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
greate a commaunde in the Church of GOD that no worde maie bee vsed by anie man without your consent Doeth anie Father in expounding the Scriptures put the Cleargie for the people as if the rest had no part in the Kingdome of Christ but if they wanted a word to note them that were called to the publike seruice of Christes church and thought best to name them clerici clerkes what haue you to do with it or what reason to speake against it so long as the rest of Gods people are not thereby depriued of their parte in Gods heauenlie inheritance And what if they tooke this tearme from the scripture and deriued the verie word from the Apostles mouthes are you not well occupied to quarrel with them Peter doth twice vse that worde for a parte or place in the publike ministerie and seruice of the church with which the people did not meddle Iudas saieth Peter was numbred with vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and had his place in this ministerie So againe to Simon Magus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast no part nor lot in this businesse or function Where Peter in both places calleth the charge of an Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not that Iudas or the rest of the twelue were chosen by lots but that he had a part with them in that function As for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I thinke there bee more saide then you will be able to answere you know where to finde it Could you proue that the Apostles did make elders with the peoples voices which you shall neuer bee able to doe you had some reason to thinke the worde might importe some such thing but where the worde in his owne nature is but to stretch out the hande and it is certaine by the scriptures the Apostles in ordaining elders did vse imposition of handes which is plainelie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 electing by voices they did not vse for ought that can bee prooued what a malepart guest are you to saie It was a rife thing with the fathers yea with the ancientest of them to alter change the authentick vse of words because the Athenians in Demosthenes time had a course in their publike assemblies to giue their consentes to make lawes and decrées with holding vp their hands which he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But you bite on the bridle I perceiue and so you must till you learne to be more sober then to condemne so manie learned and religious fathers of ignorance and corruption which in such a companion as you are might well be beléeued in men of their religion and iudgement can by no reason be mistrusted â—â— is by the way because you glance at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though the rein you accuse not me that alleage them but the fathers themselues as corrupters of church discipline and peruerters of their own language howbeit hades is now in question and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore saie for hades what you can or rather for your selfe since all wise men will hold you more then rash and presumptuous if you condemne so many without great cause The classical writers you say the maisters of the Greek tongue do vse HADES in proper sense only in generall for the STATE OF THE DEADE the VVORLD OF THE DEADE the VVORLD OF SOVLES DEPARTED indifferently and indefinitely meaning as wel those in eternal ioies as those in paines Labour you Sir Refuter to bring into the créede the maribones of a gréeke phrase or an article of the christian faith if you be so idle headed that you striue to haue a new phrase into the Creede remember the kingdome of God is not in speach but in power If you intende an article of the faith pagans and Poets are no such classicall masters to be cited or followed in the mysteries of christian religion What if it were true which here as your maner is you auouch with a brazen face y â— Homer Plato Plutarch did so vse the word is it therfore a consequent the scripture must so speak how many hundred Gréeke words haue with Pagans their general significations which the holie ghost restraineth to expresse Gods truth and serue Gods will The gréeke wordes for Apostle elder Bishop Deacon Gospell Scripture faith hope repentance sinneâ— the law conscience concupisence and infinite such like doe they not with Pagans import one thing with Christians an other thing and that by the warrant of Gods worde touching hell it selfe with your classicall writers and maisters of the Gréeke tongue I meane euen Homer Plato and Plutarch are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taken for good and blessed spirits yea for Gods which the scriptures vse onlie for diuels Plutarchs booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Socrates spirit which thing also Plato mentioneth in his Apologie and dialogue De sapientia meaneth not Socrates Diuell neither doth Isocrates prescribe vnto Demonicus by this rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that hee shoulde worship the diuell but rather God and yet by that word the new testameÌ„t and the Septuagint in the olde intend onelie diuels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the masters of the Greeke tongue is but a carper or reprehender insomuch that most of Platoes schollers were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and yet in the newe testament this is the proper name for the diuell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch doth take for the ayre and deriueth that word from colde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tartarus is so termed from colde whence Hesiode calleth it the ayrie tartare and he that shaketh and trembleth for cold is sayd tartarizein Yet your instructor maketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the tayle and prison in hell and saith S. Peter when hee telleth howe God condemned the Angels taketh all the words from Homer and HIS PROSE COMMENTARIE If he meane Eustathius the Christian Bishop it is a foule ouersigat if hee meane anie other he shall do well to proue and not to presume that Peter read Homer and his prose commentarie to expresse the punishment of Diuels Nowe if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haue other significations and acceptions with the masters as you make them of the gréeke tongue yet in the new testament are wholy onlie referred to note hell and the diuels thither adiudged whie may not the word HADES in like sort be taken from his prophane vse among the heathen writers and bee applied by the Euangelistes and Apostles to signifie hell yea if the opinion which the pagan Poets and prophane Philosophers helde of HADES were false and repugnant to the christian faith howe could the canonicall writers of the new testament vse the word and not change the sense dare you so much as dreame that the holy Ghost woulde canonize the Poets fables and the Philosophers fansies of the world to come or if you be so foolish as to forget the difference betwéene
shift or other To make the easier conquest of that I preached hee cleane changeth the state of the first Question hee offereth to prooue that which I neuer denied hee confuteth that which I neuer affirmed hee runneth at Random no man can tell whither hee peruerteth my wordes hee maymeth my reasons hee skippeth all my authorities hee scornefullie reiecteth the iudgement of the Fathers when I alleage them the Scriptures hee turneth and windeth at his pleasure he wadeth desperately through thicke and thinne in matters of most importance his best reason is euerie where his own opinion outfacing the world with his ignorance in summe he sheweth vs by his example what it is for a man in matters of faith to despise both authoritie and antiquity and trust onely to his own fancie Such an opponent the wiser sort will thinke I were better neglect then encounter which resolution I my selfe do retayne onely lest my silence should augment his boldnes I thought it not amisse in the conclusion seuered from the treatise to giue thee a tast of the rashnes and weaknes of his enterprise intreating thee in the meane time to reade aduisedly and iudge indifferently for that the cause is weighty and toucheth thee as neere as mee For if we suffer the mayne foundation of our faith and hope in Christ to be wrenched neuer so little awrie the whole building is more endangered then wee are ware of In Gods causes let Gods booke teach vs what to beleeue and what to professe If thou thinke it thy duetie in matters of faith to beware of vnwritten verities in the greatest point of all which is our redemption by Christ take heede thou easilie admit not vnwritten absurdities This matter began in more generall and more tolerable tearmes if they might bee rather soberly mitigated then too vehemently pressed but as when we runne downe an hill we can hardly staie so in matters of religion when we fal to inuenting beyond the scriptures we quickly misse and seldome recouer the truth Farewell gentle Reader and pray that our thoughts and wits may be subiected to the truth of Gods word and that wee loath not the simplicitie which is in Christ. THE FVLL REDEMPtion of mankind by the death and bloud of Christ. GALATH. 6. verse 14. Be it far from me to reioice but in the Crosse of Christ. AS the naturall man no where liketh nor alloweth the thinges of God because they seeme foolishnes vnto him so of all the waies and workes of God there is none that more displeaseth and offendeth the vnbeléeuer then the Crosse of Christ. Wee preach Christ crucified saith the Apostle to the Iewes a stumbling blocke to the Grecians foolishnesse The Grecians â—auoring nothing but worldlie wisedome and fleshlie reason counted it a méere folly for the sonne of God to leaue his Throne of glorie in the heauens and as a man amongst men to taste of maâ—â—e miseries and to suffer a cruell and shamefull death at the handes of his enemies The priâ—â— of our Redemption for whose sakes hee died and the power of his resurrection by which hee raised vs to the imitation and expectation of a better life they did neither conceiue nor beléeue and therefore they reiected his birth and speciallie his death as a dreame of simple and vnlearned men such as they tooke the Apostles to be The Iewes hauing their eares full of those excellent promises which God made by his prophets concerning the kingdome of the Messias and referring them to an earthlie king that should sit on the throne of Dauid brusing his enemies with a rod of Iron and ruling the world with iustice and equitie when they sawe the weake and base condition of our Sauiour in outward shew promising nothing but reproch and penurie they so disdained and detested him that they could not bee quiet till they had crucified him being then and euer since ashamed and gréeued that anie should saie or thinke he was the Messias so much spoken of in the prophets Thus the Iewes looking for wonders and the Grecians for Wisedome did both condemne the crosse of Christ the one of weakenesse the other of foolishnesse and for that cause fell at the stone of offence but such as were called both Iewes and Gentiles to bee heires of the promise did plainelie perceaue and fullie confesse Christ crucified to be the mightie power and manifold wisedome of God for their euerlasting ioie and blisse and were so far from being ashamed of Christs sufferings that they were willing partakers and open reioicers in the crosse of Christ as the Apostle here saieth of himselfe Be it farre from mee to reioice but in the Crosse of Christ by which the world is crucified to me and I to the world And indéede if we beholde Christ crucified with carnall eies as did the Iewes wee shall see nothing in him but earthlie weakenesse and deadlie woundes as they sawe but if we bende the eies of our faith to the trâ—th of his person and to the force and fruite of his death as must all his saints we shall finde the power and wisedome iustice and mercie of God so tempered in the crosse of Christ for our good that by his paines we are eased by his stripes we are healed his weakenesse is our strength his shame is our glorie and his death our life worthely therefore doth the Apostle professe that he did and we should not reioice but in the crosse of Christ. And where hee saith he did reioyce in nothing but in the crosse of Christ he thereby teacheth vs to repose all our faith and hope aswell as our ioy in the fauour of God which Christ hath purchased for vs by his death and bloud Reioice in hope saith the Apostle that is in the expectation not in the present fruition of heauenlie thinges which God hath prepared for all that loue him Now hope without faith there can bee none Faith is the ground worke of that wee hope for howe can we with patience looke for that which we doe not beléeue wee shall receiue The doubting of Gods promises is the plaine distrâ—sting of them and bréedeth rather a feare we shall misse them then an hope to enioie them and in feare there is PAINE as saint Iohn saith and no IOIE Then as there is no perfect ioie but in hope assured by faith so if we must not reioice but in the crosse of Christ our faith and hope must wholie depende on that peace and attonement which Christ hath made betwixt God and vs by the sheading of his precious bloud for our sakes that is by his crosse Since therefore Christ crucified is the wisedome and power of God to saue all that beléeue and the crosse of Christ is the ful support of all our faith hope and ioie there is no one point in christian religion that more mainelie concerneth and neerelie toucheth the saluation of our soules then the right vnderstanding and only relying on the crosse
Patriarkes perished in their sinnes by mistaking the true price of their redemption For that they knewe anie thing of Christs suffering Hell paynes I thinke will hardlie bee prooued But out of question their faith was right which was settled on the bloud of Christ to bee shedde for the redéeming of their sinnes and themselues are Saintes in Gods kingdome Wee must therefore take heede that wee doe not rashlie varie from the foundation of their faith and hope which must likewise be ours with this onelie difference that they beléeued in him which should take away the sins of the worlde by his death and crosse and we in him that hath taken them away The time doth differ but the meanes are still the same The lamb was slaine from the beginning of the world not actually but in the counsaile of God which did purpose it and in the truth of God which did promise it as likewise in the faith of al his saints which did rest reioice in it frō whose steps if we swarue we may not looke to be Abrahās children y t refuse Abrahās faith as erroneous chalēge our father for misbeliefe If the offerings and faith of the Patriarks were not pregnant enough to lead vs to the true sacrifice for sinne the Apostle to the Hebrewes doth so purposelie and positiuely handle it that I much muse how any man of iudgement or learning can mistake it For if we marke but thrée conclusions which the Apostle maketh we cannot erre from the truth in this behalfe The true sacrifice for sinne must be but ONE and ONCE OFFERED not often nor iterated by reason it is perfect and able to clense vs from all sinne It must bee BLOVDY for so were all the offeringes of the lawe and without shedding of bloud is no remission It must bee CONFIRMED BY DEATH that redemption purchased might neuer bee reuoked nor altered These thrée positions are mainelie and mightilie vrged by the holie ghost the 9. and 10. to the Hebrues and for this faith are all the fathers of the old Testament from Abel to Samuel praised in the 11. chapter of that Epistle This man saith Paul meaning Christ after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINNE sitteth for euer at the right hand of God For with ONE OFFERING had he made perfit for euer those which are sanctified Now where remission of sinne is there is no more offering for sinne Christ then making but one offering for sinne we must not make two but rather learne what that one was which we may do without any difficultie since the Apostle so plainlie teacheth vs that we are sanctified by THE OFFERING OF THE BODY OF IESVS ONCE that BY HIS OWNE BLOVD CHRIST ENTERED in Once into the holy place and FOVND ETERNALL REDEMPTION Almost all things are by the law purged with bloud and without shedding of bloud is no remission It was then necessary that the similitudes of heauenlie thinges in the law should be purified with such thinges as the bloud of bulles and goates but heauenly things themselues with better sacrifices then these euen with the bloud of Christ. For if the bloud of bulles and goates sanctifieth as touching the purifying of the flesh howe much more shall THE BLOVD OF CHRIST who through the eternall spirit offered himselfe without spot to God PVRGE YOVR CONSCIENCES FROM DEAD WORKS to serue the liuing God And for this cause is he the Mediator of the newe Testament that THROVGH DEATH which was for THE REDEMPTION OF THE TRANSGRESSIONS IN THE FORMER TESTAMENT they which were called might receiue the promise of eternal inheritance For where a testament is there must be THE DEATH OF HIM THAT MADE THE TESTAMENT For it is of no force so long as he that made it is aliue wherefore neither was the first testament ordained without bloud Iesus then suffered without the gate that hee might SANCTIFIE the people WITH HIS OWNE BLOVD and this is the bloud of the euerlasting Testament through which God brought againe from the dead our Lorde Iesus Christ confirmeth the same when hee saith This is MY BLOVD of the new testament WHICH IS SHED for many for THE REMISSION OF SINNES The words be plainer then that they néede anie commentarie There was but ONE sacrifice that coulde abolish sinne euen THE OBLATION OF THE BODIE OF IESVS ONCE whose BLOVD purged our consciences from deade works and purchased eternal inheritance by the TESTATORS DEATH FOR THE REDEMPTION of those sinnes which we committed against the former Testament What shift haue we to shun the force of these wordes or to bring in the paines of hell in Christes soule as a part of the propitiatory sacrifice for sinne Christ made but one oblation of himselfe for sinne and that was the suffering of death in his body for the redemption of our transgressions and shedding of his bloud for the remission of our sinnes More then one hee néeded not make for that one obtained eternall redemption and other then this he did not make for his offering was both BODILY and BLOVDIE This is my body which is giuen and broken for you this is my bloud which is shed for manie THE OBLATION OF THE BODY of Iesus once THE SHEDDING OF HIS BLOVD are of strength force enough to clense vs from our sins to procure vs the promise of euerlasting inheritance which beeing confirmed by the death of the testator standeth irreuocable How canne wee then bring in another sacrifice of Christes soule suffering the paines of hell which could be neither bodily nor bloudy but wee must increase the number and confounde the differences of Christs offerings and weaken the force of his externall corporal sacrifice which was the truth that answered accomplished al the signes of the law For the inuisible paines of hel are no where prefigured in the sacrifices of the law that I find nor so much as once mentioned in the Apostles discourse of Christs sacrifice for sinne that I reade therfore if we adde them as a necessary part of our redemption we derogate from the bloud of Christ as insufficient without those torments to clense vs from our sins pacifie the wrath of God that was kindled against vs. What danger it is to depart from y e manifest words of the holy ghost in so high a point of faith by things vnwritten to discredit things written I néede not admonish such as be learned let the simple take héed that they suffer not reason to ouerrule religion obscure and doubtful places in the scriptures to wrest from them the perspicuous and perpetuall doctrine of the holy ghost Howe ful and perfect the redemption is which wee haue by the bloud of Christ if you search the Scriptures you shall easilie see if you doe but hearken you shall presentlie learne The bloud of Christ doth REDEEME CLENSE VVASH IVSTIFIE SANCTIFY the elect It doth PACIFIE and
by the power of his life heé might take from vs the feare of death whiles here wee liue and change the curse of death making it nowe a rest from all labours which before was an entrance into perpetuall paine This enemie because he doth least harme shall bée last destroied euen at the daie of the generall resurrection and not before and serueth now rather to represse sinne then to reuenge sinne the godlie being by death deliuered from the committing louing or fearing sinne and the wisedome of God prouiding that as sinne brought death into the world so death should abolish sinne out of the worlde This is brieflie the victorie that Christ obtained against sinne and death by his dying and rising from the dead His conquest ouer hell as it is more questioned and more expected so will I not refuse to shew you what I thinke maie be safelie beleeued and must not rashlie be reiected of any christian The conquest of Christ ouer hell and Satan may bee no way doubted by any diuine that rightly handleth the mysterie of our saluation In vaine do we speake of releasing sinne or despising death if the right of hell to vs and power of hell ouer vs doe still remaine And therefore the verie ground of Christs conquering sinne and death is his subduing of hell and Satan that they should lay no chalenge to nor haue no force against the faithful It is then on all sides accorded that hell and Satan must be fullie conquered by Christ before the worke of our redemption can be perfectlie setled or assured but as well the time when as the maner how are somewhat questioned and that maketh the whole matter the more néedfull to he discussed To refute euerie mans fansie that speaketh hereof were an infinite labour to search out a truth in this case that maie safelie be receiued and comfortablie embraced if not necessarilie vrged is the summe of mine intention and should bee the ende of your expectation with this prouiso that no man carpe before hee righlie conceiue nor pronounce before hee well examine that which shall be spoken least hee checke the Scriptures before he beware and condemne the whole Church of God without anie cause In expressing Christes conquest ouer hell and Satan I thinke best to obserue these thrée things VVHAT hee did vnto Satan and his kingdome VVHEN and with VVHICH PART OF HIMSELFE hee did execute this triumph VVHAT HE DID vnto Satan wee shall learne by seeing what he suffered at Satans hands Proportionable to Christs humiliation was his exaltation and for the violence which he endured he receiued full satisfaction As then on the crosse Christ suffered at Satans hands and by Satans meanes REPROCHE RAGE VVRONG so in his resurrection he reaped a triple recompence from Satan SVBMISSION whereby his pride was subiected vnder Christ CAPTIVATION whereby his rage was restrained and himselfe chained by Christ RESTITVTION whereby his spoiles were diuided and deliuered vnto Christ. When I say that Satan was SVBDVED TIED and SPOILED by Christ rising from the dead let no vnsetled braine imagine this is superstitious and popish as I mean them and as the scriptures deliuer them they are propheticall and Apostolicall And least you should thinke I delude you with wordes I will shewe you whence I take them first iointlie all in one sentence then seuerallie from sundrie places of the holie scriptures Our Sauiour in the Gospell doth purposelie make this comparison or vtter this parable concerning himself and the kingdom of Satan How can a man ENTER into a strong mans house and spoile his goods except he first BIND the strong man and then SPOILE his house Christ then ENTERED vpon Satans house as a CONQVERER TIED him as the STRONGER SPOILED him as the right OVVNER of that which Satan vniustlie detained from him And albeit it maie not bee denied but Christ whiles hee liued on earth made some proofe of his right and power to dissolue the workes and displace the force of Satan from the bodies and soules of men yet it is euident that the full demonstration of his victorie and perfection of his glorie were reserued to the time of his resurrection when he brake the 〈◊〉 and sorrowes of death and hell and ascended to his father not onelie clothed with honour and immortalitie but armed with power and principalitie all knees bowing vnto him in heauen earth and hell and all tongues confessing that Iesus was the Lord to the glorie of God These verie parts of Christs conquest ouer Satan the Apostle doth comprise in one sentence to the Colossians saying Christ SPOILED powers and principalities and made A SHEVV of them openlie TRIVMPHING ouer them in his owne person That powers and principalities in this place doe signifie wicked and sinfull spirites there can bee no question those names in the scriptures are proper to Angels bee they good or badde as Roman 8 vers 38. Ephes. 3. vers 10. 6. vers 12. Colos. 1. vers 16 1. Peter 3. vers 22. And heere must needes import euill Angels because Christ had no cause to conquere or spoile the elect Angels which serued him and ministred vnto him but the badde that impugned his trueth and enuied his glorie Ouer those then Christ TRIVMPHED as a conquerer those hee OPENLIE SHEVVED as captiues bounde with chains those he STRIPT OR SPOILED of the goodes which they had vnlawfullie gotten And this the Apostle saith he did execute in his owne person as a triumph fit for the sonne of God all things being subiected vnder his feete yea Angels powers and mights subdued vnto him when he ascended into heauen And though some late translators to decline the descent of Christ to hell after death doe imagine that the wicked Angels were CONQVERED SHEVVED and SPOILED by Christ in his suffering the paines of hell on the crosse and to that ende doe alter the ancient and constant reading of the text putting in steade of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his owne person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the same crosse yet since both scriptures and fathers with one consent doe contradict that daungerous speculation I maie not admitte it as consonant either to the faith or truth of the Scriptures For the conquest which Christ had ouer Satan and his Kingdome was not by RESISTING much lesse by SVFFERING the assaults of hell He is no conquerer that with much adoe saueth himselfe and his from the furie of his enemies but hee that subdueth and treadeth his aduersaries vnder his féete and so maistreth them that hee may dispose of them at his will he is truly called a conquerer And since the Apostle saith Christ SPOILED the powers of darknes and made AN OPEN SHEVV of them and TRIVMPHED ouer them it is an euident wrong to Christ to thinke that all the conquest hee had ouer them was at length to REPELL them with mightie feares and cries TO SCAPE their force Yea
he was forced to yéeld to such opinioÌ„s and to vse such words as were commonly receiued with all men and that is the direction which Aristotle giueth by the rule which you alleage that though we must learne to think as wise men do yet we must be content to speake as the people doe not that by so speaking we must alter the nature and proprietie of the words which wee vse but mynding to aduise or perswade the multitude we must condiscend as well to their vulgar phrases as to their generall and receiued opinions And therefore as the people thought all men dying to descend vnder the earth to Inferi so Cicero speaking in open place vseth this same phrase whatsoeuer he priuately thought of the place where the dead were From Pagans Syr Refuter you returne to ChristiaÌ„s whom before you accused for altering changing the autheÌ„ticke vse of words you now alleadge as obseruing the true proprietie of the same word for which you did chalenge them before Hereunto let vs adde saie you that the latter learned writers euen Christians haue also espied and graunted this proprietie of the latin word Infernum or Inferi as also of the Greeke HADES Ierom saith Infernus is a place where the soules are included either in rest or in paines The farder you go the more you shew you vnderstand neither Pagans nor Christians The fault you found with the latin Fathers was that they vse the word Inferi to signifie hell properlie and particularlie that is the place of the Damned or else an other particular place vnder the earth a part of hell and not farre from hell it self where soules remayned if not in paines yet in prison far from the place of eternall blessednes ioy but this you affirme is a meere and plaine abusion of the word And within two leaues when Ierom saith the verie same thing which you misliked before and called a meere and plaine abusion of the word you confesse hee espied the true proprietie of the word Infernus This is banding of Balles in a tennis Court and not anie searching after a truth in the church of God But when your learning reacheth no furder you must needes breath out your ignorance or bridle your toong which hath runne so long on a voluntarie that you cannot tell when you bee out nor when you bée in Ierom indéede was of opinion that before Christs death the soules of all as well good as bad were shut vp in a place within the earth the good in rest and expectance of Christs comming thither by him to bee deliuered the badde in paines and torments This place common to both sorts but wich different effects Ierom calleth Infernus which in our English toong is hell Of this place he saith Infernus locus est in quo animaerecluduntur siue in refrigerio siue in poenis Hell is a place in which soules are included either in rest or in paine Here you saie Ierom espied the proprietie of the latine word Infernum or Inferi Bee it so since you will needes haue it so But Infernum in this place doth no waie signifie the kingdome of heauen Ergo the true proprietie of the worde Infernum doeth not signifie the kingdome of heauen The Maior is your owne The Minor by Gods grace I will prooue euen out of Ierom. Marke well his wordes Quid simile Infernâ—â— regna caelorum What likenes haue Infernus and the kingdome of heauen you saie Infernus is taken by Ierome for the kingdome of heauen Ierome himselfe telleth you the one hath no likenesse to the other Are you not caught like a long beaked thing in your owne grin and because you shall perceiue it is not a tricke but a truth that I presse you wiâ—h out of Ierom that INFERNVS by no meanes is the kingdome of God and consequentlie must be properlie hell except you will builde newe receptacles for soules after Christs ascension where they may bee neither in hel nor in heauen you shal haue more out of Ierom touching the true proprieties of these words CERNE PROPRIETATES AD INFERNVM DESCENDITVR AD COELVM CONSCENDITVR MARKE THE PROPRIETIES of these two words TO HELL MEN DESCEND TO HEAVEN MEN ASCENDE And againe Nota ante aduentum Christi quamuis sanctos omnes Inferni lege detentos Porro quod sancti post resurrectioneÌ„ domini nequaquam teneantur inferno testatur Apostolus dicens melius est dissolui esse cum Christo Qut autem cum christo est vtique non tenetur in Inferno Note that before Christs comming all euen the saints theÌ„selues were detained vnder the lawe of hel but that after the resurrection of our Sauior they are not helde in hel the Apostle witnesseth when he saith It is better to be dissolued and to bee with Christ. And he that is with Christ certainely is not detained in hell There is no shifting from the force of these words Afore Christs comming the saints were in Inferno after his ascension they were not For hee that is with Christ is not in Inferno Saie if you dare that Infernus here is the kingdom of God For then these absurdities will pursue you That after Christes ascension the saintes are not in the kingdome of heauen and he that is with Christ is not in the kingdome of Christ wherefore maugre your bearde if you haue anie Infernus with Ierom is trulie and properlie hell and in no wise the kingdome of heauen as you imagine Thus thriue you by your own authors whom you produce to make the world beleeue that formerlie HADES INFERI did signifie heauen such heauens if you be wise keepe your selfe from neither professe to expound the Créed by the Classicall masters of the gréeke tongue being Poets Pagans What is to be thought of that opinion of the Fathers that the saints before Christs comming were in Inferno in hel but frée from feare or torment though in some darknes as also whence they tooke the ground of that assertion I haue shewed in the end of the treatise before as much as néeded to this question there with ease it may be perused They mistooke you will saie the word Infernum in the old testament and thence grew their opinioÌ„ that the Patriarks and prophets before Christes comming went to hell but the scriptures had no such meaning for neither the worde Sheol with the Hebrues nor the worde Hades with the Septuagint had any such sense to signifie hell And this a notable argument y t Hades signifieth the world of soules or generall state of the dead were they in hel or in heauen Wee are all this while out of our proper element to sift heathen philosophers Poets for the meaning of the créede a little smattering in the Greeke tongue made the Refuter so arrogant that hee bid defiance to all the fathers both gréeke and Latin as vnable to vnderstande one poore word in
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