and soule of Christ were both free he did not suffer the true paines of hell nor the same torments which the damned do in hell and which wee should haue suffered had wee not béene redéemed This you saie is great iniquity yea plaine sophistry to amplifie against you and to make your most holie truth odious with the people onely by the ambiguitie of the worde hell Begin you nowe to finde the sensible absurditie of your mishapen fancie if you woulde haue taken the name of hell metaphoricallie for great and excéeding paines this question had béene sooner calmed and our Creede freed from your newe found exposition But to father your opinion vpon the créed with more likelihood where the word hell is properlie taken though you now hatch vs a new signification of hell out of Socrates you then vrged as your selfe in this present confutation do still vrge that Christ must haue the FVL VVAIGHT AND BVRDEN of our sinnes laid vpon him and suffer those sorrowes and paines for sinne VVHICH ELSE VVE SHOVLDE that his price VVAS THE SAME which else wee shoulde haue payde that seeing it was possible for him to feele THE FVLL SMART of our sinnes yea ALL OVR SMART and Gods strict iustice so required IT VVAS SO AND MVST BE SO as also that it is not proportionable with iustice that an easier punishment should satisfie for a greater sinne and of al absurdities the greatest that meere men shoulde suffer more deepelie then Christ did and therefore Christ sustained euen the sense of Gods wrath DVE to our sinnes and had the VVHOLE CVRSE of God for sinne executed on him that is the DEATH OF THE SOVLE and the TORMENTES and sorrowes DVE TO THE DAMNED Without anie Sophistrie Sir what is the FVLL BVRDEN of our sinnes and THE SAME PRICE which we should haue paide what is OVR FVLL SMART yea ALL OVR SMART and the VVHOLE CVRSE OF GOD what is the DEATH of the soule and the TORMENTS DVE TO THE DAMNED but those verie things which I by the warrant of Gods word told the people were prepared and threatned to the wicked and shall bee executed on them in hell as they shoulde haue bin on vs if we had not bin redéemed by the bloud of Christ you must recall all your reasons and vnsaie all these positions before you can auoid that which I obiect If Christ did and must by Gods iustice suffer the VVHOLE the SAME and ALL that was due to vs for our sinnes shewe me good Sir I praie you for I confesse it passeth my reach how you can free him from the darknes destruction reprobation malediction worme or fire of hel yea those words if you looke not well to them and rebate them in time with some fresh write they wil carrie with them both the PLACE and PERPETVITY of hell for both these were DVE to our sinnes and are parts of Gods CVRSE and should haue béene executed on vs as they shall bee on the damned and out of ALL the VVHOLE and the SAME how can you except anie but by an open Vray dire of dotage The local hel of the damned you speake not of Speake of what you will so long as your assertions in full and plaine termes inferre and conclude so much well your words may runne without your wits but I tell you trulie what is the consequent of them and leaue those wordes and then your most holie trueth is left naked without shew or shadow of proofe For these generals the VVHOLE the SAME and ALL giue life such as it is to your childish reasons Without them you cannot open your mouthe to make one conclusion But because hell fire so much crosseth your cause that you would faine be rid of it and burneth your fingers so fast Sir Refuter that you striue to cast water on it giue mee leaue a little to let you vnderstand it flameth more fiercelie then that you can quench it with the licour of your mouth And the rather for that in the eares of all men it is a most sensible reproofe of your vnsauorie position For if Christ suffered not the fire of hell in bodie nor soule then most apparantlie he suffered not the FVLL burden of our sinnes nor paid the SAME price which wee should haue paide nor endured ALL our smart nor felt the VVHOLE curse of God nor sustained the tormentes DVE to the DAMNED and therefore the true kindeling of this fire is the vtter quenching of your new deuised hell paines Knowe you therefore Sir Refuter that your metaphoricall fire in hell is a phantasticall errour of yours and you shall doe well to tremble at the terrible iudgement of God threatned in his worde with more religion then to cast off that fire as a toyish fable I shall not néede to rehearse how often it is denounced in the Scriptures and in what vehement and constant manner let vs learne rather carefullie to shunne the place then cunninglie to shift the word which they shall finde to bee no figure that feele it A fire saith God himselfe is kindled in my wrath and shall burne to the bottome of hell it shall eate through the earth and the depth thereof and shal inflame the foundations of the hils Behold saith Esay the Lord wil come with fire that he may recompence his anger with wrath and his indignation with the flame of fire for the Lorde shall iudge with fire The slaine of the Lorde shall bee manie their Worme shall not die neither shal their fire be quenched Which wordes our Sauiour directlie reffereth to hell It is better to enter into life haulting then hauing two legs to bee cast into hell into the fire that neuer shall bee quenched where their Worme dieth not and the fire neuer goeth out If wee sinne willinglie saieth the Apostle to the Hebrues there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes but a fearefull expectation of iudgement and raging fire which shal deuoure the aduersaries As Sodome and Gomorra and the cities about them are set forth for an ensample and suffer the vengeance of eternall fire The fearefull and vnbeleeuing the abhominable and murtherers and whoremongers and sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyars shal haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death To whome the Iudge shall saie when they shall see the truth thereof before their eies Depart from mee ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and his angels For the Lord Iesus shall shewe himselfe from heauen with the Angels of his power in flaming fire rendering vengeāce to them which know not God and obey not the Gospell That the fire with which Christ shall appeare to iudge shall bee corporall and visible to all mens sights can bee no question it shall dissolue the heauens melt the elements and burne vp the earth with the workes that are therein as Peter
PROPITIATE the Iudge It doth SEALE THE COVENANT of mercie grace glorie betwixt God man It doth CONCLVDE and bind the diuell what more can be required I verily cannot coÌ„iecture If the blood of Christ performe al these things for vs more we can not aske or expect why shrinke we from it as vnable to saue vs except it be supplied with the paines of hell Whether I affirme any thing of mine owne or deliuer you that which is plainly taught in y e scriptures iudge you Ye were REDEEMED saith Peter by the pretious bloud of Christ as of a Lambe vnspotred and vndefiled Christ by his own bloud saith Paul entered once into the holy place OBTAINING eternall REDEMPTION The bloud of Iesus Christ CLENSETH VS froÌ„ all our sinnes He WASHED vs from our sinnes in his bloud Beeing now IVSTIFIED by his bloud we shall bee saued from wrath through him Iesus suffered that hee might sanctifie the people with his bloud By Christ then wee haue redemption through his bloud euen the remission of sinnes and nowe in Christ Iesus yee which once were farre off are made neere by the bloud of Christ. For it hath pleased the Father by him to reconcile all thinges vnto himselfe And to pacifie through the bloud of his Crosse both thinges in earth and things in heauen Whome God hath purposed to bee a Reconciliation through fayth in his bloud And therefore the new testament is sealed with Christes bloud This is saith hee my bloud of the new Testament which is shed for manie for the remission of sinnes Yee are come to Iesus the mediatour of the newe Testament saith Paul to the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things then that of Abell For Abels bloud cried for vengeance but Christs bloud speaketh for mercie and grace And for that cause Paul calleth it The bloud of the euerlasting Testament For this is the Testament that I will make with the house of Israel after those dayes sayeth the Lorde I will put my lawes in their minde and in their heart I will write them and I will bee their God and they shall bee my people I will be mercifull to their vnrighteousnesse and I will remember their sinnes and iniquities no more This testament of mercie grace and glorie is confirmed by the death of Christ and sealed with his bloud which if we weaken or frustrate with our inuentions or additions wee must looke for that fearefull iudgement which the Apostle threatneth He that despiseth Moses lawe dieth without mercie vnder two or three witnesses Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shal he be worthie which treadeth vnder foote the sonne of God and counteth vnholie the bloud of the Testament wherewith he was sanctified and reprocheth the spirite of grace The wrong that is offered to the bloud of the newe Testament treadeth vnder foote the sonne of God and reprocheth the spirit of grace Now howe can we more vnsanctifie the bloud of the Testament then to make it so vnprecious that it cannot redeeme vs without the paines of hell or to set vp another price for which we haue no expresse record against or aboue the bloud of Christ by which we are cleansed from our sinnes and reconciled to God I knowe they will and must answere the paines of hell are contained in the bloud of Christ for so much as he suffered the one in â—heir imagination when hee shed the other Could they prooue by expresse and infallible testimonies which they cannot do that Christ suffered in soul the paines of the damned they had some reason to comprise the one within the other but no such thing being warranted or witnessed in the scriptures they must take héed that they do not elude rather then expound the words of the holie ghost with a perpetuall Synecdoche which shall frustrate the very force of all those euident and vehement speeches For it is strange to mee first that without iust proofe any such thing should be ioined to the bloud of Christ to helpe the price thereof Next that the holie ghost should alwayes vrge the one and as if were continuallie forget the other Thirdlie the things which are named in the Scriptures as they were the last so are they the chiefest parts of Christs sufferings the rest being vnderstood as antecedent to them and not eminent aboue them Nowe the CROSSE BLOVD and DEATH oâ— Christ are euerie where mentioned in the scriptures as the verie ground worke and pillars of our redemption Lastlie the bodie of Christ wounded and his bloud shed for the remission of sinnes are the seales that confirme and ratifie the new testament and therefore they giue chiefest power and strength to the whole couenant as appeareth by the Sacraments which import vnto vs not the paines of hell but the death and bloud of Christ as the right and true meanes of our redemption Know ye not saith Paule that all we which haue beene baptised into Iesus Christ haue beene baptised into his death Wee are buried then with him by baptisme into his death And speaking of the Lords Supper he saith As often as ye shall eate this bread and drinke this cuppe ye shewe the Lords death vntill he come The cuppe of blessing which wee blesse is it not the communion of Christes blood The bread which we breake is it not the communion of Christs bodie By these we are grafted into Christ by these wee are quickned nourished into life euerlasting And these propose vnto vs no inuisible paines of hell but the bodie of Christ wounded and his bloud shed for the remitting of our sinnes â—ow vniting vs vnto Christ that we may be members of his bodie of his flesh and of his bones Yea what an vnthankefull part were it for the captiues that are inlarged to chalenge the ransome which was paide for their fréedome as defectiue when the aduersarie from whom we were bought receyued it by the rule of Gods iustice as a price most sufficient for vs all that were deliuered F I will redeeme them from the power of hell I will ransome them from death saith God by his Prophet g you were bought with a PRICE saith Paul The price then which Christ paid must be fully worth the thing redéemed For since it pleased God not by force to take vs from Satan but with a price to buie vs out of his hands it were dishonour to God and a kinde of reproch to giue lesse for vs then might counteruaile vs. And therefore let vs rest assured that the price which Christ payed for vs was of farre greater value then we were not onelie in the vpright iudgement of God but euen in the malicious and furious desire of Satan who thirsted after the bloud of the sonne of God with greedier â—awes then after all the worlde besydes and tryumphed more in bringing him to a shamefull death then in
pono pro ouibus meis I lay down my LIFE for my sheep Diligit me pater quia pono animaÌ„ meaÌ„ vt iteruÌ„ sumaÌ„ eam My father loueth me because I lay downe my life to take it againe And indéed that phrase PONTRE ANIMAM in the Scriptures doth alwaies note a voluntary yeelding of the life which is A LAYING ASIDE OF THE SOVLE for y e loue of others as where Peter saith Ponam animam meaÌ„ pro te he did not meane he would go to hel for his master there was no cause nor néede thereof but I wil lay down MY LIFE for thee And when S. Iohn telleth vs Quoniam ille animaÌ„ suaÌ„ posuit pro nobis nos debemus animas ponere pro fratribus hee doth not charge vs to hazard our soules by sin or hel for others but insomuch as Christ gaue HIS LIFE for vs wee ought to GIVE OVR LIVES for our brethren So that for Christ to LAY ASIDE HIS SOVLE or to POVRE IT OVT VNTO DEATH was not to suffer hell paines for our sakes but to die for our sins al those places are rather coherent theÌ„ dissident to the rest of y e scriptures which I alleaged And yet because the ancient fathers some times saie that Christ gaue his soule for our soules as hee did his flesh for our flesh the scriptures often affirme hee gaue himselfe I will come to the third effect of Christs crosse which is the MIGHTY POVVER OF HIS DEATH and there examine what part of Christ died for our sinnes and howe by his death the guilt of sinne the curse of the lawe the sting of death and the strength of Satan are not onelie weakened and wasted but extinguished and abolished that they shal neuer preuaile against him or his elect That the Sonne of God loued vs gaue himselfe for vs making the purgatioÌ„ of our sinnes in his own person by the sacrifice of himself to put away sinne is a case so cléere that it néed not to be prooued much lesse may be doubted without apparant subuersion of the christian faith but whether Christ suffered the death of the whole man his soule tasting for the time an inwarde and spirituall death in satisfaction of our sinnes as his flesh did an externall corporall dissolution of nature this by some men is questioned in our daies That for our sakes he humbled himself was obedient vnto death euen the death of y e crosse is out of al doubt the Euangelists describe the maner of his death the apostles the cause to wit the REDEMPTION of our sins the CONFIRMATION of the new testament the RECONCILIATION of man to God the DESTRVCTION of him that was ruler of death the IMITATION of his obedience who suffered for vs leauing an exaÌ„ple y t we should follow his steps Al this he performed with y e death of his flesh the Scriptures no where mentioning anie other kinde of death that I can read Where a testament is there must be the death of him that made the testament r For the testameÌ„t is confirmed when men are dead Christ is the mediator of the new Testament that through death which was for the redemption of the trespasses in the former Testament they which are called might receiue the promise of eternall inheritance This plainelie expresseth the death of the bodie For God forbid mens Testaments should be frustrate till their soules haue tasted the second death but from the death of the bodie all testaments take their force Wherefore the new testament is confirmed by the bodilie death of Christ and there neede no paines of hell before it can be good You y â— in times past were strangers and enemies in mind by euill works hath he nowe reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to make you holie vndefiled and faultlesse before him Paul thought it not enough to saie Wee were reconciled vnto God by the death of his sonne but that death he addeth was IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH to exclude all supposals of the death of the soule since THE BLOVD OF CHRISTS CROSSE did PACIFY thinges in earth and in heauen For so much as the children were partakers of flesh and bloud hee also did therein partake with them that through death hee might destroy him that had power of death euen the deuill The death of the spirit maie bee without fâ—esh and bloud as we see in the Deuils who are dead in spirite But Christ tooke flesh and bloud that by the death of his flesh hee might destroie the deuill that insulted and raigned ouer the weakenesse of mans flesh Wee are buried with Christ by baptisme into his death and if we bee grafted with him into the similitude of his death we shalbe likewise into his resurrection knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sinne might bee destroied that henceforth wee shoulde not serue sinne for hee that is dead is freed from sinne So manie wordes so manie reasons to prooue that Christ died not for vs the death of the soule but onelie of the bodie Wee are buried with him by Baptisme his bodie not his soule was buried Wee are grafted into the similitude of his death not the soule but sinne dieth in vs when we are grafted into Christ for hee quickeneth our spirits Our olde man was crucified with him his soule was not crucified but his flesh that the body of sinne might be destroied by the death of the soule the body of sinne is strengthned and encreased That henceforth we should not serue sinne they must needes serue sinne whose soules are deade with sinne He that is dead is freed from sinne but he that is deade in spirit is subiected to the force furie of sinne The death of Christ then is mentioned no where in the Scriptures but the verie words or circumstances doe cléerely confirme that they speake of the death which he suffered for vs on the crosse IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH That Christ did or could suffer the death of the soule is a position far from the words but farther from the groundes of the sacred scriptures For in God there is no death and without God there is no life of the soule So that it is neither possible for the soule ioyned with God to die nor for the soule separated from God to liue Then if Christs soule were at anie time deade it lost all coniunction and communion with God and consequentlie the personall vnion of God and man in Christ was for that time dissolued and the grace and presence of Gods spirit were vtterlie taken from him and so during that space there coulde bee in Christ neither obedience humility patieÌ„ce holines nor loue which are the fruits of Gods spirit yea the soule of Christ if it were but for an houre depriued of Gods grace and spirit must néedes for that time be subiected to all
manner and merit of Christs suffering death on the crosse to saue vs from the wrath of God that was kindled against our transgressions And since the scriptures mention none other meanes of our redemption but the DEATH and BLOVD of the SONNE of God I hold them wisest that leaue deuising any better or other help for our saluation then God himselfe hath reuealed And as for the death of the soule I take that to be the greatest hinderance that maybe to the worke of our redemption and to shake the verie foundation of our faith and hope in the crosse of Christ. Which least I should seeme to say no way to proue let vs view the COMFORT of Christes crosse and thereby see howe his soule was affected towardes God euen whiles his bodie suffered that grieuous and opprobrious death of the crosse I haue often mused what made men of great learning and iudgement otherwise to swarue so much from the plain tenor of the scriptures and to imagine in the soule of our sauiour such doubt and feare of Gods fauour such horâ—ors and torments of hell that they sticke not to match them with the paines of the damned considering there is no manifest ground nor euident proofe of so dangerous doctâ—ine in the word of God but contrariwise when the scriptures describe Christ on the crosse they propose his bodie martyred with al kinde of crueltie but his soule cleaning to God with all perfection of constancie Read the xvi and xxii Psalme who will which purposelie treate of Christes passion and tell mee whether there bee so much as a worde importing anie distrust of Gods fauour or anie suspicion of the paines of hell suffered in the soule of Christ The first entrance of the xxii Psalme you will say is My God my God whie hast thou forsaken me This is that Helen that hath bewitched the world I meane the misconstring of these words Of which though I haue spoken before as much as may content any man that is not fastned to his fancies more then to the truth yet let vs shortlie see whether the rest of the Psalme admit their new found exposition or no. It followeth in the same place Thou didst bring me out of my mothers wombe thou gauest mee confidence at my mothers breasts On thee was I cast from my birth THOV ART MY GOD FROM MY MOTHERS BELLIE Bee not farre from mee for trouble is neere and there is none to helpe Bee not farre O Lord my strength hasten to helpe me I will declare thy name vnto my brethren in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee for HE HATH NOT DESPISED nor abhorred the weakenesse or basenesse of the poore neither HATH HE HID HIS FACE FROM HIM but when he called vnto him HE HEARD HIM Is this the praier of a man whose soule is forsaken of God Did he doubt of Gods fauour that with such confidence pronounced Thou gauest me assurance at my mothers breasts thou art my God from my mothers belly Was he perswaded that god had refused and left him when as he saith God hath not DESPISED y e weaknes of the poore he hath not hid his face from him when he called God heard him If these be flat contradictions to their imaginations why wrest they the first verse to euert all the rest Christ therfore in the beginning of the Psalm might well complain that god had for the time of his passion withheld his PROTECTION or diminished his CONSOLATION but in no wise that God had decreased his loue or shut vp his fauor towards the humane soule of his sonne Yea the next words are an explication of the former Why hast thou forsaken me and art so farre from mine helpe Not to helpe in trouble is to forsake though God bee not angrie with the soules of such as suffer affliction The very words agrée to GO FARRE OFF froÌ„ a man is to FORSAKE HIM so he that desireth God not to be far off praieth not to be forsaken but rather to receiue helpe in time of néed Uerilie S. Ambroses iudgement and reason doth satisfie me whatsoeuer it doth others Ille nunquam derelictus est à patre cum quo pater semper erat Sed secundum corpus in quo traditus est passioni vox ista processit quoniam derelinqui nobis videmur quando sumus in periculis constituti Christ was neuer forsaken of his Father with whome the father alwayes was but this complaint came from his bodie which was left to suffer death for so much as wee thinke our selues forsaken when wee are oppressed with anie troubles If the xxii Psalme content vs not let vs examine the sixteenth and there marke what the holie Ghost doth attribute to the soule of Christ in the middes of his sufferings on the Crosse and then iudge which opinion draweth nearest to the truth of the sacred Scriptures I haue alwayes SET the Lord BEFORE ME for hee IS AT MY RIGHT HAND THAT I SHOVLD NOT BE SHAKEN therefore my heart is glad my tongue reioiceth my flesh also shall REST IN HOPE Because thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell nor suffer thine holie one to see corruptioÌ„ Thou wilt SHEVV ME THE VVAY OF LIFE THE FVLNES OF IOY IS IN THY PRESENCE and delectation at thy right hand for euer Thrée plentifull and wonderfull graces of the holie Ghost are here described in our Sauiour as he hung on the crosse in the middest of his miseries abundance of FAITH assurance of HOPE persistance in IOY The ground of our faith is the truth of Gods word sealed in our hearts by the working of his spirite The faith of Christ had a farre stronger foundation and clearer reuelation then ours can possible haue He was hoped for by the Patriarks searched after by the Prophets he was the end of all the lawe and truth of all the former testament He was serued by Angels acknowledged by starres seas windes beasts fishes and trees hee was obeyed by diseases death and diuels the holie Ghost visiblie descended on him when hee was baptised the father by thunder from heauen often proclaimed him to be his welbeloued sonne and commaunded all men to heare him he knewe the thoughts of mens hearts yea the secrets of heauen he was transfigured in the Mount and tasted of that heauenlie glorie prepared for him The confessing him to bee the sonne of God openeth heauen preuaileth agaynst hell supporteth his Church and obtaineth blessednes This he heard with his eares sawe with his eyes and wrought with his hands yea he spake with his mouth knew in his heart that God had sanctified him and sent him to saue the world I aske now a meane diuine was it possible that Christ Iesus after all this intelligence euidence and experience both of his owne person who he was and of his fathers loue and purpose how setled determined and euerlasting it was should feare or
the redemption of mankind is altogither vncertain and vnsufficient if our head being God and man could doe no more but by long struggling wind himselfe out of Satans clawes We must confesse an other kind of conquest before the kingdome of Christ can ouerrule all as it must and his Church bee secure from the gates of hell to wit that ALL POVVER in heauen and earth was giuen vnto him that EVERIE KNEE in heauen and earth and hell bowed vnto him that he had and hath THE KEIES of death and OF HELL and could RVLE his enemies with a rodde of yron and breake them like a potters vessell that by his death hee DESTROIED him that was the ruler of death euen the diuell This conquest Christ purchased by his passion but he did not execute it till his resurrection otherwise he could not haue died if death on the crosse had beene throughlie conquered But hee was humbled and exinanited on the crosse euen vnto death that he might after in his resurrection bee exalted and replenished with all honour power and principalitie in heauen earth and hell Howbeit of the time VVHEN hee triumphed wee shall afterwarde speake we nowe obserue VVHAT hee did in his triumph ouer hell and Satan and by the Scriptures wee finde that Christ ENTERED Satans house TIED him and SPOILED his goodes or as the Apostle expresseth it hee SPOILED POVVERS PRINCIPALITIES MADE AN OPEN SHEVV of them and TRIVMPHED OVER THEM IN HIS OVVNE PERSON And least I be thought to pretend an ancient and vniforme reading of Paules wordes in this place without iust proofe let vs see what ancient fathers haue followed the same The Siriacke translation of the newe Testament which is of no small antiquitie readeth IN SEMETIPSO IN HIS OVVNE PERSON as I doe So do Origen in Epistola ad Romanos lib. 5. cap. 5. Epiphanius in Anchorato contra Pneumatomacheos haeres 74. Chrysostome homili 6. in 2. ca. ad Colos and Theodorete likewise in 2. cap. ad Colos. Of the Latine Fathers in whome it maie better bee distinguished the booke de Trinitate vnder Tertullians name Augustine contra Faustum lib. 16. cap. 29. Epistola 59. a Hilarius de Trinitate lib. 1. lib. 9. Fulgentius ad Thrasimundum lib. 3. Hieronymus in cap. 2. ad Colos. Ambrose vpon the same place Ruffinus in Symbolum Apostolicum and so throughout the Latine Church without anie dissenting Onelie the Greeke collections vnder Oâ—cumenius name referre that triumph which saint Paul here speaketh of to the Crosse saying that Christ shamed and confounded the diuell on the crosse in that he was openlie crucified in the eies of all the people And although I condemne not the sense as false that Christ wrestled with Satan on the crosse and euen there ouermaistred his power yet that Christ had no further or greater triumph ouer hell and Satan then by dying on the crosse in the sight of men doth vtterlie abolish the glorie of his resurrection and contradicteth the whole course of the scriptures By his suffering and dying on the crosse hee deserued and purchased the exaltation and triumph which he had afterwards when he rose from the dead and euen before he died he was fullie assured that neither his soule should be left in hell nor his flesh see corruption but that God would raise him again and giue him all power in heauen and earth and make all knees in heauen earth and hell to bow vnto him and place him at his right hand in the brightnesse of eternall glorie It may therefore be confessed beléeued that Christ ouerthrew Satan on the crosse and so triumphed in spirit against him or had a spirituall triumph ouer him as Dauid foretolde when he said in the person of Christ Mine heart was glad and my tongue ioyfull yea my flesh shall rest in hope but that the glorie of his resurrection did not farre excell the shame of his passion and that his rising from the deade was no more victorious and triumphant then his yeelding himselfe vnto death is directlie repugnant to the truth of the scriptures Though he were CRVCIFIED THROVGH INFIRMITIE yet liueth he saith Paul through THE POVVER of God So that to die euen in Christ was infirmitie though voluntarie to liue againe as hee liueth in the height of celestiall glorie was a cleare demonstration of the power of God in him He was declared to be the son of God in power by the resurrection from the dead Insomuch that if Christ had died and not risen againe his conquest had not beene woorth the speaking of If Christ bee not raised your faith is in vaine saith Paule and ye are yet in your sinnes Christes death then without his resurrection had béene a full conquest of Satan ouer Christ and all his members That which Paule sayeth is true as well in Christ as in vs It is sowen in dishonour it is raised in glorie it is sowen in VVEAKENESSE it is raised in power Since then in the death and crosse of Christ the holie ghost noteth reproach shame and weakenesse wee do foulie erre if wee ascribe no greater nor other triumph to Christ ouer death and hell then his crosse and passion These things Christ was to suffer and so to enter into his glorie but we must make as great difference betwixt his dying and his rising againe as wee woulde betwixt his weakenesse and his power his conflict and his conquest his depression and his exaltation his suffering in reproch and his raigning in glorie For the better euidence whereof you shall see the holie scriptures at large expresse the verie same parts and the verie same time which I obserued vnto you Christ humbled himselfe and became obedient vnto the death euen the death of the crosse WHEREFORE God also highly EXALTED him and gaue him a name aboue euery name that at the name of Iesus euery KNEE SHOVLD BOVV of things IN HEAVEN IN EARTH AND BENEATH THE EARTH Under the earth are no reasonable creatures to kneele to Christs person and scepter but the damned spirits and soules in hell except we take holde of Purgatorie or Limbus patrum the elect in heauen doe willinglie serue him such as liue on earth doe endure his iustice or loue his mercie the spirits beneath doe finde his truth and feele his hand the most aduerse acknowledge his name and feare his force This exaltation of Christ to raigne ouer heauen earth and hell came after his death as being the rewarde and effect of his obedience vnto death So saith the Apostle He humbled himselfe and became obedient to the death euen the death of the Crosse. WHEREFORE or for which cause God highlie exalted him that in the name of Iesus all knees in heauen earth and hell should bowe Then on the crosse or afore his death the time was not yet come that Christ should be thus exalted but there rather was the time
againe in their graues and returned to corruption yea that would somewhat impeach the power of Christs resurrection if it were able to raise them to life but not preserue them in life and the whole fact will seeme rather an apparition then a true resurrection His first obiection is answered in the text it selfe For the saints did not rise before Christ but after Christ and so still Christ was the first borne from the dead The wordes of the text are manie bodies of the saintes which slept arose and came out of the graues AFTER HIS RESVRRECTION Nowe to thinke that they rose presentlie vpoÌ„ his death staied aliue in their graues till he was risen is a vaine imagination and a waie rather to punish them with a wearisome life then to prefer them to a comfortable resurrection His second reason hath some more shew but it is not sufficieÌ„t to conclude his intention It seemeth hard saith he that Dauid should not be in that resurrection of the iust if it were eternall of whose seede Christ is so often commended to vs with so great honor and euidence And if Dauid rose with them Peters proofe vnto the Iewes is verie weake when hee saith Dauid is deade and buried and his sepulchre remaineth with vs vnto this daie For if Dauids body were risen before the speaking of those words his sepulchre was emptie and concluded nothing for Peters purpose For aunswere heereto the holie Ghost had no meaning by Peters mouth to prooue that Dauid laie then in his graue when those wordes were spoken but onelie that Dauid saw corruption as his sepulchre remaining to that daie conuinced wherein his bodie was buried aboue a thousand yeares before Christes comming and consequentlie must néeds be turned into dust many hundreds before Peter spake the worde His prediction therfore that God would not suffer his holy one to see corruption could no waie pertaine to himselfe but must bee verified in some other which was Christ and so Peters argument was verie sound and cléere whether Dauids ashes were then in his sepulchre or no. Peters other allegation that Dauid is not ascended into heauen doth not hinder but Dauid might be translated into Paradise with the rest of the saints y t rose from the dead when Christ did but it is a iust probation that Dauids body was not then ascended when Christ sate in his humane flesh at the right hand of God which expresseth the power and glorie wherunto the bodie of Christ was exalted by his ascension into heauen So that here Austen hath some hold to proue that Dauid did not ascende in body when Christ did or at least not to heauen whither Christ ascended because in plaine wordes Peter saith Dauid is not ascended into heauen but either the bodies of y e saints slept againe when they had giuen testimony to Christs resurrection or they were placed in Paradise and there expect the number of their brethren which shall bee raised out of the dust or lastlie Dauid was none of those that were raised to beare witnesse of Christes resurrection but onelie such were chosen as were knowne to the persons then liuing in Hierusalem Whatsoeuer it was melius est dubitare de occultis quam litigare de incertis It is better as Austen saith to doubt of things vnknown and hid then to striue about things vncertain The last reason of S. Austen that God so prouided for vs that the fathers of the olde testament without vs should not be perfect proueth not that al â—he saints in Paradise lacke their bodies for then we must deny that Henoch was translated not to see death and that Elias was taken vp by a whirlewind into heaueÌ„ as also that he was seene on the mount talking with Christ which are directlie affirmed by the scriptures but it wil make some proofe that they haue not y e same perfection of ioie and blisse which they shall haue when all the members of Christ are receaued into glorie There remaineth one obiection which must be eased before I ende And that is Christ saide to the théefe which confessed him on the crosse This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise how then could Christs soule be thrée daies in hell except we grant it might be in manie places at once S. AusteÌ„ laboreth in his 57. epistle to remooue this stumbling blocke and after some turnes and wrenches he thus concludeth Est autem sensus multo expeditior ab his omnibus ambiguitaâ—â—bus liber si non secundum id quod homo erat sed secunduÌ„ id quod deus erat Christus dixisse accipiatur Hodie mecuÌ„ eris in paradiso Homo quippe Christus illo die secunduÌ„ carnem in sepulchro secundum animam in inferno futurus erat Deus vero ideÌ„ ipse Christus vbique semper est The far easier vnderstanding and free from al these ambiguities is if wee take Christ to speake those wordes This day shalt thou bee VVITH MEE in Paradise not of his manhoode but of his Godhead For the man Christ was that day in the graue according to his flesh and in hell as touching his soule but the same Christ as God is alwaies euery where And though this answere please that learned Father best that Christ shoulde speake of the theeues soule and his diuine presence in Paradise yet wee haue no warrant in the word of God so to fasten Christs soule vnto hel for the time of his death that it might not bee in Paradise before it descended into hell and he first shew himselfe to the saints to their vnspeakeable comfort before hee went to subiect the powers or darkenesse vnder his yoke That hee descended into the deep must be receaued because it is auouched by the apostle but what time he went or how long he staied as also what maner of triumph he brought thence cannot bee limited by anie mortall man In all these cases I thinke it safest to particularize nothing which is not defined in the worde of God there may be likelihoods but the consciences of the faithfull must not bee enforced except to certainties This is that I thought fit to be saide touching Christes descent to hell vrging the force and fruite of his going thither or appearing there to subiect the whole strength and kingdome of Satan vnto himselfe and to acquite all his members from comming thither but the time or manner of his descending I dare not determine least I should auert you from truth to fables Farre surer is the former doctrine teaching the redemption of mankinde by the death of Christ to bee all-sufficient and euerlasting wherein the scriptures being euident and the Fathers consonant I shall néede no moe words I wil therfore close them both with the confession of Fulgentius who liued 500. yeeres after Christ and so commend you to God Deus verus viuus imo deus veritas et vita aeterna nisi
and death Wee saie the sonne of God sustained the Crosse and death in his owne flesh that hee might deliuer vs from death and corruption Hee laide downe his soule for vs not as an alien and straunger to the sonne of God but vnspeakeablie vnited vnto him as himselfe saith I haue power to lay downe my soule and I haue power to take it againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is proper to the soule to bee pensiue to feele paine and griefe to depart from the bodie as it is proper to the flesh to be wearied to be crucified to be raised againe So the violence was offered to the bodie the sense whereof reached vnto the soule and these are the sufferings of the crosse and of death which the Scriptures attribute to the sonne of God for our saluation Insomuch that your long discourse of the proper and immediate suffering of Christes soule for sinne without and besides the bodie maie be hanged on the hedge as discording both from the scriptures and all the Catholike fathers that either haue priuatelie testified the truth by their writings or publiklie confirmed it by their assemblies And as for your hellish paines when your selfe can tell what they are and make some better proofe then yet you haue done that they were or might be in the soule of Christ you shal receiue further answere These are the Refuters exquisite arguments which he calleth his speciall reasons being indeede rather so manie monsters in Christian Religion then matters to perswade anie man were he neuer so simple and but that a straunge faith muste needes haue such straunge groundes as these bee I shoulde thinke hee did rather expose this conceyte of Hell paines to bee derided of the worlde then to bee beleeued hee euerie where so secondeth his badde cause with woorse proofes but where better foode wanteth Akornes are good meate and blacke Moores maie bee beautifull when others bee awaie I woulde heere make an ende of his first parte but that as his manner is when hee hath stumbled absurdlie a long while at hell hee steppeth on the suddaine as vnhandsomelie to heauen Knowe therefore saieth hee hell as we take it is euen in this life founde sometime as heauen is likewise for as touching materiall fire in hell what a toyish fable is that else I praie you how may the soules of the damned suffer by materiall fier seeing they are spirits and therefore with them and fier materiall there can be no communiâ—n But let it bee as it may be the locall hell of the damned we speake not of You slacke your hell paines Sir Resuter towardes the ende as if all this while you had beene too hot in them and heere you giue thrée qualifications to them or rather contradictions to your former spéeches Hell as you take it is SOMETIMES found in this life But two leaues before you tolde vs the paines and sufferings of Gods wrath which are the hell that you saie Christ suffered ALVVAIES accompanie them that are separated from the grace loue of God how commeth ALVVAIES to bee so quicklie changed into SOMTIMES were there fewer wicked when you spake the last wordes then when you spake the first or are you better aduised remembring what a grosse absurditie it woulde bee to cast all infidels and hypocrits wicked and disobedient persons into hel torments all the time of this life before the iudgment of God taketh hold of them Secondlie as there is heauen euen in this life in some measure euen so saie you there may be hell You doe not meane that here on earth are the verie same ioies and blisse that are in heauen nor anie way equall to them if you did it were a lewder absurditie then the former For here we reioice that our names are written in heauen as the Apostle teacheth vs to doe wee reioice vnder the hope of the glorie of God Now hope that is seene is not hope For howe can a man hope for that which hee seeth or possesseth but when we hope for that we see not we doe with patience abide for it In this life wee walke by faith not by sight and whiles we dwell in the bodie we are absent from the Lord. For though we be now the sonnes of God it appeareth not as yet what we shal be our life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is our life shall appeare then shall wee also appeare with him in glorie If you therefore affirme of heauen as you do of hell that the VERIE SAME ioies which are in heauen or EQVALL with them are here sometime found on earth it is a wicked errour flatlie repugning to the trueth of Gods promises and to the verie nature of our Christian faith and hope For faith is the grounde of thinges hoped for and the euidence of thinges not yet appearing but if you meane that as wee conceaue HOPE of heauenlie blisse so wee must néedes REIOYCE in it this position is verie true but plainelie opposite to your imagination of hell paines For then must there in this life bee no more felte of hell but the FEARE thereof and the griefe arising from that feare euen as the HOPE of heauen maintaineth our ioye Nowe in Christ coulde neither the feare of hell possiblie bee founde nor anie griefe or sorrowe arising from anie such feare since there was in his soule no wante of faith nor hope no not anie the least diminution of either as your selfe confesse but as the Apostle saieth FOR THE IOY THAT VVAS SET BEFORE HIM he endured the paine of the crosse and despised the shame And here you may see by your owne comparison the follie of your owne assertion For if your hellish sorrow be the only true and perfectly accepted sacrifice to God as you saie and without faith it is impossible to please God which alwaies hath hope and consequentlie the ioie of saluation annexed vnto it which you call heauen then can no man please God or offer anie sacrifice to God till hee bee both in hell and heauen at one and the same time and the ioyes of heauen are so coupled with the paines of hell that none of the faithfull can be in the one without the other but in both togither And thus haue you brought heauen and hell not onelie to bee euerie where but by your corrupt conceites to bee alwaies linked together Lastlie â—he fire of hell doeth somewhat trouble you and therefore you labour vtterly to quench it and aske what a toyish fable is that but good Sir if you would bring no more fables then I doe you might haue spared not euerie leafe but euerie line in this your vnaduised pamphlet I spake not in my sermon one word either of materiall or corporall fire in hell but I vrged the fire of hel to be a true created fire and not any metaphoricall flame as you here dreame from which since the bodie
these be your best exceptions against Christs triumphing ouer hell all the world will know that you are a worthie man to weare a woodden dagger The Apostle made it a part of Christs high exaltation that euerie knee as well of things vnder the earth as of things in heauen should bow vnto him and euerie toong confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lord and do you thinke it a méete matter to be mocked and derided Paul saith Christ spoyled principalities and powers of hell darknes and made a shew of them openlie and triumphed ouer them in his owne person for so I must reade till you shew me better authoritie against it then I haue brought for it your selfe both sée and sate that whyles Christ suffered and whyles he died it was a miserable triumph yea a piteous triumph it was indeede where himselfe remayned in such woful tormeÌ„ts where appeared no shew of conquest but rather of being conquered stil he suffered til he gaue vp the ghost What letteth them I praie you since these words were not verified on the Crosse but they did take place in his resurrection as I teach and therein as by the effects it was most euident and apparant to the eies of all men he did spoyle powers and principalities made a shew of them openly and triumphed ouer them in his owne person Doth the holy ghost attribute this as a great honour to the humane nature of Christ that ascending on high he led captiuitie captiue and doe you make a merriment of it appealing to the whole world for their censure on your side Your strongest sort is this There can bee no commoditie nor benefit to the godlie by it For what good is there so much as pretended The generall redemption of all Gods elect and chosen people was wrought and fullie finished on the Crosse what could his going downe to hell adde more Is the subduing of hell powers and the treading on all their force and the restraining of all their furie so small a matter with you that it doth no good to the godlie Hee hath triumphed and spoyled them to frée vs from feare and hath taken the keyes of death and of hell into his owne hands to shew that all power is giuen him in heauen earth hell and that he can restrayne and bind Satan at his will and pleasure Is the performance and assurance of these things no coÌ„modity nor benefit to the godlie The redemption of Gods elect was you say fully finished on the Crosse. Deserued and obtained it was on the Crosse and by the crosse but not there executed There were our sinnes pardoned and our selues reconciled to God but as Christ died for our sinnes so he rose for our iusâ—ification His resurrectioÌ„ in that glorious manner which I haue mentioned in the treatise his ascension are necessary parts of our Saluation and therefore vse not the force of Christs crosse to exclude but to induce the rest For so doth the Apostle when he saith Christ humbled himselfe became obedient vnto y e death of the crosse Wherfore that is euen for that his humility obedience God hath highly exalted him giuen him a name aboue euerie name that at the name of Iesus should euery knee bow of things in heauen in earth vnder the earth So that his descending rising and ascending added nothing to the force of his death but shewed the fruite thereof and tend all to our good since wee are presentlie secured from the power of hell and Satan and shall be certainelie raysed and receaued to glorie Christes death without his resurrection and ascension had beene our confusion and no redemption for if sinne had slaine him without rising it must needes haue damned vs without hoping now in his Resurrection as euery Enemie was most mighty so was there most néed he should be subdued But hereof I haue spoken so largelie before that I shall not néede to rehearse it againe with turning the page it maie soone bee seene But The Scriptures you tell vs are clearely against Christs going to Hell For this daie sayd Christ to the theefe thou shâ—lt bee with mee in Paradise All this must needes be of his humane soule verelie without all question There is none can consider herein his Deitie If anie thinke his soule might goe to hell first and presentlie goe thence to heauen yer night also that is ridiculous and toyish You haue so manie toyes in your head Syr Refuter that a coloured cap would well become it when you come to a non plus in your proofes then you crie this is ridiculous and toyifh Go like your selfe and looke to the ridiculous toyes that you bring vs in euery page almost You would prooue forsooth that the SCRIPTVRES ARE CLEARE against Christs being in hell at anie time betwéene his death and his Resurrection for your warrant you bring his words to the theefe on the crosse this daie thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise and at his death when he sayd Father into thy hands I commend my spirite And when the places conclude no such thing as you would haue them nor anie thing néere it then you helpe it with outcries and saie There is no man of sense considering these circumstances that can iudge otherwise But will your wisdome remember that S. Austen in his 57. Epistle discussing this place of purpose to day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise saith the word MEE maie verie readily and easily bee referred to Christs Godhead promising the thiefe Paradise that present daie and all the childish amplifications that you haue brought vs to the contrarie are not worth a nut-shell to conteruaile S. Austens iudgement But graunt it were ment of Christs soule are you so perfect in the length of the waie from hell to Paradise and the wearines of Christs soule in going to both that you be sure he could not do both that daie You thinke belike Christ would not goe thither but to view the deuils one by one and call their names to sée who were absent You haue forgotten that with his presence or with his word whiles hee liued here on earth hee could torment the diuels and therefore if it pleased him but to shewe himselfe who hee was whom they had so despitefullie pursued by the handes and tongues of the wicked on the Crosse all hell must not onelie bende and bowe vnto him but feare and fall before him Againe what coulde hinder though he did not descende that daie which hee died but hee might so doe the daie that hee rose and euen when hee was to rise to loose all the strength of hell before him and to let Satan see that his kingdome was ouerthrowne by that death at which hee so much insulted and reioyced The time I doe not determine though I thinke it pertained rather to the glorie of his resurrection then otherwise as I
haue in the treatise more at large expressed Was not his soule you will aske IN HIS Fathers handes till the time of his Resurrection Who doubteth that As if to subdue hell with the glorie of his presence did not prooue the hande of GOD to bee rather mightilie with him then anie waie to leaue him and that to bee true which was forespoken by Dauid in his person Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell The handes of God you thinke signifie heere his ioyfull presence and the possession of heauen Who tolde you so Was Dauid dying when hee saide Into thine handes I commende my spirite thou hast redeemed mee Lord God of truth Was Sion not on earth but in heauen when the Prophet saith of her Thou shalt bee a crowne of glorie in the hand of the Lord and a royall Diademe in the hande of thy God it shall no more bee saide to thy land Desolate for thy land shall haue an husbande Was the king of Iudah then in heauen when God saide of him Though Coniah the sonne of Iehoiakim king of Iudah were the Signet of my right hand yet would I plucke thee thence Gods hand signifieth his power and protection and could there greater fauour power or protection bee shewed to the soule of Christ then for God in raising him from the dead not onelie to treade death but euen hell and Satan vnder his feete Call you this a most inglorious and vile debasing for the humane nature of Christ to haue all power in heauen and earth in which Hell also must bee comprised to bee deliuered vnto him and to bee made Lorde ouer all not onelie men and Angels but euen enemies and diuels From this honour and power whereof it is said Thou hast subiected all things vnder his feete maie no creature in heauen nor in hell be excepted And therefore if this bee a vile debasement I knowe not what glorie meaneth The purpose then of Christes descent to hell giueth honour to him ouer all his enemies and comfort to vs against the power and terrour of hell which wee see dissolued and spoyled by our heade in our names and for our sakes for so much as beeing ioyned to him as members of his bodie of his flesh and of his bones hell hath nowe no more right to vs then to him since it is not possible but the heade muste bee where the members are And Christ himselfe hungreth and thirsteth and is naked and sicke imprisoned and persecuted in euerie one of his members euen in the basest and lowest of them and this no more impeacheth the all sufficient merite of Christes Crosse then his resurrection from the dead doeth the third daie after his death and all things finished on the Crosse needefull to bee suffered for our redemption which in your â—ranticke humour you seeme to detest as BLASPHEMOVS The proofe that hee went thither you will saie is all if that were once cleered the rest woulde soone bee accorded I maie not for your pleasure Sir Refuter stande to rippe vppe and repeate the thinges which were then deliuered and are now published there you may looke If you like them not giue mee some reason besides your owne rouing conceit and it shall bee soone answered It is no where written in the Scriptures you will saie Saint Austen iudiciallie and resolutelie telleth you it is written in the Prophet Dauid and so expounded by Saint Peter and of that iudgement were all the Fathers of Christes Church without exception Athanasius saith it is a parte of the Catholike faith without beleeuing the which we can not be saued And sâ—re the words be plaine enough if you leaue wresting them from their right and true signification to serue your affections What can be plainer Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell besides the Article of our Créede He descended into hell Your answer is This is euident that the worde hell in our vulgar Creede is vnfit corrupt and starke naught For this I affirme it is onelie the Fathers abusiue speaking and altering the vsuall and auuÌ„cient sense of Hades that hath bredde this errour of Christes descending into hell Their vnapt and perilous translating into Latine Inferi and our naughtie and corrupt translation in English hell hath confirmed the same And note here first it is a thing too rife with the Fathers yea with some of the auncieâ—test of them to alter and chaunge the authenticke vse of words whereby consequentlie it is easie for errours and grosse mistakings to creepe in As Chirotonia to signifie ordination of Ministers when it signifyeth authenticallie the peoples giuing of voices in election Kleros to signifie onelie the Cleargie when it signifieth all the flocke Euen so trulie the Greeke fathers vse Hades and the Latine Inferi to signifie hell properlie and particularlie that is the place of the damned But this is a meere and plaine abusion of these wordes and speciallie of our worde most in question that is Hades They haue much altered and changed the authenticke and true vse thereof You begin nowe to shewe your selfe in your right hue All the Greeke and Latin fathers that euer were in the Church of Christ all the English teachers that haue béene since this nation receiued the faith neuer vnderstood the signification of the word Hades til you came of late to bring vs newes of Socrates fansie and Ciceros diuinitie to correct the Creede Ignatius Clemens Origen Athanasius Eusebius Basil Nazianzene Epiphanius Chrysostome Cyril Eustathius Theodotete with a thousand more naturallie borne Greekes and manie of them nothing inferiour to Plato or whom you can name euen for their eloquence in the Greeke tongue were they all ignorant of the worde Hades which boies in Grammar schoole doe well vnderstande Or did they all conspire one after another to falsifie the faith Irenaeus Tertullian Cyprian Lactantius Ierome Ambrose Austen Hillarie Prudentius Prosper Fulgentius with infinite others great Schollers and pillars in the Church of GOD had none of them the skill to knowe what Infernum or Inferi meant till you sprang vp to restore the Latine tongue to his originall integritie Or did they all concurre purposelie to corrupt the Creede Which will you take from all these fathers religion or learning If you leaue them so much vnderstanding as the boies haue nowe in Paules Schoole they coulde not mistake either Hades or Inferi And therefore you may talke thus long enough before you shall gette anie sober Reader to beleeue you He must bee as farre infected with this frenzie as you your selfe are before this will anie way sinke into his head that none of these vnderstoode their owne naturall language But they haue mistaken other wordes you saie as well as these namelie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In deede you or they haue grosselie mistaken the one the other is not that I knowe in question vnlesse you take vppon you so
Theseus mentioned by Euripides others you shall see THE VVORLD OF THE DEAD or THE VVORLD OF SOVLES be they good or bad to be in Plutoes kingdom which the gréek Poets cal HADES therfore vnlesse the distemper of your braines make you weary of Christian religion and incline you to Paganisme I doe not see what reason moueth you to bring Homers HADES to expounde the Creede And were you permitted so to doe what gaine you by it For Homers HADES is y e region vnder the earth where the good are kept in pleasant fields and the wicked in places of punishment and this is euidentlie the hell of the Poets and Pagans to which by your own classical authentical exposition Christ did descend if their HADES be receaued into the creede But Plato the wise Maister taketh it sometime for heauen as namelie in his Phaedone where speaking in the person of Socrates a little before his death he saith The soule beeing an inuisible thing goeth hence to another place like to it selfe that is to a noble pure and inuisible in HADES in truth to a good and wise God whither if God will my soule shall presentlie goe Did you not propose Plato to bee an expounder of the Creede and preferre him as a wise maister before all the fathers because you thinke hee fitteth your humour right I coulde suffer him to haue his praise but in this case I must saie of him as Tertullian doeth Doleo bona fide Platonem omnium haereticorum condimentorium factum Illius est enim in Phaedone quod animae hinc euntes sint illinc inde hinc I am sorie in good sadnesse that Plato is becom the Apothecary of al heresies For it is his opinion euen in his Thaedone that soules go hence thither and thence hither Your wise Masters report of HADES and PLVTO was the priuate opinion of Socrates against the common consent of Homer and all the poets and against the receiued perswasion of the people The conceite it selfe is full of pride errour and paganish infidelitie absurditie and blasphemie And yet all this being verie true Platoes wordes importe no such thing as you imagine that HADES is that heauen where God and his saintes remaine And therefore Sir Confuter if you be wearie as well of the Apostles as of the fathers and insteed of Christ will haue Plato to teach men the mysteries of the kingdome of heauen Englande where God be thanked there is a religious vertuous and wise prince ruling with christian lawes and a number of learned and graue both Counsellors Bishops Iudges and others that will endure no such prophanenes is no fit place for you to bring in Platoes heauen If I proue not these exceptions which I take to your wise maisters imagination let me beare the shame if I do look you your fellowes how well you deserue of Christian religion to make the saintes to rest and Christ to raigne either in Platoes heauen or in Homers hades For the first it is euident the Poets all wiâ—h one consent placed HADES BELOVVE VNDER THE EARTH and not aboue in the skies nor in heauen Homer and Hesiod you haue hearde Aristophanes maketh Dionysius desirous to see Euripides nowe deade and therefore sendeth him to Hercules to learne the waie to whome professing that no man shall perswade him not to goe to Euripides Hercules replieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wilt thou goe TO HADES BELOVVE to see him where Plutoes kingdome is described aunswerable to the rest of the Poets In Euripides the ghost of Polydor beginneth the first tragedie thus Here am I come leauing the dennes of the dead and the gates of darkenesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where HADES hath his seate seuered from the gods Pindarus speaking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the godlie that are in HADES saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to them the strength of the sonne doth lighten the NIGHT that is there BELOVV Euripides maketh Hercules after the murther of his wife and children to saie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dying I will go vnder the earth whence I came Nowe whence Hercules came is expressed before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 returning from the darke chambers of the queene of HADES BELOVV In like sort Sophocles maketh Aiax to saie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rest I will speake to the spirites BELOVV IN HADES So Hercules remembring his workes saith with these armes I drew by force that inexpugnable Monster 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the three headed whelpe of HADES VNDER EARTH Simonides shewing how manie waies men end their liues some by sickenesse some by warre some by sea saith such as are tamed or conquered in warre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HADES sendeth vnder the blacke earth Orpheus one of the eldest Maisters of the Greeke tongue without comparison that liued in the time of the Iudges of Israel as Suidas testifieth and not so farre infected with fables as those Philosophers and Poets that came after him describing the true God that as he saith Moses wrote of calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the king of the heaueÌ„s of the earth of the sea AND OF HADES before whom Diuels do tremble and the whole companie of gods or Angels doe feare Where in olde Greeke and good diuinitie HADES is seuered from heauen sea and earth and consequentlie must be properlie HELL And so if you runne ouer all the Poets you shall finde that with one generall consent they placed Hades not onelie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 below but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnder the earth This was the opinion of the people The common people saith Lucian perswaded by Homer Hesiodus and the rest of the poets and taking their poems for a law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beleeue HADES to be a deepe place vnder the earth and that Pluto Iupiters brother raigneth ouer that gulph the kingdome of the deade falling to him by lotte and hee ordering howe they shall liue there belowe The place was so called from the name of the person whome they supposed to bee gouernour of it otherwise HADES was the proper name of Pluto as Plato himselfe confesseth in Cratylo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As for HADES the most part of men seeme to me to conceiue by the name that which is darke or which can not bee seene and fearing the name they call him PLVTO And howsoeuer Socrates in that place with a very false and â—ond reason goeth about to proue that the name of HADES as hee thinketh was not thence deriued but rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from knowing al good things which in déede is but a iest and by no possibilitie can come within the compasse of that word yet both Plutarch and the prose commentator vpon Homer neglect this vtterly and vphold that which Socrates refused 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hades and Acheron saith Plutarch haue their names from the
aire that is not seene nor hath any colour And in his discourse whether a secrete and silent life be best or no Plutarch proposeth this etymologie as truer elder theÌ„ Soâ—rates fancie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men ACCORDING TO THE AVNCIENT TRADITIONS OF THEIR FATHERS thinking the sunne to be Apollo named him Delius and Pythius And the RVLER of the contrarie destinie to life and light whether he bee a God or a DIVEL they termed HADES being the MASTER of dark night and dead sleepe for that when wee depart hence wee go into an vnknowne and vnseene place So that Socrates deriuation of Hades was both false and newe euen as his opinion of HADES to be an eloquent and bountifull God and his reason is woorst of all that because men returne not backe againe after death therefore HADES doeth detaine them with eloquent perswasions and great rewards which maketh him to be called Pluto For the scripture assureth vs that men dead can not returne againe though they were neuer so willing and though God of his goodnes bestoweth euerlasting blisse on his Saints yet the rest would faine bee rid of their eternall miserie and can not neither are they held in their state with faire promises or large benefites but by the vnalterable rigor of Gods iustice Eustathius vpon Homers wordes that Achilles sent many a worthie soule to HADES saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a darke place vnder the earth not to be seene appointed for soules and is deriued from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the priuatiue and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to see and is called also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by contraction HADES So when Homer bringeth in Hectors wife complaining of her miserie and saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou husband art gone to HADES house vnder the dennes of the earth Eustathius addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a place vnder the earth and so hidde from vs. Therefore it is called Hades that is an inuisible aire which wee can not see And howsoeuer Socrates pleased himselfe in framing this heauen as you call it for himselfe and a fewe others for hee admitteth none but Philosophers into it Lucian in his Dialogues of the dead bitterlie mocketh him as being in Hell with all the rest howsoeuer he dreamed of an heauen for himselfe after his departure hence How Paganish and not onelie ridiculous but blasphemous Platoes heauen is appeareth by this that Socrates maketh SVVANNES his fellow seruants to Phoebus imagineth they sing that day they die 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FORESEEING THE GOOD THINGS THEY SHALL HAVE IN HADES And further saith that wheÌ„ they perceiue they must die then chiefly and most of al they sing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reioycing that they SHALL GO TO GOD whose seruants they are And those wordes which Socrates spake of Swannes foreséeing THE GOOD THINGS IN HADES you Sir Confuter in the abundance of your wit note to proue HADES to be heauen And to this heauen though Socrates admitte Swannes yet he accepteth no men but such as haue béene Philosophers those of the purest sort As for such as vse popular and ciuil vertues as iustice and temperance gotten by care and continuance without Philosophie his words are expressely these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is fit that such soules should returne againe into some such politicall and tame kinde either of BEES VVASPES or EMMETS after that into men again But into the kinred of the Gods it is not lawful for anie to come that hath not beene a Philosopher and verie pure at his departing hence Others that were slouthfull and filled their bellies hee saith must be turned into Asses and such other beasts and oppressours and wrong doers into Wolues Kites and Hawkes Of these his plaine resolution is that such soules wander vntill by the earnest loue of their bodilie nature which followeth them they PVT ON BODIES againe And such bodies of birds and beasts they put on as resemble the manners of their former life Here is a goodly world of soules to be brought out of Plato into the Créede and Socrates heauen why you should fansie I cannot gesse except it be that none but very pure and precise persons shall come thither to whom you would faine be the ringleader But this is not all In making HADES AND PLVTO by which the Poets meane the diuell to bée a wise and bountifull God hath not your wise Master fitted his new heauen with an excellent head Plutarch moueth the doubt whether HADES be a God or a DIVELL that hath power ouer darknes and death Homer Hesiode affirme he dwelleth vnder the earth and is implacable cruell and hated of men Porphyrie no meane follower of Plato concludeth PLVTO which is all one with HADES as Plato confesseth to be the chiefe of all wicked spirits Porphyries words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We doe not without cause coniecture that all wicked spirites are vnder Serapis being led so to thinke not onely by his ceremonies but because offerings to pacifie and sacrifices auerting rage are done to PLVTO as we haue shewed in our first booke Now Serapis is all one god with Pluto and therefore he is the greatest prince of Diuels and one that giueth charmes to driue away spirits Loe here is Socrates wise and bountifull god HADES AND PLVTO concluded by a great Platonicke to be the chiefe diuell whose iudgement Eusebius followeth And in déede considering his place where he dwelleth his rage that he vseth against men for which hee is so feared and hated of them and his sacrifices in which hee delighteth as also his power ouer death and darkenesse it is a cléere case that Platoes HADES OR PLVTO is the great diuell in hell whose craftes and sleighâ—s because hée knew not as a Pagan he hath promoted him to bee a wise and liberall god and you haue learnedly cited this wise deuise to make him ruler of your heauen whither you send Christ and his Saints to liue there for euer Now were it graunted vnto you that Pluto and HADES which by the description of all your classicall Poets is in déede the diuell were one of Platoes gods are you so little acquainted either with Plato or with Paganisme that you presently conclude hee is the true God of Heauen Or that this inuisible place must néedes bee the kingdome of God Looke but in the latter end of this booke which you alleage for this very purpose and there you shall sée what pretie fansies Socrates hath of another inuisible earth farre aboue this and waters likewise and trees and flowers and fruites and beastes and men that liue longer than we doe here below and without sicknes where also there are temples woods in which the gods dwell familiarly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That to see that earth is the sight of the blessed But what
be these wicked fancies either to the Créede or to Christian Religion Séeing therefore your Gréeke Poets with one consent make HADES to be a god below vnder the earth and put vnder his power as well the Elisian fields and seates for the iust soules as the prisons and dungeons for the vniust and this fantasticall conceite of Socrates touching a speciall place for himselfe and such Philosophers as hee was together with Swannes beasts trees flowers fruites as it was singular and secret to himselfe so it was most absurd and wicked you may by no meanes bring your Classicall writers that were Pagans to expounde the Créede much lesse must you binde the holy Ghost in the new Testament to vse the word HADES as the infidels did since the holy Ghost onely knoweth and speaketh trueth and their imaginations of the dead or as you speake of the world of soules was not onely false and foolish but impious and blasphemous And yet if you doe admit them to bée interpreters of the Créede which I vtterlie refuse for the causes I haue tolde you they make directly against you For HADES with them was the Ruler or place of soules that were beneath vnder the earth were they in rest or in paine and that Christian Religion will assure you must néedes be hell howsoeuer to beare out your broken matter you beginne halfe to doubt where hell is The authenticke authors of the Greeke tongue vsed hades for the place of the blessed soules you say and not properlie for hell So Leonidas cheered vp his men not to feare such a blessed death to suppe in hell had beene a colde comfort vnto them You reade nothing your selfe belike that you hit nothing right In Plutarch whome you alleage this is no comfort giuen by Leonidas but hée séeing the Persians now in sight as his men were dining and in number so infinite aboue his who were but an handfull willeth them to make short and saith So dine as men that must suppe in HADES that is care not for meate since death is so neere but prepare to fight for your Countrey It sheweth a resolution to dye but no consolation after death more than they knew before which was that in HADES were places as well for the good to rest as for the bad to bée punished but both were below vnder earth and in Plutoes kingdome as the Gentiles supposed Neither did Homer meane to make a new heauen for such as Achilles slue but to send them to the place where hée thought all soules did abide and therefore hée put Achilles soule in Plutoes region vnder the earth as well as the rest of the Grecians and Troians that died in that Battaile And because your Proctor will néedes haue the words that Achilles spirite spake to Vlisses at his descent to hell to bee a dictionarie for hades what place it is against which if the Creede had gone it had been a skoffe to all Hellas and had hindered all the proceeding of the Gospell Let vs sée whether his owne dictionarie will not returne all his allegations vppon his owne head If HADES in the Créede must bee the same place where Achilles spirite was whither Vlisses descended and where he saw and spake with so many Ghostes then apparantly HADES must bée the Poets HELL At Vlisses entrance Homer telling how the soules came about him saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The soules flocked together out of Erebus now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the very place where the Poets place Cerberus and whence the same Poet saith Hercules 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Was sent to fetch from Erebus the dogge of HATEFVLL HADES Againe Vlisses mother asking him how hee came to that place saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My sonne how camest thou vnder this darke mist Of Aiax Ghost who would not for anger speake to Vlisses Homer saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hee went away to other soules in Erebus There Vlisses saith hée saw Sisyphus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suffering grieuous torments as also Titius and Tantalus to endure the like There he saw 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hercules strength a Ghost for hee himselfe was in ioye with the immortall Gods There Achilles spirite tooke so small comfort that when Vlisses said There is none happier then thou Achilles before whiles thou liuedst wee honoured thee as a God and now art thou a great commaunder among the Dead bee not therefore so fadde hée replied Praise not death to mee Vlisses I had rather serue any poore man on earth as his drudge though hee were scant able to liue then to raigne here ouer all the dead If the place bee darke and déepe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If Cerberus bée there which the Poets make the very kéeper of hell if there bée grieuous and cruell punishmentes for such as deserue them if the best haue there so little ioye of the place as Homer maketh Achilles ghost here to confesse what place can this bée but that hell which all the Poets acknowledge though in some part thereof there hée worse punishmentes then in other This is not that Tartarus you will saye which the Poets make the â—ayle and Prison for the wicked What is that to the purpose if some punishmentes in hell bée worse than other Looke to those whome the Poets place without the dungeon and sée whether they bée in heauen or no And because you and your friends talke so much of the worlde of Soules and of heauen to bée found in HADES and INFERI and your selfe bring Virgill as one of your Classicall authors to proue this matter Who though hee were a Poet and fayned many things yet hee spake you say familiarlie and after the vulgar vse and for the substance of the matter vttered touching heauen and hell the opinion of the worlde then I must pray the Readers leaue and patience whiles I follow you in your owne fantasticall deuise though against mine owne liking to let the simple sée what your world of soules and your heauen is euen in those very writers which you produce for this purpose and whether they bée fitte things to bée Presidents for the Créede or no. In Plutoes kingdome vnder earth whether Aeneas went to sée his Father Anchises Virgil your authenticke author maketh besides Tartarus and your goodly Elisian fields the eternall habitation as you call it of the blessed many lodgings As first for sicknes care weeping pouertie labour warres discord dreames and death besides for Centaures Briareus Hidra Chimera Gorgon Harpies and Gerion and sundrie other monsters There wander the Ghosts whose bodies are not buried a hundred yeare before they can get ouer the foule and silthie riuer of Styx The other side of Styx is kept by Cerberus the Dogge with thrée heads where first are placed the soules of infants weeping and crying then such as were vniustly condemned to death
next such as being wearie of their liues killed themselues now willing to suffer pouertie or any paine on earth so they might returne to life againe In the fourth place are Lugentes Campi the wofull fields of such as died for loue in the fift Warriers and such as pursued each other with the sword where Aeneas saw all the Grecians and Troians that dyed at the siege of Troy Of all these places where yet are no punishments the Poet maketh Deiphobus to say to Aeneas what cause driueth thée Vt tristes sine fole domos loca turbida adires To come to the wofull housen without sunne and lothsome placesâ— Then leadeth the left hand to Tartarus which these men so much harpe at compassed with fierie Phlegeton and there are the punishments of the wicked then Plutoes palace and on the right hand Amaena vireta fortunatorum nemorum sedésque beatae The sweete springs of the fortunate woods and the blessed seats Here is the heauen which this confuter alleageth out of Virgil and here Aeneas found his father Anchises in a greene vale viewing the soules that dranke of the water of obliuion and were tâ— take new bodies on earth againe His words are Animae quibus altera fato Corpora debentur Lethei ad â—luminis vndam Securos latices long a obliuia potant The soules who by destinie are to take bodies the second time doe here at the Riuer of Lethe drinke the waters of vtter forgetfulnes no way remembring whatsoeuer they saw or knew either whiles they first liued or during the time of their abode vnder earth And because it séemed strange to Aeneas that soules should come to take other bodies though this be right Platoes fansie in his Phaedone Anchises telleth his sonne the secrets of Platoes Purgatorie heauen and resurrection as Virgil conceiued them who was a great Platonist When men die saith he all the infections of their bodies cannot presently be taken from their soules Ergo exercentur poenis veterúmque maloruÌ„ supplicia expendunt Therefore the soules of such as are curable for the desperate and insanable are cast into Tartarus and neuer come thence by Platoes owne words are purged with paines and abide the punishment of their former infection some are hanged vp to the winde some are plunged vnder water some are clensed by fier Quisque suos patimur manes exinde per amplum Mittimur Elysium pauci laeta aruatenemus Donec longa dies perfecto temporis orbe Concretam exemit labem purúmque reliquit Aethereum sensum atque auraï simplicis ignem Has omnes vbi mille rotam voluêre per annos Letheum ad fluuium Deus euocat agmine longo Scilicet immemores supera vt conuexa reuisant Rursus incipiant in corpora velle reuerti Wee euery one of vs suffer our clensing and after that wee are sent out into the large Elysian fieldes where but a fewe of vs inhabite these pleasant places vntill long time hath taken awaye the bodilie infection and leaueth the aethereall sense pure and the vigour of the fierie and simple ayre Then after a thousand yeares God calleth all these soules thus purged and placed in the fortunate seates to the flood of Lethe that they may goe to the earth againe with vtter forgetfulnesse of all things and beginne to desire to returne to new bodies To these Elysian fields when Aeneas should come the Poet maketh Sybilla say Ad genitorem imas Erebi descendit ad vmbras Aeneas descendeth to his father euen to the soules below in Erebus And that Erebus is one of the infernall Gods as the Poets call them can bee no question For when Dido minding to kill her selfe prepared Sacra Ioui stygio Sacrifices to the infernall Iupiter the Poet maketh her Priest to inuocate Tercentum tonat ore deos Erebúmque Chaósque Three hundred gods and Erebus and Chaos This is the worlde of Soules that Virgil deliuered in his time which hée collected out of Plato this is the heauen that is contayned in HADES and INFERI Iudge thou Christian Reader whether this be not the high way to Paganisme to tell vs that this is the heauen where the Saints of God are in rest and whether Christ ascended For my part but that I thinke this confuter talketh of that hée knoweth not I must haue proclaymed him for a Pagan and therefore after hée séeth it if hée persist to say that heauen is either Homers HADES or Virgils INFERI I may not spare to discharge the dutie of a Christian man to let the whole realme vnderstand that this is open infidelitie cloaked vnder the name of Puritie Platoes world of Soules where it altereth from this is rather worse than better For hée saith the soules of euill men are clogged with their bodilie vncleanenes and wander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 about tombes and graues as it is said and then put on the bodies of beastes birds or wormes And yâ—u Sir Confuter lighting on the first part of those wordes openly falsifie them and lewdly misapply them For in stéede of as it is said you translate as it is commonly said and by that worde COMMONLY of your owne adding and referred to the former words where there is a manifest distinction or pause betwixt them you bid the reader note that HADES is commonly called heauen For thus you write Againe Plato saith of heauen that it is an vnseene estate euen HADES as it is commonly called which you will by the side to be noted where Plato in that place speaketh not one word of heauen But such is the miserie of your cause you must belie your authors or else you will lacke proofes for your humours And touching the soules of all men that are borne Plato holdeth their soules had bodies before and staye in HADES vntill the time come that they must haue bodies againe and therefore all our knowledge heere is but the remembring of that wée knew before when our soules were in other bodies which is the opinion that Tertullian chargeth him with His owne wordes are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is an auncient assertion which wee remember that soules departing hence are there and come hither againe and are new borne from the dead And least you should thinke hée did not consent to it hée saith somewhat after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wee are not deceiued confessing all this but there is in very trueth a returning of soules to liue againe on earth and of the dead spring the liuing Consult you and your Instructor whether you will bring this HADES or world of soules into the Créede or whether the thiefe from the Crosse ascended to this heauen together with the soule of our Sauiour But if these bee intolerable and abominable heresies to haue soules passe from bodie to bodie and Platoes HADES be nothing else but a continuall chopping and changing of soules from life to death and from death to life againe hale
the Créede which the church of Christ proposed to euerie childe to learne and to euerie catechist to knowe But nowe wee are returned to the scriptures againe for Fathers they leaue as corrupters of the olde both faith and phrase wee shall goe through with more ease and ende with more speede That Sheol or Hades doe signifie heauen either in the Scriptures of the olde or newe Testament or with the Septuagint which are the translators of the Hebrue into Gréek I vtterlie denie and no man liuing shall euer bee able to make anie proofe thereof on which issue I am content to ioyne with any man that is learned and sober for the hazard of either of our credits If Sheol and Hades in the scriptures neuer signifie heauen then can they not signifie THE VVORLD OF SOVLES for so much as there is no one place common to all soules departed this life but some are in hell and some in heauen and for one word to signifie both hell and heauen so farre distant one from the other and so much repugnant one to the other is somwhat strange except it could be strongly proued Chaos did import the whole masse of heauen and earth before they were distinguished but since they were seuered and setled by the wonderful wisedome and mighty power of God so far apart one from the other and so much vnlike one to the other there are wordes in the scripture which note all that God made but none that comprise heauen and hell excluding the rest S. Paul vseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the creature and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the making of the world and our sauiour vseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this world and the next where nothing is excepted but that heauen and hel should come to be included in one word the rest excluded I see neither whie nor howe it should be For where wordes are common some thinges must also be common as néedefull to bee expressed by those wordes but to soules in heauen and hell no positiue thing is common all things are rather contrarie Their bodies they want in both places because they are soules otherwise their states be as repugnant in all points as light and darknesse Christ and Belial yea as heauen and hell in which they are therefore as light and darknes faith and infidelitie truth and errour haue no common worde to compâ—ise them being contraries each to other no more haue heauen and hell as they are she rewardes of the iust and vniust for so much as all things in either are directlie repugnant each to other Again that SHEOL or HADES may possiblie signifie heauen I vtterly deny because in heauen besides the soules of men there are the elect angels of God to whom if anie man dare applie SHEOL or HADES he must giue me leaue to thinke his iudgement to be weake and his faith vnsound Sheol and Hades you will saie signifie all that are deade in either place But you must remember that both these wordes in the Scriptures doe properlie signifie places and not peâ—sons For though the ancient Gréekes vsed the word HADES first for a person and then for the place which that person gouerned yet the holie ghost knowing that the person which the Pagans meant was in déede the Diuell vseth the worde for the place and not for the person except the texte bee figuratiue In Sheol it was neuer doubted but that it alwaies signified a place and neuer anie person Nowe if neither Sheol nor Hades canne signifie both places I meane heauen and hell then canne they not signifie the worlde of soules for they bee dispersed in both those places It cannot be denied you wil saie but the olde testament referreth Sheôl as the Septuagint doe Hades both to the godlie and to the wicked after death It is most true that Sheôl in Hebrew and Hades in Greeke are applied in the olde Testament both to the good and bad The Question is not to what men but to which parts of men good or bad Sheol and Hades are referred To the bodies of men good and bad lying deade in the graue they are sometimes applied to the soules of the godlie as detained in either they are neuer applied Sheol and consequentlie HADES with the Septuagint importeth the whole death that is due to sinne and euerie part thereof but by no meanes heauen where the soules of the saintes are nor anie part of that blisse which they possesse Since then as well the death of the bodie in this worlde as the death of the soule in the next worlde were the wages of sinne Sheol and Hades doe sometimes signifie the generall state of deade bodies as when the Scripture describeth rottennesse silence forgetfulnesse senselessenesse contempt dishonour and such like to bee in Sheol And the same worde when it is referred to the soules of the wicked as there detained or of the godlie as thence deliuered for so much as the soule cannot be inclosed in the graue of necessitie the pit prepared for the soules of sinners must bee by all such textes of Scriptures intended But that Sheol or Hades shoulde signifie the worlde of Soules as well in heauen as in Hell neither hath this Refuter brought anie Texte or reason for it neither will hee euer bee able to prooue it And howsoeuer one of late hath taken vppon him to talke of those thinges like one of the Titanes with bigge and bombasted tearmes I seeing nothing in that fardell of his but Riddles and raylinges meane not to alter my course Then touching the sense of Sheol in the olde Testament I take it to bee cleare that it sometimes signifieth the graue or the state of deade bodies but neuer the world of soules which phrase the Refuter hath caught by the ende hoping at length to conueie it into the Creede But hee must first shewe vs where hee findeth anie such thing in the Scriptures before wee maie suffer him to make it an Article of our faith Against it euerie place is a proofe but for it none that I reade or they haue yet alleaged They shifte handes and in steede of the worlde of soules they bring in the graue or the state of deade bodies which is but a vaine flourish to propose one thing and to prooue an other And though you Sir Refuter goe to varying of phrases which I thinke is your best skill as The state of the deade the worlde of the deade the worlde of soules departed yet I must let you vnderstande there is great difference betwixt these speeches Sheol may extend to their bodies whose soules doe liue in heauen to their soules it cannot and therefore you must not chop in the one for the other as your instructor doth who when he would proue the world of soules falleth vp aboue head and eares into the graue The one you shall euerie where light on of the other there is no mention As when Iacob said to
and thou shalt see both the textes and the proofes whie the place of the damned must often bee vnderstoode by Sheôl in the bookes of the law and the prophets I hope thou wilt thinke it supersfluous for mee to defende it or enlarge it before anie man doe particularlie impugne it So that whatsoeuer you prate Sir Refuter without waight or warrant touching Sheol I count it lip labor when you or your helpers bring anie thing worth the regarding you shal find me readie to receaue it or refute it as the matter deserueth Sheol then in the olde Testament and Hades in the Septuagint signifiyng somtimes the state of deade bodies which is the graue sometimes the place of deade soules which is hell but neuer the world of soules whereof some are in heauen let vs see what force HADES hath in the new testament or whether it can thence be proued that HADES importeth the world of soules As y e mysteries of God were more fully declared by the gospel then by the law so the kingdom of heauen was more preciselie seuered from the kingdome of Satan by Christ then by Moses What Moses darkelie shadowed vnder figures that Christ reuealed in plaine wordes and therefore hell fire which is obscurelie mentioned in the law and prophets is often and openlie named by the mouth of our Sauiour and HADES which before extended to good and bad is nowe by the writers of the newe testament restrained to the place of the damned So that Hades with thē signifieth hell and the powers thereof and not the death of the bodie much lesse the world of soules Examples hereof I haue giuen thée gentle Reader in the Treatise before saue that I then reasoned the death of the bodie was not signified by HADES which now those deuisers haue changed into the VVORLD OF SOVLES I must therefore nowe ouerrun all those places againe and shewe that the VVORLD OF SOVLES cannot bee expressed by anie of those places Which I will with as much brenitie as I canne considering the wise Reader will soone bee able to discerne this newe Camisadoe latelie offered with the VVORLD OF SOVLES The first place is Woe to thee Chorazin and woe to thee Bethsaida saith our Sauiour And thou Capernaum exalted to heauen shalt bee brought downe euen to hell it shall bee easier for Sodome in the day of iudgement then for thee What is Gods curse and threates to impenitent sinners HELL or the VVORLD OF SOVLES and in the daie of iudgement when their punishment shall bee greater then the Sodomites shall they go to hell fire or to the VVORLD OF SOVLES I praie you Sir Refuter were are the Sodomites at this houre in hell or in your VVORLD OF SOVLES In hell I thinke Saint Iude saith They do sustaine the punishments of euerlasting fire Is that your VVORLDE OF SOVLES if it be not they shal certainlie be where the Sodomites are yea in worse case shall they bee and that I suppose must bee in hell and not in heauen The second place is in the wordes of Christ to Peter Vpon this rocke will I builde my church and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it and I wil giue thee the keyes of the kingdom of heauen The VVORLD OF SOVLES doth not impugne y e church therfore it is no signe of Gods fauour for that not to preuaile against the church Againe whatsoeuer preuaile not yet if hell preuaile what safetie hath the church Heresie and iniquitie are the gates of hell fighting against the church as well as crueltie Ego portas Inferni reor vitta atque peccata vel certé haereticorū doctrinas per quas illecti homines ducuntur ad Tartarum Nemo itaque putet de morte dici quòd apostoliconditioni mortis subiecti non fuerint quorum martyria vides coruscare I thinke saith Ierom the gates of hell to be vices and sinnes or else heresies by which men being enticed are led to hell Let no man therefore imagine it is spoken of death as if the Apostles were not subiect thereto whose martyrdoms thou findest so famous Digna aedificatione illius Petra quae infernas leges Tartari portas omnia mortis claustra dissolueret It was a Rocke saith Hilarie worthy of Christs building which should dissolue the lawes of hell the gates of Tartare and all the Cloisters of death So Origen Portae inferorum dicentur etiam principatus ac potestates aduersus quas nobis est colluctatio The gates of hell may the powers and principalities bee called against the which we haue to striue Portas inferni haereticam prauitatem nominat siue vitia peccata vnde mors ad animam venit The gates of hel Christ calleth Haeresies saith Bede or else vices and sinnes by which the soule dieth So Ambrose Quae autē sunt portae Inferni nisi singula quaeque peccata What are the gates of hell but all kind of sinnes And Gregorie Portae Inferni haereses sunt quae quasi inferorum aditum pandunt The gates of hell are heresies which open as it were the passage to hell The fifte generall councell of Constantinople with one full consent alloweth the same Portae inferni non praeualebunt aduersus eam id est haereticorum linguae mortiferae The gates of hell that is the deadlie tongues of heretickes shal not preuaile against the church You might haue more but these are enough Here Sir Refuter you tell a long and a foolish tale of death out of your owne heade as if Christ did promise his Apostles protection against the violence of Tyrants but not against the rage of Satan To vnderstande sinnes and errours as some of the ancient writers doe the circumstances of the texte you saie doe seeme not to beare it Your ignorant humour is loth to haue it so otherwise the wordes of Christ respect the trueth of Peters confession that himselfe was Christ the sonne of the liuing God against the which faith no policie nor tyrannie of Satan shoulde preuaile and so by your leaue the Fathers goe directlie to the meaning of the texte and you woulde wrest it to your priuate fansie least HADES shoulde signifie HELL and yet at length vpon aduisement you confesse it may bee heere the GATES OF HELL and that HADES is thus vsed sometimes and namelie in the last example out of the 16. of Luke It is well then that in the 16. of Luke you yeelde HADES doeth signifie HELL where the wicked are tormented and did you denie it the Scripture auoucheth it the wordes are plaine I am tormented in this flame againe least they come into this place of torment Then HADES without anie other addition noteth HELL and when Christ saith the rich man IN HADES LIFT vp his eyes he addeth this as a necessarie consequent being in tormēts to shew that HADES is the place of torment and not the VVORLD OF
SOVLES From thence you leape to the Reuelation and there when Saint Iohn sawe one sitting on a pale horse whose name was death and HADES followed after him that is saie you the world of the dead It cannot be hell certainely because hel slaieth none in that sort Againe to saie preciselie that the fourth part of the world should go to hell I take it to bee a strange phrase in scripture Here first is a plaine proofe that death and HADES are two seuerall things the one following after the other For nothing doth follow it selfe The doubt is now what HADES importeth The world of the dead saie you The worlde of the dead if thereby you mean dead bodies is al one with death if you vnderstand the world of soules that hath two partes heauen and hell which of these two did follow after death to destroy the fourth part of the earth the kingdome of heauen is neuer proposed in the scriptures as a destroyer but the diuell hath his proper name in this booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the destroyer Againe this vision S. Iohn saw at the opening of the fourth Seale but the world of soules in heauen was shewed him in the opening of the fift Seale which presentlie followeth in the next verse in these words And when the lambe had opened the fift Seale I saw saith Iohn vnder the altar the soules of men slayne for the word of God and for the testimonie of the Lambe The world of soules in heauen was séene in the opening of the fift seale therefore that world of soules was not séene in the opening of the fourth Seale but of force if by HADES you will vnderstand anie world of soules it must be of those that were in HELL Howbeit because hee did accompanie death that was sent to destroy I take it rather to bee the power of the deuill that is there described then anie world of soules as you dreame And that the diuell destroyeth as well the bodie as the soule if it be strange to you you are a greater stranger in the Scriptures then you would seeme to bee Who threw the house vpon the heads of Iobs Children can you tell or who smote Iob himselfe with that loathsome disease But the fourth part of the earth you saie could not go to hell God graunt no more then the fourth part go thither Neuer reade you many called and few chosen and though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the Sea yet but a remnant shall be saued And why might not the dragon as well deuoure the fourth part of y e earth as draw downe from heauē with his tayle the third part of the starres Or if there you take a certayne number for an vncertain which is S. Iohns manner of writing in this booke why not as well here as else where these therefore are a couple of idle quarrels if these be your best you are more willing then able to do harme But by y e same words in the same booke we shall better vnderstand what is ment by HADES then by your wandring and weake gloze Death and HADES saith S. Iohn were cast into the lake of fier It were absurd you adde to saie death and hell were cast into hell True but more absurd and more blasphemous to saie that death and the world of soules shall bee cast into the lake of fier For then not onlie the Saints of God but heauen it selfe should bee cast into hell fier Yet if we take the containing for the contained which is the most vsuall phrase of the Scripture as wo be to thee Chorazin wo to thee Bethsaida thou Capernaum as likewise Ierusalem Ierusalem which killest the prophets it shal be easier for Tyrus Sydon with a thousand such euery wher occurrent then is it an easie true speach that hel to witte the powers of hell euen the diuels themselues shall be cast into the lake of fier And so doth Andreas Bishop of Cesaria expound it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wicked spirits the possessours of HADES shall be cast into hel fier And so Bede Mors Infernus missi sunt in stagnum ignis Diabolum dicit et suos quem supra in equo pallido sedentem Infernus sequebatur Death hel shall be cast into the lake of fier He meaneth the diuel his whō before sitting on a pale horse hell followed As yet then HADES in the new Testament is not onlie a thing different from death but euen hell it selfe and your world of soules in none of these texts can find any hold or help Let vs sée the rest That Christ triumphed ouer hell and Satan not ouer death onely the Apostle fully affirmeth when he saith Christ spoyled principalities powers made an open shew of them and triumphed ouer them in his owne person that likewise hee hath the keyes of hell and not of death onlie S. Iohn plainlie sheweth when he saw an angell come down from heauen hauing the key of the bottomeles pit and there binding shutting vp the diuell The same key of the bottomeles pit was in the 9 Chapter of the Reuelation giuen to the Star that slidde from heauen This keye must Christ haue for hee saith of himselfe that he hath the key of Dauid which openeth and no man shutteth which shutteth and no man openeth Since then there are keyes not of heauen onlie which Christ committed to Peter and his fellow labourers but of the bottomles pitte where Satan lyeth bound which of force must bee HELL when Christ professeth in the first of the Reuelation that he hath the keyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of death and of HADES who séeth not that HADES there must signifie hell it selfe the key whereof is so expreslie mentioned in that booke And so when the Apostle maketh two parts of Christs conquest against death and hell ô death where is thy sting ô HADES where is thy victorie what reason is there to exclude out of these words Christs victorie ouer HELL since the same Apostle witnesseth that Christ had a glorious triumph against hell and the word HADES in all the places of the new Testament which we haue yet viewed inferreth hell The Apostle you saie speaketh not of the Damnation of the wicked but of the resurrectiō of the dead And so do I and therefore inferre that when the bodies of the saints shall be raised from death whose soules be already saued from hell then shall these words be openlie verified ô death where is thy sting ô hell where is thy victorie For since by sinne hell gate possession of both parts of man as well of his bodie as of his soule the full deliuerance of man must free both parts and the full conquest ouer hell is the losse of both parts which in the resurrection of the dead shall be performed and
were inclosed in a place vnder the earth expecting Christs comming to bee carried vp to heauen of which I haue spoken as much as is néedfull in the treatise before yet they absolutelie acknowledge that Christ descending destroyed the kingdome of Satan and fréed all the faithfull from euer comming thither The rest of the Confuters talke is like y e froth of the sea which wind waues roll to and fro sometimes he runneth this way and then backe againe another way saying and vnsaying hee knoweth not how nor what Sometimes he saith the Creede and namely this article Christ descended to Hades could not bee made long after the Apostles time whereof Ignatius and others most ancient do speake In another place he saith We find almost all the Creedes certainlie the most ancientest and the best of them to want these wordes of Christs descending into hell In one place he saith The Creedes which we find in Ignatius Irenaeus Iustinus Martyr TertulliaÌ„ Origen Athanasius Augustinus the Nicene CoÌ„stantinopolitan Toletan Ephesine al these neuer thought that Christs going downe to hell was anie distinct or certaine Article of the Christian faith And yet before he confessed y â— Ignatius and others most auncient doe speake namelie of this Article But Sir haue these Creedes which here you cite all the rest of the Articles that are in the Apostles Creede I hope there want in some of them a good manie For these rehearsals in the eldest Fathers doe but touche some of the Articles of the Creede and shewe that there was such a compendious briefe of the Faith receiued amongst Christians from the beginning The Councels of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and others want euerie one of them sundrie Articles that are in the Apostles Creede and adde other that are not there so as in deede they are rather expositions then recitals of the Apostles Créed And yet I hope Athanasius creede hath this Article in precise wordes and rehearseth it as a part of the Catholike faith that Christ descended into Hell Neither is there anie one of these Fathers whome heere you haue named as Ignatius Irenaeus Iustinus Martyr Tertullian Origene Augustine but they expresselie touche and teache Christes locall descent to Hell as all the rest doe without exception And if Councels will content you you shall not goe farre for both Prouinciall and Generall The Councell of Alexandria that wrote to represse the heresie of Nestorius maketh the spoiling of hell a part of Christes resurrection and saieth Tertia Die reuixit expolians infernum Christ rose againe the thirde daie hauing spoyled hell This confession was read and allowed as Catholike in the first generall Councell of Ephesus in the great Councell of Chalcedon and in the fifth generall Councell of Constantinople So that fathers and Councels both decumenicall and prouinciall haue receiued and approoued this article euen from the foundation of Christs church as a part of Christes resurrection howsoeuer they did not alwayes annexe it to their Creedes With like follie and inconstancie he saith it is the naturall and necessarie deuision of the articles of the Creede that these Christ suffered was crucified dead buried descended into hell should concerne Christs humiliation and hee supposeth euerie sensible man will confesse so much whereas he himselfe expoundeth the last of them to haue this meaning that Christes soule ascended to heauen Now to ascend to heauen euery boy knoweth is a part of Christes exaltation and not of his humiliation Howe his note booke deuideth the Creede I know not but Saint Paule whence this diuision hath his ground saieth this is Christs exaltation that at the name of Iesus euerie knee should bow of things in heauen earth and vnder the earth which is hell His humiliation stretcheth no farther then the death of the Crosse then beginneth his exaltation With like discretion when I alledged the Parable from Christes owne mouth that his triumph ouer Satan must haue thrée parts the ouerrunning the binding the spoyling of Satan and his kingdome and further from that Parable I deriued nothing This wisdome to shew himselfe learned crieth out a fine toy or rather a shamefull gloze by vnsauorie allegorizing to corrupt the Text. Is this a good waie to prooue Articles of the fayth videlicet by Allegories As if the moste parte of Christes doctrine were not deliuered by Parables and Allegories The parables of the Sower of the labourers in the vineyard the husbandmen killing the heire of good trees straight gates of the lost sheepe vniust Steward and vnrighteous Iudge of Tares sowed by the enemie and haruest at the end of the world of the great Supper and wedding garment of the wounded Samaritane and wise virgins of the prodigall sonne and euill seruants one y t neglected his masters talent the other that imprisoned his fellow of the rich man Lazarus to be short the allegories of light of salt of leauen of chafâ—e of the vyne and branches of the good shepheard and a thousand such in the prophets Euangelists and Apostles do they teach no matters of faith What Buzzard was euer so blind as so to saie no points of faith maie be prooued by allegories Had I extended the Parable farder then Christ himselfe did or applied it to anie other purpose then he did there might haue beene some cause of quarrell but kéeping my selfe preciselie both to the Scope and words of our Sauiour I could not tread awrie But in a brauerie to chalenge all the Parables and allegories in the Scriptures as vnfitte to teach points of faith neuer came in anie sober mans head As you vse the Scriptures so you vse the Synode of this Realme that is you arrogantlie and absurdlie falsifie it The manifest meaning of the whole Synode of this Realme which is our publik doctrine and established by law in England APPARENTLY RENOVNCETH saie you this doctrine of Christs going downe to the hell of the damned If you prooue that you saie I must confesse it is verie materiall by Gods grace I my selfe will reuoke all that I haue said in this point but if you brag not onlie without cause but against the verie trueth and tenor of their proceedings are you not worthie in steede of H. I. to be named W. F but let vs heare how this appeareth Euen thus the Synode before holden in king Edwards time affirmed this doctrine directly and expresly in their article of Christs descent to hell This Synode comming after repeateth and ratisieth apart of that article in expresse words but part of it euen all and euerie whit that containeth this doctrine expreslie of Christs going downe to the hell of the damned all this I saie our Synode anno 1562 cutteth off it putteth out it casteth awaie The words are these of the former Synode Quemadmodum Christus pro nobis mortuus est sepultus ita est etiam credendus