Sol 2. But it is evident, souls spring not from the parent, as one plant, or an animal doth from another ; for they have their seed in themselves, apt and proper to produce their kind ; but the seed of souls is not to be found in man : It is not to be found in his body ; for then (as was said before) a spiritual and nobler essence must be produced out of a material and baser matter, (/'. e.) the matter must give to the soul that which it hath not in itself; nor is it to be found in his soul ; for the soul being a pure, simple, and invisible being, can suffer nothing to be descinded from it, towards the production of another soul. A spirit, as the soul is, is substantia, simplex et impartibiUs ; an uncompounded, and indiscernible, or im- partible being. Nor can it spring partly from the body, and partly from the soul, as from con-causes ; for then it should be partly corporeal, and partly incorporeal, as its causes are. " So that " there is no matter, seed, or principles of souls found in man ; and " to be sure (as * Baronius strongly argues) he cannot produce a " soul without pre-existent matter ; for that were to make him " omnipotent, and assign a creating power to a creature.,, Besides, that which is generable, is also corruptible, as we see trees animals, fyc. which are produced that way, to be ; but the soul is not corruptible, as hath in part been already proved, and more fully, in the following discourse. So that Adam's soul, and the souls of his posterity spring not from each other, but all from God by creation.
Ohj. 3. If the soul be created and infused immediately by God, either it comes out of his hands pure, or impure ; if pure, how comes it to be defiled and tainted with sin ? If impure, how do we free God from being the author of sin ?
Sol. If the question be, whether souls be pure or impure, as soon as they are united with their bodies? The answer is, they are impure, and tainted as soon as united : For the union constitutes a child of Adam, and consequently a sinful impure creature. But if it respect the condition and state in which God created them, I answer with Baronius -f. " They are created neither morally pure,
* Pater neque producit animamjilii ex aliqua re pra-cxktente; neque producit cam ex nulla re pr<v existente : hoc enim est creare ; ergo nulh modo cam producit. Baronii dis- sert, secunda de Origine Animas, p. 120.
f Animai nostra a Deo creante neque accipunt puritalem, seujustitiam ; ncq ; impurita- tem et propensionem ad malum : Sed tantum mcntiam spirituahm, et proprietates ab essentia dimanantes. Baroni exercit. p. 1 03.
620 A TKEATISE OF THE SOUL OF MATT-
46 nor impure ; they receive neither purity nor impurity from him, " but only their naked essence, and the natural powers and pro- " perties flowing therefrom. " He inspires not any impurity into them ; for he cannot be the author of sin, who is the revenger of it. Nor doth he create them in their original purity and rectitude ; for the sin of Adam lost that, and God justly withholds it from his- posterity. Who wonders (saith t one) to see the children, the palaces and gardens of a traitor to droop and decav, and the arms of his house, and the badge of his nobility, to be defaced and re- d ? That which is abused by man to the dishonour of God, may justly be destroyed (I add in this case, or with-hdd) by God to the detriment of man. Adam voluntarily and actually deprived himself, and meritoriously deprived all his posterity of that original righteousness and purity in which he was created. As an holy God, he cannot inspire any impurity, and as a just and righteous God, he may, and doth with-hold, or create them void and destitute of that holiness, and righteousness which was once their yea, of happiness and glory.
Obj. 4. But how come they then to be defiled and tainted with original sin ? It is confessed God did not make them impure, and the body cannot ; for being matter, it cannot act upon a spirit ; itself it is a dead lump, and cannot act at all.
Sol What if this be one of those mysteries reserved for the world to come, about which we cannot in this state solve every difficulty that may be moved ? Must we therefore deny its divine original ? What if I cannot understand some mysteries, or answer some questions about the hypostatical union of the two natures, hi the wonderful person of our Emmanuel? Must I therefore question whether he be &tav$pa*»g, God-man ? We must remain ignorant of some things about our souls, till we come into the condition of the spirits of just men made perfect ||. Mean time, I think it much more our concernment to study how we may get sin out of our souls, than to puzzle our brains to find how it came into them.
But that the objector may not take this for an handsome slide, or go-by to this great objection, I return to it, in a few particulars.
(1.) That I think not original sin follows either part singly; it comes in neither by the soul alone, nor by the body alone, apart from the soul ; but upon the union and conjunction of both in one person. It is the union of these two which constitutes a child of Adam, and as such only we are capable of being infected with his sin.
t Jenkins on Jude, Vol. i. p. 5, 9.
jj 3Ian since the fall, being less than himself, understands not himself ; nor will he fully, till he be fully restored to himself in glory. Norton s Orth. Evan g. p. 257.
A TREATISE OF THE SOrJL OF MAN. 0%1
(2.) * And whereas it is so confidently asserted in the objection, that sin cannot come into the soul by, or from the body, because it being matter, cannot act upon a spirit ; I say, this is gratis dictum, easily spoken, but difficultly proved. Cannot the body act upon, or influence the soul ? Pray then, how comes it to pass that so many souls become foolish, forgetful, injudicious, fyc. by their union with ill-disposed bodies ? Nothing is more sensible, plain, and evident, than that there is a reciprocal communication betwixt the soul and body. The body doth as really (though we know not how) affect the soul with its dispositions, as the soul influences it with life and motion. The more excellent any form is, the more intimate is its union and conjunction with the matter. The soul of man hath therefore a more intimate and perfect union with the body, than light hath with the air, which is made, by some, to be the emblem and similitude to shadow forth this union. But the union betwixt them is too intimate to be conceived by the help of any such similitudes. That this infection is by way of physical agency r, as a rusty scabbard infects and defiles a bright sword when sheath- ed therein, I will not confidently affirm as some do. It may be by way of natural co?icomitancy, as Estius will have it ; or to speak, as Dr. Reynolds (modestly, and as becomes men that are con- scious of darkness and weakness) by way of ineffable resultancy and emanation.
(3.) Upon the whole,, original sin consists in two things, viz.