the places of the Fathers wherein our Lords rising againe from the Dead is termed his rising againe from Hádes Inferi or Hell would be a needlesse labour for this we need go no further then to the Canon of the Masse it selfe where in the prayer that followeth next after the Consecration there being a Commemoration made of Christs passion resurrection and ascension the second is set out by the title ab inferis resurrectionis of the resurrection from Hell For as the Liturgies of the Easterne Churches doe here make mention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the resurrection from the dead so those of the West retayne that other title of the resurrection ab inferis that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in the Liturgie that goeth under the name of S. Peter or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in the Gregorian Office translated into Greek by Codinus If then the resurrection frō the dead be the same with the resurrection from Hades Inferi or Hell why may not the going unto Hades Inferi or Hell be interpreted by the same reason to be the going unto the dead whereby no more is understood than what is intimated in that phrase w ch the Latins use of one that hath left this world Abijt ad plures or in that of the Hebrewes so frequent in the word of God He went or was gathered unto his people he went or was gathered unto his fathers which being applied unto a whole generation Iudg. 2.10 as well as in other places unto particular persons must of necessitie denote the common condition of men departed out of this life Now although Death and Hades dying and going to the dead be of neere affinitie one with the other yet be they not the same thing properly but the one a consequent of the other as it appeareth plainely by the vision Revelat. 6.8 where Hades is directly brought in as a follower of Death Death it selfe as wise men doe define it is nothing else but the separation of the soule from the body which is done in an instant but Hades is the continuation of the body and soule in this state of separation which lasteth all that space of time which is betwixt the day of death and the day of the resurrection For as the state of life is comprehended betwixt two extreames to wit the beginning thereof and the ending and there be two motions in nature answerable thereunto the one whereby the soule concurreth to the body which we call Generation the other whereby the body is severed from the soule which we call Death so the state of death in like maner is contained betwixt two bounds the beginning which is the very same with the ending of the other and the last end the motion whereunto is called the Resurrection whereby the body and soule formerly separated are joyned together againe Thus there be three tearmes here as it were in a kinde of a continued proportion the middlemost whereof hath relation to eyther of the extremes and by the motion to the first a man may be said to be natus to the second denatus to the third renatus The first the third have a like oppositiō unto the middle and therefore are like betwixt themselves the one being a generation the other a regeneration For that our Lord doth call the last Resurrection the Regeneration Matth. 19.28 S. Augustine supposeth that no man doubteth Neyther would our Lord himselfe have beene styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first borne from the dead unlesse the Resurrection were accounted to be a kinde of a new nativitie whereof he himselfe was in the first place to be made partaker that among all or in all things he might have the preeminence the rest of the sonnes of God being to be children of the Resurrection also but in their due time and in the order of Post-nati The middle distance betwixt the first and second terme that is to say the space of life which we lead in this world betwixt the time of our birth and the time of our death is opposite to the distance that is betwixt the second and third terme that is to say the state of death under which man lyeth from the time of his departure out of this life unto the time of his resurrection and see what difference there is betwixt our birth and the life which we spend here after wee are borne the same difference is there betwixt Death and Hades in that other state of our dissolution That which properly we call Death which is the parting a sunder of the soule and the body standeth as a middle terme betwixt the state of life and the state of death being nothing else but the ending of the one and the beginning of the other and as it were a common meare between lands or a communis terminus in a Geometricall magnitude dividing part from part but being it selfe a part of neyther and yet belonging equally unto eyther Which gave occasion to the question moved by Taurus the philosopher When a dying man might be said to die when he was now dead or while hee was yet living whereunto Gellius returneth an answere out of Plato that his dying was to be attributed neyther to the time of his life nor of his death because repugnances would arise eyther of those wayes but to the time which was in the confine betwixt both which Plato calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a moment or an instant and denieth to be properly any part of time at all Therefore Death doth his part in an instant as hath beene said but Hádes continueth that worke of his and holdeth the dead as it were under conquest untill the time of the resurrection wherein shall be brought to passe the saying that is written O Death where is thy sting O Hades where is thy victorie For these things shall rightly be spoken then saith Irenaeus when this mortall and corruptible flesh about which Death is and which is holden downe by a certaine dominion of Death rising up unto life shall put on incorruption and immortalitie for then shall death be truly overcome when the flesh that is holden by it shall come forth out of the Dominion thereof Death then as it importeth the separation of the soule from the body which is the proper acception of it is a thing distinguishable from Hades as an antecedent from his consequent but as it is taken for the whole state of death and the domination which it hath over the dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basilius Seleuciensis calleth it in his oration upon Elias it is the selfe same thing that Hades is and in that respect as we have seene the words are sometimes indifferently put the one for the other As therefore our Sauiour that we may apply this now unto him after he was fastned and lifted up on the Crosse if he had come downe from
away speaketh he these things as if he were tâ— goe down into hell by dying For of Hell there is a great question and what the Scripture delivereth thereof in all the places where it hath occasion to make mention of it is to be observed Hitherto S. Augustin who had reference to this great question when he said as hath beene before alledged Of Hell neyther have I had any experience as yet nor you and peradventure there shal be another way and by Hell it shall not be For these things are uncertaine Neyther is there greater question among the Doctors of the Church concerning the Hell of the Fathers of the Old Testament then there is of the Hell of the faithfull now in the time of the New neyther are there greater differences betwixt them touching the Hell into which our Saviour went whether it were under the earth or above whether a darkesome place or a lightsome whether a prison or a paradise then there are of the mansions wherein the soules of the blessed do now continue S. Hierome interpreting those words of King Ezechias Esai 38.10 I shall goe to the gates of Hell saith that this is meant eyther of the common law of nature or else of those gates from which that he was delivered the Psalmist singeth Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death that I may shew forth all thy prayses in the gates of the daughter of Sion Psalm 9.13 14. Now as some of the Fathers doe expound our Saviours going to Hell of his descending into Gehenna so others expound it of his going to Hell according to the common law of nature the common law of nature I say which extendeth it selfe indifferently unto all the dead whether they belong to the state of the New Testament or of the Old For as Christs soule was in all points made like unto ours sinne onely excepted while it was joyned with his body here in the land of the living so when he had humbled himselfe unto the death it became him in all things to be made like unto his brethren even in that state of dissolution And so indeed the soule of Iesus had experience of both For it was in the place of humaine soules and being out of the flesh did live and subsist It was a reasonable soule therefore and of the same substance with the soules of men even as his flesh is of the same substance with the flesh of men proceeding from Mary saith Eustathius the Patriarch of Antioch in his exposition of that text of the Psalme Thou wilt not leave my soule in Hell Where by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Hell you see he understandeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the place of humaine soules which is the Hebrewes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or world of spirits and by the disposing of Christs soule there after the maner of other soules concludeth it to be of the same nature with other mens soules So S Hilary in his exposition of the 138. Psalme This is the law of humaine necessitie saith he that the bodies being buried the soules should goe to Hell Which descent the Lord did not refuse for the accomplishment of a true man and a little after he repeateth it that de supernis ad inferos mortis lege descendit he descended from the supernall to the infernall parts by the law of death and upon the 53. Psalme more fully To fulfill the nature of man he subjected himselfe to death that is to a departure as it were of the soule and body and pierced into the infernall seates which was a thing that seemed to be duâ— unto man So Leo in one of his Sermons upon our Lords passion Hee did undergoe the lawes of Hell by dying but did dissolve them by rising againe and so did cut off the perpetuitie of death that of eternall hee might make it temporall So Irenaeus having said that our Lord conversed three dayes where the dead were addeth that therein he observed the law of the dead that hee might be made the first begotten from the dead staying untill the third day in the lower parts of the earth and afterward rising in his flesh Then he draweth from thence this generall conclusion Seeing our Lord went in the midst of the shadow of death vvhere the soules of the dead were then afterward rose againe corporally and after his resurrection was assumed it is manifest that the soules of his disciples also for whose sake the Lord wrought these things shall goe to an invisible place appointed unto them by God and there shall abide untill the resurrection wayting for the resurrection and afterwards receaving their bodies and rising againe perfectly that is to say corporally even as our Lord did rise againe they shall so come unto the presence of God For there is no disciple above his master but every one shall be perfect if he be as his master The like collection doth Tertullian make in his booke of the Soule If Christ being God because he was also man dying according to the Scriptures and being buried according to the same did heere also satisfie the law by performing the course of an humane death in Hell neyther did ascend into the higher parts of the heavens before he descended into the lower parts of the earth that he might there make the Patriarches and Prophets partakers of himselfe thou hast both to beleeve that there is a region of Hell under the earth and to push them with the elbowe who proudly enough doe not thinke the soules of the faithfull to be fit for Hell servants above their Lord and disciples above their Master scorning perhaps to take the comfort of expecting the resurrection in Abrahams bosome And in the same booke speaking of the soule What is that saith he which is translated unto the infernall parts or Hell after the separation of the body which is detayned there which is reserved unto the day of judgement unto which Christ by dying did descend to the soules of the Patriarches I thinke Where he maketh the Hell unto which our Saviour did descend to be the common receptacle not of the soules of the Patriarches alone but also of the soules that are now still separated from their bodies as being the place quò universa humanitas trahitur as he speaketh elsewhere in that booke unto which all mankinde is drawne So Novatianus after him affirmeth that the very places which lye under the earth be not voyde of distinguished and ordered powers For that is the place saith he whither the soules both of the godly and ungodly are led receiving the fore-judgements of their future dâ—ome Lactantius saith that our Saviour rose againe ab inferis from Hell but so he saith also that the dead Saints shall be raised up ab inferis at the time of the Resurrection S. Cyrill of Alexandria saith that the Iewes killed Christ and cast him into the deepe
them from the hand of Hell the Vulgar Latin hath De manu mortis liberabo eos I will deliver them from the hand of Death which S. Cyrill of Alexandria sheweth to be the same in effect for he hath redeemed us saith he from the hand of Hell that is to say from the power of Death So out of the text Matth. 16.18 Eusebius noteth that the Church doth not give place to the gates of DEATH for that one saying which Christ did utter Vpon the rocke I will build my Church and the gates of HELL shall not prevaile against it S. Ambrose also from the same text collecteth thus that faith is the foundation of the Church For it was not said of the flesh of Peter but of the faith that the gates of DEATH should not prevaile against it but the confession of the faith overcame HELL So Theodoret noteth that the name of Hell is given unto Death in that place Cantic 8.6 Love is strong as death jealousie is hard or cruell as Hell which in the writings of the Fathers is a thing very usuall Take the Poems of Theodorus Prodromus for an instance where delivering an historie out of the life of S. Chrysostom of a woman that had lost foure of her sonnes he saith that they foure were gone unto Hádes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and relating how S. Basil had freed the countrey of Cappadocia from famine thus he expresseth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and shewing how Gregory Nazianzen when he was a childe was recovered from death by being brought to the communion Table he saith he was brought unto the Sunne from Hádes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gregory himselfe likewise in his Poems setting out the dangers of a sea-faring life saith that the greater part of them that saile the seas is in Hades Baesil of Seleucia speaking of the translation of Enoch and Elias saith in one place that Enoch remayned out of Deaths nett Elias obeyed not the lawes of nature and in another that Elias remayned superior to death Enoch by translation declined Hades making Death and Hades to be one and the same thing So he maketh Elias to pray thus at the raysing of the widowes sonne Shew ô Lord that Death is made gentle towards men let it learne the evidences of thy humanity let the documents of thy goodnesse come even to Hades And as he there noteth that Death received an overthrow from Elias so in another place he noteth that Hades received a like overthrow by Christs raysing of the dead whereupon he bringeth in S. Peter using this speech unto our Saviour Shall Death make any youthfull attempt against thee whose voyce Hades could not endure The other day thou didst call the widowes sonne that was dead and Death fled not being able to accompany him unto the grave whom he had overcome how shall Death therefore lay hold on him whom it feareth and our Saviour himselfe speaking thus unto his Disciples I will arise out of the grave renewing the Resurrection I will teach Hades that it must expect the Resurrection to succeed it For in me both Death ceaseth and immortalitie is planted So saith S. Cyrill of Alexandria Christ was raysed up for us for he could not be detayned by the gates of Hades nor taken at all by the bonds of Death And therefore Cyrill of Hierusalem having sayd that our Saviour did descend into Hades doth presently adde as an explication thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he did descend into Death He descended into Death as a man saith Athanasius The diuine nature saith Ruffinus meaning the divine person by his flesh descended into Death not that according to the law of mortall men he should be detayned of death but that rising againe by himselfe he might open the gates of death When thou didst descend into Death ô immortall Life say the Grecians in their Liturgie thou didst then mortifie Hades or Hell with the brightnesse of thy divinitie And thus if my memory do not faile me for at this present I have not the booke lying by me is the article expressed in the Hebrew Creed which is printed with Potkens Aethiopian Syllabarie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He descended into the shadow of death where the Hebrew Interpreter doth render Hades by the shadow of death as the Greeke Interpreters in that text which by the Fathers is applied to our Saviours descent into Hell Iob. 38.17 doe render the shadow of death by Hades for where the Hebrew hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the gates of the shadow of death they â—eade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the keepers of the gates of Hades seeing thee shranke for feare The resurrection from the dead therefore being the end of our Saviours sâ—ffering as Eusebius notes and so the beginning of his glorifying the first degree of his exaltation would thus very aptly answerâ— unto the last degree of his humiliation that as his Resurrection is an arising from the dead so his descending unto Hades or ad inferos should be no other thing but a going to the dead For further confirmation whereof let it be considered that S. Hierome in the vulgar Latin translation of the Bible hath ad inferos deducentur Ecclesiaâ—â—is 9.3 where the Hebrew and Greeke reade to the dead and in like manner Proverb 2.18 he hath ad inferos againe where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in the Hebrew which being a word that somtimes signifieth the dead and somtimes Gyants the LXX doe joyne both together and reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Hades â—ith the Giants So in the Sibylline verses cyted by Lactantius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he may speake unto the dead is in Prosper translated Vt inferis lâ—quatur and those other veâ—ses touching our Saviours Resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then comming forth from the Dead c. are thus turned into Latin in Prosper Tunc ab inferis regressus ad lucem veniet primus resurrectionis principio revocatis ostenso Then returning from Hell he shall come unto the light first shewing the beginning of the Resurrection unto those whoÌ„ he shall call back from thence for Christ returning backe a conqueror from Hádes unto life as Basil of Seleucia writeth the dead were taught the reviving againe unto life His rising from the Dead vvas the loosing of us from Hádes saith Gregory Nazianzen He was raysed from Hádes or from the dead and raysed me being dead with him saith Nectarius his successor in the See of Constantinople Therefore is he called the first begotten of the dead because he was the first that rose from Hádes as we also shall rise at his second comming saith the author of the Treatise of Definitions among the workes of Athanasius To lay downe all