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
day haue I begotten thee as he also in another place speaketh Thou a preest for euer after the order of Melchisedech Héere Dauid and the Apostle doo take this woord to day to signifie for euer And so dooth S. Augustine and M. Hill against all the gainsaiers of it in the world For the circumstances of the place doo strongly conuince it For what doth the théefe aske forgiuenes of his sinnes who can forgiue sinnes God onely He asketh for grace who is the giuer of all Grace God only he desireth glory who giueth glory and life euerlasting God only That God only forgiueth sinnes it is proued Mar. 2. 7. That he is the giuer of all grace it is manifest 1. Pet. 5. 10. That God only giueth glory and life euerlasting it is euident 2. Tim. 48. Rom. 6. and last verse Secondly where shall he receiue this glorye in Paradice For as much then as the thing that is giuen is eternall the person that giueth it is perpetuall the place where it is giuen is euerlasting it must of necessitie follow that the time also be world without end And that with me signifieth as I doo teach the Godhaad it is constantlye auouched by all the Fathers Ierome on this place noteth Christ brought the théefe from the crosse to Paradice least any man should think conuersion to be too late at any time he made the punishment of homicide Martirdome the truth being counted among the wicked he left the one in the left hand and tooke the other in the right hand as he will doo in the day of iudgement It were an absurd thing to say the soule of Christ only shall giue iudgement in the last day Augustine hath the like on this place The crosse if you mark it was the iudgement seate the Iudge was set in the middle the one théefe which beléeued was deliuered the other which blasphemed was condemned To saue and condemne is the office of the deity and therfore with me signifieth the Godhead as the other théefe no doubt was with y e Diuell Ambrose in his Sermon of the holy théefe writeth thus He saw him hanging on the crosse and praieth to him as though he were sitting in heauen he seeth him condemned and yet he prayeth vnto him as to a king To this accordeth Damascene handling this place In respect of his bodye he was in graue in respect of his soule in hell and as God he was both in Paradice with the theefe and in the throne with the Father and the holy Ghoste Therefore Ferus a writer not to be contemned interpreteth these woordes thus Mecum eris qui sum vbiqê° omnia in omnibus Thou shalt be with me which am euery where all in all In Exodus 34 6. 7. verses be set downe the 13. names of God and Lord is one of the first of them Therfore when the théefe calleth Christ Lord he acknowledgeth him to be God and desireth to dwell with the Godhead in whose presence is the fulnes of ioy Where you afke me how the Godhead can goe to heauen the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euen as God came downe froÌ„ heauen so is he said to goe vp to heauen If you wil read Augustine in his booke of the essence of the Deuinitie he wil teach you Psa. 68. 24. They haue sene o God thy goings the goings of my god king which art in thy sanctuary From heauen he camo into the virgins womb from y e virgins womb after his birth he was laid in the cratch after that he had fulfilled all for the which he was sent of his father he was fastned to the crosse he was taken downe from the Crosse he was buried in respect of his flesh but in soule he descended into hell the third day by the power of the Deuinitie he raysed his flesh out of the graue and after the dayes of his resurrection the fortith day his Apostles séeing it he ascended into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of the Father that is in his glorie The théefe then prayeth to Christ that as he should sit at the right hand of his Father in glory so he might be partaker of that glory and that he might haue his perfect consummation and blisse in heauen as Christ should haue after his ascention and that his vile body which was partaker of the suffrings of Christ might also be partaker of his glory and made like to the glorious body of Christ Iesu. Twise you haue told me that thou shalt be with me is as much as I and thou but you bring neither scripture nor father to confirme it in that sense that you meane it But if you meane thus I and thou shall be together that is thou shalt be pertaker of the glory of the deitie as thou hast bin pertaker of the suffrings with the humanitie it is true For what néede had the théefe to pray for the presence of Christs soule when he had the presence both of body and soule But it is the presence and fellowship of the deuine nature that he prayeth for wherein as Dauid saith is the fulnes of ioy and pleasures for euermore Psal. 16. 11. In Luke 13. 26. The Iewes say We haue eaten and drunken in thy presence and thou taught in our streetes Christ thus aunswereth in the 27. and 28. verses I tel you I know you not depart from me all ye workers of iniquitie there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shal see Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of God and your selues cast out of dores Therefore it is cléere they are not all blessed which were present with Christs humanitie but they of whome Saint Peter saith 2. Pet. 1. 4. Whereby most great and precious promises are giuen vnto vs that by them we should be pertakers of the nature of God For therefore did Christ take vpon him our nature that we might be pertakers of the nature of God and be one with Christ as he is one with his Father Christs prayer is to this end Ioh. 17. 21. I pray not for these alone but for them also which shall beleeue in me through their word that they all be one as thou O Father art in me and I in thee euen that they also may be one in vs. Humes Sectio 7. But now to come to your reasons First you make much adoo about the Hebrew names of Hell against almost all the learned of this age It will cost you a great deale of eloquence to perswade the world that Tremellius and Iunius men that haue spent their age in that study did not knowe these words aswell as you For my part neither am I minded to stand with you vpon that point and I see no inconuenience to hurt vs nor vantage giuen you if I graunt you that Sheol is Hell Only I stand vpon this which I haue sayd that this word Hell doth signify the torments of the soule and must needes in these places which you
alleage be so taken for in the place of Psal. 16. 10. Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell nor suffer thy holy one to see corruption The very order of the words do ouerthrow your conceit for seeing in these words the hell which his soule should not be left in goeth before Christs buriall wherein that holy one should not see corruption tell you me what hell should go before Christs buriall but that of the passion wherein he payd the full raunsome of our saluation and nayled the hand writing that was against vs to the Crosse. Hill Two vntruthes are in these few words First you say I make much adoo about Sheol against almost all the learned men of this age There are on my side Luther Aepinus Felinus Pomeranus Lucas Lossius Selueccer Vrbanus Rhegius The authors of the Centuries Erasmus Chytraeus Mollerus Peter Martyr Lauaterus Prouerb 27. In England Lambert Robert Samuel Latimer Becon Hutchinson Fox and Nowell Héere are 20. most learned men of these latter times as I can shewe you in my poore Library besides that most learned and reuerend Father M. Allen and besides the aduised iudgement of the learned Conuocations of England not only in King Edwards raigne Anno Domini 1552. but also since the raigne of her Maiestie 1571. In the which Conuocations I am perswaded were as learned men as any were either in England or Europe Therefore the learned reader must either thinke you a man of little reading and that you neuer sawe these learned mens workes or else of great malice that you will disable all these for learning who left a better testimonie behinde them then euer you will vnlesse you haue more then you haue shewed in this aunswere The other vntruth is that Sheol in the 16. Psalme doth signifye the torments of hell which Christ suffred in his passion on the crosse That this is vntrue it is manifest not by conceit but by Peters Sermon Act 2 31. Hee knowing this before spake of the resurrection that his soule was not left in hell nor his flesh sawe corruption You say it is spoken of the passion Peter saith it is spoken of the resurrection and good cause hath he so to say for the words going before and comming after doo prooue it The wordes going before are these Psalm 16 9. Wherefore my hart was glad my glory reioyseth my flesh also shall rest in hope The words following in the 11. verse are these Thou shalt shewe me the path of life in thy presence is the fulnes of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore Where can you finde your torments in the word glad or in the word reioiseth or in the word rest or in these words fulnesse of ioy or in these pleasures for euermore Was Christ glad of his torments Did he reioise or wéepe in them Who would deliuer this doctrine but he that wanteth either science or conscience or both To lye once is a fault but to affirme it twice is a greater fault To speake a lye is hurtfull but to write a lye aduisedly is more hurtfull To lye in a matter politicall is dangerous but to lye in deuine matters without spéedie repentance is damnable You say no vantage is geuen to me nor inconuenience to you if you graunt Sheol to be Hell Let your friends iudge what vantage you haue geuen to the truth and shame to your selfe by gainsaying Saint Peter and by affirming that in the resurrection are torments where Dauid and Peter say are fulnes of ioy and pleasures for euermore Therefore it is the saying of Peter that Christs soule was not left in hell and not my conceit and it is deceit in you to affirme the contrary Further where you say that Tremellius and Iunius are better learned in the Hebrew language then my selfe I confesse it so are the Iewes themselues then Tremellius and Iunius shall I therefore beléeue the Iewes no more will I beléeue the Translation of any other learned man if hée disagrée with Dauid and Saint Peter Finally to aunswere your curious question you aske me in what hell was Christs soule before his buriall To this I answere in that hell whither all Infidels goe for their vnbeliefe I reade but of one Hell if you knowe any more let me sée your proofe and then will I tell you into what hell Christ descended But who but you doth thinke it an vnpossible thing for a soule to descend into hell before the body be buried The soule in an instant passeth to heauen or hell but the body I am sure must haue time to be buried for bodies are in places circumscriptiuely Angels and soules definitiuely and God is in all places vniuersally And the soule came out of hell into the body before the body could come out of the graue therefore most aptly it is saide Acts 12. 31. Thou shalt not leaue my soule in hell nor suffer my flesh to see corruptiou For as Augustine saith in his 57. epistle ad Dardanum That was spoken of his soule which came from hell so quickly this of his body which could not corrupt by reason of his spéedy resurrection and writing on the 85. Psalme he saith wherefore this is his voice in the Psalme not by any mans coniecture but by the expasition of th'apostle Thou shalt not leaue my soule in hell nor suffer thy holy one to sée corruption Humes Sectio 8. Therefore to let this passe your next reason is from that place of Paule Ephe. 4. 9. Now in that he ascended what is it but that descended first into the lowermost partes of the earth Where you holde out of the Hebrew that the lowermost partes of the earth must needs signifie the pit of hell which thing if it were so sure as you beare vs in hand then were it a wonder that no diuine I speake of the modester sort did euer yet gather vpon that place hell which they dare not dispute where it were in the very center of the earth But whereas you auouch so confidently that Erets tacthioth doth signifie hel as cōmonly in the Hebrew tung as our English name Hell is vsuall for that place among vs though I meane not to stand with you for the tung giue me leaue to dissent from you in this for in some of the places which you cite in my simple vnderstanding it cannot carrye that sence You quote the 63. Psal. They which seeke my soule shall go into the lowermost partes of the earth This I think cannot be hell for first it were a presumption for the Prophet to enter so farre into Gods secrets as to iudge his enemies 2. It standeth not me thinketh with the affection of a godly minde to assigne that place to his enemies out of the horror whereof there is no redemption for the children of God do rather pray for their enemies and wish their amendment This place may wel be construed of the graue and in my simple iudgement it is an argument to
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
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
but he did not ascend immediatlye from the graue therefore your reason is against Scripture where you make a distinction betwéen the resurrection and the ascention you may vnderstand if it please you y t Eph. 4. 9. The woord ascend containeth in it all the degrées of Christs exaltation and therfore the resurrection also as the woord descend doth comprehend all the degrées of Christs humilitye Humes Sectio 11. Your next argument is taken from the wordes of our Sauiour to Mary Magdalen Ioh. 20. 17. Touch me not for I haue not yet ascended to my Father Wherupon you ga ther that seing the whole man is said to be there where the soule is that Christs soule was not yet with his Father seeing he doth say that he was not there himselfe Here truely it is strange that a man of your learning and iudgement seeth not so apparant a fallacy an argumēt you know negatiue a toto ad partes deuisas was neuer good among the learned as for example the whole race of Mankinde is not in England ergo there is no man in England Or Edmund Campions whole body is not ouer Newgate therfore no parte thereof hangeth there That these words are ment of the whole it is manifest by the text for that which had not beene with the Father was the same that Mary was forbidden to touch That I trowe you will not say was his soule but his soule and his body ioyned together that is to say the whole man Christ wherefore it was the whole man that he saith here was not with his Father and not his soule alone Hill My next place was not this but a text out of Syrac 17. 21. At the last shall he arise and reward them and shall repay their reward vpon their heads and shall turne them into the lower parts of the earth In the margin is noted Math. 25. 35. So that this place sheweth that after iudgement the wicked shalbe turned into the lower partes of the earth that is hell This place because you nor your Sinod can answere you haue passed it ouer and said nothing to it but are now come to your scholepoints the which whē I vse you call sophistry and so it were indéede if I did vse them as you doo You say an argument drawen negatiuely from the whole to the parts doth not hold True it is if by parts you meane integrall parts but not essentiall parts My instance was this Math. 8 11. Many shall come from the East and the West and shall rest with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heauen Out of this place I proue that where the soule of man is after death there is the man sayd to be as we vsually say that these Patriarkes and all the saints are in heauen though their bodies be in the earth and are dust and ashes If then the soule of Christ were in heauen vntill his resurrection then could not these words of Christ be true Iohn 20. 17. Touch me not for I haue not yet ascended vnto my father for it is the preterperfectense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore as this is vntrue to say that Abraham is not in heauen because his body is not in heauen so this is false to say Christ was not in heauen because his body was not in heauen Our body is gouerned by the soule and man taketh his appellation of a reasonable creature not of y e body but of y e soule and therfore if Christs soule went vp into heauen as you say this can not be true I haue not yet ascended to my father Besides if Christs soule went first to heauen afterward his soule body together then were there 2. ascensions proue this and I will geue you the goale You dally also with my argument in this manner The whole race of mankinde is not in England ergo there are no men in England Do you thinke there is no more vnion betwixt Christ and his soule then betwéene all the men of the world then by this reason the body and soule of Christ were neuer vnited together Your next resemblance is this Edmund Campions whole body is not ouer Newgate Ergo no part of him Héere is a foule error to thinke Christs soule to be an integrall or diuisible part which is an essentiall or indiuisible for by your reason Christs soule is mortall and may perish as the integrall partes of Campion doth You vtter also in an other error in these words the whole man Christ for the whole man doth not make Christ but God and man as you may sée in Athanasius Créede As the reasonable soule and flesh is one man so God and man is one Christ. I will ende therefore with this saying of Irynaeus who liued vnder Marcus Antonius in the yeare of our Lord God 125. which thus proueth the descending of Christ into hell For he writing against Heretiques that sayd hell was in this world as many doo now adayes thus reproueth them in his fift booke and last Chapter As Ionas taried in the whales belly thrée dayes and thrée nights so shall the Sonne of man be in the hart of the earth And the Apostle saith what is it that he ascended but that he first descended into the lowest partes of the earth and Dauid prophecying of this sayd Thou hast deliuered my soule from the nethermost hell and rising againe the third day he sayd to Mary which he sawe first and worshipped him Touch me not for I haue not yet ascended to my Father but go to my Desciples and tell them I will go to my Father and to your Father If then the Lord kept the law of the dead that he might be the first begotten of the dead how are they ashamed that saye hell is in this world Thus you sée it is no strange thing to sée this scripture alleaged to prooue that Christs soule was not in heauen vntill his visible and glorious ascention Irinaeus a man of more learning and iudgement then I am of alleaged it to the same ende aboue 1300. yeares agoe and then it was accompted a currant argument among the learned Humes Sectio 12. Now let vs come to the great bulwarke of your defence you choose to be your foundation and text Peter sayth that Christ was put to death in the flesh and quickned in the spirit by the which he went and preached to the spirits that are in prison which were in times past disobedient c. Here following the Geneua translatiō I leaue some vantage that the Greeke doth offer me but I hope to finde heere matter enough to defende the truth Beza heere whome we also follow because he groweth neerest to the meaning of the Apostle by this word spirit doth giue vs to vnderstand the deity of Christ following Iohn that calleth God a spirit Iohn 4. 24. and by this word flesh his manhood conteining both his body and soule as he findeth the word vsed both of Paule 1. Tim. 3. 16. God
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is hell and holy one flesh Which interpretation who so dooth peruerte no doubt hee peruerteth the meaning of the holy Ghost Rabbi Lebaurish thus openeth this text after that Peter declared that this could not be spoken of Dauid himself for that his graue remained among them and his body suffereth corruption he addeth for as much as Dauid was a prophet and did know that God sware vnto him that Christ should come of the fruit of his loynes touching the flesh he spake euidently of the resurrection of Christ because his soule should not be left in hell nor his flesh sée corruption you sée how S. Peter applyeth this sentence of the Prophet to set foorth Christ his resurrection and in stead of this woord sanctum eius his holy one S. Peter hath carnem eius his flesh ver 31. is not resurrection contrary to death and what thing is death but the seperation of the body and the soule and what other thing then can resurrection be but a renuing and knitting to gether againe of the bodye and the soule S. Peter applying this sentence to the resurrection of Christ doth as it were point out with his finger to the places from whence these two partes seuered must be brought againe namelye the soule from hel for hel could not holde it and the bodye from the graue that it should not corrupt Here it is opened that death is a seperation of the body and the soule and that the resurrection is a knitting of both partes together and because Christ was a true man and had in him both a very body and a true soule S. Peter sheweth that these two partes were not onely diuided but also where they were during the time of their seperation and that miraculously neither the flesh did corrupt in the graue as all other mens doo nor the soule was left in hell as the sinners soules were For albeit he was accounted amongst sinners yet he was none Therefore wonderfully he came from the graue from hell for as euery article of our faith is an vnsearchable misterie so is this It is miraculous that the world was made of nothing that Christ was conceiued by the holy Ghoste that hée was borne of a virgin that hée should suffer and dye for the sinnes of the whole world and that at his death y e sunne should be abashed the earth tremble the flints cleue asimder and the valle of the Temple rent so in his resurrection the rolling away of the stone the appearing of the Angell the arising of many of the dead and especiallye the rising of Christ himselfe so mightily naturally spéedily and happily was most wonderfull so his ascending into Heauen in a cloud was in like manner to be meruailed at and likewise his comming into indgement shal be most wonderful in like sorte his buriall and going downe to hell are wonderfull things as Cirill noteth before whose woords are these neither should this thing haue had any miracle vnlesse y e sonne of God by the efficacy and nature of the diuinity had tarried in hell fulfilling all things merueilously aboue the reach of reason in his treatise of y e right faith to Theodosius S. Augustine in his book of the essence of the diuinity thus saith hée came from heauen into y e Uirgins wombe from the virgins wombe as he was borne he was laid in a maunger after he had fulfilled all things for the which being sent by his father he came he was fastened vnto the wood of the crosse but being taken downe from the crosse according to the flesh hee was buried but according to the Soule he descended into hell and the third day by the power of his diuinitye he raised his flesh out of the sepulchre and the 40. daye after his resurrection he ascended into heauen the Apostles beholding him For my parte therefore I admit the counsaile of Ambrose who willeth vs in matters of faith to beléeue the poore Fishermen Peter and his fellowes rather then the subtile Sophisters because then Peter affirmeth in the 2. chapter of the Acts that neither his soule was left in hell neither his flesh did sée corruption it is therefore manifest that these two partes flesh and soule are not one as I saide before These 3. things then would I craue of the aduersaries of this doctrine the one where they finde in the woord of God the coniunction nec to be a coniunction that coupleth and interpreteth secondly where they finde in the woord of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a graue thirdlye that those thinges which are seperated by nec the coniunction are one Lylly in his Latin grammar handling the vse of coniunions hath thus taught some are coniunctions copulatiue as et ac que atque quoque etiam item itidem cum tum tum doubled hither pertaine they which are contrary to these nec neque neu neue now if nec doo not couple but as Lylly saith is cleare contrary then it must néeds come to passe that in y e 2. of the Acts and 16. Psalme soule and holy one are diuers things and that héer is a plain demonstration not onely of y e seperation of both parts of y e humanity but also of the knitting together of the same In the 13. of the Acts ver 27. It is written that they Knew him not albeit the wordes of the prophet were read euery day So now albeit we often read these words yet we doo not vnderstand thē and the reason is giuen after in the 14. verse Beholde you despisers and wonder vanish away for I work a worke in your dayes a work y t ye shal not beleeue though a man would declare it So albeit the Apostles proue manifestly the resurrection of the soule and body of Christ yet will not they beléeue that read the Scriptures very often but denye the descending of Christs soule and so likewise his resurrection and by this meanes make of none effect those Scriptures which proue there must be a two folde resurrection in vs as there was in Christ a resurrection of the soule and of the body In the 3. of the Colossians ver 1. S. Paul vseth these words If ye be risen with Christ seek those things which are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father Euen as saith the Apostle Christ his soule did arise aswel as his body so must you haue the resurrection of your soule aswell as the resurrection of your bodye And thereupon diuers learned men interpreting this parcell of Scripture haue noted that there is a two folde resurrection in vs of soule of body and that our bodies shall neuer arise to glory vnles our soules doo first arise from sinne to grace And therefore this is a generall distinction in learned writers when they open this text of Scripture that there is a double resurrection of our soules and bodies the
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
therin are and the Sea and the thinges which therein are that time should be no more Therefore to day signifieth not a naturall or artificiall day for if there be dayes in heauen there be wéekes moneths yéeres and all manner of changes which is absurd but to day signifieth for euer as I will proue by many Scriptures First in the 2. Psal. 7. verse Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee euen so Act. 13. 32. 33. verses And we declare vnto you that touching the promise made vnto the Fathers God hath fulfilled it in vs their children in that he raised vp Iesus euen as it is written in the 2. Psalme thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee Héere the Apostle prouing Christ to be euerlasting alleadgeth these woordes thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thée And in the epistle to the Heb. 1. 5. prouing Christ to be higher then the Angels and from euerlasting he saith For to which of the Angels said he thou art my sonne this day begat I thee And most plainly Heb. 5. 6. Prouing that Christ liued for euer but the Priests of the Leuiticall order dyed he proueth the eternity of Christ thus So likewise Christ tooke not to himselfe this honour to be made a high priest but he that saide vnto him thou art my sonne this day begat I thee gaue it him He also in another place speaketh Thou art an high Preest for euer after the order of Melchisedec Héere the Apostle prouing Christ to be an euerlasting Préest and to giue eternall redemption vseth this woord to day which signifieth for euer as it is manifest in the 6. ver By these reasons therfore it is proued that with me signifieth with the Godhead 1. By the petition of the théefe for he asked the kingdome of heauen 2. By that which was forgiuen him his sinnes 3. By that which was giuen him that was glory 4. By the place where it was giuen him that was paradise 5. By the time for how long it was giuen him that is for euer Lastlye by the person that giueth it that is Christ who being euerlasting as I proued before forgiueth infinite sinnes giueth grace alwaies in his euerlasting kingdome and in all eternity for euer And of this iudgement is S. Augustine who answering the like obiection of the aduersaryes of this doctrine in his time this hath left in writing there is an other meaning also much more frée from all ambiguities if it be taken to be spoken not in respect that he is man but in respect that he is God to day thou shalt be with me in paradise for the man Christ was in respect of his flesh in the graue that day in respect of his soule in hell and the same Christ was God euery where and at all times The last place that is alleadged by y e gainsayers of this doctrine is the last spéech which Christ vsed vpon the crosse Luc. 23. 46. Into thy hands O Father I commend my spirite Out of which place they thus conclude that the soule of Christ was committed to his Father in heauen therfore it went not to hell which is a false consequence For they imagine héer that the hands of God signifieth heauen which cānot be proued out of this place For this scripture being a deriuatiue place out of the 31 Psalme and 5. verse teacheth vs this that as the soule of Dauid being the figure of Christ did not immediatly after this prayer goe to heauen but was guided by the hand and gouernment of the Lord in all maner of perils so it dooth not follow that the soule of Christ being committed into the hands of the father for these woords are spoken in respect of the manhoode of Christ should passe immediatly into heauen but should so be guided by the Godhead that it should passe through death and hell mightily without resistance naturally with out assistance spéedily without tarying and happily without any returning But for the better vnderstanding of this place you must note how many waies this woord the hand of the Lord is taken in the holy book of God that when we sée the diuers acceptation of the woord we may take that sence which most fitteth this Scripture First the hand of God signifieth the Sonne of God Psal. 144. 7. Send thy hand from aboue 2. For his power Psal. 136. 6. In a mighty hand out stretched arme 3. The bountifulnes of God Psal. 145. 16. Thou openest thy hand and fillest with thy blessing euery liuing creature 4. It signifieth consolation Ezek. 3. 22. The hand of the Lord was with me comforting me Sometime it signifieth grace Psal. 118. 16. The right hand of the Lord hath doone valiantly Sometime it signifieth the gifte of prophecye Ezek. 8. 1. The hand of the Lord fel there vpon me Sometimes it signifieth mercy Psal. 37. 24 Though he fall he shal not be cast off for the Lord putteth vnder his hand Sometime it signifieth the protection of the Lord. Psal 31. 15. my times are in thy hand Sometime it sigifieth the aide of the Lord Nehe. 2. 8. And the king gaue me according to the good hand of my God vpon me And in y e 74. Psal. ver 11. Why withdrawest thou thy hand Somtime it signifieth y e punishment of the Lord. Iob. 19. 21. Haue pittie on me haue pittie on me aye my freends for the hand of God hath touched me It signifieth also the creation Psal. 102. 25. The heauens are the workes of thy hands Last of all it signifieth his gouernment Psal. 95. 4. In his hands are al y e corners of the earth Christ therfore commending his soule into the hands of the Father teacheth vs when we are dying or in any affliction which is gréeuous we must cōmit our soules to the power consolation mercy protection ayde and gouerment of the Lord. For this being a deriuatiue place is taken out of the 31. Psal. and 5. ver Therfore as the soule of Dauid did not immediatly after goe to heauen so did not the soule of Christ. For if he went vp immediatly then Christ did ascend before he did descend which is contrary to the Scriptures in many places In the Ephe. 4. 9. Now in that he ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lowest partes of the earth But if the soule of Christ went into heauen before he was buryed or descended into hell as the gainsayers of the doctrine stoutly affirme then he ascended before he descended which is contrary to this Scripture therefore good Reader marke these circumstances 1. Who must descend that is Christ. 2. Whether into the lowest partes of the earth which I haue proued before to be hell for as ascend and descend are contrary so is heauen and hell 3. When must he descend first before he ascend And thus as many learned men before
Christ descended into the pit of the damned it hath no other warrant out of the woord but such as is builded vpon a woord of a double signification which standeth at the curtesie of the reader to take it as to him shall seeme probable Hill Héere you confesse that Augustine doubteth and yet you say that in the matter in controuersie betwéene you and me he doubteth not but proueth it by the Apostolicall and propheticall testimonies for he willeth vs to hold it firmissima fide with a most firme faith and saith that none but an Infidell will dony it He doubteth whether the Fathers were in hell or whether they were conuerted in hell by Christs preaching as some did affirme vntruly and many such like thinges little or nothing appertaining to the question we haue in hand But ad Dardanū he doubteth not Fo. 3. col 272. Fo. 10. col 1410. Fo. 3. col 213. 702. Fo. 6. 788. Fo. 10. 899. 989. In all these places and in many other he telleth without doubting that he descended into hell and the end why To strike a terror into the diuels and to triumph ouer them It pleaseth you to make your selfe merry with S. Augustines infirmity I pray God you will with Saint Augustine acknowledge your owne which by and by shal be laide before you You wonder at S. Augustine but we wonder at your teachers and you for you confesse S. Augustine to builde vpon Dauid and Peter and yet you labour to ouerthrow this building how deceitfullye it shall now appeare You say that hell signifieth the sorrowes of hell sometime I graunt it dooth Héereupon you make this argument sometime it signifieth the sorrowes of hell therfore it dooth so in the 16. Psalme I deny your argumēt and that you haue spoken an vntruth the holy Ghoste by Peters mouth shalbe a witnes against you For you say it is spoken of the sorrowes which Christ suffered vpon the crosse Peter saith it is spoken of the resurrection and in the resurrection I am sure Christ suffred no tormentes or sorrowes Peters interpretation is thus Act. 2. 32. He knowing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soule should not be left in hell neither his flesh to see corruption Now then héere is an answere to your demaund these woords are spoken of the resurrection a matter of ioy and not of torments for Dauid saith in the person of Christ Therefore did my hart reioyce and my tung was glad And moreouer also my flesh shal rest in hope If Christ at this time did reioyce how was he sorrowfull if he were glad how was he tormented if he did rest in hope how was it true also that he was afflicted with torments And héere you vtter another vntruth that Christ did svffer his whole torments on the crosse which is most vntrue for he suffered some in the Garden when he said Math. 26. 38. My soule is heauye vnto death And some in Caiphas house aud some vnder Pilat but all his torments and sorrowes were ended on the crosse which I think you would haue said Last of all the woords of the text that commeth after aswell as the woords going before do proue that it cannot be spoken of Christs sorrowes for they are these Thou shalt shew me the path of life in thy presence is the fulnes of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore Sith then Dauid both before and after maketh mention of ioy and pleasures for euermore and as Peter saith these woordes proue the resurrection of Christ I maruaile how you dare to contradict the meaning of the holy Ghoste You speake not now contrary to Augustine or Ambrose or Hill but contrary to Dauid and Peter themselues you boast your selues to be the best Christians but I shal hardly beléeue you are better Christians then Dauid and Peter In the conclusion you vtter blasphemy for Sheol being taken sometime for the sorrowes of hell and sometime for the place of hell you say it standeth at the curtesie of the reader to take it as to him shall séeme probable Are Gods woords to be interpreted after our pleasure Hillary was of a better minde he saide as God was the author of the Scriptures so God must be the Interpreter he opened the wittes of the Desciples going to Emaus so let vs pray that he may open our wittes that we may perfectlye vnderstand the Scriptures Humes Sectio 5. That he neuer was there what better proofe would a man aske then Christs own woords Luc. 23. 46. Father into thy hands I commend my spirite And in another place Luk. 23. 43. This day shalt thou be with me in Paradice Where it is a world to see how men of your side do trouble themselues to put out this candle First you say that the place Into thy hands I commend my spirite was borrowed of Dauid and must be spoken of Christ in that sence as Dauid did vse it before him This we confesse and gather hereupon that Christs soule did no more descend into hel then Dauids did but say you his soule did not straite way ascend into heauen for he liued many yeeres after That maketh not to the question when his soule went to heauen but whether his soule which was still in the hands of God euer went to hell proue this and we will giue you the goale As for Dauid he hauing deuoured heauen in hope did not doubt to speake that in the present time which he was sure would come to passe shortly Furthermore seeing Dauid was a figure of Christ and spake many thinges of himselfe in Christs person which were more agreeable with the thing figured then with the figure you must think that these wordes were spoken of Christ who was straite way to cōmend his soule with these words vnto his Father Wherfore if you will answere this place you must bring proof out of the Scriptures that he which meanes to go to hell doth vse to commend his soule into the handes of God or els you shal neuer be able to darken the light of this Sonne without any cloud of Sophistry Hill Indéede if these woords were spoken in the present time some shew of truth were in your woords but in the Gréeke they are in y e future tence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Father into thy hands I wil cōmit my spirite Now your argument is thus Christ commended his soule vnto his Father ergo immediatlye he went not downe to hell Héere is more in your conclusion then is in your premises You may conclude his soule went to heauen But not immedlatly for it went to hell as I haue proued before for hell in the 16. Psalme doth not signifie the sorrowes of hel but the place as I haue confirmed already Therefore it is better to translate I will commend then I doo commend as Stepanus on this place noteth Paule sayth Eph. 4. and 10. verse Now in that he ascended what is it but that he
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is shewed the manner of the death that Christ suffred that is he was killed and suffred a violent death For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being deriued of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must néeds signifie put to death Now I hope you will not say Christ was put to death in soule and body but in body only And where you say that Christ suffered in soule aswell as in body that is true and that is gathered not of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is killed but out of these words antecedent for Christ suffered the iust for the vniust No reasonable man but he will say that the sufferings of Christ are comprised rather in the word suffered then in the word killed To your fourth reason I reply that Christ was raysed from the dead but it is specially signifyed in the word resurrection verse 21. and therefore I doo not confound those things that are distinguished but your selfe for you make suffered and killed all one and quickned and the resurrection all one and so make not only a confusion but a fantology and néedelesse repetition which neuer was read in the word of God To your fift argument where you say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to receaue life I confesse it is to be made aliue Then you vrge it can not be spoken of the soule which neuer lost life Then by the same reason more strongly it can not be spoken of the Godhead which hath doth and shall liue for euer for God can not receaue life but the soule is sayd to liue when he is out of the body not because he liued not before but because the body doth hinder the actions of the soule Iohn 11 25. Hee that beleeueth in mee though he were dead yet shall he liue Sap. 9 15. The corruptible body is heauie vnto the soule and the earthie mansion keepeth downe the minde that is full of cares 2. Cor. 4 16. Therefore wee faint not but though our outward man perish yet our inward man is dayly renewed Héere Paule sayth the weaker the body is the stronger is the soule therefore the death of the body is the life of the soule To drawe to an ende your Antithesis of the Deuinitie and humanitie is answered before For your Antithesis must be of things contrary or at the least diuers and separate but as you affirme truly the Godhead was neuer separated from the humanitie therefore this antithesis is of the body and soule which at this time were deuided and not betwéene the deity and humanitie which were alwayes vnited wherefore this bulwarke I can assure you will stand and you haue ouershot both it and your selfe in attempting to ouerthrowe it For the very scope of the Apostle is this All Christians must suffer afflictions for well doing for Christ did not only suffer both in body and soule but also was put to a shamefull death in his body and in his soule went downe to the soules in hell which were vnbeléeuers in the dayes of Noah but Christ did arise againe from hell and the graue and ascended both in body and soule to heauen therefore shall you that suffer for well doing be deliuered from death and hell by his merits and goe vp into heauen and be partakers of his glory as you haue bin partakers of his afflictions Moreouer as you referre me to reade Bezas great notes on this text so I pray you to reade Aretius handling this place whose wordes are these Generally sayth Arctius Peter repeateth thrée effects of Christs death if you marke it well The first pertaineth to the damned The second to the elect The third to the person of Christ. The first was declared in his descending into hell The second in his resurrection The third in his ascention into heauen This is the true and naturall meaning of this place which we will follow leauing the intrications of other interpretations I willinglie confesse this place is very hard for Augustine doubteth of it and Luther doubteth of it how it is to be vnderstoode but this obscuritie ariseth not of the place but of the varietie of Interpretations If thou marke the plainnesse of the place the matter will be easye but that pleaseth not all men therefore that euery one may establish his owne sence they apply the words of the Apostle Peter to their owne conceit But leauing these let vs embrace that which the words do teach vs in the which if we attaine to the truth it is well if not yet they shall be probable because they haue warrant out of the scripture and leaue to the very letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 otherwise it is certaine the knowledge of man to be vnperfect in many questions of holie scripture of the which the Apostle doth warne vs 1. Corin. 15. For now we knowe vnperfectlie I haue sayd héere is declared thrée effects of Christs death which differ in time and are set in order in the Créede The first effect is that Christ being dead denounced eternall paines to the wicked in hell The words of the Apostle are these In which spirit hee went and preached to the spirits detained in prison I take the place simply of the descence into hell for so the words doo plainely sound and I sée all the Fathers so to interprete them sée Augustine Epist. 99. and Cyprian doth manifestly interprete this place of the descending into Hell Neither doth the word prison hinder this Interpretation which in the Apocal. 20. 5. is taken for hell When a thousand yeeres shall be fulfilled Satan shall be loosed out of his prison Therefore the prison that Peter héere speaketh of is the place deputed to the damned Hyther came Christ as we confesse in the Créede he went downe into Hell Where Hell is it is a foolish and curious question to enquire sith no man comming to that place euer returned but only Christ. Furthermore what Christ did there Peter expresseth he preached to the spirits that is he declared that he shewed himselfe manifestly to the world and made that dire and mournefull sermon namely to the wicked that the merit of his death did nothing pertaine vnto them but by his presence were confirmed those punishments of the which Noah and other Prophets had forewarned them And the tyme of this Preaching I referre not to the tymes of Noah but to the tyme of hys descending into Hell Whereunto agréeth the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is spirits for hée preached to the spirits that is to dead and not to liuing men Thus farre Aretius I could héere alleage many other newe Writers whiche are of my iugement but because you yéelde them no credite therefore of purpose I will omit them Humes Sectio 13. These things being thus I pray you good M. Hill seeing you would haue vs vndoubtedly to beleeue that Christ descended into hell Tell vs vndoubtedly to what end he should descend thither I trust you will not teach vs neither Augustine neither
not yet giuen vp the ghoste which was the ende of his woorke but I trust you will graunt vs this that the meaning was this woorke there should be at ende when he had breathed his last breath for you know it is a common manner to speake that in the time past which is meant presentlye to come So Christ himselfe speaketh in another place Beholde the time commeth and it is already come that you shall be scattered You brought vs here a distinction of Consummatum re and Consummatum spe out of the Dunces I pray you to send it againe to those thicke skummes whence you had it It wil not serue our turn for it seemeth no otherwise in our eares then that our Sauiour should tell vs that he had done and had not doone And tell those Harpyae quae tactu suo optimas dapes foedarunt that a thing may be consummatum spe which a man meaneth not to begin twentye yeeres hence and perhaps neuer finish Such ware will yeeld but little money and lesse thankes in these daies heere we wonder what you meant by denying that he had finished al things on the crosse would you send him to hell to suffer there too then his woork was so farre from any end it was scarse begun He that will holde that must needs condemne truth it self for an vntruth for if he had but onely passed the death of the body they which feele hell and we also should know that he had scarsely yet beene fleabitten in respect of that which is to come This truely M. Hill was ware not worthy your wit Hyll Héere you haue spoken much and proued nothing for of those reasons which I haue laide down in my Sermon concerning this point not one is answered Onely as you tolde me before I was immodest so now you tell me I am a mad man and the wonder of the worlde I must answere you with Dauid I am become as a monster vnto many but my trust is in thy law But what will men iudge of you that in one and the same matter affirme and deny You confesse in the beginning that there remained somewhat to doo and in the end you wonder at me because I sayd all things were not finished in the crosse Your next words are these when our Sauior cryed it is finished he had not geuen vp the ghost which was the end of his worke It is true that after the speaking of Consummatum est it is finished he gaue vp the ghost but that was not the finishing of his worke for he must also shead his bloud Heb. 9. 22. Without sheading of blood there is no forgeuenes of sins 1. Pet. 1. 19. Iohn 1. 7. Apoc. 1. 5. In all which scriptures it is set downe that we are redéemed with the precious bloud of Christ. The bloud of Christ doth purge vs from all sinne he hath loued vs and washt away our sinnes in his bloud Therefore the geuing vp of the ghost was not the end of his worke Héere is a fault committed by you but I will not woonder at you nor say you are runn besides your selfe but you runn against your selfe and resist also the holy ghost Then you scornefully reiect my destinition of Consummatum re and Consummatum spe that is finished in hope and finished in déede I will defende it for it commeth not out of the Dunces but out of Gods sacred word Rom. 8. 24. it is sayd We are saued by hope Gal. 5. 5. for we through the spirit wait for the hope of righteousnes through faith Luc. 21. 24. Lift vp your heads sayth Christ to his Disciples for your redemption draweth nigh Rom. 8. 23. And not only the creature but we also which haue the first fruites of the spirit do sigh euen we do sigh in our selues waiting for the adoption euen the redemption of our bodyes Musculus on the fourth Chapter of the Ephesians thus writeth the places are these That we are called in hope not in déede and that the hope of future blessings is the stay of our faith as long as we are in this flesh for we are saued nondum in re sed in spe not yet in déede but in hope By all these scriptures it is manifest that our consummation is in hope and not in déede as Musculus noteth neither shall be actually perfited vntill the day of iudgement Therefore I did with this distinction refute the argument which is made of those that are on your side who thus conclude Christ sayd on the crosse It is finished Ergo he went not downe to hell By the same reason I thus argue Christ said on the crosse It is finished Ergo he did not shead his bloud nor was buried nor rose againe nor ascended into heauen to fulfill all things Ephes. 4. 10. for if all things were then fulfilled on the crosse what néede he to ascende to fulfill all things Therefore I did proue that this argument of yours did make no more against the descending into hell then against the sheading of his bloud buriall resurrection ascention or iudgement all which are necessary to our weale and perfect consummation Farther to proue my distinction to be true I did then quote that as Christ is sayd to be the Lamb slaine from the beginning of the world so the death of Christ did reach to the first beléeuers and shall doo to the last Which consummation by hope is so enioyed as if we possessed it already for all the promises of Christ are yee yee and amen 2. Cor. 1. 20. Therefore I told you this argument It is finished ergo Christ went not downe to hell was a fallary a dicto secundum quid ad simpliciter Also I noted how these words were to be vnderstood First that all the scriptures and prophecies were fulfilled for so the text noteth Secondly it is finished doth signifye there is no other sacrifice for sinne for by one sacrifice once offred he hath made perfect all that shall be sanctified Hebr. 10 14. And therefore the Papists ioyning the merits of Saints with the merits of Christ doo erre most shamefully Thirdly it was finished as concerning all his labors and sorrowes Fourthly all his suffrings both of body and soule were ended which he finished on the crosse Briefely his obedience to his Father was ended for he yéelded a pure perfect and perpetuall obedience to his Father and therefore had all power giuen him in heauen earth and hell Moreouer I did proue this interpretation by this text 1. Cor. 15. 54. Then shall be brought to passe the saying that is written O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victory and did alleage Beda Peter Martyr and Musculus vpon this place all which were of my iudgement and therefore you had no more cause to wonder at me then at these learned men whome all the reformed Churches of England do reuerence Last of all you séeme to charge me as though I had said that Christ went
into Heauen and therefore our praiers are hard when we pray vnto him and he giueth vs gifts for our ministery and so he shal come to iudgement at the last day to giue vs perfect blessednes You confesse that Christ was borne in déed liued and fulfilled the law in the likenes of our flesh sinne excepted he dyed in déede he was buried indéed he arose and ascended indéede and yet you will not confesse that he personallye descended How can all these articles going before and comming after be vnderstoode of the person of Christ and of his humanity and not this Therefore you denying this personall descending of Christ into hell take away the great comfort of our deliuerance from hell You say we are deliuered from hell by Christs death so are we too by his birth For if Christ had not bene borne he had not dyed so if there had not béene a seperation of the bodye and soule of Christ he could neuer haue conquered death or hell for by descending into y e graue and that personally he conquered death and hath deliuered vs from death and by going downe into hell personallye he hath conquered hell And for this cause the Scripture applieth it to the death of Christ because death was as Paule saith Phil. 3. A dissolution of body and soule and these 2. partes being dissolued Christ came from the graue and from hell and so Christ did conquere both and triumph ouer them in him selfe as it is Col. 2. 15. These Iewes doo aske a signe from heauen Math. 22 38. Luke 11. 29. to whom Christ said A wicked aduoulterous Generation doth aske a signe but no signe shalbe giuen thē but the signe of Ionas the Prophet for as Ionas was in the whales belly three dayes and three nights so shall the sonne of man be in the hart of the earth three daies and three nights Which woords Basilius Magnus interpreteth very well These woords a signe is a matter made manifest conteyning the declaration of some thing that was hidden as the signe of Ionas representeth the descending of Christ into hel and the resurrection of Christ and as Bede saith and Rhabanus also he gaue them a signe but not from heauen because they were vnworthy to see it but from the deapth of hell Therfore M. Humes this is a most comfortable doctrine that Christ doth deliuer vs from hell which albeit you agnise aswell as we yet because you deny the meane whereby it was purchased you deny a most comfortable doctrine for not only the body of Christ was in the hart of the earth but the Sonne of man which signifieth the whole humanity that is the soule and the body Ionas was in the whales belly aliue and yet came forth Christ was in the graue dead in flesh and aliue in hell and yet came forth Therefore to take away this maner of descending taketh away from the Church a singuler comfort and openeth a gapp to many errors confuted already by the Fathers For if Christ did conquere hell by the power of the Godhead only and not as he is man what néed had he to take vpon him our nature but because as man he might be Lord not of heauen and the Angells but of the earth and the inhabitants therofand of hell and the diuells You say the worlde is sory for me In the worlde saith Christ you shall haue affliction And he telleth me the world will hate me I way not these thinges for I am no man-pleaser nor louer of the worlde But if in my Sermon I had disagréed with Dauid Ezechiel Esay Peter Paule and Christ himselfe as you haue done in your answere I hope I should be both sory and ashamed Touching M. Chalfoult whom you terme a man without iudgment and that he spake impudently and enuiously I neuer saw him before that time and but ouce since but by that spéech and conference which I had with him I finde him to be learned and voide of gall Such of his neighbours as I haue talked with did giue him the deserued praise of a learned and honest man And forasmuch as he hath preached sound doctrine in preaching the affirmatiue and that doctrin which is allowed by the learned conuocation of this land it doth not become you to libell against him for in speaking against him you traduce all those reuerend and learued men which made an Iniunction for kéeping of vnitie that no other Catechisme should be taught of any Schoolemaister then M. Nowels Therefore because you are a strauger you ought not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and speake euill of those Ministers which vpholde the doctrine established and because you are a Schoolemaister you ought to teach and not to gainsaye it Qui pergit dicere ea que vult audiet ea que non vult As you reuile at M. Chalfoult so doo you and your freends priuily against me calling me a Bishoppling and a timeseruer Indéed I was brought vp vnder Bishop Iewell who catechised me in this faith therfore I will not easily or rashly departe from it I confesse my selfe also to be a timeseruer for it is the day time of saluation accepted Let them murmure with Martin that list I praye God my dayes may end with this time and my time may continue no longer then these daies of the state of our Church that now is do continue I haue séene the beginning I haue séene the propagation of the Gospell I haue séene God hath defended our Church mercifully and miraculously from heauen God graunt that I and all my Auditors may walk worthy of our calling Godly iustly and soberly Therefore I end with this saying of S. Paule 1. Cor. 4. 3. As touching me I passe very little to be iudged of you or of mans iudgment And in the 5. verse Therefore iudge nothing before the time vntill the Lord come who shall lighten things that are hidden in darkenes and make the counsels of the hart manifest and then shall euery man haue praise of God The conclusion to M. Humes M. Humes in the latter end of your answere you request me to recant if your answere did please me as it doth you I would be as willing to recant as you and your fréendes would be glad to heare it But I will plainely set down my reasons why I do not recant The first is I alleadged Act. 2. and proued out of Peters sermon my assertion and to the reasons I drew out of that place you haue answered nothing Secondly I alleadged Syrach 17. 21. To proue that this phrase the nethermost partes of the earth doth signifie hell to this you haue in like manner saide nothing Thirdly in all your answeres to my allegations you haue disagréeed with the word of God In answering of the 16. Psalme you say my allegation is to be vnderstoode of the passion of Christ And Peter Act. 2. saith it is spoken of y e resurrection whether is to be beléeued of Peter or you
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
soule in hell wholy in the world wholy in heauen wholy in the vnity of the nature in the Father of whom he came and wholy by the omnipotency of his diuinity in all y e creatures which he made The Apostle kéeping this vnitye of person doth thus confirme the Church of Corinth in the faith of the truth For first of all I haue deliuered you that which I haue receiued that Christ died for our sinnes according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and rose againe the third day according to the Scriptures He saith not that the body of Christ was dead but Christ that he might kéep the vnity of the person of God and man and that he might shew the substantial propriety of the deity and humanity In another place he sayth for although he was crucified of infirmie yet he liueth by the power of God Héer we are taught that the whole humanity was assumpted into the Godhead and that death albeit it did sunder the body and the soule yet it it did not sunder the Godhead from either parte and for this cause the Godhead being with the flesh in the graue it conld not corrupt and the same Godhead vnited to the soule the soule could not he left in hell but euen as his body was in graue to shew him to be true man and it rose againe without corruption to shew him very God so his soule was iu hel to shew himself a true man it came from hel to shew himself a true God and a most glorious conquerour of al his enemies both in earth and in hell The like hath Ciril in his treatise of the right faith to Theodosius the soule of Christ being coupled to his Godhead descended into hel vsing the power of God did appeare to the soules that were there And writing on Iohn in his 12. book and 36. chapter and when the time was come that he should preach to the soules that were in hell for he came to be Lord of the liuing and of the dead he dyed for vs and this proper passion of our nature he willingly took on him as concerning this flesh albeit as God he is life naturally that hell being spoyled he might be the first fruites of them that fléepe and being made the first begotten of the dead as the Scripture calleth him he might giue to our nature a returne to life And of this iudgement is Oecumenius interpreting the Scripture Christ dyed for the vniust not only for them which were after him but also for them that were before him and therefore went down into hell As the death of Christ was auaileable vnto thē that dyed before him so the descension of Christ into hell was profitable to them that liued before Christ as well as to those that liued after him Vigilius also in his 2. book and 3. chapter thus saith the flesh of Christ was not in Paradice nor in hell but lay in the graue without life the soule for y t 3. dayes was in hell and not in the graue and yet we say well that out Lord Iesus Christ lay in the sepulchre but in his onlye fleshe and that our Lord Iesus Christ was not lefte in hell but in his only soule and albeit Christ is in all these and euerye one of these yet it is but one Christ whereof one parte of his humanity was so in the graue and another in hell that he notwithstanding is one wholy euery where albeit he hath seuerally deuided himselfe by places and therfore we say the Lord lay in the graue but in only flesh and the Lord went down to hell but in only soule Alesius one of the first reformed Ministers of Scotland in his learned treatise vpon the Gospell of S Iohn thus writeth concerning this controuersie but this encourageth me that I haue a manifest place and text in Peter that Christ preached in hell to them which in the dayes of Noah were vnbeléeuers that is condemned in the nethermost hell then he alleageth the place of Ephe. 4. before by me alleadged and therupon thus concludeth I expound therefore this article simply and againe I meruaile what men meane that they deny that Christ descended into hell Alesius did wonder that any man would deny this article because it hath so many confirmations and in euery confirmation in such order as they are set in the Créed are proued the death descending into hell resurrection and ascension of Christ together For in the 16 Psalme he beginneth with the death of Christ in the 10. verse but in the last verse he speaketh of his resurrection and of his exaltation at the right hand of God So in the Act. 2. chap. First he speaketh of the death of Christ in the 29. verse Secondly of his buriall in y t same verse of his descending into hell in the 13. verse of his resurrection in the 32. verse and of his ascending and exaltation to glory and his giuing of the holy Ghost in the 33. verse so in the 4. chapter of the Ephe there is not onlye mention made of Christ descending into the lowest partes of y e earth but also it is saide in the 10. verse that he ascended far aboue all heauens And also in the 3. chap. of the Philippians not only the Apostle declareth the humility of Christs death but also setteth downe his presence in hell and that euerye knée did bow vnto him and euery tung did confesse him to be the Lord and thus he sheweth first who was highly exalted he that hath made himselfe of no reputation from whence he was exalted from those that were vnder earth where he was exalted that is farre aboue al heauens and lastly who exalted him that is God his Father So in this place Peter proueth in the 18. verse the death of Christ in the 19. verse the descending of Christ into hell in the 20. verse the end of his descending that is to reproue them of ther disobedience to the preaching of Noah in the 21. ver he speaketh of the resurrection of Christ in the 22. verse he endeth the ascending vp into heauen vnto the right hand of God that all Angels powers and might might be subiect vnto him In all these Scriptures the order of our Créed being kept and all these thinges plainlye proued very great cause of maruell is giuen to Alesius and many learned men why this article should be denyed which is confirmed by the scriptures that the death buriall resurrection and ascension of Christ are confirmed and therefore those that deny these Scriptures to proue the descending of Christ into hell may aswell deny the resurrection of Christ for the resurrction being the ioyning of both partes of the manhood of Christ together cannot cléerely be proued vnlesse it be shewed from whence both partes seuered came which is proued before to be thus the soule of Christ from hell and the body from the graue Further where it is
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