The effect of certaine Sermons TOVCHING THE FVLL REDEMPTION of mankind by the death and bloud of CHRIST IESVS WHEREIN Besides the merite of Christs suffering the manner of his offering the power of his death the comfort of his Crosse the glorie of his resurrection Are handled What paines Christ suffered in his soule on the Crosse Together With the place and purpose of his descent to hel after death Preached at Paules Crosse and else where in London by the right Reuerend Father Thomas Bilson Bishop of Winchester With a conclusion to the Reader for the cleering of certaine obiections made against the said doctrine 1. Corinth 3. I esteeme not to knowe any thing saue Christ Iesus and him crucified Athanasius de Incarnatione verbi dei Therefore the sonne of God tooke to him a bodie that might die that enduing it with a reasonable soule it might suffice for a full satisfaction to Death for all Imprinted at London by Peter Short for Walter Burre and are to be sold in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Flower deluce 1599. To the Christian Reader IT is some time since good Christian Reader that lying in London and preaching at Paules Crosse as the feast of Easter drawing neer did admonish mee I made choice to speake of the redemption of mankinde by the death and bloud of Christ Iesus And because that Citie then had and yet hath as manie learned and religious preachers so some conceited and too much addicted to nouelties who spared not in their Catechisings and readings to vrge the suffering of the verie paines of hell in the soul of Christ on the crosse as the chiefest part and maine ground of our Redemption by Christ I finding how fast that opinion had increased since it was first deuised and doubting where it would end thought it my dutie publikelie to warne them that were forward in defending this fansie to take heed how farre they waded in that late sprong speculation For as these words of Dauid The sorrowes of hell besieged me and these of Ionas Out of the belly of hel I cried thou heardest my voice may be tolerablie applied to Christ if they be metaphorically interpreted of Christ as the scriptures meane them in Dauid and Ionas so if wee grow from the figuratiue vse of the worde HELL to the proper signification thereof and rise from the degrees of sorrowes and feares which pursue the Saints in this life to the highest sense and suffering of ALL and THE VERIE SAME paines and punishments which the damned do and shall endure for euer freeing Christ from nothing but from the place and continuance of hell vve make not a curious and superfluous but an erroneous and daungerous addition to the mysterie of our Saluation The better to slacke their inconsiderate heate I laboured to prooue these foure pointes vnto them First that it was no where recorded in the holie Scriptures nor iustlie to bee concluded by the Scriptures that Christ suffered the true paines of hell and so the Consciences of the faythfull coulde not iustlie bee forced to the necessarie beleeuing of anie such strange assertion Secondlie that as the Scriptures describe to vs the paines of the damned and of hell there are manie terrors and torments which without euident impietie cannot be ascribed to the Sonne of God as namely extreame Darkenesse Desperation Confusion vtter separation reiection and exclusion from the grace fauour and kingdome of God remembrance of sinne gnawing the conscience horrour of Diuels tormented and tormenting and flame of fire intolerablie burning both bodie and soule Thirdlie that the death and bloud of Christ Iesus were euidentlie frequentlie constantlie set downe in the writinges of the Apostles as the sufficient price of our Redemption and true meane of our reconciliation to God and the verie same proposed in the figures resembled in the sacrifices of the Lawe and sealed with the Sacraments of the new Testament as the verie grounde worke of our saluation by Christ and so haue beene receaued and beleeued in the Church of God fourteene hundred yeares before anie man euer made mention of hell paines to bee suffered in the soule of Christ. Lastlie where the Scriptures are plaine and pregnant that Christ DIED for our sinnes and by his DEATH destroied him that had power of death euen the Diuell and reconciled vs when we were strangers and enemies IN THE BODIE OF HIS FLESH THROVGH DEATH for wee are reconciled to God by the DEATH of his sonne and sanctified by THE OFFERING OF THE BODIE of Iesus Christ once who himselfe bare our sinnes in his BODIE on the Tree where hee was put to death concerning the FLESH Besides that the holie Ghost in these places by expresse wordes nameth the bodilie death of Christ as the meane of our redemption and reconciliation to God no considerate diuine might affirme or imagine Christ suffered the Death of the soule for so much as the Death of the soule must exclude Christ from the grace spirit and life of God and leaue in him neither faith hope nor loue sanctitie nor innocencie which God forbid anie Christian man shoulde so much as dreame Wee shoulde therefore do well to reuerence the manifest wordes of Gods Spirit in so high a pointe of Religion and suffer our selues as schollers to bee taught by the leader into all trueth what to beleeue and confesse in the mystery of our redemption and not to controle or correct the doctrine so cleerelie deliuered in the Scriptures so consonantlie retained of all learned and vnlearned in the Church of Christ for so many hundred yeares And if anie man to maintaine his deuise woulde inuent a newe hell and another death of the soule then either scriptures or fathers euer heard or spake of they shoulde keepe their inuentions to themselues it sufficed me to beleeue what I read and consequently not to beleeue what I did not read in the word of God which is and ought to be the foundation of our faith Thus farre I purposed when I first entered by Gods grace to proceede in this cause according to y e simple vnderstanding wherwith god hath endued me for the good of his Church The article of the Creed Christ DESCENDED INTO HELL I meant not to meddle with choosing rather to leaue y t vntouched then to presse any sense as a point of faith for vvhich I had not so full and faire warrant as for the redemption of man by the death and blood of Christ Iesus but the vehemencie of some contradicting that I taught and the importunitie of others requesting to knowe what they might safelie beleeue of that article made mee to alter my minde For whē some vrged others doubted that if Christ did not suffer the paines of hell whiles he hung on the Crosse that part of the Creed was added in vaine and the wordes of Dauid Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell applied by Peter vnto Christ in
contrarie to their course must needs import that he reioiced in nothing so much as in that shamefull death which the Sauiour of the world endured on the crosse and to that and he saieth in the former Chapter where hee more largelie hâ—ndleth this matter If I yet preach circumcision why doe I yet suffer persecution Then is the slaunder of the crosse abolished meaning there was none other cause why the Iewes hated and persecuted him but for preaching Christ crucified to bee the true and onlie meane of our saluation without circumcision or whatsoeuer ceremonies of the law As the text is cleere with the sense â—hich I followed so the fathers concurre with the same Christ saieth Austen chose that kind of death to hang on the crosse that a Christian might saie â—ar be it from me to reioice but in the crosse of Christ. Chrysostome vpon this place what is the reason saith hee that Paul so reioyceth in Christes crosse because Christ for my sake â—â—oke the shape of a seruant and for my sake endured that hee suffered Adding farâ—her Annon est gloriandum quum ille dominus quiverus est deus non erubescit pro nobis crucem subire Haue we not good cause to reioice when that Lord which is true God was not ashamed to endure the crosse for vs Paul doth not reioice saith Ierom in his owne righteousnesse or knowledge but in the faith of the crosse by which all my sinnes are pardoned me Christ bearing his crosse on his shoulders saith Bede commendeth it that Paul might saie be it far from me to reioice but in the crosse of Christ. He was despised in the eyes of the wicked for that wherein the heartes of the Saintes should reioice I staâ—e somewhat longer gentle Reader on this point for that as it had bin a childish ouersight in me at the verie first entrance to mistake the meaning of my text so it is more then a malepart tricke in him vniustlie to chalenge me for it but I maâ—e the better content my selfe with it since this Refuter sâ—icketh not to vse all the Fathers with like disdaine whereof I will giue thâ—e an example or two that thou maiest see the headinesse of this hasty writer In the contents of Christs crosse I obserued out of Augustine Ierom and Bernard that no violence of death wrested Christes soule from him as it doth ours but when he sawe his time hee euen at an instant laide it downe of himselfe no paines hastening his death This is a pâ—radoxe in Nature saieth this Controller and contrary to scripture which saith he was like vs in all things sinne only excepted You might giue the learned and auncient Fathers better wordes Sir trister what soeuer you do me your wits are too weake to refute their resolution For where like a Pâ—ncée you praie you know not what they ground themâ—â—lues on the plaine and expresse wordee of the scriptures No man saith our Sauiour taketh my soule from mee but I laâ—e it downe of my selfe I haue power to laie it downe and haue power to take it againe Howe thinke you Sir coulde anie violence or paines of death take Christes soule from him or had hee power to laie it downe when and as he woulde which no man else euer had or shall haue you replie he was like vs in all things sinne only excepted Such proofes became well your person Was he like vs in his birth can we lie in the graue without corruption as he laie or raise our selues from death as he did Reade more for shame and write lesse till you bee better aduised or better instructed Upon these words of Christ I haue power to laie down my soule and haue power to take it again Chrysostom writeth thus vtrumque nouum fuit praeter communem consuetudinem Potestatem habeo ponendi eam hoc est ego solus potestatem habeo quae vobis non est Both these powers were strange and aboue the common course of men I haue power to laie down my soule that is I ALONE haue this power which you haue not If you denie this that Chrysostom saith remember what God himselfe saith ô foole this night shal they fetch away thy soule froÌ„ thee which Christ saith none could do from him because he had power by his fathers appointment to laie it down of himselfe In like sort when I shewed not mine own opinion but the iudgments of the ancient fathers as well for the causes that might be of Christes agonie in the garden as for the meaning of his complaint on the crosse my God my God why hast thou forsaken me obserue gentle Reader I praie thee how absurdly he roleth from the one to the other how insolentlie he reiecteth al the fathers for that they vphold not his humour of hell paines to be the ground of both I alleaged Ierom and Chrysostom that Christ on the crosse cited the beginning of the 22. Psalme My God my God why hast thou forsaken me that the Iewes might knowe they had fulfilled the words of the prophet Dauid in that psalme foreshewing the passioÌ„ of Christ. His answere is this sence is most absurd To Athanasius Augustine and Leo that Christ spake those words in the person of his church which then suffered in him and with him he saith This is no lesse absurd then the former there is no reason or likelihood for it When I brought Ierom Ambrose Austen and Bede that in the garden Christ might sorrow for the reiection of the Iewes who would pul the vengeance of God on their owne heads to the vtter destruction of their whole nation by putting him to death this Confuter foolishly and forgetfâ—lly maketh this an interpretation of Christes complaint on the crosse and addeth This is more fond and absurd then the other So when among other causes of Christs agony in the garden that might â—e for I tooke vpon me to determine none being sixe in number I brought this for one out of Ambrose that Christ sorrowed for vs was SAD for vs and GRIEVED for vs he LAMENTED OVR VVOVNDES not his OVR VVEAKENES not his owne death This in effect saith hee is nothing but what wee affirme howbeit this ought not to haue anie place heere how could these wordes hang together when hee meaneth to tell his father howe zealous hee is for his glorie to saie My God my God why hast thou forsaken me There is no fashion in them thus signifying What you speake boldlie but erroneouslie of the sonne of God It cannot bee strange if often times Christ fell amazed confounded and forgetfull of himselfe for feare and griefe I maie trulie and iustlie say of you it is not strange to see you amazed confounded and forgetfull in your writing What I spake of Christes agonie in the garden you applie to his complaint on the crosse and sale the words will not hang
and death Wee saie the sonne of God sustained the Crosse and death in his owne flesh that hee might deliuer vs from death and corruption Hee laide downe his soule for vs not as an alien and straunger to the sonne of God but vnspeakeablie vnited vnto him as himselfe saith I haue power to lay downe my soule and I haue power to take it againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is proper to the soule to bee pensiue to feele paine and griefe to depart from the bodie as it is proper to the flesh to be wearied to be crucified to be raised againe So the violence was offered to the bodie the sense whereof reached vnto the soule and these are the sufferings of the crosse and of death which the Scriptures attribute to the sonne of God for our saluation Insomuch that your long discourse of the proper and immediate suffering of Christes soule for sinne without and besides the bodie maie be hanged on the hedge as discording both from the scriptures and all the Catholike fathers that either haue priuatelie testified the truth by their writings or publiklie confirmed it by their assemblies And as for your hellish paines when your selfe can tell what they are and make some better proofe then yet you haue done that they were or might be in the soule of Christ you shal receiue further answere These are the Refuters exquisite arguments which he calleth his speciall reasons being indeede rather so manie monsters in Christian Religion then matters to perswade anie man were he neuer so simple and but that a straunge faith muste needes haue such straunge groundes as these bee I shoulde thinke hee did rather expose this conceyte of Hell paines to bee derided of the worlde then to bee beleeued hee euerie where so secondeth his badde cause with woorse proofes but where better foode wanteth Akornes are good meate and blacke Moores maie bee beautifull when others bee awaie I woulde heere make an ende of his first parte but that as his manner is when hee hath stumbled absurdlie a long while at hell hee steppeth on the suddaine as vnhandsomelie to heauen Knowe therefore saieth hee hell as we take it is euen in this life founde sometime as heauen is likewise for as touching materiall fire in hell what a toyish fable is that else I praie you how may the soules of the damned suffer by materiall fier seeing they are spirits and therefore with them and fier materiall there can be no communiâ—n But let it bee as it may be the locall hell of the damned we speake not of You slacke your hell paines Sir Resuter towardes the ende as if all this while you had beene too hot in them and heere you giue thrée qualifications to them or rather contradictions to your former spéeches Hell as you take it is SOMETIMES found in this life But two leaues before you tolde vs the paines and sufferings of Gods wrath which are the hell that you saie Christ suffered ALVVAIES accompanie them that are separated from the grace loue of God how commeth ALVVAIES to bee so quicklie changed into SOMTIMES were there fewer wicked when you spake the last wordes then when you spake the first or are you better aduised remembring what a grosse absurditie it woulde bee to cast all infidels and hypocrits wicked and disobedient persons into hel torments all the time of this life before the iudgment of God taketh hold of them Secondlie as there is heauen euen in this life in some measure euen so saie you there may be hell You doe not meane that here on earth are the verie same ioies and blisse that are in heauen nor anie way equall to them if you did it were a lewder absurditie then the former For here we reioice that our names are written in heauen as the Apostle teacheth vs to doe wee reioice vnder the hope of the glorie of God Now hope that is seene is not hope For howe can a man hope for that which hee seeth or possesseth but when we hope for that we see not we doe with patience abide for it In this life wee walke by faith not by sight and whiles we dwell in the bodie we are absent from the Lord. For though we be now the sonnes of God it appeareth not as yet what we shal be our life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is our life shall appeare then shall wee also appeare with him in glorie If you therefore affirme of heauen as you do of hell that the VERIE SAME ioies which are in heauen or EQVALL with them are here sometime found on earth it is a wicked errour flatlie repugning to the trueth of Gods promises and to the verie nature of our Christian faith and hope For faith is the grounde of thinges hoped for and the euidence of thinges not yet appearing but if you meane that as wee conceaue HOPE of heauenlie blisse so wee must néedes REIOYCE in it this position is verie true but plainelie opposite to your imagination of hell paines For then must there in this life bee no more felte of hell but the FEARE thereof and the griefe arising from that feare euen as the HOPE of heauen maintaineth our ioye Nowe in Christ coulde neither the feare of hell possiblie bee founde nor anie griefe or sorrowe arising from anie such feare since there was in his soule no wante of faith nor hope no not anie the least diminution of either as your selfe confesse but as the Apostle saieth FOR THE IOY THAT VVAS SET BEFORE HIM he endured the paine of the crosse and despised the shame And here you may see by your owne comparison the follie of your owne assertion For if your hellish sorrow be the only true and perfectly accepted sacrifice to God as you saie and without faith it is impossible to please God which alwaies hath hope and consequentlie the ioie of saluation annexed vnto it which you call heauen then can no man please God or offer anie sacrifice to God till hee bee both in hell and heauen at one and the same time and the ioyes of heauen are so coupled with the paines of hell that none of the faithfull can be in the one without the other but in both togither And thus haue you brought heauen and hell not onelie to bee euerie where but by your corrupt conceites to bee alwaies linked together Lastlie â—he fire of hell doeth somewhat trouble you and therefore you labour vtterly to quench it and aske what a toyish fable is that but good Sir if you would bring no more fables then I doe you might haue spared not euerie leafe but euerie line in this your vnaduised pamphlet I spake not in my sermon one word either of materiall or corporall fire in hell but I vrged the fire of hel to be a true created fire and not any metaphoricall flame as you here dreame from which since the bodie
on his owne shoulders yea the Lorde Laid vpon him the iniquity of vs all but when it came to light vpon him the verie iustice of God found great difference betwixt his person and ours and so great that what should haue condemned vs bodie and soule for euer that could take no hold on him but so far forth as he did voluntarilie yeeld himselfe to bee obedient vnto the death of the crosse and in our flesh to quench the curse of the lawe pronounced againsâ— our sinnes insomuch that neither sinne nor death were able to sease on his bodie till he did of his owne accord resigne it into their handes If we thinke it strange to sée so much difference betwixt him and vs we must remember wee were sinnefull he was innocent we were defiled hee was holie we were hatefull he was beloued we were the seruants of sinne and enemies vnto God he was the Lord of life and of glorie we were seuered and estranged from God both in bodie and soule his verie flesh was personallie vnited and inseparablie ioined vnto God besides that himselfe was the true and euerliuing sonne of God What maruell then if sinne which should haue wrought in vs an eternall destruction both of body and soule could not farther preuaile in him but to the wounding of his flesh and shedding of his bloud for the iust and full satisfaction of all our sinnes euen in the righteous and sincere iudgement of God Though therefore THE SAME PART might and did suffer in Christ which sinned in man I meane the soule yet by no meanes could it receaue THE SAME WAGES which we should haue receiued And since hell is the greatest vengeance that God inflicteth for sinne if Christes soule were frée from anie it must néedes be cléered and acquited from that which is greatest and most repugnant to the fulnesse of grace truth and spirit that dwell in the humane soule of Christ but hereof I shall haue occasion to speake afterward againe The signes that Christ suffered the paines of hell are left and those are his agonie in the garden and his complaint on the crosse that he was forsaken Of Christs agonie since the scriptures haue nor reuealed the right cause it is cut losâ—tie to examen presumption to determine impossibilitie to conclude certainelie what was the true cause thereof Howbeit if we will néedes coniecture at causes wee must take héede that with our obscure and priuate guesses we do not contradict such plaine and euident places as testifie the perfection and coniunction of Christs humane nature with this diuine and so wrong the person of our Sauiour This rule remembred though I bee most willing to refraine the searching of that which is concealed from vs yet since they make this the most aduantage of their cause that there caÌ„not be anie other reason assigned of Christes sorrow besides his suffering the paines of hell I will let you vnderstand how manie there might be besides that which they bringâ— and that theirs of all others is least probable if not altogether intolerable I will offer you sixe causes that might be of Christs agonie euerie one of them more likelie and more godlie then this deuise of hell paines others at their leasures maie thinke on moe which I shall be content to heare Those sixe are these Christs SVBMISSION to the maiestie of God sitting in iudgement The REIECTION of the Iewes The DISPERSION of his Church The LAMENTATION of mans sinne The DEPRECATION of Gods wrath The VOLVNTARY DEDICATION of his bloud to be shed for the sinnes of the world and sanctificatioÌ„ of his person to offer his true eternal sacrifice So great is the MAIESTY OF GOD euerie where and at all times but speciallie sitting in iudgment and so farre excelling the capacitie of all his creatures that no flesh lining is able to appeare before him without feare and trembling The day of the Lord whensoeuer hee riseth to iudge is great and fearefull and who shall indure it When God gaue his lawe which was but the rule of his iudgement so terrible was the sight that Moses said I feare and tremble My flesh saith Dauid to God trembleth for feare of thee and I am afraide of thy iudgements Since then it is a point not onelie confessed but vrged by the defenders of this new deuise that Christ appeared here before the tribunall of God to submit himselfe to his fathers pleasure and the wordes of Christ in that twelfth of Iohn tend to that effect where he saith Nowe euen at hand is the iudgement of the world Now euen shortlie shall the prince of this world be cast out and if I were lift vp from the earth I will draw all vnto me whie might not the humane nature of Christ tremble before the maiestie of that iudge whose glorie the Seraphins in heauen doe not behold without yealing their faces whereby Christ teacheth vs not to presse into Gods presence whiles wee are loden with sin but in much feare and trembling since he would not appeare before God to take our sinnes on him but in this agonie The REIECTION OF THE IEWES might be another cause of his agonie He wept ouer their cittie when he beheld it and remembred the subuersion of it how woulde he then be grieued when he foresawe the finall reiection of y e whole nation and his bloud to be laid on them and their children for euer for their sakes Moses desired To bee wiped out of Gods booke and Paule could haue wished himselfe to be separated from Christ for his brethren the Israelites If the seruants of Christ had so great heauinesse and sorrow in their hearts for their kinsmen according to the flesh what agonie must it néedes bréede in their king and Messias in whome were the bowels of mercie and pittie to sée the wicked rage of the people kindling Gods fearefull vengeance against themselues and their ofspring by putting him to a most cruell and shamefull death that came to redéeme them from sin and death This cause is obserued by Ambrose Hierom Augustine and Bede Nec illud distat à vero si tristis erat pro persecutoribus neither is that dissonant from truth saith Ambrose if he were heauy in soule for his persecutors whom hee knewe should dearelie pay for their sacrilegious putting him to death Hee was not then afraide to die but hee was loath to haue them though they were euill to perish least his passion should bee their destruction which hee meant for the saluation of all Christs soule was not heauie saith Ierom and Bede for any feare of his passioÌ„ but for that most vnhappy Iudas for the scandall of all his Apostles for the reiection of the Iewes and subuersion of wretched Ierusalem And Austen If wee saie the Lorde was sorrowfull for the Iewes when his passion drewe neere where they would commit so haynous a sinne non incongruè
part which moderation I wish in you all What I reade in the word of God that I beleeue what I do not reade that I doe not beleeue In Gods causes wee maie not easily leaue Gods words and with a new kind of speach make way for a new kinde of faith We must learne from God what to beléeue and not by correcting or inuerting his words teach him how to speake Since therefore redemption and remission of sinnes are euerie where in the scriptures referred to the death and bloud of Christ I dare not so much as thinke the words of the holie ghost in one of the greatest mysteries of our christian faith to be improper or imperfect And that you may the better perceaue how plainelie and fullie this doctrine is deliuered in the propheticall apostolical scriptures I thinke it good to go forwardes with the effects of Christes crosse by which it shall appeare howe sufficient the price of our redemption is in the bloud of Christ without anie supplie of hell paines to be suffered in y e soule of Christ. The effectes of Christs crosse though I might recken manie yet to keep my selfe within some compasse I restraine to fiue chiefe branches the MERITE of his suffering which was INFINITE the MANER of his offering which was BLOVDY The POVVER of his DEATH which was mighty the COMFORT of his CROSSE which was NECESSARIE the GLORY of his RESVRRECTION which was heauenly These fiue will direct vs not onely what to beléeue but what to refuse in the person and passion of our Sauiour I will therefore take them as they lie in order The merite of Christs suffering must be simply infinite that it may worke two things for vs to wit redeeme vs from Sathan and reconcile vs vnto God cleere vs from hell and bring vs to heauen in either respect it must be infinite The wages of sinne is death both of bodie and soule héere and for euer With the Iudge of the world is no vnrighteousnesse He therefore punisheth no man without cause or aboue desert Since the reuenge of each mans sinne is eternall y t is infinite in time the waight of each mans sinne must needs be infinite as being rewarded with euerlasting death It may séeme much to carnal men that God should requite sin with euer during reuenge but if we seriouslie bethinke our selues what it is for earth and ashes to waxe proud against God after so manifold abundant blessings to cast off his yoake readily yea gréedily to prefer euerie vanitie and fansie before his heauenlie truth glory we shall presently perceiue how iust cause God hath infinitely to hate our vncleannes eternally to pursue the pride contempt rebellion of wicked and wilfull men against his diuine maiestie howsoeuer we digest it it is a thing determined with God and no doubt balāced in his vpright and sincere iudgment The soule that sinneth that soule shal die Death life are both eternall y t is infinite in length though not in weight in durance though not in degree and sence of ioy or paine Then in either respect to counteruaile our deliuerance from hell our inheritance in heauen she merit of Christs suffering must be infinite An infinite purchase cannot be made but with an infinite price For this infinite price whither shall we seeke to the paines of hell or to the powers of heauen◠y e paines of hel are neither meritorious nor infinite What thanks with God to be separated from God and the soule being alienated from God what other part of man can merite his fauor If any man fal away my soule shall haue no pleasure in him Hel paines therefore are accursed not accepted of God and hee that suffereth them is hated and no way beloued Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire As they are not meritorious no more are they infinite I meane in waight but they must euerlastingly be suffered before they can be infinite For not only diuels but men of all sorts shal suffer them who cannot endure any infinite sence of paine All creatures are finite both in force to do strength to suffer Infinit is as much as God himself hath therefore God alone is infinite So that neither hel fire is of infinite force to punish nor men nor angels of infinite strength to suffer but the vengeance of sinne continueth for euer by reason no creature is able to beare an infinite waight of punishment Since then the paines of hel haue neither worth nor waight sufficient in themselues to satisfie the anger procure the fauor of God we must séeke to heauen euen to God himselfe for the true ransome for our sinnes and redemption of our soules which we no where find but in the person of Christ Iesus who being true God tooke our nature vnto him and by the infinite price of his bloud bought vs from y e power of hel brought vs vnto God For neither y e vertues of Christs humane soule though they were many nor the sufferings of his flesh though they were painful are simply infinite til we looke to his person then shall we find that God vouchsafed with his own bloud to purchase his Church that we were reconciled to God by the death of his sonne when we were his enemies Bernarde expressing the infinite merite of Christes death and passion saith Incomprehensibilis deus voluit comprehendi summus humiliari potentissimus despici pulcherrimus deformari sapientissimus vt iumentū fieri immortalis mori vt compendio absoluam deus fieri voluit vermiculus quid excelsius deo quid inferius vermiculo The incomprehensible God woulde be comprehended the highest humbled the most mighty despised the most beautifull deformed the most wise bee like a beast the immortall would suffer death to speake all in fewe wordes God would become a Worme what is higher then God what is baser then a Worme If betwéene the Creator and the best of his creatures there be an infinite distance what thinke yee then was there betwixt the throne of God in heauen and the crosse of Christ on earth not an infinite distance and so infinite that neither men nor Angels can comprehend it The ground of our saluation then is the obedience humility and charitie of the sonne of God yeelding himselfe not onelie to serue in our stéed but to die for our sinnes For when he was equall with God in nature power and glory hee refused not to take the shape of a seruant vpon him and to humble himselfe to the death of the crosse not onelie obeying his fathers will which we had despised but abiding his hand for the chastisement of our peace The Apostle noteth these thrée vertues in the person of Christ Let the SAME AFFECTION of loue bee in you which was in Christ Iesus vvho being in the forme of God emptied and humbled himselfe and became
partes yea the chiefest partes and effectes of Gods wrath against sinne This is far from your meaning as you often protest Trulie I beléeue it charitie leades me to thinke though you be somewhat foolish in this cause that yet you are not so diuelish as to fasten these things on the sonne of God But you must also be so wise as to sée that if your antecedent be general these wil follow whether you mean them or no if your antecedent be not general but indefinite as Christ suffered the wrath of God due to sinne that is some partes and effectes of Gods wrath due to sinne you shall neuer make choise in your conclusion which parts he suffered as namelie the true paines of hel of the damned Now choose which you will either the inualiditie of your argument or the impietie of your antecedent the one will proue you to lack learning that you sée not the difference the other that you want christianity if you should not with mouth disclaim and with hart detest that horrible blasphemie You wil pretend I know your conclusion is not general no more indeed is it your words are therfore Christ suffered for vs the wrath of God but this conclusion beeing indefinite and verie doubtfull will do you no good in the fortifieng of your cause For Christ may suffer the wrath of God in his bodie yea in his soule hee maie suffer it and yet not the paines of the damned or of hell but because you make this the maine foundation of your whole matter let vs looke somewhat better into it You labour to proue by a long processe that Christ suffered the wrath of God for sinne First then what meane you by the wrath of God I hope you doe not meane anie inwarde affection or perturbation in God but as you expoâ—nde your selfe the verie effectes of his iust wrath you shoulde saie of his iustice and power punishing sinne And this warning gentle Reader if thou bee simple I must giue thee for the learned knowe it of themselues that when thou readest in the scriptures or hearest me reason of the wrath of God thou doe not imagine that God is mooued with anie inwarde mutation but the punishment ordained for sinne by the iustice of God or inflicted on vs when we haue sinned by the hand of God whatsoeuer mean it please him to vse is called the wrath God Ambrose saieth well Ira est non ei qui iudicat sed illi qui iudicatur It is no wrath to God that iudgeth but to him that is is iudged Quia culpas percutit irasci dicitur saieth Gregorie God is saide to be angrie because he punisheth our sinnes And so Austen Ira deâ—non perturbatio animi eius est sed iudicium quo irrogatur pana peccato The wrath of God is no affection of mind in him but his iudgment whereby punishment is inflicted for sinne The conclusion is nomine irae intelligitur vindicta iniquitatis by the name of Gods wrath is vnderstoode the punishment of iniquitie It is then euident that by the name of Gods wrath throughout the scriptures is vnderstoode the vengeance or punishment prepared or inflicted for the sinnes of men Nowe what particular punishmentes God hath prouided for sinne as well in this life as the next to chastise and reuenge both the bodies and soules of sinners woulde aske long time to rehearse The greatest and foarest are these iudgementes which are executed on the wicked in the worlde to come to witte reiection from the kingdome of God and condemnation to hell fire where not onelie darkenesse amazeth the eies and remembrance of sinne committed afflicteth the conscience but an intolerable flame of fire tormenteth both soule and bodie for euer These terrible iudgementes of GOD against sinne the Scriptures publish and denounce to men in this life that if the loue of heauen doe not winne them to obedience the feare of hell shoulde hold them from resisting and contemning God The greatest torment that in this life canne befall a sinner is desperation when the soule of man conuinced in her selfe by the number of her hainous ofsences loseth all hope of life to come and casteth her eies wholie on the fearefull tormentes of hell prepared for her the continuall thought and fright whereof doe so amaze and afflict the comfortlesse soule that shee sinking vnder the burden feeleth in her selfe the horrour of hell before shee come to it So that the losse of heauen and feare of hell maie torment wicked and desperate persons in this life but the execution thereof after this life shall breede an other manner of astonishment and torment then they canne yet conceaue If the thought of these iudgementes and punishmentes ordayned by Gods power and iustice for sinners so afflict men what shall the sight doe If the feare of hell bee so intolerable what shall the flame bee when therefore you saie Sir Refuter Christ suffered for vs the wrath of God wee must not content our selues with that generall worde you must tell vs in particular what partes and effectes of GODS wrath Christ endured before you canne auouch that which hee suffered to bee equall to hell and all the tormentes thereof Did hee suffer hell fire either in soule or in bodie the damned shall suffer it in both Did hee finde or feare himselfe to be excluded from the kingdome of God the damned doe see themselues shut out for euer If hee neither felt nor feared the MYST the VVORME the FIRE of hell nor so much as DOVBTED the LOSSE of Gods kingdome what tormentes equall to hell canne you name vs The wrath of God you will saie is equall to hell and all the torments thereof The wrath of God is hell and so are all the tormentes of hell yea they are the sharpest effectes of Gods wrath against sinne And therefore neuer plaie with generalities and ambiguities but expresse plainly what other effectes of Gods wrath you meane For since the losse of heauen the darkenesse worme and fire of hell and the feare of both bee the greatest and sorest iudgementes of God against sinne that are decreed by his iustice reuealed by his word and executed by his power in this life or the nexte wee plainelie and truelie saie you can name vs none other effectes of Gods wrath equall to these If then it be haynous impietie to saie Christ suffered these and none other are equall to these take backe your lauishing vntruth that Christ suffered the effects of Gods wrath equal to hel and all the tormentes thereof for my part I see neither sense nor reason in it But it shalbe soundlie and euidently prooued Will you prooue you know not what Tell first what effects of gods wrath you meane and then on with your proofes Your meaning may be such as you shall neuer prooue It may be such as we wil easely graunt For touching your words which you take for the castel of your cause Christ
and dolent and the bodie by Gods iustice must be the instrument of her paine And here marke I praie thée Christian Reader whether this one argument doe not vtterlie ouerthrow all that this idle discourser hath doone and would doe in this whole pamphlet For nothing is more proportionable to Gods iustice then to ioine them in paine that were ioyned in sinne and to retaine the same order in punishing which they kept in offending But all prouocations and pleasures of sinnes the soule â—aketh from her bodie all acts of sinne she committeth by her bodâ—e therefore the iustice of God both temporallie and eternallie punisheth the soule by the bodie that as it hath beene the Instrument of her pleasure so it shall bee of her paine And if GOD obserue this course as well in his temporall as eternall vengeance on the sinnes of men whie then shoulde not the sufferinges of Christes soule by his bodie bee truelie and properlie a satisfaction for sinne which this great Doctor a little before said made not properlie to our Redemption For thy better instruction gentle Reader and my discharge that the soule taketh her occasions to sinne vseth her delightes in sinne and perfourmeth her attemptes of sinne with and by the bodie giue mee leaue in this point to bee somewhat the longer Caro est officina spiritus qui in ea et per eam quaecunque affectauerit peragit consummat The flesh saith Cyprian is the forge of the soule which in that and by that acteth and performeth whatsoeuer it affecteth Per quinque sensus quasi per quasdam fenestras vitiorum ad animam est introitus By the fiue senses of the bodie saieth Ierome as it were by certaine windowes vices or sinnes haue their entrance into the soule Nusquam animasine carne est quamdiuest in carne NIHIL NON CVM ILLA AGIT sine qua non est siquidem in carne cum carne per carnem agitur ab anima quod agitur in corde The soule saieth Tertullian is no where without the flesh as long as it is in the flesh SHEE DOTH NOTHING VVITHOVT THAT without which shee is not Euen that which is done in the heart the soule doth in her flesh with her flesh and by her flesh Yea hee presseth it farther and saieth A deó non sola anima transigit vitam vt nec cogitatus licet solos licet non ad effectum per carnem deductos auferamus a collegio carnis Et sine opere et sine effectu cogitatus carnis est actus Negent factorum societatem cui negare non possunt cogitatorum Et si anima est quae agit impellit in omnia carnis obsequium est So farre it is that the soule alone doth perfourme this life that the VERIE THOVGHTS IN THEM SELVES neuer brought to effect we take not froÌ„ the fellowship of the flesh Yea the very thought VVITHOVT ACT VVITHOVT EFFECT IS A DEEDE of the flesh Let them now denie that to be the soules companion in works which they cannot denie to bee her companion in thoughts For though it be the soule that mooueth and leadeth to all things yet the flesh addeth her seruice And least it should seeme strange that he affirmeth he pointeth to the words of our Sauiour out of the hart come euill thoughts How trew this is that Tertullian here voucheth thou shalt soone perceiue gentle Reader if thou behould men in SLEEPE in FRENSIES in LETHARGIES in APOPLEXIES where the substance of the soule is no waie touched or decaied but onelie the Instruments of her bodie which she vseth in perceiuing remembring vnderstanding anie thing are distempered or obstructed The experience hereof is so easie and euident euen to the simplest among men that I shall néede to spend no more words to the learned Tertullians conclusion is this deum non licet aut iniustum iudiceÌ„ credi aut inertem iniustuÌ„ si sociam bonorum operum a praemiis arceat inertem si sociaÌ„ maloruÌ„ a suppliciis secernat Non sit particeps in sententia caro si non fuerit in causa Non possunt ergo separari in mercede quas opera coniung it We maie not thinke God to bee an iniurious or a negligent Iudge iniurious if he exclude the soules companion in good works from the soules reward negligent if he excuse the soules partner in euill from the soules punishments Let the flesh haue no part in the sentence if it had no part in the cause They cannot be seuered in wages that were ioyned in worke If Tertullians assumption be true that in this life the soule can neither work speake perceiue desire nor think good or euill without the Instruments of her bodie excepting alwaies Gods power to inspire what pleaseth him for hee that framed the soule can alter and chaunge it at his liking by the immediate working of his spirit if Tertullians conclusion be true that God the righteous iudge of the world in his euerlasting reward of obedience likewise in his eternall vengeance for sinne will ioine and couple both bodie and soule togither then apparentlie NO SVFFERINGS ARE SO FIT in THE PERSON OF THE REDEEMER FOR THE SATISFACTION of sinne as those VVHICH ARE COMMON TO DOTH PARTS OF MAN namely which the soule suffereth from her bodie by her bodie which ouerthroweth all the Confuters vnsalted and vnsettled discourse of the soules proper and immediate suffering in the person of Christ Iesus Doe I then denie that the soule hath anie sufferings in this life and the next which come not by the bodie By no meanes For though those conioined sufferings be most answerable to sinnes committed yet the soule hath some proper punishments in this life as sorrow and feare when the bodie hath no hurt from which Christ was not frée as appeereth by his Agonie and so in the next the soules of the wicked haue griefe and remorse besides the paine of fier The remembrance of sinne shall not a little torment the wicked but perpetuallie afflict and gnaw their consciences as a worme that neuer dieth The losse of Gods fauour and kingdome shall not a little greeue them when they sée others receiued into that eternall ioye and blisse and themselues excluded Gehenna grauius est a dei beneuolentia excidere to fall from Gods fauour saith Chrysostome is more grieuous then hell it selfe and againe Ego illius gloriae amissionem multo amarius quam ipsius gehennae supplicium esse dico Intoler abilis quidem res est gehenna quis nesciat supplicium illud horribile tamen si mille quis ponat gehennas nihil tale dicturus est quale est a beatae illius gloriae honore repelli The losse of that euerlasting glorie I saie is farre bitterer then the torments of hell it selfe Hell is an intolerable thing and an horrible punishment who knoweth it not Yet if a man would put a thousand hels