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| The Body of Man Only Ancillary to the Soul in the Commission of Evil.
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Chapter XL.—The Body of
Man Only Ancillary to the Soul in the Commission of Evil.
Every soul, then, by reason of its birth, has its
nature in Adam until it is born again in Christ; moreover, it is
unclean all the while that it remains without this
regeneration;1755
and because
unclean, it is actively sinful, and suffuses even the flesh (by reason
of their conjunction) with its own shame. Now although the flesh is
sinful, and we are forbidden to walk in accordance with it,1756
and its works are condemned as lusting
against the spirit,1757
and men on its
account are censured as carnal,1758
yet the flesh
has not such ignominy on its own account. For it is not of itself that
it thinks anything or feels anything for the purpose of advising or
commanding sin. How should it, indeed? It is only a ministering thing,
and its ministration is not like that of a servant or familiar
friend—animated and human beings; but rather that of a vessel, or
something of that kind: it is body, not soul. Now a cup may minister to
a thirsty man; and yet, if the thirsty man will not apply the cup to
his mouth, the cup will yield no ministering service. Therefore
the differentia, or distinguishing property, of man
by no means lies in his earthy element; nor is the flesh the human
person, as being some faculty of his soul, and a personal quality; but
it is a thing of quite a different substance and different condition,
although annexed to the soul as a chattel or as an instrument for the
offices of life. Accordingly the flesh is blamed in the Scriptures,
because nothing is done by the soul without the flesh in operations of
concupiscence, appetite, drunkenness, cruelty, idolatry, and other
works of the flesh,—operations, I mean, which are not confined to
sensations, but result in effects. The emotions of sin, indeed, when
not resulting in effects, are usually imputed to the soul:
“Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after, hath already in his
heart committed adultery with her.”1759
But what has the flesh alone, without the soul, ever done in operations
of virtue, righteousness, endurance, or chastity? What absurdity,
however, it is to attribute sin and crime to that substance to which
you do not assign any good actions or character of its own! Now
the party which aids in the commission of a crime is brought to trial,
only in such a way that the principal offender who actually committed
the crime may bear the weight of the penalty, although the abettor too
does not escape indictment. Greater is the odium which falls on the
principal, when his officials are punished through his fault. He is
beaten with more stripes who instigates and orders the crime, whilst at
the same time he who obeys such an evil command is not
acquitted.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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