Of the immortality of the soul
John Gill
Though the body dies, and when
it dies, the soul dies not; it survives the body, and not only lives after it,
but lives for ever, it never dies: though the body without the soul is dead,
yet the soul without the body is not dead; when the body returns to the earth and dust, from whence it sprung, the soul returns to God,
the immediate author and giver of it: the body may be killed by men, but not
the soul; no man has any power over that, none but God that made it: the soul
is immortal, it is not capable of death, that is, in a natural and proper
sense; it is capable of dying, in a figurative sense, a moral or spiritual
death; which is brought on by sin; but this lies not in a
deprivation of the powers and faculties of it; but of its moral rectitude,
righteousness, and holiness; and it is capable of an eternal death, which is
the destruction of it in hell; that is, not a destruction of its substance, but
of its peace, joy, and happiness for ever.
When it is
said, the soul is immortal, it must be understood, that it is so in its nature;
and is not liable to death, either from any thing within itself or without it: but
not that it has such an immortality as God himself has, "who only hath
immortality"; he has it of himself: angels, and the souls of men, have
their immortality of him, who has made them immaterial and immortal spirits;
his immortality is without beginning, and any prior cause of
it; theirs has a beginning from God, the first cause of them: his is
independent; theirs depends on him, in whom they live, and move, and have their
being. That the soul of man is immortal may be proved,
1. First, from the consideration
of the soul itself, its original, nature, powers, and faculties.
1a. First, from the original
of it; it is not of men; it is not "ex traduce", or by generation
from parents, as has been proved elsewhere; "What is born of the flesh, is
flesh"; and is not only carnal and sinful, but frail and mortal; "All
flesh is grass", withering, decaying, and corruptible,
as that is: but the spirit, or soul, is of God; it is the very breath of God;
and has a similarity to him, particularly in immortality; "God breathed
into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul", immortal and
never dying, #Ge 2:7. Elihu says, #Job 33:4. "The breath of the Almighty
hath given me life", a life that will never end: as the first man was
made, so are his posterity; his body was formed out of the
dust; and then a living, immortal soul was breathed into it: so the body of
every man is first formed, and then the soul is created in it; hence God is
described, as he that "formeth the spirit of man within him", #Zec
12:1 and as God is the former of the souls of men, so he is the supporter of
them; he "upholds their souls in lift"; as they have their being and
their life from him, it is maintained by him; the souls of
men are not dependent on their bodies, and therefore die not when they do: as
they are independent of them in their operations, can think, reason, discourse,
will, and nill without them; so they are in their being, and can exist and
subsist without them. The most malicious and cruel persecutors can only kill the
body; and after that "they have no more that they can do";
they cannot kill the soul, #Lu 12:4 they cannot pursue that any further; that
returns to God that gave it; he could, indeed, annihilate it, if he would; but
that he does not do, neither the souls of good men, who, after death, are under
the altar, calling for vengeance on their persecutors; nor the souls of bad
men, who are in perpetual torment; their worm of conscience never dies, but is
always torturing them; and the fire of divine wrath in them is
never quenched, of which they are always sensible, and therefore must be
immortal, and never die; or else that "fire", and its
"burnings", would not be "everlasting", as they are said to
be.
1b. Secondly, the immortality
of the soul may be proved from the nature of the soul; which
is,
1b1.
Spiritual, of the same nature with angels, who are made
"spirits",
spiritual substances, and so die not; and such
are the souls
of men, #Heb 12:9,23. Now as the souls of men
are
of the same nature with angels, and they die not, it may
be concluded
that the souls of men are immortal, and die
not, #Ps
104:4 Lu 20:36 1Co 2:11.
1b2. The soul
of man is simple, unmixed, and uncompounded {1}; it
is
not composed of flesh, and blood, and bones, arteries,
veins,
&c. as the body; a spirit has none of these; not
flesh, which
may be torn to pieces; nor blood, which may be
let out and
shed, and life expire; nor bones, which may be
broken, and
be the occasion of death; nor arteries and
veins,
which may be cut through, and life cease: nor is it,
as the body,
made up of the basic elements, and capable of
being
resolved into the same again.
1b3. It is
immaterial, it is not composed of matter and form; nor
is
it a material form, educed out of the power of matter, as
the souls of
brutes, which die, go downward, and return to
the earth;
matter is destitute of motion, and cannot move
itself;
whereas the soul of man, being moved, can move
itself; as it
appears by its thoughts, reasonings, and
discourses;
this was Plato's argument {2} for the
immortality
of the soul {3}, that it can move the body at
pleasure, or
influence to any action, as to walk, sit, &c.
Matter is
incapable of thought, reasoning, and discoursing,
willing and
nilling, as the soul is. Matter is divisible,
discernible,
may be cut to pieces: not so the soul; it is
out of the
reach of every slaughtering weapon; the sharp
arrow cannot
penetrate into it, nor the glittering spear
pierce it,
nor the two edged sword divide it; none of these,
nor any other
of the same nature can touch it.
1b4. The soul
has no contrary qualities, which, when one is
predominant,
threatens with destruction; it is neither hot
nor cold;
neither moist nor dry; neither hard nor tender: it
has no heat
in it, which may, as in the body, be increased
to
such a degree, as in burning fevers, to dry it up like a
potsherd, and
consume it: nor such moisture, which may rise,
abound, and
overflow it, as in a dropsy, and drown the
fabric: nor
has it any such tender part which will not bear
a blow, but
be fatal to it: nor so hard as not to bend, and
become
pliable to proper uses, and endanger the machine.
1b5. The soul
of man is made after the image, and in the
likeness of
God, which chiefly consists in that; it bears a
resemblance
to the divine nature, being the breath of God;
it
has a likeness to him, and particularly in its
immortality;
and this is given by Alemaeon {4} as an
argument of
it; and so Plato {5}, the soul is most like to
that which is
divine, immortal, intelligible, uniform,
indissoluble,
and always the same.
1c. Thirdly, the immortality
of the soul may be proved from the powers and faculties of it, its
understanding and will.
1c1. Its
understanding. "There is a spirit", or soul, "in man",
as
Elihu says, #Job 32:8. "And the inspiration of the
Almighty
giveth them understanding"; an intellectual power
and faculty
of understanding things, which distinguishes men
from the
brutes that perish, the horse, the mule, &c. which
have no understanding;
it is by this God teaches men more
than
the beasts of the earth, and makes them wiser than the
fowls of
heaven, #Ps 32:9 Job 35:11.
1c1a. The
understanding of man can take in, and has knowledge of
things
spiritual, and incorporeal, immaterial, incorruptible,
and
eternal; which it would not be capable of, if it was not
of the same
nature itself; the images of these things would
not be
impressed on it, nor would it be susceptible of them:
it can
reflect on its own thoughts and reasonings, and knows
the things
within itself, which none but God and that know;
it
has knowledge of angels, their nature, offices, and
services; it
has knowledge of God himself {6}, of his nature,
perfections,
ways, and works: nor is it any objection to it,
that it has
knowledge of corporeal things, and therefore must
be corporeal
too, since these are things below it, and
therefore
within its reach; whereas spiritual, incorporeal,
and
immaterial substances, would be above it, and not within
its compass, unless
it was a spiritual, immortal, and
immaterial
substance also; thus God and angels know corporeal
and material
things, though they are incorporeal and
1c1b. The
soul of man has knowledge of eternity itself; though it
may be
observed, there is great difference in its
apprehension
of an eternity past, and of that which is to
come:
when it considers the former, it is soon at a loss,
and at a full
stop, is obliged to return, and cannot go on;
it is like a
bird that attempts to soar aloft, and take
flights it is
not used nor equal to, it flutters and hangs
its wing, and
is forced to descend. But when the soul fixes
its
thoughts on an eternity to come, how readily does it
apprehend how
that shall proceed without end? with what
pleasure does
it roll over millions of ages in it? The
reason of
this difference is, because the soul itself is not
from
eternity, but has a beginning; whereas it will endure
to
eternity, and have no end; there is, Cicero says {7},
though he
knows not how it is, inherent in the minds of men,
a sort of an
"augurium", soothsaying, divination, or
foresight of
future ages; and which chiefly and most easily
appears in
the greatest minds, and in the most exalted
geniuses.
There is in men a natural notion of futurity, a
desire after
it, and an expectation of it; which are things
not in vain
implanted in it; and would not appear if the
soul was not
immortal; it has knowledge of things past,
present, and
future; which proves its immortality {8}.
1c1c. The knowledge
which the mind and understanding of man has
of things in
the present state, is very imperfect, through
the brevity
of life; and therefore it may be reasonably
concluded,
that there is a future state, in which the soul
will
exist, and its knowledge of things be more perfect: it
has been a
constant and continual complaint of the sons of
learning and
science, "ars longa, vita brevis"; art is long,
and life is
short; man has not time enough to cultivate the
knowledge he
is capable of. It has been said {9}, that it
would
require a man's whole lifetime, and that not
sufficient,
to get a thorough knowledge of that single
mineral,
"antimony": let a man employ all his time and
studies in
anyone branch of literature, any particular art
or science,
or language, yet would his knowledge be
imperfect,
and room would be left for those that come after
him to
improve upon him: arts and sciences have been
cultivating
many thousands of years, and in some ages great
improvements
have been made, and especially in later ones;
and yet there
is room for further improvements still: the
knowledge
of the best things, which good men have, as of
God, of
Christ, and of the mysteries of grace, is now very
imperfect;
those that know most, know but "in part", and
"see
through a glass darkly": but there is a state in which
their souls
will exist, when they shall see God face to
face,
see him as he is, and know as they are known; when
their minds
will be employed on more noble and interesting
subjects than
now, and have perfect knowledge of them.
1c1d. The
knowledge the mind of man has of things now, is not in
proportion
to the powers that he is possessed of. How many
are there
that die in infancy, and as soon as they are born,
whose reasoning
powers are never called forth into act and
exercise and
how many die in childhood and youth, before
these powers
ripen, and are brought to any maturity? and how
many
are there that even live a long life, and yet, either
through want
of education, or through their situation,
circumstances,
and employment in life, have not their
faculties
exercised in proportion to the capacities their
are endowed
with? Now can it be thought that these powers
are
bestowed upon them in vain? There must be then an
after state,
in which the soul exists, when its powers will
be employed
in greater things, and to nobler ends and uses.
1c1e. Let a
man know ever so much in this present life, he is
desirous
of knowing more; let his acquisitions of knowledge
be ever so
large, after a life of studious search and
enquiry, he
is not satisfied, he still wants to know more;
and what he
has arrived unto, is only to know this, that he
knows but
little: now this desire of knowledge is not
implanted
in man, by the author of nature, in vain;
wherefore the
soul must remain after death, when it will
arrive to a
more perfect knowledge of things; this was the
argument
Socrates used, to prove to his scholars the
immortality
of the soul. But with respect to truly good men,
the
argument receives further strength; they that know most
of God, of
Christ, and of divine things; they desire to know
more, they
follow on to know, they make use of all means to
increase
their spiritual knowledge, and after all, find it
imperfect;
and therefore are unsatisfied, and long after a
future
state, when all darkness and imperfection will be
removed, and
they shall see all things clearly. Now these
gracious and
earnest desires are not implanted in vain by
the God of
all grace, as they would be, if the soul was not
immortal.
1c2. The will
of man is another faculty of the sou], the object
and actings
of which show it to be immortal.
1c2a. The
will has for its object universal good. It naturally
desires
complete happiness, which some place in one thing
and some in
another, but it is not perfectly enjoyed by any;
some place it
in riches, but find themselves mistaken in
them, nor do
they give the satisfaction expected from them;
some in the
gratification of carnal pleasures, but these
soon
pall and perish with the using, and new ones are sought
after; some
in enjoying posts of honour, and in the applause
of men; but
these depend, the one on the pleasure of
princes, by
whom they are set in high places, and which
become
slippery ones; the other on popular breath, which is
as
variable as the wind; some place it in wisdom, knowledge,
learning, and
science; which, as they are not only
imperfect,
but attract the envy of others, and, as Solomon
says, are
"vexation of spirit", and cause grief and sorrow,
#Ec 1:17,18
now there must be a future state, in which true
happiness
will be attained, at least by some, or else the
actings of
the will about it will be in vain.
1c2b. God is
the "summum bonum", the chief good, the will of man
rightly
pitches upon, nor can it be satisfied with anything
less;
good men choose him as their portion; and which is
the
foundation of their faith, hope, love, peace, and joy;
but then he
is not perfectly enjoyed as such in this life:
their faith
and expectations are, that he will be their
portion for
ever; nor will they be fully satisfied until
they
enjoy him as such in another world; wherefore in order
to this, the
soul must remain after death and be immortal.
1c2c. The
will has its desires, and which desires, even the best,
are not
satisfied in this life; whatever it has, it is
desirous
of more, it is never satisfied; its desires of
knowledge, as
we have seen, are not gratified to the full;
nor its
desires after happiness in general, nor even after
God himself,
the chief good, of whom the truly good man
says,
"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none
upon
earth that I desire besides thee", #Ps 73:25 which
desires,
unless there is a future state in which the soul
exists after
death and is immortal, are not fully satisfied,
and so far in
vain.
1c2d.
The actions of the will are free, not forced by any
creature; no
creature has any power over it, to force it nor
destroy it; its
acts are independent of the body, it can
operate
without it in willing, nilling, choosing, and
refusing; and
it can subsist and live without, and when that
1c2e. The
will is not weakened, nor indeed any of the powers and
faculties of
the soul, impaired by sickness and approaching
death; though
the "outward man perish the inward man is
renewed
day by day"; how clear is the understanding! how
active and
vigorous the will when on the verge of eternity!
as appears by
its willingness or unwillingness to die, to be
freed from
present pains and agonies, either by a restoration
to health, or
by a removal by death; particularly by a good
man's
choosing rather to depart and be with Christ, and even
by his
longing to be gone, saying, "Come, Lord Jesus, come
quickly";
yea, when the body is become speechless and near
expiring, the
faculties of the soul are in exercise; a man
understands
clearly what his friends about him say, and can
by
a sign, by the lifting up of his hand, signify his faith,
hope, joy,
and comfort; all which show that the soul sickens
not with the
body, nor becomes languid as the body does, nor
dies with it,
though it may be cramped by it.
2.
Secondly, The immortality of the soul may be proved from the light of nature and
reason.
2a. From the consent of all
nations. Cicero says {10}, that as we know by nature that there is a God, so we
judge, by the consent of all nations, that souls remain after death,
and are immortal; and in everything, he says {11}, the consent of all nations
is to be reckoned the law of nature: so Seneca {12} calls it a public
persuasion, or belief; and observes, that the consent of men, either fearing
hell, or worshipping God, is of no small moment to persuade unto it. This was,
no doubt, the original belief of men, discoverable by the light of nature; but
as that became more dim, and men more degenerate, they lost
sight of truths, and of this among the rest. Thales the Milesinn, who lived
about six hundred years before Christ, is said {13} to be the first who taught
it; though others say {14} Pherecydes was the first who asserted it, who was
contemporary with him: some ascribe the first knowledge of it to the Chaldaeans
and Indian magi {15}, and others to the Egyptians {16}; who, it may be, received it from Abraham; and from them Plato had it. However,
it has been embraced by the wisest among the heathens; by the best of their
philosophers, as Pythagoras {17}, Socrates, Plato, Seneca, Cicero {18}, and
others; and by the best of their poets, as Homer, Phocylides, Virgil, Ovid,
&c. and though denied by some, these were such that were of the worst sect
of them; and though by some among the Jews, as by the
Sadducees, yet these were but few, and the most irreligious sect among them.
Indeed, this doctrine has been received, not only among the more religious
sects of the heathens; as the Brachmans {19} among the Indians, and the Druids
{20} with us, and among the more civilized nations; but among the more savage
and ignorant, even the wild Greenlanders {21}; as appears by the accounts lately published concerning them.
2b. This may be concluded from
an extinction of man, soul and body, being abhorrent to man, as it is said to
be the people last mentioned: the death of the body, though nature is reluctant
to it; yet in many instances there has been a voluntary and
cheerful submission to it; many good men have not loved their lives unto death,
to serve their country; others have not counted their lives dear to themselves,
but have freely parted with them for the sake of religion and truth; and others
have chose rather to depart this life and to be with Christ; death to them has
been more eligible than life; but a total extinction, to have no being at all,
nature starts at! which must be the case if the soul dies
with the body.
2c. It may be argued from the
natural desire in men to be religious, in some way or another; this is so
natural to men, that some have chose rather to define man a religious than a rational
all nations have had their gods they worshipped; professed some
religion or another, and have kept up some kind of worship; even the most blind
and ignorant, barbarous and savage: but why are they concerned to worship God,
and be solicitous about religion, if there is no future state, and the soul
remains not after death, but that it perishes with the body? There is nothing
can be a greater damp to religion and morality than the disbelief of the
immortality of the soul; for then one may encourage another
in all vicious practices; and say, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
shall die", and it will be all over with us! nothing more discourages
virtue and encourages vice. Yet,
2d. There is a consciousness
of sinning in men; guilt arises in their consciences on account
of sin: even in the very heathens there is "a conscience bearing
witness" to their actions, good or bad; and "their thoughts, the
meanwhile, accusing, or else excusing one another", on account of them;
from whence arise fears of the displeasure and wrath of incensed Deity and of
divine judgment; all which show that there is a future state, in which souls
remain immortal, and are accountable to God for their
actions. And which still more appears,
2e. Not only from the stings
of conscience, but from the horrors and terrors, dread, trembling, and panic
fears, wicked men are sometimes seized with, as Felix was on hearing of
judgment to come: and if these fears, as some say, were the effect of education, which could not be the case of Felix and many
others, it is strange that these fears should be so general and extensive as
they are; and more strange, that none have been able to shake them off
entirely; and stranger still, that those who have run the greatest lengths in
infidelity and atheism should not be able to free themselves from them. These
things not only show that there is a divine Being, to whom
men are accountable for their actions; but that there is a future state after
death, in which men exist, when they shall be either in happiness or in misery.
2f. The belief of this may be
further argued, from the providence of God concerned in the distribution and
disposal of things in this life, which is oftentimes very unequal;
wicked men prosper, and enjoy a large portion of ease and plenty; and good men
are greatly afflicted with a variety of troubles, which has been sometimes a
sore temptation to good men and difficult to them to account for; as it was to
Asaph and Jeremiah, #Ps 73:2,3,12-14 #Jer 12:1,2 which difficulty can only be solved
by the supposition of a future state, the immortality of the soul, and its existing after death; when such who have been wicked, and in
their lifetime received good things, and good men evil things, the latter will
have their comforts, and the former their torments; otherwise good men, if they
were to have hope in this life only, they would be of all men the most
miserable, #Lu 16:25 1Co 15:19. Wherefore,
2g. The
immortality of the soul may be concluded from the justice of God; who is the
Judge of all the earth, who will do right; for righteous is the Lord, though
his judgments are not so manifest in this life: it is a righteous thing with
God to render tribulation to them that trouble his people, and to fulfil the
promises he makes to his saints; at present, the justice, faithfulness, and
veracity of God, are not so clearly seen in bestowing
favours and blessings on good men, according to his promises; and in punishing
wicked men, according to his threatenings: it seems therefore reasonable to
believe that the souls of men are immortal, and that their bodies shall rise
from the dead; and that there shall be a future state, in which good men will
be happy and wicked men miserable.
2h. It seems not agreeable to
the wisdom of God to create man in his image and likeness, and give him
dominion over the whole brutal creation, and constitute him lord over all; make
the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, for
his sake and use, and yet he and they should have the same exit; the one die and perish, and be totally extinct as the other: this does not
comport with the wisdom of God. But,
2i. Between the spirits of men
and those of brutes there is a difference; the one at death go
"upwards" to God that made them, and gave them to men, and live for ever, either in a state of bliss or woe; and the other go
"downward to the earth", and die, and live no more, #Ec 3:21.
2j. If the soul is not immortal, but dies with the body, the
brutes, in many things, have the advantage of men; and their state and
condition in this life is, in many respects, superior to
theirs; they are not so weak and helpless at first coming into the world as men
are, and who are so for a long time; nor subject to so many diseases as they
are; in some the senses are quicker than in men, and they have more pleasure in
the exercise of them; as in their sight, hearing, taste, and smell; some
animals excel men in one or other of these: the brutes have no fearful
apprehensions of danger beforehand; and when in any, their
only concern is for the present to get clear of it; and when it is over they
are in no dread of its return: they know nothing of death, are in no
expectation of it, nor fear about it; but men know that they must die, and
expect it; and through fear of it are subject to bondage, and attended with
great anxieties, and therefore if the soul dies with the body, their present
condition is worse than that of brutes.
3. Thirdly, the immortality of
the soul may be proved from the sacred Scriptures; both from plain and express
passages of scripture; as from #Ec 12:7 where, when the body returns to the
dust, the soul, or "spirit", is said to "return to God that gave
it". And likewise from #Mt 10:28. "Fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul", which is
incapable of being put to death; otherwise, such is the malice of the
persecutors of good men, that they would not spare it any more than the body;
but having killed the body, "after that", as Luke says, "have no
more that they can do", the soul being out of their reach, #Lu 12:4. This
is to he proved from scripture doctrines and from scripture
instances.
3a. First, from scripture
doctrines; as from the doctrine of God's love to his people, which is
everlasting, #Jer 31:3. But this would not be true of it if the souls of God's
beloved died; then there would be no objects of this love, and so not
everlasting; hence it would follow, that death can, and
does, "separate" from the love of God, contrary to the apostle's firm
persuasion, #Ro 8:38,39. And from the doctrine of eternal election; which is of
the persons of God's people, both with respect to soul and body; and by it they
are "ordained to eternal life", #Ac 13:48. But if the soul dies with
the body, and is not immortal, how will God's elect possess eternal life and eternal glory they are chosen to? and consequently if they do
not, the purpose of God, according to election, does not stand sure. Also from
the covenant of grace, which is said to be an "everlasting covenant",
#2Sa 23:5. But it is well known, that as in all covenants there are
confederates, and if one of the parties covenanting dies, the covenant is at an
end; and if God's elect, with whom the covenant of grace is made,
should become extinct, soul and body, the covenant would not be an everlasting
one. The argument used by Christ, to prove the resurrection of the dead, from
covenant interest, #Mt 22:31,32 #Lu 20:38 equally proves, or rather more
clearly, the immortality of the soul; and Menasseh Ben Israel {22}, makes use
of the same scripture to prove it, and argues from it much in the same manner
Christ does. And
particularly the immortality of the soul may be concluded from the grand
promise of eternal life, in the covenant made before the world began, #Tit 1:2
1Jo 2:25. But how can this promise be fulfilled, if the souls of those to whom
it is made are not immortal? It may be argued from the doctrine of adoption,
another blessing in the covenant; by virtue of which saints are heirs of an
eternal inheritance; but how can the relation of sons
subsist, which adoption gives, and the inheritance adopted to be enjoyed, if
the soul dies with the body? And the same may be evinced from the doctrine of
regeneration; in virtue of which men are begotten again to a lively hope of a
glorious inheritance; which yet can never be possessed if the soul is not
immortal. The same may be concluded from the doctrine of sanctification,
every branch of which has eternal life connected with it; as knowledge of God
in Christ, faith in Christ, and hope of eternal glory; but if the soul is not
immortal, in which these graces are, they will not only fail themselves, but
the glory and happiness annexed unto them will not be attained. Likewise it may
be argued from the doctrine of Christ respecting his work, the blessings of
grace by him, and the services and benefits further to be
expected from him; as the redemption of the soul by the blood of Christ, which
must be shed in vain: nor can it be called eternal redemption if the soul is
not immortal; nor will the saints union to Christ be an indissoluble one; nor
they enjoy that life which justification by his righteousness entitles to; nor
his intercession and preparations for them in heaven be of
any service to them: the second coming of Christ, with all his saints, and the
resurrection of their bodies at his coming, show that their souls live in a
separate state before the resurrection, or they could not be said to come with
him; and that they will be alive at the resurrection, or to what purpose will
their bodies be raised? The doctrine of the judgment, whether particular or
general, is a proof of the soul's immortality; for if that
dies with the body, there is nothing remains after death on which judgment can
pass. Moreover, the doctrine of future rewards and punishments confirms this
truth; for if the soul is not immortal a good man cannot be rewarded in a way
of grace, or enjoy happiness in consequence of his piety, since there will be
no subject of it remaining; nor a wicked man be punished for his sins, for the same reason; yea, it will lie in the power of a wicked
man both to prevent the happiness of the one and the punishment of the other;
since it is in his power to take away his own animal life, and so put himself
out of the power of God to inflict punishment upon him, if his soul survives
not; and so likewise to take away the life of a good man, and deprive him of
any further and future happiness; all which does not
comport with the wisdom, justice, and goodness of God; and therefore it may be
concluded the soul survives that it may be the subject of reward or punishment
{23}. It is an observation of Hierocles {24}, that a wicked man would not have
the soul to be immortal that he may not endure punishment, and therefore
prevents the Judge decreeing it by inflicting death on himself; and so Plato
{25} observes, that if death is the dissolution of the
whole (soul and body) it would be gain to the wicked to die, since they would
be free from all evil, soul and body.
3b. Secondly, The immortality
of the soul may be proved from scripture instances; as from the cases of Enoch
and Elijah, who were translated, soul and body, that they should
not see death; as not in their bodies, so not in their souls, which must be
immortal, and so the souls of others; for of what different nature can their
souls be supposed to be? and from the instances of the patriarchs, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, who died, and yet after death were living, even in the times
of Christ, as he argues in a place before referred to; and this was the case of
all the Old Testament saints, who died in the faith of the
heavenly city and country, and now possess it; and also from the spirits in
prison, in the times of the apostle Peter, who were disobedient to the warnings
of Noah; and from the resurrection of some particular persons; who, after
death, were raised and lived again, their souls, which died not, being returned
to them, #1Ki 17:21,22 and from the souls under the altar, whose bodies were killed, but their souls were not, but were
expostulating with God about taking vengeance on their persecutors, #Re 6:9,10
and from the instances of persons committing their spirits, or souls to God at
death; which shows that they believed their souls would survive their bodies,
and therefore, they committed them to the care of God, #Ps 31:5 Lu 23:46 Ac
7:59 1Pe 4:19. Lastly, all such scriptures which speak of
the joys of heaven, and of the torments of hell, as to be enjoyed or endured by
men after death, prove the immortality of the soul; as that good men, when they
die, are received into everlasting habitations, and the souls of wicked men go
into everlasting punishment, and therefore must remain immortal, or they could
not be subjects either of joy or misery; and this the parable of the rich man
and beggar plainly declares; for though a parable, yet as
every parable has its scope, which ought to be attended to, so has this; which
is to represent the different state and condition of the souls of good men and
wicked men after death, when the one are happy and the other miserable, and
therefore the souls of both must be immortal.
There are
some objections made to the immortality of the soul; taken,
3b1. First, from reason. As,
3b1a. That
what has a beginning has an end. But this is not
always
true; angels have a beginning but not an end, they
die not; and
since the souls of men are spiritual,
immaterial
substances, as they are, it may be concluded, as
before
observed, that they die not also.
3b1b.
The powers of the soul are said to decay as the body
decays; but
this is only true of the powers of the sensitive
soul, or part
of man; not of the rational soul; not of the
faculties of
the understanding and will; for these, as we have
seen, are
clear, active, and vigorous, in the article of death.
3b1c. When a
man dies, nothing is seen to go out of him but his
breath, which
vanishes away: but it is no wonder the soul
should not be
seen at its departure, since being a spirit,
incorporeal
and immaterial, it is invisible; and as for the
breath
that goes out of a man, that cannot be the soul,
which cannot
be imagined to be the subject of thought,
understanding,
and will.
3b1d. Some
will have it, that this is only a contrivance of men
in
power, a piece of state policy to keep men in awe and to
their duty.
But those men who contrived it were either bad
men or good
men: bad men would be unconcerned about ways and
means to
serve the cause of religion and virtue they have an
aversion to;
and good men would never make use of a known
lie,
and of hypocrisy, to serve such purposes. Besides, if
this was the
case, how came it to be such a general belief
in which all
nations agree, and is so manifest by the light
of nature?
There
are other objections, which are taken from
scripture.
As,
3b1d1. From
such scriptures which threaten the soul with death in
case of sin;
so the first man was threatened with death of
soul
and body should he eat of the forbidden fruit, #Ge 2:17
and it is
expressly said, "the soul that sins, that shall
die", #Eze
18:4. To which may be replied: that there are
various sorts
of death; there is a spiritual or moral death,
which took
place in Adam as soon as he sinned; and is in all
his
posterity by nature; in which sense they are dead in
their souls
while alive in their bodies; it is a being "dead
in trespasses
and sins"; and lies, not in the substance of
the soul, but
in the qualities of it; in the loss of the
image of God,
as consisting of righteousness and holiness.
And
there is an eternal death, the destruction of both body
and soul in
hell; but this lies not in the destruction of
the being of
either, but in the misery of both: and there is
a natural
death, such as of the body, which the soul is not
capable of;
and if it was, it would put an end to the second
death,
called an eternal one; for then it would not exist,
so as to be
sent into everlasting fire, and to endure the
vengeance of
it, or undergo eternal punishment.
3b1d2. From
what is said of man, #Ps 78:39 that he is but "flesh,
a
wind that passeth away and cometh not again": but this is
said of man
with respect to his body, which is "flesh",
frail and
mortal; and of the breath of his body, which is in
his nostrils;
a wind, a vapour, which appears for a little
time, and then
vanishes away; all expressive of the brevity
3b1d3. From
#Ps 146:4. "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to
the
earth": which signifies the same as before, and relates
to the body,
which returns to the earth, from whence it
came:
but it follows, in which the strength of the objection
lies, in that
very day, in which the breath of his body
ceases, and
the body returns to the dust, that is, dies, his
thoughts
perish; and now, since the soul is, by some,
defined a thinking
substance, and the thoughts of it perish
at
death, then that must cease to be. But the meaning is,
not that at
the death of the body the soul ceases to think;
but that all
its former thoughts, schemes, projects, and
purposes,
concerning either civil or religious things, are
then at an
end, and cannot be carried into execution; as Job
says,
having death in view, as just at hand, "My days are
past; my
purposes are broken off; even the thoughts of my
heart!"
so that he could not perform what he had thought of,
devised, and
determined on, #Job 17:11.
3b1d4.
From the likeness of the spirits of brutes and of men,
#Ec 3:19,20.
But then Solomon either in these words,
represents an
atheist; or, if he speaks his own sense, he
must be
understood of the sensitive part of man, which he has
in common
with other animals; and it is plain he speaks of
that
part of man which is of the dust and returns to it
again, that
is, the body, and of the breath of that; and in
the next verse
clearly observes the difference between the
spirits of
brutes and the rational souls of men, the one
going upward
to God, and the other downward to the earth at
3b1d5. The
immortality, of the soul is objected to, from such
passages
which speak of man's going at death from whence he
shall not
return; and as if it was not known where he was,
#Job
10:21 14:10. But these are to be understood of his
returning to
his house, and former manner of living, and
employment of
life, #Job 7:10. And when it is asked, "Where
is he"
when he dies? it is easily answered, His body is
returned to
the dust, and is laid in the grave; and his soul
is
gone to God, and is either in bliss or woe.
3b1d6. From
those places which speak of the dead as "not"; Rachel
was weeping
for her children, because they "were not",
#Jer 31:15.
But this cannot be meant of nonexistence,
either
of soul or body; for the body, though reduced to dust,
yet is, and
is something; and the soul that is either in heaven
or in hell.
{1} Vid. Aristot. de Anima, l.
1. c. 5. & l. 2. c. 1. Cicero. Tuscul. Quaest. l. 1. "Non aliquid mixtum, non concretum ex elementis. Sed purum,
aeternum, quodque omne est tabe solutum", &c. Aonius Palearius de
Immortal. Anim. l. 2. l. 89. Ed. Amster. 1690.
{2} Vid. Phaedro, p. 1221.
{3} "Animum autem hominis
per se semper moveri, quia sit ad cogitandum mobilis",
&c. Lactant. Divin. Institut. Epitome, c. 10.
{4} Apud Aristot. de Anima, l.
1. c. 2. vid. Laert. l. 8. in vita ejus.
{5} In Phaedone, p. 60, 61.
{6} This is used as an
argument of the soul's immortality by Sallustius, de Diis, c. 8. and so by
Lactantius, Divin. Institut. Epitome, c. 10. "illud autem maximum argumentum immortalitatis, quod Deum solus homo
agnoscit."
{7} Tuscul. Quaest. l. 1.
{8} "Ut qui praeterita
teneat, praesentia comprehendat, futura prospiciat, multarumque rerum et artium
scientiam complectatur, immortalem esse", Lactantius ut supra. "An
potest esse mortalis qui immortalem desiderat?" Ibid.
{9} Basilius
Valentinus apud Boyle's Nat. Hist. p. 13.
{10} Tuscul Quaest. l. 1.
{11} Ibid.
{12} Ep. 117.
{13} Laert. in vita Thaletis,
Suidas in voce yalhv.
{14}
Cicero. Tusc. Quaest. l. 1.
{15} Pausanias in Messenicis,
p. 277.
{16} Herodot. Euterpe sive, 1.
2. c. 123.
{17} Who says that to
fronimon, that which is capable of prudence, is immortal, Laert. in vita ejus.
Vid. Plutarch. de Placitis Philosoph. l. 4. c. 7. Some indeed, as the Stoic philosophers, spake of it but doubtfully and confusedly;
and as Minutius Felix, in Octav. p. 37. says, "corruptaa et dimidiata
fide"; they rather conjectured they remained after death, but could not
say how long; some thought they went into other bodies.
{18} Cicero in Tusculanis,
"quamvis dubitanter, tamen sensit summum homini bonum
non nisi post mortem contingere", Lactant. lnstitut. l. 7. c. 10.
{19} Strabo Geograph. l. 15.
p. 490.
{20} Ibid. l. 4. p. 136.
Caesar. l. 6. s. 13.
{21} Crantz's History of
Greenland, vol. 1. b. 3. c. 5. p. 201.
{22} De Resurrectione Mort. l.
1. c. 10. s. 6.
{23} This
Dr. Watts calls a moral argument for the immortality of the soul; see his
Miscellaneous Thoughts, in vol. iv. No. 75. p. 594.
{24} In Carmin. Pythagor. p.
165.
{25} In Phaedone. p. 80. Ed.
Ficin.