The Institution of Christian Religion

But the nimbleness of the mind of man which vieweth the heaven and earth & secretes of nature, and comprehending all ages in understanding and memory, digesteth every thing in order and gathereth things to come by things past, doth plainly show that there lieth hidden in man a certain thing several from the body. We conceive by understanding the invisible God and Angels, which the body can not do. We know things that be right, just, and honest, which are hidden from the bodily senses. Therefore it must needs be that the Spirit is the seat of this understanding, ⟨image 62⟩Yea and our sleep it self, which astonieth a man and seemeth to take life away from him, is a plain witness of immortality, forasmuch as it doth not only minister unto us, thoughts of those things that never were done, but also foreknowinges of things for time to come. I touch these things shortly which even profane writers do excellently set out with more gorgeous garnishment of words: but with the godly readers a simple putting in mind of them shall be sufficient. Now if the soul were not a certain thing by it self several from the body, the Scripture would not teach that we dwell in houses of clay, that by death we remove out of the Tabernacle of the flesh, that we do put of that which is corruptible, that finally at the last day we may receive reward every man as he hath behaved himself in his body. For these places and other that we do each where commonly light upon, do not only manifestly distinguish the soul from the body, but also in giving to the soul the name of man do show that it is the principal part.¹ Now whereas Paul doth exhort the faithful to cleanse themselves from all defiling of the flesh and the Spirit, he maketh two parts of man wherein abideth the filthiness of sin. And Peter where he calleth Christ the shepherd & bishop of souls,² should have spoken fondly if there were no souls about whom he might execute that office. Neither would that conveniently stand together which he sayeth of the eternal salvation of souls, and where he biddeth to cleanse our souls, and where he sayeth that evil desires do fight against the soul, and where the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews sayeth,³