(2.) This power of thinking or reasoning was not derived from the body to which it was united; for that which has not in itself those superior endowments, cannot communicate them to another: Its union with the soul cannot impart them to it; for whatever sensation the body has, (which is below the power of reasoning,) is derived from the soul, as appears from its being wholly destitute thereof, when the union between the soul and body is broken: And therefore, since those superior powers, or excellencies of the soul, are produced by another cause, we must conclude, that they are immediately from God: This evidently appears from scripture; the body of Adam was first formed, and then it is said, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, Gen. ii. 7. that is, he put into it that soul which was the spring and fountain of all living actions; and then it follows, man became a living soul: And it is considered as a peculiar display of the glory of God, that he formeth the spirit of man within him, Zech. xii. 2.

(3.) It follows from hence, that the dissolution of the body makes no alteration in the powers and faculties of the soul; which is not hereby rendered subject to death. For, as it did not derive those powers from the body, as was before observed, it could not be said to lose them in the ruin of the body: Thus our Saviour speaks of the soul as not being affected with those injuries that tend to the bodies destruction, when he says, Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, Mat. x. 28.

(4.) We have a particular account in scripture, of the soul when separated from the body, as disposed of in a different way from it; it does not go down to the earth as the body does, from whence it was, but returns to God who gave it, Eccl. xii. 7. Its return to God supposes that it was accountable to him for its actions performed in the body, or the way and manner in which the faculties were exerted; and accordingly, when separate from it, it is represented as returning to God to give an account of its behaviour in the body, and to reap the fruits and effects thereof. And as it is said to return to God; so believers breathe forth their souls, and resign them by faith into the hand of God, as our Saviour expresses it, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, Luke xxiii. 46. or, as Stephen says, Lord Jesus receive my spirit, Acts vii. 59.

(5.) The soul's immortality may be proved from the extent of the capacities thereof, and the small improvement men make of them in this world, especially the greatest part of mankind. What a multitude are there who never had the faculties of the soul deduced into act, in whom the powers of reasoning were altogether useless, while in this world; I mean in those whose souls are separated from their bodies as soon as they are born;

others die in their childhood, before reason comes to maturity; and how great a part of the world live to old age, whose souls have not been employed in any thing great or excellent, in proportion to their capacities? Were these made in vain? or did God design, when he brought them into, or continued them either a longer or a shorter time in the world, that they should never be employed in any thing that is worthy of these noble faculties? Therefore we must conclude that there is another state, in which the soul shall act more agreeably to those capacities which it is endowed with.

(6.) This may be farther proved, not only from the natural desires, which there are in all men, of immortality; but more especially those desires, which the saints have, of enjoying some things in God, which cannot be attained in this life. The natural desire of immortality is what belongs to all: With what reluctancy does the soul and body part; which arises from a natural aversion to a dissolution, unless there be a well-grounded hope of a life of blessedness that shall ensue? Moreover there is not only a desire but an expectation of the soul's living for ever, when separated from the body, in a state of happiness; which believers are made partakers of, as a peculiar blessing from God: Therefore we must conclude, that he that gave them will satisfy them; so that as they have a thirst after happiness, which is the effect of a supernatural power, they shall not be disappointed or destitute of it; which they must be if the soul does not survive the body.

(7.) The immortality of the soul may be proved from the justice of God as the Governor of the world, This divine per fection renders it necessary that rewards and punishments should be distributed according to men's behaviour in this life. We observe, under a foregoing head, that man is supposed to be accountable to God, from the consideration of the spirit's re turning to him: And it also follows, from what was said under another head, concerning the soul's being the subject of moral government: But this argument will be farther improved under a following answer, when we consider our Saviour's coming to judge the world *. All the use therefore that we shall at present make thereof, is, that the soul being thus accounta ble to God, has reason to expect some peculiar marks of favour beyond what it receives in this world; or to fear some punishment as the consequence of crimes committed, from thehand of the supreme Judge of all: Thus it is said, God will render to every man according to his deeds, Rom. ii. 6. And elsewhere, Every one shall receive according to what he hath done in the body, whether it be good or bad, 2 Cor. v. 10. Now that which makes for our present argument, is, that the best ·

* See Quest. lxxxviii. lxxxix,

men in the world do not receive those peculiar marks of divine favour, as to what respects their outward condition therein, as some of the vilest men often do: This the prophet Jeremiah takes notice of, when he says, Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee; yet let me talk with thee of thy judg ments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Jer. xii. 1. And the Psalmist, when observing the prosperity of the wicked, says, They are not in trouble like other men; neither are they plagued like other men, Psal, Ixxiii. 5. that is, not exposed to those rebukes of providence, as to what concerns out> ward things, as good men are.

That which is alledged by some to solve this difficulty, is, that virtue has its own reward; and therefore, the good man cannot but be happy, whatever troubles he meets with in this life, since he has something within himself that makes him so. But to this it may be replied, that this cannot give the least satisfaction, that the divine distributions are just and equal, to those who are destitute of this inward comfort; and the princi pal ingredient in that internal happiness which arises from the exercise of religion and virtue, consists in the divine approbation, and the interest which such have in that love, which shall discover itself more fully, when the soul, being separate from the body, shall enjoy the happiness resulting from it in another world: Therefore, this is so far from militating against the doctrine we are maintaining, that it affords a considerable argument to support it,

If it be objected also, on the other hand, that sin brings its own punishment along with it, in that uneasiness which the wicked find in their own breasts; concerning whom it is said, They are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest; whose waters cast up mire and dirt, Isa. lvii. 20. This also proves the immortality of the soul; inasmuch as this fear arises from a sense of guilt, whereby persons are liable to punishment in another world, who are not in the least concerned about the punishment of sin in this, and are ready to conclude themselves out of the reach of human judicature; therefore, that which they are afraid of, is God's righteous judgments in another world, which they cannot, by any means, free themselves from the dread of. We must therefore conclude that this is as natural to man, considered as sinful, as the hope of future blessedness is to one that is righteous; and both these are the result of a divine impression enstamped on the souls of men, which affords an evident proof of their immortality.

The objections against this doctrine, are generally such as carry in them the lowest and most abject thoughts of human mature in those who may truly be said to despise their own

souls. When they pretend, as was before observed, that they are material, this is to set the soul on a level with the body; for matter, how much soever it be refined, when it is resolved into the particles of which it consists, has no excellency above other material beings.

As to the objections that are brought against this doctrine from scripture, by which the frailty of this present life is set forth: These do not in the least tend to overthrow the immor tality of the soul. Thus, when it is said in Eccles. iii. 19, 20. That which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them: As the one dieth, so dieth the other ; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. It is plain, that Solomon here speaks of the inferior part of man, in which he has no pre-eminence above the beasts, as the body is resolved into dust, as well as the bodies of the brute creatures; but then the following words sufficiently confute the objection, in which it is said, the spirit of man goeth upward; whereby he asserts, not only the superior excellency, but the immortality of the soul.

Again, when it is said in chap. ix. 5. The living know that they must die, but the dead know not any thing; neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. This is sufficiently answered by only reading the following words; by which it appears, that their memory is forgotten: and they are said to have no farther reward in this world; or, as it is expressed, They have no more any portion for ever, in any thing that is done under the sun; but this does not in the least intimate that they have no portion in what respects the things of another world; and, indeed, their labour being unrewarded here, affords us an incontestible argument, that they shall have it hereafter, when the soul leaves this world.

And as for other scriptures, that seem to intimate as though death put an end to all those actions of religion which were performed by good men in this life, as in Psal. xxx. 9. When

I go down to the pit, shall the dust praise thee, shall it declare thy truth?' and, The dead praise not the Lord; neither any ⚫that go down into silence,' Psal. cxv. 17. and what Hezekiah says to the same purpose, 'The grave cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth,' Isa. xxxviii. 18. These and such-like expressions intend nothing else but this; that the praises of God cannot be celebrated by those who are in the state of the dead, in such a way as they were by them while they lived in this world, viz. in the assemblies of his saints, from which they are separated, being no longer considered as members of the mili tant church; neither are they apprized of, or affected with the

things done in this lower world, in which respect they are said to know nothing: But this does not in the least, militate against their praising God with the church triumphant, and having those privileges conferred upon them, which are adapted to a state of immortality and eternal life.

As to what is farther objected by others, that the immortality of the soul respects only the righteous; because the apostle says in 1 John ii. 17. The world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever.' This sense given of the words contradicts all those scriptures that speak of the punishment of sin in another world; for if none are said to abide for ever, but the righteous, or they who do the will of God; the wicked must necessarily go unpunished. Therefore we must understand the word abiding in the same sense as the Psalmist does, when he says, 'The ungodly ⚫ shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,' Psal. i. 5. which does not signify their not existing in a future state, but not being admitted into the congregation of the righteous, or made happy with them therein. (a)

(a) The doctrines of the immortality of the soul, and of the resurrection of the body equally rest upon the will and word of God. But when viewed with the eye of natural reason, they have been deemed to possess very unequal grounds of probability. The properties of matter and of mind are so very different, they have been distinguished by almost all. If the mind be not matter, no argument for its extermination can be drawn from the dissolution of the body; and as its materiality has never been shown, no premises have been found from which its death can be inferred. Some wise men who had not the scriptures, have indeed withholden their belief; but the reason is discernible, they have demanded proofs which the God of nature has not vouchsafed; and their rejection of the preponderating evidence of probability, argues weakness and fastidiousness.

The resurrection of the body has been held to be impossible. If so, the impossibility should either consist in the absolute incapacity in the dead body to be raised; but this it does not, for death can only reduce the body to its first element, and the dust which has been a body is not any more unfit to be reanimated, than it was to receive life in the first instance; or it must be owing to some defect of wisdom or power, or of both in him, who should raise the body; but God is unchangeable, and in all respects as able to raise him from the dead, as to create man at the first; and there is no contradiction implied int he thing, which should prevent the exertion of his power; a resurrection is therefore possible. The usual arguments for its probability drawn from analogy to the return of day, of spring, of vegetation, &c. are not conclusive. But those drawn from the resurrection of Christ, from the identity of man considered as a compound from the removal of moral evil, from which natural evils arise, from the earnest expectation of animal nature for a better condition, and from the perfection of the future state, seem to raise a presumption which is probable; yet these are not appreciated by the natural man; hence the world has so generally denied a resurrection of the body.

The testimony of the Holy Spirit on both points has been always the same, but not with equal lustre.

Jesus Christ explicitly affirmed both, and brought his proofs from the old testament, pressed them as motives of comfort or terror to saints and sinners; and so connected their truth with that of his own character, that every thing