A REPLIE VPON THER. R. F. TH. VVINTON FOR HEADS OF HIS DIVINITY IN HIS SERMON AND SVRVEY: Hovv he taught a perfect truth, that our Lord vvent hēce to Paradise▪ But adding that he vvent thence to Hades, & striving to prove that, he injurieth all learning & Christianitie▪
TO THE MOST NOBLE HENRY PRINCE OF GREAT BRITANY.
1605.
TO THE MOST NOBLE, HENRY PRINCE OF GREAT BRITANIE, Grace & truth.
IN handling the LORds prayer (most noble Prince) at O [...]landes August 13. 1603. VVhen I came to speake of the Kingdome to come, the matter called me to handle these vvordes: Lord remember thou me when thou comest to thy Kingdome: & these: This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise, From vvhich both I affirmed that the thefe beleved rightly, as all the Scribes & Pharisees, that the soules [Page 4] of the just, of Abel, and all that died since, vvent hence to that place vvich Diuines call Heauē. And I affirmed from Eccles. 3. & from the 12. & 2. Cor. 10. that the soules of all men ascend vnto God: vnto judgement: to receaue according to the actions done by the body good or euell. And this I added from Apoc. 14 That the wicked are tormented afore the throne of God & the Lambe. This belonging directly to the doctrine of the Kingdome, I vvas to shevv hovv the Crede stroue not vvith this: yf the English had rightly expressed the Greke: he went vnto the soules departed: as this, he arose from the dead, or from Hades, makes the former vvordes plain. About this doctrine D. Bilson B. of Vv. hath dealt not vvell. A survey [Page 5] of vvhose dealings your G. shall see: that knovving hovv he is damned of himselfe, you may vvish him to recant. First he agreeth vvith the truth in most stronge sort: that, we have no warrant by scripture to deny that our Lord went hence to Paradise. His vvordes are printed in Copies about ten thousand: that all may knovv hovv D. Bilson in his further paynes confuteth the Bishop of vvinchester. He that vvill do any thing in Diuinity vvithout vvarrant of Scripture shall anger God. Therfor D. Bilson is vnexcusable vvhen he goeth against that. An other article the right reverend father hath for Christianity, & the ground of our redemptiō: more ridiculous then any thing in Machmads Alkoran: vvorthy to [Page 6] be vvritten in great letters, that any rūning by may see to vvhat strange cōceites he vvold dravv the holy Prophetes, Apostles, & Fathers, & all Britanie. In his Sermon thus the right reverend father vvritteth: fol. 154. The sence of the Crede may & must be [...]s [...]at Chri H [...]f [...]er his body was buried, in soule descended into that place, which the Scripture proprely calleth Hades hell, This fevv vvordes are enough to shame all our nation for euer: touching judgment in Diuinitie: since Publiq auctoritie hath commended his vvorke. Homer that expresseth all the Heathen vanities durst neuer bring this Diuinitie but only in a dreame. In him and in Iliade or story of Ilion, called also Troy: book 23. v. 71. the soule of Patrocles killed sayth to [Page 7] Achilles his Prince in a dreame, requesting to to be buried, because the soules in Hades vvold not suffre his soule till then to come to Hades:
Oh bury me: that I may quickly passe through the gates of Hades.
They vvho svveat to make the Gospell of saluation in sadnes more ridiculous then Heathen fables, should look for the extraordinary hand of God to send them to Hades quickly. What man that vvere not brainsik vvold think that the Cred should tell hovv our Lord in body crucified, dead & buryed, should in soule be vnrecorded, vvhither the soule vvent, or vvher it should be till the body vvas buried. A Defender in title, a betrayer in truth, of our religion in Britanie, should b [...] [Page 8] told that better lerning vvold beseme a man, a D. in D. a R. R. F.
All Ievves vvold by this, & vvel might hold vs the vilest that euer vvere since Cains birth, yf they could convict vs to be of such a religion: & all Christendome vvold hate vs, as traytours to the Christian faith. He that taketh vpon him to defend the cōmon opiniō: & once graunteth all that the disputation required: & inventeth of his ovvne braine that vvhich none hold, injurieth all the state: and giving a Patroclean dreame for the marravv of salvatiō, should have vpon stuburne continuance in errour the heavy Anathema maran Atha. The curse: Our Lord himself cometh to revenge him, pronounced against [Page 9] him. God commaundeth that▪ 1 Cor. 16. And every commā dement of God should be of as great reverence as his vvord in sayng: Let light be: & it vvas.
An other condemnation of himself the right reverēd father hath in his survey fol. 543. Thus he sayth: That Christ after death went to the place where the faithfull were, the fa [...]h [...]rs affirme. Thē, yf Abrahams Bosom be the place vvhere the faithfull vvere, & they vveare in Hades, by the Grek fathers infinitely vsing the phrase of the Crede: The Hades of the Crede & Abrahams bosom is all one. It is strange that a reasonable creature should make a book against himself. A further condemnatiō of himself he findeth from Luc. 16. The holy Evangelist most eloquent in the [Page 10] Greek tongue, & vvriting to an heathen Prince Theophilus Asiarches one of the Lords of Asia bringeth Abraham talking vvith the Epicure in Hades.
Novv heathen place all soules in Hades, and Theophilus vvould so vnderstand S. Luke: that Abraham should be there. And disputers together be allvvayes holden to be in the same vvorld. The right re [...]erend father vvold prove that Hades is Hell, from this place: vvhich most mightily proueth the cleane contrary; that the faithfull Abraham vvho vvent hence to heaven, Eb. 11. & there abideth till the resurrection, vvas in Hades. So the terme is generall for the vvorld of Soules. And auctours vvhom he citeth vvould haue taught him so much: Chrisostome [Page 11] in a Greke Homilie, not yet printed: of Lazarus & the Epicure.In Photij [...]io. [...]otheca. Theophylact citing manie Diuines: vpon Luc. 16. Tertullian Ambrose, Chrisologus cited by him self, on that place: & Iosephus cited also by himself, expresly placeth Abrahams bosom in Hades. And that vvork is so agreable to the common judgement of Graecia, that the vvork is fathered vpon Irenaeus the ancient Bishop nere the Apostles,, and vpon sundry others of fame. And vvheras the Doctour vvold haue Hell lovv in the earth: and must graunt that Abraham is in Heauen: so the spech should be ridiculous: that in a Dialoge one should talke vvith one aboue his head of such infinite millions of miles distā ce. And the spech of lifting vp [Page 12] the eyes argueth equall height: So Lot lifted vp his eyes & saw the Land about fayre, Gen. 13.10. So God sayd to Abraham lift vp thy [...]e ey [...]s & behold the place wher thou art. Gen. 13.14. The third day Abraham lifted vp his eies & beho [...]d the p [...]a [...]e [...]f whi [...]h God spake to him &c. So Abraham l [...]fted vp h [...]s eyes & saw three men, Gen. 18. So Abraham l [...]fted vp his eies: & behold a ram was in a thicket fast b [...] the hornes. So Isaak did l [...]ft vp his e [...]es: and behold Camel were coming Gen. 24.63. And in the next vers. Rebecca lifted vp her eyes, & saw Isaak. And in Iacobs story six times that phrase cometh. This spech being so vsuall, no D. should bring strangenes vpon it: But D. Bilson doth and trobleth the simple: & disputeth against himselfe. For the vse of [Page 13] the phrase still argueth vevving in equal soyle. An other terme chasma trobleth the right reuerēd father. A deepe gulfe he doth expound it: from his ovvne auctoritie. Hiatus, or gaping, vvere fit▪ vvhen a man gapeth, men consider not hovv deepe the mouth [...]s: but hovv vvide. In Zach. 14. [...]n the lxx. mount olevet shalbe parted into a great chasma: half [...]astvvard, & half vvestvvard. Ther the blind may see, that no [...] [...]he depth, but the vvidenes cometh to be considered. So Babish [...]he D. is in all his vvritting. And [...]is vnspeakable blindnes appea [...]eth in this: He reiecteth heathē Greke vvith odious termes: and [...]reameth that the Apostles had [...] peculiar Greke of their ovvne; [...]et euery vvhit of the N. Testament is penned in Greke as heathē [Page 14] or Ievves before vnderstood the phrases: & the heathen had held the Apostles vvicked Sophisters, yf heathen termes had not bene in heathen sense: or in schole poinctes, such as Pharisees vvold graunt plain. All trades haue peculiarity in generall vvordes, dravving them to particular vnderstanding. But then all of the faculty take them alike. Four Grekes are in the Nevv testamēt: These fovvr Grekes the Apostles haue. The heathen, vsed as heathen meant in speach to them: or, heathen termes vsed as the Greek translaters of the old testament vsed them: or heathen termes applyed in nevv sort to Ebrevv, plain by it self: or heathen Greke applyed vnto Thalmudik or Ievves Doctors phrases. Further cometh none by the [Page 15] Apostles. The Diuels language goeth further in Abissos: to the vvicked Cabalistes maner in Zohar vpon Gen. 1. Darkenes vvas vpon the face of the Pit. Ther they say that resembled Gehenna: & call the depe Gehenna. For all these poinctes D. Bilson shevveth himself a Babe: & sometimes goeth beyond all. Hades nether by heathen, nor lxx., nor Apostles, nor Thalmud is euer Hel. yet his headstrōg vnlerned head vvill have it so: Halting afore Creples: & hoping by much babling to be heard. The lxx. take Abissus for the graue Ps. 71.22. Thou diddest make me aliue againe & diddest bring me again from the Abissos of the earth. S. Paul. Rom. 10. folovveth the very same phrase for the resurrection of the Lord▪ saie not in thine [Page 16] hart: who can go vp into heauen? I meane, to bring Christ downe: or who can go downe to the pit; I meane to bring Christ from the dead? But yf thou confesse vvith thy mouth: that Iesus is the ETERNALL: & beleue in thine hart that God hath brought him frō the dead: thou shalt be saved. S. Paul alluding to Moses Dauid & Ionas spak to Ievves hovv in tvvo poinctes Diuinity stood & telleth vvhat Moses & all the Prophetes taught: even the incarnation & resurrection: and expoundeth him self: speaking of Ievves reiected▪ shevveth their stubburnesse: that having but tvvo poincts of difference, the incarnation & the resurrection, both proved most strongly, rebell against the light. And here D. Bilsō leauing all heathen, the lxx. all the Prophetes Ebrevv, [Page 17] all Thalmudiques can run to the Diuels Luc. 8. for a phrase.
VVheras vvhen S. Paul vvrote to the Romanes, none in the vvorld had vsed Abissus for Hell: sauing the Deuels in S. Lukes Gospell vvritten The [...]. in Euang. but seauen yeares afore: & Ievves of vvhom he spake neuer cared for S. Luke: and denying both the incarnation & resurrection, vvold not heare of further matter neuer taught in Iuda: and that, spoken in termes meaning to all Ievves clean an other matter. Hence all that haue eyes to see may behold hovv blind D. Bilson is: vvhich hath nether Grammer nor Diuinity: nor loue to the truth. He citeth Oecumenius there: and omitteth his vvordes that make this plain: and dissembleth the best lerned Chrisostome. [Page 18] This cauterized consciēce should be reproued sharply.
Novv the third kind of Grek, the Apostles folovving the Ebrevv, Deut. 30. D. Bilson litle considered, hovv the going vp to heauen, and going dovvne to Abissus is of our myndes, not of our Lordes actions. The chaldy exposition, of heard termes in Moses, maketh that plain. The vvork is called Thargum Ierusalemi. And thus it speabeth. The law is not in the heauens to cause spech oh that we had one like Moses the Prophet, that might goe vp into the heauens, & bring it vnto vs, & preach vnto vs the commaundements, that we might doe them: & the Law is not beyond the great sea, to cause speach: oh that we had one Like Ionas the Prophet that might goe downe into the great [Page 19] sea & bring it vs, & preach the commaundementes that we might doe them. Thus the Chaldy shevveth that for our action of the mynd this vvas spoken: as forbidding blame of hardenes in the Lavv. And the Rabbins vvhich haue in fragmentes yet the floures of all the N. Test. they seme to haue turned these vvordes of old, vnto the Gospell: by this spech of Ionas in the vvalles belly. The later Rabines compiled most auncient. And for this cause S. Paul might take Abissus both for the graue, as Oecumenius doth, & allude vnto the sea: as Chrisostome taketh the vvord. So it may be easily seene hovv for the Apostles trāslation of Ebrevv, D. Bilson seeth nothing. So had the sorovves of death, act. 2. are from Ps. 18.5. [Page 20] & Ps. 116.3. a speach knovven to all Ievves: for the naturall sorovves, that alvvayes cometh vvhē the body is vvounded, that the soule cannot tary in it. And vvheras S. Peter act. 2. vvas to shevv that the disciples did not steale the body of Iesus our sauiour, but God omnipotent raised it vp: disannulling the sores that vvere done by nailes & speare: D. Bilsō vvold have the terme death here to be the second death: and that S. Peter should by terme of death in a iust soule meane the second death: to make the holy Apostle the foolishest & the vvickeddest that euer spak vvith tongue. He had the resurrection of the body to speak of, and vvher the gouernours vvere Sadducees & beleeued not that soules vvere immortall, vvisdome vvold that [Page 21] his tongue should giue no cause of further pleading, till the resurrection of the body vvas graū ted. And though the Pharisees held soules to be immortall, yet they beleued not that Messias should arise from death: & yf S. Peter should haue gone to further matter neuer heard, that a iust soule should goe to hell, vvherof no cause of spech vvas euer afore moued▪ he had bē held not a teacher but a betrayer of Christianity. Moreouer the terme of Second Death, vvhich D. Bilson vvold haue meant by Peters terme of death, is nether Ethnice, nor in the lxx. nor hath any Ebrevv in the Bible for it. Therfore it should not vvel be vsed before Sadducees, & the comon multitude of the vvorld. & never any vsed Death for the secōd [Page 22] death in spech of the Godly. And to say that our Lords soules tasted the second death, that is the highest degree of blasphemy against our Lord. The fourth vse of heathen Grek cometh in this king: Rabini (que), & schole spech in vse, though the tetmes come from heathen. Chalcedon Apoc. 21. for Nophec, the Carbuncle, Ex. 28. is Greke in sound: but not as Pliny taketh the Chalcedon, but as Thargum Ierusalemy doth vpon Ex. 28. So, Take the beame out of thyne eye: Barbmel vpon Hoseas. and Mat. 7.80. for a Camel or Elephant to goe through the ey of a neddle: that is a Ievvish proverb. for promising a thing vnpossible as in this: Are you from Phumbadita, (a tovvne of Ievves vpon Euphrates called also aelgaber), [Page 23] vvher an Elephāt is trust thtough the vvole of a nedle. And the Gospell hath that for the impossibility for a rich man to goe into the kingdome of heaven. So these speches the vvorld to come, Paradise, Gehenna, eating & drinking in the kingdome of of heauen, the kingdome of the Messias: these be Thalmudiqs in meaning: & vsed in the N T. So, S. Paul. 2. Thes. citeth Esa. 11. in the Rabbines meaning vpon Es. ther, extant yet in Ionathan Ben Vziel▪ That the spirit of Christ his mouth shall kill the vvicked Romulus or Romane. The Greek fathers as Chrisostome vpon 2. Thes. 2. and Oecumenius vpon Apoc. 18. savv that from Rome the povver should arise that by learning should be over [...]hrovven. Arias savv the blovv [Page 24] and left out RomuIus. So vvhē by S. Paul Abraham is in heaven: Heb. 11. vvith the people of God and in eternall ioy, and equall to Angels: by the Greek Philo. in Abels offring fol. 88. & by Rabbi Azarias translating him to Ebrevv in Maor Einaim fol. 34. to shevv the Perpetuall iudgement of the Ievves: & the same in Paradise as all the iust: by all Rabbines; and in Hades by S. Luke Ch. 16. These three, Heaven, Paradise, and Hades in the Godly differ not one vvhit. Iustine Martyr is cited by D. Bilson: Question 75. to make Paradise out of Hades: but Iustine in Monarchia shevveth fol: 167. in Steph. edition, that he is sophistically cited. And so any, not partiall, vvold iudge from the vvordes cited. In the same kind [Page 25] is the terme of the Second death, vsed: & only by Thalmudiques as I touched: and by them it must be expounded. Onkelos hath it: Deut. 33. and Ionathan, Es. 22. & Rabbines infinitly: & vsed in Ap. tvvise, and in theyr sense: for a miserie to the soule in the perpetuall hatred of God. And by Rabbinnes this phrase should be expounded: and a reason rendred vvhy the Rabbines invēted nevv termes for the place of soules. In all these kindes D. Bilson shevveth him self most vnlearned. Heathen Greeke he casteth of: Because the Poetes vvere vvicked: as though onely they vsed Hades & not all sortes of Greekes: and as though all the vvorld vvas not Godlesse vvhen the Apostles first called them vvith speaches from Homer, Hesiode, [Page 26] Epimerides, Aratus, Menander, Aeschylus, Pindarus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Hypocrates, Plato, Demosthenes, Aristotle, and all noble Greekes, in some noble vvord. Of this I have compiled a Dictionary for all the vvordes of the N. Testamēt, for your G. vvhich I left at Francfurt: & goe to print it: yf I can find any Printer: of Characters pleasant in Ebrvv & Greeke, and at leasure for this vvorke. And as he despised heathen Greeke, so the Greeke tongue gaue him such a blovv as vvill make him ridiculous to all Greekes vvhile the vvorld standeth: in sayng that our Lord vvent from Paradis to Hades: as from England or Scotland to great Britany, frō VVinchester, to England, from Paules to London. [Page 27] vvhile there be men in the vvorld that knovv Greek & his vvordes they vvill think him a simple Graecian. And vvher he forgeth nevv Greeke for the Apostles, he doth them litle honour. They vvere sent to teach the vvicked vvorld, & of necessity must speak in termes, meaning as others before spake: and the heathen vvold haue othervvise held them vvicked sophisters and not holy teachers. So Doctor Bilsons Doctrine beseemeth not a Bishop, and a Christian. The despising of Rabbines because they be vvicked is no vvittier. The vvicked enemies testimonie is the strongest of all humane. And for many partes of the nevv Testament, in speeches & stories plain to them, but strongue to heathen, they are our best assistance. As for this [Page 28] Remember thou me vvhen thou comest to they kingdome & this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise: The Rabines vvould all svveare that these vvordes vvere plain: that they held the soules of the iust, to goe hence to Gods ioy & Paradise to be the name of it, and not then first opened: but opened first to Abel the iust, they vvold never turne our Lords vvordes to Sophistrie: that the sad thief seeking, grace vvhen the humane soule of Christ should be in his kingdome & our Lord should say nothing to that: but preach of his Godhead vpon the crosse, vvher he most hid it: and should leaue the thief, and his mother & S. Iohn & all the troupes vncerten, vvhat should become of his most holy soule: specially vvhen the night before he [Page 29] told them, I DOE GOE VNTO THE FATHER. The deadliest enemy & most impudent vvold be ashamed so to vvrest vvordes. Though shifters vvho knevv not Paradise to haue receaued all the iust hence, tooke strange licence, a Doctour & a Bishop borne in the light of all learning should blush to follovv them. VVhosoeuer vttereth a diuelish fansy, though he can cite an auctour, should pay for it, as the principall auctour. God forbiddeth errours. And in the truth, the enemies testimony, as Epimenides, Aratus, & Menander haue Gods vvarrant. All the Scribes & Pharisees beleeved, that every iust soule vvent hence to Paradise: as vvas touched: & the sage Doctours euen in the first chapter of the Elder Thalmud, begin [Page 30] the kingdome of Messias in the vvorld to come: as S. Paul Fb. 2. speaketh of it: after the comon agreement of the Doctours thē aliue. And if Christ his ovvne soule should not be the noblest in that iourney: all the Nevv Testament speaches vvere disturbed. And many most sure rules for the iust are in the Lavv that they goe hence into Gods ioy or heavenly city. Enoch vvas taken vp. Gen. 6. into Paradise Eb, 11. in the Arabiq trāslation. Sem, Abraham, Moses, Iosuah, David, Daniel, vvere of equall piety: therfore theyr soules vvere taken vp hence to glory. And this standeth sure for all that keepe Gods covenant: I vvill vvalke amōgest you: Leu. 26. vvherof a Rabbin or Ebrevv Doctour R. B [...]chay vvritteth [Page 31] thus: you must not vnderstand that of promises corporall, but of the promises touching the soule in the vvorld to come. And our Doctours gather this hēce, THE BLESSED GOD VVIL CARY THE IVST PEOPLE INTO PARADISE AND HIS GLORY SHALL BE AMONGEST THEM. This diuinity is oftē confirmed in the Nevv Testament, as in Iohn 17. I vvill that they be vvher I am 8. 2. Cor. 5. VVe knovv that if this earhtly tabernacle of ours be dissolved, vve have a building from God, an house not made vvith handes, eternall in the heauens. Thus the Nevv Testament speaketh most agreably to the Rabbines speach: as it hath but tvvo poinctes differing from them, the incarnation & resurrection. [Page 32] yf the Ievves can be persuaded of those tvvo, they vvill admire all the rest as eloquently agreing vvith the pure and the best of their doctrine. A Rabbin at Basil 1598. made this knovven to the Scholers there: vvho being taught in longue speach, hovv the Apostles excelled in all Thalmud skill, vvhen the party vvas gone to Zurick desired the Professors to vvrite to them of Zurick, to request him to returne. But the party could not: yet left in print that vvhich might move him: & moved one Ievv that novv is in Cambridge, as Merchants of Stode say he confessed there, to be a Christian: by the CNOstantinopolitans Ievves petition of instruction from England, and by ansvver to him. And all vvould admire the Nevv [Page 33] Testament: being expounded according to theyr speach to vvhō the bookes vvere vvritten. But vvhen Latines vvhich vvere rude in the Greek and Hebrevv of the Apostles age, must be cited, by Doctours as rude, darkenes & confusion vvill take all. D. Bilson ignorance thus appeareth. He tooke in hand to defend Ar. VVhitgift: that our Lord his soule vvent hence to Hel: and not hence to heauen. All sides agree that no further iourney vvas taken out of the body but the returne from Hades to it. So he took in hand to defend D. VVhitgift. But he betrayed him to his eternall shame: in that he imprisonned many, persecuted more, and vrged some to death vpon consequentes for denying that our Lord vvent hence to Hell. D. [Page 34] Bilson yet betrayeth him: to smart for his hereticall disturbā ce of the Church: and ioineth against VVhitgift vvith the aduersarie: that our Lord vvent hence to Paradise. This matter is past all deniall: that D. Bilson betrayeth Canterburies cause: to shevv it to haue bene hereticall and Sathanean: that the Prince might call him to heauy iudgement.
And vvhile D. Bilson is of any auctority, D. Bancroft folovving D. VVh. must needes be holden an heretique. But this only is not D. Bilsons vvisdome. more he hath. VVheras he bringeth scripture for himself and his adversary, & must plead that King Edvvard the sixt vvas of his mynd, and Q. E. and the King your graces father; seing he sayth as doth his aduersarie, and, by D. Bilson, [Page 35] God & the Princes say the same, it is euidēt that yf he rage against any one for saying that our Lord vvent hence to Paradise, by scripture, by our Princes faith, by D. Bilsons faith, he rageth against God, against the Princes and his ovvne soule. But all this doth D. Bilson. His vvordes shallbe commended plentifully to all posterity. Thus they stande in his sermon book fol. 419. speaking to M. Iacob. Tell then your abettour that all the realme vvill take him not only for a rayler against all honesty, but a lyer against all duty that voucheth so confidently: King Edvvard the sixt and his subiects held that Christ his soule never vvent to Gehenna: and the realme knovveth the Qu. oath, as also the Qu. aduentureth her eternall state. [Page 36] These be not states to come vvithin his vncleane mouth. He may doe vvell to remēber vvho they be of vvhom it is vvritten▪ They despise gouernement: and speake ill of them that be in authority, as raging vvaues of the sea, foaming out theyr ovvne shame. Thus the vvise Doctour, & right reuerend father blasphemeth God & the King: rauing against that vvhich he himself proueth true, by all strength that scripture and God hath. But the right reuerend father is not con [...]ent vvith all this madnes, to betray D. VVh. and D. Bancroft▪ and to proue his aduersaries cause, by scripture and Princes consent, and to raue against all: but he vvill haue all Graecianes that euer haue bene to hold him vvitlesse. That our Lord should goe [Page 37] from Paradise to Hades. So he hath gone from vvinchester to England. Graecians vvould tel him he might as vvel say the one as the other. VVher Hades is generall: and by circumstances of difference is sometime heauē, sometime Hell. And yf he care not for prophane Graecians oratours and Philosophers, from vvhom a Greeke oration vvas printed at Francfurt against him, and an other at Hannavv, Greeke Diuines shall as generally damne him: as voyd of faith herein, none of them euer beleeved that any soule vvent from Paradise to Hades, or yet to Gehenna.
But the extremity of his errour for vvhich all Christēdome should reproue him standeth in these vvordes, for the meaning of the Creede. They shalbe vvritten [Page 38] in gteat letters that one rū ning by may read vvhat fabulous Diuinity D. Bilson bringeth, for the chief sentence of all our saluation, and rebelling against the most clear light of our hope, Fol. 154. of his Sermon book thus he dreameth. THE SENSE OF THE CREDE MAY AND MVST BE THAT CHRIST AFTER HIS BODY VVAS BVRIED IN SOVLE DESCENDED TO THAT PLACE VVHICH THE SCRIPTVRE PROPERLY CALLETH HADES HEL. These vvodes are past deniall: vvhyle his copies continue: and I meane to help him vvith some thousādes moo: that if he vvill needes vvin the spurres the rovvelles may stick in his [Page 39] side. Yf Paganes, Machmadistes, and Ievves should heare D. Bilsō make a sermon vvith these vvordes before D. Bancrofts G. vvith his approbation, they vvould & vvell might say, that the foolishest of all Homers fables had as good Christianity, as his G. that suffred this to be printed, and the others Lp. that no more honored the Lord, that (as vve say) bought him vvith his most precious blood. No Christian euer thought that a mans soule vvent not to Hades till his body vvas buryed, nor any in Homers Fables being avvaked: only Achilles in a dreame of his knight Patrocles kild by Hector, thus hard Patrocles soule complaine, that the body being vnburied it could not goe to Hades. Iliad 23.
Slepest Achilles; thou hast forgotten [Page 40] me: thou neuer diddest so while I liued: only since I died. Bury me quicly, that I may passe the gates of Hades. The soules the formes of the dead keepe me alouff: and suffer me not to passeouer the Ocean: but I wander fondly by the soule of broadga [...]ed Hades.
Thus the right reuerend father may see, that his Lp. hath no fellovv for Diuinity but his abettours, and Achilles dreames. The burgesses of the Parlement are very patient that lent him the title and revenues of a Lord after this Patroclean Divinity. He that spake and the vvorld vvas made, vvill send him to Hell for ever & euer: or teach him to reuerence better these vvordes Eb. 9. vvhen Christ came an high sacrificer of the good to come, by a greater & [Page 41] more perfect tabernacle not made vvith handes, I meane, not of this building, nor by the blood of goatbuckes and oxen, but by his ovvne blood he vvent once for all into the sanctuarie, having found eternall redemptiō. These vvordes shall make him cōfesse, not only so far as he hath cōfession made, that our Lord his most holy soule vvent hence to Paradise to the hand of God, to the sanctuarie, to the third heaven: but also, that our redemption vvas then founde: and no addition must be ioyned thervnto. And this tendeth to the same purpose, folovving ther: that Christ by his eternall spirit offred him self in his blood vvithout blemish vnto God: that death being performed the called may inioy the promese of eternall redemption. [Page 42] As Aharons sonnes adding to theyr office vvere kild for strange fyre: so D. Bilson for his dreame, that our Lord vvent not to God till the body vvas buried, (by all Greekes to Cateltheineis Hadou is to goe hence to God, for 3000. yeres vse) should think that he must goe into a fyre vvhich he hath kindled. These vvordes tell the same that S. Paul afore told. For abolishing of sin by sacrificing of himself he appeared before God. All sage knovv that from the body immediatly vpon these vvordes the soule vvas to appeare before God: and to rest in that payment. And I think neuer any that toke Hades in the Creede for the place that receaved our Lords soule, tooke it for anie other then that vvhich receaued it [Page 43] leauing this vvorld. And D. Bilson vvilbe the first and the last of all not follovving Homerique and Ievves fables, and heathen in Plato and Phlegon and such that sayd, the soule vvent not to Hades till the Body vvas buryed. This also might break the hart of D. Bilson, yf he regarded the only reverend father, the Lord, the great, and the fearfull: Eb. 10. By Gods vvill vve are sanctified: vvhich stay vpon the offring of the body of Iesus Christ, once for all. And again: cap. 10. Having therfore brethren confidence for entrance into the sanctuary by the blood of Iesus, the vvay vvhich he dedicated holy and liuely by the veile, that is his flesh, & an high sacrificer ouer the house of God, let vs come vvith a right hart and [Page 44] fulnes of faith. &c. S [...]. Paul & the Ievves to vvhom he vvrot knevv that as the high sacrificer might not goe from the inner tabernacle to Gehenna, before he returned to the tabernacle of this vvorld: So our Lord might not goe from heauen to Gehenna: nor at all any more to Gehenna, then the high sacrificer might cary the holy blood thither. But D. Bilson vvilbe vviser then Moses and the Prophets: and of further reach then the Evangelistes: and more practique then all the Apostles: and Greeker then Prince Theophilus and all the Asiarchae, for vvhom S. Luke vvrote: and as good a dreamer, vvhen he should not slepe, as Homers Achilles. And thus all his actes may be set in one vievv. He tooke in hand to defēd [Page 45] D D. VVh. and B. G G. That our Lord vvent hence to Hell. Then he betrayeth: and bringeth all the auctority of Scripture against them: only vvith svvelling Titanean fables vvhat he can chalenge, and verbis sesquipedalibus he maketh the vvisemen fond. Secondly, he fleeth to his adversary and carieth the victory to him from God, from K. E. and from Qu. E. and from K. I. and from the right honorable the B. of. W. that is from his ovvne soule and from all the Phalanx of theyr army. After this, to make stationers beleve he had not betrayd Cant: and London: he rageth against him self: and against God and the Princes and theyr faithfull, pretending to rage only against one of that consort: hoping fooles vvould not [Page 46] see, hovv raving against one he blasphemeth all that be of that mynd. Yet all that have their eies in theyr head must see and say: that D. Bilson blasphemeth God, the Princes, and the B. of VVinchester. Though the King see him not, he that hath his eyes like a flame of fyer vvill teach him as Alexand. the coppersmith, not to blaspheme.
Then he betrayeth also all that euer spake Greeke: that our Lord should goe from Paradise to Hades. So all Diuines of euery vving, Gentils and Ievves vvill marveyl at going from Paradise to Gehenna. So he betrayeth all Philosophers, vvho thought all soules vvent presently hence to Hades, to God: to a state vnchangeable. Plat. Leg. 12. after all this he passeth all [Page 47] vvaking fablers, that a soule should not goe to Hades till the body vvas buryed: that all men should presētly bury their dead. Thus he dreameth that all men & God him self should be mocked. And his headstrong dulnes vvill nedes have Hades to be Hell, thouh his ovvne auctour Andreas in Ap. 20. say: Hades is the place that receaveth our soules. And Suidas say: To descēd is to leave this vvorld. So the Bible for Divinity, the Thalmudiques for Ebrevv, Greeke oratours Philosophers and Divines for Greeke: his ovvne side betrayd the other side made victours by him, and confirmed, all loguiques that ever vvrote, all comon vvit for soules passages all these are nothing vvith D. Bilson: as though he vvere [Page 48] a Samson vnpolled & all against him had but Palastean bandes▪ neither doeth he see vvhat house he vvould pull dovvne to dash out all his vvittes. And this much for the right reuerend fathers crossing of my doctrine for the Kingdome of heaven, & his passage hence to Heavens: by Eb. 9. to Hades, by the Crede.
Also for Christ his kingdome on eart [...] I shevved hovv of Nathan Dauids sonne Ioseph vvas King of the Ievves by right: and Mary Nathans daughter. And that Salomons house vvas vtterly extinct in Iechonias. This D. Bilson crosseth, vvhom to reproue I printed in Ebrvv & english Dauids familie. So I hope all i [...] defended: and I feare no blamer.