Hell.

1. THere are two Texts for Christ’s de∣scending into Hell: The one Psal. 16. The other Acts the 2d. where the Bible, that was in use when the Thirty Nine Articles were made has it (Hell.) But the Bible that was in Queen Eliza∣beth’s time, when the Articles were con∣firm’d, reads it (Grave,) and so it con∣tinued till the new Translation in King Jame’s time, and then ’tis Hell again. But by this we may gather the Church of En∣gland declin’d as much as they could, the descent, otherwise they never would have alter’d the Bible.

2. [He descended into Hell] this may be the Interpretation of it. He may be dead and buried, then his Soul ascended in∣to Heaven. Afterwards he descended a∣gain into Hell, that is, into the Grave, to fetch his Body, and to rise again. The Ground of this Interpretation is taken from the Platonick Learning, who held a Metampsychosis, and when a Soul did de∣scend from Heaven, to take another Bo∣dy, they call’d it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, taking 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, for the lower World, the State of Mortality: Now the first Chri∣stians many of them were Platonick Phi∣losophers, and no question spake such Language as was then understood amongst them. To understand by Hell the Grave is no Tautology, because the Creed first tells what Christ suffered, He was Cruci∣fied, Dead, and Buried; then it tells us what he did, He descended into Hell, the third day he rose again, he ascended, &c.