No; Christ suffered death of His own free will; 'He was offered, because it was His own will' (Isaias liii. 7).

'I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself for me' (Gal. ii. 20; comp. John x. 17, 18, and xviii. 4-9).

6. Why was it the will of Christ to suffer and die?

In order to satisfy the Divine Justice for our sins, and thereby to redeem and save us (p. 100, q. 91-93).

By His voluntary obedience unto the death of the cross Christ has given full, nay, superabundant satisfaction to the Divine Majesty for the manifold offences given to Him by our disobedience, and thus He has redeemed us from the eternal punishment which we had deserved. Therefore St. Paul says (Rom. v. 19): 'As by the disobedience of one man [Adam], many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of One [Jesus Christ], many shall be made just.' And St. Peter (1 Pet. ii. 22, 24): Who did no sin, who His ownself bore our sins in His body upon the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice; by whose stripes you were healed.' And Isaias (liii. 4, 5): 'Surely He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. But He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins.'

7. For what sins has Christ given satisfaction?

For the sins of the whole world' (1 John ii. 2)— namely, for original sin and all the other sins of mankind.

8. Why could no one but Christ make full reparation for our sins?

Because the offence given to the infinite Majesty of God demanded a satisfaction of infinite value, which Christ alone was able to give.

'No brother can redeem, nor shall man redeem: he shall not give to God his ransom. Nor the price of the redemption of his soul and shall labor for ever, and shall still live unto the end' (Ps. xlviii. 8, 9).

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9. Why is the satisfaction of Christ of infinite value? It is of infinite value because a Divine Person made it; for the greater the dignity of the person who satisfies, the greater also is the value and merit of the satisfaction.

10. Was it necessary for a perfect satisfaction that Christ should suffer such indescribable torments?

No; for even the least suffering of a God-Man would in itself have been satisfactory, because each of His works is of infinite value.

11. Why, then, would He suffer so much?

In order that we might better realize the greatness of His love, and of the punishment which sin deserves; and also that we might bear our cross the more patiently.

12. From what has Christ redeemed us by his sufferings and death?

He has redeemed us, 1. From sin; and 2. From eternal damnation, which we have deserved by sin.

1. 'He hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood' (Apoc. i. 5). 2. 'God hath not appointed us unto wrath [damnation], but unto the purchasing of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us' (1 Thess. v. 9, 10).

13. What more has Christ gained for us through His sufferings and death?

He has, 1. Reconciled us with God; 2. Reopened Heaven to us; and 3. Merited abundant graces for us, in order to enable us to lead a holy life and to obtain eternal happiness.

1. 'When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son' (Rom. v. 10). 2. 'Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering into the Holies [Heaven] by the blood of Christ; a new and living way which He hath dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh' (Hebr. x. 19, 20). 3. 'God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places [things] in Christ, according to the riches of His grace, which hath superabounded in us' (Eph. i. 3, 7, 8; comp. Rom. v. 15-21).

14. Has Christ merited grace and eternal salvation for those only who are really saved?

No; He has merited it for all men without exception, as He died also for all without exception (2 Cor. v. 14, 15).

'Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a redemption for all' (1 Tim. ii. 6).

15. If Christ has merited eternal salvation for all men, why, then, are not all saved?

Because not all do, on their part, what is necessary for obtaining salvation; that is, because they do not all believe, keep the Commandments, and use the means of grace.

'He [Christ] became to all that obey Him the cause of eternal salvation' (Hebr. v. 9).—Example of St. Paul (Col. i. 24). 'He who made you without your concurrence, will not save you without it' (St. Augustine).

Application. Oh! that you would never forget how much Jesus has loved you, and what He has suffered for you. For out of mercy, and for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins (Eph. ii. 4, 5), He has redeemed us through His most bitter Passion and death, and has placed us in the kingdom of His grace. Let this charity of Christ urge you to live unto Him who died for you, and rose again (2 Cor. v. 14, 15). (Devotion to the Sufferings of Christ; the Way of the Cross, or Stations; Visiting the Holy Sepulchre in Holy-week; Abstinence on Fridays, etc.)

THE FIFTH ARTICLE.

'He descended into hell, the third day He rose again from the dead.'

(See Short Hist. of Revealed Rel., 27.)

1. What means, 'He descended into hell '?

That the soul of Jesus Christ, after His death, descended into 'Limbo-i.e., to the place where the souls of the just who died before Christ were detained, and were waiting for the time of their redemption.

'He was 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'—that is, announced to them their redemption (1 Pet. iii. 18, 19).

2. Why were the souls of the just detained in Limbo?

Because Heaven was closed through sin, and was first to be opened by Christ (Hebr. ix. 6-8).

3. Why did Christ descend into Limbo?

1. To comfort and set free the souls of the just; and 2. To show forth His power and majesty even there in the lower regions (Phil. ii. 10).

4. What means, the third day He rose again from the dead'?

That on the third day after His death Christ reunited, by His own power, His soul to His body, as He had foretold, and rose again from the grave. (Easter day.)

'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. But He spoke of the temple of His body' (John ii. 19, 21; comp. John x. 18).

5. How did Christ rise again?

He came forth glorious and immortal from the grave, secured as it was by a heavy stone, and guarded by soldiers.

6. Did Christ retain in His glorified body any mark of His sufferings?

He still retained, in His hands, feet, and side, the marks of His wounds; therefore He said to Thomas: 'Put in thy finger hither [into the place of the nails], and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side' (John xx. 27).

7. Why has He still retained these marks?

1. In testimony of His victory over hell; 2. As a proof that He rose again in the very same body in which He had suffered; and 3. To show them on the day of judgment, for the consolation of the just and for the confusion of the wicked.

8. Whence do we know that Christ rose from the dead?

From the testimony of His Apostles and His Disciples, who often saw Him after His resurrection, touched Him, ate, spoke, and conversed with Him; and who everywhere

loudly proclaimed His resurrection, even before the chief council who had condemned Him to death, although by this conduct they drew upon themselves nothing but mortal hatred and persecution.

It is true that the soldiers who guarded the grave, being bribed with a large sum of money, spread the report that, while they were asleep, the Disciples of Jesus came and stole His body. But 1. If they were asleep, how could they see, then, that His Disciples stole the body? 2. Whence did the timid Disciples, who expected now nothing more from their deceased Master, get on a sudden such undaunted courage? 3. How did it happen that not even one of the sleeping guards awoke at the rolling away of the heavy stone? 4. Why were the guards not punished for the neglect of their duty? (Comp. Acts xii. 19.)

If the evidence of the Apostles and the Disciples had not been so certain and quite unexceptionable, they would never have convinced the world, in opposition to the most powerful and crafty enemies of Jesus, that He who, like a malefactor, had been publicly executed and buried, had on the third day risen again glorious from the dead. They have nevertheless so firmly convinced the world of this truth that countless Christian converts endured the most painful martyrdom in testimony of their firm belief in it.

9. What effect ought the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ to produce in us?

It ought 1. To strengthen our belief in His Divinity, and our hope of our own future resurrection; and 2. To incite us to rise from the death of sin to a new and holy life.

1. 'God raised Him up from the dead, and hath given Him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God' (1 Pet. i. 21). 2. We are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life' (Rom. vi. 4).

Application. He who is still deeply buried in the grave of sin-i.e., in evil habits or sinful desires-is not risen yet to a new life. All our thoughts, all our exertions, should tend towards Heaven. If you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Mind the things that

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