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Locus Mat

tantùm ani

speaks of them as of fuch as fhall be destroyed, and perifli, and die; therefore they will give that comfort to them here, that though their life in which they fin be fhort, yet the time in which they are to be tormented for their fins fhall be fhorter far. They tell us where the Scripture mentioneth destruction in Hell, it fpeaks of perdition, but no torment there. In this fenfe will they understand those words of Christ, (fo full of terror in the true, fo full of comfort to the wicked, in their expofition,)* Fear Mat. 10,28. not them which kill the Body, but are not able to kill the Soul; but ra- thei 10. 28. ther fear him which is able to deftroy both Soul and Body in Hell. If this perditionem place fpeak, as thofe men would have it, of perdition only, not of crucia- mæ in gehention, then will it follow that God is not able to cruciate and torment a Man na, non cruin Hell; for there can be no other reason why it must be spoken of perdition ciatum. Smalonly, excluding cruciation, but because he is able to annihilate, not to cru- Meinerum. ciate. No, certainly a Man may be faid to be deftroyed, and perish, to Igni æterno be loft and dead, who is rejected, feparated and disjoined from God the bet- illi Chrifti ter and the nobler life of Man; and that Perfon fo denominated may ftill quidem funt confift, and be what in his own nature he was before, and live the life which Diabolus & doth confift in the vital union of his Soul and Body, and fo fubfifting under- Angeli ejus go the wrath of God for ever. Nor fhall any Language, Phrafes or Expref- quorum nofions give any comfort to the wicked, or ftrength to this opinion, if the mine ifti quofame Scriptures, which fay the wicked fhall be deftroyed, and perish, and nentur) cum die, fay also that they fhall be tormented with never dying pains, as they impiis cruciaplainly and frequently do.

a

cius contra

hoftes qui

(vel faltem

que conti

buntur, & ita delebuntur.

a Mat. 25.41,

dixerit Domi

Depart from me, ye curfed, fhall the Judge eternal fay to all the repro- Crell. Com. in bate, Into everlasting fire; and left any fhould imagine that the fire fhall I Cor. c. 15. be eternal, but the torments not; it followeth, and thefe fhall go away in- 46. Iren. 1.4. to everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Now, if the c.47. Quibuffire be everlasting by which God punisheth the reprobates, if the punishment cunque enim inflicted be alfo everlasting, then must the reprobates everlastingly fubfift to nus, Difcedite endure that punishment, otherwife there would be a punishment inflicted and à me maledicti none endured, which is a contradiction. Now the life eternal may as well be affirmed to have an end, as the everlasting punishment, because they are runt femper both delivered in the † fame expreffion. t

in ignem per

petuum, isti e

damnati: & quibufcumque dixerit,

† Καὶ ἀπελούσον έτσι

Venite benedicti Patris mei, hi femper percipiunt regnum, & in eo proficiunt femper. eis xóλuow aśániov, oi 5 díxcos eis (whi aivov. Matth. 24. 46. Antiquus ille perfuafor in membris fuis, id eft, in mentibus iniquorum futuras poenas quafi certo fine determinat, ut eorum corruptiones extendat, & eo magis hic peccata non finiant, qui iftic affirmant peccatorum fupplicia finienda. Sunt enim nunc etiam qui idcirco peccatis fuis ponere finem negligunt, quia habere quandoque finem futura fuper fe judicia fufpicantur. Quibus breviter refpondemus, fi quandoque finienda funt fupplicia reproborum, quandoque finienda funt & gaudia beatorum: per femetipfam enim veritas dicit, Ibunt hi in fupplicium aternum, jufti autem in vitam aternam. Si igitur hoc verum non eft quod minatus eft, neque eft illud verum quod promifit. S. Gregor. Moral. lib. 34. cap. 11. Affirmamus te (Anima) manere poft vitæ difpunctionem,, & expectare diem Judicii, proque meritis, aut cruciatibus deftinari, aut refrigerio utroque fempiterno. Tertull. de Teftim. Anima. Deus itaque judicabit pleniùs, quia extremiùs, per fententiam æternam tam fupplicii quam refrigerii. Tertull. de Anima, cap. 33. Qui producto ævo ifto judicaturus fit fuos cultores in vitæ æternæ retributionem; profanos in ignem æque perpetem & jugem, fufcitatis omnibus ab initio defunctis ad utriuf que meriti difpunctionem. Apol. c. 18.

Indeed the eternity of that fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels is a fufficient demonftration of the eternity of fuch as fuffer in it, and the question only can be what that eternity doth fignifie. For, becaufe fo the things are called in the Scriptures eternal which have but a limited or determined duration, therefore fome may imagine the fire of Hell to be in that fense eternal, as lafting to the time appointed by God for the duration of But as the fire is termed eternal, fo that eternity is described as abfolute, excluding all limits, prefcinding from all determinations. The end of the burning of fire is by extinguishing, and that which cannot be extin

it.

guished

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Mat. 3. 12.

Luke 3. 17.

Mat. 18. 2.

illum thefau

fumariola

C

b

guifhed can never end: But fuch is the fire which fhall torment the reprobate; for he, whofe fan is in his hand, shall burn up the chaff with`unquenchable fire; and hath taught us before, that it is better to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire, to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; and hath farther yet explained himself by that unquestionable addition, and undeniable defcription of the place of torments, Where the * Tertull. de worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And that we may yet be Pænitentia further affured that this fire fhall be never extinguished, we read that the b c. 12. Quid (moak of their torment afcendeth up for ever and ever †, and that those rum ignis æ- which are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, fhall be tormented day terni æftima- and night for ever and ever; which expreffion of day and night is the mus, quum fame with that which declared the eternal happiness in the Heavens, where quædam ejus they reft not day and night, faying, Holy, holy, holy: Where they are tales flamma- before the throne of God, and ferve him day and night in his temple. If fcitent, ut then the fire in which the reprobates are to be tormented, be everlasting, proximæ ur- if so abfolutely everlasting that it fhall never be quenched, if fo certainly nullæ extent, never to be quenched that the fmoak thereof fhall afcend for ever and ever. aut idem fibi if thofe which are caft into it fhall be tormented for ever and ever (all de die fpe- which the Scriptures expreffly teach) then fhall the wicked never be fo conunt fuperbif- fumed as to be annihilated, but fhall fubfift for ever, and be co-eternal to fimi montes the tormenting flames. And fo this Language of the Scriptures proves not fecus fortu, & only an effect eternal, as annihilation may be conceived, but an eternal efquod nobis ficient never ceafing to produce the fame effect, which cannot be annihilajudicii perpe- tion, but cruciation only. And therefore the fire which confumed Sodom bat, cùm dif- and Gomorrha, bears no proportion with the flames of Hell: because all filiant, cùm men know that fire is extinguished, nor doth the fmoak thereof ascend devorentur, for ever and ever.

rum ictus fu

bes aut jam

rent? diflili

ignis intrin

tuitatem pro

nunquam tamen finiun

tur.

a Rev. 14. 11.

† Εἰς αἰῶνα 3 αιώνων αὐτὸν ἀναβαίνειν λέγειν, ἵνα μάθωμ ατελεύτητον εἶναι ἢ κόλασι Το αμαρτωλῶν, ὥσπερ καὶ * 7 δικαίων τρυφίω αιώνιον. Andreas Cafar. ad locum. c Rev. 4. 8.7.15.

Rev. 2. II.

Rev. 20. 10.

upon

Neither doth this only prove the eternity of infernal pains, but clearly refute the only material argument brought against it, which is laid this ground, that the wicked after the refurrection fhall be punished with death, and that a fecond death; and fo they fhall be no more, nor can in any sense be said to live or fubfift. For, the enduring of this fire is that very death, and they are therefore said to die the fecond death because they endure eternal torments. He that overcometh, shall not be hurt by the fecond death; it feems that they which fhall die that death fhall be hurt by it; whereas if it were annihilation, and fo a conclufion of their torments, it would be no way hurtful or injurious, but highly beneficial to them. But the living torments are the fecond death. For death and hell were caft into the lake of fire, that is the fecond death. Whofoever was not found written in the book of life was caft into the lake of fire, this is the fecond death. The Jews before our Saviour's time believed there was a fecond death, and though it were not expreffed in the oracles themselves which were commit→ Paraphrafe ted to them, yet in the received * expofition of them it was often mentionmaketh often ed, and that as the punishment of the wicked in the life to come; and

*The Chaldee

mention of it,

as Deut.33.6.

in the life of the world, and not die the fecond death. So the Targum of Onkelos. The Jerufalem Targ. more ex

Let Reuben live יחי ראובן בחיי עלמא ומותא תנינא לא ימות:,Let Reuben live and not die, he expounded thus

Let Reuben live in this יחי ראובן בעלמא הרין ולא ימות במיתנא תנינא רבה מיתין רשעיא לעלמא דאתי Prefly

ישתבק הבא הדין לכון ער די תמותון מותא תנינא: ,this, iniquity fhall not be purged from you till ye die

world, and let him not die the fecond death, which the wicked die in the world to come. So Ifa. 22. 14. Surely

and 65. 6. I will not keep filence but will recompence, even recompence into their Bofom, na

להן

I will not give them an end להן ארכא בחייא אלהן אשלס להין פורענות הובהון ואמסור למותא תנינאות גויתין:

in this life, but will recompence them with vengeance for their fins, and deliver their bodies to the fecond death. From these and the like places it appeareth, that the Jews believed that the wicked after death should be delivered to a fecond death; that this death should be in the world to come; that they should by this death be punished for their fins. And S. John revealed that this punishment shall be by everlasting burnings: Kai Jávalos 5 doaútws dúa· à û z (αρκός πρόσκαιρα. ὁ ἢ δὲ ἁμαρ]ημάτων ἔκλισιν ἐπαγόμμα εν τω μέλλοντι αιώνια, ὅσπερ ἐσιν ἡ τὰ πυρὸς γέεννα. Andreas Calar. in Apocal.

what this punishment fhall be, was in these words revealed to St. John, Rev. 21. 8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murtherers, and whoremongers, and forcerers, and idolaters, and all lyars, fhall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the fecond death. Now if the part in the lake be the fecond death, if that part be a perpetual permanfion in torment, as before it is proved, then to fay that the wicked fhall die the fecond death is not a confutation of their eternal being in mifery, but an affertion of it, because it is the fame thing with everlasting torments, but delivered in other terms.

*

Perii.

And if the pretence of death will not prove an annihilation, or infer a conclufion of torment, much lefs will the bare phrases of perdition and deftruction; for we may as well conclude that whofoever fays he is undone, **, intends thereby that he fhall be no more: Befide, the eternity of destruction in the language of the Scripture fignifies a perpetual perpeffion, and duration in mifery. For when Chrift fhall come to take vengeance on them that know Thess. 1.8,9 not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jefus Chrift, they shall be punished with everlasting deftruction from the prefence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. Wherefore I conclude, that the wicked fhall rife to everlafting punishment, continuing both in the Soul and Body under the wrath of God and the torments proceeding from it, never to be quitted of them by annihilation; which is our firft affertion, against the covert † Do&trine of the Socinians.

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I call it covert, because it was at firft

clofely deli

vered by Socinus, and fome of his brethren did profefs themselves to be fcandalized at it, though he thought he had fo delivered it that it should fooner be believed by his writings than perceived by them, as appeareth out of his fixth Epiftle to Volkelius, who was offended at this Doctrine, and feems never to have affented to it. Quod ais ea in difputatione mea cum Puccio, tum de Chriftianorum refurrectione, tum de morte impiorum paffim contineri, quæ à multis fine magna offenfione, tum noftris tum alienis, legi non poffint; fcio equidem ifta ibi contineri, fed meo judicio, non paffim nec ita apertè (cavi enim iftud quantùm potui) ut quifquam vir pius facilè offendi poffit; adeo ut quod nominatim attinet ad impiorum mortem, in quo dogmate majus eft multò offenfionis periculum, ea potiùs ex iis colligi poffit quæ ibi difputantur, quam expreffè literis confignata extet; adeo ut Lector, qui alioqui fententiam meam adverfus Puccium de mortalitate primi hominis, quæ toto libro agitatur, quæque ob non paucos quos habet fautores, parum aut nihil offenfionis parere poteft, probandum cenfeat, priùs cenfeat doctrinam iftam fibi jam perfuafam effe quàm fuaderi animadvertat. Against this, Germanus Patriarch of Conftantinople in his defence of Gregory Nyffen, shewed from the words of Chrift, the Apostles, Prophets, and the Fathers, waeg aivov 7 dixaíwv ávexλádantov &óλowon, &τw xý Ť Ť áμαρτωλῶν ἀτελεύτητόν τε καὶ ἀνυπόςατον κόλασιν. Photius, Cod. 233.

The second affertion teacheth us, That as the reprobates fhall never fail to endure the torments due unto their fins, fo the juftice of God will never fail to inflict those torments for their fins. They fhall never live to pay the uttermoft farthing, they fhall never come to the days of refreshment who are caft into perpetual burnings. One part of their mifery is the horror of defpair, and it were not perfect Hell if any hope could lodge in it. The favour of God is not to be obtained where there is no means left to obtain it; but in the world to come there is no place for Faith, nor virtue in Repentance. If there be now fuch a vast distance between the tormenting flames and Abraham's bofom, that none could pass from one to the other, what impoffibility must there be when the final Sentence is past upon all? As certainly as no perfon once received into the heavenly manfions fhall ever be caft into outer darkness, fo certainly none which is once caft into the fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels fhall ever enter into their Master's joy. As the tree fal

Eee

leth

vitam ater

leth fo it lieth: There is no change to be wrought in Man within those flames, no purgation of his fin, no fanctification of his nature, no justification of his perfon, and therefore no falvation of him. Without the mediation of Christ no Man fhall ever enter into Heaven, and when he hath delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, then fhall the office of the Mediator cease.

So groundless was the opinion of Origen, who conceived that after some number of years the damned fhould be released from their torments, and made partakers of the joys of heaven, or at least try their fortunes in fuch regions of the world as he conceived fhould be reserved for their Habitation. For he may as well imagine that Christ fhall be born and die again, (who being rifen, dieth not,) as that any perfon being condemned to the flames for contemning of his death, fhould ever come to live again, and by believing in the death of Christ to be after faved. For certainly their condition is unalterable, their condemnation is irreversible, their torments inevitable, their miferies eternal. As they fhall not be taken from their punifhment by annihilation of themfelves, which is our firft; So the punishment fhall not be taken off them by any compaffion upon them, which is our fecond affertion.

To conclude this branch of the Article, I conceive these certain and infallible Doctrines in Chriftianity: That the wicked after this life fhall be punifhed for their fins, fo that in their punishment there fhall be a demonftration of the juftice of God revealed against all unrighteousness of men. That to this end they fhall be raised again to life, and fhall be judged and condemned by Chrift, and delivered up under the curfe, to be tormented with the Devil and his Angels. That the punishment which fhall be inflicted on them fhall be proportionate to their fins, as a recompence of their demerits, so that no Man fhall fuffer more than he hath deserved. That they fhall be tormented with a pain of lofs, the lofs from God, from whofe prefence they are caft out, the pain from themselves, in a defpair of enjoying him, and regret for lofing him. That they farther fhall be tormented with the pain of fenfe inflicted on them by the wrath of God which abideth upon them, represented unto us by a lake of fire. That their Perfons fhall continue for ever in this remedilefs condition, under an everlasting pain of loss, because there is no hope of Heaven, under an eternal pain of fenfe, because there is no means to appease the wrath of God which abideth on them. Thus the Athanafian Creed, They that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

The next relation of this Article to the former is in reference to the † Eam quippe refurrection of the juft; and then the life everlasting is not to be taken † in a vulgar and ordinary fenfe, but raised to the conftant language of the ubi eft fine Scriptures, in which it fignifieth all which God hath promised, which fine felicitas. Christ hath purchased, and with which Man fhall be rewarded in the world

nam dicimus,

Nam fi ani

ma in pœnis vivit æternis,

to come.

quibus & ipfi fpiritus cruciabuntur immundi, mors illa potiùs æterna dicenda eft, quàm vita. Nulla quippe major & pejor eft mors quâm ubi non moritur mors. S. Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 6. c. 12. Quia vita aterna ab his qui familiaritatem non habent cum Scripturis fanctis poteft accipi etiam pro malorum vita; vel fecundùm quofdam etiam Philofophos, propter animæ immortalitatem; vel etiam fecundùm fidem noftram, propter pœnas interminabiles impiorum, qui utique in æternum cruciari non poterunt nifi etiam vixerint in æternum; profectò finis Civitatis hujus, in quo fummum habebit bonum, vel pax in vita æterna, vel vita æterna in pace dicendus eft, ut faciliùs ab omnibus poffit intelligi. Idem. l. 19. c. 11.

Now this life eternal may be looked upon under three confiderations; as initial, as partial, and as perfectional. I call that eternal Life Initial,

which

which is obtained in this life, and is as it were an earnest of that which is to follow of which our Saviour spake, He that heareth my word, and believ- John 5. 24. eth on him that fent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. I call that partial, which belongeth, though to the nobler, yet but a part of Man, that is, the Soul of the juft feparated from the Body. I dispute not whether the joys be partial as to the Soul, I am fure they are but partial as to the Man. For that life confifteth in the happiness which is conferred on the Soul departed in the fear, and admitted to the prefence of God. St. Paul had a defire to depart Phil. 1. 23. and to be with Chrift; he was willing rather to travel and be abfent from the body, and to be present and at home with the Lord. And certainly 2 Cor. 5. 8. where St. Paul defired to be when he departed, there he then was, and there now is, and that not alone, but with all them which ever departed in the fame Faith with him, and that is with Chrift who fitteth at the right hand of God. This happiness which the Saints enjoy between the hour of their death and the last day, is the partial Life eternal. Thirdly, I call that perfectional, which fhall be conferred upon the Elect immediately after the Bleffing pronounced by Christ, Come, ye blessed children of my father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

This eternal life is to be confidered in the poffeffion, and in the duration; in the first, as it is life; in the fecond, as it is eternal. Now this Life is not only natural, that is, the union of the Soul to the Body, which is the Life of Duze vitæ the Reprobate; but fpiritual, which confifteth in the Union of the Soul to funt, una corGod, as our Saviour fpeaks, † He that hath the fon hath life, and he that poris, altera hath not the fon hath not life. And it is called after an especial manner Life, vita corporis because of the Happiness which attendeth it: And therefore to understand anima,ita vita that Life is to know, fo far as it is revealed, in what that happiness doth animæ Deus. confist.

ts John 5, 12.

animæ; ficut

Quo modo fi

anima deferat, moritur

For Life is

corpus; fic anima moritur, fi deferat Deus. S. Auguft. in Pfal. 70. taken for Happiness, and to live for being happy. As among the Greeks and Latines Z and Vivere were taken for living a chearful and merry Life, as Vivamus, mea Lesbia, in Catullus; and in Martial,

Sera nimis vita eft craftina, vive hodie.

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And as it is an old Infcription, AMICI DUM VIVIMUS VIVAMUS, and in the convival wish, Ziceras, mentioned by Dio in the Life of Commodus: So in the language of the Scriptures, and a religious notion, they fignifie an happy and a blessed Life: as 1 Sam. 10. 24. Let the King live, is tranflated by the Chaldee Paraphraft, by Let the King profper. And when David fent unto Nabal, he faid, Thus fhall ye fay to him that liveth in profperity, which is in the Original nothing but 5 So the Pfalmift is to be understood, Pf. 69. 32. The humble fhall fee this and be glad, and your heart hall live that feek God. And S. Paul, 1 Theff. 3. 8. öπ! vu Lãμp, Êäv úμes shxele cv Kveiw. Thus Life of it felf is often taken in the Scriptures for a happy and glorious Life, even ihat which is eternal, as S. Austin obferveth upon these words of the 119th Pfalm, Veniant mihi miferationes tua & vivam: Tunc enim verè vivam, quando nihil potero timere ne moriar. Ipfa enim & fine ullo additamento dicitur Vita, nec intelligitur nifi æterna & beata, tanquam fola dicenda fit vita, in cujus comparatione ifta quam ducimus, mors potiùs fit appellanda quàm vita; quale illud eft in Evangelio, Si vis venire ad vitam, serva mandata. Nunquid addidit, æternam vel beatam? Item de refurrectione carnis cùm loqueretur, Qui bene fecerunt, inquit, in refurrectionem vita; neque hic ait, æternæ vel beatæ. Sic & hic, Veniant, inquit, mihi miferationes tua, & vivam: Neque hic ait, in æternum vivam, vel beatè vivam; quafi aliud non fit vivere quàm fine ullo fine, & fine ulla miferia vivere: Thus S. Auftin. And again, Enchir. ad Laurent. c. 92. Non eft vera vita, nifi ubi feliciter vivitur, nec vera incor ruptio, nifi ubi falus nullo dolore corrumpitur.

To begin with that which is moft intelligible; the Bodies of the Saints after the Refurrection, fhall be transformed into fpiritual and incorruptible Bodies. The flesh is fown in corruption, raised in incorruption; fown in difhonour, 1 Cor. 15.42, raised in glory; fown in weakness, raised in power; fown a natural body, 43, 44. raifed a spiritual body. This perfective alteration fhall be made by the Son

of God, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto Phil. 3. 21. his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to fubdue all things unto himself. Thus when we come into that other World,

the World of Spirits, even our Bodies fhall be spiritual.

Eee 2

As

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