CHAP. IIII.
Testimonies out of the word of God, that neither the soulesof the faithfull, nor infidels, do walke vpon the earth afterthey are once parted from their bodies.
Soules go either to hell or to heauen.
NOw that the soules neither of the faithfull nor of infidels do wander any longer on the earth, when they be once seuered from the bodies, I wil make it plaine and euident vnto you by these reasons following. First, certaine it is, that such as depart hence, either die in faith, or in vnbeliefe. Touching those that go hence in a right beliefe, their soules are by and by in possessiō of life euerlasting, and they that depart in vnbelief, do straightway becom partakers of eternal damnatiō. The souls do not vanish away & die with the bodie, as yͤ Epicures opinion is, neither yet be in euery place, as som do imagin: touching this matter I wil alleage pithie & manifold testimonies out of the holy scripture, out of which alone this questiō may and ought to be tried & discussed. Our Sauiour Christ Iesus which could well iudgeIohn 3.of these misteries, in the 3. ofIohnsaith: So God loued the world, yͭ he wold giue his only begotten son, yͭ who so beléeueth on him, shuld not perish, but haue life euerlasting. For god sent not his son into yͤ world to cōdemn yͤ world: but that yͤ world by him might be saued. He yͭ beléeueth in him is not cōdemned, & he yͭ beléeueth not, is cōdemned alredy, because he beléeued not in yͤ name of yͤ only begotten son of god. AndIohn 5.in yͤ 5. ofIohnhe saith: Verily verily I say vnto you: he that heareth my word, & beléeueth on him yͭ sent me, hath euerlasting life, & shall not come into iudgemēt or cōdemnation, but hath passed alredy frō death to life: he doth not say yͭ hisIohn 6.sins shuld first be purged in purgatorie. And in the 6. cha. he saith: This is yͤ wil of him yͭ sent me, that euery one yͭ seeth the son, and beleeueth on him, should haue life euerlasting, and I will raise him vp at the last day againe: verily I say vnto you, he that beléeueth on me hath life euerlasting.Iohn 14.In the 14. ofIohn, also our Sauior Christ Iesus saith, that he wil take vs vp to himselfe, that where he is, there shouldwe be also. &c. When Christ sent forth his disciples to publishMat.10.his gospel in yͤ 10. ofMat.he said vnto them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach yͤ gospel to euery creature: he yͭ beléeueth and is baptized, shalbe saued, and he yͭ beleeueth2.Cor.5.not shalbe cōdemned: & in the 5. cha. of yͤ 2. to yͤCor.yͤ apostle S.Paulsaith: we know yͭ if the earthly house of this tabernacle be destroied, we haue a building of God, yͭ is, a house not made [tw] hands, but eternal in yͤ heuens, &c. By these places it may be euidently gathered, yͭ the soules of the faithful are takē vp into eternal ioy: and the soules of the vnfaithful assoone as they are departed frō their bodies are condemned to perpetual torment. And yͭ this is done straightway after death, may be perceiued by the words yͭ Christ spake to the théefe on the crosse, when he hoong on his right hand: ThisLuke 23.Apo.14.day shalt thou be with me in paradice. And in the 14. cha. of theApoc.it is written, And I heard a voice yͭ said vnto me, write, Blessed ar yͤ dead yͭ die in the lord,ἁπαρτἱamodo, as the old trāslatiō redeth, yͭ is by & by, out of hand, without delaie. Steuē in the very point whē he looked to be stoned, cried lord Iesu receiue my spirit. He douted nothing, but was assuredly persuaded yͭ his soul shold straitway be translated to eternal ioy. Paul in the 1. chap. of his epist. to thePhilip.saith: I desire to be losed, or I couet to depart hence, and to be with Christ. Here is no mentiō at all of purgatory, in which the soules should be first purged. If thou wilt here obiect that the persons afore alleaged were saints and martirs, we say farther, that paradice was opened also to the théef assoone as he became repentant. And that the soules both of the faithful & vnfaithful, which presently after their death are translated to heauē or hel, do not return thence into the earth before the day of the last iudgement, may wel be perceiued by the parable of the rich man cloathed in purple, andLazarus, as we read in the 16. ofLuke. For when the rich man praisedAbrahamthat he would sendLazarusvnto him, to coole his toong,Abrahamgaue him this answere: Betwixt thisand vs, there is a great gulfe set, so that they which would go hence (fromAbrahamsbosome) to you (in Hell) cannot: neither can they come from thence to vs. And when he besought him, that he would sendLazarusto his fathers house to admonish his fiue brethren, least they also should come into that place of torment: he saide vnto him; They haueMosesand the Prophets, let them heare them. And again: If they heare notMosesand the Prophets, neither will they beléeue though one rose againe from the dead.