ARTICLE IV. Of the Resurrection of Christ. CHRIST DID TRULY RISE AGAIN FROM DEATH, AND TOOK AGAIN HIS BODY, WITH FLESH, BONES, AND ALL THINGS APPERTAINING TO THE PERFECTION OF MAN'S NATURE; WHEREWITH ASCENDED INTO HE HEAVEN, AND THERE SITTETH, UNTIL HE RETURN TO WHEN the Son of God had assumed our human nature into his divine person, our nature so assumed did not always remain in one and the same condition: but there was a double state we are to believe it to have been in; the one of humiliation, the other of exaltation. In both of which likewise there were several degrees. In his state of humiliation he was debased, 1. As low as death itself, yea, the death of the cross.' Nay, 2. lower than that, even to the grave.' Nay, 3. lower still than either them, even unto 'hell' itself. And so also in his state of exaltation, there are the same steps; for he was exalted, 1. So high, as to rise from the dead.' Nay, 2. higher than that, to ascend up to heaven.' Nay, 3. highest of all, to sit at the right hand of God.' His state of humiliation, with its several degrees, we have already considered; having in the second article shown how he was crucified, dead, and buried;' and, in the third, how he descended into hell.' In this we have the three degrees of his 'exaltation,' his' resurrection, ascension, and sitting at the right hand of God.' Of which in their order, as they are here placed. And first, therefore, of his RESURRECTION. Christ did truly rise from death. As he did truly suffer, was truly crucified, truly dead, truly buried, and did truly descend into hell; so did he truly also ' rise again from death.' The soul of Christ, being breathed from his body, went down to hell; the body of Christ, being deprived of its soul, was carried to the grave. And here they both continued, the one in the grave, and the other in hell, until the third day after their separation; at which time, the soul that went from the body down to hell, came up again from thence unto the body. And, as it left the body upon the cross, it now finds it in the grave: even the self-same body that, three days before, was nailed to the cross; and not any way broken, bemangled, or corrupted, but in the same condition which the soul had left it in. This self-same body, which the soul before was forced from, is it now again united to. After which union of the soul to the body, immediately follows the return or resurrection both of soul and body from the state of death. The separation of the soul from the body, had brought (though not the soul yet) the human nature into a state of death; the union of the soul to the body, brings it back again into a state of life. So that Christ, after his resurrection, as well as before his passion, had all things appertaining to the human nature; having the same soul, and the same body, the same flesh, and the same bones that he had before, and the same of every thing that belongs to the perfection of man's nature." So that whatsoever is essential to the constitution of the human nature, without which he could not be man as well as God, that was the Lord Christ invested with after his resurrection, as well as before his passion ". Christ, from his birth to his death, from the first moment wherein he was conceived by the Holy Ghost, unto the last, wherein himself gave up the ghost, was a real living man; having not only a soul and body as we have, but a soul united to his body as ours are. But when his soul was separated from his body, for the time he could not so well be called a man, or however not a living but a dead man, the union of the two essential parts being as necessary to the making up of a living man, as the parts themselves are to the making up of a man. Whereas, though the soul and body of Christ retained their personal union to the Son of God, after his a Caro enim Christi quamvis gloriâ resurrectionis fuerit magnificata, et potenter super omnes cœlos ascensione glorificata, eadem tamen carnis mansit et manet natura quæ suscepta est de Maria. Ipse enim est qui conceptus et genitus, atque à mortuis suscitatus est per gloriam Patris: sicut profectò ipse testatur post resurrectionem, quando apostolis dixit, "Videte manus meas et pedes meos quia ipse ego sum.' Quid enim est, 'Ipse ego sum,' nisi quia 'Alter non sum quàm qui tum eram quando passus sum ?' - Serm. de Assumpt. Maria Virg. inter Opera Augustini, tom. ix. cap. 5. p. 907. B. C. Ed. Froben. 1542. death, and before his resurrection, as well as after his birth, and before his passion, yet in the meanwhile they were separated from one another one of them was not united to the other, though they were both united to the divine person. And therefore as we, when our souls are in heaven or hell, and our bodies are in the grave, are not for the present living men, so neither was Christ. He had indeed at that time both parts of the human nature united to him, but yet he had them not united together, but one in one place, and the other in another; but had, when the time appointed comes, these the parts of the human nature, which for a while had been separated, joined together again, and so constitute a perfect living man as they had done before: for being the same parts, they cannot but make the same man too. And this is that which we are to understand, when we say Christ rose from the dead,' even that the soul and body which Christ assumed being separated from one another, the third day after they were united again. And so the man Christ is now alive, who before was dead; so alive as to walk up and down the earth, and to discourse with his disciples as he had done before; and that he did thus rise again from death, Scripture is express, and reason clear. 1. Confirmation from SCRIPTURE.- And in producing of Scriptures for this great fundamental truth, I shall first confirm it from the prophecies of the Old, and then from the histories of the New Testament. The Law foretold the Messiah should, the Gospel relates how Christ did really rise from death. 1. From the Old Testament. And verily had we all the Scriptures our Saviour himself made use of, when "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them, in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself," Luke, xxiv. 27. or those whereby St. Paul persuaded his hearers, both "out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening," Acts, xxviii. 23. certainly we should be richly furnished with convincing arguments for this truth. But in the meanwhile let these two or three convince us of it, and confirm us in it. As first, "My flesh also shall rest in hope; for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption." Psalm xvi. 9, 10. That these words were spoken prophetically of Christ is clear, because the same Spirit that here speaks them in the psalmist David, applies them to Christ by the apostle Peter, Acts, ii. 31. And if the soul of Christ must not be left in hell, nor his flesh see corruption, they must of necessity rise again; for otherwise the one could not but be left in hell, nor the other but see corruption in the grave. Another place is that, "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days," Isa. liii. 10. Where the first words plainly imply his offering up himself upon the cross a sacrifice for sin; and the latter his rising from the dead, without which it would be impossible for him, after that, to prolong his days. That it is said also, that" of the increase of his government there should be no end," Isa. ix. 7. which, notwithstanding, if he should not rise again, would be determined in his death. (2.) And what was foretold in the Old, concerning the Messiah, is recorded in the New Testament, concerning this Jesus, that he was indeed raised from the dead, telling us, that "though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God," 2 Cor. xiii. 4. And again, "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living," Rom. xiv. 9. "Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more," chap. vi. 9. But besides these and the like places, that expressly assert this truth, we have in the Gospel the testimonies of several eye-witnesses recorded, that saw him as really alive after his death as they had done before. As, 1. Mary Magdalene saw him at the sepulchre presently after he was risen, Mark, xvi. 9. John, xx. 14. 2. Cleopas, and another of the disciples, enjoyed his company and discourse, as they were going to Emmaus, Luke, xxiv. 13, 14. Mark, xvi. 12. And again, 3. All the eleven apostles being met the same day, (Thomas excepted, who then was absent,) saw him standing among them, heard him speaking unto them, and breathing the Spirit upon them, John, xx. 19. And, 4. Above five hundred brethren had the happiness to behold him at the same time, 1 Cor. xv. 6. 5. After that James saw him by himself, ver. 7. 6. After that he was seen of all the apostles, Thomas being present with them, John, xx. 26. 1 Cor. xv. 7. at which time Thomas, having not seen him before, mistrusted and doubted whether it was he or no, which our Saviour knowing, presently convinced him of his error, saying to him, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing "," John, xx. 27. which Thomas doing, was forced b Vide Irenæum, 356. Our Saviour bidding Thomas here to behold his hands and side, and Luke, xxiv. 39. his feet, several of the fathers hence gathered, that the prints, scars, or marks of the wounds he received upon the cross, remained after his resurrection; these being all the places wherein the wounds were made. His hands and feet were pierced through with the nails that fastened him to the cross, and his side was pierced with a spear by one of the soldiers: whence. Augustine, Clavi enim manus fixerant, lanx latus ejus aperuerit, ubi ad dubitantium corda sananda vulnerum sunt servata vestigia.—In Joh. Tract. 121. tom. ix. p. 557. Sciat sanè qui has proposuit quæstiones, Christum post resurrectionem cicatrices non vulnera demonstrâsse dubitantibus, propter quos etiam cibum et potum sumere voluit, non semel sed sæpius, ne illud non corpus sed spiritum esse arbitrarentur; et sibi non solidè sed imaginaliter apparere. Tunc autem illæ falsæ cicatrices fuissent si nulla vulnera præcessissent, et tamen nec ipsæ essent si eas esse noluisset. Voluit autem certæ dispensationis gratiâ, ut eos quos edificabat in fide non ficta non aliud pro alio, sed hoc quod crucifixum viderant resurrexisse monstraret.— Id. Epist. 49. ad Deogratias, tom. ii. p. 193. D. 194. A. Edit. Frob.. 1542. And again Tenuerunt eos vulnera, firmaverunt cicatrices. Posset Dominus Jesus Christus sine ulla cicatrice resurgere. Quid enim illi potestati magnum erat ad tantam integritatem compagem corporis revocare, ut nullum omnino vestigium præteriti vulneris appareret? Habebat potestatem ut illud etiam sine cicatrice sanaret; sed habere voluit unde nutantes columnas firmaret. — Id. in Psa. lxxiv. tom. viii. p. 820. Ed. Frob. zù de ὅταν ἴδῃς ἀπιστοῦντα τὸν μαθητὴν ἐννόησον τοῦ δεσπότου τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν, πῶς καὶ ὑπὲς μιᾶς ψυχῆς δείκνυσιν ἑαυτὸν τραύματα ἔχοντα. Chrysost. in Joh. Hom. 87. tom. ii. p. 923. And again presently after, Διὰ τοῦτο ἀνέστη ἔχων τὰ σημεῖα τοῦ σταυροῦ. And again, Ωσπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τῶν κυμάτων περιπατοῦντα θεωροῦντες πρὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ οὐ λέγομεν, ἄλλης φύσεως τὸ σῶμα ἐκεῖνο ἀλλὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας· οὕτω μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτὸν ὁρῶντες τοὺς τύπους ἔχοντα, οὐκ ἐροῦμεν αὐτὸν φθαρτὸν εἶναι λοιπὸν· διὰ γὰρ τὸν μαθητὴν ταῦτα ἐνεδείκνυτο. - Ibid. tom. ii. p. 923, 924. Ed. Savil. 1612. And elsewhere he brings in Thomas saying to Arius, Σὺ δὲ, "Αρειε, πόθεν τὸ βλασφήμον ἐδιδάχθης; πόθεν ἔμαθες ἃ κηρύττεις ; Χριστὸν ἐψηλάφησας ὡς ἐγὼ ; τὴν χεῖρα προσήνεγκας; τοὺς τύπους ἠρεύνησας; Id. εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Θωμᾶν, tom. v. p. 488. Ed. Savil. And so Cyril of Alexandria, Alà ToữTo nai Túñous ideínvu πληγῶν· τὰ γενόμενα μὲν μὴ ὄντα δὲ παρόντα ποιῶν ὁ πάντα δυνάμενος, — Cyril. de Trinit. ad fin. Op. tom. vi. c. 17. Ed. Par. 1638. But Ambrose saith, 'He did not only arise, but ascend with them.' Nam quomodo non corporis in quo manebant insignia vulnerum, vestigia cicatricum, quæ Dominus palpanda obtulit, in quo non solùm fidem firmat, sed etiam devotionem acuit. Quòd vulnera suscepta pro nobis cœlo inferre maluit, abolere |