answer of Ratrannus was directed had then in his Court a famous countrey-man of ours called Iohannes Scotus who wrote a booke of the same argument and to the same effect that the other had done This man for his extraordinarie learning was in England where hee lived in great account with King Alfred surnamed Iohn the wise and had verie lately a roome in the Martyrologe of the Church of Rome though now he be ejected thence Wee finde him indeed censured by the Church of Lyons and others in that time for certaine opinions which he delivered touching Gods foreknowledge and predestination before the beginning of the world Mans freewill and the concurrence thereof with Grace in this present world and the maner of the punishment of reprobate Men Angels in the world to come but we finde not anie where that his book of the Sacrament was condemned before the dayes of x Lanfranc who was the first that leavened that Church of England afterward with this corrupt doctrine of the carnall presence Till then this question of the reall presence continued still in debate and it was as free for anie man to follow the doctrine of Ratrannus or Iohannes Scotus therein as that of Paschasius Radbertus which since the time of Satans loosing obtayned the upper hand Men have often searched and doe yet often search how bread that is gathered of corne and through fires heate baked may be turned to Christs bodie or how wine that is pressed out of manie grapes is turned through one blessing to the Lords blood saith Aelfrick Abbat of Malmesburie in his Saxon Homily written about 650. yeares agoe His resolution is not onely the same with that of Ratrannus but also in manie places directly translated out of him as may appeare by these passages following compared with his Latin layd downe in the margent The bread and the wine which by the Priests ministery is hallowed shew one thing without to mens senses and another thing they call within to beleeving mindes Without they be seene bread wine both in figure and in taste and they be truely after their hallowing Christs body and his blood by spirituall mysterie So the holy font water that is called the well-spring of life is like in shape to other waters and is subject to corruption but the holy Ghosts might commeth to the corruptible water through the Priests blessing and it may after wash the body and soule from all sinne by spirituall vertue Behold now we see two things in this one creature in true nature that water is corruptible moisture and in spirituall mysterie hath healing vertue So also if we behold that holy housel after bodily sense then see wee that it is a creature corruptible and mutable If we acknowledge therein spirituall vertue then understand we that life is therein and that it giveth immortalitie to them that eate it with beleefe Much is betwixt the bodie Christ suffered in and the body that is hallowed to housel The body truely that Christ suffered in was borne of the flesh of Mary with blood and with bone with skin and with sinewes in humane limbs with a reasonable soule living and his spirituall body which we call the housel is gathered of many cornes without blood and bone without lim without soule and therefore nothing is to be understood therein bodily but spiriâ—ually Whatsoever is in that housel which giveth substance of life that is spirituall vertue and invisible doing Certainly Christs body which suffered death and rose from death shall never dye henceforth but is eternall and unpassible That housel is temporall not eternall corruptible dealed into sundry parts chewed betweene teeth and sent into the belly This mysterie is a pledge and a figure Christs bodie is truth it selfe This pledge wee doe keepe mystically untill that we be come to the truth it selfe and then is this pledge ended Christ hallowed bread and wine to housel before his suffering and said This is my body my blood Yet he had not then suffered but so notwithstanding hee turned through invisible vertue the bread to his owne body and that wine to his blood as he before did in the wildernesse before that he was borne to men when he turned that heavenly meate to his flesh and the flowing water from that stone to his owne blood Moses and Aaron and manie other of that people which pleased God did eate that heavenly bread and they died not the everlasting death though they dyed the common They saw that the heavenly meate was visible and corruptible and they spiritually understood by that visible thing and spiritually received it This Homily was appointed publikely to be read to the people in England on Easter day before they did receive the communion The like matter also was delivered to the Clergie by the Bishops at their Synods out of two other writings of the same Aelfrick in the one wherof directed to Wulfsine Bishop of Shyrburne we reade thus That housel is Christs bodie not bodily but spiritually Not the body which he suffered in but the bodie of which he spake when he blessed bread and wine to housel the night before his suffering and said by the blessed bread This is my body and againe by the holy wine This is my blood which is shed for many in forgivenesse of sinnes In the other written to Wulfstane Archbishop of Yorke thus The Lord which hallowed housel before his suffering and saith that the bread was his owne bodie and that the wine vvas truely his blood halloweth daily by the hands of the Priest bread to his body and wine to his blood in spirituall mysterie as wee reade in bookes And yet notwithstanding that lively bread is not bodily so nor the selfe same body that Christ suffered in nor that holy vvine is the Saviours blood which was shed for us in bodily thing but in spirituall understanding Both be truely that bread his body and that wine also his blood as was the heavenly bread which vve call Manna that fedde fortie yeares Gods people and the cleare water which did then runne from the stone in the vvildernesse vvas truely his blood as Paul wrote in one of his Epistles Thus was Priest and people taught to beleeve in the Church of England toward the end of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh age after the Incarnation of our Saviour Christ. And therefore it is not to be wondered that when Berengarius shortly after stood to maintaine this doctrine manie both by word and writing disputed for him and not onely the English but also all the French almost the Italians as Matthew of Westminster reporteth were so readie to entertaine that which hee delivered Who though they were so borne downe by the power of the Pope who now was growne to his height that they durst not make open profession of that which they beleeved yet manie continued even
stand in full force against the other so that here wee need not actum agere and make a new worke of overthrowing that which hath beene sufficiently beaten down alreadie But on the other side the admittall of Purgatorie doth not necessarily inferre Prayer for the dead nay if we shall suppose with our Adversaries that Purgatorie is the prison from whence none shall come out untill they have payde the utmost farthing their owne paying and not other mens praying must be the thing they are to trust unto if ever they looke to be delivered out of that jayle Our Romanists indeed doe commonly take it for granted that Purgatory and prayer for the dead be so closely lincked together that the one doth necessarily follow the other but in so doing they reckon without their hoste and greatly mistake the matter For howsoever they may deale with their owne devises as they please and lincke their Prayers with their Purgatorie as closely as they list yet shall they never be able to shew that the commemoration and prayers for the dead used by the ancient Church had anie relation unto their Purgatorie and therefore whatsoever they were Popish prayers we are sure they were not I easily foresee that the full opening of the judgement of the Fathers in this point will hardly stand with that brevitie which I intended to use in treating of these latter questions the particulars be so manie that necessarily doe incurre into the handling of this argument But I suppose the Reader will be content rather to dispense with that promise whereby I did abbridge my selfe of the libertie which otherwise I might freely have taken than be sent away unsatisfied in a matter wherein the Adversarie beareth himselfe confident beyond measure that the whole streame of antiquity runneth clearly upon his side That the truth then of things may the better appeare we are here prudently to distinguish the originall institution of the Church from the private opinions of particular Doctors which waded further herein then the generall intendment of the Church did give them warrant and diligently to consider that the memorialls oblations and prayers made for the dead at the beginning had reference to such as rested from their labours and not unto anie soules which were thought to be tormented in that Vtopian Purgatorie whereof there was no newes stirring in those dayes This may be gathered first by the practise of the ancient Christians laide down by the author of the Commentaries upon Iob which are wrongly ascribed unto Origen in this maner Wee observe the memorialls of the Saints and devoutly keepe the remembrance of our parents or friends which dye in the faith as well rejoycing for their refreshing as requesting also for our selves a godly consummation in the faith Thus therefore doe we celebrate the death not the day of the birth because they which dye shall live for ever and we celebrate it calling together religious persons with the Priests the faithfull with the Clergie inviting moreover the needy and the poore feeding the orphanes and widowes that our festivity may be for a memoriall of rest to the soules departed whose remembrance we celebrate and to us may become a sweet savour in the sight of the eternall God Secondly by that which S. Cyprian writeth of Laurentinus and Ignatius whom he acknowledgeth to have received of the Lord palmes and crownes for their famous martyrdome and yet presently addeth Wee offer sacrifices alwayes for them when we celebrate the passions and dayes of the martyrs with an anniversarie commemoration Thirdly by that which we reade in the author of the Ecclesiasticall Hierarchy set out under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite For where the partie deceased is described by him to have departed out of this life replenished with divine joy as now not fearing any change to worse being come unto the end of all his labours and to have been both privately acknowledged by his friends and publickly pronounced by the ministers of the Church to be a happy man and to be verily admitted into the societie of the Saincts that have beene from the beginning of the world yet doth he declare that the Bishop made prayer for him upon what ground we shall afterward heare that God would forgive him all the sinnes that he had committed through humane infirmitie and bring him into the light and the land of the living into the bosomes of Abraham Isaac and Iacob into the place from whence paine and sorrow and sighing flyeth Fourthly by the funerall ordinances of the Church related by S. Chrysostome which were appointed to admonish the living that the parties deceased were in a state of joy and not of griefe For tell me saith he what doe the bright lampes meane doe wee not accompany them therewith as champions What meane the Hymnes Consider what thou dost sing at that time Returne my soule unto thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee and againe I will feare no evill because thou art with me and againe Thou art my refuge from the affliction that compasseth me Consider what these Psalmes meane Fiftly by the formes of the prayers that are found in the ancient Liturgies as in that of the Churches of Syria attributed unto S. Basil Be mindefull O Lord of them which are dead and are departed out of this life and of the orthodoxe Bishops which from Peter and Iames the Apostles untill this day have clearely professed the right word of Faith and namely of Ignatius Dionysius Iulius and the rest of the Saincts of worthy memory Be mindfull O Lord of them also which have stood unto blood for Religion and by righteousnesse and holinesse have fedd thy holy Flock and in the Liturgie fathered upon the Apostles We offer unto thee for all the Saints vvhich have pleased thee from the beginning of the world Patriarches Prophets Iust men Apostles Martyrs Confessors Bishops Priests Deacons c. and in the Liturgies of the Churches of Aegypt which carry the title of S. Basil Gregory Nazianzen and Cyrill of Alexandria Bee mindfull O Lord of thy Saints vouchsafe to remember all thy Saints which have pleased thee from the beginning our holy Fathers the Patriarches Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessors Preachers Evangelists and all the soules of the just which have dyed in the faith and especially the holy glorious the evermore Virgin Mary the mother of God and S. Iohn the forerunner the Baptist and Martyr S. Stephen the first Deacon and Martyr S. Marke the Apostle Evangelist and Martyr c. and in the Liturgie of the Church of Constantinople ascribed to S. Chrysostom We offer unto thee this reasonable service for those who are at rest in the faith our Forefathers Fathers Patriarches Prophets and Apostles Preachers Evangelists Martyrs Confessors religious persons and every spirit perfected in the faith but especially for our most holy immaculate most blessed Lady the mother of God and
finde it to be held indeed both by some of the ancient as namely in Caius who lived at Rome when Zephyrinus was Bishop there and is accounted to be the author of the treatise falsely fathered upon Iosephus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a large fragment whereof hath beene lately published by Hoeschelius in his notes upon Photius his Bibliotheke and by the latter Grecians in whose name Marcus Eugenicus archbishop of Ephesus doth make this protestation against such of his countrymen as yeelded to the definition of the Florentine Councell We say that neither the Saincts do receive the kingdome prepared for them and those secret good things neyther the sinners doe as yet fall into Hell but that eyther of them doe remaine in expectation of their proper lott and that this appertayneth unto the time that is to come after the Resurrection and the Iudgement But these men with the Latines would have these to receive presently after death the things they have deserved but unto those of the middle sort that is to such as dye in penance they assigne a purgatory fire which they faine to be distinct from that of Hell that thereby say they being purged in their soules after death they likewise may be received into the kingdome of heaven together vvith the righteous That barbarous impostor as Molanus rightly styleth him who counterfeyted a letter as written by S. Cyrill Bishop of Ierusalem unto S. Augustin touching the miracles of S. Hierome taketh upon him to lay down the precise time of the first arising of this sect among the Grecians in this maner After the death of most glorious Hierome a certaine heresie or sect arose amongst the Grecians and came to the Latines also which went about with their wicked reasons to prove that the soules of the blessed untill the day of the generall Iudgment wherein they were to be joyned againe unto their bodies are deprived of the sight and knowledge of God in which the whole blessednesse of the Saincts doth consist and that the soules of the damned in like maner untill that day are tormented with no paines Whose reason was this that as the soule did merit or sinne with the body so with the bodie was it to receive rewards or paines Those wicked sectaries also did maintaine that there was no place of Purgatory wherein the soules vvhich had not done full penance for their sinnes in this world might be purged Which pestilent sect getting head so great sorrow fell upon us that we were even weary of our life Then he telleth a wise tale how S. Hierome being at that time with God for the confutation of this new-sprong heresie raysed up three men from the dead after that hee had first ledd their soules into Paradise Purgatory and Hell to the end they might make known unto all men the things that were done there but had not the witt to consider that S. Cyrill himselfe had need to be raysed up to make the fourth man among them for how otherwise should he who dyed thirtie yeares before S. Hierome as is knowne to every one that knoweth the history of those times have heard and written the newes which those three good fellowes that were raised by S. Hierome after his death did relate concerning Heaven Hell and Purgatory Yet is it nothing so strange to me I confesse that such idle dreames as these should be devised in the times of darknesse to delude the world withall as that now in the broad day light Binsfeldius and Suarez and other Romish merchants should adventure to bring forth such rotten stuffe as this with hope to gaine anie credite of antiquitie thereby unto the new erected staple of Popish Purgatory The Dominican Friars in a certaine treatise written by them at Constantinople in the yeare 1252. assigne somewhat a lower beginning unto this error of the Grecians affirming that they followed therein a certain inventer of this heresie named Andrew Archbishop sometime of Caesarea in Cappadocia who said that the soules did wayt for their bodies that together with them with which they had committed good or evill they might likewise receave the recompense of their deeds But that which Andrew saith herein he saith not out of his own head and therefore is wrongfully charged to be the first inventer of it but out of the judgement of many godly fathers that went before him It hath been said saith he by many of the Saincts that all vertuous men after this life do receive places fit for them whence they may certainly make conjecture of the glory that shall befall unto them Where Peltanus bestoweth such another marginall note upon him as Gretser his fellow-Iesuite did upon Anastasius This opinion is now expressely condemned and rejected by the Church And yet doth Alphonsus de Castro aknowledge that the Patrons thereof vvere famous men renowned as well for holinesse as for knowledge but telleth us withall that no man ought to marvaile that such great men should fall into so pestilent an error because as the Apostle S. Iames saith he that offendeth not in word is a perfect man Another particular opinion which wee must sever from the generall intention of the Church in her oblations and prayers for the dead is that which is noted by Theophylact upon the speech of our Saviour Luk. 12.5 in which he wisheth us to observe that hee did not say Feare him who after hee hath killed casteth into hell but hath power to cast into hell For the sinners which dye saith he are not alwayes cast into hell but it remaineth in the power of God to pardon them also And this I say for the oblations and doales which are made for the dead which do not a little avayle even them that dye in grievous sinnes He doth not therefore generally after he hath killed cast into hell but hath power to cast Wherfore let us not cease by almes and intercession to appease him who hath power to cast but doth not alwayes use this power but is able to pardon also Thus farre Theophylact whom our Adversaries doe blindely bring in for the countenancing of their use of praying and offering for the dead not considering that the prayers and oblations which he would uphold doe reach even unto such as dye in grievous sinnes which the Romanists acknowledge to receive no reliefe at all by anie thing that they can doe and are intended for the keeping of soules from being cast into Hell and not for fetching them out when they have been cast into Purgatorie a place that never came within the compasse of Theophylacts beleefe His testimonie will fit a great deale better the prayer of S. Dunstan who as the tale goeth having understood that the soule of King Edwin was to be carried into Hell never gave over praying untill hee had gotten him ridd of that danger and transferred unto the coast of penitent soules where hee well deserved doubtlesse to
to my Father who while thou searchest for me among the infernalls dost distrust that I am returned to the celestials while thou seekest me among the dead dost not hope that I doe live with my father Where his Inferi and Inferna doe plainely import no more but tumulos and sepulchra Heereupon Ruffinus in his exposition of the Creed having given notice that in the Symbol of the Church of Rome there is not added He descended into hell nor in the Churches of the East neyther adjoyneth presently Yet the force or meaning of the word seemeth to bee the same in that he is sayd to have bene buried For the tearmes of buriall and descending into hell in the Scripture phrase tend much to the expressing of the selfe same thing but that the bare naming of the one doth lead us only to the consideration of the honor of buriall the addition of the other intimateth unto us that which is more dishonourable in it Thus under the buriall of our Saviour may be comprehended his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his funeration and his interring which are both of them set down in the end of the 19. chapter of the Gospell according to S. Iohn the latter in the two last verses where Ioseph and Nicodemus are said to have laid him in a new Sepulchre vvherein was never man yet laid the former in the two verses going before where it is recorded that they wound his body in linnen clothes with spices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is the maner of the Iews to bury for to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or funeratioÌ„ belongeth the imbalming of the dead body all other offices that are performed unto it while it remaines above ground So Gen. 50.2 where the PhysiciaÌ„s are said to have imbalmed Israel the Greek translators render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and when Mary poured the pretious ointment upon our Saviour himselfe interpreteth this to have beene done for his funeration or buriall For it was a custome in times past saith Eusebius commonly called Emissenus that the bodies of noble men being to be buried should first be annointed with pretious ointments and buried with spices And who knoweth not saith Stapleton that a sepulchre is an honour to the dead and not a disgrace But the mention of Sheol which hath speciall relation as hath beene shewed to the disposing of the dead body unto corruption and so of Hades Infernus or Hell answering thereunto carrieth us further to the consideration of that which the Apostle calleth the sowing of the body in corruption and dishonour 1. Corinth 15.42 43. For which that place in S. Augustine is worth the consideration Did not the Hells or the Grave give testimony unto Christ when loosing their power they reserved Lazarus whom they had received to dissolve for foure dayes together that they might restore him safe againe when they did heare the voyce of their Lord commanding it where you may observe an Hâ—ll appointed for the dissolution of dead mens bodies the descending into which according to Ruffinus his note differeth little or nothing from the descending into the Grave In the thirteenth of the Acts S. Paul preacheth unto the Iewes that God raysed up his Sonne from the dead not to returne now any more unto corruption and yet presently addeth that therein was verified that prophecie in the Psalme Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy one to see corruption implying thereby that he descended in some sort for a time into corruption although in that time he did not suffer corruption And doe not wonder saith S. Ambrose how he should descend into corruption whose flesh did not see corruption He did descend indeed into the place of corruption who pierced the Hells but being uncorrupted he shut out corruption For as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Prophet useth in the Psalm doth signifie as well the pit or place of corruption as the corruption it selfe so also the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby S. Luke doth expresse the same is used by the Greek Interpreters of the old Testament to signifie not the corruption it selfe alone but the verie place of it likewise as where we read in Psalm 7.15 He is fallen into the pit which he made and Psalm 9.16 The heathen are sunke downe in the pit that they made and Proverb 26.27 Who so diggeth a pit shall fall therein Aquila in the first place the Septuagint in the second Aquila and Symmachus in the third retaine the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that our Saviour descending into Sheol Hades or Hell may thus be understood to have descended into corruption that is to say into the pit or place of corruption as S. Ambrose interpreteth it although hee were free in the meane time from the passion of corruption And because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hell and Corruption have reference to the selfe same thing therfore doth the Arabick interpreter translated by Iunius in Act. 2.31 or as the Arabian divideth the book Act. 4.10 confound them together and retaine the same word in both the parts of the sentence after this maner Hee was not left in perdition neyther did his flesh see perdition even as in the 29. Psalme or the 30. according to the division of the Hebrewes the Arabick readeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 al-gehim or Hell where the Greek hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Chaldee paraphrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the house of the grave Athanasius in his booke of the Incarnation of the Word written against the Gentiles observeth that when God threatned our first parents that whatsoever day they did eate of the forbidden fruite they should die the death by dying the death hee signified that they should not onely die but also remaine in the corruption of death that our Saviour comming to free us from this corruption kept his owne body uncorrupted as a pledge and an evidence of the future resurrection of us all which hath wrought such a contempt of death in his disciples that as he addeth afterwards wee may see men which are by nature weake leaping or dauncing unto death being not agaste at the corruption thereof nor fearing the descents into Hell So the Grecians sing in their Liturgy at this day The corruption-working pallace of Hell was dissolved when thou didst arise out of the Grave O Lord and againe The stone is rouled away the grave is emptied Behold corruption is troaden under by life That which was mortall is saved by the flesh of God Hell mourneth For God saith Origen will neyther leave our soules in hell nor suffer us to remaine for ever in corruption but he that recalled him after the third day from hell will recall us also in
fit time and he who granted unto him that his flesh should not see corruption will grant also unto us that our flesh shall not see corruption but that in fit time it shall bee freed from corruption Neyther is it any whit strange unto them that are conversant in the writings of the ancient Doctors to heare that our Saviour by his buriall descended into Hell spoyled Hell and brought away both his owne body and the bodies of the Saints from Hell Wee finde the question moved by Gregory Nyssen in his sermon upon the Resurrection of Christ how our Lord did dispose himselfe at the same time three maner of wayes both in the heart of the earth Matth. 12.40 and in Paradise with the thiefe Luk. 23.43 and in the hands of his Father Luk. 23.46 For neither will any man say quoth he that Paradise is in the places under the earth or the places under the earth in Paradise that at the same time he might be in both or that those infernall places are called the hand of the Father Now for the last of these hee saith the case is plaine that being in Paradise he must needs be in his Fathers hands also but the greatest doubt hee maketh to be how he should at the same time be both in Hades and in Paradise for with him the heart of the earth the places under the earth and Hades or Hell are in this question one and the same thing And his finall resolution is that in this Hell Christ remained with his dead body when with his soule hee brought the thiefe into the possession of Paradise For by his body saith he wherein he sustayned not the corruption that followeth upon death hee destroyed him that had the power of death but by his soule he ledd the thiefe into the entrance of Paradise And these two did worke at the selfe same time the Godhead accomplishing the good by them both namely by the incorruption of the body the dissolution of death and by the placing of the soule in his proper seat the bringing backe of men unto Paradise againe The like sentence doe wee meet withall in the same Fathers epistle unto Eustathia Ambrosia and Basilissa His body he caused by dispensation to be separated from his soule but the indivisible deitie being once knit with that subject was neyther dis-joyned from the body nor the soule but was with the soule in Paradise making way by the thiefe for an entrance unto mankinde thither and with the body in the heart of the earth destroying him that had the power of death Wherewith wee may compare that place which we meet withall in the workes of S. Gregory Bishop of Neocaesarea wherein our Saviour is brought in speaking after this maner I must descend into the very bottome of Hell for the dead that are detay-there I must by the three dayes death of my flesh overthrow the power of long continuing death I must light the lamp of my BODY unto them vvhich sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death and that of S. Chrysostom who is accounted also to be the author of that other sermon attributed unto S. Gregory How vvere the brasen gates broken and the iron barres burst By his BODY For then appeared first a body immortall and dissolving the tyrannie of death it selfe whereby was shewed that the force of death was taken away not that the sinnes of those who dyed before his comming were dissolved and that which we reade in another place of his workes He spoyled Hell descending into Hell hee made it bitter when it tasted of his flesh Which Esay understanding before hand cryed out saying Hell was made bitter meeting thee below so the Septuagint render the words Esai 14.19 It was made bitter for it was destroyed It was made bitter for it was mocked It received a BODY and light upon God it received Earth and met with Heaven it received that vvhich it saw and fell from that which it did not see Thus Caesarius expounding the parable Luk. 13.21 wherein the kingdome of God is likened unto leaven vvhich a woman tooke and hid in three pecks of floure till all was leavened saith that the three pecks of floure are first the whole nature of mankind then death and lastly Hell wherein the divine BODY being hidden by BURIALL did leaven all unto resurrection and life Whereupon he bringeth in our Saviour in another place speaking thus I will therefore be buried for their sakes that be in Hell I will therefore as it were a stone strike the gates thereof bringing forth the prisoners in strength as my servant David hath said So S. Basil asketh How we do accomplish the descent into Hell and answereth that we doe it in imitating the BURIALL of Christ in Baptisme For the bodies of those that be baptized are as it were buried in the water saith he S. Hilary maketh mention of Christs flesh quickened out of Hell by himselfe and Arator in like maner Infernum Dominus cùm destructurus adiret Detulit inde suam spoliato funere carnem When the Lord went to Hell to destroy it He brought from THENCE his owne flesh spâ—yling the grave Philo Carpathius addeth that in his grave he spoyled Hell Whereupon the Emperour Leo in his oration upon the buriall of our Saviour wisheth us to honour it by adorning our selves with vertues and not by putting him in the grave againe For it behoved saith he that this should be once done to the end that Hell might be spoyled and it was done And the Grecians retaine the commemoration hereof in their Liturgies unto this day as their Octoëchon Anastasimon and Pentecostarion do testifie wherein such hymnes and prayers as these are frequent Thou didst receive death in thy flesh working thereby immortalitie for us O Saviour and didst dwell in the grave that thou mightest free us from Hell raysing us up together with thy selfe When thou vvast put in the tombe as a mortall man the keepers of Hell gates shooke for feare for having overthrowne the strength of Death thou diddest exhibite incorruption to all the dead by thy Resurrection Although thou didst descend into the grave as a mortall man ô giver of life yet didst thou dissolve the strength of hell ô Christ raysing up the dead together with thy selfe whom it had also swallowed and didst exhibit the resurrection as God unto all that in faith and desire doe magnifie thee Thou who by thy three-dayes buriall didst spoyle Death and by thy life-bringing resurrectioÌ„ didst raise up corrupted man ô Christ our God as a lover of mankinde to thee be glory Thou who by thy three-dayes buriall didst spoyle Hell and by thy resurrection didst save man have mercy upon me By thy three-dayes buriall the enemy was spoyled the dead loosed from the bands of Hell death deaded the palaces of hell voyded Therefore in hymnes doe we
honour and magnifie thee ô giver of life Thou wast put in the tombe being voluntarily made dead and didst emptie all the palaces of hell ô immortall King raysing up the dead with thy ResurrectioÌ„ Thou who spoyledst hell by thy buriall be mindfull of me Hitherto also belongeth that of Prudentius in his Apotheosis tumuloque inferna refringens Regna resurgentes secum jubet ire sepultos Coelum habitat terris intervenit abdita rumpit Tartara vera fides Deus est qui totus ubique est where in saying that our Saviour by his grave did break up the infernall kingdomes and commanded those that were buried to rise up with him he hath reference unto that part of the history of the Gospell wherein it is recorded that The graves were opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy citie and appeared unto many Matth. 27.52 53. upon which place S. Hilary writeth thus Inlightning the darkenesse of death and shining in the obscure places of Hell by the resurrection of the Saints that were seene at the present he tooke away the spoyles of death it selfe To the same effect writeth S. Ambrose also Neither did his sepulchre want a miracle For when he was anoynted by Ioseph and buried in his tombe by a new kinde of worke he that was dead himselfe did open the sepulchres of the dead His body indeed did lye in the grave but he himselfe being free among the dead did give libertie unto them that were placed in Hell dissolving the law of death For his flesh was in the tombe but his power did worke from heaven which may be a sufficient commentary upon that sentence which we reade in the Exposition of the Creed attributed unto S. Chrysostom He descended into Hell that there also he might not want a miracle For many bodies of the Saints arose with Christ. namely HELL rendring up the BODIES of the Saints alive againe as eyther the same or another author that goeth under the like name of Chrysostom doth elsewhere directly affirme which is a further confirmation of that which we have heard delivered by Ruffinus touching the exposition of the article of the Descent into Hell that the substance thereof seemeth to be the same with that of the Buriall for what other Hell can we imagin it to be but the Grave that thus receiveth and giveth up the bodies of men departed this life And hitherto also may bee referâ—ed that famous saying of Christs descending alone ascending with a multitude which we meet withall in foure severall places of antiquitie First in the hâ—ads of the sermon of Thaddaeus as they are reported by Eusebius out of the Syriack records of the citie of Edessa He was crucified and descended into Hades or Hell and brake the rampiere never broken before since the beginning and rose againe and raysed up with him those dead that had slept from the beginning and descended alone but ascended to his Father with a great multitude Secondly in the epistle of Ignatius unto the Trallians He was truly and not in opinion crucified and died those that were in heaven and in earth and under the earth beholding him those in heaven as the incorporeall natures those in earth to wit the Iewes and the Romanes and such men as were present at that time when the Lord was crucified those under the earth as the multitude that rose up together with the Lord for many bodies saith he of the Saints which slept arose the graves being opened And hee descended into Hades or Hell alone but returned with a multitude and brake the rampiere that had stood from the beginning and overthrew the partition thereof Thirdly in the disputation of Macarius Bishop of Ierusalem in the first generall Councell of Nice After death wee were carried into Hades or Hell Christ tooke upon him this also and descended voluntarily into it he was not detayned as wee but descended onely For hee was not subjected unto death but was the Lord of death And descending alone he returned with a multitude For he was that spirituall graine of wheat falling for us into the earth and dying in the flesh who by the power of his godhead raysed up the temple of his body according to the Scriptures which brought forth for fruite the Resurrection of all mankinde Fourthly in the Catechises of Cyrill Bishop of Ierusalem whose wordes are these I beleeve that Christ was raysed from the dead For of this I have many witnesses both out of the divine scriptures from the witnesse and operation even unto this day of him that rose againe of him I say that descended into Hades or Hell alone but asceÌ„ded with many For he did descend unto death many bodies of the Saints that slept were raised by him which resurrection he seemeth afterward to make common unto all the Saints that dyed before our Saviour All the righteous men saith he were delivered whom death had devoured For it became the proclaymed King to be the deliverer of those good proclaymers of him Then did every one of the righteous say O death where is thy victory ô Hell where is thy sting for the conqueror hath delivered us wherewith we may compare that saying of S. Chrysostom If it were a great matter that Lazarus being foure dayes dead should come forth much more that all they who were dead of old should appeare together alive which was a signe of the future resurrection For many bodies of the Saints which slept arose saith the text and these articles of the Confession of the Armenians According to his body which was dead he descended into the grave but according to his divinitie which did live he over came Hell in the meane time The third day he rose againe but withall raysâ—d up the soules or persons of the faithfull together with him and gave hope thereby that our bodies also should rise againe like unto him at his second comming Of those who arose with our Saviour from the Grave or as anciently they used to speake from Hell two there be whom the Fathers nominate in particular Adam and Iob. Of Iob S. Ambrose writeth in this maner Having heard what God had spoken in him and having understood by the holy Ghost that the Sonne of God was not onely to come into the earth but that he was also to descend into Hell to that he might rayse up the dead which was then done for a testimony of the present and an example of the future he turned himselfe unto the Lord and said O that thou wouldest keepe me in Hell that thou vvouldest hide me untill thy wrath be past and that thou wouldest appoint me a time in which thou wouldest remember me Iob. 14.13 in which wordes he affirmeth that Iob did prophecie that he should be raysed up at the passion of
bringing them unto that which is to us invisible the soule as being by the deprivation of the body made unseene and the body as eyther being covered in the earth or by some other of the alterations that are incident unto bodies being taken away from the sight of man the whole covering of the man in water is fitly assumed for an image of the death and buriall which is not seene Thus Dionysius concerning the separation of the united parts by Death and the bringing of them unto that which is invisible according whereunto as his paraphrast Pachymeres noteth it is called Hádes that is to say an invisible separation of the soule from the body And so indeed wee finde as well in forraine authors as in the Scriptures the writings of the Greek and Latin Fathers that Hádes and Inferi are not only taken in as large a sense as Death and so extended unto all men indifferently whether good or bad but are likewise oftentimes indifferently used for it For proofe whereof out of heathen authors these testimonies following may suffice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Pindarus The man that doeth things befitting him forgetteth Hádes meaning that the remembrance of death doth no whit trouble him and againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The sonne of Cleonicus wisheth that with such manners he may meet and receive Hades that is death and hoare old age So another Poet cyted by Plutarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Death the soveraigne physician come for Hádes is in very truth the haven of the earth So the saying that the best thing were never to have been born and the next to that to dye quickly is thus expressed by Theognis in his elegies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sophocles in the beginning of his Trachiniae bringeth in Dâ—ianira affirming that howsoever it were an old saying among men that none could know whether a man life were happy or unhappy before he were dead yet she knew her own to be heavie and unfortunate before she went to Hádes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before death as both the ancient Scholiast and the matter it selfe doth shew So in his Ajax 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is better that is hidden in Hádes that is to say he that is dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Scholiast rightly expoundeth it then he that is sick past recoverie and in his Antigone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My father and mother being layd in Hádes it is not possible that any brother should spring forth afterward Wherwith Clemens Alexandrinus doth fitly compare that speech of the wife of Intaphernes in Herodotus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My father and mother being now no longer living another brother by no maner of meanes can be had So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being in Hádes with the one is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not now living in the other or as it is alledged by Clemens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not now being which is the Scripture phrase of them that have left this world Genes 5.24 and 42.36 Psal. 39.13 Ierem. 31.15 and 49.10 used also by Homer Iliad β. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Touching the use of the word Hell in the Scriptures thus writeth Iansenius expounding those words Proverb 15.11 Hell and destruction are before the Lord how much more then the hearts of the children of men It is to be knowen that by Hell and destruction which two in the Scriptures are often joyned together the state of the dead is signified and not of the damned only as wee commonly doe conceave when we heare these words but the state of the deceased in generall So Sanctius the Iesuite with Sà his fellow acknowledgeth that Hell in the Scripture is frequently taken for Death Therefore are these two joyned together Revel 1.18 I have the keyes of Hell and of Death or as other Greeke copies read agreeably to the old Latin and Aethiopian translation of Death and of Hell and Esai 28.15 We have made a covenant with Death and with Hell we are at agreement where the Septuagint to shew that the same thing is meant by both the words do place the one in the room of the other after this maner We have made a covenant with Hell and with Death an agreement The same things likewise are indifferently attributed unto them both as that they are unsatiable and never full spoken of Hell Proverb 27.20 and of Death Haback 2.5 So the gates of Hell Esai 38 10. are the gates of Death Psalm 9.13 and 107.18 and therefore where we reade in the book of Wisedome Thou leadest to the gates of Hell and bringest backe againe the Vulgar Latin translateth it Thou leadest to the gates of Death and bringest back againe So the sorrowes of Death Psal. 18.4 are in the verse following tearmed the sorrowes of Hell and therefore the LXX as hath beene shewed translating the selfe same words of David doe in the Psalme render them the sorrowes of Hell and in the historie 2. Sam. 22.6 where the same Psalme is repeated the sorrowes of Death Whence also that difference of reading came Act. 2.24 aswell in the copies of the text as in the citations of the ancient Fathers which was the lesse regarded because that varietie in the words bredd little or no difference at all in the sense Therefore Epiphanius in one place having respect to the beginning of the verse saith that Christ loosed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sorrowes of Death and yet in another citing the later end of the verse because it was not possible he should be holden by it addeth this explication thereunto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say by Hell And the author of the Sermon upon Christs passion among the workes of Athanasius one where saith that he loosed the sorrowes of Hell and otherwhere that he loosed the sorrowes of Death unto whom wee may adjoyne Bede who is in like maner indifferent for eyther reading In the Proverbs where it is said There is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end therof are the waies of Death Proverb 14.12 and 16.25 the LXX in both places for Death put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the bottome of Hell and on the other side where it is said Thou shalt beate him with the rod and shalt deliver his soule from Hell Proverb 23.14 they reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou shalt deliver his soule from Death So in Hose 13.14 where the Hebrew and Greeke both reade I will deliver
the places of the Fathers wherein our Lords rising againe from the Dead is termed his rising againe from Hádes Inferi or Hell would be a needlesse labour for this we need go no further then to the Canon of the Masse it selfe where in the prayer that followeth next after the Consecration there being a Commemoration made of Christs passion resurrection and ascension the second is set out by the title ab inferis resurrectionis of the resurrection from Hell For as the Liturgies of the Easterne Churches doe here make mention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the resurrection from the dead so those of the West retayne that other title of the resurrection ab inferis that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in the Liturgie that goeth under the name of S. Peter or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in the Gregorian Office translated into Greek by Codinus If then the resurrection frō the dead be the same with the resurrection from Hades Inferi or Hell why may not the going unto Hades Inferi or Hell be interpreted by the same reason to be the going unto the dead whereby no more is understood than what is intimated in that phrase w ch the Latins use of one that hath left this world Abijt ad plures or in that of the Hebrewes so frequent in the word of God He went or was gathered unto his people he went or was gathered unto his fathers which being applied unto a whole generation Iudg. 2.10 as well as in other places unto particular persons must of necessitie denote the common condition of men departed out of this life Now although Death and Hades dying and going to the dead be of neere affinitie one with the other yet be they not the same thing properly but the one a consequent of the other as it appeareth plainely by the vision Revelat. 6.8 where Hades is directly brought in as a follower of Death Death it selfe as wise men doe define it is nothing else but the separation of the soule from the body which is done in an instant but Hades is the continuation of the body and soule in this state of separation which lasteth all that space of time which is betwixt the day of death and the day of the resurrection For as the state of life is comprehended betwixt two extreames to wit the beginning thereof and the ending and there be two motions in nature answerable thereunto the one whereby the soule concurreth to the body which we call Generation the other whereby the body is severed from the soule which we call Death so the state of death in like maner is contained betwixt two bounds the beginning which is the very same with the ending of the other and the last end the motion whereunto is called the Resurrection whereby the body and soule formerly separated are joyned together againe Thus there be three tearmes here as it were in a kinde of a continued proportion the middlemost whereof hath relation to eyther of the extremes and by the motion to the first a man may be said to be natus to the second denatus to the third renatus The first the third have a like oppositiō unto the middle and therefore are like betwixt themselves the one being a generation the other a regeneration For that our Lord doth call the last Resurrection the Regeneration Matth. 19.28 S. Augustine supposeth that no man doubteth Neyther would our Lord himselfe have beene styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first borne from the dead unlesse the Resurrection were accounted to be a kinde of a new nativitie whereof he himselfe was in the first place to be made partaker that among all or in all things he might have the preeminence the rest of the sonnes of God being to be children of the Resurrection also but in their due time and in the order of Post-nati The middle distance betwixt the first and second terme that is to say the space of life which we lead in this world betwixt the time of our birth and the time of our death is opposite to the distance that is betwixt the second and third terme that is to say the state of death under which man lyeth from the time of his departure out of this life unto the time of his resurrection and see what difference there is betwixt our birth and the life which we spend here after wee are borne the same difference is there betwixt Death and Hades in that other state of our dissolution That which properly we call Death which is the parting a sunder of the soule and the body standeth as a middle terme betwixt the state of life and the state of death being nothing else but the ending of the one and the beginning of the other and as it were a common meare between lands or a communis terminus in a Geometricall magnitude dividing part from part but being it selfe a part of neyther and yet belonging equally unto eyther Which gave occasion to the question moved by Taurus the philosopher When a dying man might be said to die when he was now dead or while hee was yet living whereunto Gellius returneth an answere out of Plato that his dying was to be attributed neyther to the time of his life nor of his death because repugnances would arise eyther of those wayes but to the time which was in the confine betwixt both which Plato calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a moment or an instant and denieth to be properly any part of time at all Therefore Death doth his part in an instant as hath beene said but Hádes continueth that worke of his and holdeth the dead as it were under conquest untill the time of the resurrection wherein shall be brought to passe the saying that is written O Death where is thy sting O Hades where is thy victorie For these things shall rightly be spoken then saith Irenaeus when this mortall and corruptible flesh about which Death is and which is holden downe by a certaine dominion of Death rising up unto life shall put on incorruption and immortalitie for then shall death be truly overcome when the flesh that is holden by it shall come forth out of the Dominion thereof Death then as it importeth the separation of the soule from the body which is the proper acception of it is a thing distinguishable from Hades as an antecedent from his consequent but as it is taken for the whole state of death and the domination which it hath over the dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basilius Seleuciensis calleth it in his oration upon Elias it is the selfe same thing that Hades is and in that respect as we have seene the words are sometimes indifferently put the one for the other As therefore our Sauiour that we may apply this now unto him after he was fastned and lifted up on the Crosse if he had come downe from
thence as the standers by in mocking wise did wish him to doe might be truly said to have beene crucified but not to have dyed so when he gave up the ghost and layde downe his life if he had presently taken it up againe he might truly be said to have dyed but not to have gone to the dead or to have beene in Hádes His remayning under the power of Death untill the third day made this good Whom God did rayse up loosing the sorrowes of death forasmuch as it was not possible that he should be holden of it saith S. Peter and Christ being raysed from the dead dyeth now no more Death hath no more dominion over him saith S. Paul implying thereby that during the space of time that passed betwixt his death and his resurrection he was holden by death and death had some kinde of domination over him And therefore Athanasius or who ever else was author of that writing to Liberius the Roman Bishop having reference unto the former text affirmeth that he raysed up that buried body of his and presented it to his Father having freed it from Death of which it was holden and Maximus or he that collected the Dialogues against the Marcionites under the name of Origen out of him expounding the other text Over whom then had Death dominion saith he For the saying that it hath no more dominion sheweth that before it had dominion over him Not that Death could have any dominion over the Lord of Life further than he himselfe was pleased to give way unto it but as when Death did at the first sease upon him his life indeed vvas taken from the earth yet none could take it from him but he layd it downe of himselfe so his continuing to be Deaths prisoner for a time was a voluntarie commitment only unto which he freely yeelded himselfe for our sakes not anie yoake of miserable necessitie that Death was able to impose upon him For he had power to lay downe his life and he had power to take it again yet would he not take it againe before he had first not layd himselfe downe only upon Deaths bed but slept also upon it that arising afterward from thence he might become the first fruits of them that slept In which respect the Fathers apply unto him that text of the Psalme I layd me down and slept I awaked for the Lord sustained mee Psalm 3.5 and Lactantius that verse of Sibyll 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The tearme of death he shall finish when he hath slept unto the third day His dying or his burying at the farthest is that which here is answerable unto his lying downe but his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Dionysius calleth it his his three-dayes buriall and his continuing for that time in the state of death is that which answereth unto his sleeping or being in Hádes And therefore the Fathers of the fourth Councell of Toledo declaring how in Baptisme the death and resurrection of Christ is signified do both affirme that the dipping in the water is as it were a descension into Hell and the rising out of the water againe a resurrection and adde likewise out of Gregory with whom many other Doctors doe herein agree that the three-fold dipping is used to signifie the three-dayes buriall which differeth as much from the simple buriall or putting into the earth as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the transportation or leading into captivitie from the detayning in bondage the committing of one to prison from the holding of him there and the sowing of the seed from the remayning of it in ground And thus have I unfolded at large the generall acceptions of the word Hádes and Inferi and so the Ecclesiasticall use of the word Hell answering thereunto which being severally applyed to the point of our Saviours descent make up these three propositions that by the universall consent of Christians are acknowledged to be of undoubted verity His dead body though free from corruption yet did descend into the place of corruption as other bodies doe His soule being separated from his body departed hence into the other world as all other mens soules in that case use to doe He went unto the dead and remayned for a time in the state of death as other dead men doe There remayneth now the vulgar acception of the word Hell whereby it is taken for the place of torment prepared for the Divell and his Angells and touching this also all Christians do agree thus farre that Christ did descend thither at leastwise in a virtuall maner as God is said to descend when he doth any thing upon earth which being wonderfully done beyond the usuall course of nature may in some sort shew his presence or when he otherwise vouchsafeth to have care of humaine frailtie Thus when Christs flesh was in the tombe his power did worke from Heaven saith S. Ambrose which agreeth with that which was before cyted out of the Armenians Confession According to his body which was dead he descended into the grave but according to his DIVINITIE which did live he overcame Hell in the meane time and with that which was cyted out of Philo Carpathius upon Cantic 5.2 I sleepe but my heart waketh in the grave spoyling Hell for which in the Latin Collections that goe under his name we reade thus I sleepe to wit on the Crosse and my heart waketh vvhen my DIVINITIE spoyled Hell and brought rich spoyles from the triumph of everlasting death overcome and the Divells power overthrowne The author of the imperfect worke upon Matthew attributeth this to the Divinitie not cloathed with any part of the Humanitie but naked as he speaketh Seeing the Divels feared him saith he while he was in the body saying What have we to doe with thee Iesus the sonne of the high God art thou come to torment us before our time how shall they be able to endure his NAKED DIVINITIE descending against them Behold after three dayes of his death he shall returne from Hell as a conqueror from the warre This conquest others do attribute to his Crosse others to his Death others to his Buriall others to the reall descent of his soule into the place of the damned others to his Resurrection and extend the effect therof not only to the deliverie of the Fathers of the old Testament but also to the freeing of our soules from Hell from whence how men may be said to have been delivered who never were there S. Augustin declareth by these similitudes Thou sayest rightly to the physician Thou hast freed me from this sicknesse not in vvhich thou wast but in which thou wast like to be Some bodie else having a troublesome businesse was to be cast into prison there commeth another and defendeth him vvhat saith he when he giveth thankes Thou