Propositions and Principles of Divinity Disputed, Section 48
PRINCIPLES VPONUPON THAT ARTICLE OF THE BELIEF, WHEREIN IS SAID that Chriſt ſhall come to iudge the quick and the dead. XLVIII.
1 HAving done with the treatiſe of the incarnation of the mediatour Ieſus Chriſt, and alſo of his lyfe, death, reſurrection, aſcenſion, and exaltation vntounto the right hand of the Father; which is the power that hee hath receaued ouer all creatures, the which he dooth now ſo exerciſe, as hee ſeemeth in his members rather to ſtriue and to be kept vnderunder, then to raigne: and in regard of his enemies, rather in ſome ſort for the moſt part, to bee vanquiſhed, then to ouercome. It followeth that vntounto the former we adjoine which thinges appertaine vntounto the ful adminiſtration of this gouernment.
2 Chriſtian Faith therefore dooth teach, that Chriſt who ſtriueth with his enemies, vntill the nomber of all thoſe that were giuen him of the Father be finiſhed, & the time appointed for the executing of Gods wrath againſt Sathan, his Angels, and the world, be expired, ſhall come again from heauen and execute his full power, both in the finall deliuerie of all his children, & in the vtter ouerthrow of all his enemies.
3 The vniuerſall reſtitution of the world, which is earneſtlie deſired of all the creatures themſelues in generall, ſhall ſerue for the ſetting forward of the ſaluation of the elect.
4 But it is curious and prophane to enquire what manner of the reſtitution that ſhall bee, any farther then the word of God doth reueale it.
5 Now that that judgement, whereunto all men, ſome to be whollie abſolued, others to be whollie condemned, ſhall be ſubject, is to be Vniuerſall and euerlaſting, may be proued by arguments drawne from humane reaſon, and euen from that very principle, whereby the wicked go about to diſplace Gods prouidence: namely, that God muſt needes bee juſt, and therefore that it cannot bee, but it ſhould aeternallie go well with the good, and euill with the bad.
6 But the vndoubted proofes of this article, as alſo of all the reſt, are to be fetched from Gods word.
We do condemne therefore the Epicures, who denie Gods prouidence, as though the caſuall (as they call it) ſucceſsion and change of things were to continue for euer. The Platonikes, who granting the world to hauehave had a beginning, do yet teach that it ſhall neuer hauehave an end. The Ariſtotelians, who dreame that the world neither had a beginning, nor euer ſhall hauehave an end. And all other mockers, who think that there ſhall neuer bee anie judgement, becauſe it is ſo long differred as PETER ſetteth downe 2. PET. 3.3. Yet doe wee not ground our ſelues in this point, vponupon the opinion of the Stoickes, who taught by naturall reaſon, that the world ſhoulde bee conſumed with fire, but vponupon the authoritie of the word.
7 This judgement in regarde of the power and decree thereof, is jointlie of the Father, the Sonne, and the holie Ghoſt: but the promulgating and execution of the ſame, is committed to the Sonne, & that in his humaine nature: In the which nature it pleaſeth the Father mediatly to rule all creatures.
8 Chriſt therefore ſhall come from heauen in his true, viſible and finite bodie: yet cloathed with that Diuine glorie and majeſtie, whereby he hath gotten a name aboue all names.
That dotage therefore of the Vbiquitaries, is moſt vaine, who do oppoſe the majeſtie of Chriſts fleſh, vntounto his locall and organicall circumſcription: and doe imagine a double reall preſence of his bodie, the one viſible and finite, which is of his diſpenſation: the other inuiſible and infinite, which they call omni-majeſticall, which cannot bee grounded vppon anie place of the word.
9 Before the tribunall ſeat of this Iudge ſhall all men without exception, that euer were ſince the beginning of the world, ſtand to be judged.
10 All therefore that hauehave beene dead ſhall bee joined again to their bodies, and as for thoſe that ſhall be found aliue, they ſhalbe chaunged in a moment, to the end that ſome of them may enjoy that bleſſed & perpetuall felicitie with Chriſt their head: others that they may be adjudged vntounto euerlaſting tormentes, which Sathan their head and his wicked Angels, and ſo Chriſt may trulie and perfectlie raigne for euer.
Wee condemne therefore the opinion of ORIGEN, and of the Chiliaſts, who held that all men ſhould be ſaued after a thouſand yeares.
11 This judgement ſhall Chriſt exerciſe, in reſpect of the elect, both according to the law which hee hath fulfilled for them: and alſo according to the Goſpell which was giuen vntounto them, that they ſhould embrace the ſame with a true and a liuelie faith: and in regard of the wicked, according vntounto the lawe onelie, which purſueth euerie man with aeternall puniſhment: and therefore alſo hee ſhall crowne the one of them, being acquired throw his meere fauour, and ſhall puniſh the other in juſt ſeueritie.
We refuſe therefore, both thoſe who attribute the reward of aeternall life, vntounto the ſatisfactorie and meritorious works of men: & them alſo, who aſcribe the dā nation of the wicked, vntounto a kinde of abſolute and ſoueraigne power that is in God, beyond the judgement of the law.
12 Chriſt ſhall then yeeld the kingdome vntounto his Father, that is, ſhall abſolutelie performe in deed the office which he receiued of the Father: and the Father on the other ſide, ſhall performe vntounto him, together with his, that aeternall triumphe promiſed vntounto him, when hee hath put all his enemies vnderunder his feet.
13 The place and the time of this judgement, hath God manifeſted vntounto none, but would retaine the knowledge therof vntounto himſelf, both that he might contain vsus watchfull in our duties, leſt that either we ſhould be aſtoniſhed with fear, or abuſe the deferring of his comming; and alſo, that he might exerciſe our faith and patience: yet hath he foretolde vsus, MAT. 24. the ſignes that go before his comming; ſo that none can be on the ſodaine ouertaken therby, ſaue onelyonly thoſe, who wittingly and willingly remaine vnprouided.
They are therefore worthie to be reprehended in the Church, who preſume to ſet downe the time thereof, by the aſpects of the Starres, or vponupon ſome imaginarie ſuppoſitions or Propheſies.
14 Nowe the Lorde according vntounto his ſecrete wiſedome, dooth deferre that day, partly, that the number of his elect may bee finiſhed; and partly, that the wicked may be made more and more vnexcuſable.
15 That laſt vniuerſall judgement hindreth not, but that the Lorde may in the meane time execute his particular judgements in this life, either vppon his elect for their ſaluation, or vponupon the reprobate for their vndoing; neither doth it alſo hinder, but that hee may after their departure gather the ſoules of his elect, into that bleſſed life, and torment the ſpirit of the wicked in the priſons that are knowen vntounto himſelf, even vntil the time that he accompliſheth the full happines of the one, and the vtter confuſion of the other.
16 And euen as he would hauehave his laſt comming to be hidden from men, ſo alſo hee would hauehave the time of their death for the very ſame cauſe to be vnknowen vntounto them: vnleſſe, that he openeth the ſame vntounto ſome, either by particular reuelation, or by probable conjectures.
Defended by IOHN VALETONVS Albenatienſis Occitanus.