but thereby it plainly appeareth you take not the paines to reade the Fathers words in the places where they are written but rashly catch at them to serue your turne without all respect to the antecedents or consequents which would declare the writers meaning In that Chapter whence these words are taken Cyrill treateth not of the punishments which Christ suffered for our sinnes but of the passions and infirmities of our nature ALL VVHICH Christ receaued and suffered to rise in himselfe that they might be repressed by him and our nature reformed And therefore in those words Christ suffered all to free vs from all Cyrill euidently meaneth all the naturall infirmities and passions of our flesh And those are his expresse words twice or thrice in that Chapter When thou hearest saith he that Christ wept feared and sorrowed acknowledge him to be a true man and ascribe these things to the nature of man For Christ tooke a mortall bodie subiect to all the passions of our nature sinne alwaies excepted And againe How commeth it to passe that these men know not that all these things must be applied to mans nature in Christ which he truely tooke vnto him with all the passions thereof but still without sinne And the very recollection of the words which you stand on conuinceth Cyrill spake of the naturall passions and infirmities of our flesh For when he had exemplified his generall wordes Christ suffered all to free vs from all by death feare and sorrow which are naturall to our corrupt condition he concludeth it a singulas passiones carnis fuisse in Christo absque peccato commotas inuenies vt commotae vincerentur natura nostra reformaretur ad melius AND LIKEVVISE ALL THE PASSIONS or affections of our flesh shalt thou finde mooued in Christ but without sinne that being mooued they might be repressed and our nature reformed to the better What is this to hell paines which I trow are no naturall infirmities or affections in man or to the proper sufferings of the soule which you would hence establish since heere is no mention but of the naturall infirmities and affections of the flesh which Cyrill calleth the passions therof as both Diuines and Philosophers doe ' Thus I take Bernards meaning to be when he saith Christ spared not himselfe who knoweth how to spare his Your taking may soone shew you to be a wilfull mistaker but it concludeth nothing for your cause Doth Bernard say that Christ suffered hell paines and therein spared not himselfe you would faine haue him say so but he is as farre from it as you are neere it Bernard in that Chapter which you cite but neuer saw for you went no farder for all your authorities then my sermons speaketh of the sixt and seuenth time Christ shedde his blood for vs and when he commeth to the piercing of Christs hands and his feete with spikes of iron to fasten him to the crosse wondering at Christes patience and loue towards vs that endured such things for vs he saith God which either shortneth lightneth or taketh from his seruants the force of their torments did in nothing ease vnto himselfe the wine-presse of his passion he spared not himselfe that knoweth how to spare his Doth this conclude that Christ suffered the paines of hell or that he shedde his blood vnto death for vs not sparing himselfe from that or in that which he suffered though it were painfull and greeuous to him But I my selfe confesse that Christ suffered and endured all to the vttermost with exact obedience and patience Euen as Bernard fauoured your vntoward fansies and said nothing for them so doe I but doe either Bernards words or mine import that Christ suffered all which else we should haue suffered as you enterlace Cyrils words to make them sound somewhat to your purpose are you so seely that you can not or so slie that you will not see the plaine seames of humane speech If a man should saie you affirme all things boldly you prooue all things weakely you translate al thinges corruptly Doe his words imply that you translate Euclide and Aristotle that you prooue the roundnesse of the earth and the bignesse of the Sunne or that you affirme the sea burneth and the Moone melteth Is it not the vsuall course of al speech and speakers when they expresse how things are done to restraine the word all with a relation to the same person and action whereof they spake as you affirme all things which you affirme boldly you prooue all that you prooue weakely and you translate all whatsoeuer you translate corruptly Doth not the Scripture obserue the like The people said of Christ he hath done all things well Will you inferre that Christ made ships built Towers cast Lead and did whatsoeuer because he did all things well or did they intend that whatsoeuer he did he did it well The true light saith Saint Iohn lightneth euerie man that commeth into the world Where if you take all men without exception you plant a palpable error vpon Saint Iohns words if you restraine them to all that are lightned his speech is a manifest trueth in Christ and an excellent honour to Christ. So said I of Christ that he suffered all that he suffered with exact obedience and patience not expressing there what he suffered but how he suffered to wit obediently and patiently Which wordes of mine giue you no great cause of aduantage if you looke well vnto them and abuse them not after your idle maner But such poore shifts you are forced to seeke to set some colour on your cause which otherwise would bewray it selfe to want all good groundes and proofes As you deale with me so you doe with Tertullian Ambrose Ierom Cyprian and Cyrill whose words partly you mistranslate partly you misconster and build vpon them what best pleaseth your selfe without any precedence or sequence of their text Tertullian saith sic reliquit dum non parcit So God left his Sonne whiles he spared him not If this make for you why quote you not the Apostle Paul as one of your partners who spake the word before Tertullian and whom Tertullian citeth by name for that word God spared not his owne Sonne saith Paul but deliuered him for vs all This place you baulked because it expoundeth Gods not sparing his Sonne by deliuering him for God spared not his Sonne but deliuered him that is God did not spare him from deliuering and also for that it excludeth your imagination of Gods immediate hand tormenting the soule of his Sonne with the substance of hell paines For if God deliuered his Sonne for vs all he deliuered him to others and not to himselfe and consequently your dreame of Gods immediate hand inflicting hell paines on the soule of his Sonne is against the Apostles words God deliuered his Sonne Which Christ himselfe expoundeth very often in the Gospel saying The Sonne of man shal
time when he shall come to Iudge the quicke and the dead but now s Iohn 3. God sent not his Sonne to condemne the world but that the world through him might be saued t Ela. 42. A bruized Reede saith the Prophet shall he not breake and smoking flaxe shall he not quench So farre was he at this time from doing or delighting in any violence how certaine soeuer you make your selfe of his ioyfulnesse to see destruction executed on that Nation The words of Dauid that u Psal. 58. the Righteous shall retoyce when he seeth the vengeance licence no man to desire vengeance but to expect Gods time whose will we pray may be done and concerne those enemies onely that with implâ—…cable malice seeke the vtter ruine of the godly In which case the deliuerance of the faithfull being ioyned with vengeance on the wicked God will haue his me cies towards vs magnified though it be mixed with the destruction of the wicked Otherwise Christ hath commanded vs to x Matth. 5. loue our enemies to blesse them which curse vs to pray for them which persecute vs so that we may be the children of our Father which is in heauen But you haue found a Foxe or a ferne brake because it was said Let this Cup passe from me and not from them What if I answere you with Ierom Christ said not y 〈◊〉 in Mat Cap. 26. Let the cup passe from me but 〈◊〉 this cuppe passe that is of the people of the lewes which can haue no excuse of ignorâ—…nce if they killme since they haue the Law and the Prophets which daily feretell of me This Christ requesteth not as fearing to suffer but in 〈◊〉 towards the former People that he might not drinke the 〈◊〉 by them And with Ambrose z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore Christ said take this cuppe from me not because the Sonne of God seared death but for that he would not haue them though cuill to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pe pernicious to them which should be healthfull to all And with 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 â—…n 〈◊〉 tract 35. For those then whom he would not haue perish by his Passion he said Father if it be possible let this cuppe passe from me that both the world might be saued and the 〈◊〉 not perish in his Passion And with b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ca. 〈◊〉 Bede who exactly followeth Ieroms words You will reply there is no truth in them but the more you vse such answeres the more pride and lesse wit you shew to thinke that all men 〈◊〉 absurd besides your selfe when you can seant speake one word touching vour new found faith without a sensible absurditie c Defenc pag. 94. li. 31. Your next supposed cause 〈◊〉 towards men containeth three 〈◊〉 causes here First for the 〈◊〉 of the Iewes Secondly for the dispersion of his Church Thirdly his zealous griefe generally for the sins of the world All these 〈◊〉 alwaies in Christ and The second cause 〈◊〉 to Christs agonte caused no 〈◊〉 alwaies heauines in him yet no more then a godly heauenly mind could and would 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 digest and beare It is well that of your 〈◊〉 at last you see these six causes may be reuoked and referred to the two gene 〈◊〉 roots whence I said Christs agonie might proceed and so no reason but a meere desire to 〈◊〉 did lead you to demonstrate my disagreements by one two 〈◊〉 six which vpon your better aduise your selfe can reconciie within the space of a lease For as these three are contained in Christes compassion towards men or rather did procced from the astection of his loue to man so the rest are as easily reduced to Christs submission yeldâ—…d in pictie vnto God or to the same profession of charitie towards man or to both Touching the e three you grant they were alwaies in Christ â—…nd caused no doubt alwaies an heaâ—…ines in him but moderate such as a godly minde might cheerefully digest First then how come you so sodainly to fling of your former Resolution made not fifteene lines before that certainly Christ would haue greatly 〈◊〉 to see the execution of Gods deserued iustice on the Iewes would Christ both certainly and greatly haue reioiced to see the destruction of that people and citie and yet the foresight therof caused no doubt alwayes heauines in him These are not your contrarieties but concordance wherein you rightly agree with your selfe that neuer vsein your assertions to make one piece agree with an other How much Christ might grieue at those things we shall presently examine but that he grieued more at this time now in the garden for these respects then at any other time before you doe not grant because you see no reason for it Of Christs affections neither I can yeeld nor you may aske the reason they were voluntarie and rose within him when his will gaue place vnto them He saw Ierusalem often and knew of her desolation from the beginning Why wept he then but once ouer her why did he not the like for other Cities wherein the Iewes dwelt can you tell he was often tempted by the Pharisees and still saw the hardnes of their harts Why did he then but once that the Scripture reporteth behold them with d Mar. 3. anger and griefe for their obstinacie his passion he alwaies remembred and often fore told why then was he troubled with the thought thereof but once that we read Athanasius giueth this answere e Athanasius de incarnat Christi Now is my soule troubled this now was when he himselfe would Damascene f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ca 23. insisteth on the same words and maketh the rule generall that g 〈◊〉 li. 3. ca 20. 〈◊〉 affections and infirmities in Christ neuer preuented his will because nothing in him was forced but all voluntarie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. he hungrea when he would he 〈◊〉 when he would he feared when hewould and died when he would Saint Austen obserueth the same h 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 49. Turbaris tu nolens Turbatus est Christus quia 〈◊〉 Thou art troubled against thy will Christ was troubled because he would He hungred it is true but because he would he slept it is true but because he would he sorrowed it is true but because he would he died it is true but because he would In illius potestate erat sic vel sic 〈◊〉 velnen affici it was in his power to be so or so affected or not affected The reason which he giueth is sound and the Scripture on which he buildeth is plaine i Ibidem Quiâ—… enim 〈◊〉 posset nisi 〈◊〉 ipse turbare vbi summa potestas est secundum voluntâ—…tis 〈◊〉 turbatur 〈◊〉 Who could trouble him besides himselfe where 〈◊〉 power is there 〈◊〉 is troubled according to the 〈◊〉 of the will And so the Scripture noteth k Iohn 11.
apprehension with inflamed and vehement affection of prayer to direct the course and strengthen the force of all his sufferings that receauing comfort and courage from aboue he might wade through the worke of our redemption with greater assurance and confidence in the eyes of all his enemies to whom he would shew neither feare nor sorrow but silent and constant patience r Defenc. pag. 98. li. 1. If you vrge that these Fathers are so resolute for these causes as their words pretend then you your selfe abuse them more than euer I did or meane to doe where you say it is curiositie to examine presumption to determine impossibilitie to conclude as these doe what was the true cause of Christes agonie A wise answere forsooth and woorthy the vigor of your wit to say their words are so resolute that I condemne them more than you when they with all inoderation temper their speech and by the generalitie or diuersitie of occasions that might engender feare to Christ in the Garden shew they meane nothing lesse than to conclude any direct or particular cause of that agonie Ambroses words are s Ambros. in Luc. lib. 10. de tristitia dolore Christi Nec illud distat a vero Neither is that dissonant from the trueth And againe s Ambros. in Luc. lib. 10. de tristitia dolore Christi Et fortasse ideo tristis est And perhaps he was therefore sorowfull And so Augustine t August in Psal. 87. Non incongruè nos dicere aestimo I thinke we speake not without some reason The rest admonish in generall that Christ sorowed not for himselfe but for vs. Doth this conclude any speciall and certaine cause of that agonie But when you can not otherwise decline them you thinke it enough to shift them off with such a iest as this is Indeed they touch your free holde somewhat neerely when they say Christ sorowed not for any sufferings of his owne this you impugne for life and if their assertion in this be true they turne your hell paines cleane out of Christes passion For if Christ suffered as you dreame the death of the damned he had good cause to feare and grieue at that which he felt but with one consent Hilarie Ambrose Ierome and Bede reiect that as false that Christ did thus feare and grieue for any sufferings of his owne Whether therefore you or I most abuse these Fathers let the Reader iudge And howsoeuer your helpers haue somewhat haltered your headlong humours not long since as I haue sormerly shewed you flung off these Fathers in this very case as u Trea. pa. 67. fond absurd and voide of likelihood reason and sense which whether it be an abuse to so graue and godly writers I leaue the Reader to censure as he seeth cause x Defenc pag. 98. li. 6. Fourthly you alleage his inward sorow and zealous griefe for the sinnes of the world to be the maine and chiefe cause of this agonie Surely euen to rehearse these your arguments is refutation of them enough Your peâ—…uish peruerting of my reasons and clapping a The fourth cause concurring to Christs agonie conclusion vnto them against my expresse purpose and premonition is indeed as soone refuted as rehearsed but referre them to that for which I bring them and then your bragges are more than boyish I plainly professed in my Sermons that since the Scriptures expressed no particular cause of Christes agonie in the Garden it was impossible certainly to conclude any direct or determinate cause thereof What follie then is it in you to suppose that I goe about to inferre that which precisely I forwarned was impossible to be concluded Of the causes which I produced I professed no more but that they were consonant to the rules of pietie and might concurre in Christes agonie which you do grant after your nice maner by confessing these wanted not and when you haue yeelded as much as I vrged then you runne backe to your sillie shift and say they were not the maine or chiefe causes of that agonie your hell paines are left out which must haue a place as you thinke in that perplexitie of Christs in the Garden But sir first prooue your hell paines were then and there inflicted on Christs soule and then you shall haue leaue to couple that to the causes of Christs agonie Till you so doe in vaine you denie the rest for want of this It sufficeth me to shew religious and zealous respects of pietie and charitie which might mooue Christ to those affections and other proofe of voluntarie actions and inward affections can none be brought And yet you may remember sir Defensor though you dissemble it that when you trample so readily but yet so rudely on my reasons you wrong the ancient fathers whence I collected them more then you doe mee Hilarie and Ambrose doe peremptorily teach that Christs sorow in the Garden was not for himselfe nor his owne sufferings but for our sinnes and woundes And though you refute me with breathing out more absurdities then sentences in this your defence yet the sober Reader will not suffer you so soone to deface their iudgements and opinions whom I follow But we shall heare some doubtie dispute to mainetaine this matter y Defenc. pag. 98. li. 9. All these are proper parts of his holinesse and righteousnesse as I haue said but no proper parts or causes of his bloody and most dreadfull agonie that is of his sacrifice satisfying for sin Onely his paines were which then he fâ—…lt and feared All these were religious respects of feare and sorow which wanted not in Christs agonie as you grant now whether they were painfull or no a man would thinke should be no great doubt but with one that hath lost both witte and sense Saint Iohn saith z 1. Iohn 4. Feare hath painfullnesse a August de verâ—…is Domini secundum Iohannem Sermone 42. Sunt duo tortores animae timor et dolor There are two tormentors of the soule feare and sorow saith Austen And who that hath but his fiue witts doth not feele that feare and sorow are afflictions and vexations of the soule Wherfore your excluding them from the sacrifice for sinne because they are no paines is a learned peece of worke which neuer a Morter-maker in England would stumble at besides you Let shame if not sense teach you that feare and sorow are very painfull afflictions of the soule and rather comprised then exempted in Christs sufferings by that text of Scripture which you pretend and therefore necessarie respects and pertinences to the sacrifice for sin b Psal. 51. The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit saith Dauid Why then should not the affliction of Christs spirit with feare and sorow be properly a part of his sacrifice and suffering for sin They were proper parts you say of his holinesse And might they not also when they grew vehement grieuous be parts
such witlesse and senselesse fansies He proceedeth to shew my disdaine to the Fathers for insolent reiecting all their opinions touching the causes of Christs Agonie in the Garden and of his complaint on the Crosse. For answere first I desire to know whether you allow of all these causes or no you seeme to refuse theÌ„ here for herein you shewed not your own opinion but the Iudgement of the Fathers Elsewhere your selfe are resolute for some of those causes and against other some And yet before all these interpretations you say are sound stand well with the rules of Christian pietie thus variable you are in that wherin you seeme most resolute When you know what it is to be constant you shall doe well to talke of inconstancie till that time your owne doctrine will most disgrace your owne doings You catch oft at contrarieties in my writings make good but one and then prate at your pleasure Otherwise men will thinke it to be the weaknesse of your witte or stifnesse of your stomacke that can not or will not rightly conceiue that which is truely spoken Touching the cause of Christs Agonie in the Garden since the Scriptures doe not expresse it I said it was curiositie to search it presumption to determine it impossible certainely to conclude it yet for that you made this your chiefe aduantage that there could be coniectured none other cause of Christes exceeding sorrow in the Garden besides the present suffering of Hâ—…ll paines in his soule I gaue the Reader to vnderstand how many there might be besides your deâ—…ce which of all others was least tollerable or probable Now you would know whether I ALLOVV of ALL these causes or no. I haue answered you that already if you had but eares to heare it I did not acknowledge any of these to be precisely or particulaâ—…ly mentioned in the Scriptures as the right cause of that Agonie but if you would needes goe to coniecturing I said there might be conceiued so many and euery one of them more LIKLIE and godly then your supposing of Hell paines at that instant in Christs soule I persist still in the same minde what change finde you in me Else where I am resolute you say for some of these causes and against other some And yet before I said all thâ—…se interpretations are sound and stand well with the rules of Christian pictie It is more then a penance to be troubled with a trifler that hath neither eyes to see nor head to apprehend what is said When I came to consider of the generall respects in Christ whence that Agonie might arise as the persons were two God with whom and Man for whom Christ delt in that worke of our redemption so I resolued the cause of Christes Agonie could not proceede but either from his submission to God to whose will and hand he must subiect himselfe if he would ransome man or from compâ—…ssion of mans miserie for whom he was willing to lay downe his life A thiâ—…d ground of Christs feare I grant I see none For that Diuels should torment Christes soule I leaue that inuention to your deuotion But doe I determine any particular cause contrarie to my first profession when I stand resolute that from one or both of these fountaines the cause of Christs feare and sorrow must be deriued If I doe not then piper-like doe you play with â—…y variablenesse when you doe not so much as attend that I am resolute in the generall dueties of pietie and charitie which I ascribe to our Sauiour though I bee not resolute in any particular cause of his feare at that present as I at first professed I neither could nor would be by reason the Scriptures do not expressely mention any Againe what dulnesse is this to say I am resolute against sâ—…me of these causes for that I make two principall heads whereon the rest depend Can not your wisedome see that Christes SVBMISSION to the Maiestie of God sitting in iudgement and his DEPRICATION of Gods wrath proceede from his religious and humble subiection to the will and hand of God As also that his sorrow for the REIECTION of the Iewes and DISPERSION of his Church and his LAMENTATION of mans sinne grow from his compassion on mans miserie And lastly that the VOLVNTARIF DEDICATION of his blood to bee shed for the sinnes of the world and the SANCTIFICATION OF HIS PERSON to offer the true and eternall sacrifice partake with both the former respects Is it a contradiction with you to see many branches on one stemme many Springs in one well many members in one bodie And so childish you are that you takeâ—…-meale for egges and interpretations for â—…ses and then you crake of my contrarieties how much I ouer shot my selfe For where I bring diuers Expositions of Christs words on the Crosse My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee and say in the end All these interpretations are soâ—…d anâ—… stand with the rules of Christian pietie you in a dreame or drow sinesse choose which you will imagine I say ALL THESE CAVSES of Christes Agonie are sound anâ—… stand well with the rules of Christian pietie and so contradict my former resolution as if onely two were sound and not the rest where in trueth I neither auoâ—…ch the one nor the other such conflicts you make with your owne follies and get the conquest not on my Assertions but on your owne most foolish ouer-sights Yet these agree not with any circumstance of the Passion and onâ—… of them crosseth and ouerthroweth an other Take first the paines to prooue somewhat and then challenge your priuiledge to prate at your pleasure otherwise your word iâ—… no warrant for any wise man to depend on The Scriptures testifie first Christs sorow in the Garden and then his sweat like blood His sorow where he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my sâ—…le is euery way grieued or afflicted with sorrow euen vnto death His sweate after he was comforted by an Angel from heauen and fell to feruent prayer So saith Saint Luke An Angel appeared to him from heauen comforting him And being in an Agonie he prayed more earnestly and his sweate fell on the earth like drops of blood Now an Agonie doth not properly or necessarily inferre either fainting feare or deadly paine as you misconceiue but noteth a contention or intention of bodie or minde whereby wee labour to performe our desire and striue against the danger which may defeate vs as in place conuenient shall more fully appeare Where also you shall see that not feare but feruencie in all likelihood was the cause of that bloodie sweate In the meane time it is plaine that Christ professed he had sundrie causes of his sorrow in the Garden for hee sayth my soule is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on euery side oppressed with sorow And what vrged him to that agonie or vehemencie of prayer which S. Luke speaketh of after he was comforted
Our Sauiour knew no more waies when he said to Peter Flesh and blood hath not reuealed it vnto thee but my Father which is in Heauen Where men that are teachers or learners are called flesh and blood because without the Body the Soule learneth nothing in this life but what is reuealed vnto it by the spirit of God Saint Iohn knew as few That saith he which we haue seene and heard declare we vnto you that you also may haue fellowship with vs. This a man would thinke were plaine enough that all knowledge must be either naturally infused in vs as it was in Angels or collected of vs by sense and experience or reuealed to vs from God For if we be borne voide of all knowledge as the Scripture expresly testifieth we know not at first our right hand from our left then must we get it by meanes And meanes to come by the knowledge of particular and externall things what can you assigne besides the sense If therefore the Heathen saw this and you see it not you prooue your selfe to haue lesse vnderstanding then the Heathen The Soule indeede by the power of vnderstanding and reason wherewith she is endued of God doth in continuance obserue discerne and compare the agreements and contrarieties of things as also their causes and consequents and what of her selfe she can not perceaue she learneth with more ease of others who are longer and better acquainted therewith and whose phantasiue spirits are thinner and quicker to pearce into the depth of things The differences then and defects of mens wits doe cleerele witnesse that not onely the instruments of sense but the Imaginatiue spirits must concurre to attaine and encrease knowledge in this life vnlesse God inspire the Hart aboue nature which he doth when and where pleaseth him These may be the meanes of thinking and yet not the causes or occasions of mis-thinking The naturall meanes of thinking must still be the meanes of well and ill thinking they varie not howsoeuer the minde varie in her resolutions What or how manie may be the causes or occasions of ill thoughts maketh nothing to this question it sufficeth for my purpose to make the bodie liable to the punishment of euery sinne that the parts powers or spirits of the Body haue any communion with the suggesting admitting or performing of ech sinne For in all sinne not onely the Doers but the leaders directors aduisers helpers consenters allowers and reioycers are in their degree partners with the principall Yea all the instruments are iustly detested where the crime is worthily condemned But whence ill thinking commeth can you tell A man may thinke and speake of all the errors and heresies in the world and yet not sinne It is the liking and embracing of them that maketh the offence and not thinking or reasoning of them The will then causeth thoughts to be good or euill the vnderstanding doth not Now the will must haue somewhat to lead it which is either the show of truth or the loue of some other thing which doth preiudice the truth There is no truth but in the word of God which we must either heare or read before we can apprehend If we stop our eares against the word of God shall not that wilfull deafenesse of ours turne to the deserued destruction of Body and Soule If we open our eares but not our harts to the voice of God doth not the loue of some earthly good or feare of some temporall harme close our harts against the truth Both which as well loue as feare come from the bodily senses and affections and make their manifest impression on the hart leading the will to consent to their law For where all ill thoughts are against veritie charitie or temperance men are ledde from the truth by commoditie glory soueraigntie or credulitie as Austen obserueth whereto if we put ease enuie and luxurie we see the causes of all ill thoughts which haue no place in the Soule apart from the Body The proper prouocations and pleasures of sinne are often times not outward at all but the mâ—…ere peruersitie and malignitie of our euill mind is vsually the very cause of ill thoughts and ill determinations You would say some what if you could tell how Doth any thing properly prouoke it selfe Doth the fire prouoke it selfe to burne or the Sunne prouoke him selfe to shine Lamenesse maketh a creeple to halt it prouoketh him not And so doth pitch defile the hands and not prouoke them to fowlenesse The next and necessarie causes of things are called efficients and not provocations So that will you nill you prouocations are externall either to the person or to the part that is the principall or speciall Agent The Apostle teacheth you how to vse the word properly when he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prouoking one an other The very composition of the word proueth as much 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or prouocare is first to call or vrge a man to any thing before he him selfe be willing Then the naturall and inward corruption of the minde is no prouocation but the cause efâ—…cient of ill thoughts and if there be any prouocations they must be externall to the part or partie prouoked And did you know the principles of learning or grounds of nature you would soone perceaue that as well the will of man as his desire is led with respect of somewhat that is good or at least seemeth good which prouoketh and draweth both sense and will to performe her actions Now though the desire Antecedent and delight consequent be inward and inherent yet the good things which we affect and would attaine are then externall when we pursue them and when we vse them or enioy them they are but conioyned with vs in possession or opinion which contenteth both Body and Soule As you do not vnderstand what PROVOCATION meaneth so do you lesse perccaue what PLEASVRE is You mingle Soule and sense head and heeles together to make some shew of opposition but in the end you bewray your presumptuous ignorance and daube it ouer with your wonted words of PROPER MEERE which are as much to this purpose as salt to make sugar The PROPER prouocations and pleasures of sinne are often times you say not outward at all I vsed not the word outward but sayd the soule tooke from the bodie all PROVOCATIONS and PLEASVRES of sinne brought to effect and committed all ACTS of sinne by her bodie you neither marke the restraint which I made in the beginning of that section of all sinnes brought to effect neither see the words following in the same sentence which expresse as much the acts of sinne committed but rouing quite from the matter you â—…arle at my words without iudgement or memorie For as you fumble about prouocations so do you about pleasure which you would make to be meerely spirituall But notwithstanding your toying with termes that is properly PLEASVRE which the soule
and toies That I make but one cause to witte Religious feare in the 23 Page of my Sermons looke there who list he shall find you a fabler In the fift cause that might be of Christs agonie which was the deprecation of Gods wrath I yeelded to some mens speeches so farre for quietnes sake that it â—…ight be said Christ feared that is l Serm. pag. 22 li. 2â—… shunned euerlasting death and that the sight of gods wrath l Serm. pag. 21. li. 19. tempered and made ready for the finnes of men which the Scripture calleth a cupp n Pa. 22. li 35. might for a time somewhat astonish the humane nature of Christ yet so that the sight of our sinnes and the wages thereof o Pa. 23. li. 2. impressed nothing that is no feare in the soule of Christ but a religious feare to sorow for the one and pray against the other Here are expresly named religious feare sorow and zealous praier occasioned by the sight of the cuppe of Gods wrath prepared for our sinnes How then doth this exclude the rest of the causes which are there precedent or consequent or how come you to cast away Christes sorow for sinne and praier against the desert of our euill deedes whereof the first rose from the submission that Christ made vnto Gods wrath prouoked and the second from the compassion that Christ had towards men endangered and to leaue but one where I name three Are you so well skilled in the Scriptures that you doe not know a Religious feare of God compriseth the whole seruice of God and therefore might much more containe the holines of Christs affections when he submitted himselfe to the will and hand of God for our sakes What rudenes then or rashnes or both is this when I note diuers partes or effects of one thing or vse diuers words to describe one and the same matter for you to quote out contrarieties by Arithmetick because the wordes be different and neuer to weigh the sense in which they accord So trifle you with the two generall causes as if they could not containe the six speciall that I say might be of Christs agonie when yet those six are but remembrances of some respects that Christ might haue in his feare and sorow and those two comprehend all six as parts or consequents of Christs submission to God and compassion on men Neither doe I pretend or professe that euery of these six was the whole and entire cause of his agony It is your dottage so to dreame and no piece of my mind These six and many moe reasons and occasions Christe might haue at that time to feare and sorow wherin I doe not determine which was the full and true cause of that agonie but how many respects might lead him to feare and sorrow at that present which I doe not conclude as certaine but propose as possible and farre more probable then your reall paines of the damned supposed at that instant actually to torment the soule of Christ. Leaue therefore your one two and six to Tilers to tell their pinnes or Wittalls to number their Geese and shew that either I determine any precise or particuler cause ef Christs agonie thereby to deserue mine owne censure as you doe or that those six which I mention may not be referred to those two generalls which I note that so at least you may make me disagree with my selfe p Defenc pag. 92. li. 32. Last of all this your resolution making Christs piety and pittie to be the onely proper and maine cause of all his wofull passion is vtterly false and vntrew hauing no ground but meere coniectures Your memorie is as brickle as your reason is feeble Those six causes of Christes agonie and not of all his wofull passion as you lightly leape you know not whither I did no otherwise propose then that they q Serm. pag. 17. li. 28. 29. might be euery one of them more likely and more godly then your deuice of hell paines As for the onlie cause of that agonie I medled with no such matter my words are euideâ—…t to the contrarie r Ibid. li. 30. Others at their leasures may thinke on more which I shal be content to hâ—…are but that piety or charity or both must be the Rootes of Christs feare and sorow and not infidelitie and distrust of Gods fauour towards his person or function nor the Reall and inherent sense of Hell paines common to him with the damned as you doe peremptorilie but pestilently dreame in that I said I was resolute and so I yet remaine And you shall sooner proue your selfe to be the man in the Moone then Christes soule to haue beene tormented with any reall paines inflicted on him by the immediate hand of God which position of yours hath impietie for the ground and follie for the proofe howsoeuer you thinck to face it out with your insolent verbositie s Defenc pag. 92. li. 37. Your first cause is submission to the maiestie of God-sitting in iudgment when Christ was thus astonished and agonized therewith I pray thee Christian Reader to remember in all these causes what was my purpose and promise euen now specified not to conclude The first cause concurring to Christs agoniâ—… these as necessarie and entire causes of Christes agonie but to shew them possible and more likely and Godlie then his Pagent of Hell paines inflicted on the soule of Christ. The reason that led me to set downe this as one of the causes that MIGHT BE of Christes agonie for so I alwaies meane though perhaps in course of speach I alwaies adde not so much were the wordes of our Sauiour t Iohn 1â—… Now is the Iudgment of this worlde now shall the Prince of this world be cast out And I if I were lifte vp from the earth will draw all men vnto me This said hee signifiyng what death he should die The iudgment which here our Sauiour noteth was not at that instant when he spake these words but at an houre to come when Satan the Prince of this worlde should be u Iohn 16. iudged that is eiected and cast out from x Reuel 12. accusing the Saints and the x Reuel 12. saluation of God and power of his Christ established in heauen So much the words of Christ imported when he said Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out and not now alreadie is he cast out This Iudgment then was Redemptorie not condemnatoriâ—… wherein the sonne of God in our flesh was admitted to make satisfaction for the sinnes of all that should beleeue in him and to pay the price that should appease the iustice of God prouoked by our misdeeds and so to reconcile vs to the fauour of God by the bloud of his Crosse that there might be no more place for Satan to accuse vs any longer y Reuel 12. night and day before God as otherwise he did The issue
passage The premisses be as good as the conclusion For they haue neither any certainety nor veritie in them Christs agonies and complaint belonged directly you say to his Passion and Sacrifice Belonged what is that as an Antecedent Adiunct or Consequent as a necessary or a voluntarie pertinent It will be long before you draw any good conclusion from this belonging Againe Christs agony if you take it for all that Christ did or suffered in the Garden how diuers and how different parts had it as inward affections of feare and sorrow desire and zeale humble often and intentiue prayer besides the comfort of an Angell and sweate like blood and sundry other things which I haue mentioned before all these belonged directly to Christs action in the Garden Wherefore hereafter afore you professe such cleerenesse in your reasons either vsesuch words as the Scripture doth or foretell vs how farre you extend and what you intend by the words which you bring Your minor is worse where you say but Christs whole Sacrifice consisted in afflictions For where is the puritie of the Sacrifice which must be vnspotted the dignitie which must counteruaile the offence the voluntarie presenting thereof to God that it might be accepted as meritorious and not inflicted as ignominious yea where is the Sanctification of this Sacrifice which required not onely prayer but pietie and charitie as also humilitie to commend it to God All these things were in Christs Sacrifice as chiefe and maine respects which you haue blotted out with expressely falsifying the Scriptures to make roome onely for hell paines For though we haue no doubt but God in his secret wisedome and iustice did d Hebr. 2. consecrate the prince of our saluation through afflictions yet the Scripture sayth not wholy or onely through afflictions as if neither sanctitie nor submission nor pietie nor pitie nor obedience nor willingnesse nor any thing else were requisite but only to suffer affliction The Scripture fairely intendeth that God who had tried the obedience of his Sonne in all kind of holinesse and righteousnesse would now trie him by affliction that the perfection of his graces and gifts might be sacred and shewed to the vttermost in these things wherein it is hardest for the nature of man quietly and willingly to endure the hand of God Therefore God would also consecrate the prince of our saluation by affliction but not onely by that as if nothing else were needefull in the author of our saluation but onely affliction which assertion hath in it an heape of huge absurdities and impieties This is your drawing of expresse Scriptures to serue your vnlearned and vnsetled fansies that where you would professe to be strongest there euery child may perceiue you to be weakest e Defenc. pag. 115. li. 11. If you say these were afflictions in him I answere they properly belonged to his holinesse as parts thereof and were not immediatly directly nor properly in him as the wages and price of sinne You be soone wearie of your proofes that you since come to your answeres and there in steede of trueth you runne for refuge to your wonted termes of immediately directly and properly as the wages and price of sinne But leaue your termes for another time and shew vs some proofe besides your owne preface that either the sacrifice for sinne might haue nothing in it but onely afflictions or that the religious feare of Gods power and wrath against sinne and hartie sorrow for displeasing God with our sinnes are no afflictions or no necessarie parts of Christs sacrifice for sinne For if you faile in those your great promises of cleere cases expresse Scriptures are idle and emptie florishes Your replying that these properly belonged to his holinesse as parts thereof is meere trifling For Christs affections and submission in all his sufferings were parts of his holinesse neither could any paines make any impressions on his soule were they neuer so grieuous which were not also religious And so much the very words which you bring in fauour of your cause confirme For God did consecrate him through afflictions to be the prince of our saluation What is consecration by God but holinesse deriued from God and accepted of God if then Christ were consecrated by his asflictions they wrought no impressions nor afâ—…ections in his soule but such as were SACRED and religious Yf you doubt whether the parts of holinesse may be painefull and greeuous vnto the soule of man looke either on repentance compassion zeale or charity in vs and see whether as well in our owne causes as in other mens they may not be painefull and greeuous to the mind euen when they be also faithfull religious Repentance doth or should worke in vs an inward earnest and harty sorrow that we haue displeased and prouoked God with our sinnes I aske whether penitent sorow be not painfull because it is religious and faithfull Were it not painfull it were no sorow much lesse repentance or an acceptable sacrifice to God f Psal. 51. A troubled spirit is a sacrifice to God a broken hart thou God wilt not despise When we do voluntarily afflict our owne soules because we haue displeased him he is pleased in mercy g 1. Corin. 11. vers 31. not to iudge vs since we iudge our selues Saint Iames saith h Iam. 4. v. 9. Clense your hands ye sinners and purge your harts ye wauering minds be afflicted inwardly in soule and sorow and weepe he meaneth in respect of their continuall and manifold sinnes Is this asfliction and sorow not greeuous to men because it is religious It is no punishment of sinne you will say Saint Austen saith it is whose iudgement I farre preferre before yours k Psal. 90. Iniquitas i August in Psalm 58. omnis 〈◊〉 magnaue sit puniatur necesse est aut ab ipso homine poenitente aut a Deo â—…indicante Nam quem poenitet panit seipsum Prorsus aut 〈◊〉 aut 〈◊〉 Vis non puniat puni tu All iniquity be it little or great of necessity must be punished either by man repenting or by God reuenging For he that repenteth punisheth himselfe Certainly then either thou must punish it or God will punish it Wilt thou not haue him to punish punish it thy selfe Then in vs sorow for sinne is a voluntary but a holy punishment of sinne and is in all the godly both grieuous and religious and the more grieuous the more religious Since then voluntary sorow for sinne committed which is repentance is an higher and acceptabler sacrifice to God then vengeance shall we thinke that our Sauiour who was to yeeld God his due for vs in all things agreeable to his person Inward and voluntarie sorrow of the soule is a sacrifice to God did omit this excellent sacrifice of inward and infinite sorow for that our sinnes so much displeaseth the holinâ—…sse of God and that it was not grieuous to him because it was religious
questioned which you say was without any presence of his humane soule and consequently must be referred to his diuine nature I aâ—…irme the contrarie that this exaltation to be Lord ouer heauen earth and hell pertained not to Christes Deitie which neuer wanted that Soueraintie but to his manhood which was obedient vnto death and was therefore aduanced to this hight And since this conquest ouer hell was reall in proofe not verball in claime speciall to Christes person not generall to all his members and performed after Christes death not by Christes diuine but by his humane nature this must needs be referred to Christes soule which might descend to hell and must before it could shew it selfe vanquisher of hell and not to his bodie which lay dead in the graue and could neither ascend nor descend till it was restored to life You make Christ Lord ouer hell because he kept himselfe from thence but so were all the faithfull whose soules were not inclosed in hell whom yet the Scriptures make not Lords ouer death and hell but deliuered from both There must be a conquest peculiar to Christ whereby he did take all power from them and reserued it to himselfe and rose from death as hauing the keyes of both The particular manner whereof in time and other such circumstances though the Scriptures do not expresse yet must not the general be doubted because the Scriptures witnesse that Christs soule was not left nor for saken in hell of Gods diuine power and presence but thence returned as conquerer of all Satans power and Dominion This the Church of Christ hath alwayes professed and this may the godly safely beleâ—…ue notwithstanding M. Broughtonsbedlom proclamation that it is the generall corruption of religion Scripture and all learning Our fourth reason There is altogether as great reason and as vrgent cause that Christ whole man both soule and bodie should be present in hell to free vs thence wholy that is our soules and bodies as there is that his soule must be there present to free thence our soules Heere I wish you would answere my proposition without skoffes and taunts and â—…autie disdaine as your manner is You cannot mocke and that is great pitie When your propositions want not only proofe and trueth but learning and vnderstanding shall I say they be sage wise Christian resolutions your deuices I call dreames your contradictions I call contrarieties your neglect of all Councels and Fathers I call presumption and your shifting and outfacing affirming that which is false and dâ—…nying that which is true I call vnshamefastnesse if not impudencie What other names should I giue them I professe I cannot flatter you in your fansies neither see I any cause why you regarding no man besides your selfe should thinke your selfe fit to be regarded with the disgrace of all auncients and others Where the matter is not meet to be reiected with disdaine I vse it not and where it is why should I not Yet now you would haue a direct and faire answere to your proposition though you little deserue it you shall This which you mention to wit our deliuerance from hell was not the onely cause of Christs descent thither his owne honour and right that suffered shame and wrong at Satans hand on the crosse was the chieâ—…e cause of his descent that after death he might shew himselfe in his manhood the conquerer and destroier of Satans power This you cleane leaue out of your proposition because you would be sure to bring nothing that should be sound and sufficient Againe your proposition as it standeth hath no strength in it besides your owne imagination For hell once subdued and conquered by Christ needeth not the second time to be conquered Since then till the day of iudgement hell hath no more but the soules of the wicked some few excepted who descended aliue to hell what needed more then the soule of Christ to conquer hell Thirdly sâ—…ing the body is cast into hell to increase the paines of the soule the soule being acquited and freed from hell there is no cause the body should goe thither And so in respect aswell of Gods ordinance till the day of doome as of the soules preeminence in and ouer the body the soule of Christ after death might iustly discharge our bodies and soules from all the power and claime that Satan had against vs. Lastly the proportion which Fulgentius Athanasius and others mention as deriued from the Scriptures that as the two parts of man after death were for sinne appointed to two seuerall places his soule to hell and his body to the graue so the Redeemer did â—…etch man backe againe from those two places of condemnation with the presence of his soule subduing hell and of his body resisting corruption this pâ—…oportion I say gâ—…ounded on the Scriptures is more then you can any way confute or open your mouth against with any trueth You aske why this going to hell by our Sauiour was not rather afâ—…er his resurrection when both paâ—…ts were ioined together First because by death which is the separating of the soule from the body Christ was to destroy both death and hell Next he was to rise conquerer of them both and not after his resurrection which was a conquest of both to reconquer them againe This therefore is an vnwise demand and sheweth that you doe not vnderstand what belongeth to Christs death or resurrection who was to rise the full conquerer and Lord of all his enemies in his owne person and not aâ—…ter his resurrection to make a new conquest ouer them And therefore your heaping of seuenteen places of Scripture in the margine of your booke to shew that Christ died and rose againe is to let men see that you haue emptied your note Booke and there find that Christ did rise from the dead To which if you will adde which is the true intent of all those places that Christ was to rise a perfect conquerer of death and hell you shall make so many proofes that Christ conquered both before and with his resurrection and by no meanes after it For his resurrection was manifest proofe that neither his soule was forsaken in hel nor his flesh left to see corruption in the graue and therefore both hell and death were perfectly subdued when he ioined againe his soule to his body and aduanced them both to an immortall and celestiall life Considering then whence the parts of Christs manhood were taken when he rose from the dead to wit his soule from hâ—…ll where it was not forsaken and his body from the graue where it was not corrupted you shall easily see if you doe not wilfully shut your eies that the power and force of Christs resurrection beganne with the subduing of hell by his soule and ouermastering putrifaction by his body Against whose soule and body since neither destruction nor corruption could preuaile it was not possible but he should rise vanquisher and Lord
Satans kingdome at his pleasure Now had not those Infernall powers been subiected to the Soule of Christ after death how should it haue appeared that his manhood not his godhead had the conquest ouer Satans strongest holds and that the keves of death and hell were resigned vnto him for since the Scripture beareth witnesse that his Soule was not for saken in hell that is not there left destitute of his diuine power glory what resistance could be made that he should not returne thence the Lord and Ruler of all his enemies whereof hell and Satan were the chiefest His godhead then was the giuer but his manhoode was the receauer of this power and preâ—…minence ouer hell Satan that they for euer should stoupe to him and see both what wrong they did him and what vengeance was heaped on them as also how righteous mans redemption was by the Crosse and death of the Sonne of God Lastly why did not the presence of his flesh in the graue keepe ours that it should not come there or at least that it should neuer putrifie nor rot as his flesh did not Euen because such was Gods will it should not God by his sentence pronounced on Adam and his ofspring adiudged them to returne to dust from which Christ shall raise them at the last day and not before And from dust to restore them sheweth greater power in Christ then to preserue them from dust This therefore verifieth the iustice and magnifieth the power of God and for you to aske why it might not be aswell otherwise as so is to enter more saucely then wisely into those things which you should religiously and faithfully beleeue And where you say all these sequels are as good and as liâ—…ly as my assertion you shew your accustomed boldnesse if not haughtinesse that condemne so many learned and auncient fathers for plaine fooles in not seeing what â—…urd consequences depended on their assertion How beit in the midst of your pride you shew little wit that all this while you can light on none other reason of Christes descent to hell but onely this that we should neuer come there This indeed was one of the causes euen to secure vs by his conquest that hee hath the keyes of death and hell and therefore we shall not need to feare either since both are wholy subiected and submitted to his power though he stay the time prefixed by his father when we shall be partakers of his victorie ouer death at the end of the world as we are ouer hell at our departing hence assuring vs in this life by faith in him that we neede not feare either death or hell both which he hath conquered I made this argument in my former Treatise that Christes descending into hell if euer he did so could not be iudged any part of his exaltation or glorification To which your reply is I know not whether more strange or skornefull But you resolue that these words hee descended to hell importeth his exaltation and triumph This argument was drawen from your imagination taking vpon you to dispose of the parts of the Creede as best pleased you which because I reiected as wanting all warrant besides your owne note booke you interpret it to be a strange and skornefull answere Howbeit there is no strangenesse in mine answere but to him that neuer peeped farder then in his owne shell The Fathers with one consent referre that clause to Christs Conquest ouer hell Christ had power saith Athanasius in the graue to shew incorruption and in his descent to Hades hell to dissolue death and to proclaime to all resurrection Cyprian When in Christs presence hell being broken open captiuitie was captiuated his conquering soule presented to the sight of his Father returned to her bodie without delay Epiphanius Christ was crucified buried he descended to hell in his Deitie and his soule he tooke captiuitie captiue and rose the third day with his holy bodie That he was free among the dead signifieth hell had no power ouer him but that of his owne accord he descended to heli with his soule because it was impossible he should be held of it So Austen Reddunt Inferna victorem Hell restored him a conquerer and whiles his bodie lay in the graue his soule triumphed ouer hell The Councels prouinciall and generall do the like Christ descended to hell deuicto mortis imperio and subduing the kingdome of death rose the third day Euen as the generall Councels of Ephesus and Constantinople say Yea the later writers as Innocentius Durandus and others ioyne this clause with Christs resurrection and make them both but one Article of our faith as descendit ad inferna tertia die resurrexit he descended to hell and rose the third day they set for the fift Article of the Creede euen as that auncient writer among Saint Austens workes did before them So that neither Elder nor later writers ioyne with you in this conceit of yours that Christes descent to hell was the lowest part of his humiliation they directly professe it to be the first part of his exaltation and a preamble to his resurrection And where you thinke it much that his descending should belong to his exaltation not the place but the purpose of his descent maketh that alteration The Scripture saith The Lord himselfe shall descend from heauen with a shoute and with the trumpet of God when he shall come to iudge the quicke and dead and yet that descent shall be the greatest part of his glorie You skoffe at me for the like as if I had said his descending was ascending and heauen was Hell But herein you affirmevntruely First I say though his soule leauing his bodie ascended yet this is not meant by that phrase he descended to Hades Secondly I neuer sayd that Hades signified heauen although some in Hades are in heauen Thirdly much lesse did I euer say that hell is heauen The interpretation which you made of the Article Christ descended to hell I sayd had none other matter of faith in it except you thought the Church in her Creede went to varying of phrases but that Christs soule ascended to heauen For where Hades in the Creede must signifie not a priuation nor a generall and indefinite condition as if Christ went some whither yet no man knew whither but a determined place whither Christs soule after death repaired that place of force must be heauen or hell And since by no meanes you will haue Christs soule descend to hell as the whole Church hath hitherto receaued and beleeued you must acknowledge the meaning of that Article to be that Christs soule ascended to heauen and so whether you will or no if that be the effect and intent of those wordes in the Creede descending must be taken for ascending and hell for heauen This is not meant you say by that phrase It is one of
Whereupon Pilat maruailed that Christ was so soone dead And the Lord himselfe said None taketh my soule from me but I lay it downe of my selfe I haue power to lay it downe and power to take it againe To which it pertaineth that is written he bowing downe his head gaue vp his spirit for other men first dye and then their heads hang but Christ first laid downe his head and then voluntarily rendered his soule to his Father Many moe might be brought of all ages and places confessing the same but if these suffice not what may be enough I doe not know To decline the Scriptures and Fathers that make against him the Discourser hath deuised two shifts very like the rest of of his tenents that is void of all truth and iudgement I deny not saith he but Christ might shew some strange vnusuall thing apparantly to the beholders in vttering his last voice which might very much mooue the beholders and hâ—…arers Adde hereunto that experience sheweth as Phisitians say how some diseases in the body bring death presently after most strong and violent crying Namely in some excessiue torments as of the stone Things reported and expressed in the Scriptures touching the strange and wonderfull manner of Christs death you deny and dreame of things there no way mentioned to coulour your matter and cosin your Reader That Christ did render his soule into his Fathers hands when as yet neither speech sense memory nor motion began to faile is diligently obserued by the Euangelists and was greatly marueyled at by the Centurion which saw the manner of his death As also that he breathed out his soule of his owne accord when he had spoken those words without any former or other degrees or pangs of death appearing in him is likewise witnessed by the Scriptures and constantly auouched by all the Fathers Saint Luke saith and speaking these words he breat hed out his soule Saint Mathew and crying with a loud voice he dismissed his spirit Saint Marke and sending a strong voice from him he blew out his Soule This did he of his owne accord and power None taking his soule from him as in death they doe ours but declaring himselfe by laying of his soule when he would and as he would to be Lord and master of life and death This is fit for all Christians to confesse least they dishonor the death of Christ by depriuing his person of that power and glory which he openly shewed in the eyes eares of all his persecutors This you shift of and instced thereof imagine some strange and VNVSVALI accident in the manner of Christs death which neither the Scriptures report nor you can expresse wherein you shew your selfe forward to inuent what is not written and backward to beleeue what is written which is the trade of such men as meane to make a shipwracke of their faith That a man may dye crying as Christ did you haue found at length if not from Diuines at least from Phisitians for I perccaue you haue sought all sorts of helps both farre and neere to vphold your fansies Pâ—…rchaunce Phisitians may tell you when a painefull disease possesseth the parts which are no fountaines of life or sense a man may cry till sense and strength begin to faile and so hasten his death by the violent spending of his spirits but that a man may by any course of nature retaine perfect memorie sense motion and speach to the very act of breathing out his soule I assure my selfe no wise Phisitian will affirme And if any more humorous then learned will wade so farre without his Art he must vnderstand that his word may not ouersway the Rules of Diuinitie and Principles of nature For what are the powers and faculties whereby the soule is conioyned with the body but life sense and motion so long then as they last the soule by nature neither doth nor can forsake the body But when sense and motion first outward and then inward are oppressed and ouerwhelmed then life also perisheth and the soule may no longer abide in her body the vnion by which she was fastened vnto it being wholy dissolued Wherefore death which is the priuation of life by Gods ordinance for the punishment of sinne by degrees surpriseth and in the end quencheth all sense and motion and so forceth the soule to forsake her seate which by Gods appointment is violently parted from hir body whether she will or no but neuer till the effects oflife which are sense and motion be first decayed and abolished A sowne is the suddainest ouerwhelming of the powers of life which any natural experience doth teach vs and yet therewith though outward sense and motion doe faile at an instant and the inward be very weake and almost insensible the soule doth not presently depart but stayeth a time till all sense and motion without and within except the partie be recouered be vtterly extinguished Wherefore in all men by necessitie of nature the powers and parts of life decav in some sooner in some later before they die and therefore in Christ on the Crosse it was MIRACVLOVS and aboue nature that hauing full perfect outward and inward sense speech and motion he did in a moment when he would and as he would render his soule into the hands of his Father without any farder decayes or other degrees of death precedent then the very act of breathing out his soule which left his body presently and perfectly dead Thou hast gentle Reader the causes and prooses that mooued me to obserue the manâ—…r of Christes death to bee different from ours which whether they be consonant to the Scriptures and rightly conceiued by those learned and ancient Fathers which I haue named vnto thee I leaue to thy discrecte iudgement assuring thee there is nothing to hinder the maine consent of so many old and new writers in a matter of so great consequence but onely the headdinesse of this discourser who vpon a bare pretence of one peece of Scripture not well vnderstood and worse applied thinketh he may worke wonders and conclude all these graue and sound Expositours to be so ignorant of the sense of that place and so vnable to reach to the depth of those words Christ was LIKE VS IN ALL things that with one accord they would affirme a sine fable a Paradoxe in Nature and contrarie to Scripture Howbeit it is no newes with this man to defend that Christ was distempered ouerwhelmed and all confounded both in all the powers of his soule and senses of his body He boldly auoucheth it was so with Christ before his death in the Garden and on the Crosse and therefore hee presumeth it might much more befall him at his death But let him keepe these secrets to himselfe I doubt not Christian Reader but thou wilt be well aduised before thou put the Sauiour of the world and the Sonne of God out of his wits or senses to make way for