Arg. 1. The soul and body are the two constitutive parts of man ; either of these being wanting, the man is not complete and perfect. The good of the whole is the good of the parts them- selves ; and every thing hath a natural desire and appetite to its own good and perfection *. It is confessed, the soul, for as much as concerns itself singly, is made perfect, and enjoys blessedness in the absence of the body ; but this is only the perfection and blessedness of one part of man ; the other part, viz. the body, lies in obscurity and corruption : and till both be blessed, and blessed together, in a state of composition and re-union, the whole man is not made perfect. For this therefore the soul must wait.
Arg. 2. Though death hath dissolved the union, yet it bath not destroyed the relation betwixt the soul and the body ; that dust is more to it than all the dust of the whole earth. Hence it is that
* A separate soul has a propensity to union with the body, for it desires the actual constitution of the whole compound being, seeing it is for this, as its end, that it exists, and is Jbund within the compass of real beings. And this is that perfection which the soul obtains by that propensity : for the good of the whole compound being is the good of the parts themselves. It must therefore be affirmed, that the separate soul naturally desires the resurrection. Alsted. natur, theoLpart I. p. 214, 215.
92 A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAN.
the whole person of a behever is sometimes denominated from that part of him, namely, his body, which remains captivated by death in the grave. Hence, 2 Thess. iv. 15. dead believers are called those that sleep, which must needs properly respect the body, for the soul sleeps not, and shews what a firm and dear relation still remains betwixt these absent friends. Now we all know the mighty power of a relation, if it be at least among entities. Surely it is one of the greatest things in the world in efficacy.
It is difficult to bear the absence of our dear relatives, especially if we be in prosperity, and they in adversity : As the case here is betwixt the spirit in heaven, and its body in the grave ; this associated with angels, that preyed upon by worms. Joseph's case is the liveliest emblem that occurs to my present thoughts to illustrate the point in hand. He was advanced to be lord over all ^gypt, living in the greatest pomp and splendor there ; but his father, and brethren, were, at the same time, ready to perish, in the land of Canaan, Gen. xliii. 29, 30, 31. He had been many years separated from them, but neither the length of time, nor honours of the court, could alienate his affections from them. O see the mighty power of relation ! no sooner doth he see his brethren, and understand their case, and the pming condition of Jacob, his father, but his bowels yearned, and his compassions rolled together for them ; yea, he could not forbear, nor stifle his own affections, though he knew how injurious his brethren had been to him, and betrayed him, as the body hath the soul : Yet notwithstanding all this, he breaks forth into tears, and out- cries, over them, which made the house ring again with the news that Josejih's brethren were come. Nor could he be at rest in the lap of honour, and plenty, until he had got home his dear, and ancient relations to him. Thus stands the case betwixt soul and body.
Arg. 3. The regret, reluctancy, and sorrows expressed by the soul at parting, do strongly argue its inclination to a re-union with it, when it is actually separated from it : For why should we surmise, that the soul, which mourned, and groaned so deeply at parting, which clasped, and embraced it so dearly, and affec- tionately, which fought, struggled, and disputed the passage with death, every foot, and inch of ground it got, and would not part with the body, till by plain force it was rent out of its arms ; should not, when absent, desire to see, and^ ^"j^y its old and endeared friend again ? Hath it lost its affection, though it continue its re- lation ? That is very improbable : Or doth its advancement in heaven make it regardless of its body, which lies in contempt and misery ? That is an effect which Christ's personal glory never pro- duced in him towards us, nor a good man's preferment would
A TKEATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAV. VO
produce in him to his poor and miserable friends in this world, as we see in the case of Joseph, just now instanced in. It is therefore harsh, and incongruous, to suppose the soul's love to the body was extinguished in the parting hour, and that now, out of sight out of mind.
Object. But was it not urged before, in opposition to this assertion, tliat the souls of the righteous looked upon their bodies as their prisons, and sighed for deliverance by death, and greatly rejoiced in the hope, and foresight of that liberty death would restore them to ? How doth this consist with such reluctancies at parting, and inclinations to re-union ?
Sol. The objection doth not suppose any man to be totally free from all reluctancies, and unwillingness to die ; the holiest souls that ever lived in bodies of flesh, will give an unwilling shrug, when it comes to the parting point, 2 Cor. v. 2. but this their willingness to be gone, arises from two other grounds, which make it consistent enough with its reluctancies at parting, and inclination to a second meeting.
(1.) This willingness to die, doth not suppose the soul's love to the body to be utterly extinguished, but mastered, and overpowered by another, and stronger love. There is in every Christian a double love, one natural to the body, and the things below, the other supernatural, to Christ, and the things above ; the latter doth not extinguish, though it conquer and subdue the other. Love to the body pulls backward, love to Christ pushes forward, and finally prevails. This is so consistent with it, that it supposes natural re- luctation, and unwillingness to part.
(2.) The willingness of God's people to be dissolved, must not be understood absolutely, but comparatively ; in that sense the apostle will be understood, 2 Cor. v. 8. " We are confident, I say, and " willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the " Lord," i. e. rather than to live always a life of sin, sorrow, and absence from God : death is not desirable in, and for itself, but only as it is the soul's outlet from sin, and its inlet to God.