2. sinne 3. al the miseries of this life 4. death death is vanquished but not wholy taken away and againe death is vnarmed but not extinguished For albeit they are not felt yet they are as a Serpent without poyson and as a Bée without a sting this he manifesteth by a prittie similitude As poyson first infecteth the vaines 2 the bloud 3. the members and last of all the hart so the Diuell and all our enemies are by little and little dayly subdued but in the day of iudgement shall be vtterly conquered and cast downe for euer so that euerye Saint shall sing O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victorye the Scriptures as Musculus noteth writing on this place sometime speaketh in the preterperfect tense sometime in the present tense sometime in the future tense therfore Christ both hath abolished dooth abolish and will abolish death he hath abolished death by dying for our sinnes not that it should be no more but that it should no more destroy the faithfull he doth abolish it while he doth translate his Saints from death to life and he will abolish death for euer in the end of the worlde For then shall that saying be fulfilled Apoc. 21. 4. There shall be no more death As by all that hath béene spoken it is manifest that the death of Christ dooth not take away the iudgemēt wherin all our enemies shal be for euer and vtterly ouerthrowe so it doth not take away his descending into hell wherby he strake a terror into the diuell and all the hellish Spirites Therefore as Bude saith then shall there be no contention of death which now is and maketh vs to sigh for our defect for the mutability of thinges for the frailtye of mans flesh temptations striue with vs daily pleasures striue with vs dayly and although we consent not yet are we troubled by resisting pleasures the enemy dieth not but in the resurrection of the dead By all these reasons it is manifest the Diuell is chayned but not cast out vtterly that the gilt of sinne is taken away but the matter remaineth that as we haue many sorrowes in this life so we haue greater comfortes that death albeit he is vnarmed yet his neck is not broken and so the destroying of death dooth no more take away the descending into hell then it dooth the resurrection ascenfion and comming of Christ vnto iudgement All which must néeds be in our Sauiour to the vtter and euerlasting ouerthrow of our enemies An other Scripture which they alleadge is the saying of Christ to the théefe on the crosse Luk. 22. 43. To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Héerupon they frame this argument to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise therfore the soule of Christ and of the théefe went both that day to heauen They that so conclude are deceiued in two things the one is in that they imagine this woord me to signifie the soule of Christ which signifieth the Godhead the other in that they take this woord to daye to signifie the space of 12. or 24. houres which indéed signifieth for euer both these shal be strengthened by Gods grace with proofes First the circumstances of the place doo proue these thinges most euidentlye For what dooth the théefe aske deliuerance from the gilte of sinne from the cursse of the lawe from the wrath of God from the terrors of death from the tormentes of hell and the tirannye of of the diuell He asketh not only forgiuenes of his sinnes but that he may be a new creature that the righteousnes of God may be giuen him that he may haue the adoption and liberty of Gods children and so after his death glory honour peace and immortality that is familiarity with God he asketh to be an heire with God and a ioynt heire with Christ for euer In one woord he asketh a kingdome pure in righteousnes perfect in peace perpetual in ioy Who can forgiue sinnes but God only Mar. 2. 7. Who can giue this kingdome but God and therfore these woords with me signifie the Godhead and not the soule of Christ as some 〈◊〉 haue it And so all the Fathers that euer I read vnderstoode it and the new writers also Hierome on these words writeth thus Christ brought the théefe from the crosse into Paradise least any man should think conuersion to be too late at any time he made the punishment of homicide martyr dome the truth being accounted among the wicked he left th'one on the left hand and tooke the other on the right hand as he will doo in the day of iudgement Where I note that Christ did on the crosse as he will doo in the day of iudgmēt that is seperate the bad from the good and cast the wicked into hell which is the office of the Godhead Psalm 7. 11. God iudgeth the righteous and him that contemneth God euery day And in the 2. Tim. 4. 8. From hence foorth is laide vp for me the crowne of righteousnes which the lord the righteous iudge shal giue me at that day not to me only but to all them also that loue his appearing Augustine hath y e like saying also vpon this place the crosse if you marke it was the iudgement seate the Iudge was set on the middle the one théefe which beléeued was deliuered the other which blasphemed was condemned To saue and condemne is the office of God and therefore must néeds be vnderstoode of the Godhead So saith Ambrose in his Sermon of the holy théefe he sawe him hanging on the crosse and praieth to him as though he were sitting in heauen he séeth him cōdemned and yet he praieth to him as to a king So Ferus on the 27. of Mat. Thou shalt be with me which am euery where which am all in all To be with me therfore is not spoken of the soule of Christ but of the Godhead Damascene saith to speake more expressely he was in the Sepulcre according to his body and in hell according to his soule but as God he was both in Paradise with y e théefe and in the throne with the Father aud the holy Ghost And as with me signifieth the Godhead so to day fignifieth for euer For as Aristotle noteth in his Metaphisicks in aeternis non est tempus In eternall thinges there is no time for time is the measure of those things which are subiect to motion now in hell all shall suffer in earth all must labour so in heauen all must rest Apoc. 12. 13. Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord euen so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours aud their woorks follow thē For where no mutation is there is no time and for this cause Apoc. 10. 6. it is said And he sware by him that liueth for euermore which created the heauens the things that therin are and the earth and the things that
woord orcus which can not be aptlye applyed to the graue Draconites thus Non tu derelinques animam meam apud tartarum Thou shalt not leaue my Soule in hell vsing the woord tartarus which is a proper woord for hell and not for the graue Pomeranus Westmerus Lucas Lossius on the 16. Psalme and Vrbanus Rhegius in his catechisme all which were singuler learned Ministers in the Churches of Germany are of this iudgement also and therefore it is vntrue that all the reformed Churches doo deny the presentiall descending of Christ into hell as appeareth by these testimonies and shall more largely and euidently appear by that which followeth Aepinus superintendent of Hambrough being called generally for his incomparable knowledge in holy write the Father of diuinity writing on the 16. Psalme thus reproueth them that translate Sheol to be the graue that the wicked Iewes the enemies of Christ and his religion might ouerthrowe the article of our faith concerning the resurrection of Christ and his descending into hell and that they might take away the comfort which the church hath by Christs resurrection and his descending into hell the Rabbins doo turn for soule life and for hel the graue Here we learne who first deuised this translation that is the Rabbins the speciall enemies of Christ and christian religion why did they it to take away the comfort which cōmeth to vs by Christs descending into hell Felinus a learned man in the tungs writing on the 16. Psalme vseth these woords our faith hath that Christ went into hell indéed and that he dyed and was buried but neither his soule was left in hell neither his body was so detained in the graue that it could corrupt To confirme this truth when this place of this present Psalme is brought as Peter and Paul brought it to proue the resurrection the Iewes mocke vs and say that héer Dauid prayeth that he might be kept of the Lord whom he had set before him to be worshipped and in whom only he hoped that he might not goe downe into the sepulchre By this learned mans iudgement also it appeareth that the Iewes translate Sheol to be a graue for the ouerthrowe of Christs resurrection But because the Iewes doo mock vs for this translation of Sheol into hell we ought not to leaue it but rather to cleaue more stedfastly vnto it And for this cause the aforenamed Aepinus thus writeth on the 16. Psalme some Diuines there are louing ouermuch Iewish fables doo embrace this translation of Sheol into a graue and by their own foolishnes confirme the dreames of the Iewes encrease their error and doo make the article of descending into hell suspected to the vnskilfull and weaker sort of people This then is the opinion of this reuerend man that whosoeuer vseth this translation as he discourageth the ignorant and weak from beléeuing so he encreseth the old errour of the hardned Iew. Further as the same Author noteth it is more safe to translate hell for Sheol then graue First because a soule can not be laide in a graue but a body secondly because Peter and Paul haue so translated it whose authoritye we ough t to reckon to be holy and inuiolable and therfore we ought not easily to shrink away from it thirdly because two great errors doo follow it the one that the soule may be buried the other that we maintain the interpretation of the Rabbins the enemies of the truth Those learned men worthy of eternall memory which compiled the Centuries proue that Peter and Paul did so translate Sheol Cent. 1. li. 2. cap. 4. De doctrina de inferno seu loco damnatorum inferni 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellationem Petrus alij Apostoli vsurpant allegantes dictum psalmi non derelinques animam meam in inferno postea non derelicta est in inferno Peter and other y e Apostles doo translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hell alleadging the 16. Psalme Thou shalt not leaue my soule in hell and afterwards he was not left in hell Becon in the Sick mans salue Fol. 250. vseth these spéeches Christ after the death of the body went down in his soule to hell as it cléerely appéereth by the Scriptures quoting the 16. Psalme and other places Fulgentius in his 8. Chapter to Thrasimund thus witnesseth farther it remained for the full effecting of our redemption that man assumpted to God should descend thither whither man being seperate from God by the desert of sinne had fallen that is to hell where the soule of the sinner was wont to be punished and to the graue where the flesh of the sinner was wonte to be corrupted and that so notwithstanding as neither his flesh could corrupt in the graue neither his Soule could be tormented in the sorrowes of hell for his soule being free from sinne was not to be subiected to punishment and his flesh being without sinne corruption ought not to destroye it Mark the reason of this learned Father for because man sinning had deserued to be deuided because he was willing by the gilt of transgression to be deuided from God which can not be denyed therfore it came to passe that the death of the sinner did produce sinfull flesh to be corrupted in y e graue and did mancipate the soule to be tormented in hell but that the sinner might be fréed by a frée gift it came to passe that the sonne of God did suffer vniustlye of sinners the death of the body which man being a sinner had suffered iustly of the iust God and that his flesh should go downe so farre as slesh wrapt in sinne should come and that the Soule of the Sauiour should descend into hell where the soule of the sinner was to be tormented Thus the holye Martirs in times past thought of this matter and if they had liued in these daies to sée so great multitudes which professe the faith to deny it after a sorte no doubt they would haue writen more earnestly against them But sith their woorkes be extant I hope they that deny this manner of descending wil answere their reasons which in my iudgemēt were framed and penned by the holye Ghost Wherefore sith Athanasius Epiphanius Ciril Aepinus Pomeranus Vrbanus Rhegius Lucas Lossius Beecon Hutchinson and many others some Gréek some Latin some olde some new writers but especiallye Peter and Paul themselues the pillers of the Church haue thus translated Sheol to be hell my resolution in this point is with Aepinus let him that will hold this opinion that Sheol signifieth the graue I like not of it it is grounded vpon weak doubtfull vncertain wrested proofes and coniectures they that subscribe vnto it doo without iust and necessary proofes rashly disagrée from the translation of our Psalter from the plain woordes of the Apostles Créede and from the consent of the olde Church which alwaies beléeued that the bodye of Christ did thrée daies rest in the graue and his
in omnibus protectionis tuae muniamur auxilio By whose merites and praiers we pray thée graunt that we may in all things be defended by the aide of thy protection Farther it is finished as concerning the labour and sorrow he tooke in the world for he was sent to preach the Gospell Luk. ◠18. And therfore he went about doing good vnto al. Act. 10. 38. And when he saw Hierusalem which had killed all the Prophets and would kill him also he wept and sorrowed all this labour and sorrowe was finished It is finished also is referred to y e time that Christ was appointed to be amongst men It is finished also is referred to the paines of the body and the soule which he suffered on the crosse which both were finished And last of all it is finished is referred to his obedience for he obeyed as Bernard noteth gladly without spurning simply without dissimulation chéerefully without grudging spéedily without tarrying manfully without estimation of himselfe humbly without presuming and persenerantly in life and death without ceasing Al these interpretations I haue read and doo allow off by which it is manyfest that whatsoeuer was to be doone at the death of Christ was finished The high Priests had taken their counsel Iudas had betraied him the only sacrifice was offered all labour was ended he was entring into rest all sorrowe was turned into ioy the time of his humilitye was at an end he should shortly be exalted the paines and sorrowes of bodye and soule were ended therfore both of them must triumph ouer death and hell he fulfilled euery iotte and title of the Lawe and hath yéelded a pure perfect and perpetuall obedience vnto God his Father both in life and in death therfore euery knée both in heauen earth and hell must bow and obey to him S. Paul saith Hèb. 9. 22. Without shedding of bloud there is no forgiuenes of sinnes If all had béen finished when Christ said it is finished then there néeded no shedding of bloud which as Iohn saith 1. Ioh. 1. 7. purgeth vs from all our sinnes Therfore this is my resolution with Ferus on this Psalme there remained many thinges to be fulfilled as yet namelye his death the opening of his side his buriall the destruction of hell which also were foretolde in the Scriptures but because they were now in the worke of consumation therefore he saith it is finished And a little after there remained also y e resurrection ascension of Christ and sending of the holy Ghoste but these things pertayne to his victory not to his sight and they are rewardes for his fight not labours Moreouer as yée read in the birth of Christ Mat. 1. 22. All this was done that the Scripture might be fulfilled So likewise something was to be fulfilled in his ascension Ephe. 4. 10. He that descended is euen the same that ascended farre aboue all heauens to fulfill all things So some thinges are to be fulfilled in the generall iudgement for Paul saith 1. Cor. 15. 5. 4. then shal be brought to passe the saying that is written O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victory And therefore Ferus well saith in the same place that our saluation is finished spe non re in hope not in déed For Christ did saý all thinges were finished in such sorte as the Lambe is said to be flaine from the beginning of the worlde not because he was then manifestly slaine but because the killing of Christ was cast forward euen vnto Adam the first man and was spread backward euen vnto the consummation of the worlde and thus our saluation is finished not fullye in déede but in hope This is to be proued by a plaine scripture and so I will end Ioh. 17. 4. Christ saith I haue glorified thee on earth I haue finished the worke which thou gauest me to doo As in this Scripture the woord I haue finished signifieth the woorke to be in finishing so dooth it in 19. of Iohn There is alledged also a place of out of the 2. of the Hebrews 39. verse For as much then as the Children were partakers of flesh and bloud he also himself took parte with them that he might destroy through death him that had the power of death that is the diuell Out of this place they thus argue Christ by his death destroyed the diuell therefore his descending into hell was néedlesse In this argumēt is fallacia aidicto secundum quid ad simpliciter for it is not meant that the diuell is already destroyed but that he might be destroyed For this we read Apoc. 12. 12. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the Sea for the diuell is come downe to you which hath great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time And in the Epistle of Iude the 6. verse The Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserued iu euerlasting chaines vnto darkenes vnto the iudgement of the great day Therefore S. Paul praieth that we may tread down Satan vnder our feete Rom. 16. 20. And in an other place he saith that he is a spirite which now worketh in the children of disobedience Ephe. 22. in the 2. of Tim. 2. 26. he saith The wicked are taken in the snare of the diuell and holden at his will In the 2. Cor. 2. 4. he affirmeth That the God of this world hath blynded the eyes of the infidels that the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ which is the image of God should not shine vnto them In the. 1. Pet. 5 6. The diuell is a roaring Lyon going about seeking whome hee may deuoure In the Reuelation 12. 9. 10. verse the diuell is called a dragon an olde Serpent Satan that is a tempter and an accuser All which phrases shew that albeit the diuell hath nothing to doo in Christ yet he snareth blindeth and deuoureth the wicked he accuseth slaundereth tempteth the godly Origen saith in the person of almighty God if my seruant Iob had not béen holy and a worthy man and one that pleased me well thou wouldest neuer haue enuyed him thou hast not enuyed Esau nor Ismael thou wilt not enuy Saul or Achitophel or Doeg or any of them which haue fulfilled thy peruerse wil but thou hast from the beginning of the world enuyed all my seruants and Saints as Abel Ioseph and now Iob himselfe and al other calling on me sincerely It is manifest therefore that the diuel raigneth in the wicked and assaulteth alwaies the godly Therfore the vtter destruction of our euemies shal be in the generall iudgement now they are destroyed in hope then in déed now they are destroyed in fieri thē in facto esse This is proued by S. Paul 1. Cor. 15. 26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death Upon which place Peter Martir sheweth who are our enemies 1. the diuell
downe to suffer which thing I neuer mentioned but that he went downe to manifest his death to triumph in his owne person ouer the Diuell and personally to redéeme vs from hell Then you call them dunces whence I had that distinction I had it from Musculus and Musculus from the word of God and therefore you must embrace these distinctions or else you will speake erroneously Omnia probate quod bonum est tenete Try all things hold that which is best This word is worthy my wit or any other Interpreters Neither wil I leaue the ware that is in my poore pack for all the treasures of Egypt Humes Sectio 16. In the end of your Sermon you bring vs two inconueniences if this article be not beleeued First that men would doubt whether there were an hell Secondly whether Christ had redeemed vs thence In deede you take the way to make men doubt thereof to see learned men to striue about that which all the world doth knowe to be true If you be remembred you tolde the people in the beginning of your Sermon that neyther M. Wisdome nor M. Chalfort did doubt of this article and why are you now contrary to your self Why would you haue it seene that these inconueniences would follow If you should not be beleeued beare the world in hand that we take away both hell and the benefit of Christes death This is good Rhetorique but it is ill Diuinitie It was your part to haue delt plainely and to haue told the people If you would needes speake thereof that neither you nor we did doe either of these points and that thereof they had no matter to doubt but to walke as the children of God if they would eyther auoide the one or possesse the other Hyll I brought two inconueniences if this article were denyed to moue the people not to leaue out any It is not vnknowne to you that Seruetus and Carliell deny it and diuers others now liuing among vs by reason of the negatiue doctrine which is preached of your side will not repeate this branch of the Créede he descended into hell And some haue sayd to my face that Thomas Aquinas did insert it into the Créede Of these men I knowe too many against whome I did direct my speach for feare least some might be in that populous assembly Bad doo they that deny the personall descending but worse do they which denye both personall and potentiall Therefore I was not contrary to my selfe but contrary to those which haue giuen occasion that so comfortable an article of our Christian faith should be put out of the Créede You say it was my parte to deale plainely I hope I did deale plainely for I preached the truth Obsequium amicos veritas odium parit Flatterye getteth sréends truth getteth hatred I knowe the eares of that Auditory did itche for other matter but I am Gods Minister and I haue preached Gods truth which I will by the heâ—he of my God defend against all gainsayers whatsoeuer Humes Sectio 17. We heare that you haue preached since at Leecock condemned al your aduersaries in this matter of ignorance fury and madnes as denying so commodious and comfortable so wholesome and needefull a doctrine as you think yours to be Heere I appeale to your conscience shew vs what coÌ„modity or comfort what wholesome or necessary matter we deny that you do teach If all your comfort and commodite consisteth in our redemption from hell and death to heauen and health there to behold the glorious face of our immortall God and to sing amongst the Angels Osanna in the highest do not we teach this as diligent as you what comfort or coÌ„moditie can it bring vs to send Christ the Sonne of the euerliuing God who hath borne all the torments of hell on his tender bodye for our sakes and paide a full raunsome of our redemption downe to the pit of hell without warrant of his word neither to redeeme vs thence nor them that were there I referre to the godly considerations of all good Christians As for you M. Hill the world is sory to see a man so learned and so eloquent to bestowe his wit and eloquence in so weake a cause As for Chalfout the worlde doth condemne him as a man without iudgement or discretion that so impudently and vnaduisedly as some suppose I praye God they be deceiued enuiouslie did set his face against the truth and did so irreuerently vse the diligent and meek labourer in the Lords haruest M. Wisedome I speake not this for any fauour of him in respect of his owne person more then M. Chalfouts for I haue some great causes to esteeme of the other but truth is truth I will not be caryed for any priuate considerations against it you promised if any man could answere your reasons to recant them in the same place I pray God you meant as you said God open our eyes and giue vs vnderstanding harts and willes obedient to his knowen truth Hill Truth it is I did preach at Leicocke and because I heard that M. Wisdome had set that opinion of yours abroche againe at Cosham I did here also confirme mine Not because I am desirous to be contentious but because I would haue no Christian man to doubt of the articles of his Faith you aske me what comfortable or necessarye matter you déeme that we doo preach I answere and I pray you consider of it we are borne in sinne how are we deliuered from sinne but by Christ which was conceiued by the holy Ghoste we haue the magnitude of sinnes with Peter the multitude of sinnes with Mary Magdalen the turpitude of sinnes with the woman taken in adultery the infamy of sinnes with the Publican the diuturnity of sinnes with the théefe on the gallowes the cruelty of sinnes with Paule and the recidiuation into sinnes with diuers of the Sainies yet if we repent we are pardoned for Christs sake who purely perfectly and perpetually obeyed the law of God By reason of our sinnes we are subiect to all punishments both corporall and spirituall and to the wrath of God All these punishments due to vs did Christ suffer vpon y e crosse both in body and soule and therefore it is called his Passion He suffered in the Garden in Annas and Caiphas house in Pilats hall but vpon the crosse as you say truely he suffered the agonies of death and torments of hell Further by reason of sinne this was laide vpon our first Parentes Thou shalt dye the death so by reason of this sentence not onelye the body was condemned to death but the soule to damnation To deliuer vs from these two punishments the soule of Christ went to hell and returned and the body of Christ that lay dead in the graue rose againe mightily naturallye spéedily and happely Besides Christ arose in déede he gaue himselfe to be felte and handled hereupon we are assured that he conquered death and hell He ascended
resurrection of our soules is by the humble comming of Christ of our bodies by his glorious comming And this is made manifest also in diuers other such like places of Scripture In the 6. chapter of the Romans ver 5. S. Paul thus writeth For if we be grafted with him to the similitude of his death euen so shall we be to the similitude of his resurrection Where the Apostle thus exhorteth vs that euen as y e death of Christ teacheth vs to seperate our selues both in body and soule from sinne so the resurrection of Christ doth teach vs to arise from sinne both in soule and body By these places of Scripture it is to be considered that as Christ did arise both in soule and body so must we and therfore as Christs resurrection is not a full resurrection vnlesse both partes did arise for otherwise he did but arise in body as we doo so these exhortations grounded vpon that doctrine are to no purpose vnlesse Christs soule did arise from hell aswell as his bodye from the graue and last of all there is no more miracle in the buriall of Christ then in any other godly mans which as I proued before ought to be in all the personall actions that Christ wrought for our saluation Thus much of the primitiue place in the 16. Psalme as also of the deriuatiue place in the 2. of the Acts wherby I hope I haue sufficiently proued that Christs soule descended into hell But yet for a farther proofe I thought it not vnfit to adde these that followe namelye in the 2. Chapter to the Phillippians the 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. verses Let the same minde be in you which was in Christ Iesus who being in the forme of God thought it no robberye to be equall with God but hee made himselfe of no reputation and tooke on him the forme of a seruant and was made like vnto men and was found in shape as a man hee humbled himself and became obedient vnto the death euen vnto the death of the crosse wherefore God hath also highly exalted him and giuen him a name aboue euery name that at the name of Iesus euery knee shuld bow both of things in heauen things in earth and things vnder the earth In which place this I conceiue y t Christs death was manifested in heauen in earth and in hell and that the very damned spirits did confesse to the glory of God the Father that Iesus Christ was Lord both of heauen and the Angels of earth and of them that dwell therein and of hell and the diuels But some will say how is it possible that the spirits which are damned should confesse Christ. To this I answere there is the cōfession of our faith and of our sins which is proper only to the elect there is an other confession which is called the confession of experience which is in the wicked and the damned In the 5. of Marke the legions of diuels thus cry in y e 7. ver What haue I to do with thee Iesus the sonne of the most high God Where we sée the diuel is constrained to confesse Jesus Christ and yet dooth rysist him And in the 8. of Mathew the 29. verse the diuels cry Iesus thou Sonne of God what haue we to do with thee art thou come hither to torment vs before the time By which scriptures we learne that the diuels by experience of the maiestie and authoritie of the Sonne of God doo confesse him to haue all power and as ouer these so ouer all hellish spirits therfore did manifest his death by shewing the presence of his soule in hell So Father Damascene interpreteth this place of Scripture the soule of Christ deified descended into hell so that as to thē which are in earth there arose the Sonne of righteousnes so likewise to them which were vnder earth in darkenes and in the shadowe of death a light did appeare and as in earth he preached peace remission to the captiues sight to the blinde and was the cause of saluation to thē that did beléeue and did vpbraid and reproue the vnbeléeuers of infidelitye so did he vpbraide them that are in hell that euery knée may be bowed vnto him both in heauen earth and in hel Robert Samuel Martir is of this iudgement who giuing an account of his faith in the 2. volume of the monuments of Martirs Fol. 1206. hath left this testimony the same Christ went down to the hels and truely rose again y e third day and ascended into the heauens that he might there still raigne and haue dominion ouer al creatures this then is one end of christs going down into hel that y e infernall spirits might be subiected to him and that they might confesse him to be the Sonne of God to their endles shaine and euerlasting glory of God the father The like proofe to this is in the Epistle to the Collossians 2 chapter 14. and 15. verses He hath taken away the hand writing of ordinances which was against vs which was contrary to vs he euen took it out of the way and fastened it to the crosse and hath spoyled the principalityes and the powers and he hath made a shew of them openly and hath triumphed ouer them in his own person I translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in himself so doth Hierome Erasmus Stephanus Pellicanus Pagninus Iunius Tremellius and M. Foxe with many other learned men so translate it yet I sée it otherwise translated in some Bibles now a daies which gréeueth me for it is a false translation as euery learned man knoweth For in the Gréek it is the Masculine gen der and they translate it in Latin in y e feminine gender whō Musculus a very good learned man thus reproueth there be some saith he referre it to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and turne it in Illa these are perswaded it is an incommodity if it be saide that Christ did triumph ouer the principalities and powers But if all these things be attributed to God the Father that hée did them with Christ and in Christ according to the order of all things going before we may truely read héere triumphing ouer them in his own person And for this cause many learned men doo proue the descending of Christ into hell by this place Eusebius writing of the resurrection of our Sauiour thus saith we must know that in the selfe same houre wherin our Sauiour bowing his head gaue vp the ghoste his body being left in the graue his soule with the dignitye went down to spoyle hell Mollerus a learned Minister of Germany in his commentaries on the 16. Psalm hath the like Christ would shew his victory ouer the diuels in a certaine sorte and would strike perpetuall terrors into them and take away from vs the feare of his tiranny To this agréeeth Musculus on the 68. Psalm This God which was in Christ
determining circumscribing the woord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is which were disobedient dooth altogither seperate the time of their incredulitye from the time of this iourneye and preaching For if the meaning of the enemies of this doctrine were true Peter would haue ioyned this annotation of time which the iourney and preaching of Christ and would haue said being quickned in spirit in the which in times past when the patience of God was looked for in the daies of Noah when the arke was a preparing he went and preached to the spirites now holden in prison But Peter ioyneth the time of disobedience not with the iourney or preaching of Christ but with the first incredulitye and preaching of Noah and on the other side knitteth together the prison with this iourney and preaching which if he would haue disioyned he would haue said to the spirits which are now in prison but he simply said he went and preached to the spirits in prison that is which thē were in prison whē he went and preached vnto them This also may be added that it is to no purpose to make mention of a prison or to name them the vnbeléeuing spirits or soules of y e olde world for Noah preached not to spirits or soules only but to whole and beléeuing men the woord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot be taken for men endewed with bodies for Christ prouing his resurrection vseth these woords Luke 24. 39. Behold my hands and my feet for it is I my self handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue It was no néed also to shew where these vnbeléeuers are or be holden for this both maketh nothing to the matter and also would be vnderstood he holding his peace vnlesse it was the purpose of the Apostle to shew that y e soule of Christ went down to this prison that is to hell and so sheweth first that death parted them as in the 2. of the Acts. Secondly that the body was in the graue and the soule was in hell Thirdly that it was not in hell idle but did manifest his death to them which beléeued it to be but a fable to reproue their incredulitie and to captiue them that we should not feare them Fourthlye he did rise againe triumphing ouer them in his owne person Lastly he did ascend into heauen and there sitteth Lord of heauen and of the Angels of earth and of the inhabitantes of hell and of the very diuels For the diuels are of him imprisoned and chayned that they can doo no more then hee permitteth them Farther where as some doo affirme that there could be no preaching in hell because there is no conuersion to this I answere that this preaching was not vocal but real neither was there in this preaching edification exhortation or consolation but as it is saide before of Damascene a redargution or vpbrayding of those vnbeléeuing soules in this or the like manner beholde ye vnfaithfull and broodes of the serpent how in season and out of season my eight preacher of frée righteousues and other the Patriarkes haue often preached vnto you that there should come a blessed séed of the woman according to y e promise made vnto Adam that both should iustifie the beléeuers deliuer and saue them from the corporall and spirituall deluge and also that he should destroye the serpent with the vnbeléeuing séed for euer but to you being incredulous that promise was a fable But now beholde O ye wretches me to be exhibited of the true God and by my passion the head of Satan and his vnbeléeuing séede is broken and the worlde is ouercome and on the other side you shall be forced to know by liuely experience that the faithful are saued And to conclude you now doo beholde me the conqueronr of Satan and his members against your will and to your great sorrow in soule and shall sée me héereafter in the last iudgement both in body and soule And this manner of spéech is vsed in the Scripture that a verball preaching is put for the reall opperation of a thing so Heb. 11. 4. By faith Abel offered vnto God a better sacrifice then Cain by the which he obtained witnes that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts by which faith he being dead yet speaketh So Gen. 4. 4. God saith vnto Cain the voice of thy brothers bloud cryeth vnto me out of the earth Abels bloud is saide to cry while truely by his example of true faith and of the doctrine of saluation and of martirdome yet dayly not verbally but really and effecttually by speaking he teacheth Last of al the word prison signifieth hell as we may sée in the names of hell Cent. 1. li 2. ca. 4. Now let vs sée the iudgement of the auntient and learned Fathers on this point and especiallye of the Gréeke Fathers Athanasius woords to Epictetus Bishop of Corinth are cited by Epiphanius in the heresie of the Dimerites haer 77. The bodye of Christ was laide in the graue when he went to preach to the spirits that were in Prison as Peter saith Athanasius in his book of the incarnation of the world hath thus written In the death of Christ his body being carried into the graue his soule went into hell the places being far a sunder and a little after he saieth for death could not preuaile on his humaine soule to tye him there neither corruption by tiranny inuading his bodye could shew his force on him to putrefaction as thinges not wel séene vnto For to think so of him were a wicked thing and euen as Adam had a double punishment inflicted on him for his disobedience the one was on his body earth thou art and to earth thou shalt returne again and so by this decrée the body of the Lord departed to the earth the other on his soule thou shalt dye the death héerof it commeth to passe that man is diuided into two partes and is condemned to departe to two places and therefore it was necessarye that by the selfe same iudge which had made this decrée that he by himselfe being vnder the colour of a condemned man shewing himselfe vncondemned and sincere from sinnes should frée from that sentence all beléeuers The like hee hath in his tracte against Appollinarius of the wholesome comming of Christ and in his Sermon against all heresies You sée good Reader how Athanasius a very auntient Father in the Gréek Church shewing the cause of Christs descending into hell proueth out of Gen. that as our body was punished by death for sinne so was our soule and for this cause both partes in Christ must descend that our soule may be deliuered from hell and our body rise to glory For as Fulgentius writeth in his 3. book and 7. chapter to King Thrasimunde he did know that God the suscepter of whole man was wholy with his flesh in the graue wholy with his
named haue vnderstoode this place so dooth Erasmus writing on the fourth Chapter of the Ephe. certainlye this is the thing that the Palsmists by the inspiration of the holy ghost spake of so long agoe for Christ hauing already conquered the hell is ascended aliue againe into the high kingdome of his Father And a little after he addeth after most low humbling followeth most high aduauncing from the most high heauens then the which nothing is higher he deiected himselfe euen into the hell the which nothing is lower When Mare Magdalene came to Christ Ioh. 20. 17. Christ saith to her Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father but to goe to my brethren and say vnto them Iascend vnto my Father and to your Father and to my God and your God Héer the truth it selfe saith he had not yet ascended into heauen whosoeuer therefore affirmeth the contrary affirmeth an vntruth They wil answere Christ was not ascended in respect of his body but I reply if Christs soule being the principall parte of the humanitye had béene in heauen as they imagine then this speach is vntrue marke my reason for in death when both partes are sundered a man is saide to be where his soule is and not where his body is for the man taketh his name of the principall parte In this forte Christ saith Mat. 8. 11. Many shall come from the East and West and shall sit with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heauen Héere you sée because the soules of those Patriarkes are in heauen they themselues are saide to be in heauen Euen so if Christs soule were in heauen Christ was in heauen and then this saying can not be verefied I haue not yet ascended to my Father for Christ ascended visibly and for this cause willeth Mary to goe tell his brethren whome he calleth to this action as witnesses For as the time of his ascending is noted to be forty dayes after his resurrection and the place to be Bethaniel and that on a mountaine that it might the more esily be séen and y e maner of his going to be meruelous for he was carried vp in a clowde so his faithfull Disciples and glorious Angels were witnesses of his triumphant ascension into heauen Out of these Scriptures this I conclude as Christ was borne but once dyed but once was buried but once so he did but once descend into hell once arise from the dead and once ascended into heauen and but once shall come into iudgement But if the soule of Christ went presently into heauen thē not only this absurditie followeth that he ascended before he descended but also that there are two ascendings of Christ into heauen the one inuisible of his soule the other visible of his body Ignatius who died in the yéere of our Lord 112. For he was cast to beastes to be deuoured this Father lyuing in the time of Policarpus who was Scholler to Iohn Euangelist in his Epistle to the Church of Trallis thus writeth Christ descended into hell alone but he ascended with a multitude Athanasius in his Créed saith who suffered for our saluation and descended into hell and interpreting the 2. Cor. 6. he saith Satan was enuyous against our Sauiour for he killed him not knowing it would be against himselfe for Christ after his crosse going downe into hell hath vanquished death and because he knew no sinne he could not be holden of death so saith Ambrose in his exposition on the 3 Chap. of the Galathians for when they thought y t he should be slaine that he might not teach they profited nothing for his doctryne encreased and he euacuated death in his passion for descending into hell he deliuered mankinde for that cause he suffered himselfe to be murdered knowing that he was for vs against the Diuell And the same Father writing on the 1. Tim. 2. chap. thus confirmeth this doctrine because man now reconciled to God was subiect to infernall death that he could not ascend to God to whom he was reconciled our Sauiour to bring his will to effect suffered himselfe to dye against lawe that descending into hell he might condemne death for the impiety it wrought on him taking away from death those which he hid holde that from hencefoorth whatsoeuer had the signe thereof shovld not be detayned therewith of which thing he shewed a testimony when he arose Therefore to ende these woords into thy hands I commend my spirite doo not shew vs the state of Christs soule but sheweth vs how we must pray in all our tribulations and in the houre of death For the soule of Christ no doubt was in hell but this consider that spirite héere signifieth the soule which in S. Peter they will in no wise confesse Farther where it is obiected that Cyprian saith it is left out of the Créed of the Romane and orientall Church I answere that is not Cyprians woorke for in that treatise is mention made of the Arryans who began their error vnder Constantine the great in the yéere 320. But Cyprian was put to death vnder Valerian in the yéere of our Lord God 249. Therfore Ciprian being dead almost an hundred yéers before that heresie sprāg vp could not write of Arrians for Cyprian is of my opinion as it shal appeare by this y t followeth For in his sermon of the ascending of Christ into heauen he vttereth his iudgement thus Christ did once descend into hel and goeth down into hell no more they shall not sée God no more on the crosse nor those that are damned in hell And in other places he proueth the descension of Christ into hell by the 16. Psalme and by the text of the 1. Pet. 3. Chapter before by me alleadged which héer I omit for breuities sake It is farther obiected that this article is left out of the Nicene créed true it is so Athanasius créed lacketh the buriall Hieroms ad Damas. lacketh it also Tertullian leaueth out in his Créede the catholique Church the resurrection of the flesh and life euerlasting Cirill maketh mention only of the trynity and leaueth out all the rest of the articles therfore this is the answere ab authoritate humana negatiué non valet argumentum It is no good reasoning from the authority of man negatiuely Séeing then that this article is proued by many and manifest Scriptures and by the generall consent of the pure and primitiue Church to beléeue it is safety to deny it peruersely is infidelity Last of all because it hath béen confidently auouched that all the reformed Churches beyond the Seas allowe not this doctrine I will therefore héere reproue that allegation as most false and vntrue First as before I haue proued that Aepnius Luther and the authors of the Centuries confirme this doctrine so héer I will adde to them Pomeranus who trauailed much in the reformation of the Churches of Germany who thus in his exposition of the
ye enuyous Iewes ye doo with a shameles face saye to Christ Ioh. 8. 13. Thou doost beare witnes of thy selfe and thy witnes is not true Yet that the trueth of the Maiestye of God may apeare besides so many excellent consents of witnesses euery creture hath séemed to giue testimony to christ their creator Did not the heauen giue witues when as a new Starre in the new generation of a man did as it were with his tung or hand point to God was born a man for al nations did not the sea giue testimony to him when forgetting her selfe after a sorte the liquide humor soliditye being receiued carried the liuely steps of their Lord that it might be fulfilled which is written Psa. 77. 19. Thy way is in the sea and thy paths in the deep waters When the seruant of Christ being wise about himselfe that they might shewe what difference is betwéene the creature and the creator the water had swallowed vp Peter in the flouds vnlesse the Lord of all things had reached him his hand being ready to be drowned did not the earth giue him testimonye when being mingled with his spittle he annointing with it the eyes of the borne blinde restored light to him that saw not and by his woorkemanship like an Artificer he repaired that which he had not out of the dyrte of the earth which made all men out of the earth before did not thinges vnder earth giue testimony vnto Christ when léesing their right they yéelded vp Lazarus whole whom they had taken to be corrupted and kept him 4. dayes y t they might render him safe when they heard the voice of the Lord commanding and in the end thus concludeth O Iudaei daemones qui corda vestra possiderunt dixerunt scimus qui sis quid venisti ante tempus perdere nos the diuels which haue possessed your harts haue sayde We know who thou art why comest thou before thy time to destroy vs Mark 1. 24 Euen as the heauen the sea the earth things vnder earth and the diuels did confesse him to be the Sonne of God in this life so in his death as the same Father noteth the heauen was darkned the earth did moue the vaile of the Temple is rent the stones did cleaue asunder the graues are opened the diuels at the presence of Christ doo tremble and euery diuell in hell confesseth Iesus Christ to be the Lord to the glory of God the father Phil. 2. 10. If then we be led by the woord of God as we should be then I hope I haue sufficientlye proued this article by the blessed woord of God if Fathers al both gréek and Latin teach this doctrine to be true If we estéeme the iudgements of the Ministers of the reformed Churches if the aduersaries of this doctrine haue one to stand in their side we haue fiue on ours if we reuerence the authority of the Synode or conuocation of England they allow this ascertion If we honour reuerend antiquity this doctrine is most auntient for it hath béen deliuered not onlye of late by Nowell Beecon Fox Hutchinson Lamier Peter Martir Hipperius Pomeranus Lucas Lossius Aepnius and Luther But in times past by Augustine Ambrose Hierome Cyprian Fulgentius Vigilius Oecumenius Atha nasius Epiphanius Cyrill Ignatius Yea it is deliuered by Peter and Paul themselues and this antiquity ioyned with verity is very strong as Cyprian saith All these before named with infinite others which for breuities sake I omit were the deuout faithfull learned and zealous defenders of Gods faith and for this cause were hated reuiled persecuted or murdered And besides all these not only Zacharye Dauid and Esau foretolde of this descending into hell but as you haue heard before Sybilla being a Prophitesse of the Heathen And as S Augustine truely noteth not only the creatures in heauen in earth and in the graues but also the very diuels haue confessed it which those that are possessed with diuels as the Iewes Seruetus and Carleil doo denye stubbornlye without relenting and desperately without repenting and obstinately without ceasing notwithstanding all those honourable witnesses of Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Fathers before by me alleadged Ioshua saide to the Israelites Ios. 24. 15. And if it seeme euill to serue the Lord chuse you this day whom you will serue but I and my housholde wil serue the Lord. So let others beléeue as they list I and all those that beléeue my doctrine will beléeue this article litterally as it lyeth and as we beléeue the rest For if hell héere should be taken metaphorically as some wil haue it so may you allegorise the whole créed as doo the Heretiques and so ouerthrow the whole substance of our faith Besides no hell being in our Créed men will not beléeue there is any hell at all as doo the greatest parte of the worlde as their blasphemous mouthes and abhominable liues declare the same euery where Wherfore I exhort all men with S. Augustine in this sorte epist. 99. ad Euodium therefore let vs holde most firmelye which our faith hath being confirmed with most grounded authoritye that Christ dyed and was buried and rose againe the 3. daye and all other things which are written of him amongst which also this one is that he was in hell And againe who but an infidel will deny Christ to haue béen in hell but because I know the Papists dooth reioyce to sée this schisme in the Church of England therefore let them well vnderstond that it hath alwaies béene so and so will be vnto the worlds end Theophilus called Epiphanius an archheretique Hierom thus writeth to S. Augustine in his 9. Epistle in thy Epistle I haue iudged somethings to be heriticall And Augustine to Hierome writeth thus take vpon you the seuerity of a Christian to correct and amend your woorke and to recant Bonifacius saide that Augustine and other Bishops of Africa were inspired with the diuel Clemens Alexandrinus stromatum li. 7. saith that the Gentiles did thus vpbraid the Christians ye Christians disagrée among your selues and you haue sects and albeit all doo challenge vnto themselues the title of christianity yet one of you doth curse and condemne the other Wherefore your religion is not good nor came from God as the Gentiles did vpbraide the Christians so now the Papists the Protestants saying as the heathen did say in Chrisostoms time in Act. homil 3. the Gentile commeth and saith I would gladly be a Christian but I know not to whom I may cleaue what opinion I may chuse or what I may preferre all say I say the truth But as that was no lawfull excuse for the heathen in those dayes no more is it for our Papists now in these daies but rather because we haue enemies on euery side they ought to beléeue that we are the tossed ship of Christs Church and we are the souldiours of our Captaine Iesus which must fight against all Heretiques and schismatiques we are the
first descended into the lowest parts of the earth He that descended is euen the same that ascended farre aboue all heauens to fulfill all things Now if the same Christ did first descend which did ascend then he descended in soule and body as he ascended in soule and body For both these must be effected in a wonderfull maner for they are reconed by Salomon amongst the most stupendious works of the Sonne of God Prou. 30. 4. Who hath ascended vp to heauen descended who hath gathered the winde together in his fyst who hath established all the ends of the world By this scripture I inferre that to ascend and descend are as miraculous works as to create gouern the world But if the soule of Christ did go to heauen immediatly as you affirme contrary to this text then the descending of Christ had not bin so maruelous as his ascending Besides as you after alleage there is but one ascending but if Christs soule first went to heauen and then his body then were there two ascensions But euen as Christ was but once borne and once dyed and was once buried and once rose from the dead and but once commeth into iudgement so as Cyprian saith in his Sermon of the ascending of Christ Christ did once descend into hell they shall sée God no more on the crosse nor they that are damned in hell Wherefore may it please you to accept the iudgement of Athanasius a Gréeke Father and a man persecuted for the truths sake by the Arrians he in his Créede saith thus who suffred for our saluation and descended into hell And interpreting the third Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians he writeth Satan was enuious against our Sauiour for he killed him not knowing that it would make against himself for Christ after his crosse going downe into hell hath vāquished death because he knew not sinne he could not be holden of death Thus you sée that not only Hill Augustine Ierome doo say that Christ after he had vtterd these words into thy hands I will commend my spirit but Athanasius a gréeke father who better then you vnderstood the meaning of these words Therfore it is a wonder to sée how those of your side labour to extinguish this euerlasting light of Gods truth and set vp a consuming candle of your owne making Where you teach that Christs Soule did no more descend into hell then Dauids did therein you are deceaued for Christ was to deliuer vs from hell and Dauid also wherefore if Christs soule had not gone to hell Dauids must and mine and yours And for this cause as you say they are true in Christ figured but not in Dauid the figure And héerevpon Peter thus reasoneth that they could not be true in Dauid For Christs soule was in hell and yet not tormented and his body in the graue but not corrupted Whereas Dauids body saw corruptiō and if his soule had gone to hell it had found no redemption Therefore to be in graue and returne without corruption and to be in hell and returne with conquest of the diuell were two peculiar things to the Sonne of God and not to any other of the sonnes of men And héere you vtter an other blasphemy that Christs soule had no other prerogatiue then Dauids soule for by y e same reason you may argue that Christs body had no greater prerogatiue then Dauids body for as this is false so is the other For as Athanasius saith in his booke of the incarnation of the word Death could not preuaile on the humane soule of Christ to tye him there neither corruption inuading his body by tiranny could shew her force on him to putrefaction as things not well séene vnto for to thinke so of him so were a wicked thing for euen as Adam had a double punishment inflicted on him for his disobedience the one was on his body earth thou art and to earth thou shalt returne and so by this decrée the body of the Lord departed vnto the earth but to the soule he said Thou shalt dye the death Hereof it cōmeth to passe that man is deuided into 2. parts and is condemned to depart to 2. places and therfore it was necessary that the selfesame Iudge which had made this decrée that he by himselfe being vnder the colour of a condemned man should frée from that sentence all beléeuers Héere you sée by this learned Father that Christs soule went to hell to deliuer our soules from hell and his body to the graue to deliuer vs from death and by this meanes both body and soule personally and not potentially as you teach working our deliuerance from death hell haue those prerogatiues which Dauids soule and body had not And for this consideration though the one was in the graue the other in hell yet both were in the hands of the Lord. Héere then we must learne what the hands of the Lord do signifie Sometime the hand of God doth signifie the Sonne of God Psal. 144. 7. Send thy hand from aboue Sometime it signifieth the power of God Psalm 136. 12. With a mighty hand and outstretched arme Thirdly the bountifulnes of God Psal. 145. Thou openest thy hand and fillest euery liuing thing with thy blessing Fourthly it signifieth consolation Ezec. 3. 22. The hand of the Lord was with me comforting me Fiftly grace Psalm 118. 16. The right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly Sixtly it signifieth the gift of prophecie Ezec. 8. 1. The hand of the Lord fell there vpon me Seuenthly mercy Psal. 37. 24. Though he fall he shal not be cast off for the Lord putteth vnder his hand Eightly the protection of the Lord Psal. 31. 15. My times are in thy hand Ninthly the aide of the Lord Psal. 74. 11. Why withdrawest thou thy hand Tenthly the punishment of the Lord Iob. 19. 21. Haue pity on me o yee my friends for the hand of the Lord hath touched me Lastly it signifieth the gouernment of the Lord Psal. 95. 4. In his hand are all the corners of the earth This place therefore must néedes haue this construction into thy consolation mercy protection and gouernment I will commende my soule I hope you your selfe commende your soule into the hands of God euery day but yet you minde not to goe to heauen immediatly So said Dauid Psal. 30. 5. Into thine hands I commende my spirit but he went not to heauen in many yeares after neither did Christ ascend into heauen in many dayes after but went downe to hell where it was in the protection and gouernment of the Godhead which as you confesse descended into hell For as we being in the damned world are in the protection and hand of the highest so Christ being in the place of the damned after a wonderfull manner was also in the Lords aide and protection by meanes whereof he hath wrought our deliuerance from hell Therefore proue you that Christ went straitway to heauen and you
lay the pride of them which sought his soule and a comfort to himselfe that their enmitye must needs haue an end one daye when the graue shall deuoure them The woordes following confirme this sence They shall fall on the edge of the Swoord Psal. 63. which cannot be spoken but of temporall death Hill Indéede I brought this place Ephe. 49 to proue that Christ descended into Hell And whereas you charge me with immodesty for so alleadging of it I must néeds charge you with two vntruthes in answering this allegation The one is that I called it the pit of Hell which phrase I neuer vsed The other is you haue impudently auouched that none of the modester sorte of deuines haue euer alleadged this place to proue the descending of Christ into hel For many and those both learned and modest haue alleadged this place to this purpose Athanasius interpreting this Epistle and text thus writeth Into what place did he descend Into hell truely which he calleth according to the common opinion of men the lowest partes of the earth Ambrose on this place saith thus This Christ therfore comming down from heauen into the earth was borne a man afterward he dyed descended into hell from whence rising the third day he wēt vp to heauen before all mortall men that he might shewe death to be vanquished to euery creature Chrisostome on this place saith He went to those partes of the earth then the which nothing is lower and from thence he ascended into heauen then the which nothing is higher The like hath Augustine li. de Trin. cap. 19. Ierome on this text thus noteth That Hell is vnder the earth no man doubteth for he that descended in soule into hell ascended both bodye and soule into heauen Mollerus a learned Minister of Germany on the sixtéene Psalme saith that the descending into hel is plainely proued out of the Ephesians the fourth chapter Musculus on the 68. Psal. thus writeth This God which was in Christ reconciling the worlde vnto himselfe first descended into the lowest partes of the earth then he led captiuitie captiue and not only we are deliuered from the captiuity of Satan sinne death and damnation but also Christ triumphing ouer them as tirants hath ascended aboue all heauens to fulfill all things Hemingius on the 2. Chapter to the Colossians thus also teacheth As by his deathe he conflicted with the enemye on the crosse so by his glorious descending into hel resurrection and ascention he triumphed as it is Ephe 4. Leauing his crosse lift vp as a monument of his victory To conclude Alesius a very learned preacher of Scotland on the 19. chapter of Iohn affirmeth that the 1. Pet. 3. and Eph. 4. do manifestly proue the descending of Christ into hell if Athanasius Chrysostome Ambrose Augustine and Ierome of the olde fathers and Mollerus Musculus Hemingius and Alesius of the new writers be all immodest diuines then haue you truelye saide but if in the iudgement of the learned all these were most reuerend men then most shameles are you to accuse them of the want of modesty Moreouer where you saye no deuine dareth to dispute where hell is it is true in some sorte for no deuine can circumscribe the place of hell which is infinite nor yet of heauen only the woord of God affirmeth that heauen is aboue Gal. 4. 26. And hell is beneath Prouerbs 15. 24. Therefore the lowest partes of the earth may well be taken for hell Then you goe farther and say that Erets tachthioth doth not signifie hel Psal. 63. and for this you bring two reasons the one is that it were a presumption in the Prophet to iudge his enemies 2 that it standeth not with the affection of a godly minde to assigne hell to his enemies but to pray for them to your first reason this I answere In the Psalme 9. 18. Dauid vseth the like spéeche The wicked shall be turned to hell and all the people that forget God which text Caluin thus expoundeth the Hebrewe woord Sheolah which was doubtfull I haue not doubted to translate hell for though it doth not displease me that others turne it Sepulcher yet it is sure héere is something noted besides common death otherwise he should speak nothing of the reprobate but that which did generally happen to all beléeuers In the hnndred and ninth Psalme also Dauid thus praieth Let Satan stand at his right hand let his prayer be turned iuto sinne let the wickednes of his Father be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord and let not the sinne of his mother be done away Do you think this to be spoken presumptuously Many such texts could I alleadge to proue that Dauid inspired with the spirite of prophecye did foretell not onely of the tragicall destruction of bodies of his enemies but also of the extreme damnation of their soules This then is my replye to your second reason these enemies were not priuate enemies but publique and did hate Dauid for his religions sake Dauid therefore by the gift of prophecye doth foretell that their soules should go to hell to be tormented and their bodies should be the portion of Foxes that is should neuer come to the graue for what néed Dauid tell vs they should dye which we know is common to all or how can that betrue which you say that they should be in graue when Dauid himselfe saith they were not in any graue but were the portion of Foxes And so M. Caluin whom I hope you will beléeue teacheth you writing vpon this Psalme and verse To be the portion of Foxes is as much as to be deuoured and torne of wicked beastes for God saith Caluin doth threaten this punishment to the reprobate that they shall be a pray to Wolues and dogges because he would depriue them of the honor of their graue Héer you sée M. Caluin saith they came not into their graue you say they did How M. Caluin and you may be reconciled I knowe not for Caluin addeth this reason It hapneth sometime that we know the same temporall punishments to be common to the good the bad but this is the difference the bones of the godly are gathered together and kept in safety that not one of them shall perish but the scattring of the bones of the reprobate is a signe of their eternall destruction Therefore how can the lower partes of the earth signifie the graue as you say since as M. Calùin truly saith they were in no graue Aunswere me this good M. Humes plainely Psal. 63 9. The lower parts of y e earth signifie not the graue but hell Christ descended into the lower parts of the earth Eph. 4. 9. Ergo Christ descended into hell Humes Sectio 9. Next you quote Ecclesiasticus 24 37. I will pearce through all the lowest parts of the earth and looke vpon them that be asleepe Also the 31. of Ezechiel the 18. vers Thou shalt be cast downe into the lower parts of
from a metaphore is of no force And that héere is a metaphor M. Caluin shalbe the iudge He compareth saith Caluin the mothers wombe to the lowest and inward dens of the earth and a little after for no doubt Dauid would expresse metaphorically that inestimable cunning which appeareth in the figure of mās body The mothers womb is cōpared to hel for the darknes of it for as Caluin saith that artificer which maketh a cunning péece of work in a darke place is more to be cōmended then he which doth the like in the light Dauid also is here said to be made in the nethermost partes of the earth because he was by nature the child of wrath of hell if he had not bin deliuered therehence by Iesus Christ. Bréefely where you say that he descended into the Uirgins wombe and that it is the true meaning of the place Eph. 4. 9. both you and your Maister B. are deceaued For Paul reproueth you Ephe. 4. 10. He that descended is euen the same that ascended Now the body and soule of Christ ascended into heauen therefore the body and soule of Christ descended into the virgins womb if the body did descend into the virgins womb then Christ took not flesh of the virgin Thus that you may contradict me you are not afraide ignorantly or wittinglye to deny the incarnation of our Sauiour Theophilact saith well of these woords when you read that the Sonne of man came downe from heauen you may not think that his fleshe came downe from heauen for this is the opinion of Heretiques which did teach that Christ brought his bodye from heauen and did passe through the virgin I hope you holde not this opinion but if you holde this interpretation you must néeds fall into it For he that descended is euen the same that ascended Eph. 4. 10. Humes Sectio 10. But heere to let you alone with your Hebrew these woords can no waies be taken as you beare vs in hand for hell but do purporte to vs the same that Iohn tolde vs in other woords Ioh. 16. 18. I came from my Father into the worlde againe I leaue the world and go to my father For seeing the Apostle in this place bringeth his ascension as an argument of his descension which Iohn the Euangelist did before it must needs follow by necessarie consequence that his discense was rather thither whence he ascended Now I trust you will not say he ascended into heauen from hell but rather from the earth in the sight of his desciples 2. If the place whence he descended was heauen hell could not be the place whether he descended For if he were there at all he went not thither 30. yeeres and more after he descended if you will say that he descended first into the earth and afterward into hell then that descense could not be one motion which was so many yeeres intermitted but needes must be two First from heauen into the earth and next from the earth to hell Lastly if hell were the place whither he descended it must needes be also the place from whence he ascended which cannot be for his returning thence if euer he was there was when his soule returning into his body he came again to his Disciples from whom he was seperated before by death which in the Scripture is called his resurrection and not his ascention For his resurrection as it hath beene heertofore taught is no part of his ascention If it were so as you beare vs in hand that thence his ascention beginneth then his returning againe to his Disciples was but a proceeding so farre in his way and his abode with them but a resting place which was neuer hard of to this day Hill Where you say you will let me alone with my Hebrew woords and yet deny they signifie hel I hope because I haue proued that they signifie not the graue as you haue ignorant ly or against your conscience affirmed at your next aunswering you will say they signifie hell and confesse your disagrée ment with Dauid Esay Ezechiel Now you conclude with certaine pregnant reasons as you imagine your first is this These words do purporte vnto vs that which Iohn tolde vs in other woords I came from my Father into the world aud againe I leaue the world and goe to my Father Ioh. 16. 18. This is nothing pertaining to the matter we haue in hand vnles this be your argument Christ came into the world ergo he went not into hell Héerof I thus argue Christ descended into the virgins wombe as your selfe say ergo he came not into the world Or thus Christ descended into the worlde ergo he descended not into the graue Christ was borne of the virgin and came into the world to reconcile vs to his Father by his death taking away our sinnes and triumphing in his owne person ouer death and hell therefore not only Christ came downe into the worlde but as our body for sinne lyeth in the graue so his body wēt into the graue and because our soule was mancipate vnto hell his soule went into hell that by his discending our soules might be freed from hell In your next reason you say that Christ descended thither whence he ascended Now that is méerely false as appéereth Math. 12. 40. For as Ionas was in the whales belly 3 dayes and 3. nights so shal the Sonne of man be 3. daies and 3. nights in the hart of the earth Now Christ ascended from the superficies of the earth but he descended into the hart of the earth Therefore as this is no good argument Christ ascended from the mount ergo he ascended not from the graue so this is also a weake argument Christ ascended from the world ergo he went not into hell M. Humes lyeth in his bed and early ariseth afterwards many séeing him he rideth towards Bromham ergo M. Humes came from Bath and not from his bed Then you adde this reason if Christ descended into hell then it was 30. yéeres after his birth and so it was not one motion you charge me with cloudes of sophistry but héere is a thick mist of sophisications what you mean by this motion I know not but all the actions of our Sauiour are aptly deuided into humility and glory of his humilitye there are 4. degrées First he came into the virgins womb secondly into the world thirdly to the graue fourthly to hell Of his glory and exaltation likewise there are foure degrées First he came out of hell and the graue secondly he conuersed in the earth thirdly he was carried in the aire in a cloud and then entred the heauens with glory Also where you say that if hel were the place whether he descended it must néeds be the place from whence he ascended This as I haue said before is vtterly false if you mean the immediate place from whēce he ascended for it is known to all beléeuers that Christ did descend into the graue
Ieroms lesson that he went thither to deliuer prisoners As for that new lesson that he went thither to triumph that is a base deuise to send him thither to triumph who had conquered hell on the crosse For my owne part I haue oftentimes read the name of hell ioyned with shame and ignominy but to this day I neuer hard it ioyned with triumph and glory But be it so and tell me if you can how Christ who was yet in the graue and bands of death could triumph ouer hell Is it likely that he could triumph before the victory You adde two other causes to binde the deuill and to deliuer vs from hell You bring vs many places of scripture to confirme this geare Gen. 3 15. The seed of the woman shall breake the serpents head Osee. 13 15. O death I will be thy death O hell I will be thy victory 1. Cor. 15 55. O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victory In all which places there is not a syllable sounding that Christ descended into hell As for his triumphing ouer hell we neuer denied it and doo auouch that he perfourmed that most gloriouslye by the power of his Godhead which did present his most noble victory ouer his enemies hell and death both in heauen earth and hell without his bodily presence Hill You aske me why Christ descended into hell and yet you confesse I noted 3. ends of Christs descending into hell the one to triumph ouer the Diuels the other to binde the Diuels and to take away their power ouer mankinde the 3. to deliuer vs from hell There was also set downe a fourth end that is to manifest his death vnto those in hell to reproue them of their incredulity and héere labouring to catch me in a snare you are fallen into it your selfe for firste you say Christ conquered hell on the crosse then as hauing forgotten your selfe you aske this question with admiration How could he conquere being in the graue Is it likely that he would triumph before the victory First you stoutlye affirme that he had conquered then you boldely deny it Conuenit nulli qui secum dissidet ipse Next you saye you haue not read the name of hell but ioyned with shame and infamy why doo you write then that the Godhead did triumph ouer hell Did you not read your owne writing I am sure in this place 1. Cor. 15. 55. O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victory The name of hell is ioyned with triumph but you answere these places with a flat negatiue Héere is not a sillable to proue the descending of Christ into hell I am sure Paule proueth héere the resurrection of Christ and of our selues and how can he proue the resurrection vnlesse he proue the knitting together of the body and soule for as death is the parting of body and soule so resurrection is the reuniting of them together againe and héere Paule sheweth that the body comming out of y e graue and the soule from hell Christ did conquere both And therefore it is not the deity as you say but the humane nature of Christ did vanquish death and Hel. Heb. 2. 14. For as much then as the children were partakers of fleshe and bloud he also himselfe likewise tooke parte with them that he might destroye through death him that had power of death that is the Diuell Therefore Hemingius on the Col. 2. saith As on the Crosse he conflicted with the diuell so by his glorious descending into hel resurrection and ascention he did triumph Therefore these places proue the descending into hell aswell as the buriall for the reason of the apostle is this Christ came out of the graue ergo he conquered death and Christ came out of hell ergo he ouercame hel Therefore thus I reason against you that did conquere which did fight but the humane nature of Christ did fight ergo it did also conquere and is gon vp into heeuen to whom the Angels powers and mightes be subiect 1. Pet. 3. 22. Col. 2. 15. Phil. 2. 9. 10. Eph. 1. 20. 21. 22. Therefore sith all these Scriptures doo witnes that Christ as man did trivmph and is exalted and hath all power I doubt not but in your next answere you will reforme your iudgement Humes Sectio 14 You alledge for his descending into hell to binde the diuels this how can a man enter into a strong mans house and spoyle his goods vnles he first binde the strong man Here is not that you took vpon you to proue that he descended into hell to binde the Diuell The house of this strong man which is heere spoken off by the circumstances of the place is apparantly to any man of iudgement not hell but this world whereof the diuell had taken possession and had polluted many hartes out of the which he was cast by Christ who thereby proueth himselfe to be stronger then he Hill Your interpretation is true and the other is true also for Christ did not only ouercome the diuell in the world but also in hell For as Cyrill noteth on this place there was before the comming of Christ much violence taking away the flocke of God and carrying them to his owne house wherfore before the comming of Christ the heathen and people of the world went into eternall death but Christ hath deliuered both their bodies from the graue and their soules from hell by his death and personall descending into hell This place is alleadged by one Georgius Princeps Anhaltinus in his learned commentaries on the 16. Psalme which you may read it if you please for as Dauid trampled on the face of Goliah so did the soule of Christ trample on Satan in hell and trod on his face and this is noted by the Prophetesse Sibilla as also by the Heathen Poets whose woordes I haue set downe in my Sermon at large And therefore Clenard in his grammer giueth this obseruation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he went downe into hell that is into the house of hell Humes Sectio 15. Now one thing remained wherin you seemed to run beyond your selfe and most men doo wonder what you meant thereby whereas Christ vpon the Crosse did vtter to the hearers then and to all ages after that he had finished the woork of our redemption in these woords It is finished you take on you to proue that he meant not so alleadging these places Ioh. 17. 4. I haue finished the woorke which thou gauest me Act. 13. 29 And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him Ioh. 19 28. Seeing all things were finished that the Scriptures might be fulfilled Out of al these places say you it may be seen that there remained somewhat to doo Good M. Hill remember your selfe and you shall finde no man of our side that will deny you so much When our Sauiour cryed out It is finished he had