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
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
part to the state of the deade What néeded then an vnknowne hebrew phrase hee descended into Sheôl to expresse the verie same point which before was fullie and fairelie deliuered Againe though Sheôl be common to the bodies of the faithfull and infidels yet may it bee verie well doubted whether the soules of the righteous departed this life be in Sheôl or no. And vnder correction I take it to bee more then the Scripture anie where doeth positiuelie affirme My reason is that Abrahams bosome is by our Sauiour placed ABOVE PARRE OFF from the place where the wicked after this life are tormented Now to Sheôl the Scripture maketh a DESCENT not an ascent as when Iacob saieth I VVILL GOE DOVVNE TO Sheôl vnto my sonne mourning And againe you will bring my gray hayres with sorrow DOVVNE TO SHEOL And least wee shoulde dreame of a metaphoricall kinde of descent in the rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram the scripture saieth THE GROVNDE claue asunder that was VNDER THEM and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them vp with their families So they and all that were with them DESCENDED aliue into Sheôl and the earth COVERED THEM To Sheôl then the scripture maketh a locall descent which is either of the bodie to the graue for so Iacobs words must be vnderstood when he saith I will descende to Sheôl vnto my sonne or of the soule after death to the place of torment which is the rewarde of all the wicked The wicked saith Dauid shall be turned into Sheôl and al nations that forget God Where he doth not meane they shall die aswel as the godly which is likewise the lot of all the iust righteous but they shall haue the due wages of sinne both body and soule descending to Sheôl that is the one to corruption in the earth the other to damnation in hell For Sheol containeth both and importeth both to the forgetters and despisers of God albeit it fasten no farther on the godly then to bring their bodies to the graue which is the gate of hel Ezechiah mentioning in his praiers how he was willed by the prophet to prepare himselfe to die thus expresseth it I said in the cutting off of my daies I shal goe to the gates of Sheol I am depriued of the residue of my yeeres but y e wicked go to THE DEPTH OF SHEOL which is the place of euerlasting punishment The way of life saith Salomon is ON HIGH to him that vnderstandeth to decline froÌ„ SHEOL BENEATH So that after this life the soules that liue are aboue for the way to life is on high the soules that die go to the depth of Sheol euen to the bottomles pit of perdition Of him that hanteth harlots Salomon saith He knoweth not y t her ghests are in the depth of Sheol that is so wrapped in their sinnes that they cannot preuent euerlasting damnation And againe Thou shalt smite the child with the rod and shalt deliuer his soule froÌ„ Sheol Correction will not saue a â—hilde that hee shall not see death but it will bow him to obedience and so saue his soule from destruction Yea how should Dauid so often confesse to God that his soule was freed from Sheol if by Sheol hee ment the state after death for thence it was impossible his soule shuld be deliuered What man liueth shal not see death so pretious is the redeÌ„ption of the soule froÌ„ death that it must cease for euer And yet comparing himself with the wicked his state with theirs he saith Like sheepe shall they lie in Sheol death shal deuoure theÌ„ and the righteous shall haue dominioÌ„ ouer theÌ„ in the day spring But God wil deliuer my soule from the power of Sheol for he will receiue me Doth Dauid meane he shal neuer die or that his soule shalbe deliuered from Sheol that is from the state of such as were departed this life y e imagination were both false absurd but he meaneth that death shal deuoure the wicked wholie as well soule as bodie whereas he did firmly beleeue y t God would deliuer his soule from the power of Sheol would receaue him after death though his body must of force by the condition of nature waxe olde as a garment and rot in the graue til the day of resurrection And if anie man thinke good in some such places as these are to interpret the SOVLE for LIFE because it is the spring and cause of life in the bodie and SHEOL for the GRAVE where life endeth I will not vtterlie condemne his exposition so long as he leaneth a different power of Sheol ouer y e iust vniust froÌ„ which Dauid saith God will deliuer his soule and do not make the soules of the righteous DESCEND TO SHEOL after death For that directlie impugneth the doctrine as well of the olde testament which saith the way of life is on high as of our Sauiour who placeth Abrahams bosome VPVVARD A FAR OFF from hell when he saith of the rich man that being in hell in torments hee LIFT VP his â—ies and saw Abraham A FAR OFF and Lazarus in his bosome Upon which place S. Augusten learnedlie and trulie inferreth Ne ipsos quidem INFEROS VSPIAM scripturarum locis IN BONO APPELLATOS potuireperire Quod si nusquam in diuinis authoritatibus legitur non vtique sinus ille Abrahae idest secretae cuiusdam quietis habitatio ALIQVA PARS INFERORVM esse credenda est quanquam in ijs ipsis tanti magistri verbis vbi ait dixisse Abraham Inter nos vos chaos magnum firmatum est SATIS VT OPINOR APPARET NON ESSE QVANDAM PARTEM ET QVASI MEMBRVM INFERORVM tantae illius felicitatis sinum Chaos enim magnum quid est nisi quidam hiatus multum ea separans inter quae non solum est verum etiam firmatus est The name of Inferi I could no where finde in anie place of scripture vsed IN ANY GOOD SENSE which if wee doe no where reade in the authorities of the scripture surelie Abrahams bosome which is an habitation of secret rest may not be thought to bee ANY PEECE OF THE LOVVER PARTS albeit in the words of so sufficient a maister as our Sauiour where he maketh Abraham say betwixt vs and you there is a GREATE GVLFE ESTABLISHED it is EVIDENT ENOVGH as I take it that the bosome of so great felicitie is NO PART NOR MEMBER of hell For what is a great gulfe but a great distance separating those places betweene which it lieth Inferi are the lower parts where the deade remaine which the Hebrew calleth Sheôl and touching Inferi which are the places or spirits beneath we maie with S. Austen conclude two thinges out of the manifest wordes of our Sauiour First that Abrahams bosome is VPVVARD towards heauen and therfore the soules of the righteous before the death of Christ ascended rather
with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heauen saith our Sauiour The second is that if more besides Abraham and Lazarus were in that bosome of rest the Prophets and Patriarks must néeds be there who for fidelitie and pietie are commended by the witnesse of Gods spirite and placed in the foundation of the Church with the Apostles next the heade corner stone as HOLIE MEN OF GOD inspired and mooued by the holie ghost These deductions being sound and sure whereof there can bee no doubt it is certaine Christ went not to hell to fetch the Patriarkes and Prophets thence for they were not there but in Abrahams bosome which was an habitation of REST COMFORT and BLISSE so farre distant from the place of torment that by no meanes it coulde bee a PART or MEMBER THEREOF But Austen himselfe saith hee doubteth not but Christ deliuered some from the paines of hell at his descent thither Saint Austen refelleth the receiued opinion of others before him that Christ descended to hell to deliuer thence the Patriarkes and Prophets that were there detained and addeth that because he then presentlie sawe no cause why Christ should descend but to saue from the paines of hel he doth not doubt but Christ deliuered some froÌ„ thence But when he commeth to make proof for this his opinion he fainteth and saith the words of Peter that Christ loosed the paines of hell may bee taken in that sense and that Adam was then loosed ALMOST the whole church consented Howbeit both these proofs are no more then probable scant so much and therfore they compell no man to receiue S. Austens coniecturall inclination but leaue vs at libertie as wel to examine his reasons as to suspend our iudgemeÌ„ts till we sée stroÌ„ger better motiues to induce our consent For touching Peters wordes himselfe confesseth they may bee referred to Christ. Quod scriptuÌ„ est in morte Christi factuÌ„ solutis doloribus inferni vel ad ipsum potest intelligi pertinere quod eos hactenus soluerit hoc est irru os fecerit ne ab eis ipse teneretur praesertim quia sequitur in quibus impossibile erat teneri EVM vel si causa quaeritur cur venire voluerit in infernum vbi dolores illi essent quibus omnino teneri non poterat hoc quod scriptum est solutis doloribus inferni non in omnibus sed IN QVIBVSDAM ACCIPI POTEST quos ille dignos ista liberatione iudicabat What the Scripture saieth was perfourmed in the death of Christ THE PAINES OF HELL BEEING LOOSED may either bee vnderstoode to pertaine to Christ himselfe that hee loosed that is frustrated those paines from taking anie holde of him speciallie whereas it followeth in the Text OF VVHICH PAINES IT VVAS IMPOSSIBLE HEE SHOVLDE BE HELDE or if wee aske for the cause why he woulde come to hell where those paines were which coulde take no hold of him these words loosing the paines of hel may bee taken not of all but of some whome he thought worthy to be deliuered Either way these wordes make nothing to S. Austens supposition that some were in the paâ—nes of hell when Christ did thence deliuer them For if we applie them to Christs person which in déede S. Peter doth they note that Christ brake before him the strength of hell when he approched to his resurrection If wee refer them to mans deliuerance thence that Christ in our names and for our safetie loosed the sorrowes of hell this will proue we should haue gone to hell if Christ had not saued vs thence but that wee were there it no way proueth For hee deliuered all his as wel liuing and not then borne as dead from all the right and claime that hell had to them and as we were deliuered not from being there but from comming thither so the dead might bee acquited and assured from the chalenge that hell had to them though they were then in rest and in hope of Christs comming to performe their expectation and perfit their redemption from the power of hell As for the consent of the whole church ALMOST since Austen himselfe leadeth vs to dislike the opinion of all the fathers ALMOST that the soules of the righteous were in hel before Christes descent thither hee openeth the waie for vs to aske how the church came by that perswasion whether by scripture or by Tradition Scripture there is none extant for Adam more then for all other men Tradition for things done in hell where no man liuing was present can none bee pretended The testimonie which Austen alleageth out of the booke of Wisedome maketh rather against that position then for it Wisedome kept the first man that was alone created euen the father of the world and BROVGHT HIM OVT OF HIS SINNE and gaue him power to gouerne all thinges That wisedome brought Adam out of his sinne is here affirmed but whether by chastisement and repentance in this life or by deliuerance out of hell after this life since neither is specified the first is rather to bee receaued For God both by punishing Adams offence and by offering him grace in the promised Scede did make way for repentance yea the whole life of Adam was nothing else but the meditation of his fall but that Christ fet him from hell when hee descended thither canne by no rules of religion bee warranted Indeed Christ went to hell to loose the bands of Adams sinne and so the church might well beléeue and professe For the guilt of Adams transgression and roote of Adams corruption brought vs all to be iustlie condemned to hell but that the death of Christ reconciled vs againe to God by the remission of our sinnes and the personall descent of our Sauiour loosed all the bandes and brake all the chaines of darkenesse that were prouided for vs and so fréed Adam and his ofspring from the power and paines of hell In this the whole church might consent that Adams sinne was released and Adams bandes loosed by Christs descent to hell but other tradition what soules were in hell and thence deliuered at Christes comming as it was altogether vnknowne to men on earth and consequentlie most vncertaine so is it rather presumptuous to define then religious to beléeue And least I shoulde séeme to be led with the spirit of contradiction to refuse both the tradition of the church and opinion of the fathers I will plainelie shew what causeth me to consent to neither First in these secret and vnknowne things no mans assertion is to be trusted without the witnes of the scriptures and forsomuch as is expressed vnto vs in the word of God it rather crosseth then fauoreth this assertion of the fathers Next the ancient writers heere in doe not onelie varie one from another but euen from themselues to manifest that they had no settled truth but some coniectures and those verie slender in these hidden matters Touching 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
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
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