252 CORRUPTION OR DEPRAVATION [BOOK III.
of our mind," Eph. iv. 23. By the "miner' the faculty itself is in- tended, the rational principle in us of apprehension, of thinking, dis- coursing, and assenting. This is renewed by grace, or brought into another ha])itude and frame, by the implantation of a ruling, guid- ing, spiritual light in it. The " spirit" of the mind, is the inclination and disposition in the actings of it; these also must be regulated by grace.
2. There is the ddvoia, the " understanding." This is the to hta- Kpirizov, the directive, discerning, judging facidty of the soul, that leads it unto practice. It guides the soul in the choice of the no- tions which it receives by the mind. And this is more corrupt than the mind itself; for the nearer things come to practice, the more prevalent in them is the power of sin. This, therefore, is said to be "darkened;" and being so, it is wholly in vain to pretend a sufficiency in it to discern spiritual things ivithout a supernatural illumination. Light, in the dispensation of the gospel, shines, or casts out some rays of itself, into this darkened understanding of men, but that receives it not, John i. 5.
8. There is xaphla, the " heart." This in Scripture is to irpann-Mv in the soid, the practical jjrinciple of operation, and so includes the will also. It is the actual compliance of the will and affections with the mind and understanding, with respect unto the objects proposed by them. Light is received by the mind, apjylied by the under- standing, tised by the heart. Upon this, saith the apostle, there is crupojffig, " blindness." It is not a mere ignorance or incomprehen- siveness of the notions of truth that is intended, but a stubborn re- sistance of light and conviction. An obstinate and obdurate hard- ness is upon the heart, whence it rejects all the impressions that come npon it from notions of truth. And on these considerations men themselves before conversion are said to be " darkness," Eph. v. 8. There may be degrees in a moral privation, but when it is ex- pressed in the abstract, it is a sign that it is at its height, that it is total and absolute. And this is spoken with respect unto spiritual and saving light only, or a saving apprehension of spiritual truths. There is not in such persons so much as any disposition remaining to receive saving knowledge, any more than there is a disposition in darkness itself to receive light. The mind, indeed, remains a capa- ble subject to receive it, but hath no active power nor disposition in itself towards it ; and, therefore, when God is pleased to give us a new ability to understand and perceive spiritual things in a due maimer, he is said to give us a new faculty, because of the utter dis- ability of our minds naturally to receive them, 1 John v. 20. Let vain men boast whilst they please of the perfection and ability of their rational faculties with respect unto religion and the things of
CHAP. III.] OF THE MIND BY SIN. 253
God, this is the state of them by nature, upon His judgment that must stand for ever.
And, by the way, it may not be amiss to divert here a little unto the consideration of that exposition which the whole world and all things in it give unto this text and testimony concerning the minds of natural men being under the power of vanity, for this is the spring and inexhaustible fountain of all that vanity which the world is filled with. There is, indeed, a vanity which ispe?ia^, — namely, that vexa- tion and disappointment wdiich men finally meet withal in the pur- suit of perishing things, whereof the wise man treats at large in his Ecclesiastes ; but I intend that sinful vanity which the mind itself produces, and that in all sorts of persons, ages, sexes, and conditions in the world. This some of the heathens saw, complained of, re- proved, and derided, but yet could never reach to the cause of it, nor free themselves from being under the power of the same vanity, though in a way peculiar and distinct from the common sort, as might easily be demonstrated. But the thing is apparent; almost all that our eyes see or our ears hear of in the world is altogether vain. All that which makes such a noise, such a business, such an appearance and show among men, may be reduced unto two heads : — (1.) The vanity that they bring into the things that are, and that are either good in themselves and of some use, or at least indifferent. So men do variously corrupt their buildings and habitations, their trading, their conversation, their power, their wealth, their relations. They join innumerable vanities with them, which render them loath- some and contemptible, and the meanest condition to be the most suitable to rational satisfaction. (2.) Men find out, and as it were create, things to be mere supporters, couutenancers, and nourishers of vanity. Such, in religion, are carnal, pompous ceremonies, like those of the church of Rome, which have no end but to bring in some kind of provision for the satisfaction of vain minds; stage- players, mimics, with innumerable other things of the same nature, which are nothing but theatres for vanity to act itself ujDon. It were endless but to mention the common effects of vanity in the world. And men are mightily divided about these things. Those engaged in them think it strange that others run not out into the " same compass of excess and riot with themselves, speaking evil of them," 1 Pet. iv. 4. They wonder at the perverse, stubborn, and froward humour which befalls some men, that they delight not in, that they approve not of, those things and ways wherein they find so great a suitableness unto their own minds. Others, again, are ready to ad- mire whence it is that the world is mad on such vain and foolish things as it is almost wholly given up unto. The consideration we have insisted on gives us a satisfactory account of the grounds ariu