Kate Douglas Wiggin - "Homespun Tales"

Carolyn Wells - "Marjorie's Vacation"

Robert Tressell - "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists"

Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne - "Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, v5"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1

J >> John Bunyan >> The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1




The body clothing for the soul.

2. The body is called the clothing and the soul that which
is clothed therewith. Now, everybody knows that 'the body is more
than raiment,' even carnal sense will teach us this. But read that
pregnant place: 'For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being
burdened (that is, with mortal flesh); not for that we should be
unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up
of life' (2 Cor 5:4). Thus the greatness of the soul appears in
the preference that it hath to the body--the body is its raiment.
We see that, above all creatures, man, because he is the most noble
among all visible ones, has, for the adorning of his body, that
more abundant comeliness. 'Tis the body of man, not of beast, that
is clothed with the richest ornaments. But now what a thing is the
soul, that the body itself must be its clothing! No suit of apparel
is by God thought good enough for the soul, but that which is made
by God himself, and that is that curious thing, the body. But oh!
how little is this considered--namely, the greatness of the soul.
'Tis the body, the clothes, the suit of apparel, that our foolish
fancies are taken with, not at all considering the richness and
excellency of that great and more noble part, the soul, for which
the body is made a mantle to wrap it up in, a garment to clothe
it withal. If a man gets a rent in his clothes, it is little in
comparison of a rent in his flesh; yea, he comforts himself when
he looks on that rent, saying, Thanks be to God, it is not a rent
in my flesh. But ah! on the contrary, how many are there in the
world that are more troubled for that they have a rent, a wound, or
a disease in the body, than for that they have for the souls that
will be lost and cast away. A little rent in the body dejecteth
and casteth such down, but they are not at all concerned, though
their soul is now, and will yet further be, torn in pieces, 'Now
consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces,
and there be none to deliver' (Psa 50:22). But this is the second
thing whereby, or by which, the greatness of the soul appears--to
wit, in that the body, that excellent piece of God's workmanship,
is but a garment, or clothing for the soul.

The body a vessel for the soul.

3. The body is called a vessel, or a case, for the soul to be put
and kept in. 'That every one of you should know how to possess
his vessel in sanctifcation and honour' (1 Thess 4:4). The apostle
here doth exhort the people to abstain from fornication, which,
in another place, he saith, '...is a sin against the body' (1 Cor
6:18). And here again he saith, 'This is the will of God, that ye
should abstain from fornication:' that the body be not defiled,
'that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification and honour.' His vessel, his earthen vessel, as he
calls it in another place--for 'we have this treasure in earthen
vessels.' Thus, then, the body is called a vessel; yea, every man's
body is his vessel. But what has God prepared this vessel for, and
what has He put into it? Why, many things this body is to be a vessel
for, but at present God has put into it that curious thing, the
soul. Cabinets, that are very rich and costly things of themselves,
are not made nor designed to be vessels to be stuffed or filled with
trumpery, and things of no value; no, these are prepared for rings
and jewels, for pearls, for rubies, and things that are choice. And
if so, what shall we then think of the soul for which is prepared,
and that of God, the most rich and excellent vessel in the world?
Surely it must be a thing of worth, yea, of more worth than is the
whole world besides. But alas! who believes this talk? Do not even
the most of men so set their minds upon, and so admire, the glory
of this case or vessel, that they forget once with seriousness to
think, and, therefore, must of necessity be a great way off, of
those suitable esteems that becomes them to have of their souls.
But oh, since this vessel, this cabinet, this body, is so curiously
made, and that to receive and contain, what thing is that for which
God has made this vessel, and what is that soul that He hath put
into it? Wherefore thus, in the third place, is the greatness of
the soul made manifest, even by the excellency of the vessel, the
body, that God has made to put it in.

The body a tabernacle of the soul.

4. The body is called a tabernacle for the soul. 'Knowing that shortly
I must put off this my tabernacle' (2 Pet 1:14), that is, my body,
'by death' (John 21:18,19). 'For we know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,' etc.
(2 Cor 5:1). In both these places, by 'tabernacle,' can be meant
nothing but the body; wherefore both the apostles, in these sentences
do personate their souls, and speak as if the soul was THE ALL of
a man; yea, they plainly tell us, that the body is but the house,
clothes, vessel, and tabernacle for the soul. But what a famous
thing therefore is the soul!

The tabernacle of old was a place erected for worship, but
the worshippers were more excellent than the place; so our body
is a tabernacle for the soul to worship God in, but must needs be
accounted much inferior to the soul, forasmuch as the worshippers
are always of more honour than the place they worship in; as he that
dwelleth in the tabernacle hath more honour than the tabernacle.8
'I serve,' says Paul, God and Christ Jesus 'with my spirit (or soul)
in the gospel' (Rom 1:9), but not with his spirit out of, but in,
this tabernacle. The tabernacle had instruments of worship for the
worshippers; so has the body for the soul, and we are bid to 'yield
our members as instruments of righteousness to God' (Rom 6:13). The
hands, feet, ears, eyes, and tongue, which last is our glory when
used right, are all of them instruments of this tabernacle, and to
be made use of by the soul, the inhabiter of this tabernacle, for
the soul's performance of the service of God. I thus discourse,
to show you the greatness of the soul. And, in mine opinion, there
is something, if not very much, in what I say. For all men admire
the body, both for its manner of building, and the curious way of
its being compacted together. Yes, the further men, wise men, do
pry into the wonderful work of God that is put forth in framing the
body, the more still they are made to admire; and yet, as I said,
this body is but a house, a mantle, a vessel, a tabernacle for
the soul. What, then, is the soul itself?9 But thus much for the
first particular.

[Other things that show the greatness of the soul.]

Second, We will now come to other things that show us the greatness
of the soul. And,

The soul is called God's breath.

1. It is called God's breath of life. 'And the Lord God formed
man,' that is, the body, 'of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul' (Gen 2:7). Do but compare these two together, the body and
the soul; the body is made of dust, the soul is the breath of God.
Now, if God hath made this body so famous, as indeed He has, and
yet it is made but of the dust of the ground, and we all do know
what inferior matter it is, what is the soul, since the body is not
only its house and garment, but since itself is made of the breath
of God? But, further, it is not only said that the soul is of the
breath of the Lord, but that the Lord breathed into him the breath
of life--to wit, a living spirit, for so the next words infer--and
'man became a living soul.' Man, that is, the more excellent part
of him, which, for that which is principal, is called man, that
bearing the denomination of the whole; or man, the spirit and
natural power, by which, as a reasonable creature, the whole of
him is acted, 'became a living soul.' But I stand not here upon
definition, but upon demonstration. The body, that noble part of
man, had its original from the dust; for so says the Word, 'Dust
thou art (as to thy body), and unto dust shalt thou return' (Gen
3:19). But as to thy more noble part, thou art from the breath of
God, God putting forth in that a mighty work of creating power, and
man 'was made a living soul' (1 Cor 15:45). Mark my reason. There
is as great a disparity betwixt the body and the soul, as is between
the dust of the ground and that, here called, the breath of life
of the Lord. And note further, that, as the dust of the ground did
not lose, but gained glory by being formed into the body of a man,
so this breath of the Lord lost nothing neither by being made a
living soul. O man! dost thou know what thou art?

The soul God's image.

2. As the soul is said to be of the breath of God, so it is said
to be made after God's own image, even after the similitude of God.
'And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.--So
God created man in His own image, in the image of God created
He him' (Gen 1:26,27). Mark, in His own image, in the image of
God created He him; or, as James hath it, it is 'made after the
similitude of God,' (James 3:9); like Him, having in it that which
beareth semblance with Him. I do not read of anything in heaven,
or earth, or under the earth, that is said to be made after this
manner, or that is at all so termed, save only the Son of God Himself.
The angels are noble creatures, and for present employ are made a
little higher than man himself, (Heb 2); but that any of them are
said to be made 'after God's image,' after His own image, even
after the similitude of God, that I find not. This character the
Holy Ghost, in the Scriptures of truth, giveth only of man, of
the soul of man; for it must not be thought that the body is here
intended in whole or in part. For though it be said that Christ
was made after the similitude of sinful flesh (Phil 2), yet it is
not said that sinful flesh is made after the similitude of God;
but I will not dispute; I only bring these things to show how great
a thing, how noble a thing the soul is; in that, at its creation,
God thought it worthy to be made, not like the earth, or the heavens,
or the angels, seraphims, or archangels, but like Himself, His own
self, saying, 'Let Us make man in Our own likeness. So He made man
in His own image.' This, I say, is a character above all angels;
for, as the apostle said, 'To which of the angels said He at anytime,
'Thou art my Son?' So, of which of them hath He at any time said,
This is, or shall be, made in or after Mine image, Mine own image?
O what a thing is the soul of man, that above all the creatures in
heaven or earth, being made in the image and similitude of God.10

The soul God's desire.

3. Another thing by which the greatness of the soul is made manifest
is this, it is that--and that only, and to say this is more than
to say, it is that above all the creatures--that the great God
desires communion with. He 'hath set apart him that is godly for
himself,' (Psa 4:3); that is, for communion with his soul; therefore
the spouse saith concerning him, 'His desire is toward me,' (Song
7:10); and, therefore, he saith again, 'I will dwell in them,
and walk in them' (2 Cor 6:16). To 'dwell in,' and 'walk in,' are
terms that intimate communion and fellowship; as John saith, 'Our
fellowship, truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his
Son Jesus Christ' (1 John 1:3). That is, our soul-fellowship; for
it must not be understood of the body, though I believe that the
body is much influenced when the soul has communion with God; but
it is the soul, and that only, that at present is capable of having
and maintaining of this blessed communion. But, I say, what a thing
is this, that God, the great God, should choose to have fellowship
and communion with the soul above all. We read, indeed, of the
greatness of the angels, and how near also they are unto God; but
yet there are not such terms that bespeak such familiar acts between
God and angels, as to demonstrate that they have such communion
with God as has, or as the souls of His people may have. Where has
He called them His love, His dove, His fair one? and where, when He
speaketh of them, doth He express a communion that they have with
Him by the similitude of conjugal love? I speak of what is revealed;
the secret things belong to the Lord our God. Now by all this is
manifest the greatness of the soul. Men of greatness and honour,
if they have respect to their own glory, will not choose for their
familiars the base and rascally crew of this world; but will single
out for their fellows, fellowship, and communion, those that are
most like themselves. True, the King has not an equal, yet He is
for being familiar only with the nobles of the land: so God, with
Him none can compare; yet since the soul is by Him singled out
for His walking mate and companion, it is a sign it is the highest
born, and that upon which the blessed Majesty looks, as upon that
which is most meet to be singled out for communion with Himself.

Should we see a man familiar with the King, we would, even of
ourselves, conclude he is one of the nobles of the land; but this
is not the lot of every soul--some have fellowship with devils, yet
not because they have a more base original than those that lie in
God's bosom, but they, through sin, are degenerate, and have chosen
to be great with His enemy--but all these things show the greatness
of the soul.

The soul a vessel for grace.

4. The soul of men are such as God counts worthy to be the vessels
to hold His grace, the graces of the Spirit, in. The graces of the
Spirit--what like them, or where here are they to be found, save
in the souls of men only? 'Of His fulness have all we received,
and grace for grace' (John 1:16). Received, into what? into 'the
hidden part,' as David calls it (Psa 51:6). Hence the king's daughter
is said to be 'all glorious within,' (Psa 45:15); because adorned
and beautified with the graces of the Spirit. For that which David
calls the hidden part is the inmost part of the soul; and it is,
therefore, called the hidden part, because the soul is invisible,
nor can any one living infallibly know what is in the soul but God
Himself. But, I say, the soul is the vessel into which this golden
oil is poured, and that which holds, and is accounted worthy to
exercise and improve the same. Therefore the soul is it which is
said to love God--'Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?' (Song 3:3);
and, therefore, the soul is that which exerciseth the spirit of
prayer--'With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with
my spirit within me will I seek thee early' (Isa 26:9). With the
soul also men are said to believe and into the soul God is said to
put His fear. This is the vessel into which the virgins got oil,
and out of which their lamps were supplied by the same. But what
a thing, what a great thing therefore is the soul, that that above
all things that God hath created should be the chosen vessel to put
His grace in. The body is the vessel for the soul, and the soul is
the vessel for the grace of God. But,

5. The greatness of the soul is manifest by the greatness of the
price that Christ paid for it, to make it an heir of glory; and
that was His precious blood (1 Cor 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18,19). We do
use to esteem of things according to the price that is given for
them, especially when we are convinced that the purchase has not
been made by the estimation of a fool. Now the soul is purchased
by a price that the Son, the wisdom of God, thought fit to pay
for the redemption thereof--what a thing, then, is the soul? Judge
of the soul by the price that is paid for it, and you must needs
confess, unless you count the blood that hath bought it an unholy
thing, that it cannot but be of great worth and value. Suppose a
prince, or some great man, should, on a sudden, descend from his
throne, or chair of state, to take up, that he might put in his
bosom, something that he had espied lying trampled under the feet
of those that stand by; would you think that he would do this for
an old horse shoe,11 or for so trivial a thing as a pin or a point?
12 Nay, would you not even of yourselves conclude that that thing
for which the prince, so great a man, should make such a stoop,
must needs be a thing of very great worth? Why, this is the case
of Christ and the soul. Christ is the prince, His throne was in
heaven, and, as He sat there, He espied the souls of sinners trampled
under the foot of the law and death for sin. Now, what doth He,
but comes down from His throne, stoops down to the earth, and there,
since He could not have the trodden-down souls without price, He
lays down His life and blood for them (2 Cor 8:9). But would He
have done this for inconsiderable things? No, nor for the souls
of sinners neither, had He not valued them higher than he valued
heaven and earth besides. 13 This, therefore, is another thing by
which the greatness of the soul is known.

The soul immortal.

6. The soul is immortal, it will have a sensible being for ever,
none can kill the soul (Luke 12:4; Matt 10:28). If all the angels
in heaven, and all the men on earth, should lay all their strength
together, they cannot kill or annihilate one soul. No, I will
speak without fear, if it may be said, God cannot do what He will
not do; then He cannot annihilate the soul: but, notwithstanding
all His wrath, and the vengeance that He will inflict on sinful
souls, they yet shall abide with sensible beings, yet to endure,
yet to bear punishment. If anything could kill the soul, it would
be death; but death cannot do it, neither first nor second; the
first cannot, for when Dives was slain, as to his body by death,
his soul was found alive in hell--'He lift up his eyes in hell,
being in torment' (Luke 16:23). The second death cannot do it,
because it is said their worm never dies, but is always torturing
them with his gnawing (Mark 9:44). But that could not be, if time,
or lying in hell fire for ever, could annihilate the soul. Now, this
also shows the greatness of the soul, that it is that which has an
endless life, and that will, therefore, have a being endlessly. O
what a thing is the soul!

The soul, then, is immortal, though not eternal. That is eternal that
has neither beginning nor end, and, therefore, eternal is properly
applicable to none but God; hence He is called the 'eternal God'
(Deu 33:27). Immortal is that which, though it hath a beginning,
yet hath no end, it cannot die, nor cease to be; and this is the
state of the soul. It cannot cease to have a being when it is once
created; I mean, a living, sensible being. For I mean by living, only
such a being as distinguishes it from annihilation or incapableness
of sense and feeling. Hence, as the rich man is after death said
to 'lift up his eyes in hell,' so the beggar is said, when he died,
to be 'carried by the angels, into Abraham's bosom' (Luke 16:22,23).
And both these sayings must have respect to the souls of these men;
for, as for their bodies, we know at present it is otherwise with
them. The grave is their house, and so must be till the trumpet
shall sound, and the heavens pass away like a scroll. Now, I say,
the immortality of the soul shows the greatness of it, as the
eternity of God shows the greatness of God. It cannot be said of
any angel but that he is immortal, and so it is, and ought to be
said of the soul. This, therefore, shows the greatness of the soul,
in that it is as to abiding so like unto him.

'Tis the soul that acts the body.

7. But a word or two more, and so to conclude this head. The
soul!--why, it is the soul that acteth the body in all these things,
good or bad, that seem good and reasonable, or amazingly wicked.
True, the acts and motions of the soul are only seen and heard in,
and by the members and motions of the body, but the body is but a
poor instrument, soul is the great agitator and actor. 'The body
without the spirit is dead' (James 2:26). All those famous arts,
and works, and inventions of works, that are done by men under
heaven, they are all the intentions of the soul, and the body, as
acting and labouring therein, doth it but as a tool that the soul
maketh use of to bring his invention into maturity (Eccl 7:29).
How many things have men found out to the amazing of one another,
to the wonderment of one another, to the begetting of endless
commendations of one another in the world, while, in the meantime,
the soul, which indeed is the true inventor of all, is overlooked,
not regarded, but dragged up and down by every lust, and prostrate,
and made a slave to every silly and beastly thing. O the amazing
darkness that hath covered the face of the hearts of the children
of men, that they cannot deliver their soul, nor say, 'Is there not
a lie in my right hand?' (Isa 44:20), though they are so cunning
in all other matters. Take man in matters that are abroad, and far
from home, and he is the mirror of all the world; but take him at
home, and put him upon things that are near him, I mean, that have
respect to the things that concern his soul, and then you will
find him the greatest fool that ever God made. But this must not
be applied to the soul simply as it is God's creature, but to the
soul sinful, as it has willingly apostatized from God, and so suffered
itself to be darkened, and that with such thick and stupifying
darkness, that it is bound up and cannot--it hath a napkin of sin
bound so close before its eyes that it is not able--of itself--to
look to, and after those things which should be its chiefest concern,
and without which it will be most miserable for ever.

The soul capable of having to do with invisibles.

8. Further, as the soul is thus curious about arts and sciences,
and about every excellent thing of this life, so it is capable of
having to do with invisibles, with angels, good or bad, yea, with
the highest and Supreme Being, even with the holy God of heaven. I
told you before that God sought the soul of man to have it for His
companion; and now I tell you that the soul is capable of communion
with Him, when the darkness that sin hath spread over its face is
removed. The soul is an intelligent power, it can be made to know
and understand depths, and heights, and lengths, and breadths,
in those high, sublime, and spiritual mysteries that only God can
reveal and teach; yea, it is capable of diving unutterably into them.
And herein is God, the God of glory, much delighted and pleased--to
wit, that He hath made Himself a creature that is capable of
hearing, of knowing, and of understanding of His mind, when opened
and revealed to it. I think I may say, without offence to God
or man, that one reason why God made the world was, that He might
manifest Himself, not only by, but to the works which He made; but,
I speak with reverence, how could that be, if He did not also make
some of His creatures capable of apprehending of Him in those most
high mysteries and methods in which He purposed to reveal Himself?
But then, what are those creatures which He hath made (unto whom
when these things are shown) that are able to take them in and
understand them, and so to improve them to God's glory, as He hath
ordained and purposed they should, but souls? for none else in the
visible world are capable of doing this but they. And hence it is
that to them, and them only, He beginneth to reveal Himself in this
world. And hence it is that they, and they only, are gathered up
to Him where He is, for they are they that are called 'the spirits
of just men made perfect,' (Heb 12:23); the spirit of a beast goeth
downward to the earth, it is the spirit of a man that goes upwards
to God that gave it (Eccl 3:21;12:7). For that, and that only,
is capable of beholding and understanding the glorious visions of
heaven; as Christ said, 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou
hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory,
which thou hast given Me; for thou lovedst Me before the foundation
of the world' (John 17:24). And thus the greatness of the soul is
manifest. True, the body is also gathered up into glory, but not
simply for its own sake, or because that is capable of itself to
know and understand the glories of its Maker; but that has been
a companion with the soul in this world, has also been its house,
its mantle, its cabinet and tabernacle here; it has also been it by
which the soul hath acted, in which it hath wrought, and by which
its excellent appearances have been manifested; and it shall also
there be its co-partner and sharer in its glory. Wherefore, as the
body here did partake of soul excellencies, and was also conformed
to its spiritual and regenerate principles; so it shall be hereafter
a partaker of that glory with which the soul shall be filled,
and also be made suitable by that glory to become a partaker and
co-partner with it of the eternal excellencies which heaven will
put upon it. In this world it is a gracious soul (I speak now of
the regenerate), and in that world it shall be a glorious one. In
this world the body was conformable to the soul as it was gracious,
and in that world it shall be conformable to it as it is glorious;
conformable, I say, by partaking of that glory that then the soul
shall partake of; yea, it shall also have an additional glory to
adorn, and make it yet the more capable of being serviceable to
it, and with it in its great acts before God in eternal glory. Oh,
what great things are the souls of the sons of men!