I I . Ὁ ἀναπαυόμῳ ἐν τοῖς το Αβρααμ κόλποις. Vol. 2. Com. in Joban. Tom. 15. p. 234 2 Ανέβαλεν ἐν κόλποις τα ales. Padag. lib. 2. c. 10. P. 147. 3 Lazaro in Abrahæ finibus lætante, infernum Chaos Chriftus timeret? De Trinitat. lib. 10. p. 203. reafon, Origen calls him the refter in Abraham's Bofom; and Clemens Alexandrinus, That 2 he flourished in the Bofom of Father Abraham; upon which account Hi. lary of Poitiers very well argues, That our 3 Saviour could not fear to enter into the infernal Chaos, feeing Lazarus re joiced in Abraham's Bofom. And from the fame Confideration, Cyprian comforted the Chriftians of his Age against the fear of Death, and exhorted them chearfully to receive it; + Let us em4 Amplectamur diem qui brace, faith he, the Day that affigns to affignat finguevery one his Habitation, that delivers los domicilio fuo; qui nos ifthinc ereptos, & laquæis fæcularibus exfolutos Paradifo reftituit, & regno coelefti, quis non peregrè conftitutus properaret in patriam regredi? Quis non ad fuos navigare feftinans, ventum profperum cupidiùs optaret, ut velociter charos liceret amplecti? Patriam noftram paradifum computamus, parentes patriarchas habere jam cœpimus, quid non properamus & currimus, ut patriam noftram videre, ut parentes falutare poffimus? Magnus illic nos charorum numerus expedat, parentum,fratrum, filiorum frequens nos & copiofa turba defiderat jam de fua immortalitate fecura, & adhuc de noftra falute solicita, ad horum confpectum & complexum venire, quanta & illis & nobis in commune lætitia eft?--Illic Apoftolorum gloriofus Chorus, illic Prophetarum exultantium numerus,illic martyrum innumerabilis populus ob certaminis & paffionis victoriam coronatus, triumphantes illic virgines---remunerati mifericordes qui alimentis & largitionibus pauperum juftitiæ opera fecerunt,---ad hos fratres dile&tiffimi avida cupiditate properemus, ut cum his cito effe, ut cito ad Chriftum venire contingat optemus. De mortalit. §. 18. p. 347. 4 us from these worldly Snares, and reftores us to the Heavenly Kingdom: Who being abroad, would not haften to return into his own Country? Who, haftning to fail home, would not heartily wish for a good wind, that he might speedily embrace his Friends? We may reckon Pa radife for our Country; we have begun already to have the Patriarchs for our Parents; why then do we not haften and run to see our Country, and to falute our Parents? A great number of Friends expect us there, a numerous company of Parents, Brethren and Sons, defire us, already fecure of their own Immortality, but now folicitous about our Salvation. How great must their and our Foy be, in the mutual feeing and embracing of each other? What must be the pleasure of the Heavenly Kingdoms, where there is no fear of Death, but a certainty of eternal Life? There is a glorious Quire of the Apostles, there is the number of the exulting Prophets, there is the innumerable company of Martyrs, crowned for the victory of their Fight and Paffion, there are the triumphing Virgins, who by the ftrength of Continency fubdued the Concupifcence of the Flesh and Body; there are the Charitable, who are rewarded for their Works of Righteousness, in feeding feeding and giving to the Poor; who by keeping the Precepts of the Lord, conver ed their earthly Patrimony unto the heavenly Treasury: To thefe, dearly beloved Brethren, let us haften, and wish to be speedily with thefe, that fo we may Speedily come to Chrift. And many other fuch like Paffages might be eafily produced, to fhew the Opinion of the Primitive Writers to have been, That the Souls of the Godly, immediately after their feparation from the Body, pafs into a place of Bliss and Happiness: But, that I may not be tedious, I fhall defignedly omit them, and proceed to the proof of the principal Point, which is, That it was the general Belief of the Primitive Church, that the separated Souls of good Men went into Hell, or Hades, as it is termed in the Creed, where they remained in a condition fuitable to their Merits in this Life, in an expectation of the Refurrection, and the general Judgment-Day. Now the first, whom I fhall produce for this end, fhall be the venerable Irenaus, Bishop of Lyons, who relates this to be the Order of the Refurrection and Glorification of all true Chriftians, That upon the dif nion of their two effential Parts by Death, their Souls fhall go to Hell, or to an in vifible place appointed them by God, where they fhall tarry till the Refur rection in a continued expectation of it; after which, receiving their Bo dies, and rifing perfectly, that is, corporally, they shall come to the prefence of God. Not much unlike to which, it is affirmed by Justin Martyr, That all Souls did not die, 1 Animæ abibunt in invifibi lem locum, definitum eis à Deo, & ibi ufque ad refurrectionem commorabuntur, fuftinentes refurrectionem: poft recipientes corpora & perfectè refurgentes, hoc eft, corporaliter,fic veni ent ad confpe&tum Dei. Lib. 5. c. 26. p. 356. 2 Οὐδὲ ἀποθνήσκειν φημὶ πά σας τὰς ψυχὰς, τὰς μὲν Ευσεβῶν ἐν κρείττονί που χώρῳ μνειν, τὰς ἢ ἀπίκος καὶ πονη eas in XHere, & ingloews endexonlúas xeévor. Dial. cum Tryphon. p. 223. 3 Eleazar apud inferos in finu Abrahæ refrigerium conftitutus, contra Dives in tormento ignis conftitutus. De Idololat. p. 622. 2 but that thofe of the Godly remained in a better place, and those of the Ungodly in a worse, expecting the Day of Fudgment. Tertullian writes, That both 3 Dives and Lazarus, or Eleazar, as he calls him, were in Hell, the former in the torment of Fire, the latter in a place of Refreshment, viz. in Abraham's Bofom; making Abraham's Bofom to be a part of Hell, according to those Verfes againft Marcion, which commonly pass under his Name : -Sub 1 Sub corpore terra Lib. 4: In parte ignota quidam locus extat apertus, Carm. adverf. In which Verses, he comprehends the place of damned and blessed Souls under the general Term of the word Hell, or, of a Place under Ground; only making this difference, that the wic -ked were in the lowermoft Parts thereof, in a place of Darkness, Fire and Torment; but the righteous in the fu periour Parts thereof, in a Place of Light, Freedom and Happiness. But, to return to the unquestionable Works of Tertullian, in his Book concerning the Soul, he proposes to Difpute of feveral Queftions relating to it; one whereof is, concerning the corporiety of the Soul, which he holds in the affirmative, and thinks it undeniably evinced from the Soul's paffivity, or receptibility either of Joy or Mifery in its feparate ftate: For the proof of which, he doth not only alledge the Example of Dives and Lazarus, but also the detaining of all Souls in Hell, both good and bad, till P the |