for Lazarus was there comforted Thirdly there is a great Chaos whiche signifieth an infinite distance betwene Abraham and the riche glutton which vtterly ouerthroweth that dreame of Limbus which signifying a border or edge supposeth that place to be harde adioyning to the place of torments Last of all if the Article of our fayth had bene of Limbus Patrum or of Abrahams bosome we shoulde haue bene taught to saye he descended into Limbo patrum or he descended into Abrahams bosome which all Christian eares abhorre to heare The worde Sheol vsed in the olde Testament for a common receptacle of all the dead signifieth properly a place to receiue their bodies and not their soules and therefore most commonly in our translations is called the graue MART. 7. As when Iacob sayth Descendam ad filium meum lugens in infernum I will goe downe to my sonne into Hell mourning they translate I wil go downe into the graue vnto my sonne mourning as though Iacob thought that his sonne Ioseph had bene buried in a graue whereas Iacob thought and sayd immediatly before as appeareth in the holy Scripture that a wild beast had deucured him and so could not be presumed to be in any graue or as though if Ioseph had bene in a graue Iacob would haue gone downe to him into the same graue For so the wordes must needes import if they take graue properly but if they take graue unproperly for the state of deade men after this life why doe they call it graue and not Hell as the word is in Hebrew Greeke and Latine No doubt they doe it to make the ignorant Reader beleeue that the Patriarch Iacob spake of his bodie onely to descend into the graue to Iosephes bodye for as concerning Iacobs soule that was by their opinion to ascend immediatly after his death to heauen and not to descend into the graue But if Iacob were to ascend forthwith in soule how could he say as they translate I will goe downe into the graue vnto my sonne As if according to their opinion he should say My sonnes bodie is deuoured of a beast and his soule is gone vp into heauen well I will goe downe to him into the graue FVLK 7. A proper quidditie you haue found out of Iacob supposing his sonne to be deuoured of wilde beastes yet sayth I wil goe downe vnto him mourning which you thinke can not be into the graue because he did not thinke he was buried But you must remember it is the common manner of speech when men saye in mourning they will goe to their friendes departed they meane they will dye although their friendes perhaps were drowned in the sea or their bodies burned or perhaps lye in desolate places vnburied So Iacobs descending to the graue signifieth no more but death by which he knewe he shoulde be ioyned to his sonne in soule though he were not in bodie The name of graue is vsed because it is vsuall that dead men are buried though it be not vniuersall And that the graue is taken commonly for death it appeareth by that phrase so often vsed in the Scriptures He slept with his fathers and was buried which being spoken indifferently of good men and euill can not be vnderstood of one place of their soules but of death which is common to all and is proper to the bodie not vnto the soule for the soules of the departed sleepe not The like is to be sayde of the phrase vsed in Gen. of Ismael as well as of the godly Patriarkes he was laid vp to his people And lest you should please your selfe too much in your childish conceit of Iosephes being deuoured whereof yet his father was not certaine You shall heare howe Isydorus Clarius translateth the same place in his Bible censured by the Deputies of Trent Councell Descendam ad filium meum lugens in sepulchrum I will goe downe to my sonne mourning into the graue This is one of the places which he thought meere to be corrected according to the Hebrew and in other places where he is content to vse the old word Infernus he signifieth in his notes that he meaneth thereby Sepulchrum the graue And in deede this word Infernus signifieth generally any place beneath as the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Greeke translators vsed for Sheol the Hebrue worde signifieth a place that is darke and obscure where nothing can be seene such as the graue or pitte is in which the dead are layde which therefore of Iob is called the land of darkenesse and the shadow of death MART. 8. Gentle Reader that thou mayst the better conceiue these absurdities and the more detest their guilefull corruptions vnderstand as we began to tell thee before that in the old Testament because there was yet no ascending into heauen the way of the holies as the Apostle in his epistle to the Hebrues speaketh being not yet made open because our sauiour Christ was to dedicate and begin the enteraunce in his owne person and by his passiō to open heauen therfore we say in the old Testament the common phrase of the holy Scripture is euen of the best men as well as of others that dying they went downe ad inferos or ad infernū to signifie that such was the state of the old Testament before our sauiour Christs Resurrection and Ascension that euery man went downe and not vp descended and not ascended by descending I meane not to the graue which receiued their bodies only but ad inferos that is to hel a common receptacle or place for their soules also departed as wel of those soules that were to be in reste as those that were to be in paines and torments All the soules both good and bad that then died went downeward and therefore the place of both sortes was called in all the tongues by a worde answereable to this worde hel to signifie a lower place beneath not onely of torments but also of rest FVLK 8. Where you reason that there was no ascēding into heauen because the way of the holies was not yet made open when the firste tabernacle was standing you abuse the Reader and the Scripture For the Apostles meaning is in that verse to shewe that to the great benefite of Christians that firste tabernacle is fallen because that nowe we haue more familiar accesse vnto God by Iesus Christ. For whereas the High Priest onely but once in the yeare and then not without bloud entred into the second moste holye Tabernacle because the way of the Holyes that is vnto the Holyest or sancta sanctorum was not then opened nowe our Sauiour Christ hauing once entred into the holiest place by his owne bloud and founde eternall redemption we haue by him without any ceremonies sacrifices or mediation of any mortall Priest free accesse vnto the throne of grace euen into the holye place by the newe and liuing waye which he hath
FVLK 13. That which is spoken indifferently of the elect and reprobate must needes be vnderstoode of that which is common to both that is corporall death How can it be verified of their soules that they were laid to the fathers when betwene the godly and the wicked there is an infinite distance but the earth the graue or pitte is a common receptacle of all dead bodies That Samuel which being raysed vppe spake to Saul might truely say of his soule though not of all his sonnes that he should be with him in hell for it was the spirite of Satan and not of Samuel although counterfaiting Samuel he might speake of the death of Saule and his sonnes As for that verse of the eighty and fiue Psalme whereupon you do falsely so often alleage S. Augustines resolution what absurditie hath it to translate it from the lowest graue or from the bottome of the graue whereby Dauid meaneth extreame daunger of death that he was in by the malice of his persecuting enemies Saule and his complices But we are afrayed to say in any place that any soule was deliuered and returned from hell We say that the soules of all the faithfull are deliuered from hell but of any which after death is condemned to hell we acknowledge no returne And these wordes are spoken by Dauid while he liued and praised God for his deliueraunce which might be not onely from the graue but also from hell sauing that here he speaketh of his preseruation from death MART. 14. And that this is their feare it is euident because that in al other places where it is plaine that the holy scriptures speake of the hel of the daÌ„ned from whence is no returne they translate there the verie same worde Hell and not graue As for example The way of life is on high to the prudent to auoide from Hell beneath Loe here that is translated Hell beneath which before was translated the lowest graue And againe Hell and destruction are before the Lorde howe muche more the harts of the sonnes of men But when in the holy Scriptures there is mention of deliuery of a soul from Hell then thus they translate God shal deliuer my soul from the power of the graue for he will receiue me Can you tell what they would say doeth God deliuer them from the graue or from teÌ„porall death whom he receiueth to his mercie or hath the graue any power ouer the soule Againe when they say What man liueth and shall not see death shall he deliâ—er his soule from the hand of the graue FVLK 14. I haue shewed before diuerse times that although the Hebrue word Sheol doe properly signifie a receptacle of the bodies after death yet when mention is of the wicked by consequence it may signifie hell as the day signifieth light the night darkenesse fire heate peace signifieth prosperitie and an hundreth suche like speaches But where you say that Prouerb 15. v. 24. that is translated hell beneath which before was translated the lowest graue Psalm 85. v. 13. You say vntruly for although in both places there is the worde Sheol yet in that Psalme there is Tachtyah in the Prouerbes Mattah for which if it were translated the graue that declineth or is downewarde it were no inconuenience In the other textes you trifle vpon the worde soule whereas the Hebrewe worde signifieth not the reasonable soule which is separable from the bodie but the life or the whole person of man which may rightly be said to be deliuered from the hande or power of the graue as the verse 48. doth plainely declare when in the later parte is repeated the sense of the former as it is in many places of the Psalmes MART. 15. If thâ—y take graue properly where mans bodie is buried it is not true either that euerie soule yea or euery bodie is buried in a graue But if in all such places they will say they meane nothing else but to signifie death and that to goe downe into the graue and to die is all one we aske them why they followe noâ— the wordes of the holy Scripture to signifie the same thing which call it going downe to Hell not going downe to the graue Here they must needes open the mystery of Antichrist working in their translations and say that so they shoulde make Hell a common place to all that departed in the olde Testament which they will not no noâ— in the most important places of our beleefe concerning our Sauiour Christes descending into Hell and triumphing ouer the same Yea therefore of purpose they will not onely for to defeate that parte of our Christian Creede FVLK 15. We can not alwaies take the word graue properly when the Scripture vseth it figuratiuely But if we say to goe downe to the graue and to die is all one you aske vs why we followe not the wordes of the holy Scripture I aunswere we doe for the Scripture calleth it graue and not hell Where is then your vaine clattering of the mysterie of Antichrist that we must open Because we will not acknowledge that hereticall common place inuented by Marcion the heretike we purpose to defeate the article of Christes descending into hell A monstrous sclaunder when we doe openly confesse it and his triumphing ouer hell in more triumphant manner than you determine it For if he descended into that hell onely in which were the soules of the faithfull which was a place of rest of comfort of ioy and felicitie what triumphe was it to ouercome suche an hell which if you take away the hatefull name of hell by your owne description will proue rather an heauen than an hell But we beleeue that he triumphed ouer the hell of the damned and ouer all the power of darkenesse which he subdued by the vertue of his obedience and sacrifice so that it should neuer be able to claime or holde any of his elect whome he had redeemed MART. 16. As when the Prophet first Osee. 13. and afterward the Apostle 1. Cor. 15. in the Greeke sâ—y thus Ero mors tua ô mors morsus tuus ero inferne Vbi est mors stimulus tuus vbi est inferne victoria tua O death I will be thy death I will be thy sting ô Hell Where is ô death thy sting where is ô hell thy victorie They translate in both places O graue in steede of ô Hel. What else can be their meaning hereby but to draw the Reader from the common sense of our Sauiour Christs descending into hell conquering the same and bringing out the fathers and iust men triumphantly from thence into heauen which sense hath alwaies bene the common sense of the Catholike church holy Doctors specially vpon this place of the Prophet And what a kinde of speach is this and out of all tune to make our Sauiour Christ say O graue I will be thy destruction as though he had triumphed ouer the graue not
ouer hell or ouer the graue that is ouer death and so the Prophet should say death twise and Hell not at all FVLK 16. S. Hierom whom you quote in the margent to proue that all the Catholike Doctors vnderstoode this text of Osee of Christes descending into hell and thereby reproue our translation which for hell sayeth graue after he hath repeated the wordes of the Apostle 1. Cor. 15. vpon this text thus he concludeth Itaque quod ille in resurrectionem interpretatus est Domini noâ— aliter interpretari nec possumus nec audemus Therefore that which the Apostle hath interpreted of our Lordes resurrection we neither can nor dare interprete otherwise You see therefore by Hieromes iudgement that in this text which is proper of Christes resurrection it is more proper to vse the word of graue than of hell How vainly the same Hierome interpreteth the last wordes of this chapter of spoiling the treasure of euerie vessell that is desireable of Christs deliuering out of hel the most precious vessells of the Saincts c. I am not ignoraunt but we speake of translation of the 14. verse which being vnderstoode of Christes resurrection it argueth that the graue is spoken of rather than hell As for the repetition of one thing twise for vehemencie and certainties sake is no inconuenient thing but commonly vsed in the Scriptures MART. 17. Why my Maisters you that are so wonderful precise translatoures admit that our sauiour Christ descended not into Hel beneath as you say yet I thinke you will grant that he triumphed ouer Hell and was conquerer of the same Why then did it not please you to suffer the Prophet to say so at the least rather than that he had conquest only of death and the graue You abuse your ignorant reader very impudently your owne selues verie damnably not onely in this but in that you make graue and death all one and so where the holy Scripture often ioyneth togither death and Hell as things different and distinct you make them speake but one thing twise idly and superfluously FVLK 17. For our faith of Christs triumphing ouer hell I haue spoken alreadie sufficiently but of the Prophetes meaning beside the wordes them selues the Apostle is best expounder who referreth it to the resurrection and his victorie ouer death which he hath gayned not for him selfe alone but for all his elect Where you say we make graue and death all one it is false We knowe they differ but that one may â—e signified by the other without any idle or superfluous repetition in one verse I referre me to a whole hundred of examples that may be brought out of the Psalmes the Prophetes and the Prouerbes where wordes of the same like or neere significatioÌ„ are twise togither repeated to note the same matter which none but a blasphemous dogge will say to be done idly or superfluously MART. 18. But will you know that you should not confound them but that Mors Infernus which are the wordes of the holy Scripture in all tongues are distinct heare what S. Hierome sayth or if you will not heare because you are of them which haue stopped their eares let the indifferent Christian Reader harken to this holy Doctor and great interpreter of the holy Scriptures according to his singular knowledge in all the learned tongues Vpon the foresaid place of the Prophet after he had spoken of our Sauiour Christes descending into hell and ouercomming of death he addeth Betwene death and hell this is the difference that death is that whereby the soule is separated from the body Hell is the place where soules are included either in rest or else in paines according to the qualitie of their deserts And that death is one thing and Hell is another the Psalmist also declareth saying THERE IS not in death that is mindfull of thee but in Hell who shall confesse to thee And in another place Let death come vpon them and let them goe downe into Hell aliue Thus farre S. Hierom. FVLK 18. He that by the graue vnderstandeth a place to receiue the bodies of the dead and figuratiuely death doth no more confound the wordes of death and the graue then he that by a cup vnderstandeth a vessell to receiue drinke properly and figuratiuely that drinke which is contayned in such a vessell Therefore that you cite out of Hierome maketh nothing against vs for hee him selfe although deceyued by the Septuagintes or rather by the ambiguitie of the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which they vse in the signification of the Hebrue worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet by Infernus vnderstandeth them that be In inferno and the dead as wee doe by the worde graue oftentimes As for his opinion of the godly soules in happie hell before Christes death or his interpretation of any other parte of Scripture wee professe not to followe in our translations but as neere as wee can the true significatioÌ„ of the words of holy Scripture with such sence if any thing be doubtfull as the proper circumstances of euery place will lead vs vnto that wee may attayne to the meaning of the holy Ghost MART. 19. By which differences of death and Hell whereof wee must often aduertise the Reader are meant two things death and the going downe of the soule into some receptacle of Hell in that state of the olde Testament at what time the holy Scriptures vsed this phrase so often Now these impudent translators in all these places translate it graue of purpose to confound it and death togither and to make it but one thing which S. Hierom sheweth to be different in the very same sense that we haue declared FVLK 19. The difference of Mors Infernus which Hierome maketh can not alwaies stand as I haue shewed of the hoare heades of Iacob Ioab and Shemei which none but madde men will say to haue descended into a receptacle of soules beside other places of Scripture where Sheol must of necessity signifie a place for the bodie And euen those places of the Psalmes that S. Hierom calleth to witnesse do make against his error For where Dauid sayth Psal. 6. In hell who shall confesse vnto thee How can it be true of the soules of the faithfull being in that holy hell Abrahams bosome Did not Abraham confesse vnto God acknowledge his mercie Did not Lazarus the same did not all the holy soules departed confesse God in Abrahams bosome Were all those blessed soules so vnthankefull that being carried into that place of rest and comfort none of them would coÌ„fesse Gods benefits It is plaine therefore to the confusion of your error that Sheol in that place of Dauid must nedes signifie the graue in which no man doth confesse praise or giue thanks vnto God of whom in death there is no remembraunce Therefore he desireth life and restoring of health that he may praise God in his Church or congregation Likewise in the Psal. 54.
prepared for vs. But all this is to be vnderstoode of the cleare reuelation of the mercie of God in Christ which was obscurely set forth vnto the fathers of the olde Testament and not of the effect fruite of his passion which was the same for their saluation that it is for ours Neither haue the soules of the faithfull since the coÌ„ming of Christ any other place of rest than the fathers had before his incarnation God prouiding most wisely that they without all the rest of their brethren that shall be vnto the worldes ende shall not be made perfect And whereas you saye that all the soules of good and badde then went downeward you are controlled by the wise man Eccles. 3. Where he speaketh in the person of the carnall man doubting of that which is not comprehended by reason but beleened by faith who knoweth whether the spirite of man ascende vpwarde And more plainely in the last chapter of that booke where he exhorteth to repentaunce shewing in the ende that though dust returne to the earth from whence it was yet the spirite returneth to God that gaue it It returneth to God therefore it goeth not downe For who woulde abide to heare this speache the soules of the faithfull went downewarde to God yea went into hell to God Nay returned downeward into hel to God that gaue them That common receptacle therefore of the dead was the receptacle of their bodies which all first or last returned to the earth from whence they were taken And where you say that place was called in all tongues by such a word as signifieth a lower place beneath it is true of the common receptacle of their bodies but not of their soules For the soule of Lazarus was not carried by the Angells into hell but into Abrahams bosome which was not onely a place of rest but also of ioy and comfort contrarie to tormentes betwene which and hell was an infinite distaunce Who woulde call that a common receptacle when there was an infinite distance vnpassable from one to the other MART. 9. So wee say in our Creede that our sauiour Christ him selfe descended into hel according to his soule So S. Hierom speaking of the state of the old Testament saith Si Abraham Isaac Iacob in inferno quis in caelorum regno that is If Abraham Isaac and Iacob were in hell who was in the kingdome of heauen And againe Ante Christum Abraham apud inferos post Christum latro in Paradiso that is before the comming of Christ Abraham was in hell after his comming the theefe was in Paradise And least a man might obiect that Lazarus being in Abrahams bosome saw the riche glottâ—n a farre of in hel and therefore bothe Abraham and Lazarus seeme to haue bene in heauen the saide holy doctour resolueth it that Abraham and Lazarus also were in hell but in a place of great rest and refreshing and therefore verie farre off from the miserable wretched glutton that lay in tormentes FVLK 9. We say in our Creede that Christ descended into hell which being an article of our faith must haue relation to suche benefite as we receiue by his descending namely that thereby we are deliuered from the paines of hell But that he should descend into Limbus patrum to fetche out the fathers which before you sayd were in prison nowe you say in rest we neither say it in our Creede neither doth it pertaine vnto vs. But Hierome is cited as a fauourer of your opinion who I confesse in some parte held as you doe but not altogither For thus he writeth in Epitaph Nepos After he hath giuen thanks to Christ for our redemption by his death Quid ante miserius homine qui aeternae mortis terrore prostratus viuendi sensum ad hoc tantum acceperat vt periret c. What was more miserable than man before which being cast downe with terrour of eternall death receiued sense of liuing for this ende only that he might perishe For death raigned from Adam vnto Moises yea vpon those which haue not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam If Abraham Isaak and Iacob in hell who in the kingdome of heauen If thy friendes were vnder the punishment If Adam and they which sinned not were held guiltie by other mens sinnes what is to be thought of them which said in their harte there is no God c. And if Lazarus be seene in the bosome of Abraham and in a place of rest what like hath hell and the kingdome of Heauen Before Christe Abraham in hell after Christ the theese in Paradise In these wordes Hierome after his Rhetoricall manner amplifying the benefite of our redemption by Christ doth rather touch this errour than plainely expresse it For first hee maketh all men miserable before Christe and cast downe with terror of eternall death which is true if yee consider them without Christ in which state are all men since Christe but of all men that liued before the time of Christes death and yet embraced their redemption by him it is not true As also that there are some which haue not sinned But that al this is to be vnderstood specially of the death of their bodies and allegorically of their soules he addeth immediately Et idâ—â—rco in resurrectione eius multa dorâ—â—ntium corpora c. And therefore at his resurrection many bodies of them that slept arose were seene in the heauenly Ierusalem See you not how he turneth all into an Allegorie to set foorth the vertue of Christes redemption who brought all his elect by his death from hell and the power of darkenesse into the kingdome of heauen Furthermore you bidde vs see Augustine in Ps 85. v 13. Where in the beginning he professeth his ignoraunce in discussing the question of the nethermost hell First supposing this world in which we liue to be Infernum superius and the place whether the dead goe Infernum inferius from which God hath deliuered vs sending thether his sonne who to this Infernum or lower place came by his birth to that by his death he addeth an other opinion Fortassis enim apud ipsos inferos est aliqua pars inferior c. Peraduenture euen in hell it selfe there is some parte lower in which the vngodly which haue much sinned are deliuered For whether Abraham had bene now in certaine places in hell we can not sufficiently define And afterward wheÌ„ he hath spokeÌ„ of the diuerse places of Lazarus and the rich glutton he concludeth as vncertainly as he began Ergo inter ista fortasse duo inferna quorum in vno c. Therefore peraduenture betweene these two hels in one of which the soules of the righteous rested the soules of the wicked are tormented one attending prayeth in the person of Christ c. Here you may see what an article of beliefe this was with S. Augustine when he hath nothing to define but onely bringeth his
and that the woman sayd I see Gods ascending out of the earth and An olde man is ascended or come vp and that Samuel sayd Why hast thou disquieted me that I should be raysed vp and To morow thou and thy sonnes shall be with me And the booke of Ecclesiasticus sayth that Samuel died and afterward lifted vp his voice out of the earth c. All which the holy Scripture would neuer haue thus expressed whether it were Samuel in deede oâ— not if Saul and the Iewes then had beleeued that their Prophets and Patriarches had bene in heauen about And as for the Hebrew worde they make it as euery boye among the Iewes doth well know as proper a word for Hell as panis is for bread and as vnproper for a graue though so it may be vsed by a figure of speech as Cymba Charontis is Latine for death FVLK 26. If we followed the Iewes in exposition of the Scriptures against Christ we were not so much to be pitied as to be abhorred but if we be content to learne the proprietie of Hebrew wordes of the learned Rabbinsi as Hierom was glad to doe of his Rabbin who as it appeareth by his scholler in some places was not excellently learned there is no cause why any man should pitie vs but them rather that to cloke their ignorance in the Hebrewe tongue pretende as if it were more vnlawfull to learne Hebrew of the Hebrew Rabbins than Latine of Quintilian or Priscian and Greeke of Gaza Suidas and such like That you tell vâ— of the Romishe Rabbins conuerted from Iudaiâ—me to Papistrie is not worth a straw For their argument of Saules and a witches opinion that the deade might be raysed proueth nothing in the worlde that they were in Hell And the sonne of Syrach sheweth him selfe not to be directed by the spirite of God which affirmeth Samuel did lift vp his voice after his death out of the earth contrarye to the iudgement of Catholike Doctors of the Church For that the Scripture speaketh of Samuel raysed by the witche is meant of a wicked spirite counterfetting the shape and similitude of Samuel For the soules of the faithfull and holy Prophets be not at the commaundements of witches but at rest with God where they can not be disquieted As for the authoritie of those vnknowen authors that teach boyes to say Sheol is as proper for hell as panis for bread we may esteeme it to be of as good credit as Charons boate Plutoes pallace and Cerberus three heads c. MART. 27. But what speake I of these doe no the greatest and most auncient Rabbines so to call them the Septuaginta alwayes translate the Hebrew word by the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is properly hell doe not the Talmudistes and Chaldee paraphrases and Rabbi Salomon Iarhi handling these places of the Psalmes He will deliuer my soule from the hande of Sheol interprete it by Gehinum that is Gehenna hell and yet the Caluinists bring this place for an example that it signifieth graue Likewise vpon this place Let all sinners be turned into SHEOL the foresayde Rabbines interprete it by Gehinum Hell Insomuch that in the Prouerbs and in Iob it is ioyned with Abaddon Where Rabbi Leui according to the opinion of the Hebrewes expoundeth Sheol to be the lowest region of the world a deepe place opposite to heauen whereof it is written If I descended into Hell thou art present and so doth Rabbi Abraham expounde the same worde in chap. 2. Ionâ— FVLK 27. Although the Septuaginta doe alwayes translate Sheol by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet doe they not thereby alwayes vnderstand hel as it is manifest in all those places where the Scripture speaketh of a receptacle of dead bodies But now you will beare vs downe with Rabbins Talmudists and Chaldee paraphrases And firste you saye that all these handling that verse of the 49. Psalme He will deliuer my soule from the hand of Sheol interprete it by Gehinnom that is hell I graunt that Rabbi Ioseph vsing the libertie of a Paraphrast rather than a translator interpreteth the worde by Gehinnom that signifieth hell fire and so the sense is true For God deliuered Dauid from eternall damnation But Rabbi Dauid Chimchi expounding the same place according to the proper signification of Sheol sayeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Prophet sayde when he sawe the destruction of the soules of the wicked in their death In the day in which my bodie shall goe downe to Sheol the graue God shall deliuer my soule from the hande of Sheol the graue that my soule shall not perishe with my bodie You see therefore that all the Rabbines be not of your side no nor Rabbi Salomon Iarchi whom you cite For vpon 37. of Genesis verse 35. where Iacob sayth he will goe downe to the graue mourning thus he writeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mourning to Sheol according to the plaine and literall sense the interpretation thereof is the grane in my mourning I will be buried and I will not be comforted all my dayes but after the Midrash or exposition not according to the letter it is hell This signe was deliuered by handes or by tradition from the mouth of his power that is from a diuine oracle if not one of my sonnes shall dye in my life time I had confidence that I should not see hell By this saying it is manifest that this Rabbine acknowledged the true and proper translation of this worde Sheol was to the graue although after figuratiue and sometimes fond expositions it was interpreted for hell Likewise you say but vntruly of this verse Psal. 9. v. 18. Let all sinners be turned to Sheol for there the Chaldee Paraphrast retaineth the worde Sheol and doth not giue any other word for it Dauid Chimchi interpreteth it according to the literall sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the wicked be turned into the graue which is so straung with you to be aunswerable to Sheol although as R. Salomon he sayth it may be vnderstoode of their buriall in hell That Sheol in the Prouerbs Iob is ioyned with abaddoÌ„ it hindreth it not to signify the graue where is the destru ction and consumption of the body And Prou. 15. v. 11. the Chaldee Paraphrast retaineth Sheol which Kabuenaki expoundeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is sayd of Sheol and Abaddon that Sheol is the graue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Abaddon is hell which is deeper than the graue c. And although in Iob Rabbi Leui and others expound Sheol for a secret place about the center of the earth which should seeme to be hell yet they say not that this is the proper signification of the word Sheol For in the 21. of Iob. v. 13. the Chaldee Paraphrast for Sheol interpreteth Kebureta the graue and in the 14. verse 13. beith kebureta the house of the graue and 17. v. 12. and
Hebrue Bible into Greeke Is not their credit I say in determining and defining the signification of the Hebrue worde farre greater than yours No. Is not the authoritie of all the auncient fathers both Greeke and Latine that followed them equiualent in this case to your iudgement No say they but because we finde some ambiguitie in the Hebrue we will take the aduantage and we will determine and limit it to our purpose FVLK 45. S. Hieronym aboundantly aunswereth this cauill denying that supposed inspiration and deâ—iding the fable of their 70. celles which yet pleased Augustine greately yea calling in question whether anye more were translated by them than the fiue bookes of Moses because Aristaeus a writer in Ptolomees time and after him Iosephus make mention of no more The same cause therfore that moued S. Hierome to translate out of the Hebrewe mooueth vs whose translation if we had it sounde ande perfect might much further vs for the same purpose Althoughe for the signification of the Hebrewe wordes we require no more credite than that which al they that be learned in the Hebrewe tongue must be forced to yeelde vnto vs. And seeing your vulgare Latine departeth from the Septuagintaes interpretation euen in the bookes of Moses whiche if anie bee theirs may most rightly be accounted theirs because it is certaine they translated them although it be not certaine whether they translated the rest with what equity do you require vs to credite them which your owne vulgare translation affirmeth to haue translated amisse as I haue shewed before in the example of Canans generation An other example you haue in the 4 of Genesis Nonne si bene egeris recipies c. If thou shalt do wel shalt thou not receiue but if thou shalt doe euill straighte-way thy sinnes shall be present in the doores The greke texte hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. not if thou haste rightly offered but thou hast not rightly diuided hast thou sinned be stil. Where your translation commeth muche nearer to the Hebrue as might be shewed in verie many examples As for the auncient fathers credit of the greeke Church and the Latine that folowed them if our iudgement alone be not aequiualent vnto them yet let these auncient fathers Origene and Hierome that thought them not sufficient to be followed and therefore gathered or framed other interpretations let theyr iudgement I say ioining with ours discharge vs of this fonde and enuious accusation MART. 46. Againe we condiscend to their wilfulnes and say what if the Hebrewe be not ambiguous but so plaine and certaine to signifie one thing that it can not bee plainer As Thou shalt not leaue my soule in Hel whiche prooueth for vs that Christ in soule descended into Hell Is not the one Hebrewe worde as proper for soule as anima in Latine the other as proper and vsual for hel as infernus in Latine Heere then at the least wil you yeeld No say they not here neither for Beza telleth vs that the word which commonly and vsually signifieth soule yet for a purpose if a man wil straine it may signifie not onely bodie but also carcase and so he translateth it But Beza say we being admonished by his friendes corrected it in his later edition Yea say they he was content to change his translation but not his opinion concerning the Hebrewe worde as himselfe protesteth FVLK 46. You haue chosen a text for example wherein is least colour except it bee with the vnlearned of an hundred For whereas you aske whether Nephesh be no not as proper for soule as anima in Latin Sheol for Hel as infernus in Latine I vtterly deny both the one and the other For nephesh is properly the life and Sheol the graue or pit though it may sometimes be taken for Hel which is a consequent of the death of the vngodly as nephesh is taken for person or ones selfe or as it is sometimes for a dead carcase Yea there be that hold that it is neuer taken for the reasonable immortall soule of a man as anima is specially of Ecclesiasticall writers That Beza translated the Greeke of the newe Testament after the signification of the Hebrewe wordes althoughe it was true in sense yet in mine opinion it was not proper in wordes and therefore he himselfe hath corrected it in his latter editions as you confesse hee hathe not chaunged hys opinion concerning the Hebrewe the reason is because it is grounded vppon manifest textes of Scripture whiche hee citeth Leuit. 19. verse 27. cap. 21. verse 1. and 11. Num. 5. verse 2. and 9. verse 10. In the firste place your owne vulgare Latine translation for la nephesh turneth mortuo you shall not cut your flesh for one that is dead In the second place your vulgare Latine hathe Ne non contaminetur sacerdos in mortibus and Ad omnem mortuum non ingredietur omnino Lette not the Priest bee defiled with the deathes of his countreymen and The highe Priest shall not enter into any dead bodie at all where the Hebrue is lenephesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the thirde place your vulgare Latine readeth polluiusque est super mortuo they shall caste out him that is polluted by touching a dead carcase where the Hebrewe is lanephesh In the first place your vulgare Latine hathe indede anima but in the same sense that it had before mortuo for the text is of him that is vncleane by touching any dead bodie which in Hebrue is nephesh How say you nowe is the Hebrewe worde as proper for soule as anima in Latine except you wil say the Latine worde anima dothe properly signifie a dead bodie hathe not Beza good reason to retaine his opinion concerning the Hebrewe worde when hee hathe the authoritie of youre owne vulgare translation You that note such iumps and shiftes in vs whether wil you leape to saue your honestie will you saye the Hebrewe texte is corrupted since your translation was drawen out of it The seauentie interpretours then will crie out againste you for they with one mouth in all these places for the Hebrewe worde nephesh render the vsuall signification 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adding in the 21. of Leuit. v. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which either you muste translate a deade bodie or you shall call it absurdly a dead soule Woulde any man think to haue founde in you eyther suche grosse ignoraunce or shamefull negligence or intollerable malice against the trueth that Beza sending you to the places eyther you woulde not or you coulde not examine them or if you dydde examine them that you woulde notwythstanding thus malitiouslye agaynste youre owne knowledge and conscience raile against him you make vs to saye if a manne will straine the worde it may signifie not onely bodie but also carcase What saye you did Moses straine the worde to that signification You saide beefore that wee were at the iumps and turnings of
Paule 1. Cor. 15. v. 43. The dead bodie is sowen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in weakenesse it riseth againe in power Doth not weakenesse here signifie priuation of all strength It is maruaile but you will say a dead bodie is not altogither voide of strength Beza telleth you out of S. Paule Rom. 8. v. 6. That the wisedome of the flesh without Christ is death it is enmitie against God it is neither subiect vnto the law of God neither can it be where is the strength of free will that you complaine to bee taken away by our translation Beza doth also tell you that S. Paule calleth all the ceremonies of the lawe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they are separated from the spirit of Christ the weake and beggerly elementes Galaâ— 4. Are they not voide of strength riches which are voide of Christs grace and spirit But your purpose was only to quarrell and seeke a knot in a rush therefore you regarded not what Beza hath written to iustifie his translation MART. 27. If Caluine translate Non ego sed gratia Dei quae mihi aderat may not meane Graecians controle him that he also translateth falsely against free will because the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth require some other participle to be vnderstoode that shoulde signifie a cooperation with free will to wit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which laboured with me See chap. 10. numb 2. FVLK 27. The Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the grace of God which is with me A meane Graecian will rather vnderstande the verbe substantiue than the participle as you doe and then must needes againe vnderstand the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath laboured For thus the sense must be if your participle be vnderstood I haue laboured more than they all yet not I but the grace of God which labored with me hath labored Who would commit such a vaine tautologie The sense is therefore plaine which the Apostles words do yeeld in the iudgement of better Graecians than euer G. Martine was or will be I haue not labored more than the rest of the Apostles of mine owne strength or will but the grace of God which is in me or with me hath giuen me greater strength ability to trauel in the Gospell than to them But you are afraid least it should be thought that the Apostle had done nothing like vnto a block forced only a blockish feare a forced collection For when the Apostle first saith he hath labored after denieth saith I haue not laboured what sensible man will not gather that in the former he labored as a man indued with life sense and reason and in the later that he laboured not by his owne strength or vertue but by the grace of God to which he attributeth all that he is in such respect By the grace of God I am that I am saith he which manifestly excludeth naturall free will to that which is good appertaining to the glorie of God For which cause he denieth that he laboured more than the rest not I but the grace of God which was present with me MART. 28. If when the Hebrue beareth indifferently to say Sinne lieth at the dore and vnto thee the desire thereof shall be subiect thou shalt rule ouer it the Geneua English Bible translate the first without scruple the later not because of the Hebrue Grammar is not this also most wilfull against free will See chap. 10. numb 9. FVLK 28. I graunt this to bee done willingly against free will but yet no false nor corrupt translation For in the participle Robets which signifieth lying is a manifest Enallage or chaunge of the gender to declare that in Chataoth which word being of the feminine gender signifieth sinne is to bee vnderstoode Auon or some such worde as signifieth the punishment of sinne which may agree with the participle in the masculine gender that the antithesis may be perfect If thou doest well shall there not be reward or remission if thou doest euill the punishment of thy sinne is at hand But that the later end of the verse can not be referred to sinne but vnto Cain not only the Grammar but also the plaine wordes and sense of the place doth conuince For that which is sayd of the appetite must haue the same sense which the same wordes haue before of the appetite of Eue towardes her husband Adam that in respect of the law of nature and her infirmitie she should desire to be vnder his gouernment that he should haue dominion ouer her So Abel the yonger brother should be affected toward his elder brother Cain to whom by the law of nature he was louing and subiect and therefore no cause why Cain should enuy him as he did Otherwise it were a straunge meaning that sinne which is an insensible thing shoulde haue an appetite or desire towarde Cain who rather had an appetite to sinne than sinne to him But you are so greedie of the later parte that you consider not the former I knowe what the Iewisne Rabbines fauourers of Hethenish free will absurdly doe imagine to salue the matter but that which I haue said may satisfie godly Christian MART. 29. If Caluine affirme that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can not signifie propter reuerentiam because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not so vsed Beza auoucheth the same more earnestly and the English Bible translateth accordingly which may be confuted by infinite examples in the Scripture it selfe is coÌ„futed by Illyricus the Lutheran is it not a signe either of passing ignorance or of most wilfull corruption to maintaine the blasphemie that hereupon they conclude See chap. 7. numb 42 43. FVLKE 29. If Beza Caluine the English translations be deceiued about the vse of the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it proueth not that they are deceiued in the translation of the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the matter in question They haue other reasons to defend it than the vse of the preposition although you sclaunder Caluine in saying he affirmeth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not vsed for propter For he sayth no more but that the preposition is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or some such like that may designe a cause quae causam designet that is that certainly may point out a cause can not otherwise be taken Likewise Beza saith Atqui non facile mihi persuaserim proferri posse vllum exemplum in quo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ita vsurpeâ—ur But I can not easily persuade my selfe that any example may be brought forth in which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is so vsed that is for propter or secundum for which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were more proper and vsuall Now if Illyricus haue helped you with a few examples where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is so taken what say Beza or
thought she is one of those last mentioned But if you say as the Geneua Bible doth but my doue is alone and my vndefiled is the onely daughter of her mother Nowe the church is excepted from all the rest of the Queenes concubines and damsels And where you say the Hebrue hath not that signification I pray you goe no further but euen to the same verse and tell me whether the sense be that she is one of her mothers daughters or the only daughter of her mother Here therefore as almost euery where you doe nothing but seeke a knot in a rush MART. 11. But we beseeche euerie indifferent Reader euen for his soules health to consider that one point specially before mentioned of their abandoning the name of Church for so many yeares out of their Englishe Bibles thereby to defeate the strongest argument that might and may possibly be brought against them and all other Heretikes to wit the authoritie of the Church which is so many wayes and so greatly recommended vnto all Christians in ho'y Scriptures Consider I pray you what a malitious intention they had herein First that the name Church shoulde neuer sound in the common peoples eares out of the Scriptures secondly that as in other things so in this also it might seeme to the ignoraunt a good argument against the authoritie of the Church to say We finde not this worde Church in all the holy Scriptures For as in other articles they say so because they finde not the expresse word in the holy Scripture so did they well prouide that the worde Church in the holy Scriptures should not stay or hinder their schismaticall and hereticall proceedings as long as that was the only English translation that was read and liked among the people that is so long till they had by preaching taken away the Catholike Churches credit and authorite altogither among the ignorant by opposing the Scriptures thereunto which them selues had thus falsely translated FVLK 11. We trust euerie indifferent Reader wil consider that they which translated the Greeke worde Ecclesia the congregation and admonished in the notes that they did by that worde meane the church and they which in the creede might haue translated Ecclesiam Catholicam the vniuersall congregation taught all children to say I beleue the Catholike churche coulde haue no such deuilish meaning as this malicious sclaunderer of his owne heade doeth imagine For who euer hearde any man reason thus This worde church is not found in the Scripture therefore the church must be despised c. Rather it is like beside other reasons before alleaged that those first translatours hauing in the olde Testament out of the Hebrue translated the wordes Cahal Hadath and such other for the congregation where the Papistes will not translate the church although their Latine text be Ecclesia as appeareth Act. 7. where they call it assembly thought good to retaine the word congregation throughout the newe Testament also least it might be thought of the ignoraunt that God had no church in the time of the olde Testament Howsoeuer it was they departed neither from the word nor meaning of the holy Ghost nor from the vsage of that word Ecclesia which in the Scripture signifieth as generally any assembly as the worde Congregation doeth in Englishe CHAP. VI. Hereticall translation against PRIEST and PRIESTHOODE Martin BVt because it may be they will stande here vpon their later translations which haue the name Church because by that time they sawe the absurditie of chaunging the name now their number was increased and them selues beganne to challenge to be the true Church though not the Catholike and for former times when they were not they deuised an inuisible Church If then they will stande vpon their later translations and refuse to iustifie the former let vs demaund of them concerning all their Englishe translation why and to what ende they suppresse the name Priest trāslating it Elder in all places where the holy Scripture would signifie by Presbyter and Presbyterium the Priestes and Priesthoode of the new Testament Fulke IF any errour haue escaped the former translations that hath bene reformed in the later all reasonable men ought to be satisfied with our owne corrections But because we are not charged with ouersights and small faults committed either of ignorāce or of negligence but with shamelesse trāslations wilful heretical corruptions we may not acknowledge any such crimes whereof our conscience is cleare That we deuised an inuisible church because we were few in number whē our translations were first printed it is a lewde sclaunder For being multiplied as we are God be thanked we holde still that the Catholike church which is the mother of vs all is inuisible and that the church on earth may at sometimes be driuen into suche streights as of the wicked it shall not be knowen And this we helde alwayes and not otherwise Nowe touching the worde Presbyter and Presbyterium why we translate them not Priest and Priesthoode of the new Testament we haue giuen sufficient reason before but because we are here vrged a freshe we must aunswere as occasion shall bee offered MART. 2. Vnderstand gentle Reader their wily pollicie therein is this To take away the holy sacrifice of the Masse they take away both altar and Priest because they know right well that these three Priest sacrifice and altar are dependentes and consequentes one of an other so that they can not be separated If there be an externall sacrifice there must be an external Priesthoode to offer it an altar to offer the same vpon So had the Gentiles their sacrifices Priestes and altars so had the Iewes so Christ him selfe being a Priest according to the order of Melchisedec had a sacrifice his bodie and an altar his Crosse vpon the which he offered it And because he instituted this sacrifice to continue in his Church for euer in commemoration and representation of his death therefore did he withall ordaine his Apostles Priests at his last supper there then instituted the holy order of Priesthoode and Priestes saying hoc faecite Do this to offer the selfe same sacrifice in a mysticall and vnblouddie maner vntill the worldes end FVLK 2. In denying the blasphemous sacrifice of the popish masse with the altar priesthood that therto belongeth we vse no wily policie but with open mouth at all times and in all places we cry out vpon it The sacrifices priestes and altars of the Gentiles were abhominable The sacrifices of the Iewes their priestes and altars are all accomplished and finished in the onely sacrifice of Christ our high Priest offered once for all vpon the altar of the crosse which Christ our Sauiour seeing he is a Priest according to the order of Melchisedech hath an eternall priesthood and such as passeth not by succession Heb. 7. Therefore did not Christ at his last supper institute any externall propitiatory sacrifice of his bodie and bloud but
permitte such consistories of Elders for onely discipline and gouernment as be in some other Churches yet doe they not only permit but also mainteyne and reuerence such Elders being signified by the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as are necessarie for the gouernment of the Church in doctrine Sacraments and discipline to the saluation of Gods people The dayly sacrifice mentioned in Daniell was the Morning and Euening sacrifice of the old Lawe wherevnto your blasphemous sacrifice of the Masse hath no resemblaunce You may not therefore looke to recouer the credite of Massing Priestes by that sacrifice which being once instituted by God was at length taken away by the onely sacrifice of Christes death Against which all the Apologies in the worlde shall neuer be able to defende your Massing Priesthood As for the chapter of Allens Apologie wherevnto you refer vs conteyneth certaine quotations a few sentences of the auncient writers which haue bene answered an huÌ„dreth times to iustifie massing Priests but all in vaine for neuer shall he proue that any one from the Eldest which he nameth vnto Beda which is the yongest was such a Massing Prieste in all pointes as those traytours are which by the Queenes lawes and edict are proscribed and prohibited I meane not for their manners but for their Masse and all opinions incident therevnto CHAP. VII Hereticall translation against PVRGATORIE LIMBVS PATRVM CHRISTS DESCENDING INTO HEL Martin HAVING now discouered their corrupt translations for defacing of the Churches name and abolishing of Priest and Priesthood let vs come to another point of very great importance also and which by the wonted consequence or sequele of errour includeth in it many erroneous branches Their principall malice then being bent against Purgatorie that is against a place were Christian soules be purged by suffering of temporall paines after this life for surer maintenaunce of their erroncous deniall hereof they take away and denie all third places saying that there was neuer from the beginning of the worlde any other place for soules after this life but onely two to witte heauen for the blessed and hell for the damned And so it foloweth by their hereticall doctrine that the Patriarches Prophetes and other good holy men of the old Testament went not after their deaths to the place called Abrahams bosome or Limbus patrum But immediatly to heauen so againe by their erroneous doctrinâ— it foloweth that the fathers of the old Testament were in heauen before our sauiour Christe had suffered death for their redemption and also by their erroneous doctrine it foloweth that our sauiour Christ was not the first man that ascended and entred into heauen and moreouer by their hereticall doctrine it foloweth that our sauiour Christe desâ—ended not into any such third place to deliuer the fathers of the olde Testament out of their prison and to bring them triumphantly with him into heauen because by their erroneous doctrine they were neuer there â— and so that article of the Apostles Creede concerning our sauiour Christ his descending into hell must either be put out by the Caluinists as Beza did in his Confession of his faith printed An. 1564. or it hath some other meaning to wit either the lying of his bodie in the graue or as Caluine and the purer Caluinists his schollers will haue it the suffering of hell paines distresses vpon the Crosse. Loe the consequence and coherence of these errours and heresies Fulke WE may be bolde to say with S. Augustine We beleeue according to the auctoritie of God that the kingdome of heauen is the first place appointed for Gods elect and that hell is the seconde place where all the reprobrate such is be not of the faith of Christe shall suffer eternall punishment Tertium penitus ignoramus imo nec esse in scripturis sanctis inuenimus The thirde place we are vtterly ignorant of yea and that it is not wee finde in the holy Scriptures But hereof it followeth say you that the godly of the olde Testament went not after their deathes to Abrahams bosome or Limbus patrum but immediately to heauen Of Limbus patrum which is a border of the Popes hel I grauÌ„t it followeth but of Abrahams bosome it followeth none otherwise than if I should say Gregorie Martin went into Chepeside Ergo he went not to London That the fathers of the old Testament were in Heauen before our Sauiour Christ had suffered death for their redemption it is no incoÌ„uenience for his death was as effectuall to redeeme them that liued before he suffered actually as them that liue since because in Gods sight hee is the Lambe that was slaine from the beginning of the world And the fathers that were iustified by faith in his bloud receyued the same crowne and rewarde of rightuousnesse that we do beyng iustified by the same meanes And yet our Sauiour Christe was the first man that in his whole manhood ascended and entred into heauen into the fulnesse and perfection of glory which is prepared for all Gods elect to be enioyed after the generall resurrection That our Sauiour Christe descended into no prison after his death we verily beleeue and yet we do also constantly beleeue the article of our Creede that he descended into hel by suffering in soule the paynes due to Gods iustice for the sinnes of all whome hee redeemed and by vanquishing the Deuill and all the power of hel in working the redemption of all the children of God If Beza in his confession had cleane left out that article whiche is vntrue hee had bene no more to bee blamed than the auctors of the Nicene Creede and many other Creedes in which it is not expressed because it is partly conteyned vnder the article of his sufferings partly it is in parte of the effect and vertue of his death and redemption MART. 2. These nowe being the hereticall doctrines which they meane to auouch and defende what soèuer come of it first they are at a point not to care a rushe for all the auncient holy Doctours that write with full consent to the contrarie as themselues confesse calling it their common errour secondly they translate the holy Scriptures in fauour thereof most corruptly and wilfully as in Bezaes false translation who is Caluines successor in Geneua it is notorious for he in his newe Testament of the yeare 1556. printed by Robertus Stephanus in folio with Annotations maketh our Sauiour Christ say thus to his father Non derelinques cadauer meuÌ„ in sepulchro Thou shalt not leaue my carcasse in the graue Act. 2. For that which the Hebrue and the Greeke and the Latine and S. Hierome according to the Hebrue say Non derelinques animam meam in inferno as plainly as we say in English Thou shalt not leaue my soule in hell Thus the Prophet Dauid spake it in the Hebrue Psal. 15. Thus the Septuaginta vttered it in Greeke thus the Apostle S. Peter
alleageth it thus the holy Euangelist S. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles cap. 2. recordeth it and for this S. Augustine calleth him an infidel that denyeth it yet all this would not suffise to make Beza translate it so because of certaine errours as he heretically termeth them which he would full gladly auoide hereby namely the Catholike true doctrine of limbus patrum and Purgatorie What neede we say more he translateth animam a Carcase so calling our Sauiour Christes bodie irreuerently and wickedly he translateth infernum graue FVLK 2. That many of the Christian fathers helde this error that the godly of the old Testament were not in heauen before Christes death it is no cause why we should be afraid to confesse the truth reuealed to vs out of the holy Scriptures to the glorie of God And if the wrong or ambiguous translation of one Hebrue word Sheol deceiued them that were for the most parte ignoraunt of the Hebrue tongue what reason were it that we shoulde not in translation reforme that errour But as for Bezaes first translation of the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deade bodie and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 graue I haue aunswered at large Cap. 1. sect 31. where also it is shewed howe vainely you take hold of the English worde carcase to charge Beza with vnreuerent calling of our Sauiour Christes bodie when it was deade because he calleth it in Latine Cadauer MART. 3. Neede we take any great labour to proue this to be a foule corruption or that it is done purposely whē he confesseth that he thus translateth because else it woulde serue the Papistes Which is as much to say as the word of God if it be truly and sincerely translated maketh in deede for them For the first part we will not stand vpon it partly because it is of it selfe most absurd and they are ashamed of it partly because it shall susfise to confute Beza that two other as famous heretikes as he Castalio and Flaccus Illyricus write against him in this point and confute him partly also because we speake not here vniuersally of all hereticall translations but of the English corruptions specially therfore we may only note here how gladly they also would say somwhat else for soule euen in the text if they durst for shame for in the margent of that English trāslation they say or life or person thereby aduertising the Reader that he may reade thus if it please him Thou shalt not leaue my life in the graue or Thou shalt not leaue my person As though either mans soule or life were in the graue or anima might be translated person which the selfe same Englishe Bible doeth not no not in those places where it is euident that it signifieth the whole person For though this worde soule by a figure is sometime taken for the whole man yet euen there they doe not nor must not translate it otherwise than soule beause our tongue beareth that figure as well as Latine Greeke or Hebrue but here where it can not signifie the whole person it is wicked to translate it so FVLK 3. If you take more labour than you are wel able to beare yet shall you proue it no hereticall corruption As Castaleo and Illyricus the one an heretike the other a schismatike haue inueyed against Beza so hath he sufficiently confuted them But to our English translation where in the margent they say life or person when in the text they say soule what doeth this offende you They render the vsuall English word for the Greke word but they admonish the reader that the word soule in this place signifieth not the soule separated from the bodie but either the life or the whole person Because that although the bodie onely be layed in the graue yet according to vulgar speache and sense the whole man is sayed to be buried and his life seemeth to be inclosed in the graue according to which popular and humane conceyt the Prophet in that Psalme speaketh as appeareth in the later parte of that verse which is all one in sense with the former Neither wilt thou giue thy holy one to see corruption where corruption which is proper onely to the bodie is there spoken generally of the whole man If this expositiō please you not yet you haue no cause to finde fault with the translation which in that place is according to the cōmon and ordinarie signification of the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 soule Which as it is somtime taken for the whole person as you note Act. 7. 14. So is it here as the later parte of the verse doth most plainly declare MART. 4. But as for the worde graue that they put boldly in the text to signifie that howsoeuer you interprete soule or whatsoeuer you put for it it is not meant according to S. Augustine and the faith of the whole Catholike Church that his soule descended into Hell whiles his bodie was in the graue but that his soule also was in the graue howsoeuer that is to be vnderstoode So making it a certaine and resolute conclusion that the holy Scripture in this place speaketh not of Christs being in Hell but in the graue and that according to his soule or life or person or as Beza will haue it His carcase or bodie and so his soule in Hell as the holy Scripture speaketh shall be his bodie in the graue as Beza plainly speaketh the Bezites couertly insinuate white shall be blacke and chaulke shall be cheese and euery thing shall be any thing that they will haue it And all this their euident false translation must be to our miserable deceiued poore soules the holy Scripture and Gods word FVLK 4. The Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wel beareth to be translated in some places a graue here the later part of the verse speaketh of corruption which can not be vnderstoode to be but in the graue so doth S. Peter vnderstand it saying that Dauid the Patriarch died and was buried and his sepulchre remayneth with vs vnto this day and S. Paule vpon the same verse of the Psalme saith he saw corruption Both the Apostles therfore interpreting this verse of the resurrection of Christ we thinke it in deede a resolute conclusion that the Scripture in this place speaketh not of Christs being in hell which we acknowledge in the article of our Creede but of his buriall and resurrection Your trifling of white and blacke chaulke and cheese may seeme pleasaunt Rhetorike to grosse eares whom you seeke to fill with such vanities But the wiser sort that are acquainted with figuratiue speaches wil thinke it nothing straunge if words be not alwaies taken in their vsual proper signification That the Hebrue worde Nephesh which the Prophet in that verse of the Psalme vseth is taken diuerse times in the Scripture for a deade bodie I haue before proued more plainly than euer you shall
Abrahams bosome an other thing For a great depth he saith is betwene those regions and that doth let the passage to and fro But neither should the riche man haue lifted vp his eyes and that truely from a farre of but into higher places and that of an exceeding height by that infinite distance of height and depth Whereof it appeareth to euery wise man that hath euer heard of the Elysian fieldes that there is some locall determination which is called Abrahams bosome to receiue the soules of his sonnes euen of the Gentiles he being the father of many nations to be accounted of Abrahams familie and of the same faith by which Abraham beleeued God vnder no yoke of the lawe nor in the signe of circumcision That region therefore I call the bosome of Abraham and if not heauenly yet higher than hel which shall giue rest in the meane season to the soules of the iust vntill the consummation of thinges doe finish the resurrection of all with the fulnesse of reward This is as much as I can find in Tertullian touching Abrahams bosome which is cleane contrarie to that you affirme him to speake For by this saying it is manifest that your opinion is Marcions heresie Secondly that Abrahams bosome is not hell but higher by an infinite distance although not in full perfection of heauenly glorie Thirdly that it is not Limbus patrum but the receptacle of all the iust soules to the ende of the worlde Tertullians authoritie therefore doth you small pleasure and lesse honestie vnlesse you did cite him more truely But I am vnwise to looke for plaine dealing and sinceritie at your handes Well your Limbus patrum the very brimme or vppermost or outmost part of hell wherein all the Patriarches should rest we haue now found from whence it came euen from your olde acquaintance the Mouse of Pontus Marcion the abhominable Heretike The other saying of Hierome but that the opinion of the fathers in hell had by that time taken some strength might be vnderstood of the mortalitie wherevnto they were subiect and neuer shoulde haue bene raysed but by the resurrection of Christ as it seemeth by that which he opposeth of all nations since the passion and resurrection of Christ acknowledged to speake like Philosophers of the immortalitie of the soule and reioycing in the resurrection of the dead as the fathers mourned at their death Chrysostoms place is more apparant for your errour although he also may be vnderstood to speake allegorically of the effect of Christs death and resurrection by which all the Patriarches were deliuered from death and hell was spoyled not that they were in prison there but that the iustice of God had condemned them thether if Christes death had not redeemed them but I will not stande to cleare Chrysostome of this errour which it is sufficient for me to haue fouÌ„d that Marcion the old Heretike was the firste author thereof by Tertullians confession howsoeuer it came to passe that many good men afterward deceiued by the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Infernus did hold it MART. 12. Therefore did Iacob say I wil goe downe to my sonne vnto Hell And againe he sayth If any misfortune happen to Beniamin by the way you shal bring my gray head with sorrow vnto Hell which is repeated againe twise in the Chapter 44. by which phrase the holy Scripture will signifie not only death but also the descending at that time of all sortes of soules into hell both good and badde And therefore it is spoken of all sortes in the holye scripture both of good and of bad For all went then into hell but some into a place there of rest others into other places there of torments And therefore S. Hierom sayth speaking of hell according to the olde Testament Hell is a place wherein soules are included either in rest or in paines according to the qualitie of their deserts FVLK 12. Iacob sayde he would be ioyned to his sonne by death as in the other text you bring it is more manifest than the Sunne at noone dayes For Iacob speaking of his graye head must needes meane of his bodie and therefore of the graue and not of Hell So in the 3. Reg. 2. which you quote Dauid chargeth Salomon that he suffer not the gray head of Ioab to goe downe to the graue in peace and that he shall cause the hoare heade of Shemei to goe downe to the graue with bloud which by no meanes can be vnderstoode of his soule going to hell which goeth not with bloude although it is plaine enough by the word hoare head that he meaneth his bodye in age or his olde bodye And this text Pagnine in his Dictionarie thought necessarie to be vnderstoode of the graue although he make the worde Sheol indifferent to signifie Hell and the Graue That all went to Hell some to reste and some to tormentes it was firste deuised by Marcion the Heretike But Saint Hierome is once againe cited in Oseam cap. 13. where he sayth that Hell is a place wherein soules are included c. by which you see that he speaketh not of Limbus wherein soules were included before Christ but of suche a place wherein they are nowe included taking the worde Infernus generally for any place that receiueth the soules of the departed as he sayth most plainely him selfe in the same place Quicquid igitur separat sratres infernus est appellandus Whatsoeuer doth separate brethren is to be called hell Augustine is quoted to multiply a lye and for nothing else as I haue shewed before MART. 13. And in this sense it is also often sayd in the holy Scriptures that such and such were gathered or layde â—o their fathers though they were buried in diuerse places and died no in the same state of saluation or damnation In that sense Samuel being raysed vp to speake with Saul sayd To morow thou and thy sonnes shall be with me That is dead and in hell though not in the same place or state there in this sense all such places of the holy Scripture as haue the word Inferi or Infernus correspondent both to the Greeke and Hebrew ought to be and may be most conueniently translated by the word Hel. As when it is sayd Thou hast deliuered my soule from the lower hell Psal. 85. v. 13. that is as S. Augustine expoundeth it Thou hast preserued me from mortall sinnes that would haue brought me into the lower hel which is for the damned Which place of holy Scripture and the like when they translate graue sâ—e how miserably iâ— soundeth Thou hast deliuered my soule from the lowest graue Which they would neuer say for very shame but that they are afraid to say in any place be the holy Scriptures neuer so plaine that any soule was deliuered or returned from hell lest thereof it might follow by and by that the Patriarches and our Sauiour Christ were in such a Hell
where he prophesieth vnto the wicked a sodaine death such as befell to Chore Dathan Abiram which went downe quicke into the graue Not into hell whether come no bodies of men liuing but the soules of men that are dead MART. 20. But alas is it the very nature of the Hebrew Greeke or Latine that forceth theÌ„ so much to English it graue rather than hel we appeale to all Hebricians Grecians Latinists in the world first if a man would aske what is Hebrew or Greeke or Latine for Hell whether they would not answer these three words as the very proper words to signifie it euen as panis signifieth bread secondly if a man would aske what is Hebrew or Greeke or Latine for a graue whether they would answer these words and not three other which they know are as proper words for graue as lac is for milke FVLK 20. The very nature of the Hebrew worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is most properly to signifie a graue or receptacle of dead bodies as all that be learned in that tongue doe knowe About the Greeke and Latine termes is not our question and therefore you deale deceitfully to handle them all three togither Although neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor Infernus are so proper for hel but that they may be taken also sometimes for the graue and so perhaps were meant by the Greeke and Latine translators in diuerse places You speake therefore as one voyd of all shame to say they are as proper for hell as panis for breade Where you aske what is Hebrew Greeke or Latine for hell you must vnderstand that if you speake of a proper word for those inuisible places wherein the soules departed are either in ioy or torments I answer there is no proper word for those places either in Hebrew Greeke or Latine For that which of all these tongues is translated heauen is the proper word for the sensible skye in which are the Sunne Moone and Starres and by a figure is transferred to signifie the place of Gods glorie in which he reigneth with the blessed spirits of Angels and men aboue this sensible world Paradise and Abrahams bosome who is so childish not to acknowledge them to be borrowed wordes and not proper So fo◠〈…〉 of the reprobate soules in the Hebrue tongue Tâ—pheâ—â— or Gehinnom which properly are the names of an abhominable place of Idolatry are vsed Sheol somtimes figuratiuely may signifie the same In Greeke Latin Gâ—henna is vsed for the same which is borrowed of the Hebrue Sometimes also the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke is taken for the place of the damned and the kingdome of darkenesse The Latine word Infernus is any lowe place Wherefore I can not maruaile sufficiently at your impudencie which affirme these three words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Infernus to be as proper for our English worde hell as Panis is for bread That there be other wordes beside these in all the three tongues to signifie a graue I maruaile to what purpose you tell vs except you would haue ignorant folke suppose that there cannot be two Hebrue Greeke or Latine wordes for one thing MART. 21. Yea note and consider diligently what wee will say Let them shewe me out of all the Bible one place where it is certaine and agreed among all that it must needes signifie graue let them shewe me in any one such place that the holy Scripture vseth any of those former three wordes for graue As when Abraham bought a place of burial whether he bought Infernum or when it is said the kings of Israel were buried in the monuments or sepulchers of their fathers whether it say in infernis patrum suorum So that not onely Diuines by this obseruation but Grammarians also and children may easily see that the proper and naturall signification of the said wordes is in English Hel and not graue FVLK 21. We note wel your foolish subtiltie that will haue vs to shewe you one place where it is oertaine and agreed among al that sheol muste needes signifie graue I am perswaded that you and such as you are that haue sold your selues to Antichrist to maintaine his heresies with all impudencie will agree to nothing that shall be brought though it be neuer so plaine and certaine that it must needes so signifie I haue already shewed you three places where the hoare head is sayd to goe down into sheol that is into the graue For whether shold the hoare head goe but into the graue Nothing can be more plaine to him that will agree to truth that sheol in all such places is taken for the graue But to omit those places because I haue spoken of them all readie what say you to that place Numb 16 where the earth opened her mouth swallowed vp the rebelles with their tents and all there substaunce of cattaile and what soeuer they had where the text sayeth They went downe and all that they had aliue sheolah into the pitte or graue God made a great graue or hole in the earth to receiue them all Where no man will saie that evther the bodies of these men or their substaunce of Tentes cattaile and stuffe went into hell as it is sure their soules wente into torment And if authoritie do way more with you than good reason heare what S. Augustine writeth vpon the same texte and how he taketh your inferos or infernum which in the Hebrue is sheol Quest. super Num. lib. 4. c. 29. Et descenderunt ipsi omnia quaecunque sunt eis viuentes ad inferos Notandum secundum locum terreniâ—m dictos esse inferos hoc est c. And they themselues descended and all that they had aliue vnto Inferas the lower partes It is to be noted that Inferi are spoken of an earthly place that is in the lowe partes of the earth For diuersly and vnder manifold vnderstaÌ„ding euen as the sense of things which are in hand requireth the name of Inferi is put in the Scriptures especially it is wont to be taken for the dead But for asmuch as it is saide that those descended aliue ad inferos by the very narration it appeareth sufficiently what was done it is manifest as I said that the lower partes of the earth are termed by this word inferi in comparison of this vpper part of the earth in which we liue Like as in comparison of the higher heauen where the dwelling of the holy Aungels is the Scripture saith that the sinful Angels being thrust downe into the darknesse of this ayre are reserued as it were in prisons of a lower part or hel to be punished S. Augustine here doth not only vnderstand this place of the graue or receptacle of bodies but also sheweth that the Latin word inferi or infernus doth not alwaies signifie hel as you made it of late as proper for hel as Panis for bread But bicause you shal
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall not giue honour to God where it is certaine that by that worde is meant the graue seeing the soules of the righteous that were in Abrahams bosome did praise God and moreouer he maketh it plaine that he speaketh of the deade bodies when he sayth their spirite is taken out of their bowels MART. 32. And for the Latine worde it is the like case for all the worlde and if a man will aske but his childe that commeth from the Grammar what is Infernus he will say Hell and not graue what is Latine for graue He will aunswere Sepulchrum or monumentum But neuer Infernus vnlesse one of these Caluinisticall translatours taught him so to deceiue his father FVLK 32. I hope they that be wise will beleeue S. Augustine rather than you that the worde Inferi which is the same that Infernus hath diuerse and manifolde vnderstandings in the Scripture as I haue declared before sect 21. But with the Latine word Infornus we haue litle to doe which translate not out of Latine but out of Hebrue or Greeke MART. 33. Nowe then to drawe to a conclusion of this their corruption also in their Englishe translation whereas the Hebrue and Greeke and Latine wordes doe most properly and vsually signifie Hell and both Greeke and Latine interpreters precisely in euerie place vse for the Hebrue worde that one Greeke worde and that one Latine worde which by all custome of speaking writing signifie Hell it had bene the part of sincere and true meaning translatours to haue translated it also in English alwayes by the word Hell and afterward to haue disputed of the meaning thereof whether and when it is to be taken for Hell or graue or lake or death or any such thing As i◠one place they haue done it very exactly indifferently namely when Ionas sayth c. 2. v. 2. out of the Whales belly Out of the belly of hell cryed I and thou heardest my voice So all translate it and well whatsoeuer it signifie in this place They thinke that Hell here signifieth nothing else but the Whales belly and the affliction of Ionas and so the worde may signifie by a Metaphoricall speech as when we say in English It is a hell to liue thus and therefore no doubt they did here translate it so to insinuate that in other places it might as well signifie graue as here the Whales belly FVLK 33. Your conclusion is as good as your premisses because the Greeke and Latine Interpretors had before vs translated amisse which gaue occasion to diuerse errours therefore we also knowing the true signification of the worde muste haue followed them in wrong and doubtfull translation and afterward debated the meaning of the seuerall places But in the margent you tell vs that such Catholikes as haue translated the word Sheol for a graue haue also done amisse Pardon vs M. Martin we take you for no such learned Hebritian that you should controll Pagninus Isidorus Clarius and all other Hebritians of this time vpon suche slender sleeuelesse reasons as you haue brought hetherto And you shewe an intollerable proude stomake that being a man so litle seene in the Hebrue tongue as you shewe your selfe to be you should condemne such graue and learned persons of your owne side of rashnesse or ignorance For you make them in the case of chaunce medley that haue translated sheol a graue Thinke you the deputies of the Councell of Trent had no more discretion in perusing Isidorus Clarius correctiō of the Bible than to suffer him to chaunge life safetie into chance medly and manslaughter you may in time to come if you apply your studie proue learned in that language wherin as yet you are but a smatterer not worthy to be heard against so many so learned so famous professors of the Hebrew tongue Iewes and Christians Protestants and Papistes authors of Grammars Dictionaries and translations But in the second of Ionas it pleaseth you well that our Geneua Bible translateth this word Hell out of the bellie of hell c. but you like not that they shoulde interprete it a metaphoricall Hell or the extremitie of affliction whereinto the Prophet was brought where you make it no doubt what they would insinuate you shew your selfe more bold to affirme than ready or able to proue MART. 34. But then they shoulde haue translated it also hell in other places as they did in this and afterward haue interpreted it graue in their commentaries and not presumptuously to straiten and limite the word of the holy Ghost to their priuate sense and interpretation and to preiudice the auncient learned holy fathers which looke farremore deepely and spiritually into this prophecie than to Ionas or the Whale our Sauiour himselfe also applying it to his owne person and to his being in the hart of the earth three dayes and three nights And therefore S. Hierome sayth This belly of Hell according to the storie is the Whales bellye but it may much better be referred to the persō of Christ which vnder the name of Dauid singeth in the Psalme Thou shalt not leaue my soule in Hell Who was in Hel aliue and free among the dead And that which our Sauiour saith The Sonne of man shall be in the harte of the earth he doth interprete of his soule in hell For as the hart is in the middes of the body so is Hel said to be in the middes of the earth FVLK 34. They haue in other places trāslated it according to the proprietie of the word if in this place they had done so likewise I see not what faulte they had committed Certaine it is that the whales belly did rather resemble a graue wherein Ionas seemed to be buried than hell the receptacle of separated soules It is the office of a translator not so much to regarde what other haue written vpon the place he translateth be they auncient be they godly be they learned as what sense the interpretation of the wordes will beste beare Without preiudice therefore of any mans credite the truth in this case must be sought out That you report out of Hierom vpon this place sheweth that both the Hebrue word sheol and the Latin infernus are not proper peculiar for hel as in other places you tell vs. That S. Hierom interpreteth the saying of Christ Math. 12. v. 40. of his being in the harte of the earth to be meant of his being in hel which is said to be in the middest of the earth it is confuted by the wordes of our Sauiour Christ who sayeth that he shall be there three dayes and three nightes that is all the time of his death which is true of his bodie in the graue but not of his soule in hell for both he sayde he would be that day in Paradise and you your selues holde that he made no tariaunce in hell Beside that it is a phantasticall opinion to limit hell
into the middest of the earth which is rather a place without the sensible worlde than any dungeon within the earth MART. 35. Thus then presupposing as we must that Ionas speaketh in the person of our Sauiour Christ the principall sense is not of the whales belly but of that hell whether our Sauiour Christ descended and from whence he deliuered the fathers of the old Testament him selfe ascending into heauen as their King and generall capitaine before them and opening the way of heauen vnto them as is signified in an other Prophet and was the first that entred heauen FVLK 35. That which Ionas spake was first true of his owne person and then of Christ as Ionas was in this a resemblaunce of him But by this similitude of Christ remaining so many daies and nightes in the harte of the earth as Ionas did in the whales bellie it is manifest that he speaketh of his bodie remaining in the graue not of his soule tarying in hell Wherfore the descending of Christ into Limbus patrum hath no manner of hold eyther of the saying of Christ in the Gospell Math. 12. or of Ionas in his praier Ion. 2. MART. 36. Against all which truthes and euery point thereof these translatours are so watchefull and warie that where the Apostle saith Christ began and dedicated vnto vs the way into heauen they say in their English translations with full consent nothing else bus He prepared Why are they falsâ—â— here than their Maisters Caluin Beza Illyricus who reade Dedicauit Is there nothing in the Greeke word but bare preparation where be these etymologistes now that can straine and wring other wordes to the vttermost aduantage of their heresie and here are content for the like aduantage to dissemble the force of this word which by all vse and propertie signifieth to make new to begin a thing to be the first author to dedicate as S. Augustine might haue taught them and their Lexicons and the Scriptures in many places This translation no doubt is not done sincerely and indifferently of them but for their owne deceitfull purpose as is all the rest When Sainct Paule speaketh of preparation onely they knowe right well that he vseth the vsuall word to prepare as He hath prepared them a city and wheresoeuer is signified preparation onely let them bring vs one example where it is expressed by the other Greeke word which now we speake of FVLK 36. I grauÌ„t the translations had bene more proper and agreable to the Greeke worde to haue said which he hath dedicated or by dedication prepared But here is no fraude against any trueth or errour of yours For the Apostle speaketh not of the way by which we ascend immediatly to heauen but of the way by which we haue free accesse to God through faith without the vailes and ceremonies of the law as it is manifest by his exhortation And whereas you said before that Christ ascending into heaueÌ„ to those whom he had brought out of hell you must tell vs then where they remained all those fortie dayes that were betwene his resurrection and ascention except you will make two ascensions of Christ into heauen one in soule alone the other in bodie soule which hath not bene heard of in the church before For that his soule was first receyued into heauen or Paradise immediatly after his death it proueth not an ascension seeing the same was common to him with other saincts Againe seing the mysterie of our redeÌ„ptioÌ„ is diuided into the death resurrectioÌ„ of Christ and that by his death wee are deliuered from sinnes by his resurrection wee are iustified if you will not allowe his death to haue purchased equall redemption to the fathers of the old Testament and vs but measure the vertue therof by the instance of time in which it was actually performed you must stay your prisoners from entring into the kingdome of heauen at least vntill his resurrectioÌ„ For none can enter into the kingdome of heauen but iustified persons Seing therefore that iustification dependeth vpon his resurrection you must eyther graunt that it was communicated to the fathers in their time before his incarnation or else you must stay them from entring into heauen before they were iustified by his resurrection The place of Micha 2 that you quote is nothing to the purpose of Christes ascending For there the Prophete threateneth the Israelites with the violence of their enimies the Chaldees whome God him selfe would prosper against them to haue the victorie and to driue them into captiuitie MART. 37. But it is of more importaunce which foloweth and appartâ—yning altogither to this controuersie Hebr. 5. v 7. your trauslation is thus in the very English Bible that nowe is reade in your Churches Which in daies of his flesh offered vp prayers with strong crying vnto him that was able to saue him from death and was heard in that which he feared Is the Greeke here In that whiche he feared You know that no Grammar nor Lexicon doth allowe you this translation But eyther thus for reuerence or as one of your owne English Bibles hath it because of his reuerence FVLK 37. Your first quarrel against the truest translation of that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 5. is that it sayeth in that which he feared whereas the Greeke is from feare or out of feare which afterwarde you confesse though distant in worde yet to be agreeable in sense The second that in the margent our traÌ„slation is against Christes descending into hell How so I pray you doe you according to your translation expound that worde of Christes descending into hell no verily But we doe expounde it of his descending into hell therefore our translation is to proue Christes descending into hell and if our exposition were not true yet euen your opinion of Christes descent were nothing hindred thereby you wil say that by our expositioÌ„ we exclude his descent after his death we do in deede in such sort as your errour teacheth altogither without the Scripture For if there had bene an historie of Christs going into hell deliuering the Patriarkes and others the faithfull from thence al the EuaÌ„gelists would not haue omitted so notable a matter and that also an article of our beleefe MART. 38. Howe is it then that in your later English Bibles you chaunged your former translation froÌ„ better to worse or who taught you so to translate it for sooth the Heretike Beza whose translation you folow for the most parte in your later Bibles though here in sense rather than in worde And who taught Beza he saith Caluin was the first that euer found out this interpretation And why surely for defense of no lesse blasphemie than this that our Sauiour IESVS Christe vpon the Crosse was horribly afraid of damnation that he was in the very sorrowes and torments of the damned and that this was his descending into
should not haue bene so straunge a matter vnto you to heare that our Sauiour Christ with great astonishment and terrour of mind was afraid of death where he vseth the wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which was not for bodilye paine or bodily death which not onely thousands of holy Martyrs haue ioyfully embraced but infinite wicked persons haue contemned but for the feeling of Gods wrath which was infinitely more heauy vpon his soule than any torments were vpon his bodie MART. 42. Yea Beza sayth further to this purpose much more against his skill in the Greeke tongue if he had any at all that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the preposition can not beare this sense For which or in respect whereof and therefore he translateth the Greeke into Latine thus Exauditus est ex metu he was heard from feare not for feare or for his reuerence And because from feare is a hard speech and darke that seemeth to be the cause why our English translators say In that which he feared farre from Beza in word but agreeably in sense FVLK 42. When Beza hath shewed his skill in the Greeke tongue not onely in his translation and annotations but also in diuers Greeke Epigrams which he hath set forth who but one starke mad with malice blind with conceit of his owne slender skil would doubt whether Beza had any skill at all in the Greeke tongue As for that he sayth of the signification of the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he speaketh in respect of the propertie of the Greeke tongue for yet you bring no examples but Hebraisms out of the Scripture for that signification of the preposition MART. 43. But for this matter we send them to Flaccus Illyricus a Captaine Lutherane who disputeth this very point against the Caluinistes and teacheth them that no thing is more common than that signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For proofe whereof we also referre them to these places of the holye scripture Mat. 13. Luc. 22. and 24. Act. 12. Psal. 87. And Machab. 5. 21. where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a genitiue and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an accusatiue signifie all one which Beza denieth Gentle Reader beare with these tedious grammatications fitter to be handled in Latine but necessary in this case also good for them that vnderstand for the rest an occasion to aske of them that haue skill in the Greeke tongue whether we accuse our aduersaries iustly or no of false translating the holy Scriptures FVLK 43. And we by the same authoritie sende you to Bezaes answer in his last edition of his annotations And yet the Reader must know that Beza did not simply deny that the preposition might haue such sense But he sayde Non facile mihi persuaserim I can not easily perswade my selfe that any example can be brought wherein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is so vsed And in all these examples that you haue brought it signifieth rather prae which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 than propter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as your vulgar translator obserueth the difference 2. Mac. 5. verse 27. translating prae superbia and propter elationem mentis But Beza requireth an example of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taken for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that may aunswer to the vulgar Latine pro reuerentia For who would translate in Saint Mathew 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro gaudio propter gaudium or secundum gaudium or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro dolore and so of the rest but of these let Beza him selfe giue account As for these tedious grammatications which you confesse to haue bene fitter to be handled in Latine it seemeth you vttered in English for that of many ignorant you might be thought to bringe some great learning out of the Hebrewe and Greeke tongues against vs whereas the learned if you had written in Latine of other nations as well as ours might haue bene witnesses of your fonde trifling and quarrelling against our translations As for the necessarye cause you pretende that the vnlearned may aske them that haue skyll in Greeke is very ridiculous For neyther can they haue at hande alwayes such as be able to resolue them neither if they be of your faction wil they aske any indifferent mans iugement but onely such as will auouch before the ignorant that all which you write is good and perfect MART. 44. And we beseech them to giue vs a good reason why they professing to followe precisely the Greeke doe not obserue truely the Greeke points in such place as concerneth this present controuersie For the place in the Apocalypse which they alledge of our Sauiour Christes suffering from the beginning thereby to inferre that the iust men of the olde Testament might enter heauen then as well as after his reall and actuall death according to the Greeke points sayth thus All that dwell vpon the earth shall worship him the beast whose names haue not bene written in the booke of life of the Lambe slayne from the beginning of the worlde Where it is euident that the Greeke text sayth not the Lambe slaine from the beginning but that the names of those Antichristian Idolaters were not written in Gods eternall booke of predestination from the beginning as it is also most plaine without all ambiguitie in the 17. chapter v. 8. If in a place of no controuersie they had not bene curious in pointes of the Greeke they might haue great reason sometime to alter the same FVLK 44. How faine would you obscure the light of that excellent testimonie euen contrarye to your owne vulgar Latine translation that you might not haue such a faithfull witnesse against your Limbus patrum You require a reason whye wee keepe not the Greeke pointes Apoc. 13. I aunswer we keepe those pointes which the most auncient written copies haue which the Complutensis Ediâ—iâ— hath and which the beste Greeke printes nowe haue If you would knowe a reason why we followe not them that point otherwise I aunswer you the composition of the wordes is against that pointing For except Saint Iohn had meant that the Lambe was slayne from the beginning of the world he would not haue placed those wordes from the beginning of the worlde next to those wordes the Lambe which is slayne but next the worde written And therefore Aretus that could not vnderstande howe the lambe was slaine from the beginning of the world is forced to imagine Hyperbaton in this text where none needeth the sense being good and plaine without it as the wordes doe lye Whose names are not written in the booke of life of the lambe that hath bene slaine since the beginning of the worlde And although it be true that the names of the Antichristian Idolaters were not written in Gods eternall booke of predestination from the beginning as it is said Apoc. 17. v. 8. Yet is that no reason why this also shoulde
we be in deede most foule sinners and all our iustice be as the Prophete saith as a menstruous cloth yet in Christe he washeth and cleanseth vs from our sinnes and reputing his iustice as ours he maketh vs truly iuste before him not hauing our owne iustice whiche is of the lawe but the iustice which is by faith of Iesus Christe the iustice which is of God through faith Where you charge vs to affirme that our iustice being none at all in vs yet is allowed and accepted before hym for iustice and righteousnesse it is no assertion of ours but a dogged slaunder of your owne MART. 7. Againe to this purpose they make S. Paul saie that God hath made vs accepted or freely accepted in his beloued sonne as they make the Angel in S. Luke say to our Lady Haile freely beloued to take away all grace inherent and resident in the B. Virgin or in vs whereas the Apostles worde signifieth that wee are truely made gratious or gratefull and acceptable that is to say that our soule is inwardly endued and beautified with grace and the vertues proceeding thereof and consequently is holy in deede before the sight of God and not only so accepted or reputed as they imagine If they know not the true signification of the Greeke worde and if their heresie will suffer them to learne it let them heare S. Chrysostome not only a famous Greeke Doctor but an excellent interpreter of all S. Paules epistles who in this place putteth such force and significancie in the Greeke worde that he saith thus by an allusion and distinction of wordes He said not WHICH HE FREELY GAVE VS but WHEREIN HE MADE VS GRATEFVL that is not onely delyuered vs from sinne but also made vs beloued and amiable made our soule beautiful grateful such as the Angels and Archangels are desirous to see and such as himselfe is in loue withal according to that in the Psalme THE KING SHALL DESIRE or BE IN LOVE WITH THY BEAVTIE So S. Chrysostome and after him Theophylacte who with many moe wordes and similitudes explicate this Greeke worde and this making of the soule gratious and beautifull inwardly truely and inherently FVLK 7. Wee make S. Paule saye no otherwise than hee saith in deede 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee hath made vs accepted or he hath freely accepted vs in his beloued son And so we truely say the blessed Virgin Mary was freely accepted or freely beloued But this taketh not away the gratious gifts of God which the blessed Virgin in most plentifull maner was and we in some measure are indued by his grace and fauor which also God loueth in vs because they be his giftes and because he loueth vs freely in his beloued sonne whom alwaies you forget when you speake of iustice or acceptation before God For that being sanctified by his spirite we are holie indeed thoughe not perfectly as sanctification is begunne and not consummate in this life for if it were we should be voyd of sinne death we doe thankfully acknowledge yet those vertues wherewith our soule is inwardly indued and beautified are not the cause that iustifieth vs or maketh vs acceptable in Gods sight but onely his mercie in Iesus Christ for whose sake also he accepteth this vnperfect holines and righteousnes which is in vs by his grace and gift rewarding the same for his sake also with euerlasting glorie And nothing else doth Chrysostome say or meane in the place by you cited about whom you make so many wordes that you might be thought by giuing him his due praise to haue him as it were bound to you to maintaine your vnrighteous cause But Chrysostome careth not for your commendation and that which he sayth maketh nothing for iustice inherent by which we shoulde be iustified for he sayth not so much as that our soule is made amiable and beautiful by vertues and good qualities infused by his grace much lesse that for such qualities inherent in vs GOD shoulde iustifie vs but hee haeth made vs acceptable in Christe amiable and beautiful and louely to the Angels some effect of which grace also appeareth in our life and conuersation to the praise of God and good example of men MART. 8. And I would gladly knowe of the aduersaries if the like Greeke wordes be not of that forme and nature to signifie so much as to make worthy to make meete whether he whome God maketh worthy or meete or gratefull iust and holy be not so in very deede but by acceptation onely if not in deede then God maketh him no better than he was before but only accepteth him for better if he be so in deede then the Apostles word signifieth not to make accepted but to make such an one as being by Gods grace sanctified and iustified is worthy to be accepied for such puritie vertue and iustice as is in him FVLK 8. I haue told you before that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth not to make worthye but to account worthye for many a man may desire vsing this verbe to be accoūted worthy of him which can not make him worthy but in his owne iudgement and account But where you demaund further whether he whome God maketh meete worthy gratefull iust holy be not so in deede but by acceptation onely I aunswer those whome he accepteth for worthy meete iust holy gratefull are so in deede but then it is further to be knowen whether they be such in them selues or in Christ. We say they are not such in them selues but in Christ. Then are they made nothing better say you in them selues Yes verily as soone as they are accepted to be Gods children and the iustice of Christ is imputed to thē through faith they receiue the spirite of adoption which reneweth them in the inwarde man and beginneth in them holines and iustice puritie vertue but because all these qualities are vnperfect they are not worthy in Gods iustice to be accepted for them but the cause of their acceptation is still the mercie of God in Christ in whome both they and their vnperfecte good qualities are accepted to reward MART. 9. Againe for this purpose Dan. 6. 22. they will not translate according to Chaldee Greeke and Latine Iustice was founde in me but they alter it thus My iustice was found out and other of them My vnguiltinesse was found out to draw it from inherent iustice which was in Daniel FVLK 9. I can but wonder at your impudence and malice which saye so confidently that for this purpose they translated thus Would any man by the iustice or innocencie that was in Daniel or in any iust man feare lest any thing should be detracted from the iustice of Christ whereby Daniel and all iust men are iustified in Gods sight Well let that purpose rest in Gods iudgement as Daniels iustice did when he was shamefully slaundered But what is the fault of the translation According to the Chaldee Greeke and Latine
vocat propterea sacerdotio fungitur vt homo recipis autem ea quae offeruntur vt Deus offeri verò ecclesia corporis eius sanguinis symbola omne fermentum per primitias sanctificans And Christ is nowe a priest which is sprung of Iuda according to the flesh not offering any thing himselfe but is called the head of them that offer seeing he calleth the church his bodie and therefore he exerciseth the priesthoode as a man and hee receiueth those thinges that are offered as God and the church truely doth offer the tokens of his bodie and bloud sanctifying euerie leauen by the first fruites In these wordes Theodoret speaketh not of the sacrifice that Christ offered himselfe but of the spirituall sacrifice of thankesgiuing which the church offereth to him in celebrating the memorie of his death Not of the priesthoode which Christ did exercise in earth but of the priesthoode that he doth exercise in heauen not now offering anie thing but as God receiuing oblations And where he sayth that nowe he exerciseth the priesthoode as man he denieth not but that he doeth exercise it as mediator God and man Which is more plaine in his exposition of the Epistle to the Heb. cap. 8. where he enquireth how Christ doth both sit at the right hande of maiestie and yet is a minister of the holy thinges Quonam enim munere sacerdotali fungitur qui seipsum semelobtuliâ— non offert amplius sacrificium Quomodo autem fieri potest vt idem sedeaâ— socerdotali officio fungatur Nisi fortè dixerit quispiam esse munus sacerdotale salutem quam vt dominus procurat Tabernaculum autem vocauit coelum cuius est ipse opifex quem vt hominem dixit Apostolus fungi sacerdotio For what priestly office doth he exercise which hath once offered vp himselfe and doth no more offer any sacrifice And howe can it be that the same person shoulde together both sit and exercise the priestly office Except perhaps a man will say that the saluation which he procureth as Lorde is a priestly office Neither hath he any other meaning Dialog prime where his purpose is to prooue that Christ had a body Si est ergo sacerdonum proprium offerre munera Christus autem quod ad humanit atem quidem attinet sacerdos appellatus est non aliam autem hostiam quam suum corpus obtuliâ— Dominus ergo Christus corpus habuiâ— If therefore it be proper for priestes to offer giftes and Christ as concerning his humanitie truely is called a priest and he offered none other sacrifice but his owne bodie therefore our Lorde Christ had a bodie He sayth not that Christ is a priest according to his humanitie onelie whereas the excellencie of his person being both God and man caused â—is sacrifice to be acceptable and auaileable for the redemption of man But to make the matter cleare beside that which the Apostle writeth to the Hebrues ca. 9. these argumentes may plainely be drawen out of the 7. cap. where he speaketh expresly of his priesthood after the order of Melchisedech Christ as he is without father and without mother is â— priest after the order of Melchisedech Christ as he is God and man is without father and without mother therfore Christ as he is God and man is a priest after the order of Melchisedech Againe Christ as he hath no beginning of his dayes nor ende of his life is a priest after the order of Melchisedech Christ according to his diuinitie hath no beginning of his daies nor ende of his life according to his whole person Therefore Christ according to his diuinitie and according to his whole person is a priest after the order of Melchisedech Againe except you vnderstand Christ to haue beene a priest according to his diuinitie he was tythed in the loynes of Abraham as well as Lcui but according to his diuinitie hee was not in the loynes of Abraham and therfore payde no tythe in Abraham as God though as man he was subiect to the law but receiued tythes of Abraham in his priest and figure Melchisedech For the priest receiueth tythes in the name of God as also he blesseth in the name of God Therefore if Christ giue priestly blessing in his owne name he giueth it as he is God and not as man onely Finally to say that that Christ was a priest only in respect of his manhood â—auoreth rankely of Nestorianisme whereas our assertion that Christ is an high priest both according to his deitie in which he is equall with his father and also according to his humanitie in which the father is greter than he is as farre from Arrianisme as the Papistes are from honestie and synceritie to charge vs with such open blasphemie God be praised Imprinted at London by George Bishop and Henrie Binneman 1583. D. Standish D. Heskins Heretikes fiue vvaies specially abuse the Scriptures â— Denying certaine bookes or parts of bookes 2 Doubting of their authoritie and calling theÌ„ into question 2 Voluntarie expositions according to euery ones fansie or heresie 4. Changing some vvordes or sentences of the very originall text Tertul. cont Marae cio li. â— in princ Tertul. lib. 5. False and heretical traÌ„slation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 possedi◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aug. ep 89. lib. 1. de pec mer. cap. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Protestants Caluinists vse the foresaid fiue meanes of defacing the Scriptures * Cont. rat Edm. Camp pag. 18. Retent pag. 32. dist of the Rock pag. 307. Luther in noâ—o Test. Germa in Prefat Iacobi Conc. Cart. 3. can 47. * Argu. in epist. Iacob * Whitak p. 10. * Ibid. Lib. 6. cap. 18. De doct Christ. lib. 2. cap. 8. Anno. 1532. Anno. 1537. Ibid. pag. 17. M. VVhitaker by these vvords condemneth their ovvne Seruice booke vvhich appointeth these bookes of Tobie and Ecclesiasticus to be read for holy Scripture as the other Doe they read in their Churches Apocryphall superstitious bookes for holy Scripture or is he a Puritane that thus disgraceth their order of daily Seruice In expositione Symbolâ— pag. 10. M. VVhitakers booke In the argument Bib. an 1579. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb. lib. 6. cap. â— Hieronim ad â—aâ—d Tom. 3. â—â—â—â—â—â— lib. 3. cap. 6. in EuaÌ„g Math. â—â— 5. cap. 26. Cyprianus aliâ— in Concilio Aphricano * Whitak pag. 17. 120. Ibid. pag. 101. Praef. ad 6. theses Oxon pag. 25. Lib. Confess 1. cap. 14. lib. 7. c. 20. Cicer. de Senect Beza the mouse of Geneua gnavveth the text of Scripture De ineam dom cap. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No. Test. an 1556. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza reconcileth the Greeke â—â—â—â— of the nevv TestameÌ„t vvith the Hebrevve text of the old by putting out of the Greeke text so much as pleaseth him Est. 6. 9. 10. Gal. 3. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉