Answer to a Popish Pamphlet Called the Touchstone of the Reformed Gospel, Part 2 · Subpart 46
46 THat Ieſus Christ deſcended not into hell nor delivered …hence the ſoules of the Patriarch's out of the ſame.
VVHichWhich he ſayeth is contrarie to Epheſ. 4. 8. where it is ſaid, That when Christ aſcended on high he led captivitie captive, which Captives (ſayth he) were the ſoules of the fathers which Chriſt delivered out of Limbus. To whom I anſwere 1. we deny that ever he ſhall find in ſcripture any ſuch place as he calleth Limbus, or that the word Hell, as it relateth to the ſoule, ſignifieth any place appointed for the godlie, but for the wicked onlie & damned for ever. 2. By Captivity led captive, Chriſts enemies & ours are onlie meant, & not his freinds or the fathers, which is clear, firſt by the alike ſpeech, Judg. 5. 12. where Deborah after the victorie over Iſraels enemies, ſayeth to Barack, Ariſe Barack and lead thy Captivitie captive. That is, thy vanquiſhed enemies. 2. The fathers alſo ſo expound theſe words, therfore ſayeth Tertullian lib. 5. contra Marcion. Hee led Captivitie captive, that is death & that ſlaverie under which man was. Haymo alſo & Theophy lact on Epheſ. 4. 9. ſayeth, That this captivitie was the Devill, death, the curſe of the Law & ſinne And ſo alſo ſpeaketh Augustin (on pſal. 67.) 3. So alſo do their own Doctours expound theſe words, as Lyra on pſal. 67. Lombard likewiſe and Arboreus on Epheſ. 4. 9.
The ſecond place is Act. 2. 27. Thou will not leaue my ſoul in hel. To which I anſwere, 1. Their Arias Montanus in his interlineall Bible approven by the Univerſitie of Lovan, and printed at Antuerp 1572. tranſlates that place of the 16. pſalout of which this of the Act. is taken, thus, Non derelinques animam meam in ſepul…hro. And Iſidorus clarius on this place ſpeaketh thus, according to the Hebrew phraſe the ſoule is put for the bodie, which he was not to leaue in the grave. And Bellarmin, lib. 4. de Chriſto. cap. 12. grantes that the hebrew word nepheſh or anima, is a generall word which ſomtimes ſignifieth the bodie, as is cleare (ſayth he) by many parts of ſcripture. Wherof he inſtances one, Gen. 37. 21. where Ruben ſayth to his brehren concerning Joſeph, Non interficiamꝰ animā ejus where the word anima is not taken for the ſoule properlie ſo called nor by a Trope for the man himſelf, but properlie for his fleſh or bodie (ſayeth he) and as Nepheſh ſomtimes ſignifieth the bodie, ſo in the ſame ſenſe is the greek word foreign uſed by the ſeptuagint Levit. 21. 1. & 11. 2. The hebrew word Sheol, alſo, is taken two wayes in ſcripture, to wit, either for the receptacle of the corporall part of man after death, and ſo it ſignifieth the graue. which is not onlie called in the greek foreign but foreign, as 1. Cor. 15. 55. foreign O graue where is thy victorie? orelſe it is taken for the receptacle of the ſpirituall part or ſoule of man after death, and thus being taken, it is tranſlated, Hell, and then onlie and ever it ſignifieth the place of the damned, out of which there is no deliverie, as Augustin ſhoweth at length in his 99. Epiſtle to Evodius, and for probation that the word Sheol is taken for both theſe forenamed receptacles. Their own Lyra's words on pſal. 114. are theſe, In the hebrew (ſayth he) for INFERNUS is put SHEOL which doth not onlie ſignifie Hell, but alſo the graue. as wee alſo ſee Gen. 42. 38. Job, …7. 13. and pſal. 141. 7. A third expoſition Romaniſts give of the word Sheol or Infernus, ſignifying there by the eſtate of the dead in generall under the power of death, whereof Peter ſpeaketh Act. 2. 24. and thus doth their Janſenius expound in Prov. 15. 11. and Genebrard in pſal. 88. 48. Thus the words being cleared by Romaniſts thēſelves, 1. then whither the meaning be this, Thou will not leaue my bodie in the graue, according to Arias Montanus tranſlation of pſal. 16. 10. relating ſo to Chriſts reſurrection, which is the Apoſtles purpoſe to prove, or 2. whither the meaning be, Thou will not leaue mee under the power of death, as Janſenius expoundeth, or 3. whither foreign or ſoule be taken for the ſpirituall part of man, and foreign, or hell for the place of the damned, yet howſoever (I ſay) the words be taken in any of the three former ſenſes, they ſhall never prove any popiſh Limbꝰ, or any deſcēſe of Chriſts ſoul thither, becauſe the word foreign, or Infernus (when it is taken for the grave, or that which is in place thereof, as Gen. 43. 38. and Ionah. 2. 2.) It ever ſignifieth the place of the damned, as both ſcripture ſhoweth, and Augustin forecited, and I hope that papiſts themſelves will never ſay, that the ſoules of the Patriarchs went down thither.
Moreover, cōcerning the deſcenſe of Chriſts ſoule to hell. Romaniſts themſelves diſagree thus. 1. Scotus in 1. ſent. diſt. 11. q. 1. diſclaimeth any warrant in the goſpell for it. 2. Bellarmin (lib. 4. de Chriſto. c. affirmeth that Chriſts ſoul deſcended locally to the place of the damned. 3. Aquinas denyeth this (as Bellar. ſhoweth in the ſame place) and ſayeth that he onlie deſcended locallie to that part of hell, which is called Limbus. 4. Durand. mantaineth that Chriſts ſoule deſcended to no part of hell locallie, but virtualie onlie and by effect, ſeing the ſcripture (ſayeth he) diſtinguiſheth nowiſe the hell of the damned frō any other place, otherwiſe (ſaith Durand. in 3. ſent. diſt. 22. q. 3.) his ſoule had beene in two places together, ſeing he ſaid to the theef on the Croſſe, this day thou ſhall be with me in Paradiſe. And which virtuall deſcending of Chriſt into hell, Proteſtāts likewiſe acknowledge, Chamier ſpeaking thus (lib. 5. de Chriſto, cap. 3.) Moreover (ſayeth hee) when we ſay. Hee deſcended into hell, we ſignifie therby the efficacie of Chriſts death, wherby he overcame hell. The fruit of which victorie not only appertaineth to them who were to come after, but alſo to them who had long gone before (ſayeth hee.)
The third place is 1. Pet. 3. 18. Being put to death in the fleſh, but quickned by the ſpirit, by which alſo hee went & preached to the ſpirits in priſon. Which he ſayth wer the Fathers in Limbꝰ. To which I anſwer, That this place proveth no deſcending of Chriſts ſoule to Limbus, for delivering of the fathers therefra. Which ſhall be made clear by conſiddering 1. By what spirit Christ went and preached in the dayes of Noab. 2. who were theſe ſpirits in priſon to whom he went. & 3. The time when hee went. Firſt then the ſpirit by which Chriſt went and preached, was not his humane ſoul, but his divine ſpirit, for ſo ſayeth Auguſtin epiſt. 99. ad Evodium, as alſo Beda on this place. O Ecumeniꝰ likewiſe and Athanaſius, which expoſition Eſtius ſayeth agreeth well with 2. Cor. 13. 4. Aquinas likewiſe part. 3. q. 52. art. 2. ſaith that it was by the ſpirit of his divinitie that he went & preached (ſayth he) by the mouth of juſt Noah. Lyra in likemanner ſayth, That it was by the holie Ghoſt in Noah and in other good men. So alſo ſpeaketh Hugo Cardinalis & the Ieſuite Salmeron on this place. Next, Scripture it ſelf teſtifieth in the ſame place, That it was by that ſpirit by which he was quickned and raiſed from the dead, and that this ſpirit was his divine ſpirit, is witneſſed Rom. 8. 11. by which alſo our mortall bodies ſhall bee quickned, and which dwelleth in the Elect. And this is not Chriſts ſoule, but his holie ſpirit, as v. 9. Next, the ſpirits to whom hee went are deſcrived 1. That they wer diſobedient, & who abuſed the long ſuffering patience of God that waited for their repentance in the dayes of Noah. which the patriarchs did not, who ar praiſed ſo much for the contrary, to wit, their faith and obedience Heb. 11. 2. They ar ſaid to be ſuch ſpirits, who wer in priſon even then, when Peter wrote this epiſtle, as their own Andradius notes (def. cōcil. Trid. lib. 2. p. 17. 2) & the Text it ſelf declareth, & therefore wer not fred therfra at Chriſts Reſurrection which was long before. 3. The time when Chriſt by his ſpirit preached to theſe ſpirits in priſon, was, as the text ſhoweth, In the dayes of Noah, and not after his death, which dayes were thouſands of years before the ſame. Therefore ſayeth Beda they were the wicked & carnall livers in the age that Noah lived in to whom Chriſt preached. And ſo ſayth Carthuſian, and this he did (ſaieth Aquinas) by the mouth of juſt Noah, & by the holie Ghost (ſayeth Lyra) in Noah & other good mē. By all which it is cleare that it was not after Chriſts death, that in his ſoule hee deſcended to any popiſh Limbus, to deliver the godlie Patriarch's therfra. Seing the Patriarch that was then alive in the days of Noah, was onlie Noah himſelf.
The fourth place is Heb. 11. 40. God having provyded a better thing for us, that they without us ſhould not bee made perfect, whence it followeth (ſaieth he) that theſe holie ſoules were detained till then in a place distinct from heaven, and hell of the damned. To whom I anſwere, That no ſuch thing followeth from theſe words, but that the glorifying both in ſoul and bodie of theſe holie pat…iarch's ſhall not be till the generall reſurrection, when both they and wee ſhall be perfectlie in both glorified together, which is the expoſition of Aquinas, Cajetan and Lombard on this place, Calling the glorifying of their ſoules after death the firſt robe or stole which they received, and the ſecond which they are to receive to be the glorifying alſo of their bodie at the laſt day. This like wiſe is the expoſion of their late Estius, which he ſhoweth to be alſo Auguſtins, epiſt. 99. and Evodium and 49. Treatiſe on John, as alſo Chriſoſtoms, and Eraſmus in his paraphraſe. And cō cludeth thus ſaying, The Apostle therefore speaketh of the perfyting which is to be at the generall reſurrection.
The fifth place is, Math. 12. 40. That as Ionas was three dayes & three nights in the Whales bellie: ſo ſhould the ſon of man be three dayes & three nights in the heart of the earth. which he expoundeth, Hell. To which I anſwere, This is onlie ſpoken of Chriſts bodie in the graue, and not the being of his ſoule in hell witneſſe Chriſoſtome hom. 44. in Math. 12. whoſe words are, He ſayeth not in the earth, but in the heart of the earth, to wit, in the graue (ſayth he) Thus alſo doth Gregorie Nyſſen expound, epiſt. ad Eustachium. So ſaieth Auſelmus on Math. 12. He was in the heart of the earth, to wit, in the graue (ſayeth he) Thus alſo doeth Ignatius expound epiſt. ad Trallianos Euth…mius in Math. 12. Jerome alſo and Tertullian with diverſe others, & thus alſo ſayth their owne Lyra, The ſon of man ſhall be in the heart of the earth three dayes & three nights, that is in the graue, & ſo ſpeaketh their pariſian Doctour Arboreus, & others. And which anſwere ſerveth likewiſe for that of the Epheſ. 4. 9. which others object.
The ſixth place is Math. 27. 52. And the graves were opened and many bodies of the ſaints which ſleeped aroſe, and came out of their graves after his reſurrection. To which I anſwere, That heer is a reſurrection of the bodies of the ſaints: comming out of their graves, but no comming of their ſoules out of any part of hel o… a popiſh Limbus.
The ſeventh place is Zach. 9. 11. By the blood of thy Covenant I hauehave let out thy priſoners furth of the pitt wherein there is no water. That is, the Fathers out of Limbus (ſayeth he) To which I anſwere ſhortlie, omitting Auguſtins expoſition lib. 18. de civitate dei. cap. 35. Of the deep of mans miſerie by ſinne, out of which by Chriſts blood we are freed, Bellar. himſelf anſwereth clearlie for us, l. 1. de purg. cap. 3. and ſhoweth That no ſuch thing as Limbus patrum can be meant heerby, becauſe their is water of comfort and refreſhment in Limbus (ſayth he) wheras in this pitt whereof Zacharie speaketh there is no water at all.
As for his laſt place, 1. Sam. 28. 14. concerning Samuels apparition to Saull▪ wee hauehave anſwered it alreadie, that it was not Samuell, but the Devill in his ſhape. And which place is moſt impertinently brought to prove Chriſts deſcenſe into hel, by the apparition of any ſuch ſpirit cōming out of hell of the damned.
As for Fathers, whom he onlie citeth▪ Jerome explaineth himſelf on Epheſ. 4. 9. what he ſayeth on v. 8. Next, Augustin on pſal. 171. hath nothing of Limbus patruū or Chriſts deſcenſe there, and as for Gregorie there is no ſuch place as he mentioneth, lib. 3. Moral. cap. 20. For that book hath onlie 17. chapters in it.