The Portraiture of the Image of God in Man, Part 2 · Chapter 11
CHAP. XI. Of the paſsions in the iraſcible part of the ſoule.
Of the paſsion of Hope.
THere be five paſsions in the Iraſcible appetite; hope, deſpaire, feare, boldneſſe, and anger.
Hope, is a paſsion of the ſoule, that we have of the impreſsion of future good, which preſents it ſelfe to our imagination, as difficult to obtaine, whereby we endeavour to purſue it, conceiving that wee are able to attaine unto it, and in the end to get the poſſeſsion.
Hope differeth from deſire, which extends it ſelfe to all kinde of good, without any apprehenſion of difficulty; and therefore deſire belongeth to the concupiſcible appetite; whereas hope is ſubject to the Iraſcible, and reſpecteth the future good gotten with difficulty, for no man did ever hope for things which hee holdeth impoſſible to attaine unto.
Hope is conſidered here as a naturall vertue in the firſt Adam, and not as a theologicall or ſupernaturall vertue, as it is in us now, and it is placed in the ſoule, ut operationem expeditam reddat, that it may further man in his operation, 1 Cor. 9.10. hee that plougheth, plougheth in hope, and he that threſheth, ſhould bee partaker of his hope.
The firſt Adam had hope to injoy the life to come, A Collation betwixt the innocent and glorified Adam.and to bee tranſlated to a better eſtate, if hee continued in obedience; this hope was naturall to him, and hee hoped without difficultie to obtaine the thing hoped for; Secunda ſecundae, q. 13 art. 3.for as Thomas ſheweth well, this difficulty of hardneſſe to obtaine the thing hoped for, is not alwayes neceſſarily required in him that hopes; nam ſpes etiam verſatur circa bonum facile; Hope may bee exerciſed about that which is eaſie to obtaine; but the true reaſon wherefore hope is ſaid to bee of things hardly obtained is this, becauſe hee that hopeth, hath one above him who is more powerfull than hee is, who may performe that which hee hopeth for; and herein ſtands the reaſon of this why it is ſaid hardly to bee obtained, becauſe wee hope, that that muſt bee performed by another, though it bee not hard to bee obtained in it ſelfe.
So the firſt Adam, hoped that God would performe that which he hoped for without any difficulty. It is true, our hope now is with great difficulty, and many wraſtlings, therfore it is compared to an anchor which holds the ſhippe in a ſtorme, Heb. 6.16.
The hope in the glorified, although it be evacuate in the life to come touching the ſubſtance of our bleſſedneſſe, yet touching the adjuncts of this glory, Polanus in ſyntagmate.they ſay we may have faith and hope ſtill: as the ſoules glorified beleeve the ſecond comming of Chriſt, and they hope for the riſing of the body, & the perfection of the Church. But when it is objected, how can hope and viſion ſtand together, for faith and hope are of things not ſeene, Heb. 11. They anſwer, That they cannot ſtand together touching one object, and in the ſame reſpect; for they ceaſe in the life to come, when the ſoule beholds God the moſt abſolute object, Dulpex objectum glorificatorum, abſolutum & ſecundarim.but yet in reſpect of ſecondary objects, and things yet not accompliſhed, which the Saints beleeve ſhall be accompliſhed; relying upon the authority of him who hath promiſed, not ſeeing them yet by ſight as they doe God himſelfe: in this reſpect they ſay, that faith and hope are not yet altogether aboliſhed in the heavens.
The hope of the unregenerate, is but ſomnium vigilantium, a waking mans dreame: for as dreames in the night fill us with illuſions, and vaine formes, which abuſe us and make us imagine that we are rich in our extreameſt povertie and greateſt miſery: So hope abuſing the imagination of the unregenerate, fills their ſoules with vaine contentments.