An Explication of our Lords Soul Going to Paradise, Title page – Dedication
AN EXPLICATION OF THE ARTICLE κατῇλθεν ἐισ ἁιδου, of our Lordes ſoules going from his body to Paradiſe; touched by the Greek generally ἁιδου, The vvorld of Soules; termed Hel by the old Saxon, & by all our tranſlations: vvith a defenſe of the Q. of Englands religion: To, & againſt the Archb. of Canterbury: vvho is blamed for turning the Q auctority againſt her ovvne faith.
Sundry Epiſtles are prefixed & affixed. by H. Br.
The ſecond edition, vvherein the Typographicall falts of the former are amended.
foreign
Iames, 2, 1.
1605.
TO THE MIGHTY PRINCE ELISABETH BY THE GRACE OF GOD QVEENE of England, France & Ireland, defendour of the faith, &c.
YOVR M. gaue intelligence vntounto a gentleman of Middelburgh, of a prelates diſgracing of my poore ſelf: vvhichwhich thing cauſed him ſome ſadnes; & my ſelf more. He demaunded of your highnes no cenſure touching me: but thinking that he lerned more ſubſtance of divinity in a short conference, thē in 64. yeres afore (as it pleaſed him to ſay,) procured me before I vvas vvare a great ſtipend to profeſſe yf I vvould: & alſo vvrote to knovv vvhether you vvould employ me in England or like that elſvvhere others should: & knevv that it vvas againſt all Chriſtianity & the peace of life, to cenſure any that ſeeke no prefermēt: vvherby yf they requited like greefe, much diſgrace vvould be ſpred, vvhere amity should beare the ſvvay. In his grief he replyed vponupon the prelate: as vponupon one not knovving the ſeaſoning of his tongue in honeſty: &, by hinderance of the beſt paynes for mans good, bent vntounto the ruine of the Kingdome. Your M. beſt knovveth his vvhole hart, by his Letters. The Letter of the prelates tongue vvhetted too sharp, he gaue me: to reply for my ſelf, as I thought meeteſt. The party I knevv by the ſpeach: & shevved him the very ſyllabes: I think your M. looketh that I should avvnſvver: & not ſuffer you to be led amyſſe by him. Therfore I vvil firſt shevv vvhat man I hold moſt aſſured to be the reporter: next, vvhat I avvnſvver to his particular ſpeach: By theſe arguments I gathered that the Archb. of Cant. vvas the man. By a man of his, the very ſame ſpeach vvas uttered among ſome that ſpake in great thankfulnes for my paynes; & vvas counted to be il affected vntounto the knovvledge of ſalvation: & he & his family alone are avvonder to the Lerned; noted the only that could not afford me good vvordes; vvhoſe penne & tongue (as they ſay) hath cauſed the vvhole nation, to be better ſpoken of. Your M. may remember vvhat he ſayd of the litle book that drevv all the Scripture vntounto Chriſt. & shevved the vſe of every parcell, from the begining to the End: & called thither all kindes of Faſtern & vveſtern opening ſtil vvhere they erred, euen by them ſelves: carying half a skore of ſeuerall moſt hard & needful ſtudies thither, & examining all auctours not only in their ovvne tongues but by theyr ovvne veyne & courſe of ſtudy. The praelat ſayd to your highnes that it conteyned but the curious quirkes of an yong head. vvhere as yf he had ſtudyed 31. y▪ ever ſince he vvas Doctor, hovv in one ſpeach to shevv him ſelf extremely voyd of all grounds of Lerning, & of all conſcience for the truth: and of all care vvhoſe eares to infect vvith Atheiſm, the Tempter could hardly cary him foreign into partes more iniurions to all holy vvriters, & to men, for the marrow of theyr vvisdom: vvhichwhich hold the dignity, though a yonge head vvith old ſtudy call them to build in England, far from theyr ovvne countrey: to our glory, & theyrs.
This old ſpech might ſone tell, yf any prelate miſuſed your M. eares extremely, vvho the party should be. for hardly vvil one nation bring tvvo of his mind and hart: confident to condemne vvhat he knovveth by his bare Latin ſtudies no more thē a babe: & extremely bent to hinder the good of his ovvne religion. The ſame prelate vvrote vntounto the ſta…ioners to hinder a commentary of myne vponupon Daniel: & cauſed many of them to blaſpheme the trueth. VntoUnto vvhom I shevved by D. Saravia that he vſed more auctority thē your M. had to lend him. The good of your ovvne Kingdome might not be hindered by any auctority. Yf he could tell me vvhere I miſſed I vvould thank him: othervviſe, yf he hindered, the vvork should be printed elſvvhere, & him ſelf blamed for hindering your comon good. By D. Sarauia he … me his anſvver: that it vvas better the trueth of Daniel vvere hid, then antiquity should be diſgraced for miſſing as in my Epiſtle. VVhether I be to lerne mild vvriting of him, his vvorkes peſtered vvith diſgraces compared vvith my Epiſtle to the LL. vvil shevv ſufficienly. This Spirit, & that, uttered to your M. vvill argue one & the ſame ſoule: that I may vvel knovv vvhat prelate your M. meaned. Daniel cometh forth by the prelates better aduiſe, & auctoriſing: & my paynes is dedicated to the LL. of your M. moſt honorable privy couſel, to be regarded according to the ſage honour of your M. governement. They all ſaving he ſent me ſeueral vvord of ſpecial favour: & ſome of them beleued that I had made the Bible as clear as any other book: & ſayd that vvhat ſoeuer I vvould it should be done for me: vvherupon I vvrote a requeſt by a M. of that faculty, that theyr Lordshippes vvold move your M. ether to recompenſe my longe paynes after great old promiſes, or, to giuegive me leaue to goe to the King of Scotland. Thence I had ſure promeſſe of greate recompenſe vponupon bare copies not dedications of my paynes: & ſingular helpe offred to put forth the Bible in ſuch playnneſſe, that a vvhol nation might ſoō underſtand it: & ſee the glory & certē ty of it. Thither I returned avvnſvver: that I vvold no lōgerſerve your M. if I vvere not recompenſed by fiue monethes end, by the begining of Lent. The LL. ſent me by D. Ceſar this anſvver: that they thought my ſtudies not inferiour for iudgemēt in Divinity to any in England: & they bade me tell D. Ceſar vvhat I vvould hauehave, that he might moue your M. & they further advertiſe your highnes. I returned my mind: that your M. should be my chooſer: & that I vvold like beſt of that vvhichwhich you appointed for me. Thus a mā vvould hauehave thought that a cōcluſiō frō their LL. should not find cōtradictiō from any vvhoſe voyce, faith, & honour muſt be in the meſſage ſent from thē to me by D. Ceſar. Yet they vvere perſuaded that the Archb. vvould neuer ſuffer your M, to ſee the clear certenty of Divinity, bicauſe you vvould ſo litle regard his bare Latin ſtudies. This theyr mynd vvas shevved me: And vvheras they meant to hauehave moved your M. to beſtovv on me the charge of London (vvich he meant for D. Bā croft) & this vvas noyſed by the clarks of the counſel; it vvas more talked that the Archb. vvould vvork him ſelf any diſgrace to hinder my being ſo nere occaſion to open the Bible to your ſelf: thus it pleaſed them to ſay, & think: In ſo much that a Bacheler of Divinity of Ripon, vvho knevv the Lords purpoſe for me: & his, againſt me; & my reſolution vponupon his next iniury to leave your governement, vvent to Lambeth for good vvil to aduiſe him better: But he could not hauehave fit talk vvith him; by reaſon that he vvas moved by ſome other, to ſome heate, and afore he could goe again to him, he brak out as it vvas expected. This shevveth moſt certenly vvho the prelate should be. For as this dealing is ſtranger then lightly should befala man of natural reaſon, though all honeſty vvere ſet aſyde: So the ſame man should be the likeſt to embreath into your M. the ſpeach ſo deadly condemned by the Gentleman vvhom you made Iudge of that vvhichwhich you bad S. Iohn St. vvrite vntounto him. That your M. may better mark the ſtrange contemt of trueth in the Archb. & his boldenes in other matters, as that, vvhichwhich the ſpech mentioned, vvas cenſured: I muſt briefly tell againſt vvhat dealings he brake out openly.
As I vvayted, vponupon the LL. leaſure, to move your M. for me, in ſad vvether of vvinter, I vvas vehemently requeſted by Lerned & Zealous Chriſtians to aſſemble the People, by my preaching, to pray for better vvether. VVhichWhich vve & others prayed for, & obteyned: & many marked the meanes, & the event. In thoſe ſermons I choſe Scriptures to open, vvhichwhich Latin oryet Greek ſtudies never opened; being ſo very familiar to all Hebrevves, that none of the Apoſtles age & nation vvold ſtagger in them. S. Stephens oration Act. 7. is of this tenour: ſpeaking in the prophetes skill vſual in repetitiōs, flovving vvith matter vvhichwhich maketh England, & al vniverſities blame the text, or brede vnſavery expoſitions: & that vvhere the ſpeach is fulleſt of heauenly vviſdome. Him I expounded to the hearers confort: that they might better like of your governement, for that in your dayes Scripture vvas more cleared then 1500. yeres afore. And thoſe poinctes I had printed afore to your M. & found great thankes then, from Zurick, the French, Dutch, Denmark, Scotland, & others. And yf it pleaſe your highnes to try your Archb. lerning, I dare aſſure you that all his latin ſtudies vvill never expound S. Stephē: to tell vpō vvhat lavv of Moſes he vvas called into iudgement: by vvhat relation to Scripture the miracle of his face vvas to be like an Angels: hovv he frameth calling of Abraham from VR. hovv Iacobs family can have 75. ſoules, & but 70. in Moſes: hovv the Speach of the burial in Abrahams purchaſe can be true: by vvhat ground he affirmeth that the Patriarches bones vvere caryed out of Egypt, & buryed in Sychem: & hovv our enemies graunt this true▪ Likevviſe for Moſes age of 40. yeres in Pharoes court: vvhat vvarant he had: vvhat authours allovvable to all Ievves vve hauehave for that: Hovv Rempham can ſtand in Amos, a propre name: vvhere the text is Chiun: & Babylon for Damaſcus, by the like vvarrant: & to vvhat poinct of his accuſation his oration belongeth: & vvhy he endeth in Solomons temple: & vvho but he ſayd that VR vvas in Meſopotamia: or vvho but Philo the Greek ſayd thad Abraham vvas called after his fathers death. A Doctor that fayleth in any of theſe poincts vvill diſgrace the firſt Martyrs Apologie: And amonſt his defenders in Latin & Greek ſtudies it is almoſt all diſgraced. Strangers thank your M. for clearing S. St. by my pen.
And herein your M. may ſatisfy your ſelf; vvhether your high preferred Archb. vvith his accuſations vnlavvful, though they vvere true; or the defendour of your faith, on his ovvn charges, by shevving the agreement of all the Bible; in vvrit, vncorrupt: in meaning, ſure, by enemies graunt, deſerveth better acceptation for ground of ſtudy, far from phantaſies. Although my trauel in this kind might have moved the Archb. to favour my paynes ſo much as the temporal Lords did for clearing Daniel by heathen for ſtory: for his chief Queſtion, by Nathan the Prophet 2. Sam. 7. Which none of his Latines or yet Greeks, I trovv, hauehave done: for his tvvo tongues, by plain reaſons, but neuer marked, as I iudge, by any, ſaving one levv: although my diligence might hauehave ſtirred his Love, it ſtirred only his enuy: and dayly it vvas noyſed hovv he meant to defeate the LL. purpoſe: ſo that tvvo gentlemen conferred touching his courſe: & the one ſayd: Shall I tell the Bishop that he taketh an vnhonorable courſe. The other avvnſvvered: No. The Bishop vvill but mock. This vvil not be ſtrange to the Archb. for I vvrot it vntounto him ſelf: that he might conſyder vvhat a goodly thrid he had ſpun that hauing receaued 50000. poundes of the Church is counted but a skopher in the greateſt matters. For my ſelf, he knovveth that I afforded him good language: & labored to countenance him: but ſtill ready yf he vvold neuerend his iniuries to call him to accompt for all at once. After I had expounded S. Stephen as plain to Ievves, vnexplicable vvithout them: I toke a text: 1. Pet. 3. Speaking to Ievves, hovv the Spirit of Chriſt preached in the dayes of Noah: to them vvhichwhich are novv Spirites in Priſon: vvhichwhich very phraſes they them ſelves hauehave: yet of vsus the Greek is badly translated: & the divinity vvorſe expoūded: Saving of Maximus Monachus & his auctours, & M. Beza: vvith Zegedin, & his folovvers But none vvithout Ievves auctority can ſatisfie the doubting, vvho vvill be taught hovv the phraſe vvas vſual.
This text vvas comonly cited to proue that our L. deſcended to Gehenna by ſuch vvho think that Hell in the Crede ſignifieth the ſtate of the damned. I handled both: That S. Peter had no ſuch meaning: nor the Greek Crede. This meaning I made of the Greek Credet: that ſynce Greeke vvas firſt ſpoken vntil the Crede vvas to be penned: as vve muſt iudg by that vvhichwhich vve hauehave in record: foreign is nothing els but to goe from this vvorld: vvithout diſtinction of Ioy or torment, leauing that to further conſyderation: & foreign in all the old teſtament, the vvorld of Soules: and Hell in our tranſlations, of force the ſame; & ſo in our Crede, & ſo taken by K. Ed. & by your M. that vniuſtly they that leaue our Church quarel herein, as though vve denyed our L. to goe preſently to heaven. My opinion herein I printed to the Lerned nobility, & inferior gentry: VVho, ſome of them vvrote to Baſil that no humane paynes vvold ouermatch a ful treatiſe in the ſame tenour. Againſt this the Archb. brake out to open rage: vvith his bare commentary Latin, the plague of Divinity: & not vvorth one yeres ſtudy of tvventy, that the Bible vvil require. Firſt, he gaue out vvord that I should be ſtayed from preaching. Many vvere ſad. but I vvas glad. For I knevv that God called our long difference for Diuinity into the open iudgement of the vvorld, & in this matter he had ſayd to one M. Samford attendant vponupon a noble earle, vponupon occaſion of tranſlating the Pſ. 16. That he vvold burne in this opinion that Chriſt deſcended to Gehenna. And to ioyne in ſome ſpecial article vvith him, I choſe this text, knovving hovv the foreign that to deſcend to hel vvas, true of a ſoule gone vp to heauen, vvold catch the bare Latiniſt. But I ſlayed in the realme till he vvold break out into ſome open action: that he could not aftervvardes deny his proceding. He bare the high commiſſioners in hand, as D. Ceſar & D. Levvyn, that he Sent for me to anſvver for my Doctrine: & yf he had by requeſt, I vvold gladly: yf he had vſed commaundement for the article knovven; it had bene Atheiſme, to turne your auctority againſt your oth, & fayth. He vvas bound to knovv your religion confirmed by act of Parlement. But hovv far his meſſenger differed in his caryage from all civility & lavv, I am ashamed to print: the LL. hauehave read it, & requeſted me to lay the blame vponupon his man: but others ſayd that the high shirif muſt anſvver for the vndershirfs faultes. Here vponupon I reſolved to leaue the realme: & shevved the LL. his monſtrous dealing: hovv the bare Latiniſt vvould be teaching me in Greek & Ebrevv general poinctes: & I shevved hovv a D. his frend lamented that he could not beat into his head the bare Conceit of my ſtudies, & many other extreme vnlerned partes, ſome printed againſt him, as denying the Greek ſtyle, all from the LXX, in all the nevv Teſtament. And I ſent vntounto him ſelf a copy: & further matter hovv his vnlernednes brought your M. auctority vntounto manifeſt Atheiſme & moſt ſenſeles, againſt your ovvne good. Then he yelded: vvith great promiſes, yf I vvould but acknovvledge them that vvold be my frendes. Alſo he ſayd that he ſent for me but to anſvver D. Andrevves for the deſcent to Hell. He might hauehave requeſted me, & I vvould hauehave ſatisfied him: But to betray your M. auctority to be a ſlave to Hereſy: that vvould not be good, nor ſemely for me. As he ſent me this vvord: I vvrote from Leyden in Holland that I vvould defende myne opinion in Cambridge: yf he vvould hazard his fame vponupon any that should reply. At that he raged vvith termes that the meſſenger lothed to report: Leſt I should pay his vnlernednes vvith as good. Therupon I vvrote an Epiſtle to the Lerned nobility shevving hovv through all the Bible (vvherin one errour ſtayneth al) he ſuffred bad notes: to bring errours a thouſand at once: To make all the Credite of Moſes & the Prophetes nothing vvorth: & there in I anſvver his heat: VVherin he vvill burn in this opinion that Chriſt deſcended to Gehenna. Novv my L. treaſorer S. VVilliam Cecil asked him vvhat further matter he had to hinder theyr purpoſe. Then this he invented: that I vvrote vntruly that he determined betvvixt D. R. and my controverſy, to your M. For that, I printed him a ful avvnſvver. Then came that nevv ſpeach, vttered to your M. vvhichwhich I am ſure came from him. And this much for, vvho the party should be. Novv for anſvver. Though his ſpeach might be held a back biting: yet I vvill ſuppoſe that he dealt better to mean but our open contention: for the deſcent to hel. VVherof I hauehave vvritten here, vntounto him ſelf, a ful treatiſe. And vvheras he ought to proue that the Greek Crede is of his mynd by the General tenour of the tongue: and that all the Bibles ages beleued that Chriſt should goe to Gehenna, & that your M. is of his mynd: I reſiſt, that neuer any Greek, heathen or Ievv toke foreign in his ſenſe: but all vniforme in myne: that all the Bible vtterly refuſeth that his ſenſe: & all Ievves & Gentiles vvould take myne in one meaning, profitable for faith & paſt all colour of vvrangling: as Articles of religion ought to be plain: & that K. Ed. the 6. the rare noble prince your M. brother, once the only hope of our nation, ſo vnderſtood the Article: and that your M. oth is to defend that meaning. To your M. to the moſt noble King of Scotland, vvhoſe M. offred me myne ovvne deſire for divinity, to the Archb. his ovvne hart, to all Lerned nobles, & other Chriſtianes I commend the trueth: to be tendered as yee look to finde the fauour of God: & to God him ſelf I commend his ovvne cauſe: & the paſſage of his ſonne from hence vvhether he vvent for the redemption of our ſoules: that his holy vviſdome may shine in this vvord of Salvation, from the holy directly, foreign.
Your M. moſt carefull defendour of your faith. HVGH BROVGHTON.