238 / 1054
238
On
the Exceaency
e
the
Soul.
fo
high
and
put
fuch
glory upon,what
are
they
bi:fied about
in
moil
people? I remember
Gregory
Nylon ,
hee tells
of
force
,
and among others
of
Orige
e,
to
bee
of
that
opinion,
that
the
fouls
of
men
were
made altogether
at the
firíi
Creation
, and lived
glorious fpirits
till
they finned
againíl
God,
and
all
chore
that finned
againfi
God
were
thrust
into
the
bodies
of
men,
as
into
a
prifon, and thofe
that
did not
fin,they
still with
GOd
in glory. And
Jerome,
as
I
re-
member
in
his
3
2.
Epifi.
fpeaks
of
that
opinion
that
did
prevail; and wee finde
Plato, though
a
heathen, hee
fpeaks
of the
fouls
of men ,
and thought
that
they were made
al-
together
before their
bodies,
if not
from
eternity.
Thefe
men they thought
the
fouls
of men
fo
precious ,
as
that
they could not
come
into
the bodies
of
men but for
their
faults,
as
a
punifhment to them ,
becaufe
they
faw
how
meanly mens
fouls
lived while they were
in their
bodies,
and
therefore
thought
it
impofíible for
fuch
a
precious
foul
as
a
man
had,
to
come
to
live
fo
meanly , were
it
not
for
Gods anger
punifhing
the foul for force
fin or
other
:
Oh
donot
dishonour them
by
imploying
of
them about
un-
worthy and low-things.
Thirdly,, Do not
difhonour them
by
defiling
of them
by
ea fling
filth, and
dirt
upon them.
Would not
a
Prince
ac-
count
himfeif difhonoured,to have
the
filth and
dirt of
the
{beet
to
bee call
into
his
face
?
Certainly,
when
thou
doeft
defile
thy foul
by fin
, when thou doeft
fin
, thou
doeft
as
vile an
as
as
calling
dirt in the face of
a
Prince.
There
is
no Princes
body upon
earth
fo
excellent
as
the
foul of
the
pooreft and
meanefl man ,
no
filth
in the
world
fo vile
as
the
filth of fin, and
by
thy
fin
thou
doettcafl
this
filth
up-
on
thy foul
, and
fo
doett
all
befinear
ir, and defile
it.
You
love
to
have
clean
and handfome
bodies,
and
are
loath
to
come,
into
company all befmeared and
befooted
:
Oh but
how
often
do
you
go
into the
prefence of God
moll
abominable and loathfome
!
Oh do
not put that
dishonour
uptn
your fouls
!
Fourthly,
Do not difnonour-
your
fouls by making
theft
drudges