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to do; and in order to which it was neceffary for me to fay fomething of the State of feperate Souls till the Refurrection.

BEFORE I proceed to the fecond Head of Difcourfe, I fhall only observe that tho' the English Word Hell does at prefent bear only a bad Senfe, and is ufed to denote a Place of Torment, yet in its original Signification it exactly anfwers to the Greek Word Hades. For it is derived from an old Word Hele, which is ftill in ufe among fome, and fignifies to cover, or to conceal from Sight; and therefore Hell was as proper a Name as Hades, for that hidden and invisible Place which is the Habitation of all departed Souls. In this Senfe that good Man and glorious Martyr Mr. Tindall used the Word Hell, in his Tranflation of the Pfalms, which is ftill read in the publick Service of our Church; Pf. LXXXIX. V. 48. What Man is he that liveth, and shall not fee Death: and shall be deliver his Soul from the Hand of Hell? Which Words plainly imply, that the

Souls

Souls of all Men after Death go to Hell; but it is certain that the Souls of all Men

do not go to Hell in the bad Sense of the Word; and therefore it is manifeft, that in this Paffage the Word Hell bears a more general Signification, and denotes, as doth the Greek Hades, that invisible Place which is the common Receptacle of all feperate Souls both good and evil.

I COME now, as I propos'd, in the fecond Place, to confirm the Doctrine contain❜d in the Text, which may be reduced to these two Propofitions.

Firft, THAT the Soul of Chrift did at his Death go down into Hell, leaving his Body liable to Corruption.

Secondly, THAT the Soul of Chrift did not long continue in that State, but was releas'd from thence, and re-united to the Body, before that the Body faw Corruption.

I NEED add nothing more to what I have already said concerning the first of these. The Enemies of Chriftianity do not deny that Chrift died; and that after Death his Soul went down into Hell, and

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his Body into the Grave. It is the Doctrine of his Refurrection which they think themselves concern'd to oppose; and therefore they affirm, what the Text denies, That his Soul is ftill left in Hell, and that his Body hath feen Corruption. In Oppofition to thefe Men I might proceed to fhew, that there is very clear and full Evidence that Jefus Chrift was indeed raised again from the Dead, as his Disciples always believ'd him to have been. But having already prevented myfelf on this Argument in a former Difcourfe, wherein the Evidences of Christ's Refurrection have been produc'd and confidered, I fhall, to avoid Repetition, beg Leave to refer my Reader to what has there been offered; and proceed in the

Third and laft Place, To draw fome ufeful Inferences from the Doctrine which hath been now delivered.

And,

Firft, THE Refurrection of Chrift is a plain Demonftration of the Divinity of the Christian Religion, and furnishes us with a fatisfactory Answer to the Ob

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jection which Jews and Heathens have rais'd against it, from his Crucifixion. We remember, fay the Chief Priefts and Pharifees, that that Deceiver faid, while he was yet alive, After three Days I will' rife again. The fulfilling of thefe Words fay the Chriftians, fets it beyond all Difpute that he was a true Man, and no Deceiver. The raifing him to Life, after his Body had hung fix Hours upon the Crofs, and his Side had been pierc'd with a Spear, fo that out of it flow'd both Blood and Water, was evidently the Work of God; And will our Adversaries charge God with setting his Seal to a Lye, and working Miracles to confirm the Doctrine of an Impoftor? The Jews themfelves promised to believe on him, if he would come down from the Crofs; And can they blame us Chriftians for believing on him, now that he is come out of his Grave? They think it ftrange that we fhould believe a Perfon to be the Son of God, whom we allow, as often as we repeat our Creed, to have been crucified, dead and buried. Let them add what

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follows, The third Day he rofe again; and there is nothing ftrange in it. For if he was crucified thro' Weakness, he was declar'd to be the Son of God with Power by the Refurrection of the Dead. The Crucifixion and Death of Chrift had indeed been an unanswerable Objection to his Doctrine, had his History ended there. But now well may Chriftians proclaim the Death of their Mafter, well may they glory in the Crofs, fince they know and can prove, that He, who died on it, liveth for evermore.

Secondly, THE Refurrection of Chrift from the Dead lays us under the strongest Obligation to rife to a Life of Holiness. The Scripture frequently preffeth upon us a Conformity to Chrift's Death and Refurrection. And the Rites antiently us'd in Baptifm were very fignificant of the Death and Burial and Refurrection of Chrift, and of a Chriftian's profeffing Conformity to them. The baptized Perfon by going under the Water reprefented the Death and Burial of Chrift, and engag'd to dye himself unto Sin, and by

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