Answer to a Popish Pamphlet of Christs Descent to Hell, Part 3
THE POPISH PROBATION, OF THEIR ASSERTION, CONCERNING Christs Descending into Hell.
THIS Descending can not bee to the Graue, because Saynct PAVL sayeth, That Hee descended, first,Ephes. 4.9. to the lower partes of the earth: which is a place opposite to that wherevnto Hee ascended, when Hee led Captivitie captiue; and is called, in our Creed, by the Apostles, Hell; and by our Saviour, The heart of the earth: For, as Ionas was three dayes, & three nights, in the Whales Bellie;Matt. 12.40 So shall the Sonne of Man bee three dayes, and three nightes, in the heart of the Earth, &c.
THE PROTESTANT REPLY.
CHAPTER VII. What is meant by The lower parts of the Earth. EPHES. 4.9.
IN the due inquirie, What is the true meaning of these wordes, wee shall, first, consult with Scripture: secondlie, with Fathers: and thirdlie, with the Romish Doctors them-selues.
First, then:Ezek. 32.24. The Prophet EZEKIEL, in his thirtie-two Chapter, speaking of the destruction of AEGYPT, and sundrie other Nations, by the edge of the Sword; when hee commeth to showe their abasement, to the verie Graue, hee calleth it, Their going downe, to the nether partes of the Earth. And, to showe what hee meaneth there-by, hee calleth it, The setting of their Bed amongst the midst of the Slayne. And agayne,Verse 25. The placing of their Graues in the side of the Pit: and,Verse 23. Their companie, rounde about their Graues.
Next, for the verdict of Fathers: AVGVSTINE, on that same place, showeth,Aug. in Ephes. 4. Theophyl. in Ephes. 4. That the Apostle's meaning is no other, But that CHRIST came from Heaven, to the Earth, for our sake; and, That His lowest humiliation there-on, was to the Graue.
THEOPHYLACT also, showeth, That the same is meant thereby, where-of olde IAAKOB spake, when hee sayde, Yee will bring my gray Hayres, with sorrow, to the Graue. And, in lyke manner, EVTHYMIVS expoundeth the wordes, of the lower partes of the Earth, spoken of PSAL. 139.15. to bee the Graue, saying, Compactum me vidisti in utero matris meae, & dissolutum iterum videbis in utero terrae.
Last of all, what the Romish Doctors them-selues, doe mean… by the lower partes of the Earth let vsus heare, even out their own mouthes.
Aquinas, then, sayeth, By the lower partes of the Earth, are vnderstood, those which wee in habite, (sayeth hee) which are called the lower partes, because they are beneath the Heaven, and the Ayre; and to these the Sonne of GOD is sayde to hauehave come downe; not by locall motion, but by taking vponupon Him our low and humble earthlie nature, according to that which is sayde, PHILIP. 2. That Hee emptied Him-selfe.
In lyke manner, (sayeth LYRA) Hee descended, by His Incarnation, to the lower partes of the Earth: that is, (sayth hee) to the partes of this Earth, which are called Lower, in respect of other partes of the Worlde.
Cardinall Cajetane sayeth, also, thus, The addition of the worde [Terrae] is for clearer vnderstanding, to determine, what lower partes are meant; for the lowest parte of the Worlde, is the Earth. For difference sake, then, of the lower partes of the Heaven, which is in the Ayre, it is sayde, as if more clearelie the Apostle had sayde, Hee descended first to the lowest parte of the Worlde, which is the Earth, (sayeth Cajetane.)
Last of all, sayeth Catharinus, (and, with him, Gorranus, and Carthusian,) Hee descended into the lower partes of the Earth: that is, to this Worlde belowe, which is the Earth, & is lower than the Elementes, by taking our humane nature vponupon Him, (as sayeth the fore-named Carthusian.)
More-over: If by the foreign.lower partes of the Earth, the Iesuit would hauehave, of force, Hell to bee vnderstoode, and not the habitacle Earth, nor CHRIST'S Incarnation, or intombing there-on, then must hee graunt, That much more, by the foreign.lowest partes, (which is the Superlatiue) must Hell bee vnderstood: and yet this, I thinke, hee will not bee so absurde as yeelde. There-fore, much lesse, by the lower partes, (which is the Comparatiue) can hee vrge vsus to vnderstand the other: For, DAVID, speaking of his conception,Psal. 139.15. and framing secretlie, in his Mothers Wombe, sayeth, That hee was curiouslie wrought, and his substance fashioned in the lowest partes of the Earth. Which, I hope, none will bee so absurde, as to saye, this was in Hell. For this cause it is, (comparing this place, with the other,) that some doe holde, That by the lower partes, in that Apostolicall speach, the Wombe of the blessed Virgine is meaned, where-in CHRIST, by His Conception, humbled Himselfe so low, by taking vponupon Him our base and earthlie nature.
CHAP. VIII. What is meant, by the heart of the Earth. MATTH. 12.40.
WHere-as the Iesuit, by the heart of the Earth, in that speach of our SAVIOVR, would hauehave Hell to be vnderstoode, and not the Graue, I will oppose vntounto him, for his full conviction, first, The scope of the place, out of his owne Expositors: secondlie, The Authoritie of Fathers: thirdlie, The Expositions of his owne Doctors: and, last, The lyke phrases of Scripture.
First, then: His Exposition is agaynst the scope of the place, directlie: For, the Pharisees desired, to see a Signe; that is, visiblie some evident and sensible Miracle: To whome CHRIST aunswereth, That Hee woulde giuegive them no other Signe, but the Signe of the Prophet Ionas, &c. Which could not bee the Descense of CHRIST'S Soule into Hell, and the returne there-of from thence; because that was all-to-gether invisible vntounto them; and, so, no Signe at all: but it was His Death, Buriall, and Resurrection agayne from the Graue, which was visible, and is clearelie meant there-by, according as their own Ferus, on this place, commenteth, saying, That as Ionas, beeing casten into the Sea, and swallowed by a Whale, seemed a dead Man, and quyte perished; and, yet, not-with-standing, within three dayes, hee was farre otherwyse seene; to wit, alyue, beeing casten foorth, vponupon the Shore of Ninive: So, altho the Sonne of Man, beeing crucifixed, and layd in the Graue, seemed as one quyte destroyed, and whollie over-come by Death: yet, not-with-standing, (sayeth hee) Hee shoulde bee seene alyue agayne, vponupon the third daye, and powerfullie to aryse agayne, as a triumphant Victor. So, in that Hee was seene to ryse, (as Ferus sayeth,) there-fore His Resurrection from the Graue, and not His Soules Descense to Hell, or Returne from thence, was a Signe vntounto them.
Secondlie: The Iesuites Glosse is close contrarie to the Exposition of Fathers: For, Chrysostome, commenting on this place, sayeth thus, Non enim ait in terra, Chrysost. hom. 44. in Matth. 12.sed in corde terrae, ut Sepulchrum denotet: that is, Hee sayeth not, in the Earth, but in the heart of the Earth; to signifie His Graue there-by.
Gregorie Nyssene, in lyke manner, sayeth, That whyle the DEITIE was with CHRIST'S Soule in Paradise indivisiblie, Greg. Nyss. in Epist. ad Eustath. pag. 1093.making way, by the Thiefe, for an Entrance vntounto Man-kynd thither; it was with His Bodie, lyke-wyse, in the heart of the Earth; destroing him that had power of Death.
Anselmus, also, sayth,Ansel. in Matth. 12. Fuit in corde terrae, in Sepulchro scilicet: that is, Hee was in the heart of the earth; to wit, in the Graue.
Euthymius sayeth, also, Cor vero terrae intelligit ejus profunditatem, Euthym. in Matth. 12.nam in profunditate illius lapidis incisum erat Sepulchrum: that is, The heart of the Earth, signifieth the profunditie there-of: For, in the profunditie of the Rocke, was His Graue hewen out.
Ignatius, also, interpreteth Cor terrae, foreign:Ignatius ad Trallianos. Hierom. in cap. 2. Iove. Tertull. lib. de anima, cap. 31. that is, His Buriall vnderunder the Ground. So, also, doeth Ireneus applye these wordes, to CHRIST'S Buriall: with whome consenteth Saynct Ierome, and Tertullian.
Thirdlie: The Iesuites Sense of these wordes, is sensiblie agaynst the Expositions of his owne Doctors.
For, thus sayeth Lyra, The Sonne of Man shall bee in the heart of the Earth: Lyra in Matth. 12.40.that is, In the Graue (sayeth hee.)
Carthusian, also, vponupon the same place, sayeth, The Sonne of Man shall be in the heart of the Earth: that is, (sayeth he) vnderunder the Earth; to wit, in His Graue, three dayes, and three nights.
Arboreus, also, their Parisian Doctor, thus commenteth, CHRIST telleth, (sayeth hee) that Hee was to bee three dayes, and three nights, in the heart of the Earth: meaning, that Hee was to bee in His Graue.
Last of all: Let the lyke opposition bee seene, of the Iesuites Exposition, to other a-lyke phrases of Scripture.
DEVT. 4. verse 11. the Hebrew hath, Et Mons ardebat usque ad cor Coeli: which the Septuagint interpreteth, foreign: and the Latine, Vsque ad Coelum, Even to the Heaven. And, yet, who will say, then, that the Mountayne burned, even to the moste inwarde parte of Heaven, as the heart is in the moste inwarde parte of the Bodie?
So, lyke-wyse, 2. SAM. 18.14. whyle ABSOLON was alyue, BELEB, or in the heart of the Oake, that IOAB slue him. And, yet, I hope, that none will saye, That by the heart of the Oake, the moste inwarde parte, within the Barke, and bodie of the same, is anie wayes meaned, Sicut Cor est in medio animalis. Where-fore it is, that the vulgar Translation hath, berens in quercu; or, sticking in the Oake.
In lyke manner, EZEK. 27. verse 4. TYRVS is sayd, to hauehave its borders, in the heart of the Seas, because, as Vatablus sayeth, Vndique Mari alluebatur. And, yet, I hope, the Iesuite him-selfe, will not saye, that it was so in the Sea, as the heart of anie living creature is in the midst of the bodie, which wrappeth it close about. Therefore, to say, That by the heart of the Earth, Hell is vnderstoode, because, as the Heart, is in the midst of the Bodie, so it is in the center of the Earth, is but miere dotage, seeing that a Metaphore is, oftentymes, diverslie considered: neyther hath it ever for a ground, one, and the same propertie, of the thing, whence it is taken.