address was made by Jehovah the Father to, and the consultation was held by him, with the other two divine Persons in the Deity, the Son and Spirit; a like phrase see in chap. iii. 22. and xi. 7. Isai. vi. 8. and such a consultation being held about the making of man, as was not at the making of any of the rest of the creatures, shews what an excellent and finished piece of work God meant to make. Concerning the creation of man, the following things may be observed.

I. The author of his creation, God; So God created man, Gen. i. 27. Not man himself; a creature cannot create, and much less itself; nor angels, for then they would be entitled to worship from men, which they have refused, because their fellow-servants, and it might be added, their fellow-creatures. But God, who is the Creator of the ends of the earth, was the Creator of the first man, and of all since; for we are all his offspring, and therefore are exhorted to remember our Creator, Eccles, xii. 1. or Creators; for so it is in the original text; for as they were more concerned in the consultation about man's creation, so in the creation of him; and the same that were in the one, were in the other, even Father, Son, and Spirit; hence we read of God our Makers in various passages of scripture, Job xxxv. 10. Psal. cxlix. 2. Isai. liv. 5. that God the Father, who made the heavens, earth, and sea, and all that in them are, made man among the rest, and particularly made him, will not be questioned; nor need there be any doubt about the Son of God; since without him, the eternal Word, was not any thing made that was made; then not man; and if all things were made and created by him, whether visible and invisible, then man was made by him, who must be reckoned among these all things, John i. 1-3. Col. i. 16. The character and relation of an husband to the church, more particularly belongs to Christ; and her husband is expressly said to be her maker, Isai. liv. 5. compare also Psal. xcv. 6-8. with Heb. iii. 6, 7. Nor is the Holy Spirit to be excluded from the formation of man, who had a concern in the whole creation, Gen. i. Job xxvi. 13. Psal. xxxii. 6. and to whom Elihu particularly ascribes his formation, Job xxxiii. 4. and why not the first man made by him also? yea, the act of breathing into man the breath of life, when he became a living soul, seems most agreeable to him, the Spirit and Breath of God; and who has so great a concern in the re-creation, or renovation of man, even in his regeneration. Wherefore the three divine Persons should be remembered as Creators, and be feared, worshipped, and adored as such; and thanks be given them for creation, preservation, and for all the mercies of life, bountifully provided by them. It is pretty remarkable that the word created should be used three times in one verse, where the creation of man is only spoken of; as it should seem to point out the three divine Persons concerned therein, Gen. i. 27.

3.

II. The constituent and essential parts of man, created by God, which are two, body and soul; these appear at his first formation; the one was made out of the dust, the other was breathed into him; and so at his dissolution, the one returns to the dust from whence it was; and the other to God that give it; and,

indeed, death is no other than the dissolution, or dis union of these two parts; the body without the spirit is dead: the one dies, the other does not.

1. The body, which is a most wonderful structure, aud must appear so when it is considered, with what precision and exactness every part is formed for its proper use, even every muscle, vein, and artery, yea, the least fibre; and that every lieb is set in its proper place, to answer its designed end; and all in just symmetry and proportion, and in a subserviency to the use of each other, and for the good of the whole: to enter into a detail of particulars, more properly belongs to anatomy; and that art is now brought to such a degree of perfection, that by it most amazing discoveries are made in the structure of the human body; as the circulation of the blood, &c. so that it may well be said of our bodies, as David said of his, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Psal. cxxxix. 14. The erect posture of the body is not to be omitted, which so remarkably distinguishes man from the fourfooted animals, who look downward to the earth; and by which man is fitted and directed to look upward to the heavens, to contemplate them, and the glory of God displayed in them; and even to look up to God above them, to worship and adore him, to praise him for mercies received, and to pray to him for what are wanted: as well as instructs men to set their affections not on things on earth, but on things in heaven; and, indeed, it is natural for every man, whether in any great distress, or when favoured with an unexpected blessing, and when he receives tidings that surprise him, whether of good or bad things, to turn his face upwards. In the Greek language man has his name av ponos, from turning and looking upwards.

The body of man is very fair and beautiful: for if the children of man, or of Adam, are fair, as is suggested, Psal. xlv. 2. then most certainly Adam himself was created fair and beautiful: and some think he had the name of Adam given him from his beauty; the root of the word, in the Ethiopic language, signifies to be fair and beautiful; and though external beauty is a vain thing to gaze at, and for men to pride themselves with, in this their fallen state, when God can easily by a disease cause their beauty to consume away as a moth; yet it is a property and quality in the composition of man at first not to be overlooked, 'since it greatly exceeds what may be observed of this kind in the rest of the

creatures.

The body of man was also originally made immortal; not that it was so of itself, and in its own nature, being made of the elements of the earth, and so reducible to the same again; and was supported, even in the state of innocence, with corruptible food; but God, who only has immortality, conferred it on the body of man; so that if he had never sinned, his body would not have been mortal, or have died: nor is it any objection to it, that it was supported with food; for God could have supported it with or without food, as long as he pleased, or for ever; he could have supported it with food, not to take notice of the tree of life, which some think was designed as the means of conSee Nieuwentyt's Religious Philosopher, Vol. 1. Vide Ludolph. Hist. Ethiop. 1. 1. c. 15.

tinuing man's life perpetually, if he had not sinned; but without that, as God could and did support the body of Adam with food, even when it was become mortal through sin, for the space of nine hundred years and more, he conld have supported it for the space of nine thousand, and so onward, had it been his pleasure; and therefore there can be no difficulty in conceiving that he could have supported it in an unfallen state, when it had the gift of immortality, in the same way for ever. Besides, God could, by a new act of his special grace and goodness have translated Adam to heaven, or to an higher state of life, to greater nearness and communion with him, and supported his body without food for ever; as the bodies of Enoch and Elijah, translated, that they should not see death; and have been some thousands of years supported without food; and as the body of Christ is, and the bodies of the saints that rose at his resurrection are; and all the bodies of men, after the resurrection, will be; and it is most clear, from the word of God, that death did not arise from a necessity of nature; but from sin; Sin entered into the world, and death by sin—and through the of fence of one, many be dead the wages of sin is death yea, it is express

ly said, the body is dead because of sin, Rom. v, 12, 15. and viii. 10. and, indeed, to what purpose was that threatening given out, In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, Gen. ii. 17. if man of necessity must have died, whether he had sinned or no? as say the Pelagians and Socinians. But now, though this body was so wonderfully and beautifully formed and gifted with immortality, yet it was made out of the dust of the earth, Gen. ii. 7. that is macerated with water, and so properly clay; hence man is said to be made of the clay, and the bodies of men to be like bodies of clay; and to have their foundation in the dust, Job iv. 18. xiii. 12. xxxiii. 6. Isa1. Ixiv. 8. Hence some think that Adam had his name from adamah, earth, out of which he was formed, red earth, as Josephus calls it; as in Latin he is called homo, from humus, the ground. And this is an humbling consideration to proud man, and especially in the sight of God, when compared with him; and still more, as this clay of his is now, through sin, become frail, brittle, and mortal; and his dust, sinful dust and ashes, Gen. xviii. 27. and it may serve to take down the haughtiness and pride of some men, who vaunt over their fellow creatures, and boast of their blood, and of their families, when all are made out of one mass and lump of clay, and of one blood all the nations of men are formed.

II. The soul is the other part of man created by God; which is a substance or subsistence; it is not an accident, or quality, inherent in a subject; but so capable of subsisting of itself; it is not a good temperament of the body, as some have fancied; nor is it mere thought; it is indeed a thinking substance in which thought is, and is exercised by it, but is distinct from it; it cannot be a mere quality, or accident, because that is not properly created, at least by itself, but is concreated, or created with the subjects in which it is: whereas the Spirit of man is formed or created of God within him, Zech. xii. 1. it is itself the subject of qualities, of all arts and sciences, and in its depraved state, the

subject of vices, and of virtues and graces; it is an inhabitant of the body, dwells in it, as in a tabernacle, and removes from it at death, and exists in a separate state after it; all which shew it is a substance, or subsistence of itself. It is not a corporal but a spiritual substance; not a body as Tertullian, and others have thought; but a spirit, as it is often called in scripture, Eccles. xii. 7. Matt. xxvi. 41. Acts vii. 59. And the souls of men are called the spirits of all flesh, to distinguish them from angelic spirits, which are not surrounded with flesh, as the spirits of men are, Numb. xvi. 22. The soul is immediately breathed from God, as Adam's soul was; and in it chiefly consists the image of God in man, and therefore must be a spirit, as he is, though in a finite proportion, a created spirit; it is also immaterial; it does not consist of flesh, and blood, and bones, as the body does, and so is immortal, and dies not when that does; when that goes to the dust, the soul returns to God: the body may be killed by men, but not the soul; when they have killed the one, they can proceed no farther; the soul survives the body, and lives for ever; it consists of various powers and faculties, the understanding, will, &c. and performs various operations of life, either immediately by itself, or immediately by the organs of the body, in the vegetable, animal, and rational way; and therefore is called the spirit, or breath of lives, Gen. ii. 7. and yet is but one; for though sometimes mention is made of soul and spirit, as if they were distinct, 1 Thess. v. 23. Heb iv. 12. yet this only respects the superior and inferior powers and faculties of one and the same soul; for otherwise the scriptures always represent man as having but one soul; and this is created by God; it is not uncreated, as he is; nor is it cre ated by angels, as some have fancied; nor of itself; nor is it generated by, and derived from immediate parents. The soul of Adam was most certainly created of God, and immediately, and breathed into him; and the same may be believed of the soul of Eve; for it cannot be thought that that was contained in, and educed out of the rib, from which her body was made; but that when that was made, God breathed into her the breath of life, as he did into Adam; and there is no reason why the souls of all men should not be made, or created, in like manner.

Some have been, and are of opinion, that the souls of men are ex traduce, as Tertullian; or generated by, and derived from their parents, with their bodies. But against this it may be observed, that Christ was made in all things like unto us, having a true body and a reasonable soul; which soul of his could not be generated by, and derived from his parents, not from a father, because he had none, as man; nor from his mother, for then she, being a sinful woman, it must have been infected and defiled with the contagion of sin, the corruption of nature; whereas he was holy and harmless, without spot and blemish. Moreover, if souls are by natural generation from their immediate parents, they must be derived either from their bodies, or from their bodies and souls, or from their souls only; not from their bodies, for then they would be corporeal, whereas they are not; not from both bodies and souls; for then they would be partly cor

poreal, and partly incorporeal, which they are not; not from their souls only, for as an angel is not generated by an angel, so not a soul by a soul. Besides, if the souls of men are derived from the souls of parents, it is either from a part of them, or from the whole; not from a part, for then the soul would be partible and divisible, as matter is, and so not immaterial; and as not a part, so neither can their whole souls be thought to be communicated to them, for then they would have none, and perish; to such absurdities is this notion reducible. Besides, what is immaterial, as the soul is, can never be educed out of matter; if the soul is generated out of the matter of parents, then it is, and must be material; and if material, then corruptible; and if corruptible, then mortal; and it is a maxim, that what is generated, may be corrupted; and if the soul may be corrupted, then it is not immortal; the doctrine of the soul's immortality, becomes indefensible by this notion; for if this be admitted, the other must be relinquished. But what puts this matter out of doubt is, the distinction the apostle makes between the fathers of our flesh, and the Father of spirits, Heb. xii. 9. Man consists of two parts, of flesh and spirit, body and soul; the former the apostle ascribes to mediate parents, as instruments thereof; and the latter to God, as the Father, Author, and Creator of it. Nor is it an objection of any moment, to the soul being of the immediate creation of God, that then a man does not generate a man: to which it may be replied, that he may be said to generate a man, though strictly speaking he only generates a part of him: as when one man kills another, he his truly said to kill a man, though he only kills his body; so a man may be said to generate a man, though he only generates the body; from whence in this case man is denominated. Moreover, as in death, the whole man may be said to die, because death is a dissolution of the whole, though each part remains; so the whole man may be said to be generated, because in generation there is an union and conjunction of the parts of man; though one part is not generated, yet because of the union of the parts, the whole is said to be so. Nor is it an objection of greater weight, that man does not do what other creatures do, generate the whole of their species; as a horse a horse, not only the flesh, but the spirit of it; since it is not at all derogatory to man, but it is his superior excellency, that his soul is not generated as the spirit of a beast is, but comes immediately from the hand of God. Such who are otherwise right in their notion of things, give into this, in order to get clear of a difficulty attending the doctrine of original sin, and the manner of its propagation, which they think is more easily accounted for, by supposing the soul derived from parents by natural generation, and so corrupted; but though this is a difficulty not easily to be resolved, how the soul coming immediately from God, is corrupted with original sin; it is better to let this difficulty lie unresolved, than to give up so certain a truth, and of so much importance, as the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is; which, as has been seen, must be given up, if this notion is received; but there are ways and methods for the clearing of this difficulty, without being at the expence of the loss of such an