[116-1]CHAP. V.
[116-1]
Testimonies of the auncient Fathers, that dead mens soulesparted from their bodies, doo not wander heere vpponearth.
T
August.
His matter was also thus vnderstood by the holy and auncient Fathers. ForAugustinein his 18. SermonDe verbis Apostoli, hath, that there be two mansions, the one in euerlasting fire, the other in the euerlasting kingdome.
Idem.
And in his 28. Chapter of his first booke,De peccatorum meritis & remissione contra Pelagianos, in the seuenth tome of his workes, he saith: Neither can any man haue any middle or meane place, so that he may be any other where than with the diuel, who is not with Christ.
Idem.
And in his notable workeDe ciuitate Dei, the 13. booke and 8. Chapter, he saith: The soules of the godly so soone as they be seuered from their bodies be in rest, and the soules of the wicked in torment, vntil the bodies of the one be raised vnto life, and the other vnto euerlasting death, which in scripture is called the second death.
Iustine.
Iustinealso an auncient Father, writeth inResponsione ad Orthodoxos, quest. 75.that the difference of the iust and vniust, both appeare euen assoone as the soule is departedfrom the body. For they are carried by the angels into such places as are fit for them: that is, the soules of the iust are brought vnto Paradice, where they haue the fruition of the sight and presence of Angels, and Archangels: and moreouer the sight of our Sauiour Christ, as it is conteined in that saying, whiles we are straungers from the bodie, we are at home with God. And the soules of the vnrighteous on the other side, are carried to Hell, as it said ofNabuchodonozorthe king ofBabylon: Hell is troubled vnder thée, being readie to méete thée, &c. And so till to the day of resurrection and reward, are they reserued in such places as are méetest for them.
Hillarie.
SaintHillariein the ende of his exposition of the second Psalme, writeth: that mens soules are straightway after death, made partakers of rewards or punishments.
Dormitantii.
And touching the soules of the old Patriarkes, that died before the natiuitie of Christ,Austin,Hierom,Nazianzen, and other holy Fathers teache, that God in certaine places by him chosen out for that purpose, hath preserued the soules of al those that are departed from this life in the true faith of theMessiasto come, in such sort that they féele no griefe, but yet are depriued of the sight of God. This place they callAbrahamsbosome, and Hell (for Hell doth not alwaies betoken a place of torment, but also generally the state that soules are in after this life.) And that our Lord Iesus Christ did visit and release them, and when he ascended, carried them with himselfe into heauen. Albeit certain of the Fathers, asIreneus,Tertullian,Hilarie, & others, think that they shall at the last day ascend to heauen. Some also there be of our time which maintaine this fonde opinion, that the soules sléep, vntil the day of the last iudgement, in which they shall be again coupled with their bodies: but this assertion hath no ground in holy scripture, of the whichCaluin.point diuers haue entreated. But especiallyIohn Caluin, that worthie seruant of God, in a proper Treatise that hewrote of the same matter, in which he doth learnedly confute their reasons that maintein the contrary opinion.
Wherefore sith holy scriptures, as the Fathers vnderstand and interpret them, teache that the soules of men, as soone as they departe from the bodies, do ascende vp into heauen if they were godly, descende into hell if they were wicked and faithlesse, and that their is no thirde place in which soules should be deliuered, as it were out of prison, & that soules can neither be reclaimed out of heauen or hel. Hereby it is made euident, that they cannot wander on the earth, and desire aide of men. For first the soules of the blessed néed no aid or help that men cā giue them: & on the otherCiprian mar.side, the damned sort can no way be reléeued: the which S.Ciprianthe martir in his oration againstDemetrian, doth plainly witnesse in these words: when we be once departed out of this world, there is afterward no place left for repentance, no way to make satisfactiō: here life is either woon or lost, & so forth. Albeit the testimonies alredy alleged on this point of doctrine, may well suffise those that loue the truth, and are desirous to come to the knowledge thereof: yet to increase the number, I wil recite other testimonies also out ofSoules do not walke.yͤ fathers, to proue manifestly, yͭ the soules departed, do not againe return & wander on the earth, so that all they which haue not yet stopped their eares that the truth might not pierce & enter into them, may euidently perceiue, that those anciēt times taught a far better doctrine of those spirits and ghosts, than other latter times vnder poperie haue cōmendedTertullian.and allowed.Tertulliana very auncient writer, in the end of his bookeDe anima, saith, the soules do not any longer abide on the earth, after they be once loosed from their bodies: & that neither by their owne accord, nor other mens cōmandement, they do wander at all after they haue descended into hell, but he saith, that euil spirits do vse this kinde of deceyt, to faine themselues to be the soules of suche as are deceased. And that Hell is not open to any soule,that it should afterward at any time depart thence, Christ our Lorde in the parable of the poore man that was in rest, and the rich glutton that was in torment, doth plainely ratifie vnder the person ofAbraham, that there can be no man sent backe to shewe or tel ought of the state of hel. And albeit the fathers haue noted certaine errours and scapes inTertullian, yet there was neuer any that reproued him forAthanasius.this opinion.Athanasiusin his booke of questions, the xiii. questiō, doth giue a reason wherfore God will not suffer that any soule deceased, shuld returne vnto vs, and declare what the state of things is in hel, and what great misery is there: hereby (saith he) many errors wold easily spring vp among vs: for many diuels might so take on thē the shape of men, and be transformed into yͤ likenesse of the dead, and say, that they arose frō the dead, and so publish many lying tales, and false opinions of things there don, therby to seduce and hurt vs. Weigh these wordes ofAthanasius, I pray thée.
Chrisostome.
Sainct Chrysostome in his nyneteenth Homilie on the eight chapter of sainct Matthewes Gospell, hath in maner the same woordes, for hee moueth this question: Why suche as were possessed with Spirites, liued in graues? Therefore (sayeth he) they abode there, to put this false opinion in mens heads, that those persons soules whiche by violent death departed, were turned into Diuels, and so did seruice vnto witches and soothsayers. The which opinion the diuell first broughte in, thereby to diminishe the Martyrs prayse and glorie, that so the Sorcerers might slea those persons, whose wicked trauell and help they vsed, and those matters saith he, are far from truth. For he proueth by the Scripture, that the spirits of the godly are not vnder the power of the Diuels, nor yet do stray abroade after death: then that they woulde retourne vnto theyr owne bodies, if they mighte wander whether they lusted. And further if they didde any seruice too theyr Murtherers, by that meanes they should at their handesreceiue a reward for an ill déed and displeasure. By naturall reason also it cannot come to passe, that a mans bodie should be turned into an other bodie, and therefore also the spirit of a man cannot be changed into a diuel.
But among other things which properly belong to our purpose, he saith: If we heare a noyse that saith, I am such a soule, we must thus thinke, that this talke proceedeth of some sleight and subtiltie of the diuel, and that it is not the soule of the dead bodie that speaketh these things, but the diuell that deuiseth them to deceiue the hearers. And by and by he saith, that there are to be counted old wiues words, or rather doting fooles toyes to mocke children withall. For the soule when it is parted from the bodie cannot walke any longer in these parties. For the soules of the iust are in the hands of God. And on the other side, the soules of the wicked after their departure hence, are straightway ledde aside and withdrawne from vs, which may euidently be séene by Lazarus and the rich man. And in another place also the Lord saith: This day will they take thy soule from thée; wherefore the soule cannot heere wander when it is departed from the bodie.
A little afterward he addeth, that it may be proued out of many places of scripture, that the soules of the iust do not here wander after death. ForSteuensaid, Lord receiue my spirit, andPauledesired to be loosed and to depart hence, and to be with Christ.
Also the scripture, as touching the Patriarks death, vseth this phrase, he is laide vnto his fathers, growne vp vnto a good olde age. And that the soules of sinners and wicked men, cannot after their departure, here abide any longer, we may learne by the riche mans words, if we will weigh and confider with our selues what be demannded and could not obtaine. For if after death mens soules might any longer haue their conuersation heere on earth, no doubt the riche man himselfe woulde haue returned as his desirewas, and certified his friendes of hell torments. Out of which place of scripture it is most cleare, that soules immediatly vpon their departure from their body, are carried vnto a certaine place, whence they cannot of themselues returne, but néedes must waite there for that terrible day of iudgement.
Also in his second Homily ofLazarus, amōg other things, he saith; It is most plaine, not only by that we haue before rehearsed, but also by this parable, that soules parted from the bodie, haue their abiding here no longer, but are forthwith lead away. For it came to passe (saith he) that he died, and was carried away by the Angels. And not onely the soules of the iust, but of the vniust and wicked, are hence led away, and carried to their proper places, which doth euidently appeare, by another rich man, of which mention is made in the 12. ofLuke, to whom the Lord said: Thou foole this night will they take thy soule from thée.
And in his fourth Homily ofLazarus, he plainly teacheth, that we should giue more credite to holy scripture, than to one that came from the dead, or an Angell from Heauen. Herewithall he also sheweth, that the dead doo not only make no appearance vnto men liuing, but yeldeth reasons wherefore they do not returne hither, in these words. If God had knowne that the dead being raised might haue profited the liuing, he would neuer haue let passe so great a benefit, who otherwise doth giue and prouide vs al things profitable.
Furthermore he addeth, that if it were requisite still to raise vp dead men, to make relation vnto vs of such things as there are done, this no doubt in continuaunce of time would haue bene neglected: and so the Diuell very easily would haue broached and brought in damnable opinions into the world. For he might often haue made counterfeit sightes, or suborne suche as should faine their selues to be dead and buried, and by and by to present themselues beforemen, as if they had bin in déede raised from death, and by suche manner of persons might so haue bewitched simple soules, that they would beléeue whatsoeuer he would haue. For if now when there is indéed no such thing, the vaine dreames as it were of men deceased, that haue bin shewed to men in sléepe, haue deceiued, peruerted & distroied many: surely much sooner would the same haue fallen out, if it had bin a thing truly don, & this opinion had preuailed in mens heads. For if many dead persons had retourned backe again into this life, the wicked spirit the diuell would easily haue deuised many sleights and wiles, and brought in much deceit into the life of man. And therfore God hath clean shut vp this dore of deceit, and not permitted any dead man to returne hither & shew what things be don in yͤ other life, least the diuel might gréedily catch this occasiō to plant his fraudulent policies. For when the prophets were, he raised vp false prophets: when the Apostles were, he stirred vp false Apostles: and when Christ apeared in flesh, he sent thither false Christs or antechrists: And when sincere & sound doctrine was taught, he brought into the world corrupt & damnable opiniōs, sowing tares whersoeuer he came. And therfore although it had come to passe, yͤ dead mē shold return again, yet would he haue counterfeited yͤ same also by his instruments, by some fained raising of the dead through the blinding and bewitching of mens eyes: or otherwise by subborning of some which should feine themselues to be dead (as I said before) he would haue turned all things topsituruie and vtterly haue confounded them. But God who knoweth all things, hath stopped his way, that he should not thus deceiue vs, and of his great mercie towards vs, hath not permitted that at any time any shuld return from thēce and tel vnto mē liuing, such things as there are don, hereby to instruct vs that we should be of this opinion & iudgment, that the scriptures ought to be beleeued before other things whatsoeuer, because that God in them hath most clearlytaught vs the doctrine of the last resurrection. Further, by them he hath conuerted the whole world, banished error, brought in truth, and compassed all these things by vile and base fishers, and finally in them hath giuen vs euery where plentifull arguments of his diuine prouidence, &c.
Cyrillus.
S.Cyrilin his 11. booke & 36. cha. vpon S.Iohnsgospell saith: We ought to beleeue, that when yͤ soules of holy men are gone away from the bodies, they are commended vnto the goodnesse of God, as into the handes of a most deare father, and yͭ they do not abide in yͤ earth, as some of the Heathens beleeued, vntill such time as they abhorred their graues: neither that they are carried as the soules of wicked men, vnto a place of excéeding torment, which is hel, Christ hauing first prepared this iourney for vs, but that they rather mount vp aloft into their heauenly fathers hands, &c.
The Glosse of the canō law.
Deut.18.
And in the Popes canon law,Causa.13.quæst.2.Fatendum, we read, that many do beléeue that some come from yͤ dead to the liuing: euen as on the other side holy Scripture doth witnesse thatPaulewas caught vp from the liuing into Paradice. Vpon these words the glose saith, that some doo indéed so beleeue, but falsly, sith they be but fansies and vain imaginations, as it is inCausa.26.quæstione.5.Episcopi.
What farther may bee saide to those men that knowe these things, and neuerthelesse do beléeue that soules straie on the earth, I know not: and yet that I may laie out all thinges plainly, I will heere confute their chiefest arguments.