SOVLES From thence you leape to the Reuelation and there when Saint Iohn sawe one sitting on a pale horse whose name was death and HADES followed after him that is saie you the world of the dead It cannot be hell certainely because hel slaieth none in that sort Againe to saie preciselie that the fourth part of the world should go to hell I take it to bee a strange phrase in scripture Here first is a plaine proofe that death and HADES are two seuerall things the one following after the other For nothing doth follow it selfe The doubt is now what HADES importeth The world of the dead saie you The worlde of the dead if thereby you mean dead bodies is al one with death if you vnderstand the world of soules that hath two partes heauen and hell which of these two did follow after death to destroy the fourth part of the earth the kingdome of heauen is neuer proposed in the scriptures as a destroyer but the diuell hath his proper name in this booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the destroyer Againe this vision S. Iohn saw at the opening of the fourth Seale but the world of soules in heauen was shewed him in the opening of the fift Seale which presentlie followeth in the next verse in these words And when the lambe had opened the fift Seale I saw saith Iohn vnder the altar the soules of men slayne for the word of God and for the testimonie of the Lambe The world of soules in heauen was séene in the opening of the fift seale therefore that world of soules was not séene in the opening of the fourth Seale but of force if by HADES you will vnderstand anie world of soules it must be of those that were in HELL Howbeit because hee did accompanie death that was sent to destroy I take it rather to bee the power of the deuill that is there described then anie world of soules as you dreame And that the diuell destroyeth as well the bodie as the soule if it be strange to you you are a greater stranger in the Scriptures then you would seeme to bee Who threw the house vpon the heads of Iobs Children can you tell or who smote Iob himselfe with that loathsome disease But the fourth part of the earth you saie could not go to hell God graunt no more then the fourth part go thither Neuer reade you many called and few chosen and though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the Sea yet but a remnant shall be saued And why might not the dragon as well deuoure the fourth part of y e earth as draw downe from heauē with his tayle the third part of the starres Or if there you take a certayne number for an vncertain which is S. Iohns manner of writing in this booke why not as well here as else where these therefore are a couple of idle quarrels if these be your best you are more willing then able to do harme But by y e same words in the same booke we shall better vnderstand what is ment by HADES then by your wandring and weake gloze Death and HADES saith S. Iohn were cast into the lake of fier It were absurd you adde to saie death and hell were cast into hell True but more absurd and more blasphemous to saie that death and the world of soules shall bee cast into the lake of fier For then not onlie the Saints of God but heauen it selfe should bee cast into hell fier Yet if we take the containing for the contained which is the most vsuall phrase of the Scripture as wo be to thee Chorazin wo to thee Bethsaida thou Capernaum as likewise Ierusalem Ierusalem which killest the prophets it shal be easier for Tyrus Sydon with a thousand such euery wher occurrent then is it an easie true speach that hel to witte the powers of hell euen the diuels themselues shall be cast into the lake of fier And so doth Andreas Bishop of Cesaria expound it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wicked spirits the possessours of HADES shall be cast into hel fier And so Bede Mors Infernus missi sunt in stagnum ignis Diabolum dicit et suos quem supra in equo pallido sedentem Infernus sequebatur Death hel shall be cast into the lake of fier He meaneth the diuel his whō before sitting on a pale horse hell followed As yet then HADES in the new Testament is not onlie a thing different from death but euen hell it selfe and your world of soules in none of these texts can find any hold or help Let vs sée the rest That Christ triumphed ouer hell and Satan not ouer death onely the Apostle fully affirmeth when he saith Christ spoyled principalities powers made an open shew of them and triumphed ouer them in his owne person that likewise hee hath the keyes of hell and not of death onlie S. Iohn plainlie sheweth when he saw an angell come down from heauen hauing the key of the bottomeles pit and there binding shutting vp the diuell The same key of the bottomeles pit was in the 9 Chapter of the Reuelation giuen to the Star that slidde from heauen This keye must Christ haue for hee saith of himselfe that he hath the key of Dauid which openeth and no man shutteth which shutteth and no man openeth Since then there are keyes not of heauen onlie which Christ committed to Peter and his fellow labourers but of the bottomles pitte where Satan lyeth bound which of force must bee HELL when Christ professeth in the first of the Reuelation that he hath the keyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of death and of HADES who séeth not that HADES there must signifie hell it selfe the key whereof is so expreslie mentioned in that booke And so when the Apostle maketh two parts of Christs conquest against death and hell ô death where is thy sting ô HADES where is thy victorie what reason is there to exclude out of these words Christs victorie ouer HELL since the same Apostle witnesseth that Christ had a glorious triumph against hell and the word HADES in all the places of the new Testament which we haue yet viewed inferreth hell The Apostle you saie speaketh not of the Damnation of the wicked but of the resurrectiō of the dead And so do I and therefore inferre that when the bodies of the saints shall be raised from death whose soules be already saued from hell then shall these words be openlie verified ô death where is thy sting ô hell where is thy victorie For since by sinne hell gate possession of both parts of man as well of his bodie as of his soule the full deliuerance of man must free both parts and the full conquest ouer hell is the losse of both parts which in the resurrection of the dead shall be performed and
earth with his bloud it was declared not to him who knewe it but vnto vs that he had obtained the effect of his praier with his bloud to purge the faith of his Disciples which earth lie frailtie did weaken and whatsoeuer offence the earth had taken at his death al that he dying should abolish yea with his innocent death he should raise vnto an heauenlie life the whole world then dead in their sinnes Bernard taketh hold on S. Pauls wordes where hee calleth Christes sweate by the name of teares and â—aith Ventum est adorationem vsque tertiò factus in Agoâ—ia orabat vbi quidem non solis oculis sed quasi omnibus membris sleuisse videtur vt totuÌ„ corpus eius quod est ecclesia totius corporis lachrymis purgaretur Christ came to praier and being in an agony he praied thrise where he seemed to weepe not onelie with his cies but with all the parts of his body that the whole body of his Church might bee purged with the teares of his whole body S. Paul alleageth the cries and teares of Christ in the garden as a proofe of his priesthood saith that not onlie He offered praiers supplications which was one part of y e priests office wherein hee was heard for the reuerence had of him But also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being sanctified to offer sacrifice for so the word doth often signifie or else consummated by the offering of himselfe on the crosse which was the other part of his priestlie function was made authour of eternall saluation to all that obey him being thus called and allowed of God to bee an high priest after the order of Melchizedec Christ readie to enter the garden saith Proâ—eis sanctifico meipsum for their sakes I sanctifie my selfe and sanctification properlie belonged to the priestes person before hee might appeare in Gods presence to offer for the sinnes of the people and by the rite of Moses lawe the priestes when they were sanctified vnto God had their bodies sprinkled with the bloud of their sacrifice from top to toe Christ then being the truth of all their figures as well in the sanctification as oblation of himselfe might miraculouslie sprinkle his whole bodie with his own bloud for it was aboue nature as Hilarie noteth and so consceraâ—e his person as approoued of God to be the true priest after the order of Melchizedec and voluntarilie dedicate his bloud to be shed for the remission of our sinnes which hee did of his owne accord yeeld to be disposed of at his fathers pleasure before the Iewes or Gentiles wounded his bodie that his whole passion which followed might bee a willing sacrifice and no forced violence by the handes or weapons of the wicked Christes agonie then being alleaged by the Apostle to demonstrate Christs priesthood must not rise from the terror of his own death but rather from the vehemencie of his praier for vs that it might bee aswell an intercession for sinners as a sanctification of himselfe to offer the sacrifice auaileable for the sinnes of the world To which if anie will adde the signification of the martyrs bloud which Austen speaketh of as if Christ in the garden did not onelie present his owne bloud to be the true propitiation of our sinnes but also the bloud of his martyrs to make their death acceptable to God that willinglie laide downe their liues for the witnes of his truth I can be well content to admit that exposition considering Christ must offer both the liues and deathes of all his saintes to God his father before they can be holie or precious in his sight But since Christes feare as they expound the Apostles words Hebre. 5. is made the groundworke of this conceipt let vs see whether their owne foundation wil not ouerthrow their owne building The paines of hell did Christ when hee praied in the garden feare them or no if hee did not feare them hee did not féele them for they are fearefull yea the verie expectation of them is verie dreadful as the Apostle saith Hebre. 10 and if he feared them not howe could they bee the cause of his agonie which these men so stiflie maintaine If he feared them he was fréed from them as they themselues interprete the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for hee was heard in that he feared His praier was to haue that cup passe from him and God neuer denied whatsoeuer he asked I know saith Christ to his father that thou hearest me alwaies Whence they conclude he feared hell paines thence I infer hee suffered them not for being deliuered from the feare of hell approching he could not be left vnder the burden of hell abiding Againe if the suffering of hell were the cause of Christs agony the cause continuing the effect could not cease But his agonie ended in the garden how then could the paines of hell endure on the crosse and be lengthened almost to the end of his life Ierome saith vpon these wordes of Christ to his disciples Arise let vs go least they finde vs as though we were fearefull and drawing backe let vs of our owne accorde goe towardes them vt considentiam gaudium passuri videant that they may see the confidence and gladnesse of Christ going to his passion The continuance of Christes agonie they proue by his complaint on the crosse where not long before he yeelded vp his spirit he cried My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and these words they saie do plainelie conuince that Christ felt himselfe forsaken of God and that this was the true cause of his agonie whatsoeuer pretences are inuented by others to excuse or colour his feare Indeede this place must beare the burden of the whole frame for the rest are onlie signes of sorrowe and zeale the scriptures not expressing the cause but here are manifest wordes if wee mistake not their reference My father is greater then I am were words as cleare as daie light but the referring that to the diuine which hee spake of his humane nature bred the Arrian heresie My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee are not so plaine for the saints of God haue often complained vnto God that they were forsaken of him when he withdrew neither his fauour grace nor spirit from them but onelie withhelde his helpe or comfort for the time to make them more earnest to séeke and flie to him But were they neuer so pregnant if we applie them to the wrong part which God neuer forsooke we may incurre as grosse an errour as euer did Arrius And yet if we straine them to the vttermost they will neuer proue that Christ on the crosse suffered the paines of hell For if we should grant which were diuelish impietie to thinke that God forsooke Christes soule as verelie as euer hee did anie of the wicked heere on earth Cain Saul Iudas not excepted yet that doth not
our sinnes that whom the Diuell iustlie held as guiltie of sinne and obnoxious to death those hee might woorthilie loose through him whome hee wrongfullie slue beeing guiltie of no sinne with this iustice the Diuell was conquered and with this band was hee bound that his goods might bee spoyled And so Saint Austen concludeth in expresse wordes that THE BLOVD OF CHRIST which the Diuell was permitted to shedde by the handes of the wicked VVAS GIVEN AS A PRICE IN OVR REDEMPTION Which when the Diuell had spilt it was reckoned to him as a ransom for vs since Christ owed none for himself so were we dismissed out of his power In hac redeÌ„ptione tanquaÌ„ pretiuÌ„ pro nobis datus est Christi sanguis quo accepto diabolus non ditatus sed ligatus est vt nos ab eius nexibus solueremur In this redemption the bloud of Christ was giuen as a ransome for vs which being receiued the diuell was not inriched but concluded that wee might bee loosed from his snares S. Ambrose affirmeth as much Si redempti sumus non corruptibilibus argento auro sed precioso sanguine domini nostri Iesu Christi quo vtique vendente NISI EO qui nostruÌ„ iam peccatricis successionis are quaesitum seruitium possidedat Sine dubio IPSE flagitabat pretium vt seruitio exueret quos tenebat obstrictos PretiuÌ„ autem nostrae liberationis erat sanguis domini Iesu quod necessario soluendum erat EI CVI peccatis nostris venditi eramus If we bee redeemed not with corruptible things as siluer and golde but with the precious bloud of our Lorde Iesus Christ who selling vs BVT HE that possessed vs as his seruants by reason of our sinfull succession doubtlesse euen HE required a ransome to dismisse vs from the seruitude which he had ouer vs. Now the price of our deliuerance was the bloud of the Lord Iesus which price was necessarilie to bee payde to HIM TO WHOM we were sold through our sinnes They which traduce this doctrine as inclining to Manicheisme had more neede of Elleborus to furge their braines then of authorities to perswade their hearts For since Christ paid no ransome for himselâ—e but for vs and his innocent bloud could not be shed but by the hands of the wicked what touch of vntruth can it haue that God accounted the bloud of Christ to bee of more value then all the sonnes of men and consequentlie that which the diuell eagerlie thirsted and wrongfullie shed to be reputed as mans ransome and a price most sufficient for all the world Yea the scripture which is the word of truth doth not onely teach vs who redeemed vs and with what price as God bought his Church with his owne bloud but in manifest words from whom we were redéemed euen from the power of DARKNES DEATH and HEL that being deliuered out of the hands of our enemies wee should serue God without feare in holines and righteousnes all the daies of our life Whether therefore wee resemble the bodie and bloud of Christ to a PRAY that brake the téeth of the deuourer to a BAITE that held fast the swallower to a PRICE that concluded the challenger to a RANSOME that fréed the prisoner or to a CONQVEST that ouerthrew the infulter in effect it is all one Satan by killing him that was the authour of life lost both him and all his members the Lorde rising againe by his owne power and raising them all that could not bee seuered from him by the might and merite of his death and suffering And so the godlie which now liue on the earth are not their OVVNE but his that bought them with a price being before solde vnder sinne whose seruants they were till Christ with his bloud redeemed them vnto GOD and made them kinges and priestes to God his father Venit redemptor dedit pretium fudit sanguinem suum emit orbem terrarum Videte quid dederit inuenite quid emerit Sanguis Christi pretium est tanti quid valet quid nisi totus orbis quid nisi omnes gentes The redeemer came saith Austen and paied the price hee shed his bloud and purchased the worlde Consider what he gaue and marke what he bought The bloud of Christ was y e price what was valued at so great a price What but the whole world what but al the nations of the earth Hic sanguis effusus omnem terrarum orbenâ— abluit hic sanguis antea semper praesignabatur in sacrificijs in iustorum caedibus Hic orbis terrarum est pretiuÌ„ Hoc Christus emit ecclesiam Hoc eam omâ—em adornauit This bloud saith Chrysostom being shed washed the whole world This bloud was euer before figured in the sacrifices and martyrdomes of the righteous This bloud is the price of the world with this Christ bought his Church with this he wholy adorned it Christus non esset condignum pretiuÌ„ totius creaturae redimendae neque sufficeret ad bene redimendam mundi vitam etiamsi suam deponeret animam vt pretium pro nobis ac etiam pretiosum sanguinem nisi vere esset filius tanquam ex deo deus Christ had not beene a iust price saith Cyril to redeeme all creatures nor sufficient to purchase the life of the world though he would haue laid down his life and his precious bloud as a ransome for vs if he had not beene the true sonne of God as it were God of God Where as now Vnus dignitate vniuersos superans pro omnibus mortuus est quaecunque sub coâ—lo sunt sanguine suo redemit deoque patrivniuersae terrae habitatores acquisiuit He alone exceeding al other in worth valew died for al by his bloud redeemed all things vnder heauen purchased to God his father the inhabitants of the whole earth But our sauior saith the son of man came dare animaÌ„ suaÌ„ redemptionem pro multis to giue his soule a ransome for many And Esay foretold as much that he should make his soule an offering for sin It is no great masterie to cite places of scripture in shew repugnant one to the other howbeit in trueth these are not contrarieties but coÌ„sequents to the former authorities For where the soule of man is the life of his bodie Christ could not die for our sinnes but he must laie down his soule to death that it might be separated from his bodie so giue HIS SOVLE that is his LIFE a ransome for many an offering for sin And so she very traÌ„slators y t otherwise fauor this opinion of hel paines do interprete those words The son of man came not to be serued but to serue to giue HIS LIFE a ransome for many And the like elsewhere Bonus pastor dat animaÌ„ pro ouibus The good shepheard giueth HIS LIFE for his sheep AnimaÌ„ meaÌ„
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
voluntarily committed by him Christ then beeing frée from all sinne might not suffer the inwarde or euerlasting death of the soule but corporall and temporall reproch and paine which God might and did recompence with eternall ioye and glorie Thirdlie that soule which sinneth that soule shall die This is the setled rule of Gods iustice and therefore Christs soule which sinned not could by no iustice die the death of the soule To laie down his life for vs was loue and thankes with God but willinglie to separate himselfe from God for vs was no waie to reconcile God to vs or to bring vs to God He must therefore cleaue fast to God in soule whose death shall bee pretious in Gods sight as was Christs If the soule bee seuered from God the death of the bodie is detestable in his eies as beeing the wages of sinne and therefore no more acceptable to GOD then sinne it selfe but where the soule hating the infection of sinne and loathing the infirmitie of the flesh resigneth it vnto death for Gods glorie and the good of others And in this respect the death of the bodie maie bee a sacrifice vnto God but not except the soule doe liue and cleaue to God without separation Then hatefull to GOD was the death of Christ if his soule were first hated or accursed if that were beloued and blessed of God it coulde not choose but liue for God is not the God of the deade but of the liuing So that the death of Christes bodie on the Crosse was by no iustice an acceptable sacrifice vnto God if his soule were first deade But his death was so precious in Gods sight that in the bodie of his flesh through death he reconciled vs vnto God his soule was therefore aliue and in fauour with God yea so abundantly blessed and highly accepted for the holines humilitie and obedience thereof that God was pacified and pleased and we all sanctified with THE OBLATION OF THE BODY of Iesus on the altar of the crosse Lastlie the flesh of Christ by Gods iustice must bee as able to purge vs from sinne as Adams was to poyson vs with sinne But the flesh of Adam infected all his posteritie with sinne and death ergo the flesh of Christ must haue as much force to clense and quicken the faithfull both in this life and the next Of this iustice Paul speaketh when he saith since by man came death by man must come the resurrection of the dead For as in Adam all die euen so in Christ shal al be made aliue The first Adam WAS THE FIGVRE of the second Adam that where sinne abounded there grace might abound much more As then by one mans disobedience manie were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many bee made righteous The obedience of Christ which here Paule mentioneth is his obedience vnto death euen to the death of the crosse and the righteousnesse of the faithfull is the forgiuenes of their sinnes through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus I wil not here dispute whether the soule be created and infunded or else traduâ—ed from Adam as well as the flesh I meane not with curious or superfluous questions to busie mens heades that which the scriptures deliuer touching the deriuation of sinne and death from our first parents I may safelie teach and you must necessarily beléeue That we were fashioned in iniquitie and conceaued in sinne the words of Dauid doe exactlie witnesse and no maruaile For who can make that to bee cleane which commeth from the vncleane yea sinne cleaueth so fast vnto our flesh that when the eies of our heart are lightened and the spirit of our minde is renued so that the inwarde man delighteth in the law of God EVEN THEN haue we an other law in our members rebelling against the lawe of our minde and leading vs captiue vnto the lawe of sinne the one so contrarie to the other that we cannot doe the things which we would by reason the affection or liking of the flesh cannot be subiect to the lawe of God This fight betwixt the flesh and the spirit is so durable that it cannot bee dissolued but onelie by death Though Christ bee in vs and the spirit liue for righteousnesse sake yet sinne so dwelleth in vs that is in our â— mortall bodies that whiles we liue in minde we serue the law of God but in our flesh the lawe of sinne From Adams flesh wee deriue this infection of sinne that sticketh so fast vnto vs after we are regenerate and new borne againe of water and the holie ghost and this is the roote and nurse of all sinne and the cause of death to al men If Christ be in you the bodie is dead because of sinne From Christes flesh then we must receiue the purgation of sinne both inherent in vs and committed by vs or else Adams flesh is stronger to wound vs then Christs is to heale vs which is repugnant to the iustice of God by which the grace of God must bee farre mightier vnto saluation in the bodie of Christ then the force of sinne was vnto condemnation in the bodie of Adam vnlesse wee make sinne of more power to kill then God is to quicken which is to exalt the diuell aboue God and his sonne For God was in Christ reconciling the worlde to himselfe by whose bloud the partition wal is broken down and hatred abrogated through his flesh that wee might bee reconciled vnto God in one bodie by his crosse But the death of the bodie they will saie hath no proportion to the death of the soule and therefore the one cannot in iustice excuse the other There is farre greater distance betwixt the sonne of God and the sonnes of men then betwixt the bodies and soules of men These differ as creatures and both inferiour vnto the angels but there is the excellencie of the Creator aboue the creature which is simplie infinite Whatsoeuer therefore it pleased the sonne of God to suffer for our sakes it was most sufficient for our redemption howbeit to demonstrate his loue hee would be partaker of our infirmitie and mortality least we should loath our condition or grudge at the chastisement of our sinnes but if we set a side the dignitie and vnitie of his person then is no waie the death of the soule or the paines of hell which they imagine Christ suffered proportionable in exact iustice to the true wages of our sinne For what equiualence hath one soule with all the soules of the Saints or one daies anguish which Christ felt in soule as they suppose with that euerlasting fire which wee shoulde haue suffered in bodie and soule for euer set aside I saie the respect of the person which suffered for vs and in the rest they shall neuer bee able to prooue anie proportion of iustice diuine or humane But as
and so deliuer vs from both The archangels powers and principalities in heauen doe with vnceasing and euerlasting voices glorifie the sonne of God saith Hilary quia homo natus sit mortem vicerit portas Inferni fregerit cohaeredē sibi plebē acquisiuerit carnem in aeternitatis gloriam ex corruptione transtulerit because he became man vanquished death brake the gates of hel purchased vnto himselfe a people to inherit with him and translated his flesh frō corruptiō to eternal glory These two places the graue hel wherto sinners were adiudged to haue their bodies in the one to be corrupted their soules in the other to be tormented Fulgentius doth expresly pursue as his wordes before do plainly testifie and resolutelie concludeth that Christs manhood for the ful effecting of our redemption must SO FAR DESCEND quousque homo separatus à deo peccati merito cecidisset HOVV FAR MAN SEVERED FROM GOD FEL BY THE DESERT OF SINNE THAT IS TO HELL VVHERE THE SOVLE OF THE SINNER VSED TO BE TORMENTED and to the graue where the FLESH OF THE SINNER vsed to putrifie Nowe if anie man thinke the soule of man seuered from God did not for the wages of sinne deserue the place and paines of the damned he had more néede bee catechised then confuted For since without repentance men perish in their sinnes and the soule that sinneth that soule shall die the death of the soule after this life is no where but in hell where bodie soule do perish euerlastinglie With these someth Saint Austen as touching the place Si in illum Abrabae sinum Christum mortuum venisse sancta scriptura dixisset non nominato inferno eiusque doloribus miror si quisquam ad inferos eum descendisse asserere auderet Sed quia euidentia testimonia infernum commemorant dolores nulla causa occurrit cur illô credatur venisse saluator nisi vt ab eius doloribus saluos faceret If the holie Scripture had saide that Christ after his death came to Abrahams bosome and not mentioned hell and the paynes thereof I maruaile if anie woulde haue beene so bolde as to haue auouched that Christ descended into hel But for that euident testimonies do name hel and the paines of hel I yet see no cause why our Sauiour should bee beleeued to haue come thither but to deliuer frō the paines thereof Wherefore when the scriptures teach vs y t Christs soule was in hell wee must not by hel mean Abrahams bosome or Paradise but y e very place of the damned where the soules of sinners are tormented For Christ to redeeme man that was condemned for sinne descended as lowe as man fell by the punishment of sinne in this life or the nexte and fet vs backe from the sentence of death pronounced against vs by presenting himselfe in our stéede to the verie places that were prepared to reuenge our transgressions his flesh resisting the power of the graue and his soule repressing and breaking the paines of hell that neither shoulde bee able to hinder the spéede of his resurrection or weaken the worke of our redemption As the place whither Christ descended is expresly named in the scriptures to be hell and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where the wicked are euerlastinglie tormented so the purpose of his descent is plainelie professed in the same to bee the spoiling of Satan and deliuering of man from the power of hell And these two are so linked together that the one is alwaies included in the other Christ entring Satans house to this ende that he might diuide the spoiles First then let vs see what the scriptures say of mans deliuerance from the hande of Satan and afterward heare what some of the ancient writers haue thereto added or therein doubted The promise made in the prophet Esay that God will destroie death for euer and likewise in the prophet Osee I will redeeme them from the power of hell I will deliuer them from death ô death I will be thy death ô hell I will bee thy destruction was not peculiar to this or that age nor proper to those that were alreadie dead or then borne when this was spoken but generall to all the faithfull from the beginning to the ende whereby God assureth them that hell shall bee destroied and Satan troden vnder feete and death swallowed vp in victorie Zachary Iohn Baptistes father is the best expositor of all these promises when he saith Blessed be the Lord God of Israel because he hath visited and redeemed his people And hath raised vp an horne of saluation for vs in the house of his seruant Dauid as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which were from the beginning euen saluation from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate vs. Which was the othe that hee sware to our father Abraham that he would cause vs being deliuered out of the hande of our enemies to serue him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the daies of our life The saluation which God hath wrought for vs in Christ doth not frée vs from afflictions and troubles since all that will liue godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer persecution but it bringeth vs DELIVERANCE FROM OVR ghostly ENEMIES saueth vs from the hand of al that hate our soules that being quieted from their power and feare we should serue God in holines all the time of our life And albeit in this life our eies are opened that we may turne from darkenesse to light and from the power of Satan to God and receaue forgiuenesse of sinnes and inheritance amongst them which are sanctified by faith in Christ◠yet the feare of death is not taken from vs till we be assured that hell is conquered and no cause lefte why we should tremble at death that now is an entrance to a better life DELIVERANCE then FROM THE HAND OF ALL that hate vs which Christ hath purchased for vs hath in it not onelie remission of sinnes and resurrection from death but also the destruction of Satan whereby God acquiteth vs from the power of darkenesse that is from the feare of hell in this life and from the danger thereof in the next and fully translateth vs into the kingdome of his deere sonne and this deliuerance belongeth to all the members of Christ without exception as well liuing as yet vnborne Christ saith the Apostle through death destroied him that had power of death euen the diuell and DELIVERED ALL THEM which for feare of death were al their life long subiect to bondage If ALL BE DELIVERED that were oppressed with the feare of death then surelie the liuing must néeds be discharged from the bondage of Satan and redemption from the power of hell which God promised vnto his seruantes was not proper to anie that were in hell at the time of Christes descent but it was and is extended to all the
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
Saint Austens assertion which I cited before standeth good that because the death of the bodie was a part of the curse inflicted vpon Adams sinne Christ vndertaking that part of the curse for vs that is dying in his bodie loosed vs from the whole curse of the lawe Against Chrysostomes iudgement that not onelie death but the very kind of death which Christ died was accursed by the very words of the lawe saying accursed is hee that hangeth on a tree you replie Not euery one that is hanged is cursed for manie innocents and martyrs are hanged who are most blessed but euerie one that is iustlie hanged is accursed and so was Christ here condenmed by the iust sentence of the lawe to paie his debts for whome hee had willinglie and aduisedlie vndertaken And so indeede he bare the true curse of the lawe Chrysostoms iudgement is as I reported it Crux signum erat mortis maledictae mortis omnium diffamatissimae Hoc enim soluÌ„ mortis genus maledictioni erat obnoxium The crosse was a signe of a cursed death of a death most infamous This onelie kinde of death was subiected to the curse And againe Non quaeuis mors isti similis est ista namque omnium videbatur esse probrosissima ista plena dedecore ista maledicta Propterea Iudaei satagebant eum ista morte interimere vt sinemo abstineret ab eo quod esset occisus abstineret tamen vel ideo quod hoc pacto esset occisus Not euerie death was like to this This seemed most reprochfull most shamefull and accursed Therefore the Iewes laboured to put him to this kind of death that if no man would refuse him because he was killed at least yet they should forsake him for that he died this vild kinde of death The kinde of death which christ submitted himself vnto was a shameful a cursed kind of death as for the cause of christs death Chrysostom was far from thinking Christ was iustlie hanged he saith Christ thus honoured his father Non coactus nec inuitus sed hoc ex suae ipsius virtute not coÌ„strained nor vnwilling but of his own virtue or humilitie And the Apostle warranteth Chrysostoms speech for he saith Christ humbled himselfe and was obedient to the death euen to the death of the crosse But what warranteth your spéech that Christ was hanged on the tree by the iust sentence of the lawe I had thought he had suffered the iust for the vniust and hauing no sinne had beene willinglie and by no sentence of the law hanged on a tree Is it wrong you aske for the law to lay the penaltie on the suretie when the debtor cannot discharge it But if it be meere and true iustice and no wrong then was Christ by the iust sentence of the lawe hanged on the tree and so he bare indeed the true curse of the law For though God alwayes loued and imbraced Christ in regard of his owne innocent person yet in another regard of our person which he sustained we may say God HATED him God CVRSED him Yea he tooke our person on him and so became by our sins SINFVLL DEFILED HATEFVL ACCVRSED Is this the holines of your cause you haue in hand Sir refuter with a simple similitude against the scriptures against the faith against the fathers against the consciences of gods people openly to pronounce the eternall and euerlasting sonne of God SINFVL DEFILED HATEFVL accursed of his father for that he took vpon him the punishment of our sinnes Your similitude had néed be sound that shall beare the waight of these wordes if you faile can you tell howe déeply you come within the iust sentence of gods law for opening your irreligious mouth against God and his sonne but thereof anon In the meane while because with scorning Chrysostom you make way to your vnholy coÌ„ceit that Christ being truly accursed in soule for the guilt of mans sinne was iustlie hanged by the sentence of the lawe and say it is VAINE and SENCELESSE to thinke the Apostle speaketh there of two kinds of curses as Chrysostom affirmeth but rather that hanging on a tree is set downe as a part for the whole execution of Gods iust curse and argueth the whole to be on Christ let vs see whether you or Chrysostom hee deceiued As many as are of the workes of Gods lawe are vnder the curse saith Paul for it is written Cursed is euery man that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the lawe to do them We shall agree I hope that this is Gods curse both temporall and eternall laid on the bodies and soules of sinners for transgressing anie part of Gods commandementes proposed in his lawe and to this all that haue sinned are subiected because it is the GENERALL curse EXECVTED by God himself vpon ALL sinne committed either in deede word or thought From this curse saith Paul Christ hath redeemed vs beeing made a curse for vs as it is written Cursed is euerie one that hangeth on a tree If this be all one with the other then euerie man that transgressed Gods law in thought word or deede was by the sentence of the lawe to bee hanged on a fâ—ée Shewe that sentence in the lawe and Chrysostom shall yeelde vnto you if you caÌ„not then haÌ„ging on a trée is no necessarie part of the generall curse of God vpon all sinners and consequentlie being no part of it it is not all one with it neither can it argue the whole to haue béen in Christ. How standeth the Apostles reason then that Christ was made a curse where in sinne there are two thinges the committing of it and the reuenging of it by God or man in this life or the next and magistrates had vnder Moses as they haue vnder Christ power giuen them from aboue as Gods ministers to take vengeance in this life on him that doth euill the Apostle knowing that Christ though he committed no sinne was yet content to beare the punishment due to sinne in his bodie on the trée and by his smart to abolish our fault citeth a place out of Moses where the Iudiciall and corporall punishment of a man by death is not onelie called a curse but counted a satisfaction for sinne which being suffered the law had ended his forme vpon the sufferer And so concludeth that Christ receauing a Iudiciall and corporall punishment of death for our sinne not onlie therein suffered the curse but satisfied the force of the law by that curse of his suffering redéemed vs from the curse of our transgressing The place cited out of Moses is this if a man haue committed an offence worthy of death and is by the lawe to die and thou hang him on a tree his body shall not remaine all night on the tree but thou shalt bury him the same day for the curse of God is alreadie
be stirred himselfe in his special and choise arguments as thou hast heard christiaÌ„ reader now drawing to an ende purposeth like a politicke captaine so to entrench himself that no force shal fetch him out of his hold And because wordes are the weapons that can endanger him he taketh the readie waie with them to turne wind them at his wil and so maketh anie thing to be euerie thing that nothing should hurt him The scriptures affirmeâ— that Christ crucified is the wisedome and power of God to all that be called and that we are reconciled to God by the death of his sonne and our sinnes redeemed and the diuel destroied by the death of Christ Iesus as also that hee suffered for vs in the flesh yea he suffered for our sinnes being put to death in the flesh And least it should hence bee collected that Christ died not y e death of the soule but rather the death of his bodie was a sufficient price for the life of the worlde the Refuter vndertaketh this place of Saint Peter that Christ was done to death in the flesh and thence will proue that the flesh comprehendeth bodie and soule and that the soule of Christ DIED and was crucified as well as the bodie Reason or authoritie besides his owne he bringeth none but out of the hinder part of his head he giueth an obseruation which if he saie the worde must needes prooue sounde and good and this it is Whensoeuer in scripture the flesh and the spirit are opposed together the flesh is alwaies Christes whole humanitie as well his soule as his bodie From whence it followeth that Christs soule also died and was crucified How proue you this note Sir Refuter had you saide that wheresoeuer the flesh of Christ liuing is spoken of there the flesh of a man endued with a humane soule is intended you had saide well for Christ was perfect man and perfect God in one and the same person but when you will stretch all the attributes of the bodie and make them common to the soule because Christ had a soule as well as a bodie it is no true obseruation deriued from the scripture but a partiall supposition intended to further your hellish sorrowes In the 26. of Matthew when Christ telleth his disciples that the spirit is readie but the flesh weake doth hee take spirit there for the godheade as if that were readie to suffer anie thing or for the soule which was willing but that the flesh was weake In the 24. of Luke when Christ saieth a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me haue had his soule flesh and bones and those to be seene as his bodie had To the Romanes when Paul saith Christ our Lord was made o the seede of Dauid according to the flesh and declared to be the sonne of God touching the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the deade will you conclude that Christes soule was made of the seede of Dauid and came from Dauids loines as Christes flesh did The like he repeateth in the same Epistle of the Israelites came Christ according to the flesh which is God ouer all to be blessed for euer whereâ—f your obseruation faile not Christes soule must be kinne to the Iewes as well as his flesh Whie thenâ— when Peter saith Christ was put to death according to the flesh but quickned by the spirit doe you make it so cleere a case that the worde flesh there compriseth both bodie and soule and therefore by Peters confession Christ died in soule as well as in bodie so when Paul saith Christ was crucified through infirmitie yet liueth through the power of God what leadeth you to imagine that his soule was crucified as well as his bodie who did crucifie him I praie you God or the Iewes Peter saieth to the Iewes Iesus of Nazareth a man approoued of God after you had taken with wicked hands you haue CRVCIFIED and slaine So againe the holy and iust one ye denied and killed the Lord of life And likewise By the name of Iesus whom ye haue crucified whom God raised againe from the deade doth this man heere stande whole who before was a creeple If the Iewes then crucified and killed the Lorde Iesus coulde they crucifie and kill his soule Are you so simple that you remember not the wordes of our Sauiour Feare not them which kill the bodie but are not able to kill the soule And you make it not an ouersight but a positiue point of your holie truth as you call it that Christes soule was crucified and died and consequentlie that the Iewes directlie against the wordes of Christ were able to kill and crucifie the soule of Christ. Will you saie that God crucified the soule of Christ for what will you not saie that say Christs soule was crucified died in what scripture shall wee reade that God crucified the soule as the Iewes did the bodie of Christ you woulde seeme to conclude it out of the scriptures which whensoeuer they speake of Christ crucified they note the shamefull and cruel death which the Iewes executed on him not anie thing that God did vnto him And out of that word euerie where in the scriptures referred to the Iewes to inferre that God also crucified his soule is as much madnesse as the former If you feare not the paines of hell because you are so well acquainted with them feare at least the shame of the worlde least they deride you to skorne as lacking that common vnderstanding which boies in the streetes and prentices in the shoppes haue But what if your selfe being be like amazed and as you saie of Christ all confounded in all the powers of your soule and senses of your bodie when you wrate in defence of your holie cause do contradict your selfe and call your owne assertion ABSVRD and MOST FALSE and that not ten or twelue leaues off but in the verie same place where you labour to iustifie this position and prouing and pronouncing it to be absurd and most false you presently conclude it as a principle of your newe faith well if it bee not so then I must confesse I was a sléepe when I thought you did so But if it fall out to be true which I saie I hope christian Reader thou wilt thinke my time anie waie better imploied then longer to reason with such a brainsicke babler The words of Peter are Christ hath once suffered for sinnes the iust for the vniust and was put to death in the flesh but quickned by the spirit Saint Austen writing vpon this place obserueth this for a sure rule to expounde the whole In eare quippe viuificatus est in qua fuerat mortificatus Christ was quickned in that verie part wherein hee suffered death or was put to death This rule hath in it a mightie truth that maie not be resisted For if any part of
the Créede which the church of Christ proposed to euerie childe to learne and to euerie catechist to knowe But nowe wee are returned to the scriptures againe for Fathers they leaue as corrupters of the olde both faith and phrase wee shall goe through with more ease and ende with more speede That Sheol or Hades doe signifie heauen either in the Scriptures of the olde or newe Testament or with the Septuagint which are the translators of the Hebrue into Gréek I vtterlie denie and no man liuing shall euer bee able to make anie proofe thereof on which issue I am content to ioyne with any man that is learned and sober for the hazard of either of our credits If Sheol and Hades in the scriptures neuer signifie heauen then can they not signifie THE VVORLD OF SOVLES for so much as there is no one place common to all soules departed this life but some are in hell and some in heauen and for one word to signifie both hell and heauen so farre distant one from the other and so much repugnant one to the other is somwhat strange except it could be strongly proued Chaos did import the whole masse of heauen and earth before they were distinguished but since they were seuered and setled by the wonderful wisedome and mighty power of God so far apart one from the other and so much vnlike one to the other there are wordes in the scripture which note all that God made but none that comprise heauen and hell excluding the rest S. Paul vseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the creature and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the making of the world and our sauiour vseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this world and the next where nothing is excepted but that heauen and hel should come to be included in one word the rest excluded I see neither whie nor howe it should be For where wordes are common some thinges must also be common as néedefull to bee expressed by those wordes but to soules in heauen and hell no positiue thing is common all things are rather contrarie Their bodies they want in both places because they are soules otherwise their states be as repugnant in all points as light and darknesse Christ and Belial yea as heauen and hell in which they are therefore as light and darknes faith and infidelitie truth and errour haue no common worde to compâ—ise them being contraries each to other no more haue heauen and hell as they are she rewardes of the iust and vniust for so much as all things in either are directlie repugnant each to other Again that SHEOL or HADES may possiblie signifie heauen I vtterly deny because in heauen besides the soules of men there are the elect angels of God to whom if anie man dare applie SHEOL or HADES he must giue me leaue to thinke his iudgement to be weake and his faith vnsound Sheol and Hades you will saie signifie all that are deade in either place But you must remember that both these wordes in the Scriptures doe properlie signifie places and not peâ—sons For though the ancient Gréekes vsed the word HADES first for a person and then for the place which that person gouerned yet the holie ghost knowing that the person which the Pagans meant was in déede the Diuell vseth the worde for the place and not for the person except the texte bee figuratiue In Sheol it was neuer doubted but that it alwaies signified a place and neuer anie person Nowe if neither Sheol nor Hades canne signifie both places I meane heauen and hell then canne they not signifie the worlde of soules for they bee dispersed in both those places It cannot be denied you wil saie but the olde testament referreth Sheôl as the Septuagint doe Hades both to the godlie and to the wicked after death It is most true that Sheôl in Hebrew and Hades in Greeke are applied in the olde Testament both to the good and bad The Question is not to what men but to which parts of men good or bad Sheol and Hades are referred To the bodies of men good and bad lying deade in the graue they are sometimes applied to the soules of the godlie as detained in either they are neuer applied Sheol and consequentlie HADES with the Septuagint importeth the whole death that is due to sinne and euerie part thereof but by no meanes heauen where the soules of the saintes are nor anie part of that blisse which they possesse Since then as well the death of the bodie in this worlde as the death of the soule in the next worlde were the wages of sinne Sheol and Hades doe sometimes signifie the generall state of deade bodies as when the Scripture describeth rottennesse silence forgetfulnesse senselessenesse contempt dishonour and such like to bee in Sheol And the same worde when it is referred to the soules of the wicked as there detained or of the godlie as thence deliuered for so much as the soule cannot be inclosed in the graue of necessitie the pit prepared for the soules of sinners must bee by all such textes of Scriptures intended But that Sheol or Hades shoulde signifie the worlde of Soules as well in heauen as in Hell neither hath this Refuter brought anie Texte or reason for it neither will hee euer bee able to prooue it And howsoeuer one of late hath taken vppon him to talke of those thinges like one of the Titanes with bigge and bombasted tearmes I seeing nothing in that fardell of his but Riddles and raylinges meane not to alter my course Then touching the sense of Sheol in the olde Testament I take it to bee cleare that it sometimes signifieth the graue or the state of deade bodies but neuer the world of soules which phrase the Refuter hath caught by the ende hoping at length to conueie it into the Creede But hee must first shewe vs where hee findeth anie such thing in the Scriptures before wee maie suffer him to make it an Article of our faith Against it euerie place is a proofe but for it none that I reade or they haue yet alleaged They shifte handes and in steede of the worlde of soules they bring in the graue or the state of deade bodies which is but a vaine flourish to propose one thing and to prooue an other And though you Sir Refuter goe to varying of phrases which I thinke is your best skill as The state of the deade the worlde of the deade the worlde of soules departed yet I must let you vnderstande there is great difference betwixt these speeches Sheol may extend to their bodies whose soules doe liue in heauen to their soules it cannot and therefore you must not chop in the one for the other as your instructor doth who when he would proue the world of soules falleth vp aboue head and eares into the graue The one you shall euerie where light on of the other there is no mention As when Iacob said to
shift or other To make the easier conquest of that I preached hee cleane changeth the state of the first Question hee offereth to prooue that which I neuer denied hee confuteth that which I neuer affirmed hee runneth at Random no man can tell whither hee peruerteth my wordes hee maymeth my reasons hee skippeth all my authorities hee scornefullie reiecteth the iudgement of the Fathers when I alleage them the Scriptures hee turneth and windeth at his pleasure he wadeth desperately through thicke and thinne in matters of most importance his best reason is euerie where his own opinion outfacing the world with his ignorance in summe he sheweth vs by his example what it is for a man in matters of faith to despise both authoritie and antiquity and trust onely to his own fancie Such an opponent the wiser sort will thinke I were better neglect then encounter which resolution I my selfe do retayne onely lest my silence should augment his boldnes I thought it not amisse in the conclusion seuered from the treatise to giue thee a tast of the rashnes and weaknes of his enterprise intreating thee in the meane time to reade aduisedly and iudge indifferently for that the cause is weighty and toucheth thee as neere as mee For if we suffer the mayne foundation of our faith and hope in Christ to be wrenched neuer so little awrie the whole building is more endangered then wee are ware of In Gods causes let Gods booke teach vs what to beleeue and what to professe If thou thinke it thy duetie in matters of faith to beware of vnwritten verities in the greatest point of all which is our redemption by Christ take heede thou easilie admit not vnwritten absurdities This matter began in more generall and more tolerable tearmes if they might bee rather soberly mitigated then too vehemently pressed but as when we runne downe an hill we can hardly staie so in matters of religion when we fal to inuenting beyond the scriptures we quickly misse and seldome recouer the truth Farewell gentle Reader and pray that our thoughts and wits may be subiected to the truth of Gods word and that wee loath not the simplicitie which is in Christ. THE FVLL REDEMPtion of mankind by the death and bloud of Christ. GALATH. 6. verse 14. Be it far from me to reioice but in the Crosse of Christ. AS the naturall man no where liketh nor alloweth the thinges of God because they seeme foolishnes vnto him so of all the waies and workes of God there is none that more displeaseth and offendeth the vnbeléeuer then the Crosse of Christ. Wee preach Christ crucified saith the Apostle to the Iewes a stumbling blocke to the Grecians foolishnesse The Grecians â—auoring nothing but worldlie wisedome and fleshlie reason counted it a méere folly for the sonne of God to leaue his Throne of glorie in the heauens and as a man amongst men to taste of maâ—â—e miseries and to suffer a cruell and shamefull death at the handes of his enemies The priâ—â— of our Redemption for whose sakes hee died and the power of his resurrection by which hee raised vs to the imitation and expectation of a better life they did neither conceiue nor beléeue and therefore they reiected his birth and speciallie his death as a dreame of simple and vnlearned men such as they tooke the Apostles to be The Iewes hauing their eares full of those excellent promises which God made by his prophets concerning the kingdome of the Messias and referring them to an earthlie king that should sit on the throne of Dauid brusing his enemies with a rod of Iron and ruling the world with iustice and equitie when they sawe the weake and base condition of our Sauiour in outward shew promising nothing but reproch and penurie they so disdained and detested him that they could not bee quiet till they had crucified him being then and euer since ashamed and gréeued that anie should saie or thinke he was the Messias so much spoken of in the prophets Thus the Iewes looking for wonders and the Grecians for Wisedome did both condemne the crosse of Christ the one of weakenesse the other of foolishnesse and for that cause fell at the stone of offence but such as were called both Iewes and Gentiles to bee heires of the promise did plainelie perceaue and fullie confesse Christ crucified to be the mightie power and manifold wisedome of God for their euerlasting ioie and blisse and were so far from being ashamed of Christs sufferings that they were willing partakers and open reioicers in the crosse of Christ as the Apostle here saieth of himselfe Be it farre from mee to reioice but in the Crosse of Christ by which the world is crucified to me and I to the world And indéede if we beholde Christ crucified with carnall eies as did the Iewes wee shall see nothing in him but earthlie weakenesse and deadlie woundes as they sawe but if we bende the eies of our faith to the trâ—th of his person and to the force and fruite of his death as must all his saints we shall finde the power and wisedome iustice and mercie of God so tempered in the crosse of Christ for our good that by his paines we are eased by his stripes we are healed his weakenesse is our strength his shame is our glorie and his death our life worthely therefore doth the Apostle professe that he did and we should not reioice but in the crosse of Christ. And where hee saith he did reioyce in nothing but in the crosse of Christ he thereby teacheth vs to repose all our faith and hope aswell as our ioy in the fauour of God which Christ hath purchased for vs by his death and bloud Reioice in hope saith the Apostle that is in the expectation not in the present fruition of heauenlie thinges which God hath prepared for all that loue him Now hope without faith there can bee none Faith is the ground worke of that wee hope for howe can we with patience looke for that which we doe not beléeue wee shall receiue The doubting of Gods promises is the plaine distrâ—sting of them and bréedeth rather a feare we shall misse them then an hope to enioie them and in feare there is PAINE as saint Iohn saith and no IOIE Then as there is no perfect ioie but in hope assured by faith so if we must not reioice but in the crosse of Christ our faith and hope must wholie depende on that peace and attonement which Christ hath made betwixt God and vs by the sheading of his precious bloud for our sakes that is by his crosse Since therefore Christ crucified is the wisedome and power of God to saue all that beléeue and the crosse of Christ is the ful support of all our faith hope and ioie there is no one point in christian religion that more mainelie concerneth and neerelie toucheth the saluation of our soules then the right vnderstanding and only relying on the crosse
horrible torment of Stripes Thornes Wounds Sinewes and ioynts our Sauiour hoong on the crosse aboue thrée houres in most perfect sense with most extream paine till the verie instant that hee breathed out his soule A violenter death by fyre or otherwise our Sauiour might happilie haue suffered but a more painfull with perfection of patience neuer martyr much lesse malefactor did or could endure The torments of others when they are violent do either hasten death or ouerwhelme the sense and so the paine when it is most grieuous is least perceiued In Christ there was no such thing He died not by degrées as we do his senses did not decay no pangs of death tooke hold of him but in perfect sense and perfect patience both of bodie and soule he did voluntarily and miraculously resigne his spirit as hee was praying into his fathers handes Longer tortures others haue endured but neuer greater for the time nor with like patience For in all men Christ excepted though the spirit be neuer so willing the measure of faith neuer so strong yet vnles it please God to shorten or lighten the rage of their paine the flesh repineth at the present anguish howsoeuer grace support the soule that it sink not vnder the burthen But He which shortneth and lightneth the force of torments in his saints when they be grieuous in his owne would doe neither He spared not himselfe that knoweth how to spare his but suffered and indured all to the vttermost with so exact obedience and patience that he did not shrinke at the paine nor striue with death but yâ—elded so voluntarie a sacrifice to god that in the sharpest torments he made no shew of sense nor suffered his flesh so much as to tremble or struggle with paine or death The manner of rendring vp his soule the Scriptures and Fathers do carefullie obserue Saint Iohn thus describeth it When Iesus had tasted of the vinegar hee said all is finished bowed his head and gaue vp the Ghost Whereupon Bernard saith It is a great infirmity to die but so to die doth plainlie proue an infinite power S. Luke reporteth that Iesus cried with a loud voice to shew himselfe to be frée from any touch of death and saide Father into thy handes I commend my spirit Whereupon Hierom obserueth that the Centurion hearing his prayer and seeing him Statim spiritum sponte dimisisse presently of his owne accord to sende forth his spirite Commotus signi magnitudine mooued with the greatnesse of the wonder saide Truly this man was the sonne of God Augustine largely handling the maner of his death saith Who can so sleepe when he wil as Christ died when he would Who can so laie aside his garment at his pleasure as Christ laid aside his flesh Who can so leaue his place as Christ left his life with how great power shall he come to iudge that shewed so great power when he died Christ himselfe ralifteth these obseruations with his owne mouth in the Gospell of saint Iohn None taketh my soule from mee but I laie it downe of my selfe By this we may perceiue the coniunction of the Humane nature with the Diuine in the person of Christ was so fast and sure that neither sinne death nor hell assaulting our Sauiour could make anie separation no not of his bodie but he himselfe of his owne accord must put off his earthlie tabernacle that dying for a season he might conquer death for euer and so the laying downe of his life was no imposed punishment nor forceable inuasion of death vpon him but a voluntary sacrifice for sinne rendred vnto God for our sakes to appease the wrath and satisfie the curse which our manifold wickednes had most iustlie deserued Thus farre without feare we maie fréelie extend the crosse of Christ by the warrant of the holie scriptures Some men in our daies stretch it a great deale farther to the death both of bodie and soule and to the WHOLE PAINES OF THE DAMNED IN HELL but vpon how iust grounds when you heare you may iudge as you sâ—e cause This opinion hath growen by degrees and euerie daie taketh newe encrease At the first men contented themselues to thinke Christ suffered the paines of hel that is great and intolerable paines which metaphoricall kind of speach the Scriptures will beare if we conclude no worse meaning withâ—â— those words Out of the bellie of HEL saith Ionas I cried and thou heardest my voice The sorrowes of HEL compassed me about saith Dauid and the griefes of HEL tooke hold of me Some others affirme that Christ in sustaining the wrath of God due to vs wrastled with the verie powers of hell that sought to fasten on him and howsoeuer beholding the terror of Gods vengeance prouoked by our sinnes he did somtimes tremble yet by firme faith alwaies fixed on God he repelled and repressed those assaults of Satan and so saued not himselfe onely but vs also This might be indured if men could stay here it were to be wished that in matters of so great weight and danger we would rather try where we are then hasten to go onward But as water breaking her bankes still runneth and neuer stayeth so some lighting on other mens inuentions neuer leaue adding till they marre all In the case which we haue in hand the name of Hell paines being once admitted into the worke of our redemption some in our daies will no nay but that Christ on the crosse suffered the selfe same paines in soule which the damned do in hell and endured euen the death of the soule yea others auoucâ— that hee sustained farre greater torments then anie are in hell to wit as much paine in 15. houres as all the faithfull should haue suffered euerlastinglie and that as well in body as in soule To these dangerous deuises are some men slipt in our time And because I knowe not when or where they will make an ende I thinke it néedfull for discharge of my dutie and direction of your faith as well to set downe certaine limits beyond which you may not go as also to reiect such extremities as by no meanes may be closed in the crosse of Christ without apparant impietie The paines of hell if I be not deceiued make a fourefold impression in the soules of men a carefull feare which declineth them a doubtfull feare which conflicteth with them a desperate feare which sinketh vnder them and a damned feare which suffereth them The first is and must be in all the godlie and chieflie in Christ himselfe For the more we loue God the more wee detest and shunne all separation from God Hell therefore which is an vtter exclusion from the kingdome of God is most iustlie abhorred of all his saints and speciallie of his owne Son who not onelie by will but by nature is one with his Father A conflict with Hell if it come not from the inward
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
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
inter redimenteÌ„ redemptum dispensatio non compensatio fuit Let vs vndoubtedly beleeue that hee redeemed the whole worlde which gaue more then the whole world was worth Betweene the redeemer and the redeemed there was a dispensation of humilitie no compensation of equality And to shewe the truth of his spéech he addeth Innocency was arraigned for the guiltie mercie was buffeted for the cruell piety was whipped for the vngodlie wisdom was mocked for the foolish righteousnes was condeÌ„ned for the vnrighteous truth was slaine for the liar life died for him that was dead And doe wee yet remembring who he was and what we were stagger to confesse with these Christian and Catholike Fathers that his bloud was a most sufficient price for all the world or woonder we to see death ouerthrowne by his death who was the fountaine of life and could no more bee swallowed vp of death then God himselfe could be conquered by the power of darkenesse The mightier Christs person the more able he was some will say to suffer death hell he would be partaker of our mortall infirmitie that by suffering death for the time hee might conquer the force thereof for euer but the gates of hel could not preuaile against him because the Prince of this world had nothing in him The inward man may be strongest when the outward man is weakest and when the flesh is nearest vnto death the spirit may cleane fastest vnto God Christ therefore in dying for our sakes shewed a most euident and eminent example of his obedience loue and patience but in suffering hel there is no signe of grace nor shew of vertue Uoluntarilie to forsake God or willinglie to be forsaken of God is the greatest impietie that can bee committed And against his will Christ neuer did nor might suffer anie thing for that had beene violence not obedience vengeance not patience force not loue But all constraint was farre from Christ that his sufferings might be a voluntary sacrifice to witnesse his loue and declare his merits which in compulsion could be none Since then the sonne of God neither willinglie would nor forciblie could be forsaken of his Father it is a dangerous deuise to subiect his soule to hell which is the totall and finall separation of the wicked from God and his kingdome And that wee may a little the better be thinke our selues before we growe too resolute in this assertion that Christes soule suffered the verie paines of hell I will obserue some things which the scriptures affirme of hell may not be applied to Christ without apparaÌ„t iniurie First hel is outward and inward darkenesse nowe Christ was light and in him was no darknesse of the soule As long as I am in the worlde I am sayth hée the light of the worlde Then as the light hath no fellowshippe with darkenesse no more had Christ with hell which is the power of darkenesse from whence hee hath deliuered vs. Secondlie hell is destruction both of bodie and soule Feare not them saith Christ which kill the bodie but cannot kill the soule feare him rather which is able to destroie both soule and bodie in hell In the Sauiour of both wee maie not admitte the destruction of both howe shall he saue vs that could hardlie and as some write MAXIMA CVM DIFFICVLTATEâ—punc with much a do saue himselfe But God sent his sonne to bee the Sauiour of the worlde We must not therefore wrappe him within the destruction of bodie and soule no not for an hower or an instant Thirdlie hell is the second death The first is of the bodie for a time the second is of the soule for euer The lake burning with fire and brimstone this is the second death saith Saint Iohn Of this death Austen saith De prima corporis morte dicipotest quòd bonis bona sit malis mala secunda vero sine dubio sicut nullorum est bonorum ita nulli bona Ideo vero secunda quia post illam primamest The first death of the bodie is good to the good and euill to the euill but the seconde death without doubt as no good man suffereth it so is it good to none and therefore it is called the seconde death because it followeth after the first Before the first death no man suffereth hell which is the seconde death and before wee maie auouch it of Christ wee must take all goodnesse from him for doubtlesse sayeth Austen no good man dooth suffer it And indéede howe pernicious it is to make the soule of Christ lyable to the death of the soule I shall afterwarde haue occasion to speake In the meane time S. Iohn affirmeth that hell goeth not before death but followeth after death I looked saith he and beheld a pale horse and his name that sate on him was death and HEL FOLLOVVED AFTER HIM and therefore it cannot stand with truth to subiect the soule of Christ yet liuing on earth to the very paines of the damned Fourthly their WORME in hell neuer dieth for so much as the remembrance of their sinnes committed against God euerlasting lie biteth and afflicteth the conscience Now in Christ as there was no taint of sinne so could there bee no touch of conscience accusing nor remorse of any transgression agaynst God With compassion of our sinnes he might be moued and troubled but worme of conscience hee could haue none who was priuie to his owne heart that he was holie harmlesse vndefiled and separated from sinners and therefore needed no sacrifice for his owne sinnes but as a faythfull and mercifull high Priest by the offering of him selfe once made an attonement for the sinnes of the people But what the paines of the damned are the sentence of the Iudge will best declare Discedite à me maledicti in ignem aeternum Depart from mee ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the diuell and his Angels In which wordes there are foure things which by no meanes can agrée vnto Christ REIECTION MALEDICTION VENGEANCE OF FIRE CONTINVANCE THERIN FOR EVER As sin is a voluntary separation of man from god so hell is a totall and finall exclusion of the sinfull froÌ„ enioying the presence or patience of God anie longer The time of this life is the respite of Gods patience towards all the wicked with the ende thereof beginneth his eternall vengeaunce which wholie and for euer debarreth the workers of wickednesse from the kingdome of God This reiection the soule of Christ could not suffer beeing inseparablie ioyned to the Godhead of Christ. We must not in stead of a naturall and mutuall coniunction beléeue or teach a reall effectuall separation betwixt God and man in the person of Christ no not a perswasion thereof in the soule of our Sauiour which is all one with Desperation and sheweth the condition rather of the Reprobate then of the children of God much lesse of him that
the destruction of all the faythfull Wherefore the wisedome and iustice of God suffered him to shewe his rage on the flesh of Christ and as it were to trample in his bloud which hee spilt like water on the earth and left him that which hee so eagerly pursued and in his malice against Gods glorie preferred before all the worlde as a full payment for all those that shoulde be deliuered by the death of Christ. And for this cause the bloud of Christ is called by y e holie ghost the PRICE of our REDEMPTION Ye were REDEEMED saith Peter WITH THE PRECIOVS BLOVD of Christ as of a lambe vnspotted and vndefiled Yea the song which the Saints in heauen do sing vnto the lambe is this Thou wast killed and HAST REDEEMED VS TO GOD BY THY BLOOD When I say the bloud of Christ was â—he price wherewith God redéemed vs out of Satans power I doe not meane that God made anie contract with Satan or tooke his consent to exchange much lesse that Christ did profer his bloud to the diuell to set vs free it were an iniurie to Christ for vs to thinke his bloud was shed to satisfie the diuell as Gregory Nazianzene wel obserueth in his oration de Paschate but Christ offered his bloud as a sacrifice to god his father to verifie the iudgement pronounced against vs Thou shalt die the death and to satisfie the iustice of God prouoked with our sinnes yet in comming to his death since his life might not be ended neither with his owne hand nor by the hand of his Father the wisedome of God deliuered him into the handes of sinners by whose blinde zeale and bloudie rage the diuell that worketh in the children of disobedience conspired and compassed his death and with all maner of contumelie and crueltie abused his body and spilt his blood insulting at him by the mouthes of the wicked and reioycing in the conquest he gate ouer Christ in bringing him to a reprochfull death But this extreame rage of Satan against the person of Christ turned to the vtter ruine of his owne kingdome For God did not onely raise againe the Lord Iesus from death as dying an innocent without all desert but in recompence of the wrong which he receiued at Satans hands to the which he willingly submitted himselfe God gaue him power to spoyle the kingdome of the diuell and to deliuer all that euer did or should beleeue in his death and passion And in this sort Christ bought vs with his precious bloud from the daunger of sinne and hell not offering but suffering Satan by the hands of the Iewes to take his life from him neither compounding with his aduersarie but repressing him in the middest of his malice who assaulting Christ Iesus our head as he had done all the members was ouerthrowne by him and vanquished with an euerlasting victorie Mortuus est volens vt inuoluntarie mortuos exuscitaret Deuorauit ipsum mors ignorans vbi deuorasset cognouit quem non deuorauit Deuorauit vnum cum omnibus perdidit omnes propter vnum Rapuit vt leo confracti sunt dentes ipsius Christ died willinglie saith Basill that hee might raise those which died against their wils Death ignorantly deuoured him which when hee had done hee knewe whom he had not deuoured Hee swallowed vp one as he did all and for that one hee lost all Hee seased on him as a Lion but his teeth were therwith broken The créed extant vnder the name of Ruffinus Sacramentum carnis susceptae hanc habet causam vt diuina filij dei virtus velut hamus quidam habitu humanae carnis obtectus principem mundi inuitare posset ad Agonem cui ipse carnem suam velut escam tradens hamo eum diuinitatis intrinsecus teneret insertus ex profusione immaculati sanguinis The mysterie of Christes taking flesh was to this end that the diuine power of the Sonne of GOD couered as a hooke vnder the shewe of mans flesh might prouoke the Prince of this worlde to assault him to WHOM CHRIST DELIVERING HIS FLESH AS A BAITE helde fast the diuell with the hooke of his diuinitie sticking in him through the shedding of his immaculate bloud Conditorem omnium Satanae manui traditum quis vel desipiens credat sed tamen edoctus veritate quis nesciat cum se pro nostra redemptione Dominus membrorum Satanae manibus tradidit quod eiusdem Satanae manum in se saeuire permittit vt vnde ipse exterius occumberet inde nos exterius interiusque liberaret That the maker of all was deliuered into the hande of Satan who is so foolish as to beleeue And yet who taught by the trueth is ignorant that when the Lorde for our redemption yeelded himselfe into their handes that were the members of Satan hee suffered the hande of Satan to rage agaynst him that whence he outwardlie dyed in body thence he might both outwardlie and inwardlie deliuer vs And therefore hee concludeth Cum corpus eius ad passionem accipit electos eius à iure suae potestatis amittit When Satan receyued the bodie of Christ to crucifie it hee lost the elect of Christ from subiection to his power Saint Austen shewing howe Christ conquered the Diuell first by iustice and then by power sayeth Placuit Deo vt propter eruendum hominem de Diabolâ— potestate non potentia Diabolus sed iustitia vinceretur It pleased God for the deliuering of man out of the Diuels power that the diuell should be conquered by iustice and not by might Qua est igitur iustitia qua victus est Diabolus Quae nisi iustitia Iesu Christi Et quomodo victus est Quia cum in eo nihil morte dignum inuenit occidit eum tamen utique iustum est vt debitores quos tenebat liberi dimittantur in eum credentes quem sine vllo debito occidit Hoc est quod iustificari dicimur in sanguine Christi What then is the iustice whereby the Diuell was conquered What but the iustice of Iesu Christ And howe Because that when the Diuell founde in Christ nothing woorthie of death hee killed him notwithstanding and surelie iustice requireth that the debtours which Satan helde shoulde bee sette free beleeuing in him whome Satan slue without any debt This is it that wee are sayde to bee iustifyed in the bloud of Christ. Sanguis enim ille quoniam eius erat qui nullum habuit omnino peccatum ad remissionem nostrorum fusus est peccatorum vt quia eos Diabolus merito tenebat quos peccatireos conditione mortis obstrinxit hos per eum meritò dimitteret quem nullius peccati reum immerito poena mortis affecit hac iustitia victus hoc vinculo vinctus est fortis vt vasa eius eriperentur For that bloud because it was his who was vtterlie voyde of sinne was shedde for the remission of
power and steadfast fauour of God for their perpetuall defence and eternall recompence So that in all thinges wee are more then conquerours through him that loued vs and gaue himselfe for vs who will tread downe Satan vnder our feete that God may bee all in all Uerie mightie then is the power of Christes death by whose BLOVD the Saintes OVER COME the greate Dragon that olde Serpent called the Diuell and his ouerthrow prooueth all the enemies of mans saluation to bee vanquished and impediments remooued since he was the first perswader and procurer and is the Prince and ruler of them all We haue seene the power of Christs death in subduing sin and Satan as likewise in ending abolishing the curse of the lawe which obliged man for his vncleannesse and vnrighteousnesse to euerlasting condemnation and find that hee which bare our sinnes in his bodie on the tree did in that mortall part which hee tooke of vs crucifie as well the flesh and sinne of man as the curse and death that raigned ouer man and so much hee performed in the bodie of his flesh through death by which hee reconciled vs vnto God to make vs holie and blamelesse in his sight let vs nowe see whether the death of the spirite and the curse of the soule will anie thing helpe the woorke of our redemption or whether the death of Christes bodie doe not more fullie demonstrate the mercies of God and merits of Christ then if the paines of hell had beene ioyned with it And where some men thinke it woulde much commende the TRVTH POVVER and IVSTICE of God and more amplie declare the OBEDIENCE PATIENCE and LOVE of Christ if hee refused not the verie torments of hell for our sakes shunning no part of the burthen that pressed vs I must confesse I am rather of a contrarie minde that the bodilie death of Christ on the crosse doth more plainlie expresse the vertues of God and Christ his sonne then if the terror and horror of hell were therewith coupled And first for the TRVTH of god his threatning Adam in this wise Thou shalt die the death or thou shalt certainely die was truelie performed in the bodie of Christ in the soule of Christ it could not without sinne or damnation neither of which with anie truth can be ascribed vnto Christ. That the mouth of God lied or the soule of Christ died is a choâ—se so hard that I wish all men that haue anie care of Christian religion to refraine either Next touching the POVVER of God the weaker the instrument which God vseth to ouerthrowe his enemies the greater is both his glory and their shame Then for flesh which was the feeblest part of Christ after it was deade and voide of all hope in shew to rise againe into a blessed and heauenlie life and to foile both death and Satan by recouering it selfe into the full possession and all his members into the ioyfull expectation of euerlasting glorie was farre a mightier conquest then for his soule with much adoe at length to escape and resist the assaultes of hell From the depth of hell here on earth manie sinnefull soules haue by grace struggeled and cléered themselues from the graue neuer rose none into an immortall incorruptible life before the flesh of Christ. Déeper in desperation and al other temptations of hel haue others been that yet were saued then anie man dare affirme of Christ déeper in death without corruption then the bodie of Christ neuer was nor euer shall be anie of the sonnes of men It was therefore an harder thing for the bodie of Christ past all sense to rise from death to immortalitie then for his soule voide of sinne and full of grace to repell the force of Satan and yet to repell it sheweth greater power then to suffer it to conquere it sheweth greatest of all But to beare the burden of Gods wrath due to our sinnes and to frée vs from it néeded greater strength they will saie then Christes flesh could haue To support and auert Gods iust indignation from vs the humane bodie or soule of Christ of themselues were not able but the DIGNITIE and VNITIE of his person must be placed in the gap to quench the flame of Gods iust vengeaÌ„ce against our sinnes which was euerlasting destruction both of bodie and soule yet for so much as the sincerity and sanctitie of Christes soule personallie ioyned quickened and blessed with the perpetual vnion communion and fruition of his deitie could feele no want of grace no lacke of spirit no losse of fauour with God in which thinges consist the inwarde death and curse of the soule the wrath of God was executed on the flesh of his sonne which hee tooke of purpose from Adam that the rein he might beare the sinne and curse of Adam and so by his death might satisfie the sentence and pacifie the displeasure of God against our vnrighteousnesse And this is more agréeable to Gods iustice then if Christs soule had suffered the death and curse of the soule For to take life from the soule must be Gods proper and peculiar action No creature can giue the grace or spirit of God to the soule of man which is the life of the soule but onelie God Therefore no creature can take it from the soule but God alone that GIVETH it must TAKE IT AVVAY Since then Christ might suffer nothing iustlie but as the iust for the vniust that is willinglie but vniustlie his death must come by the handes of the wicked who might wrongfullie take his life from him but not touch his soule and not by the immediate hande of GOD who will doe no wrong and can kill the soule I haue sinned saith Iudas in betraying the INNOCENT bloud You denied the HOLIE AND IVST and killed the Lorde of life saith Peter to the Iewes warning them howe great a sinne they had committed in putting Christ to death If hee were an INNOCENT and deserued no punishment if hee were HOLIE and IVST and could not bee persecuted or put to death without haynous impietie and iniurie wee may doe well to remember that the death of his soule had beene a farre greater wrong then the death of his bodie was And therefore if the iustice of God would not farther interpose it selfe in killing his bodie then by deliuering him into the handes of the wicked permitting them to shed his blond which hee woulde accept for the sinnes of the worlde much lesse woulde God with his owne mouth accurse or with his owne hande slea the soule of his sonne whome hee sent to restore and quicken those that were accursed and dead in their sinnes Againe corporallie or temporallie God punisheth one for anothers fault bicause he can recompence them eternally that thereby repent and turne from their sinnes but eternally or spiritually he punisheth no man but for his owne vncleannes either naturally sticking in him or
hee of my selfe but as my father hath taught mee so speake I these thinges For hee that sent mee is with mee the Father hath not left mee alone because I DOE ALVVAYES the thinges THAT PLEASE HIM Though I beare recorde of my selfe my recorde is true FOR I KNOVVE VVHENCE I CAME AND VVHITHER I GOE As hee coulde not bee ignorant so coulde hee not bee forgetfull of his Fathers counsell and decree The glorie of God might appall him at the entrance into his prayers but his constant continuing one and the same request to his Father three seuerall turnes with intermission of time and admonition to his Disciples to watch and praie prooueth hee had not forgotten himselfe that still persisted in his purpose nor yet striued agaynst his Fathers will in that his prayer was accepted and assured from heauen Did then the cup passe from him which was the summe of his prayer No doubt it did in that sense which he desired The cup mingled by Gods iust iudgment for the sin of man did passe both from him and vs by force of his prayer not that hee did not taste of it but in that yeelding himselfe to the temporall and corporall chasticement thereof hee quenched the spirituall and eternall vengeance that was consequent after death the abolishing whereof was a worke worthie of the sonne of God and a memorable effect of that earnest and instant prayer which our Sauiour made in the Garden thereby shutting vp hell and opening heauen to all his members And for that cause the Prophet Esay ioyneth his patient suffering and vehement praying as needfull groundes of our redemption hee bare the sinne of manie and PRAYED for the TRESPASSERS and the Apostle reckoneth Christs PRAIERS OFFERED VVITH TEARES and his paines suffered through obedience as principall parts of his Priesthood and effectuall sacrifices for the sinnes of the people As praying in the garden Christ must be frée from forgetting either his fathers will or loue so suffering on the crosse he must haue not onely patience and obedience but intelligence assurance that the bloudy sacrifice which he offered should be accepted as the propitiation for our sinnes and himselfe exalted from the shame and paine of the crosse to euerlasting honour ioy and glorie He did not offer himselfe on the altar of the crosse supposing or presuming it might please God thereby to be fauourable vnto man but as hee came into the world annointed and sent of purpose to saue his people from their sinnes so did hee humble himselfe to the death of the Crosse beeing thereto appoynted by his heauenlie father and therefore most assured that God was immutablie determined to accept his sacrifice for the sin of the world and by the bloud of his crosse to set at peace thinges both in heauen and in earth and to reconcile vs that were straungers and enemies in euill woorkes through death in the bodie of his flesh to make vs holie and without fault in the sight of God This Saint Paule saith was Gods GOOD PLEASVRE to which Christ was OBEDIENT therefore neither ignorant of it nor doubtfull in it but assuredlie resolued with fulnesse of faith and hope that he which had decreed it could not be changed and that God which had sent him would not deceiue him And for that cause the Apostle maketh the death of Christ to be a SACRIFICE OF A SVVEET SMELLING SAVOVR VNTO GOD and saith that Iesus the authour finisher of our faith FOR THE IOY VVHICH VVAS SET BEFORE HIM endured the crosse and despised the shame thereof and is placed on the right hand of the throne of God So that howsoeuer late writers haue found out the terror of Gods wrath and horror of eternall death in the soule of Christ suffering the Apostle teacheth vs that Christ hanging in the shame and paine of the crosse had not onelie peace and fauour with god as offering a sweet smelling sacrifice but also ioy before his eies of euerlasting glory at the right hand of y e throne of God And with him agrée both Peter Dauid when they bare witnes of Christ that his HEART VVAS GLAD his TONGVE IOIFVL and that euen HIS FLESH should REST IN HOPE notwithstanding the anguish of death force of the graue and fury of hell For God would neither forsake his soule in hell nor suffer his flesh to sée corruption Dare anie man doubt of this doctrine which is so clearelie and fullie deliuered vs in the Scriptures Or make wee a pastime of it in fauour of our fansies to ouerturne the verie principles of truth Christ suffered for vs leauing vs an example that wee shoulde followe his steppes For if wee suffer with him wee shall bee glorified with him Must we suffer the paines of the damned afore we may hope to be partakers of his glorie The gaine which we haue in Christ when wee haue refused all thinges as vile for his sake is to knowe the fellowshippe of his afflictions and to bee conformed vnto his death if by anie meanes wee may attaine to the resurrection of the deade Shall the communion of Christes sufferings bring vs to the true torments of hell and must we perswade our selues that wee are forsaken of God afore wee can bee conformed to his death Reioyce sayth Peter when yee doe communicate with Christes sufferings Must we then REIOICE in the horror of hell and bee glad of Gods displeasure towards vs I thinke not Howe farre fuller of comfort is the Apostles doctrine where he saith As the sufferinges of Christ abound in vs so our consolation aboundeth through Christ. And our hope is stedfast concerning you that as you are partakers of the sufferinges so shall you bee of the comforts What comfort these men can finde in the paines of the damned I knowe not they else where seeme to say that all feares and griefes all terrors and tormâ—nts are trifles vnto the sense and feeling of Gods displeasure and iust indignation but the holie Ghost I am sure proposeth to vs the Crosse of Christ as the waie to perfection that neuer wanteth consolation For therein though our outwarde man perish yet the inwarde man is daylie renued and when our bodies die to sinne as did Christes our soules liue to God as did his Excellentlie doth the Apostle describe the comfort of Christes Crosse in all the faythfull when hee sayeth Wee are afflicted on euerie side but not ouerpressed wanting but not vtterlie destitute persecuted but not forsaken falling but not perishing alwayes bearing about in our bodie the dying of the Lorde Iesu that the life of Iesu might bee manifest in our bodyes For wee whiles wee liue are still deliuered vnto death for Iesus sake that the life of Iesu might bee manifest in our mortall flesh Christ then in the mortification of his bodie on the Crosse was neither OVERâ—RESSED FORSAKEN nor PERISHING
sepulchrum corrumpendam perduceret animam inferno torquendam protinus manciparet Vt autem peccator fuisset gratuito munere liberatus factum est vt mortens corporis quam à Deo iusto peccator homo pertulerat iusté Deifilius a peccatore pateretur iniuste ad sepulchrum perveniret caro iusti quousque fuerat caro deuoluta peccati vsque ad infernum descenderet anima saluatoris vbi peccatimerito torquebatur anima peccatoris Hoc autem ideo factum est vt per morientem temporaliter carnem iusti donaretur vita aeterna carni per descendentem ad infernum animam iusti dolores soluerentur inferni It remained for the full effecting of our redemption that man assumed of God without sinne shoulde thither descend whither man seuered from God fell by desert of sinne that is vnto hell where the soule of the sinner was woont to bee tormented and to the graue where the flesh of the sinner was woont to bee corrupted yet so that neither Christes flesh shoulde bee corrupted in the graue nor his soule bee tormented with the paines of hell because the soule free from sinne was not to be subiected to that punishment nor flesh cleane from the contagion of sinne shoulde suffer corruption In so much as man sinning deserued by punishment to bee seuered from himselfe who by his transgression woulde needes bee seuered from God therefore it was appointed that the death of the sinner should bring his sinfull flesh to the graue there to rotte and presentlie should send his soule to hell there to be tormented But when the sinner by the gift of Gods grace was to bee deliuered it was prouided that the sonne of God should vniustlie suffer at the hands of sinners the death of the bodie which sinfull man had iustlie beene wrapped in by the iustice of God and the flesh of the iust should come to the graue whither sinfull flesh was tumbled and that the SOVLE OF OVR SAVIOVR SHOVLD DESCEND TO HELL VVHERE THE SINFVLL SOVLâ— VVAS TORMENTED FOR THE REVVARD OF SINNE This was therefore done that by the flesh of the iust temporally dying eternall life might be giuen to our flesh and by the soule of the iust descending to hell the torments of hell might be abolished Out of Fulgentius I obserue two things which if it please men to marke they shall cleare themselues from all absurdities touching Christs descent to hell The first is THE PLACE VVHITHER he desended the next is THE CAVSE VVHY he descended The place whither hee descended was hell whither the soule of man sinning against God was adiudged for the wages of his transgâ—ession The cause of his descent was to free all the faithfull from the beginning of the world to the ende thereof from comming thither And in both these the Scriptures and fathers doe fullie concurre though some auncient writers doe swarue and striue about Christes deliuering some from hell that were there at the time of his descent as they suppose Which varietie and vncertaintie of opinions concerning the state of the deade before Christes comming hath verie much entangled this question and induced manie men of learning and iudgement otherwise to reiect Christs descent to hell as a fable or to wrest it to an other sense with newe founde expositions Howbeit I see no cause but the doctrine of the Scriptures confessed by all the fathers may stande verie cleare whatsoeuer we resolue of this other assertion touching the state of the righteous departed this life before Christs death I will therefore shortly discusse both the place and the cause and so draw to an end As for the place whither Christ descended the Church of Rome gréedily hunteth after it to heare of her Purgatorie hoping whence the soules of the righteous were by Christ deliuered there to make a stand for soules not perfectlie confessed and absolued in this life that she maie set to sale her praiers and pardons But if shee follow Christ descending her deuotion must reach to the place and paines of the damned for thither Christ descended And so by their leaues both Scriptures and fathers auouch First the wordes are plaine and must bee proper as well in the Canon as in the Créed Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell and he descended into hell Againe the kingdom of Satan consisteth of these three SINNE DEATH and HELL SINNE RAIGNING whiles the bodie and soule are ioined togither DEATH SEVERING them both and TVRNING the bodie to earth HELL RECEIVING and TORMENTING the soule till the daie of iudgement when bodie and soule shall for euer bee cast into hell fire If these three bee not abolished by Christ Satans kingdome is not destroyed by Christ and speciallie if hell bee not vanquished no part of our saluation is performed The woorke of sinne is sweete if the wages were not sower which is hell fire To raise our bodies from death is no fauour if Hell bee not ouerthrowen it were more easie for them to lie in dust then to burne in hell Howe hath Christ restored vs to Heauen if hee haue not yet freed vs from Hell Or brought vs to God if he haue not yet taken vs from Satan Wherefore either Hell must bee destroyed or wee are no waie redeemed And in all these when I speake of Hell I speake of the place of the damned For if the feare of damnation continue what hope of saluation can wee conceiue But the Apostle saieth plainlie that Christ through death DESTROIED HIM that had power of death euen the DIVELL and DELIVERED ALL them which for feare of death were all their life time subiect to seruitude If the DIVELL bee DESTROIED then Hell is fullie conquered for whiles that retaineth force against the faithfull the Diuell is in the height of his kingdome Neither is death to bee feared at all but in respect of hell following after death If then all the Saintes heere on earth be DELIVERED FROM THE FEARE OF DEATH and from the handes of all that hate them to serue God without feare all the dayes of their life in holinesse and righteousnesse before him it is euident that hell is spoyled of all right and claime to the members of Christ by reason our heade beeing there in our names and for our sinnes brake the strength of hell abolished the power and loosed the sorrowes and paines thereof that they shoulde not take holde on him nor euer after on anie of his For as hee suffered and died not for his owne sake but for ours so hee descended and loosed the sorrowes of death and hell not as prouided for him but for vs. And since to our sinnes was due damnation and no lesser or easier punishment it was requisite that Christ shoulde thither descende and by dissoluing the wages of our sinne in his owne person thence deliuer vs though not there tormented yet thither adiudged and so release vs not as beeing there but from comming thither
and Patriarks were before Christs resurrection in hell or no but what soeuer we determine or imagine of this later question the other position standeth vncontrolled both by Scriptures and fathers yet for their sakes that happilie maie stumble at this blocke I will not refraine to speake what I thinke of this assertion so as I bee first allowed to say with saint Austen Quod dicimus fratres hoc si non vobis tanquam certus exposuero ne succenseatis Homo enim sum quantum conceditur de scripturis sanctis tantum audeo dicere nihil ex me Infernum nec ego expertus sum adhuc nec vos fortassis alia via erit non per infernum erit Incerta sunt enim haec That which in this question I say brethren if I can not auouch it as certaine you must not bee offended I am but a man and what I am assured by the Scriptures that I dare affirme and of my selfe nothing Hell neither I haue yet experience of neither you and perchance there shall bee another way and by hell it shall not bee For these thinges are altogither vncertaine The thinges after this life God will not haue particularlie knowne vnto vs whiles here wee liue and therefore to make sodaine resolutions of them can haue neither certaintie nor safetie yet so much as the scriptures reueale we must necessarilie beléeue and may boldlie professe without anie danger Touching the state of the dead in the olde Testament I see a number of auncient writers incline to this conclusion that the soules of the righteous before Christes death and descent were in hell but as the foundation of their opinion is verie weake so the consequents are plainlie contradicted both by Scriptures and fathers This assertion first grewe from the confession of the Patriarkes and Prophets that they must after this life DESCEND TO SHEOL which the Septuagint doe alwayes expresse by the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latine interpreter by Infernus wherevpon the fathers both Greeke and Latin supposed the saints in the old Testament departing hence DESCENDED TO HELL But the signification of the worde Sheôl is so manifestlie mistaken that it is nowe no great masterie to finde the foile When Iacob saith I will go downe TO SHEOL mourning to my sonne and againe You will bring my gray haires with sorrow vnto Sheôl and likewise Iob Sheôl is my house oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheôl till thine anger were past as also Dauid what man liueth that shall deliuer his soule from the hand of Sheôl And lastly Ezechias I shal go to the gates of Sheôl If by Sheôl in these places wee vnderstand hell as some Greeke and Latine interpreters and writers haue done we must needes confesse the faithfull dying in the former Testament descended into hell but if wee take Sheôl for the graue where life endeth and the bodie lieth then make they no kind of proofe that the soules of the godly before Christs comming were in hel but only that their bodies were in the graue of which there was neuer any question amongst christians or pagans Nowe that Sheôl in the Scriptures noteth as well the graue where mens bodies putrifie as she place where the soules of the wicked are after this life detained and punished to him that considereth the circumstances of these and other such places will soone appeare The words of king Ezechiah at large are these I said in the cutting off of my daies I shall goe to the gates of Sheôl I am depriued of the residue of my yeares I saide I shall not see the Lord in the land of the liuing I shall see man no more amongst the inhabitants of the worlde I haue cutte my life in sunder like a weauer Here is a full description of death not of hell and least wee shoulde dreame that both are linked togither in the end hee saieth Sheôl can not confesse vnto thee neither can death praise thee nor they that descende into the pitte trust in thy trueth but the liuing the liuing hee shall confesse thee as I doe this day It is manifest impietie to saie that the soules of the Saints departed did neither CONFESSE NOR PRAISE GOD nor TRVST IN HIS TRVTH but in the graue where the bodie wanteth sense and life this is most true which Ezechias deliuereth and confirmed by the holie Ghost in diuerse places of the Scriptures In death there is no remembrance of thee saieth Dauid to God and in Sheôl who shall confesse or praise thee The soules of iust and perfect men did then most praise GOD when they were loosed from the warfare of this life therefore they were not in Sheôl for in Sheôl none shall confesse vnto God nor trust in his truth The deade praise not the Lord nor all that goe downe into silence DEATH SILENCE and SHEOL are taken for one and the same thing and in none of these is God praised or confessed And what can bee plainer then that Dauid saieth in the 141. Psalme Our bones lie scattered at the mouth of Sheôl as chippes â—ewed on the earth Their bones I trust lay not scattered at the mouth of hell but at the mouth of their graues where their bodies were buried Iob in like maner though I hope yet Sheôl must bee mine house I shall take vp my bedde in darkenesse I shall say to corruption thou art my father and to the worme thou art my mother and my sister Darkenesse corruption and the worme are the partes of Sheol aâ—d thâ—se consume the bodie they waste not the soule Salomon shall seale vp this inquisition where hee â—aieth All that thine hande is able to doe dispatch it in thy strength for there is neither VVORKE nor THOVGHT nor KNOVVLEDGE nor VVISEDOME in SHEOL whither thou goest If the soules of the righteous neither DOE nor THINKE nor KNOVVE anie thing they bee surelie a sleepe and neither in ioy nor paine but if this bee absurde and wicked to affirme either of hell heauen paradise or of Abrahams bosome then certainlie SHEOL where none of these things are is THE GRAVE and there it is eâ—ident all these thinges are wanting Since then without question Sheol signifieth as well the graue where the bodie lieth dead and rotten as the place where the soules of vniust and sinfull men are kept and tormented if in the wordes of the Patriarkes and Prophets confessing they must go to Sheôl we vnderstand the graue which indéede they ment there is no shew in the scriptures that the faithfull before Christes death went to hell as some fathers haue collected out of these and such like sayings of the godlie before Christes birth but rather the places that mention their state after death do euidently import the contrarie The booke of Wisedome though it be not Canonicall yet doth it shewe what opinion the Church of the Iewes had of the soules of the
shalbe verified of any man we must no more deny y t he descended into the bottomles pit which is hell then y t he ascended into y e heauens both are necessary partes of our redemption euident proofes of his mighty operatioÌ„ We must be fréed froÌ„ hel before we can be placed in heauen and if Christ haue omitted either he hath performed neither What maruaile then if the ancient fathers with one consent make Christs descent to hel a material point of our redemption and presse it as an appendix to faith since it hath so good ground and iust proofe in the scriptures howsoeuer they or we doubt where the soules of the righteous were before Christs suffering Crux mors inferi salus nostra est saith Hilary The crosse death and descent of Christ to hell are our saluation Diuinitas neque corpus in monumento neque animaÌ„ in inferno destituit hoc est enim quod dictuÌ„ est per prophetaÌ„ non relinques animaÌ„ meaÌ„ apud inferos neque dabis sanctuÌ„ tuuÌ„ videre corruptionem Quocâ—rcain ANIMA quideÌ„ CHRISTI MORS DEVICTA EST resurrectioque ab inferis deprompta spiritibus annunciata est in corpore vero dei corruptio abolita est et incorruptibilitas é sepulchro emicuit Christs deity neither forsooke his body in the sepulchre nor his soule in hel For y t is y e meaning of the Prophet wheÌ„ he saith Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hel nor suffer thine holy one to see corruptioÌ„ Wherfore in THE SOVLE OF CHRIST DEATH VVAS CONQVERED and the rerurrection from hell performed and signified to the spirits that rose with him In the body of him that was God corruption was abolished incorruption shined out of the graue Yea Austen himself putteth great difference betwixt the certainly of Christes descent to hell and the vncertainty of deliuering of some soules thence which he found there as he imagineth Teneamus firmissimé Quod fides habet fundatissimâ auctoritate firmata quia Christus mortuus est secundum scripturas et caetera quae de illo testante veritate conscripta sunt in quibus etiam hoc est quod apud Inferos fuit solutis eoruÌ„ doloribus quibus euÌ„ erat impossibile teneri Let vs hold most firmly y t which y e faith containeth confirmed with most assured authority that Christ died according to the scriptures the rest y t is written of him by the testimony of the truth amongst y e which this is also to be nuÌ„bred y t he was in hel dissoluing y e pains therof Of which it was impossible he shuld be held Thus far doth Austen vrge the very articles of our faith confirmed by the scriptures that maketh him infer who then but an infidel wil deny that Christ was in hell But when he commeth to the second point of deliuering some from hel that were in the paines thereof he tempereth his stile and saith à quibus recte intelligitur soluisse liberasse quos voluit from which paines Christ may well be conceaued to haue loosed and deliuered whom he would that which Peter saith loosing the sorrowes of hel accipi potest in quibusdaÌ„ may be vnderstood of some whom he thought worthy to be deliuered For which since there can bee no sure proofe brought out of the worde of trueth we shall doe best to giue eare to his owne aduise in the like case Ergo fratres siue illud siue istud sit hîc me scrutatorem verbi dei non temerarium affirmatorem teneatis Therefore brethren whether this or that bee it heere take me as a searcher of the word of God and not as a rash affirmer All the defence that may be made out of the Scriptures that Christ deliuered some of the saints out of the present possession and power of hell is that which is written in the gospell of Saint Matthew touching the bodies of the saintes rising from death When Iesus yéelded vp the ghost Behold the vaile of the temple rent in twaine and the earth did quake and the stones did cleaue and the graues did open themselues and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of the graues after his resurrection and went into the holy cittie and appeared to many The death of the bodie as it is parte of the wages of sinne so is it the gate of hell and the Diuell is saide in the scriptures to haue the power thereof So that howsoeuer the soules of the iust were in the handes of God and at rest in Abrahams bosom their bodies lying dead in the graue rotten with corruption were within Satans walke and when Christ raised them out of their sepulchers to an happie life he tooke them from the power of darknes and translated them into the kingdome of light Death is an enemie though the last that shall be destroied and death as well as hell shall be cast into the lake of fire and therefore Christ tooke the keyes both of death and of hell and by his rising from the dead insulted against both ô death where is thy sting ô hell where is thy victory It is the force of sinne that killeth the bodie and likewise the force of sinne that rotteth the bodie sinne being the strength of hell against bodie and soule As then our soules are freed from the power of hell when our sinnes are remitted so our bodies are deliuered from the handfast of hel when corruption the consequent of sinne is abolished In this sense it may bee saide that Christ deliuered some from the power of hell that is their bodies from the sepulchers where they laie turned into dust For by death and corruption the sinnefull flesh of man is till the resurrection subiected to the range of Satan hee beeing the Prince of the ayre and gouernour of darknesse and ruler of death Saint Austen doubteth whether those bodies of the saints were wholie freed from corruption or laie down againe in death after they had giuen witnesse to Christs resurrection Scio quibusdam videri morte domini Christi iam talem resurrectionem praestitaÌ„ iustis qualis nobis in fine promittitur Qui vtique si non iterum repositis corporibus dormierunt videndum est quemadmodum Christus intelligatur primogenitus a mortuis si eum in illa resurrectione tot praecesserunt I know saith Austen some thinke that at the death of the Lord Christ the same kind of resurrection was performed to the iust which is promised to vs in the ende of the worlde but if they slept not againe by laying downe their bodies we must looke howe Christ can be vnderstood to be the first borne of the dead if so many went before him in that resurrection But his reasons are of no such force as to perswade that the bodies of the saintes which rose with Christ slept
againe in their graues and returned to corruption yea that would somewhat impeach the power of Christs resurrection if it were able to raise them to life but not preserue them in life and the whole fact will seeme rather an apparition then a true resurrection His first obiection is answered in the text it selfe For the saints did not rise before Christ but after Christ and so still Christ was the first borne from the dead The wordes of the text are manie bodies of the saintes which slept arose and came out of the graues AFTER HIS RESVRRECTION Nowe to thinke that they rose presentlie vpoÌ„ his death staied aliue in their graues till he was risen is a vaine imagination and a waie rather to punish them with a wearisome life then to prefer them to a comfortable resurrection His second reason hath some more shew but it is not sufficieÌ„t to conclude his intention It seemeth hard saith he that Dauid should not be in that resurrection of the iust if it were eternall of whose seede Christ is so often commended to vs with so great honor and euidence And if Dauid rose with them Peters proofe vnto the Iewes is verie weake when hee saith Dauid is deade and buried and his sepulchre remaineth with vs vnto this daie For if Dauids body were risen before the speaking of those words his sepulchre was emptie and concluded nothing for Peters purpose For aunswere heereto the holie Ghost had no meaning by Peters mouth to prooue that Dauid laie then in his graue when those wordes were spoken but onelie that Dauid saw corruption as his sepulchre remaining to that daie conuinced wherein his bodie was buried aboue a thousand yeares before Christes comming and consequentlie must néeds be turned into dust many hundreds before Peter spake the worde His prediction therfore that God would not suffer his holy one to see corruption could no waie pertaine to himselfe but must bee verified in some other which was Christ and so Peters argument was verie sound and cléere whether Dauids ashes were then in his sepulchre or no. Peters other allegation that Dauid is not ascended into heauen doth not hinder but Dauid might be translated into Paradise with the rest of the saints y t rose from the dead when Christ did but it is a iust probation that Dauids body was not then ascended when Christ sate in his humane flesh at the right hand of God which expresseth the power and glorie wherunto the bodie of Christ was exalted by his ascension into heauen So that here Austen hath some hold to proue that Dauid did not ascende in body when Christ did or at least not to heauen whither Christ ascended because in plaine wordes Peter saith Dauid is not ascended into heauen but either the bodies of y e saints slept againe when they had giuen testimony to Christs resurrection or they were placed in Paradise and there expect the number of their brethren which shall bee raised out of the dust or lastlie Dauid was none of those that were raised to beare witnesse of Christes resurrection but onelie such were chosen as were knowne to the persons then liuing in Hierusalem Whatsoeuer it was melius est dubitare de occultis quam litigare de incertis It is better as Austen saith to doubt of things vnknown and hid then to striue about things vncertain The last reason of S. Austen that God so prouided for vs that the fathers of the olde testament without vs should not be perfect proueth not that al â—he saints in Paradise lacke their bodies for then we must deny that Henoch was translated not to see death and that Elias was taken vp by a whirlewind into heaueÌ„ as also that he was seene on the mount talking with Christ which are directlie affirmed by the scriptures but it wil make some proofe that they haue not y e same perfection of ioie and blisse which they shall haue when all the members of Christ are receaued into glorie There remaineth one obiection which must be eased before I ende And that is Christ saide to the théefe which confessed him on the crosse This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise how then could Christs soule be thrée daies in hell except we grant it might be in manie places at once S. AusteÌ„ laboreth in his 57. epistle to remooue this stumbling blocke and after some turnes and wrenches he thus concludeth Est autem sensus multo expeditior ab his omnibus ambiguitaâ—â—bus liber si non secundum id quod homo erat sed secunduÌ„ id quod deus erat Christus dixisse accipiatur Hodie mecuÌ„ eris in paradiso Homo quippe Christus illo die secunduÌ„ carnem in sepulchro secundum animam in inferno futurus erat Deus vero ideÌ„ ipse Christus vbique semper est The far easier vnderstanding and free from al these ambiguities is if wee take Christ to speake those wordes This day shalt thou bee VVITH MEE in Paradise not of his manhoode but of his Godhead For the man Christ was that day in the graue according to his flesh and in hell as touching his soule but the same Christ as God is alwaies euery where And though this answere please that learned Father best that Christ shoulde speake of the theeues soule and his diuine presence in Paradise yet wee haue no warrant in the word of God so to fasten Christs soule vnto hel for the time of his death that it might not bee in Paradise before it descended into hell and he first shew himselfe to the saints to their vnspeakeable comfort before hee went to subiect the powers or darkenesse vnder his yoke That hee descended into the deep must be receaued because it is auouched by the apostle but what time he went or how long he staied as also what maner of triumph he brought thence cannot bee limited by anie mortall man In all these cases I thinke it safest to particularize nothing which is not defined in the worde of God there may be likelihoods but the consciences of the faithfull must not bee enforced except to certainties This is that I thought fit to be saide touching Christes descent to hell vrging the force and fruite of his going thither or appearing there to subiect the whole strength and kingdome of Satan vnto himselfe and to acquite all his members from comming thither but the time or manner of his descending I dare not determine least I should auert you from truth to fables Farre surer is the former doctrine teaching the redemption of mankinde by the death of Christ to bee all-sufficient and euerlasting wherein the scriptures being euident and the Fathers consonant I shall néede no moe words I wil therfore close them both with the confession of Fulgentius who liued 500. yeeres after Christ and so commend you to God Deus verus viuus imo deus veritas et vita aeterna nisi
idem verus homo fieret morteÌ„ gustare non posset Et ideÌ„ homo qui mortem gustauit siverus deus vita aeterna non esset morteÌ„ vincere non valeret Excepto illo qui sic homo est vt idem sit deus quis est homo qui destruxerit mortem aut quis eruet animam suaÌ„ de manu inferi mors autem filij dei quam SOLA CARNE suscepit VTRAMQVE IN NOBIS MORTEM animae scilicet carnisque destruxit resurrectio carnis eius gratiam nobis spiritualis corporalis resurrectionis attribuit vt prius iustificati per fidem mortis resurrectionis filij dei resuscitemur ab infidelitatis morte post primam resurrectionem scilicet animarum quae nobis in fide collocata est etiam istacarne in qua nunc vistimus resurgamus nunquam denuo morituri The true and liuing God yea the God that is truth it self and life euerlasting if he were not also true man could not haue tasted death and that man which tasted death except he had beene likewise the true God and eternall life hee could not haue conquered death Sauing he that was both God and man what man could haue destroied death or deliuered his own soule from the power of hell But the death of the sonne of God VVHICH HE SVFFERED IN HIS FLESH ONELIE destroied both deaths in vs as well of soule as bodie and the resurrection of his flesh gaue vs the grace both of a spirituall and corporall resurrection that being first iustified by faith in the death and resurrection of the sonne of God we might bee raised from the death of infidelitie and after the first resurrection which is of the soule from sinne giuen vs by faith we may also rise in this flesh in which we now liue neuer to die anie more Cum SOLA MORERETVR ET RESVSCITARETVR IN CHRISTO propter vnitatem personae dei hominis filius dei dicitur mortuus Totum igitur HOMINEM cum suis infirmitatibus sine peccato dei filius accepit in tota traditus idem Christus SECVNDVM SOLAM CARNEM MORTVVS Totus Christus secundum solam animam ad infernum descendit Humanitas ergo vera filij dei nec tota fuit in sepulchro nec tota in inferno sed in sepulchro secundum carnem Christus mortuus iacuit secundum animam ad infernum Christus descendit Secundum diuinitatem vero suam quae nec loco tenetur nec fine concluditur totus fuit in sepulchro cum carne totus in inferno cum anima Aciper hoc plenus fuit vbique Christus quia non est deus ab humanitate quam susceperat separatus qui in anima fuit vt solutis infernidolosuus AB INFERNO VICTRIX REDIRET in carne suafuit vt celeri resurrectione corrumpi non posset Whereas ONELIE THE FLESH died and was raised againe in Christ yet for the vnitie of the person being God and man the sonne of God is said to haue died The whole nature of man then with our infirmities the sonne of God tooke vnto him for our sakes but without sinne in the whole nature the same Christ beeing deliuered DIED ACCORDING TO THE FLESH ONLY and whole Christ descended into hell according to the soule onlie So that the true manhood of the sonne of God was neither wholie in the sepulchre nor wholie in hell but in the sepulchre Christ lay dead in his true flesh and in his soule Christ descended into hell But as touching his diuinitie which is neither comprehended in place nor measured with end whole Christ was in the graue with his flesh and whole Christ in hell with his soule And thereby whole Christ was euery where because his Godhead was not seuered from his manhood but was with his soule that dissoluing the sorrowes of hell it might returne conquerour from hell and with his flesh that speedilie rising it might not see corruption The darke places of Peter that Christ by his spirit preached vnto the spirites that are now in prison which in the daies of Noe were disobedient whiles the Arke was preparing and likewise that the Gospell was preached vnto the dead I omit as nothing pertinent to Christs descent to hell the first being verified in the time and by the mouth of Noe and the second performed by the preaching of the Apostles as Saint Austen long since obserued who saith of the first Considera ne fortè totum illud quod de conclusis incarcere spiritibus qui in diebus Noe non crediderant Petrus Apostolus dicit omnino ad inferos non pertineat sed ad illa potius tempora quorum formam ad haec tempora transtulit Take heede least happily all that which Peter speaketh of spirits closed in prison which beleeued not in the daies of Noe doe not at all pertaine to hell but rather to those times which Peter compareth with our age and of the second Quod Petrus dicit propter hoc mortuis Euangelizatum est vt iudicentur secundum homines in carne vinant autem secundum deum spiritu non cogit apud inferos intelligi Propterea ènim in hac vita mortuis Euangelizatum est idest infidelibus iniquis vt cum crediderint iudicentur secundum homines in carne hoc est in diuersis tribulationibus in ipsa morte carnis That which Peter saieth to this purpose was the Gospel preached vnto the deade that they might bee iudged according to men in the flesh but liue according to God in the spirit hath no necessitie to be applied to hell For the Gospel is preached in this life to the dead that is to the infidels and sinners that when they beleeue they might be iudged in the flesh after the maner of men by diuerse troubles and euen by the death of the flesh This I repeate the rather because some late writers haue borrowed Saint Austens exposition and suppressed Saint Austens name as if they were the first that euer looked into the truth of these places Other reasons there are but they are not worth the ripping vp I will therfore trouble you no further To the father that spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all to the sonne that laide downe his life for vs and redeemed vs with his precious bloud to the holie Ghost which sealeth the sufferings and comforts of Christ in our harts euen to the king euerlasting immortal inuisible and God onelie wise be honour and glorie for euer and euer Amen The Conclusion to the Reader for the cleering of certaine obiections made against the doctrine before handled I Promised thee Christian reader in y e preface of this booke to giue thée a taâ—â— in the conclusion how rashly weakly the doctrine which thou hast now read was confuted before it was printed by one that professeth He could not forbeare but imploy his talent to cleare the
to the Lord alone But nowe where in the number of them that come to the Lord some belong to the Lord some deserue to bee cast awaie and seuered from the Lordes offering therefore part of the sacrifice which the people bring to wit one of the Goates is offered to the Lorde the other is cast off and sent into the Desart Ambrose in the like sense As of two founde in the fielde one istaken the other forsaken so are there two Goates one fitte for sacrifice the other to bee sent awaie into the Desart Hee serued for no vse neither might hee bee eaten or tasted of by the children of the Priestes Beda ioyneth with them If all the people were holie there shoulde not bee two lottes vpon the Goates but one lotte and one offering nowe when manie are called and fewe chosen part of the peoples sacrifice is offered to the Lord the other parte is cast awaie Or else this maie bee vnderstoode of Iesus and Barrabas that one of them which was the Lordes lotte euen Iesus was slaine the other accursed caitife was sent into the Iewes Desart bearing the sinnes of the people that cried Crucifie him So that the scape Goate by the iudgement of these fathers signified the reprobate among the people and not the soule of Christ as you boldlie auouch But did it signifie the soule of Christ what gaine you by that The scape Goate was neither done to death nor made anie sinne offering as you falslie suppose but was separated from the Lords offering and let go free and vntouched Then by your owne similitude the soule of Christ neither died anie death as you after falselie and absurdlie conclude that the soule of Christ died and was crucified neither was it anie part of the offering for sinne to GOD which you so much endeuour to proue Such is your vnderstanding that by your owne examples you ouerthrow your owne positions whiles you labour to establish them with faint conceits of your owne deuising But in the burnt offering or holocaust prescribed Leui. 6 you find more helpe then in the scape Goate to proue that Christ soule suffered for our sins as wel as his body If you meane that Christs soule suffered the paines of hel I would faine sée how you proue that out of the holocaust or burnt offering If you thinke the name of fire doth somewhat relieue you remember Sir besides the sundrie references that fire hath in the scripture the holocaust was first slaine and after burnt and therefore vnlesse you will fasten the fire of afflictioÌ„ as you call it to Christs body or soule after his death the burning of the dead sacrifice by fire will little further your purpose Again in one and the same fire was the holocaust consumed If this therefore touch the death and passion of Christ his bodie and soule must iointly suffer one and the same kind of affliction which is the thing you so much impugne And since by your owne position the bodies of beasts could not prefigure the immortall and reasonable soule of Christ how commeth it now to passe that y e body of the holocaust after death shall signifie as well the soule as the bodie of Christ Can you thus plant and plucke vp with a touch It is no waie denied or doubted by mee that the soule of Christ was afflicted and tormented with sorrow and paine all the time of his passion which this Trister so much laboureth to proue and therefore if the holocaust did signifie the whole manhood of Christ suffering for our sinnes it could not preiudice anie thing that I did or doe teach as anon thou shalt gentle Reader more plainlie perceiue but yet whie the burning of the holocaust should signifie Christes affliction on the Crosse either in bodie or soule I see no proofe made by this Confuter â—nd why it should not resemble Christes afflictions before death these two reasons mooue me First it was burnt after it was dead next it was wholie consumed by fire neither of which can accord with Christes sufferings or the crosse but by the burning of that sacrifice I take rather the acceptation of Christs death or his incorruption after death to be signified For that part of each sacrifice which God reserued for himselfe and receiued to himselfe was alwayes burnt with fyre and the Hebrue word HOLAH which the Scripture vseth for the holocaust signifieth that which ascendeth vp to God by fire whence God is often saide in the scriptures when hee accepteth an holocaust to smel a swéete sauour Which words saint Paul applieth to the death of Christ in saying Christ gaue himselfe for vs to be a sacrifice vnto God of a sweet smelling sauour that is well pleasing and acceptable vnto God So likewise because the fire consumed in the holocaust all that was subiect to corruption the holocaust may signifie Christs incorruption after death This sense S. Austen approoueth when he saith Sic leuetur holocaustum vt absorbeatur mors in victoriam Let the holocaust so ascend that death bee swallowed vp in victorie And againe Quando totum consumitur igne diuino holocaustum dicitur Totum moùm consumat ignis tuus nihil inde remaneat mihi totum sit tibi Hoc erit in resurrectione mortuorum quando mortale hoc induerit immortalitem Cum absorbet ignis diuinus mortem nostram holocaustum est When the whole sacrifice is consumed with heauenlie sire it is called an holocaust Let thy fire ò Lord consume me wholie let nothing therof remaine mine let the whole be thine this shall bee in the resurrection of the dead when this mortalitie putteth on immortalitie When Gods fire consumeth our Death then is it an holocaust And other kinde of holocaust is mentioned by Saint Austen which I mislike not Holocaustum est totum igne consumptum Est quidam ignis flagrantissimae charitatis totus exardescat igne diuini amoris qui vult offerre Deo holocaustum An holocaust is when the whole is consumed with fire There is a fire of most feruent charitie hee must wholie burne with the fire of the loue of God which will offer to God an holocaust No man euer burned with this fire comparable to Christ Iesus whose loue towardes God and man flamed as vnto death so after death most feruentlie So that touching the holocaust the Confuter presumeth but proueth nothing and yet if his supposall were granted it weakeneth not the force of my reason since by the bodily and bloudie sacrifice shadowed in the law I do not exclude the torments on the crosse imparted to the soule or rather wholy discerned by the soule of Christ but onelie the paines of hell which were neuer figured by anie sacrifice nor scaled by anie Sacrament of the old or new testament though now they bee made the principall part of our redemption which indéede was purchased by the death and bloud of Christ Iesus In auoiding the reason which
I drewe from the Sacraments of the new testament and namelie from the Lordes Supper in the length of six lines Sir refuter you contradict the definition and institution of that Sacrament as also the plaine resolution of S. Paul and the principles of naturall reason The Sacraments you saie are earthlie elements they cannot set out spirituall and inuisible effects in Christ. I had thought Sacraments by their nature had beene visible signes of inuisible graces which definition is so common in the schooles that no smatterer in diuinitie besides you is ignorant of it Si tu incorporeus esses nudè dona ipsa incorporea tibi tradidisset quoniam vero corpori coniuncta est anima in sensibilibus intelligibilia tibi traduntur If thou hadst been without a bodie God would haue giuen thee his spirituall gifts vncouered but because thy soule is ioined with thy bodie in sensible thinges are deliuered thee spirituall or inuisible graces Where all the Sacraments were common saith Augustine Grace which is the vertue of the Sacraments was not common to all In the Lords Supper that there should be no horror of bloud yet the grace of Redemption might remaine for a resemblance thou receiuest the Sacrament but thou obtainest the grace vertue of Christs true nature So that if those earthly elements of water bread and wine did not set out and exhibite the spiritual and invisible effects in Christ they were no Sacraments But the Ceremonie of breaking bread say you cannot properly belong to the body but to the soule In the first institution of his Supper did not Christ breake the bread and deliuer it saying Take eate this is my bodie If breaking belong to the bread then breaking belongeth properlie to the body of Christ for the bread was ordained to shew forth the body of Christ that S. Paul noteth in expresse words The bread which we break is it not the Cōmunion of the body of Christ But Christs body you say was not properly broken because y e scripture saith not a bone of him shalbe broken A speculation fit for such a diuine as you are had Christs body nothing in it but bones Had he not as well flesh as bones A spirit saith our sauiour hath not flesh bones as you see me haue Then if Christs flesh were rent torne with whips with nailes with a speare as it certainly was though his bones were whole his body was properly truly broken For the cutting or tearing of the flesh is the breaking of the flesh and from a part the whole maie and doth properly take his denomination And therfore Paul spake truly and properlie when he thus expresseth the words of Christs institution This is my body which is brokē for you Neither doth he in that word varie from Christs institution but he rather teacheth vs that as the bread is broken and the wine powred out in the Lords supper so was the flesh of the Lords body giuen to be broken torne on the crosse for vs his bloud likewise shed for the remission of our sinnes The nailes spear you grant did pearce him but in no sort can that be called breaking or bruising in peeces as the worde in Esay doth plainlie signifie Wherefore the meaning is the torments of his soule did bruize and breake him in peeces Your Hebrue your Greeke your Philosophie came all out of one forge they are so like You can not finde that Christes flesh was broken and bruised on the Crosse by grieuous stripes and wounds but you haue spied that his soule was broken in peeces and that properlie If one of the Prentices before whome you were wont to talke should aske you into howe manie péeces it was broken your heade would ake to shape him a wise answere But the word DACHA which Esay vseth doth plainly you say signifie to breake in peeces Doth it alwaies and euer signifie properlie to breake into péeces How can it then be applied to the soule but improperlie and by a figuratiue kinde of speech A Moole hill with you is a Mountaine The worde doth signifie to treade vnder foote to bruise to oppresse to humble When Dauid saith the enemie hath cast my life downe to the ground Will you saie he hath broken my life in péeces When Iob saith How long will yee vexe my soule and afflict mee with your wordes will you adde and breake mee in peeces with your wordes When Ieremie saith of the men of Iudah They are not humbled vnto this day Will you phrase it and say They are not broken in peeces to this day In the power of Christs death to proue the bloud of our sauiour to be the true price of our redemption and that as wel of our soules as of our bodies I alledged the words of Peter You were redeemed with the precious bloud of Christ and of the souls in heauen saying vnto Christ Thou wast killed hast redeemed vs to God by thy bloud when their bodies were rotten in y e earth Hence I reasoned if our soules be not redeemed frō death by the blood of christ our bodies haue in this life no benefite of redemption I meane from death for wee die as doe infidels and our bodies rot in the graue as theirs doe till the daie of resurrection But S. Peter saieth wee are redeemed not we shall bee and the saints say to Christ when their bodies lie in the dust Thou hast redeemed vs by thy bloud ergo that redemption which we haue in this life must be referred to our soules and our bodies must expect the generall daie of redemption in the ende of the world To this our Confuter replieth What a paradox yea what impietie is this Haue our bodies no good at all by Christes death no more then the bodyes of infidels because wee die stil as wel as they Good Sir remember Redemption from death is the point which I vrged y t our bodies in this life haue not no more then the bodies of Infidels haue but must expect it And therefore if our Soules be not redeemed by the blood of Christ from Sinne death we haue presentlie no redemption by the bloud of Christ but must staie for the time of our resurrection before we shall haue it Which is contrarie to the words both of Peter and of the Soules in heauen that saie to Christ when their bodies bee rotten in earth Thou hast redeemed vs by thy blood Here y u tell vs of the iustification mortification and sanctification of our bodies as also of the expectation of glorie which our bodies shall haue and thinke to make a great conquest of the words NO GOOD AT ALL but pull in your hornes Besides that my meaning is verie plaine whatsoeuer the wordes were which I might vse which I do not acknowledge to be these that you bring but that our bodies haue no benefitte of Redemption from
The whole curse of the law containeth infatuation of minde obduration of heart desperation damnation and what not did Paul meane that Christ was made these thinges for vs or could hee haue redéemed vs if in these things he had beene yoked with vs But that I thinke Sir Refuter you sinne of ignorance not meaning to maintaine these blasphemies and yet including them within the largenesse of your words through the weaknesse of your wit I must by the duty which I owe to God and his truth haue giuen you other termes then now I do but I had rather fatherly warne you to take heede of these â—â—ies in time least they bring the whole curse of God vpon your owne souâ—e which you would so â—ame fasten on Christs Notwithstanding your follie thus to presume without all proofe vpon the Apostles meaning besides his wordes you haue a good conceit of your self like a proper man you say I vrge then let it be noted Christ is said to be made a curse for vs and before I shewed this curse was Gods curse And againe The Scripture it selfe affirmeth hee did all that for vs therefore who dareth denie it Who either man or Angel shall presume to say nay You haue vrged it I haue noted it and so haue manie wise and good men more and will you heare what I conceiue Trulie this you haue more néede of Phisicke to cure your braines then of labour to rebate your arguments So many and those speciall reasons so proudlie proposed so weaklie performed so â—alselie concluded did I neuer reade as long as I haue liued Thou wilt thinke perchance christian Reader I speake this to disgrace the encounterer and so to preiudice his cause with thee mine heart God knoweth but if thou bee not of the same minde with mee before I ende with his speciall reasons as hee calleth them I much deceiue my selfe speciallie if thou thy selfe bee intelligent and indifferent I hope though I vaunt not as he doth there can bee no doubt but the curse of God for sinne containeth these partes which I propose to wit the externall corporall spirituall eternall plagues and punishments wherewith God pursueth the wicked that rebell against him I count it as cleare that neither the eternall nor the true spirituall curse of God couâ—d take hold on the soule of our Sauiour For as the greatest blessings that God giueth vs in this life after he hath by mercie pardoned our sinnes are the faith of his truth to direct vs the strength of his grace to assist vs the earnest of his spirite to perswade our hearts of his fatherlie clemencie to vs and to inflame vs againe with the loue of his name hope of his promises and desire of his kingdome so the greatest curse for sinne that in this life maie befall men is to haue his holie spirite taken from them with all his graces and gifts that anie waie tende to saluation and to bee giuen ouer into a reprobate sense that with blindnesse and hardnesse of heart they may runne headlong to their owne destruction With these impieties and blasphemies I trust no Christian will burthen the soule of our Sauiour and yet these are the true spirituall curses of God against sinne If then the soule of Christ were alwayes full of grace and truth and the abundance of his spirite such that wee all receiue of his fulnesse If in the perfection of his holinesse innocencie and obedience there coulde bee no defect nor anie feare or doubt in that stedfast assurance of faith hope and loue which our Sauiour alwayes retained howe could hee beeing so fullie and perpetuallie blessed of God bâ—e also trulie accursed of him The curse of God is not in wordes but in déedes Then euidentlie saint Paules meaning is and must be that Christ voluntarilie vndertaking some part of the curse due to our sinnes for the whole hee could not vndertake without reprobation and damnation not onlie discharged vs of the whole but gaue vs the blessing of God promised to Abraham And to this ende I brought the testimonies of saint Austen Chrysostome and others fullie confirming that I said to which you replie as your custome is It is vaine and senselesse to thinke that the Apostle here speaketh of two seuerall kinds of curses Indeede it is vaine and fruitlesse to reason with him that preferreth his ignorant imagination before the iudgements of all the learned and auncient fathers in Christs church but Sir your follies will sticke fast by you when their expositions shall passe with all wise men for currant and good You quarrell as your manner is with those parts of the curse which I say Christ indured For where I proposed a SHAMEFVL VVRONGFVL PAINFVL death to be that part of the curse which Christ suffered for vs you skirre at euerie one of these And of the first you say Will any man of common reason affirme that to be openly hanged on a tree was all the curse that Christ bore for vs Nothing but the shame of the world because it was an ignominious death Whether you account saint Austen and saint Chrysostome men of common reason I know not The Church this 1200. yeeres hath taken them for reuerend and learned fathers You adde It is more then absurd so to say Iudge thou Christian reader whether this Prater be well in his wits that in his â—renzie thus reprocheth not onelie the fathers of Christes church but euen the Prophets and Apostles themselues as men more then absurd and not of common reason Moses from Gods mouth threatneth such as transgresse the lawe that God will send them trouble and shame and will make them a wonder a prouerbe and a common talke among all people Esay foreshewing Christs sufferings reckoneth this not for one of the least He was despised reiected numbred among sinners we did iudge him plagued and smitten of God and turned our faces from him Dauid in the person of Christ complaining of the wrongs receiued at the time of his passion putteth this as the first and the chiefest I am as a worme and not a man a shame of men and the contempt of the people All they that see mee haue mee in derision they make a mowe and nod the heade saying he trusted in God let him deliuer him let him saue him They gape vpon mee with their mouthes Saint Paule himselfe vrgeth as much the shame as the paine of the crosse Looke to Iesus the authour and finisher of your faith who for the ioy set before him endured the crosse and despised the SHAME He endured such contradiction of sinners least you should faint in your mindes How often doth God threaten shame and confusion of face to those that fall from him How earnestly doth Dauid euery where pray against it Howe truly doth Daniel make this confession to god O Lord to vs belongeth OPEN SHAME because we haue sinned against thee the
from the life of God of which death the Diuell is sayde to haue the power and execution Therefore in the former place death signifieth so to euen the death of the soule that is the torments and sorrowes due to the damned and consequently Christ suffered the death of the soule And because this reason will seeme altogether vnreasonable and harsh in the eares of some to saie the least of it let them soberlie consider it and it is most true and euident Or if this will not perswade men to beleeue that Christ died the death of the soule men liuing being surprised with grieuous sorrowes and paines will saie as Terence witnesseth occidi perij interij they die they perish So likewise the death of the soule sometimes maie bee vnderstoode and that most sitlie for the paines and sufferinges of Gods wrath which alwayes accompanie them that are separated from the grace and loue of God And if Terence bee not authoritie sufficient Saint Peter against whome lieth no exception saith that Christ in his suffering for vs was done to death in the flesh but made aliue by the spirite And in the Scripture whensoeuer the fleshe and the spirite are opposed togither the flesh is alwayes Christes whole humanitie I saie not his bodie onelie but his soule also From hence nowe it followeth that Christes soule also died and was crucified according to the death and crucifying which soules are subiect vnto and capable of I haue Christian Reader neither peruerted the reasons nor pared the authorities on which this Confuter groundeth his conclusion that Christ died the death of the soule and that Christs soule was also crucified as well as his bodie I haue onelie sette them togither that thou maiest with one view behold both the deepnes and soundnesse of this vpstart writer and in thy secrete and vpright iudgement is it not patience enough to heare and endure a two legged creature to talke in this sort without all learning religion or discretion controlling all the fathers as fooles for thinking otherwise then hee doth commaunding the Scriptures pretor-like to serue his ignorant and lewd assertions and estéeming none to be sober or considerate except they confesse his shamefull absurdities to bee most true and euident But I haue not learned nor vsed to giue reuiling spéeches the Lorde reprooue his follie Though it bee not worth the answering yet for their sakes that bee simple I will not refuse to speake to it and to let them see what difference there is betwixt truth and errour Your maine reason Sir Refuter is this in these wordes of the Apostle Christ through death abolished the diuell that had power of death This worde DEATH say you hath the same meaning in both places the proofe you make for it is this verie fond it were to take it here otherwise Your assumption is but death in the latter place questionlesse signifieth the death of the soule Therefore Christ died the death of the soule It were as easie for mee to saie it is not so as for you to saie it is so but that course which you holde is but prating of euerie thing it is no proouing of anie thing Howe manie kinds of death there are wee shall better learne by the graue father Saint Austen then by the young louers in Terence Dicitur mors prima dicitur secunda Primae mortis duae sunt partes vna qua peccatrix anima per culpam discessit a creatore suo altera qua indicante Deo exclusa est per poenam à corpore suo Mors autem secunda ipsa est corporis animae punitio sempiterna There is a first death and a second Death Of the first death there be two parts one when the sinfull soule by offending departed from her Creator the other whereby the soule for her punishment was excluded from her bodie by Gods iustice The second death is the euerlasting torment of bodie and soule The same partes and kindes of death are often repeated by him in his 13. booke de ciuitate Dei as namelie Mors animae fit cum eam deserit Deus sicut corporis cum id deserit anima Ergo vtriusque rei id est totius hominis mors est cum anima à Deo deserta deserit corpus Ita enim nec ipsa vixit ex deo nec corpus ex ipsa Huiusmodi autem totius hominis mortem illa sequitur quam secundam mortem diuinorum eloquiorum appellat authoritas Nam illa poena vltima sempiterna recte mors animae dicitur The death of the soule is when God forsaketh her as the death of the bodie is when the soule forsaketh the bodie So y e death of both that is of the whole man is when the soule forsaken of God forsaketh her bodie For so neither she liueth by God nor the bodie by her This death of the whole man that other death followeth which the diuine scriptures call the second death for that last and euerlasting punishment is rightlie called the death of the soule Here are thrée kinds of death sinne which separateth vs from God bodilie death which separateth the soule from the body and eternall damnation which tormenteth body and soule for euer In the Apostles words to the Hebrues that Christ through death abolished y e diuell that had power of death you wil by no meanes haue the death of the bodie intended that is a benefite and gaine to the godlie Then of sinne and eternall damnation the diuell must be said to haue power and indeede so he hath For hee is the perswader and leader to sinne and the executioner and tormentor in damnation And so by your diuinitie Christ must sinne and be euerlastinglie condemned to hell fire before he can abolish the Diuell that hath power of both these For he must abolish him by the same kind of death whereof hee hath power Looke Sir Refuter what an wholsome exposition of the Apostles words you haue made vs which the diuell himselfe durst not aduenture it is so blasphemous God forbid you will say this should be anie part of your meaning But if such bee your ignorant rashnesse that you will so expound scriptures as these consequents shall necessarie followe you must leaue writing and fall to learning an other while till you be able to foresée what may iustly be inferred vpon your positions Deaths of the soule there are none mentioned in anie Scripture or father but sinne and eternall damnation Leaue the patheticall hyperbolicall metaphoricall phrases of Terence to boies in the Grammer schoole speake at least like a diuine though you bee none If your cause bee so holie a truth as you talke of it hath both foundation and approbation in the Scriptures You shall not neede to runne to heathen Poets to prooue that the Sauiour of the worlde died the death of the soule What the death of the soule is what consequentes it hath and what maine
and moste sufficient reasons there are why Christ neither did nor might die the death of the soule thou hast good Reader before in the Treatise it selfe if this fumbler either will skippe them or can not answere them I must not repeate them as often as hee will neglect them Yet to ease thee of going backe I will here giue thee the effect thereof The life and death of the soule is in manie hundred places learnedlie and trulie vouched and prooued by Saint Austen Mori carni tuae est amittere vitam suam mori animae tuae est amittere vitam suam Vita carnis tuae anima tua vitae animae tuae Deus tuus Quomodo moritur caro amissa anima quae vita eius est sic moritur anima amisso Deo qui vita est eius For thy bodie to die is to loose his life and for thy soule to die is to loose her life The life of thy bodie is thy soule The life of thy soule is thy God As the bodie dieth when the soule is departed which is his life so the soule dieth when God is departed which is her life And againe Quomodo ergo mortua est anima de qua viuit corpus Audi ergo disce corpus hominis creatura Dei est anima hominis creatura dei est De anima deus viuificat carnem ipsam autem animam viuificat de seipso non de seipsa Vita ergo corporis anima est vita animae Deus est moritur corpus cum recedit anima moritur ergo anima si recedit Deus Carnem iacentem sine anima vides animam miseram sine Deo videre non potes Crede ergo adhibe oculos fidei How dieth the soule then by which the bodie liueth Hearken and learne The bodie of man is the creature of God so is the soule By the soule God giueth life to the flesh but the soule her selfe God quickeneth by himselfe and not by herselfe The life of the bodie then is the soule the life of the soule is God The bodie dieth when the soule departeth ergo the soule dieth if God depart from her Thou seest the flesh lying dead without a soule and canst thou not see the soule wretched without God Beleeue then and open the eies of faith And speaking of the particular consequents to the life and death of the soule the same father saith Quomodo cum anima est in corpore praestat illi vigorem decorem mobilitatem Sic cum vita eius Deus est in ipsa praestat illi sapientiam pietatem iustitiam charitatem veniente itaque verbo audientibus infuso resurgit anima à morte sua ad vitam suam hoc est ab iniquitate ab insipientia ab impietate ad Deum suum qui est illi sapientia iustitia charitas As when the soule is in the bodie shee giueth vigour comelinesse and motion to the bodie so when God her life is in the soule he giueth her wisedome pietie righteousnesse and charitie The worde of God then sounding and infused to the hearers the soule riseth from her death to her life that is from iniquitie follie and impietie to her God who is to her wisedome righteousnesse and charitie If this were not plaine inough the Scriptures themselues are so euident that no man can mistake the life of the soule except hee will purposelie blinde himselfe least hee shoulde come to the knowledge of the truth For the sonne of God is life and comming down from heauen gaue life to the world quickning whom hee would with the waters of life that is by the spirite of life yea whosoeuer beleeueth and abideth in him hath life and beareth fruite in him For the iust shall liue by faith and he that dwelleth in loue dwelleth in God and God in him for God is loue So that not onely Christ is our life and he that hath the sonne hath life but with him and in him alwaies was and alwaies will bee the fountaine of life which neuer did nor can drie vp how then could Christ die the death of the soule whose soule was personallie vnited vnto the worde that was life in it selfe And if the grace and spirite of God in vs make vs liue by God and in God if faith and loue knitte men to the life of God howe coulde the soule of Christ alwaies full of grace and truth alwaies full of faith and loue and of the holie Ghost bee deade But this Refuter meaneth another death of the soule What his meaning is is not materiall but whether hee meane truth or no. If he wil frame vs a monster in christian religion what haue I to do with that but to detest it There is another death after this life mentioned both in scriptures and fathers which is the second death But I hope this Confuter will eate and sléepe vpon the cause before hee wrappe our Sauiour within euerlasting damnation That is a death in déed from which God blesse and saue vs all They must néedes bee good Christians that labour to bring Christes soule within the compasse of the second death Haec mortalitas est vmbra mortis vera mors est damnatio cum Diabolo Our death is here but a shadow of death the true death indeede is damnation with the diuell saith Austen And againe Quid est istamors Est relictio corporis depositio sarcinae grauis mors secunda mors aeterna mors gehennarum mors damnationis cum Diabolo ipsa est vera mors What is this death It is the leauing of the bodie and the laying downe of an heauier burthen for the second death the death that is eternall the death of hell the death of condemnation with the Diuell that is the true death Which of these two deathes of the soules you will haue the soule of Christ subiected vnto you must tell vs Sir Refuter if you will néedes haue him die the death of the soule and the choise is so good that take which you will you inâ—ur hainous and horrible blasphemie I wish you to bee better aduised then to procéede to the defence of so wilfull a frensie As for new deaths of the soule you haue no commission to inuent anie shewe what scripture or Father spake it before you or you must giue the godlie leaue to thinke you no fit founder of a newe faith S. Austen was of opinion that no Christian durst auouch that Christ died the death of the soule Nam quod Iesus anima mortificatus fuerat quis audcat dicere cum mors animae non sit nisi peccatum a quo ille omnino immunis fuit That Christ was dead in soule VVHO DARES AFFIRME IT whereas the death of the soule in this life is nothing but sinne from which hee was altogether free you not onelie auouch it but you thinke no man sober that will not consent to it
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
aire that is not seene nor hath any colour And in his discourse whether a secrete and silent life be best or no Plutarch proposeth this etymologie as truer elder theÌ„ Soâ—rates fancie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men ACCORDING TO THE AVNCIENT TRADITIONS OF THEIR FATHERS thinking the sunne to be Apollo named him Delius and Pythius And the RVLER of the contrarie destinie to life and light whether he bee a God or a DIVEL they termed HADES being the MASTER of dark night and dead sleepe for that when wee depart hence wee go into an vnknowne and vnseene place So that Socrates deriuation of Hades was both false and newe euen as his opinion of HADES to be an eloquent and bountifull God and his reason is woorst of all that because men returne not backe againe after death therefore HADES doeth detaine them with eloquent perswasions and great rewards which maketh him to be called Pluto For the scripture assureth vs that men dead can not returne againe though they were neuer so willing and though God of his goodnes bestoweth euerlasting blisse on his Saints yet the rest would faine bee rid of their eternall miserie and can not neither are they held in their state with faire promises or large benefites but by the vnalterable rigor of Gods iustice Eustathius vpon Homers wordes that Achilles sent many a worthie soule to HADES saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a darke place vnder the earth not to be seene appointed for soules and is deriued from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the priuatiue and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to see and is called also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by contraction HADES So when Homer bringeth in Hectors wife complaining of her miserie and saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou husband art gone to HADES house vnder the dennes of the earth Eustathius addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a place vnder the earth and so hidde from vs. Therefore it is called Hades that is an inuisible aire which wee can not see And howsoeuer Socrates pleased himselfe in framing this heauen as you call it for himselfe and a fewe others for hee admitteth none but Philosophers into it Lucian in his Dialogues of the dead bitterlie mocketh him as being in Hell with all the rest howsoeuer he dreamed of an heauen for himselfe after his departure hence How Paganish and not onelie ridiculous but blasphemous Platoes heauen is appeareth by this that Socrates maketh SVVANNES his fellow seruants to Phoebus imagineth they sing that day they die 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FORESEEING THE GOOD THINGS THEY SHALL HAVE IN HADES And further saith that wheÌ„ they perceiue they must die then chiefly and most of al they sing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reioycing that they SHALL GO TO GOD whose seruants they are And those wordes which Socrates spake of Swannes foreséeing THE GOOD THINGS IN HADES you Sir Confuter in the abundance of your wit note to proue HADES to be heauen And to this heauen though Socrates admitte Swannes yet he accepteth no men but such as haue béene Philosophers those of the purest sort As for such as vse popular and ciuil vertues as iustice and temperance gotten by care and continuance without Philosophie his words are expressely these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is fit that such soules should returne againe into some such politicall and tame kinde either of BEES VVASPES or EMMETS after that into men again But into the kinred of the Gods it is not lawful for anie to come that hath not beene a Philosopher and verie pure at his departing hence Others that were slouthfull and filled their bellies hee saith must be turned into Asses and such other beasts and oppressours and wrong doers into Wolues Kites and Hawkes Of these his plaine resolution is that such soules wander vntill by the earnest loue of their bodilie nature which followeth them they PVT ON BODIES againe And such bodies of birds and beasts they put on as resemble the manners of their former life Here is a goodly world of soules to be brought out of Plato into the Créede and Socrates heauen why you should fansie I cannot gesse except it be that none but very pure and precise persons shall come thither to whom you would faine be the ringleader But this is not all In making HADES AND PLVTO by which the Poets meane the diuell to bée a wise and bountifull God hath not your wise Master fitted his new heauen with an excellent head Plutarch moueth the doubt whether HADES be a God or a DIVELL that hath power ouer darknes and death Homer Hesiode affirme he dwelleth vnder the earth and is implacable cruell and hated of men Porphyrie no meane follower of Plato concludeth PLVTO which is all one with HADES as Plato confesseth to be the chiefe of all wicked spirits Porphyries words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We doe not without cause coniecture that all wicked spirites are vnder Serapis being led so to thinke not onely by his ceremonies but because offerings to pacifie and sacrifices auerting rage are done to PLVTO as we haue shewed in our first booke Now Serapis is all one god with Pluto and therefore he is the greatest prince of Diuels and one that giueth charmes to driue away spirits Loe here is Socrates wise and bountifull god HADES AND PLVTO concluded by a great Platonicke to be the chiefe diuell whose iudgement Eusebius followeth And in déede considering his place where he dwelleth his rage that he vseth against men for which hee is so feared and hated of them and his sacrifices in which hee delighteth as also his power ouer death and darkenesse it is a cléere case that Platoes HADES OR PLVTO is the great diuell in hell whose craftes and sleighâ—s because hée knew not as a Pagan he hath promoted him to bee a wise and liberall god and you haue learnedly cited this wise deuise to make him ruler of your heauen whither you send Christ and his Saints to liue there for euer Now were it graunted vnto you that Pluto and HADES which by the description of all your classicall Poets is in déede the diuell were one of Platoes gods are you so little acquainted either with Plato or with Paganisme that you presently conclude hee is the true God of Heauen Or that this inuisible place must néedes bee the kingdome of God Looke but in the latter end of this booke which you alleage for this very purpose and there you shall sée what pretie fansies Socrates hath of another inuisible earth farre aboue this and waters likewise and trees and flowers and fruites and beastes and men that liue longer than we doe here below and without sicknes where also there are temples woods in which the gods dwell familiarly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That to see that earth is the sight of the blessed But what
not afore and therefore then is the time for all the faithfull to thanke God for their full victorie ouer DEATH AND HELL and to saie with the Apostle ô death where is thy sting ô HELL where is thy victorie But what hath your world of soules to do with these words or with anie other where HADES is named in the new testament All these places serue fitlie for hell and the most of them necessarilie since either is expressed as a diuerse thing from HADES or not to bee comprised in the name of HADES But your world of soules is most absurd and false in euery one of these and can not stand with the circumstance of the text the first of the Reuelation onelie excepted where though there be no wordes to impugne it yet are there none to approue it For is it anie curse for Capernaum to bee brought to the worlde of soules except you meane hell Doth your world of soules impugne the Church of Christ or destroy the fourth part of the earth or shall it be cast into the lake of fire And what victorie shal the iust haue against the world of soules in the last day since their owne soules reioice to receiue their bodies and against the soules of the wicked they neither may nor will insult It therefore remaineth that though HADES with the Septuagint signifie either BODILIE DEATH or HELL yet in the new Testament where HADES is described as a different thing from DEATH and following AFTER DEATH HADES of necessitie being NOT DEATH must needes import HELL Of the place in question Thou wilt not leaue my soule in HADES I will yet saie nothing but will come to the words of the Creede Christ descended to HADES and search what must be the meaning of HADES in that article What I take to be the meaning of Hades in the Creede where it is said Christ descended to HADES as also what reasons lead me thereunto thou hast Christan Reader in the former treatise thou shalt with more ease finde it there then I repeat it here howe much this Confuter confesseth or resisteth that must I now examine When I obiect that in a short sum of the Christian faith made for the simple and common people to repeate one thing twice were néedlesse and against the nature of the Creede and to vse a darke and hard phrase after a plaine and easie is vnreasonable and absurde he answereth It is true I hold it vnreasonable altogither in the short and vulgar Creed appointed euen for the common Christians to vse words darke and difficult And when the same thing is by diuers words expressed the later ought to be the lighter and cleerer Therefore I fullie grant in the Creede speciallie the phrase must be familiar triuiall easie and plaine I vrged thrée things to be obserued in the expounding the Creede the words to be proper and euident without figuratiue obscuritie the things to be different without idle repetition and the order to be consequent without anie confusion The Confuter agreeth with me in all these and he doubteth not but his exposition is such Since then there be three expositions of that article Christ descended to HADES that is either to the GRAVE or to HELL or to the VVORLDE OF SOVLES which in Christes case you saie was HEAVEN which of these thrée Sir Refuter commeth neerest to the nature of a short easie and orderlie summe of a Creede The first you like not because it expresseth that in darke and hard circumloquution which was familiarly and plainely said before he was dead and buried The question then resteth betweene the two last which of the twaine best expresseth the proper sense and vulgar vse of the worde HADES For the Apostles and Apostolike men you confesse did so write and speake as the people then might best vnderstand If it bee so then your exposition Sir Refuter is cleane thrust out of doores For neither with the auncient Maisters of the Gréeke tongue which were the Poets nor with the Septuagint nor with the writers of the newe Testament nor with the people of that time in their vnderstanding did HADES euer signifie the worlde of soules without anie limitation of state or place Againe that generall and indefinite worlde of soules without respect of hell or heauen is no point nor part of the Christian faith For faith touching Christ must not be generall or ambiguous but particular and certaine It is no faith much lesse an article of the faith to saie Christes soule after death went some whither the Creede muste specifie the place whither it went before it can bee a matter of faith that must bee beleeued And therefore HADES doeth point out the particular place as hell or heauen whither Christes soule went after death before any man may chalenge it to be the true meaning of that article If anie doe aske particularlie whither is this You aunswer namely into heauen for whither should the Saints go else This in déede is a familiar triuiall easie and plaine exposition Christs soule DESCENDED DOVVNE TO HADES that is it ASCENDED VP TO HEAVEN And so by taking heauen for hell and ascending vppe for descending downe you haue quickelie made an ende of this matter Whie then goe on with your wise Maister and make HADES which is the chiefe Diuell to bee God and you haue made a perfect exposition of the Creede fitte for such as attribute to Diuels what they shoulde attribute vnto GOD. Was this the plainest and easiest waie for the Apostolike men 〈◊〉 teach the people Christes soule ascended vppe to heauen by saying hee DESCENDED TO HADES And did the people so best vnderstande them You that expounde this by the cleane contrarie and saie they be best so vnderstoode no maruaile if you arrogate so much vnto your selfe in framing the Scriptures to your fansies you maie with little studie prooue a speedie expositour of the Scriptures But Sir wise men that regarde their faith more then your follyes will aske where you finde descending for ascending and Hades for heauen If you pretende Plato they will tell you that to embrace a priuate conceite of Socrates against all the former Greekes against the Septuagint against the Euangelists and Apostles and euidentlie against all the fathers is not to expounde an Article of the faith but the next waie to bring Paganisme into the Creede and that by so licentious and lewde a trade of open peruerting the wordes of the Creede and taking sowre for sweete colde for heate euill for good that nothing shall stande sounde if this bee admitted a It is you saie an Hebrewe phrase So Iacob spake I will goe downe mourning to my Sonne vnto Sheol yet Iacob thought not to goe to hell to his sonne but among the soules of the godlie deade that is to saie into heauen It hath beene meetelie well tolde you that Sheol neuer signifyeth Heauen in all the Scriptures but that Iacob meant hee would goe mourning
vnto Sheol that is to his Graue refusing to take anie comfort whiles he liued since his sonne was dead You like a tyrant ouer the Scriptures will haue what sense pleaseth you in euerie place and then you saie it is plaine and common In déede your ignorance and insolencie is verie plaine and common but the interpretations which you make of Scripture be absurde and more then foolish A man liuing maie well be said to descend into his graue liuing hee standeth dying he lieth downe and the face of the earth on which we are is higher then the bowels of the earth where wee lie buried but of a soule ascending vp to heauen to say it descendeth to hell is a phrase of your making and fit for your faith which is guided more by will then by truth When you proue these two points that HADES is HEAVEN in the Scriptures and that DESCENDING IS ASCENDING we will hearken to your exposition till then wee will leaue it as a distemper of your vnsetled braine For the last exposition of the three which remaineth I haue shewed thée Christian reader by the particular circumstances of the Scriptures that in the continuall vse of the new Testament HADES signifieth HELL which is the place where the wicked after this life are in torments I haue also in the sermons before examined the words of Dauid alledged and applied by Peter to Christ Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell whence Peter concludeth Christs soule was not left in hel as likewise the words of Paul importing that Christ descended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the bottomlesse deepe which worde throughout the new testament doth signifie nothing but HEL I haue noted how anciently Christs local descent to hel was preached in the church euen by one of the seuentie disciples that were conuersant with Christ continued to this daie with the full consent of the fathers both Greeke Latin without exception and by the whole church of Christ receiued I must not iterate that which there is so latelie written The words are faire and plain there is no danger nor difficultie in them the end of Christes descending thither being both honourable to him and comfortable to vs as I haue before deliuered it Lastly I see no cause either in this Confuters ridiculous pamphlet or in his abettors tempestuous and furious libell why anie man should dislike or distrust this exposition as vnfit for the wordes or vnsound for the faith of the Creede To load thee with authorities were to make an other volume thou shalt onelie see I haue not deuised it of mine owne heade but that it hath both antiquitie for it and authoritie with it and so I will make an ende Cyprian in his Sermon of Christs passion Ipse dicit ad patreÌ„ non derelinques animaÌ„ meam in inferno nec sines corrumpi carnem meam in sepulchro quia vbi in praesentia illius effractis inferis est captiuata captiuitas praesentata victrice anima in praesentia patris ad corpus suum siue dilatione reuersus est Christ saieth to his Father Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell nor suffer my flesh to rotte in the graue because as soone as captiuitie was subdued hell being broken vppe in his presence and his triumphing soule presented to the sight of his Father hee without delay returned to his bodie Arnobius writing vppon the hundreth thirtie and seuenth Psalme Postea vidit Inferos longè factus est non solum à coelis sed ab ipsa terra Abyssi profunda descendens scidit quia indereuerteretur ad superos quia a superis remearet ad coelos Afterward Christ went to hell and was farre not onelie from heauen but from the earth descending hee brake the bottomlesse deepe that hee might thence returne to life and from thence to heauen Lactantius in his verses of the resurrection saith Tristia cessarunt infernae vincula legis Expauâ—tque Chaos luminis ore premi Depereunt tenebrae Christi fâ—elgore fugatae Aeternae noctis pallia crassa cadunt The fearefull bands of the infernall power ceased and Chaos was afraid to be oppressed with the light of his presence The darknesse of hell was chased away with the brightnes of Christ and the grosse couerings of eternall night vanished Athanasius Ipse est dei virtus qui infernum expugnauit imperium Diaboli demolitus est qui Deus in descendeÌ„do deus in ascendendo corpus suum à morte excitatum patri repraesentauit ac vindicauit à morte sub â—uius imperio tenebatur Christ is the power of God which surprised hell and ouerthrewe the kingdome of the diuell who beeing God in descending and God in ascending presented his body raised from death to his father and tooke it from death vnder whose power it was helde Hilarius Hic ergo vnus est mortem in inferno perimens spei nostrae fidem resurrectione confirmans corruptionem carnis humanae gloria sui corporis perimens Christ alone is hee that in hell killed death confirmed our hope with his resurrection and destroied the corruption of mans flesh with the glorie of his owne bodie Basil Habes ergo myrrham ob sepulturam guttam ob descensionem ad infernum quod non inefficax in sepulchro permanserit sed ad infernum descenderit gratia dispensationis circa resurrectionem absoluendae vt quae de seipso erant oracula Prophetarum vniuersa expleret Thou hast in this Psalme myrrhe for his buriall dropping for his descent to hell because hee lay not in his graue without force but descended into hell to dispatch thinges needfull for his resurrection that hee might fulfill all that the Prophets forespake of him Nazianzene maketh Christes mother to say of him At vbi veneris in atram nocte Plutonis domum Infernum acerbo iaculo defixeris But when thou wentest to the house of Pluto where darke night is thou diddest thrust thorow hell with a wounding speare Fulgentius Dauid spake of Christes resurrection that his soule was not left in hell nor his flesh saw corruption In this then the Godheade of Christ shewed the power of his impassibilitie that being euery where alwaies and vnspeakeablie present it wanted not to his flesh when it suffered not his soule to feele any paine in hell neither forsooke his soule in hell whiles it kept his flesh from rotting in the graue Beda our countriman shall be the last My flesh saith Dauid of Christ shal rest in hope expounding in what hope to wit in this hope that though my soule descend to hell yet thou wilt not leaue it to be possessed of hel The rest go all cléer that way applying y e words of Dauid cited by Peter Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell to Christs descent thither after death And howsoeuer the fathers incline to thinke as Ierom did that the saints before Christes comming
and â—â—ne of christs triumph f Math. 〈◊〉 g Reuel â— h Reuel 3. i Esay 5â— Ephes. 4. l Reuel 10. Christs manhood must triumph and not his Godhead 〈◊〉 3. u Irenaeus lib. 3. cap. 20. o 1. Corinth 15 And in his maÌ„hood the soule not the bodie which lay dead in earth p Rom. 14 q Matth. 16. Osee. 13 Whether Christs desceÌ„t to hel be written in the scriptuâ—es or no. August de doctri Christiana lib. 3. câ—p 10. Ibidem u Psal. 16. Actes 2 The words are plaine enough if we wrest theÌ„ not from theiâ— proper sense Psal. 16. The soule must not be taken for the bodie though man may be signifiâ—d by either y Tertullian dâ— carne Christi cap. 13. Actes 2. a Tertullian de carne Christi cap. 13 The circumstances proue the words must be properly taken Actes â— Apoc. 2 20. 21. Death is either the first or the second d Acâ—es 3 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which S. Luke expresseth Daâ—ids meaning doth alwaies note hel in the new testament e Matth. 16 f Reuelat. â—â— g Luke 16 h Ibidem ver 23 i Ibidem ver 24 k Reuel 6. l Reuelat. 20 m Reuel â— n 1. Corinth 15 The church from the beginning hath confessed Christs descent to hell Euseb. ecclesiaâ—â—â—â—stor lib. 1 cap. 13. p Iohn 22 q Euseb. ibid. Ignatius 〈…〉 r Asâ—anas in Symbolo August epist. 99. t Ibidemâ— u Hilarius de â—rinitat lib. 2 x Ibid. lib 3. y Hilarius in Psal. 138. z Idem de trinit lib. 4. a Leo de resâ—â— domini sermâ—â—â— b Tulgentius de passione domini ad Trasim lib. 3 Christ descended to y e place of the damned c Act. 8. d Symbol â—post d Symbol â—post e Heb 2. To destroy the diuell and to deliuer man Heb. 2. g Luke â—â— Whither christ descended after death d Athanas de salutari aduentoâ—â— Christi i Athanas. de incarnatione Christi Athanasius agreeth in this point with Hilary and Fulgentius k Athanas. ibidâ— l Hilar. in Psal. 138. m Hilar. de triâ—â—taâ— lib. 3 n Pulgenâ— vt 〈◊〉 o Luke 13. p Ezech. 18 q August epi. 99 The ende of Christs desceÌ„t to hell was the destruction of Satan and deliuerance of man Esay 25 s Osee. 13 t Osee. 13 u Rom. 16 x 1. Corinth 15 y Luke 1 2. Tim. 3 a Actes 26 Deliuerance was performed as well to the liuing and vnborne as to the deade b Hebre. 2 c Fulgent ad Trasimundum lib. 3. d Ibidem e De trinitat 1. 4 f Ibidem lib. 3 g Athanas. de salutari aduentu Christi h Idem de incarnat Christi i Ibidem We are deliuered not from being in hell but from comming thither k Psal. 85. l August in Psal. 85. m Ibidem n Tertullian de anima cap. 55 Where the soules of the righteous were before Christs comming is nothing to this question o August in psal 85. The reason why the fathers thought they were in hell p Gen. 37. q Gen. 42. r Iob. 17. s Iob. 14. t Psal. 89. u Esai 38. Sheôl signifieth as well the graue as hell x Esay 38. y Ibid. ver 18. 19. z Psal. 6. a Psal. 1â—5 b Psal. 141. c Iob. 17. d Eccles. â— The Church of the Iewes thought the soules of the righteous to be in peace c Sapient ca. 3. f Psal. 19. g Luke 16. Christ himselâ—â— placed y e 〈◊〉 of the righteous far aboue beâ—â— in 〈◊〉 h August â—pi 9â— The summe of S. Austens collections out of the 16. of sainâ— Luke i Mat. 8. k 2. Pet. â— S. Austens coÌ„iecture that some were deliuered out of hell is vâ—ne weake l August epist. 99. How y e church might beleeue Adams bandes were loosed in hell by Christs descent Sapient 10 From hel was no release by the doctrine of our Sauiour n Luke 16 o Mark 9â— p Mark 9. The fathers varie touching the place of the soules departed before Christs comming q De anima ca. 55. r In Psal. 48. concio 13. s In Eccle. cap. 9 t In Epistol ad Rom. cap. 5. u Cap. 55. x Idem cap. 5â— y Idem contrae Marcion lib. 4 z In Epistol ad Rom. cap 5 a In Psal. 118 serm 3 b Ambros. de bono mortis ca. 10. b Ambros. de bono mortis ca. 10. b Ambros. de bono mortis ca. 10. c Iohn 14 The soules of the righteous were in Abrahams bosome by the confession of the fathers d Orig. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 e Hieron in Esay cap. 65. f Ambros. in Psal. 38 g Idem de bono mortis cap. 12â— h Hilar. in Psal. 51. i Idem in Psal. 120. k Idem in Psal. 2. l 1. Samuel â—8 Whether the soule of Samuel were in hell or no. l 1. Samuel 18. Whether the soule of Samuel were in hell or no. Reasons to proue it was an illusion of the Diuel m Luke 16. n Deut. 18. o Reuel â—â— p Tertul. de anima cap 57. Authorities to proue the same q Ibid. r Respons ad quaest 52. s Theodoret. questioâ—um in lib 1. Regum quaest 62 t Ibidem u Idem quaest 62 x Vide lib. 1. Paralip cap. 10. ver 13. â— 14. y 1. Paral. ca. 10. vers 13. z Ad Simplician lib. 2. quaest 3. a Ibidem b Ad octo Dulcitij quaestione quest 6 c De doct Christiana li. 2. ca. 23 Neither opinioÌ„ proueth that Samuels soule was in hell d 1. Sam. 1â— e Ad Simplie lib. 2. quaest 3 e Ad Simplie lib. 2. quaest 3 g Quaest. ex veâ—er testâ—mento â—uaest 27. h Caus. 26. quâ—st ◠§ 14. nec miruÌ„ Ivrge not the fathers but agreeing with the scriptures and with them selues Heb 2. k Colos 2. l 1. Cor. 15. m Acts 2. m Acts 2. n Ephes. 4. o Mat. 27. Christs desceâ—â—ding into the deep and into hel are al onâ—â— p Rom. 10 q Luke 8 r Reuelat 9. verse 1â—8 Ibidem ver 11 Reuel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 20. Christ descended into the bottomlesse deepe The descent to hell after death a part of our redeÌ„ption t De Trinitat lib. 2 â—â—thanas de salutari adueâ—mu Christi x August â—pist 99. y Ibidem z Ibidem a Ibidem b August 〈…〉 Christ deliuered the bodies of some saints from the power of hel that is he raised theÌ„ from death c Matth. 27 d Esay 33 Hebre. 2 f 1. Corinth 15 g Reuelat. 20 h Reuel 1. i 1. Corinth 15 k Ephes. 2 l Ephes. 6 m Hebre. 2 Whether the bodies of the the saints that rose with christ slept againe or no. n August epist. 99 o Matth. 27â— p August â—â—pistola 99â— q Actes 2 Dauid saw corruptioÌ„ though he were then risen from corruption but Christs flesh neuer putrified r Acts. 2. ver 34 s August de genesi ad literam li. 8. cap. â— t Hebre. 11. u Hebre. 11 x 4. Regum 2 y Matth. 1â— z Luke 23 a