Purgatory, By The Rev. M. Canty, P.P., Part 22.

DOGMATIC AND SCHOLASTIC - THE VARIOUS QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH IT CONSIDERED AND PROVED.

CHAPTER XIII. THE PLACE WHERE PURGATORY IS. Part 7.

Having rejected the foregoing notions, let us now turn our attention to the true and common interpretation of the passage. It is this : that Christ descended into hell, and there announced the happy news of their redemption and near deliverance to those souls, "which had been sometime incredulous . ... in the days of Noe," but not always; and hence when they saw the waters rushing upon them from every side, they repented of their sins.

This is the only interpretation of the passage that Can be accepted. It should be preferred to any other, because it gives the literal sense which contains nothing absurd, either in itself or in its circumstances ; and remarkably coincides with the scope of the writer, St. Peter. First, the literal sense contains nothing absurd in itself. There is nothing- more absurd in saying that Christ communicated the delightful news of their redemption and speedy deliverance to the souls in Limbo, than there is in saying that He descended into that prison. One is as reasonable as the other. In fact, if we admit his descent into Limbo at all, it is only natural to infer that He conveyed such glad intelligence to the souls that were there detained. Secondly, the literal sense has nothing absurd in its circumstances. The chief circumstance of it is this, that Christ preached to those spirits who had been some time incredulous in the days of Noe.

Now, what is there absurd in this? Is it that unhappy people, seeing nature herself completely changed; themselves threatened with destruction from every side ; the deluge pouring in upon them from heaven, earth, and sea; no earthly refuge left to them, should turn to God and detest their sins ? So far is this from being absurd that we can conceive nothing more reasonable. We can scarcely imagine how it could be otherwise, than that some of these unhappy people, seeing death certain, would have repented of their sins. This was only what should be expected, especially as it is in adversity, and most of all when destruction is inevitable, that man sees the evil of his ways, and flies to God for help. On this account the Psalmist says : " When he slew them, then they sought him." (Ps. Ixxvii. 34.) Then among those spirits to whom Christ preached in hell, were many who formerly in the time of Noe were at first incredulous. These would not take warning from the building of the ark. But when they found themselves in danger, and be fore they perished in the deluge, it is reasonable to suppose that many of them were touched with repentance for their sins, so that they died without the guilt of eternal damnation.

This supposition is the more reasonable when we remember that, though they were sinners, they adored the true and living God; for there is no trace of idolatry before the deluge. Thirdly, the literal and obvious sense accords wonderfully well with the scope of St. Peter. His purpose was, to praise and recommend the efficacy of the passion and death of Christ, Who, he says, " Died once for our sins, the just for the unjust." He triumphantly proves the virtue and efficacy of His passion. He proves it, first, from the glory of His resurrection, when he says that Christ was "put to death indeed in the flesh, but brought to life in the spirit" He proves it, secondly, from its effects. The efficacy of the death of Christ extended so far as to reach even those who were erstwhile incredulous, while Noe preached repentance to them for such a number of years, but who in the end, when they found themselves about to perish at the hand of an outraged God, repented.

St. Augustine thinks that there could be no motive for saying Christ preached to those who had been sometime incredulous in the days of Noe, since He preached alike to all those who were detained in Limbo.

What they who follow the common interpretation say on their side is this : that Christ preached to all the just souls that were in hell ; but that there is express mention made of those who had been at one time incredulous in the days of Noe. The reasons why the latter are expressly mentioned are as follow:—First, because the greatest praise accrues to the divine mercy, in having brought to eternal salvation, by the brief immersion of the deluge, men who were so steeped in iniquity that the Scripture says of them : "All flesh had corrupted its way." The mercy of God must be very great indeed, it must be wonderful and worthy of all praise, since it has extended to, and led to repentance, those wicked and corrupt men who lived at the time of Noe. Secondly, the souls in Limbo, who had lived in the time of Noe, are singled out for special mention, because there was strong reason to doubt, that any of that wicked and profligate race, who had so much despised the grace of God and outraged Him, had embraced the call to repentance and were saved. They had persisted so much and so long in their evil course, that the Greek version has it that "The patience of God waited for " them. In truth, there must have been great reason to doubt the salvation of such men, or any of them. Thirdly, St. Peter mentions those of the time of Noe in preference to others, because in the next verse he passes on to speak of baptism : " Where-unto baptism being of the like form now saveth you also." It was easy to pass from one subject to the other, to descend from the deluge to baptism, and to connect the latter with the former. He terms baptism, to be " of the like form " with the " water," by which Noe and his family were saved; because this " water " was a figure of baptism.

The ark, too, was a type of baptism. As no one escaped the waters of the deluge but eight persons who were in the ark, so no one can escape eternal death or enter into heaven, unless he receive baptism; or have the desire of receiving it, with the proper dispositions. Then, as Noe and his sons were saved by the ark which rode upon the waters of the deluge, so are we saved by baptism. Another point of similitude between the deluge and baptism would also seem to be employed. As the bodies were immersed in the waters of the deluge, that the souls may seek salvation through repentance; so are our bodies washed with water in baptism, that our souls may be saved. Then, since the safety of Noe in the ark, and the salvation of others at that time through repentance, were types of baptism, of which he was going to speak, St. Peter would connect his subject— the preaching of Christ in hell with baptism—by referring to those souls who had repented at the deluge.

In the second place, his argument can be used against St. Augustine's own opinion. His opinion was that the verse refers to those souls that existed in their body at the time of the deluge, to whom Christ preached through Noe, who exhorted them to repentance, whilst he was building the ark. But it may be objected, that there is no reason why it should be said, that Christ preached to those souls which were in the body—to those people who were alive—in the days of Noe, any more than to those who were alive in the days of Abraham, Moses, King David, or any other person.

Purgatory, By The Rev. M. Canty, P.P., Part 21.

DOGMATIC AND SCHOLASTIC - THE VARIOUS QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH IT CONSIDERED AND PROVED.

Descent into Hell - Tintoretto 1568 

CHAPTER XIII. THE PLACE WHERE PURGATORY IS. Part 6.

V. Theologians also advance another argument, in support of the subterranean situation of Limbo,  which is taken from that well-known place where St. Peter § says (St. Peter, iii. 19.): "Coming He (Christ) preached to those spirits that were in prison." This verse, be cause somewhat obscure, requires some elucidation.

The following is the whole passage on which the argument is founded : "Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that He might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit. In which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison : which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building, wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." Now the question is this: What was this preaching, and who were those spirits in prison to whom He preached ? With regard to this question, there have been many mistaken notions entertained.

1. St. Augustine, (Epist. 99.) and after him the Venerable Bede, Hugo, and St. Thomas, (3 p. q. 52, Art. 2.) understand by the prison, the body, and by the spirits, the souls that were inclosed in their bodies in the time of Noe ; in other words, the souls of those who were then alive. The body is as it were the prison of the soul. To the souls that were inclosed, or imprisoned, in their body at the time of the deluge, Christ may be said to have preached through Noe, who, whilst he built the ark, exhorted the people to repentance.

But they who do not accept this explanation say :

1. that St. Augustine admits it is not easy to under stand the passage, and that his own rendering of it did not please himself. He acknowledges that this text is full of difficulties; and he expressed a wish that some reason may be found for applying it to hell. This, however, he declares is clearly placed beyond all doubt, that the soul of Jesus Christ descended into the regions below, or hell. He concludes his observations on the text with this interrogation: " Who therefore unless an infidel shall deny that Christ.had been in hell ?" 2. If the prison be explained of the body, this would be taking the words in a symbolical or metaphorical, instead of the literal and genuine sense. But to forsake the literal and genuine for the symbolical or metaphorical sense would, in the present case, be opposed to one of the cardinal rules of hermeneutics.* 3. Such an explanation would be contrary to the scope of the apostle. The motive he had in view was this, to praise the efficacy and the fruitful effects of the death of Christ. But the efficacy and virtue of His death would be in no way praised, in no way glorified by this, that Christ had at one time, through the mouth of Noe, preached to wicked men, who died in their sins. If the apostle sought in the past an example, or type, of the virtue and efficacy of the death of Christ, he would have gone back rather to the preaching of Jonas to the Ninivites, than to that of Noe to the people of his day.

2. Some few, admitting that Christ descended into hell, imagined that He preached there to the damned, and converted those among them, who were the less guilty, or had committed the less evil. It is said that Clement of Alexandria seems to have held this opinion.
How vain and false was such a notion, is seen from this alone, that " out of hell there is no redemption." Opposed to such a fable, is the constant opinion of the, Fathers, and, in a special manner, of St. Augustine. (Lib. de Haeresib,, cap. 79.) Hence, St. Gregory the Great tells us that Christ delivered from hell, or Limbo, those just souls alone that were detained there. These are his words : " Christ descending into hell, delivered by his grace those alone who both believed Him to come, and, whilst alive, kept His precepts,"

3. Calvin imagined that the spirits, of whom St. Peter makes mention, were the souls of the saints; but that they were not, as the Vulgate has it, in prison. He says that the word used in the Greek version φυλακή,  signifies not alone a prison, but also a watch-tower. He takes it in the latter sense; and by the term watch-tower, he means heaven, where, according to his notion, the souls of the just awaited the advent and death of Christ. He imagined that Jesus Christ preached to these, not in person, but in cause; that is, as the cause of their liberation from the watch-tower, and of their translation to beatitude.

It is enough to upset the notions of Calvin, to observe that it is quite certain, and, as we have seen, quite capable of proof, that Christ really descended into hell. The Syrian version thus renders it: " He preached to those souls which were detained in hell." Furthermore, though the Greek word adopted by St. Peter, may, at times in the Scripture, signify a watch-tower, it has this meaning only in the case where there was an enemy to be watched. When there was no danger to be apprehended from an enemy, the word is never used in Scripture to signify a watch-tower. Now, in whatsoever place were the souls of the saints who died before Christ, they had no enemy to fear, and were safe from hostile attack. Then the word must be read, not in the sense of a watch-tower, but of a true prison.

Beza, a worthy coadjutor of Calvin in the work of "reformation," contended that when it is said in the text Jesus Christ was " enlivened in the spirit" we are to understand by the spirit his divinity. Then the sense would be that, by the power of his divinity, He had preached through Noe, to those who on account of their incredulity at the time of the deluge, are now detained in a prison, that is, hell.

This notion of Beza is dispelled: 1. because although by the spirit some understand the divinity of Christ, others by it understand his soul. That it should be read in the latter sense would seem to have been the intention of St. Peter, for he establishes an antithesis between the soul and body, contrasting one with the other. 2. The soul alone of Christ arrived in the prison. The phrase found in the Greek is : " He went into the prison." It could not be properly said of his divinity, which was always present everywhere, that it went into the prison, or arrived therein. Then the allusion must be to his soul alone. 3. All the ancient versions, as we have seen to be the case in the Syrian, read : " who were in prison," and not " who are in prison." They employ the past, and not the present tense. But if the notion of Beza were true, if St. Peter alluded to those souls who were in prison, or damned, on account of their incredulity in the time of Noe, he would have used the present instead of the past tense, for when the apostle wrote, these incredulous were still in prison, as they shall for ever be.

* Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation ; particularly as applied to the sacred Scriptures.

Purgatory, By The Rev. M. Canty, P.P., Part 20.

DOGMATIC AND SCHOLASTIC - THE VARIOUS QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH IT CONSIDERED AND PROVED.

CHAPTER XIII. THE PLACE WHERE PURGATORY IS. Part 5.

IV. In the Symbol or Creed, composed by the Apostles, it is said 'that Christ "descended into hell." ("Descendit ad inferos ")

1. By this descent into hell, we cannot, it is evident, understand the ascent, or as it is generally termed the.Ascension of Christ into heaven. The word descent is never used to express ascent, or approach to any place that is above. It is never said of a man, when describing his going up on a mountain, or any elevated place, that he descended on it. Neither by Christ descending into hell, is meant his descent into the sepulchre. In the immediately preceding article of the Creed, it is recorded that Christ was " dead and 'buried''' There fore, his descent into hell was something different from his descent into the grave. The latter article cannot be an exposition or repetition of the former one. The first article is clearer than the second; to explain it by the latter, would be to explain what is known by what is unknown. Add to this, that the Creed is a compendium—a very short and concise one—of faith. Hence, to repeat any portion of it, or anything in it, even in different words, would.be a great defect.

2. It would be a bad way of expressing it, to say that Christ "descended into hell," or to the inferior, or lower parts of the earth, if by such language was intended his sepulture. You do not hear such language, nor the like of it, adopted to express the burial, or descent into the grave, of any one. The argument becomes more forcible, when it is observed, that the sepulchre or grave, in which the sacred body of Christ was placed, was not in the inferior, or lower parts of the earth, but in a cave in the upper surface or superficies of the ground. Therefore the article has no relation to his burial.

3. The Fathers, with unanimous consent, receive the article as expressing the descent of Christ into Limbo. They all coincide with this sentence of St. Ignatius the Martyr:(Epist, ad Trail) "He descended into hell alone, he returned with a multitude." St. Jerome ( In cap. 4 Ephes.) thus expresses his sentiment: "He descended into the lower parts of the earth, that as a victor he would lead away with him to heaven the souls of the saints which were kept inclosed there."

4. The councils of the Church also believe that the article comprehends the descent of Christ into the Limbo of the Fathers, and nothing else. The fourth Council of Lateran,(Ch. I.) convoked and presided over, by Innocent III., thus expresses its mind : " He descended into hell; he arose from the dead, He ascended into heaven ; but he descended in soul, He arose in flesh, He ascended alike in both." Observe how, when the council states, that He descended into hell, it explains the clause by saying, that He descended in soul. Then it is as clear as the noon-day sun over its head, and clearer, that the Council of Lateran held the article to describe the descent of Christ into Limbo, and not the burial of His body in the grave. The fourth Council of Toledo, celebrated in 531, viewed it in the same light. In the very first chapter of its acts, it says : " He descended into hell, that He would bring forth the souls which were held there." Souls are not held in the grave. This council then took the "descent of Christ into hell," as a phrase identical with his descent into the Limbo of the Fathers.