Propositions and Principles of Divinity Disputed, Section 45
PRINCIPLES CONCERNING THE RESVRRECTION OF IESVS CHRIST. XLV.
1 HItherto wee hauehave heard Chriſtes combate with death; wherein he might ſeeme to be ouercome by death, becauſe it ſo far preuailed againſt him, as it threw his dead bodie into the graue.
2 Now we are to ſpeake of Chriſts victorie ouer death: the beginning whereof, was the preſeruation of his dead bodie in the graue, vncorrupted: and that without the help of anie art of the Apothicarie.
3 His full victorie manifeſted it ſelfe in the reſurrection of his bodie: ſeeing that life is directlye oppoſite vntounto death.
4 Now, that onlie is ſaid to riſe again, which lay down, and therefore, neither the Deitie nor the ſoule of Chriſt roſe againe. Yet notwithſtanding, the reſurrection after a ſort doth appertain vntounto the ſoule: namelie, in that reſpect that by the reſurrection it was reſtored againe vntounto the bodie, that is, vntounto his proper inſtrument.
5 Heere it is alſo gathered, that the ſame verie bodie which was laid in the graue, roſe againe.
6 The Reſurrection did aboliſh none of the eſſentiall qualities of the bodie: of which ſort are, to hauehave a quantitie, and to bee finite: whence followeth, that it is alſo encloſed within the compaſſe of the members thereof; and is contained in a place.
We do condemne therfore the Eutychians, who held that he had a bodie, that was not bodilie: and the Valentinians, who ſaid that it was an aierie bodie: and the Marcionites, who turned his true bodie vntounto a ſhadow, both before and after the Reſurrection.
7 By the ſame reaſon alſo doth fall to the ground that inuented forgerie, both of Tranſubſtantiation, and Conſubſtantiation, as beeing altogether repugnant vntounto the truth of the bodie of Chriſt.
8 Chriſt was the firſt that roſe hauing ſwallowed vp mortalitie, and remooued at once all the infirmities of the naturall life from him ſelfe: although that after his reſurrection he did trulie eat and drinke, that he might make vsus fullie aſſured, that he tooke vponupon him again a true bodie.
9 Chriſt (which is proper to him alone) roſe againe by the power of his owne Deitie, and not by any borrowed ſtrength, or by the force of anie creature.
Therefore his Reſurrection is a moſt true demonſtration, that he was trulie God.
10 There was great cauſe why Chriſt ſhoulde ryſe the third day, and not before; leaſt that if he had riſen ſooner, his death ſhould hauehave ſeemed to be but fained, or if he had ſtaied longer in the graue, the faith of the elect might hauehave beene hazarded.
11 The Reſurrection of Chriſt was neceſſarie to the accompliſhing of our ſaluation, becauſe that as it behooued him to ſuffer the death due vntounto our ſinnes; ſo alſo it was needfull that death ſhould bee ouercome by him, that hee might bring vsus vntounto aeternall life, beeing deliuered from mortalitie.
12 It was agreable alſo vntounto the juſtice of God, that Chriſt ſhould enioy aeternall glorie, euen by the condition of the legall couenant, which is, do this, and liue.
13 The Reſurrection of Chriſt is a ſure pillar of our reſurrection, becauſe the church is as it were, the complement or filling vp of Chriſt: and therefore taking away that head of Chriſtian religion, vaine were the preaching of the Goſpell.
Therefore we deteſt from our harts the Saducees and all Philoſophers, that hauehave denied the reſurrection of the fleſh.
14 The doctrine of the Reſurrection hath beene continuallie held in the church of God: the which alſo though it do depend vponupon the omnipotencie of God onelie, may yet in ſome ſort, by laying downe ſome ſure grounds and principles, bee probablie gathered by humaine reaſon.
15 Our bodies ſhall not be two in nomber after the reſurrection, but the verie ſame bodie that lay downe in the graue ſhall riſe againe.
The opinion therefore which IOHN the Biſhop of Ieruſalem held concerning the taking vp of an other body is worthelie condemned.
16 The Reſurrection of Chriſt doth properlie belong vntounto the elect: ſeeing the wicked are to ryſe againe not by the vertue of his reſurrection, but by the juſt judgement of GOD vntounto aeternall damnation, euen by the force of that penaltie, which GOD added vntounto the commandement hee gaue to ADAM: The day that thou ſhalt eate, thou ſhalt die the death, euen the firſt and the ſecond death.
17 It is no wonderfull caſe, that Chriſt after his Reſurrection did not openlie manifeſt himſelf vntounto all men: for as there is a time of merciemercy, ſo is there a time of judgemēt with God.
18 Chriſt proued his Reſurrection vntounto his diſciples, by all kinde of arguments: as, by the teſtimonies both of Angels, of weomen, and of men vntounto whome he preſented himſelfe aliue, euen in the ſame bodie that was marked with the ſcarres of the wounds: adding thereunto alſo the teſtimonies of the Prophets.
19 VntoUnto all theſe things he adjoined his conuerſation which he had with them for the ſpace of fourtie daies, leaſt either a ſhorter time ſhould not ſuffice, or if he had continued longer, he might ſeeme to hauehave riſen to ſuch a life, as he lead heere at the firſt.
20 Hetherto alſo belongeth the manner of his appearing, which was in ſome reſpect naturall: that it might be manifeſt, that neither his reſurrection nor his glorie did take from him his true humanitie, whereby he is and ſhall be our brother for euer: and yet notwithſtanding ſupernaturall that all might knowe him, hauing laide downe this naturall life to be vntounto vsus, the firſt fruits of a ſpirituall and an aeternall.
21 Now, ſeeing both this hyſtorie of the Reſurrection, and alſo teſtimonies of the Prophets which fore-tolde the ſame, were publiſhed openlie and in the audience of as manie as would heare, not onelie of the Iewes, but of al other people, and was alſo confirmed by all kinde of miracles: it muſt needs be, that neither the Iewes, nor anie other people can complaine, that Chriſt after hee had riſen againe, did not offer himſelf to be ſeene of them.
22 And ſeing that Chriſt came to ſaue his elect wholly, both ſoule and bodie: and that his reſurrection is his true and full victorie: it followeth, that that ſpirituall reſurrection (whereby it commeth to paſſe that our ſoules beeing ſpiritually vnited vntounto Chriſt, the old mā beginneth to die in vsus, & being by little and little to be worne away, is buried, and the new man riſeth again) doth depend vponupon the reſurrection of Chriſt; that euen as Chriſt after his reſurrection, & not before (as far as he is our head) began to liue that aeternall life, after he had ouercome all the infirmities of this naturall life, which (ſinne excepted) he had vndergone for our ſakes: ſo that qualitie of an vncorrupted life being begun in our ſoules while we liue heere, and proceeding farther, after the diſſolation of this bodie, is at the length to bee fullie perfected, when the reſtitution of our bodies ſhall be accompliſhed: and ſo the elect ſhall liue that aeternall life with Chriſt, the type of which benefite is the Sacrament of Baptiſme vntounto vsus.
23 Nowe, euen as the Spirit of Chriſt paſſed from the Croſſe into Paradiſe, at the verie ſame moment that it departed out of the bodie, & thēce returned into the bodie, that whole Chriſt in reſpect that he was man, might be afterwards glorified: ſo we do beleeue that their ſpirits who die in the Lord, do ſtraight way depart vntounto God, there to enjoy that meaſure of glory that is appointed for thē: vntill that they beeing adjoined againe vntounto the ſame bodies (which will be the verie ſame in ſubſtance trulie corporal, though in a far more excellent eſtate) ſhal liue vnderunder Chriſt their head for euermore.
We do condemne therfore, both that fable of Purgatory fire, and alſo their doctrine, who dreame that the ſoules of the departed, are a ſleepe vntill the laſt day of judgement.
Defended by BENIAMIN CRESSONIVS of Burgundie.