Discourses on Divers Texts of Scripture, Discourses 1 · Sermon 4
2 PETER 2. 4.2 Pet. 2. 4.
For if God spared not the Angels which sinned, [foreign]—but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darknesse to be reserved unto Iudgement, &c. so we translate it:
To which of S. Peter, answers that of S. Iude, (as almost that whole Epistle doth to this) verse 6. And the Angels which kept not their first estate, [or principality] but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darknesse unto the Iudgement of the great Day.
THese two places are brought to prove, that the Devils or evil spirits, are now in Hell, before the day of Judgement: Which I cannot see how it can possibly stand with the rest of the Scripture, which testifies every where that they have their mansion in the Air, and here about the earth, where they tempt, seduce, and do all the mischief they can to mankinde; hence their Chieftain Satan is styled, The Prince of the power of the Air, that is, of the airie Dominion or Princedom. Therefore hither they were with their Prince exiled from Heaven, and no further, nor shall be untill the Day of Judgement. And of this I shall speak at this time: First, to clear these Texts which seem to make for the contrary; Secondly, to enquire what was the opinion of the Ancients about this point.
As for this place of S. Peter, and that imitation thereof in the Epistle of Iude, I can beleeve the translation of neither: Piscator (not conceiving how that of S. Iude (especially because of the word [foreign] eternall) could be reconciled with other Scripture, and experience, which shews us that the Evill spirits are not yet bound with eternall chains, having so much liberty of gadding about) supplies in the Text vinciendos, as if there were an Ellipsis, reading it thus, Iudicio magni illius Diei vinculis aeternis (vinciendo) reservâsse.
In that of S. Peter, if I understand him, he takes foreign, not for Dativus instrumenti, with chains of darknesse, but as Dativus acquisitionis, for chains of darknesse; and construes it with foreign, as if it were, He delivered them for chains of darknesse; namely, supposing a trajection of the words.
But for my part I take both foreign in S. Peter, and foreign in S. Iude, to be neither of them Dativus instrumenti, but both Acquisitionis, or Finis, and governed the one of foreign, and the other of foreign that is, foreign to be put for foreign, and foreign for foreign—As in the Hebrew, the preposition foreign, serves for the proposition foreign, and for the Dative Case, whose propriety the style of the Greek Testament every where imitates, and why not in this? foreign therefore and foreign, are here foreign, not foreign: Nay, among the Greek Grammarians we finde observed, that the Dative Case is sometimes put for the Accusative with the proposition foreign As in this example, foreign, that is, foreign much more in the sacred Greek, which so frequently imitates the Hebrew Construction.
Next for the word foreign in S. Peter, it is foreign, and so not bound by any use or example to the signification we here give it, to wit, throwing down to hell. I would therefore render it, ad poenas tartareas damnavit, to wit, thus, Angelos qui peccaverunt, cum ad tartari supplicium damnasset, catenis caliginis servandos tradidit ad Diem Iudicii. For foreign here is foreign, as S. Iude hath it: So also Mat. 12. 24. The Queen of the South shall rise in judgement with this Generation, (that is) in, or at the Day of Judgement: Or I would render it, not casting down to hell, but casting down to hell ward: So the meaning in both places will be, That the wicked Angels were cast down from heaven, to this lower orb, there to be reserved for chains of darknesse at the Day of Judgement: which sense the ninth verse in this Chapter of Peter, plainly intimates by way of reddition; Novit Dominus pios in tentatione eripere, as he did Noah and Lot, Injustos verò in diem Iudicii cruciandos servare, as he doth the wicked Angels. Moreover verse 17. where the same hellish darknesse is spoken of, it is said, to be reserved for the wicked, foreign, to whom that hideous darknesse is reserved for ever; whence it is probable, that S. Peter in the foregoing passage of Angels, referred also those chains of darknesse, to reserving, and not to delivering; that is, not that the evill Angels were now already delivered to chains of darknesse, but reserved for them at the day of Judgement.
And thus much for clearing of the words of these two parallel Texts; now what hath been anciently the current opinion of this point? And first, for the Jews, it is apparent to have been a tradition of theirs, that all the space between the earth and the firmament, is full of troops of Evill spirits, and their Chieftains, having their residence in the air; which, I make no doubt S. Paul had respect to, when he cals Satan the Prince of the power of the air. Drusius quotes two Authors, one the Book called foreign, Munus novum; another, one of the Commentators upon Pirke Aboth, who speak in this manner, Debet homo scire & intelligere, à terra usque ad firmamentum omnia plena esse turmis, & praefectis, & infra plurimas esse Creaturas laedentes & accusantes, omnesque stare & volare in aere, neque à terra usque ad firmamentum locum esse vacuum: sed omnia plena esse praepositis, quorum alii ad pacem, alii ad bellum, alii ad bonum, alii ad mulam, ad vitam & ad mortem incitant. By praepositi, I suppose, he means such among the Spirits as are set as Wardens over severall charges, for the managing of the affairs of mankinde subject to their powers. This was the opinion of the Iews; which they seem to have learned by tradition from their ancient Prophets: For in the Old Testament we finde no such thing written, and yet we see S. Paul seems to approve it.
Now for the Doctors of the Christian Church, S. Hierome upon the sixth of the Ephesians, tels us, that their opinion was the same; Tis the opinion of all the Doctors, (saith he) that Devils have their mansion and residence in the space between the heaven and the earth. And that the Fathers of the first 300 or 400 years, nor did, nor could, hold the evill Angels to have been cast into Hell upon their sin, is evident by a singular Tenet of theirs. For Iustn Martyr, one of the most ancient, hath this saying; that Satan before the coming of Christ never durst blaspheme God, and that (saith he) because till then he knew not he should be damned. The same is approved by Irenaeus in his fifth Book and twentysixt Chapter; Praeclarè (saith he) dixit Iustinus, quod ante Domini adventum Satanas nunquam ausus est blasphemare Deum, quippe nondum sciens suam damnationem; Post adventum autem Domini, ex sermonibus Christi & Apostolorum ejus, discens manifestè quoniam ignis aeternus ei praeparatus sit,—per hujusmodi homines (he means those Heretiques who blasphemed the God of the Law) blasphemat eum Deum, qui judicium importat. Eusebius 4. Hist. Cap. 17. cites the same out of both, with approbation: So doth Oecumenius upon the last Chap. of the first of S. Peter. Epiphanius against Heresie 39. gives the same as his own assertion, almost in the same words with Iustin and Irenaeus, though not naming them; Ante Christi adventum (saith he) nunquam ausus est Diabolus in Dominum suum blasphemum aliquod verbum loqui, aut contra elationem cogitare: expectavit enim Christi adventum—put avitque se misericordiam aliquam assecuturum esse. I will not enquire how true this Tenet of theirs is, but onelyonly gather this, that they could not think the Devils were cast into Hell, before the comming of Christ. For then how could they but have known they should be damned, if the execution had already been done upon them?
Saint Augustine, as may seem, intending to reconcile these places of Peter and Iude with the rest of Scripture, is alledged to affirm, that the Devils suffering some hell-like torment in their aiery Mansion; the Air may in that respect in an improper sense be called Hell. But that the Devils were locally or actually in Hell, or should be before the day of Judgement, it is plain he held not; and that will appear by these two passages in his Book de Civitate Dei. First, where he saith, Daemones in hoc quidem aere habitant, quia de Coeli superioris sublimitate dejecti merito irregressibilis transgressionis in hoc sibi congruo velut carcere, praedamnati sunt. Lib. 8. Cap. 22. The other where he expounds that of the Devils *Videatur etiam Origen. in Numer. c. 22. Non vult Deus Daemonum genus ante tempus damnare; Sciunt enim & ipsi Daemones, quia tepus eorum praesens hoc seculum continet: Propterea & Dominum rogabant, ut non torqueret cos ante tempus, &c. Et ob hoc neque Diabolum removit à principatu hujus seculi, &c.Mat. 8. Art thou come to torment us before the time, (that is, saith he) ante tempus Iudicii, quo aeternâ damnatione puniendi sunt, cum omnibus etiam hominibus qui eorum societate detinentur. Lib. eodem Cap. 23. in fine.
The Divines of later times, the Schoolmen and others, to reconcile the supposed Contrariety in Scripture, divide the matter; holding some Devils to be in the Air, (as Saint Paul and the History of Scripture tels us,) some to be already in Hell, (as they thought, Saint Peter and S. Iude affirm'd:) which opinion seems to be occasioned by a Quaere of Saint Hieroms, upon the sixth of the Ephesians; though he speaks but obscurely, and defines nothing. But what ground of Scripture, or reason can be given, why all the Devils, which sinned, should not be in the same condition? especially Satan, the worst and chief of them, should not be in the worst estate, but enjoy the greatest liberty? It follows therefore that these places of Saint Peter and Saint Iude, are to be construed according to the sense I have given of them; namely, that the evill Spirits, which sinned, being adjudged to hellish torments, were cast out of Heaven into this lower Region, there to be reserved, as in a prison, for chains of darknesse at the Day of Judgement.