nor the enticing of the devil, nor my own sensual imaginations, nor sword, nor fire is able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the comfort of the faithful, Whatsoever falleth upon others, though others fall and perish, although they forsake Christ, and follow after autichrist, yet God hath loved you, and given his son for you, He hath chosen you, and prepared you unto salvation, and hath written your name in the book of life. But how may we know that God hath chosen us? How may we see this election? Or, how may we feel it? The Apostle saith, through sanctification and the faith of truth. These are tokens of God's election. This (the Holy Spirit) comforteth us in all temptations, and beareth witness with our spirit, that we be the children of God; that God hath chosen us, and doth love us, and hath prepared us to salvation; that we are the heirs of his glory; that God will keep us as the apple of his eye; and he will defend us, and we shall not perish." [Expos. of Thess., p. 142, 144. London, 1611.] And then the good bishop sheweth that it is by the Word and Spirit of God that we come into the knowledge of our election, saying, "But the Holy Spirit of God, like a good teacher, applieth himself to the dulness of our understandings; he leadeth us not by the unknown places of the earth, nor by the air, nor by the clouds; he astonisheth not our spirits with natural vanities; he writeth his law in our hearts; he teacheth us to know him and his Christ. He teacheth us (Titus, ii.), that we should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and that we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly in this present world; he teacheth us to look for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the Mighty God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ. This matter is good, and it is plain; the words are plain, and the utterance is plain. So shall God look upon us; so shall the spirit of wisdom, and understanding, and of counsel, and of knowledge, and of the fear of God, rest upon us; so shall we be made perfect to all good works; so shall we rejoice in his salvation, and with one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."Of the Holy Scriptures; Jewell. A SERIES OF PAPERS IN DEFENCE OF THE LITURGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. No. 2. 66 HE DESCENDED INTO HELL." IN carrying out our original design, in our Liturgical essays, we pass on from the "Absolution service already considered, to the objection so frequently urged by our opponents to the fifth article of the "Apostles' Creed," namely, he descended into hell." Between these two alleged objections, in the Common Prayer Book, there is another not unfrequently made, to the use of our Lord's Prayer, affirming as do some schismatics, that the repetition of it is a vain one;" or, as do others, "that it is not a Christian prayer at all." Now, these two objections contain so much ignorance, wicked ness, and blasphemy, that to treat their authors with any attention in answering the same, would be a consumption of time and space, unjustifiably granted to such ungodly minds and infidel hearts. We pass on, therefore, to observe that there is a part of our Saviour's humiliation sustained for the church, which if not expressed in the Creed in the article objected to, is not expressed at all, and consequently such an omission would leave the Creed awfully deficient as the symbol of the Christian faith. Christ was subject unto the power of death, and consequent upon which he lay in the grave for the space of three days, which third mark of our Saviour's humiliation is no where expressed in the Creed, except in the expression "he descended into hell," which is synonymous with he (the man Christ Jesus who died) went down into the grave, or condescended to be subject to the grasp of hell or death for three days. After mentioning the crucifixion and burial of our Lord, next follows the third degree of his humiliation, "He descended into hell." Now, since this clause has for so many centuries formed an article in the Creed, and that by the universal agreement of the whole Catholic Church of Christ, it can be interpreted in a most Scriptural sense, and is not to be blotted out, as some would have it, seeing it is a most essential article of the Christian faith. In treating on this article, it may be said to have received four general interpretations, which shall be canvassed respectively, after which the true exposition of the words shall be clearly manifested. The first is, that the soul of Jesus Christ, after his crucifixion, did really and locally descend into the place of the damned. But this cannot be true, for the following reasons; 1. All the Evangelists, and among the rest St. Luke, intending to give an exact narration (Luke, i. 3) of the life and death of Christ, hath minutely described his passion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension; yea, moreover, they mention the smallest circumstances, and we cannot doubt but that they would have spoken of this local descent of Christ into the place of the damned, if any such thing had taken place. For the reason why they wrote their histories, was that we might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and believing we might have life in his name. Now, there could not have been a greater matter for the confirmation of our faith than this, that Jesus, the son of Mary, who descended into the place of torment, did return from thence to live in happiness, for ever. 2. If Christ really descended into the place of the damned, it must have been either in soul, or body, or in his godhead. But his godhead could not descend because it is omnipresent, neither did his body for it remained in the grave; and as for his soul, it went not into hell, for immediately after death it went into paradise, a place of joy and happiness. Luke, xxiii. 43. "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise:" which words of Christ relate to his manhood or soul, and not to his godhead, for they contain an answer to a request, and therefore must be suitable. Now the thief, perceiving that Christ was about to die first, makes a demand to this effect, "Lord, thou shalt shortly enter into thy kingdom, remember me then," to which Christ replies, as the words import, "I shall enter into Paradise this day, and there shalt thou be with me." Now there can be no entrance by any means except by his soul or manhood. For the godhead, which is every where present, cannot be said properly to enter into any place. Again, when Christ said, "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise," he intimates thereby the resemblance between the first and second Adam. The first Adam sinned against God, and was presently cast out of an earthly Paradise; the second, having made satisfaction for sin, was presently admitted into the heavenly Paradise. But to say that Christ in his soul descended into hell is, at once, to destroy this federal analogy between the two Adams. 3. Ancient councils, in their confessions and creeds, omitting this article, do thereby prove that they did not acknowledge Christ's descent into a place of torment; but that this clause was introduced to complete the Creed, expressive of Christ's subjugation to the power of death for the space of three days, no where else expressed in the Creed. Here I would answer some objections that are advanced against this interpretation. 1. Objection. "The son of man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth," that is, in hell. This exposition is directly contrary to the meaning of our Lord in the place; for the Pharisees desired to see a sign, that is, some ostensible miracle; to which Christ replies, that they should have the sign of Jonas, which cannot be the descent of Christ's soul into the place of the damned, but rather his burial, and after that his glorious resurrection. The heart of the earth may as well signify the grave. For thus Tyrus, bordering upon the sea, is said to be in the heart of the sea. This interpretation supposes hell to be in the centre of the earth, whereas the Scriptures reveal no such notion to us. 2. Objection. "Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." These words cannot prove any local descent of Christ's soul into hell: for St. Peter's intention in quoting them is to prove the resurrection of the body, "he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ." Acts, ii. 27, 31. Seeing what, we may ask? these words, his soul was not left in hell. Now there is no resurrection of the soul, but of the body only, as the soul falls not, but the body. But some will reply, that the word xn cannot signify the body, nor the word ads the grave. To which we answer, that the first word not only signifies the spiritual part of man, but also the whole person or man himself. Rom. xiii. 1. 1 Cor. xv. 46. And the second word is as well taken for the grave as for hell. Rev. xx. 14. "Death and hell (adas) were cast into the lake of fire." Now, it cannot be said, that hell is cast into hell, but the grave into hell. And the same word in this text must of necessity have this signification; for Peter makes a difference between the grave in which David was shut up, and hell out of which Christ was delivered. Verses 29, 31. These words can, therefore, only relate to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the grave, or hell. 3. Objection." Christ was quickened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison." 1 Pet. iii. 18, 19. This passage is not for this purpose, for by spirit is not meant the soul of Christ, but his godhead, which in the ministry of Noah and by Noah preached repentance to the antediluvians. And St. Peter, in this passage, alludes to Gen. vi. 3. "My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh." But if the spirit signify the soul, then Christ was quickened either by his soul, or in his soul. It cannot be said that Christ was quickened by his soul, because it did not join itself to the body; but the godhead joined them. Neither was he quickened in soul, for his soul never died. It could not die the first death which belongs to the body; and it did not die the second death, which is a total separation from God: only it suffered the pangs of the second death, which was the apprehension of the wrath of God; as a man may feel the pangs of the first death, and yet not die the first death, but live. Again, it answers no purpose for Christ's soul to go to hell to preach, considering that it was never yet heard that one soul preached to another out of the body, and especially in hell, where all are condemned, and convinced of their just damnation, and where there is no hope of repentance or redemption. This is the first exposition, which clearly shews that it signifies not that place of torment generally understood, though not always correctly, by the term hell. The second exposition of the article "he descended into hell," is as follows. The meaning of this clause, say some, is that Christ descended into the grave or was buried. This signification is agreeable to truth, yet it is not the true one. For the preceding clause, he was buried, includes this point; and, therefore, if the following words signify the same, there must be an unnecessary repetition of the same thing, which ought not so to be in so short a creed. If it be answered, that these words are an exposition of the former, the reply is, then they ought to be more plain and easy. For when one sentence explains another, the last must always be the plainest. But respecting these two sentences, he was buried and he descended into hell, the first is very easy, but the second obscure, and, therefore, it cannot be the true signification thereof, and hence this exposition cannot be received as correct. The third explanation of he descended into hell, is this: that Jesus Christ, when dying upon the cross, suffered in his own soul the full wrath of God and the pangs of hell. This exposition does indeed agree with the word of God, where hell often signifies the pains of hell, as Hannah, in her song unto the Lord, says, "The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell and raiseth up." (Old Translation.) That is, he makes me feel wretchedness in my soul, even the pains of hell, and yet afterwards restores me. And David saith, "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the terrors of hell laid hold on me." This is an exposition sometimes received, and the expositors give this reason for their interpretation. The former words, say they, was crucified, dead, and buried, do contain the outward sufferings of Christ; but since he suffered not only outwardly in body, but also inwardly in soul, hence the words he descended into hell, do set forth his inward sufferings of soul, which he felt upon the cross when the wrath of God was upon hin. Nevertheless this signification does not seem to agree with the former articles of the Creed. For these words, was crucified, dead, and buried, must not be understood of any ordinary death, but of a cursed death in which Christ suffered the whole wrath of God, even the pangs of hell both in soul and body. Since, then, this exposition is included in the former, we do not receive it as the correct and only legitimate interpretation. But let us proceed to the last and right exposition, which is the fourth. He descended into hell, that is, when he was dead and buried, he condescended to the captivity of the grave, and lay in bondage under death for the space of three days. This exposition may be evinced as the true one from the Holy Scriptures. St. Peter, speaking of Christ, saith, "God hath raised him up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." Acts, ii. 24. Where we perceive, that between the death and resurrection of Christ, there is introduced a third particular, which is not mentioned in any other clause of the Creed except this; and that is, his three days' bondage under death, which comes in between his death and rising again. And the words most properly are understood thus, as the speech of Jacob will shew, " I will go down (or descend) into hell unto my son mourning." (Old Translation.) And this exposition most suitably agrees with the order of the Creed. First, he was crucified and died. Secondly, he was buried. Thirdly, he was laid in the grave, and was held captive therein under the bondage of death for three days. And further, the three degrees of Christ's humiliation beautifully harmonize with the degrees of his exaltation: First degree of humilia tion he died. Second degree of humilia tion was buried. Third degree of humiliation-descended into hell. This last exposition, therefore, is the one which the fathers intended to teach in the fifth article of the Creed," he descended into hell." And if my readers will consult the old translations of the Bible they will perceive that in almost every passage the_word grave is translated hell. After thus explaining the words, let us consider the use of them. And first, Christ's descending into hell, teaching us that profess the name of Christ, that if God shall be pleased to afflict us, yet that we must not think it strange. For if Christ not only suffered the pangs of hell, but, after crucifixion, was conveyed, as it were, by death into his den, and there he triumphed over him, holding him into captivity and bondage, and yet notwithstanding he was the son of God; and hence, when God's hand is heavy upon us, we are not to despair, but rather consider it to be the good pleasure of God to fashion us like unto Jesus Christ as good children of God. From this we learn, that as Christ has endured the wrath of God, been subject to death, and descended into the grave, and there was held in durance for the period of three days; and yet was enabled nevertheless to overcome all opposition, and raise himself to the right hand of God, having received all power and dominion to deliver from sin, death, and hell, all who trust in him. Has Christ descended into the grave and burst asunder the barriers thereof? Then most certainly every true believer shall be |