A27004:948
The reasons of the Christian religion the first part, of godliness, proving by natural…
The reasons of the Christian religion the first part, of godliness, proving by natural evidence the being of God ... : the second part, of Christianity, proving by evidence supernatural and natural, the certain truth of the Christian belief ... / by Richard Baxter ... ; also an appendix defending the soul's immortality against the Somatists or Epicureans and other pseudo-philosophers.
London: printed by R. White for Fran. Titon, 1667
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Perpetual duration is necessary to no creature, their Beings being but contingent and dependent on the will of God, But perpetual duration of a dependent being is certain, when the first Being doth declare his will that it shall be so: and the natural way by which God declareth his will concerning the use of any thing, is by the nature and usefulness of it: because he maketh all things wisely, and nothing in vain. Therefore when he maketh the nature of an Angel or spiritual being, apt to perpetual duration, as being not mixed of separable Principles, nor corruptible, he thereby declareth his will for its duration, because he gave it not that durable nature in vain.
Perpetual duration is necessary to no creature, their Beings being but contingent and dependent on the will of God, But perpetual duration of a dependent being is certain, when the first Being doth declare his will that it shall be so: and the natural way by which God declareth his will concerning the use of any thing, is by the nature and usefulness of it: because he maketh all things wisely, and nothing in vain. Therefore when he maketh the nature of an Angel or spiritual being, apt to perpetual duration, as being not mixt of separable Principles, nor corruptible, he thereby declareth his will for its duration, because he gave it not that durable nature in vain.
Two Arguments therefore I now offer to prove, that man's Soul is of perpetual duration: 1. Because it is such in its operations, (and therefore in its essence) as the superior Spirits are which are so durable: for they are but Intelligences and Free-agents, fitted to love God, and delight in him, and praise him; and so is man. 2. Because (as is fully proved before) it is made to be happy in another life: and that proveth that it dieth not with the Body: and that proveth that its nature is incorruptible, and that proveth that it shall be perpetual, unless any sin should forfeit its being by way of penal deprivation: and that is improbable, both because God hath fitter ways of punishment, and intimateth in its corruptible nature that this is not his intent, and because the state of future reward is like to be a confirmed state.