Thirdly, Original sin may be called a Body, To show the reality of it, that it is not a mere fancy or humane figment, as some call it, or a non ens (as the late Writer D. J. T. Answ. to a letter.) We know the Scripture, and so our use of speech opposeth a body to a shadow; The Legal Rites are called a shadow, and Christ the body; Thus original sin, it is not the shadow, or the notion of a sin, it liveth and moveth as well as actual, it provoketh God, it curseth and damneth as well as actual sins; So that we are not to flight it, or to be fearless of it, but rather to tremble under it, as the fountain of all our evil and calamity. The word Body is sometimes taken for that which is substantial and real, in which sense some have excused Tertullian and others, that attributed a body to God and Angels, as if they intended nothing but a real substance, as the axiom of the Stoics was, Omne quod est, est corpus; Hence they made Virtues and the Arts, Bodies: But whatsoever their intentions might be, the expression is dangerous, for God is a Spirit; but there is no danger to call original sin a Body, thereby to express the full and real nature of it, and thus far Illyricus his intention was good, though his opinion was absurd, to amplify those terms the Scripture giveth to original sin in opposition to Popery, wherein they speak so coldly and formally of it, only that he should therefore make it to be more than an accident, even the substance of a man in a theological consideration; hence he did overthrow all Philosophy and Divinity; So that properly the Lutheran Poet cannot be excused, when he saith,
Ipse Deo eoram sine Christo culpa scelumque,
Ipse ego peccatum sum, proprieque vocer.
In a figurative expression it may pass, but he intended Flaccianism; hence Contzen speaks of Illyricus by scorn, Cujus vel substantia est peccatum. Yet thus much we must take notice of, That the Scripture doth not in vain use such substantive names about our natural defilement, for hereby it doth aggravate it, and would have us also know the greatness and vileness of it; For how few are there, till sanctified and enlightened by the Spirit of God, that do bewail this as an heavy burden?
Thirdly, Original sinne may be called a Body, To shew the reality of it, that it is not a meer fancy or humane figment, as some call it, or a non ens (as the late Writer D. J. T. Answ. to a letter.) We know the Scripture, and so our use of speech opposeth a body to a shadow; The Legal Rites are called a shadow, and Christ the body; Thus original sinne, it is not the shadow, or the notion of a sinne, it liveth and moveth as well as actual, it provoketh God, it curseth and damneth as well as actual sins; So that we are not to flight it, or to be fearless of it, but rather to tremble under it, as the fountain of all our evil and calamity. The word Body is sometimes taken for that which is substantial and real, in which sense some have excused Tertullian and others, that attributed a body to God and Angels, as if they intended nothing but a real substance, as the a•iome of the Stoicks was, Omne quod est, est corpus; Hence they made Virtues and the Arts, Bodies: But whatsoever their intentions might be, the expression is dangerous, for God is a Spirit; but there is no danger to call original sinne a Body, thereby to express the full and real nature of it, and thus farre Illyricus his intention was good, though his opinion was absurd, to amplifie those terms the Scripture giveth to original sinne in opposition to Popery, wherein they speak so coldly and formally of it, only that he should therefore make it to be more than an accident, even the substance of a man in a theological consideration; hence he did overthrow all Philosophy and Divinity; So that properly the Lutheran Poet cannot be excused, when he saith,
Ipse Deo eoram sine Christo culpa scelumque,
Ipse ego peccatum sum, proprieque vocer.
In a figurative expression it may pass, but he intended Flaccianism; hence Contzen speaks of Illyricus by scorn, Cujus vel substantia est peccatum. Yet thus much we must take notice of, That the Scripture doth not in vain use such substantive names about our natural defilement, for hereby it doth aggravate it, and would have us also know the greatness and vileness of it; For how few are there, till sanctified and enlightned by the Spirit of God, that do bewail this as an heavy burden?
