cometh another, and defendeth him. What saith he, when he giveth thanks? Thou hast delivered me from prison. A debtor was in danger to be hanged, the debt is paid for him, he is said to be freed from hanging. In all these things they were not: but because such were their deserts, that unless they had been holpen, there they would have been; they say rightly that they were freed thence, whither by those that freed them they were not suffered to be brought." That Christ destroyed the power of hell," spoilede principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them :" is acknowledged by all Christians. Neither is there any who will refuse to subscribe unto that which Proclus delivered in his sermon before Nestorius, then bishop of Constantinople (inserted into the acts of the council of Ephesus:)" He was shut up in the grave, who stretched out the heavens like a skin: he was reckoned among the dead, and spoiled hell;" and that which St. Cyril and the synod of Alexandria wrote unto the same Nestorius, concerning the confession of their faith: (approved not only by the third general council held at Ephesus, but also by the fourth at Chalcedon, and the fifth at Constantinople): "Tok the end that by his unspeakable power treading down death in his own as the first and principal flesh, he might become the first born from the dead, and the first fruits of those that slept; and that he might make a way to man's nature for the turning back again unto incorruption: by the grace of God he tasted death for all men, and revived the third day, spoiling hell." All, I say, do

C Ephes. chap. 2. ver. 15.

* Εν τάφῳ κατεκλείετο, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐξέτεινεν ὡσεὶ δέῤῥιν· ἐν νεκροῖς ἐλογίζετο καὶ τὸν ᾅδην ἐσκύλευεν. Procli Cyzicni episc. homil. de nati vit. Domin. in act. concil. Ephes. part. 1. cap. 1. edit. Rom.

Act. concil. Ephes. part. 1. cap. 26. edit. Rom.

h Concil. Chalced. act. 5.

i Quint. synod. Constantinop. collat. 6.

* "Ινα γὰρ ἀῤῥήτῳ δυνάμει πατήσας τὸν θάνατον, ὡς ἔν γε δὴ πρώτη τῇ ἰδίᾳ σαρκὶ, γένηται πρωτότοκος ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμημέν νων· ὁδοποιήσῃ τε τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσει τὴν εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν ἀνάδρομαν, χάριτι θεοῦ ὑπὲρ παντὸς ἐγεύσατο θάνατον, τριήμερος δὲ ἀνεβίω σκυλεύσas Tòv äồŋv. Synod. Alexandrin. epist. ad Nestor.

agree, that Christ spoiled, or (as they were wont to speak) harrowed hell: whether you take hell for that which keepeth the soul separated from the body, or that which separateth soul and body both from the blessed presence of him who is our true life; the one whereof our Saviour hath conquered by bringing in the resurrection of the body, the other he hath abolished by procuring for us life everlasting.

Touching the manner and the means, whereby hell was thus spoiled, is all the disagreement. The manner; ther our Lord did deliver his people from hell by way of prevention, in saving them from coming thither or by way of subvention, in helping those out whom at the time of his death he found there. The means; whether this were done by his divinity or his humanity, or both; whether by the virtue of his sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection, or by the real descending of his soul into the place wherein men's souls were kept imprisoned. That he descended not into the hell of the damned by the essence of his soul or locally, but virtually only by extending the effect of his power thither, is the common doctrine of Thomas Aquinas', and the rest of the school. Cardinal Bellarmine at first held it to be probable", that Christ's soul did descend thither, not only by his effects but by his real presence also: but afterwards "having" considered better of the matter, he resolved that the opinion of Thomas and the other schoolmen was to be followed." The same is the judgment of Suarez: who concerning this whole article of Christ's descent into hell, doth thus deliver his mind: "If by an article of faith we under

Thom. in Sum. part. 3. quæst. 52. art. 2.

m Bellarm. lib. 4. de Christo, cap. 16.

n Re melius considerata, sequendam esse existimo sententiam S. Thomæ, quæ est aliorum scholasticorum in 3. sent. dist. 22. Id. in Recognitione ope

rum.

Suarez, tom. 2. in 3. part. Thom. disput. 43. sec. 4.

▸ Si nomine articuli intelligamus veritatem, quam omnes fideles explicite scire ac credere teneantur: sic non existimo necessarium hunc computare inter articulos fidei. Quia non est res admodum necessaria singulis hominibus: et quia ob hanc fortasse causam in symbolo Niceno omittitur; cujus symboli cogVOL. III. E E

stand a truth, which all the faithful are bound explicitly to know and believe: so I do not think it necessary to reckon this among the articles of faith. Because it is not a matter altogether so necessary for all men, and because that for this reason peradventure it is omitted in the Nicene creed; the knowledge of which creed seemeth to be sufficient for fulfilling the precept of faith. Lastly, for this cause peradventure Augustin and other of the fathers expounding the creed, do not unfold this mystery unto the people." And to speak the truth, it is a matter above the reach of the common people to enter into the discussion of the full meaning of this point of the descension into hell: the determination whereof dependeth upon the knowledge of the learned tongues, and other sciences that come not within the compass of their understanding; some experiment whereof they may observe in this, that whereas in the other questions here handled, they might find themselves able in some reasonable sort to follow me; here they leave me, I doubt, and let me walk without their company.

It having here likewise been further manifested, what different opinions have been entertained by the ancient doctors of the Church concerning the determinate place wherein our Saviour's soul did remain during the time of the separation of it from his body: I leave it to be considered by the learned, whether any such controverted matter may fitly be brought in to expound the "Rule of faith" by, which being "common both to the great and the small ones in the Church," must contain such verities only as are generally agreed upon by the common consent of all true Christians; and if the words of the article of Christ's going to Hades or hell, may well bear such a general meaning as this, that he went to the dead, and

nitio videtur esse sufficiens ad præceptum fidei implendum. Denique propterea forte Augustinus et alii patres in principio citati exponentes symbolum, non explicant populo hoc mysterium. Suarez, tom. 2. in 3. part. Thom. disput. 43. sec. 2.

4 Regulam fidei pusillis magnisque communem in Ecclesia perseveranter tenent. Augustin. epist. 187. ad Dardanum.

continued in the state of death until the time of his resurrection: it would be thought upon, whether such a truth as this, which findeth universal acceptance among all Christians may not safely pass for an article of our creed; and the particular limitation of the place unto which our Saviour's soul went (whether to the place of bliss, or to the place of torment, or to both) be left, as a number of other theological points are, unto further disputation. In the articles of our faith common agreement must be required, which we are sure is more likely to be found in the general, than in the particular. And this is the only reason which moved me to enlarge myself so much in the declaration of the general acceptions of the word Hades, and the application of them to our Saviour's descent spoken of in the creed. Wherein if the zeal which I bear to the peace of the Church, and the settlement of unity among brethren hath carried me too far, I entreat the reader to pardon me: and so ceasing to be further troublesome unto him in the prosecution of this intricate argument, I pass to the next question.

OF

PRAYER

TO SAINTS.

THAT one question of St. Paul, "How shall they call upon him, in whom they have not believed?" among such as lust not to be contentious, will quickly put an end unto this question. For if none can be invocated but such as must be believed in, and none must be believed in but God alone, every one may easily discern, what conclusion will follow thereupon. Again, all Christians have been taught, that no part of divine worship is to be communicated unto any creature. For it is written: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." But prayer is such a principal part of this service, that it is usually put for the whole: and the public place of God's worship, hath from hence given it the denomination of "Thed house of prayer." Furthermore, he that heareth our prayers, must be able to search the secrets of our hearts, and discern the inward disposition of our souls. For the pouring out of good words, and the offering up of external sighs and tears, are but the carcass only of a

b Matt. chap. 4. ver. 10.

a Rom. chap. 10. ver. 14. Jerem. cap. 10. ver. 25. Joel. cap. 2. ver. 32. Act. cap. 9. ver. 14. 1 Corinth. cap. 1. ver. 2. Sic apud Optatum, lib. 3. contr. Donatist. Ut negaretur Christus et Idola rogarentur. Item: Testamentum divinum legimus pariter;

unum Deum rogamus.

d Isaiah, chap. 56. ver. 7. Matth. chap. 21. ver. 13.