Father; both Chrift and his Apoftles often affirm thaC, ^^. ii. 24. &C 32. Gal.u 1, E;ph. i. 19. I Cor, vi. 14. Heb. xiii. 20. It depends alfo in fome Manner upon the Holy Ghoftj and both concur in this divine Ope- ration. So the Apoftle to the Romam teaches us, Chap. viii. 11. But if the Spi^ rit of him that raifed up Jefus from the ^ead dwell in you„ he that raifed up Chrift from the T)ead fhall alfo quicken your mor- tal Bodies^ by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Nor do I at all wonder, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, fhould, in Ibme manner, co-operate in the Refurrec* tion of the Dead, fince 'tis like a new Crea- tion, when numberlefs Souls are all at once, from an inviiible State, brought forth into Light, as it were^ from nothing, and all of them reinvefted with Bodies of their feveral Kinds \ nay, the Souls themfelves have, as it were, a Regeneration, or a TjioLXiyUvidid^ a new Life, and a new World, and all Things around them new : And therefore the A pot- tle does, with a mighty Emphafis of Words, fet forth all the mighty Power of God, as employed State ^/ Departed Souls, iffc. 193 employed and exerted in producing this won- ^ derful Work, Ej^h. i. 19. Hitherto we have let forth the Certain- I ty or Stability of our Refurre6lion, and the I efficient Caules of it from the facred Wri" I tings : And all thefe are clearly reveaPd. I Let us now proceed to Things that are lefs I clearly and lels exprefly determined. And i here the Queftion firfl: offers itfelf which is I proposed by the Apoftle, vi2^. With what ^^^"^'^"^^ Sort of Bodies Men jhall rife again ? YIms ^^' syeiPGvrcci oi vexpoi > ttoico q acofjictri ^p^ovTcti > How are the \Dead raifed tip ? or with what Body do they come ? That we may anfwer this Queftion, and difcover the Qua- lities of that Body with which we are to be cloath'd at the Refurredicn, we muft ob- ferve, in the firft Place, what Powers and what Qualities the facred Writers attribute to fuch a Body. Upon this, allowing thefe, which, upon the Teftimcny of the Scrip- ture, we know belongs to thofe Bodies, wc are to enquire farther what other more par- ticular Qualities, by a juit Rcafoning, may be deduced from them, and which may more nearly and intimately difcover the Nature and phyfical Conftitution of thole Bodies. Laftly, we muft conllilt the Nature of Things, which muft he call'd in to our Aid, when we are enquiring into corporeal Be- ings, that we impute nothing, through our Ignorance, to the facred Oracles, that is in- congruous or ablurd. O But A TREATISE concerning the But that we may ait compendioufly, that Queftion of the Apoftle, Wilh what Bo« dies are we to arife ? feems chiefly to in- clude two Things : Firft, with what Body? that is, whether with an organical Body, and a Body like that which at prefent we carry about us ; or whether with a Body that is inorganical, and of another Form, and ano- ther Order from that which we have at pre- fent. But fecondly, with what Body ? .that is, whether with a grofs and clofely com- pacted Body, fuch as we now have, or with a thin, a loofe, and a light one, refembling Air or ^ther. One of thefe doubtful Points, you fee, refpe(3:s the Form of our future Body, and the other the Matter ; and if we can give a good Account of both thefe, we fliall, I preflime, give a fatisfaftory Anfwer to the propounded Queftion. Now 'tis from the facred V/ritings that we muft bring the Anfwer to both Parts of the Queftion ; and not only from this Chap- ter of St. Pai/l to the Corinthians^ but from every Paflage where either Chrift or his Apoftles explain the Conditions of thofe Bodies which we fliall enjoy in the Hea- vens. Of thefe Conditions fome are general , and common, which can difcover nothing certain or definitive in this kind : Others are fpecial and proper, which may be call'd | Char afters, or Charafteriftical Tokens ; to \ which, if we diligently attend, they will : bring us to a Difcoyery of the Form or the j Matter ' State of Departed Souls, Isfc. ^195 Matter of the Bodies of the Beatified. We wilU as the Nature of the Subjedt requires, divide thele Charaderiftical Tokens into two Orders; the former of which will anfwer the 1 firft Part of the Queftion^ and the latter the fecond Part. The four following facred Charafteriftical Tokens feem to dilcover and to give us a View of the Form of our im- mortal Body, whether it is to be organical or inorganical. Firft, it will have no Oc- j cafion for either Belly or Edibles; fecondly, ! of Flefh and Blood it will not confift ; third- ly, it will be a Body not made with Hands, a^x^-CP'^o^'^Tov ; and thereby, fourthly, it will be la-oiyyeAov^ a Body by which we Ihall be I like to the Angels. Each of thefe four Cha- rafters muft be examined apart from the reft, that we may be able to difcern what Validity each of them has, how much is i implied in it, and how far it extends. As for the firft, the Apoftle fpeaks thus con- cerning it ; Meats are for the Belly ^ and i Cor. vK the Belly for Meats ; but God jljall a&clijh ^^ hth it and them. But when will he abolifh . them ? Not in this Life ; therefore in the Life to come : Not in this mortal Body ; therefore in the glorious and immortal Body. But if that Body will want a Belly, it will confequently want thofe Entrails, thofe Vef- fels, and all thofe Parts which are contained in the Cavity of that Belly. But all thefe being fubftrafted, what Sort of Body will remain ? Why, a Body that is maim'd, and O % whofe A TREATISE cmcerning the whofe Parts are feparated by empty Space ; in Ihortj a Body altogether imperfed, if we regard the Nature of an organical Body. And then, the Parts which are under the Belly will either be wanting^ or will be of no Ufe •, of which we Ihall fay more hereafter. Laftly, the Thighs, the Legs, and Feet, are the necelTary Inftruments of Walking, and Walking is performed upon a Subftance that is itfelf immovable. But fince in the Air, or in the Heavens, there is no immovable Subftance to tread on, there is neither Pave- ment, nor Porch, nor Gallery ; there local Motion will be performed not after the Man- ner of Walking, but in the fame Manner in which the Angels move. Thefe lower Parts of the Body then will be all of them toge- ther abolifh'd, as ufelefs and fuperfluous. Besides, where there is no Food, there can be no Nutrition • but feveral Faculties and feveral Organs were made on Purpofe to be fubfervient to Nutrition, which muft likewife be abolifh'd, when our Food is : Such are the Organs of Tafte, of Chewing and Swallowing; the Organs of Concoction, of Sanguification, and thofe of Diftribution •, and not a few of the Glands are ufeful to Nutrition or Secretion^ Now what orga- nick Body can bear the Lois of fo many Parts ! and yet the Body which we are to have muft endure it ail, if we have rightly calculated. . Thefe numerous Parts, then, being thus feparated, or cut off from the Body^ State of Departed Souls, isfc. i^j Body, let us next confider what we are to determine concerning Flefh and Blood, whe- ther they too are like to perifh together with thofe which are mentioned before. After the Apoftle had treated of the ( Qiialities of blefTed Bodies, at the End of that Difcourfe he adds ; But this I fay tmto ' Cor.xv, yoti^ Brethren^ that Fle(h and Blood can-^"^' not inherit the Kingdom of God,^ The Apoftle fays abfolutely they cannot. There is, it feems, fome Repugnancy between the celeftial State and the Conditions of Flelh and Blood ; and therefore there is a Necei- fity that the Body, with which the Soul is in- vefted in Heaven after the Refurreftion, ihould be ctvonfjLov ot^ aaoLo-itov^ without Fleft, and without Blood. But you will fay, perhaps, that Flefh and Blood, in this Expreffion of the Apoftle, are not to be literally underftood, but myftically, or allegorically, as they de- note the Works of the Flelli, or moral Pra- vity and Impurity. To which I anfwer, firft, that this is faid without any Proof, and not only without any Proof, but againft the re- ceived ,Ru]e of Interpreting; by which we are forced to depart from the Letter, unlefs we are urg'd by Neceffity from the Nature O 5 of * In the Language of the Vulgar 'twas called the Refurreiiion of the Flejh^ but Wile Men underftood it ^ei^Q7roiyiT(^^ the Temple made with Hands^ is opposed to TO) oL^xj^^piTQiyiTcp^ to the Temple not made with Hands \ and Chrift by both means his own Body, and calls that which he had when he was here upon Earth, *x,^^irQiri^ov^ made with Handsj and the other d'^&i^irmTovy not made with Hands ; in which Gompari- fon the forefaid Antithefis can hardly be ex- plained any other Way than we have ex- plained it above. And the Apoftle, in his , Epiftle to the Hebrews^ Chap. ix. confirms this Explication, where he dwells upon this Similitude of the Tabernacle, to which he tacitly here alludes. And as Chrift names the Temple, the Apoftle calls the Tabernacle, or the Sanduary, ;^«e^7ro/7)Toy, ( Ver. 24.) to which our terreftrial Body an- fwers. Then he calls the celeftial Body of Chrift a x'^^'^om^^ov^ (Ver. 11.) and adds, by way of Expofition, t^t^c^ivj, i ToiUTu^ ttSs ocTto-BMSy that is to fay, not of this Buildings or this Structure, but of a different Form from this terreftrial and organick Body. But concerning this Word, and this Cha- racter, we have fufficiently Ipoke. The only remaining Charaderiftical Mark is taken from the Equality upon which the Blefled in Heaven fiiall be with the Angels. Chrift fays to the Sadducees^ that State of Departed Souls, Iffc. 203 that ^ the Sons of the RefurreBion (hall be ia-ccyys?\.sij like to the Angels \ which, at lirll View, feems only to regard Marriages and Copulations, yet not to the Exclufion of other Things : So far from it, that Chrift feems rather to have taken that Occalion to deliver a more general Sentence^ by which the Equality of the Sons of the Refurrec- tion with the Angels, both may and ought to be further extended: And it is aftually further extended by St. Lttke^ who after this Manner delivers this Saying of Chrift: But they which (hall he accounted worthy Lxikt^Ti, to obtain that IV or Id ^ and the Re fur relation ^^' 3<5* from the T^ead^ neither marry ^ nor are gi- ven in Marriage ; neither can they die any more^ for they are equal unto the Angels j, arg yoi^ ccTTo^ocvav en S^vvavToci^ icrccyyeAoi yocp eiai. From thefe Words it appears to nie to be evident, firft, that the Angels have Bo- dies ; then, that we ftiall have fuch Bodies as the Angels have, that is, inorganical Bo- dies. * The Sons of theRefurre61Ion are the Sons of God, fays Chrill, Luke xx. 36. D»nlSj< '23, as the Angels are called. I am not ignorant that the Expreflion, So>7s of God, is, in fome Senfe, to be applied to the Saints in this Life, namely, as they have received the Spirit of Adoption, and the certain Hope of a future Inheritance and Glory : But v^hen 'tis fpoken of a future Life, it feems to denote the Angelical State, according to this Saying of Chrift here and in other Places, M.it. v. 9. John i. 12. 2 04 ^ T R E AT I S E concerning the dies.'^ As to the firft, if that Equality upon which the BleiTed fiiall be with the Angels, confifts only in the fpiritual Part of each of them, and not in their Bodies ; then, our Bo- dies may be mortal after the Refurredion^not- withftanding this Equality. But we are told by Chrift, that by reafon of this Equality we can die no more : This Equality, then, mull regard the Bodies of each, or the corporeal Part of them^ for we die, or are mortal, only with refped to the Body, whether in this Life or in the Life to come : Befides, this Immortality, or Equality with the An- gels, concerning which Chrift inftruds us, are Privileges that accrue to us by and after the Refurreftion ; but the Soul has been al- ways immortal, from its Creation ; and that Immortality that com^s to us by and after the * This St.AuJlm openly alTerted: Our Bodies^ fays he, after the Reftirred'ion^ pall he fuch as are the Bodies of Angels^ upon TfaL Ixxxv. at the Words, Thou haft de- Iher^d my Soul from the lovjermofl Hell. And upon P/^/.cxlv. not far from the Begmning, he calls our hea- venly Body Corpus Angel'icurn^ an Angelical Body. Ter" iullian's Phrafe is, Caro Angelificata^ Angellzd Flep^ de Refurr. Cam. c. 16. And agahi, he calls it, Demu- tatio in Suhfiantiara Angelicam.^ a Change into an Ange- lical Subftance.^ Lib. iii. contra Marc. c. ult. haHantitts calls ft, Transformatio in Similitudinem Angehrurn.^ a Trans formation into the Likencfs of Angels.^ Lib. vii. c. 26. You may confult at your Leiilirc more Places of Au/iin that fpeak the fame Senfe, as Epift^ iii. adFortunat. Gen. ad Lit.]. xn.c^f. And again, l.ii. c. 17. C5f 1. ii|. c. 10. of the Bodies of Fallen Angels, and thofe thrrt are not fallen ; and others of the like Nature. State of Departed Souls, ^c. 205 the Refurredion, is the Immortality of the Body. 'Tis in this Relpect, that we are e- qual to the Angels ; for, in Ihort, we fhould be like to the Angels rather before than af- ter the Refurredion, if the Angels had not Bodies.* Be SIDE Sj that the Angels are not naked Ipiritual Subftances, but cloathed with Bo- dies of their own Kind and Order, feems to be demonftrable to me from this, chat they are to conftitute the Attendance, and the Guard of Chrift, upon the glorious Day of his Coming. They muft of Neceffity, then, be Mat.x.w. vifible, and cloathed with Bodies, and thofe l^'^ ^j of a more noble Order, that they may aug-7. ment and accomplilh the Majefty and the Magnificence of that Celeftial Pomp: Nor will you, I believe, prefume to fay, that they will have Bodies at that Time, but Bo- dies which they will borrow, composed of Air for that Occafion only ; Bodies to be thrown off, and again dilpers'd when the Pomp of the Spectacle is over : I believe you will hardly fuffer this to be faid, that , Chrift, indeed, will return with innumerable Attendance, but an Attendance of Phan- toms only, with a thoufand thoufand tran- fitory and fugitive Shadows, and idle empty Vifions, and that fuch Angels as thefe in Mafquerade farround the Throne of God. iCor.xi. Bendes, ^'^' * Of this Matter fee Hnct, Ori^. 1. z. a. ^. Scif^.- 6,9. P-7I- Mat. XXV. 41. 20 5 A TREATISE concerning the Eefides, when in the facred Writings 'tis faid, that Satan Ibmetimes transforms himlelf to an Angel of Lights that Metamorphofis fup- pofes that an Angel of Light has fome out- ward Form, and fome Yilible Species, by which he is known and diftinguilhed from the others. But that, be it what it will, he cannot poffibly have unlefs he has a Body. And as for the evil Angels in general, when they are capable of Pain and Torment by Means of corporeal Fire, and are deftinM to fuffer it, 'tis evident from this, that thofe degenerate Spirits have their Bodies, what- ever thofe Bodies are. Befides, on the other Side^ 'tis impoflible there can be any Socie- ty, any Commerce, between the good and the Holy Angels, and Saints, and beatified Spirits, unlefs both the one and the other are in fome Manner vifible and incorporated. Lastly, Give me leave to ask one Quet tion ; Can any one of a found Underftand- ing, and who has a juft Eftimation of the Works of God? can fuch a one upon confi- dering the Thing ferioufly, believe fincere- ly, and from his Soul, that the Celeftial and yEtherial Regions, vaft as they are, and almoft boundlefs, can be without any vifible in- telligent Creature, without any Animal in- dued with Reafon, except a few human Souls? What Wilds, what Solitudes, what, next to infinite Defarts, muft fuch a one fuppofe that there are in the Nature of Things, which Space the good and the great God, wanted neither State of Departed Souls, is^c. 207 neither Power nor Goodnefs to replenifh with proper Inhabitants ? But if you are of Opi- nion with us, that Angels have Bodies pro- per to their Kind and Order, not, indeed, or- ganical Bodies, (for what have Angels to do with Bones, with Joints, with Bowels, with ^"^- ^^^^'^' Stomach, and with the Frame and Fabrick of Members ?) but lucid and astherial ones, Pial.civ, 4.- fuch as feveral of the Fathers were of Opi. nion that they had, as we have obferved in ^rchccoicr another Place ; and if you grant that ours Phiiof.i.r.* will be like to thefe Angelick Bodies ^; from ^*^* this Hypothefis Honour will redound to God the Creator of the Univerle, to Heaven its Ornaments, its Majefty, and Magnificence, and Armies of illuftrious Inhabitants, to us a Society and eternal Commerce with An- gels, and an Equality, and Refemblance, and Relation to them, both by glorious En- dowments of Body and Mind, and by blifs- ful Immortality. Hitherto we have anfwered the lirft Part of the Queftion propounded by the Apoftle, which regards the Form of our im- mortal Bodies : Let us now proceed to the fecond Part, which comprehends the Matter of them, and the Qualities of that Matter. Here, * But Angels iifually appear cloathcd in brightBodics. See the Places in Gerard. 'lorn, 9. p, dyp. about the Middle. And what St, 'Jude fays of them, that they left TO rSm oix^yi^ptoif thetr proper Habttation^ {ver. 6.) may de- note either their Bodies, or their corporeal Places* 2o8 A TREATISE concerning the Here, therefore, the Enquiry is to be, what Kind of Body we Ihall enjoy in the Heavens, whether a thick or Iblid one, like that which we carry about as at prefent, or a thin, a light, a refulgent, and a tranfparent one, like Light, or JEther, or Matter a-kin to the Heavens, In examining this Part of the Queftion, let us proceed in the lame Method that we ufed in the firft Part, by thofe fa- cred Charafters, or Tokens that are founded in the facred Writings. But the Body of the BlefTed in Heaven, is called by St. ^auly celeftial, fpiritual, potent, glorious, and con- formable to the glorious Body of Chrift. When 'tis called celeftial, that denotes the Matter of which 'tis compofed : For as the Body which we have at prefent confifts of terreftrial Matter ; fo the Body, which is called celeftial, will confift of celeftial Mat- ter ; or, as the Body of Adam was framed of Duft, or of terreftrial Clay ; fo, on the contrary, the Bodies of the Sons of God will be formed of celeftial Matter, or Matter modify 'd like it. 'O tt^wt©^ aV3-pw7r(^ ?jt u^ eirs^vi^y TOLSTOL >i< 01 eiThspccyioiy S.C. I Cor. XV. The firft Man is of the Earthy earthy : ^Ji^^'^^'The fecofid Man is the Lord from Heaven. \,z.' ' As is the earthy^ fo are they alfo who are earthy ; and as is the heavenly ^ fiicb are they alfo that are heavenly : And as we have born the Ima(^e of the earthy, we /hall STATE, of Departed Souls, isfc:. 209 jhall alfo bear the Image of the heavenly. With refped to the Body in this Life, we are made like to Adam ; and with relpeft to the Body in the other Life, we are made like to Chrift. But if our celeftial Body is to have the fame Qualities or Modifications with the celeftial Matter, then this Enqui- ry only remains, viz,, what is the Nature of celeftial Matter, or after what Manner 'tis modify 'd ? To which I anfwer, that ^tis not hard, nor folid, like Glals, or Chryftal, or Ice, as fbme of the Ancients dreamt, but that 'tis as pure and thin, as the fineft Air or ^ther : And, confequently, our celeftial Bodies will be of the fame Nature. Secondly, our celeftial Body is called by the Apoftle a Jpiritual Body : To "zuveu^ fjiccTixoi'^ or -Ts-r'gij/xa, either fignifies fomething void of all Matter, in which Signification it can be meant of no Body whatever ; or it fignifies fome light and thin Body, like Wind, or Air, or Vapour : in which Senfe like- wife rr^l is usM by the Hebrews j and Sfi^ r'ttiis Spirit^ by the Latins :, as when the thinner Parts or Particles of our Blood are caird Spirits^ whether they are animal or vital. Nor doe^ that Word feem to me to be taken otherwife, when our Celeftial Bo- dy is caird a Spiritual Body^ provided you add this as by Confequence, that the hea- venly one will be more vivacious than this mortal Body, and that Man, who will be then made to an enlivening Spirit, en ^veu" P (/.X 210 J TREATISE concerning the fjLct ^MOTToidVj will have the Power of pre-' ferving his own Body without Meat, or Drink, or Sleep, or thofc other Things which the animal Body of Adam^ aoofjLOL -j^u- X^'^ovy wanted for its Support. Ver.45.; Thirdly, the Celeftial Body is calPd potent and a^ive : ^Triipercci Iv da-^snKXj the Carcafs is fown in tVeaknefs^ and it is raifed in ¥ower. The Power of the Body confifts in Motion, or in the Power it has to move itfelf and other Things j that which moves itfelf from Place to Place ea- fily and fwiftly, is calPd aEiive\ and if befides it has the Force of moving other Bodies, it is on that Account thought the more powerful. But 'tis here to be oblerv'd, that a Body whofe Parts are quiet, and ad- here one to the other, hath no Power of its own of moving itfelf; for Motion among Bodies is producM only by Motion, or by a Body mov'd. There is, therefore, a NecefTity that a Body to be aftive muft have its Parts in Motion, as 'tis in Air, Wind, Flame, and Light. Indeed, hard and coherent Bodies, which lufFer themfelves to be bent, and are calFd elajiickj refift, and recover their for- mer Situation, and that with a great deal of Force : But then the Power of moving does not proceed from the hard Body, but from fome other fubtle Matter in Motion inclos'd in the hard Body. Befides, in Machines which are composM partly of Matter which Is hard and firm, and partly of that which is State of Departed Souls, is'c. is fluid or volatile, the lolid may be niov'd by the fpirituous Parts, and the whole Com- pound be moved together, or any particular Part of it, as may be feen in the Motion of our own Bodies, or of any particular Mem- ber of them. But if within the hard Bodies there is no Matter in Motion, nor moveable Matter, neither its own nor foreign, it re- mains motionlefs in itfelf, and can never be movM, unlefs by external Force. Now if thefe Things are rightly affirmM and determined by us, it follows, that the Body which we are to have in the Heavens may be adive and lively, it muft not con- lift of a fluggilh and fpiritlefs Matter, as is the Matter of concrete Bodies, or Bodies whofe Parts are coherent to one another, but of a Subftance light, and vivid, and vo- latile ; that fo, in Obedience to the Command of the Mind, it may be eafily carried to any Part, may pafs through other Bodies, and may, at its own Pleafure, rarify or con- denfe itfelf : In fine, the united Force of the Parts or Particles of which fuch a Body confifts, muft be exceedingly powerful ) and if they are all diredled the fame Way, and •to the fame Objeft, they will penetrate or throw down every Thing that ftands in their Way, like a Storm, or the Lightning of Thunder. And here give me Leave to add, that we ought not to wonder that it fhould be in the Power of the Soul to guide and di- P 2 red 2iz A TREATISE concerning the red the Parts of this fpirituous Body which Way foever it pleafes ; when even in this grofs and heavy terreftrial Body, it fends forth the Spirits and the thinner Juices every Way into the Nerves and Mufcies, accord- ing to the abfolute Pleafure and Command of its own Will : And when all this fpiri- toils Body is nothing but a Frame of con- gregated Spirits, and of the nobleft Matter, 'tis but highly reafonable that we Ihould grant to a glorified Soul a plenary Power over fuch a Body ; a Power of impelling, retaining, or guiding and direfting its Parts which Way foever it pleafes. Th e fourth Charader follows, by which the Bodies of the Blelfed are ftylM g/o- rious. That Word denotes fomething more excellent than Beauty only, or than Propor- tion of Parts, *z;/;s. a certain Light or Reful- gency ; nor can Matter or Body, be it ever fo beautiful, appear glorious^ unlefs 'tis il- luftrated with Light and Radiancy. Be- fides, the Word J^Jfct, Glory ^ wherever in- the facred Writings 'tis fpoke, either of! natural Bodies, or of Divine or Angelick , Appearances, almoft always denotes fome- ! thing refplendent and illuftrious, as will im- mediately more fully appear. In the mean 1 ver. 4o> while, you fee that in this very Chapter I 4i»4^' Mention is made of the Glory of the Stars, which confifts in Light, and that in order to | explain to us the Glory of our celeftial Bo- dies. Laftly, the Prophet 'Daniel difcour- fing State of Departed Souls, ^c, 213 fing of the Condition of the Righteous after the Refurreftion, to lay it before us, has Recourfe to the fame Example of Stars, but applies that Example more ftrongly. Many of thofe^ fays he, that now Jleep in tbeT>7ifI^^^'^^^' of the Earth will awake ^ fome of them^'^^ to Life eternal,, and others to eternal Con- tempt and Reproach : And the IVife jhall JJ?ine like the Splendor of the Firmament ; and they that inftrtiB many to Right e 011 fnefsj like Stars to Millions of Ages. Chrift mark'd the fame State, the fame Time, and the fame Glory, when he faid, Then ^ all //6^ Mat. xlii. Righteous jbine forth as the Sun in the^^' Kingdom of their Father. "'TIS evident that the lame Glory is defcribM by the Prophet, by Chrift, and by the Apoftle, and that that Glory is a Participation of Light and Splendor. But the Queftion may here be ask'd, Whe- ther this Light and this Splendor are inhe- rent in glorified Bodies ? or whether they come from abroad, and are only reflected or tranfmitted, as in Gems or polifli'd Me- tals, or in other folid Bodies ? And yet, methinks, this too might be determined by the Examples brought from the Sun and the Stars. However, we fhall examine this more fully in the following Chara£ter, by which our celeftial Body is faid to be formM after the Manner of the glorious Body of Chrift. In the mean while, this remains fix'd and eftablifh'd, that the Bodies of the P ? Bleffcd ^14 A TREATISE concerning the Bleffed in Heaven are, in Ibme meafure, lu- cid and refulgent, and by confequence glo- rious. And now comes the kit and the moffc Phil.iii. 2. illuftrious Charader, of the Formation of J Cor. XV. Q^y, celejtial Bodies after the glormis Body ijoh.iii.z. of Chriji, This Charader confirms the former, and belides difcovers to us, that the Light which thofe glorified Bodies emit, is inherent in them, and dwells in them, and proceeds from an internal Principle, as from an exhauftlefs Fountain : For Chrifl, when he was on the Earth, in his Transfiguration, rendered himfelf all Brightnefs, not by re- fleding a borrowed Light, but from him- felf he emitted that Virtue which caufed him to overflow with Glory, and to be im- mersed in a Deluge of Light : "EAa/u^^g to ir^donrov avrs cos o nAi(^ tci q ijulcctkx. ccvm Mat.xvii. iyivBTo ?^.evKcly cJ$ to (pw?, Uis Face did jhine 2. as the Sun J, and his Raiment was white as the Light: So fays the Evangelift. Then after his Refurredion he appeared in feveral Shapes, (^Mark xvi. 2. Luke xxiv, i6. John XX, 15. tS xxi. 5.) renderM him- felf vifible or invifible according to his Plea- fure, Luke xxi v. 31. and twice entered the Houfes where his Difciples were, though the Doors were fhut, Joh.xx. 19. 26. and yet he appeared with Bones and with Flefli to his doubting Difciples, that he might convince them of the Truth of his Refur- redion, State of Departed Souls, iffc. reaion.^ And thus he Ihevved, by thefe feveral Tokens, that it was in his Power to refolve * Clem. Alexand. Strom. 6. p. 649. £(j5ayei' ylt^ a 5/3d rh wafjix, tffc. For he eat not for the fake of his Body, which was fuftaia'd by divine Virtue, but left thofe he appear- ed to fhould entertain falfe Notions of him, as we find afterwards that fome adhiallydid, fuppofing him to have been no more than a Ghoft or Apparition. Or'tgen apud Hieron. in Prooem. ad I. xwiii. in Ifa. He eat after his Refurredlion, and drank, and appear'd cloathed, and offer'd himfelf to be felt, to convince his doubting Dif- ciples of the Reality of his Refurrcdion ; but yet he plainly difcovers the Nature of his aerial and fpiritual Body, by entering into the Room while the Doors were Ihut, and by his vanifhing out of Sight at the Breaking of Bread. Damafcene Hkewife fays, that he did this 4 yoVwCptVew^, ^c, not by the Law of his Nature, but byway of Proof of the Truth of hisRefurtedion,2)^<^^'//W.fW./. 4. ^. i. There are befides quoted, as of the fame Opinion, T'heophil. in cap.y.\\v. Luc. vind Bede in cap. xx. 'Johan. in Gerard, tom.^. p. 6^1. med. ChryjoJ}. Hom.^"], Co4^ Gr. m yoh, cciiov Se ^ia.TO()yjffah irw?, K.r.A, But it may be doubted how an incorruptible Body could receive the Impreffion of the Nails, and betouch'd by mortal Hands: But let not this fhock thee; for this was by 'Permiffion only, (ffvyKaraCuaeujc^ by Way of Condefcen/ion :) For a Body fo thin and fine as to come in when the Doors were (hut, muft be void of all gvofs Subftance: But he fhewed himfelf in that Manner for tK'e Proof of the Re- furredion. St. yluguft. de Civ. Dei, /. xxii. c 19. We muft believe, that the Brightnefs of the Body of Chrift at his Refurredion, was rather hid from the Eyes of the Difciples, than really wanting in itfelf : For the weak Sight of Man could not have been able to have beheld fo glorious a Form with that Stedfaftnefs as was necefTary for him to be known by. He would not be touched (John xx. 17.) because he was not in a tangible State^ being then return d from the D^Ad-^ ^^d u^on his AJcenfion to the Father, P4 Vi5 A TREATISE concerning the refolve his Body into the thin and the vola- tile, and to reduce it at his Pleafure into a Body folid, and of adherent Parts. Lastly, When he afcended into Heaven, "With the Swiftnefs of a winged Angelj mounting to his native Seat, what was his Body ? what was his Vehicle ? It was light and rapid, as the fiery Chariot in which Elias was formerly carried, when he afcend- ed alive into Heaven. In like manner, when Chrift was feen by St. jfohn in the Ifle Rcv.i ij^y of 7*atmoSy his Eyes were as a Flame of Jf^ Fire J and his Feet like to fine Brafsy as if they burned in a Furnace ; as the Son of Dan.x.j-, Man was feen by the Prophet 2)^7^/V/ before. And laftly, he is at length to return in the fame glorious, refulgent, flaming Form ; otherwife he would hardly be vifible both Night and Day aloft in the lublime Sky, to ^hofe who inhabit the Earth : Nay, even the Glory of the Father, with which 'tis faid he is to appear, is this very refulgent Form, as the Father, or the Antient of T^ays^ is pan.vii. defcrib'd by the fame Prophet, with a lumi- §» '9* nous and flaming Majefty. And to come to a Conclufion of this Point, I only defire to add, that the Glory of God, which is caird by the Hebrews Shechinahj and which is the majeilical Prelence of God, has always the Appearance of Light, or Flame, or of a rcfplendent Clpud; as in the Journeying out of Egypt^ and in the Holy of Holies ; and the lame Thing which State of Departed Souls, iffc. 217 Is called the Glory of Godj is termM like- wife a Cloud, or a lucid Cloud, Num, xii. 5. S xvi. 19, 42. il/^^^. xvii. 5.^2 Tet. i. 17. and in many other Places in both Teftaments, it appears, that the Glory of God, or his glorious Prefence, is always fliewn in Ibme lucid, flaming, or fiery Mat- ter ^ but the Body of Chrift was the moft excellent Refiding- Place of this Shechi- nah, of this divine Glory, and, as it were, the SanEtum San£iorum in which it fhone out moft brightly ; to which alfo the facred Authors are often wont to allude, yoh/i, 14. Heb,\y^. 11. Rev. xxi. 3. Thefe Things being thus explained, it leems to be determined, that the glorious Body of Chrift which he has in the Heavens, is like Flames, like jEther, or like liquid Light, and that confequently our Celeftial Body will be of no diilimilar Matter, fince 'tis to be conformable to his. And indeed, if wc confult Realbn and Philofophy,^ any other Kind of Matter can fcarce fubfift or fuftain itfelf in the Heavens, and the ^therial Re- gions, where all Things are ferene and pure, every Thing moft fine and fubtle. Laftly, fince in the Rank and Order of Bo- dies, or in material Nature, we know nor thing more excellent than Light or Flame, ^tis but juft that we determine, that the glorious Body of Chrift, and ours in Pro- portion, * See On^^». cotJt.Celf. l.iii. m. ]p.i^6> 2iZ A TREATISE concerning the portion, muft confift of thefe till we find lomething that is more excellent and fur- paffing. Perhaps, it may be here objeded, that thus to explain the Glory of the Body of Chrift in the Heavens would be foreign nei- ther to Reafon nor the facred Writings, if it were not an Obftacle to the received Doitrine of the Flefn and Blood of Chrift that are ftill remaining in his Celeftial Body : To which I anfwer, that the Fathers either had different Sentiments, or remained doubt- ful concerning this Point of the Flefh and Blood of the Celeftial Body of Chrift. 'Tis very well known that all the Dilciples of \ Origen deny it, and philofophize quite af- ter another Manner. Befides, with the Fa- thers of the fecond Nicene Synod, among the Definitions and the Heads of the ^ Con- jiantinopolitan Council, (which is called the Council of the IconoclafleSj or the Image- Breakers^ which, upon hearing them read over again, they approved of f this was one : * "Ei riq 8% oixoKoyst rhv Ki!p. 5'4i. 220 J TREATISE concerning the In vain the Topjh Doftors labour to wreft thefe Words, ajc It/ adpxcc^ to a meta- phoiical or figurative Senfe, viz, to fignify not the Subftance of Flelh, but its Affec* tions and Infirmities ; but the Words which follow, as well in the faid Councils as in Gregory Nazianzen-^ which in the Councils are, That he may remain a God without the Grojfnefs of the Flefh ; and in the Father, that God ?nay remain without any corporeal Mafs^ without any flejhly Grojfnefs :. Thefe Words, I fay, plainly difcover, that the Word o-apxctj Plejhj is here taken phyfical- ly, and according to its fpecifick Nature, as 'tis oppofed to a thin and liquid Matter ; and 'tis in this Senfe, as you may plainly fee, that Flefh is denied to be in the Body of Ghrift, by the Votes and Confents of thefe two celebrated Councils. Lastly, I faid that fome of the Fathers were doubtful as to this Point, which is Epft. 146. univerfally known by the Anfwer of St. j^u- ft in to Confentius^ who had proposed this Queftion to him. Whether now the Body of Chriji has Bones and Bloody and the other Lineaments of Flefh in it: To which Quet tion, after that St. Auftin has given a gene- ral and partial Anfwer, he adds, Let not Faith be wanting^ and no "Doubt will re:' mainy unlefs we ought to enquire concern^ ing the Blood of Chrifi ; becaufe when he faid^ Fcelandfee^for a Spirit has not Flefh and Bones J he did not add^ Blood. Let not us. . State of Departed Souls, isfc. m usj therefore^ add to our Inquiry what he ' did not add to his j^n fiver y andj if you fleafe^ let the ^leflion have this compen- dious Endj or elfe^ ferhaps^ fonie more troublefome E^iquirer^ taking occafion from this Mention of Bloody may prefs us fur- ther. and ask^ if Bloody why not ^Phicgm^ why not yellow and black Choler ? of which four Humours the Phyflcians agree,, that the Nature of Flefl^ is composed : But what- ever any one adds^ let him beware of adding Corrupt ion J that he may preferve the Sound- nefs a7id Chajiity of his Faith, Here, you fee, St. Auflin remains cau- tious and doubtful, and Confentius docile, but yet doubtful. Some, indeed, talk more boldly and grolly concerning the glorious Body of Chrift. This I deny not ; but fome Things, at prefent, being balanced againfl: others, let us proceed, if you pleafe, on our Subject : For whatever has been determined, either by Councils or Fathers, it muft yield to Rcafon and Scripture. Secondly then, I fay, or rather repeat from what was faid before, that Flefl:^ audiCor.y.y. Blood cannot^ according to the Apoftle, i7i- ^^' herit the Kingdom of God, Thefe Words, if they are literally taken, and in their pro- per Signification, there is an End of the prefent Difpute, by the Affertion of our Lord himfelf : But that they ought to be received lb in this Place, according to the received Laws of Interpreting, if I am not miftakcn. 2 2 2 A T R E AT I S E concerning the miftaken, has been above fufBciently de- monftrated. Thirdly, ^Tis repugnant both toRealbn and the Nature of Things, that Flefti and Blood can be incorruptible: As the Body of Chrift is now, fo will our Body be here- after in the Heavens. But you will, per* haps, anfwer, that Flefli and Blood, indeed, are not incorruptible in their own Nature, but that they may be renderM incorruptible, their fpccifick Nature being preferv'd and remaining. This is what I deny ; yes, in this Part we diffent : And left Deceit fliould lie lurking in Generals, let us, if youpleafe, open the Matter fuccindly, that the State of the Queftion may appear the more manifeft- ly. Every Kind of Body has its Proprieties; of which Ibme are accidental and mutable, others are effential and unchangeable, which being deftroyed or altered, that Portion of Matter will ceafe to be a Body of the fame Kind and Nature which it was of before, but paiFes into another Clais or Order of Bo- dies . For Example ; When the Herbs which we eat are converted into Flelh and Blood, they are no longer Herbs, though the fame Matter remains, but Flefh and Blood, Bo- dies of quite another Kind and another Na- ture, On the other Side, when Flefh and Blood are, in their Turns, converted into Herbs and Grafs, which often happens when the Ground grows fat by the Blood of llaugh- ter'd Bodies, thus altered, they ceafe to be Fleih State of Departed Souls, i:f.c. 223 Flefli and Blood. When Chrift, in the Mar- j riage of CanUj converted Water into Wine, the fame Matter remained, but differently , modified ; and by reafon of thofe new Mo- I difications, loft both the Name and the Na- ' ture of Water. Tell me then plainly, and leave the So- I phifter behind you, what Alteration do you I require Ihould be made in the Farts or Par- tides of Flefh and Blood, that from a cor- ruptible Matter they may become incorrup- tible, and yet preferve the Nature of Flefh and Blood ? Or, if you had rather, anfvver j this Queftion : What are the Proprieties, I what are the Conditions of Flefh and Blood, which you affirm to be effential to both, and from both infeparable? Yes, what are the Proprieties and the Conditions, which being prefer ved, Flefh and Blood remain ? and which being deftroyed, Flefh and Blood muft either periili with them, or muft pafs into another Clafs of Bodies ? If you anfwer, that that is unknown to you, then you con- fefs that you know not whether that can be done, which yet you affirm is done, which feems to be the Part of a rafh and a head- 1 ftrong Man : Yet ftill let us try if, by fome j other Expedient, we can bring latent Truth j to the Light. Tell me, then, what are the I Principles, what are the Stamina of which I Blood is composed ? You know what are the Principles of Blood, which all receive and acknowledge, viz. Salt, Sulphur, Spirit, Earth, 224 ^ TREATISE concerning the Earth, and Water. But 'tis equal to me whether you take thefe or other, provided they are known, determined, and terreftrial. In the mean time, thele Things being thus laid down, I ask you. Is it your Opinion that thefe Parts and thefe Principles will re- main in your Celeftial Blood ? Do you be- lieve that the Body of Chrift in Heaven is composM of Salt, Sulphur, Water, and Eaith ? Unlefs your Celeftial Blood retains thefe Stamina, thefe fundamental Principles, it win be no longer Blood, unlels equivocally and catechreftically, becaufe it will not have the Subftance of Blood ; and if it retain thefe, it will not be a Body celeftial and in- corruptible. For here we are to obferve, that this Matter, this Subftance of the Blood being thus laid down, the Form of it is to be composed of the due Mixture of thefe Parts and Principles : But now imagine what Mix- ture or Texture you pleafe, it will be dif- folvable ; nay, it will be adually diffolvM and diffipated by the celeftial Matter fur- rounding it, and intermixed with it, like Wood or Straw in our terreftrial Fire. 'Tis true, indeed, by means of Power divine, it may be preferv'd incorrupted, as may the Blood that we now have, or as the young Men formerly were in the Babylonian Fur- nace ; but ftill it will be in Its own Nature corruptible, provided 'tis composM of the fame Elements, however mix'd, of which our Blood State q/* Departed Souls, ilfc. 225 Blood is conftituted : And what we have faid j of Blood will hold good in proportion of FleJJj likewife; fo that there will be no Oc- .j cafion for going over the Argument again, .1 to fliew the lame of this latter. It will be I fufficient to obferve, that if Softnels and ! Humidity remain. Corruptibility will like- wife remain ; but if it becomes hard and dry, it will then take the Nature of a Stone, or of Glafs ; or, at leaft, it wall refemble I Mummy dried and hardened in the burning i Sands of Arabia or Egypt. But it will be needlefs to dwell any longer on Things which i are as repugnant to Reafon, as they are to ' Faith. A In the mean time, the Summary and Con- 1 clufion of what has been faid upon this Sub- j jed is this, That the glorious Body of Chriffc I in the Heavens does not confiit of any joint- I ed Frame of Bones, of Flefh, and of Blood, or of any of the Humours or Entrails of this prefent terreftrial Body ; but that 'tis of a more excellent Matter, of a higher Na- ture, and Purity, and Perfedion : That I may fay all in a Word, it confifts of Matter intirely Celeftial, with refped both to its Subftance and Accidents. Laftly, the ex- ternal and vifible Glory of this Celeftial Bo- dy will confift properly in this. That it will be refulgent, and by its own Rays illuf- trious ; I fay, by its oi^i^n Rays, and not by any borrrowed Light, either tranfmitted or refledcd, but living and innate, like a Source Q^ of A TREATISE concerning the of living Water. And of this refulgent Glory Chrift gave a Specimen from Hea- ven, when he fpoke to Sa7^/^ and did, by the Flalhing of his Rays, as it were by Light- ning, throw him proftrate on the Ground, blinded, and amaz'd, and confounded, ^cfs ix. 5. 'zu-f^wVe^4'^^ ccvTovj fays the Apoftle, (poos ccTTo TS is^vSo IVai ireacfiv btti Tnr y^ivy ocl. The glorious Body of Chrift pour'd out and diffused its Light, a Light more bright and more powerful than the Meridian Rays of the Sun. Compare j4^s ix. 17, 27. with j^ffs xxii. 6. and xxvi. 13. n This feems to me to be the proper Ha- bit and State of the glorious Body of Chrift ; yet notwithftanding all this, we are willing to allow that it is, and always was in the Power of Chrift to change his whole Body, or any Part of his Body, into whatever Form or whatever Temperament he pleas'd. When he was here upon Earth he walk'd upon the Sea, and it gave no way to his light Body. He was forty Days without Meat and with- out Drink, and had Power to render his Body impaffive. He rendered it, likewife, thin, thick, heavy, light, dark, lucid, vifi- ble, or invifible, according to his Sovereign Pleaiure: Much more has he now Power over his own Body in the Heavens, and can convert the Subftance of it, that is obe- dient to his Commands, into Blood or any other Juice, into Flefti or any other Concre- tion, according to his divine Will j and there- fbrei State of Departed Souls, ^^. fore the Dilpute is not concerning that Point, nor concerning the Power of Chrift, either over the external Elements, or over his own Body, but concerning his proper State, and his Form, that is faid to be glorious and ce- leftial : That, I fay, is neither bony, nor flefliy, nor fanguinary, but a Mafs of liquid Light, and of Air that glitters with its Ra- diency, like the brighteft Stars of Heaven ; as is moft agreeable to his divine Dignity, and thofe aetherial Regions where he chiefly refides. Thus have I treated with all the Brevity, and all the Perlpicuity, that I poffibly could, of the Matter and Form of the Body of Chrift in Heaven, and alfo of our own Bo- dies, which are to be made like unto his, by his divine Power and Influence. We have found upon Examination, that each of thele is inorganical and inconcrete: And tho' this Exa- mination has been founded upon Charafters and Tokens drawn from the facred Writines- and adjufted to the Nature of Things, yet are we fo accuftomcd to grofs Bodies, confti- tuted of Flefli and Bones, and a Frame of folid Members, that we are fcarce able to conceive any other Kind of animated Bodies, or to give our Aifent to any Proofs whatever of them. But whoever is either moderate- ly converfant in the Writings of the ancient Pliilolbphers, or has read what the Chrifl:ian Fathers philofophically write concerning Angels and Demons, will without Difficul- Qj^ ty 2 28 A TREx\TISE concerning the ty get free from that Prejudice. Therefore I will piefume to ad vile them, that they would iirll diligently enquire, whether An- gels have Bodies ? and if they have^ what Ibrt of Bodies theirs are ? As for the Firft^ you have the Suffrage and Confcnt of the ancient Fathers, and of the Grecians efpe- cially^ to that Opinion, that the Angels have Bodies, as we have ihewn in another Place. / Then v/hat the Bodies of Angels are, you will learn from the fame Greciajt Fathers; and in feveral Places of St. Anjlm.y among the Latins J as in the Treatife de Gen. ad Lit. in his Epiftles, in the Treatife de Ci^ ^itate 2)^/, and in ieveral other Places. You will find that they all teach us, that thofe Bodies are thin as the Air, or the pure Auher ; but that the good Angels have the purer, and the grolTcr the evil ones. This Dodrine of the Fathers being received, and their, as it were, fecondary Authority, (for the primary one is that of the lacred Scrip- ture, and of Reafon that bears Witnefs to it,) that vulgar Prejudice will difappear and Yanifh, that there is one only Kind of ani- mated Bodies, viz, the organical, and that which confifts of concrete Matter, of Flelh, and of nervous Members, like our terreftrial Bodies. But there is another Genus of Bo- dies, of a eel eftial Kind and Order, fuch as the Bodies of Angels are, or fuch as ours will be, when welhall be like to the Angels. The grofsj heavy, fluggiih Bodies, fuch as we State of Departed Souls, i5fc. 229 we have at prelent, are in the loweft Clafs of Bodies, which immortal Minds, and ra- tional Natures inhabit. And thole which coniilt of a light, fubtle, and moveable Mat- ter, are a much nobler fort of animated Bo- 1 • • • •• • dies, and are readier tor Motion or for Dii« patch in all the Actions, either of the Mind or the Body. Nay, even in this terrelirial Body, the thin, tlie fubtle, and the fluid Part, which we call Spirits, is the proper Vehicle of the Soul, as the moft nearly ally'd :o it. Thefe it commands, and thele are the laftruments which it makes ufc of to move the Members of the Body : And the Affeclicns and Operations of the Mind, depend upon the Subtilty, or the Groffnefs, the Plenty or the Want, the regular or irr regular Mouon of the Spirits, and are ac- cordingly Hiore or lefs powerful and vigo- rous. This Syftcm then and Colledion of Spirits, and of thin and fpiritoi^s Matter, is the Seat of the Soul, and its primary and intimate Body ; and this Covering of Skin and Flefh which we wear, is only ufed as a Shell or a Casket for tiie furer Prcfervatioa of it. Away then with that vulgar ridicu- lous Dotage, repugnant both to Philofophy, and to Theology, viz^. that without the Trunk of a Body, and the Entrails which belong to it, no Body can be a fit Habita- tion for Souls, or for any fpiritual Nature. j4 Sfirit^ fays Chrirt, has not Flejh and i^^^ Bones. He does not lay that a Spirit is 39. ixir. 5 A TREATISE concerning the dcxcofjictTov , without a Bodyy but that it has not a Body of Flefli and Bones. As, above^ it was faid of Chrift himfelf by the Fathers^ in the Heavens without Flejh^ but not with-- out a Body, Certainly, if a Spirit had been without any kind of Body, it had been more ready for Chrift to have faid, and had been as much to the Purpofe, A Spirit has not a Body^ as you fee that I have. Yet this he did not fay, but a Spirit has not Flejh and Bones^ that is, a Spirit has not a grofs, vifible, and palpable Body, fuch as mine appears to be, both to your Sight and Touch.^ Hitherto *Laft]y, thePhilofophers in defining that Body, which they fay good Men will have in a future State, or in Hjavcn, make ufe of the very fame Words, and Epi- thets, and Phrafes, as the Apoftle does in defcribing our future celeftial Body. "I^aul calls this Body we are to have, a celeftial or eternal one in the Heavens : They likewife term it Hp^.woy and kM^iov ; and in like Mnnner oppofe it to a terreftrial one. St. 'Paul calls it immor^ tal and incorruptible ; the Philofophers ufe Words of the fame Sil^nification, aOiy^ror, a^pe^proj/, afxCporovy cCl-liov.. The Apoftle compares it to the Stars ; they call it «q-epo- «iSe?. He ftiles it a lucid and glorious Body ; they uvya^ iiBoq. In fhort, both defcribe it by the fame common Epithet of crw/xa nrysvixccTiKouy a fpiritual Body- 'Tis not to be queftioned but that the fame Kind of Bodies is meant on both Sides. But 'tis well known, that the Philofo- phers did not defign a grofs Body, mixM up with Blood, much lefs any kind of hard organical Machine ; but a Vehicle^ as they call it, compofed of a rarefy'd a6live fort of Matter ; fo that this Body may be always of a like Nature with the Place, where the Souls are to ref^d?; an Opinion which they are often repeating. State of Departed Souls, ilfc. zj Hitherto we have explain'd, according to the utmoft of our Power, the Points which are of grcateft Moment in the Doitrine of the Refurreftion. There are others remain- ing, and though not of the fame Weight, yet worthy of our Confideration and our Enqui- ry. But the Remainder of the Things be- longing to this Subjefl: Ihall be comprehended in the following Chapter, becaufe this is air ready grown too large. y CHAR VIII. What fort of Body ive are to have at the Refitrre^iion ? the fame that we have at frefentj, or a different one ? AVING now finilhed the firft Part of the Difcourfe, which we begun concerning the Refurreftion, which contains the Certainty and Caufes of the Thing itfelf^ and the Matter and Form of our new Bodies ; let us proceed to latisfy the other Qiicftions, which may be asked upon the fame Subject, though they are of a much inferior Confe- quence. The lirft of which, is, Whether we Ihall arife with the fame Body, which we left off at our Death ? The fame nume- rical Body is here underftood, a Body con- fining of the fame Matter, and the very fame Particles. This is a very celebrated Qj. Queftion, 32 J TREATISE concerning the Queftion, but it appears to me to be ra- ther curious than neceffary. For how can it be your Intereft or mine, whether we are to have the fame Particles, or others of the fame Virtue and Dignity ? How can it con- cern us what becomes of our Leavings, and Carkafles, provided we live in the Light of Heaven, and in the * Society of Angels? Yet becaufe there are at this Time no fmall Debates concerning this very Matter, let us, if you pleafe, look into the State of the Caufe, and then to what Part of it the fa- cred Scriptures and free Reafon incline J In the iirft Place, I believe, both Sides are agreed, that the Bodies of thofe which at the Coming of our Lord fhall be found among the Living, will be immediately changed, the fame Particles being retained, pr^ at lead, a great Part of them ; that is to fay, as fbon as this mortal Frame of Mem- bers is diffolved, the fame Matter, (the Filth of it excepted,) will be converted into another Form, and into other Qualities , that is, in- to the fame Form, and the lame Qualities, which immortal and incorruptible Bodies have. * But as we make no Account of the Shavings of the Beard or Head, fo that divine Mind, when it makes its Exit from the Body, is as little concerned what becomes of its Cafe, whether the Fire confumes it, wild Beads devour it, or the Earth covers it, regards it no more than a new born Infant does the Afterbirth, Sef^ec. State (?/ Departed Souls, ilfc. 25 v have. This is called by the Apoftle., not to ^qq^^^^^ be dive ft ed of a Bodyj, bat to be do at bed up- \on with one^ that Mortality may be fwal- low'd up of Life : Or, that this Corrupt tible may put on Incorruption y which jiTranfition can never be made without Ibme melting and diffolving of the Parts ; as ter- rcftrial Bodies are purify 'd or converted to Flame. Befides, if I am not miftaken, both ! Sides are agreed, that the Body of Chrift, when he rofe from the dead, confifted of the fame Particles which it did before ; and that when he afcended into Heaven he re- I tained the fame, and carried them to a ce- ! leftial Parity, by Virtue of his enlivening j Spirit. j ^ . These Things then being granted on both ! Sides, the only Debate and Doubt that re- \ mains, is, concerning ordinary Carkafles, or ! concerning the Bodies of the Dead, which I have rotted, have been diffolved and diffipa- ' ted, their Parts or Particles having been changed a thoufand different Ways, and diC- 1 perfed in a thoufand different Places : The - I Queftion then is, whether thefe Particles ihall every one of them be recoUeded into I feparate little Heaps, according to the Num- I ber of Bodies that have died from the Be- 1 ginning to the End of the World ? Then, ; whether every little Heap fliall be worked I up again into Limbs and Lineaments, and ' the entire Form and Shape of the fornier Bo^ idy? ' There ;^34 ^ TREATISE concerning the There are, indeed, feveral Paffages of 1 the facred Scriptures, w];iich appear to me, 1 at the firft Appearance, to favour this Uni- ty, or, as it is wont to be called, this Iden- j tity of Bodies, the prefent and the future. | Chrift himfelf fpeaking concerning the Re-| John V. furredion, The Hour is coming j fays he, in \ ^8,29. fjj^ which all that are in their Graves fhall\ hear his Voice ^ i. e. the Voice of the Son of God^ and jh all come forth J SCc. Here Chrift appears to hint, that at the Refurredion, the very fame CarkaJDTes that lie in their Graves , ihall hear his Voice, and come forth, as La-- \ z,arusj, after he was brought to Life again, came forth from his Sepulchre. And confo- 1 nant to this is what St. John fays in the Chap. XX. Revelations^ And the Sea gave uf the "Dead 23. that were in it^ at the univerfal Refurreclion. Each of the Elements, the Earth and the Water, Ihall reftore the Carkaffes which they have fwallowed, that being once again ani-j / mated, they may be fet before the Judgment I Seat. In like Manner, the Vifion of the fame Prophet, or the Scene of the Refur-i- Ver. !2. redion, teftifies the fame Thing ; Ifaw the gcChap. T>eadj, fays he. Small and Great ft and be- fore God. If little ones remain little ones after the Refurredion, and the Prophet faw whole Troops of Infants, of Boys, of Youths, and of Perfons at the Age of Maturity, ftand before the Judgment Seat, that appears to difcovcrj that every one will have the fame Body xi. 18. State of Departed Souls, ^c. 255 Body with which he died, whether it was little, or whether it was great. I TAss by that Paflage of yol^y becaufe chap.xix. the Hebrews^ and the bell Interpreters of o- ^^'^^' • ther Nations, all expound that by a tempo- ral Redemption and Reftoration. Nor, in- deed, is it probable, that an Arabian^ a native of a foreign Land, and before the I Promulgation of the Law, and the Age in I which Mofes lived, fliould have a deeper i Infight into the Myftery of the Refurre6tion, : than all the Hebrews^ or the Hebrew Pro- phets, who lived many Ages after him. I I pafs by other Things, that are figuratively i fliadowed in the old Teftament, and by the j Prophets, which are wont to be brought to ! prove this Point. That which comes nearer I to fuch a Proof is this, That St. ^aul in I more than one PajGTage affirms, that thefe I mortal Bodies will rife up again, or be chan- I ged into glorious Bodies ; and though in this I Chapter to the Corinthians^ he feems at firll Rom.viil i to affert, that another Kind of Body will a- '^* ... I rife different from that which fell, or was 21!^** fown ^ yet in what follows, underftood ac- ' cor-xr. cording to the Letter, and the mofl obvious ^'^'^ I Senfe, he feems to retain the very fame Bo- j dy indued with new Qualities. To thefe Quotations brought from lacred \ Scripture, fome Perfbns are pleafed to add Reafons and Arguments, by which they in- dultrioufly pretend to prove, that 'tis but jufl: and equitable that the fame numerical Body 2^6 A TREATISE concerning the Body ftiould arife, and be carried up into Heaven ; that, as it performed its Part in the bearing Afflidions, or the Performance of Duties in this Life, fo it fliould be made Partaker of the Rewards and Glories of an- other. That they cannot think it juft, that one Ihould itrive for the Victory, and that another Ihould be crown'd, or that one ihould have all that is due to another, whether it be Good or Evil. And upon this Rock ftruck fever al of the ancient Fathers. But this Way of arguing, as we hinted ' before, is altogether unphilofophical, fup* ported by none, or by a falfe Foundation, becaufe no Matter whatever is capable ei- ther of Rewards OT of Punifhments, either of Grief or of Joy, but mull be always infen- iible, either in the prefent or in a future Bo- dy. The Mind alone not only underftands and wills, but alone is fenfible, either of Grief or Pleafm c, and has alone either good or evil AfFedions. 'Tis, therefore, rightly affirmed of the Soul alone, that it does ei- ther Good or Evil, that it either enjoys or fuffers, either offends or pleafes God, and is either rewarded or punifhed : In fincj the Soul alone can be either happy or miferabie, S ^ Befiues, our Bodies have no Stability, nor are they always the fame, but are in a per- petual Flux, and Motion, and Mutation. We have had more or fewer Bodies in this Life, according to the Courfe of our Years; ^nd, perhaps^ in one wc have behaved ourr felyes State of Departed Souls, ^c. 237 felves well, and in another ill : How then fliall impartial Juftice be rendered to each of theni ? But we have touched upon this Mat- ter before ; and 'tis hardly worth our While to dwell any longer upon refuting fo wretched an Argument. In the mean while, what fiiall we con« elude from thofe Paflages which we quoted above, from the facred Scripture, which feem. to affirm to us, that our mortal and immortal Bodies, as to their Subftance, are one and the fame. Why, we mull conclude, that we muft adhere to th^ Letter, provid- ed we find other Things confenting to it; and we find no Obftacle on the Part of the Thing concerning which we treat. We are therefore firft to enquire what that Opinion contains, or comprehends in it, of the Iden- tity of both the B^^dies, terreftrial and ce- leflial ? What Conveniencies or Inconve- niencies, or what Repugnancy attend that Opinion ? We obferved a little above, that our Body in this prefent Life is manifold, that 'tis diffipated and repaired daily ; and that after a few Years it becomes entirely new. And, therefore, in the whole Courl^ of one's Life, one has, perhaps, fix or feven different Bodies, and even more if we live a great many Years. This brings a-frelh to my Mind the Quef- Mat.xxii. tion which the Sadducees formerly propofed fo abfurdly, of the Woman that had iz\Qx\ Husbands, viz* which of them flie fliould have 238 A TREATISE concerning the have at the Refurreftion ? Let the Soul, foi theprefent, be that Woman, which had fever Bodies, as it were, fo many Husbands : The Queftion is, which of the Seven it fhall have upon the Refurreftion, for it had them all i Perhaps you will fay, that of the Sever which it had laft. But it may very well be that the Soul did more Good or more Evi in fome other Body than in the laft, anc therefore it ought rather to have that othe: Body the Companion of its Mifery, or it; Glory. Befides, how ill would the decrepi Body of an old Man, or the little helplef one of an Infant, become the Court of Hea ven, and the Affemblies of Angels ? And ei ther in the one or the other of thefe Bodies, th( greater Part of humanKind expires. But, if yoi would carry that infantine diminutive Bod;; up to the Flower of Life, or bring back th< Body worn out wdth Age to the fame Youtl with the other, there would be Occafion fo ^o many, and lb great Additions on one Side and fo nsany Amendments on the other, tha like the Veflel Argtts^ that was formerly ai hundred Times reoaired, it would be th fame Body only in its Name. For my owi Pare, I had rather have a new Strudur from Heaven, than a terreftrial Cottage however augmented, or however repaired. In the fecond Place, we are to obfervc that when the fame numerical Body is re quir'd in the Refurredion, ^tis likewife re quirM that it fhould confift of Parts of th( fam< State qf Departed Souls, i^c. 23 lame Kind, of the fame Bowels, Humours, and Members, of which it confifted . 134. As if nothing could be happy or immortal, unlcfs it went upon two Legs; as fays the fame Philofopher in another Place, R A TREATISE concerning the or what Parts of that Body they would have rife again, that it may be exadly to their Mindj the fame identick Bodyo We are laftly to inquire what Ways and Means they can find out for the recoUeding the Parts or Particles of the Body which are wanting. The Aflies and the Particles of Carcaffes diffolv'd are fundry Ways, both by Land and by Sea, difpersM ; and not on- ly through this Globe, but being carried by the Heat of the Sun into the aerial RegionSj they are fcatter'd through a thoufand Parts of the Univerfe. Befides, they are not only fow'd loofely through all the Elements, but they are ingrafted into the Bodies of Ani- mals, of Trees, of Foffils, and of feveral other Bodies ; from which they cannot eafily be brought back again. Laftly, in thefe Tranfmigrations from fome Bodies to others, they are endued with new Forms and new Figures ; nor do they retain the fame Nature and the fame Qualities. Thefe Things be- ing thus laid down and granted, the QueC- tion is, by what Means, or by what power- ful Caules, the Parts and Particles of every lingular Body, however diftant, and where-; ever hid, can poffibly be colleded ? In vain will you have a Recourfe to Na^B ture : She has no Powers that are equal to , fuch, and fo vaft an EfFcd ; nor can you , appeal to divine Omnipotence, without d,l juft, a worthy, and a neceffary Caufe. But; fince 'tis plainly of no Significance, that we ; fliould . State ^ Departed Souls, i^c. 243 fliould have the fame Parts, either numerical or fpecifical, in our immortal Body, which we had in our mortal one, ftiall we dare to imploy the fupreme Power of the Deity upon a Matter ufelefs and infignificant ? Among Men "'tis faid, that the Labour a* bout Trifles is Folly y but fuch a Thing, with regard to God, is neither to be utter'd nor heard. To colled the Duft and the Aflies of all human CarcafTes from the Ori- j gin of the World to the End of it, then to I reduce every one of them to its own Mafs and its own Heap, and to work up and fa- I fhion that Heap a-new into its old Shape, ! and Size, and Bignefs, would be the moft I aftoniftiing of all Miracles. But of fuch a Miracle, io manifold, and fo ufelefs, we have hitherto had no Example. Thus much concerning the Infigniiicance and the Impertinence of the Thing ; buc 'tis doubted by many whether 'tis in the Num- ' ber of thofe that are barely poffible, fince the fame Part of Matter cannot be at the fame Time in different Places or in different Bo- dies. Some Nations, fay they, are An- thropofhagi ; they Ibme of them feed upon others ; and 'tis barely impoffible that the fame numerical Flefh can at the fame Time be reflor'd to feveral Bodies. But why do they mention Ibme Nations ? we are all of us Q?AAr?Ao(paVof \ we all of US feed upon the Remains of each other ; not indeed imme- diately, but after they have had fome Tranf- R 2 mutations 44 y! TREATISE concerning the mutations into Herbs and Animals : In thofe Herbs and Animals we eat our Anceftorsy or at leaft fome minute Parts of them. If the Afhes of every one^ from the Beginning of the World, had been feparately preferv'd in their own Urns or Coffins, or rather, if all Carcaffes had been converted into Mum- my, and had fo remained, for the greater Part, intire, there would be fome Hope of recovering feveral Parts of the fame Body, without a Mixture of others. But fince Carcaffes, for the moftpart, are diflblv'd and diflipated, and their Parts are mingled with the vaft Body of the Univerfe are exhal'd into Air, and fall down again in Dew and in Rain, and are imbibM by the Roots of Plants, and fpring up again in Grafs, in Corn, and in Fruit ; and from thence return in a Circle to human Bodies again ; it may very well happen, that by taking this Com- pafs, the fame Part of Matter may have undergone feveral y.gTgj'o-«/>iaT&!(7grf, may have inhabited more Bodies than the Soul of 'Py-] thagoras ; but that it fhould be reftorM to every one of thefe Bodies upon the Refur-. Teflion is abfolutely impoffible. If 'tis re- ftor'd to the firft Poffeffor, which feems to be but juft, it will be miffing in the others ^ or if 'tis reftorM to the laft, it will be wanting to the firft. Let us admit, if you pleafe, for the fake of Example, that the firft Po& terity of Adam^ or the Men of the firft Ages, Ihould firft reclaim their Bodies, and then, in State of Departed Souls, i^c. 245 in Order, the People of every Age ftiould require theirs : Scarce ^ half Bodies will be remaining for the late Pofterity of Adam^ or the laft Inhabitants of the Earth, all thofc Parts and Particles being torn fronuhein which belonged to the Bodies of their Anceftors. ■ Lastly, there is ftill another Knot in this Caufe, which is not eafily folv'd : For fince the Parts of Matter are daily palling from one Kind to another, their Figure and Magnitude being changed, and with them their other Qualities ; Flelli does not remain Flefli, nor does Blood remain Blood, from the Beginning to the End of the World, or from the Death of every one unto his Refurrec- tion. To explain the Thing more clearly: Every Species or Order of Bodies confifts of Particles which are proper to it, and which are diftinguiih'd from others by their Figure, their Bignels, their Motion, or their Quiet ; which Particles being difposM in a certain Manner, in a due Situation, Mixture, or Tex- R J ture, >'■'■ "" ■ * In Towns and Cities that are demolifh'd, and turn'd into Fields, and in Frontier Countries, and the Boun- daries of Kingdoms, fuch Tranfmutations are moft re- markable. See Plutarch's Account of the Mafjalian Fields after the Battle of Cymbria^ in his Life of Mar- cus. Thofe Lines of the Poet, to this Purpofe, are fufficiently known. yam feges efl uhi Troja futt : refecandaque fake Luxuriat ^hryg'to fanguine pinguk hur/ius. Rank Herbs fi^rout d*er the "Place where Vimva flood t ilovj a luxtiriant Soil^ fatten d with Phrygian Bloods A TREATISE concerning the ture, the Body becomes a Body of fome de- termined Species^ Order, and Name. Let us liippofe then, for Example, that Flelh and Blood confift of Particles which are pro- per and peculiar to them : Now thefe Par- ticles are not unalterable ; and when, upon the Putrefaftion of the Carcafs, they are difTolvM, and pafs into other Bodies, it is impoffible but that by palling through other Pores, and diffimilar Channels in diffimilar Bodies, they muft alter their Figures and their Magnitudes, and fo be transformed to Particles of another Kind ^ and therefore, if they were collcded and mixed, they would not conftitute Flefh and Blood, but Sub- ftances and Juices of another Kind. The few Things that have been faid, if I am not miftaken, have made it manifeft, that for us to have the fame Bodies at the Refurredion that we have at prefent, would be a Work of little Significancy, and of vaft Operation, if it would not be abiblutely impoffible ; which will appear ftill the more clearly the more we weigh and confider all thofe Things that are included in that Identity. And befides, whatever we dil^ cours'd of above, as well concerning the Matter as the Form of our Celeitial Body,^ is to be added to thefe Arguments ; for all that proves a Fortiori^ that both Bodies canr not be the fame, fince they agree neither in Matter nor Form : And therefore both the feventh Chapter and this are confederated and State of Departed Souls, i^c. Z47 and related, and tranfmit their Light to the feveral Parts of each other : Both manifeft- ly confpire in the fame Opinion, in the "^Diverfity of our mortal and immortal Bodies ; a Diverfity as well fpecifical as numerical, as well with regard to Subftances as to Ac- cidents. 'I' Hitherto we have examined what the facred Scripture on one Side, and what Rea- fon * But you will obje61:, perhaps, that it cannot be the fame Peribn, unlefs there be the fame Body, or at leatt the greater Part of it. Yes, certainly, tho' the Soul were annex'd to no Part of its late dead Body ; nay, tho* it were to have no Body at all, it would ftill be the fame Perfon. St. Paul fays, he was fnatch'd up into the third Heaven, and yet knew not whether in the Bo- dy, or out of the Body. Let us fuppofe it were out of the Body ; was it not then the fame Panl^ and the fame Perfon? Chrift faid to the Thief, To-day fhah ihm be with me in Varadife. The Body of this Thief remain'd dill upon the Crofs, and never went into Paradife. Whom was it then Chrill took with him; another Per- fon, or this fame? Befides, Chrift himfelf was the fame, or the fame Perfon, during the three Days of his Death, whilfl the facred Trunk of his Body lay m the Grave. Likewife, all the Saints and Martyrs, Prophets and Patriarchs; in fliort, all the Dead, good and bad, re- main the fame Pcrfons before they take up their Bodies again, as is plain from everyone's enjoying their proper peculiar Portion, and feparate from all others. f But if anyone is fovery fond of his tcrrellrial Body, that he cannot be contented without it, let it rife again j and let him have it, under the fame Shape, and made up of the fame Particles; I fliall not (land much againft it, provided he will allow that terrejlrial Body io be chang'd immediately into a heavenly one of another Form, and Other Qualities, R4 i4B 4 TREATISE concerning the fon and the Nature of the Thing, on the other Side, dictate and determine concern- ing the fame or a different Body in this and the future Life, in the Heavens and on the Earth ; and as far as I am able to colled from the Teftimonies on both Sides, the Dif- ference, as it appears to me, muft be this Way decided. According to the literal Hy- pothefis in Scripture, the fame Body which fell is to rife again, the fame Carcafs that lies in the Sepulchre is to come forth from it. At the Call of Chrift, or at the Sound of the Trumpet, the Sea fnall caft forth its Dead, and the Earth like wife its Dead, and every Element, every Region of this inferior World Ihall bring to Light the Carcafles either un- touched or renewed which it had fwallow'd and conceai'd. This appears to me to be the Idea of the Refurredion, that is the moft frequently to be met with in thefacred Writings, and the Idea the moft adapted to the Capacity of the Vulgar; which, therefore, we may be al- lowM to call the vulgar Hyfothe/is: But yet there are in the lame lacred- Writings Ibme occult Marks of the Body which we ^re to have at the Refurredion, which to thofe who look more narrowly into the Na- ture of Things, fufficiently difcover, that when v/e fhall be equal to the Angels, and conformable to the Glory and the Refulgen- ^y of Chrift himfelf, our Bodies will be then pf another Order from thofe which w^ have State of Departed Souls, i:fc. 249 at prefent, and vaftly different both as to Matter and Form, from this grofs Struc- ture of Members, and this Medley of Hu- mours and Bowels ; and therefore, that the fecret Doftrine, or the reafonable Hypc- thefis upon this Point, is one Thing, and the Vulgar quite another. And this often happens in the Style of the facred Scrip- ture, that a Thing is exprefsM or reprefcnt- ed popularly, and adapted to the Capacity of the Vulgar in fome Places, ^vhile yet in others there are not wanting Marks, by which a diligent Searcher may bring forth the latent Truth to Light. IVe fpeak fVtf- iCor.ii^, dom among the l^erfeB ^ fays the Apoftle ; and among the Imperfed, the Things that are more adapted to the Capacity of thencb.v. 15, People: By which Manner and Method of '4- Inftruftion, the divine Wifdom appears to me to ftiine very brightly out, becaufe at the fame Time that Milk is provided for Children, folid Food is prepared for thofe who are come to Maturity. Hitherto we have explained as fuccind- ly and as diftin6Hy as we poilibly could, the weightier Points, as they appeared to us, in the Dodrine of the Refurredion, and of thofe facred Bodies which we are to have in . the Heavens \ and that by laying before the Reader both the one and the other Hypo- thecs, the rational and the vulgar. 'Tis known to every one, and granted by all, that the facred Scripture does often aV3'£W7ro- 250 A TREATISE concerning the Xoyeivf Ipeak after the Manner of Men, in handling abftrufer Points : And, if I am not miftaken, both the Scene of the general Judgment, and that of the general Refur- redion, is reprefented after the Manner of Men in its firft Appearance, and its ex- ternal Ornaments ; but if you look more nar- rowly into the Thing, the Thing itfelf, in- deed, will appear the fame, but will appear in a Form of a great deal more Simplicity : But fome of the Antients, by not diftin- guifhing between this double Hypothefis, have rendered the Dodrine of the Refurrec- tion almoft unintelligible. But we ought to obferve, that there is ftill another Thing which occafion'd Obfcu- rity or Confufion in the handling this Point ; and that is, from not fufEciently diftinguilh- ing between the firft Refurredion and the fecond, according to the Sentiments of the Antients : For many of the antient Fathers greatly diftinguifh'd between thefe, and were of Opinion, that we fliould have one Kind of Body upon the firft Refurredion, and another upon the fecond : That upon the firft Refurredion we fhould have a Body composed of Flefti and Bones, and Blood, like that which wx have at prefent, but yet more pure and more perfed, fuch as the Body of Adam in Paradiie is believ'd to have been ; but that upon the fecond Refur- redion we ftiould have a Celeftial and Spi- ritual Body, without Flefh and without Bloody State (?/ Departed Souls, isfc. 251 Blood, like unto the glorious Body of Chrlft, the fecond ^dam ; fuch a one as is defcrib'd by St. Tatilj in his Difcourfe to the Corin- thians^ concerning the Refurredlion. And as many of the Fathers as defended the mil- lennial Kingdom of Chrift, who were neither few nor inglorious, diftinguifliM between the two Kinds of Bodies which we are to have after this Life. And this Diftinc- tion being once admitted, there are two different Ways of anfwering the Queftions above proposed , concerning the Nature and the Identity of Bodies upon the Refur- reftion, which Anfwer is to be made ac- cording as the Queftion is underftood con- cerning the firft or the fecond Refurredion, If the Queftion is, What the Body will be upon the firft Refurreftion ? the Anfwer is. That it will be of Flefti, but not the fame nu- merical Body with that which we have at pre- fent. If the Queftion is concerning the fe- cond Refurredtion, the Anfwer is, That it will be the fame numerical Body with that of its immediate Predeceffor, but neither carnal nor terreftrial ; fo that 'tis plain, that in this Debate nothing certain can be deter^ min'd till the Parties are come to an Agree-, ment concerning the State of the Cafe; that is, whether the Queftion is concerning one only Refurredion, or concerning a dou- ble one. But whatever we have faid above, from the facred Characters or Marks, con- cerning the Refurreftion, regards the laft and univerfal Refurreftion, and the Celeftial Bodies z^z A TREATISE concerning the Bodies which the Saints will then have: For this is the moft noted and the moft celebrated Refurredion in all the facred Writings ; upon which alonCj if I am not miftaken, the Apoftle St. Paul founded his Differtation. But con- cerning the firft Refurreftion in the millen- nial Kingdom of Chrift, and the Renovation of all Things, we Ihall treat in the following Chapter ; and that being explained, it will be more manifeft and more perfpicuous what Judgment we are to form concerning this whole Matter. In the mean Time 'tis rightly affirmed by Terttillian^ that the great Dependance of Chri- ftians is upon the Refurreclion of the Dead ; which Affertion is true concerning either Refurreftion, and that Author has more than once made Mention of that firft Refurrec- tion ; for he was a Chiliaft : And, therefore, we are to underftand that Treatife of the RefurreBion of the Flejhy (in which there is more Wit than Judgment,) to be meant of the firft Refurredion ; when we are again . to put on the Flefti, or a carnal Body, and that here upon Earth. But the fecond Re- furredion is rather a total Change, than a Refurredion, and a Tranfition to an Ange- lical Life, or, that I may ufe his own Words, a * Mutation into an Angelical Subftance, and *We acknowledge we have a Kingdom promifed us upon Earth : And this, before we come to Heaven, but yet State 0/ Departed Souls, i^fc. 253 and a Tranflation into the Celeftial Kingdom. In the like Manner when Jtijtin Martyr treats of the firft Refurreftion, he calls it, the Refurre5tio7t of the F/eJhj viz, in the Mil^ lenniiim^ {p, J07.) and Irenaus proves that that j&rft Refurrefiion will be a Refurredion of the Flcfli, Lib v. c, jj. But to return to that Saying of Tertul- liatiy The RefurreEiion of the "Dead makes the great Confidence and the T^ep en dance of Chrijiians, Chrift is our Hope, Chrift is our Life, who by his own powerful Word Ihall call the Dead into Life, he himfelf be-. ing the Head, and the firft Fruits of the Re- furredion. But that Day of the Lord is the Day of Retribution to the Juft, and the Re- ftitution of all Things. The Coming of Chrift, or of the Mefliah, was the Hope and Expedation yet in another State, that is, after the Refurredion, to continue for a thoufand Years in the divine Jernfalem^ a City brought down from Heaven, which the Apoflle calls our Mother which is above^ csfc. This, I fay, is provided by God for the Reception of the Saints at the Refurredion, for the Refrefhment of all the Good and Spiritual-minded, and to make Amends for thofe Things which we have negledtcd or loft in this prefcnt Life. This is the D(_fign of this earthly Kingdom; and after this has lafted a thouHind Years, within which Space the Refur- redion oF all the Saints fhall be compleated, fome rifiiig fooner, fome later, according to their Merits, then fliall follow the Dcftrudion of the World, and the Fiery Judgment; and then we fhall be changed in a Moment into Angelici^l Subftances, by putting on that incorrup- tible Body, and be removed into the heavenly Kingdom. T'ntfil, I. 3. fontra Marc, cap. nit. 254 ^TREATISE concerning the Expeftation of all good Men. Armies of Angels celebrated his Birth, crying, Glory be to God on Htgh^ 'Peace upon Earth. But how much greater will be the Glory in Hea- ven, how much greater will be the Peace upon Earth , upon the fecond Coming of Chrift, attended with a Guard of \,^xi thoufand An- gels. Viyohn., when he was fcarce alive, leapt in the Womb of his Mother, at the Luke i. Voice of Mary faluting Elizabeth \ if the Virtue and Influence of Jefus was fo great, of Jefus yet a little Infant, of Jefus hardly conceived, nay, hardly formed, and latent in the Bowels of his Mother, that John felt him approaching whom he was not able to fee ; how much a quicker and more power- ful Senfe fliall the Souls of the Dead, in which State foever they lie repofed, have of the Coming of the fame Chrift in Triumph, have of the Approach of their God, while the Juft lift up their Heads with Joy, the Time of their Redemption being at hand ? God has in a great Meafure concealed from us the Conditions of the middle World, or of the intermediate State, between the Day of Death, and the Refurre(9:ion, and afflidis us with the Evils and Miferies of this pre- fcnt Life, that we Ihould be the more intent upon the Hope of the Refurredion to come, and fhould at a mighty Diftance, with ered- ed Countenances, and, as it were, with ftretched out Necks, exped the fecond Com- ing of Chriftj that glorious e7n(p(x,veiccy. Since thea State of Departed Souls, ^c. 255 then we have this Hope, and this Confidence, let us perfiftin Piety and in Virtue unfha-Rom. viH. ken, as knowing that our Labour will not^^'\^^^^' be in vain in the Lord. CHAP. IX. Of the fr ft and lafi RefurreEiion : Of the new Heavens J and the new Earthy and the Renovation of Nature : Of the Mil- lennian Kingdom of Chrift^ and the Con-- fummation of all Things. WE have above taken Notice of a double Refurreftion : Firft, which is to be particular : And laft, which is to be uni- verfal. Which l)iftin£i:ion, indeed, is rarely to be mec with in the lacred Writings, and only in the Revelations of St. John^ expref- ly, if I am not miftaken. Nor does this in the leaft hurt the Truth of the Thing, nor is it foreign from the Ufe and Manner of the holy Spirit. The Prophets in the Old Teftament did not foretel a double Coming of a Meffiah, at leaft, not explicitly, or in an ExprelTion adapted to the Capacity of the Jews ; to whom it neither was known formerly, nor does it yet feem to be known. And, therefore, no Body ought to wonder, at leaft, no Body ought to be offended, if Proyidence has been lefs frecjuent, or more flow 2^6 A TREATISE concerning the flow in the Revelation of this double Re-' fiirredion ; or at its refer ving the unfolding of that Myftery for the laft of its Prophets; For fince it was his Bufinefs to comprehend and explain in his Prophecy both the proC* perous and the adverfe Fates of the Chriftiari Church through every Age, to the Con- fumniation of all Things; both the Occafion, the Time, and the Reafon of the Thing re- quired, that he fliould not pafs by unmen- tioned or in Silence the Millennian King- dom of Chrift, or the iirft Refurrection of the Saints : Therefore in the Twentieth Chapter of his Prophecy, he has difcover'd and explainM this Secret, which had lain hid through fo many Ages. Besides, we are to obferve, that from this Error or Blindnels of the Jews^ con- cerning one only Coming of the Mefliah, many other Errors proceeded. From hence they expefted that the Mefliah would be glorious, and illuftrious, and powerful, from his very firlt Appearance ; the Glory of his fecond Coming being unhappily transferred to the firft, or both being in one and the fame confounded. Then they referred fe- veral Things befides, which related entire- ly to the fecond Coming of the Mefliah, to the Days of the Mefliah promifcuoufly and without Diftindion. j^nd from thence they believed, that the Remrreftion would happen without any Difl:in(Stion in the DayS of the Mefliah. From hence the Renovation of State of Departed Souls, &c. 257 of Earth, and Heaven, and ail the other Marks of thofe happy and glorious Times, which the Prophets foretold would be in the Days of the Meffiah • that then the Age would come, of which they place lb many, and fuch wonderous Things to the Days of the Meffiah. The jfews foretel that theie and {everal Things befides, as Peace and Juftice^ univerfal Plenty, and a Government entirely divine, would happen in thofe Days ^ and all thefe Things they foretel moft truly, if they are referred to the fecond Coming of the Meffiah. Diftinguifh but the Times, and all Things will then agree. But from the not rightly diftinguilhing thofe, no fmal) Confufion formerly arofe in the Faith of the yews^ with regard to the foremention'd Heads, and no fmall Confufion to this very Day remains. After the fame Manner, there has arifen. a Diffention and Obfcurity, concerning the Nature and State of the Bodies which we Ihall have at the Refurreftion, becaufe the Chriftian Authors have not diftinguiihed the firft Refurredion, from the fecond ; fome, for Example, contending for Flefh and Blood, and an organical Frame, and Bodies compounded and fhap'd like thofe which we have at prefent, while others are of Opi- nion, that our grofs Bodies will be changed into thin and a:therial ones. Each of theli Opinions may be true, provided you diftin- guifh between the two Rcfurrcftions. Upon S the A TREATISE concerning the the firft Refurredlon, for Example, when we are to live under the new Heavens, and upon the new Earth, our Bodies will be ter* reftrial, and compounded and fhapM like thofe which we now have : But at the End of the Millennium, when we afcend into Heaven, the fame will be changed into Ce- leftial and ^therial Bodies, as the Nature of the Place and that Angelical Life will manifeftly recjuire ; which we obferv'd a- bove. But the Renovation of the World, and the Millennian Kingdom of Chrift, which are Things of the greateft Weight, will pre- cede this Afcenfion into Heaven, and fecond Refiirredion, concerning which we fpeak: We are obliged, therefore, to fay a few Things beforehand concerning them. But a few Things will be fufficient, becaufe we have treated more largely of each of them in the facred Theory of the Earthy 1. iv. The general Conflagration being over, and the Earth, by the extream Force of thofe Fires, being reduced to a fort of a Chaos ; from that Chaos, by the Influence of divine Power and Wifdom, a new Earth is to be formM, after the Image of the pri- mitive and Paradifaick one, that is, without j any Ocean, without Mountains or broken j Rocks, or rugged Inequalities ; to which will anfvver a new Heaven, ferene and mild, ^ and without naufeous Vapours ; and then will flourifh a perpetual Springs free from the State 0/ Departed Souls, ^ci 259 the Viciffitudes of Seaibns^ or the Inconve- niences of Heat and Cold ; concerning which new and at prcfent unufual Phaenomena's, in the forefaid Book, we have fufficicntly Theon treated. c.j ^ 9. All Antiquity, as well facred ns profane, has celebrated this future Renovation of the World, as we have fhevvn in another Place. Among the antient Prophets, Ifaiah twice declares, that there would be new Heavens, PfPJ^^^ and a new Earth; and adds, that the Marks of this Renovation of Nature would be the Longevity, or rather the Immortality of its Inhabitants, and a Race of harmlefs Ani- mals. St. Johii^ in his Vifions concerning Rev.xxi, the new Jerufalem^ acquaints us, that he had ^* beheld new Heavens and a new Earth ; and adds, that the Charafteriftical Mark of that new] Earth would be, that it would have no Sea. This Refurredion of the World, if I may ufe the Expreffion, is faid by Chrift X,o\iZ ^oLKiyyividix^ in which Term is in-Mat.xlx. eluded the Pre-exiftence of the World, ^ * which is underftood here, its Deftruftion, and its Regeneration. After the fame Man- ner St. ^eter^ in his Difcourfe to the Jews^ kdsm.iu makes ufe of diroycccTxq-'ccG-Ls^the Times of the Rejiitiition of all Things: And both in one and the other Paffage, you have for a Characleriftical Mark a Time of Reward and Recompence, and by confequence an Age to come. St. jP^///, in feveral Places, hints Rom. viii, at this future Renovation of the World •.-°**^* S 2 Firft, €o 2» 250 A TREATISE concerning the Firft, he teaches us, that Nature, as it Hands now, is made fubjed to Vanity, and Ihali be freed from the Bondage of Corruption when the Sons of God fliall enjoy a glorious Liberty : But that this Difcourfe of the A- ArchjEol. poftle is to be underftood of the natural Phiiof.i.i. World, has, I believe, in another Place been fufficiently prov'd. Laftly, the fame Apof- tle acquaints us, that ttiv oijc8/>tw>ir n:r^v >tgA- Xbgolv^ the future World jhall be inhabi- ted when the Figure of this ftiall have palsM away ; and liibjeds it to Chrift, as to its proper Mailer, Heb. ii. 5. i C^r. vii. 31^ But the Difcourfe of St. Teter^ in his fe- cond general Epiftle, Chap. iii. is much more clear and open than all thefe ^ where he treats of this Matter diftindly, and not only alTerts that there will be new Heavens and a new Earth, but likewife makes Men- tion of the two that precede them, and diC- tinguifhes them into the Antediluvian and the Trefent. But now fmce this Paffage of St. Teter feems to me to be irrefutable and ^ unanfwerable, befides what we have alrea- I dy faid fuccinclly, it will be highly worth our while to dwell fomething longer upon it^ The Adverfaries of this Opinion convert into Allegories whatever has been faid by the Prophets concerning this new Heaven, and this new Earth, and fo pretend to elude j it ; but the forefaid Difcourfe of St. Teter about thefe fame new Heavens and new Earth, can, by no Strength of human Un- derftanding. State of Departed Souls, ^c. 261 derftanding, and no human Art, be refolv'd into Allegories, or wrefted from the literal Senfe. ^Tis exprefly ordain'd, and indut trioufly inftituted, to fliew the mutable Na- ture of Things, and a fucccffive threefold World ; I mean the natural World , concerning which the Difpute was with thofe Scoffers^ Ver. 5. And 'tis remarkable, that by the Words Heaven and Earthy the Hebrews underftood the vifible World, or the Na- ture of Things. But let us, if you pleafe, take a View of the Words of the Apoftle relating to this Matter, (Ver. 11, 12, 13.) SEEING then that all thefe Things jh all be diffblvd^ what Manner of Ver fins ought we to be in all holy Converfation and God-- linefs ; looking for., and hajiing tinto the Coming of the T)ay of Godj wherein the Heavens being on Fire^ JJjall be dijjolv'dy and the Elements jhall melt with fervent Heat, Never t he lefs we^ according to his Vromifij, look for new Heavens^ and a new Earthy wherein Right eon fiefs foall dwell. There are feveral Things in this DiC courfe of the Apoftle, which, compared with what precedes it, plainly difcover, that the Wgrds new Heaven and new Earthy are confinM in their Signification to the vifible and natural World : Firft, the Force, the Ufe, and the Signification of the fame Words, or of the fame Phrafcology, in the Verfes that are antecedent to it ; fecondly, the very Form, Scrudure, and Context of the Speech, S 3 by '26 z A TREATISE concerning the by which this Renovation is exprels'd j and laitly, the Time to which it relates. All thefe are as fb many Witneffes, which prove that the Apoftle here fpeaks of material and real, and not imaginary and allegorical Earth and Heavens. As for the firft Proof of this, the fame Diftion, or the fame Manner of fpeaking, no lefs than twice occurs to us in this very Chapter. In the fifth Verfe of it we have, the Earth and the Heavens which former lywere^ or which are paft, that is to fay, the Antediluvian World. In the feventh Verfe we have, the Earth and the Heavens which now are^ that is, which are prefent to us, or the Poft-diluvian World. Laftly, in the thirteenth Verfe we find, the new Hea^ vens^ and new Earthy that are to come, that is, after the Conflagration. But now fince, by the Confent of all, the Heavens and the Earth J both in the fifth and the feventh Verfe, are to be underftood literally of the material and natural Frame and Structure of the Earth and the Heavens, I would fain inow by what Right, or by what Rule of Interpreting, we can be juttify^d in wreft- ing the very fame Words, or the very fame Expreffion, in the fame Chapter, in the fame Context, in the Continuation of the fame Argument, to a foreign Signification? So that by the firft and fecond Paffage we un- derftand the natural World; but a figura- tive and allegorical World by the third Paf- fage J and this without the leaft Mark from the State of Departed Souls, ^c^ 2^3 the Author, that he has changed his Style, or the leaft Neceffity on the Part of the Sub- jed: Matter. But now fecondly, the Form of this Dif- courfe, and the Manner by which 'tis cohe- rent with and dependant on what precedes it, both equally teftlfy the fame Thing. Af. ter the Apoftle had defcrib'd the Burning of the prefent World, he adds, Bfitj or ne- verthelefs we expert new Heavens^ and a new Earth, He fubftitutes thefe new Hea- vens and this new Earth in the room of thofe that were burnt and perilh'd. Thefe, then, muft be of the fame Kind with thofe that perifh'd, that is to lay, material, and not allegorical ; which is the fame Thing as if the Apoftle had faid, Tho^ the prefent Hea- vens and the prefent Earth muft one Day perifh, as we have already explainM to you ; yet here will not be an abfolute End^ (which perhaps you may fulped,) but only a Reno- vation of all Things ; for we exped, ac- cording to the Promife which we have re- ceived from God, that other Heavens, and another Earth, in which the Righteous Ihall dwell, will fucceed thofe which are now. But thirdly, and laftly, fmce this new World, or this Renovation, be that what it will, is not to appear till after the general Conflagration, we may certainly infer from the Time, that by this Renovation cannot be underftood any Evangelical Renovation, (as our allegorical Adverfaries are pleas'd S 4 tQ a^4 ^4 TREATISE concerning t to affert,) or any other in this Life. And thefe Arguments, iinlels I am miftaken^ prove iinanfwerably, that the Heavens and Earth, in this Difcourfe of the Apoftle, are to be taken, xqltcI xv^oXs^lccvy according to ^he genuine Force of the Words^ and the manifeft Nature of the Thing.^ These Things being thus laid down and granted, let this be the firjft Conclufion drawn from them, That the natural Worlds or the Heavens^ and the Earthy will be renewed after the Conflagration : And then let this be the fecond Conclufion to be proved by what is to follow^ That the Millennium j, or the millennian Kingdom of Chrijij is ta be celebrated in the World renewed^, or the Renovation of Earth and Heaven. The millennian Kingdom of Chrift was efteem'd an orthodox Dodrine by the primi- tive Chriftians, and continued for a while iinpollutedcj and for that Reafon uncontro« verted i * We very juftly accufe the Soctmans of their unfaic and pcrverfe Interpretation, in wrefting what St. 'J^h-/;: fays m the Beginning of his Gofpel about the natuta' World, into a moral and allegorical Senfe: But they ■who, in the prcient Cafe, * * * * fall into the very :rame Error, and are equally culpable, whilft they inter'- pret what St. Pf^fr fo plainly fays of the material World,^ as though he had meant it of a moral and allegorical one. * * * * For Iwill be bold to affirm, that St. 3^£)/^;^^ in the Beginning of his Gofpel, does net more clearly or diilin^lly intend the natural World^ than St. ^eU: does hcrej whcil he fpcaks, of new Heavens aad a nei^" State of Departed Souls, isV. %6^ verted : But when the more modern Mil- lennaries had partly corrupted this Dodrine, and partly faw lefs clearly into it, who plac'd the Seat of this Kingdom in the prefent Earth, and its Felicity in the prefent Life ; and when this Error had given a Handle to warm and fanatick Spirits, pufF'd up with 4 groundlefs Hope, of railing great Diltur- bances in the Church, which gave Offence to the Good and the Wife ; this innocent and orthodox Dodrine began to lofe its Re- putation with many, and is, even to this Day, in fome meafure, inviduous. Wherefore, that we may find a Remedy for this Mif- chief, it will be worth our while briefly to unfold what the antient Fathers determined concerning this Matter, and when and where they believ'd that this Kingdom would be. As to the Point itfelf, we have already, in another Place, if I am not very much miftaken, proved from the Writings of the Prophets and the Apoftles, that there will be one Day a millennian Kingdom of Chrift upon Earth, either the Earth which we have at prefent, or the new one which will fuc- cced it: And the moft antient Fathers of almoft all Nations are produced as Witnelfes in this Caufe, Many Grecians^, and like- wife Latins and jifr'tcans. In this Number are chiefly 'Pafias^ the Hieropolitan Blfliop, Jujiin Martyr^ and the Reviver or Enlar- ger of the Sibylline Verfes before the Tinte of Jnpn ; the Writer of the Epiftle that goes [1^66 A TREATISE concerning the goes under the Name oi'&t.Barnaby^ Irenausj Melito of Sardis^ Methodius : Befides thefe, there is Terttdlian., and St. Cyprian^ his Difci- ple, Africans : Then there is Nepos., xhtEgyp- tian Bifhop, and ViBorinus and LaSiantius^ Latins, All thefe liv'd within the third Century, while the Apoftolick ^ Do£trine yet remained intire and uncorrupted. And of thefe Fathers there are feme who do not only declare that this is their own Opinion, but the Opinion of the whole Church that was contemporary with them, and of all o- thers who had right Sentiments with regard to the Chriftian Faith ; nay, fome of them do not doubt to affirm, that this Doftrine deicended traditionally from St. yohn and the other Apoftles. But befides thefe exprefs Teftimonies \ which offer themfelves naturally the firfl in the Caufe before us, there are other Argu- ments and Proofs that are founded on the Hif- tory of thofe Times, which manifeftly fhew that this Doitrine of the Kingdom^ for fo it was formerly called, was efleem'd a Chriflian Do&rine ; and that, as well by the Heathens as ours. By the Heathens, I fay, who dread- ed that King whom the Chriftians expeded fiiould come ; whom, therefore, they accused of Ambition, or of fpreading the Seeds of Sedition, and of believing that they fhould one * See the Place of Gennadlus, The Treatife of 7}" cbomus is in BB, TT, and in Orthodoxo^r, STATE of Departed Souls, iffc. z6'] one Day obtain a Kingdom upon Earth. The foremention'd jfujlm^ in the Apology which he made for the Chriftians to Anto- nimis Vius^ has thcfe Words, which mani- feftly relate to this very Matter : 'T/^ceJs ajca- avupcfiTTivov Aiyav "nfj.ccs viraAvCpctTS^ yi/mcov ttw fjiSTcl ©ga Aeyoi'TMi'j SCc. Tou hearing it /aid that iz'e expe^ a Kingdom^ believe that we are fooHfJj enough to mean a hnman King- dom^ whereas we intend fuch a one in which we are to reign together with God : For whereas the Chriftians were wont to exhort one another to fufFer Death with a dauntlels Spirit, becaufethey who were Martyrs in the Caufe of Chrift were to have the Enjoyment of this Kingdom, the Heathens underftood by this a Kingdom in the prefent Life, as if the Chriftians were attempting Ibmething a- gainft the Roman Empire, or entertain'd a Belief that they fliould become the Lords of it. To whom yuftin^ in the following Words, returns a very proper Anfwer: Since we fiijfer T>eath in the Catife ofChriJl with fo chearful a Spirit^ "^tis manifeji^ that either we have no Hofe of a Kingdom in this Life J or that we rashly and foolifljly throw away that Ho^e^ and dejiroj it toge- ther with Life, Besides, the fame Thing is prov'd by the Ads of T>omitian : For as Herod^ after Chrift was born, was afraid he fliould take his Kingdom from him^ by reafon of a Re- port 2^8 ^TREATISE concerning the port among the Jews^ that the Meffiah, whom at that Time they expeded, would l^^^^j^jf^-reftore the Kingdom to Ifrael ; fo afterwards c. i^, ' ' *T>omitian the Emperor, as the Hiftorians ^^^^}^^: relate, caus'd all to be deftroyed that fprung phor. i!*iii. from the Root of T)avid\ and caus'd the c,io,ii. Relations of Chrift to be examined, that they might give an Account of Chrift and his Kingdom^ what it was, and when and where it was to appear ; which Inquiry was occafioned by the Difcourfes and Books of the Chriftians concerning the Kingdom of Chrift that was one Day to be upon Earth.* So < iii » III t I I I I II * Our Saviour never deny'd (though he had many - Opportunities offer'd him of denying it) that he was f a rj-see Luke j^j^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ fhould have a Kingdom. He faid, in- Aftsxvii ^^^K ^o Pilate^ when he ask'd him whether he was the •^ ' King of the 'Jews^ that h'ts Kingdom was not of this World \ which is true enough; for in this World the Wicked, Satan, and Antichriil reign; but w^hen thefe his Enemies fliall be deftroy'd, and the World renew'd, in that new World he fhall reign, together with his Saints. Chrift denyM the Sons of Zebedee the firji Seats in his Kingdom, but never difown'd the Kingdom it- felf : So liltewife when his Difciples ask'd him about the Time of his Kingdom, y^(f?ji. 6. he did not think pro- per, 'tis true, to inform them as to that very Point; but neither does he deny that he was to have a Kingdom fomeTime. But that Chrift, as well as they that pro- posed the Thing to him, underftood it of the terreftrial, and not the celeftial eternal Kingdom, appears from thofc earthly and temporal good Things which he pro- mifes or makes mention of in this his future Kingdom. He promifcs his Difciples temporal good Things, iv r^ vaAiyyevsffiei^ Matt.xix. i8. (which Words, wc have be- fore obferv'd, denote the Renovation of the World:) And at his laft Supper he tells them, that he vjould mc drink State of Departed Souls, isfc. 269 W So much for the Heathens : To come to the Chriftians. This feems to me to be a Proof of their Faith as to this Point, that they put up Trayers for the T)ead^ that they might have a Part in the firft Refiir- redion. That Prayers and Oblations for the See the Ap- Dead were for Ibme Ages in Ufe, as we ob- ^.^"g ^'^r fervM above, is to me indubitable ; not that the fourth this was done always with the fame Defign, Chapter. nor that they always in their Supplications dcfirM the fame Favours and the fame Bene- fits for the Souls of the Departed : That they might enjoy Peace and Reft, and be free from the extream Violence of the torturing Fires, that they might quickly rife again, and have a Part in the firft Refurredion : This was the Sum of their Prayers. The laft of thefe is plainly exprels'd by TertuU I'tan^ when in thcfe Words he defcribes the Duty of a pious Wife towards her departed Husband: She prays for his Soul ^ and /^oeMonog: the mean Time defires Ref? efljment for him^ cap. 10. and a Share for him in the firfl Refurrec* tion : And in another Place he efieems the DeAnim; Delay cap.ult. drink of the 'Juice of the Vlr.e till he drank it new vjith them in the Kingdom of his Father^ Matt. xxvi. 29. And at the fame Time he fays, Luke xxii. 29, 30. / appoint unto yeu 4t Kivgdom^ as my Father hath appointed unto me^ that ye may eat and drink at my i able in my King- dnm. In Heaven there is no eating or drinking ; and although thofe Words arefometimcs ufed metaphorical- ly, yet we muft keep clofe to the primary Signification of all Words, unlefs Ncccflity obliges us to give them another Signification, which is not the Cafe hcrx?. 270 A TREATISE concerning the Delay of the Rcfurredion to be inftead of a Punifhment for the Expiation of lighter Faults. Nor were the Prayers unlike to theft You may which St. Ambvofe^ in his Funeral Oration Places in fo^ Valeutinian the Second, puts up to God Daiiiede for the two Brothers, Gratian znd Valenti- p *iSS "^jlt ;/i^;/, fnatch'd from the World by an un- timely Death. He ends the Oration with thefe Words : I befeech thee„ Almighty Gody that thou wouldji raife uf thefe two TotithSj who were dear and amiable to me^ and to all who knew them^ by a timely Refurrec-^ tion^ and that thou wouldjl recomfenfe their imtimely T)eath by an early RefurreBion. And in another Place, purluing the fame Point, he eftablifhes divers Ranks and Degrees of thofe that rife from the Dead, and makes them rife at different Times, Laftly, in the antient Gothick Liturgy^, this Form of pub- lick Prayers is prefcribed \ That God would 'vouchfafe to place the Souls of thofe who are at reji in the Bofom of Abraham, and admit them to a Share of the firfl Refar^ reSiionj through Jefus Chriji our Lord : For when the Antients did not believe that the Souls of the Righteous did afcend into Heaven immediately after Death, there to enjoy flipream Glory and beatifick Vifion ; and when before that Time they expeded the * ConfuU other Liturgies, Mofarah, and Amhrof. or Ital. S^^ faille dc f(xn. -p. ji^. ulf. State of Departed Souls, tfr. 27 1 hefirft Refurredion, and the Kingdom of thrift ; and efteemed the Enjoyment of that IS the fiift Degree of Beatitude, they put ;Lip Prayers to God that this State, that this Refurredion might be granted to thofe who were fallen afleep in the Lord, as a Pledge of their future Glory, and a fort of Initia- tion into celeftial Life. But enough of this : For there is no Oc- jcafion to fay any more of a Thing that is known and granted ; for they whoaremoft •nverfant in the Writings of the Ancients, or of modern and living Authors, though they are not of the Party of the Millenna- jies; yet they acknowledge, that this Doc- trine of the Kingdom of Ghrift upon Earth, was very much received in the firit Ages of the Church. But in what Earth, the prefcnt or the future, this millennian Kingdom of Ghrift is to be ereded, they do not equally agree. 'Tis vulgarly believed by the more modern Millennaries, that Ghrift will have his Kingdom in this Life, and upon the pre- fcnt Earth. But this Belief of theirs, if I am not extreamly miftaken, is neither agree- able to the Senfe of the Ancients, nor to the Senfe of facred Scripture ; nor, laftly, to the Nature of theThing itfelf : As to thofe ancient Millennaries, whofe Writings are ftill remain- ing, they all of them fpeak of the Renova- tion of the natural World to be accomplifh- ed upon the Goming of Ghrift. Jttftin men- tions it more than once in his Dialogue with 27^ J TREATISE concerning the Page 307. Trypho : And places the Millennium in the: new and re-eftablifhedy^r^y^/^;», quoting to that Purpofe the Words of the Prophets con- cerning the new Heavens and the new Earth. Then (/. 369.) he calls that Earth, in which the Saints together with Chrift are to reign, tw Toov dyioov yrivj The Land of the Saints, And he attributes no lefs to Chrift tw -iconvi^y^fnv^ the Renovation of the World^ than the firft Formation of the World itfelf. J>. 340. 'Tis after the fame Manner that Iren^us joins the Renovation of Nature with the Lib.v.c. Times of the Kingdom. The foremention'd n- BenediBion^ fays he, which is the Promife that was made to Jacob concerning the Fer- tility of the Earth, belongs undoubtedly to the Times of the Kingdom^ when the Jufl fljall rife from the T)ead and reign ; and when the Creature renew' d^ and freed from its original Curfe^ {hall bring forth abun-- dantly all Sorts of Feodj both from the T^ew of the Heavens^ and the Fertility of the Earth. He fays the fame Thing, or what is equi\ralent to it, in the following Chapter^ and fo onward to the End of the Book. Lih.vH. The following Words of La£iantius{QQm c.ii. - to have the fame Tendency : For God will- come j fays he, to cleanfe this Globe from all its Pollution J and to raife up the reviving Souls of the Juftjy infufed into new Bodies j, to the Enjoyment of eternal Felicity^ Laft- ly, if we may believe Gelafius of Cyzicum^ the Nicene Fathers were of the fame Opinion ^ and State of Departed Souls, O'c. 272 and placed the Kingdom of Chrift and the Righteous, upon the new Earth in thefe Words : Y^aiv^s s^vsi ?^ xctiv-hv yriv tt^o-cTo- Hifl, At^. ocoofjiev^ xo-Tct ig^ y^fj.fAccTOL* (paivGjUiiyiis tijulTu Conc«Nic« crwT«^@o 7]// wv Irio-a Xg/a7nel^{Chaf. vii. 1 1.) and the Dcftrine of St. Tatil^ 2 Thejf. i.8. G) ii. 8. • The Epocha of the Kingdom of Chrift, and his Saints, is every where in Scripture Ihewn by this Mark,That ^tis join'd with the Day of Judgment, or is introduced as foon I as that has preceded it. And there feems to be Occafion for no other Proof to con- vince us, that that Kingdom is not to be expefted in this Life, or in the prefent Age. But let us, if you pleafe,^ compare a little the Paffages concerning this Matter of the Prophets T)aniel and St. John. In the fore- T 5 men- 278 A TREATISE concerning the mentioned feventh Chapter of T)amel^ from Verfe the Ninth to the End, the Sitting of the Judgment is often repeated, either as pre- vious to the Kingdom of the Saints, or in Conjunction with it, Ver, xx. when the An- cient of Days Ihall come, Judgment, together with the Kingdoms, ftiall be delivered to the Saints. Then the Judgment being fet, {yey\ 26, 27.) the Kingdom^ and T^ominion^ and the Greatnefs of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven jhall be given to the Teo^le of the' Saints of the Mojl High, After the fame Manner St. John treads in the Footfteps of T>aniel in this Matter, as he is wont to do in others ; not only becaufe, being about to paint the Millennium^ he firft caufes the Judgment-Seats to be placed in the twentieth yer.4. Chapter, but becaufe before in the eleventh Chapter, as we obferved above, he had con- nected the Time of judging the Living and the Dead, with theTimeof the Reign and Do- minion of Chrift and the Saints. As foon as the feventh Trumpet had founded, it was proclaimed with a loud Voice in Heaven : Chap.xi. j'lj^ Kingdoms of this World are become the •^' Kingdoms of our Lord-, and of his Chrijij and he jhall reign for ever and ever. And Ver.ig. immediately afterwards, the appointed Time is come that the T)ead jhould be judged j and that thou Jhouldeft give Reward to thy Ser^ vants the Trophets^ and to thy Saints,, and ycr.tp. to them that fear thy Name. — ■ — And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven^ and State (?/ Departed Souls, i?'f. 279 there was feen in his Temple the Ark of his Tefiament^ &c. 'Tis manifeft^ that here the Prophet re- prelents both the Kingdom and the Times of the Kingdom, as the Ancients exprcfs themfelves : And this Idea anfwers in both its Parts to the Dcfcription of the fame King- dom in the Prophet "Daniel^ both as to the Dominion given to the Saints, and the Time of that Dominion, that is, when the Dead arc to be judgM ; which folemn Time, when it is not to arrive before the End of World, neither will the blelfed Millennium begin be- fore that Time, according tothefe facred Ora- cles ; and then, as for the iaft Part of the Defcription, of the Temple open'd, and the Ark of the Covenant confpicuous in it, that is to be underftood of the Schechinah^ which Jhone upon the Ark of the Covenant in the San^um SanCiorum^ and which Vv^ill appear ftill more illuftrious in the Kin2:domof Chrifl:, and the blelfed Millennium of which we are now fpeaking, as will be explained below. To thefe Remarks and Calculations of the Prophets, concerning the Times of the King- dom, confonant are the Words of Chrift, when he joins r^w ^ccAiyyeveo-ictv^ and the Judgment Seffion together, Matt. xix. 29. Tou^ fays he, who have followed me^ \v t^ 'uTxAiyyivecTLCL^ in the Regeneration and Re- novation of Things, when the Son of Man ^all Jit upon the Throne of his Glory j, yon alfo JJjall Jit u^on twelve Thrones j judging T 4 -...^^ the 2 8o A TREATISE concerning the, the twelve Tribes of Ifrael : And whoever- fljall leave Houfe, &Cc. Here the Judicial Pomp, you fee, is exprefsM : But that Chrift fpeaks here of his Millennian Kingdom, there are two Things that difcover: The firft is, that both the foremention'd Prophets introduce this Kingdom after the lame Man- ner that 'tis introduced by Chritt, as is ma- nifeft by what went before. The fecond is, that Chrift marks and points to this Reno- vation, for the Time and Place in which Reward and Retribution Ihall be rendered to the Saints^ and to the faithful Servants of Chrift; after the fame Manner that St, yohu faid afterwards, defcribing the fame Time and the fame State; the Time is come of judging the Dead, and rendering Re- ward to thy Servants. Thus the facred Wri- ters agree in marking out the Time in which the Beginning of the Millennium is deferiM till the End of the World. But fo much concerning the Time of the future Millennium : Let us now return to its Scat, which we have placed in the new Heavens and the new Earth, according to Rev. xxi. the Vifion feen by St. John. And after the Ifaiahixv. fame Manner the Prophet Ifaiah^ after he J?*^*-- had faid that God would make new Hea- vens, and a new Earth, and a triumphant Jer-nfalem^ immediately fubjoins to them a new Order of Nature, and a joyful, a pa- cilick, and a happy State of Man; by which h? reprefents to us th^ Kingdom of thejuft, an4 State of Departed Souls, 9sfc. 28 1 and the Felicity of that Kingdom • which I fpeak the more confidently, and the more confidently thus interpret, when I lee St. Teter ailigning the new Heavens and the^^P'^-"^- new Earth, which the Prophets have pro-'^' miled, as a Seat and a Habitation to the Jiift to dwell in, which cannot be conceived or explained any other Way than of the King- dom of which we are fpeaking. Lastly, Befides thele prophetick Expref- fions, by which the Kingdom of Chrill is join'd with the new Heavens and the new Earth, exprefly or implicitely,the fame may be prov'd by the Time of the Coming of Chrilt to his Kingdom, which the Mille^ iiarians acknowledge will be at the Begin- ning of this Kingdom : But Chrift will not come to his Kingdom before the End of the World, or before the Time of the Renova- tion of all Things ; and by confequence the Millennium will not begin before the fame Term of Time. 'AxcjcaTaV^o-zs Taj'xwj^ and ^:x.Xlyy^v^(JiaL denote the Renovation of the World \ but before thefe two, the Coming of Chrift will not be. The firft of thefe we are taught by St. Teter fully and perlpi- cuoufly in his Sermon of y^^j- iii. 21. when he fays concerning Chrift, "ujhom the Hea^ 'vens mnjl receive till the Time of the Re- fi it lit ion of all Things^ ^'johich God hath fpokeii by the Month of all his holy Prophets fmce the JVorld began. In like manner, as to the other^ Chrift himfelf has appointed his ^ T R EAT I S E concerning the his Coming, by which he is to recompenfe thofe who for his fake have fuffer'd Evil in this prefent Life, ey tv^ TrccAiyyevsaiaby in the Regeneration^ Matt. xix. 28, 29. which we have fhewn above, by the Things that are joined with it, is to be underftoodof his King- dom in the World renewed ; when, like a King, or a mighty Conqueror, he Ihall dif- tribute the Spoils and the Trophies, and the great Rewards which follow the Peace that is at lail obtained, to his Soldiers and his faithful Servants, who bore all the Heat, and fuftain'd all the Fury and the Danger of the War •, nor does this Promife only re- gard the Enjoyment of Heaven and eternal Glory, when it mentions temporal and exter- nal Goods befides everlafting Life. And the Dilcourfe of St. ^aul is exadly agree- able to this, when he fubjefts to Chrift, as to its King, the future habitable World ^ ^=^3n^ f as the Hebrews exprefs theni- felves, * 'Oin'dixh'}^^ according to its Etymology, figiiifies an inhabited Place, and by the Rules of Syntax, yi^, Earthy mufl: be underftood. I The Expreffion ccii^v fisA^wy, or }s^2n diV^-i is either taken largely for the Times of the MelTiah in general, or more particularly for the Times of the Mefliah's Reign, hi this lad confin'd and more proper Senfe 'tis difliiiCl botn from the prefent Age and from Eternity, or that Time when Chrift is to deliver up all Dominion" into the Hands of the Father. And in this proper Senfe, viz.. taken for fome A.ge between this Prefent and Eter-? nicy. State of Departed Souls, i^c. 283 felves, which they likewife fubjed to the Mefliah. Lastly, That I may finifh this Matter, the facred Scripture acknowledges no future . . oming or Lnrilt berore his coming to 39. Judgment, or before the End of the World ♦ and therefore the Apoftle St. ¥aiil to Zz-iEp.iv.i. 7nothy joins thefe three together, the Judg- ment of the Dead, the Appearance of Chrift, and his Kingdom : / charge thee before God and the Lord Jcfus Chrtft^ ^jvho jh all judge the ^lick and the "Dead,, at his Appear ance^ and his Kingdom.^ We have hitherto faid thus much by fa- cred Authority, concerning the Seat of the Millennian Kingdom in the new Heavens, and the new Earth : Befides, the Thing fpeaks itfelf, and Reafon enforces the fame Thing ; for to what End fhould there be a new Earth, nity, it is often iis'd in Scripture. Chrifl:, \i is faid, will reign iv rcSuti^vt /xeAAoj/r/, m the l^'^orld to come^ K- J>hef. i. 22, 23. Heb. ii. 5-, 6. But he does not as yet reign in that 6enfe; neither will he reign in that Senlv; when he fhall have deliver'd up the Kingdom into the Hands of the Father, viz. after the final Refurre£lion, when all Ages fhall be coniplcated. 'Tis plain, there- fore, that there muO: be fome intermediate Reign of Chrift between thefe two Periods, and that this is callM properly a'7- ^g ^^oV'y, he that fits upon the Throne^ that is, Chrillj ayLm^tiGe, liv avTtiSy that is, JJjall dwell among them^ or Ihall fix his Taber- nacle among them, which anfwers fully to our Explication of the Schechinah in the Kingdom of Chrift. And in the fame Man- c.xx>;vii. iier Ezekiely fetting forth the Beatitude of State of Departed Souls, i^c. 2^f the Kingdom of which we fpeak, places in it the Sanduary, or the Seat of God as in the Sanctuary. I will add one Paffage more to all thefe, from the fame prophetick Ora- cles ; where the Prophet treats of the Mil- lennium, and where, at the fame Time, Men- tion is made of the Temple's being open, and the Ark of the Covenant being feen in it, which Shechinab covered with its Efful- gency. In the eleventh Chapter, after that Vcr. i;-: the Trumpet of the fevcnth Angel had founded, the Kingdom of Chrift and the Saints is defcrib'd : And 'tis faid, among other Things, the Temple of God was open dvtt, ip: in the Heavens^ and there was feen in his Temple the Ark of his Tcflament; that is, if I rightly interpret it, the Heavens being opened, Schechinah was feen, or the Glory of Chrift, which cover'd the Ark of the Co- venant in the Sanduary \ as Stephen^ the jirtt of Martyrs, the Heavens being open'd, faw the Glory of God, and the Son of Man Ads trii. at the Right Hand of God. And hither x^ss^s^* to be referred, if I am not miftaken, the ce- lebrated Prediftion of Jeremiah the Prophet, Chap. iii. i6, 17, ^c. when the Newjerufa^ and not the Ark of the Covenant, Ihall be the Throne of Jehovah, By thefe prophetick Evidences and DiC- coveries, 'tis, in my Opinion, fufficiently manifeft, that in the Age to come, and in the Kingdom of Chrift, there will be fome yifiblc and folemn Prefence of the Deity, U J which 2^4 -^ TREATISE concerning the which we nominate Schechinah. But we muft further obferve, that what the He^ brews call Schechmah is called in the Greek^ as well that of the New Teftament, as that of the Seventy, J" ofa, Glory ^ or J^ogo. tS GeS^ the Glory of God^ as is fufficiently known, and has been prov'd by divers Ex- amples.^ And the fame Expreffion St. fohn ufes, and fays, that he faw the Glory of God, TTii/ S'oi^aLv Ts 0gy, refiding on that holy Jerufalem which defcended fromHeaven^Ver. lo, & 1 1. The Angel ftiewM him ^w dyloiv lepiso-ccX'/ifjc "icoLTcLQctivsaxv he t3 e^ptry airo t3 GgS, i'xsacLv TT.y AOHAN TOT GEOT. And Compare then, in what follows, he illuftrates thisCity^ ^^^"with* and paints it with all the moll glorious, this. and the moft refulgent Colours of Light, chap.xxii. ^^^ i^Q eloquently aiTerts, that they who ** enjoy the Millennium ihall behold the Face of God. Thus you fee theProphet fignified, in a two- fold Manner and Style, that there would be leen hereafter in the New Jerufalem^ in the Kingdom of Chrift and his Saints, the divine Sheehinah. But perhaps, you will ask me what the Schechinah is, when both here and in other Writers, there is fucli fre- quent Mention of it, who yet, through their own Negled, or the Difficulty of the Thing, do * Sec Exod. xxiv. i6, 17. andxxxiii. 18. and x1. 34, ^f, lKrf7^^s\lu. II. I Sam. iv. 21, 22. Ifa. vi. HabbacL ?"• 3) 4» j'^^' '^' 14- and xii. 47, yj-. Heh. ix. _f . Romt ijr. ^ State (/Departed Souls, ^c, 295 do not clearly e5cplain what is meant by the Word. Nor indeed do I undertake to do it here, or pretend to define it more accurately thaa others have done before me. But if Pardon and Place may be allow'd for a little Di- greffion, I fliall open the State of the QueG. tion, that it may be lefs difficult to others cither to quite clear up the Point, or atleaft to find where the Difficulty lies. The Word T\yy:> is not, as far as I know, to be found in xhQ HehreivhibX^. We meet with it often in the Targum^ and in the Writings of the Rabbins. ^Tis deriv'd, as is very well known, from p^, to dwell^ or to fojourn^ and fignifies, in the common Acceptation, to d'jiellj or to fojourn. But that it came to be made ufe of to fignify pe- culiarly the divine Prefence, or the divine Ma- jefty, proceeded from the Ufe of the fame Word P'i?5 in the Writings of MofeSj when the fingular Prefence of God is expreis'd ei- ther in Mount Sinai^ or in the Tabernacle, or any other Place, Exod, xxiv. 15, 16. and Chap. XXV. 8. and Chap. xxix. 45, 46. and Chap. xl. 55. and ^)eut. xxxiii. 16. So much for the Word ; but what is the Thing, you ask : Schechinah^ in a larger Ex- tent, is us'd to fignify any remarkable EfFed of the divine Prefence ; but in a more con- fined Signification,'tis us'd to exprefs thedivine Prefence under fome Appearance or vifible Sign ; and in the ftrideft Senfc of all, to fignify the majeflick Prefence of God, in U 4 lomc A TREATISE concerning the fome refplendent, fiery, or flaming Matter, as in the fiery Bufti he appeared to MofeSj (^Exod.iu.2. D^//^. xxxiii. i6.) and to the Ifraelites in the Wildernefs in the Pillar of Fire, or the cloudy Pillar, {Exod, xiii. xi, 22. Ntim» xiv. 14.) Upon Mount Sinaiy (Exod, xix. 18. and xxiv. 15, 16, 17, ^c. xxxiii. 18, 21. and T)eut. xxxiii. 2.) Before the Tabernacle, Exod. xxy. 8. and xi. 54, | 35. Lev. xvi. X. Num. ix. 15. and in the ^ Sancfum Saf0ortim after the Temple was built, I Kings viii. 10, 11. x Chron. vii. And 'tis fuch a majeftick Schechinah^^ chat we here underftand, and that we expert in that Age to come. And it confifts, as )''ou fee, of two Parts, the material and the \ Spiritual. The firft is wont to be in fome Meafure lucid, or of a Colour whitifh ; as the Light itfelf, Fire, ^ther, Cloud, or whitifti Smoak. And this f lucid Subftance ;s believed by Abarbinele^ to be always one and the fame, tliat is to fay, that very pri- mogenial Light which God created in the Beginning, that very Light he ufes as a Ve- hicle, whenever he would render himfelf con- fpicuous. But however that is, the principal Query is concerning the other Part, viz, what that fpiritual Subftance is, that lies un-^ der that fubtle and refulgent Mat ter. That beft and * See a PafTage about the Schechma in Wh'uhy dt t)eif^ €brijl, p, 5-7. . . .;. -if The Bifhop of £/> takes Notice of this, p. ^* SxAtE 0/ Departed Souls, isfc. 297 and moft learned Man, Jofeph Mede^ is of Traa.de Opinion, that the Angels were always under EccSi;* the Schechinah ; and that there was no other Prefcnce or divine Epiphany, but the An- gelical only, under the Name of God , that otherwifc God himfelf is faid to be every where equally prefent ; but that he is faid to be efpecialiy prefent where the Angelick Guard appears. I can verily believe that an Angelick Guard is not wanting to the Sche- china^ but a Guard, over which Ibme very illuftfious Commander of furpalling Bright- nels prefides. Just in Martyr^, Irenaus\^ Tertulitan\^ and fcvcral other Fathers were of Opinion, TQV *InApolog. 2. p. 95*, 96. ^wdkiXi Dialog, cum T'ry^hoyj. p. 341, 342. and p. 35-6, 35-7. and frequently in other Places. tLib. iV. c. 17,23.37. \ Adverf, Judteos.^ c. 9. de Came Chr'tftt^ c. 6. Adverf. MarctonA, ii. c.27. and ad '■Praxeam. c. 14. and follow- ing. Theoph. Anttuch. p. 99, leo. Eufeb. 'Demonjl. q\^^^^ E-vMMg. 1. V. c, 9. and following, where he treats of it ;\]exaMd*r, very largely; and Hift. Ecclef. 1. i. c. 2. Cyril. Hierof. veryofren Catech. c. ic. Befides thefe, you may confult Novatum Protrep. de Irm. c. 25'. and following. Orlgen^ I. vi. cont. Celf. p. 6. Pce- Bajil adverf. Eunom. Chryfoft. in Gen. Horn. 41, 42, 48. p^g.p.iii. and in A<^. Horn. 16. Theodore in Gen. Quicjl. 92. in Exod. qucefi. <;. pillar, deTrinit. 4, y, 12. Amhrof. de Fide ad Gratian. I-i. c. 5*. and de Fide contra Arian. cult. Prudent, in Apotheofi contra Fatr'tpaJ]'. Snip. Se^er.Hifl, Sacr. 1. i. CaJJian. I. vii. de iacarn. c.9. Leon. Epift. 13. Ifidor. HifpaL de Nativ. ^om. c. i. and many others. In Cortholt. N&t. in Jifjl. p. 34. and in Suicer. voc, 9lyyt?.Q^^ and in Bull. Sec. i, c. i = J TREATISE concerning the rrov Xoyovj that the Word was under Schechinah^ in all the "^ Appearances that are mentioned in the ancient Covenant. The Jews in general, and of the Chriftian Fa- thers fome, are of Opinion, that the Soul of the Melliah pre-exifted long before the Time of his Incarnation, nay, before the very Original of the Jewiflj Nation, before the Law, nay, and exifted through the •whole Diipenfation of the Law and the Prophets. Now, if they fuppole that his Soul through the whole Series of that Time, was in Conjundion with the Word, it would not be inconfiftent to fuppofe farther, that in Conjundion with the lame Word, it con» ftituted the Schechinah of the Patriarchs and the Prophets, and that thofe Motions from Heaven to Earth, and thofe Returns from Earth to Heaven, and thofe Apparitions fometimes in a human Shape, and fometimes in another, are to be attributed to the MeC- fiah ; and that neither thefe, nor any Thing like them, is confiftent with meer Divinity. For otherwife, I can hardly underftand ei- ther y/^/?i^ Martyr \ J or any of the foremen- tion'd * This is deny'd by Augufl. contra Maximin. L iii. c. 26. as cited by Pamel. i-a T'crud. advcrfus fud. C. 9. p. 194, Sec likewifc Auguft. de Tr'tn. 1, iii, c. 9. ^ c. i lo f Jttfltn Martyr in his Ijiol, cttyn Tryphon, ofcen difputes againit all local Motion, or Apparition, or Vi- iibility of God the Father; and p. 35-5-, 35'6. he fays, that when the Scripture tells us that God afcended up from STATE of Departed Souls, ^c. 299 tion'd Fathers, who pretend to prove by the I Invifibility of God the Father, and his Infi- ; nity and Omnipretence, that God the Father ! never appeared, never afcended or defcended, and never in any wife changed his Place, I fay, I cannot lee how thefe Arguments, drawn from the Invifibility, and the Omniprefence of God, are of more Validity for God the Father, than for God the Son ; unlefs you fuppofe the Soul of the Mefliah to have pre-exifted, and to have been united to the Word before his Incarnation ; and that all thefe Things were performed by that toge- ther with the Angels: For otherwife Ac*) 35, the Abraham^ or, that the Lord talked with Mofes^ that the Lord delcended to fee the Tower which th.e Sons of Men built, or when it fays, that God fhut up the Ark Oi Noah ^ (xvj i\y£is^t uvrdv rbv uysvDBTov Oebv nccraCeCny.euxt, ^c. you mud not think th:U the iinbegotten God either afcended or defcended any whither ; for the ineffable Father, and Lord of the Univerfe, does not move into any Place, nor does he walk about ; he does not fieep, nor arife from Sleep. He is not moveable, nor to be comprehended by any one Place, no, not by the World itfeU; as he exided before the World "was built. How then can he fpeak to any one, or be feen by any one, or appear in the lead Part of the Earth? You have PafTages like this in the other Fathers above mention'd. In the fame Manner as the Son returned to the Fa- ther out of this World, lb he proceeded from the Father; But his Return was local, and * * * his Afcenfion from this Earth into Heaven was local. Johz xiii. i. and vj. 63. and xvi. 28. The Perfon of Chrid afcended, and therefore the Perfon of Chrill defcended. Either his Defcent and Afcent were real and local, or only Appa- ritions, fometimcs in Heaven- and fomerimes on Earth. 300 A TREATISE concerning the the Word fimply taken, and united to no Creature human or angelical, is invifibleand omniprefent as much as God the Father.^ But that we may return to our Subjed. Let this be as it will, with regard to the Phaenomena of the Old Teftament, before the Incarnation of God, (of which, perhaps, we Ihall find Occafion to treat in another Place,) the Schechinah^ of which we are fpeaking here, which will ftiinc forth in that Age to come in the Kingdom of Chrift and his Saints, is Chrift himfelf in his glorious Body, which is fpoke openly enough by the Prophet, Rev. xxi. 23. And the City had no Need of the Sun^ neither of the Moon to fhine in it : For the Glory of God did lighten it^ and the Lamh is the Light thereof Chrift gave a Specimen of this Glo- ry upon Earth, while he was yet cloathed in Flefh, in his Transfiguration ; and after- wards in Heaven, when he ftiew^d himfelf to St. Stephen and SauL But that Appea- rance, that Schechinah^ will be the moft il- luftrious, when Chrift ftiall defcend in Flames of Fire, attended with Millions of Angels, at the End and Deftrudion of this World : And the Word Glory^ or the Glory of God j is wont almoft always to be join'd together with the Coming of Chrift, which we ob- ferved * Nor is the Anfvver of Bull fafRcient here ; fee it, Sec, iv. c. p... p. 462, b^i-c S X A T E of Departed Souls, ^e. 3 o r ferved above, anfwers to Schechinah:^ and the Majeftick Prefence of God. And St, John has in more than one Manner declared to us, that this Glory, and this divine Prefence, will have its Seat in the new Heavens and the new Earth, as we obferved before. But let us obferve further, that the fa- cred Writers, in reprefenting the Kingly- Glory and the Majefty of Chrift, firft fet before us his Perfon ; then his Attendance, or his Guards ; then his Seat and the Royal City ; and iaftly, the Throne of the Prince. The Glory of Chrift's Prefence is more than once defcrib'd in the Revelations, and al- ways in a lucid or flaming Form, Chap. i. ver. I J, ^c. The Prophet Ipeaking of the Son of Man, fays. His Head and his Hair were white like JVool^ as white as Snow ; afid his Eyes were as a Flame of Fire ; and his Feet like unto fine Brafsj as if they burned in a Furnace ; and his Voice as the Sound of many IFaters p and his Countenance was as the Sun^ when he fljineth in all his Strength. What can be ftronger than thefe,. what more bright or illuftrious ? unlefs, per- haps, that Defcription which follows in tlie fourth Chapter, where the King, fitting upon Ver, 3. his * Schech'mah relates neither to the Father, nor to the Holy Ghofl ; therefore it mud to the Son, or Aoy^ ; lince it implies in ic fbniething divine, and not mceriy Angelical. Sec Grot, de Kcl'^g. Chnft. 1. v. p. 369. 302 ATR EAT I S E concerning the his Throne, was to look ufon like a Jaffer^ and a Sardine Stone y and there was a Rainbow round about the Throne in Sight like to an Emerald. Then, as to the Atten- dance of Chrift, it will confift of Angels of Light ; as is abundantly exprefTed in the lacred Writings, which we quoted before : Then, as to what regards the Royal City, the City of the great King, the holy JerM^ fale?n^ that defcended from Heaven, every one knows that its Glory is painted by the Prophet in the twenty-firlt Chapter, by every Sort of Glittering Jewels, and the moft reful- gent Colours of Light, Ver. lo, ii. then Ver, i8, 19, 20, 21. Yet no Man ever here underftood fimply and literally the Stones themfelves, whofe Names the Prophet enu- merates; yet it feems butjuft that it ihould be fomething vifible and illuftrious that is painted by thefe Ihining Jewels : He who paints the Rainbow in Drops of Water, and upon the rifing or fetting Sun adorns the Clouds with fo much Beauty, and with fo many Colours, how much is it in his Power, and how eafy for him, to excite and exprefs in his own iEtherial Body, or the adjacent Heaven, all the various Sorts of Light, and all the divcrfify'd Glory, above all the Splen- dor and the borrowed Lights of Jewels of any Kind, or any other terreftrial Matter, be it ever lb purged and iine ? Nor does it feem to me to be at all new, or foreign from the Ufe of the facred Writers, to State 0/ Departed Souls, ^c. 503 to paint Schechinah by the Imagery of Jewels. The Breaft-Plate of the High- Prieft, where was Urim and Thummtm^ and Anfwers divine, was compofed by the Com- mand of God himfelf, of feveral Kinds and Orders of Jewels, Exod. xxviii. 15, 16, ©r. And when God appeared upon Mount Sinai^ he is faid to have ftood upon a Pavement of Sapphir, furrounded with celeftial Brightnefs, Exod. xxiv. 10. To thefe you may add, if you pleafe, that when the future Glory of the Church is defcribM by the Prophet Ifaiahy (Chap. liv. 11,12.) and Paradife by Ez,e^ kiel (Chap, xxviii. ij.) the Reprelentation in both Places is made by Jewels and pre- cious Stones, as in this Idea of St. yobn in his Revelations, But to proceed : Though by thefe Proofs and Examples it is more than probable, that Schechinah belongs to the Millennian State, and to the holy City, yet is it difficult to to go through the other Things which relate to it, or to form any Hypothefis, in which io many and fuch different Qualities and Characters may meet and concur, as are to be found in the two laft Chapters of this w^onderful Prophefy. And this likewife aug- ments the Difficulty, which, and how many of thefe Characters are to be interpreted li- terally, and which figuratively and compara- tively. 'Tis the common Opinion, that the Chriftian Church is reprefented triumphant in 304 ^ TREATISE concerning the in the Idea of this glorious City.^ And that principally for this Reafon ; becaufe the Names of the twelve Apoftles are faid to be infcrib^d upon its Foundation, !^er, 14. and upon its Gates the Names of the twelve Tribes of Ifraelj Ver.12. By which Title and Name, the true People of God is wont to be defcrib'd in the Revelations. Laftly^ this City is elegantly called by the Angel, Sponfa Agni^ the Bride of the Lamh^ Ver. 9, & 10. But when they aflert that the Church Triumphant is here reprefented, my Opinion is, that we ought to underftand the Church Triumphant upon Earth, or in the new Chap.xxi. Heavens and the new Earth, which the Pro- phet faw but a little before. And he faw like wife this Holy City defcending from Heaven, Ver, 2, £^ 10. that is, a City confining of thofe Saints who were raifed up upon the lirft Refurrection. Nor is there, ftridly and properly fpeaking, any Triumphant Church in the Heavensj either before or after the Re- furredion. Before the Refurredion, we have no Evidence that the Saints are in a vifible State, or a Society vifible : But that their Souls are repofited with God, and that they live alone to him. But after the Refurrec- tion, * The Prophet Ddvid Hkewife feems to have an Eye to this future State, in Pfal, xvii. if. See D. Tsn^ p. 366. State ^/ Departed Souls, i^c. 305 tion, I mean the univerfal Refurredion, when Chrift fhall have deUver'd his Kingdom in- to the Hands of his Father, there will be no farther any Form or Face of a Church, but God will be all in all. Nor is it any juft Objcdion to this Opinion, That that Rev.iii.ii; City is called the celeftial or the upper y^-xxi.2,8c rufalem ; for fo it is called, becaufe it will ^c. defcend from Heaven, or will come ftom above, Chrift defcending together with it, as the Prophet more than once declares ; and that it will confift of thofe who have their Ihare in the firft Refurreftion. That illuftrious Society, which is de- fcrib'd by St. Tattl in his Epiftle to \h^ He- brews^ though it fuits fomething better with the Chriftian Difpenfation, than with that of the Law ; yet can it be juftly and properly apply'd to no Militant Church : For when it is called by him the City of God j and the ce- lejiial Jerufalem, we muft neceilarily con- clude it to be the fame with that which is mentioned and defcrib'd by St. Johuy though fome Things of another Order, according to the Manner of that Author, feem to be mingled with it. Certainly they who have • their Part in the firft Refurreftion, conftitute dTTo^efpxfjifjJvooi'., the Church and the Congre^ gat ion of the Firji-born of thofe who fe Names are writ in Heaven : And though they are not yet S'lycaioi TgrgAgiw/^cgrcr, ferfeEily jujl in every Senfe and Manner • yet are they X initiated k 5 5 A TR EAT I S E concerning the initiated into celeftial Life, the Candidates of Eternity, and the very next Heirs to Heaven and confummate Glory ,^ And * yf Digrejfion concerning the State of the Jews in the Millennium, or the future Kingdom of the Meffiah. And here occurrs a celebrated Queftion, What Place the Jews will have in the Kingdom of the Mefliah ? It muft be own'd that the Promifes were firft made to the Jews^ as well of the MelTiah, as of the Meffiah's King- dom ; and that their Canaan^ or Land of Promife, was a Type of the new Land, and of the Kingdom of Chrift Rcm.iv. himfelf And St. "Paul has told us, that the Seed of 13. Heb. jyraham fhould be the Heirs of the World, 'viz. of the See Ph'lo ^^^^^ ^^ come ; for they are not fo of the prefent. Be- Ouis hseres ^^^^^ ^^ Chrift was upon coming into the World, the fit mundi. -Angel fays to Mary^ The Lord God fhall give unto him ScDan.vii. ^^^ 'Throne of his Father David. And he jh all reign over 41. the Houfe of Jacob /or ever^ and of his Kingdom there fhall he no End^ Luke i. 32, 33. But this Kingdom at Mic.iv. 7. prefent is not in his, but in Mahomet's PoirefTion. Add Rev.iii,2i. to this, that the Prophets over and over promife the Jews a Reftauration; not only from the BabylonipC^L^- tivity, but a new Glory, and a happy Eftate, fuch as they had never enjoy 'd before. Confult * * * nx..^ w,. The Prophet Ifaiah too defcribes a new Earth and new c>nap.lxv, Ti "I'll 111-TT' i7,8cc. Heavens, m which they were to enjoy all this Happi- Scixvi.'ii.'^^^^- ^^^ other Prophets, under different Characters, have marked out this fame State. And laftly, St. John in his Revelations^ always men- tions the Jews^ either plainly or indirectly, whenever he is defcribing the Kingdom of Chrift, or his future Glo- ry. From their Converfion he begins his Prophecy ; B^r- Cliap.i.y. ^^^^ ^^ Cometh with the Clouds^ and every Eye Jh all fee him^ and they aJfo which pierced him ; and all Kingdoms of the Earth Jhall wail before him. Then, when the Throne of Chrift is defcrib'd, Chap. iv. 4. and the four and twenty Elders ftanding, the Jews are join'd there with the ChriftianSj i. e* twelve ApoAIes with twelve Patriarchs, State (?/ Departed Souls, ^c. 307 And from hence we are brought to what we believed ought in the fecond Place to be obferved concerning the Kingdom of Chrift and his Saints, viz. That in that Kingdom, there will be, with regard to this Earth, a Confummation of the Chrijl'tan Rel'tgmi^ and of divine Providence. The Chriftian Reli- gion, indeed, will remain in the new Heavens and the new Earthy under Chrift its Head ; buE Patriarchs, or Heads of Tribes, of the Jews, As after- ^l^^p ^^^^j^ wards, the Foundation of the ntwJerHfakm are the holy j^^ ^ ,^,* Apoftles, but on the Gates ate wrote the Names of the twelve Tribes of 7/r^^/. Lilcewife in the eighth Chapter When the Servants of God are fign'd, the Tribes of 7/r<3;^/ are fign'd firft, and afterwards an innumerable Multitude of all Nations, Tribes, People, and Languages; and in Chap. xiv. i. thofe 144000 are numbered again land- ing in Mount S'wn with the Lamb. Add to this, when at the feventh Trumpet the King- Chap. «i; dom of Chrift was come, the four and twenty Elders ij'.Scc. w^orfhip before him that fits upon the Throne, and fay, 7 hat the "Time of the Dead is come^ that they Jhould be judged^ and that thou fho^ildft give Reward unto thy Ser- imnts the Prophets^ and to the Saints^ and them that fear 'thy Name^ fmall and great ; and jho?ddfi dejlroy them hvhtch dejiroy the Earth. Then the Temple of God was openM in Heaven, and there was feen in the Temple the Ark of his Teflament. The Ark of the Teftament is the Monument of the Covenant entered into with Abraham and the 'Jews^ which God had promifed he would re- member for ever, as an everlailing Covenant, that was to endure for ev^r. And that by this Token Chrift tef- lifies that he did not forget his Covenant and ancient People, but that he would bring them with him to be Partakers of his Kingdom, * ******* '* * Not unlike to this, in the fifteenth Chapter, before the Phialsof his Wrath were poured out, when the Saints X 2. had A T R E AT I S E concerning the but exceedingly alter'd, as well with regard to external Worftiip, as the Sanftity of the Souls of its Subjefts. And that which ought to out-lhine either, there will be a more clear, a more full, and a more diftind Revelation of the Truth, than what we enjoy in this pre- fent Life. Religion together with Mankind makes a gradual Progrefs to Purity and Per- feftion, and the Religion of Nature is the Founda- had fung the Song of Mofes^ and the Song of the Lamb, the Temple of the Tabernacle of Teftimony wasopen'd in Heaven, to fignlfy the divine Prefence, as formerly at the going out of Egypt^ and aftervsrards in the Ta- bernacle, where the Tables of the Law were kept; and fo the Jews fall in with Chriftians, and both make up one Church. Again, in the lafl Chapters of this Prophecy we find many Pallages in Favour of the^^^v^- In the eighteenth Chapter, Ver. 20. the Apoftles are join'd with the Pro- phets triumphing with the Lamb over the Bcafl, and praifing God : And in the feventh Verfe of the follow- ing Chapter a Bride is prepared for the Lamb, cloath'd with the Righteoufnefs of the Saints. I am not ignorant that this Wife of the Lamb's is held by fome to be the Chriftian Church only, feparate from the Jewijh^ when in Conftanttne'% Time the Roman Empire became Chrif^ tian. But this is the Opinion of thofe * * * * who do not exped or believe any Thing of the Converfion of .the Jews ; an Opinion contrary to the exprefs Words Luke XXI. ^f (3j^j.j^ ^^^^ g^^ p^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^y ^^ ^^^^ Prophets j ^' ^j contrary to the Defign and Tenour of the Apocalypfe. ' ' which terminates in the Union of the Jewi/b and Chrif- tian Churches in the Kingdom Chrift ; that Chrift may be the Shepherd of both Flocks, King of both People 3 that the Gentiles and Jews may be colleded under om Head, united into one Body. Laflly State of Departed Souls, ^cl 309 Foundation of every Religion that is infti- tuted, from which all particular Difpenfa- tions that are by divine Appointment, have their Source, and to which they flow back and return again, as Rivers do into the Sea. Divine Providence ieems to have inftituted three particular religious OEconomies for the governing and perfeding Mankind : The firft of which was an OEconomy of Senft, and Laftly, when this earthly Difpenfation arrives to its Perfedion, when all Things Ihall be reftor'd, and Na- ture renew'd, new Heavens and a new Earth, the new Jerufalem fhall defcend from Heaven, deck'd and pre- pared as a Bride for her Husband, Chap. xxi. 2. This is the fame Bride as was mentioned before ; and when 'tis called the New JerHJalem. the Holy City^ it puts us in mind of the Jews^ and of the old Jerufalem^ their Ha- bitation. Although what follows in this and the laft Chapter is reprefented to us under the fame Name and Manner of Speaking, yet we mud not deny this People their Share in it. * * * * There can; be no Difpute as to Precedency ; nor (hould we be too pofitive in apply- ing that which follows, however it may feem to belong to that People ; for it is too obfcure. From what is faid I think it appears fufficiently plain, that all, both Jews and Gentiles^ will be colleded into one Body under Chrift the Head, when his glorious univerfal Kingdom fhall appear compleat upon Earth. This at leaft we may obferve, that thofe Things that are fpoken of the Tabernacle of God, or the Habitation of God among Men, were formerly promifed to ih^Jews^ almolt in the very fame Terms. See Ezech, xxxvii. 26, 27 28, Zeph. ii. if^. Ifa. xii. 6. When therefore we read in the Writings of a Chriaian Prophet, that thefe Promifes are now accomplilhed, can we with any Co- X 3 lo»iJ^ 310 J TREATISE concerning the and of external Works, with but a fliort^ fighted Knowledge of Things divine. The fecond was an OEconomy of AfFedions, in- ftituted for an internal Life, and if I may fo exprefs myfelf^ for a facred Enthufiafrn, with a much greater Light and Knowledge of Things divine, yet a Light and a Know- ledge imperfed and incompleat. The Third, in the Millennian Kingdom of Chrift^ will com- lour of Juftice deprive thofe of a Share in fuch Glories, to whom they were firft of all direded ? The Time of this Reftauration of the Jews will beat the Sabbatifm, at their Refurredion from the Dead, and fo, after the Renovation of the Heavens and the Earth; or in the Millennial Reign of Chrift^ m the World to come. And therefore 'tis foretold and fpoken of by the Prophets as a Refurredion, Ifa. xxvi. 19, 20, 21. Ezek, xxxvii. 12. Hof. xiii. 14. * * * Rom. x\, 16, ij^ ^c, * * * * I Cor, XV. ^4. and that of Darnel xii. i, 2. regards the Jevjs m a fpecial Manner; and Michael^ the great Prince, is Chriit. * * * The Jews by their Sins, and the Abufe of their Law, have, by the juft Judgments of God, made Way for the '| Chriftians; and Chrillians by their Vices, and the Abufe of their Law, lliall m their Turn give Place again to the Jews. Having alternately abufed the Goodnefs of God, and alternately ***** lliall fucceed each other. After thefe Remarks, it will be thought highly juli, that the Jews fhould have no fmall Share in the Millen- nian Kingdom of Chrift. But perhaps there may be two or three Obje6lions made to this Opinion. Firfl, that the Millennium feems to be calculated entirely for Revel. XX. Chrillians, or thofe that were beheaded for the Wttnefs of 4. J'^fi^^-i and for the Word ofGod^ and which have not wor- fioifd the Beafl^' neither his Image .^ neither receivd^ &C, an^ they fhall live with Chrifi a thoufand Tears. Then! i*faid, that in the holy Jemfakra to come, there pall h State of Departed Souls, ^c. 3 li eompr^hend all the three, and will be an OE- cononiy of Senfe, of Affeftion, and of Rea- fon, with as clear, and as full a Knowledge and Infight into Things divine, as can be had on this fide Heaven. Rites, and Cere- monies, and the Shadows of Things will va- nifh : Virtue, pure Virtue, and Truth di- vine, will, like the liquid Light, overflow the whole Globe of Earth. Chrift faid to the JewSy no Temple therein^ Rev. xxi. 22. which points out the Jewijh Worfiiip. To the firft I anfwer, that the Jews are no where excluded from this Millennium, any more than Chriftians. For the PafTages quoted above, fpeak plainly, that the former ought to have a Place there, and that none of the loweft. But as the Series of St. John's Prophecies run moilly upon the Reign of Antichriit, and his Fall, it was natural when that was compleated, to make Mention chiefly of the Triumph of Chriftians up- on ir, as it was they that, oppofed his Kingdom, and are placed all along in the Prophecy as his Adverfaries; when the Enemy is defeated, they receive the Honours of the Vi6lory,whoperfonal]y fullain'd the Battle, altho* others fhare with them the Fruits and Advantages of it. To thefecond I anfwer, That 'tis truly faid there will be no Temple in the future Kingdom of Chrift, nor any external Judaical Worfhip. For we fuppofe that at that Time all Rites, as well Chriftian as Jew'tp^ will beabo- lifhed : All and every one of both Denominations fhall acknowledge Jefus for the Meffiah, and fliall alfo wor- fhip God with a pure Heart, and a pure Mind, accord- ing to that which is mod holy, univerfal, and perpetual in both Laws. Nor Ihall bloody Sacrifices of any Kind have place there, but Sacrifices only of Praife and Tkankfgiving ; nor fliall Circumcifion or Uncircumci- iion avail any Thing, but a new Creature, redb'fy'd ac- cording to the Image of God. X^ So 12 A TREATISE concerning the Jewsy {Luke vii. 28.) Among tho/e that are born of JVomen^ there is not a greater Trofhet than]ohn the Baft'tft y but he that is leaji in the Kingdom of Heaven:, is greas- ier than he J viz. with regard to the Extent of their Science, to their Knowledge of Things divine, and to their wcrfhipring their God in Spirit and in Truth. O Days de- ferving to be eternally celebrated I O truly Golden So that notwlthftanding thefe Objedions, we miift allow the IfraeUtes their Share in the future Canaan^ their Reilauration, and promifed Reft. Forfoit is that the Apoftle to the Hebrews argues, that there Jl'li remaineth a Sabbath for the People of God : By wnich 1 iile he par- ticularly marks out the Ifraelites^ a People belonging to God in a peculiar Manner, and in Covenant with him. Now this Sabbath, although \t may in fome Reipeds be apply'd to the Gofpel State, yet the Jew^^ we fee, are not come to the Enjoyment of that Reft ; and fince this Sabbath ought to be the Antitype correfpond- ing fo thofe Types of it, the Septennial Sabbaths of the Land of Canaan^ ihtjeivs may reafonably expe6]- ano- ther more glorious Sabbatical Reft, another happier Ca- naan ; that fo the Antitype may more exadly anfwer to its proper Type. It muft be acknowledg'd that the Apocalypfe does chiefly run upon the Millennium, and regards the Jews above all others, as though the Millennium belonged to them folely. 'Tis true, it does in a great Meafure belong to them, but not to them alone, as is plain from Revelo vii, 9. and xx. 4. But that many Places, and indeed the main End and Defign of that Prophecy, refpeds the Jews^ is apparent enough to any Reader. See likewife Holmes^ Vol. ii. p. 125-, ^ 126, ^c. ***** Ghrift is the Creator of both Worlds, the old, and the new one that is to be. He is faid to be the Creator of "■ ^ . ... the St AT E of Departed Souls, is'c. j 1 5 Golden Ages ! O truly blifsful Life ! Let this thy Kingdom come, O Lord ; and as thy Will is done in Heaven, let it be done on Earth. Thou gaveft thy Promife that Revel.xxi. thou wouldeft come quickly, and wouldft ^^"* renew all Things : Why does our God ftay ? what hinders the Motion of thy Chariot ? what flops the Courfe of its Wheels ? Letjnigcsy: all thy Enemies ferijh^ O Lord ; hut lef^^- thofe who love thee^ be like the Sun^ when he mounts the Skies ^ in all his Strength^ and in all his Glory. Thus have we with Brevity treated of the State of the Millennium. They who de- fire to fee the Reft that relates to it, may find it in the forementioned Theory. At the End of this Millennium there will follow the laft Judgment and the fecond Refurrec- tion ; and then comes the Confummation of all Things. I muft confefs there is no Mention made in the facred Writings exprefly and the old World in many Places, P/^/. cii. Joh, i. 3, 10. Col. i. 17. Heb. i. 10. As to the World that is to be, the Mefliah is called, •%xtv^^ Ta uiav®* |XfAAovT(^, the Father of the World to come^ Jfa, ix. 6. From whence the Author to the Hebrews^ Chap. ii. 5". fays, that the oiKhixivuv r^u {Xi?^?^ii(Tuvt the IVorld to come, is in a peculiar Manner fubjed to him. The Jews call it ts^anoS:;^, which regards the World, as well the natural as moral. It is worth enquiring whe- ther they make the MeiTiah the Author of this likewife. I d© not remember that the Mefliah is any where in Scripture faid to be the Author of the nciv Heaven, and the new Earth. * =^ * > 2 14 ^TREATISE concerning the and nominally, either of a fecond Refurrec* tion, or a fecond Judgment. But each of Revel. XX. them is hinted at and implied in that Vifion vJ.\f^ of St. Joh^iy which gives us a View of the B2. Millennium ; that one will be at the Begin- ning, and the other at the End of it. And as for the Refurrection, in other Places of thefacred Writings, fometimes Regard is had to the firft, and fometimes to the fecond, without diftinguiftiing accurately. St. T^aul in his Epiftle to the Corinthians treats chiefly, if not folely, of the laft Refurrec- tion, as was before obferved : But Chrift in St. Luke feems to point at the firft, which he Luke xiv. calls, The Refurrettion of the Jujl^ not of all, ■*''^' but of the Juft feparately : Such as is the firft Refurrection, in which the Wicked are to have no Part, {Revel, xx. 4, 5, which compare with T^faL i. 5.) which will be the Time of the firft Retribution. And this Re- furredion of the Juil, anfwers to tvj iroiKiy yeuea-icuy the Regeneration^ in which likewile Chrift promifes the Reward to his Saints, Matt, xix. 28, 29. Laftly, in the fecond, and laft Refurrectionj the Glory of the Juft will find its Accomplifhment, when Morta- lity being fwallowM up of Life, and their Terreftrjal being converted into Celeftial and glorious Bodies, they fliall be really equal, and like to the Angels. This is the End of human Affairs, and this their Confurnmation. But now fbme may enquire concerning the Earth, What will becorge State (?/ Departed Souls, isfc. become of that, when its Inhabitants all have left it ? Concerning this Matter, and others that have Relation to it, we have, in the Theory of the Earthy given our Con- jeftures. But fince thele are doubtful and problematical Points, and, as it were, out of the Compafs of the Chriftian Dodrine, we did not think it proper to infert any Thing of them here. And fb much for thefe Mat- ters. CHAP. X. Of Heaven and Hell. What fort of Hea- ven that of the Chrijiians is^ and how far it may be faid to be locaL What Hell is ; whether there is^ or will be ^- ny Subterranean J, or any other locals cor-^ forealj and external Hell^ before the T)ay of Judgment J, and Conflagration of the World,\ Of the Tunifhments of Hell; whether they are to be looked upon as finite J or infinite^ or indefinite. AN D now we have leen an End of all human Things upon Earth *, and Hea- ven and Hell come next to be confider'd. By the Word Heaven^ the Chriftians under- ftand a State and Place of future Felicity, or Seats of beatified Souls ; And thefe Seats they place in a fublime Station, remote from Earth, A TREATISE concerning the Earth, and high in the Starry Regions, and call them Heaven, To this Point there is an Agreement between the Chriftian Dodrine, and the Opinions of the wifeft among the Heathens, and the Sentiments of their Phi* lofbphers, who fent back thofe Souls that had behaved themfelves well upon Earth, to that Heaven, from which they at firll de- fcended. But as for the Poets, a Generation audacious and lawlefs, and who reprefent and mifreprefcnt the Dodrines of the An- cients according to their Pleafure, and ftiew the Truth in Difguife and Mafquerade, they place their Elyfian Fields, their Seats of the Bleffed, in I know not what Lands, and for- tunate Iflands ; or, which is yet more incon- gruous, under Ground, and in fubterranean Regions, Thus grofly does Virgil philolb- phize, to the Capacity and Tafte of the Peo- ple ; and that, perhaps, from an obfcure or corrupt fort of Knowledge, either of the an- cient, or the future Paradife. 'Tis true, in- deed, the Saints will enjoy a happy Life in that new Earth, and that fecond Paradife: But the Queftion is not here concerning that intermediate Happinefs, but the fupream Bea- titude and Seat of the Saints, after the laft Refurredion, at the End of the Millennium, when putting on their celeftial Bodies, and changing their Seats, they fhall enjoy a Con- fummate Glory, and an inconceivable Feli- city. That State (?/ Departed SouIsj ^c. 517 That thefe Seats are celeftial, or luper- celeftial, all Chriltians agree ; I lay, or Su^ prcelejlial ; for the fcholaftick Dodors af- fert, that a certain Empyrean j qi fiery Hea* ven^ fuperiour to all the reft, will be the Habitation of the Saints, and all that will be eternally happy. But befides, that no fuch fiery Heaven appears to us, by the Help ei- ther of Senfe or Reafon, except, the Bodies of the Sun^ and the fixed Stars ; there is no fuch Order of the Heavens, and no fuch Syftem of the World as thefe Dodors ima- gine : For they imagine that all the Hea- vens are concentrical, or that they belong to one and the fame Centre, and are invol- ved and wrapt up in each other, like the Coats of an Onion j which is in fome Mea- fure true of the Planetary Orbs, but by no Means of the fixed Stars : For neither are they all of them fixed in one Superficies, as it were in the fame Cieling, at an equal DiC tance every where from the Earth ; but fome of them are immers'd deeper than others in the celeftial Regions, and are unequally diftant from us by immenfe immenfurablc Spaces, and every one moves in its own peculiar Orb. And when thefe Authors place the Firmament, or the Orb of the fixed Stars above the Planets, then, other Orbs, Orb above Orb, till they come to the firft Mover, as they are pleafed to exprefs themfelves, and then on tfie Summit of all, or in the fupream Circle of the Univerfe, the A T R E AT I S E concerning thi the Empyrea?i Heaven, they build up a Frame of the Heavens that is entirely fic- titious, and an Order of Stars, that is not incommodious for the Vulgar, but is utterly unworthy of Aftronomers or Philofophefs; And they feem to have contrived this Em- pyrean Heaven on the Summit of all the Orbs, after the Example of their elemental Fire : For, as they have difpofed of this Fire in the fuperior Part of the elemental World, becaufe it is more light and fubtle than the reft, fo in the Heavens they place this fiery or this flaming Orb, as being more pure and excellent than them all, in the lupream Re- gion of the Univerfe. But they talk in either Cafe abfurdly : For neither is there any fuch fiery Sphere in the outward Part of the fublunary World ; and in the Spheres of the fixed Stars^ the fiery Matter dwells not in the Ends or the Extremity of the Orb, but has its Place in the Middle, and conftitutes there a bright and a flaming Star. So that unlefs you will place the Habitation of the Souls of the Juft amidft thefe Flames, that is, in the Sun, or fome other Stars, you will find nothing beiides of Empyrean through all the Extent of Heaven. But tho' the Empyrean Heaven, in the Senfe and Situation in which ^tis fet forth a- bove appears to me to be a mere Fiftion, yet I fee nothing that can hinder our Belief, that among the celeftial Orbs, as among the Stars, fome are more bright, more flaming, and, if State of Departed Souls, ^c. 3 19 if I may fo exprefs myfelf, more glorious ^^^* ^xi, than others. But wherever Schechinah is, or the glorious Body of Chrift, it fpreads its Rays like a new Star, and its Light a- round it, and in its Neighbourhood all around it, the bleffed Saints ftiall dwell, as under a Throne of Glory. Chrift has often told us that, and thus, being about to die, accofts his Father, Father^ I will /tojohnxU. thofe whom thou hajl given unto me^ where'^^:.^^^-'^* I am fljould be with me^ that they may ^^-^^"'^^" hold the Glory which thou haft given me ; for thou lovedft me before the Foundation of the JVorld. But ftridly to define thefe Seats and theie Manfions of Blifs, is not in our Power at prefent; nor, indeed, does it much concern us : But fince the Saints fhall have their Habitation in Heaven, and their Inhe- ritance in the Realms of Light, 'tis very aCor.v.tl probable that their Seats will be not only^^^-^-^- above the Globe of the Moon, but above the Atmofpheres of all the Planets, in thofe \ ^^therial Regions where there is eternal Day, and where Night never comes. Laftly, fince Chrift has taught us, that in his Fa- ther's Houfe there are 7nany Manfions^ ^tisRp^i-^^yo. but reafonable to fuppofe, that every Saint, ^°^"^^^''^' or Aifcmbly of Saints, according to the De- gree of their Purity and Perfedion, will have their Habitation nearer to Schechinah^ or to the Throne of Glory, Thus much concerning the Station and Seat of the Bleffed. As for their Condition, (for t 320 A TREATISE concerning the (for we have faid that both of them are com- prehended under the Name of Heaven,) that is, the Kind and Degree of Felicity, which the Saints will enjoy in thefe .^therial Re- gions, the Saying of the Apoftle has here I Cor.ii. 9. defervedly a Place ; Eye hath not feen^ ^ nor hath Ear heard^ nor can the Mind of Man conceive the Hapfinefs that God has fre^ pared for thofe who love him. Thefe Things furpafs our prelent Capacities, and the Force of human Thought. Yet this is certain, that let them be what they will^ they muft all be referr'd, either to the Bo- dy, or to the Mind. What the Body of the Bleffed will be in Heaven, both as to the Matter and to the Form of it, we have in the feventh and eighth Chapters, to the beft of our Power, explained : That befides its incomparable Endowments, it will be free from every Evil of Sicknefs, or Pain, or Trouble, with which we are afflided in our prefent Bodies : And that it will willingly, and without Reluctance, obey the Com- mands of Reafon, prepared and ready for every kind of Obedience. As for the Soul, all its Faculties in that State, will grow greater and ftronger, and will afpire to the utmoft Perfeilion. The Senfes, the Af- fections, all the Faculties of the Soul will become more lively, and will terminate in greater and more illuftrious Objefts. And firft of all, new and molt wonder- ful Objeds will not be wanting to entertain State of Departed Souls, e>^. the outward Senfes; when being exalted above all the Planets, we lliall view the boundlefs Ocean of the Univerfc^ and innu- merable Globes of Worlds, floating along the vaft Stream of the Sky, each iiird with its proper Inhabitants : For the Force of the Eye, and the vifual Faculty will be fo ordain'd and conftituted, that it will furpals all the Power of the moft artful Glafles, and will reach and take in Objeds much greater and nobler, and more remote than what we now difcern in this muddy Air. Then, when we fhall contemplate the iix'd Stars, thofe eternal celeftial Fires, thole numberlefs Suns of prodigious Magnitude, fuccceding one another without End, through all the immenfe Spaces of the Sky, what Pleafure, what Raptures will not this Pro- Iped of the Univerfe raife in us ? How great is the Lord, how great is our God, the Au- thor and Creator of every Creature, of every Thing that fills this boundlefs All ? * Lastly, Befides this Magnificence of the Works divine, there will be a matchlefs Beauty in the Face of the Heavens, feeing that the Stars, like fo many Gems of dif- ferent Orders, and of different Kinds, will fhine with a thoufand feveral Glories, and a thoufand various Colours; when in the Confines of the Orbs, and their Approaches Y to *Alas! How vile does this Earth fcem,whenl lookup to Heaven ! See the Place of Seneca^ \\\ his Natur.^iaji, ^jPr^fut, ^arn juvat inter Sjdera^ &c. I A TREATISE concerning the to each other, their Rays being varioufly re- fracted, new Lights and painted Arches will arife^ and numerous Kinds and Forms of Splendors will be feen, fuch as are painted by the Prophet in the holy City, Revel, xxi. 185 1 9, @^. This, befides, ought to be ad- ded, that when we Ihall have obtained a Sta^ tion, or Seat, in thole ^therial Regions, a Station exalted above all the Planets, we Ihall not only fee one Henjifphere, or half of the Heavens, as now we fee it, but fliall behold the Sphere intire, and at one and the fame Time become Spedators of the vaft Circumference and Amphitheatre of the World, the Palace of the univerfal King, with all its Ornaments, and its moft fplendid Furniture. What and how much will be added to this celeftial Sight by the Prefence and Influence of the divine Schechinahj is beyond all mortal Power to exprels. But why do we dwell fo long upon the outward Senfes ? The chief Felicity of the Saints in Heaven will confift in the Con- templation of their Minds, and the Mo- tions of their Affections. But this Felicity efcapes us, or, as the Apoftle expreffes it, does not enter into the Heart ^f Mm in this prefcnt State. But this, neverthelefi, we know, that the greater and the more excellent the Objeds of the Underitanding are, the purer and the fuller Joy does the Mind receive from the Contemplation of them. This likewife we know, that there is State (?/ Departed Souls, ^c. 32^3 is nothing in the Univerfe, or the Nature of Things, greater than the divine Nature ; and the Perfedions of it, to whom nothing that is finite can be equal, or fecond ; from which the Confequence is very clear, that to Minds rightly prepared, the moft tranf- porting Happinefs mull arife from the Con- templation and the Love of God. So far the Point is clear ; but we are not able, in this Life, either to exprefs in Words, or to reach in Thought, the very loweft Degrees, or fb much as a light Idea of this high Bea- titude ; fo foreign and i^o remote is true Fe- licity from our prelent Condition. But to proceed a little: By the fame De- grees that we make an Improvement and Pro- ficiency in the Know4edge of God, will the Love and Admiration of him increale in us, than which Affecftions human Nature knows nothing that brings more Felicity to it: Then, the facred Scripture teftifies, and Reafon on feveral Accounts convinces us, that our Knowledge of Things divine will be im- proved in the Heavens, to the very utmoft- of our Endeavour, and our Capacity. Here, fays the Apoftle, our Knowledge is like that of Children ; but it will be there like that in the Vigour and Maturity of manly Age ; Here we fee through a Glafs darkly ^ but \ Cor. xiii, there Face to Face-y now I know in Tart^ *^- but then I fhall know as alfo I am known. Whatever fecret Senfe thefe Words of the Apoftle may have^ confider'd one .by one, Y 2 and A TREATISE concerning the and narrowly fifted^ yet they teach lis in general, that our Knowledge will be com- pleat and perfect when wx fhall be con- verfant in Heaven, and among Celeftial In- habitants. Reason like wile Ipeaks the fame Lan- guage to us, and the fame the Nature of the Thing, fince all Things concur in that Celeftial Life, which may promote or en- large our Knowledo^e. Thofe Affiftants to Science, or thofe Incitements and Spurs to Enquiry, which proceed from the external Senfes, and the Knowledge which wx re- ceive from them, will be much ftronger, and more efficacious, and will much farther ex- tend themfelves in diicerning either fmall or remote Objefts, than the Organs of our prelent Bodies can ever be able to carry us. Then the Force of Reafon, and the Force of Genius will become much more clear, and ftrong, and penetrating, by the Purity and Subtlety of our Celeftial Bodies, and the Soul will foar to Angelick Underftand- ingand Excellency- in every kind of its Af- fedions and Contemplations. Laftly, by t!ie Purity of the Mind, together with chat of the Body, we ftiall be rendered rightly difpos'd, and fit to receive God; I mean, to receive thofe divine Influxes and Illumi- nations, which furpals the Gifts of Nature, be It ever fo much exalted. That eternal Truth, that intelleftual Light is diffused throughout the Univerfe, but is received only State ^/Departed Souls, iffc. 325 only according to the Mcafure of the Re- ceiver ; and Souls, according to the Large- nefs of their Knowledge, and the Purity of their Affections, become more capacious of the Deity, and take larger Draughts of Ce- leftial Rays and Celeflial Infpirations. This Cruft of Flelh, this Mafs of Mud, with which we are at prefent covered, fcarce al- lows Entrance to Light divine ; but by the Sparkles which we Ibmetimes perceive, we are brought to Defire, and to exped the Blaze of Day, like Harveft by the firll Fruits. To all this is wont to be added, as the Top and Accomplifhment of our Happinels in the Heavens, the Vifion beatilick. But here we underftand either the corporeal and external, or incorporeal and intelledual Vi- llon. As far as 'tis corporeal, it will be the tqI^^, ,.yj- Vifion of Schechinah^ that is, of our Lord 14! ^ ' and Saviour Jefus Chrift in his glorious Bo- dy \ "^ for God himlelf is invifibje, as a moil pure and unmixM Spirit. The incorporeal Vifion will be a Contemplation of the di- vine Nature; and in that, as in a Glals, a Sight of both Worlds, the ideal or the eter- nal, or the temporary and external World. The ElTences or the Ideas of Things, and (.he eternal and unchangeable Truths, which Y 3 refult * As the Angels fee God, Mat. xviii. lo. fo (hall wc fee him. A TREATISE concerning the refult from the Regards and Relations which they have to each other, I call the ideal World : The Ranks and Degrees of all pof« fible Things, from the great Creator of all^ or from the Being infinitely perfect, down through all intermediate Degrees, to the loweft Order of allj and the neareft Ap- proach to nothings perfpicuoufly to con- template all thefe, as in the open Bofom of the Father, and as they are langM and Ihine in the divine Underftanding, is a Vifion truly beatificko But we have faid, that this contemplative Vifion comprehends both the one and the other World ; that eternal and unchangeable one in the divine Intelled ; and this prefent^ temporary, changeable one, which is go- verned by the Will of God, on which it entirely depends. And here too a bound- lefs Field of Contemplation offers itfelf, of which in this Life we are fcarce able to reach to the leaft Part. We here are igno» lant both of the Number, the Order, the Magnitude, the Perfeftion, and the Vicifli- tudes and Periods of created Things. We^ in a great Meafure, are ignorant of the Im- plements of our little World, the Earth ; of the Hiftory of our Animals, our Plants^ and of Things inanimate ; but of their Cau^ fes and their Influences we are much more ignorant. But there are innumerable plane- tary Worlds befides, that like ours are adorned and provided with Things and Creatures of State of Departed Souls, ^d 3 27 every Kind, both animated and inanimated. In contemplating thefe, we ftiall admire the Wifdom of God, and his inexhauftible Fe- cundity, that fliews itfelf in them a thou- land diJBferent Ways j while we behold and revolve in our Thoughts the Variety that appears in Millions of Shapes, the new Ap- pearance and the new Ornaments that are feen in every one of them, yet every where fit, and beautiful, and accommodated. — Fades non omnibus unaj, Nee diverfa tamen^ qtialem decet ejfe y5- rorum. Each of their Faces is dijiinjiuijh'd from the others ; yet not fo dijtingmjfj'^d^ but that there is fame Refemblance ; and fuch a Re- femblance^ and fuch a T)iJltn6t'ton is becoming inSiJIers^ as the EjfeEi and Refilt of Nature in tho/e who faring from the fame Father. But befides the Order of natural Things that will be feen in every Planet, or in every planetary World, there is likewife in each of them a moral Order, or a religious OEcono- my \ by which the Inhabitants of every World are directed in their divine Worfhip, in their Search after Truth, and their Im- provement inVirtue, that they may at length attain eternal Felicity. In thefe religious OEconomies, (of which amongft innumera- ble Worlds there is an infinite Variety,) not Y4 only A TREATISE concerning the only the Glory of the divine Wifdom, but likewife of his Goodnefs and his Juftice fhine out moft brightly : In thefe the prima- ry Myfteries of Providence are laid up. In the OEconomy of our little World, the Myf- tery of the Meffiah is the Alpha and the Omega, and fills all Parts; what pafles in the reft of the Worlds is hid from us : But if by one Example we may judge of the reft^ WQ ought to believe, that in every World there are new Proofs of admirable Wifdom, under various and different Forms and Minifteries. But to unlock and take a View of thefe Treafures, thefe Secrets of Piovidence, this Theory, if i may fo ex- piels myielf, ct all Religions fpread through the Immenfity of the Univerfc: What Plea- fures, what Tranlports, what ravilhing Sen- iacK ns, muft not this Profped, and thefe Contemplations excite in us ? Nothing can be more pieafing to the Sou], than to make a Pr< grefs in the moft excellent Studies, and to enjoy that Truth wiiich we continu- ally court, with which we are continually charmed. Why ftiould I mention thefix'd Stars, thofe noble, thofe glorious Bodies, excelling vaitly the Planets in Matter, and in Magnitude : They are far from being all of them fix'd in the fame vaulted Roof of Heaven, as to us wretched Mortals they appear, but are piofiifely fown at immenfe Diftances from each other, through all the vaft Concave an4 the State (/Departed Souls, is^c. 325 the Profundity of Heaven. 'Tis reafona- ble CO believe, that according to the Fulneis of the divine Power, Inhabitants are not wanting to thefe morning, thefe firjR: created Stars, which fing forth the Praife of God, according to that of Jo^^ When the morning jobxxxviii. Stars fung together^ and all the Sons of^-r., God fljouted for Joy. Thefe have, I fay, 2,3" ^'"' their own Inhabitants, and Animals which are peculiar to them, and every Thing elfe in proportion greater than our contemptible Trifles, according to the Dignity and the Magnitude of the primary Bodies of the Univerle. Lastly, we fhall in Heaven have a clear Prolped of the intelle^ual Sjjiem of the fVorld^ which is moft of all hid from us here. I fpeak of the Orders of Angels and Archangels, and all that illuftrious and glo- rious Hierarchy, in Underftanding and Ma- jefty next to God, and immediately under him in the Adminiftration of the Empire of the Univerfe. When we fhall have a full and a clear View of the Forces, the Num- bers, the Degrees, the Endowments, the Dignities, and the Splendors of this celef- tial Army, how mean, and how vile will all earthly Things appear to us? Things i^i.\^^.\f, that are paft (hall not once be remember' d^^^^'^^^' '^' nor ever come into the Mind again. This the Prophet formerly laid concerning the State of Things under the Kingdpn^ of ?Chrift in the new Earth : Much more fhall t. - the A TREATISE cmicerning thi the iVlemory ot all i hings ^ and vanifh before Cekftial Glory. There will be no more Place for theie empty Tri- fles with which we are taken up here : The greateft^ the beft^, and the Bobleft ObjedSj> will be then the Obfervatioo both of the Eyes and Mind ; and paffiog Eternity in the Contemplatiori and the Enjoyment of thefe^ we ihall be eternally rayifliM with the tranf- porting Pleafiires which will flow from that fubiime Imployment* And^ Thus we have with Brevity iliewn what OUT Sentiments ought to be concerning the Beatifick Vifion<, If you underftand the ex» ternal Vifion^ ^tis the Vifion of the externa! World after a fenfible Manner^ but under a much more illuftrious Appearance than it is fcen at prefent^ efpeeialiy when we ihall be- hold the divine Schechinahy or the Glory of Chrift» If yoii fpeak of the Vifion incor- poreal ^ that is another Sehechinahj if I may be allowM to call it fo^ or the internal and Intel leftual Vifion of God ; the Objed of which Vifion is tvvofold : Firft^ there is the Idea of Godj and in him of all Things pof- lible and eternal^ which may be calFd the Antemundane^ and the immoveable Idea ; and then the Idea of created Things^ or of " the World external to Goi^ perceiv'd by the Underllanding in all its Latitude^ and through all its Duration, through all its Periods and its Viciffitudes, through all the Regions of the Univerfe^ and all the Orders •f St ATE of Departed Souls, iffc. 351; of Creatures j laftly, through all the Series of Ages, from the Beginning of Time to the End of it : This may be caird the Mundane Idea^ or the univerfal Mirror of Providence ; and about nothing more grear, more illut- triousj or more divine, can the Minds of Men or Angels be converfant, than thefe amazing Objefts. And if Felicity fprings from Vifion or Contemplation, thrice happy may they be pronounced, who in this glorious Light behold the Light, who drink Draughts Pfal xxxvL of Life from this eternal Fountain of it^5>. 10. they who are thrown out of their natural State by drinking of thefe Rivers of PleaHire, are hurried beyond themfelves by Raptures and Extafies, or with open Breafts receive their God within them. May we be allow'd to add one Thing to thefe, in order to explain the Vifion of God, that inexhauftible Myftery ? We are faid in the Heavens to behold God Face to Face, and to fee him as he is : Here we fee God in his Works, as through a Glafs ; there we fhall fee him in himfelf : Here we behold him in his Attributes ; there we fliall view him in his Eflence, or in his proper Idea : While we are in this prefent State, the di- vine Goodnefs appears one Thing to us, the Juftice of God another ; his Power another Thing, and his Wifdom another : His Will ftill feems another Thing, and his Under- ftanding another. Sometimes God feems to us to ad, and Ibmetimes to be unaclive j and now A TREATISE concerning the now to ad one Way, and anon another. Then, he neither appears to be a fimple nor an immutable Being, but rather a Being the moft compounded of all Beings, and more or lefs, according to the Occafion, aftive ; nor even this with Uniformity : But when we Ihall fee God in his proper Idea, all thefe will come into one moft fmiple and immuta- ble Nature. And to contemplate God after this Manner, is to 'fee God as he is^ viz. a Being infinitely perfed, an univerfal Flow of Light, and of unclouded Glory. But I reftrain myfclf : For fhould we, like little Children^ utter imperfed Sounds, im perfed Senfe, concerning the fublimefl: Matters, which by fo many Degrees furpals our little Capacities, and which too haftily fly the Search of thole who live in this Dark- nefs here on Earth? We ought, with Si.Taul^ to be rapped into the third Heaven, in or- der to learn thefe unlpeakable Things, thele fublimeft of all Myfteries. The facred Scrip- ture itfelf is almoft filent, and Ipeaks but Iparingly and in general concerning the State of Souls who are for ever happy in Heaven, and of the Means and Degrees of their Hap- pinefs. When it mentions Rivers ofTlea-- ftire^ or the "Delights of "Faradife^ or the Crowns of Glory ^ or other Things of the like Nature, to paint celeftial Glory and celeC- tial Felicity, its Language is according to that of the Vulgar, for the Capacity and the Ufc of the People, who are wont to mealure ■' ■• and State of Departed Souls, t^c. 5 ? v and value the Sovereign Good by thefe ex- ternal little glittering Things. Befides, we ought to oblerve, That fince the future Felicity of the Saints is Two-fold, one in the new Earth, under the Reign of Chrift for a thoufand Years ; the other in the Heavens, upon the Confummation of all Things, which latter is to laft eternally ; there are many Things more in the facred Writings which relate to the former, than to the latter Felicity ; I fay- to the former, as being nearer to us, and in the Way that leads to the other. . Belides^ we more eafily conceive its State, and its Man- ner, becaufe ^tis Terreftrial, and not much unlike to our prefent Life, except its Incom- modities, and its Calamities. But the other, or the celeftial Felicity, differs wholly from the Ufe and Manner of our prefent Life, and comes up entirely to an Angelick State, a State moft foreign to the Capacity and Underftanding of the Vulgar. St. John has rightly taught us, It does not yet afj^ear what we jhall bcj that is, ia the Heavens ; bat we know that when he afpears^ we (Ijall be like him. Then Chrift tells us that we Ihall be like to the Angels, itTOLyyiha^. And, therefore, as to the Body we fhall be like to Chrift 3 as to the Body and Mind, we Ihall be like to the Ane^els. This we know in general : But this Two- fold Conformity contains in it the Seeds of various Perfections. From hence we acquire new 33 4 ^ T R EAT I S E concerning the new Force for all the Ad:s of the Under- ftanding, and for compleating the Contem- plation of Truth ; and the Love of God, and Happinefs increafes in us, as our Know- ledge increafes. We ftill make a farther and a fartherProgrefs m the Knowledge of Things divine, and are transforniM from Glory to joTinxvH. Glory, after the Image of God himfelf> till 20, 2 1.22. ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^ Meafure of the Fulnefs of the Stature of Chrift, and to an Union with God and with Chrift } what and how great we know not. Grant, O God, that the Felicity, which yet we are not able fo much as to conceive, we at length may know by Experience, and by Fruition ; and that, delpifing the empty Pleafures and Glories of this World, we may enjoy fubftantial, never-ending Joys and Glories in Heaven, by and for the fake of our Lord and Saviour Jelus Chrift. We now come to treat of HelL By which Word the Chriftian Authors under- ftand the Place and the State of the Damn'^d, and of Men and Demons wicked and mife- rable. The Latins by their Hell ibmetimes denote the State of the Dead in general, which the Greeks call aS'rwj a State of ab- fconding, or if I may call it fo, of Invifibi- lity. In which Senfe and Signification, 'tis us'd in the facred Writings, as by learned Men has been abundantly fliewn. But Ufe has obtainM among many, that by the Word Helly is underftood the Prifon of mifeiable and STATE of Departed Souls, ^c. 3 3 and wicked Creatures, who are departed this Life, and the Place of their Puniihment and their Torment; and that in Regions un- der uSe According to this Acceptation of the Word, let us firft, if you pleafcj en- quire, Whether there is any fuch Place in Being as a fubterranean Hell ? There is no doubt but that there are ma- ny and monftrous Cavities under Ground ; Some of which are filled with. Water, fome with Fire^ and fome with only Air : Buta- mong all thefe, you will hardly find one with which the Conditions and Qualities of Hell will exadly agree. This Infernal Place in the facred Writings, is called, Otitu^ard "Darknefs^ and ^Onqiienchable Fire : 'Tis hardly poffible, that the fame Place can be at once dark and fiery, unlefs very many and grofs Fumes are intermixed with the Fire. And 'tis from hence, I believe, that fome have taken Occafion to imagine that the Tops and the Vents of jEtnaj and the Mouths and Jaws of other Vulcanian Moun- tains, are the Gates of Hell. I can by no Means agree with thele : For you muft ima- gine, according to this Hypothefis, either that there are fo many feparate Hells, as there are Mountains upon the Earth that vomit Fire, which would be abfurd ; or that there is one continual or void fubterranean Region, which every where runs under the exterior Orb of the Earth ; as formerly the Abyfs in the Antediluvian World. But ac- cording A TREATISE cone ermng the cording to the prefent Conftru£tion of the Earth, \is impoffible that any fuch empty Region can extend itfelf under the whole Globe of the Earth : For that Region would be either under the Bottom of the Ocean, or higher and fuperior to it. If it were higher, it would be interrupted by the Intercur- rency of the Ocean, between the Iflands and the Continents, and in feveral other Places, and fo would conftitute manifold and divi- ded various Hells. But if you place this Re- gion beneath the Ocean, befides that in the Origination of the Earth from Chaos, this empty Region under the Abyfs could not poflibly be formed or conftituted, if there, were any Defcent, or Paffage, or Entrance into this Hell, thither down would the Wa- ters of the Ocean, and other fubterranean Waters flow, and extinguilh the Fire. There is certainly no Abfurdity in be- lieving that there is Fire, or a Mafs of Fire at the Centre of the Earth ; and, therefore, others pretend that Hell is to be placed there. It would furely be very difficult, according to this Hypothefis, to delcend or arrive at Hell, thus fituated in the very Heart of the Earth. The Wicked would rejoice when the Place of their future Torment, would be thus impervious and inacceffible : How many folid Regions, what Bulk and Thicknefs of Earth were to be perforated in this Journey ? How much Time would be fpent on the Way ? The Semidiameter of the St ATE of Departed Souls, ^c: 5 j -55 the Earth Is believed to contain above three thoufand four hundred of our Miles : The Ground itfelf, indeed, is not impenetrable : But by what Hole, or what Opening, or through what Part of the Earth's Superficies, a Paffage can be given to fo vaft a Profun- dity, we are utterly to feek. Befides, 'tis Matt.viii: manifeft that the Devils are not intirely Ihut tiu'et^ori ' up in this central Prifon ; but that they ra-p.8i.'§23! ther wander through the Regions of the Air, ^P^*"* *• as it were in free Cuftody ; and the infer- nal Tyrant is called the Prince of the Air in the facred Writings ^ where we are taught by the fame Oracles, that he has his Habi- tation at prefent, and the Seat of his Empire; Apoc. xx^ and that he will at length be ihut up in the ^'^' great Abyfs at the Beginning of Chrift's Millennian Kingdom. But, perhaps, you will objed to me the Saying of the Apoftle, that the evil An- iPet.ii.^j gels were caft down into Hell, and deliver- ed into Chains of Darknefs. And that be- fides Chrift defcended e$ xoLrcorepx tyu yris. Laftly, by cuftomary Ipeaking, as well fa- ^p^- ^^- Sc- ored as vulgar, we are faid to afcend into Heaven, and fo de fiend into Hell ; therefore there is a fubterranean Place. But thefe Ar- guments prove nothing at all : Firft, as to Tartarum^ or Hell^ this Word is ufed to fig- nify the fubterranean World, and the gloomy Air with which we are llirrounded, as is ve- ry well known to the Learned. And into this Tartarum, this Hell, or this inferior and Z impure 10. 33^ A TREATISE concerning the impure Region of the Air, the degenerate Angels are thrown down, being expelled their native ^therial Seats : But, whereas they are faid to be kept in Chains, that is fpoke alluding to a common Cuftom, becaufe Criminals are wont to be fo kept to hinder them from efcaping. Then as to what re- 9C cxxxijt. ^a^^s to the Defcent of Chrift c?$ tcc jcaT&ixg- »f. pet Tii5 yy}?.y that does not relate to the Death sTchlVvi'^^ Chrift, (as is abundantly evident from rhenjoh.' other Places compared with it,) but to his ^^^ ^^ -J ^^ Incarnation ; that is, when in order to * procure Salvation for us, he left his Heaven, and vouchfafed to defcend to this lower Earth : I fay, lower or inferior, that is, with refped to tha Heavens j for the Compari- fon is founded here not upon the Parts of the Earth, but upon the Parts of the Uni- verfe. Laftly, when the Dead are faid to defcend into Hell, ad Inferos^ vellnfernum^ that either denotes the Sepilchre^ whither the Bodies of the Good, as well as of the Wicked, delcend ; or, it is particularly ap- plied to the Wicked : For as contrary Fate is, fo oppofite Places are ailign^d to the Good and the Wicked ; and, therefore, as we pro- vide Heaven for the former, a Region fub- lime and refulgent, we believe that a fub- terranean and a gloomy Manfion is well ad- apted to the latter. Nor is it fo eafy to conceive that the free Air fliould be the Receptacle of Souls, and their Prifon, as fome difmal AbodQ uader Gro^qd. But vul- gar State ^Departed Souls, ^c. gar Opinions and imaginary Accounts, are of no Uie in determining theTruth of Things. But let us proceed to what follows : If no fuch Thing is to be found as a fub- terranean Hell, the next QuelHon is^ Whether there is any where a corporeal and local Hell before the Day of Judgment, and the Conflagration of the World ? or, Whether before that Day of the Lord the Wicked are only plagu'd with internal Stings, and tor- mented by their own Furies. For my o wnPart, I am inclined to that Opinion, that before the Day of general Judgment there will be no external Punifliments.* If departed Souls, till that Time comes, remain naked and with- out Bodies, the Thing is then indubitable ; at leaft for them who expert, that at the lall Day there will be an external Judicature with all the Formality of the Proceedings of a human Court of Juftice : For neither can naked and inyilible Minds be brought before a Tribunal^ nor is it juft that any one fliould be condemned to fuffer before his Caufe is try'd and determined. I KNOW ^tis affirmed, as we obfervM above, that there is a private and particular Judg- ment appointed before the general one, for every Soul a:> foon as it leaves the Body ; and that in fome Meafure may be received, Z 2 provided * Some of the Fathers believed, that there was no lo- cal corporeal Hell before the Day of Judgment. See them in Maldomt, upon Luke x\U A TREATISE concerning the provided they who affert it, mean nothing external by it, but only an internal Punifti- ment, by which every one fufFers according as he has done, and his own Confcience be- ing at once Witnefs and Judge, regards him- felf already as one both guilty and con- demned, and fufFers Puniftiment according to the Degree of his Guilt, clvToxccrdK^Lro§y being judged and condemned by himfelf. But here we are Ipeaking of an external or corporeal Punifhment ; for which it feems impoffible that there can be any Room be- fore the Refurre6lion. I am not ignorant that in the Parable of ^ives and Laz^arus^ the Souls of the Departed are fbon carried, on one Side, into the Bofbm of Abraham^ and on the other, into Tormenting Fires : But in the fame Relation, ^ives has a Tongue, and Lips, and the other Organs of Speech j and confequcntly his whole Body, as if he had carried it entire with him to Hell ; which evidently lliews that that Relation is not true, xctTO po-ir, according the Letter j but that 'tis like a Fable or Emblem^ xiirowird^G^t^i^ ac- commodated to the Ufe and Capacity of the People, and contrived and invented to re- prefent Truth by Fidion, 'viz. that the Soul furvives after the Body is extind, and that in another Life the Good will be happy^ and the Wicked miferable. These Things being thus laid open, it feems to me to be highly probable, that the Puniihments of the Wicked before the Pay of State of Departed Souls, ^c. 341 of Judgment will be only internal, that is to fay, a total Privation of every Good, and of every Comfort, befides the Stings of Confcience, the Anguifli of Soul, and a reft- lefs and dreadful Expedation of the Judg- ment to come ; and that there will be no external or general Hell open'd or kindled before the Coming of Chrift, when the Lord Jefus fhall be revealed from Heaven^ with\ %^ '*' his mighty Angels in flaming Fire^ taking Matt, xxv; Vengeance on them that know not God^ ^^^^t Pet iu. that obey not the Go/pel of our Lord Jefus 7. Chrift. This is the judicial, the folemn, the appointed Time, when Sentence being paft, the Wicked Ihall receive their Punifla- ment ; and not only Men, but flagitious Devils, who are delivered into Chains of Darknefs, and referved to be tormented till this Day, 2 Tet, ii. 4. Jud. Ver.6. Nor is it otherwife probable, that the Devils at pre- fent ftiould live among Torments, or in tor- menting Flames, when they wander about the Air and the Globe of the Earth with too much Life and Adivity.^ Z 3 Thus * Since there is alTignM to wicked Men and Devils the fame Place of Punifliment, and both are to receive their Sentence at the fame Time ; but fince thefe latter will not be call into Hell, or the Place of Torment, be- fore the Coming of Chrifl:, as is plain from the facred Writers and their Interpreters, [Sec PP. Gerard. Tom.g. de extr. Jud. p. 78. Maldonat. in Mat. viii. 29. '7/> remarkahli how fifiammoujly mofl of the ancient Authtrs tmghs \ A TREATISE concerning the Thus have we treated fuccinftly of Hell, and of the State and Manfions of theWicked before the Day of Judgment : But when that fatal Day arrives, and the impious Dead being fummonM to appear by the Sound of the laft Trumpet, fliall be thrown down in- to Hell, and condemned to external Punifh- ments, the Queftion is. Whether thofe Pu- nifhments are to endure eternally, without CefTation, without Relaxation, without End? Human Nature abhors the very Name of eternal Puniftiments, which fets before our Eyes a Spectacle of infatiable, implacable Revenge ; and this for no Manner of Profit or Hopes of Amendment ; yet the facred Scripture feems to declare for the contrary Side. Jefus Chrift, though the greateft Lo- ver of human Kind, yet plainly and exprefly calls the Punifhments of the Devils and Damn'd, eternal Punilhments, when laying before us the Deftinies of the Righteous and the Ungodly^ he pronounces Sentence againft the latter in the following Form : T)epart from me^ ye Curfedy into everlajiing Fire^ prepared for the "Devil and his Angels^ Matt. XXV. 41. To the fame Purpofe he tells us. That the Wheat being gathefd into the Garner^ the Chajf is to be burnt isjith un^ taught that the Tiev'tls w'tll not he tormented before the Day of Judgment^ fo neither does it feem agreeable to Scripture, that the latter (hould be thruft down thither before that Time. State 0/ departed Souls, ^e. unquenchable Fire^ Mat. iii. 12. and that in Hell the JVorm dieth ?tot^ and the Fire is not quenched^ Mark ix. 44. These Teftimonies we have from the Mouth of Chrift himfclf, that the Punifh- mcnts of the Wicked fhall be eternal, with- out End : Nor do the Prophets and Apoftles Ipeak otherwife, TDan. xii. 2. 2 The^. i. 9. At the fame Time on the other Side, Realbn, the Natureof God,and the Nature of Things, cry out loudly againft it, and admonilh us, that Ibme Moderation is to be uied, and fbme commodious Explication of the divine Pal- iages, that both human Rights and divine may not at once be violated, and the Chriftian Religion fufFer in its Intereft or Reputa^ tion. At the fame Time it is my Opinion, that we ought firmly to adhere to that Rule for the Interpretation of Scripture, which has been received by Divines, That without ah- Jolute Neceffity^ we ought not to depart from the Letter. Then, in the next Place, we are to enquire, whether the Duration of eternal Punifhment is not repugnant to ma- nifeft Reafons, and to invincible Arguments : For, if this is the Cafe, the moft rigid Cen- furers ought to excufe us, if in this Point we diffent from the com.mon Interpretation. The Soul flies from the very Thought^ and abhors the Remembrance of everlafting Mi- fcry ; and feveral Things have occurred to me^ while I have been thinking on this Sub- Z 4 jecl, ^344 I^TREATISE eoncerning the jed, by which I am fenfible that others have been perfuaded, as well as myfelf, that God neither will, nor can endure the perpetual Affliction and Torment of his own Creature ; nor can Nature itfelf endure it. Then, we conceive the God of the Chriftians to be the befc and wifeft of Beings ; that he is neither cruel nor unjuft to the Race of Men ; that there is nothing barbarous or difmal in his Worfhip ; that he has neither inftituted, nor fufFered any Thing that is barbarous, any Thing that is inhuman : No Blood, or Wounds, or Tearing of the Skin or Flefli ; nor does he love, after the Man- ner of Moloch^ to embrace living Infants with their Arms on Fire. Befides, Jefus Aa.x'.42 ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ Captain of the Chriftian 2. Tim.iv. Dilpenfation, to whom the Father has com- ^ niitted all Judgment, is the greateft Lover of human Kind ; and fuflfered his own Blood to be ftied to redeem us from Evil and Mife- ry. This King and merciful Father, and this moft righteous Judge, govern entirely the Fates of Humankind ; and yet you al- lert that, according to the facred Scriptures, the greateft Part of Humankind will be damned to eternal Puniftiments, even by this moft merciful Father, by this moft righ- teous Judge. CoNCERNiKG the Number of thofe who will be miferable in another Life, I have no- thing to fay, not being able to know any Thing of it : But that God ihouid condemn his StATE of Departed Souls, ^c. his own Creatures to a State of eternal Mi- fery, and fhould retain them in that State, feems to be repugnant both to divine Wif- dom and Goodnefs, and, I may add likewile, to Juftice : I fay repugnant to Wifdom ; for a State like this, of everlafting and un* changeable Mifery, would be in vain, and of no UiiCj and therefore unwile and unwor- thy of God ; for a Torment without Cefta- tion, and without End, can neither be of Service to God, nor to Man. Not to Man moft certainly, if there is no Room for Re- pentance, and he who is Tonnented can ne- ver grow better ; if no Tntermiffion, and no Eafe is allowed, that the Tormented may re- fpire a little, and deliberate concerning the Change of his State and his Mind. Let this Punilhment be fevere, let it be bitter, nay, let it be lafting, but let it at length have an End; it can otherwife produce no Fruit, no, not the leaf!: Degree of it; nor would it be poffible for thefe milerable Sinners to re- pent, and lead better Lives, if amidft the Pangs of their Bodies and their Minds they ftiould happen to be born again. But you will fay, that their Punifhment is defervedly continued, their Impiety being continued ; but that the Damn'd are incura- ble, and always perfift in their Malice. But this is begging the Queftion, and this Suppofition is injurious to the Dignity of God the Creator; for 'tis neither agreeable to the divine Wifdom nor Goodnels, fo to form 1346 ^TREATISE concerning the form and conftitute the reafonable Nature of Men, that it fliould be able to degene- rate into a Depravity, from which there can be no Recovery ^ or into an unchangeable State of Mifery and Impiety ; ^ for fuch a State can be pleafing to no Deity, unlefs perhaps to the evil God of the Manichees. But if God, the greateft and the beft of Beings would create fuch a Being as this, he would certainly on this Condition create it, that as foon as it was arrivM to this incu- rable, this utterly defperate State, it Ihould return to its primitive Nothing. Nor, in my Opinion, can the Honour of Providence be otherwife lafe, than by cutting off that from the Number of Beings which once is grown incurable, and by the utter Deftruftion of that, which is not only worth nothing, but is fome Degrees worfe than nothing. But by what Argument will you pretend to convince me, that the Souls of the Wick- ed are after Death incurable ? The Fathers feem not to have believ'd that, who were of Opinion, that the laft would be a purgative Fire, concerning which we have treated in the fixth Chapter. Nor does it feem juft to limit the divine Power and Wifdom, and to opprefs it with an evil irrefiftable Defti- ny, or an incurable Difeafe ; for whatever this Dillemper of Souls may be, if it can by any * Knowing that no reafonable Creature Iball pcriili everlaftingly. Hieron. in Gal iv. State of Departed Souls, ^c. jany Method, or any Medicine be driven out, no Remedy certainly is more powerful, or more efFedtual than Fire, or than fiery Tor- ments : This Pain, if any, will caufe them to be toucliM with a Senfe of their former Crimes, and to grow weary of their prefent Mifery. Befides, 'in that other Life, there will be no longer Room for the Infidelity of theWicked : fFhen theyfljall have feen Chriji coming in the Clouds^ furronnded with G lo- ry ^ and with his mighty Angels^ triumphing every where over his Enemies^ and trampling them under his Feet. And then that Fo- mentation of Evil, which dwells in this Body and this Flefh, will, in that State, be extinguilh'd and ceafe : There will be no internal Concupifcence, no external Nourifli- ment of Vice, nor any Allurements to Plea- fure, to Ambition, or Avarice, or any In- citements of the Senfes or Paffions to Wick- ednefs. For my Part, I cannot perceive by what Argument, true or falfe, or by what Impulfe internal or external, they can be mov'd to adhere eternally to their Vices and their Impiety, unlefs they fliould be hardened by God hlmfelf. But if they are actuated from without, and by Force, and are Mailers neither of their Reafon nor Liberty, I can- not fee how they can be further condemned. But we Ihall prelently refumethis Subject ; in the mean while let us proceed to the reft. Besides, we appeal in this Caufe to divine Juftice and Equity. The Man, whom God created J TREATISE concerning the created liable to fall, him, becaufe he fell,' God will not punifti eternally ; nor will he deprive him, to whom he has given the Power, or rather the Impotence and the Li- berty of falling into Vice, of the Power and the Liberty of relinquilhing that Vice. But you will fay, perhaps, that God does not deprive the Wicked of this Power and Liberty, but it proceeds from their own Will, that they perfift in Evil immoveable and inflexible. I anfwer, that according to your Hypothefis God has created them of liich a Nature, that they cannot be other- wife than inflexible and irrecoverable, after they have once departed this Life, and de- fcended into their Torments. Grant me but this, that thofe miferable Creatures are ca- pable of repenting, and we will not throw away all Hope of their being received into Grace : But you deny that they can repent ; I defire that you would prove that their Repentance is impoflible. If they continue to be reafonable Creatures, indued with Un- derftanding and Will, they can repent; but if they are deprived of Reafon and Liberty, they can no longer lin. OthePvS argue thus from divine Juflice : ^Tis againfl: all Equity, that the Offences of a fliort Lifcj of a Life prone to Vice, fliould be punifh'd with eternal ? inifhments, when there is no Proportion between the Offence and the Punifhment. But here, perhaps, you will retort, according to Cuftom, that every State of Departed Souls, ^cl ^0 every Sin carries with it infinite Guilt, as being committed againft an infinite God. This in fome Meafiire, indeed, may be faid ; but this is not the Rule, nor the Mea- fure of the Adions of God towards his Crea- tures^ and therefore can have no Validity when we give an Account of the Adions of God to- wards his Creatures. According to this Draco- nick Law, the fmalleft Offences may be law- fully punilh'd with eternal Punifhments, nay, and with the moft grievous ; for the Reafon which you give is full as llrong for the Greatnefs of the Punilhments, as for their Duration. Let us fuppofe then, fince in ftrid Juftice it may be done, that the light- eft Tranfgreffors will be punifh'd with the greateft, and thole eternal Puniftiments, what fliall be done to the more grievous Tranfgreffors? what to the moft grievous? If the lighteft Tranfgreffion deferves the greateft, and thofe perpetual Punifliments, what does or can the moft grievous deferve beyond it ? for nothing is greater than the greateft. This Account of yours therefore confounds all the Ends and Purpofes of pu- nitive Juftice, and makes Sins in fome Mea- fure equal. I But let us proceed from the Juftice of God, to his Goodnefs. The greateft Rigour of Juftice is faid to be the higheft Injuf* tice: 'Tis, at leaft, inconfiftent with Good- I nefs and Mercy. But God, according to 1 this your Hypothefis, in the PuniiOiment of Sinners, 3 50 A TREATISE concerning the Sinners, ufes the higheft and the feverelt Jullice, that I may lay nothing worfe ; for he punilhes them with the moft exquifite Torments, and Torments which are to en- dure eternally, than which no Punilhment can be conceived more difmal or more into- lerable. We read of the Torments which the Chriftians endur'd in the firft Ages of the Churchy and what, beiides, Sicilian and other Tyrants invented : But thefe are mild and gentle all, compared to infernal Tor- ments ; and not only gentle, but tranfitory ; but a Pain that is at the fame Time vehement and eternal, carries with it all the Degrees of Pain. Do but fancy fuch a raging Heat of a Fever, fuch a racking Fit of the Stone^ or fuch a tormenting Cholick, as is to endure feven Years, who could be equal to the fup- porting thefe cruel Pangs ? But if inftead of feven, you put a thoufand Years, no one could be found that would either purchafe or bear that Millennian Life, upon that Condition; and much lels Eternity. But perhaps you will fa)r that this is not the extream Rigour of his Juftice; that God could have annihilated the Wicked, and have reduc^l them to nothing ; and that by this means he would ufe the extream Rigour of his Juftice. I anfwer, that 'tis much more defirable not at all to be, and to be touched by no Senfe, either of Good or Evil, than to exift in perpetual Torments, v/ithout In- termilfion, without End, This feems to me to State of Departed Souls, isfc. 551 to be clear by the Light of Nature. Let me, O God, return into Nothing; I am weary of my Being : -^Tis preferable much to have no Senfation, than to have no Sen- fation of any Thing but Pain. Take, O God, fays the miferable Creature, depriv'd almoft by tormenting Flames of Reafon, take away what is thine: I had rather be out of the Number of Things ; O let me pe- rilh, that I may avoid Perdition. This is the Voice of Nature ; nor will we flop to make any Anfwer to the little Subtleties and Quirks of the Metaphyficians. I appeal to the Race of Men, and to all Men of Senle whatever, if 'tis not more eligible to be de- priv'd of all Life, of all Cogitation, of all Exiftence, than to be tormented in eternal Flames, to groan under eternal Torments. And nothing is more certain, than that if human Nature had not regarded with more Horror the Height of Mifery and eternal Matth. Torment, than Infenfibility and Annihila-^^^j-.^^+v tion, God had threaten^ the Wicked with * ' ^' Annihilation inftcad of eternal Torments, and had us'd that as the more prevalent Way of deterring Mankind from Vice : But 'tis Time to return to our Subjefte Since this then is the Cafe, and Annihi- lation is the extreameft Rigour of Juilice that God can do to his Creatures, (that he might not be the Author of greater Evil than Good to any one,) yet he feems to decree and to execute fomething more grievous and difmal, fomc- 35^ ^ TREATISE concerning the fbmething more bitter and cruel, againfi: thofe whom he condemns, than the extream- eft Rigour of his Juftice requires. The ex- tream Rigour of Juftice comes near to cruel; much lefs can that which goes beyond that cxtream Rigour, efcape the Imputation of Cruelty. At leaft, as we faid above, this Manner of punifliing with the utmoft Ri- gour, or even beyond the utmoft Rigour, does but little anfwer to that infinite Good- nefs, loving Kindnels, and Mercy, which we afcribe to God. And yet not only the Light of Nature, but the facred Scripture repre- xSt* 6. f^^ts him thus merciful and gracious^ aitd ifa.xxviii. long fufferifigj, and abounding in Goodnefs Eiek ^^ Truth. He is drawn, as it were, againft xviii. i3, his Will to punifti: 'Tis a Work that is ^3^- ftrange to him, and foreign from his Nature. Have I any ^leafure at all that the Wick- ed jhould die^ faith the Lord God^ aJid not that he jhould return from his PFays and live ? But if he has no Pleafure in his tem* poral Death, much lefs has he in his eternal Death. But from whence at laft comes this eternal Death, or by whom is it inflicted, if 'tis neither pleafing to God, nor to the Creature that fufFers, nor can be in the leaft beneficial to either? These Things being thus proposed and debated, concerning the Nature of God, and the juft Government of created Things, we muft return to the facred Writings, and to the Interpretation of thofe Paflages, which feera State (t/" Departed Souls, iffc 35? feem to imply the Eternity of future Punifh- ments. You know very well that the Senfe of thofe Paflages depends, in a great Mea- fure, upon the Signification of the Word dioovL^^ in Hebrew C37iy or EdSij;^ : which we have rendered eternal. In the mean while, 'tis very well known, that the Force and Meaning of this Word dioovK^ , or the Hebrew ^lil"\V^ is doubtful in the fa- cred Writings ; and does not always fimply fignify eternal^ only a long and undetermined Time. The Statutes of the Mofaick Law were frequently faid to be eternal : Exod. xxvii. 21. and xxviii. 43. Lev. x. 15-. and xvi. 34. Ntim. xviii. 1 1. and in fundry other Concern- Places. And yet thefe Statutes, with the^^^rthePaf- whole Mofaick Law, have many Ages fincexii.ii, * been abolifh'd ; and therefore you muft own, that the Signification of that Word is to be mitigated, unlefs you pretend that the Ju- daick Law is ftill to be obferv'd.^ In the fame Law, the Servant whofe Ear has been borM through by his Mailer, with his own Confent, is faid to be oblig'd to A a fervc * The Temple of Jenifalem^ it is faid, fliould be the Habitation of God for ever^ 2 Chron. vi. 2. yet it has been demolifli'd more than once; nor is there now left one Scone upon another, or any Sign of its being the Habitation of God. The Kingdom of jDavid was fliid to be eternal, and yet it went out of the Family of Dav'td^ and is now utterly extin61. V, Epifc, p. 32. Col. ii. b. £cQ. 3. 2 Sarri, vii. 13. 54 J T R E AT I S R concerning the lerve him eternally , or for ever, Exod, xxi. 6. And yet it was appointed by the fame Law, that all Servants were to be manumitted, or to be made free in the Compafs of half an Age, that is to fay, every Jubilee. Be- fides, before the Mofaick Law, Circumci- lion is faid to be an eternal Inftitution, G^;/. xvii. 7. And yet Circumcifion is now abolifli'd by the fame divine Authority. Laftly, the Land of Cmtaan is given to Abraham and his Poller ity for an eternal Poffeffion, Gen. xiii. 1 5. and xvii. 8. and xlvii. 4, And yet his Pofterity have been a long Time dif- poffefsM of it. By thefe and many other Paffages like them, 'tis fufficiently evident, that Eternity is not always fignified by the V/ord CdS^^-J; or CD^iy^ : To which as you know very well, i\.^ TO TTVo dvT(/)y y crfosauji- crgTa/j> State of Departed Souls, ^c, tj 57 cZTctiy For their JVorm (Jjall never die^ and their Fire JJ?all not be quenched: And other Authors make it apparent, that this Manner of fpeaking was known and familiar to the Jews^ viz,. That Fire and JVorms were the ^^cluf: vif: ^^unifljment of the Ungo-dly. Therefore j^^fth xvi, Chrift alter'd nothing in this Point, and be- ^z. lievM that this Anticipation and Prepoflel- fion of the People was juftly to be retain'd^ when it appeared inftrumental in curbing the Audacioufnefs of the Wicked. Thus every Thing relating to the Tor- ments of Hell on either Side being weighed, €very Man is at Liberty to embrace that Opinion which his Conicience ftiall pro- nounce to be moft agreeable to found Rea- fon ; and let him adhere to that Interpreta- tion of the facred Scripture upon this Point, which the weighty Reafons of the Caufe be- fore us will be beft able to bear. If a State of eternal Mifery and Impiety in the Crea- ture is inconfiftent with the Wildom and Juftice of the Creator, we muft giv' e up the literal Interpretation in this Point, or wc muft diftinguifii between the literal and the reafonable Hypothefis, the vulgar and the fecret one, left, by a temerarious and unskil- ful Interpretation, v/e entertain Thoughts un- worthy of the divine Nature. But if on the other Side, there appears nothing to you in fuch a defperate State, a State unchange- ably evil and miferable, foreign either from the Nature of God, or from the Nature of A a J Things, 358 A TREATISE concerning tk Things, you niuft adhere to the Letter, and you muft flop your Ears, and harden your Heart againft all the Lamentations, the Groans, the Wails, and the difmal Outcries of Men eternally undone, and everlaftingly miferable. Yet, if you will vouchfafe to hearken to me, not clamouroufly urging you, but gently advifing you, I would rather have you call thefe indefinite than infinite Tor- ments ; for 'tis not fufficiently evident, or known to me, what End they are like to have; but let us leave it to God to be deter- mined by him, according to his Wifdom and Mercy."^ I know not by what Means it happens at prefent, that fome Divines of a cruel and fiery Temper are extreamly pleas'd with eternal and infinite Torments, and can hard- ly endure to have the Point fairly examined and debated on both Sides. But feveral of the Ancients have handled this Subjed a great deal more gently and more modeftly, and left to the Wifdom and Pieafure of God alone * That if ic pleafe him, the Prifoners may be releas'd when they have paid the lutermoft Farthing, and fatif- fied his Jufii:e. But if after all you cannot relifh this Doctrine, let it be placM among the obfcure and doubt- ful ones. But the Time will come when this Opinion will be reckon'd as abfurd and odious, as Tranfubftan- tiation is now. ■ See what the fifth OEcumenical Synod decreed againft the finite Punifiiments of Hell, in Gerard, de Infer. torn. 9. p. 467. and Huet^ Orig. 1. 2. c. 11. p. 1385, State of Departed Souls, Iffc. 3 5^ alone the Time that every one ihall conti- nue in thofe Torments. Thus Jtiftin Martyr in his Dialogue with Tryphon y 'A/ jj.h (tJi/ Pag, ^j.^ SvaePim 4'^%'^0 ^^^^^ '^S ®^^ cpocveicrcci^ iy^ ccttoQ- ea-T ecu ctUTct? ^ Sivca ^j KoAocQeaucu o 05o:j OfA>7. jT/j?^ ^y^/z/j ^/ the Righteous^ ivhich appear worthy of God^ are to die no more : But the Souls of the Ungodly will be puniflfd^ as long as God will have them exift and be puniOfd, Nor does ^i.Jerom diflent from thefe, though otherwife a Man of a very- high, and fometimes an impetuous Spirit ; yet in this Point he Ihews a Moderation of Soul that is worthy of Commendation. In his Commentaries he has thefe Words on the forementioned PafTage of Ifaiah^ Chap. Ixvi. and the laft Verfe, They who are of the Opi^ nion that thefe TnnifJ>ments willone T>ay be ended^ and the Torments be one Time no more J have Recourfe to the following Tejli- monies: Then quoting the Paffages yhich appear to be favourable to that Opinion, he adds thefe Words : IVhich are all repeat-, ed by thofe that are defirous to afert^ that after the Rack and the Tortures are over^ Reji and Refrefljment will follow ; which at prcfent is^to be hid from thofe ^ to whom Fear is whole fome and ufeful ; that while they are afraid of the 'Tunijhmejit^ they fJjould be debarred from their Sins ; which we ought to leave to the Knowledge of God aloncy who weighs not only his Mer. A a 4 cies,, 3<5o A TREATISE concerning the cksj but thefe Torments likewife^ as it were til the Balance^ and knows whOj, and how^ and how long every one ought to bepunifh'd. This fays St. yero?n upon the forelaid Paf- fage : And he had faid Things related to thefe before in the fame Commentaries, on the twenty fourth Chapter, towards the End, W^e ought to know that human Frailty can^- not penetrate the Judgment and the Jujiice of God J nor be capable of giving any Opi- nion concerning the Greatnefs or the T)ura* tion of Tunijkments which he infliSls^ which is left entirely to the Will of the Lord. Thus far he: I make no mention of Ori^ gen J whofe Opinion concerning this Matter is univerfally known, who fcems to have been foUowM in this Point as in feyeral others, by both the GregorieSy '^NazianzenCy and *See Orat. 40. p. 66^. When he had fpoken of the eternal Punifliment of the Damn'd according to the received Opinion, he feems afterwards to corredl: him- it-If, and difcovers fome Doubt concerning it, by add- ing, E/ fxvj Tw C^iKov Kolvrciv^cc rostf t«to (j)/Aav6pwToTepoj', ly rS uu7odiors^ and treats them with Humanity, t Now^ fays he, / fee that I mnft go to work with our merciful 'DoEiors^ with whom I muft dif fute facifically ; who are of Opuion^ that the 'Punifljment will not be eternal^ either of all thofe whom the mof righteous Judge jhall pronouuce worthy of the Tunifhjnent of Hell J or of fome of them : But after the ♦ See Chap. vlil. Orat. Catechct. where he fays, that they who are incorrigible in this Life, fliall in the next be cured by more feverc and bitter Remedies. And in his de An'ima ^ Refurr. p. 229. he treats of the uni- verfal Purgation and Reftoration; and there he often repeats this fame or a like Opinion : as he does like- wife de Op if. hom'tnis^ c. 21. f Civit. iDei^ I. XX. c. 17. and following. _ X Notwithftanding what he may have laid n\ fome Places, in others he feems doubtful in determining in what Senfe the Punifliments of Sinners are cill'df/^rW; aF particularly where he fays, Nor would I be under flood h)' [feaking thus to hinder a more accurate Enquiry mto the Meaninjy of Scripture^ when it pronounces the Puntjhments of the IVtcked to be eternal. (See D. Hamm. * * * * and ****]. 7. from St. Augufl. 1. de Serm. Dom. in mont. tom. 4. on Matt. v. 25-, 26.) But let us re- turn to the Place about the Merciful. A TREATISE concerning the the Limits of a certain Time:, which wilt be longer or jhorter^ according to the Great-- nefs of every one's Offence ^ they believe that they will be deliver' d from it. Thus has St. Aiijlin laid before us the Opinion of the merciful T>offors. They who are of the other Party may be called, by the Reafon of Contraries, The 'DoSiors without Mercy : And one of thefe, in the Name of the Reft, has deliver^ his Opi- nion of the Torments of Hell after the fol- A aDif- lowing Manner : If all the Men that were cip. de ever born from Adam to this frefent^ and ^^^P- all thofe who will hereafter he born^ (hould live till the laft T>ay^ and all the Blades of Grafs that ever fprang up^ were Men ; and if they were equally to diftribute only one ^unifljment which a Sotil fuffers in Hellj for only one mortal Sin ; fo that every one JJoould have an equal Share of that Tunifh- ment ; then every equal Share of the Tu^ ni(Jr/nent of that one Man^ would be greater than all the Torments^ which all the holy Martyrs^ and all Robbers :, and the great eft Malefactors have ever yet endur'd. Thus far he. Now, if to thefe cruel and outrage- ous Torments, you add Eternity, you will fill up all the Parts, the Numbers, and the Meafures of Inhumanity.^ 'Tis * Did we but ferioufiy coniidcr what Eternity is, how vad, 'lOW boundlefs a Thing, we fhould be left forward in pronouncing eternal Puniihments upon the mirc' State (?/ Departed Soulsj i^i: o^^ Tis difficult to us to diveft ourlelves of all Humanity ; 'tis more difficult to God to lay miferable. Eternity has fomething dreadful in its very Sound ; 'tis infinite, inexhauftible ! So vafi are the Spaces of Eternity^ fays a certain Divine, that if any one of the Damn'd jhould drop but one Tear every thoufandth Tear, it would raife more IVater than the iVorid could contain. To thefe Opinions of the Fathers, give me Leave to add an Argument from Reafon, which to me feems to be offome Weight: Iftherebeno Purgation, no Mitigation, or Remiffion of Punifhmenr, w^hat will become of the Souls of a middle Condition ? Such Souls I mean that have not diilinguifli'd themfelves in any great Degree of Piety or Impiety; that arc neither very good nor very wicked ; iuch as m Reality the greateil Part of Mankind are. They have more of the Brute than of the Devil in them. What will become, I fay, * * * * We have obferved above, that the human Species may be divided into three Ranks ; the Good, tiic Bad, and the Middling. The Good are plac'd in eternal Felicity, the Bad in eternal Torments; but where are the Middle Sort to go, or what will become of them? They feem neither deferving of eternal Punifhments nor eternal Happinefs. The Truth is, there mufl be. a cer- tain Degree ***** There muft be the iameDifparity in the Recompence of Perfons, as there is in their Deferts. There have been fome who have thought that the Souls of the Wicked, worn out by a licngth of PuniHiments, fliall at lall die, and lofe all Senlation and Vitality; according to that ai Arnobius^ T'he Souls that know not God are confurned after a long Run of 'Time by their fiery Tortures: The fame fay Ta:ian and Ire- Seclren.' »^^-f. . , 1.2. c. 6^4, Lailly, that is call'd Tup ucdqov, an unquenchable Fire^ which burns without any Intermiflion ; that is not put out by any external Force, but lalls as long as there is any thing remaininjg^ to nourifli and feed -ji A TREATISE concerning the lay alide all Mercy. And^ if we are to corrupt or deftroy our own Nature^, the divine Nature we are able neither to cor- rupt nor deilroy. Men formerly beat Drums in the Valley of Hmnon^ that the Cries of the Children, who were facrilic'd to the Fiery Idol, and who ihriek'd moil ruefully among the Flames, might not be heard by their Parents or the People. But though you could make all Heaven refound with perpetual Thunderings, yet you can never bring it to pafs, that in this Tophct, con- cerning which we fpeak, you can hinder the Lamentations, and the piercing Cries of fo many Millions of tormented Wretches^ from mounting up to the Ears of Jehova^ the Father and the Fountain of all Mercy. Now behold, if you pleaft, O mercilefi Doctor, the Spedlacle that you fet before us *, what Theatre of Providence I Behold by much the greater Part of the Race of Men, weltering amidft the Flames for ever- lafting Ages ! O Scene, deferving to have God and Angels for its Spectators 1 And then to charm your Ears, while you hear Heaven and Earth refounding v/ith the Screams, the Shrieks, the Groans, the Roars of fo ma- ny Millions of the tormented Damn'd, have you not a divine Harmony in your Ears, a truly celeftial Confort. Befides, this gives me no fmall Difpleafure, that I fee fo great a Part of reafonable Nature, in this Manner en- tirely loft and become the Outcaft of Things ; ' like State of Departed Souls, ^c. like Salt that has loft its Savour, or Wine that has loft its Spirit, thrown con- temptibly out of Doors, too vile for any pre- fent Ufe, or any future Hope. Every Creature, as far as it appears to us, is liable to fall, as well as the Wicked and the Damn'd. But if they who fall af- ter the fame Manner, are altogether irrecove- rable, the whole intelleftual Creation is then expofed, not only to Vanity, but to eternal Mifery : And to have framed fuch a Nature of Things^, would not have required fo much a divine Goodnefi, as the Cruelty of Ibme evil Demon, or the hazardous Work of Chance. God formerly repented, that he had made Man, by realbn of his abominable Wickednefs : Miferable Man will in his Turn * That which happens m this World may polTibly happen in others ; but here, as 'tis vulgarly believ'd, the greater Part of Humankind will perilli 'eternally. Make but the fame Suppolitionof other Worlds, and then ivhac a Havock, what Defolation will there be of the rational Nature, if you extend the Account throughout theUni- verfe > This loft ulelcfs Part of Nature will far exceed the remaining Part. I call it ufelefs ; for it will be, as it wer^, the Caput Morttium of the Univerfc, or the cur- led barren Dregs of Earth, from whence nothing good or valuable can be extra6lcd. And not only io\ \i is not only an unprofitable Burden upon Nature, but an into- lerable Burden to itfelf; neither can it rclinquifh, nor bear itfclf. It curfes the hateful Light, and the Day whereon it firrt: faw the Sun and the Stars ; curfes the over-officious Hour that calTd it fortii from its primitive Nothing, where ic lay quiet in a happy State of Silence and Obfcurity. ^66 ^TREATISE concerning the Turn repent that ever God created him j fince it had been much better for him never to have at all exifted.^ Let thus much fuffice concerning Hell, and the future Punifhment of the Wicked, provided you fubjoin that Admonition, which is always ufed by the foremen tioned Fathers, whenever they handle this Subjed ; that is to fay, whatever your Opinion is within yourfelf, and in your own Breaft concerning thefe Punifliments, whether they are eternal or not ; yet always with the People, and when you preach to the People, ufe the re- ceived Doctrine, and the received Words in the Senfe, in which the People receive them: For they are apt to run headlong into Vice, and are to be terrifyM from offending by the Apprehenfion of Punifhment only. Befides, among the Good, there are the Children, and t Cor. 111. ^j^g Perlbns grown up, to be nourifli'd with Hcb.v.ii.Milk, or more folid Food^ according to the ^3- Strength * In fine, they who cannot approve of the Dodrine of abfolute Reprobation, becaute it feems repugnant to the divine Nature and Attributes, ought to be as much difpleafcd with the eternal Punifliments of the Wicked, fince they are equally repugnant to the fame Attributes; as, on the other Hand, 'tis the Intereft of thofe who receive that Dodlrine of Reprobation, to rejed this of eternal Punifhment ; becaufe thereby' they will much leflen the Force of the greateft Objedion, that lies againft them ; fince it will not be altogether fo Hiocking for a Man to be pre-ordain'd and condemned to Punifhments that will have an End; but to Punifliments eternal and intolerable, would be the moft poignant and exquifite.Severity. State of Departed Solils, ^e. * Strength of each of them. No lefs Regard is to be paid to thefe, nor is the Diet of the little Ones, or the weak Ones to be ralhly changed, leaft an Intemperature in their Con- ftitutions ftiould arife, and throw them into Difeafes. You onght to have always before your Eyes, and always in your Dcfigns, the Progrefs of Providence in gradually promot- ing ^ Piety in the World, and in illuminating Humankind ; and you ought in your En- deavours and your Defigns, to proceed with an equal Pace till we arrive to that, that what has been whifper'd to us, we may proclaim upon the Houfe Top. But Minds are gradually to be accuftom'd to bear the more forcible Rays of Truth. Too much Light is hurtful to tender Eyes, or Light too fuddenly pour'd upon them. Few be- hold Things themfelves as they are, but only their Images as they appear when they are feen, as it were, in a Glafs. But we Ihall at length, if it pleafes God, fee the Things themfelves even Face to Face, as they fiy, the Vail being taken from them. This we Ihall do, partly towards the End of thi^World, but more fully in the next. T/je * And therefore, as this was written for the Peru fa! of the Learn'd only, whoever fliall tranflatc it into the vulgar Language, 1 can think no otherwife, but that he does it with an ill Intention and for wicked Purpofes, A TREATISE concerning the The CONCLUSION. HEN the Matter of this Book is of various Kinds, and comprehends di- vers Heads of the Chriftian DoiSrine, and thofe for the molt Part beyond the Paths and the Light of Nature, it may eafily hap- pen, that in treating of thefe, I may fome- times have err'd from the Mark. I am but a Man^ but a little Man, and am far from thinking myfelf above the Infirmities that are incident to human Nature. But he who with a lincere Mind, and who without any P'ear, or Averfion, or Affection whatever, feeks the naked Truth, has God for his Af- fiftant ; God, I fay, will open to him who knocks, will give to him who asks, provided we ask for that pure and pacifick Wifdom which delcends from Heaven. Nor let any one blame me, becaufe that, in treating of this Subjed, I have found many Things obfcure in the facred Writings ; many Things, if I may ufe the Exprellion, not adequately, or not abfolutely revealM. I defire that this may be underftood as Ipoke, with regard to my own Underilanding and Capacity : And if any other Perfon ihall clear up thofe Pai- fagcs better, I fnall be glad to embrace the Difcovery, and to congratulate the Author : But State ^/ Departed Souls, "^c. -^6^ But I find this to be the chief Obftacle to true Knowledge, that we are alhani'd of our Ignorance ; and that we do not diftinguiHi Things that are clear, from Things that are obfcure, as if we faw clearly and diftin£i:ly through every Thing alike. Most of the Commentators on the facred Scripture underftand, or pretend to under- ftand every fingular Paflage. You fliail no "where find them conlcious of their Ignorance and confeiling it. In like Manner, the fcho- laftick Doctors, and they who prelide in Univerfity Chairs, folve every Problem af- ter their own Way, attain to Truth in them all, and comprehend them all. I really ad- mire the Omnifcience of both ClalTes of Di- vines. They think it ftiamcful, forfooth, or at leaft inglorious^ for the Teachers of Chriftians to be ignorant of any Thing in their Art. Perhaps this their Oftentation of Univerfal Science may contribute to the augmenting that Efteem, which their Difci- ples, or the Vulgar have conceived of them ; but it will be efteemM by the Wife to be a Proof of Defed of Judgment : For they who' pronounce as boldly of Objeds remote, or latent in the Dark, as of thofe that are nearer, and that are feen in the Light, will be thought to have feen neither the one nor the other clearly and diftinftly. It has feem'd Good to Providence, while we are in this Life, to lay before us the Accounts of myftical Points compendioufly, B b and, A T R E AT I S E concerning the and, as it were, by Halves, that being rouz'd and waken'd by thefe Hints and Specimens, we may be acquainted both with the Bounds ofourprefent Difpenfation, and the Perfec- tion of the Future. '' If ten Men of Senfe^ '' and of a liberal Spirit, were to write at the ^' fame Time upon this very Subjed ; that ^' is, upon the Things of a future Life, or, " as they are wont to call them, the laft ^^ Things , I can hardly believe, that " two of the Ten would be of the fame «^ Opinion in every Point. And, therefore, " if the friendly Reader differs from me in " fome of them, nay, if in all, I iChall not *' at all wonder ^ and for the fame Reafon, <^ let not him be angry with me : For *' Thebes is every Jot as far diftant from A- ^^ the7is^ as jit hens is from Thebes : Nor does '^ he lefs dilfent from me, than I from him " diffent. The only Qiieftion is, Which " of us comes neareft to the Truth ?'^ E/ias when he comes will folve many Difficulties ; Chrift will folve all when he comes. Let there be Light, I fliall be glad to be refuted in any Point which I have been miftaken in. It is my hearty Prayer, I defire nothing more than the Truth, and nothing but the Truth. In the mean while, let us faithfully re- tain the Form of found Doftrines and Words, the Immortality of the Soul, the Refurrcc- tion of the Dead, Rew',ads and Punifhments in a future Life, according to every ones Works, and the Difpofition of his Mind : Lattly, To the Honourable Colonel BLADEN, One of the Lords Commiflioners of Trade and Plantations. SIR, THINK myfelf obliged to embrace this firft Op- portunity of returning my humble Thanks to You in this publick Manner, for the Honour which you lately did me, and The Dedication. and the Favour which I received from You ; a Favour attended with fo many engaging Circumftances, that I know not which of them rendered it moft agreeable to me : For it was not onlv done to one. who was fo entire- J' ^ ly a Stranger to all of You, but Your Chara£ler, and Your Writings, that I whom Time and Fortune have depri- ved of Sight, unlefs the Objeft is very near to me, never had the Honour and Pleafure of feeing You : But it was done at the moft feafonable Jun£l:ure, and in fo handfome and graceful a Manner, as gave me the Pleafure of thinking, that fome Things which I had publifhed had not been difagree- able to You, but had gain'd me fome little Share in the Efteem of a Gentle- man whom every one efteems, whofe Merit has flione confpicuoufly out, both in the Camp, and in the Repub- - ^ _ lick The Dedication. vi lick of Letters ; in the Council of Trade, and in the great Council of the Nation ; who appear 'd able to make C^far fpeak like C^far^ fpeak in En^lijh with that Spirit with which he conquered France^ with which his own Vi6lories were fo nobly re- corded by him. HE who has uncommon Merit himfelf, is alone capable of difcerning and regarding it in others ; and he, if he had Power equal to his Will, would, by the Encouragement which he would give to them, revive thofe beautiful and noble Arts, which now feem loft and dead to us. For he who in fo obliging a Manner has made his Favour defcend to me, what would he not do for more deferving Lovers of the Mufes ? But though, Sir, Your Power were equal to Your A 3 Defsrt, IV The Dedication. Defert, or to my Wiftiesj, it would never enable You to oblige a Man who would retain a more lively Senfe of Your Favours than does. S I R, Tour mofl Humble^ And mofl Obliged Servant^ J. Dennis. TH THE PRE FACE SHALL not at frefent trouble the Reader with a "De- tail of the feveral Reafons^ which a long Time rejlrain^d me from making the follo'wing Treat ife Englifh, though I was ^ery much frefs^d to it. But I am obli^^d to acquai^it him, that whcii I found it had been done by another Handy with Notes j in which the Ajhes of the venerable Author were poorly and meanly infulted by low and vile Buffbonryj becoming neither the Gravity of a Clergyman^ nor the Faith of a Chrifian., nor the yufnefs and Spirit of a polite Writer^ nor the Honour and Hu- manity of a Gentleman^ I was provok'd to tranflate the forefaid Treat ife aneWj that I might have an Opportunity by this Tranflation to do Jujtice to the Merit of the excellent Author^ with Regard to thofc who are not yet acquainted with his J Forks ; an The PREFACE. an Author famous through the Learned World for his fuhlime and noble Writings y efleem d by all the Learned Worlds one of its fining Ornaments^ a7t Honour to Great- Britain, and to human Nature ; an Author in his Kind fo admirable^ that the under^^ flanding^ impartial Reader will find even in this imperfect y rough drawn Copy^ Things that are fublimely beautiful. I believe that the moji inveterate of jDr. Burnet^j- Enemies^ will not for his own Sake appear fo malicious^ as to affirm that that great Man had a T)efign to impofe up- on his Contemporaries ^and upon ^ofterity ; I fay upon TPoflerity^ to which his Works will certainly defcend : He fhews every where too magnanimous a Soul for that. No Man feems to me ever to have abhorr'^d Faljhood more, I will not ^pretend to fay that he is without Error J no human Writer either is^ or was^ or ever will be without it. The great ejt of Men both may andmufl err ; but if we are to judge ^ as in Equity we ought ^ of the Trofe of a Writer^ by the fame Rule by which ^ox^zo^judg d of the Verfes of his Contemporaries^ Ubi plura nitent in Car- mine, non ego paucis, ofFendar maeulis, ^c. Then will I venture to affirm^ that if ^r. Burnet has Errors^ he has Beauties ^ and great Beauties^ ftifficient to make an ample and a glorious Amends for them* THE THE CONTENTS. H E Introdudion : The Sub- jed:, and the Method of hand- ling it. Page I ch:ap. I. That human Felicity does not depend folely upon this Life, but that we are to expcd: a future State. 3 CHAP. ir. That the human Soul is an immortal Sub- Hance, diltind: from the Body, and from all Matter. 18 CHAP. III. What will be the future Condition of the Soul after the Diliblution of the Body j or of ths The CONTENTS. the Middle State of Souls in the Interval between Death and the Refurredlion, as to the Degrees of Happinefs or Mifery ? 49 CHAP. IV. Of the State of Nature, in which departed Souls are in the Interval between Death and the Refurredlion. Whether they arc naked and feparated from all corporeal Sub- ilance, or whether they are united to an ae- rial, or any other Body? 106 CHAP. V. Tranfition to the remaining Parts of this Work ; and, firft, concerning the Coming of Chrift, and the Conflagration of the World. 125 CHAP. VI. Of the laffc Judgment : A "View of its princi- pal Appearances ; of its Manner, End, and EiFed. 144 CHAP. VII. Of the Refurrecftion of the Dead ; and in what State they will be after they are rifen, and what Sort of Bodies they will have. 180 CHAP. VIIL What fort of Body we are to have at the Re- furrcdion ? the lame that we have at prefent, ©r a different one ? 251 CHAP, The CONTENTS. xi CHAP. IX. Of the firll and laft Refurrc6lion : Of the new Heavens, and the new Earth, and the Re- novation of Nature: Of the Millcnnian King- dom of Chrill, and the Confunimation of all Things. 255 CHAP. X. Of Heaven and Hell. What fort of Heaven that of the Chriftlans is, and how far it may be faid to be local. What Hell is; whether there is, or will be any Subterra- nean, or any other local, corporeal, and ex- ternal Hell, before the Day of Judgment, and Conflagration of the World. Of the Punifhments of Hell ; whether thej^ arc to be looked upon as finite, infinite, or indefi- nite. 315? The Conclufion, ^68 ERRATA ERRATA, J) AGE 1 8. ]. 11. f. it treats^ r. they treat j p. 2.1. 1. 19. f. Keafons^t.Reafot: % p. 31.1.9. in the Notes, f. Confciencioufnefsy v. Confcioufnefr 3 ibid. i.hasit- fremi p. 87. 1. 10, i. BeatitudeSyU Beatitude ; p. 88. 1. aj. f* X/g^r tchich, r. Lig^? tririj irAicfe j p. p8. 1. 13. f. ^dx /j^ii, r. fcat/c hadt p. 10^. chap. iv. f. f^^ derzdt/, r. d« aerial s p. 121. 1. 22. i.OhjeS, r. (?&;ei2y ; ibid. 1. 2^. f. ImpeJJlon, r. Im^reftons ; p. 124. 1. 8. f. I>eyf, r. thefirfi ; ib. I.3. f. .yi«<^ /«/, r. ^nd the lafi ; p. 2^4.. 1.6. ill the Notes, dele and ; p. 275". 1. 25. f. f^zV,r. the; p. 279= 1. 12. f. 0/ WorldyV. of the World ; p. 290. 1. 19. f. remains, r. remain ; p. 30^. I. 24. in the Notes, r. of Chriji ; p. 313. 1. 1, f.w4^w, r. ^ges p. 537. 1. 29. f. T^yf^raffi, r. Tartarus; p. 342. in the Notes, f. /tfwer, r. /omcj- ; p. 34|. 1. 16. f. their, r. ^wi p. 3J0. 1. 2. f. /^rf», r. thnt j p. 3J9. 1. 31. f. Jhottldt.may* STATE (/ Departed Souls, i:fc. 571 Laftly, the Conflagration and Renovation of the World ; and that Chrift will come, and will reign here : Thele, and if belidc thefe there are any other primary Points, which re- late to a future Life, let us prefcrve them with the utmoft Care : But as for the Modes of Things that are to come, their ^ Order, and their Circumftances, 'tis but juft that we fliould indulge and affift each other in our Enquiries after them. We ought not with Bitternefs to conteft with each other a- bout Things which God is not pleafed that we Ihould be fully inftruded in, during this prefent State ; and they who for Caufes of this Nature fatirize and rail at each other, or are inflamed with Anger and Spleen for the light and doubtful: Errors of others, they fall themfelves into undoubted Sins, and I may add, into grievous ones. Let us at iCor.iii.j. length avoid thefe Mifchiefs, which, to theGaiv.io. Difgrace of the Chrifl:ian Name, have, alas : » P«.ii, i, too much prevailed. At length, let us ceafe to * Concerning this Judgment, (mcan'tK^ the Lift Judg- ment^) we are informed or thefe Particulars; The Com- ing of EUas Thefhttes^ the Converlion of the Jeivs^ the Perfecution of Antichrill, that Chrill fhall be the Judge, the RelurrejSlion of the Dead, the Separation of the Good from the Bad, the Conflagration of the World, and laftly its Renovation : AH which, we are alfurM, will come to pafs ; but in what Manner or Order they will happen, we fliall then bed know, when we Oiall have fcen and experienced the whole Procefs ; the Underlland- ing of Man being at prefent not able to arrive at a Cer- tainty in thefe Particulars. Ladan, Frn^m. de cxtr. JuMc. Au^uji dc C. D, lib. XX. (a^. 50. 372, A T R E AT I SE commwg] ^c. to play the Fool, or rather to be mad : Let every one be contented to propofe his own Opinion, fortify 'd with the beft Reafons and Proofs which he is able to bring, without do- ing Hurt to his Neighbour, and without Quarrel or Contumely, which fignify no- thing to Truth, and contribute nothing to the Defence of the Caufe. On the contra- ry, when the Patrons of a Caufe defert the juft Defence of it, to affront and abufe their Adverfirics, "'tisalhrewd Sign ofthe Weak- nels of it. Let us^ therefore^ as mmty of us as are well injlruBed^ or endeavour to be fOy retain the fe Sentiments : And if any of you have other Sentiments relating to this Mat'^ tery God will reveal even this to him* FINIS. BOOKS written by Dr. Burnet, late Majier ofthe Charter-Houfe, I. 'THHE Theory of the Earth : Containing an Ac- JL count of the Original of the Earth, and of all the general Changes it hath already undergone, or is to undergo, till the Confummation of all Things. In Four Books. The Sixth Edition. InTwo Vols. 8vo. With Cuts. Price 1 1 s. II. Archseologise Philofophicx ; five Do(Sl:rina Antiqua de Rerum Originibus. Libri Duo. Editio Secunda. Accedunt Ejuidem Epifiolai dua: de Archseologiis Phi- lofophicis. In 8vo. Pr. 6 s. . III. De Statu Mortuoiuin & Refiirgentium tradatns. Adjicitnr Appendix de futura judasorum Reftauratione. Editio Secunda. In 8vo. Pr. 6 s. IV. De Fide & Officiis Chiiilianorum. Editio Se- cunda. In 8vo. Pr. 3 s. 6 d. DATE DUE k CAVLORO PRtNTCO tN U.S.A. 37 '-l^'vj^ ^^ v\ / >i *\- y^ ■m^^: ^.•*4.»^^.- Ac^'gi :;^ -Si>