Declaration of General Corruption of Religion

DECLARATION OF GEnerall corruption, of Religion, Scripture, and all learning; wrought by D. Bilson. &c.

D OCTOR Bilson, inventing a new opinion that our Lord descended from Paradise to Gehenna, to triumph over the devils, troubled all Religion and learned writers. In religion thus he missed. We believe that Devils are yet in this world; and the scriptures assure us of that, Wherefore it where most ridiculous to feign a journey to Devils thither, where they were not. If some were, as carriers of souls, yet not as tormented, and dwellers there before the time.

Again, Gehenna were an holy place, if the altar which sanctifieth all that it toucheth went thither. But none may so think. And Devils in this world knew Christ to be the holy one of God, and tremble. And no need know we why he should go to Gehenna for them, and God telleth all that we may know. Besides, souls in Hades holy and contrary know all the others case, as men here that have but a great ditch betwixt them: and they are much deceived who think Hell to be in this world, low in the earth. Before God's throne the wicked are tormented forever and ever. So both sides know one the others case: that without coming to them, they see what is done. And our Lord would not have taught us, (Luc. 16.) that none can pass from one sort to the other, if he had been to take that journey. The Bible taught no such dream. Therefore it is but a dream. And thus religion is disturbed. Scriptures D. Bilson brings three, as having no more; the 16. Psal. Which is thus: Thou wilt not leave my vital soul to death, and, by a consequent, neither my body in air, or grave: nor my soul among souls till the body see corruption.

So the general consent of Ebrews sake the words. Yet he would thus translate all: Thou wilt not forsake my soul in Hell. The nipper of others, as arrogant in Ebrewe studies, shall be told that he hath missed four times in four words. Hebrews shall judge; and for the 70. all Greeks, the rare Fathers.

The second scripture that he durst adventure upon, is this: Him God raised up losing the sores of death. Saint Peter spake to Sadducees, that would not hear of soul, spirit, and Hell. And that the sores that made the soul leave the body were by God's power disannulled, and it received the soul and life: And therein Christ brake for us the bands of death. D. Bilson would have death the second death, and that our Lord's soul had the second death. You know full well that his soul shall have the second death forever and ever, unless he revoke this blasphemy. It is great pity that D. Bilson consulted not with others before such words fled through the hedge of his teeth. Higher blasphemies never were uttered. The third and last text of all that he durst trust, is clean contrary to his purpose, showing the plain effect of the Gospel. Say not in thy heart who can go up to heaven, to bring Christ down? Or who can go to the Deepe to bring Christ from the dead? But if thou believe that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised him from death, thou salt be saved.

The incarnation and resurrection, both made plain, are by. S ^t . Paul the heads of doubt among Iewës. But D. Bilson dreameth of a Hell here. Chrysostom and Oecumenius would have taught him better. And these most Holy scriptures, the joy of our souls, hath he most grievously corrupted.

Endles be the faults in this marring of scripture, and no time would serve to write them. Moses now by him, hath not all Religion. For he could not father upon him this doctrine of going from Paradise to Hell. So neither all the Prophets volumes.

And David once only (and in a sense never known, till Doctor Bilsons days) teacheth that our Lord going a victor, and triumpher over the powers of darkness from Paradise, as unto greater danger by millions of degrees then before, doeth praise God that he did not forsake his soul in Hell, but loosed the sores of the second death before him: and to that deep our minds must descend, by D. Bilson, if we will be saved.

Thus vile for wisdom he maketh the rock of salvation. By D. Bilson our Lord having passed his danger here, where he prayed unto him that could save him from danger, and being made perfect and gone through the veil of his flesh into heaven, after all this was in greater danger then before, which needed a miracle of the God head to lose before him the sorrows of Hell. Otherwise the Humanity had not by it self gone through all, but had perished in the world invisible, saving that God did not forsake his soul in Hell.

And of this danger David must speak to the profane world, before they believed the resurrection and scante the creation of visible things, and of spirits had heard little: and of souls immortality and Paradise; and never heard where out of this world devils keep. All these things being stepped over, a danger, after all was performed, must be holden from David by words never so before understood; to make the Scripture a nose of wax and all the Old Testament imperfect: But for one place drawn beyond all wit. Also the Gospel must be imperfect, omitting parte of belief. And all Saint Paul's fourteen Epistles, but for one term Abyssus taken in the Devils sense, not in Heathen or 70. sense. So all fall. The general consent of Hebrews in Baba Bathra was cited that they make this sense, Psal. 16. He dieth not of whom that is so spoken in strict propriety, and Peter addeth but this, to die he was, but not to tarry in death to corruption.

All Hebrews Doctor Bilson rejecteth for their grammar sense of Sheol. None ever rejected all Latins for Latin, or French for the French: yet D. Bilson dareth reject all Hebrews for Hebrew: such an Hebrician is he. By the same doctrine he might teach never to hope for sound knowledge in any parte of the law: no not for one letter: whether it hath the form that God wrought in the two tables or a later invented. And for the very form as Tau in Ezekiel mistaken, and Rempham, much coyle is kept. And in our daily Hebrew Bibles, words 848. come in the margin by God's authority, and yet check not the text: & the French of Late translating the margin, Isaiah. 9. troubled some greatly, gathering a contradiction betwixt the old, and new translation. For all this no D. without Rabbins help can tell what words make the Bible.

A certain helper of D. Bilson who can assiste him to mar all learning and Religion, (one whom you leave though he be your Chapleyne to answer for himself) he, as his learning and skill, will at once show it self, maketh the eldest Rabbin's 300. years later then the Apostles.

So the Masorites, observers of the Letters and short writings, and little particles innumerable, often in one line, with millions of millions of notes, all they were nothing worth.

For we seek how the Bible stood in Ezraes age not how 800. years after and all the Jews hold that the Masorites began with Ezra. Neither could we otherwise say we had the Bible. Without help and knowledge of the Masorites, no printer can ever print the right Bible.

Rob. Steph. in Ester tenth putting the margin in the text, for Xerxes, committed a great fault: and Plantins heirs will now print after the Masoreth, missing often hitherto. As in Daniel 8. all miss though the Masoreth else-where warned of that place: Bombergiana the less mention in the margin a right reading: but not yet printed in the text.

By the Masoreth all words be past corruption: who if they had not been of Ezraes time, Bibles had infinitely disagreed: now they be sure, though copiers miss now & then. So 800. years in Rabbins age are missed to disgrace all certainty of Scripture. But whereas in the New Testament the Apostles still tell of Jews matters, & all their speeches be in the Talmud (as men of one common weal must agree in the same chief heads:) this would never be by Jews 300. years tossed from their own tongue and state, that Yerushalmi Talmud should be parcelled, by later men then the tongue 300. years: and that poor base men void of wealth, leisure and liberty, should search all the law most curiously. Who would think so? They say, that from age to age their Fathers left works: the chief sayings of all which the Yerushalmi Talmud and the Babylonian and Midras Rabba and such like record in the same words.

And Onkelos by all grants is near the Apostles time: & Vziel of their time, but a compiler of far elder: and Targum Yerushalmi in Cyrillis age famous as ancient, called of him Samariticon, upon Genes. 4. And seeing many thousand Levites had learning in their charge and all Israel (saving hand-laborers) frequented divinity schools to hear and speak twice a week; how should they omit to write observations, such as we have now, full of unspeakable labor and long study? All that is in the New Testament is handled here & there in the Talmud; and much largely: where, in known things our Lord would be short. So D. Bilson missed much for Rabbins, to the ruin of all Religion, and to augment Satan's blindness.

An other matter of singular use suffereth disgrace by D. Bilson. The Sadducees noted that Moses never named life eternal, nor resurrection, nor place of joy or tormente: nor any Prophets, but in visions. The Scribes grant this; yet bring matter from Moses for all this, and show that the scoffing world was to be taught as beasts by the belly openly, and closely to life. But when Prophets ceased and open prophesying, and iron-legged Macedones turned Judah much to be Sadducees, & schools were but of few: then they enacted terms of better hope, as world of souls, Judgment day, Paradise, Gehenna, Resurrection, Feasting in heaven: and such. And this the new Testament alloweth.

By D. Bilson all this were vain, or he himself. He can find in the law a proper name for Hell. And how would he have vexed the Sadducees if he had been in their days; All the Scribes had been nothing to him.

Now after Ebrews let us search Greek affairs. God advanced Greek with daily increase, first when Judah went to Babel, then Pisistratus tyrāt of Athens brought Homer into high use & glory.

And many Poëts for sentences, comedies, and tragedies, flourish daily. So Physicians, Philosophers, Orators and Historiques for two hundred years pains, that the Greek tongue came to an unspeakable perfection of elegancy.

And the Jews (taught by Daniel that soon Grecia should reign) before hand studied Greek. And God shown the use of their labor. For when the iron legged Macedonians began to reign, they required, and had the Hebrew holy books all turned into Greek, wherein the translators shown wit in applying most divinely heathen Greek to divinity. And they shown excellent skill in all Greek kinds.

And when the Macedonians by 300 years government, had carried Greek from the West over all, & Jews with Greek Bible: then our Lord cometh and his Apostles to show Greeks in their own language and meaning all the mysteries of salvation: and gather all brave terms from heathen plainly to divine use, 4000. several words into one little book, that the most parte of words are used but once, which is not so in the Old Testament. The 70. did the like, who to one Hebrew word gave eleven Greek now & then, to show Heathen all eloquence in their kind.

To apply heathen Greeks to the Prophets and Apostles, the Greek Fathers labored another 300. years, to show how they had the same speeches still, though in matter not well carried. Justin Martyr to heathen is much herein, and Clemens Alexandrinus hath contrived all heathen hither, being a store like Alexandrian Library.

Eusebius also is not a little in this sort, and infinite others specially for the main, the eternal state in Hades; for good, as Abraham Luke 16. and Joseph Gen. 37. and for wicked as Dives, Luk. 16. And as heathē 3000. years made Haden the lodge of all souls and the Philosophers held it an happy thing to go soon thither. So in the Creed heathē would say that by to katelthein eis hadou, we meant a most happy passage from this world to God. And so all the Fathers place the happy Fathers in Hades, and meant no worse lodge. To dash all four, thus ariseth Bilson.

Bilson leaveth heathen to their alleagers, and saith for Joseph's Hades, that the Greek Fathers that placed his soul there as in Paradise, understood not the 70. and that S ^t . Luke. 16. teacheth to understand Haden for Hell, because the rich man is in it: as though Abraham were not there also. And to conclude for heathen Greek, the 70. the Apostles, the Fathers, he disanulleth all common agreement for their Greek, as though he had made a vow to root out all learning, with Religion. Witt also cometh in question. Our subscribing to Zurich saith: Per inferos intelligimus paradisum, &c. most faithfully and learnedlie. Yet Doct. Bilson being told that Hades to the good is Paradise would needs prove that Christ went to Hell because he went to Hades. Yet whē all Greek Doctors place all the Fathers in Hades (and they place Christ no lower) he will not have them in Hell. And thus with strange dealing, he hath by preaching, and great sale of his errors, sought the destruction of Religion, of Scripture, of Hebrew tongue and learning, of all kinds of Greek elegancy, and all proceeding in disputing; by taking that for all his argument, that is truly affirmed to be clean contrary.

To your G by order complaint was to be made, that you should with all your learning and might bring D. B. into the right way. It is a pitiful thing that Bishops should be found infinitely fulle • of error for the grounds of faith, and learned studies, then any other in all the Kingdom.

A mind that loved the truth and heard that the Greek in the Creed for 3000. years use, in our Lord's souls passage, is no more then to go hence to God, would make no more stir, but wisely confess that by Heathen Greek the Creed penned for Heathen must be expounded. And that clear plainness beseemeth a public arbridgmēt of faith, such as to all the simple folk ought to be expounded. Your heart and confession by Master King at Franck furt knoweth who hath cleared the truth. And how can you suffer D. Bilson to deceive the people?

And D. Bilson being in high place should seem flexible unto the truth: as his blame for stubbornness in heresy would be notorious. And if he would plainly & absolutely confess that he hath been deceived, and that the Greek in the Creed teacheth most certainly that our Lord's soul ascended unto Paradise from the cross, and never descended into Hell, this humility would be his high commendation, & cut of an infinite company of his errors.

As you are holy Fathers and partakers of the heavenly calling, kick nor against the spurr. But say: let him be Anathema Maran Atha, that loveth not the truth of Redemption. It is a most high injury against God and the Kinge, that the Church is led amiss by Bishops errors.

God give all us understanding in all things, and garde our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of our Lord and Savior: that in all partes of holy doctrine we may nourish peace and truth.