Treatise of the Passions and Faculties of the Soul, Chapter 34
CHAP. XXXIV. Of the Soules immortality proved by its simplicity, independance, agreement of Nations in acknowledging God and duties due unto him, dignity above other Creatures, power of understanding things immortall, unsatiablenesse by objects Mortall, freenesse from all causes of corruption.
ANd from this Simplicity followes by a necessary & unavoydable consequence, the third property spoken of,*V…d Plutarch. lib. d… placit. Philosoph 4 c. 7 quae ex Sen…a … u…um co…legit Dionys. Gotho…td. in lo…x ipso …. Ti…l de An mo. Cicer. Tusc. qu. lib. 1. Ca…o major, sive de senect. & de Ami…t. … …am … riam … …. … 1. Euseb. de praepar. Evang. lib. 11. ex P…one porpher. &c. N…mes Ae…rs Gaz…us in …. Erast …. …. Immortality, it being absolutely impossible (as Tully excellently observes, & it is the argument of Iul. Scaliger on this very occasion) for any simple and uncompounded Nature to be subject to death and corruption; For (saith Tully) Interitus est discessus & secretio ac direptus earum partium quae conjunctione …liqua tenebantur. It is a separation (and as it were) a divulsion of parts, before united each to other, so that where there is *Ni… … … esse quod … a…um … quem est: Iste … for… [v…z. Sim…] n… possunt perd…e actum per quem sunt, quia sibi i… s… sunt Actus. Nihil au … …otest se… perdere. Contarenu…. lib. 1 de Immort. Animae.no Union, there can be no separation, and by consequence no death nor mortality.
Another reason may be the same which was alledged for the spirituality of the soule, namely independance in operation, and therefore consequently in Being upon the body. And that Independance is manifest, First, because the acts of the soule are educ'd immediately in it selfe, without the Intercedence of any organ whereby sensitive faculties work. Secondly, because the soule can perceive and have the knowledge of truth of universals, of it selfe, of Angels, of God, can assent, discourse, abstract, censure, invent, contrive, and the like; none of which actions could any wayes be produced by the Intrinsecall concurrence of any materiall faculty. Thirdly, because in Raptures and Extasies, the soule is (as it were) drawne up above and from the body, though not from informing it, yet certainely from borrowing from it any assistance to the produceing of its operation. All which prove, that the soule is separable from the body in its Nature, and therefore that it is not corrupt and mortall as the body.
Another reason may be taken from the Universall agreement of all Nations in the Earth in *Cum de Animarum at… nitate …, non …ve momentun apud no… habet const…sus H…minum aut timentium infer… ▪ aut colen…ium. …. c. …p 117.Religion and the worship of some Deity, which cannot but be raised out of a hope and secret Resolution that that God whom they worshipped, would reward their piety, if not here, yet in another life. Nulla gens adeo extra leges est project… ut non aliquos deos credat, saith Seneca; whence those fictious of the Poets touching Elyzium and fields of happinesse for men of honest and well ordered lives; and▪ places of Torment for those that doe any way neglect the bonds of their Religion.
Ergo exercentur poenis, veterum que malorum Supplicia expendunt.
Therefore they exercised are with paine,
And punishments of former crimes sustaine.
For in this life it is many times in all places seene, that those which have given themselves most liberty in contempt of Gods Lawes, and have suffered themselves to be carried by the swinge of their owne rebellious Passions, unto all injurious, ambitious, unruly Practises, have commonly raised themselves and their fortunes more than others, who out of tendernesse and feare have followed no courses but those which are allowed them. And yet these men who suffer so many indignities out of regard to Religion, doe still observe their duties, and in the midst of all contempt and reproach, fly into the bosome of their God: And as Lucretius himselfe that Arch-Atheist confesseth of them:
—Multò in rebus acerbis Acri…s advertunt animos ad religionem.
Their hearts in greatest bitternesse of minde,
Unto Religion are the more enclinde.
Their very terrors and troubles make them more zealous in acknowledging some Deity and in the worship of it. Hic Pietatis h…s? would not this easily have melted their Religion into nothing, and quite diverted their minds from so fruitlesse a severity, had they not had a strong and indeleble perswasion fastned in their soules, that a state would come, where in both their Patience should be rewarded, and the insolencie of their Adversaries repayed with the just Vengeance they had deserved?
As for that Atheisticall conceit, that Religion is only grounded on Policie, and maintained by Princes for the better Tranquillity and Setlednesse of their States, making it to be only Imperiorum Vinculum, a Bond of Government, that the Common-weale might not suffer from the fury of minds secure from all Religion, it is a fancie no lesse absurd, than it is impious. For that which hath not only beene observed and honour'd by those who have scarce had any forme of a civill Regiment amongst them, but even generally assented unto by the opinions and practice of the whole world, is not a Law of Policie and civill Institution, but an inbred and secret Law of Nature dictated by the consciences of men, and assented unto, without and above any humane imposition. Nor else is it possible for Legall institutions, and the closest and most intricate conveyances of Humane Policy so much to entangle the hearts of men (of themselves enclinable to liberty) nor to fetter their consciences, as thereby only to bring them to a regular conformity unto all government for feare of such a God, to whose Infinitnesse, Power and Majestie they Assent by none but a civill Tradition. It must be a visible character of a Deitie acknowledged in the Soule, an irresistible Principle in Nature, and the secret witnesse of the heart of man, that must constraine it unto those sundry religious ceremonies (observed among all Nations) wherein even in places of Idolatry, were some so irksome and repugnant to Nature, and others so voyd of Reason, as that nothing but a firme and deepe Assurance of a Divine Judgement, and of their owne Immortality, could ever have impos'd them upon their consciences. And besides this consent of men unto Religion in generall, we finde it also unto this one part hereof touching the Soules immortality. All the wisest and best reputed Philosophes for Learning and stayednesse of life, and, besides them, even Barbarians, Infidels, and savage people have discerned it. Adeò nescio quo mod… inhaeret in menibus quasi seculorum quoddam augurium futurorum, saith Tully. The Soule hath a kinde of presage of a future world; And therefore he saith, that it is in mans Body a Tenant,Tus… qu…l 1. tanquam in dome al…enâ, as in anothers house: And is only in Heaven as a Lord tanquam in domo suâ, as in its owne.
Though in the former of these, the ignorance of the Resurrection made him erre touching the future condition of the Body, wherein indeed consists a maine dignity of Man above other creatures. And this Opinion it is which he saith was the ground of all that care men had for posterity, to sow and plant Common-wealths, to ordaine Lawes, to establish formes of Government, to erect Foundations and Societies, to hazard their Blood for the good of their Country; all which could not have beene done with such freedome of Spirit, and prodigality of life, unlesse there were withall a conceit that the good thereof would some way or other redound to the contentment of the Authors themselves after this life: for it was a speech savouring of infinite Atheisme.
foreign.
When I am dead, and in mine V…ne;
What care I though the World burns?
Now although against this present ReasonTull. Tus…. qu. lib 1. drawne from the consent of men (which yet HeathensSen… … 117. themselves have used) It may be alledged that there hath beene a consent likewise of some, That the Soule is nothing else but the Eucrasie or good Temperature of the Body, and that it is therefore subject to those Maladies, Distempers, Age, Sicknesse, and at last Death, which the Body is; as amongst the rest Lucretius takes much paines to prove: yet the Truth is, that is Votum magic quàm Iudicium, never any firme opinion grounded on Judgement and Reason, but rather a desire of the heart, and a perswasion of the Will inticing the Understanding so to determine. For the conscience of lewd Epicures and sensuall minds, being sometimes frighted with the flashes and apprehensions of Immortality, which often times pursues them, and obtrudes it selfe upon them against their wills, shining like lightning through the chinks & crevises (as I may so speak) of their Soules, which are of set purpose closed against all such light, sets the Reason on work to invent arguments for the contrary side, that s… their staggering and fearefull impiety may b… something emboldned, and the Eye of their conscience blinded, and the Mouth mustled from breathing forth those secret clamors and shrikes of feare. The Deniall then of the Immortality of the Soule is rather a Wish than an Opinion, a corruption of the Heart and Will, than any Naturall Assertion of the understanding, which cannot but out of the footsteps and reliques of those first sacred Impressions, acknowledge a spirituall resemblance in the Soule of Man unto some supreame Deity, whom the conscience in…acon Essay of Athe…sme. all its Enormities doth displease: And therefore it is observed that the Mind of an Atheist is continually wavering and unsatisfied, never able so to smother the inbred consciousnes of its immortality, as not to have continuall suggestions of feare and scruple. Wheresoever there is an impious Heart, there is alwayes a shivering judgement.
Another Reason of the Soules immortality may be drawne from the dignity and preheminence of Man above other Creatures: for hee is made Lord over them, and they were ordained to be serviceable to him, and Ministers for his contentments: which dignity cannot possibly stand with the Mortality of the Soule. For should not many other Creatures farre exceed Man inforeign …ad. …. 446. the Durance of their being? And even in their time of living together, how subject to weakenesses, sicknesse, languishing, cares, feare, jealousies, discontents, and all other miseries of Mind and Body, is the whole Nature of Man, of all which, other creatures feele the least disturbance? Are not Men here, beyond the rest, the very properDiogenc… vocare shl…b it foreign. Lac. l. lib. 6. foreign Solon ad …oesum. vid. Theodoret. …om. 5. de n…ura Hom. & Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. 3. p. 316. 317. Edit. Hi…ns. subjects and receptacles of misery? Is not our heart made the Naturall center of feares and sorrowes? and our Minds, as it were, Hives to entertaine numberlesse swarmes of stinging and thorny Cares? Are wee not Vassals and Slaves to many distempered passions? Have not our very Contents their terror, and our Peace disturbance? Are not all our Comforts, wherewith wee strive to glut and stuffe our selves here, the glorious Vanities, and golden delusions and cosenages of the world? And how miserable must their miseries be, whose very happinesse is unhappy? And for Reason, what comfort could wee finde in it, when it would alwayes be presenting unto us the consideration of an eternall losse of all our contentments, and still affright us with the dark and hideous conceit of Annihilation? Mortality and Corruption makes Unreasonablenesse a Priviledge; And in this case the Beasts would be so much the more happy than Man, by how much the lesse they know their owne wretchednesse. An Atheist would be in this life farre happier than he is, if he could bring himselfe to have as little Reason as he hath Religion.
Another Reason may be taken from the Nature of Mans reasonable Faculties. To every Power in Man, as God hath assigned a peculiar operation, so likewise hath hee given it Objects of equall extent thereunto, which are therefore able to accomplish its naturall desires, whereby it fasteneth on them. And for this cause from the Nature of the Objects, wee easily rise to know the Nature both of the Faculties and Essence; for from the Essence flowes naturally the Faculty, from the Faculty is naturally educed the Operation, which requires naturally Objects proportionall, convenient, satisfactory, and of equall extent. Where therefore no mortall object beares full convenience, nor is able to satiate and quiet the Faculty, there it and the Essence, from which it flowes, are both immortall. Now we see sensitive Powers finde in this life full satisfaction, as the Sight from all the Variety of Colours, the Eare of sounds, and the like: only the Reasonable Parts, the Understanding, and the Will can never be replenished in this estate of Mortality. Have they as great and wide contentments,Fecisti no… ad …e, & n…equietum est cor nostrum … requiescat in …e Aug. Conses. l. 1. c. 1. vid. Ibid. lib. 4. cap. 10. 12. de Trinit. lib. 13. cap 8. Omni… mihi Copia quae Deu… me… no… est, E…esta est▪ Consess. lib. 13. c. 8. Vid. …iam de Civ. Dei. lib. 8. cap. 8. lib. 11. c. 13. l 12. c 1. as the whole frame of Nature can here afford them; still their pursuites are restlesse, still they find an absence and want of something, which they cannot finde. Orbis Alexandro angustus; In this case every man is like Alexander. This world wherein wee now converse, is too straight and empty to fill the vastnesse, and limit the desires of the Soule of Man. Only the sight and possession of God, the most infinite good, can satisfie our Understandings and our Wills. For both these Faculties (as all others in suo Ge…re) ayme at summum. The Understanding is carried ad summam Causam to the first of Truths; the Will ad summum Bonum to the last of Ends; and therefore he only which is the First and the Last, can satisfie these two searching and unquiet faculties. Hi motus Animorum a… que haec certa…ina.
These are the Motions, this the strife
Of Soules, aspiring unto life.
All the Knowledge we heap up here, serves only as a Mirrour wherein to view our ignorance, and wee have only light enough to discover that wee are in the dark. And indeed, were there no Estate wherein Knowledge should receive a Perfection, and be throughly proportioned to the Heart of man, The labour of getting the Knowledge wee have, and the vexation for the want of what wee have not, and the griefe of parting so soone with it, would render the vexation of it farre greater than the content.
Hoc est quòd palles? cur quis non prandeat hoc est?
Is this the fruit, for which we fast?
And by pale studies sooner waste?
Do we toyle and sweat, and even melt our selves away for that which wee sooner forsake than finde? Doe wee deny our selves the contentments and satisfactions most agreeable to our corporeall condition, being without hope of accomplishing our wishes in another estate? It is naturall for gaining of Knowledge to hasten unto that whereby we loose both it and our selves? and to labour for such a purchase, which like lightning is at once begun and ended, yea indeed sooner lost than gotten? Certainly were man not conscious of his owne immortality, there could be no stronger inducement to sottishnesse, luxury, riot, sensuality, and all other unbridled practises. It is registred for the impiety of Atheists; Let us eat and drink, for to morrow wee shall dye.
Another Reason may be framed after the same manner, as was that to prove the Spirituality of the Soule from the manner of its operation. And it is grounded on those two ordinary Axiomes in Philosophy, That every thing is received according to the quality of the Receiver, and that every thing hath the same manner of …ssence, as it hath of operation. Now the Soule of Man can easily receive impressions and conceits of immortality, and discourse thereupon: therefore also it is in its owne Essence and nature immortall. Wee see even betweene things meerely corporeall, as the Object and the sensitive Organ, how small a disproportion works incapacity. Much more must it be found in so great a difference as would be betweene immortality of Objects and corruption of the Soule that worketh on them. We cannot picture an Angel or Spirit, nor make any im…ateriall stamp in a piece of wax, since a corporeall substance is capable of none but corporeall impressions. And therefore wee see that even amongst Bodies, the more pure and subtile they are, the more are they exempted from the perception of the quickest and most spirituall sense, the sight. Now the mind of man in Understanding, is but as wax to the seale, or as a Table and Picture to an Object which it represents: which is the ground of that Paradox in Aristotle, that in understanding the Soule is (as it were) made the Object that is understood. Because, as the Wax, after it is stamped, is in some sort the very Seale it selfe that stamp'd it, namely Representative, by way of Image and resemblance; so the Soule, in receiving the species of any Object, is made the picture and image of the thing it selfe. Now the understanding, being able to apprehend immortality (yea indeed apprehending every corporeall substance, as if it were immortall, I meane by purging it from all grosse materiall and corruptible qualities) must therefore needs of it selfe be of an immortall Nature. And from the latter of those two Principles, which I spake of, namely, that the quality of the Being may be gathered from the Nature of the Operation, Aristotle inferres the separability and independance of the understanding on the Body, in the third de Animâ afore-named: For the Soule being able to work without the concurrence of any bodily Organ to the very act it selfe (as was before shewed) must needs also be able to subsist by its owne nature, without the concurrence of any matter to sustaine it. And therefore hee saith in the same place, that the understanding is separable, uncompounded, impassible; all arguments of immortality. Other reasons are produced for the proofe hereof, taken from the causes of corruption, which is wrought either by Contraries working and eating out Nature; or by Defect of the Preserving cause, as light is decayed by absence of the Sunne; or thirdly by corruption of the subject whereon it depends. None whereof can be verified in the Soule. For first, how can any thing be contrary to the Soule, which receiveth perfection from all things? for Intellectus omnia intelligit, saith Aristotle, yea wherein all Contraries are reconciled and put off their Opposition? For (as a great man excellently speaketh)Mornay of Christian Religion. Chap. 14. those things, which destroy one another in the World, maintaine and perfect one another in the Minde; one being a meanes for the clearer apprehension of the other. Secondly, God, who is the only Efficient of the Soule (being else in it selfe simple and indivisible, and therefore not capable of death, but only of Annihilation) doth never faile, and hath himselfe promised never to bring it unto nothing. And lastly, the Soule depends not, as doe other Formes, either in Operation or Being, on the Body, being not only Actus informans, but subsistens too, by its owne absolute vertue.