possessioÌ„ of life euerlasting they that depart in vnbeléef do streight way becoÌ„ partakers of eternal damnation The souls do not vanish away die with the body as the Epicures opinion is neither yet be in euery place as som do imagin touching this matter I wil allege pithie manifold testimonies out of the holy scripture out of which alone this question may ought to be tried discussed Our sauior Christ Iesus which could well iudge of these misteries in the .3 of Iohn saith So God loued the world that he wold giue his only begotteÌ„ son that who so beleueth on him shold not perish but haue life euerlastiÌ„g For god seÌ„t not his son into the world to coÌ„demn the world but that the world by him might be saued He that beleueth in him is not coÌ„demned he that beleueth not is coÌ„demned alredy bicause he beleued not in the name of the only begotteÌ„ son of god And in the .5 of Iohn he saith Uerily verily I say vnto you he that heareth my word beleueth on him that sent me hath euerlasting life shal not come into iugemeÌ„t or coÌ„demnation but hath passed alredy froÌ„ deth to life he doth not say that his sins shold first be purged in purgatorie And in the .6 cha he saith This is the wil of him that sent me that euery one that séeth the son and beléeueth on him should haue life euerlasting and I will raise him vp at the last day againe verily I say vnto you he that beleueth on me hathe life euerlasting In the .14 of Iohn also our Lord sauior Christ Iesus saith that he wil take vs vp to himself that where he is there shuld we be also c. When Christe sent forth his disciples to publish his gospel in the .x. of Math. he said vnto theÌ„ Go ye into the whole world preach the gospel to euery creature he that beleueth is baptized shal be saued and he that beleueth not shal be coÌ„demned in the 5. ch of the 2. to the Corin. the apostle S. Paule saith we knowe that if the earthly house of this tabernacle be destroyed we haue a building of god that is a house not made with haÌ„ds but eternal in the heaueÌ„s c. By these places it may be euidently gathered that the soules of the faithfull are taken vp into eternall ioy the soules of the vnfaithfull assoone as they are departed froÌ„ their bodies are condeÌ„ned to perpetual tormeÌ„t And that this is done streightway after death may be perceyued by the words that Christ spake to the théefe on the crosse when he hoong on his right hand This day shalt thou be with me in paradise And in the 14 chap. of the apocalips it is writteÌ„ I hard a voice that said vnto me write blessed are the dead that dye in the lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 .i. amodo as the old traÌ„slatioÌ„ redeth that is by by out of haÌ„d without delay SteueÌ„ in the very point wheÌ„ he loked to be stoned cried lord Iesu receiue my spirit He douted nothing but was assuredly persuaded that his soul shold straightway be traÌ„slated to eternal ioy Paule in the .j. chap. of his epist. to the Philip. sayth I desire to be losed or I couet to depart hence to be with christ Here is no meÌ„tioÌ„ at al made of purgatory in which the soules shold be first purged If thou wilt here obiect that the persons afore aleged wer saints martirs we say farther the Paradyse was opened also to the théef assoone as he became repentant And that the soules both of the faithfull vnfaithful which presently after their death are translated to heaueÌ„ or hel do not returne thence into the earth before the day of the last iudgement may wel be perceiued by the parable of the rich man clothed in purple Lazarus as we read in the .xvj. of Luke For wheÌ„ the rich man prayed Abraham that he would sende Lazarus vnto him to cooâ—e his tong Abraham gaue him this aunswer Betwixt thée and vs there is a great gulfe set so that they which wold goe hence from Abrahams bosome to you in Hell can not neyther can they come from thence to vs And when he be sought him that he would sende Lazarus to his fathers house to admonishe his fiue brethren least they also should come into that place of torment he sayd vnto him They haue Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And again If they heare not Moyses the Prophets neither wil they beleue though one rose agayne froÌ„ the dead CHAP. V. Testimonies of the auncient fathers that deade mens soules parted from theyr bodyes dooe not vvander here vpon earth THis matter was also thus vnderstoode by the holy and auncient Fathers For Augustine in his .xviij. Sermon De verbis Apostoli hathe that there bée two mansions the one in euerlasting fyre the other in the euerlasting kyngdome And in his .xxviij. chapter of his first booke De peccatorum meriâ—is remissione contra Pelagianos in the seueÌ„th tome of his works he sayth Neyther can any man haue any middle or meane place so that he maye be any other where than with the diuell who is not with Christ. And in his notable worke de ciuitate Dei the .xiij. booke and .viij. chapter he sayth The soules of the godly so soone as they be seuered from their bodies be in rest the soules of the wicked in torment vntill the bodies of the one bée raysed vnto lyfe and the other vnto euerlastyng deathe which in scripture is called the second death Iustine also an auncient father writeth in Responsione ad Orthodoxos quest 75. that the difference of the iust vniust doth appeare euen as soone as the soule is departed from the body For they are caried by the angels into such places as are fit for them that is the soules of the iust are brought vnto Paradyse where they haue the fruition of the sighte and presence of Angels and Archangels and moreouer the â—ight of our sauior Christ as it is conteined in that saying whiles we are straungers from the body we are at home with god And the soules of the vnrighteous on the other side are caried to Hell as it is sayde of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon Hell is troubled vnder thée being ready to méete thée c. And so till the day of resurrection and rewarde are ethy reserued in suche places as are méetest for them Saint Hillarie in the ende of his exposition of the second Psalme writeth that mens soules are straight way after death made partakers of rewards or punishments And touching the soules of the old Patriarks that dyed before the natiuitie of Christ Austin Hierom Nazianzen and other holy Fathers teache that God in certain places by him chosen out for that purpose hath preserued the soules of all
those that are departed from this lyfe in the true faith of the Messias to come in suche sort that they feele no gréefe but yet are depriued of the sight of god This place they call Abrahams bosom and hell for Hell doth not always betoken a place of tormente but also generally the state that soules are in after this lyfe And that our lord Iesus Christ did visite and release them and when he ascended caried them with himselfe into heauen Albeit certain of the fathers as Ireneus Tertullian Hilarie others think that they shal at the last day ascend to heaueÌ„ Some also there be of our tyme which maintaine this fonde opinion that the soules sléep vntil the day of the last iudgement in which they shal be again coupled with their bodies but this assertion hath no grouÌ„d in holy scripture of the which point diuers haue entreated But especially Iohn Caluin that worthy seruaunt of God in a proper treatise that hée wrote of the same matter in which he doth learnedly confute their reasons that maintein the contrary opinion Wherfore sith holy scriptures as the Fathers vnderstand interprete them teache that the soules of men as soone as they departe from the bodies do ascende vp into heauen if they were godly descende into hell if they were wicked and faithlesse and that there is no thirde place in which soules should be deliuered as it were out of prison that soules caÌ„ neither â—e reclaimed out of heauen or hell Hereby it is made euident that they caÌ„not wander on the earth desire aide of meÌ„ For first the soules of the blyssed néed no aide or help y men caÌ„ giue them on the other side the damned sort can no way be releued the which S. Ciprian the martir in his oration against DemetriaÌ„ dothe plainly witnesse in these words wheÌ„ we be once departed out of this world ther is afterward no place left for repeÌ„taÌ„ce no way to make satisfactioÌ„ here life is either woon or lost so forth Albeit the testimonies alredy alleged on this point of doctrin may wel suffise those that loue the truth are desirous to come to the knowledge therof yet to increase the nuÌ„ber I wil recite other testimonies also out of the fathers to proue manifestly that the soules departed do not again return wander on the earth so that all they which haue not yet stopped their cares that the truth myght not pierce enter into them may euideÌ„tly perceiue that those ancient tymes taught a far better doctrine of those spirits ghosts than other later tymes vnder poperiâ— haue coÌ„mended allowed Tertullian a very auncient writer in the end of his booke De anima sayth the soules do not any longer abide on the earth after they be once loosed from their bodies that neither by their own accord nor other mens coÌ„mandement they do waÌ„der at all after they haue descended into hel but he sayth that euil spirits do vse this kinde of deceyt to fayne themselues to be the soules of suche as are deceassed And that Hell is not open to any soule that it should afterward at any time depart thence Christ our Lord in the parable of the poore man that was in rest and the riche glutton that was in torment doth playnely ratifie vnder the person of Abraham that there can be no maÌ„ sent back to shew or tel ought of the state of hell And albeit the fathers haue noted certain errors and scapes in Tertullian yet ther was neuer any that reproued him for this opinion Athanasius in his booke of questioÌ„s the .xiij. question doth giue a reason wherfore God wil not suffer y any soul decessed shuld return vnto vs declare what the state of things is in hel what great misery is there hereby saith he many errors wold easily spring vp among vs for many diuels might so take on them the shape of men be traÌ„sformed into the likenesse of the dead say that they arose froÌ„ the dead and so publish many lying tales false opinions of things there don therby to seduce and hurt vs Weigh these words of Athanasius I pray thée Sainct Chrysostome in his nynetéenth Homilie on the eight chapter of sainct Mathews Gospell hath in maner the same woordes for hée moueth thys question Why suche as were possessed with Spirites lyued in graues Therefore sayeth he they abode there to put this false opinion in mens heads that those persons soules whyche by violent death departed were turned into Dyuels so dyd seruice vnto witches and soothsayers The which opinion the diuell first broughte in thereby to diminishe the Martyrs prayse and glorie that so the Sorcerers mighte â—lea those persons whose wicked trauell help they vsed those matters saith he ar far from truth For he proueth by the Scripture that the spirites of the godly are not vnder the power of the Diuels nor yet do stray abroade after deathe then that they woulde retourne vnto theyr owne bodyes if they myghte wander whether they lusted And further if they dydde any seruice too theyr Murderers by that meanes they should at their handes receyue a reward for an yll déede and displeasure By natural reason also it can not come to passe that a maÌ„s body should be turned into an other body and therfore also the spirite of a man can not be chaunged into a deuill But among other things which proprely belong to our purpose he sayth If we heare a noyse that sayth I am suche a soule we muste thus thinke that thys talke procedeth of some sleight and subtiltie of the deuill and that it is not the soule of the dead body that speketh these things but the Deuill that deuiseth them to deceyue the hearers And by and by he sayeth that these are to be counted olde wiues words or rather doting fooles toyes to mocke children withall For the soule when it is parted from the body cannot walke any longer in these parties For the soules of the iust are in the hands of god And on the other side the soules of the wicked after their departure hence are straightway lead aside and withdrawne froÌ„ vs which may euidently be séene by Lazarus the rich man And in another place also the Lorde sayth This day will they take thy soule from thée wherefore the soule cannot here wander when it is departed from the body A little afterwarde he addeth that it may be proued out of many places of scripture that the soules of the iust doo not here wander after death For Steuen saide Lorde receiue my Spirit and Paule desired to be loosed and to departe hence and to be with Christ. Also the scripture as touching the patriarks death vseth this phrase he is layde vnto his fathers growen vp vnto a good olde age And that the soules of sinners and wicked men cannot after their departure here abide any longer we may
learne by the riche mans words if we will wey and consider with our selues what he demaunded coulde not obteine For if after death mens soules might any longer haue their conuersation here on earth no doubte the riche man him selfe woulde haue retourned as his desire was and certified his friends of hell torments Out of which place of scripture it is most cleare that soules immediatly vpon their departure from their body are caried vnto a certein place whence they cannot of themselues returne but néeds must wait there for that terrible daye of iudgement Also in his secōd homily of Lazarus amōg other things he saith It is most playne not only by that we haue before rehearsed but also by this parable that soules parted from the body haue their abiding here no longer but are forthwith lead away For it came to passe saith he that he died and was caried away by the Angels And not only the soules of the iust but of the vniust and wicked are hence lead away caried to their proper places which doth euidently appeare by another rich man of which mētion is made in the 12. of Luke to whome the Lorde said Thou foole this night will they take thy soule from thée And in hys fourthe homily of Lazarus he plainly teacheth that we should giue more credite to holy Scripture than to one that came from the dead or an Angell from Heauen Herewithall he also sheweth that the dead do not only make no apperance vnto men liuing but yeldeth reasons wherfore they do not returne hither in these words If god had knowen that the dead being raised might haue profited the liuing he would neuer haue let passe so great a benefite who otherwise dothe giue and prouide vs all things profitable Furthermore he addeth that if it were requisite still to raise vp dead men to make relation vnto vs of such things as there are done this no doubt in continuaunce of time would haue bin neglected and so the Diuell very easily would haue broched and brought in damnable opinions into the world For he might often haue made counterfeit sights or suborne suche as should fayne their selues to be dead and buried and by by to present themselues before men as if they had bin in déede raised from death and by suche manner of persons might so haue bewitched simple soules that they would beleue whatsoeuer he would haue For if now when there is in déede no such thing the vayn dreames as it were of men decessed that haue bin shewed to mē in sleep haue deceyued peruerted destroyed many surely much sooner wold the same haue fallen out if it had bin a thing truly done this opiniō had preuailed in mens heads For if many dead persons had retourned backe again into this life the wicked spirit the diuell would easily haue deuised many sleights wiles brought in much deceit into the life of mā And therfore god hath cleane shut vp this dore of deceit not permitted any dead mā to returne hither shewe what things be done in the other life least the diuell might gredely catch this occasion to plant his fraudulēt policies For whē the prophets were he raised vp false prophets when the Apostles were he stirred vp false Apostles and whē Christ appeared in flesh he sent hither false Christs or Antechrists And when sincere sound doctrin was taught he brought into the world corrupt damnable opiniōs sowing tares whersoeuer he came And therfore although it had come to passe that dead mē shold return again yet wold he haue counterfeited the same also by his instruments by some fained raising of the dead through the blinding bewitching of mens eyes or otherwise by suborning of some whiche should feine themselues to be dead as I said before he would haue turned al things topsituruie and vtterly haue confounded them But god who knoweth all things hath stopped his way that he should not thus deceyue vs and of his great mercy towards vs hath not permitted that at any time any shold returne frō thēce tel vnto mē liuing such things as there are done héerby to instruct vs that we shold be of this opinion iudgemēt that the scriptures oughte to be beleued before other things whatsoeuer bycause that God in them hath most clerely taught vs the doctrine of the last resurrection Further by them he hath conuerted the whole world banished error brought in truth and cōpassed al these things by vile base fishers and finally in them hath giuē vs euery where plentifull argumentes of his diuine prouidence c. S. Cyril in his .xi. booke .36 chap. vpon S. Iohns gospell saith We ought to beleue that when the soules of holy men are gone away from the bodies they are commended vnto the goodnesse of God as into the handes of a most déere father that they do not abide in the earth as some of the heathens beleued vntil such time as they abhorred their graues neither that they are caried as the soules of wycked men vnto a place of excéeding tormēt which is hel Christ hauing first prepared this iorney for vs but that they rather mount vp aloft into their heauenly fathers hands c. And in the Popes canon law causa 13. quaest 2. Fatendū we read that many do beleue that some come from the dead to the liuing euen as on the other side holy Scripture doth witnesse that Paule was caught vp from the liuing into paradise Uppon these words the glose saith that some doe in dede so beleue but falsly sith they be but fansies vayne imaginations as it is in causa 26. quaestione 5. Episcopi What farther may be saide to those men that knowe these things and neuerthelesse do beleue that soules stray in the earth I knowe not yet that I may lay out al things plainly I wil here confute their chiefest arguments CHAP. VI. A confutation of those mennes argumentes or reasons vvhiche affirme that dead mens soules do appeare And firste that is aunsvvered vvhiche certaine doe alleage to vvitte that God is omnipotent and therfore that he can vvoorke contrary to the ordinary course of nature FIrst our aduersaries do lay against vs that by the vsual cōmon course of things the souls of the godly abide in heauē the soules of the wicked in hell vntil the last day do not walk at all but yet that god may dispence with them to appere here somtimes therby to instruct admonish vs And then Samuel did appere after his death vnto king Saule Moses also which forsooke this life many yeres before Likewise Elias who was taken vp into heauen in a fyrie charet appered vnto Christ our sauior his iij. disciples whō he toke with him at his transfiguratiō in the mount Lazarus also of Bethanie returned from death into the earth and many other also wer raysed from death by Christ his apostles and prophets Farther
Christes witnesses shuld very wel vnderstand that both the Law the Prophets do bear record vnto our Sauiour Chryst that he shuld die for the world come again in the latter day to raise vp the dead bodies to glorifie them to carrie theÌ„ with him into eternal blisse And for this cause God wold haue these two excellent Prophets séene of the Apostles Lazarus soule did not only appeare but he came againe both in bodie soule as Iohn witnesseth in his 11. chap. he is as it were a sure token of our true resurrection which shall be in the last day as also others which our Sauiour Christ the Apostles in auncient time the Prophets haue raysed from the dead You shal neuer read that either Lazarus or any other haue told wher they were while they were deade or what kynde of being there is in the other world for these things are not to be learned and knowen of the dead but out of the word of God. The like may be said to that which is in the 27. chap. of S. Matthew that when Christ suffered on the Crosse the graues wer opened afterwards on the day of his resurrection many dead bodies did arise appeared to many at Hierusalem The soules of the dead did not only appeare neither did they warne the liuing or coÌ„maund them to do this or that for the deads sake to wit either to pray for theÌ„ or to go on pilgrimage to saints c. But the dead with their souls bodies togither came into the earth for héerby god would shew that he by his death hath ouercom destroyed death to the faithful that at the last day their soules bodies shall be knit togither and liue with God for euer Now what thâ—se holy men were that rose again whether they remained any time in this present life or died again or went with Christ into heauen loke the iudgement of S. Augustine in his .99 Epist. to Euodius his 3. booke De mirabilibus scrip ca. 13. To these we may ioyn that which Ruffinus writeth in his ecclesiastical historie .1 boke 5. chap. and which Socrates repeteth in his first boke 12. chap. touching Spiridion byshop of Cyprus He had a daughter called Irene with whoÌ„ a certaine friend of hirs left gorgeous apparel she being more wary than néeded hyd it in the ground within a while died Not long after coÌ„meth this man that owed the apparel hearing say the maideÌ„ was dead goeth to hir father whom somtimes he accuseth somtimes intreateth The old father supposing this maÌ„s losse to be his own calamitie coÌ„meth to his daughters graue ther calleth vpoÌ„ god beseching him that he would shew him before the time the resurrection which is promised And his hope was in vaine for the virgin being reuiued apeared to hir father shewed the place wher she had hid the aparel so departed again I will not deny this thing to be true For the like historie hath Augustine in his 137. epist. A certain yong man which had an euil name accused Boniface Augustines priest that he inticed him to filthinesse Now wheÌ„ the matter could neither be proued nor disproued by sufficient resons both of them were bid to goe to the graue of one Felix a Martyr that by a miracle the truth might be known They had not bin sent vnlesse before this time also some secrete matters had bin knowne by this meanes it may be well answeared that they were good or rather euill Angels which did appeare CHAP. XI VVhether the holy Apostles thought they savve a mans Soule vvhen Chryst sodenly appeared vnto them after his Resurrection WE reade in the 24. Chapter of S. Lukes Gospell that two Disciples which returned from Emaus to Hierusalem tolde the Apostles that they had séene Chryst aliue againe and whyles they yet spake the Lord stoode in the myddest of them and sayd vnto them peace be vnto you but they being amased and afrayd thought they sawe a spirit c. Out of this some go about to proue that the Apostles beléeued that spirits or soules did walke and appeare vnto men and that they themselues did thinke they sawe the spirite of Chryst as certaine of the olde Wryters doe expounde it or else some other mannes spirit This Argument may be answered two wayes First if they thought they sawe a Soule they thought a mysse But they were no lesse deceyued with the common sorte nowe than when they thought Chryst would rayse vppe an outward and earthly kingdome in which they shoulde be chiefe Secondly it may be that they supposed they sawe an euil or good Angell for there are more kyndes of spirites than one There is a spirit that created al thyngs to wit God the Father the Sonne and the Holie Ghost Agayne there be spirites that be created as good and euill Angels as also the soules of men which eyther are in the body or by death seuered from the body and abyde either in euerlasting lyfe or in eternal damnation As touching the state of Soules in Purgatorie where they are prepared to the Heauenly iourney and of Limbus puerorum there is nothing extant in holie Scripture It is manifest in scripture that God appeared vnto the holy patriarches to the prophets to kings and others in diuers visions and formes and that he shewed hym selfe vnto them and spake with them Iacob sawe a ladder reache from the earth vp to Heauen and God leaning on it Isaias sawe the Lord sitting vppon an high throne Daniell sawe an olde maÌ„ sitting and his sonne comming vnto him and receyuing all power of him TertulliaÌ„ and other holy fathers do teache that the sonne of God which at the appointed time shoulde take vppon him humaine fleshe didde appeare vnto the Patriarches in an angelicall shape When Iohn Baptist did baptise our sauioure in Iordan the Holy ghost was séene in the shape of a doue The holy scriptures in many places do testifie that good Angells haue oftentimes appeared to Gods ministers That euill spirits are often séene and that at this day they shewe themselues in diuers formes to inchaunters and coniurers and to other men also as well godly as wicked both histories and daily experience doth witnesse Truely we reade not that soules haue appered on this fashion By these we may easly gather that the Apostles when they thought they sawe a spirit did not beléeue they sawe a soule Could they not thinke I pray you they sawe an euill spirit Or rather that they sawe a good spirit or a good angel For it may be shewed by many examples that euen the faithfull haue bin troubled and feared at the appearing of good Angels In the eyght and tenth chapter of Daniel we read that the Prophet fel into a sicknesse at the sight of Angels The virgin Mary hirselfe was afrayde when she sawe the Angell Gabriel So was Zachary the priest
and many times they ar coÌ„trary to themselues and therfore they haue not alwayes thought aright Sometime they send vs to the word of God as to the most certayne rule and leauell of faith There are examples ynow by whiche it may be shewed that the olde Councelles haue erred in some of their determinations The Councell of Ariminum hath allowed the Arrians doctrine The second Ephesin councell did subscribe to Eutiches The Councell holden at Carâ—hage which CipriaÌ„ gathered pronouÌ„ced flatly against the scriptures c. What shall we say was done in later times It is well ynough knowen by histories who hathe resisted Councels and ruled them and what hath bene chiefly handled in them for certayne hundred yeares And what for the most parte hathe by and by followed after them euen cruel warres and bloudy slaughters If nowe those auncient Councels coulde erre who will maruayle that they which haue assembled since haue erred But as touching the apparitions that I may all other things omitted talke only of them tell me I pray you who should certifie the Councles whether this or that vision were true or false Certaynly no Councels can bring to passe that the lyes whiche haue bin scatred abroade shall nowe begin to be true tales although they of the Councel haue saide they are true It is euen as foolishe to say the Pope who wil be counted aboue all Councels hath confirmed this or that miracle to be true which they say was wrought in some one monastery or other How can the bishop of Rome being so far off knowe any thing better than they which dwell in the same places If the bishop hauing no other assuraunce than out of their words or writings which perhaps go about to erecte newe pilgrimages and newe deuises to get money confirme once that this or that soule was séene it must straight way without any gaynsaying be beleued But if any other men who haue with diligence sought out the truth of the matter do testifie the contrary al that they say must not be regarded Consider I beséeche you of this matter Before all haue doubted whether the thing were so or no but assoone as the Pope doth giue his verdicte or some Church man do in his dreame sée it to be so it is a heynouse matter afterwards to doubt of it O tyme O manners As touching other common and laye men as they terme them which say they haue séene one after his death and haue heard and knowne him and haue spoken with him I easyly graunt they haue séene and heard some thing and haue thought verily they were soules and that they dyd speake with them But it foloweth not therfore that they were soules indéede much lesse that any dead man hath appered in body and soul vnto them For at Domes day only the soules shall returne to their bodies agayne Soules are spirits but spirits are inuisible wherefore they cannot so be séene vnlesse they take some outward shape vpoÌ„ them But it can neuer be proued by the testimony of holy scripture that as good euil Angels so soules take some shapes vpon them Besides this it is most true that oftentimes the shapes and formes of them whose soules are not yet sundred from their bodies by death as when one lieth vpoÌ„ his death bed are no lesse séene than theirs which are already dead Therfore it is not necessary that we beleue the ghosts which are séene to be soules By these things you vnderstaÌ„d what is to be thought of the tale of Platina Nauclerus others which write that a certeine Bishop sawe Pope Benedict the eyght lately dead in a solitary place sitting vpon a blacke horse being demaunded why he was so caried about with the blacke horse he warned the bishop that he shold distribute the money which was giuen to the vse of the pore but nowe wickedly kept to other purposes vnto those pore folks to whome of right it beloÌ„ged Other tales of like stampe are ryfe euery where CHAP. XIII VVhether soules do returne agayne out of Purgatorie and the place vvhich they call Limbus puerorum THat soules whiche are gon either to Heauen or to Hell returne not thence nor appeare agayne before the latter daye perchaunce some menne woulde easely graunte but they imagine there is a thirde place whych is Purgatorie oute of the whiche soules doe retourne vppon earthe For as yet the laste sentence hath not passed on them and therfore as yet they maye bée helped and therefore also they doe craue helpe and shewe themselues vnto men But wée haue proued before at large bothe out of the scriptures and also out of the writings of the auncient fathers that the soules of the faithful are saued and that the soules of the vnbeleeuers are damned immediatly without delay and therefore there is no Purgatorie Agaynst this they alledge sundry argumentes amongst the whiche thys albeit it be very common yet is it the chéefest when they say that no man is saued excepte he be purged from all his sinnes and that sinne cleaueth vnto vs euen vnto the graue If wée saye that puritie and cleannesse consisteth not in our woorkes or in the paynes which we endure but that God through faith in his sonne Iesus Christe who is our only redemption iustification satisfaction and raunsom for our sinnes doth iustifie vs they streyght aunsweare that our faith is vnperfecte and that the moste godly men complayne when they departe hence of the weakenesse of their fayth And therefore that God dothe not take vp suche kynde of men straightwayes into heauen nor yet bycause they are not vtterly voyde of fayth thrust them presently downe into hell And therfore that there is a middle place betwene bothe whiche is called Purgatorie in which the soules are purified from the imperfection whiche remayned in them at the time of their death and out of the which they are deliuered by the merits of the liuing and by large pardons Is not this as muche as to attribute that vnto our owne paines and to external fyre whiche ought only to be ascribed vnto the death of Christ Doth not Christe teache vs that if at any time we féele any weakenesse of faith we shold crye out with the Apostles Lorde increase our faith Doth God disdaine to heare the prayers of his faithfull people in the extremitie of death Christ sayth he that is washed hath no néede saue to washe his féete but he is cleane euery whitte Hée wyll saue vs not for the woorthinesse of our faythe but by his méere grace onely He dooth bestow these things amongst vs as if some ryche man did fréely giue meate and drinke vnto others wherof some of them receyueth it in woodden some in earthen and some in siluer or golden vessels or as if a Prince did distribute vnto euery one a piece of golde and some receyue it with a féeble hande and some with a strong and lustie hande He that hath the weake hande receyueth
words when immediately there followed a great groning not of one man but of many being admiâ—t as it were with greate admiration And bicause many were present in the ship they said the same hereof was spéedely spred abroad at Rome Thamus sent for Tiberius the Emperor who gaue so much credite vnto the matter that he diligently enquired asked who that Pan was The learned men whome he had in great number about him supposed that Pan was he who was the Sonne of Mercuriâ— and Penelope â–ª c. These and such like things Eusebius who also reciteth this historie affirmeth to haue chaunced in that time of Tiberius in the which Chryst being conuersant amongst men expelled al maner of deuils from the societie of theÌ„ Other most Godly professours of our Religion affirme as namely Paulus Marsus in his Annotations vppon the first of Ouids Fasti that this voice was heard out of Paxe the very same night ensuing the day wherein our Lorde suffered in the â—9 yeare of Tiberius whiche was the same yeare that Chryst was crucifâ—ed in by the whiche voiâ—e being vttered in a wildernesse of solitarie rockes it was declared that our Lorde and God had suffred for vs For the word Pan in Géeke signifieth all and then the Lord of al the world was Crucified He addeth moreouer that Theodosius doth say that the Archadiâ—â—s do worship this God calling him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meaning thereby to signifie a Lord Ruler not of woordes but of al manner of material substances whose power is suche that it is able to create the essence and substance of al bodies whether that they be heauenly or earthly And albeit he refer this vnto the Sunne yet if a man marke diligently his mysteries haue a higher meaning c. Héereunto belongeth those things which are reported touching the chasing or hunting of Diuels and also of the daunces of dead men which are of sundrie sortes I haue heard of some which haue auouched that they haue séene them No man is able to rehearse all the shapes wherein spirites haue appeared for the Diuell who for the moste part is the worker of these things can as the Poets faine of Proteus chaunge himselfe into all shapes and fashions These walking spirits sometimes stoppe the way before men as they trauel and leade them out of their way and put them in suche greate feare that sometimes they become grayheaded in one night I remember I haue heard the like historie of my olde friende Iohn VVilling a godly and learned man of one in the Countie of Hannâ—w who not many yeares ago méeting with a walking spirite in the night season was so much altred that at his returning home his owne Daughters knewe him not Spirits oftentimes awake men out of their sléepe and cause many to forsake their owne houses so that they can not hire them out to any other Sometymes they ouerthrowe somewhat or strike men or cast stones at them and hurt them either in their bodies or in their goodes yea and sometime God dothe suffer them to bereaue men of their liues It often chaunceth that those mens faces and heades do swell which haue séene or heard spirits or haue ben blasted with them and some are taken mad as we sée by experience I remember wel it hath hapned that some supposing they haue séene armed men who were readie to take them haue therefore assayed to slay themselues which thing may be by craft of the Deuil Spirits do also trouble cattell in the night time in the pastures Thus muche concerning the first part of this woorke wherin I trust I haue proued and made it euident that albeit there be many which vainely persuade themselues they haue séene wandring spirits or haue behelde one in stéed of an other yet notwithstanding that ther are walking spirits that other straunge things do sometime happen I haue also shewed vnto whom they appeare especiallie and where when after what sort or in what fourmes they shewe themselues and what things they worke and bring to passe Whosoeuer dare flatlie denie these manyfolde and agréeable testimonies of the olde and newe writers he séemeth vnworthie in my iudgement of any credite whatsoeuer he say For as it is a great token of lightnesse if one by and by beléeue euery man whiche saithe he hath séene spirits so on the other side it is great impudencie if a man rashely and impudâ—ntely contemne all things which are aduouched of so many and so credible Historiographers and aunciente fathers and other graue men of great authoritie ¶ The second part of this Booke doth shewe that those Spirits and other strange sights be not the Soules of Men but be either good or euill Angels or else some secret and hyd operations CHAP. I. The opinion or beleefe of the Gentiles Ievves and Turkes concerning the estate of Soules seperated from their bodies IN the second part of this book we haue to consider what those thyngs be which as we haue before shewed are bothe hearde and séene in the daytime and in the night whether they be the souls of deade men or no also what the olde Wryters haue iudged of them and what the Holie Scriptures do teach vs herein Plato doth thinke that Heroicall and excellent soules as being of the pure sorte do mount aloft but that other base and viler soules that are defiled with the pleasures and lustes of the body do wander belowe on the ground and the same he déemeth to be those spirites whiche are eftsones séene Also other heathen and prophane writers say they are héereby moued to thinke that the soules of men doe lyue after death for that it is most cleare euident that many spirites wander and raunge hither and thyther and are oft times heard and séene and founde to talke with men for they suppose that most of these are mens soules Tertullian a very auÌ„â—ient writer in his boke De anima saith that the wise Heathens whiche dyd define the soule to be mortall for some of them as namely the Epicures thought that the soules dyed with their bodies thought that the soules of the wise if they departed from their bodies hadde their abiding on hygh but the rest were throwne downe into Hel. Furthermore the Heathen thought the Soules should stray continually abroade before they founde rest vnlesse the bodies from which they were seuered were rightly buried in the earth Wherefore as we may reade in Poets it was a gréeuous crime to caste foorth any bodie vnburied Hector in Homere besoughte Achilles that he would not cast foorth his carcasse to bée deuoured of Dogs and birds but that he would deliuer the same to be enterred by olde Priamus his father and Hecuba his mother Patroclus appeared in a vision by night after his deathe vnto Achilles and requested him to bestowe vppon him all funeral solemnities For otherwise he sayde the soules of those that were buried woulde thrust him backe
only in the nighte as some precious stones doo the eyes of certaine beastes a Gloewoorme or gloebearde as also some kynd of rotten wood wherewith many times children so terrifie their playfellowes that they imagine with themselues to sée euil spirits or men al burning with fire Hector Boethius writeth that a certain king of Scots caused some of his men to be disguised in garments with brighte shyning scales hauing in their hands rotten wood in stede of sâ—aues and so to appeare to his nobilitie and lordes in the night exhorting them to fight couragiously with their enimies and promising them to obtein victorie Wherby the noble men supposing they had séene angels behaued themselues valiantly and atchieued the victorie Many tymes candles and small fiers appeare in the night and séeme to run vp and downe And as the yong men in Heluetia who with their firebrands whiche they light at the bonfires in Shroftide somtime gather them selues together and then scatter abrode and agayne méeting togither march in a long ranke euen so do those fâ—ers sometime séeme to come togither and by and by to be seuered run abroade and at the last to vanish clean away Somtime these fâ—ers go alone in the night season and put such as sée them as they trauel by night in great fear But these things and many suche lyke haue their natural causes and yet I will not denye but that many tymes Dyuels delude men in this manner Natural Phylosophers wryte that thicke exhalations aryse out of the earthe and are kyndled Mynes full of sulphur and brimstone if the ayre enter vnto it as it lyeth in the holes and veines of the earth will kindle on fier and striue to get out Sometimes fier bursteth out of the earth as high as a tall trée and is soddenly put out agayne Whiche thing is to be thought to procéede of fierie matter séeking a vent to gushe out at We reade of the mount Aetna in Cicilie that in times past it burnte continually day night casting forth flames of fier fiery stones and ashes in great abundaunce The like is read also at Vesunius a hill in Campaine about a Germaine mile from Naples The same hill in the time of Titus the Emperour as S. Hierom reporteth cast foorth of it so much fier that it burnt the countrie and cities and people rounde about it and filled the fieldes adioyning full of cinders and ashes These two hilles euen in our dayes boyling with greate heate haue very muche indamaged the people inhabiting thereabout In Iseland as Olaus Magnus witnesseth are found fiers which breake out of the earth And as whole hilles and mountaines may burne euen so may a little fier be kindled in the earth yet wander very large They whiche trauelling by the way or by some other meanes chaunce to sée these things and know not the naturall causes of them imagin by reason of feare that they haue sene men burning like fier or some other straunge thing which they haue heard other men talk of And by meanes of their great feare often times they fall into greate daungerous diseases The arte perspectiue doth also worke this wonderfull feate that diuers and sundrie shapes will appeare in glasses made and sette togither after a certeyne artificiall sorte some times they will séeme to go out of the dores and resemble menne of oure familiar acquayntaunce Many things in very déede are naturall althoughe wée can not fynde any naturall reason for them And yet by the way they shewe them selues too foolishe which labour to bring al things to natural causes Here I will say nothing of those men which can beare plain and rude people in hande that they or some other of their acquaintance haue séen strange things which they earnestly auouche to be true when as in déede there was no such â–ª thing Howe often I pray you do we heare things affirmed as true which afterwarde proue moste false as that one was caryed away body and soule that an other was put to death and an infinite number of suche like reports CHAP. XII A proofe out of the Gentiles histories that Spirits and ghosts do often times appeare ALbeit many melancholike mad fearefull and weake sensed men doo oftentimes imagine many things whiche in very déede are not and are lykewyse deceyued somtyme by men or by brute beasts and moreouer mistake things whiche procéede of naturall causes to bée bugs and spirits as I haue hitherto declared by many examples yet it is most certayne sure that all those things which appeare vnto men are not alwayes naturall things nor alwayes vayne terrors to affray men but that spirits do often appeare many straunge and maruellous things do sundry times chaunce For many suche things of thys sorte are to be red in diuers graue and auncient historiographers and many men of no small credite haue affirmed that they haue séene spirits both in the day and in the night also And here I will orderly declare a fewe histories out of diuers allowed authors touching spirits which haue appeared and shewed them selues Suetonius Tranquillus writeth that when Iulius Cesar marching out of Fraunce into Italie with his army and comming to the riuer Rubico which deuideth Italie from the hether Fraunce staying there a while and reuoluing with him selfe how great an enterprise he hadde taken in hand as he was wauering in mind whether he shold passe the water or not sodenly there appeared a man of excelling stature and shape sitting hard by piping on a reede Melancthon in his phisicks calleth him â—â—iton vnto whom when not only shepherds but also very many souldiors from the camp and amongst them diuers trumpetters had flocked to heare him he sodenly snatched a trumpet from one of them and leaped to the riuer and with a lustie breath blowing vp the alarum went to the farther side Then sayd Caesar good lucke mates let vs go whether the gods warnings leade vs and whether our enimies iniquitie calleth vs The dice are throwne And so he transported ouer Plutarke writeth in Theseus life that many whiche were in the battaile of Marathonia against the Medians did affirme that they sawe the soule of Theseus armed who long time before died of a fall before the vauntgard of the Grecians running and setting on the barbarous Medians For which cause the AtheniaÌ„s afterward were moued to honour him as a demigod Pausanias writeth in Atticis That in the field of Maratho 400. yeres after the battaile there foughten there was hard the neying of horses and the incountring of souldiours as it were fighting euery night And that they which of purpose came to heare these things could hear nothing but those that by chaunce came that way hearde it very sensibly The same Plutarke writeth in the life of Cimon that when the citizens of Cheronesus had by fayre words called home their captaine Damon who before for diuers murthers departed the citie afterwards
that he shuld not be able once to enter in at Hel gates Which example Tertullian aledgeth therwithal confuteth this vain opinion of the heathen Palinurus in Virgill besought Aeneas that he woulde cast earth on him when he was dead and erect vnto him an horsse for so did they call those Monuments of the deade in whiche albeit no man was layde yet were they vsed in the honour of the deceassed Vergill writeth that Deiphobus his Ghost wandred abroade vnto the whiche Aeneas erected an Horse For the Gentiles were of suche opinion in those dayes that they thoughte an emptie and counterfeyted buriall profited very much Moreouer the heathen were persuaded that the soules which dyed before their naturall time especially of those which perished by violent death whome they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as by hanging drowning or beheading c. dyd strap abroade so long time as they should haue liued if they had not ben slaine by violent death Which opinion Tertullian also confuteth Plato in his 9. booke De legibus writeth that the soules of those which are slayne do pursue their murtherers so far that they do hurt them the which except it be vnderstoode by way of a Metaphor is likewise to be reiected The Catholik faith amongst the Iewes was that the soules of the dead did not return into this erth but either were at rest which was when they dyed in the faythe of the promised Messias or were condemned if they departed hence in their sinnes withoute repentaunce For Iob in his 7. chapter sayth Euen as the cloude vanisheth and fadeth away so he that goeth downe to the graue shall come vp no more nor returne into his house c. But if thou wilt say that Iob was an Ethnick it may be alleaged of Dauid that when he was in very greate daunger and death euen present before his eyes he prayed in the 31. Psalm Into thy handes O Lord I commend my spirite The Preacher also in his 12. chapter sayth The spirit shall returne to God that giueth it In the boke of Wisedome which of old wryters is attributed to Philo Iudeus the third chapter therof it is written the soules of the righteous are in the hande of God and no torment shal touch them And on the other side the soules of the wicked go downe into hell In the 49. Psalm it is written of those welthy worldlings whiche for lucres sake departe from God and his commaundements They are layd as shéepe in Hel death shal consume them and Hell is their habitation c. If the Iewes had beléeued that the soules after this life were tormented in Purgatorie no doubt amongst so many diuers kyndes of sacrifices whiche they offered for the sinnes of the lyuing they woulde at laste haue some one kynd of sacrifice wherby to redéeme souls or in some part to assuage and mitigate their paines And that soules do returne after deathe do offer themselues to be séene and beheld of men and require ayde of them we find no wher in the old Testament but rather the contrary In the 2. of Samuel 12. Dauid speaketh this of his yong childe that he begat by Bersaba that he could not bring him into life againe that he would go to him and the chyld should neuer returne vnto him againe And Iesus the sonne of Syrach in his .38 chapter sayth there is no returning from death Of the vision whiche was shewed to Samuel we will straightway speake in his proper place And that in latter ages long after Christ came in flesh there were some amongest the Iewes who thought that the soules seperated from their bodies dyd straye and raunge a broade it may hereby be gathered for that certaine of the Rabbines write that the soule of Naboth which was slayne bycause he woulde not sell his Uyneyarde to Achab was that Spirite that promised his helpe to seduce Achab béeing as it were one that coueted his death The Turkes also beléeue that the soule is immortall and that assoone as they are loosed from the body they come eyther into a place of rest or of torment But whether that they dyd think that soules returned agayn into the earth and roue there too and fro I could find no playn mention thereof in their Alcaron CHAP. II. The Papistes doctrine touching the soules of dead men and the appearing of them THe Papists in former times haue publikely both taught written that those spirits which men somtime sée and hear be either good or bad angels or els the soules of those which either liue in euerlasting blisse or in Purgatorie or in the place of damned persons And that diuers of theÌ„ are those soules that craue ayde and deliueraunce of men But that this doctrine of theirs and the whole state therof may be the more euideÌ„tly perceiued we wil more largely repete the same out of their owne bokes Iacobus de Cusa a Carthusian Frier Doctor of diuinitie wrote a book of the Apparition of soules after they were seperated fro the bodies which work of his hath in it many supersticious toyes and was Printed in a town belonging to the dominion of Berna named Burgdroâ—e in the yeare of our Lorde 1475. Popish writers commenting on the 4. boke of the Maister of Sentences do appoint foure places to receyue soules after they are departed from the bodies Thrée of the which places they say are perpetuall one which lasteth but for a tyme already lymitted The first place or receptacle is Caelum Empireum the firie heauen so termed of his passing gret brightnesse and glorie which they say is the seate ordeined for the blyssed sort this place by an other in Scripture is called Paradise The second place is Hel vnder the earth being the Mansion of Deuils and Infidels departing hence in deadely sinne without repentance The third place they tearme Limbus puerorum whiche is prouided as wel for the Children of the faythful as of the vnfaythfull who they say shal continually abyde there without any sense of payne being only depriued from the fruition of Gods presence And therefore they say that after their death they ought not to be buried in holy buriall The fourth place is Purgatorie whiche is prepared for them that departe hence without deadly sin or if they committed any such sinnes dyd some penance for them but yet made full satisfaction for theÌ„ or else went hence only stayned with venial sinne Of this place to wit Purgatorie Popish writers teach maruellous things Some of them say that Purgatorie is also vnder the earth as Hel is Some say that Hell and Purgatorie are both one place albeit the paines be diuers according to the deserts of soules Furthermore they say that vnder the earth there are more places of punishment in which the soules of the dead may be purged For they say that this or that soule hath ben séene in this or that
of necessitie haue come to passe eyther by the will of God or by the worke of arte Magike But Gods will was not that Samuel should retourne For he hath condemned Necromancie and would not haue vs to aske counsell at the dead that the spirit of God did that which was contrary herevnto or did permitte the saints to do it or was present with them that did ought contrary thereto it may not be graunted And that those things were done by the force and operation of Arte Magike wée can not affirme For the wicked spirit hath no rule or power ouer the soules of the faithfull to bring them out of their places when he lust sith they be in the hand of God and the bosome of Abraham nay which is lesse he hath no power ouer filthy and vncleane swine for he was driuen as we reade in the viij chapter of Matthew to beg leaue before he could enter into the heard of swine and how thē should he haue any power ouer the soule of mā yet can it not be denied that God somtimes for certein causes doth giue the Diuell and his seruants Magitians Necromancers power to do many things as to hurte and lame man beast and to worke other straunge things But that God dothe giue the Diuell leaue to raise dead bodies or to call bring forth or driue away soules especially out of Heauen it hathe no grounde at all in Scripture neither can there be any reasonable cause alledged wherefore God would or should giue the Diuell licence to do these things contrary to the vsuall and common order yea and against his owne expresse commaundement For vayne and childishe is the cause hereof that is giuen of some men that Samuell shoulde appeare to certifie and astonishe Saule as if God coulde not haue feared hym by other wayes and meanes Was he not before vtterly abashed dismayed Thirdly if Samuel were brought backe the same was done either by his will and consent or without the same but that he did fréely and of his owne accorde obey the sorcerers no man I thinke is so blinde to imagin For that were vtterly repugnaunt to the Lawe of God that he should confirme Witchcraft and Sorcerie by hys example If the Witch had called for Samuell whilest he liued doutles he would not haue approched vnto hir And how then can we beléeue that he came to hir after his death We may not so say that the Witch compelled him to resort to hir agaynst his wil for the Deuil hath no power ouer the Soules of the godly and Magike of it self is of no force Heathnish superstition no doute it is that wordes vttered by Magitians after their peculiar manner or figures drawne should haue such a secret and hidden operation For the Hethens beléeued that they could with a certen set stile number of words bring and draw down Iupiter out of Heauen Wherfore they termed him Iupiter Elycius There are also certain superstitious persons in these our dayes which go about to cure diseases by certaine rites of blessings and by coniurings Some hang aboute their neckes certayne scrolles of Paper in which ther are written diuers straunge words but whether wordes of themselues haue any force at al reade Plinie in his 28. booke and 2. chapter and Caelius Rhodiginus in his 16. booke and 16. chapter of Antiquities Fourthely if very Samuel himselfe had appeared hée would not haue ben worshipped of Saule For we reade in the 19. and 22. chapter of the Reuelation that Iohn woulde haue worshipped the Angell whiche had opened vnto him great mysteries but the Angell of God forbad him so to do Some héere aunswere that Saule ment not to giue vnto the Prophet the honor that was due vnto God but onely a certaine outward and ciuil worship such as we are wonte to yéeld vnto honest men and suche as haue well deserued of the Churche and common weale For they say that the Hebrue word Schachah there vsed doth signifie to bend the knée and to fall down at a mans féete which kynd of worship we reade that Abigael and Nathan the the Prophet gaue vnto King Dauid And Paule also in the 12. chapter of his Epistle to the Rom. teacheth that we should honour one another Thomas of Aquine entreating of those two places that I euen nowe recited out of the Reuelation sayth that Iohn meant not to worship the Angell with the worship properly called Latria but with an other kynd of worship termed Dulia that is to say that Iohns wil was not to withdraw from God the honor due vnto him but to worship the Angell that was sent from God only with a ciuil outward homage and yet the Angell would not so far condiscend vnto him In the new Testament the 10. chap of the Acts of the Apostles we read that Cornelius met with Peter fel down at his féet worshipped him yet so as he had ben an Embassadour from God not God himselfe yet Peter lifted him vp said arise for I my self am a man also He said not to Cornelius thou dost wel herein nor as his worthie Uicare with a mischiefe is wont to do proffered hys foote vnto him to kysse We may read also that Elias disciples worshipped Elizeus that succeded into his office in which place the worde to bowe the knée or fal downe is vsed But whether the Prophet did accepte and alowe this kinde of reuerence or no there is no expresse mention Bréefly it is not lykely that the Prophet would haue suffered the King to fall downe at his féete Fiftly if he had ben the true Samuel he would no dout haue exhorted Saule to repentance willed him to wayt for ayde from God to put his whole confidence in him or at least way to haue giuen him some comforte or counselled him to fight againste his enimies with more courage For though the Prophetes do often beat threaten men yet do they agayne reuiue solace them Nowe bycause this Samuel doth beat no other thing into his heade but that God was displeased with him had alredy forsaken him we may not beleue that he was the true but a méere counterfet Samuel Sixtly the auncient Fathers write that the true Samuel was not seene Tertullian in his booke De anima sayth that the Deuill dyd there represent Samuels soule God forbid sayth hée that we should beléeue that the deuil can drawe the soule of any Saint muche lesse a Prophete out of his proper place syth we are taught that Sathan doth transfourme himselfe into an Angel of lyght much soner into a man of lyght who also will auouch himselfe to be God and do notable signes and wonders to seduce if it were possible the very elect S. Augustine is not alwayes of one iudgement touching this apparition in his second boke to Simplician Byshop of Millane and the third question therof he
that soule He also confuteth the opinion of the Ethnikes prouing by the testimonie of the very Magitians whom they highly reuerenced that the soule was immortall These men affirmed and taught that they did call vp soules from the dead the which poynt euen those of the Gentiles beleeued who notwithstanding thought that the soule did streightway die with the bodie Iustine the Martyr in the seconde Apologie whiche he wrote in the defence of Christians hath these wordes I will sayth he say the truth In times past wicked angels through vayn visions deceyued women and children and with straunge and monstrous sightes made men afrayde by whiche meanes they often wroong that oute of foolishe and rude persons whiche by reason they coulde neuer get of them And therefore not knowyng that these were the Diuels engins and policies tendyng to delude them they by one consente termed the workers of these slye conueyances by the name of Gods assignyng to eache of them their propre names as best pleased themselues c. Afterwardes in the same Apologie hée exhorteth the heathens that they would not deny mens soules after this lyfe to be indued with sense but at the least way woulde giue credite to their owne Necromancers who teach that they call vp mens soules Also let them beléeue those that affirm they haue ben vexed with spirits of dead men which persons the coÌ„mon people term furious frantike bodies In Augustin de ciuitate dei many such things be coÌ„teined Now what dreadfull strange and maruellous ceremonies they vsed when they went aboute by their Magicall artes to call vp the soules of the deade a man may sée in the first booke of Lucan the Poet where he setteth foorth howe Erictho a famous Wytche in Thessalye reuiued and restored a souldioure to lyfe againe who was lately slayne before Whiche acte he did at the requeste of Sextus Pompeius that so he myght by him learne what wold be the issue of the battayle fought at Pharsalia This kind of Magike they proprely terme Necromancie or Psycomancie which is wrought by raising vp the spirites and soules of the dead Of whiche there were dyuerse sortes For sometyme appeared vnto menne the whole bodies of the dead but at an other time onely ghostes and spirites and often nothing was hearde sauyng onely a certayne obscure voyce Plutarche in the lyfe of Cimon as hée is translated by Ioachimus Camerarius in the Preface on Plutarches bookes De oraculis quae defecerint de conseruata figura Delphis writeth that Pausanias when he had taken the Citie of Bizance sente for Cleonice a mayden of noble parentage to haue vnhoneste companie with hir Whome hir parentes partely by necessitie and partely for feare sente vnto him But after that the Uirgin had once obtayned so muche of his wayghters in hys priuie chamber that they shoulde at hir fyrst entraunce put out the lyghtes shâ—e in the darke goyng softly towards Pausanias bedde by the waye stumbled on the candlesticke and ouerthrew it agaynste hir will as hée laye asléepe in his bedde who béeing troubled wyth the sodayne noyse drewe a swoorde that laye by hym and therewith slewe the virgin as she had bin his enimie whiche went priuily to sette vppon hym But shée béeing thus slayne wyth that deadly stroake woulde neuer after suffer Pausanias to take his quiet reste but in a vision appearing vnto him in the nyghte season denounced sentence of hatred against this noble captayn in these wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Answere to the lawe for wrong is an euill thing vntoo all men This heynous déede of Pausanias was very gréeuously taken of all his companions who therfore vnder the conduction of captayne Cymo â–ª sette on him and chased him out of Thracia And thus hauyng lost the citie of Bizâ—nce when as it is reported the sight continued in troubling him hée fledde vnto Necyomantium at Heraclea where the soule of Cleonices béeing called vp hée by intreatie pacified hir displeasure Shée didde there bothe present hir self vntoo hys syght and also told hym it shold shortly come to passe that the euill towards him shold cease as soone as he came to Sparta Héereby priuily intimating his death c. This Pausanias did at the first soberly and discreatly demeane him selfe but afterwardes béeing puffed vp with such victories as he had obteined he ruled and raigned lyke a very Tyraunt Wherefore when the Magistrates called Ephori would haue committed him to pryson he tooke Sanctuarie in a Temple where he was shutte vp vntill he famished through hunger I might héere heap togither many such like Hystories to proue euidently what this Samuel was In other matters also if God licence him the Deuill is not destitute of power and howe craftie and ready he is for all assayes experience doth well declare Furthermore graunt that wherein the pith strength of the question doth consist which can neuer be proued by Scripture that God did permit Samuel to return and to Prophesie of things to come after hys death yet will it not thereof followe that suche visions shoulde nowe be shewed also or that those thyngs shoulde be out of hande credited and done which they commaund God in tymes past did often in visible shape sende his Angels vnto men but nowe we heare not that many are sent vnto men neither in déed is the same necessarie WheÌ„ the Apostles lyued héere many notable miracles were doone but nowe for certaine good causes they cease and fal away for whatsoeuer is necessarie for our Saluation is expresly conteyned in the worde of god These notes touching Samuels appearing may suffise CHAP. X. Moyses and Elias appeared in the Mounte vnto Chryst our Lorde many haue ben raised from the dead both in body and soule and therefore Soules after they are departed may returne on earth againe IN like manner they obiecte vnto vs out of the 17. of Matthew that Moses and Helias were séene in the Mount whiche is called by the olde Wryters Tabor with our Lord Iesus by the Apostles whom he had chosen for the same purpose and that they dyd speake with him Luke telleth of what matters they coÌ„muned with him to wit of his deth that is the deth of the crosse Thereupon they gather that the soules of dead men may come againe into the earth appeare vnto men we haue grauÌ„ted before the God is able to send soules again into the earth but that it is his will so to do or that it is necessary especially at these days is not yet proued Moses Helias apered not to al the Apostles but only to thrée neither did they speake to those thrée they brought no new Doctrine they coÌ„maunded them not to build Churches in their honor or to do any such like thing whether that their soules came alone or their bodies also sure it is they were not sente to the Apostles but to Chryst only It was very necessarie that they which shuld be
many others In the 12. of the Acts we reade that Herode killed Iames the Apostle with the sword and whē he sawe that it pleased the Iewes he caught Peter also and when he hadde put him in pryson hée deliuered him to .16 Souldioures to be kepte entending after the feast of Passeouer to kyll him But the Angell of the Lorde led S. Peter out of the prison by night through the Souldiours watch and sette him in the right way to the house of Mary the mother of Iohn whose surname was Marke where many were gathered togither and prayed And when he had knocked at the entrie doore a maid came forth to harken named Rhode But when she knew Peters voice she opened not the entrie doore for gladnesse but ran in and tolde howe Peter stood before the entrie but they said vnto hir thou art mad yet she affirmed constantly that it was so Then said they it is his Angel but Peter continued knocking and when they had opened and saw him they were astonied In like maner now also when the Apostles saw Christ peraduēture they thought they sawe a good Angel. For there are Angels giuen of God vnto men to keepe them Of this matter ther is somwhat red in the .18 of S. Matthew in the 19. Psal. we wil note somwhat more of it hereafter The Gentiles also beléeued as maye be gathered by their writings that euery mā had a good an euil Angel and that the good Angel did stir men vp to vertue defend them but that the euil Angell did hurt men wheresoeuer he could and did prouoke them to wickednesse If our Elders when they haue séen or heard any thing of one that hath ben traueling or dead did say it is his spirit it may be they ment not his soule but his Angel for if when as spirits were seen now in this place and by and by in an other place they did thinke them to be soules as in these latter tymes all men haue beléeued in this they were deceiued as they haue ben in many other things also for soules are by by receyued eyther into euerlasting ioye or into eternall damnation If the Preachers and Teachers had done their duties and had in this and other pointes of Christian Doctrine rightly instructed the people committed to their charge or at the least if they had not forbidden them to reade the holy Scriptures they would haue thought a right both of this other things which at this day are in controuersie CHAP XII Concerning the holie Fathers Councels Bishops and cōmon people vvhich say that soules do visibly appere THe authoritie of the holy fathers is obiected against vs as that which S. Ambrose wryteth of S. Agnes S. Augustine of S. Felix of which we haue spoken before And that whiche Abdias hath in the life of the Apostles that Thomas appeared after his deth preched S. Gregorie in his Dialogues doth write diuers and wonderous things among others he rehearseth many examples of the beade whiche appeared and desired helpe of certayne Saintes yea and of the Apostles themselues which haue visited some vpon their death beddes a little before they departed and many other suche like matters which they that lyst may reade themselues It is sayde that Hierome appeared to S. Augustine I will not in this place accuse the holie Fathers of vanitie yet this we must note they say not they haue beléeued that they whiche appeared were the soules of deade men but they spake after the common manner As touching S. Gregories Dialogues I can not hyde this which many haue noted before me that many things are conteined in them that ar nothing tru but altogether like old wiues tales Not bicause the holy father hath written these things of malice but for that he being too too credulous hath put many things into his bookes rather vpon other mens report than that he himselfe knew them certainely to be true At this day also there are many honest and godlie men which haue this faulte that they are too quicke of beléefe and altogither ruled by others They iudge other men by themselues they would be ashamed to reporte any thing that were false and thinke suche men in like manner to be affectioned which doe abuse their simplicitie and goodnesse Often times these men through their too muche lightnesse of beleefe fall into great daungers Moreouer in that age wherin Gregorie liued men began to attribute muche to those apparances and visions And at that time the true and sincere Doctrine began greatly to decay Truly the time in which a man happens to lyue is much to be regarded he himselfe confessed that hys time was the latter tymes Therefore the Scriptures shoulde haue béene more diligently haue lent vnto neither should any thing haue béen retained that was not agreable vnto them Some going about to excuse him for that he hath stuffed his Dialogues full of myracles and wonders say he dyd it to mollifie by those examples the peruerse and hard heartes of the Longobardes to the end they might embrace the true Religion which they had so gréeuously persecuted But that it is in no wise profitable to make knowen the true fayth by these helpes which are nothyng else but vayne tales euen Viues himselfe in his first booke De tradendis disciplinis doth acknowledge Some vrge vs with the authoritie of counsels whiche haue allowed certain apparances of soules and haue suffered some bookes whiche are extant of such apparitions to be read for the edifying of the simple and some agayne together with their visions they haue cleane reiected It is reported that the Counsell of Constance hath allowed this vision A certaine Deane when he had giuen ouer his Deanrie went into the Wildernesse to doe penaunce after his deathe he appeared to his Byshop and tolde him that the same houre in which he departed this life there dyed thirty thousande men among whome only his soule and S. Bernarde were made partakers of eternall saluation and three went into purgatorie and all the rest into endlesse damnation c. They say that Councels the churche cannot erre bycause they are guided by the holy Ghost Also in the 24. of Matthew the Lord doth saye in the late dayes there shal be signes and wonders that the very elect if it were possible might be seduced therefore they cōclude those things which councels do say of suche apparitions are to be beleued Christs words ar not so to be vnderstode that the chosen can neuer be broughte into errors for the contrary may be shewed by many examples but that they do not abide in erroure albeit some do very hardly get out of the same agayne Tell me I pray you who they were that came togither in auncient Councels were they not holy fathers It is manifest that in many points they were at variaunce among themselues and that they haue shewed by their contrary writings yea
money as wel as he that hath the strong hande Saincte Paule exhorteth the Thessalonians in his firste Epistle and fourthe Chapter that they mourne not for the dead as the Gentiles doo If there had bene a fyer of Purgatorie as they haue falsely imagined hée coulde not haue bene angrie with them although they had taken their frendes departure somewhat impaciently c. Other argumentes whiche are broughte for the confirmation of Purgatorie are of late so confuted by many godly and learned men that it is maruel our aduersaries will so often repete them But before I leaue this matter I will here insert this historie folowing A certaine Germain béeing accused by the Inquisitours of heresie as they terme it that amongest his companions he denyed Purgatorie contrarie to the common consent of the Catholike Churche made his answeare thus If our parishe Priest quod he whome I credite very muche preache vnto vs true doctrine in the Pulpet eyther there is no Purgatorie at all or else it is cleane emptie For he oftentymes sayeth that Turkes Iewes heretikes and wicked men goe not into Purgatorie but straight into Hell fyer from whence they shall neuer bée delyuered Then that by Pardons whyche are euery where solde for money many soules are restored to their first perfection And moreouer that the Masse is of suche force that there is not one soong in al the world by whiche one soule at the least is not deliuered out of the flames of Purgatorie If these things quod he be true for I wil not go about to refell that whiche master Parson hath sayde I will stande in this my opinion For you do all complayne that the number of the Catholykes is very small the greater parte of men béeing deuided into sundry seâ—tes and the multitude of Epicures dayly increasing Then are all mennes pursses many times drawne drie by pardoners which for money sell their indulgences that by them the soules of men may be deliuered out of the torments of purgatorie Furthermore there is no village but there are a great many Masses soong in it before any one husbandeman dyeth What followeth then but that there is eyther no Purgatorie or one vtterly voyde and emptie When the Inquisitours who knewe very well that their men commonly taught such doctrine herd these things they were amazed and taking aduise togither they all berated him for occupying his heade aboute questions nothing appertaining vnto him which they commaunded him to leaue vnto diuines and to folow his owne busines There was in our countrey an honest and sober man who before the light of the Gospel began to appeare vsed this dilemma The bishop of Rome either hath authoritie to bring soules out of the paynes of Purgatorie or else he hath no authoritie If he haue that power and will not vse it excepte hee receyue money hée can not escape the faulte of crueltie and couetousenesse But if hée haue no suche authoritie surely it is great villanie to robbe so manye widdowes and fatherlesse chyldren and so arrogantly to boast hymselfe of aucthoritie whyche hée hathe not And if there be no Purgatorie as by the holy Scriptures it is playnly gathered there is not surely then mennes soules can neyther returne from thence nor offer themselues to be séene of men Nowe as touching the fourthe place namely Limbus puerorum in the which innocent chyldren as they call them are sayde to bée Papistes themselues scante dare affirme that they return again and appeare vnto men and craue their helpe for they teache that if they depart without baptisme they shall neuer enioy the sight of God and for that cause they may not be buried in the same churchyard with other christians Merciful God! how many godly matrones hath this false deuise miserably vexed I call it a false deuise for that they bring nothing out of the holy Scriptures wherby to proue this poynt of doctrine The Scriptures do not attribute so muche vnto externall baptisme whiche is by water Was the condition of infants better in the olde testament than in the new You do not reade that the olde fathers supposed that infantes whych dyed before the eyght day and therefore were not circumcised should be separated from the sight of God for euer Dauid the king and prophet said he shold folow his sonne whome God had called out of this lyfe before he was circumcised But it was not Dauids meaning that he should go into a place where he should be depriued of the sight of God for euer But it appertaineth not much vnto our purpose to dispute any further hereof Thus haue I nowe answered the chéefest argumentes of our aduersaries whereby they woulde proue the soules of good and euill men to offer them selues to be séene sometimes of them that liue after their departure by death from their bodies CHAP. XIIII VVhat those things are vvhiche men see and heare and fyrst that good Angels do somtimes appeare BUt thou wilte saye I doe not yet clearely and plainly vnderstand what maner of things those are wherof as it is sayd before Historiographers holy fathers and others make mention as that holy Apostles bishopps martires confessors virgins and many other which died long ago appered vnto certeine men lying at the point of death gaue them warning aunsweared vnto certeine questions commaunded them to do this or that thing and that some thing is seene and heard at certeine times whiche not only affirmeth it selfe to be this or that soule but also sheweth howe it may be succored and afterwardes retourning agayne giueth great thanks vnto them of whome it hath receyued such a benefite that the husband being dead came in the nighte vnto his wife nowe a widdowe and that seldome times any notable thing hathe happened whiche was not foreshewed vnto some man by certain signes and tokens You will say I heare and vnderstaÌ„d very wel that these things are not mens soules which continually remayne in theyr appoynted places I pray you then what are they To conclude in fewe words If it be not a vayne persuasion procéeding through weakenesse of the senses through feare or some suche like cause or if it be not deceyte of men or some naturall thing wherof we haue spoken much in the firste parte it is either a good or euill Angell or some other forewarning sent by God concerning the which we will speake more orderly and fully hereafter Our sauioure witnesseth in the gospell that children haue their good angells and we reade in the 18. of Matthew that the Lorde sayde Take héede ye contemne not one of these litle ones for I saye vnto you that their Angels in Heauen do alwayes behold the face of my father whiche is in Heauen Which words are not so to be taken as though they were neuer sent downe into the earth but the Lorde here speaketh after the manner of men For as seruaunts stande before their maisters to fulfill their commaundement euen so are the Angels
they alledge this that Christs apostles beleued that the spirit or soule either of Christ as some of the fathers vnderstand it or of some other person did appere vnto thē Besides to proue this matter they alledge places out of the fathers decrées of councels the cōmon report that hath ben bruted of those that returned frō the dead To al these resons by Gods assistance we will briefly and orderly answere As touching y first obiection that al things are possible vnto God we denie it not We graunt then that God can bring soules out of heauen or hel vse their trauaile seruice to instruct cōfort admonish rebuke men But for that no text or example is found in holy scripture that euer any soules came from the dead which did so scoole warn men or that the faithful learned or sought to vnderstande any thing of the soules deceassed we cānot allow the sequele of their reason We may not of gods almightie power inferre cōclusions to our plesure For this is a principle holdē in scholes that the reson doth not truly folow that is set frō the power of doing to the dead done For God doth nothing against himself or his word writē to warrāt their reson they shold first haue proued that it was gods wil y soules shold return into the erth for so do holy fathers intreat of gods almighty power Tertulliā against Praxias saith Truly I neuer thought that any thing was hard to be done of God we may faine of God what wée liste as if he had done the same bicause he is able to doo it But we must not beléeue that God hathe therefore done all things because he is able to doo them But first we ought to make inquirie whether he hath done them S. Ambrose in his sixte booke of epistles and 37. epistle writeth vnto Cromatius in this wise Therefore what is there vnpossible vnto him Not that thing whiche is hard to his power but that which is contrary to his nature It is vnpossible for him to lye and this impossibilite in hym procedeth not of infirmitie but of vertue and maiestie For truth receyueth no lye neither doth the vertue of God enterteine the vanitie of errour Reade farther that whiche followeth in the same place Hierom writing to Eustochia of the preseruing of hir virginitie saith I will boldly auouch this one thing that though God can do all things yet can he not restore a virgin after hir fall Augustine in the tenth chapter of his fifth booke De ciuitate dei hath That God is saide to be omnipotent in doing that he will and not in doing that he will not Againe he addeth Gods power is not herby any whit diminished when we say that god cannot die or be deceyued And immediatly therefore he cannot do some things bycause he is omnipotent c. Thodoret also teacheth vs that it may not absolutely without exception be pronounced that all things are possible vnto god For who so doth precisely affirme thys dothe in effecte say this muche that all things both good and bad are possible vnto God c. Wherefore féeble is that obiection of theirs God can sende soules vnto men to teache and admonish them therefore these spirits that praye ayde be soules that come out of Heauen or Hell. In the meane time we do not denie the power of God as some do maliciously report of vs but we wold not haue the same made a denne or couert of errours Heare what the Lorde our God in the .18 of Deuteronomie speaketh When thou shalte come into the lande whiche the Lorde thy God giueth thée doo not thou learne to doo after their abhominable rites and vsages of those nations Let none bée founde among you that maketh hys sonne or his daughter to passe through the fire nor a diuiner that dooth forshew things to come nor a Sorcerer nor a witche nor a charmer nor one that consulteth with spirits nor an inchanter nor a Magitian nor one that raiseth vp the dead For the Lorde dothe abhorre all that doo such things and bicause of these abhominations the Lord thy God hath caste them out before thée Be thou therfore sound and perfecte before the Lorde thy God and by and by he promiseth to send them that great Prophet whome they shoulde heare In the .viij. of Esay it is written If they say vnto you inquire of them which haue a spirite of diuination whiche whisper and murmure softely in youre eares to deceyue you Should not euery people or nation enquire at their God what shall they go from the liuing to the dead Let them goe vnto the lawes testimonie suche as haue no light should they not speake according to this word which who so should contemne shal be hardened and hunger c. Héereby we do vnderstand that vnder a greate penaltie God hath precisely forbidden that we shoulde learne and searche out any thing of the dead He alone woulde be taken for our sufficient schoolemaster In the Gospell wée read They haue Moses and the Prophets let them heare them Unto these may be added testimonies out of the Apostles writings that God doth not send vs soules hither to informe vs The common and ordinarie way whereby it pleaseth God to deale with vs is his word Therwithal should we content our selues and not wayte for newe reuelations or receyue any thing that dooth not in all pointes agrée therwith But as touching this matter we wil speake more in his proper place CHAP. VII That the true Samuell did not appeare to the vvytche in Endor NOwe touching the examples by them commonly alleaged whiche do thinke that the soules of the dead do return again vnto the liuing vpon the earth I wil first intreat of Samuels apparition of which matter now adayes there is greate contention and reasoning And as I trust I shal proue by strong argumentes that very Samuell himselfe did not appeare in soule and body neither that his body was raised vp by the sorcerers which perchaunce then was rotten consumed vnto dust in the earth neither that his soule was called vp but rather some diuelish spirite First the author of the two bookes of Samuel sayeth that Saule did aske counsell of the Lord that he would not answer him neither by visions nor by Urim nor by his Prophets Wherfore if God disdayned by his Prophetes yet liuing and other ordinarie wayes to giue answer vnto him whom he had alredy reiected we may easily coniecture that he would much lesse haue raysed a dead prophet to make him answer And the rather for that as we haue a little before sayde the law of God hathe seuerely by a greate threatening forbidden to learne oughte of the deade and woulde not haue vs to searche for the truth of them nor that any manne should vse dyuination by spyrites and suche other diuelyshe Artes. Secondly yf very Samuell in deede appeared that muste