sense the Article which is here inserted should be left out and it should have been barely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Learned Hammond sets it down in his Annotations being Conscious as it were that it should be so 4. Let us pass to another Reading of the words and it shall be still of Those who take Baptizing here in the Sacramentalsense and hold that the baptized for the dead were those persons who had That Sacrament administred to them when they were close upon the confines of death and just expiring their last This Exposition is abetted by Calvin The baptized for the dead saith he are they who are baptized when they are Dying when they are given over and look'd upon as dead And so the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as the Latin pro as when they say habere pro derelieto Other Learned Writers also take This to be the sense of the Apostle's words but it came first from Epiphanius in his Book against Hereticks who acquaints us that when it so chanced that the Catachumeni or New Comers to Christianity were overtaken with some Mortal distemper and there was an utter Despair of their Living till they could be brought to the Sacred Font they used to be baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they lay in their Beds and from that usage of theirs the Clinici or Bed-ridden took their Name For you must know that it was usuall with those that were converted to Christianity to defer their Baptism Perhaps say some at first it proceeded from fear and cowardize which made them unwilling to hazard themselves by the open profession of their Religion and so they put off their admission into the Church as long as they could but when they were arrested by Grievous Sickness and confined to their Beds they passionately begged to be baptized before they left the world This was one sort of Clinicks But there was a second sert who deferred their Baptism on other accounts These were no New Converts but such as had imbraced Christianity a considerable time yet they purposely deferred their Baptism on one pretended ground or other Thus Constantine the Great was not baptized till the sixty fifth year of his age which was the one and thirtieth year of his Empire and he declared himself as Eusebius testifies that he delay'd his Baptism because he intended to be Baptized in the River Iordan the place which was so famous for the fiâ—st Baptizing and where our Saviour himself was baptized â—ut he was hindred from going thither though I see no Cause of that hindrance in so many years and being Aged he fell sick and was Baptized in the City of Nicomedia where he then was by Eusebius Bishop either at that time or formerly of that place and he died in the very same year he was Baptized I know this is Contradicted and it is said he was not baptized in the East but in the West not by a Greek Bishop but a Roman one This was Miltiades say some others stiffly maintain that it was Sylvester and this they have fâ—om one of the Roman Bishops who wrote Sylvesters Life and asserts that He baptized Constantine telling us withall that this Emperour among other Admirable Ornaments and Utensils kept in his Palace the Font wherein he was baptized and desâ—ribes the Make and Costliness of it It seems it is since translated or thought to be translated to Rome and there is kept as a Choice Memoâ—ial And as for the Occasion of Constantine's being Baptized they tell us it was This he being guilty of his son Crispus's bloud and other unnatural murders was struck by God with Leprosie which Affected him so much that he applied himself to the Bishop and shew'd himself Sorrowful for the fact and to give an evidence of his Repentance he desired to receive Baptism Then by the â—ishops Prayers and this Holy Laver he was cured of his Noisome Distemper This was in the eighteenth year of his reign A. D. 324. and is mentioned by Zosimus and Baronius Yet Cedrenus and others say he was baptized at Rome by this Sylvester some years before viz. in the seventh year of his reign But Eusebius the famous Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine who writ the Life of Constantine saith not a word of all this but tells us that he was baptized not at Rome but at Nicomedia and that many years after the Nicene Council in the close of his life the last year of his reign five years after Sylvester was dead by Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia and this is testified and confirmed by S t Ierom S t Ambrose Socrates Sozomen Theodoret and others and seems to be the True Account of the Emperours Baptism To hasten then out of this Digression this Example of Constantine's deferring his Baptism was follow'd by several other succeeding Emperours Thus his son Constantius was baptized at the point of Death Theodosius the Great falling sick was thereupon baptized and Recovered upon it but he had deferr'd his Baptism longer if his sickness had not hastned it The next Theodosius was not baptized till he was very old Ecclesiastical History acquaints us also that the Emperour Valentiniâ—n put off his Baptism that he might receive that Sacrament from S t Ambrose but he was prevented by death We read the same of some of the most Eminent Fathers of the Church S t Ierom and S t Ambrose were not baptized till they were thirty years of age although their Parents were Christians Augustin was a Manichean till he was one and thirty years old and then and not before he was baptized by the foresaid S t Ambrose the famous Bishop of Milan Thus it was also in the Greek Church some of the most Eminent persons besides the Emperours before spoken of deferr'd their Baptism till they came to some ripeness of years Thus Chrysostom though born of and bred up under a Christian Mother and Gregory Nazianzen born of Christian Parents were not baptized till they arrived to be Men. Nectarius Archbishop of Constantinople entered into Episcopal Orders before he was baptized Now there are Different yea Contrary Reasons alledged for this practise some did purposely put off their Baptism till death approached that they might be the more at liberty to indulge their follies and vices for when one of the Catechumeni Committed a fault they used to excuse his failing by alledging This in his favour that he was not yet Baptized They did it also that they might not sin after the celebrating the Sacrament of Baptisme for S Cyprian tells us they had This fond and groundless notion that there was no Pardon for those that relapsed into sin after Baptisme This arose from the mistaking of That place Heb. 6. 4 5. which the Novatians very warmly insisted upon and would by no means Absolve those that lapsed after Baptism But the Orthodox Fathers were of another mind and sharply reproved
yearly Baptize themselves in Rivers and Lakes on Epiphany day And I could add from a Late Author that the Bishops in Muscovy at this day consecrate the Rivers on the Epiphany every year But what is all this to the purpose Is here any Baptizing for the benefit of the dead No assuredly I am ready to grant also that Baptizing of the dead was used heretofore by some Christians This is as certain as that it was usualâ— to give the Other Sacrament to the dead which both appear to have been Practised from the Sixth Canon of the 3 d Council of Carthage and the 83 of the Council of Trullo in which you find a Prohibition against that administring the Eucharist and Baptism to the bodies of the deceased And the above named Canonists in their Comments on the 18 th Canon of Carthage acquaint us with the Ground of this Baptizing the dead and likewise of the Baptizing the living in the room of the dead namely upon the Misunderstanding these words of the Apostle What shall they do that are baptized for the dead The Iews it seems had the like Superstitious opinion and practice as to Circumcision for Buxtorf acquaints us that the Infant that died before it was eight days old was Circumcised in the Burying-place over the grave And that is yet more Fond which I have read of a people among the Tartars who had so great an opinion of Matrimony that if their sons and daughters died before Age they solemnized a Marriage between the parties after death Such a piece of Folly was the Baptizing of the dead which was practised we grant in some Ages after the Apostles and Those Learned Lawyers think it was sounded on the Text. Yet any Unpâ—ejudiced man may see that there is not the least foundation in the words for such a Practise for it is impossible to make These two one Baptizing the dead or baptizing persons when they are dead and being Baptized for the Benefit of the dead 8. There is another Opinion which may be referred to This First Rank of Interpreters and that is that the Apostle speaks here of the Custom received in the Church of giving Names in Baptism in memory of the dead This saith Hâ—insiâ—s who is the only Expositor that goes this way was in use among the Old Christians and thence the Nominalia were instituted and so lemnly observed by them which were Festival days kept by the Christians yearly in remembrance of the Name given them in Baptism These Nominalia as Tertullian calls them or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Gregory Nazianzen stiles them were first derived from the Iews in Circumcision at which time the Infants had the Names given them of their Parents or Nearâ—st Kindred and Friends deceased which is conâ—â—â—ed in the Evangelical History by that dispute which was about the Nâ—ming of Sâ— Iohn the Baptist And this usage prevailed in the Christian Church afterwards and they were wont to give their Children the Names of their Kindred who had excell'd an vertue for These were thought to inspite them by theâ— Worthy Examples And by this means also the Names of their departed friends were Recorded and their Memories preserved and they seem'd to Survive in those that bore their Names These were said to be Baptized for the dead i. e. saith that Learned Critick in gratiam memoriam mortuorum They might justly be said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to raise up the Name of the dead as those were said to do among the Iews who being next of kin married the widow of the deceased The Apostle then is thought by Him to refer to That giving of the Names of the dead to those that were Baptized because That was in Memory and Honour of the expired friends in hope of their Resurrection and in belief of Eternity for though they were Dead yet they really Lived in another world Thus therefore the Argument is supposed to run Why are those Names of departed Parents and Friends given to the Baptized Relations if those persons are not at all in being To what purpose were this if the Deceased utterly perished and after death were never to rise again The Resurrection supposeth the Souls Immortality and so believing This we cannot question the Other The persons wearing the Names of those that are dead do hereby tell the world that they believe their Pious Parents and Friends are still in being and at the last day shall rise again What shall they do how fondly do they act who are thus baptized themselves or baptize others in Memory of the Dead if they believe not the Resurrection else why do they consider the Deceased as yet Living when they give or bear the Names of those persons The Answer to all this in short is 1. If such a custom was in the Apostles times yet it seems to be too Particular and too Mean a one to ground so Great and General a matter on 2. T is not giving or receiving a Name that is here spoken of but Baptizing which is another thing and of more moment And why Baptism should be put here for Imposition of Names in Baptism I see no reason unless it could be proved that an Improper Acception of a word is more agreeable then the Proper and Native one 3. It is not evident that Names were generally and commonly given at Baptism so early If we consult the History even of the Times soon after Christ we shall read of very few which I somewhat wonder at I confess who bore the Names either of the Evangelists or Apostles or other Martyrs 4. To argue from the Imposition of the Names of the dead to their Certain Rising again is no ways firm and solid And therefore it is not probable on These Considerations that This was the sense of the Apostle 9. In the next place I will propound the Opinion of that late Learned Critick Alexander More who in his Notes on some Select places of the New Tostament understands this place of the Sacramental Baptism but by the dead which in the Greek is in the Plural he thinks is denoted a Singular Person and that person is Christ and to be baptized for the dead is to be baptized for Christ the meaning of which you may find in that Author I will only here take notice of the Unreasonableness of his Interpretation so far as he understands Christ by those that are dead It is true I grant that there are several Examples of the change of the Singular number for the Plural in Holy Scripture This Syllepsis or Synechdoche or Enallage numeri call it as you please is frequent in the Sacred Stile and it is most used when some Eminent Person or Thing is meant And I grant that Christ was the most Eminent Person and his Death the most Signal and Remarkable Thing that ever was But I cannot think that the Apostle here expresses the Singular by the Plural because 1. the Apostle here mentions
Argument a New Reason to confirm it Moreover saith he to evince further the doctrine of the Resurrection which I have been discoursing of what shall they do that are baptized for the sake of the dead Saints and Martyrs whom I spoke of before who I told you were fallen asleep if the dead rise not at all if they awake not at the last day why are they also or as Grotius noteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exgo why are they therefore baptized upon the account or for the sake of those dead why do New Converts come in every day requesting to be admitted into the Church by Holy Baptism Is it not think you for the sake of those excellent persons who fell asleep in Christ Is it not by reason of them that they take up the profession of Christianity Yes surely they have seen the Lives and Miracles of those Good men they have observed their Carriage and Constancy at their deaths and by this they are stirr'd up effectually to own the same Cause to love the same Religion and to admit themselves into it by the Sacrament of Baptism Those dead Saints and Martyrs whose Memories and Acts are still living setch in these Great Numbers of Converts The Bloud of dying Saints is the seed of the Church which the more plentifully it is sown and shed yieldeth the Larger Increase of Converts Hence hence it is that Proselytes come in apace to Christianity that Converts flock to the Holy waters of Baptism for they well observing the Admirable Behaviour of those persecuted Christians at their Death are soon perswaded into the belief of another Life From their Examples they are excited to a Love of the Christian Religion which they see makes men live and die couragiously and hereupon they are zealous to be made members of the Christian Church by the Sacrament of Baptism This is to be baptized for or because of the dead Or after this manner and in these words you may imagine the Apostle to argue in my Text You see O Corinthians that the Sufferings which the Christians undergo are so far from discouraging others from turning Christians that vast numbers of Unbelievers are animated thereby to own the Christian Profession and to live and die in the acknowledgement of it See what power and efficacy the Example of those Saints hath and how it works on the hearts of the most Resolved and makes them presently renounce and forsake their follies Tell me what makes the Idolatrous Gentile quit his former prophane life or what makes the Willful Iew renounce his Circumcision and leave his Mosaical Washings for the Laver of Christian Baptism Is it not to be imputed to This cause chiefly viz. that they behold and are ravished with the singular behaviour of the Suffering Saints who contentedly quit all for Christ their Master They cannot but reverence and imbrace That Religion which inspires those men with such Valour and gives them so Invincible a Courage and immediately hereupon they hasten to be Initiated into the Society of such brave Christians Now tell me O ye men of Corinth you especially that question the Article of the Resurrection is it nothing that so many every day voluntarily admit themselves into the Church by Holy Baptism and that upon the account of the Deceased Confessors and Martyrs who they see sacrifice all that is dear to them to purchase another world Why should you think there is no Other Life when you see men lay down their Lives for their Religion and others presently taking up that Religion for which they lost their lives And for what reason do so Great Sholes of Converts come into the Baptismal Waters What shall they do that are thus baptized to what end and design do they this and continue to do so To what purpose on what account is it You cannot but see that it is for the sake of the Saints whose exemplary Lives and Deaths they have beheld and thereby were throughly convinced of the Truth of Christianity which promises a better life after this at the Resurrection of the dead Why are so many I say stirred up to embrace Christianity and to enter into Holy Baptism Is it not by reason of the Deceased Saints and Martyres Is it not because of the Love and Respect they bear Them and the Goodness of the Cause which they so bravely maintain Is it not hence that they run to their Spiritual Guides and Instructers and beg to be Baptized and if these demand the Reason of it is not This their Reply we come to be Baptized for the dead i. e. we are moved to come to the Holy Baptism by reason of those Departed Saints whose Godly behaviour we so much admired whose Patience and Courage to the last we were even astonished at because of These Worthy Persons we are excited to enter into the Baptismal Vow and to admit ourselves into their Religion which is the best in the world What Interpretation can be Plainer and Clearer then this And yet I know not any Writer excepting One or Two at the most who seem so much as to approach towards This Exposition or to give the least him of this Notion which I have presented to you Yet certainly if you weigh This well you will find it worthy of all acceptation for in all the forenamed Interpretations there is either something Defective or Redundant there is some fault in Grammar and Critiâ—ism or a Mistake in History and Chronology or an apparent Inconsequence in the way of Argument In summ there were Bold Suppositions but Slender Proofs Whereas you may observe that in This Interpretation which I have tendred to you the Propriety of the words is preserved entire the Criticism is not strained the Genuine and Proper signification of the words is upheld the whole Design of the Context and of the Apostle's Arguing is discover'd and the History of the Antient Church and the Relation of the best Antiquity concurr to make This Exposition Solid and Authentick Here is nothing begg'd but all is free and unconstrain'd This is the clearest and most reasonable Sense in it self and likewise the most accommodate to the Present Purpose of the Apostle in this Chapter to the Stile and Phraseology of the Scripture and to the whole Analogy of Christian Faith And now in the close of all to Apply this Interpretation to Ourselves We have the same reason now to maintain the Christian Religion that those first good Converts had to embrace it The Consideration which made them enter into Religion should make us hold it fast For we as well as they prosess that Religion which was attested by the Death and sealed with the Bloud of Martyrs Martyrdom made Christians then let it confirm us in Christianity now Especially let us be encouraged to love and maintain our Religion which we can hold with Ease and all the Conveniencies of this life We are not
as the Resurrection is can be founded on so Slight and Absurd a bottom S t Paul needed not to have sought for Aides from falshood and Error when the Truth it self is sufficiently Armed and hath Auxiliaries enough of its own to defend its cause I might add also that This Practice supposes a Reiterating of the Sacrament of Baptism which is an Absurd thing unless it be said that those persons were baptized only for Others but then it cannot be denied that at the same time they were really Baptized Themselves This Meaning of the words therefore will but little Credit our Apostle and therefore I have the less Esteem for it And I have none at all for that which follows viz. 7. The Opinion of the Learned Ioseph Scaliger according to whom the baptized for the dead are those who are baptized for the benefit and advantage of the dead It is granted indeed that This might be True according to the Letter or Grammatical part for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes is as much as in utilitatem seu commodum in Good Authors And accordingly it is said often in the New Testament that Christ died 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only in our stead but for us i. e. for our Good and Advantage viz. that he might purchase Salvation and Eternal Happiness for us But the meaning which the aforesaid Author conveys to us by This Construction is intolerably Absurd and Superstitious and it is no other then This that the Apostle here in mentioning the susception of Baptism for the dead points at some Pious Office of Bathing or Baptizing the dead or being Baptized for them in order to the Refreshment of their souls The rise of it he saith was This that the Antients thought the souls of the dead were Imprison'd in the earth till the day of Judgment which he labours to prove out of Tertullian Augustin and Lactantius and from That Error saith this Great man was propagated the doctrine of Christs Descent into Hell Now people were mightily concerned for these Close Prisoners and they were desirous to purchase some Refreshing for the souls of their friends and relations To this purpose they frequently Pray'd and made Oblations for them and they were willing to do Any thing that their departed friends might fare as well as might be till the Last day And on this same ground they used Baptism for the dead and that annually on a certain day viz. the Calends of February as Tertullian saith expressly and even to this day saith Scaliger some of the Ethiopian Church yearly renew their Baptism at the Feast of Epiphany which very thing Vossius also testifies of the Ethiopian Christians And Scaliger explains This Custom yet further out of Lactantius and S t Augustin and rangeth it among the Ineptiae Patrum Ecclesiae Doctorum The Dotages of the Primitive Church Hence saith he is the Apostle's heavy Censure of the Corinthians in the 34 v. of this Chapter some have not the knowledge of God I speak this to your shame From which words this Mighty Critick would prove that the Practice from which the Argument in the Text is drawn was no ways Good and Laudable though the Argument it self which the Apostle useth be solid enough But this is a Mistake for when it is said some have not the knowledge of God it is apparent that it strikes at those who denied or questioned the Resurrection of the dead as you may easily be convinced by perusing what immediately follows in 35 36 v. Some man will say how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come Thou fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die and v. 38. God giveth it a body as it pleaseth him From whence it is clear that the fond and foolish reasoning of the Corinthians about the manner of the Resurrection and their shamefull ignorance of the Almighty power of God concerning it are the things which the Apostle there rebukes them for He tells them that some have not the knowledge of God in the same sense that our Saviour reproved the Sadducees saying ye do erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God Mat. 22. 29. And as for the use of that Officious Baptizing for the benefit of the dead which Scaliger thinks is intended in this place before it gain our assent 't is to be proved that that fond and Idle Rite had a being in the Apostle's dâ—ys and was well known to the Corinthians which is not yet Proved and so he cannot be thought to have an eye to any such thing Or if we should be so liberal of our Concessions as to grant that such a Custom was on foot when the Apostle writ this Epistle which it is utterly impossible to prove yet have we no reason to think unless we can swallow down the Doctrine of Purgatory and perswade our selves that that Officious Washing was available to cool those Flames unless I say we can digest this we have no reason to believe that the Present Argument is drawn thence But on the contrary it is highly rational to maintain that This passage of S t Paul and That of S t Peter in his 1 Epist. 3 d Chap. and 19 th v. of which we shall next speak with other places of Sacred Writ have been forcibly drawn by perverse men to patronize the Gainfull doctrine of Satisfaction for the rescuing of souls out of the prison of Purgatory Besides I might ask what doth freeing from Purgatory which happens before the Resurrection conduce to the confirming the Resurrection They are they say baptized for the dead to free their freinds from Purgatory but That may be though there be no Resurrection for it is the Soul not the Body that suffers the pains of Purgatory Nay further it doth not appear that even in After-Ages the practice which Scaliger speaks of did prevail viz. that the Living were baptized for the Benefit of the dead For the Annual Baptizing on a certain day which he alledgeth for his purpose argues no such thing It was done only in remembrance and reverence of Christs Baptism which was performed by S t Iohn on the Calends of February according to some or on the Epiphany according to others That day is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Antients either because of Iohn Baptist the Forerunner the True Evangelical Phosphorus or because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that consults the Antients shall find that they generally assert Christ was Born and Baptized on the same day of the year which they think they prove from Luke 3. 23. This day being according to their opinion so signalized by our Saviours Birth and Baptism was reputed a very High day and was in Great Esteem among them in so much it seems that they repeated their Own Baptism on that day And for this reason some of the Abissine Christians whom Scaliger calls the Ethiopian Church
forced to quit our Lives that we may secure our Religion and our Consciences Blessed be God we can enjoy these here and carry them with us into another World afterwards But if ever the Divine Providence shall call us to lay down our Lives and spend our Bloud in the service of our Lord and Saviour let us not count our Lives dear unto us so that we may finish our course with joy and testifie the Gospel of the grace of God as our Apostle speaketh Let us like the Primitive Saints rejoyce that we are counted worthy to suffer shame and even Death for the Name of Christ. Let us chearfully sacrifice our Lives for the sake of him who Died for us let us drown our Affections to the world in our own Bloud thereby propagating our Holy Religion and therein following the Pattern of the Blessed Apostles and Primitive Saints who manfully and undauntedly died for the faith on whose account and by virtue of whose Example it was that Thousands of Converted persons flock'd to the Waters of Baptism and were ambitious to Assert that Cause for which they saw those Excellent Christians lay down their Lives The Death of an Eminent Saint made a great number of Disciples in those days the Bloud of a Holy Martyr baptized whole Cities This I conceive was to be baptized for the dead This I offer as the most Plain and Easie the most Natural and Genuine Meaning of the Text. The fourth TEXT Enquired into viz. 1 S t Peter III. 19 20. By which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient c. THIS is another Difficult Text of Scripture and in order to the Clearing of it I will give you a brief account of the Chapter It begins with the Peculiar and Proper Duties of Man and Wife which take up the first 7 verses but the rest of the Chapter treats of the Common Vertues and Graces which are required in all Christians as Meekness Patience Mercifulness and all the obliging and indearing offices of Love The Apostle chiefly exhorts to Patience that is to suffer with submission and chearfulness what ever should be inflicted on them And here he shews particularly how they ought to behave themselves towards their Persecutors They must not be Revengeful and render evil for evil v. 9. and he subjoins the Reasons of it in the following verses Again They must not be afraid neither be troubled v. 14. They must take courage maugre all their distresses and strive to banish all Fear and Cowardice all Disorder and Perplexity of mind Moreover they are obliged to sanctifie the Lord God in their hearts and to be ready to give an answer to every one that asketh them a reason of the hope which is in them and that with meekness and fear v. 15. The meaning is that they were not to disguise their perswasion but to make open profession of their Religion even before their Persecutors Further the Apostle tells them that they must not only profess Christianity but lead Holy Lives that thereby they may shame their Adversaries who falsly accuse them as evil doers v. 16. Lastly therefore he bids them be sure that they look to their Lives and Conversations that they suffer for well-doing not for evil-doing v. 17. And that they may not be unwilling to suffer thus here is set before them the Example of Christ who suffered for them For Christ also hath once suffer'd for sins the just for the unjust v. 18. This highly commends the Sufferings of the Blessed Iesus that he was himself an Innocent person and that he suffer'd for those that were Guilty whereas no Christians that suffer can altogether plead Innocency they all in some measure deserve what they suffer And now the Apostle takes occasion to expatiate on Christs suffering and the Happy effects of it to the end of this Chapter and in part of the next He shews the Design of our Saviours Passion viz. that he might bring us to God v. 18. that he might make us Holy and Righteous and indue us with the Divine and Godlike nature and that he might at last lead us to Heaven and Eternal Glory And this He was effectually enabled to do because though he suffer'd death yet he soon rose from the dead as you read in that 18. v. Being put to death in the flesh but quickned by the Spirit To pass by the Notion of those men who think they find some ground here for their Aethereal or Spiritual Vehicles understanding the words thus Put to death in his Terrestrial body but quickned or enliven'd with a Spiritual one for Christs soul and the souls of all the Saints after death say they are clothed with Subtile and Aetherial bodies To let this pass the Plain Meaning of the place is this and it is confirmed by several of the Fathers that this Iesus though he suffer'd and was put to death for us in the flesh as a Man as he had a Humane Body yet he was quickned by the Spirit that is he rose from the dead by the vertue and power of the Holy Spirit who was ever with him Or thus he was put to death in the flesh i. e. crucified in his Humane Nature but he was quickned in the spirit i. e. he was raised from the Dead by his Divine Nature A Parallel place is that in 2 Cor. 13. 4. Though he was crucified through weakness his body being but Weak and Frail and subject to death as all Humane bodies are yet he liveth by the power of God he reassumed his soul and lived again and still liveth by vertue of his Divine Power He died as Man but restored himself to life as he was God It was by Christs Divine Spirit that his separated soul and body were reunited which you find thus asserted by S t Paul Rom. ◠4. He was declared to be the son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead The humane spirit of Christ was joyned again to his body by his Eternal Spirit By Christs Divinity his Humanity was raised up and restored And now our Apostle inlarges here further upon this Quickning Power of Christs Spirit or Divinity in these words By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient c. The Greek which is here translated By which is rendred by others wherefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ideò saith Oecumenius and so t is thought that these words bring in the Reason of what was said before But there are few that follow this Interpretation Our own Translation is more Plain and more Probable for those that are acquainted with the stile of the New Testament know that By is the frequent signification of the Praeposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is most obvious and rational to refer the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the word