but relieued supported inwardly by the power of gods spirit in which he reioiced whiles his flesh indured bitter and sharpe torments And this rule When I am weake then am I strong was true in Christ and after his example shall be in all his members For Gods power is perfited in infirmitie Very gladly therefore must all the godlie reioice and take pleasure in their infirmities that the power of Christ may dwell in them How can this be called Christs power if he wanted it in his infirmities and afflictions And if we haue it from him why presume we to take it from him in the time of his sufferinges Shall the scholler be aboue his maister or the seruant more perfect then his Lord Yea then God manifested in the flesh But I hope men learned will take good héede howe they diminish the comfort of Christs crosse we must looke to Iesus the authour and finisher of our faith If he were amazed perplexed and forsaken in his afflictions who shal raise and comfort vs in our extremities Hee that himselfe was astonished and ouerwhelmed with his sufferings on the crosse It may then be said vnto him Phisition heale thy selfe Shall hee comfort vs that could NOT COMFORT himselfe Can wee REIOICE AND TAKE PLEASVRE in following his steppes when hee sanke vnder the burthen and suffered both his fayth and hope for the time to faile But farre be from vs these vnsauorie thoughts and vnséemelie spéeches It was fit that hee from whom and by whom are all things should CONSVMMATE BY AFFLICTIONS THE PRINCE OF OVR SALVATION that shoulde bring many sons vnto glorie the selfe same way that he went before them Which cannot be by doubting distrusting the fauor and help of god much lesse by suffering induring the paines of the damned but by desiring through loue and reioicing vnder hope to take vp Christs crosse and follow him delighting in reproches necessities persecutions and anguish for Christs sake that when his glorie shal appeare we may be glad and reioice with fulnesse of euerlasting ioy Do we then exempt the Lord Christ from all sense of his fathers wrath against our sins whiles we defend in him peace and ioy of the holie ghost as he hung on the crosse There is a feeling of gods wrath which may stand with the pacification consolation of the inward man and there is a sense of Gods wrath which ouerthroweth both and bréedeth a fearful apprehension of Gods displeasure towards vs in which is neither peace nor comfort All the miseries of mans life whatsoeuer they be came first froÌ„ the force of gods wrath reuenging sin and therfore not only death damnation but al kinds of troubles paines griefs in our states bodies and minds which shorten or sower this present life are degrees of gods wrath chasticements of our transgression and corruption When the plague was kindled amongst the people for murmuring against Moses AaroÌ„ Moses said to Aaron take y e censer put fire incense therein go quickly vnto the congregation and make an atonemeÌ„t for theÌ„ for there IS VVRATH GONE OVT FROM THE LORD the plague is begun When the prophet Iehu reproued Iehosaphat for aiding Achab the king of Israel he said wouldst thou help the wicked and loue them that hate the lord euen for this cause WAS THE VVRATH OF THE LORD VPON THEE The prophet Esay comforting the church saith Awake awake and stand vp ô Ierusalem which hast drunke at the hand of the Lord THE CVP OF HIS VVRATH By the prophet Micheas the Church humbleth her selfe vnder the hande of God in these wordes I will BEARE THE VVRATH of the Lord because I haue sinned against him vntill he plead my cause and execute iudgement for me Euerie where the like is vsed in the scriptures I VVAS VVROTH with my people and gaue them into thine hand saith God to Babylon and thou didst shewe them no mercie but didst lay a verie heauie yoke vpon the auncient So Ieremie complaineth to God Thou hast vtterly reiected vs thou art EXCEEDINGLY ANGRY VVITH VS These and many such places more mention the wrath of God which the saints seruants of god tasted and felt for their sinnes but they do not import that Gods eternall fauour and loue towards his children in heauenlie things was vanished or changed The foundation of God standeth sure yea the gifts and calling of God are without repentance And therefore it is vtterlie impossible that Gods election should alter or that hee should not loue his owne vnto the end but iudgement beginning at the house of God wee are chastened of the Lord that wee should not be coÌ„demned with the world And albeit y t bitternes of affliction some time bite so neere that the conscience of our sinnes accusing vs as vnworthie to bee the sonnes of God feare calleth Gods fauour in question for the time yet that temptation riseth from the guiltines of our hearts and weaknesse of our faith which giueth way to the diuel otherwise as we ought to béene god will be merciful to our iniquities remember our sinnes no more for his couenant made with vs in the bloud of his sonne so should we bee fallie perswaded that when we endure chastening bee it neuer so sharpe God offereth himselfe vnto vs as vnto sonnes for what sonne is it whome the father chasteneth not So that if wee bee without correction whereof all are partakers wee are bastards and not sonnes since God chasteneth vs for our profite that wee might be partakers of his holines This correction and chastisement of God because it seemeth greeuous for the present and not ioyous is called in the scriptures the rodde and wrath of God not that Gods loue ceaseth when he correcteth his children for whom the Lord loueth he chasteneth and he scourgeth euery sonne that hee receiueth But as the blessings which he abundantly bestoweth on vs do manifest his gracious and vndeserued mercy so the plagues with which he visiteth our sinnes do witnes his righteous and prouoked iudgement And in that sense must we reckon them to be the signes and effects of Gods wrath For as he is iustly offended with our iniquities because they resist his will dishonour his name and grieue his holie spirit by whoÌ„ we are sealed vnto the day of redemption so when hee chasteneth our transgressions the scourge which we feele is trulie said to be the wrath of God not that God is touched with anie peâ—turbation or alteration in himselfe but his iustice leadeth him to inflict that punishment on vs as well to bring vs to hate that we haue done by godlie sorrow as to make vs more warie how we attempt the like which is religious feare restraining vs from often and easie offending the maiesty and sanctitie of God But this vengeance of our sinnes because
and soule of Christ were both free he did not suffer the true paines of hell nor the same torments which the damned do in hell and which wee should haue suffered had wee not béene redéemed This you saie is great iniquity yea plaine sophistry to amplifie against you and to make your most holie truth odious with the people onely by the ambiguitie of the worde hell Begin you nowe to finde the sensible absurditie of your mishapen fancie if you woulde haue taken the name of hell metaphoricallie for great and excéeding paines this question had béene sooner calmed and our Creede freed from your newe found exposition But to father your opinion vpon the créed with more likelihood where the word hell is properlie taken though you now hatch vs a new signification of hell out of Socrates you then vrged as your selfe in this present confutation do still vrge that Christ must haue the FVL VVAIGHT AND BVRDEN of our sinnes laid vpon him and suffer those sorrowes and paines for sinne VVHICH ELSE VVE SHOVLDE that his price VVAS THE SAME which else wee shoulde haue payde that seeing it was possible for him to feele THE FVLL SMART of our sinnes yea ALL OVR SMART and Gods strict iustice so required IT VVAS SO AND MVST BE SO as also that it is not proportionable with iustice that an easier punishment should satisfie for a greater sinne and of al absurdities the greatest that meere men shoulde suffer more deepelie then Christ did and therefore Christ sustained euen the sense of Gods wrath DVE to our sinnes and had the VVHOLE CVRSE of God for sinne executed on him that is the DEATH OF THE SOVLE and the TORMENTES and sorrowes DVE TO THE DAMNED Without anie Sophistrie Sir what is the FVLL BVRDEN of our sinnes and THE SAME PRICE which we should haue paide what is OVR FVLL SMART yea ALL OVR SMART and the VVHOLE CVRSE OF GOD what is the DEATH of the soule and the TORMENTS DVE TO THE DAMNED but those verie things which I by the warrant of Gods word told the people were prepared and threatned to the wicked and shall bee executed on them in hell as they shoulde haue bin on vs if we had not bin redéemed by the bloud of Christ you must recall all your reasons and vnsaie all these positions before you can auoid that which I obiect If Christ did and must by Gods iustice suffer the VVHOLE the SAME and ALL that was due to vs for our sinnes shewe me good Sir I praie you for I confesse it passeth my reach how you can free him from the darknes destruction reprobation malediction worme or fire of hel yea those words if you looke not well to them and rebate them in time with some fresh write they wil carrie with them both the PLACE and PERPETVITY of hell for both these were DVE to our sinnes and are parts of Gods CVRSE and should haue béene executed on vs as they shall bee on the damned and out of ALL the VVHOLE and the SAME how can you except anie but by an open Vray dire of dotage The local hel of the damned you speake not of Speake of what you will so long as your assertions in full and plaine termes inferre and conclude so much well your words may runne without your wits but I tell you trulie what is the consequent of them and leaue those wordes and then your most holie trueth is left naked without shew or shadow of proofe For these generals the VVHOLE the SAME and ALL giue life such as it is to your childish reasons Without them you cannot open your mouthe to make one conclusion But because hell fire so much crosseth your cause that you would faine be rid of it and burneth your fingers so fast Sir Refuter that you striue to cast water on it giue mee leaue a little to let you vnderstand it flameth more fiercelie then that you can quench it with the licour of your mouth And the rather for that in the eares of all men it is a most sensible reproofe of your vnsauorie position For if Christ suffered not the fire of hell in bodie nor soule then most apparantlie he suffered not the FVLL burden of our sinnes nor paid the SAME price which wee should haue paide nor endured ALL our smart nor felt the VVHOLE curse of God nor sustained the tormentes DVE to the DAMNED and therefore the true kindeling of this fire is the vtter quenching of your new deuised hell paines Knowe you therefore Sir Refuter that your metaphoricall fire in hell is a phantasticall errour of yours and you shall doe well to tremble at the terrible iudgement of God threatned in his worde with more religion then to cast off that fire as a toyish fable I shall not néede to rehearse how often it is denounced in the Scriptures and in what vehement and constant manner let vs learne rather carefullie to shunne the place then cunninglie to shift the word which they shall finde to bee no figure that feele it A fire saith God himselfe is kindled in my wrath and shall burne to the bottome of hell it shall eate through the earth and the depth thereof and shal inflame the foundations of the hils Behold saith Esay the Lord wil come with fire that he may recompence his anger with wrath and his indignation with the flame of fire for the Lorde shall iudge with fire The slaine of the Lorde shall bee manie their Worme shall not die neither shal their fire be quenched Which wordes our Sauiour directlie reffereth to hell It is better to enter into life haulting then hauing two legs to bee cast into hell into the fire that neuer shall bee quenched where their Worme dieth not and the fire neuer goeth out If wee sinne willinglie saieth the Apostle to the Hebrues there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes but a fearefull expectation of iudgement and raging fire which shal deuoure the aduersaries As Sodome and Gomorra and the cities about them are set forth for an ensample and suffer the vengeance of eternall fire The fearefull and vnbeleeuing the abhominable and murtherers and whoremongers and sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyars shal haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death To whome the Iudge shall saie when they shall see the truth thereof before their eies Depart from mee ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and his angels For the Lord Iesus shall shewe himselfe from heauen with the Angels of his power in flaming fire rendering vengeāce to them which know not God and obey not the Gospell That the fire with which Christ shall appeare to iudge shall bee corporall and visible to all mens sights can bee no question it shall dissolue the heauens melt the elements and burne vp the earth with the workes that are therein as Peter
motion of the mind is but a temptation to trie the heart or shew the strength of the godlie So was Adam tempted in Paradise by Eue and Eue by the Serpent to prooue howe mindfull they were and thankfull they would be for the blessings of God bestowed vpon them So was Christ tempted in the wildernesse by Satan and all his life long by the wicked which were to him but occasions to declare the innocencie and integritie of his humane nature But the inwarde temptation of the heart and conscience though it bee in all the children of Adam the elect themselues not excepted by reason of their flesh lusting agaynst the spirite their conscience accusing them for sinne and their fayth sometimes fainting yet in Christ wee must graunt no such thing because in him there was neither corruption of flesh nor remorse of sinne nor weakenesse of faith that shoulde anie kinde of waie bréede or yeelde to the worme that gnaweth at our consciences A desperate feare is when the wrath of God awaketh the wicked to knowe and acknowledge what vengeance is prepared for them in the life to come and so hauing lost both fayth and hope they fall to an horrible expectation of iudgement and flaming fyre which shall deuoure the aduersarie But yet euen these men whose case is most despaired are not while they liue heere on earth in the true paines of Hell but are as farre from that as expecting is from suffering The last I knowe not howe to call but by the name of a damned rather paine then feare which the wicked departed this life doe presentlie feele For paine that is present inflicteth rather torment then feare since feare is properlie the trembling at euill before it come and not the grieuing at it when it is come Of these foure impressions yee see which I attribute vnto Christ and which not Despairing or so much as doubting of his saluation we cannot ascribe to him without euident impietie And as for Christes suffering the same paines which the damned soules in Hell doe to my simple vnderstanding it is rather a dreame then a doctrine to bee taught in the Church of Christ. Did they defende as great sense and anguish of paine to haue beene in Christes bodie or soule as hell fire doth inflict to the damned though that were a verie presumptuous and audacious position yet is it not so impious as when they affirme he sufred the self same which the damned do For the damned haue many sorts of paines in hel which by no means could fasten on Christs person and since there be degrées of paine in hell euen for the damned these curious teachers must shewe vs which of these degrees Christ suffered by what warrant of gods word they aâ—iunge the very paines of hell to the crosse of Christ. To perswade them to hold fast the forme of wholsom words which the holy ghost obserueth throughout the scriptures I feare is but lost labor hauing lighted on a strange doctrine they are forced to vse strange spéeches such as no where are found in the word of truth expressing mans redemption by the death and bloud of Christ yet somwhat to rebate the heat of such as despise all other sufferings of Christ in respect of their hell-paines I think it not amisse to examine the weight of those allegations and reasons that are brought to support their assertion The proofs that are pretended for this opinion may be recalled to thrée principal heds which are these PREDICTIONS that Christ should suffer the paines of hell in soul CAVSES why he must suffer them SIGNES that he did suffer them Predictions that Christ should suffer the paines of hel are cited the se Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell and againe The sorowes or streights of hell haue found me out beset me round The causes why he must suffer them are enlarged by some into many branches but may bee contracted into these two THE PART that chiefly sinned in man the VVAGES due to man for sin The WORKE of sin appeared first most in the soul of Adam therfore in y e satisfaction for sin the soul of Christ as they say must properly principally suffer The VVAGES of sin is expressely death both of soule and bodie and therfore Christ as our suretie and for our sinnes must taste of both as they affirm before he can discharge vs from both Signes that he did suffer were his AGONIE in the garden when he sweat blood which for a corporall death he would neuer haue don his COMPLAINT on the crosse that he was forsaken of God which as they thinke proouesh he felt in soule a most fearefull iudgement of God pronounced against our sinnes To euerie of these I will speake in order that finding the weaknesse of their foundation we maie the sooner see the lamenesse of their conclusion To the first I might answere with Saint Austen these words of Dauid specifie not anie suffering of hell paines on the crosse but rather a descent to the place of hell That the Lord after his bodie was dead came to hell is certaine enough for neither can the prophecie be contradicted which said Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell which least anie man shoulde dare otherwise to interpret Peter in the Acts of the Apostles so expoundeth nor the wordes of Peter bee auoided where hee saith that Christ brake the sorrowes of hell the which could not possiblie take hold on him who then but an infidell will denie that Christ was in hell But with antiquitte I will not vrge them if the text doe not refuse their exposition I will release them this authoritie That this saying of Dauid doth not import anie paines suffered while Christ liued but some honour done to his soule after his death maie thrée waies be prooued by the wordes next praecedent by the words next adioyned and by the application which Peter maketh when he citeth this place The wordes next before which are these My flesh shall rest in hope note Christs buriall and this is brought as a reason why Christes bodie should rest in hope not on the crosse where it had no rest but in the graue after he was dead because thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell If this respected any thing endured on the crosse the holy ghost must haue saide in the person of Christ because THOV HAST NOT LEFT MY SOVLE IN HEL the paines and time were both past but he speaketh in the future tence of future things Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell And this was the hope in which Christ died Now hope neuer tendeth to things past and known but to that which is to come This therefore toucheth somthing consequent after Christs death which he hoped for when he died and not anie paines suffered on the crosse or in the garden whiles he liued The words annexed infer the same Thou wilt not leaue my soule in
conclude he suffered the true paines of hell For those in this life did not suffer as much as their soules doe now in hell make their case neuer so desperate And therefore I maruaile howe wise men were bewitched with the sound of these wordes which hence resolued that out of all question Christ suffered the paines of the damned in hell where as the wordes inferre no such thing though we stretch them neuer so farre For in spite of our hearts before we can bring that conclusion to follow this must be the iointure of our reason All men any way forsaken of God in this life are in the true paines of hell Christ was forsaken of God ergo he was in the true paines of hell Now howe fond false and absurd the generall assertion is that all anie way forsaken of God are in the true paines of hell to men of learning and religion néedeth no long discourse Cain was a runnagate and accursed by Gods mouth Esau was a prophane person and hated of God Saul was verie desperate when he sought to the witch for God was departed from him and become his enemie Iudas was the sonne of perdition and a diuell yea manie were starke mad and possessed with diuels and yet none of them in those verie tormentes which are reserued for the damned in hell The Gentiles as Paul saith were strangers from the life of God and had no hope and were without God in the world yet were they not in the paines of hell here on earth But I hope we be not so far drowned in the depth of hell that wee will for our fansie range the sonne of God and sauiour of the world in this rable of wicked and desperate castawaies and yet though men could be so dangerouslie deuoted to their dreames this prooueth not their purpose Desperation they may stumble at if they will presse the words without anie difference betwéen the dereliction of Gods saintes and his enemies but toleration of hell paines these words will neuer conclude vnlesse we make hell to be no iudgement nor punishment after this life but onelie a terror and horror of conscience such as pursueth the wicked here in reuenge of their sinnes When the godlie complaine as often they do in the scriptures that they were forsaken of God it is not onlie a plaine absurditie but a grosse impietie to conclude of their words that they then suffered the verie paines of the damned in hell For example Sion which is the whole church of God saith in the prophet Esay the Lorde hath forsaken me and God himselfe assureth her words to bee true For a while I forsooke thee for a moment in mine anger I hid my face from thee Was the whole church for that time in the true paines of hell Dauid saith of himselfe Thou hast reiected and abhorred thou hast beene angrie with thine annointed Was Dauid then in the verie paines of the damned of his whole realme he saith O God thou hast cast vs off and beene angry with vs. Did all the people then suffer the torments of hell reiecting and abhorring are wordes of greater dislike and more detestation then forsaking and yet they infer not the paines of hell Whie then doe wee so fondlie misconster the one when we well inough vnderstande the other why stumble we at a strawe when we canne step ouer a blocke To be forsaken of God as the wicked are is to bee depriued of his fauour grace and spirit and yet they are not forthwith in hell To be forsaken as the godlie complaine they are is to be voide of comfort or destitute of helpe when their enemies assault or afflict them which is nothing néere the state of the damned For as God is said to be present by his gifts and graces so he hideth his face or forsaketh vs when he refraineth his eie from watching his eare from hearing or his hand from helping vs in the miseries and aduersities of this life If I be thought partiall let vs heare what the ancient and learned fathers purposelie write of our sauiours complaint on the crosse in whome I finde sundrie and all godlie expositions according with the truth of the scriptures and no way bending or inclining to this late deuise of hell paines The first that as Christ is our heade and we his members in such sort ioyned in one bodie wiâ—h him that hee suffereth in vs and we in him so were we not onlie crucified and buried but also raised and glorified in him and with him and therefore hee shewed and vttered manie thinges in his passion which ought to be referred directlie to vs and not to him but as bearing our person and speaking in our names My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Hanc in se vocem transfigurauit Iesus vocem corporis fui hoc est ecclesiae This speech Christ transferred to himselfe saith Austen being the speach of his body which is the church The church suffered then in him when he suffered for the church euen as hee suffered in the church when the church suffered for him And as we heard the voice of the church suffering in Christ when he saide my God my God why hast thou forsaken me so haue we heard the voice of Christ suffering in his church when hee saide Saul Saul why persecutest thou mee And againe quid voluit dicere dominus non enim dereliquerat illuÌ„ deus cum ipse esset deus atque filius dei Quare dicitur nisiquia nos ibi eramus nisi quia corpus Christi ecclesia Why would the Lord saie my God my God why hast thou forsaken me God had not forsaken him for so much as he was God and the son of God Why then was it said but because we were there in him the church which was his bodie Sub redemptorum suorum voce clamabat deus deus meus quare me dereliquisti In the name of his redeemed Christ said my God my God why hast thou forsaken me Ex nostra persona verba illa proloquitur non enim ipse à deo destitutus fuit sednos In our person Christ speaketh these wordes for he was not forsaken of God but we The second exposition of these words is that Christes humane nature was not protected from the rage of the Iewes but left without helpe in the power of his enemies to bee vsed at their pleasures which he calleth a kind of forsaking For God then séemeth to leaue vs wheÌ„ he doth not defend vs from the furie of our foes which séeke our ouerthrow Erat aliqua causa eaque non parua quare Christum de manibus Iudaeorum non liberaret deus cumque in potestate saeuientium vsque ad mortis exitum derelinqueret There was a cause saieth Augustine and that no small cause why God did not deliuer Christ out of the handes of the Iewes but let
him alone in the power of his pursuers vntill he died Vt homo loquitur meos circumferens metus quod in periculis positi a domino deseri nos putamus Christ speaketh as a man saith Ambrose bearing about him my feares for y t we when we are in danger think our selues forsaken of God Ne mireris querimonias derelicti cum scandalum crucis videas Maruaile not at Christes complaint that he was forsaken when as thou seest how he was vsed on the crosse Derelictus est Christus pro parte carnis Christ was forsaken in his passion as touching his flesh A third is that Christs godhead together with his humane soule were then departing from his bodie and leauing it vnto death Tertullian Deus Filium dereliquit cum hominem eius tradidit in mortē Ita relinqui a patre fuit mori filio God forsooke his sonne in that he deliuered his humanity vnto death So for the sonne to die was to be forsaken of his father Hilarie Habes conquerentem se esse relictum ad mortem quia homo est vt intelligentia nostra sit homo mortuus deus regnans Thou heardest Christ complaine that hee was left vnto death that we should conceiue he died as a man he raigned as a God And againe Clamor ad deum corporis vox est recedentis a se verbi dei contestata dissidium relinquitur quia erat homo etiam morte peragendus Christes complaint vnto God that hee was forsaken is the voice of his body testifying the separation of the diuine nature from it for a time He is forsaken because he was a man to be consummated by his death Epiphanius saith hee spake these words When he saw his deitie with his soule readie to depart from the person of his humanity to forsake his body A fourth is that where God for sin had refused and forsaken man euen from the fall of Adam Christ nowe exalted on the tree reconciled mankind vnto God and slue hatred making peace by his prayer betwixt God man Cyril whē Adam transgressed the diuine commaundement mans nature was after a sort forsaken of God and therby subiected to a curse and death These words of Christ therfore Erant soluentis manifesté derelictionem quae nobis acciderat quasi placantis in hoc patrē c. Were the manifest remouing of that derelictiō which fel on vs and as it were an appeasing his father and procuring his fauor towards vs as towards himself Basil Dicit haec dominus primitiae humanae naturae pro vniuersa The lord speaketh these words for all mankind as being the first fruits of mās nature Otherwise of his own person it is true that Athanasius saith Neque enim à patre derelinqui potuit quia semper est in patre antequam hanc vocem ederet post quam edidisset Ecce enim dicente cur me dereliquisti ostendit pater sevt semper antea ita tum quoque in filio fuisse He could not be forsaken of his father who was alwaies in his father both before and after he spake these words Behold as hee vttered these words why hast thou forsaken me the father shewed himselfe to be euen then in his sonne as he was at all times before For the earth feeling the weight of her Lord straight wayes trembled the vaile rent the Sunne darkened the stones claue the dead rose The fift that Christ putteth vs in mind by these wordes to acknowledge the cause why God doth often not heare our prayers but in refusing our desires prouideth better for vs then if we had our wils Vox ista quare me dereliquisti doctrina est nō querela Nam cum in Christo dei hominis vna sit persona nec ab eopotuerit relinqui à quo non poterat separari pro nabis trepidis infirmis interrogat curcaro pati metuens exaudita non fuerit This speach saith Leo My God my God why hast thou forsaken me is an instruction and no complaint For where in Christ there is but one person of God and man and he could not be forsaken of God from whom he could not bee separated he asketh the question for vs that are fearefull weak why flesh fearing to suffer is not heard Vnde ipsa vox non exanditi magni est expositio sacramenti quod nihil humano generi conferret redemptoris potostas si quod petebat nostra obtineret infirmitas The verie wordes of him that was not heard open to vs a great mysterie to witte that the power of the redeemer coulde doe mankinde no good if our infirmitie might obtaine what it woulde aske Origen sayth In respect of that in which consisted the inuisible forme of God Christ was forsaken of his father where hee tooke the shape of a seruant and came to the death of the Crosse which amongst men was most shamefull So that for Christ to become man and to suffer on the Crosse was to bee forsaken of God in comparison of that glorie which hée had with his Father before all worldes The last exposition is that when the Iewes reproched Christ on the Crosse as reiected of God he with a loud voice that all might hear sang or cited the beginning of the 21. Psalme wherein it was by the Prophet Dauid foreshewed that the true Messias and sauiour of the worlde should suffer all those wronges and shames which they had heaped on him and thereby taught them that they had gathered themselues togither to do whatsoeuer the hand and counsaile of God had determined before to be done The Lord saith Ierom hanging on the Crosse vseth this verse My God my God why hast thou forsaken me by which wee perceiue that in the Crosse he sang the whole Psalme as directly pertaining to his passiō Christ spake these words saith Chrysostom that the Iewes might know hee honoured his father to the last breath and that God was not his enemie as they obiected for which cause he vsed the Prophet Dauids words to verifie or fulfill the scripture of the old testament All these interpretations are sound and stand well with the rules of christian pietie without dishonouring the person or disturbing the faith of Christ therfore I cannot but maruel what reason our late writers had to refuse them all and deuise another exposition of their owne which imploieth not onlie desperation in Christs soule if wee presse the wordes and the dissolution of Christes person but an euident contradiction to all that Christ did or saide on the crosse or in iudgement after the Iewes had once laide handes on him For if these words be referred to the soule of Christ and unport a generall and true dereliction which must be supposed before the paines of hell can thence be concluded Christ féeling and confessing himselfe to bee forsaken of God coulde haue neither faith nor
hope For he that beléeueth and hopeth in God cannot trulie saie that God hath forsaken his soule he may complaine that God doth not deliuer him from dangers and troubles assaulting him which the weakenesse of man thinketh a kinde of forsaking Mine enemies saith Dauid take counsell saying God hath forsaken him pursue him there is none to deliuer him But this is no forsaking of the soule so long as that part of man trusteth in God which is created chiefelie to enioie God Nowe by faith hope and loue the soule of man enioieth God in this life and hee that enioieth God is not forsaken of God Yea whosoeuer hopeth in him neither is nor euer shall be forsaken For hope doth not confound was there euer any confounded that put his trust in the Lorde or who hath continued in his feare and hath beene forsaken or whome did he euer despise that called vpon him Then if out of these wordes we will infer that Christes soule was truelie forsaken of God it cannot bee auoided but this inwarde perswasion in Christ that his soule was forsaken during from the time of his agonie in the garden till his complaint on the crosse which was aboue 18. houres was manifest desperation vnlesse wee saie Christ was deceiued in so thinking which is as great an errour on the other side For if his faith hope and loue were still fixed on God and no waie decaied he could with no truth saie that his soule was vtterlie forsaken Againe the soule that is forsaken of God must néedes be separated from God For he that cleaueth vnto the Lorde is one spirit with him so not forsaken of him Yf then Christs soule were seuered from God it could haue no mutuall congruence much lesse naturall coherence with God There must bee a spirituall communion in grace or else there can be no personall vnion in nature As the soule doth communicate her effects to the bodie with which shee is coupled so must the deitie make the humane nature of Christ partaker of those graces and giftes which maie come from the godhead before we can trulie saie that the one is personallie ioyned with the other The participation and fruition of God is not in words or thoughtes but in déedes and effects In whom then the spirit of God dwelleth not with his force and fruites let him neuer deceiue his hart that he hath any fellowship with God Nowe in Christ was the fulnesse of Gods spirit and grace God measured not his spirit to him but of his fulnesse we all haue receaued So that if the fulnesse of grace failed in the soule of Christ the vnitie of his person was vtterly dissolued For without a communion there can be no coniunctioÌ„ of two natures in Christ. If there were an effectuall and full communion there could be no reall nor generall dereliction Insomuch that the verie flesh of Christ though it were left vnto death yet was it not vtterlie forsaken of the deitie but preserued euen in the graue from corruption and raised againe with greater perfection then before besides the wonderfull conquest it had ouer death Which plainelie proue the Godheade was neuer separated from the bodie of Christ though the soule for a time departed that death and hell might bee destroied If the deitie did neuer forsake the bodie no not in death much lesse did it euer forsake the soule which alwaies had an vnseparable coniunction and vnceaseable communion with the godhead of Christ. Lastlie no sence could bee deuised more repugnant and opposite to all that Christ saide or did after his agonie then this last found exposition or rather deprauation of his words To the high priest asking him whether he were Christ the son of y e blessed God he answered I am and ye shall see the son of man sit at the right hande of the power of God and come in the cloudes of heauen Christ was and must be farre from distrusting or doubting that which he resolutelie affirmeth shal come to passe euen in the eies of his enemies When they fastened him to the crosse hee said Father forgiue them they know not what they do Could he intreate and obtaine pardon for others that found himselfe to be forsaken of God To the thiefe that hung by him and desired to be remembred when he came to his kingdome he answered Verilie I saie to thee thou shalt this day bee with me in paradise Could hee giue paradise to others with so great confidence that coulde not then assure himselfe of Gods fauour yea as these men will haue it that was abandoned and forsaken of God The Centurion that had the charge to see him put to death and heard him speake these words neuer conceiued that he was reiected or estranged from God but contrariwise confessed Truelie this man was the sonne of God Christ himselfe Knowing all thinges that should come vnto him saide to his disciples Behold the houre is come that ye shall be scattered and leaue me alone but I am not alone for the father is with me Now if God were with him when his disciples left him as he himselfe witnesseth howe could his soule be forsaken of God of Christ crucified Dauid saith as Peter expoundeth his wordes I alwaies beheld the Lord before me euen at my right hand that I should not bee shaken If Christ had all the time of his passion the fauour of God so constant and the power of God so present that hee coulde not be so much as mooued or swaied to and fro for so the wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe signifie that I should not waue vp and downe but stâ—nd fired and assured how could that parte of Christ which enioied so manifestlie the sight of Gods countenance and strength of Gods assistance be forsaken or refused of God And out of this complaint that he was forsaken if we inferre the paines of hell wee conclude directlie against Christes wordes in the 16. psalme Non derelinques animam meam in inferno Thou wilt not forsake my soule in hell Christs soule was not forsaken in hell if then it were forsaken on the crosse it is euident that there it suffered not hell for in hell it was neuer forsaken And therefore turne and winde the wordes of Christ which way they will or can this expositionâ—punc which they fasten vnto them is a manifest contradiction to all that Christ did or saide on the crosse and namelie to that assertion of Dauid in the person of Christ Thou wilt not forsake my soule in hell Then are there in the sacred scriptures neither anie predictions that Christ shoulde suffer the paines of hell in his soule here on earth nor causes why he must suffer them nor Signes that he did suffer them and consequentlie whatsoeuer is pretended no proofe that these sufferings must be added to the crosse of Christ before the worke of our saluation can be perfect And for my
the destruction of all the faythfull Wherefore the wisedome and iustice of God suffered him to shewe his rage on the flesh of Christ and as it were to trample in his bloud which hee spilt like water on the earth and left him that which hee so eagerly pursued and in his malice against Gods glorie preferred before all the worlde as a full payment for all those that shoulde be deliuered by the death of Christ. And for this cause the bloud of Christ is called by y e holie ghost the PRICE of our REDEMPTION Ye were REDEEMED saith Peter WITH THE PRECIOVS BLOVD of Christ as of a lambe vnspotted and vndefiled Yea the song which the Saints in heauen do sing vnto the lambe is this Thou wast killed and HAST REDEEMED VS TO GOD BY THY BLOOD When I say the bloud of Christ was â—he price wherewith God redéemed vs out of Satans power I doe not meane that God made anie contract with Satan or tooke his consent to exchange much lesse that Christ did profer his bloud to the diuell to set vs free it were an iniurie to Christ for vs to thinke his bloud was shed to satisfie the diuell as Gregory Nazianzene wel obserueth in his oration de Paschate but Christ offered his bloud as a sacrifice to god his father to verifie the iudgement pronounced against vs Thou shalt die the death and to satisfie the iustice of God prouoked with our sinnes yet in comming to his death since his life might not be ended neither with his owne hand nor by the hand of his Father the wisedome of God deliuered him into the handes of sinners by whose blinde zeale and bloudie rage the diuell that worketh in the children of disobedience conspired and compassed his death and with all maner of contumelie and crueltie abused his body and spilt his blood insulting at him by the mouthes of the wicked and reioycing in the conquest he gate ouer Christ in bringing him to a reprochfull death But this extreame rage of Satan against the person of Christ turned to the vtter ruine of his owne kingdome For God did not onely raise againe the Lord Iesus from death as dying an innocent without all desert but in recompence of the wrong which he receiued at Satans hands to the which he willingly submitted himselfe God gaue him power to spoyle the kingdome of the diuell and to deliuer all that euer did or should beleeue in his death and passion And in this sort Christ bought vs with his precious bloud from the daunger of sinne and hell not offering but suffering Satan by the hands of the Iewes to take his life from him neither compounding with his aduersarie but repressing him in the middest of his malice who assaulting Christ Iesus our head as he had done all the members was ouerthrowne by him and vanquished with an euerlasting victorie Mortuus est volens vt inuoluntarie mortuos exuscitaret Deuorauit ipsum mors ignorans vbi deuorasset cognouit quem non deuorauit Deuorauit vnum cum omnibus perdidit omnes propter vnum Rapuit vt leo confracti sunt dentes ipsius Christ died willinglie saith Basill that hee might raise those which died against their wils Death ignorantly deuoured him which when hee had done hee knewe whom he had not deuoured Hee swallowed vp one as he did all and for that one hee lost all Hee seased on him as a Lion but his teeth were therwith broken The créed extant vnder the name of Ruffinus Sacramentum carnis susceptae hanc habet causam vt diuina filij dei virtus velut hamus quidam habitu humanae carnis obtectus principem mundi inuitare posset ad Agonem cui ipse carnem suam velut escam tradens hamo eum diuinitatis intrinsecus teneret insertus ex profusione immaculati sanguinis The mysterie of Christes taking flesh was to this end that the diuine power of the Sonne of GOD couered as a hooke vnder the shewe of mans flesh might prouoke the Prince of this worlde to assault him to WHOM CHRIST DELIVERING HIS FLESH AS A BAITE helde fast the diuell with the hooke of his diuinitie sticking in him through the shedding of his immaculate bloud Conditorem omnium Satanae manui traditum quis vel desipiens credat sed tamen edoctus veritate quis nesciat cum se pro nostra redemptione Dominus membrorum Satanae manibus tradidit quod eiusdem Satanae manum in se saeuire permittit vt vnde ipse exterius occumberet inde nos exterius interiusque liberaret That the maker of all was deliuered into the hande of Satan who is so foolish as to beleeue And yet who taught by the trueth is ignorant that when the Lorde for our redemption yeelded himselfe into their handes that were the members of Satan hee suffered the hande of Satan to rage agaynst him that whence he outwardlie dyed in body thence he might both outwardlie and inwardlie deliuer vs And therefore hee concludeth Cum corpus eius ad passionem accipit electos eius à iure suae potestatis amittit When Satan receyued the bodie of Christ to crucifie it hee lost the elect of Christ from subiection to his power Saint Austen shewing howe Christ conquered the Diuell first by iustice and then by power sayeth Placuit Deo vt propter eruendum hominem de Diabolâ— potestate non potentia Diabolus sed iustitia vinceretur It pleased God for the deliuering of man out of the Diuels power that the diuell should be conquered by iustice and not by might Qua est igitur iustitia qua victus est Diabolus Quae nisi iustitia Iesu Christi Et quomodo victus est Quia cum in eo nihil morte dignum inuenit occidit eum tamen utique iustum est vt debitores quos tenebat liberi dimittantur in eum credentes quem sine vllo debito occidit Hoc est quod iustificari dicimur in sanguine Christi What then is the iustice whereby the Diuell was conquered What but the iustice of Iesu Christ And howe Because that when the Diuell founde in Christ nothing woorthie of death hee killed him notwithstanding and surelie iustice requireth that the debtours which Satan helde shoulde bee sette free beleeuing in him whome Satan slue without any debt This is it that wee are sayde to bee iustifyed in the bloud of Christ. Sanguis enim ille quoniam eius erat qui nullum habuit omnino peccatum ad remissionem nostrorum fusus est peccatorum vt quia eos Diabolus merito tenebat quos peccatireos conditione mortis obstrinxit hos per eum meritò dimitteret quem nullius peccati reum immerito poena mortis affecit hac iustitia victus hoc vinculo vinctus est fortis vt vasa eius eriperentur For that bloud because it was his who was vtterlie voyde of sinne was shedde for the remission of
and Patriarks were before Christs resurrection in hell or no but what soeuer we determine or imagine of this later question the other position standeth vncontrolled both by Scriptures and fathers yet for their sakes that happilie maie stumble at this blocke I will not refraine to speake what I thinke of this assertion so as I bee first allowed to say with saint Austen Quod dicimus fratres hoc si non vobis tanquam certus exposuero ne succenseatis Homo enim sum quantum conceditur de scripturis sanctis tantum audeo dicere nihil ex me Infernum nec ego expertus sum adhuc nec vos fortassis alia via erit non per infernum erit Incerta sunt enim haec That which in this question I say brethren if I can not auouch it as certaine you must not bee offended I am but a man and what I am assured by the Scriptures that I dare affirme and of my selfe nothing Hell neither I haue yet experience of neither you and perchance there shall bee another way and by hell it shall not bee For these thinges are altogither vncertaine The thinges after this life God will not haue particularlie knowne vnto vs whiles here wee liue and therefore to make sodaine resolutions of them can haue neither certaintie nor safetie yet so much as the scriptures reueale we must necessarilie beléeue and may boldlie professe without anie danger Touching the state of the dead in the olde Testament I see a number of auncient writers incline to this conclusion that the soules of the righteous before Christes death and descent were in hell but as the foundation of their opinion is verie weake so the consequents are plainlie contradicted both by Scriptures and fathers This assertion first grewe from the confession of the Patriarkes and Prophets that they must after this life DESCEND TO SHEOL which the Septuagint doe alwayes expresse by the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latine interpreter by Infernus wherevpon the fathers both Greeke and Latin supposed the saints in the old Testament departing hence DESCENDED TO HELL But the signification of the worde Sheôl is so manifestlie mistaken that it is nowe no great masterie to finde the foile When Iacob saith I will go downe TO SHEOL mourning to my sonne and againe You will bring my gray haires with sorrow vnto Sheôl and likewise Iob Sheôl is my house oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheôl till thine anger were past as also Dauid what man liueth that shall deliuer his soule from the hand of Sheôl And lastly Ezechias I shal go to the gates of Sheôl If by Sheôl in these places wee vnderstand hell as some Greeke and Latine interpreters and writers haue done we must needes confesse the faithfull dying in the former Testament descended into hell but if wee take Sheôl for the graue where life endeth and the bodie lieth then make they no kind of proofe that the soules of the godly before Christs comming were in hel but only that their bodies were in the graue of which there was neuer any question amongst christians or pagans Nowe that Sheôl in the Scriptures noteth as well the graue where mens bodies putrifie as she place where the soules of the wicked are after this life detained and punished to him that considereth the circumstances of these and other such places will soone appeare The words of king Ezechiah at large are these I said in the cutting off of my daies I shall goe to the gates of Sheôl I am depriued of the residue of my yeares I saide I shall not see the Lord in the land of the liuing I shall see man no more amongst the inhabitants of the worlde I haue cutte my life in sunder like a weauer Here is a full description of death not of hell and least wee shoulde dreame that both are linked togither in the end hee saieth Sheôl can not confesse vnto thee neither can death praise thee nor they that descende into the pitte trust in thy trueth but the liuing the liuing hee shall confesse thee as I doe this day It is manifest impietie to saie that the soules of the Saints departed did neither CONFESSE NOR PRAISE GOD nor TRVST IN HIS TRVTH but in the graue where the bodie wanteth sense and life this is most true which Ezechias deliuereth and confirmed by the holie Ghost in diuerse places of the Scriptures In death there is no remembrance of thee saieth Dauid to God and in Sheôl who shall confesse or praise thee The soules of iust and perfect men did then most praise GOD when they were loosed from the warfare of this life therefore they were not in Sheôl for in Sheôl none shall confesse vnto God nor trust in his truth The deade praise not the Lord nor all that goe downe into silence DEATH SILENCE and SHEOL are taken for one and the same thing and in none of these is God praised or confessed And what can bee plainer then that Dauid saieth in the 141. Psalme Our bones lie scattered at the mouth of Sheôl as chippes â—ewed on the earth Their bones I trust lay not scattered at the mouth of hell but at the mouth of their graues where their bodies were buried Iob in like maner though I hope yet Sheôl must bee mine house I shall take vp my bedde in darkenesse I shall say to corruption thou art my father and to the worme thou art my mother and my sister Darkenesse corruption and the worme are the partes of Sheol aâ—d thâ—se consume the bodie they waste not the soule Salomon shall seale vp this inquisition where hee â—aieth All that thine hande is able to doe dispatch it in thy strength for there is neither VVORKE nor THOVGHT nor KNOVVLEDGE nor VVISEDOME in SHEOL whither thou goest If the soules of the righteous neither DOE nor THINKE nor KNOVVE anie thing they bee surelie a sleepe and neither in ioy nor paine but if this bee absurde and wicked to affirme either of hell heauen paradise or of Abrahams bosome then certainlie SHEOL where none of these things are is THE GRAVE and there it is eâ—ident all these thinges are wanting Since then without question Sheol signifieth as well the graue where the bodie lieth dead and rotten as the place where the soules of vniust and sinfull men are kept and tormented if in the wordes of the Patriarkes and Prophets confessing they must go to Sheôl we vnderstand the graue which indéede they ment there is no shew in the scriptures that the faithfull before Christes death went to hell as some fathers haue collected out of these and such like sayings of the godlie before Christes birth but rather the places that mention their state after death do euidently import the contrarie The booke of Wisedome though it be not Canonicall yet doth it shewe what opinion the Church of the Iewes had of the soules of the
forsaken reiected of God could not after death rest in the same place with Samuel the elect and approoued seruant of God Lastlie the fathers doe for the most part resolue it was an illusion of Satan to strike Saul into desperation Tertullian disputing against it verie learnedlie saieth Ecce hodie Simonis haereticos tanta praesumptio artis extollit vt etiam Prophetarum animas ab inferis mouere se spondeant Et credo quia mendacio possunt nec enim pythonico tunc spiritui minus licuit animam Samuelis essingere post deum mortuos consulente Saule Absit alioquin vt animam cuiuslibet sancti nedum Prophetae à daemonio credamus extractam edocti quod ipse Satanas transfiguretur in Angelum lucis nedum in hominem lucis Dubitauit si forte tunc Prophetam se Dei asseuerare vtique Sauli in quo ipse morabatur ne putes alium fuisse qui phantasma administrabat alium qui commendabat sed eundem spiritum in pseudoprophetide in Apostata facile meÌ„tiri quod fecerat credi ideo per quem visurum se credidit vidit quia per quem vidit credidit Nulli autem animae omnino inferos patere satis dominus in argumento illo pauperis requiescentis diuitis ingemiscentis ex persona Abrahae sanxit non posse relegari renunciatorem dispositionis infernae quod vel tunc licere potuisset vt Mosi Prophotis crederetur Euen at this day the followers of Simon Magus are so puffed vp with the presumption of their art that they promise to raise from hell the soules of the Prophets And I thinke they can easily belie themselues for so did the familiar spirit of the witch at Endor resemble the soule of Samuel when Saul reiected of God consulted the dead Otherwise GOD FORBID VVE SHOVLD BELEEVE that the soule of any Saint much lesse of a Prophet could bee raised by the Diuell since wee are taught that Satan is often transfigured into an Angell of light much more into a man of light Perchaunce the Diuell did doubt to auouch himselfe to bee the Prophet of God and that to Saul whom hee alreadie possessed least you should thinke it was anie other which commended the apparition then hee that procured it but euen the same spirite both in the false Prophetesse and to the Apostata Saul easilie belied that which he had made to be beleeued And therefore by whome Saul beleeued hee should see the ghost of Samuel by him he saw it because by whom he saw it to him he gaue credite And to teach vs that no soule may rise from the dead the lord doth sufficiently determine by the person of Abraham in that argument of the poore man in rest the rich man in torment that none can returne to report the state of things in hell which then might haue beene done to get the more authoritie to Moses and the Prophetes The booke of questions vnder the name of Iustine Martyr being of good antiquitie if it bee not his saieth Caetera omnia ab ipsa Pythonissa facta sunt Daemonis operâ praestigijs eorum oculos deludentis qui videbant cum qui Samuel non erat Veritas autem dictorum a Deo fuit qui permisit Daemoni vt in forma Samuelis Pythonissae appareret res futuras praemonstraret Et quoniam Samuelem Saul non audierat dum amissionem regni praediceret illi sed post diuinam sententiam ei regnum adimentem per hariolos imperium retinere satagebat indignum eum duxit Deus vt ei ventura significaret per homines sibi adhaerentes All the rest the witch did by the operation of the Diuell deluding their eies which sawe one that was not Samuel But the trueth of that which was spoken was of God who permitted the Diuell both to appeare to the witch in the shape of Samuel and to foretell the euent of thinges to come For in that Saul would not giue â—are to Samuel prophecying vnto him the losse of his kingdome but sought to retaine it by the helpe of witches God counted him vnworthie to vnderstande what should come to passe by anie seruants of his Theodorete in his questions vpon the first booke of Kings doth reiect this opinion that the witch raised vp Samuel not as false only but as impious also His words are Quomodo oportet intelligere do ventriloqua Nonnulli dicunt eam veré retulisse Samuelâ—m NoÌ„nulli autem hoc refellerunt Ego quidem PRIMVM EXISTIMO ESSE IMPIVM Existimo enim mulieres necromanticas ne quamlibet quidem reducere animam tantum abest vt prophetae tanti prophetae Est enim perspicuum quod in aliquo alio loco degunt animae expectantes resurrectionem corporum EST ERGO VALDE IMPIVM credere ventriloquam habere vim tantam What shall we say concerning the witch Some thinke shee truly raised vp Samuel Some others refell it I think the first to be a VVICKED imagination For I resolue that witches can raise no mans soule much lesse the soule of a prophet and of so great a prophet It is euident that the soules of the dead are in a place besides this world expecting y e resurrectioÌ„ of their bodies It is therfore VERY IMPIOVS to beleeue y t a witch hath so great power And where Theodoret alledgeth a place of the Chronicles to proue Quod ipse deus vniuersorum efformata vt voluit specie Samuelis protulit sententiam minime per aduersarios protulit sententiaÌ„ That God himselfe framing the shape of Samuel as pleased him pronounced the sentence and did not giue that iudgement by his aduersaries there are no such wordes in the Text as he quoteth For he citeth them thus Et mortuus est Saul in suis iniquitatibus in quibus peccauit domino super eloquium domini propterea quod ipsum noÌ„ custodiuit quod interrogauit Saul in ventriloqua vt exquireret ET RESPONDIT SAMVEL PROPHETA non exquisiuit in dâ—mino occidit eum Saul died in his sinnes in which he sinned against the Lord as touching the word of y e lord which he performed not also in that Saul consulted the witch to know what successe he should haue And Samuel the prophet answered him Saul sought not the lord he slue him These wordes AND SAMVEL THE PROPHET ANSVVERED HIM are not in the booke of Chronicles and therefore Theodorets foundation being false his conclusion that God spake these wordes and not the diuell is no way iustifiable Besides if God had saide that Saul and his sonnes after death should bee with God as hee that spake to Saule saide they should be with him God had promised vnto Saul ETERNAL LIFE after his departure hence which is a plaine contrarietie to the wordes of the Scripture that saith SAVL DIED IN HIS SINNES The first part then of Theodorets resolution that a
holy cause as he calleth it from all the corrupt fansies and vaine imaginations of men which God willing I meane now to performe Thou must not looke that I will wast time and paper to settle a giddie head or stoppe a running rounge but when by some particulars I haue made it appeare how vnfit he is to bée refuted or so much as regarded by mée I will leaue him to the depth of his follies For though he point plainlie to my sermons in directing his treatise contrary to certaine errors publikly preached in London and sticketh not to name me yet because he flyeth from the state of the chiefe Question which I impugned and taketh the paines to ouer skip all my authorities with silence if not with contempt and in reporting my reasons forgetteth and dissembleth what pleaseth himselfe as also in the defence of his holie cause he roueth as he listeth neither kéeping himself to any order nor bringing any matter of moment but confusedlie powring out the hastie resolutions of his owne braines spiced euerie where with ignorant absurd positions neither my leasure nor my liking suffer me to seeke him out that hath so farre lost himselfe nor to vouchsafe him an answere that so proudlie despiseth all authoritie and antiquitie which sorteth not with his fansie I will therefore shew thée good Reader some examples of his insolent reiecting the Fathers of his forgetfull or wilfull altering my reasons of his impertinent proouing that which is not questioned and skipping that which should bée prooued of his erroneous and dangerous assertions of his intolerable ignorance in the tongue whereof he so much vaunteth and then leaue thée to God if thou loath not the reading as I did the writing before thou come to the end Where I tooke for my text these words of S. Paule God forbid that I should reioice but in the crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ whereby the world is crucified to me and I to the world This coÌ„futer would beare men in hand that I mistooke my text forced a false conclusion from it This saith hée is not onely an obiection but euen a foundation and principall ground of this errour but so mistaken and forced as nothing may be more My reasoÌ„ hée maketh to be this Christs soule was not crucified but only his bodie therefore Christs bodie onlie suffered and not his soule By this gentle reader it may plainlie be perceiued how well this gainsaier obserued my proofs I drewe no reason from these words but proposing them for my theme tooke occasion from them to laie downe first the contents of Christs crosse how far it extended and then the effects of Christs crosse how much it performed which is the generall methode of the whole treatise In the contents of Christs crosse my words are these Rightly then maie the Crosse note all manner of miseries forsomuch as our Sauiour going from the garden to the graue suffered all sorts of afflictions which I before specifying amongst others named these shame reproch and all sorts of deadlie paines besides heauines of hart and agonie of mind which oppressed him in the garden and this I made no different signification but rather a participation of the crosse of Christ. When I came to Christs sufferings on the Tree as Peter speaketh I vsed these plaine words the rest of his torments which went before not being excluded as superfluous but continued and increased by that â—harp extreme martirdome which he suffered on the Crosse. Did I then make any such conclusion out of these words of Paul as you imagine Sir confuter or did rather your wit memorie so slenderlie serue you that you could not conceiue or carry away the maine methode of my sermons distinctly laid downe at my first entrance into this matter But as you begin with my Theme so you continue with the whole discourse mistaking forgetting peruerting and maiming all that I alledged or concluded Neuerthelesse you take it to bee cleare that this text was mistaken by me for the Apostle here speaketh not of the personall sufferings of Christ but of the godlie which they suffer for Christs truth sake To dimme ties twy light is clearer then Sunne shine and to a man of your vnderstanding falsehood may bee clearer then truth but knowe you Sir H. I. that I mistooke not my text For albeit the CROSSE bee some times taken for the afflictions of the godlie yet THE CROSSE OF CHRIST is no where in the scriptures so taken Again though we be permitted and commanded to reioice in our afflictions yet to make it a thing detestable to reioice in anie thing else as the Apostle here doth by saying God forbid that I should reioice but in the Crosse of Christ hath no ground in diuinitie Himselfe saieth else where Of such a man as was taken vp into Paradise will I reioice of my selfe I will not reioyce except it bee of mine infirmities Our Sauiour saieth to his Disciples Reioice rather because your names are written in heauen But of Christ crucified it is pietie and dutie to saie God forbid that wee should reioice but in the Crosse of Christ. For as to the Corinths the Apostle refuseth all knowledge saue of Christ and him crucified so here hee renounceth all reioycing saue in the Crosse of Christ that is in Christ crucified This to bee the full and plaine meaning of the Apostle in this place is to me as cleare as daie light and I hope will so seeme to thee Christian Reader if thou marke the words of Saint Paul in the 12. verse of this verie Chapter where hee chargeth the false Apostles with vrging Circumcision because they would auoid persecution for the crosse of Christ They constraine you saith hee to be circumcised onely because they would not suffer persecution for the Crosse of Christ protesting the contrarie for himselfe in these wordes but God forbid that I should reioice but in the Crosse of Christ VVHER BY THE VVORLD IS CRVCIFIED TO ME AND â—â— TO THE VVORLD Meaning he doth not onely refuse the fauours but despise the terrors of the worlde for the crosse of Christ. In the first part of this comparison betwixt himselfe and those that flattered the Iewes with teaching circumcision for feare of affliction put your interpretation to y t words of the Apostle and sée how absurdly it matcheth with them They constraine you to bee circumcised onely because they would not suffer persecution for the crosse of Christ that is as you expound it because they would not suffer persecution for the afflictions of the godlie Hath this exposition either sense or reason in it Or else is it euident that the Apostle here meaneth by the crosse of Christ the slander shame of Christs suffering on the Crosse which the Iewes so abhorred that they pursued all that preached or beléeued it Then consequentlie Paules reioycing in nothing but in the crosse of Christ
together Góod Sir awake out of your sleepe and learne at least to vnderstand before you aunswere As this presumer euerie where with disdaine casteth away the iudgements of the fathers which I produce preferreth his owne peeuish conceite before them all so when he reporteth my reasons he either ignoraÌ„tlie mistaketh them or purposelie peruerteth them y â— they may the lesse encumber him In the effectes of Christes crosse I noted out of the Apostle to the Hebrues three properties of the true propitiatorie sacrifice which tooke awaie the sinne of the world It was a bodilie a bloudie and a deadlie sacrifice and amongst manie reasons to confirme the same I brought these two which the confâ—ter after his forgetfull maner roueth at The first in effect was this The true sacrifice for sinne which the Redeemer should offer was shadowed and foreshewed by the sacrifices which God commanded and accepted in the old testament but the sacrifices of the Patriarches and of the faithfull appointed by Moses foreshewed and figured a bodilie bloudie and deadlie sacrifice and no paines of hell therfore the true sacrifice for sinne was made by the bodie bloud and death of the Redéemer and not by the paines of hell suffered in his soule The second this As the sacrifices of the law prefigured what the Sauiour of the world should do for the abolishing of sinne so the sacraments of the newe testament confirme and scale that performed in the person of Christ Iesus which was the true propitiation for our sinnes and price of our redemption but the sacraments of the new testament and speciallie the Lordes supper declare and confirme vnto vs the bodie of Christ giuen for vs vnto death and his bloud shed for the remission of our sinnes therefore this was the true propitiation for our sinnes and price of our redemption and not the paines of hell suffered in the soule of Christ as some imagine To the first the Confuter answereth The proposition is false taking it generally The carnall sacrifices of the Iewes signified that which they were apt to signifie but not anie further The sacrifices of beastes coulde not prefigure the personall vnion of God and man nor the reasonable and immortall soule of Christ nor his resurrection all which were necessarie pointes in the meritorious sacrifice Secondlie he denieth the assumption For certaine of the Iewes sacrifices set foorth the sufferinges of the soule of Christ also As the scape Gote in the 16. of Leuiticus which was a sin offering though it were sent awaie free and vntouched To the reason drawne from the Sacraments hee saieth Wee are to answere as we did before These are bodilie and earthlie Elements and therefore fitte to set soorth bodilie and apparant effects in Christ they can not set out the spirituall and inuisible effects in him And yet the ceremonie of breaking the bread which is to shewe that Christes bodie was broken for vs can not belong properlie to the bodie but to the soule These I trust are your words now heare my replie I had no such proposition as you frame to your selfe that either the sacrifices of the lawe or Sacraments of the Gospel were figures of our whole and absolute redemption which is as you expound it of all the fruits and causes of our redemption This is your euasion not my proposition I tolde you that as God had promised so the faithfull beléeued that his owne sonne should be the Seede of the woman and by his death and bloud should purge their sinnes To continue this promise and confirme the faith of all before and vnder the lawe God appointed bloudie sacrifices as continuall remembrances and figures not of the person nor of the function of Christ but of the Sacrifice by which hee shoulde abolish sinne to wiâ—te by his bodie slaine and his bloud shedde which the carnall sacrifices were fittest to resemble since God would not haue the bloud of anie man but of his owne sonne shedde for remission of sinnes My proposition then speaketh of the true sacrifice for sinne and auoucheth that to bee the true sacrifice for sinne which was shadowed and figured by the death and bloud of those beasts that God commaâ—â—ded to bee offered vnto him This proposition you doe not denie for you graunt The Iewes sacrifices signified what they were apt to teach and signifie but they were apt and ordained of GOD to teach the Iewes that by the death and bloud of the Messias they shoulde bee redeemed and saued from their sinnes ergo they were apt and ordained of God to figure and shadowe the true propitiatorie sacrifice And so the patriarkes and Prophetes beléeued and expected whose faith and hope could neither be vaine nor frustrate since they were thereto directed by Gods owne appointment This proposition be you Christian or Iewe you may not denie and therefore you doe well to denie the assumption and to affirme that certaine sacrifices of the Iewes as namelie the scape Goate in the 16. of Leuiticus did signifie the immortall soule of Christ which was a sacrifice for sinne and did properlie beare our sinnes and suffer for our sinnes But Sir if a man aske you howe you proue that the scape Goate signified the soule of Christ what haue you to saie Because both Goates saie you are a sacrifice for sinne as the Text speaketh You abuse the Text and deceiue your selfe The wordes are Aaron shall take of the assemblie of the children of Israel two hee Goates fâ—r a sinne offering that is to make a sinne offering of one of them on which the Lordes lotte shall fall So followe the wordes in the 8. verse of that chapter Aaron shall cast lottes ouer the two hee Goates one lotte for the Lorde and another lotte for the scape Goate And Aaron shall offer the Goate on which the Lords lot shall fall and MAKE HIM A SINNE OFFERING The taking of the Goates from the people doth not make them sacrifices for sinne but the offering them vnto the Lord by the Priest so that though two were taken yet lots were cast which of them should hee the sinne offering and which of them the scape Goat which consequentlie was no sinne offering because that was made a sinne offering on which the Lords lot fell And so if the scape Goate did signifie the soule of Christ as you affirme more boldlie then wiselie then was not the soule of Christ a sinne offering neither did it suffer for sinne if your owne example maie bee trusted Howbeit what the scape Goate signified I am not so forwarde to pronounce as you bee though I haue better warrant so to doe then you haue For Cyrill or as some thinke Origen writing vpon that place of Leuiticus 〈◊〉 If all the people of God were holie there shoulde not bee two lottes cast vpon the Goates one to bee offered to the Lorde the other to bee sent to the desart but there should bee one lotte and one offering
I drewe from the Sacraments of the new testament and namelie from the Lordes Supper in the length of six lines Sir refuter you contradict the definition and institution of that Sacrament as also the plaine resolution of S. Paul and the principles of naturall reason The Sacraments you saie are earthlie elements they cannot set out spirituall and inuisible effects in Christ. I had thought Sacraments by their nature had beene visible signes of inuisible graces which definition is so common in the schooles that no smatterer in diuinitie besides you is ignorant of it Si tu incorporeus esses nudè dona ipsa incorporea tibi tradidisset quoniam vero corpori coniuncta est anima in sensibilibus intelligibilia tibi traduntur If thou hadst been without a bodie God would haue giuen thee his spirituall gifts vncouered but because thy soule is ioined with thy bodie in sensible thinges are deliuered thee spirituall or inuisible graces Where all the Sacraments were common saith Augustine Grace which is the vertue of the Sacraments was not common to all In the Lords Supper that there should be no horror of bloud yet the grace of Redemption might remaine for a resemblance thou receiuest the Sacrament but thou obtainest the grace vertue of Christs true nature So that if those earthly elements of water bread and wine did not set out and exhibite the spiritual and invisible effects in Christ they were no Sacraments But the Ceremonie of breaking bread say you cannot properly belong to the body but to the soule In the first institution of his Supper did not Christ breake the bread and deliuer it saying Take eate this is my bodie If breaking belong to the bread then breaking belongeth properlie to the body of Christ for the bread was ordained to shew forth the body of Christ that S. Paul noteth in expresse words The bread which we break is it not the Cōmunion of the body of Christ But Christs body you say was not properly broken because y e scripture saith not a bone of him shalbe broken A speculation fit for such a diuine as you are had Christs body nothing in it but bones Had he not as well flesh as bones A spirit saith our sauiour hath not flesh bones as you see me haue Then if Christs flesh were rent torne with whips with nailes with a speare as it certainly was though his bones were whole his body was properly truly broken For the cutting or tearing of the flesh is the breaking of the flesh and from a part the whole maie and doth properly take his denomination And therfore Paul spake truly and properlie when he thus expresseth the words of Christs institution This is my body which is brokē for you Neither doth he in that word varie from Christs institution but he rather teacheth vs that as the bread is broken and the wine powred out in the Lords supper so was the flesh of the Lords body giuen to be broken torne on the crosse for vs his bloud likewise shed for the remission of our sinnes The nailes spear you grant did pearce him but in no sort can that be called breaking or bruising in peeces as the worde in Esay doth plainlie signifie Wherefore the meaning is the torments of his soule did bruize and breake him in peeces Your Hebrue your Greeke your Philosophie came all out of one forge they are so like You can not finde that Christes flesh was broken and bruised on the Crosse by grieuous stripes and wounds but you haue spied that his soule was broken in peeces and that properlie If one of the Prentices before whome you were wont to talke should aske you into howe manie péeces it was broken your heade would ake to shape him a wise answere But the word DACHA which Esay vseth doth plainly you say signifie to breake in peeces Doth it alwaies and euer signifie properlie to breake into péeces How can it then be applied to the soule but improperlie and by a figuratiue kinde of speech A Moole hill with you is a Mountaine The worde doth signifie to treade vnder foote to bruise to oppresse to humble When Dauid saith the enemie hath cast my life downe to the ground Will you saie he hath broken my life in péeces When Iob saith How long will yee vexe my soule and afflict mee with your wordes will you adde and breake mee in peeces with your wordes When Ieremie saith of the men of Iudah They are not humbled vnto this day Will you phrase it and say They are not broken in peeces to this day In the power of Christs death to proue the bloud of our sauiour to be the true price of our redemption and that as wel of our soules as of our bodies I alledged the words of Peter You were redeemed with the precious bloud of Christ and of the souls in heauen saying vnto Christ Thou wast killed hast redeemed vs to God by thy bloud when their bodies were rotten in y e earth Hence I reasoned if our soules be not redeemed frō death by the blood of christ our bodies haue in this life no benefite of redemption I meane from death for wee die as doe infidels and our bodies rot in the graue as theirs doe till the daie of resurrection But S. Peter saieth wee are redeemed not we shall bee and the saints say to Christ when their bodies lie in the dust Thou hast redeemed vs by thy bloud ergo that redemption which we haue in this life must be referred to our soules and our bodies must expect the generall daie of redemption in the ende of the world To this our Confuter replieth What a paradox yea what impietie is this Haue our bodies no good at all by Christes death no more then the bodyes of infidels because wee die stil as wel as they Good Sir remember Redemption from death is the point which I vrged y t our bodies in this life haue not no more then the bodies of Infidels haue but must expect it And therefore if our Soules be not redeemed by the blood of Christ from Sinne death we haue presentlie no redemption by the bloud of Christ but must staie for the time of our resurrection before we shall haue it Which is contrarie to the words both of Peter and of the Soules in heauen that saie to Christ when their bodies bee rotten in earth Thou hast redeemed vs by thy blood Here y u tell vs of the iustification mortification and sanctification of our bodies as also of the expectation of glorie which our bodies shall haue and thinke to make a great conquest of the words NO GOOD AT ALL but pull in your hornes Besides that my meaning is verie plaine whatsoeuer the wordes were which I might vse which I do not acknowledge to be these that you bring but that our bodies haue no benefitte of Redemption from
For that which fell that rose againe that which fell not needed not rise Hee rose then according to the flesh which being dead did rise againe Ergo also he died in our nature which he tooke vnto him and suffered in the body which he tooke that we might beleeue he tooke a true bodie To the vnbeleeuer asking Shall I beleeue God in flesh God borne of a woman God crucified whipped dead wounded buried Austen answereth thy God remaineth vnchangeable feare not he perisheth not Christ was borne of a woman but in his flâ—sh Hee was an infant but in his flesh Hee sucked increased was nourished and grewe in age but in his flesh Wearied he slept but in his flesh Hee hungred and thirsted but in his flesh He was taken bound whipped mocked yea he was CRVCIFIED AND KILLED BVT IN HIS FLESH Why art thou afraid The word which was God remaineth for euer He that despiseth this humblenes of God wil neuer be cured from the deadly swelling of pride The Lord Iesus therefore by his flesh gaue hope to our flesh To be borne and to die were here on earth common to liue for euer was not here Christ found here our earthlie wares which were vilde and brought with him his heauenlie which were strange If thou feare his death loue his resurrection He came to the place of our pilgrimage to take that which aboundeth here eueÌ„ mocks whippes blowes spittings in his face reproches hanging the crosse and death These things abound in our region to this entertainment hee came What hath he giuen thee here Instruction exhortation and remission of sinnes What hath he promised thee O mortall man that thou shalt liue for euer Doest thou not beleeue it Beleeue it I say beleeue it It is more that he hath alreadie done then that hee hath promised It is more incredible that the eternall died then that the mortall shall liue for euer If God died for man shall not man liue with God But can God die Hee tooke from thee wherein to die for thee THERE COVLD NOT DIE BVT FLESH THERE COVLD NOT DIE BVT A MORTALL BODIE Hee clothed himselfe with that wherein hee might die for thee hee will clothe thee wherin thou shalt liue with him In that part Christ died in which thou shalt die in that part Christ rose in which thou shalt rise Thou wilt pardon mee Christian Reader if among so much lothsome stuffe of reprobate horrors damned paines and hellish torments as this Confuter hath heaped together I solace my selfe sometimes with the longer comfort of sounde and sweete doctrine so sincerelie and sensiblie deliuered by the learned and auncient Fathers I will alledge one place more wherein thou shalt see the full consent of prouinciall and generall Councels not to bee gainesaide by anie man that will beare the name of a Christian and so shutte vp this point Cyrill writing to Nestorius to stay and suppresse that false doctrine which hee beganne then to spreade teacheth vs verie plainelie howe the sonne of God is saide in the Scriptures to SVFFER DIE AND RISE AGAINE for vs and our saluation So wee saie the sonne of God suffered and rose againe not that the sonne of GOD suffered in his owne nature either the stripes or the boaring of the nailes or the rest of the woundes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Deitie coulde not suffer by reason it is no bodilie substance but because THAT BODIE which hee made his owne suffered these things himselfe is saide to suffer these things for vs. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that coulde not suffer was then in his bodie which suffered After the same manner wee thinke of his dying The sonne of God is by nature immortall incorruptible life and the giuer of life but because the bodie which was his owne tasted death for all by the fauour of God as Paule speaketh hee himselfe is saide to haue suffered death for vs not that hee had experience of death as touching his owne nature it were a madnesse so to thinke or say but for that as I saide euen nowe his flesh tasted death So his flesh rising againe it is called his Resurrection not that hee fell to corruption God forbidde but that his bodie rose againe When this stayed not the frenzie of Nestorius the heretike but that hee replied in swelling woordes Cyrill called a Councell at Alexandria and there with one consent they approoued the trueth and sent it vnto Nestorius to bee confessed in these woordes amongst others If anie man doe not confesse that the Sonne of GOD suffered in his fleshe was crucified in his flesh and tasted death in his flesh let him bee accursed Dilating this and the rest of their Articles in their Synodall Epistle sent to Nestorius they saie Wee confesse that the onelie begotten God euen the sonne borne of God his father though hee were impassible in his owne nature yet suffered hee in his flesh for vs according to the Scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and was in his bodie that was crucified accounting the sufferings of his owne flesh as proper vnto him though he were without suffering and by the grace of God tasted death for all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he gaue his owne bodie vnto death This doctrine came to bee scanned in the third generall Councell helde at Ephesus and being there deliberatelie read was woâ—de for worde allowed of the whole Councell as agréeable to the Scriptures and the Nicene fathers The like approbation it had not onelie in the Councell of Constantinople vnder Fluuianus but in the great councell of Chalcedon where the proceedings of both these Councels were a fresh examined and the former woordes of Cyrill repeaâ—ed and confirmed with the ful consent of that general Councel as most â—ound and catholike So that he shall ill deserue the name of a christian that after so manie fathers and Councels both Prouinciall and Generall will begin to teach vs a new faith and tell vs that the Scriptures meane Christ was crucified and died as wel in his soule as in his bodie since the whole Church with one assent hath euer so conceiued and expounded the Scriptures that Christes crucifying and dying must bee referred to his bodie and consequentlie that the ioynt sufferings of Christ the soule feeling what the bodie suffered were most auailable for our redemption For when they ascribe the crucifying and death of Christ to his bodie they doe not exclude the soule from the sense and feeling of the paine which is a naturall consequent to the coniunction with her bodie but they shew what part of Christs manhoode suffered the crosse and death that the Scriptures so much speake of and whereby wee are redeemed and reconciled vnto GOD. One place repeated in the Councell of Ephesus maie serue in steede of manie to declare their meaning Howe can the Creator of all thnges who is neither visible palpable nor mutable sustaine the Crosse