destruction of body and soule Wee must therefore know that God truely and iustly threatned Adam and in him all mankind to be guiltie of all soâ—…ts of death and to bee thereto subiected as to their due if they transgressed against him but this commination neither included execution of all sorts of death on all mankind nor excluded pardon where pleased God onely thence may rightly bee gathered fiâ—…st that all Adaâ—… of spring should bee condemned and subiected to the guilt of all as deseruing all the one no lesse then the other Secondly that some of Adams issue should effectuall feele the sting of all which God allotted to the reprobate Thirdly that euen the elect as well as the reprobate should beare in themselues the monuments of this transgression by the corruption dissolution of their nature though the one should in this life bee reformed by the working of Gods spirit in them and the other bee restored after this life by the Resurrection from the dead All these wee finde performed by God in the trueth of his iudgements and therefore we may be sure they were intended at the time of his threatning And consequently this collection is very true that God threating Adam with these words Thou shalt die the death purposed if Adam transgressed that none of his posteritie should escape the death of their bodies to which God foorthwith punishing sinne irreuocably subiected Adam and all his children as Gods owne words declare when he said to Adam and in him to all men Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou returne The iudges reuenge then for sinne which we deserued and to which we were iustly condemned was temporall eternall death of the body and soule heere and in hell But this was not executed on all because some were freed by the fauour of God in Iesus Christ though none excused from a corporall death which prooueth my position the truer that God neuer released sinne to any no not to his owne Sonne without some kind of death It must not be forgotten that here you renounce all satisfaction for sinne in respect of merite as from Christes soule vtterly If you meane I vtterly renounce all satisfaction for sinne as from the death of Christs soule I easily graunt it and would gladly heare what you can say against it because the soule of Christ as I beleeue could not die the death of spirits But if you conceiue that Christes soule had neither part sense nor merit in the death of his body by which satisfaction for sinne was fully made it is the weamishnesse of your wit to mistake so much and vnderstand so little I attributed all sense of paine as well in death as other wise to the soule of Christ and the death of his body I communicated to his soule by reason it is a separation of the soule from the body not thereby to bee depriued of sense or grace which Christes soule could not be but therein to feele the paine and sting which the death of the body brought with it I tolde you but the leafe before out of Austen that the paine which is called bodily belongeth rather to the soule and that the paine of the flesh is only the offending or afflicting the soule by the flesh Wherefore I made the soule of Christ to be the principall agent in all his meriting and patient in all his suffering and though the soule of Christ could not pay the satisfaction for our sinnes by her death because shee could not die yet that is no impediment but the soule of Christ might haue and had the chiefest paine sense and merit in the death of Christes bodie by which the whole person made full satisfaction for the sinnes of the world And this is so farre from renouncing all merit of satisfaction from the soule of Christ as you conceiue that it ascribeth the whole power and force thereof to the obedience and patience of Christes soule and maketh the bodie the instrument ordeined of God to conuey paine vnto the soule and to lie dead when the soule is departed from it As for Bernards words which I alledge if you did or could tell how they crosse mine I would take the paines to reconcile them now you say they sute not with mine but awake out of your wonted maze and you shall see that I giue the chiefe place and part in the meritorious sacrifice vnto the soule of Christ which you dreame I doe not as also that you neither like nor allow of Bernards words For he declaring the cause and maner why and how Christes minde was afflicted in his passion sayth it was with a double affection of most humane compassion on the one side for the vncomfortable griefe of the holy women on the other for the desperation and dispersion of his disciples These causes you reiect as fond and absurd and now you would seeme to ioyne with Bernards words But you must say of him as you doe of Ambrose and pray that mens authorities may be omitted in this case for all the Fathers of Christes church are vtter strangers or enemies to your new doctrine That nothing may satisfie for sinne but death is not sound the Scriptures doe shewe indeede that Christ should not satisfie without death but they denie not that there are other parts of Christs satisfaction which differ from his death as his bloodshedding his shame his reproches his apprehension his buffeting and besides that pouertie hunger and wearines These doubtlesse yea all other sufferings of Christ what soeuer small or great are satisfactorie and meritorious That all Christes actions and passions were meritorious with God I haue no doubt but that all his sufferings as well naturall as voluntarie did euery one small or great satisfie for sinne This is a speech of yours which except it be well qualified hath in it an whole heape of absurdities and contrarieties For if the least and the first thing that Christ suffered either naturally or voluntarily did satisfie for sinne superfluous were all the rest to our redemption when God was once satisfied And so by his birth or circumcision you graunt a Supersedeas to all his life and death as needelesse to our redemption Then the which what can be more repugnant to the word of God and faith of Christ and euen to your selfe who by this meanes make your hell paines of no importance to our saluation By satisfaction you meane not full satisfaction but that which any way tendeth to satisfaction or is requisite before satisfaction can be made It is easie and often with you to abuse words though you talke much of their proprietie What is Satis in Latine whence to satisfie commeth but enough and what is enough for sinne but after which more is not requisite If then Christ satisfied that is did or paide enough for sinne by the first of his sufferings then all that followed as I inferred were more then enough and consequently
flat falsity and impiety only the generall words that Christ suffered Gods wrath and displeasure against our sinnes may be tolerated because the Scriptures vse to call the bitternesse of affliction in whom soeuer the wrath of God by reason it riseth not simply out of Gods fauour and bountie but is permixed with his Iustice that the transitorie and tolerable smart of our sinnes may euen in this life when we feele it and faint vnder it commend vnto vs the wonderfull grace of God that hath for Christs sake released vs of those euerlasting and vnspeakable Torments which our sinnes iustly deserued the Reprobate fully feare and the damned by experience most dreadfully doe feele p Defenc. pag. 90. li. 8. You bring a Reason against this that God spiritually punisheth no man but for his owne vncleannesse which is a thing meerely vntrue Out of two Pages in my Sermons against the death of Christs Soule you piked two words where I call the death of the Soule spirituall punishment and because to auoyde tediousnesse I repeat not in euery line the same words you neglect that purposely in that Section I entreate of the death of the Soule that eighteene times in those two Pages I name the life and death of the Soule that ouer right those very words which you bring I set this Note in the Margine the Death of Christs Soule could neither proceede from God nor be acceptable vnto God as the summe of that which I intended to prooue in that place that my Conclusion immediatly vrged vpon these words is this q Serm. pag. 103. li. 1. Christ then might not suffer the inward or euerlasting death of the Soule All this I say you neglect and ouer-skip many sound and sure reasons in those two sides against the death of Christs Soule and carpe at two poore words where I vse spirituall punishment for the death of the Soule But take the words in their right sense for the death of the Soule whereof I reason in that place and then see what you and all your Adherents can say against them Eternall or spirituall death which seuereth the Soule from all grace and glory God layeth on none for an others fault because God neuer reiecteth or condemneth any Man but vpon his owne desert Punish one for another by affliction of Bodie or Mind he may because he can restore and recompence when he seeth his Time though no Man Christ Iesus excepted can want sinne whiles here he liueth which God may iustly punish when and in what respect he will r Defenc. pag. 90. li. 13. But I pray you shew me this mysterie how it is that God cannot punish spiritually where there is no sinne inherent but can and may corporally where there is none Though there lie no Children of Adam in whom there was not sinne either naturally cleauing to tâ—…em or voluntarily committed by them yet Infants after Baptisme by which Originall sinne and corruption in them is pardoned are said by better Diuines then you or I to haue no sinne and to be often punished corporally for other mens faultes Saint Austen asserteth both s August Epist 28. Quis nonit quid paruulis de quorum cruciatibus dâ—…ritia maiorum contunditur aut exercetur fides aut misericordia probatur Quis inquam nouit quid ipsis paruulis in secreto indicâ—…orum suorum bonae compensationis reseruat Deus quoniam quanquam nihil rectè fecerint tamen nec peccantes aliquid ista perpessi sunt Who can tell what good Recompence God reserueth in the secrecie of his Iudgements for those Infants by whose paines or Torments the hardnesse of their Parents or friends is repressed or their Faith exercised or their pittie prooued because though the Children did no good Acts yet neither suffered they those things for any sinne of theirs Neither doth the Church in vaine recommend those Infants to be honored as Martyrs which were slaine by Herode when he sought to kill the Lord Iesus Christ. Zanchius sayth the like Of t Zanchius iâ—… tractitionibus Theologicis de 2. praecepto pa. 340. the punishments pertayning to this present life by which we are visited of the Lord either in our outward goods or in our bodies it is a cleere case that God verie often doth visite the sinnes of the Fathers vpon the children But in the death of the soule which is the spirituall punishment that I ment God himselfe sayth u Ezech. 18. The soule that sinneth euen that shall die the sonne shall not beare the iniquitie of the father but the wickednesse of the wicked shall be vpon himselfe Saint Austen maketh the difference that I spake of x August â—…pist 75. Neque enim haec corporalis est poena qualegimus quosdam contemptores Dei cum suis omnibus qui eiusdem impietatis participes non fuerant pariter infectos Tunc quidem ad terrorem viuentium mortalia corpora perimebantur quando que vtique moritura spirâ—…tualis autem pâ—…na animas obligat de quibus dictum est anima quae peccauerit ipsa morietur This is no corpor all punishment in which we reade some despisers of God haue beene wrapped with all theirs that were not partakers of the same iniquitie for then to the terror of the liuing mortall bodies were slaine which at one time or an other must haue died But a spiritual punishment bindâ—…th soules of whom it is said the soule that sinneth that soule shall die Neither shall you euer be able to shew that one soule was slaine for an others fault as mens bodies often haue beene except they both did communicate in sinne which was the cause of their common destruction y Defenc pag. 90. li. 16. All the rest of your assertions Pag. 101. 102. 103. 105. 266. 94. are of this suite I like your wit that you can make short worke and when you can not answer to saie the things be of like sute But refell the reasons brought in these pages against the death of the soule and you will finde a warmer suite then you are ware of I need not repeate them if it please the Reader to peruse them let him iudge in Gods name whether it were weakenesse in you or in them that made you ouerslip them z Defene pag. 90. li. 17. By this one reason I weakened all yours but you could passâ—… that ouer aâ—…swearing vnto it not a word By what authoritie must euerie trifle of yours be tediously discusâ—…ed when you leape ouer sixe leaues at a iumpe least you should entangle your selfe with more then you could well discharge It was belike some worthie reason that I durst not so much as offer a word about it let vs heare it in Gods name a Ibid. li. 18. If Christs body hanging on the crosse and held by death in the graue was punished by God where yet hee found no sinne and which he still intirely loued and was neuer separated from then so he
like persons and cause were vndertaken by the Apostle You only are found Sir Discourser that to shew neither learning nor reading but a presumptious ouerweening of your owne witte will needs make the Reader beleeue I vnderstand not the Text. But let vs heare your pure conceit how currantly it carrieth with it the words and circumstances of the Text. They vrge you to be circumcised onely least they should suffer persecution for the crosse of Christ saith Paul of those false teachers which peruerted the truth of the Gospell among the Galathians by teaching circumcision and the righteousnesse of the Law to be necessarie to saluation How expound you these words of the Apostle he may say you be vnderstood to say that he would not suffer persecution for commending the afflictions and shame of good Christians for Christs sake You should say THEY would not suffer persecution vnlesse you put Paul into the number of false teachers but that might be the scape of your Printer Come to your owne ouersights First then Christs personall sufferings are here quite excluded for Christ I trust shall haue an other title with you then the name of a good Christian among the many and so the crosse of Christ in this place by your exposition doth both exclude and include the proper sufferings of Christ. For afore you said here Paul doth ioyntly together vnderstand by Christs crosse the afflictions of the whole mysticall body of Christ both head and members Secondly where euer read you in the Scriptures that the Iewes raized persecutions against any for commending the afflictions of the godly If it be a truth name vs the place and the persons if it be a dreame of yours keepe it to your selfe the Scriptures can expound themselues without your â—…ansies That the Iewes had a furious disdaine and hatred against the person of Christ and specially against the shame and reproch of his crosse and for his sake against all that preached or beleeued him to be the Messias so long before promised and his death to be the Redemption of tâ—…e world the Euangelistes and Apostles euery where in their writings giue full testimony Paul himselfe first persecuting the Christians vnto death and afterward as sharply pursued by the Iewes for the very same cause best knew what offence the Iewes tooke at the infamous death of Christ on the crosse and how egerly they were bent against all that durst professe the name of Christ and therefore could speake in this case out of his owne experience that not the commending of the afflictions of the godly but the preaching of Christs death on the crosse to be the saluation of the world was the point that so much irritated the Iewes to lay violent hands on the Christians Thirdly did circumcision hinder the commending of the afflictions of the godly the Apostles and first spreaders of the Gospell as also Paul himselfe were circumcised and yet the chiefest fauourers and encouragers of the afflicted Christians so that circumcision was no impediment to like and allow the afl ictions of the godly But as Paul saw himselfe to be most odious to the Iewes because they held opinion of him that he taught all men euery where against the people the Law and the Temple and indeed he boldly professed that in Christ Iesus neither circumcision auayled any thing nor vncircumcision and that they were no longer vnder the Law since Christ had redeemed both Iew and Gentile from the curse and bondage of the Law so he could not but discerne the drift of those false teachers who to flatter the Iewes and to claw fauour with the enimies of Christs crosse taught circumcision and the righteousnesse of the law to be necessary vnto saluation as if the death of Christ without them could profit vs nothing You doe therefore not expound but peruert the words of Paul which I tooke for my text when as he reprouing those false teachers whom he before confuted for adding circumcision and the iustification of the law to the death of Christ thereby to mitigate the malice of the Iewes conceaued against the crosse of Christ you turne the Apostles words from doctrine to manners from preaching to not commending from the death of Christ to the afflictions of Christians and so of the highest point of our Redemption and Saluation by the crosse of Christ you haue found out a cold kind of scant allowing the troubles of the Saints But the Fathers which I brought ouerthrow not your sense they rather iustifie it Whether Augustine Chrysostome Ierome and Bede whom I cited for the sense of this place do take the word Crosse in this very sentence for the personall suffeâ—…ings of Christ on the crosse which was my assertion I referre it to the censure of the Reader vpon the sight of their sayings which he may finde in the conclusion of my Sermons I must confesse mine eyes be not matches if they speake not directly to that purpose Howbeit you haue a speciall gift to make a short returne of all the Fathers with a nihil dicit when they speake against you Indeed you are out of your element when you talke of Fathers for you neither like their credits nor allow their iudgements as in processe we shall more fully shew For the present to satisfie those that be soberly minded and to let all men see to your shame that I tooke my text right though you fondly seeke by your silly conceits to impeach it marke I pray thee Christian Reader whether both elder and later Diuines doe not concurre with me in that sense of Christes crosse which I auouched to be in Pauls words Christ was crucified vnder Pontius Pilate This sayth Augustine we beleeue and we so beleeue it that we reioyce in it Be it farre from me sayth Paul to reioyce but in the crosse of Christ. Happily some man sayth Athanasius beholding the Lord and Sauiour to be condemned of Pilate and crucified of the Iewes will cast downe his head for shame But if we learne the cause why the Lord suffered wee shall cease to blush and rather reioyce as Paul did in the Lords crosse Ignatius in his Epistle to those at Tarsus where Paul was borne sayth mindfull of Paul Holde it for most certaine that the Lord Iesus was truely crucified for Paul sayth Be it farre from me to reioyce but in the crosse of our Lord Iesus and truly suffered and died Cyril Be it farre from me to reioyce but in the crosse of the Lord Iesus Paul sayth he reioyceth in the death of Christ he knew Christ therefore to be God and to haue suffered for vs in the flesh Theodoret thus expresseth Pauls meaning Ego autem propter solam salutarem crucem me iacto mihi placeo I onely boast my selfe on that crosse of Christ which bringeth saluation and therewith I content my selfe Theophylact vpon the same words of Paul Illi inquit circumcisionem hanc
that you should professe your selfe a Method-master to this Realme When I tooke occasion from my text to lay downe first the contents then the effects of Christs crosse as the Scriptures did deliuer them that is what Christ suffered on his crosse for vs and what he performed by his crosse to vs say good Sir out of your new found art what fault you finde either with the matter or with the method Christes crosse you say signifieth here no such thing but the afflictions of Christ and his members That is the vanitie of your errour that is not the trueth of my text Christ crucified in his owne person for mans redemption is the full purport of Christs crosse in my text as in my Sermons I shortly declared in my conclusion I more amplie proued and now I trust I haue therein fully satisfied the Reader That standing good I note what Christ suffered which I call the contents of his crosse and to what end he suffered which are the effects of his crosse both these are aptly and fairely closed in my text and by other places of Scripture iustly proued to be comprised in my text This forsooth your mastership liketh not but I must make syllogismes out of euery word conteined in my text or els I make the Scriptures such an instrument as they ought not to be Silly Sir you vnderstand not what you say first learne and after teach lest you teach that you neuer learned When it is sayd Giue vnto God the things which are Gods can you out of these words without the aid of other Scriptures firmely conclude what things are Gods and how they must be giuen vnto him or must you proue that by other places of holy Scripture Euen so when I had shewed what was iustly inclosed within the words of my theme I made direct ful proofe thereof by other places of holy writ which I take to be a sound and sure way of well vsing the Scriptures to that very purpose they should be applied notwithstanding your palterie prouisoes that no man must after speake any thing that can not firmely be concluded by the sole and single words of his text which is a rule fit for such a Rouer as you are that neuer soundly proue any thing but not for him that will fully diuide and rightly deliuer as well the sense as the sound of any sentence of holy Scripture which he taketh in hand to vnfold To shew your selfe a firme and fine concluder vpon texts you exemplifie your skill and inferre that in three speciall points I my selfe by my very text ouerthrow my selfe in the first entrance as all men may see First in that I expresly grant the proper sufferings of Christes minde may rightly be in the contents of his crosse contrary to my maine opinion that Christs bodily sufferings ALONE were the full price of our redemption Secondly that Christs soule in a large sense may be sayd to be crucified if I suppose my text to signifie the whole contents of Christs crosse which I reproued in you with great contempt Thirdly in that I quite ouerthrow my second question for if it be a detestable thing to reioyce but in the crosse of Christ then Christes descent to hell after death must either be a part of the contents of his crosse and so he must suffer among the diuels and damned spirits or els he did vs no good there if we may not reioyce in his descending thither These iarres in my selfe you say I must reconcile els men will thinke I haue not handled my text indeed very rightly These iarres good Sir for so much as concerneth me are soone reconciled Your first obiection is a plaine falsitie your second an open follie your third a meere mockerie The contents of Christs crosse I extended to those griefs wrongs and paines which Christ suffered in his passage to his crosse as namely his submission in the garden his apprehension accusation illusion flagellation condemnation and such like all which he felt before he was fastened to the tree and though indeed they were precedents to his crosse yet because the griefe and smart of them continued and increased with his hanging on the tree the Scripture doth not exclude them from the crosse of Christ which often meaneth by that word the whole course and maner of Christes death and passion as well in comming to his crosse as in hanging on his crosse As for the proper sufferings of the minde those be none of my words yet if you thereby meane care and feare shame and sorrow not repugnant to the condition and perfection of Christes person let them in Gods name come within the contents of Christes crosse as antecedents or consequents to the paines which he suffered But if vnder the proper sufferings of the soule you conuey the suffering of hell paines or the death of the soule from the immediate hand of God which is your dreame keepe your errours for your owne accounts my words haue no such matter nor meaning How then can my maine opinion be true that Christs bodily sufferings ALONE were the full price of our Redemption which I would also ground on all the Fathers though very vntruely How can your obiections be waightie that speake neuer a true word By Christs bodily sufferings I no where exclude either the sense consideration or affection of the Soule discerning the paines which and the cause why the body suffered as you falsely imagine I only except the death of the Soule and paines of hell in Christs sufferings and to barre that I shew by many sufficient testimonies of the auncient Fathers which you shall neuer ouerbeare for all your bragges that Christ dyed for vs the death of the bodie onely and not the death of the soule In this case I vse the word ONLY as hath beene often told you otherwise to exclude the vnion operation or passion of the soule from Christs sufferings I neuer vse it And where I so often and instantly vrge that Christs death and blood-shedding are specified in the Scriptures as the full price of our Redemption and true meanes of our reconciliation to God You foolishly by their fulnesse would turne out all the rest of Christs sufferings as superfluous but my words throughout my sermons are expresse to the contrarie The crosse blood and death of Christ are euery where mentioned in the Scriptures as the very ground-worke and pillars of our Redemption And the things which are named in the Scriptures as they were the last so are they the chiefest parts of Christs sufferings the rest being vnderstood as antecedent to them and not eminent aboue them So that by the death and blood of Christ I neither did nor doe exclude the rest of his sufferings before he came to his crosse only I make them Antecedent to that not eminent aboue that which he suffered on the crosse For as the end of euery thing presupposeth a beginning and a middle and the
Whereupon Pilat maruailed that Christ was so soone dead And the Lord himselfe said None taketh my soule from me but I lay it downe of my selfe I haue power to lay it downe and power to take it againe To which it pertaineth that is written he bowing downe his head gaue vp his spirit for other men first dye and then their heads hang but Christ first laid downe his head and then voluntarily rendered his soule to his Father Many moe might be brought of all ages and places confessing the same but if these suffice not what may be enough I doe not know To decline the Scriptures and Fathers that make against him the Discourser hath deuised two shifts very like the rest of of his tenents that is void of all truth and iudgement I deny not saith he but Christ might shew some strange vnusuall thing apparantly to the beholders in vttering his last voice which might very much mooue the beholders and hâ—…arers Adde hereunto that experience sheweth as Phisitians say how some diseases in the body bring death presently after most strong and violent crying Namely in some excessiue torments as of the stone Things reported and expressed in the Scriptures touching the strange and wonderfull manner of Christs death you deny and dreame of things there no way mentioned to coulour your matter and cosin your Reader That Christ did render his soule into his Fathers hands when as yet neither speech sense memory nor motion began to faile is diligently obserued by the Euangelists and was greatly marueyled at by the Centurion which saw the manner of his death As also that he breathed out his soule of his owne accord when he had spoken those words without any former or other degrees or pangs of death appearing in him is likewise witnessed by the Scriptures and constantly auouched by all the Fathers Saint Luke saith and speaking these words he breat hed out his soule Saint Mathew and crying with a loud voice he dismissed his spirit Saint Marke and sending a strong voice from him he blew out his Soule This did he of his owne accord and power None taking his soule from him as in death they doe ours but declaring himselfe by laying of his soule when he would and as he would to be Lord and master of life and death This is fit for all Christians to confesse least they dishonor the death of Christ by depriuing his person of that power and glory which he openly shewed in the eyes eares of all his persecutors This you shift of and instced thereof imagine some strange and VNVSVALI accident in the manner of Christs death which neither the Scriptures report nor you can expresse wherein you shew your selfe forward to inuent what is not written and backward to beleeue what is written which is the trade of such men as meane to make a shipwracke of their faith That a man may dye crying as Christ did you haue found at length if not from Diuines at least from Phisitians for I perccaue you haue sought all sorts of helps both farre and neere to vphold your fansies Pâ—…rchaunce Phisitians may tell you when a painefull disease possesseth the parts which are no fountaines of life or sense a man may cry till sense and strength begin to faile and so hasten his death by the violent spending of his spirits but that a man may by any course of nature retaine perfect memorie sense motion and speach to the very act of breathing out his soule I assure my selfe no wise Phisitian will affirme And if any more humorous then learned will wade so farre without his Art he must vnderstand that his word may not ouersway the Rules of Diuinitie and Principles of nature For what are the powers and faculties whereby the soule is conioyned with the body but life sense and motion so long then as they last the soule by nature neither doth nor can forsake the body But when sense and motion first outward and then inward are oppressed and ouerwhelmed then life also perisheth and the soule may no longer abide in her body the vnion by which she was fastened vnto it being wholy dissolued Wherefore death which is the priuation of life by Gods ordinance for the punishment of sinne by degrees surpriseth and in the end quencheth all sense and motion and so forceth the soule to forsake her seate which by Gods appointment is violently parted from hir body whether she will or no but neuer till the effects oflife which are sense and motion be first decayed and abolished A sowne is the suddainest ouerwhelming of the powers of life which any natural experience doth teach vs and yet therewith though outward sense and motion doe faile at an instant and the inward be very weake and almost insensible the soule doth not presently depart but stayeth a time till all sense and motion without and within except the partie be recouered be vtterly extinguished Wherefore in all men by necessitie of nature the powers and parts of life decav in some sooner in some later before they die and therefore in Christ on the Crosse it was MIRACVLOVS and aboue nature that hauing full perfect outward and inward sense speech and motion he did in a moment when he would and as he would render his soule into the hands of his Father without any farder decayes or other degrees of death precedent then the very act of breathing out his soule which left his body presently and perfectly dead Thou hast gentle Reader the causes and prooses that mooued me to obserue the manâ—…r of Christes death to bee different from ours which whether they be consonant to the Scriptures and rightly conceiued by those learned and ancient Fathers which I haue named vnto thee I leaue to thy discrecte iudgement assuring thee there is nothing to hinder the maine consent of so many old and new writers in a matter of so great consequence but onely the headdinesse of this discourser who vpon a bare pretence of one peece of Scripture not well vnderstood and worse applied thinketh he may worke wonders and conclude all these graue and sound Expositours to be so ignorant of the sense of that place and so vnable to reach to the depth of those words Christ was LIKE VS IN ALL things that with one accord they would affirme a sine fable a Paradoxe in Nature and contrarie to Scripture Howbeit it is no newes with this man to defend that Christ was distempered ouerwhelmed and all confounded both in all the powers of his soule and senses of his body He boldly auoucheth it was so with Christ before his death in the Garden and on the Crosse and therefore hee presumeth it might much more befall him at his death But let him keepe these secrets to himselfe I doubt not Christian Reader but thou wilt be well aduised before thou put the Sauiour of the world and the Sonne of God out of his wits or senses to make way for
the hole that you would faine hide your selfe in To that intent which I set downe my reasons drawen from the Iewish sacrifices and Christians sacraments did and doe still stand effectuall For the olde sacrifices must figure and the new Sacraments must seale whatsoeuer death in Christ was the full and perfect ransome of our sinnes But they foreshew and confirme the bodily death of Christ onely they neither shew not signifie the death of the soule nor the death of the damned Therefore the bodily death of Christ onely is the full and perfect ransome of our sinnes the death of the soule and the death of the damned as they serued nothing to our Redemption so were they not suffered in the soule of Christ. Two cauils you offer against the first part of this reason touching the sacrifices of the fathers before and vnder the law One that they figured not the whole sacrifice as neither Christes Deitie his soule nor his resurrection the next that all the sacrifices of the Iewes did not signifie his bodily death because the Scape goate which was a sinne offering was not slaine Of trifling you talke much this is more then trifling it is plaine shifting Christes deitie could be no part of that sacrifice which suffered for sinne the diuine Maiestie can not suffer either paine or sorrow To what ende then come you in with Christes Godhead when you talke of his suffering for sinne His soule you say was not figured by those sacrifices The suffering death in his soule was indeed no way figured by them but that the mediatour should haue an humane soule to bee separated from his body by death before hee could make purgation of our sinnes that was more then figured by those sacrifices For since not the blood of beasts but of man and euen of the Sonne of God made man was by Gods promise to be shed for our sinnes It is euident that from life to death he could not come but by seuering his soule from his body And consequently he must haue a soule being a man which must be powred out vnto death before he could die euen as the powers of life in bloody sacrifices were parted from their flesh before they could be offered as sacrifices vnto God But I charge you vntruely when I say you expound your whole and absolute Redemption to be of all the fruites and causes of our Redemption you haue no such word nor meaning as fruites Your words are our whole and absolute Redemption and those I say containe the whole course of our saluation euen vnto the last step which is our glorification as I haue formerly prooued by Christes owne speech Againe if the resurrection of Christ which is your owne instance bee a part of that propitiatorie sacrifice because it was a necessarie consequent then all the benefites that Christ obtained for vs or bestowed on vs must be comprised in that his oblation for sinne For they are all necessarie consequents and effects of our Redemption and depend on these two branches his death to free vs from sinne and his resurrection to raise vs into a new and heauenly life now for euer He was deliuered to death for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification From these two heads the Scriptures deriue not onely forgiuenes of sinnes but newnesse of life on earth and happinesse of life in heauen Yet you did not call them fruits Effects you called them and what is a ioyfull effect such as was Christs resurrection but a fruit and that as well in Christ as in vs When the Prophet saith of Christ he shall see the trauaile of his soule and be satisfied what meaneth he but the fruits and effects of Christs labour when for his obedience to death God highly exalted him and gaue him a name aboue euery name that euery knee should bow vnto him what is this but a fruite and reward of his humiliation first in his owne person then proportionably in all that be his Many of the Iewes sacrifices yea most of them did represent and signifie Christs bodily sufferings onely yet not all Therefore you may well deny mine assumption as you did before and affirme that certaine Iewish Sacrifices set forth the sufferings euen of the soule of Christ and not of his body only Did I any where say that all the Iewish sacrifices were bloudy or that all of them did represent Christs death and blood shedding Could I be ignorant that the Iewes had oblations made onely by fier as of flower wine and incense and also offerings of the first fruits and other things dedicated or presented to the Lord for the vse of his tabernacle and Temple Doth not the Apostle say Euery high Priest is ordayned for men to offer GIFTES and SACRIFICES for sinne Where gifts shew that things without life were offered as well as liuing beasts and birds which were slaine As then there was no cause nor neede I should so I neuer vsed the word ALL in that case vnlesse I added liuing or BLOODY Sacrifices For they by their life lost and blood shed figured the death of Christ Iesus But this ALL is your adding to my wordes that you may take occasion to pike some quarrell at them But you may well deny my assumption that no sacrifices of the Iewes did figure the sufferings of Christs soule I assumed no such thing neither did I meddle with the sufferings of Christs soule vnlesse they were the death of the soule or the paines of hell which the Scripture calleth the second death and I the death of the damned because none besides the damned die that second death but you plainly giue me the slip and conuey your selfe from speaking of the death of the soule or of the death of the damned which are the things in Question to the sufferings of the soule in generall of which I make no Question And though your meaning be vnder the sufferings of the soule to comprise the tormenting of Christs soule by the immediate hand of God with the selfe same paines which the damned do feele in hell Yet such is your cariage that euery where you suppresse your maine intent and make a faire shew with the sufferings of Christs soule as if you ment no more but that Christs soule must needs haue some sufferings proper to it selfe which you confesse I sundry times teach and yet you make your Reader beleeue I euer impugne You shall doe well to awake out of this slumber and call to minde that there are no sufferings of Christs soule now in question but the DEATH of the SOVLE or of the DAMNED which you dare not openly auouch and therefore you plaster them ouer with smoother termes of the sufferings of the soule to hide your secret mysteries till you meete with itching eares that will listen more to fansies then to faith Another peece of skill you shew in this place to ease your selfe of all proofe and thinke it enough if
Christi potest ostendi commortua When Christ died in the flesh neither can the godhead nor the soule of Christ be shewed to haue bene also dead And of hell paines he saith Dignum fuit vt animam dolor non contigisset inferni quam seruitus nequiuit tenere peccati It was a meete and right thing that the paines of hell should not touch that soule whom the seruitude of sinne could not fasten on Yet Cyrill in the place aboue cited SEEMETH to acknowledge A KIND OF DEATH EVEN OF THE SOVLE from which Christ reuiued againe But of that in due place hereafter Is the death of Christs soule so slender a matter that you may collect it by a seeming and a kind of death without any mention or occasion of any such thing comprised in Cyrils words The Reader may there obserue what your maine intent is and whereon you fasten your eyes all this while euen on the death of Christs soule to be requisite for our Redemption though you finde no such thing in Scripture or Father but miserably and childishly slide it in at last with a seeming Now if there be no such thing in Cyrils words nor any such seeming how wel deserue you to be hissed out with hands if not to be hurled out by the heeles for a seeming sleeper if not for a waking dreamer what are those words of Cyrill that seeme to acknowledge the death of Christs soule Christ bestowed his flesh as a ransome for our flesh and made his soule likewise the price of redemption for our soules although he liued againe being by nature life it selfe It is lawfull for you to further euery place you bring with a mayned and forced translation Cyrils true words stand thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Without constraint of any Christ of himselfe laide downe his owne soule for vs that he might be Lord of dead and quicke yeelding his flesh in recompence as a gift fully worth it for the flesh of all and making his soule or life a ransome for the soule or life of all though he reuiued againe being life by nature in that he was God The words which you would cite are heere no perfect sentence as hauing no principall verbe in them and therefore must be ioyned with the former and depend vpon the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ layd downe his soule which gouerneth the whole as appeareth also by the two participles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yeelding in recompence and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making which must be directed by the same nominatiue case that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is and likewise by the opposition of the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he reuiued Of what death Cyrill here speaketh is more then manifest by the words of our Sauiour here vsed and deriued from the Gospell where he said None taketh my soule from me or constraineth me to die I lay it downe of my selfe and likewise the Sonne of man came to giue his soule or life a ransome for many What kind of death those words of Christ imported I made it appeare but a little before by the full consent of Scriptures and interpreters old and new and of Cyrill himselfe who all with one accord referre both those sayings to the death of Christs bodie and the losse of his life on the Crosse when his soule departed from him Set that downe in Cyrils first words for the death which Christ died by the constant assertion of Scriptures Fathers New writers and of Cyrill himselfe and then the words which you alleage shew plainely the force of his corporall death to be auaileable for the bodies and soules of all men in that his flesh yeelded to death was a recompence or exchange for all mens flesh and his soule laide downe without constraint of any was the ransome of all mens soules and he notwithstanding rose againe the third day to life by his owne power as being God and life it selfe against whom death could preuaile no farder nor longer then hee him selfe would Where are the words that acknowledge the death of Christs Soule or that so much as seeme to acknowledge a kind of death in the soule of Christ Here are the cleane contrarie For if the death of Christs bodie by which he laid aside his soule for vs be sufficient to redeeme the bodies and soules of all men then superfluous and needlesse euen by these words was the death of Christs soule the whole being fully perfourmed without it But he gaue his flesh to be a ransome for our flesh and his soule for our soules you say and yet liued againe Cyrill doth not say by seuerall deaths but by one and the same death which was the laying down of his soule or life for vs as Christ himselfe in the Gospel said he would If those wordes inferre the death of Christes soule why bring you not the words of Christ himselfe saying The Sonne of man came to giue his soule a ransome for many You saw the Scriptures themselues and the whole Church of Christ first and last I meane all old and new writers translators and expositors would condemne your folly therin in most exact words taking soule there for life which must needes import the death of Christs bodie And therefore you thought it more safetie to catch at the same words in some Father for whose meaning there could not be brought so many and so sound deponents But all in vaine For if Christ had no meaning in those wordes to point out the death of his owne soule then Cyrill alleaging and obseruing the words of Christ can haue no such purpose as to crosse the Scriptures himselfe and all the Fathers of Christs Church in a matter so dangerous and desperate as the death of Christs soule amounteth vnto In the meane while his words conclude no such thing neither in saying nor in seeming and so your embracing them to that end argueth your good will to seeke but your euill lucke to finde any such thing as the death of Christs soule in all the Fathers Cyrill doth not say Christ rose againe which properly belongeth to the body but he reuiued or liued againe which seemeth to be spoken of the Soule Then Saint Paul maketh more for you then Cyrill doth for he affirmeth both os Christ to this end saith he Christ died and rose againe and reuiued that he might be Lord of dead and liuing And indeed resurrection properly noteth from whence Christ arose to wit from the graue Reuiuing expresseth the blessed and glorious life which he enioyed after he was risen from the dead Christ himselfe saith of his they shall come forth of their graues vnto the resurrection of life to separate them from the wicked who shall come likewise forth vnto the resurrection but of iudgement and condemnation Notwithstanding in Christ there is either no difference betwixt them the one euer implying the other or if we make any Christs reuiuing alwaies presupposeth
the people that Christ came to saue the house of Israell by giuing his life for their sinnes and that sinne caused the onely Sonne of God to be crucified in the flesh and to suffer the most vile and slaunderous death of the Crosse and consequently willed them to remember how grieuously and cruelly Christ was handled of the Iewes for our sinnes and to set before their eyes Christ crucified with his body stretched on the Crosse his head crowned with sharpe thornes his hands and his feete pearced with nayles his heart opened with a speare his flesh rent and torne with whips his browes sweating water and bloudâ—… by this stirreth vp the hearers to the hatred of sinne that was so grieuous in the sight of God that he would not be pacified but onely with the bloud of his owne Sonne And though there were a thousand examples in the Scripture shewing how greatly God abhorred sinne yet this one is of more force then all the rest that the Sonne of God was compelled to giue his body to bee bruised and broken on the Crosse for our sinnes After these premonitions follow your words Christ hath taken vpon him the iust reward of sinne which was death not the whole reward of sinne which is an vtter exclusion from all grace and glorie and the eternall damnation of body and Soule in hell fire but the death of his body bruised and broken on the Crosse by the cruell rage of the Iewes which is particularly and plainely before described Now the death of the body inflicted on all mankind for sinne is the iust though not the full reward of sinne and by suffering that Christ freed vs from all condemnation of sinne which otherwise in vs would haue beene euerlasting And this explication the same Homily addeth to the former words which you cite though you purposely suppresse it When all hope of righteousnesse was past on our part and wee had nothing whereby wee might quench Gods burning wrath and worke the saluation of our Soules Then euen then did the Sonne of God come downe from heauen to be wounded for our sakes to be reputed with the wicked to be condemned vnto death to take vpon him the reward of our sinnes and to giue his body to be broken on the Crosse for our offences Here are both the places which you patch together the one noting Death to be the iust reward of sinne the other expressing what kind of death Christ suffered for vs as the reward of our sinne euen the breaking of his body on the Crosse for our offences In the second proposition you shew more deprauing of the publike doctrine of this Realme For where the second Homily saith in expresse words that our Grandfather Adam by breaking Gods commaundement in eating the Apple forbidden him in Paradise purchased not onely to himselfe but also to his posteritie for euer the iust wrath and indignation of God who condemned both him and his to euerlasting death both of body and Soule you transferre this iudgement from Adam to Christ which the Homily doeth not and least you should bee taken tardie with open blasphemie you leaue out the word EVERLASTING which is euident in the Homily and vpon those maimed and forged collections you inferre that by the Homily Christ tooke on him for vs the death both of body and Soule Why say you not Christ tooke vpon him EVERLASTING death both of body and Soule which was the iust and due purchase or wages of our sinne by the plaine words of that Homilie You feared blasphemie and therefore you chose rather to falsifie the place then to want some defence for your Doctrine Christ you will say died that death which was the reward of our sinne by the Booke of Homilies To belie publike Authoritie so grossely in so great causes is a quadruple iniquitie What death Christ died for our sinnes is openly professed and euen pictured before our eyes in this very Homilie the words I repeated in the Section before What death was the wages of our sinne if the word euerlasting did not fully declare the same Homilie in the same Section whence your words are taken doth twice most abundantly teach Adam tooke vpon him to eate of the tree forbidden and in so doing he died the death that is to say he became mortall he lost the fauour of God he was cast out of Paradise he was no longer a Citizen of heauen but a fire brand of hell and a bond-slaue to the Diuell And sixe lines after So that now neither Adam nor any of his had any right or interest at all in the kingdome of heauen but were become plaine Reprobates and cast-awaies being perpetually damned to the euerlasting paines of hell fire It would fairely fit your new Doctrine to defend that Christ was a Reprobate and a Cast-away yea a fire-brand of hell and a bond-slaue to the Diuell perpetually damned to the euerlasting paines of hell fire And though I be perswaded you detest these diuelish impieties and hellish blasphemies yet you regard little your cause or your conscience which vouch in Print that Christ suffered that reward of sinne which by the Booke of Homilies was due to vs all those things by the same Booke in the same place being due to vs. You will shift of this matter as if these things might be granted in substance not in circumstance and in our countenance not in his But such shifts are so shamefull and sinfull in this case that I thinke your owne friends wil altogether mislike your flying to the Booke of Homilies for the death of the Soule or the iust reward of sinne in all mankind there mentioned to be suffered in the Soule of Christ. Also our great Bible appointed by Authoritie to be read in publike Churches expresly saith as much It is a poore pittance when you finde no helpe for your new made hell in the whole Text of the Bible to run to the Printers additions set by the sides of the Booke who often annexe things in the Margine for direction or explication as they thinke good which declare the Printers or Correctors but not the Authors nor Translators mind Your wits I trust be not so weake but you can discerne between the English translation of the Text commaunded to be publikely read in the Church and the Marginall notes added by others without any warrant of publike Authority for ought that I see And therefore I take not my selfe nor any man else to be bound to those notes farder then they euidently concurre with the truth of the Text though they may be sometimes profitable for the opening of hard places That Christ was in an Agonie the Euangelist affirmeth and the English Translator hath done his duetie in expressing so much but what the cause was of that Agonie is beyond the Commission of a Translator to specifie since the Scripture concealeth it and so publike Authoritie which appointed
to see him die as likewise his buriall by his owne followers the sealing of his Tumbe and his lying three daiâ—…s in the graue to omit I say all these things with silence and to produce a word which the Manichees reiected as odious and iniurious to Christ and the Christians defended none otherwise then as common to all men that die both good and bad were no small ouersight in so learned a writer But this is a â—…ite of yours to shift of the truth of his answere it is no part of his meaning He sheweth against the Manichees and likewise against you since you defend the Contrarie that the death of the Body is in all men the punishment of sinne and that this death INFLICTED ON MANS NATVRE for sinne which is the MORTALITIE OF OVR FLESH by the Scriptures is called a Sinne and a Curse euen in Christ not that Christ was properly and truly accursed with God as transgressours are which is your erroneous assertion but that he submitted himselfe to receiue the punishment of sinne in his owne person by the death of his Body which was common to him with all men If the former words of Saint Austen were not plaine enough he hath playner If thou deny Christ was accursed deny Christ was dead If thou deny he was dead now â—…ightest thou not against Moses but against the Apostles If thou confesse him to haue beene dead confesse that he tooke the punishment of our sinne without sinne Now when thou hearest the punishment of sinne beleeue it came either from Gods blessing or cursing If the punishment of sinne came from blessing wish alwaies to be vnder the punishment But if thou desire to be thence deliuered beleeue that by the iust Iudgement of God the punishment of sinne came from the curse Confesse then that Christ tooke a Curse for vs when thou confessest him to haue beene dead for vs Nec aliud significare voluisse Mosen cum diceret maledictus omnis qui in ligno pependâ—…rit nisi mortalis omnis moriens omnis qui in ligno pependerit and that Moses had none other meaning when he said Accursed is euery one that hangeth on a Tree then to say euery one that hangeth on a Tree is Mortall and dieth He might hauâ—… said Accursed is euery Mortall Man or accursed is euery one that dieth How thinke you would Austen prooue that Christ truely died because he was truely accursed or that Christ tooke vpon him a Curse because he tooke vpon him the death of the Bodie which is the punishment of sinne in all mortall men and so proceeded from the curse whereunto all men for sinne were subiect He doth not defend the Apostle by Moses but he expoundeth Moses by the Apostle and so resolueth in plaine words that Moses had none other meaning when he said accursed is euery one that hangeth on a Tree then if he had said accursed is euery mortall man because death came first on all men as a Curse for sinne You acknowledge not the death which all men die to be a punishment or Curse for sinne But all the wit you haue will not answere Saint Austens reasons For the death of the Body which is common to all mortall men must of force be a blessing or a Cursing If it be a blessing why doe we beleeue or hope to be free from a blessing but if we detest continuance vnder it and desire deliuerance from it then certainly the death of the Body in all men euen in the Saints of God was and still is a punishment and Curse of Sinne till Christ raise vs from it An other reason Saint Austen vrgeth to the same effect which is this Vnlesse God had hated sinne and our Death he would not haue sent his sonne to vndertake and abolish the same What maruaile then if that be accursed to God which God hateth God that is him selfe all life and gaue vs life as his blessing in this world must needs hate death which is priuation of life as repugnant to his Image and euerting the worke of his hands wherewith he ioyned Soule and Body to participate in life And though by his Iustice he inflicted death on all men for sinne yet of his mercie he sent his owne and PAINFVLL death to be that part of the curse which Christ suffered for vs. This I hope is more then shame though shame and reproch were not the least parts of Gods curse against sinne euen in Christ. You would needs in a brauado set vp your bristles and aske What nothing but the shame of the world will any man of common sense affirme that this was all the curse that Christ bare for vs I replied that shame and ignominie was an expresse part of the curse which Christ dying suffered for vs and that there was no cause you should so much disdaine Chrysostome and Austen for so saying The Scriptures themselues in that point concurred with them as I haue fully shewed in my Conclusion and you can not auoid it Lest therefore your Reader should take you to be tongue-tied you cleane change the case and would haue men beleeue that I defend and endeuoured to proue that shame was the whole curse which Christ endured As though I alleaged not S. Austen at large to proue that death in all men Christ not exempted was a part of the curse inflicted on mankinde for sinne And therefore when Chrysostome sayd the crosse is the onely kinde of death subiect to the curse I did not set him and Austen at variance as if the one did trippe the other but I thus reconciled them that not only death as in all men but the verâ—…e kinde of death which Christ died was accursed by the very words of the Law in Chrysostomes iudgement This then is one of your familiar trades and trueths to set downe that in my name which I neuer spake nor meant and so by lying when you can not by reasoning to support your cause Indeed if a man will admit your absurd and false positions so much is consequent out of their words For where you will not haue the death of the bodie to be any part of the curse inflicted on sinne except the death of the damned be coherent with it as in the reprobate it followeth from Chrysostomes words that the corporall death of Christ seuered from all other sorts of death had no part of Gods curse in it besides shame which yet is as farre from being a true curse where the cause is good as death it selfe since neither shame nor death are true and inward curses when they are suffered for righteousnesse but rather causes and increases of blessing not in nor of themselues but by Gods goodnesse accepting and recompensing them with all fauour and blisse Againe you mislike that I sayd Christs dying simplie as the godlie die may in no sort be called a Curse or accursed I mislike that you can not or
will not distinguish what death is in it selfe euen to the godly and what is consequent after it by Gods mercie towards his Saints And heerein I say you want both trueth and iudgement for things are to be named by their natures and not by the sequents which often God sendeth cleane contrarie to the purposes and practises of Satan and his members Tyrannie shall it be no crueltie because it maketh Martyrs Sinne shall it not be displeasing to God because it humbleth the faithfull by repentance The corruption of mans nature shall it not be sinne because thereby God exerciseth his Saints to watchfulnesse and prayer Euen so the death of the bodie which God at first inflicted on all his Elect for sinne shall it be no punishment for that God doth comfort his in death and reward them after death I affirme death to the godly is no curse properly And I aâ—…irme that when you can not tell how to start from the force of truth you do nothing but lie or flie to your phrases of proper and verie which here as in other places do you no good In the fifteenth line of this page you say the death of of the godly may IN NO SORT be called a Curse or Accursed In the sixteenth whiles you offer to proue those words you confesse them to be false Death to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no Curse properly you say but a benefit and aduantage then improperly death is a curse and before you sayd It may in no sort be called a Curse to them If in no â—…rt then neither properly nor improperly What then is that Enemie that must be destâ—…oyed a cursing or a blessing Can it be an enemie to Christ and yet a blessing to the godly I cannot better refell your folly then S. Austen doth in this verie case If death be a bleâ—…ing to the bodies of the godly neuer desire to be deliuered from it what nâ—…ed you beleeue or loue the resurrection of the flesh which is the destruction of death in the bodie it death be a benefit to the bodie But if this be repugnant to Christian religion then hath death in it euen a shew of Gods curse on the bodie for sinne which must be destroyed before Christ can fully reigne in all his Saints Yet is it to the godly no curse properly The heigth of your learning hangeth on the helpe of this word PROPERLY we yet came to no point in all our defence but when you see your selfe pressed you straightwayes post to PROPER and VERY and yet you neuer define either nor take the paines to expound your selfe lest you should be taken with open heresie and blasphemie in applying one and the same curse properly and truely to Christ and the damned You say I am to young a Doctour to controll Saint Austen herein and I say you are a Doctour not olde enough to prooue Austen contrarie to me in this point A farre younger then I am will soone discerne by that I haue sayd that S. Austen is repugnant in this point to your proper and verie nouelties for where you say Death to the godly may in no sort be called a curse S. Austen thus expoundeth Christes words to the godlie Feare not those which kill the bodie as if Christ had sayd Nolite timere male dictum mortis corporalis quod temporaliter soluitur Feare not the CVRSE of a bodily death which in time is dissolued And so when he resolueth Moses had none other meaning in this sentence Cursed is euerie one that hangeth on a tree then if he had sayd Mortall is euerie one that hangeth on a tree Poterat enim dicere maledictus omnis mortalis aut maledictus omnis moriens For Moses might haue sayd Cursed is eâ—…ry mortall man or cursed is euerie man that dieth If Moses might truely haue so sayd as it is euident by S. Austens position then I trust death in some sort may be iustlie called a Curse euen to the godlie But S. Austen sayth that the death of the bodie is good to the good and euill to the euill That speech S. Austen sayth may be tolerated not in respect of death it selfe which is euill but of the mercies of God which follow the faithfull after their deaths His words which you skippe as your maner is to do when any thing maketh against you are Dici potest It may be sayd But vpon that speech he presently moueth this question in the beginning of the next Chapter If the death of the bodie be good to the good quo modo poterit obtineri quòd etiam ipsa sit poena peccati how may it be resolued that it is also the punishment of sinne His resolution you did not reade or not regard because it resisted your fansie but thereby the Reader may see what credit is to be giuen to your words when you crake of Fathers We must confesse sayth Austen that the first men were so created that if they had not sinned they should haue tasted no kinde of death but the verie same being the first sinners were so punished with death that whatsoeuer should spring from their root should be held subiect to the same punishment And discussing the question proposed more at large he resolueth Sic per ineffabilem Dei misericordiam ipsa pâ—…na vitâ—…orum transit in arma virtutis fit meritum iusti etiam supplicium peccatoris So by the vnspeakeable mercie of God the punishment of vice becommeth the armour of vertue and the reuenge of a sinner is made the merit of the iust Non quia mors bonum aliquod facta est quâ—… antea malum fuit sed tantam Deus fidei praestitit gratiam vt mors quam vitae constat esse contrariam instrumentum fieret per quod transiâ—… in vitam NOT THAT DEATH IS BECOME ANY GOOD which before was euill but so great fauour God hath yeelded vnto faith that death which most certainly is contrarie to life is made an instrument for the good by which they passe vnto life And to make men the better to vnderstand the effect of his speech he bringeth an example out of the Scriptures where the law is called the strength of sinne Why sayth he rehearse â—…e this Because that as the Law is not euill when it increaseth the lust of sinners so death is not good when it augmenteth the glorie of the sufferes but as the vniust doe eâ—…lly vse not onely euill but also good things so the iust doe well vse not onely good but euen things that be euill Hence commeth it that the wicked vse the Law ill though the Law be good BONI beâ—…è moriantur quamuis sit mors malum and the good die well though death be euill I haue toucheâ—… at large Saint Anstens reasons and resolutions in his owne words because the Reâ—…der should the more cleerely conceiue him and the discourser see him contrarie to his conceits euen in this point
submission and Sacrifice as a sufficient recompence and Satisfaction for the sinnes of the world Againe he certainly knew that Gods displeasure against our sin in loue would not in Iustice could not extend to the dissolution râ—…iection or dâ—…struction of his Person but that God would temper the punishment of our sinnes in his Body where he bare them that neither his obedience nor patience should be wearâ—…ed or ouerwhelmed And to that ende the Scripture plainly testifieth that Iesus i Iohn 13. knew the Father had giuen all things into his hands and so whatsoeuer Christ suffered was a triall of his obedience to which he most willingly submitted himselfe that neither the burden of our sinnâ—…s might seeme a sport to him nor his case common to him with the desperate and damned persons Christ then neither did nor could apprehend or discerne any wrath of God kindled against his person as the reprobate feare and the damned find neither any purpose in God to punish sinne farther than by the death of his bodie to purge it and abolish it nor the measure of paine determined to be sharper then his humane patience could without repining or refusing endure Wherefore though I willingly grant as much paine in Christes sufferings as his patience could sustaine without declining or disobeying yet see I no point wherein the sufferings of Christ either apprehended or inflicted did concord with the paines of the damned As for the terrour of Gods anger against sinne which wrought in Christ submission not confusion and sorow for sinne conceiued for that God was thereby iustly displeased these and all such religious FEARES sorowes tremblings I easily yeeld to the soule of Christ which were sacrifices in Gods sight of inestimable price and very painfull though very faithfull submissions and passions of the inward man The farther proofe of these I referre to the place where I shall speake of Christes agonie and in the meane time assure the Châ—…istian Reader that neither this Praâ—…er nor all his compartners shall euer be able by the sacred Scriptures to make any proofe of any farther or other sufferings then I haue specified Whether the paines of bodie or soule in Christ were greater or sharper I take it to be a needlâ—…sse and fruitlesse question The paines of Christes body were proportioned The paines aâ—… well of Christes sâ—…ule as of his bodie were equall to the strength of Chrâ—…stes patience to the strength of his patience and so were his feares and sorowes and in either the soule was the part that felt the smart and discerned the cause And if we balance these things by the consequents of nature since the paines from the body doe in this life by their vehemency separate soule and body farre sooner and oftner then sorowes and feares of minde except in present and ouerwhelming euils which coole quench and ouerthrow the spirits with more speed though with lesse paines then the sharpnesse of Christes bodily paines hauing no release nor ease but perfect sense and continuance did pinch as neere not as the paines of the damned but as the passions or affections of Christes soule hauing fath and hope to support them and comfort and ioy proposed to mitigate them And euen in the damned both men and diuâ—…ls whence you would seeme to fetch your president for Christes sufferings whether thinke you are the sharper the paines which they now feele before the day of iudgement or the violence of fire which shall then exceed all the paines they now suffer For both the diuels and the damned haue as much griefe of reiection confusion and desperation and as mighty terrors and inward torments of minde as they are capable of and yet neither of them haue their sharpest punishments Of the diuels the Scriptures say k Iude epist. vers 6. They are reserued in euerlasting chaines vnder darkenesse vnto the iudgement of the great day And the spirits themselues could say to Christ l Maâ—…th 8. Art thou come to torment vs before the time Of the wicked Peter sayth m 2. Pet 2. God knoweth how to reserue the vnâ—…ust vnto the day of iudgement to be punished And n Rom. 2. thou sayth Paul to euery one of them according to thine hardnesse and impenitent heart heapest vp wrath to thy selfe against the day of wrath and reuelation of the iust iudgement of God By which it is plaine that the terrors and torments of minde presently felt by the deuill and the damned are farre lesse then the vengeance of externall and eternall fire reserued and then augmented on all the reprobate both men and angels o Defenc. pag. â—…0 li. 4. The greatest paines are no more sinne then the least Therefore by your owne graunt Christ might and did feele and endure the grâ—…atest sorrowes of the minde and soule as well as the lâ—…sser in the bodie Paines if they be onely paines and nothing els are not sinne and therefore the suffering of hell fire is no sinne but the terriblest punishment of sinne that men or angels shall feele yet terrours and torments of minde are increased by doubt feare or despaire of Gods goodnesse towards vs which are sinnes in this life where grace and mercie are proposed and could not be in Christ without intolerable infidelitie after so plaine and plentifull assurances of Gods loue and fauour towards him Take therefore from Christ all doubt and distrust of Gods anger and displeasure towards his person and then it is euident that neither his apprehension of Gods wrath was the same that the damned and desperate feele noâ—… any way so sharpe as if Christ had conceiued God to be displeased with him or purposed to destroy him as the wicked are perswaded of Gods indignation against themselues Christes sufferings then were wrath to the sense and feeling of mans nature but his Christs Faith did not faile in the sharpest of his paineâ—… faith in the sharpest of his paines beheld the setled and assured loue of God towards his person and he not only called God his Father in all his afflictions but out of his owne power he gaue the thiefe that confessed him on the crosse the inheritance of Gods kingdome that present day together with himselfe So that he was more then perswaded or resolued of Gods fauour and faithfulnesse who tooke vpon him in the midst of his sufferings to giue the kingdome of heauen to such as acknowledged and beleeued in him though the chastisement of our sinnes in his body and soule were by Gods iustice and his owne consent very sharpe and bitter vnto him that his loue to vs and obedience to his Father might appeare the more fully not in peace ease and dalliance but in sorrow paine and grieuance by which ardent and constant loue is tried as golde in the fire Whereby it appeareth that all your talke of Gods wrath against Christ equall with the damned or reprobate hath no trueth nor sense in it but is a meere and
might and did punish properly Christes soule also and yet neuer deuide his Godhead nor his loue from it The one standeth with Gods iustice and with the nature of man in Christ as well as the other A wanton colt when he winceth with his heeles thinketh he can batter walles and beate downe trees with a blow when yet the skittish thing doth but hurt it selfe Is this the reason which weakened all that I said in so manie sides against the death of the soule for of that I speake in all those pages which you quote Neede you a paire of spectacles so see the difference betweene the death of the soule and the death of the bodie that you so falsely idlely and foolishly match them together A verie drone would soone discerne that the death of the bodie innocently obediently and patiently suffered could no way separate Christ from the fauour and loue of God nor hinder the worke of our redemption though it depriued hiâ—… of life sense and motion in the bodie for the time which are the good blessings of God when they are vsed to his glorie and yet the death of the soule which leaueth neither action affection nor communion of grace trueth or faith in the soule seuereth both Soule and body quite from God and maketh them hatefull vnto God and altogether vnapt to reconcile others vnto God when they themselues are disioyned and parted from God And therefore notwithstanding your Crakes that you can blow mountaines afore you with your breath and your craft that shift the death of the Soule whereof I speake in all those places into a proper spirituall punishment of your owne framing you haue not auoyded any one Reason there nor offer so much as to come toward the matter in question but roue after your wonted manner with generall phrases proper to your selfe and then thinke that no man seeth you there are other punishments in the Soule besides death but none that can reconcile vs vnto God For b Rom 5. We were reconciled to God by the death of his Sonne c 1. Cor. 15. I declare vnto you saith Paul the Gospell which I preached vnto you and whereby you are saued For first of all I deliuered vnto you that Christ died for our sinnes according to the Scriptures Then you and whosoeuer else that preach or beleeue Remission of sinnes by any thing else but by the death of Christ you preach not the Gospell which the Apostle deliuered neither can you looke for saluation in Christ that leaue the maine ground thereof which is the death that he tasted for all and through which he destroyed him that had the power of death euen the diuell So that to step to any other spirituall punishments for the satisfaction of our sinnes and reconciliation to God then to that which the Scriptures call the death of Christ and the death of the Crosse is to renounce all that God hath ordained or reuealed for our Saluation and to create you new Sauiours after your owne conceits You must therefore be directly and plainly brought to this point whether Christ suffered for vs the death of the Soule by the Scriptures and not such giggers of proper punishments nor straines of improper speeches as you and your friends hunt after but fairely and fully according to the direction of the sacred Scriptures which must be heard and preferred before all your fansies as well touching the death of the soule as the trueth of our redemption by the bloud of Christ Iesus Wherein though I exclude not the sense and affections of his soule which felt the paine knew the cause and beheld the counsell of God in all those sufferings vndertaken for man through the tender loue that he bare to man yet none of those feares sorrowes nor paines which the soule discerned and receiued did any whit diminish the power of Gods spirit and grace in him nor the perfection of his faith hope and loue whereby the soule cleaued fast to God without any separation and consequently the innocence obedience and patience of Christes soule in his sufferings both outward and inward did confirme and manifest the life of his soule But of this more in due place d Defenc. paâ—… 90. li. 27. Then you addresse your selfe against another euen one of the chiefest reasons of mine which I make from the strange and incomparable agonies of Christ in the time of his passion You make no reasons from Christes agonie but assuming that for a shew which you do not vnderstand you inferre what you list by your rash presumptuous and manifest contradictions both to your selfe and to the Scriptures e Ibid. li. 30. These inuaded him as we reade principally at three times First in the foretaste of his passion Ioh. 12. secondly in the Garden a little before his apprehension thirdly in his very extreame passion it selfe on the crosse The Scripture mentioneth one agonie and you multiplie that to three In the twelfth of Iohn when some of the Grecians that came to worship on the feast of Easter were desirous to see Christ of whom they had heard much and made their desire knowen to Philip and he to Andrew and they both to Iesus Iesus answered them f Iohn 12. The houre was come euen at hand that the Sonne of man should be glorified by his death This therefore was not a time to shew himselfe when his heart or soule was troubled with other matters euen with the meditation and preparation of his death Now except you be so wise that you will make euery affection in Christ an agonie there is no cause to conceiue this to be an agonie He often times thought and spake of his death before where no man besides you doth dreame of agonies and this verie word is in other cases ascribed aswell to Christ as to others where no colour of an agonie doth appeare When he tolde his Disciples that one of them should betray him g Iohn 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was troubled in spirit and meaning to raise Lazarus from death when he saw Mary the sister of Lazarus and the Iewes that were with her to weepe h Iohn 11. he groned in spirit and troubled himselfe insomuch that he wept which yet was no agonie but a touch of humane compassion shewing the loue he bare vnto them The complaint on the crosse besides the words had no shew of an agonie and what sense they beare we shall after examine Verily he that would not suffer his owne Disciples to beholde his agonie in the Garden would neuer in the eyes or eares of his enemies with his owne deeds or words verifie their reproches and taunts against himselfe as if he were forsaken of God which was the thing they vpbraided him with And therfore you may deuise not three but threescore agonies if you will The Scripture expresseth one and that you neither rightly conceiue nor rightly vse i Defenc. pag. 90. li. 35. To all that
of this iudgment Christ before expressed when he said and I if I were exalted to the Crosse will draw all men vnto me And after when rising from his feruent praier he said z Marke 14. Behold the sonne of man is deliuered into the hands of sinners As also to the Iewes that came to apprehend him a Luke 22. This is your verie hower and the power of darkenes as likewise to Peter when he b Iohn 18. drew his sword and smote the high Priests seruant and cutt of his right eare put vp thy sword into thy sneath b Iohn 18. shall I not drinke of the cup saith Christ which the Father hath giuen me The fruit of this Iudgment is euerie where specified in the Scriptures c 1. Pet. 2. Christ bare our sinnes in his bodie on the Tree by whose stripes ye were healed that being deliuered from sinne wee should liue to righteousnes What need you then so curiously question Against whom or in what cause sate God in iudgment now when Christ was thus astonished and agonized God sate in iudgment to receaue satisfaction for the sinnes of his elect at the hands of his owne Sonne by his humilitie and obedience vnto death d Defenc. pag. 93. li. 3. Of necessitte it must be one of these three wayes First Gods maiestie and great iustice now at this time might sit in iudgment against vs and so consequently yea chiefly against Christ himselfe as our Ransomepaier Suertie in our steed e li. 16. Secondly God might be considered now as iudging Satan the Prince of this world f Pa. 94. li. 40. Thirdly Gods matestie iustice may be considered sitting in iudgment meerely against sinfullmen You be copious where you neede not and carelesse where most cause is you should be circumspect to make an idle shew of small skill you bring here a TRIPLE iudgment of God First against vs and Christ our suertie Secondly against Satan Thirdly against sinnefull men which were either elect or reprobate as though one and the same iudgment of God for mans Redemption did not concerne all three to witt Christ as the Redeemer Gods iudgement for our redemption concerneth Christ men and Satan Satan as the accuser the Elect as the ransomed leauing the reprobate in their sinnes through their vnbeliefe vnto the dreadfull day of vengeance In that the Redeemer was by this iudgment receaued and allowed to make satisfaction for the sinnes of his elect Satan was excluded from all place and power to accuse them for sinne or to raigne ouer them by sinne and the purgation of their sinnes which should beleeue in Christ being made by the Person of the Sauiour they were reconciled to God by the death of Christ and discharged from the wrath to come the anger of god remaining on such as by faith obeied not the sonne of God Saue therfore your fruitlesse paines in the rest and shew why the beholding of Gods power and iustice now sitting in iudgment to redeeme the world and to receaue recompence from the person of Christ for the sinnes of men might not breed a religious feare and trembling in the humane nature of Christ. g Defenc. pag. 93. li. If you meane that thus Christ with submission beholding his Father in iudgement at this time was cast into this agonie it is the verie trewth and the same which we maintaine You take this for a shew to build your fansies on but as your maner is you abuse trewthes to serue your turnes Let it stand for good that Christ now beheld his Father Christ might beholde the power of his Fathers wrath against sinne and yet not feare the vengeance due to the wicked sitting in iudgment to require recompence for the sinnes of the faithfull what followeth that God awarded the selfe same vengeance against the person of Christ that we had deserued and should haue suffered if we had not beene redeemed This is a false hereticall and blasphemous conclusion no way coherent to the premisses and no way consonant to the Scriptures For then finall destruction desperation confusion and euerlasting damnation of soule and bodie to hell fire which without question were the wages of our sinnes as we may see by their example that are not clensed from sinne by the bloud of Christ must without reseruation or remedie haue lighted on the person of Christ. If that vengeance of sinne which was due to vs could by no iustice be inflicted on the person of the sonne of God no not if he had borne the sinnes of the whole world how then could the doubt or feare of his punishment on himselfe cast him into this agony you will release him of the circumstance but tie him to the substance of the selfe same pains which the damned endure When you sitt in iudgement on Christ shew your wicked and witles conceits as much as you list but the father to whom of right it appertained sitting in iudgment to receaue 〈◊〉 from the person of his sonne who was most willing thereto ne did ne could by iustice determine any thing against his owne sonne that should either derogate from the person of Christ or abrogate the loue which God professed and pronounced so often from heauen towards him God might haue condemned vs that most iustly deserued it but to adiudge the same condemnation to his owne Sonne was simply impossible to the Iustice holines trueth and loue of God For so the vnion of Christes person must either be dissolued which god hath faithfully sworne and mightily wrought or els the second person in Trinitie must haue tasted of the same vengeance with the damned and with the Diuells which is a blasphemie that the Diuell neuer drempt nor durst to broche h Defenc pag. 93. li. 8. This 〈◊〉 not but that Christ had recall paines inflicted from the Father as from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against vs in him who were thus acquited by him Not denying is a slender proofe of that which you should with most infallible certaintie conclude 〈◊〉 you did a 〈◊〉 If Christes manhood might and did righteously and iustly seare and tremble at the glorie power and maiestie of God sitting now in iudgement to proportion the price that should be payed for mans ransome how doth that 〈◊〉 the reall paines of the damned were inflicted on the soule of Christ at that instant except in madde mens conceits which respect more their pangs than their proofs and preferre their willes before the wisdome of Gods spirit or witnesse of mans reason All iudgement against sinne you will say tendeth vnto condemnation No iudgement against the Sonne of God could proceed vnto damnation for what or whose sinnes soeuer And therefore to me and to all that obserue the words of the Holy Ghost it is a cleerer case than the Sunne-shining at noone day that we are reconciled to God by the death of his Sonne and healed by his stripes who bare our sinnes in
greater than all the gifts of men and angels How then doth it follow that Christ was weake because Paul was weake Yea if Pauls weaknesse were perfected by Christes power as Paul himselfe confesseth in that place g Ibid. vers 9. Very gladly will I reioyce in mine infirmities that the power of Christ may dwell in me then from those words Christes power is prooued and not his infirmitie But take it which way you will though this be the trueth which I haue tolde these wordes doe nothing hinder Hilaries and Austens confession that Christes infirmitie was voluntarie where ours is necessarie and so infirmitie in him was not for want of strength but for merit of righteousnesse and was both receiued and directed by his will and power And where you are so often on the hoigh to impaire S. Austens credit with yours you shall do well to get you some more vnderstanding in him before you rush so rashly against him left if it come to the ballance whether you or S. Austen be in an errour you finde few friends so fauourable that will forsake him to follow you His resolution which you may put off with pride but you shall neuer refute with reason is this h August de ciuitate Dei li. 14. ca. 9. Habemus ergo has affectiones ex humaâ—…a conditionis infirmitate non autem it a Dominus Iesus cuius infirmit as fuit ex potestate 〈◊〉 etiam ipse Dominus in forma serui agere vitam dignat us humanam sed nullum habens omninâ—… peccatum adhibuit eas vbi adhibendas esse iudicauit Cùm ergo cius in Euangelio ista referuntur quod Lazarum suscitaturus lachrymas fuderit quòd propin quante passione trâ—…stis fuerit anima eius vsque ad mortem non falsò vtique ista referuntur Verum ille hos motus certa dispensationis gratia ita cùm voluit suscepit animo humano vt cùm voluit factus est homo We haue these affections of feare and sorow c. by the infirmitie of mans condition but the Lord Iesus had them not so whose infirmitie was of his owne power Wherefore the Lord when he vouchsafed to leade an humane life in the forme of a seruant but vtterly void of all sinne admitted those affections when he saw it fit to admit them And in the Gaspell when those things are reported of him as that he wept when he was about to raise Lazarus and that his Passion approching his soule was sorrowfull vnto death these things are not falselie written of him but he admitted these motions in his humane minde for certaine purposes euen when he would as when he would he was made man l Defene pag. 107. li. 20. 18. I iudge their very meaning to be that here appeared not Christs infirmitie onely in suffering but his diuine power also in punishing and this they speake fully for vs and against you If you make them speake that they neuer ment they may chance to speake with you but leaue them to expresse their owne minds and then they neither speake nor meane with you But what is the reason they so soone speake with you where not fiue lines before you controled their speech as repugnant to the truth haue you now by your glozes made them lyers like your selfe you should at least be more constant if not more prudent then first to chalenge in their speech a contrarietie to the truth and then to claime a conformity to their sense They ment no such thing as you make shew of but they speake of Christs power which stirred and gouerned his affections as he thought good that they might declare him a true man and yet be parts of his obedience and submission to his Father though withall they were religious and voluntarie For as he emptied and humbled himselfe so he weakned and troubled himselfe when he saw time not for want of power but of purpose so disposing and despensing his affections that by his vertue he might moderate them in his owne person and cure them in ours k Defenc. pag. 107. li. 28. Those other mysticall and figuratiue sayings of Austen Bede and Bernard how shall we admit them without better warrant that Christs bloudshed was to signifie that Martyrs doe shed their bloud what reason haue we so to thinke or that his bloudshed should signifie the purging of his Disciples harts from sinne yea or of all his Church in the whole world It did not signifie this but it did it indeede If their opinions of Christs bloudy Christs bloudie sweate might hauâ—… signification as well as the water that â—…anne out of his side sweate be not to be admitted because they bring no warrant besides themselues for it how should we admit your loose dreames and dangerous fansies of a new found hell inflicted on the Soule of Christ in the Garden by the immediate hand of God which is not onely strange but repugnant to the Scriptures theirs is possible and agreeable to the rules of faith yours is not Why Christ sent out of his side after his body was dead first bloud and then water can any man giue the reason Saint Austen saith i August in Iohan tract 15. De latere pendentis in cruce lancea 〈◊〉 sacramenta ecclesiae profluxerunt Out of Christs side pearced with a speare as he hanged on the crosse the Sacraments of the Church issued forth What warrant had he so to say the Scripture doth not vouch so much and yet the Church of God hath euer since regarded and receaued that speech of his So for Christs bloudy sweate finding no reason deliuered in the Scripture he descended to the signification which might be thereof that Christ by sweating bloud in his whole naturall body foreshewed the martyrdomes of his mysticall body the Church You aske for a Reason The resemblance is euident and the performance consequent greater reasons then which cannot be giuen of significations You like it not No maruaile nothing pleaseth you besides the wringing out of this sweate by the diuine power punishing You haue neither proofe nor truth for your second death to be suffered at this time and in this place and yet you would haue your absurd conceits preferred before Saint Austens iudgement It was aboue the course of nature you grant and since it was not naturall it must be miraculous if not mysticall Now if it were a miracle there may no reason be required of it but it must be left to the power and will of the doer To what end Christ did it if you like neither Austens Prospers Bedes nor Bernards iudgements in this case know you any man so vnwise as to like yours You say it did not signifie the purging of the earth from sinne it did it indeede Did the bloudie sweate of Christ in the Garden purge indeed all his Church in the whole world from sinne what needed then his death and passion afterward on the Crosse what needed his
with heart and voice ceaseth by reason the body seuered from the soule by deaâ—…h câ—…n not concurre with the soule in any speach action or affection whatsoeuer So â—…uch then as is dead in the iust is vtterly made vnprofitable by death to performe any such duty to God For that which is dead is depriued as of life so of all sense and motiâ—…n answerable to that life which is lost But an vtter want of praising God is in shâ—…l as Ezechiah declared the place therefore where the soules of the iust deceased are is not Sheol by the scriptures since they doe not cease to confesse and praise God In Sheol you say there is no such praysing of God as on earth In Sheol I say there is no praysing of God at all Now let vs see to which of these two the Scriptures accord You thought with a wrench as your manner is to decline the force of trueth and make way to your fansie but the Scriptures hold you faster then so In the very same verse the next words are They that goe downe to the pit cannot hope on in or for thy trueth Whosoeuer confesseth or praiseth God must hope in the trueth of God They can therefore no way confesle or praise God Now the soules of the iust no question confesse and praise God They are not therefore in the pit which the Scriptures call Sheol And so much you might plainly haue perceaued by the words of Salomon if trueth had been in greater request with you then your owne deuices The liuing saith Salomon know that they shall die but the dead know nothing at all There is neither knowledge nâ—…r wisedome in Sheol whither thou goest And of Dauid likewise Shall thy wonderous works be knowen in the darcke and thy righteousnesse in the land of obliuion If the soules of the iust and blessed be in that place which the Scripture calleth hSeol as you stifly maintaine then haue they no wisedome knowledge nor memorie at all no not of Gods righteousnesse and trueth But that were to prop vp error with open heresie and as before you gaue a good push to denie the Resurrection of the flesh by saying their bodies wasted to dust had no being at all so by this you fairely abolish the immortality of the soule and by consequent lâ—…e euerlasting For if the bodie be nothing after it returneth to dust and the soule after this life remaining in Sheol as you say can haue neither wisedome nor knowledge nor memory of Gods righteousnesse and trueth as the Scriptures say you must hold a new creation of other bodies and other soules before either soules or bodies can be partakers of life euerlasting This is your world of soules for which you make so much worke and whither you striue to bring the soule of Christ defending that his soule was in your Sheol where the Scripture saith is neither wisedome knowledge nor memorie And so handsomly you haue set vp the sides of your Sheol that by your Resolution it is indeed no positiue thing properly but a meere priuation of this life and yet it is the condition or place as well where the iust mens soules are after death as that where the daâ—…ned are And lastly it is the land of the dead where they see him euen the Lord which must needs be the place of blessed soules These many variations you haue made vs and all these be properly Sheol in the Scriptures and yet Sheol is neither hell nor heauen but somewhere no where if you could tell what to make of it And the proofe of all this is as pretious as the place it selfe For since the iust goe to Sheol as well as the wicked and there remaine til the resurrection the bodies of the Saints waste away to nothing in the graue neither haue any being at all consequently their soules must haue their habitation mansion and abode in Sheol which is in the land of the dead soules where they see God and yet this condition and place common to them with the wicked who can neither see God nor haue any bleslednesse Much to blame shall I be if I correct not mine opinion vpon such pregnancies as these be The figuratiue senses of Sheôl as when men liuing thinke or complaine they are in Sheôl or other things besides man are said to goe to Sheôl I purposely let passe the corruption of all earthly things returning to dust for the sinne of man as man doth And the feare and force of destruction persuing man in this life if he seeke not to God for helpe are figuratiue significations of Sheôl in the Scriptures but deriued by resemblance from the proper significations thereof as likewise the consoquents depending on the higher Sheôl appointed for the bodies or on the lower prepared for the soules that are dead are sometimes intended by that word and comprised in it as adherents and accessories vnto it These I say I omit because we reason heere of the proper signification of Sheôl which conâ—…th places vnder earth prouided for sinners to which the bodies depriued of life and soules forsaken of grace descend as to the mansions assigned them by the iust iudgement of God for euer That the soules of the Righteous are in Sheôl till the Resurrection the more you labour to confirme the lesse cause I find to beleeue since you therein wâ—…der most vnwisely not only with meere vnâ—…tainties and many contrarities but euen to open and most desperate falshoods To the verie same purpose the Seâ—…gint vse Hades For it is well and truely acknowledged by you that both Sheol and Hades are iust all one I neuer doubted but Hades in Greek was vsed by the Septuagint to expresse Sheol in Hebrew and with them did note as well the graue where the bodies of men lie silent and dead as the place of punishment whither the soules of the wicked descend but in the new Testament where our Sauiour often and openly reuealed the place and paines of the damned there the Euangelists and Apostles distinguishing the death of the body from the destruction of the soule and counting the one to be but a sleepe to the godly They separate Hades from Thanatos and vse them diuersly referring hades to signifie the place of torment whither the wicked are condemned which is hell and expressing by Thanatos the dissolution of soule and body saue when they speake of the death of the soule either on earth which is the losse of all grace or in hell which is an exclusion from all gloâ—…ie and a subiection to perpetuall and intolerable misery in which case they doe not forbeare the word Thanatos death The Greeke fathers exactly follow this signification of hades for hell which they learned from the Euangelists and Apostles Your fitting of Dauids phrases to your owne deuices is a dangerous and deceitfull course For you make what you will of his words and then conclude your owne
they haue learned to know God from men and they will readily tell you though my wordes were full enough but that your head was so emptie as not to see what I said God I said was armed with infinite vengeance to afflict the body aboue that the humane flesh of Christ was able to endure Are men so armed as God is euen in this life I troe not and therefore are not so to be feared u Defenc. pag 104 li. 32. Why should the feare of any whatsoeuer meere bodily paines ouercome Christes patience Euen therefore because it was humane and weake in respect of God and farre vnable to beare that which God could impose Are not martyrs as far vnable Yes farre lesse able whether it be the hand of God or of man which they must feele Why then are not they as much afraid Of Gods power they are when and wheresoeuer shewed vnto them or duely considered by them As Moses when God x Exo. 19. v. 16. lightned and thundred on mount Sinai before the deliuering of the Law y Heb. 12. v. 21 Why Christ feared more than martyrs do feared and trembled by the Apostles report as well as the rest of the people And as for the rage of men Martyrs first know that Gods wrath towards them is appeased by Christ Iesus and therefore they shall feele no more but the hands of men Secondly that as the crueltie of humane tortures increaseth so God either assisteth his seruants by diminishing the bitternesse of their paines or suffereth their strength or sense to be ouerwhelmed by the furie of their torments in which case the soule though impatient of such paine doth not sinne because the violence is greater then mans strength can endure and thereby driueth the soule from the bodie With Christ it was otherwise For where he was to beare our sinnes in his bodie and had power sufficient in himlefe to decline or frustrate all that men could doe vnto him when he would he was to see that Gods hand might ioyne with the Iewes rage for the punishments of our sinnes in his flesh and that the sharper the anguish which he should feele the exacter the sense thereof which he must haue and yet must still continue the perfection of his obedience and patience since no violence of torments were they neuer so intolerable might ouerwhelme his sense or force his soule from his body but he must expect the time appointed by his Father when he should in full sense and memorie breath out his soule at an instant as I haue formerly shewed He might therefore feare as well the violence as the continuance of his paines farre more then Martyrs neede if he did not deprecate the power of Gods wrath deserued by our sinnes to be eased euen in his body where he bare our sinnes For God was and is able to aggrauate bodily paines farre aboue the strength of mans nature in vs or in Christ without meanes or by meanes whatsoeuer So that Christ desiring this cup which he now beheld for THIS doth demonstrate somewhat conceaued in the cup which he declined should passe from him might haue this meaning that the cuppe should passe from him and not oppresse his patience because his flesh was but weake to beare that heaâ—…ie burden in his body which our sinnes prouoked and was heard as the Apostle noteth of this praier in the garden and eased of that he seared Christ knew all thinges you will say that should befall him Then he also knew what his praier would auert of that punishment which our sinnes deserued and since it is euident that greater torments both of soule and body were due to vs foâ—… our sin as we find by the damned who are in the same desert with vs though not partakers of the same mercie with vs why should not Christ by his praier which he knew God would heare decline what he disliked in the cup of Gods wrath mixed for the sinnes of men and yet submit and commit himselfe after praier made wholy to the will of God his father z Defenc. pag. 105. li. 1. If you meane that he felt greater paines concurring in and with the bodily punishment inflicted by the wrathfull hand of God armed with infinite vengeance then you say well and we acknowledge it If I will mistake fearing for suffering and bodily for ghostly pains and the crosse for hell and make Gods immediate hand a pretence for all these deuices as you doe then I say well as you suppose but if I make the power of God able to afflict for sinne the Bodie or Soule of man aboue all humane strength without the paines of the damned and Christ iustly to feare the power of Gods wrath if he did not by earnest and humble prayer pacifie Gods indignation for as much as exceeded the weaknesse and patience of his manhood then my coniectures are vaine though they neuer so well agree with the rules of religion and pietie But in this you doe as all Sectaries are wont to acknowledge no sinceritie but in their owne secrets a August contra 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 li. 11 cap. 2. Tues ergo regula veritatis quicquid contra te facit non est verum Are you then the rule of truth and whatsoeuer is against you is that not true b Defenc. pag. 105. li. 4. Your other cause is for that by death his Body should want awhile the feeling of Gods presence But did not Christ perfectly know that this was Gods decree and certaine appointment yea his owne most free will and purpose He that once hath vndertaken to wrench the Scriptures from their right sense will neuer sticke to wrangle with all the world as long as braine or breath will giue him leaue Often enough if that would serue you haue beene told that I produced not those foure points on which you last insisted as causes of Christs agonie but as respects of his fearing disliking and shunning bodily death against which you say nothing but that he could not he would not so feare it as to sweate bloud for it Which sillinesse if not sottishnesse still to impugne that which I doe not affirme and to post ouer the rest as pertinent to Christs perfection and holinesse and so no part of his sufferings is the best ground of your defence but take any of these foure points which you so much mislike and referre them rightly to the end for which I brought them or any of the former fiue causes concurring to Christs agonie and speake directly and truely to any one of them and you shall be excused for all the rest But being not able to refute one of them in sound and vpright reasoning All your shift is to misapply the respects of Christs declining death as if I made them causes of his agonie and to single the causes which I auouch might all meete in Christs feare and sorrow in the Garden as sole and singular efficients of his whole
agonie With this childish Art you haue almost waded by them not denying as indeede you cannot that they were then before Christs eyes when he feared and sorrowed in the Garden but that either they were no new things to him or else parts of his righteousnesse and holinesse Both which Answeres are very idle For your hell paines if that were part of his Passion were no more newes to his foresight then the rest and all Christs sufferings euen of your hell paines if that conceite had any truth in it were parts of his obedience and patience as well as his suffering of feare and sorrow or of bodily death Wherefore these be but straines and starts to make your Reader beleeue you haue somewhat to say when indeed your oppositions are so sleight that they bewray how gladly you would and how hardly you can distresse any of these causes which I said might concurre in Christs Agonie They all were weightie and godly respects impressing no small degrees of feare sorrow care and zeale on the Soule of Christ and directly pertinent to the worke of our redemption now in hand And where you shift them of as parts of Christs habituall holinesse alwaies resting in him know you good Sir that I speake not in this case of the permanent gifts of grace alwaies inherent in Christs Soule but of the painfull impressions which those respects did therefore now presently and sensiblie make on the Soule of Christ more then at other times because they came now to execution which before were but in cogitation by religious and humble praier he was now to settle the whole course force effects of his sufferings c Defenc. pag. 105. li. 10. Call you this greater perfection in him than in other men to pray expressely against the knowne will of his Father yea against his owne That Christ praied against the knowen will of his Father is an irreligious and dangerous dreame of yours This Toy you trump in euery where as if it were some choise Answere and yet this emptie reason maketh as much against you as against me if there were any waight in it For if Christ did suffer the paines of the damned according to your deuice was it not his Fathers knowen will he should so doe yea and his owne also How then doe the paines of hell excuse him from praying against his Fathers knowen will he was so amazed therewith you will say that he knew not what he did Christ must then be wholy depriued of all vnderstanding if he neither remembred his Fathers will nor his owne nor our saluation for whose sake he was content to suffer And how then came he so suddainly in the very next syllable to remember himselfe and his Fathers will He was now freed you will say from that astonishment How fell he then thrice into it he had so many touches of hell paines which must needs confound all the powers and parts of his body Then all the time of his apprehension examination condemnation and crucifixion he felt no such thing since the Gospels beare witnesse that he wisely religiously constantly carefully and euery way admirably behaued himselfe in eche word and deede after to the instant of his death and remembred all things that were written of him Is not here a fine mockerie which is the fortresse of all your hidden mysteries that to prooue your hell paines you must bring Christ into three such fits and pangs of confusion and obliuion that he knew not what he said or did presently with the speaking of YET to restore him againe to his perfect sense and memorie and so to free him from all your new deuised Passions besides your selues no writer old nor new did euer find in Christs prayer that he knew not what he said and the condition added before his prayer d Luke 22. Father if thou wilt take away this Cup from me and the submission following with the same breath yet not my will but thine be done doe plainely prooue that Christ had exact remembrance and regard of his fathers will besides that the Apostle affirmeth of this prayer that Christ e Heb. 5. was heard in that he feared So that if this be all the Scripture you can produce for your hell paines I protest before God and his whole Church I will sooner beleeue that you were out of your wits in writing this then that Christ was forgetfull in praying that which he spake in the Garden f Defenc. pag. 105. li. 10. Againe could this thing in any reason be such an horrible griefe vnto him to haue his flesh lie dead for a day and a few howers would the thought of this make him sweat bloud for griefe and to neede an Angell from heauen to comfort him and to pray three times vehemently this cup might passe from him verily it is vnreasonable to thinkeso Who hath bewitched you thus openly and vsually to fasten on vntrueths I alleaged six causes that might 〈◊〉 in Christes agonie you haue piked out of my wordes foure more then euer I ment to be reasons of his bloudie sweate and are nine of these now puft away with a breath and nothing left by your swelling and insulting eloquence but the deadnesse of Christs body whiles the soule wanted this it is for a man to trust to his tongue when his teeth be gone and to bleate when he cannot bite If the cause were not Gods it might be thought a pastime thus to faine and face but in so serious questions to vse such idle and false imputations and friuolous refutations is a griefe to any good mans eares and a corrosiue to his conscience Of Christes agony and the causes that might occasion his feare his sorow and his zeale in the garden I haue said so much that I am wearie with repeating though you be neuer weary with resuming the selfe same childish and erroneous mistaking The reason of my speach is plaine and euident howsoeuer you take the course rather to misreport it then refute it For if the soules of Gods saincts doe by nature vnwillingly leaue their bodies to which they are vnited though by them they are often molested and burdened otherwise death were no punishment of sinne but a signe of Gods far our which is nothing so how farre iuster cause then was there Christ should naturally dislike death not only because it was a subuersion of nature created quickned by God and an effect of Gods displeasure against sinne imposed on all men but also for that it should during the time depriue him of life sense and action with great slaunder and infamie and cheefely should exclude for a season his bodie from that blessed communion and fruition of his diuine grace and glorie which formerly it felt though the personall vnion should not be disâ—…olued now the more Christ liked and loued that adherence to God which he liuing enioied the more grieuous was the want thereof which death tooke from him for