Of the passions of the soul.
Third, I come, in the next place, to describe the soul by the passions of the soul. The passions of the soul, I reckon, are these, and such like—to wit, love, hatred, joy, fear, grief, anger, etc. And these passions of the soul are neither good, nor evil, because they are the passions of the soul, but are made so by two things—to wit, principle, and object. The principle is that from whence they flow, and the object is that upon which they are pitched. To explain myself.
Of love.
1. For that of love. This is a strong passion; the Holy Ghost saith, It is strong as death, and cruel as the grave (Song 8:6, 7). And it is then good when it flows from faith, pitches itself upon God in Christ as the object, and extends itself to all that is good, whether it be the good Word, the good work of grace, or the good men that have it, and also to their good lives. But all soul-love flows not from this principle, nor has it these as its objects. How many are there that make the object of their love the most vile of men, the most base of things, because it flows from vile affections, and from the lusts of the flesh? God and Christ, good laws and good men, and their holy lives, they cannot abide, because their love wants a principle that should sanctify it in its first motion, and that should steer it to a goodly object. But that is the first.
Of hatred.
2. There is hatred, which I count another passion of the soul; and this, as the other, is good or evil, as the principle from whence it flows and the object of it is. 'Ye that love the Lord, hate evil' (Psa 97:10). Then, therefore, is this passion good, when it singles out from the many thousands of things that are in the world that one filthy thing called sin; and when it setteth itself, the soul, and the whole man, against it, and engages all the powers of the soul to seek and invent its ruin. But, alas, where will this hatred be found? What man is there whose soul is filled with this passion, thus sanctified by the love of God, and that makes sin, which is God's enemy, the only object of its indignation? How many are there, I say, whose hatred is turned another way, because of the malignity of their minds.
They hate knowledge (Prov. 1:22). They hate God (Deut 7:10; Job 21:14). They hate the righteous (2 Chron 29:2; Psa 34:21; Prov 29:10). They hate God's ways (Mal 3:14; Prov 8:12). And all is because the grace of filial fear is not the root and principle from which their hatred flows. 'For the fear of the Lord is to hate evil:' wherefore, where this grace is wanting for a root in the soul, there it must of necessity swerve in the letting out of this passion; because the soul, where grace is wanting, is not at liberty to act simply, but is biased by the power of sin; that, while grace is absent, is present in the soul. And hence it is that this passion, which, when acted well, is a virtue, is so abused, and made to exercise its force against that for which God never ordained it, nor gave it license to act.
Of joy.
3. Another passion of the soul is joy; and when the soul rejoices virtuously, it rejoices not in iniquity, 'but rejoice in the truth' (1 Cor 13:6). This joy is a very strong passion, and will carry a man through a world of difficulties; it is a passion that bears up, that supports and strengthens a man, Let the object of his joy be what it will. It is this that makes the soul fat in goodness if it has its object accordingly, and it is that which makes the soul bold in wickedness if it indeed rejoices in iniquity.
Of fear.
4. Another passion of the soul is fear, natural fear; for so you must understand me of all the passions of the soul, as they are considered simply and in their own nature. And, as it is with the other passions, so it is with this; it is made good or evil in its acts, as its principle and objects are; when this passion of the soul is good, then it springs from a sense of the greatness, goodness, and majesty of God; also, God himself is the object of this fear—I will forewarn you,' says Christ, 'whom ye shall fear. Fear him that can destroy both body and soul in hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him' (Matt 5:28; Luke 7:5). But in all men, this passion is not regulated and governed by these principles and objects, but is abused and turned, through the policy of Satan, quite into another channel. It is made to fear men (Num 14:9), to fear idols (2 Kings 17:7, 38), to fear devils and witches, yea, it is made to fear all the foolish, ridiculous, and apish fables that every old woman or atheistical fortune teller has the face to drop before the soul. But fear is another passion of the soul.
