nos dicere existimo I think we speake not without reasoÌ„ If respect of his persecutors could thus agonize him what could the regard of his own followers doe how did the weaknesse of his owne disciples afflict him when the wilfulnesse of his enemies did so preuaile with him Hee warned his disciples of the danger and they vaunted of their strength he willed them to praie and they slept and when he was apprehended they did euerie one forsake him yea the stoutest of them did plainelie forsweare him Hee might therefore iustlie be grieued with their infirmitie and earnestlie praie for their securitie His tender care of them and earnest praier for them appeareth in the 17. of Iohn euen as hee entered into the garden hee called vpon them to watch and praie that they entred not into temptation Dormiunt saith Ambrose nesciunt dolere pro quibus Christus dolebat the Disciples slept and caÌ„nottel how to sorrow for whom Christ sorrowed Tristis erat non pro suapassione sed pro nostra dispersione Tristis erat quia nosparnulos relinguebat Hee was sorrowfull not for his owne suffering but for our dispersing He was gréeued because hee left vs yong and weake Hilarie in his tenth booke de Trinitate largely pursueth this occasion of Christo agonie concludeth Non ergo sibi tristis erat neque sibi orat sed illis quos monet orare peruigiles Christ is not sorrowfull for himself nor praieth for himself but for those whoÌ„ he warneth to watch and pray And for their sakes he â—aith the Angell was sent to comfort Christ that hee should take no longer griefe and feare for his Disciples The Angell being sent to protect the Apostles and the Lord receiuing comfort thereby Ne pro his tristis esset iam sine tristitâ—ae mâ—tu ait dormite requiessite That he should no longer grieue for them beginneth nowe to be without griefe and feare and saith to them sleepe now and take your rest Nam quinobis tristis est eâ— est propter nos tristis est necesse est vt proptennos sit comfortatus nobis for he that was sorrowfull for our sakes and in our behalfe must of force be comforted for vs and to our vse The desire and care Christ had to sée his kept safe from the rage of Satan leadeth me to the fourth cause of Christs agonie For if Christ were so sad for our infirmitie how sorrowfull then was he for our iniquitie whereby we â—dde not one lie 〈◊〉 our selues open to danger but euen wound our selues to death and deseruetion Well saith Ambrose of this matter Mihicompatitur mihi trist is est nahi doleâ— Eâ—go pro mo in me doluit qui pro senâ—d habuir quod doleret Dâ—lesâ— igitur domine Iesu non tuâ— sed mea vulnera non tuam mortem sed nostâ—am infirmitaetem Christ is affected for mee sadde for mee and greened for mâ—e Hee sorroweth for mee and in mee who had nothing in himselfe to bee sorowed for Thou grieuest Lord Iesu not at thine owne wounds but at mine not for thy death but for my weakenesse Inward sorrow for sin is preciselie requisite in all remission of sinnes To sinne and not to be sorie for if is first to displease and then to despise God Wherefore it is not possible to appease Gods wrath once prouoked but with earnest and heartie sorrowe that euer we offended Then as corruption is the mother and pleasure is the life of sinne so the inward affliction and contrition of the soule in all the godlie is the death of sinne And since we are neither willing nor able to sorrow sufficientlie for our sinnes why might not the son of God when her tooke vpon him the purgation of our 〈◊〉 in his own person take likewise vnto him that inward earnest sorow for our sins which neuer creature before him or besides him did or could expresse Godly sorrow causeth uâ— vs repentance vnto saluation and a troubled spirit is a sacrifice vnto God Of this kind of sorrow to supplie the weaknes and want of true repentance in vs all and to teach vs heartilie to lament our sins the more wee attribute vnto the soule of our Sauiour the more sufficient euerie way we make his satisfaction for sin that did not onelie render recompenâ—e by his life and suffer vengeance by his death for our sins but for déepelie sorrowed for them that in his agonie aboue nature he sweate bloud after a strange and maruellous maner The fift cause of Christs agonie might be the cup of gods wrath tempered and made readie for the sinnes of men In the hand of the Lorde is a cuppe saith Dauid it is mixed full the wine thereof is redde all the wicked of the earth shall wring and drinke the dregges thereof In this cuppe are all manner of plagues and punishmentes for sinne as well spirituall as corporall eternall as tâ—mporall The mixture of which â—â—ppe Christ perfectlie knowing and carefullie shunning the dregges thereof earnestlie prayed this cuppe might passe from him I knowe diuers men haue diuerâ—â—iâ— expounded these wordes of Christ some thereby collecting two willes shewed in Christ a diuine and humane the one submitting it selfe to the other some noting a difference betwixt the vnwillingnesse of our flesh and readinesse of the spirite euen in the manhoode of Christ some also thinking that Christ corrected and reuoked his petition suddenly â—lipt from him by the vehemencie of griefe which tooke from him the present remembrance of gods heauenly decree In this varietie of iudgements to refuse none that agréeth any way with the rules of truth Christ might behold three things in the cuppe of Gods wrath and by his praier accordinglie decline them to wit eternal malediction corporall castigation aboue his strength and the separation of his bodie by death from the fruition of God What was due to our sinnes Christ could not be ignorant and as he became man to quicken our souls that were dead not to kill his owne and to bring vs to God not to seuer himselfe from God so knowing what our sinnes deserued he might intentiuelie pray to haue That cup passe from him which was prepared for vs was heard in that he declined or feared Christ saith Paule in the dayes of his flesh did offer vp praiers and supplications to him that was able to saue him from death and was heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the reuerence had of him for so Chrysostome Theodorete Oecumenius and others not vnlearned as I thinke in the Gréeke tongue doe interprete the worde or as others delight rather to say He was heard in that he feared 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying feare and care as wel as reuerence Paule meaneth that praier saieth Theodorete which CHRIST made before his passion when he said Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me And indéed
like manner shalt thou finde all the passions of our flesh to haue beene stirred in Christ but without sinne that beeing stirred they might be repressed by the power of the godheade dwelling in him and our nature by that meanes reduced to a better temper Ambrose in other wordes saieth as much Sequestrata deloctatione diuinitatis aeternae taedio meae infirmitatis afficitur Suscepit enim tristitiam meam vt mihi suam laetitiam largiretur vestigijs nostris descendit vsque admortis aerumnam vt nos suis vestigijs reuocaret advitam Debuit ergo dolorem suscipere vt vinceret tristitiam non excluderet nos disceremus in Christo quemadmodum futurae mortis maestitiam vinceremus And so he concludeth Hic alto operatur effectu vt quia in carne sua peccata nostra perimebat maerorem quoque animae nostrae suae animae maerore aboleret Laying aside the delight of his aeternall deitie Christ is affected with the tediousnesse of my infirmity and deiected himselfe to feele the griefe of death as we doe that by following his steps he might reduce vs to life hee was therefore to admit sorrowe that he might conquer sorrowe and not keepe it off and wee to learne in Christ howe we should ouercome the feare of death approching In his agonie hee wrought with a deepe effect that because in his flesh hee killed our sinnes he might also with the sorrow of his soule extinguish the sorrowe of our soules So the sorrowe and feare of death which it pleased our sauiour to féele in our nature came not for want of strength but of purpose to quench and abolish those affections and passions in vs that the faithfull for euer might bee fréed from them through his grace working in their hearts And therefore we haue no cause to excuse much lesse to reproch Christes weakenesse but rather to admire his power and praise his mercie that woulde submit himselfe to these infirmities of our nature thereby to cure them in vs and to strengthen vs against them and to make vs partakers of his wonderfull courage and patience the steps wherof we may dailie find not in martyrs onelie but in all his members when they are tried with anie kinde of outwarde or inward affliction Howbeit I may not omit how great an ouersight it is to conclude that Christ if he feared death in his agony was far fâ—ebler then martyrs which ioifullie die yea then malefactors which oftentimes go to their death verie resolutely The desratenesse of the wicked which haue neither feare nor care of God till they féele the force of his wrath in hell fire is no fit comparison for the sonne of God no more then the sinke of sinne is to swéeten the fountaine of grace I will therefore skippe that ouer with silence But if death bee not fearefull to the seruants of Christ as indéede it is not they are the more bound to their Lord and master who in his owne person to make the waie easie for them with the losse of his life disarmed death for euer and brake the chaines in sunder wherewith death and hell were coupled together For Christ was the first that by seuering death from the terror and power of hell made the stroke of death contemptible to all the godlie which otherwise was and would haue béene the harbinger of hell So that when death presented it selfe to the sight of our sauiour purposing to redeeme the world it came so fast clasped with hell that none but the sonne of God could dissolue the band wherewith they were linked And therfore Christ had far greater cause then anie of his members to feare and with earnest praier to decline the â—aile of death which did wound both bodie and soule with euerlasting destruction if he did not take awaie the sting thereof and by his sundring the one from the other which was the hope of all his saints before he died and faith of al the godlie since death was and is to all beléeuers no cause of feare but rest from their labors and passage to a better life The feare then which Christ had and shewed of death was either the curing of our infirmities in his flesh or the breaking the knot betwixt death and hell which none but he was able to doe or the mitigating of Gods anger which might be executed on his bodie or lastlie the desire hee had to continue the féeling and enioying of Gods presence and coherence with bodie and soule in the vnitie of his person and if in anie of these wee charge Christ with nicenesse wee knowe not what we saie except we will bee guiltie in a worse issue which I perswade my selfe was no part of their meaning that first broched this matter The last cause of Christs agony might be the sanctifying of himselfe to praie for trangressors and the voluntarie dedicating of his bloud to bee shed for the redemption of mankind for where some coniecture Christ did sweate bloud for feare Hilarie plainâ—lie denieth it and saieth Sudoremnemo audebit infirmitati deputare quia contra naturam est sudare sanguinem nec infirmitas est quod pot estas non secundum naturae consuetudinem gessit No man shoulde dare attribute Christs bloudy sweate to infirmitie because it is against nature to sweat bloud and can bee no weakenes which power did aboue the course of nature Austen maketh it a signification of the martyrs bloud that should willinglie bee shedde throughout the church for the testimonie of the trueth Ideo toto corpore sanguineÌ„ sudaâ—it quia in corpore suo id est Ecclesia Martyrum sanguinem ostendit Christ sweat bloud along all his bodie to this ende that he might shew the bloud of martyrs in his bodie which is the church Prosper agréeth with S. Augustine in iudgement and saith Oranscum sudore sanguineo dominus Iesus significabat de toto corpore quod est Ecclesia emanaturas martyrum passiones The Lorde Iesus praying with a bloudy sweat signified the sufferings of the martyrs that should be in his whole body which is the church Bede thereby noteth that Christes praier made for his Apostles was hearde and that by his bloud he should not onelie redresse the frailtie of his disciples but quicken the whole earth being dead in their sinnes Nemo sudorem hunc infirmitati deputet sed intelligat per irrigatam sacratamque eius sanguine terram non sibi qui nouerat sed nobis apertè declaratum quod effectum suae precis iam obtineret vt fidem discipulorum quam terrena adhuc fragilitas arguebat suo sanguine purgaret quicquidilla scandali de eius morte pertulisset hoc toruÌ„ ipse moriendo deleret immo vniuer sum latè terrarum orbem pâ—ccatis mortuum sua innoxia morte caelestem resuscitaret ad vitam Let no man attribute Christs bloudie sweat to infirmitie but rather learne that by sprinkling and hallowing the
pono pro ouibus meis I lay down my LIFE for my sheep Diligit me pater quia pono animaÌ„ meaÌ„ vt iteruÌ„ sumaÌ„ eam My father loueth me because I lay downe my life to take it againe And indéed that phrase PONTRE ANIMAM in the Scriptures doth alwaies note a voluntary yeelding of the life which is A LAYING ASIDE OF THE SOVLE for y e loue of others as where Peter saith Ponam animam meaÌ„ pro te he did not meane he would go to hel for his master there was no cause nor néede thereof but I wil lay down MY LIFE for thee And when S. Iohn telleth vs Quoniam ille animaÌ„ suaÌ„ posuit pro nobis nos debemus animas ponere pro fratribus hee doth not charge vs to hazard our soules by sin or hel for others but insomuch as Christ gaue HIS LIFE for vs wee ought to GIVE OVR LIVES for our brethren So that for Christ to LAY ASIDE HIS SOVLE or to POVRE IT OVT VNTO DEATH was not to suffer hell paines for our sakes but to die for our sins al those places are rather coherent theÌ„ dissident to the rest of y e scriptures which I alleaged And yet because the ancient fathers some times saie that Christ gaue his soule for our soules as hee did his flesh for our flesh the scriptures often affirme hee gaue himselfe I will come to the third effect of Christs crosse which is the MIGHTY POVVER OF HIS DEATH and there examine what part of Christ died for our sinnes and howe by his death the guilt of sinne the curse of the lawe the sting of death and the strength of Satan are not onelie weakened and wasted but extinguished and abolished that they shal neuer preuaile against him or his elect That the Sonne of God loued vs gaue himselfe for vs making the purgatioÌ„ of our sinnes in his own person by the sacrifice of himself to put away sinne is a case so cléere that it néed not to be prooued much lesse may be doubted without apparant subuersion of the christian faith but whether Christ suffered the death of the whole man his soule tasting for the time an inwarde and spirituall death in satisfaction of our sinnes as his flesh did an externall corporall dissolution of nature this by some men is questioned in our daies That for our sakes he humbled himself was obedient vnto death euen the death of y e crosse is out of al doubt the Euangelists describe the maner of his death the apostles the cause to wit the REDEMPTION of our sins the CONFIRMATION of the new testament the RECONCILIATION of man to God the DESTRVCTION of him that was ruler of death the IMITATION of his obedience who suffered for vs leauing an exaÌ„ple y t we should follow his steps Al this he performed with y e death of his flesh the Scriptures no where mentioning anie other kinde of death that I can read Where a testament is there must be the death of him that made the testament r For the testameÌ„t is confirmed when men are dead Christ is the mediator of the new Testament that through death which was for the redemption of the trespasses in the former Testament they which are called might receiue the promise of eternall inheritance This plainelie expresseth the death of the bodie For God forbid mens Testaments should be frustrate till their soules haue tasted the second death but from the death of the bodie all testaments take their force Wherefore the new testament is confirmed by the bodilie death of Christ and there neede no paines of hell before it can be good You y â— in times past were strangers and enemies in mind by euill works hath he nowe reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to make you holie vndefiled and faultlesse before him Paul thought it not enough to saie Wee were reconciled vnto God by the death of his sonne but that death he addeth was IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH to exclude all supposals of the death of the soule since THE BLOVD OF CHRISTS CROSSE did PACIFY thinges in earth and in heauen For so much as the children were partakers of flesh and bloud hee also did therein partake with them that through death hee might destroy him that had power of death euen the deuill The death of the spirit maie bee without fâ—esh and bloud as we see in the Deuils who are dead in spirite But Christ tooke flesh and bloud that by the death of his flesh hee might destroie the deuill that insulted and raigned ouer the weakenesse of mans flesh Wee are buried with Christ by baptisme into his death and if we bee grafted with him into the similitude of his death we shalbe likewise into his resurrection knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sinne might bee destroied that henceforth wee shoulde not serue sinne for hee that is dead is freed from sinne So manie wordes so manie reasons to prooue that Christ died not for vs the death of the soule but onelie of the bodie Wee are buried with him by Baptisme his bodie not his soule was buried Wee are grafted into the similitude of his death not the soule but sinne dieth in vs when we are grafted into Christ for hee quickeneth our spirits Our olde man was crucified with him his soule was not crucified but his flesh that the body of sinne might be destroied by the death of the soule the body of sinne is strengthned and encreased That henceforth we should not serue sinne they must needes serue sinne whose soules are deade with sinne He that is dead is freed from sinne but he that is deade in spirit is subiected to the force furie of sinne The death of Christ then is mentioned no where in the Scriptures but the verie words or circumstances doe cléerely confirme that they speake of the death which he suffered for vs on the crosse IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH That Christ did or could suffer the death of the soule is a position far from the words but farther from the groundes of the sacred scriptures For in God there is no death and without God there is no life of the soule So that it is neither possible for the soule ioyned with God to die nor for the soule separated from God to liue Then if Christs soule were at anie time deade it lost all coniunction and communion with God and consequentlie the personall vnion of God and man in Christ was for that time dissolued and the grace and presence of Gods spirit were vtterlie taken from him and so during that space there coulde bee in Christ neither obedience humility patieÌ„ce holines nor loue which are the fruits of Gods spirit yea the soule of Christ if it were but for an houre depriued of Gods grace and spirit must néedes for that time be subiected to all
sinne and wickednesse which the diuel himselfe dare not auouch of the soule of Christ. Men maie doe well therefore to beware how they venture vnaduisedlie to saie that Christ suffered the death of the soule for howsoeuer they may frame vnto themselues a new kind of death in the soule of Christ as they thinke far from these absurdities and blasphemies yet both scriptures fathers mightilie contradict that loose if not lewde assertion With thee is the fountaine of life saith Dauid to God Then if the soule of Christ were alwaies ioined with God or so much as in Gods fauor it must needs haue life for in Gods fauour there is life Yea the presence of Gods spirit giueth life Spiritus est qui viuiâ—icat it is the spirit y t quickneth saith our Sauiour and Paul citeth the same words Where then THE SPIRIT OF GOD is there is LIFE and consequently the soule y t is dead is depriued of Gods spirit Now from whom the spirit of God is departed in him must néeds want al the fruits of Gods spirit and so the soule that is dead is excluded from all godlinesse and vertue For these are not onelie signes but effectes of Gods spirit working in the soule of man And since between righteousnes and vnrighteousnes there is no middle the soule of man wanting light truth and sanctitie of force must be filled with darkenes error iniquity which to surmise in the soule of Christ is the hight of all impietie As manie as are led by the spirit of God they are the sonnes of God If Christes soule wanted at anie time the spirit of God he was not the sonne of God If he euer and alwaies had the spirit of life dwelling in him his soule coulde at no time be dead For the spirite is life through righteousnesse But whie seeke we proofes that Christes soule could not die since he himselfe is the AVTHOR and GIVER OF LIFE I am the waie the truth and THE LIFE saith our Sauiour He that beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life I am the resurrection and the life hee that beleeueth in mee though hee were dead he shall liue And hee that liueth and beleeueth in me shal neuer die If the soule of him that beleeueth in Christ shal neuer die how could Christ himself at anie time die in soule Christ is our life howe then shall we be sure neuer to die if the fountaine of our life in Christes person might for the time bee dried vp with death shall we haue fuller or perfiter fruition of life then Christ Iesus our heade who giueth life to all his sheepe but he had so plentifull perpetuall and personall possession of life not onelie for himselfe but for vs all that the Apostle saith the first Adam was made a liuing soule the last Adam was made a quickening spirit that is not only to haue life in himself but to giue life to others Could hee then at anie time be a deade soule whome the holy ghost affirmeth to be made a QVICKENING SPIRIT could he giue that to others which himselfe did lacke or loose that which he once had I know to giue life is proper to God and for that cause the soule of Christ could not haue that power by creation but by coniunction with his godhead and in that respect was the receptacle whereby the life and grace of his diuine nature was deriued into his humane with such abundance and assurance that of his fulnes we al haue receaued insomuch that the words which he spake were spirit and life and the flesh which he tooke was the bread of life yea the body of Christ dying did not only resist and represse the force of death but rising againe destroied death restored life to the world If the temple of his bodie were stronger then death what was the sanctuarie of his soule I wish therfore all men that professe themselues christiaÌ„s to be soberlie minded and with the learned and auncient fathers to acknowledge that there is not mentioned in the scriptures anie death of the soule besides SINNE eternall DAMNATION neither of the which with anie moderation or mitigation can be attributed to Christ without shamefull blasphemie Anima peccans ipsa morietur The soule that sinneth that soule shall die In these wordes are both deaths of the soule expressed the first voluntarie when for the delights of sinne wee refuse the preceptes of God the other necessarie when God by his iustice withdraweth his presence from vs and executeth his VENGEANCE on vs that neuer shall haue end That sinne is a death of the soule cannot be denied Let the dead bury their dead saith Christ to one of his disciples follow thou me Which must néedes be meant of such as are liuing in body dead in soule as Paule speaketh of wanton widowes she which liueth in pleasure is dead whiles shee liueth These the scripture calleth DEAD IN SINNE When we were dead by sinnes God quickened vs together with Christ. And again You which were dead in sinnes hath he quickened together with Christ forgiuing you all your trespasses From this death I make no doubt but all christian men with heart and voice will cléerelie discharge the VNSPOTTED and VNDEFILED Lambe of God who did no sinne neither was there any guile found in his mouth The other kinde of the death of the soule which is damnation must be farther from Christ then euer was sinne For not onelie Christes innocency should bee vniustlie condemned which were altogether repugnant to Gods righteousnesse but the sonne of God wronged and mans saluation wholy subuerted Nothing might befall the humane nature of Christ which was vnfitting for his diuine both being ioined in one person And if our Sauiour were condemned to hell which way shall we thinke to scape the iust and fearefull iudgement of God for our manifold and grieuous sinnes he was indéed condemned by man that gaue wrongfull sentence of death against him but hee was acquited of God And because hee humbled himselfe to the death of the crosse God highly exalted him and gaue him a name aboue all names as well in witnesse of his innocencie as in reward of his humility Yea the holie ghost which euidently recordeth Christes assurance confidence and reioicing in God as hee hung on the crosse cleane excludeth all suspicion that he suffered the death of the soule For the soule in this life can haue no fuller nor faster coherence with God then Christ had And since God is the true life of the soule the inseparable coÌ„iunction of Christes soule with God proueth a continuall perswasion and fruition of eternal life which by no meanes admitteth anie danger or doubt much lesse anie sence or sufferance of the second death being the iust wages of sinne whereby the wicked are euerlastinglie punished Certe aâ—ima Christi non solum immortalis
Touching the place Thaddaeus one of the seuentie taught as wee heard out of Eusebius that Christ descended into hell and brake the wall that was neuer before broken From the deade manie rose before Christes death and therefore the partition betwixt death and life was often broken by others before Christes resurrection but from hell neuer returned anie but onelye Christ by reason that wall was neuer broken but by the Sonne of GOD. Athanasius in like sorte In suae ad nostri similitudinem forma nostram inibi depingens mortem vt in ea resurrectionem pro nobis concinnaret ex sepulchro quidē corpus animam vero ex ORCO reducem faceret vt in morte mortem dissolueret per exhibitionem animae per sepulchrum corporis in sepulchro corruptionem aboleret ex orco verò sepulchro immortalitatem incorruptionem ostendit in forma nobis consimili viam nostram emensus nostramque detentionem relaxans hoc ipsum eximij miraculi fuit In his likenesse to our nature Christe accomplishing our death that in the same hee might perform his resurrection for vs ' brought his BODIE OVT OF THE GRAVE his SOVLE OVT OF HEL that in death he might dissolue death by presenting his soule there and by the buriall of his bodie he might abolish corruption in the graue So that euen from hell and from the graue hee shewed immortalitie of the soule and incorruption of the body treading the verie way that we should haue trod in the likenesse of our nature and releasing of our detention And this was a marueilous wonder When Athanasius saith that Christ in his humane nature trodde the verie same way of death that wee should haue done his bodie and soule going to those very places whither ours should haue gone he doth not mean the place of rest where y e soules of the righteous were before Christs comming but the place whither the souls of men were condemned for the sin of their first father which is not Paradise nor Abrahams bosome but the place of the damned where the true death of the soule and wages of sin are by Gods iustice inflicted Heare his owne words Vbi corruptum fuerat humanum corpus eó suum corpus protecit Iesus vbitenebatur anima humana in morte ibi exhibuit humanam suam animam vt ipse inuictus à morte tanquam hominem se praesentem ostenderet solueret catenas mortis vt Deus vt vbi seminata fuerat corruptio inde exoriretur incorruptibilitas VBI REGNAVERAT MORS IN FORMA HVMANAE ANIMAE ibi ipse ille mortalis praesens immortalitatem exhiberet atque ita NOS PARTICIPES redderet suae incorruptibilitatis immortalitatis per spem resurrectionis ex mortuis Where the bodie of man vsed to rot thither Iesus cast his body and VVHERE THE SOVLE OF MAN VVAS HELD IN DEATH there did he exhibite his humane soule that hee being in no wise to bee conquered by death might both shewe himselfe there present as man and yet break the chaines of death as God that where corruption was sowed thence incorruption might rise euen from the graue where death raigned ouer mens soules which must néedes be in hell there he being present as a mortall man might demonstrate his immortalitie and so make vs partakers of his incorruption in flesh and immortalitie in soule by the hope of resurrection from the dead And because Hilarius and Fulgentius doe so fullie concurre with Athanasius that if we trulie conceiue the one we shall easilie vnderstand the other you shall see the same doctrine which the other two follow more fullie deliuered by Athanasius Quide Adae inobedientia quaestionem habuit indicioque peracto duplicem paenam in sententia sua complexus erat dum rei terrestri italoquitur Terraes in terram reuerteris at que ita pro decreto domini corpus in terram abscedit animae dixit morte morieris atque hinc est quod homo in duas partes discerpitur et vt ad duo loca discedat condemnatur Ac proinde upos fuit illo ipso iudice qui hoc decretū tulerat vt ipse per se sententiā solueret sub specie condēnati incondēnatū se sincerūque a peccatis ostēdens vt hominem deo reconciliaret hominemque totum in libertatem vindicaret I am si mihi alium locum condemnationis praeter hos duos ostendere potestis merito hominem dixeritis tripliciter diuidi Quod si tertium aliquem locum ostender◠non potestis PRAETER SEPVLCHRVM ET INFERNVM ex quibus plané ereptus est homo Christo assertore per suam speciem cum nostri similitudine congruentem cur igitur dicitis deum nondum propitiatum esse Hee that examined Adams disobedience and in the ende of his iudgement comprised in his sentence against Adam a double punishment speaking thus to the terrestriall part of man earth thou art aad to earth shalt thou returne and according to this decree the Lords body was laid in earth euen he said to the soule thou shalt die the death and thereupon man dying is distracted in two partes and condemned to two places Insomuch that it was requisite the verie same iudge which pronounced this decree should by himselfe dissolue this sentence in the shew of a man condemned but yet prouing him selfe to be vncondemned and cleere from sinne that he might reconcile man to God and reduce the whole man to libertie Nowe if you can name me any other place whereto man was condemned besides these two rightly may you thinke man after death is to be deuided into three places but if you can shewe me no third place besides the graue for the bodie and hell for the soule from both which man is fullie freed Christ deliuering him with like parts of himselfe answerable to our nature how say you then that God is not yet satisfied The whole man in Adam was in such sort condemned for sinne that his bodie returned to corruption in the earth and his soule departed to tormentes in hell which is the death of the soule after this life To the verie same places whither man was condemned in the same partes of our nature the sonne of GOD vouchsafed to descende that by the lying of his bodie in the earth our bodies might at the last daie bee raised out of the earth and by the presence of his soule in hell on which the force of hell coulde not fasten our soules might for euer be deliuered from comming thither This condemnation of the bodie to the graue and of the soule to hell for sinne is that law of humane necessity which Hilary speaketh of wherto the Lord Iesus submitted himself not that his flesh should sée corruption or his soule tast of dānatiō but y t by the presence of his body in the graue of his soule in hell he might shew himselfe inuincible to both
contrarie to their course must needs import that he reioiced in nothing so much as in that shamefull death which the Sauiour of the world endured on the crosse and to that and he saieth in the former Chapter where hee more largelie hâ—ndleth this matter If I yet preach circumcision why doe I yet suffer persecution Then is the slaunder of the crosse abolished meaning there was none other cause why the Iewes hated and persecuted him but for preaching Christ crucified to bee the true and onlie meane of our saluation without circumcision or whatsoeuer ceremonies of the law As the text is cleere with the sense â—hich I followed so the fathers concurre with the same Christ saieth Austen chose that kind of death to hang on the crosse that a Christian might saie â—ar be it from me to reioice but in the crosse of Christ. Chrysostome vpon this place what is the reason saith hee that Paul so reioyceth in Christes crosse because Christ for my sake â—â—oke the shape of a seruant and for my sake endured that hee suffered Adding farâ—her Annon est gloriandum quum ille dominus quiverus est deus non erubescit pro nobis crucem subire Haue we not good cause to reioice when that Lord which is true God was not ashamed to endure the crosse for vs Paul doth not reioice saith Ierom in his owne righteousnesse or knowledge but in the faith of the crosse by which all my sinnes are pardoned me Christ bearing his crosse on his shoulders saith Bede commendeth it that Paul might saie be it far from me to reioice but in the crosse of Christ. He was despised in the eyes of the wicked for that wherein the heartes of the Saintes should reioice I staâ—e somewhat longer gentle Reader on this point for that as it had bin a childish ouersight in me at the verie first entrance to mistake the meaning of my text so it is more then a malepart tricke in him vniustlie to chalenge me for it but I maâ—e the better content my selfe with it since this Refuter sâ—icketh not to vse all the Fathers with like disdaine whereof I will giue thâ—e an example or two that thou maiest see the headinesse of this hasty writer In the contents of Christs crosse I obserued out of Augustine Ierom and Bernard that no violence of death wrested Christes soule from him as it doth ours but when he sawe his time hee euen at an instant laide it downe of himselfe no paines hastening his death This is a pâ—radoxe in Nature saieth this Controller and contrary to scripture which saith he was like vs in all things sinne only excepted You might giue the learned and auncient Fathers better wordes Sir trister what soeuer you do me your wits are too weake to refute their resolution For where like a Pâ—ncée you praie you know not what they ground themâ—â—lues on the plaine and expresse wordee of the scriptures No man saith our Sauiour taketh my soule from mee but I laâ—e it downe of my selfe I haue power to laie it downe and haue power to take it againe Howe thinke you Sir coulde anie violence or paines of death take Christes soule from him or had hee power to laie it downe when and as he woulde which no man else euer had or shall haue you replie he was like vs in all things sinne only excepted Such proofes became well your person Was he like vs in his birth can we lie in the graue without corruption as he laie or raise our selues from death as he did Reade more for shame and write lesse till you bee better aduised or better instructed Upon these words of Christ I haue power to laie down my soule and haue power to take it again Chrysostom writeth thus vtrumque nouum fuit praeter communem consuetudinem Potestatem habeo ponendi eam hoc est ego solus potestatem habeo quae vobis non est Both these powers were strange and aboue the common course of men I haue power to laie down my soule that is I ALONE haue this power which you haue not If you denie this that Chrysostom saith remember what God himselfe saith ô foole this night shal they fetch away thy soule froÌ„ thee which Christ saith none could do from him because he had power by his fathers appointment to laie it down of himselfe In like sort when I shewed not mine own opinion but the iudgments of the ancient fathers as well for the causes that might be of Christes agonie in the garden as for the meaning of his complaint on the crosse my God my God why hast thou forsaken me obserue gentle Reader I praie thee how absurdly he roleth from the one to the other how insolentlie he reiecteth al the fathers for that they vphold not his humour of hell paines to be the ground of both I alleaged Ierom and Chrysostom that Christ on the crosse cited the beginning of the 22. Psalme My God my God why hast thou forsaken me that the Iewes might knowe they had fulfilled the words of the prophet Dauid in that psalme foreshewing the passioÌ„ of Christ. His answere is this sence is most absurd To Athanasius Augustine and Leo that Christ spake those words in the person of his church which then suffered in him and with him he saith This is no lesse absurd then the former there is no reason or likelihood for it When I brought Ierom Ambrose Austen and Bede that in the garden Christ might sorrow for the reiection of the Iewes who would pul the vengeance of God on their owne heads to the vtter destruction of their whole nation by putting him to death this Confuter foolishly and forgetfâ—lly maketh this an interpretation of Christes complaint on the crosse and addeth This is more fond and absurd then the other So when among other causes of Christs agony in the garden that might â—e for I tooke vpon me to determine none being sixe in number I brought this for one out of Ambrose that Christ sorrowed for vs was SAD for vs and GRIEVED for vs he LAMENTED OVR VVOVNDES not his OVR VVEAKENES not his owne death This in effect saith hee is nothing but what wee affirme howbeit this ought not to haue anie place heere how could these wordes hang together when hee meaneth to tell his father howe zealous hee is for his glorie to saie My God my God why hast thou forsaken me There is no fashion in them thus signifying What you speake boldlie but erroneouslie of the sonne of God It cannot bee strange if often times Christ fell amazed confounded and forgetfull of himselfe for feare and griefe I maie trulie and iustlie say of you it is not strange to see you amazed confounded and forgetfull in your writing What I spake of Christes agonie in the garden you applie to his complaint on the crosse and sale the words will not hang
CVRSE is powred vpon vs written in the law of Moses because of our sinnes Ierusalem and thy people are a REPROCH to all about vs. If the scriptures were not cleare that shame and reproch is a chiefe part of Gods curse against sinne howe manie wise men and good men choose death before shame What generous nature doth not more decline slandering then wounding In common reason to which you appeale howe can it bee lesse wrong or griefe to whippe the soule with reproches then the bodie with scourges Uerily our Sauiour who best knoweth the waight of both giueth like reward to both Blessed are you when men reuile you and speake all maner of euill against you for my sake falselie reioice and be glad for great is your reward in heauen As you shuffle with the shame which our Sauiour suffered on the Crosse so you doe with his death affirming that Death may in no sort heere be called a curse because death to the godlie is no curse properlie nor punishment of sinne but a benefite and aduantage You are too yoong a Doctor to controll Saint Austen whose wordes I haue alledged in the Treatise at large His resolution is that when Paule saieth Christ was made a curse for vs he meant Christ died for vs. Idem est mortuus quod maledictus quoniam mors ipsa ex maledicto est It is all one to saie Christ died for vs and hee was accursed for vs because death came from the curse This you denie for that the godlie after death goe to heauen which is rather a benefite then a curse to them Good Sir it is no benefite of death it selfe but Christes blessing after death that departing this life wee goe to heauen Did you incourage men to die since of force for sinne dwelling in their bodies they must die it were well said that death is rest from their labours and an entrance into blisse for so Christ hath prouided for his when they goe hence but if you will reason what death is in it selfe you must resolue it to be a part of Gods curse inflicted on Adam for sinne and from him naturallie deriued to all his posterity from which though our soules be exempted and our bodies shall be restored yet it remaineth to this day a part of Adams punishment which can not bee auoided though it must not bee feared because Christ hath ouerthrowne the force and feare therof with his death By one man saith Paul meaning Adam sinne entred into the world and by sin death I hope it entered not as a blessing God doâ—h not vse to blesse sinne but it entered as a part of the wages of sinne or curse for sinne and so it doth and shall continue to the ende The last enemie that shall be destroied saith Paul is death when this mortall hath put on immortalitie then is death swallowed vp in victorie till then the sting of death is sinne If the death of the bodie be an enemie and must be destroied by Christs second comming then is it no blessing for those shall increase when hee appeareth in glorie If Christ be in you saith Paul the spirit is life for righteousnes sake the bodie is deade because of sinne If sinne bee the cause of death yet seazing on our bodies it can bee no blessing that riseth from so badde a cause neither could the resurrection of our bodies which Christ hath promised and we expect at the last day bee so great a ioy as it is if the corruption of our bodies in the meane time were a blessing Gods blessings be not contrarie one to the other S. Austen learnedlie resolueth this question in this sort Boni benè moriuntur quamuis mors sit malum The godlie die well though death be euill Mors hominis ex poena peccati est quia ex peccato factum est vt moriatur The death of mans body commeth from the punishment of sinne because sinne brought it to passe that man dieth This conclusion in exact wordes Prosper collecteth out of saint Austen Mors etiam pâ—orum poena peccati est The corporall death euen of the godlie is the punishment of sinne This collection to bee true S. Austen himselfe confirmeth Si vero quom mouet cur velipsam patiantur si ipsa poenapeccati est quorum per gratiam reatus aboletur tam ista quaestio in alio nostro opere quod inscripsimus de Baptismo paruulorum tractata ac soluta est If it moue any man why they whose sinne is abolished by grace doe yet suffer the death of the bodie if that death bee a punishment of sinne that Question I haue handled and resolued in another worke of mine intituled of the baptisme of infants The effect of his resolution here is this Per ineffabilem dei misericordiam ipsa poena vitiorum transit in arma virtâ—tis sit merituÌ„ iusti etiam suppliciuÌ„ peccatoris NON QVIA MORS BONVM ALIQVOD FACTA EST QVAE ANTEA MALVM FVIT sed tantam deus fidei praestitit gratiam vt mors instrumentum fieret per quod transiretur in vitam By the vnspeakeable mercie of God the verie wages of vice becommeth an instrument of vertue and the punishment of a sinner is made the merite of the righteous not that death VVHICH BEFORE VVAS EVILL IS NOVV BECOME ANIE GOOD THING but God hath shewed so great fauour to our faith that death is the waie or meane by which wee shall passe to life And so concludeth that Pie fideliterque tolerando auget meritum patientiae non aufert vocabulum poenae By induring the death of the bodie religiouslie and faithfullie the merite of patience is increased but the name of the punishment is not altered And if death were nowe no part of the punishment of our sinnes but a gaine to the godlie as you woulde haue it by what meanes I praie you came it so to bee Not by the resurrection of Christ conquering death and changing the nature of it Then till Christ was risen death was a punishment to the faithfull themselues and consequentlie when Christ died for our sinnes hee tooke vpon him a part of our curse which after he turned as you saie into a blessing Primus parens propter transgressionem mortis poenam intulit verum superceniens Christus haec omnia abstulit Neque enim mors vltra mors est sed nomen tantum habet mortis Our first parent by his transgression brought in the punishment of death But Christ comming after tooke all away For death is no longer death but hath onelie the name of death Ipsam mortem quamuis esset poena peccati pro nobis tamen sine peccato Christus per soluit Death it selfe saieth Austen though it were the punishment of sinne yet Christ that was without sinne vndertooke it for our sakes And so for anie thing you haue yet said or shall euer be able to say
Christ died which was not againe quickned but still left dead then that parte suffered perpetuall death which is not onelie plainelie false but openlie blasphemous Then must this stande for an vndoubted grounde that whatsoeuer part of Christ was dead the same must be quickned againe to auoid the eternall death of anie part And if anie part of Christ néeded not quickning or restoring to life it neuer died for quickning is heere the restoring of life to that which was dead and not the giuing of life to that which had none before Then if Christs soule died of force it must either be quickned againe or kept vnder eternal death but to saie that Christs soule was quickned or made aliue IS ABSVRD AND MOST FALSE Ergo to saie that Christes soule died IS ABSVRD AND MOST FALSE You will aske me howe I proue the Minor or second parte of this Argument if Saint Austen did not helpe me to proue it the Confuter will Loe Sir Refuter your own words in the very same place take care I praie you that I misrepeat them not for if I hit theÌ„ right you wil proue your selfe as verie a baby as euer suckt a bottle BOTH THESE saie you ARE ABSVRD AND MOST FALSE that Christ was made alïue either in his HVMANE SOVLE OR BY THE SAME Sée and shame if there be anie grace or sense in you that going about purposelie to prooue that Christs soule died and was crucified you set this for a preface vnto it it is ABSVRD and most FALSE that Christ was made aliue in his humane soule which without any shift or colour you do saie must saie before your conclusion can be true except you wil flie to this that Christes soule died in deede but was neuer restored to life or made aliue againe which if wee come to I must proclaime you no longer foolish but blasphemous Howbeit I hope you will rather see your follie then fall to this frensie for my part I wish you better counsell and more reading and although you tell me of errors corrupt fansies and vayne imaginations shameful questioÌ„s toyish fables fond absurd without sense or reason when I doe but repeat the iudgementes of the ancient and learned Fathers yet I will beare them at your hand and from my heart doe pittie your ignorance for I hope it bee but ignorance howsoeuer you take vpon you to controle all as fond and absurde that yeelde not to your humour For the cleering of this place of Peter wherein the Confuter hath so much ouerseene himselfe I stand not vpon the aduantage of his wordes but vpon the sounde and learned exposition of Saint Austen whose antiquitie and authoritie concurring with the truth of the scriptures doth please me I trust christian reader wil content thee Christus spiritu viuificatus est cuÌ„ in passione esset câ—rne mortificatus Quid est enim quod viuificatus est spâ—ritu nisi quod eadem Caro qua sola fuerat mortificatus viuificante spiritu resurrexit Nam quod anima fuerat mortificatus Iesus hoc est eo spiritu qui hominis est quis audeat dicere cum mors animae non sit nisi peccatum a quo ille omnino immunis fuit Certe anima Christi non solum immortalis secundum naturam caeterarum sed etiam nullo mortificata peccato vel damnatione punita est quibus duabus causis mors animae intelligi pâ—test ideo non secundum ipsam dici potuit Christus viuificatus spiritu In ea re quippe viuificatus est in qua fuerat mortificatus ergo de carne dictum est Ipsa euim reuixit anima redeunte quia ipsa erat mortua anima recedente Mâ—rtificatus ergo carne dictus est quia secunduÌ„ solam carneÌ„ mortuus est viuificatus autem spiritu quia spiritu operante etiaÌ„ ipsa caro viuificata surrexit Christ was quickned by the spirit when in his Passion he was put to death in his flesh What meaneth it that he was quickned by the spirit but that the same flesh in VVHICH ONLY HE DIED rose againe by the quickning of the spirit For that Iesus DIED IN SOVLE I meane in his humane spirit VVHO DARE AFFIRME IT where as the death of the soule is nothing in this life but sinne from which he was wholie free Surelie the soule of Christ was not onlie immortal by nature as others are but neither died by sinne nor was punished by any damnation which are the two waies how the soule maie possiblie die And therefore Christ could not bee said to bee quickned in soule by the spirite for in that part was hee quickned in which hee died Therefore it was spoken by Peter of Christs flesh That reuiued when the soule returned because that died when the soule departed Christ then is sayd to bee done to death in his flesh for that hee died ONLY IN HIS FLESH and to be quickned by the spirite because that verie flesh rose againe being quickned by the working of the spirite These learned and sound conclusions of S. Austen are derectlie repugnant to your weake and false obseruations Syr Refuter Christ died in the flesh saith Peter that is saith Austen in THE FLESH ONLY for the soule of Christ died not since the death of the soule is either sinne in this life or damnation in the next both which were farre from Christ. You tell vs that Christs soule not onlie died but was also crucified and all the proofe you bring for it besides Terence is that Peter saith Christ died in the flesh Now the flesh saie you signifieth as well the soule as the bodie and so Christ died in both but such proofes if you vse them often will prooue you to haue a great deale lesse religion and learning then you would seeme to haue What death the Scriptures affirme Christ died for vs if you bee now to séeke at these yeares it is pittie your shoulders haue beene so long troubled with your head Can there bee fuller or plainer words then those which the foure Euangelists vse in describing the death buriall and resurrection of the bodie of our Sauiour Shew but one such word in Scripture or father that Christs soule died at the time of his Passion and take the cause He layd downe his soule vnto death you will saie You should haue done well in your pamphlette at least to haue laid that downe for a shewe and not vpon your single word to haue vouched so weightie a matter as the death of Christs soule is but you must be borne with your wits are often not at home What is ment by this that Christ laid downe or yéelded his Soule vnto death S. Austen largelie disputeth in his 47 treatise vppon S. Iohns Gospell The effect is when Christ laid downe his soule vnto death his bodie died and not his soule Quid fecit Passio quid fecit mors nisi corpus ab anima separauit
but in the garden Christ neuer praied with strong cries and teares to be saued from death that we read in the scriptures and He was heard saith the Apostle in that he feared or shunned From the death of the crosse hee was not saued that therfore was not the effect of his praier for he was heard in that hee asked He desired therefore to be saued from ETERNALL death and that the cup of Gods euerlasting malediction might passe from him and in that he was heard At least then wil they say Christ feared euerlasting death against which he instantlie praied with stroÌ„g cries tears The number of our sinnes and power of Gods wrath hee coulde not choose but see being ordained the sauiour of the world to heare the one and appease the other and therefore if we grant that the sight of both did for the time somewhat astonish the humane nature of Christ aduisedly considering she waight of both I 〈◊〉 no great inconâ—enience therein so long as they impressed nâ—thing in the soule of Christ but a religious feare to Sorrow for the one and to pray against the other But distrust of his owne saluation or doubt of Gods displeasure against himselfe we cannot so much as imagine in Christ without euident want of grace and losse of Faith which we may not attribute to Christs person no not for an instant It is weakenesse of â—aith in vs to feare or forget the promises of God when the conscience of sinne accuseth vs. What then will it be for the soule of Christ after so manie promises and oathes made by God to annoint and send the Sauiour of the world after so manie cleere and full assurances of Gods loue and fauour towards his person to stagger at the certaintie of Gods counsell at the light of his owne knowledge and at the truth of his fathers voice so often denounced and confirmed with thunder from heauen I refraine to speake what wrong it is to put either doubtfulnes or forgetfulnesse of these thinges in any part of Christes humane nature Why then did hee praie that the cup might passe from him he had no néed to pray for himself but onely for vs who then suffered with him and in him On vs it might haue staied being seuered from him as the iust wages of our sin against him it could not prenaile because nothing could befall him either against his will or vnfit for the sonne of God Wherefore the force and effect of his praier chieflie concerned vs Being then comprised in his bodie in which wee were crucified buried and raised togither with him And touching himselfe albeit the innocencie of his cause the holinesse of his life the merit of his obedience the aboundance of his spirit the loue of his father and vnitâ—e of his person did most sufficientlie gard him from all danger and doubt of eternal death yet to shew the perfection of his humilitie he woulde not suffer his humane nature to require it of right but proâ—raâ—â— on the earth be sought his Father That cuppe might passe from him and was heard in that he â—â—unned or anâ—â—ded For though God were long before resolued to accept the death and bloud of his sonne for the sinnes of the world yet by this meanes Christ did sée howe déerelie God loued him that for his sake and at his request released the last bengeanâ—â— of mans sinne tooke the 〈◊〉 of eternall malediction not from him onlie but from vs all at his mediation howbeit to shew the confidence he had in his father and to bring his obedience to the highest degrée that might be hee did after his religious dislike of that cup which wee had deserued simplie and whoâ—â—e submit himselfe to his fathers pleasure without anie condition or exception in saying to his father Not as I will but as thou wilt Not 〈◊〉 by striking any terror of hell into the sence of his flesh as some would haue it but fully resting on his fathers will and goodnesse towardes him as in the surest hauen of his hope and ouâ— helpe against all the power of death and hell A second thing which Christ might iustlie feare and earnestlie praie against though his soule were neuer so safe was the power of Gods wrath to be executed on his bodie vnlesse it pleased God to lighten the burden of mans sinne For God was armed with infinite vengeance to afflict and punish the bodie aboue that the humane flesh of Christ was able to endure Since therefore Christ was not onelie with meekenesse to beare but with al willingnes to offer to abide the hand of God laid vpon him by what meanes soeuer hee might pray that the cup of his passion might be proportioned to the strength of his flesh which was but weake in respect of Gods power and therein also he was heard For the cup which his father gaue him to drinke by the hands of the wicked did passe from him without oppressing his patience or shaking his obedience Thirdlie Christ might feare his verie passion not as weaker in courage then martyrs or malefactors but as perfecter in nature then either of them The more we enioie the presence of God in soule or in bodie the greater griefe it will be and must be to lacke the sence hereof euen for a short time The flesh of Christ then which had not onelie a personall coniunction but also a wonderfull fruition of God aboue all men liuing might well he loath to leaue the same and yéeld to death not as timorous through infirmity but as desirous in pietie to kéepe that sence and feeling of Gods presence which not onlie the soules but also the bodies of his Saintes shall hereafter enioie and which Christ had here on earth in greater measure then we can expresse as being personallie vnited to the diuine nature though as yet not glorified with immortalitie And where some auouch it had beene in Christ a shamefull nicenesse to be so afflicted with the feare of his passion albeit S. Augustine saie well Non est vllo modo dubit andum non eum animi infirmitate sed potestate turbatum We may by no meanes doubt that Christ was troubled not for any weakenesse of hart but through his own power yet Cyril granteth that Christ as a man abhorred and feared death and addeth that except he had voluntarily shewed our feare in himselfe and quenched it we had neuer beene fréed from it Omnia Christus perpessus est vt nos ab omnibus liberaret Sicut igitur nisi mortuus esset mors non extingueretur sic nisi timuisset non essemus nos à metu liberati nisi doluisset non cessassent dolores nostri Christ suffered all that he might free vs from al. As therefore except he had died death had not beene conquered so vnlesse he â—ad feared we had not beene deliuered from feare and if he had not sorrowed our sorrowes could not haue ceased And in
was God and man As the Sonne of God coulde not bee REIECTED no more could hee bee ACCVRSED He that is ioyned with God must needes bee partaker of Gods goodnesse God is the fountaine of all bliâ—â—e hee therefore filleth with his blessing all that are vnited vnto him And if we when we cleaue vnto him by faith and loue must needs deriue from him ioy and blisse coulde the soule of Christ bee personallie ioyned with him and not be perpetuallie blessed by him Though then it pleased our Sauiour to suffer a cursed kinde of death for our sinnes and by receyuing that curse in his flesh to quench the spirituall and eternall curse that hung ouer our heades yet his souls was neuer accursed since he was alwaies beloued and the curse of God compriseth not onelie the anger and hatred but the intolerable and vnceaseable vengeance of God which pursueth the souls and bodies of the wicked with flaming fire for euer For how could al nations of the earth be blessed in him if he himselfe were accursed but God sent him to blesse vs hee must therefore be stored with fulnes of blessing first for himselfe then for vs all And could we frame our tongues which I hope all Christians with heart detest so much to dishonour the person of Christ as to auouch him to be trulie reiected and accursed of his Father for the time bee it neuer so short yet we must not shew our selues so void of al sense as to say that Christs soule suffered HEL FIRE which is the perpetuall and essentiall punishment of all the damned Let vs not come within that danger of so desperate follie not to knowe or not to care what we defend or affirme It should haue some proofe it should haue some truth whatsoeuer is held for matter of faith That Christes soule was tormented with hell fire I aske not what proofe or truth but what shewe can bee pretended The fire of hell they will say is metaphoricall they that go thither shall find it no metaphore It is no good dallying with Gods eternall and terrible iudgements The Scriptures are so plaine and so full of the parts and effects of fire in hell that I dare not allegorize them Christ maketh the rich mans soule in hell to saie I am tormented in this flame Saint Iohn saith it is a lake burning with fire and brimstone Daniel saith a firie streame issued from before Christ sitting in iudgement Paul saith it is a violent fire which shall deuoure the aduersaries God himselfe saith a fire is kindled in my wrath and shall burne to the bottome of hell and shall enflame the foundations of the hilles If therefore the paines of the damned come in question it is not safe to measure them by our imaginations but to giue eare to the holie ghost who can best expresse them and by him wee learne that if anie man worshippe the beast and his image he shall drinke of the wine of the wrath of God and shall bee tormented in fire and Brimstone before the holie Angels and before the lambe And the smoke of their torment shall ascende euermore and they shall haue no rest night nor daie Into this fire if we cast Christes soule we must take heede our proofes bee sound and sure least our presumption exclude vs from the place where Christ is and leaue vs in the lake where hee neuer was there to learne what it is rashlie to conclude the thinges that are not confirmed by the word of God But I perswade my self few men of learning or religion will venter on this desperate resolution that Christs soule here on earth suffered hell fire and therefore to propose it is inough to confute it The last thing in hell fire is that it is eternal For as there is no remission of paine so thence is no redemption but once adiudged thither is euerlastinglie fastened to that place of torment And this is cause inough to staie all men that bee soberlie minded from defending that Christs soule suffered the paines of hell which the holie Ghost saith are endles They which knowe not God and obey not the gospell shall suffer paines euen euerlasting perdition from the presence of the Lord saith the Apostle to the Thessalonians And so Peter to whom the myst of darkenesse is reserued for euer And Iude Sodome and Gomorrhe are set for an example which suffer the punishment of euerlasting fire Yea Christ himselfe pronounced that fire to be vnquenchable Wherefore vnlesse we can shew a later and better warrant then I yet see we shall do well not to enterprize to quench hell fire but to let it burne eternallie and to confesse with Peter that God raised Christ breaking the paines of death and hell of which it was impossible he should be held For since he was and is the Sauiour of his body the paines of hell which are eternall could not take hold on him He was mightier then hell that saued vs from hell hee could not frée vs from the chaines of darkenesse but he must first breake them in sunder His deliuering vs from the power of Satan proueth him to be stronger then Satan and the stronger could neuer be bound by the weaker but contrariwise he entred into Satans house where his chiefe strength was and bound him and so spoiled him This comparison Christ maketh betwixt Satan himselfe by which he concludeth that he was stronger then Satan and consequentlie could not himselfe bee bound by death or hell but ouercame satan and tooke all his armour from him wherein he trusted and deuided the spoiles And where some men begin to doubt whether eternal continuance be of the nature substance of hell or no they shall doe well to leaue these dangerous and fruitelesse speculations For whether they looke to the persons for vvhom or the crimes for vvhich or the Iudge by vvhom it was prepared they shall euerie waie find it must be eternall It was prepared for the diuell and his Angels and to them coulde no punishment be allotted but euerlasting except we will giue possibilitie of grace and hope of repentance vnto diuels It is the wages of sinne which being an infinite contempt of the diuine maiestie must by the balance of iustice haue infinite vengeance in waight or in length And since no creature is able to beare an infinite burden and sence of paine of force all sinnefull creatures must bee condemned to an infinite length of punishment which is hell fire Lastlie as God is eternall and cannot change no more can his iustice or iudgement alter with time but as his truth abideth for euer so his iudgment being iust and good is irreuocable consequently the vengeance of sinne can neuer cease as proceeding from the righteous iudge of the world in whom is no shadowing nor varying And therefore Paul calleth the iudgement aeternal wherby God shall rewarde
secundum caeteraruÌ„ naturam sed etiam nullo mortificata peccato vel damnatione punita est quibus duabus causis mors animae intelligi potest Surely the soule of Christ saith Austen was not only immortall in nature as the rest but was NEITHER DEAD WITH ANY SIN nor PVNISHED WITH DAMNATION which two wayes the death of the soule may be vnderstood If then neither transgression nor damnation may be ascribed to the soul of Christ it is euident he suffered not the death of the soule yea to subiect the soule of Christ to either of these two deaths which onelie are the deaths of the soule were more horrible blasphemie then I hope anie Christian man meaneth to incurre But I mistake the death of the soule I must confesse I therein followe the sacred Scriptures and ancient fathers other kinde of death of the soule I know none because I reade none iustlie prooued These two are manifest in the scriptures That sinne killeth the soule besides manie other places before cited Saint Paule shortly sheweth in these words SIN REVIVED BVT I DIED for sinne deceiued me and slue me And likewise our sauiour except you beleeue you shall die in your sinnes That euerlasting death is the wages of sinne I take it to be as cleare a case as the former These shal go into euerlasting punishmeÌ„t saith Christ to the wicked They shall be punished with euerlasting perdition saith Paule of the ignorant and disobedient The smoke of their torments shal ascend euermore saith Iohn in his Reuelation The lake burning with fire and brimstone this is the second death Howe the ancient fathers define the death of the soule is soone séene by their writings Dicam audacter fratres sed tamem verum Duae vitae sunt vna corporis altera animae sicut vita corporis anima sic vita animae deus Quomodo si anima deserat moritur corpus sic moritur anima si deserat Deus I wil speake boldlie saith Austen but trulie There are two sortes of life one of the bodie another of the soule As the soule is the life of the body so God is the life of the soule as if the soule depart the body dieth so dieth the soule if God forsake it Mors proprie non est â—a quae animam à corpore sed quae animam à Deo separat â— Deus vita est quia Deo separatur mortuus est That is not properly death saieth Cyrill which seuereth the soule from the bodie but that which seuereth the soule from God God is life and therefore hee that is separated from God is dead Anima quae peccat moritur non vtique aliqua sui dissolutione sed merito moritur Deo quia viuit peccato Ergo quae non peccat non moritur The soule which sinneth dieth sayeth Ambrose not by anie dissolution of her substaunce but worthilie dieth shee vnto God because shee liueth vnto sinne The soule then which sinneth not dieth not Anima in corpore vita est carnis Deus vero qui viuificat omnia vita est animarum Sicut mors exterior ab anima diuidit carnem ita mors interior à Deo separat animam The soule in the bodie saith Gregorie is the life of the flesh but God that quickeneth all things is the life of the soule as the outwarde death diuideth the bodye from the soule so the inward death diuideth the soule from God Sicut anima vita est corporis ita Deus vita est animae Mors animae separatio à Deo mors corporis separatio animae à corpore As the soule is the life of the bodie so God is the life of the soule saith Bernard The death of the soule is to be separated from God the death of the bodie is the departure of the soule from the bodie Neither doe I sée howe this definition of the death of the soule can be auoyded or amended For can there be life from any other but onelie from God If it bee good it must come from the fountaine of all goodnesse andâ— none is good but onelie God Then the soule which is partaker of God is partaker of life and to be seuered from God is to be seuered from life which is the true description of death Rightly therefore do the auncient Fathers teach that Christ dying for our sinnes suffered ONLY THE DEATH OF THE BODIE but not of the soule and the scriptures wheresoeuer they mention the death of Christ must haue the like construction For the soule of Christ could not die so long as it had the presence and assistance of Gods spirit yea we leaue him neither faith nor hope loue nor ioy obedience nor patience nor any other merites or vertues if wee subiect him to the death of the soule for these are the buds and fruits of life From which if we cannot exclude the soule of Christ no not for a moment without sacrilegious impietie it remaineth that Christ neither suffered nor tasted the death of the soule but onelie the death of the bodie In his bodie he bare our sinnes on the tree and reconciled vs vnto God in the BODY OF HIS FLESH THROVGH DEATH when we were straungers and enemyes in heart by reason of our euill workes Quid est enim quod viniâ—icatus est spiritu nisi quod eudem caro QVA SOLA FVERAT MORTIFICATVS viuificante spiritu resurrexit Nam QVOD ANIMA FVERAT MORTIFICATVS IESVS hoc est eo spiritu qui hominis est QVIS AVDEAT DICERE cum mors animae non sit nisi peccatum à quo ille omnino immunis fuit Mortificatus ergo carne dictus est quia secundum SOLAM CARNEM mortuus est What is meant by this that Christ was quickened in spirite but that the same flesh IN WHICH ONELIE HE DIED rose againe quickened by the spirite For that Iesus was DEAD IN SPIRIT WHO DARE AVOVCH I meane in his humane spirite since as the death of the soule is nothing but sinne from which hee was altogither free And least wee shoulde thinke this slipte his penne elsewhere hee largelie and learnedlie handleth the same matter Diabolus per impietatem MORTVVS EST IN SPIRITV carne vtique mortuus non est nobis autem impietatem persuasit per hanc vt in mortem carnis venire mereremur effecit Quô ergo nos Mediator mortis transmisit ipse NON VENIT hoc est ad MORTEM CARNIS ibi nobis Dominus Deus noster medicinam emendationis inseruit quam ille non meruit By sinne the Diuell DIED IN SPIRIT in flesh he died not but to vs hee perswaded sinne and thereby brought vs to deserue the death of the flesh Whither then the mediator of death cast vs and came not himselfe that is to the death of the bodie euen there the Lord our God appointed a medicine to cure vs which the Diuell neuer
VNA SVA CORPORALI ac voluntaria benigne potenter occurrit ILLAQVE SVA VNA NOSTRAM VTRAMQVE DAMNAVIT Where man was condemned vnto a double death to witte in either part of his nature the one death spirituall and voluntarie the other corporall and necessarie God beeing made man did mightilie and mercifullie release both our Deathes with his ONE CORPORALL and voluntarie Death and with THAT ONE DEATH OF HIS DESTROYED BOTH OVRS And so concludeth Dum sponte tantum in corpore moritur vitam nobis iustitiam promeretur VVhiles Christ dyed willinglie and ONELY in his BODY he merited for vs both righteousnesse and life I hope to all men learned or well aduised it will séeme no Iesuiticall phrensie but rather christian catholike doctrine that the son of God dying for our sinnes suffered NOT THE DEATH OF THE SOVLE but ONLIE OF THE BODIE by the hands of the Iewes and by the bodily bloudie sacrifice of himself did not only redeeme clense both our souls bodies but destroied sin death purging our transgressions by the merit of his obedience swalowing vp death by power y t of his life And howsoeuer the scriptures sometimes affirme that hee gaue himselfe a ransome for all men and the Fathers likewise teach that hee gaue his flesh for our flesh and his soule for our soules yet neither Scriptures nor Fathers haue anie meaning either to subiect Christ to the death of the soule which assertion they abhorre as wicked or to diminish the force or fruit of his bodily death which they extoll as most sufficient but to expresse that in the death of his flesh on the crosse his soule did suffer the sense of paine and smart of death which parted the bodie and soule in sunder and so ioyntlie with the bodie and seuerallie by it selfe the soule of Christ had not onely temptations afflictions and passions but euen endured the naturall sting and sharpenesse of death to which he submitted his soule that he might haue the feeling of our infirmities and in all things bee tempted as wee are but still without sinne How Christ gaue himselfe wholy for vs we maie learne out of Bernard Sicut TOTVM HOMINEM saluâ—m fecit sic DE TOTO SE HOSTIAM fecit salutarem corpus exponens tantis supplicijs iniurijs animam vero geminae cuiusdam humanissimae compassionis affectui inde super moerore inconsolabili sanctarum foeminarum inde super desperatione dispersione discipulorum In his quatuor crux domiâ— mea fuit As Christ saued the VVHOLE MAN so of HIMSELFE WHOLIE hee made a wholesome sacrifice yeelding his bodie to so great torments and wrongs and his soule to the feeling of a double most tender compassion on the one side for the vncomfortable greefe of the holie women on the other side for the desperation and dispersion of his disciples In these foure consisted the crosse of Christ. Since then the death of Christ did both affect and afflict his soule and his bodie iustlie might Irenaeus say The Lord bought vs with his owne bloud and gaue his soule for our soules and his flesh for our flesh For in dying hee layde downe his soule not onelie to sorrowe gréefe and paine but euen to the bitter diuorce of death that brake the communion of bodie and soule Sicut TOTVS SEMETIPSVM tradidit TOTVS HOMO SEMETIPSVM OBTVLIT ita totus homo ANIMAM SVAM POSVIT cuÌ„ anima in cruce moriente carne discessit As WHOLE Christ gaue HIM SELFE saith Fulgentius and the WHOLE MAN OFFERED HIMSELFE so the whole man LAYD DOWNE HIS SOVLE wheÌ„ the flesh dying on the crosse the soule departed So that Christ yéelded his soule for our soules to the susception of sorrow prepossion of paine and dissolution of nature but vnto the death of the soule he did neither offer nor yéelde himselfe since that is a separation from God and exclusion from grace from which it was vtterlie impossible the soule of Christ could either willingly or forceablie for an houre be remoued yea where you find the suffering of his soule witnessed there shall you see the DEATH OF HIS FLESH ONELIE to be auouched Quia TOTVM HOMINEM deus ille suscepit ideo TOTIVS HOMINIS in se passiones in veritate monstrauit ammam quidem rationalem habens quicquid fuit infirmitatis animae sine peccato suscepit pertulit vt dum humanae animae passiones in anima quam accepit vinceret nostras quoque animas ab infirmitatibus liberaret Carnem quoque humanam accipiens in eiusdem veritate carnis veritatem voluntariae habuit passionis vt IN CARNE MORTVVS TOTAM in se HOMINIS OCCIDERET MORTEM Because the sonne of God tooke vnto him the WHOLE NATVRE of man therefore he shewed in himselfe the sufferings OF THE VVHOLE MAN and hauing a reasonable soule he tooke vpon him and endured all the infirmities of the soule but without sinne that whiles in the soule which he tooke hee conquered the passions of mans soule he might free our soules also from infirmities Taking likewise mans flesh in the truth of the same flesh he suffered a true and voluntarie passion that DYING IN THE FLESH hee might kill in his person the WHOLE DEATH dew to man Christ endured the passions of the whole man hauing neither bodie nor soule frée from suffering but yet he died ONLY in the FLESH and thereby he killed the WHOLE DEATH inflicted on the body and soule of man Quis ignorat Christum IN SOLO CORPORE MORTVVM sepultuÌ„ Who is ignoraÌ„t that Christ in BODY ONLY DIED and was buried And againe Sicut in MORTE SOLIVS CARNIS immortalis fuit sic in passionibus totius hominis impassibilis omnino permansit The godheade of Christ was immortall when ONELY HIS BODY DIED and impassible when the whole man suffered Moriente carne non solum deitas sed NEC ANIMA CHRISTI POTEST OSTENDI COMMORTVA When Christs bodie died not onelie his deitie but his SOVLE CANNOT BE SHEWED TO HAVE BEEN PARTAKER OF DEATH Wherefore I easilie admitte the wordes of Nazianzene to be true that euerie part in man is sanctified by the like in Christ our condemned flesh by his flesh our soule by his soule our vnderstanding by his vnderstanding yea I dislike not the wordes of Cyrill Carnem suam in redemptionis pretium pro omnium carne dependit animam suam similiter pro omnium anima redemptionis pretium constituit quamuis iterum reuixerit vita secundum naturam existens Christ yeelded his flesh as a ransome for the flesh of all men and made his soule likewise a price to redeeme the soules of all though he were restored againe to life as beeing life by nature so long as we abuse not his wordes to maintaine our fansies impugning his generall and setled doctrine that sufficient for the redeÌ„ption of the
world is the DEATH OF HIS FLESH ONLY nor thereby take occasion to defend that his bloud is not able to iustifie or sanctifie the beléeuers Sanguine suo hoc est SVAE CARNIS SANGVINE iustificat omnes in se credentes With his bloud that is with THE BLOVD OF HIS FLESH he iustifieth all that beleeue in him SI NON ALIO MODO SALVANDVS ERAT mundus nisi in SANGVINE ET CORPORE morti VTILITER derelicto quo pacto non necessarius verbo incarnationis modus vt iustificet in saÌ„guine suo credeÌ„tes in se conciliet patri per morteÌ„ sui corporis If the world MIGHT NONE OTHER VVAY BE SAVED but by Christes leauing his BODIE AND BLOVD VNTO DEATH for our good howe was not the taking of flesh necessarie for the sonne of God that by his bloud hee might iustifie such as beleeued in him and BY THE DEATH OF HIS BODIE reconcile them to God his father Quomodo sanguis communis hominis nos sanctos efficeret sed sanctificauit sanguis Christi Deus igitur non simpliciter homo deus enim erat in carne SVO SANGVINE nos purificans How could the bloud of a common man make vs holie BVT THE BLOVD OF CHRIST DID SANCTIFIE VS He was therefore God and not simplie a man For he was God in FLESH THAT CLENSED VS VVITH HIS BLOVD When the ancient fathers affirme that Christ died for vs THE DEATH OF THE BODY ONLY and that the BLOVD OF HIS FLESH doth saue and sanctifie the beleeuers we must not like children imagine they speake of insensible flesh or that in those wordes they exclude the vnion operation or passion of the soule whiles Christes bodie suffered and died that were to make Christ a stocke not a man and to giue him carrion and not humane flesh quickened and coupled with life and soule but in the death of his bodie shedding of his bloud they include all those afflictions and passions of the soule which naturally necessarily follow paine accompany death For these sufferings of Christs soule confirme his obedience witnes his patience only their intent is by all meanes to frée Christ from THE DEATH OF THE SOVLE and then to propose the death which hee suffered in the bodie of his flesh on the crosse with all painefull but no sinneful câ—â—comitants and consequents as the propitiation for our sinnes redemption of our soules and reconciliation vnto God by which al y e aduersaries of our saluation the law sinne death and Satan are vtterlie conquered and abolished And thus farre forth they haue the scriptures expresselie concurring with them The bloud of Iesus Christ his sonne clenseth vs from all sinne It must clense then our soules as wel as our bodies for they are the chiefe agents in sin Much more shall the bloud of Christ purge your consciences from dead works Conscience is a part of the soule not of the bodie Thou hast redeemed vs to God by thy bloud saie the saintes in heauen whose bodies lie in the dust of the earth Redemption remission of sinnes iustification sanctification and such like effectes of the bloud of Christ are PRINCIPALLY and PRIMARILY in the soule and by consequent in the bodie And therefore there can be no question but the bodilie death of Christ is the redemption of our soules as well as of our bodies in as much as the whole maÌ„ in Christ died the death of the crosse to redéeme the whole man in vs both partes in him ioyntlie féeling but with admirable patience enduring the bitter and sharpe paines antecedent and annexed to the death of his bodie Cum caro in doloribus est in poenis profecto anima tunc habet maximum agonem patientiae When the flesh is in anguish and paine saith Austen then the soule certainly hath the greatest triall of patience For the soule is so created and ordained that shee feeleth the pleasure and paine of her bodie and howsoeuer the flesh bee subiected to violence the sence and grieuance thereof is in the soule both in this life and in the next As the bodilie death of Christ paieth the price of our redemption so it remoueth all the impediments of our saluation which are manie and mightilie linked together For by the CORRVPTION of nature descending from our parents and dwelling within vs wee are solde vnder sinne fulfilling the will of the flesh and louing pleasures more then God whereby we neglect and breake the LAVV of God and so incurre the CVRSE pronounced against the transgressours of the law and by that obligation are liable to ETERNAL DEATH This is the chaine of originall infection actuall transgression legall malediction and eternal damnation which draweth vs from God and bindeth vs as prisoners and captiues to death and hell If then the DEATH of Christ suffered IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH loosed euery linke of this chaine and not onelie cleered vs from all these enemies and exactors but reconciled vs to God and made peace for vs by the bloud of his crosse it is a wrong to the death bloud of Christ either to disable theÌ„ as not sufficient to redéem vs or to supplie them with anie better or other addition which the holie ghost doth not mention Examine these particularlie and see whether the power of Christes death doe not perfectlie dissolue them all Our olde man is crucified with him that the bodie of sinne might bee destroied that henceforth we should not serue sinne Let not sinne raigne therefore in your mortall bodie saieth the Apostle that you should obey it in the lustes thereof The force and strength of originall sinne and corruption in all the faithfull is crucified and dead with Christ except they reuiue it by voluntarie obeying the lustes thereof For they which are Christes haue crucified the flesh with the affections and lustes by reason not onelie the guilt but also the life and power of sinne died in Christes flesh when it was crucified So that sinne nowe hath no dominion ouer them because they are not vnder the lawe but vnder grace And likewise for actuall sinne by Christ we haue redemption through his bloud that is the forgiuenes of sinnes For God hath proposed him to be a reconciliation through faith in his bloud by the forgiuenesse of the sinnes that are passed through the patience of God The bloud therefore of Christ Iesus his sonne clenseth vs from all sinne since he is the mediator of the new Testament whose death was for the redemption of the transgressions that were in the former testament If the death of Christ on the crosse and the shedding of his bloud were the iust and full redemption of all our sinnes then apparentlie it eased and ended the curse which the lawe inflictedâ— for sinne For where he is accursed that continueth not in al things written in the book OF
part to the state of the deade What néeded then an vnknowne hebrew phrase hee descended into Sheôl to expresse the verie same point which before was fullie and fairelie deliuered Againe though Sheôl be common to the bodies of the faithfull and infidels yet may it bee verie well doubted whether the soules of the righteous departed this life be in Sheôl or no. And vnder correction I take it to bee more then the Scripture anie where doeth positiuelie affirme My reason is that Abrahams bosome is by our Sauiour placed ABOVE PARRE OFF from the place where the wicked after this life are tormented Now to Sheôl the Scripture maketh a DESCENT not an ascent as when Iacob saieth I VVILL GOE DOVVNE TO Sheôl vnto my sonne mourning And againe you will bring my gray hayres with sorrow DOVVNE TO SHEOL And least wee shoulde dreame of a metaphoricall kinde of descent in the rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram the scripture saieth THE GROVNDE claue asunder that was VNDER THEM and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them vp with their families So they and all that were with them DESCENDED aliue into Sheôl and the earth COVERED THEM To Sheôl then the scripture maketh a locall descent which is either of the bodie to the graue for so Iacobs words must be vnderstood when he saith I will descende to Sheôl vnto my sonne or of the soule after death to the place of torment which is the rewarde of all the wicked The wicked saith Dauid shall be turned into Sheôl and al nations that forget God Where he doth not meane they shall die aswel as the godly which is likewise the lot of all the iust righteous but they shall haue the due wages of sinne both body and soule descending to Sheôl that is the one to corruption in the earth the other to damnation in hell For Sheol containeth both and importeth both to the forgetters and despisers of God albeit it fasten no farther on the godly then to bring their bodies to the graue which is the gate of hel Ezechiah mentioning in his praiers how he was willed by the prophet to prepare himselfe to die thus expresseth it I said in the cutting off of my daies I shal goe to the gates of Sheol I am depriued of the residue of my yeeres but y e wicked go to THE DEPTH OF SHEOL which is the place of euerlasting punishment The way of life saith Salomon is ON HIGH to him that vnderstandeth to decline froÌ„ SHEOL BENEATH So that after this life the soules that liue are aboue for the way to life is on high the soules that die go to the depth of Sheol euen to the bottomles pit of perdition Of him that hanteth harlots Salomon saith He knoweth not y t her ghests are in the depth of Sheol that is so wrapped in their sinnes that they cannot preuent euerlasting damnation And againe Thou shalt smite the child with the rod and shalt deliuer his soule froÌ„ Sheol Correction will not saue a â—hilde that hee shall not see death but it will bow him to obedience and so saue his soule from destruction Yea how should Dauid so often confesse to God that his soule was freed from Sheol if by Sheol hee ment the state after death for thence it was impossible his soule shuld be deliuered What man liueth shal not see death so pretious is the redeÌ„ption of the soule froÌ„ death that it must cease for euer And yet comparing himself with the wicked his state with theirs he saith Like sheepe shall they lie in Sheol death shal deuoure theÌ„ and the righteous shall haue dominioÌ„ ouer theÌ„ in the day spring But God wil deliuer my soule from the power of Sheol for he will receiue me Doth Dauid meane he shal neuer die or that his soule shalbe deliuered from Sheol that is from the state of such as were departed this life y e imagination were both false absurd but he meaneth that death shal deuoure the wicked wholie as well soule as bodie whereas he did firmly beleeue y t God would deliuer his soule from the power of Sheol would receaue him after death though his body must of force by the condition of nature waxe olde as a garment and rot in the graue til the day of resurrection And if anie man thinke good in some such places as these are to interpret the SOVLE for LIFE because it is the spring and cause of life in the bodie and SHEOL for the GRAVE where life endeth I will not vtterlie condemne his exposition so long as he leaneth a different power of Sheol ouer y e iust vniust froÌ„ which Dauid saith God will deliuer his soule and do not make the soules of the righteous DESCEND TO SHEOL after death For that directlie impugneth the doctrine as well of the olde testament which saith the way of life is on high as of our Sauiour who placeth Abrahams bosome VPVVARD A FAR OFF from hell when he saith of the rich man that being in hell in torments hee LIFT VP his â—ies and saw Abraham A FAR OFF and Lazarus in his bosome Upon which place S. Augusten learnedlie and trulie inferreth Ne ipsos quidem INFEROS VSPIAM scripturarum locis IN BONO APPELLATOS potuireperire Quod si nusquam in diuinis authoritatibus legitur non vtique sinus ille Abrahae idest secretae cuiusdam quietis habitatio ALIQVA PARS INFERORVM esse credenda est quanquam in ijs ipsis tanti magistri verbis vbi ait dixisse Abraham Inter nos vos chaos magnum firmatum est SATIS VT OPINOR APPARET NON ESSE QVANDAM PARTEM ET QVASI MEMBRVM INFERORVM tantae illius felicitatis sinum Chaos enim magnum quid est nisi quidam hiatus multum ea separans inter quae non solum est verum etiam firmatus est The name of Inferi I could no where finde in anie place of scripture vsed IN ANY GOOD SENSE which if wee doe no where reade in the authorities of the scripture surelie Abrahams bosome which is an habitation of secret rest may not be thought to bee ANY PEECE OF THE LOVVER PARTS albeit in the words of so sufficient a maister as our Sauiour where he maketh Abraham say betwixt vs and you there is a GREATE GVLFE ESTABLISHED it is EVIDENT ENOVGH as I take it that the bosome of so great felicitie is NO PART NOR MEMBER of hell For what is a great gulfe but a great distance separating those places betweene which it lieth Inferi are the lower parts where the deade remaine which the Hebrew calleth Sheôl and touching Inferi which are the places or spirits beneath we maie with S. Austen conclude two thinges out of the manifest wordes of our Sauiour First that Abrahams bosome is VPVVARD towards heauen and therfore the soules of the righteous before the death of Christ ascended rather
and place of his humiliation and when he rose againe all power in heauen and earth was giuen vnto him I was dead saith hee himselfe and behold I am aliue for euermore and I HAVE THE KEIES OF HELL AND OF DEATH that is all power ouer death and hell to shut and no man may open to open and no man may shut The Prophet Esay pointeth to the verie same CAVSE and TIME of Christes exaltation BECAVSE he hath powred out his soule vnto death THEREFORE will I giue him his portion with the great and hee shall diuide the spoiles with the mightie If FOR THAT CAVSE then AFTER THAT TIME Christ diuided the spoyles of the mightie or as the Apostle speaketh hee spoyled powers and principalities And noting exactlie the TIME of Christes triumph the Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ASCENDING ON HIGH HE LED CAPTIVITIE CAPTIVE This that hee ascended what meaneth it but that hee first descended into the lower partes of the earth Christ did not leade captiuitie captiue when hee descended into the lower partes of the earth but when hee ascended from thence The Diuels then which helde vs in captiuitie were themselues leade captiue when Christ ascended from the lower partes of the earth and then were powers and principalities SPOILED and openlie SHEVVED Christ TRIVMPHING OVER THEM not on the Crosse at the time of his passion but IN HIS OVVNE PERSON at the time of his resurrection and ascension An effect of this triumph is this that an Angell was sent in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn from heauen hauing the key of the bottomlesse pit and a great chaine in his hand And hee tooke the Dragon that olde Serpent which is the diuel Satan and bound him a thousand yeares And cast him into the bottomles pit and shut him vp and sealed vpō him that he should deceiue the people no more If a messenger from Christ had this power ouer Satan to binde him and shut him vp what commaund then had Christ himselfe ouer hell and Satan And how wholesome and gladsome a thing is it for vs to beléeue and confesse that Christ Iesus our Lord and sauiour hath Satan and all the pawers of hell chained at his will and by his conquest ouer them so ruleth and restraineth them that they can not stirre but by his leaue and appointment and thus shall he hold them captiue till hee deliuer the kingdome to God his father and throughly tread both death and Satan vnder our feete This doctrine I trust maintaineth no superstition but sound and true religion as well touching the partes as the time of Christs conquest and triumph ouer death and hell It resteth now to search what part of Christ had this triumph ouer hell for so much as Christ consisted of two natures diuine and humane his manhood by death was then diuided into two places the bodie being separate from the soule and lying in the dust of the earth but without corruption And first we must not referre this triumph to his diuine nature by reason it was no maisterie for god to conquer his vassall The seede of the woman must bruize the serpents heade and not the maker of heauen and earth with his almightie power maiestie Besides the godhead of Christ coulde neither truly DESCEND nor ASCEND as being euery where present nor be EXALTED as being equall with the highest nor RECEIVE GIFT as hauing all fulnes in it but that nature which led captiuity captiue did first DESCEND into y e lower parts of the earth after ASCENDED was EXALTED and RECEAVED this power and honour as a GIFT from God in respect of his obedience patience and humilitie The places are before alleaged there is no néede to repeat them It was then Christes humane nature which God so highlie EXALTED for his former obedience vnto death and to which all power was giuen in heauen and earth his diuine was euer in euen degree with his father full of maiestie power and glorie It is not to be neglected that Ireneus saith Si homo non vicisset inimicum hominis non iusté victus esset inimicus If a man had not ouercome the enemy of man the enemie had not lawfully beene ouercome Which proportion of iustice the Apostle vrgeth when he saith as by a man came death so by a man came the resurrection of the dead Since then the humane nature of Christ by condition might and by desert must bee exalted aboue all creatures and by the rule of iustice had the conquest of satan and his kingdome it is no harde matter to discerne which part of Christs manhood must ouerthrow death and which must triumph ouer hell The bodie of man whiles the first death lasteth is not due to hell it must lie dead and senselesse in the earth and so can neither liue nor feele the paines of hell Christes bodie then lying in the graue without SENSE MOTION OR LIFE could haue no conquest ouer hell ouer death it had being preserued in the graue without all corruption and raised from the deade to a blessed and immortall state without all imperfection Ouer hel it had none because that part of Christ which did conquere hel must haue as well MOTION TO DESCEND thither and POVVER TO REPRESSE there the rage of satā as also LIFE AND SENSE TO SPOILE powers and principalities and by leading them captiue to make an open shewe of them from al which the first death kept the bodie of Christ till the time that his soule ascending with triumph from hell tooke his body from death and so made a perfect conquest ouer hell and death not onlie for his owne person to whome all power was giuen in heauen and earth but for his members also for whose safety he tooke from Satan the keyes of hell and of death that he himselfe might be Lord of the dead the liuing So that now the power of hell is destroied and Satan restrained and the faithfull freed from all feare assured that the gates of hel shal not preuaile against them And this is that victorie which God threatened to death and hell by his prophet saying I will redeeme them from THE POVVER OF HEL I will deliuer them from death O death I will be thy death O HEL I VVIL BE THY DESTRVCTION repentance is hid from mine eyes So agréeable is this doctrine to the christian faith so comfortable to all the godly that few would refuse it except such as are waspishlie wedded to their owne fansies if it might appeare where this is written in the scriptures The which desire of religious mindes whiles I labor to satisfie I must forwarne them how easie it is for cōtentious spirits to frustrate the strength of all that God saith if they may be suffered with diuerse significations figuratiue interpretations to elude when they list the words of the holie ghost decline the literall
stronglie for which cause Dauid spake it then if wee applie the name of hell to the state of Paradise For if Christ did rise againe without corruption because his soule was not forsaken of God in Paradise then all the soules that rise not in like maner are forsaken of God though they still remaine in the rest and cōfort of Paradise which is a palpable falsity if not impietie But if neither the graue could corrupt his flesh nor hell detaine his soule what better assurance could be brought of his resurrection then that neither death could dissolue his bodie into dust nor hell preuaile against his soule And this I take to be S. Peters reason when hee saith to the Iewes Iesus of Nazareth haue ye taken by the handes of the wicked crucified and slaine whom God raised againe BREAKING THE SORROVVES OF DEATH in as much as it was IMPOSSIBLE he should BE HELD THER OF God made way for Christ to rise againe by BREAKING THE SORROVVES OF DEATH before him that they should not hinder him Christes bodie lying dead in the graue lacking sense could haue no sorrow In Paradise a place of rest ioie if his soule were there much lesse may we imagine any sorrow Since then the sepulchre hath no SENSE where Christs flesh lay Paradise hath NO SORROVV the SORROVVES OF DEATH must needes be referred to the paines of hel which were all loosed and dissolued before Christ because IT VVAS IMPOSSIBLE THEY SHOVLD TAKE HOLD OF HIM But Peter they will say nameth the SORROVVES OF DEATH and not of hell as if the name of death did not extende as well to the SECOND DEATH which is hell as to the first which is the dissolution of nature and THE SORROVVES OF THE FIRST DEATH Christ apparantly suffered as much as any man and they ended with death they dured not after death But in Peters words the sorrows of death were broken at Christs resurrection God raised him vp loosing the sorrowes or paines of death Wherefore the SORROVVES OF THE SECOND DEATH must necessarilie be vnderstoode those were all broken and dissolued before Christ by reason his soule was not forsakē in hell but vnited vnto God aided by the mighty hand of God to tread vpon al the power of y e aduersary in his own person to triumph ouer Satan and al the strength of the kingdom of darknes Lastly howsoeuer some presumers on their Hebrew may wrangle with the word Sheôl in Dauids speach thou wilt not forsake my soule in hel yet the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which S. Luke expresseth Dauids meaning doth properly import in the new testament the place of the damned I remit poets Pagans vsing that word after their prophane imagination to the alleagers in what sense the Euangelists and Apostles take it wil soone appeare by their writings Vpō this Rock saith Christ wil I build my church the gates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of hel shal not preuaile against it The church doth not assure the godly that they shall not die but that the gates of the second death shal not hurt thē When the merciles rich man died was buried as wee read in the gospel of S. Luke y e scripture saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being in hel in TORMENTS he lift vp his eies and saw Abrahā a far off Lazarus in his bosome I hope the soule of this rich man was neither in the graue nor in paradise but plainelie IN HEL euen in the PLACE OF TORMENTS where no mercy can be shewed nor release hoped for and that place state of the damned S. Luke calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and our Sauior expressing it maketh the rich man most truly to saie I AM TORMENTED IN THIS FLAME S. Iohn in his Reuelation noting the coherence of death and hell in the destruction of the wicked saith Behold a pale horse and his name that sate thereon was death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HEL FOLLOVVED AFTER HIM and power was giuen THEM ouer the fourth part of y e earth After death followeth none other death but HEL which is the second death and y t as it commeth AFTER the death of the body so is it distinguished from the death of the bodie because it killeth the soule for euer and that S. Iohn calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He doth the like in the 20. chap. of the same booke The sea saith he gaue vp her dead which were in her death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HEL deliuered vp her dead that were in them and death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HEL were cast into y e lake of fire this is the second death When our sauiour then saith I haue y e keies of death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of hel he doth not onlie mean the graues of dead bodies are subiected to his power but the place and paines of damned soules are likewise at his disposition And when Paule saith O death where is thy sting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ò hel where is thy victory he teacheth vs that God hath giuen vs the victory ouer DEATH AND HEL through our Lord Iesus Christ. That victorie Christ could not make vs partakers of except hee had first triumphed ouer them both in his owne person And that victorie Christ did foresee and foreshew when he said to God thou wilt not forsake my soule g d = fo in hell or leaue it to the power of hell but assist me there and bring me thence with safetie and victory If my collections were not allowed by the scriptures the generall faith and confession of all the fathers in all ages and countries since the first foundation of Christs church should moue men that are modest not hastelie to leape from the vniuersall consent of al places and persons grounding themselues on the manifest words of the sacred scriptures To quote them all were to increase another volume I will therefore content my selfe with shewing you how soone it began and howe long it continued in the church of Christ to be receaued and beléeued as a matter of faith Thaddaeus one of the 70. disciples mentioned in the tenth of Luke taught the citizens of Edessa within ten yeares after Christs death amongst other points of faith as Eusebius reporteth Quomodo Christus crucifixus fuerit ad inferos descenderit sepemque illam antea nunquam diruptam sciderit resurrexerit etiam ac mortuos qui à seculo dormierant vná excitauerit quomodo solus quidem descenderit multâ vero turbâ comitatus ad patrem ipsius ascenderit Howe Christ was crucified and descended into hell and ouerthrew the wall which was neuer before that time broken and rose againe and raised vp with him those y t had bin dead long before how he descēded alone but ascended vp to his father with a great multitude This report by
suffered for vs the wrath of God know you good Syr Christ suffered nothing at his Passion either in bodie or soule were it little or great but it was an effect of Gods wrath punishing Sinne or as you delighte to speake it was the wrath of God Well if you bée so loath to expresse your mind for feare you bewraâ—e your cause let vs heare your proofes Thus wee saie and constantlie auow Christ Iesus did suffer in his whole manhood for the Redemption and satisfaction of our Sinnes yea he suffered properlie and immediatlie in his soule and not in his flesh onlie As you haue begonne so you will goe on talking is your profession you did your selfe wrong when you came to writing This Antecedent as you vtter it your meaning is secret to your selfe doth neither good nor hurt to the Question That christ suffered in his whole manhood for the Redemption of our Sinnes is a thing by mee neuer doubted nor denied the doubt is what he suffered in his whole manhood and what in ech part of his manhood for that he suffered all that he suffered in his whole manhood your selfe doe disclaime in the next page when you saie This greeuous Passion was in his soule properlie and immediatlie seeing then his bodie was not touched with anie smart And when I gaue sixe causes that might bee of Christs agonie in y e garden did I so much as pretend that anie of them then touched his bodie when he was affected with this passion of mind And except this be your meaning that Christ suffered some things for our Redemption in his whole manhood and some things properlie and immediatlie in his Soule your Antecedent hath a flatte contradiction in it selfe For if he suffered all that he suffered in his whole manhood how could hée suffer anie thing properlie and immediatelie in his soule which is the second part of your owne Antecedent And if that bee the drift of your generall reason about which you spende 32. leaues you maie sit downe and begin againe a newe pamphlet that shall haue some more certaintie then this hath For heere you roue neither expressing nor indéede knowing what you woulde haue onlie you hide your selfe in this generall phrase that Christ suffered the wrath of God for sinne but vnlesse you specifie what he suffered I do not meane to brabble with you or with anie other about generall and vncertaine speaches What hee suffered more then the scriptures expresse for I faithfullie beléeue all that is there written I doe not easilie admit you or anie other such presumer to deliuer vpon your credits when you declare what you meane and prooue that you saie you shall soone haue an answere Christ you saie assumed not our nature nor any part of it but ONLY to suffer in it properly and immediately euen for the very purchasing of our redemption thereby Otherwise he had no neede to assume both but either the one part or the other See what it is good Reader for a man to loose himselfe in the wildernesse of his owne wit To proue that Christ suffered both in bodie and soule which is a thing by no man denied for the question is what he suffered and not whether soule and bodie were ioined in Christes sufferings this Refuter leapeth ouer head and eares into absurdities not onely against diuinitie but euen against nature and the verie law of our first creation That the sonne of God had no END nor PVRPOSE in taking our nature vnto his in the vnitie of person but ONLY to suffer for our sinnes is a bolde and lewd ouersight his ende and purpose in taking our nature was not onlie to suffer for vs but to doe all that for vs which in his life time and after his death by his resurrection ascension and mediation he did doth and will do for vs. By his owne mouth he reuealed to vs his fathers will from heauen by his example of life he taught vs all perfection of holinesse by his rising he swallowed vp our death by his intercession wee receaue all the giftes and graces of God which wee haue or shall haue by his sitting in heauen with our flesh he giueth vs assurance that our mortall bodies shall bee changed like to his glorious bodie yea the verie vnion of our nature to his is an effectuall meane to make vs one with him as he is one with God Had Christ not béene man we could haue had no interest in the fulnes of his obedience in the riches of his graces in the Communion of his spirit in the fellowship of his glorie which are the helpes supportes and meanes of our saluation as well as his suffering for vs and man hee coulde not bee without a soule and a bodie neither part ioyned with his diuine nature was sufficient to make him a man By the lawe of our first creation we are men consisting of bodies and soules and therefore Christ as our heade must haue both NOT ONELIE TO SVFFER FOR SINNE but also to quicken sanctifie and glorifie both our soules and bodyes that hee may perfite our saluation and bring vs to GOD without reiecting or excluding either parte of our nature Yea so aduised you are Sir Refuter in your reasons that by your owne assertion you conclude Christes flesh to bee needelesse for our Redemption for thus you saie This suffering of the soule by her bodie which is naturall and by sympathie onelie PROPERLIE DID NOT MAKE TO OVR REDEMPTION What is suffering good Sir in your learning The receauing of the blowes or the feeling of the paine If you beate or cut a deade carkas that hath neither life nor sense will you saie it suffereth I thinke not There must then bee life and sense in the bodie before it canne suffer or feele anie paine Nowe life and sense pertaine they to the bodie or else to the soule If you knewe not before as by the vnlearned discourse it seemeth you did not Saint Austen shall teach you except you will skorne him in this point as you do in others Si diligentius consideremus dolor qui dicitur corporis magis ad animaÌ„ pertinet Animae enim est dolère non corporis etiam quando ei dolendi causa existit a corpore cum in eo loco dolet vbi laeditur corpus Sicut ergo dicimus corpora sentientia corpora viuentia cum ab anima fit corporis sensus vita itâ— et corpora dicimus dolentia cum dolor corporis nisi ab anima esse non possit If wee well consider the paine which is called bodilie paine belongeth rather to the soule The soule feeleth the paine not the bodie euen when the cause of paine commeth from the bodie and the soule greeueth in the place where the bodie is hurte As then wee saie bodies are liuing and feeling when the life and sense of the bodie is by the soule so saie wee bodies full of paine when the paine
sacrifice to God and is in effect nothing but what we affirme You affirme that Christ died the death of the soule which you interpret to bee such paines and sufferings of Gods wrath as alwaies accompany them that are separated from the grace and loue of God You affirme that Christ suffered wonderfull and piteous astonishment forgetfulnesse and confusion of the powers of nature euen of all the powers of his soule and senses of his bodie yea he felt the verie diuels as the instruments that wrought the verie effectes of Gods wrath vppon him and though the wicked oftentimes find farre more intolerable horror of their sinnes then any other yet you doubt not but Christ as touching the vehemencie of paine was as sharply touched euen as the Reprobate themselues yea if it may be more extraordinarily All this you affirme and by your owne words all this is the ONLY TRVE and perfectly accepted sacrifice to God So then whosoeuer feeleth not all this hath no broken nor contrite heart nor anie longer then hee feeleth these hellish torments in his soule And if this be the ONLY TRVE sacrifice to God I will not aske what shall become of the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiuing but howe vnhappie are the godlie that at anie time are free from the paines of the damned and from the tormentes of hell since the suffering thereof is the ONLY TRVE and perfectlie accepted sacrifice to God Godly sorrow saieth the Apostle causeth repentance vnto saluation those wordes please you not such hellish sorrowes and intolerable horrors as the Reprobate themselues feele yea as the damned doe suffer this saie you is the ONIY TRVE and accepted sacrifice to God You must haue other sacrifices and those accepted before you come to heauen or else the Reprobate and damned will bee there as soone as you God send you his grace and grant your wits and senses bee not distempered and distracted you talke so much of hellish paines and torments executed by diuels as the only true sacrifice of a broken and contrite hart The Apostles wordes whereon you first grounded this odious assertion haue no such intention as you imagine By death Christ conquered him that had power of death that is the Diuel Aske the simplest childe y t is catechised in your charge if you haue anie what death Christ died for vs and hee will answere you out of his Créede Christ was crucified deade and buried and that is the death which the Scriptures describe and deliuer I deliuered vnto you saieth Paul that which I receiued how that Christ died for our sinnes according to the scriptutes what death if wee aske the Apostle he will answere the death of the Crosse. For we preach saieth he Christ crucified and I esteemed not to know any thing among you but Christ Iesus and him crucified Christ crucified then that is by his death on the crosse destroied him that had power of death Of what death you aske hath the diuell power as well of the second death which Christ coulde not suffer as of the first which hee did suffer Christ you will saie coulde deliuer vs from no death but from the verie same which he suffered himselfe If so you saie or so would saie it is no lesse then heresie or blasphemie Hee deliuered vs from euerlasting death which hee neither did nor coulde suffer If you saie hee deliuered vs not from euerlasting death it is open heresie if you saie Christ suffered euerlasting death it is blasphemie Yet hath the diuell power of both deaths as well temporal as eternall What power you aske hath the diuel of this death which our bodies die God made not that death but by the enuy of the Diuell it came into the world He was the first procurer of it by perswading sinne and still reioiceth in it as the verie gate to hel I shal goe said Ezechiah to the gate of hell which was the death of his bodie that waie the wicked passe to hell Yea the Apostle calleth the corruption of our bodies the sting of sinne wherewith the diuell pearced vs when this corruption hath put on incorruption ô death where is thy sting For the exposition of the Apostles words I may either say with S Austen Ipse Dominus mori voluit vt quemadmoduÌ„ de illo scriptum est per mortem euacuaret eum qui ptoestateÌ„ habebat mortis id est Diabolum liberaret eos qui timore mortis per tâ—tam vitam rei erant seruitutis Hoc Testimonio satis illud monstratur mortem istam corporis principe atque authore Diabolo hoc est ex peccato accidisse quod ille persuasit Neque enim ob aliud potestatem habere mortis verissime diceretur The Lord himselfe would die that as it is written of him by death he might destroie him that had power of death euen the diuell and deliuer them which for feare of death were all their life long subiect to seruitude By this testimonie it is sufficientlie prooued that this verie death of our bodies came from the Diuell as the Authour and chiefe dooer thereof that is from the sinne which hee perswaded He cannot for any other cause be said to haue power of death which here is most truly spoken Ambrose Chrysostom and Cyril referre death throughout that sentence to the death of the bodie In these wordes saie they the Apostle noteth an admirable thing that whereby the diuel had power thereby was he ouerthrown The weapons which were his strength against the world that is death by y t Christ strooke him Why treÌ„ble ye why feare ye death now death is not terrible but acceptable as the end of labor and the beginning of rest Chrysostom hath almost the same wordes Cyrill verie often expoundeth death in that place for the death of Christs bodie The sonne of God was partaker of flesh and bloud that yeelding his BODY to death he by nature as God being life it selfe might quicken it againe otherwise how had hee abolished the imperie of death vnlesse he had raised againe his dead BODY And againe Because it was aboue mans nature to abolish death yea rather it was subdued of death the son of God that is life took vnto him mans nature subiect to death y t death as a cruell beast inuading his flesh should cease froÌ„ his tyranny ouer vs that should thereby be abolished If by death in the second place we vnderstand the death of body and soule with Fulgentius I am not against it this being alwaies remembred that Christ died no death but the death of the bodie Mors filij Dei quam SOLA CARNE suscepit vtramque in nobis morteÌ„ animae scilicet carnisque destruxit The death which the sonne of God suffered ONLY in his flesh destroied BOTH DEATHS in vs as well that of the soule as that of the body The Confuâ—er hauing
the scriptures resolued to bee the sufficient price of our redemption and meane of our reconciliation to God except you take the bodie of Christ for the soule of Christ and the stripes and woundes of his â—lesh for the paines of hell Yee were redeemed with the precious bloud of Christ saieth Peter Can there bee plainer wordes that Christes bloud shedde for the remission of our sinnes is the perfect price of our redemption without the deaâ—h of the soule or paines of hell which you interpose So likewise when Peter saieth Christ bare our sinnes in his bodie on the Tree in that hee suffered once â—or sinners when hee was put to death in his flesh are you not forced to peruerâ— these woordes for defence of your fancie and to take the flesh for bodie and soule that you maie make the death of Christe to bee common to both It is one thing you will saie to take the fleshe for the whole man and another to take the bodie for the soule I knowe it right well but the one will not serue your turne without the other By a part to name or note the whole man is no newes in the Scriptures but to ascribe the attributes of one part to the other because the name of either part is sometimes taken for the whole that is a generall subuerting of all the trueth of the Scriptures Saint Austen tolde you euen nowe that Christes dead flesh is called Christ will you therefore referre the properties of Christes dead flesh vnto his soule and not thinke you take the waie to dissolue as well the vnion as communion of two natures in Christ and of the distinction of two parts in his manhood The body indeede is more distinguished from the soule then the name of flesh is because the vnregenerate part of the soule is in the Scriptures euerie where called flesh but this hath no place in Christ by reason no corruption of sinne cleaned vnto his soule and therefore the name of fleshe doeth no where signifie the soule in Christ as it doeth often in vs onelie by naming flesh in Christ the scripture sometimes intendeth that he disdained not the weakest and basest part of our nature when he came to redéeme vs. And so Saint Iohn saith The worde was made flesh meaning the true and eternall sonne of God vouchsafed to take not onelie our reasonable and humane soule vnto him but euen our vilde and mortall flesh into the vnitie of his person and so became man that hee might restore man nowe fallen from God and perished in his sinnes to the fauour and life of God againe But when the Scriptures saie that Christ died for our sinnes the auncient fathers and Councels with one consent applie that to the death of Christes bodie on the Crosse and not to the death of the soule or to anie paines of hell And though in the Treatise before I haue cited such as sufficientlie witnesse that doctrine to be sounde and Catholike yet will I not bee greeued to let thee see Christian Reader that there was nothing more commonlie nor constantlie professed in the Primitiue Church then the doctrine which I am now forced to defende against the rage and reproch of this slaunderous impugner Post edita per facta diuinitatis suae monumenta reliquum iam erat vt pro omnibus sacrificium offerret pro omnibus templum suum morti tradens quo omnes innoxios liberos à veteri praeuaricatione efficeret seque declararet mortis victorem Corpus igitur quod communem cum omnibus habebat naturam corpus enim humanum mortale erat ad similitudiâ—em sui generis mortem excepit verbum enim quoniam mori non potuit vtpote immortale corpus sibi sumpsit quod mori poterat illudque vt suuÌ„ pro omnibus obtulit vt ita pro omnibus omnibus ipse corpore coniunctusâ— mortem patiens compesceret eum qui mortis habebat imperium hoc est Diabolum liberaret eos quotquot formidine mortis per omnem vitam obnoxiy erant seruituti After Christ by his deedes had declared his diuinitie it remained that hee shoulde OFFER A SACRIFICE FOR ALL yeelding vnto death the temple of his bodie for all thereby to deliuer and discharge all from the olde transgression and to declare himselfe the conquerour of death His bodie therefore which in nature was like all ours for it was an humane and mortall bodie died in like maner as bodies doe For the sonne of God because he could not die being immortall tooke a bodie vnto him that might die and offered that as his owne for all men that so being ioined in bodie to all and suffering death for all he might represse him that had power of death euen the Diuell and free those that for feare of death were all their life long subiected to seruitude Epiphanius treadeth in the same steppes When the sonne of God saith he would suffer of his owne good will for mankinde because his diuinitie coulde not suffer beeing of it selfe impassible hee tooke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OVR BODIE THAT MIGHT SVFFER that therein hee might yeelde to suffer and admitted our sufferings his Godhead being present in his flesh the godhead suffreth not For he that saith I am life how can he die But God remaining impassible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufferâ—th by his flesh that his passion may be accounted to his deitie though it suffered not to the ende our saluation shoulde bee from God In his flesh was the suffering least wee should haue a passible God Which indeede is impassible imputing that suffering vnto himselfe according to his free choise and not of anie necessitie Ambrose in like sort Laqueus contritus est nos liberati sumus Non potuit melius conteri laqueus nisi praedam aliquam diabolo demoÌ„strasset vt dum ille festinaret ad praedam suis laqueis ligaretur Quae potuit esse praeda nisi corpus Oportuit igitur hoc fraudem Diabolo fieri vt sâ—sciperet corpus dominus Iesus corpus hoc corruptibile corpus infirmum vt crufigeretur ex infirmitate Sienâ—m fuisset corpus spirituale non dixisset spiritus promptus est caro autem infirma The snare is broken and we are deliuered The snare could not bee better broken then by shewing the diuel some pray that whiles he hastned to the pray he might be wrapped in his owne snares What pray could there be beside the bodie of man It was therefore requisite the diuell should bee thus deceiued that the Lord Iesus should take a body vnto him euen this corruptible weake body of ours that he might be crucified through infirmitie Had it beene a spiritual bodie that he tooke he would neuer haue said the spirite is readie but the flesh is weake The same Christ suffered and suffered not died and died not rose againe and did not rise because hee raised vp his owne bodie
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
haue in the treatise more at large expressed Was not his soule you will aske IN HIS Fathers handes till the time of his Resurrection Who doubteth that As if to subdue hell with the glorie of his presence did not prooue the hande of GOD to bee rather mightilie with him then anie waie to leaue him and that to bee true which was forespoken by Dauid in his person Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell The handes of God you thinke signifie heere his ioyfull presence and the possession of heauen Who tolde you so Was Dauid dying when hee saide Into thine handes I commende my spirite thou hast redeemed mee Lord God of truth Was Sion not on earth but in heauen when the Prophet saith of her Thou shalt bee a crowne of glorie in the hand of the Lord and a royall Diademe in the hande of thy God it shall no more bee saide to thy land Desolate for thy land shall haue an husbande Was the king of Iudah then in heauen when God saide of him Though Coniah the sonne of Iehoiakim king of Iudah were the Signet of my right hand yet would I plucke thee thence Gods hand signifieth his power and protection and could there greater fauour power or protection bee shewed to the soule of Christ then for God in raising him from the dead not onelie to treade death but euen hell and Satan vnder his feete Call you this a most inglorious and vile debasing for the humane nature of Christ to haue all power in heauen and earth in which Hell also must bee comprised to bee deliuered vnto him and to bee made Lorde ouer all not onelie men and Angels but euen enemies and diuels From this honour and power whereof it is said Thou hast subiected all things vnder his feete maie no creature in heauen nor in hell be excepted And therefore if this bee a vile debasement I knowe not what glorie meaneth The purpose then of Christes descent to hell giueth honour to him ouer all his enemies and comfort to vs against the power and terrour of hell which wee see dissolued and spoyled by our heade in our names and for our sakes for so much as beeing ioyned to him as members of his bodie of his flesh and of his bones hell hath nowe no more right to vs then to him since it is not possible but the heade muste bee where the members are And Christ himselfe hungreth and thirsteth and is naked and sicke imprisoned and persecuted in euerie one of his members euen in the basest and lowest of them and this no more impeacheth the all sufficient merite of Christes Crosse then his resurrection from the dead doeth the third daie after his death and all things finished on the Crosse needefull to bee suffered for our redemption which in your â—ranticke humour you seeme to detest as BLASPHEMOVS The proofe that hee went thither you will saie is all if that were once cleered the rest woulde soone bee accorded I maie not for your pleasure Sir Refuter stande to rippe vppe and repeate the thinges which were then deliuered and are now published there you may looke If you like them not giue mee some reason besides your owne rouing conceit and it shall bee soone answered It is no where written in the Scriptures you will saie Saint Austen iudiciallie and resolutelie telleth you it is written in the Prophet Dauid and so expounded by Saint Peter and of that iudgement were all the Fathers of Christes Church without exception Athanasius saith it is a parte of the Catholike faith without beleeuing the which we can not be saued And sâ—re the words be plaine enough if you leaue wresting them from their right and true signification to serue your affections What can be plainer Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell besides the Article of our Créede He descended into hell Your answer is This is euident that the worde hell in our vulgar Creede is vnfit corrupt and starke naught For this I affirme it is onelie the Fathers abusiue speaking and altering the vsuall and auuÌ„cient sense of Hades that hath bredde this errour of Christes descending into hell Their vnapt and perilous translating into Latine Inferi and our naughtie and corrupt translation in English hell hath confirmed the same And note here first it is a thing too rife with the Fathers yea with some of the auncieâ—test of them to alter and chaunge the authenticke vse of words whereby consequentlie it is easie for errours and grosse mistakings to creepe in As Chirotonia to signifie ordination of Ministers when it signifyeth authenticallie the peoples giuing of voices in election Kleros to signifie onelie the Cleargie when it signifieth all the flocke Euen so trulie the Greeke fathers vse Hades and the Latine Inferi to signifie hell properlie and particularlie that is the place of the damned But this is a meere and plaine abusion of these wordes and speciallie of our worde most in question that is Hades They haue much altered and changed the authenticke and true vse thereof You begin nowe to shewe your selfe in your right hue All the Greeke and Latin fathers that euer were in the Church of Christ all the English teachers that haue béene since this nation receiued the faith neuer vnderstood the signification of the word Hades til you came of late to bring vs newes of Socrates fansie and Ciceros diuinitie to correct the Creede Ignatius Clemens Origen Athanasius Eusebius Basil Nazianzene Epiphanius Chrysostome Cyril Eustathius Theodotete with a thousand more naturallie borne Greekes and manie of them nothing inferiour to Plato or whom you can name euen for their eloquence in the Greeke tongue were they all ignorant of the worde Hades which boies in Grammar schoole doe well vnderstande Or did they all conspire one after another to falsifie the faith Irenaeus Tertullian Cyprian Lactantius Ierome Ambrose Austen Hillarie Prudentius Prosper Fulgentius with infinite others great Schollers and pillars in the Church of GOD had none of them the skill to knowe what Infernum or Inferi meant till you sprang vp to restore the Latine tongue to his originall integritie Or did they all concurre purposelie to corrupt the Creede Which will you take from all these fathers religion or learning If you leaue them so much vnderstanding as the boies haue nowe in Paules Schoole they coulde not mistake either Hades or Inferi And therefore you may talke thus long enough before you shall gette anie sober Reader to beleeue you He must bee as farre infected with this frenzie as you your selfe are before this will anie way sinke into his head that none of these vnderstoode their owne naturall language But they haue mistaken other wordes you saie as well as these namelie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In deede you or they haue grosselie mistaken the one the other is not that I knowe in question vnlesse you take vppon you so