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laying his hands upon them, and so was corporally present with them, even "while he blessed them, he parted from them, and while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight," (Luke xxiv. 50, 51.) and so he was "carried up into heaven, while they looked steadfastly towards heaven, as he went up." (Acts i. 9, 10.) This was a visible departure, as it is described, a real removing of that body of Christ, which was before present with the apostles; and that body living after the resurrection, by virtue of that soul which was united to it: and therefore the Son of God according to his humanity was really and truly translated from these parts below unto the heavens above, which is a proper local ascension.

Thus was Christ's ascension visibly performed in the presence and sight of the apostles, for the confirmation of the reality and the certainty thereof. They did not see him when he rose, but they saw him when he ascended; because an eyewitness was not necessary unto the act of his resurrection, but it was necessary unto the act of his ascension. It was sufficient that Christ "shewed himself" to the apostles "alive after his passion;" (Acts i. 3.) for being they knew him before to be dead, and now saw him alive, they were thereby assured that he rose again: for whatsoever was a proof of his life after death, was a demonstration of his resurrection. But being the apostles were not to see our Saviour in heaven, being the session was not to be visible to them on earth, therefore it was necessary they should be eye-witnesses of the act, who were not with the same eyes to behold the effect. Beside the eye-witness of the apostles, there was added the testimony of the angels; those blessed spirits which ministered before, and saw the face of God in heaven, and came down from thence, did know that Christ ascended up from hence unto that place, from whence they came: and because the eyes of the apostles could not follow him so far, the inhabitants of that place did come to testify of his reception;t for "behold two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven." (Acts i. 10, 11.) We must therefore acknowledge and confess against the wild heresies of old,‡ that the * Βλεπόντων μὲν οὐκ ἀνέστη, βλεπόν των δὲ ἐπήρθη ἐπειδὰν ἐνταῦθα ἡ ὄψις τὸ πᾶν ἴσχυσε· καὶ γὰρ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τὸ μὲν τέλος εἶδον, τὴν δὲ ἀρχὴν οὐκέτι· καὶ τῆς ἀναλήψεως τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν εἶδον, τὸ δὲ τέλος οὐκέτι· παρεῖλκε γὰρ ἐκεῖνο τὸ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἰδεῖν, αὐτοῦ τοῦ ταῦτα φθεγγομένου παρόντος, καὶ τοῦ μνήματος δηλοῦντος ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκεῖ· ἄλλα τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο λόγῳ ἔδει μαθεῖν. S. Chrysost. Hom. 2. in Act. Apost.

† Επειδὰν οὐκ ἀρκοῦσιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ δεῖξαι τὸ ὕψος, οὐδὲ παιδεῦσαι πότερον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνῆλθεν, ἢ ὡς εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, ὅρα τὶ γίνεται· ὅτι μὲν αὐτός ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς, ᾔδεσαν, ἐξ ὧν διελέγετο πρὸς αὐτούς (πόῤῥωθεν γὰρ οὐκ ἐνῆν ἰδόντας γνῶναι)· ὅτι δὲ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναλαμβάνεται, αὐτοὶ λοιπὸν ἐδίδασκον οἱ ἄγγελοι. S. Chrysost. Hom. 2. in Acta Apost.

The various heresies in the pri

eternal Son of God, who died and rose again, did, with the same body and soul with which he died and rose, ascend up to heaven; which was the second particular considerable in the Article.

Thirdly, being the name of heaven admitteth divers acceptations in the sacred Scriptures, it will be necessary to inquire, what is the true notion of it in this Article, and what was the proper termination of Christ's ascension. In some sense it might be truly said, Christ was in heaven before the cloud took him out of the apostles' sight; for the clouds themselves are called "the clouds of heaven;" (Dan. vii. 13.) but that heaven is the first; and our Saviour certainly ascended at least as far as St. Paul was caught up, that is, into the third heaven; for "we have a great high-priest, that is passed through the heavens." (Heb. iv. 14.)* And needs must he pass through the heavens, because he was "made higher than the heavens;" (Heb. vii. 26.) for "he that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens." (Eph. iv. 10.) When therefore Christ is said to have ascended into heaven, we must take that word as signifying as much as the heaven of heavens; and so Christ is ascended through and above the heavens, and yet is still in heaven: for he is "entered into that within the veil," (Heb. vi. 19.) there is his passage through the heavens; "into the holy place, even into heaven itself, to appear in the presence of God," (Heb ix. 12. 24.) this is the heaven of heavens. For "thus said the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;" (Isa. lxvi. 1.) and as Christ descended unto the footstool of his father in his humiliation, so he ascended unto the throne of his Father in his mitive time concerning the humanity of Apelles is thus delivered by Epiof Christ ascended into heaven, are phanius in his own words: 'Ev T briefly touched by Tertullian: Utet ἔρχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπουρανίων ἦλθεν εἰς illi erubescant, qui affirmant carnem τὴν γῆν καὶ συνήγαγεν ἑαυτῷ ἀπὸ τῶν in coelis vacuam sensu, ut vaginam, reooáρwv σтоixεiwv owμɑ- Εδωκεν ὁ exempto Christo sedere ; aut qui car- Χριστὸς ἑαυτὸν παθεῖν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ σώμα nem et animam tantundem, aut tan- τι, καὶ ἐσταυρώθη ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ ἔδειξεν tummodo animam, carnem vero non αὐτὴν τὴν σάρκα τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς· jam.' De carne Christi, c. 24. Of κai ávaλvoaç avrηv tŷv ¿vavēρúπnoiv` which Gregory Nazianzen: Εἴ τις ἑαυτοῦ, ἀπεμέρισε πάλιν ἑκάστῳ τῶν στοιἀποτεθεῖσθαι νῦν τὴν σάρκα λέγοι, καὶ χείων τὸ ἴδιον ἀποδοὺς, τὸ θερμὸν τῷ γυμνὴν εἶναι τὴν θεότητα σώματος, ἀλλὰ θερμῷ, τὸ ψυχρὸν τῷ ψυχρῷ, τὸ ξηρὸν μὴ μετὰ τοῦ προσλήμματος καὶ εἶναι καὶ τῷ ξηρῷ, τὸ ὑγρὸν τῷ ὑγρῷ· καὶ οὕτως ἥξειν, μὴ ἴδοι τὴν δόξαν τῆς παρουσίας. διαλύσας ἀπ ̓ αὐτοῦ πάλιν τὸ ἔνσαρκον Epist. 1. ad Cledonium, p. 739. The owμa aventη eiç tòv oúpavòv, öƉev kai Apellitæ taught, that Christ left his body dissolved in the air, and so ascended into heaven without it: 'Hunc Apellem dicunt quidam etiam de Christo tam falsa sensisse, ut diceret eum non quidem carnem duxisse de coelo, sed ex elementis mundi accepisse, quæ mundo reddidit, cum sine carne resurgens in coelum ascendit.' S. August. Hares. 23. This opinion

E. Hares. xliv. §. 2. Of whom Gregory Nazianzen is to be understood in that Epistle before cited: "H εἰς τὸν ἀέρα ἐχέθη καὶ διελύθη, ὡς φωνῆς φύσις, καὶ ὀδμῆς ῥύσις, καὶ ἀστραπῆς δρόμος οὐχ ἱσταμένης. p. 739.

*We read it indeed into the heavens, but the original imports as much asthrough: dieλŋλvGóra ToÙÇ Ovρavovs Vulg. Trans. qui penetravit cælos.

exaltation. This was the place, of which our Saviour spake to his disciples, "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?" (John vi. 62.) Had he been there before in body, it had been no such wonder that he should have ascended thither again: but that his body should ascend unto that place where the majesty of God was most resplendent; that the flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, should be seated far above all angels and archangels, all principalities and powers, even at the right hand of God: this was that which Christ propounded as worthy of their greatest admiration. Whatsoever heaven then is higher than all the rest which are called heavens; whatsoever sanctuary is holier than all which are called holies; whatsoever place is of greatest dignity in all those courts above, into that place did he ascend, where in the splendour of his Deity he was, before he took upon him our humanity.

As therefore when we say Christ ascended, we understand a literal and local ascent, not of his Divinity (which possesseth all places, and therefore being every where is not subject to the imperfection of removing any whither), but of his humanity, which was so in one place that it was not in another: so when we say the place into which he ascended was heaven, and from the expositions of the apostles must understand thereby the heaven of heavens, or the highest heaven, it followeth that we believe the body with the soul of Christ to have passed far above all those celestial bodies which we see, and to look upon that opinion as a low conceit which left his body in the sun.*

It was necessary to profess this Article of Christ's ascension. First, For the confirmation and augmentation of our faith. Our faith is thereby confirmed, in that we believe in him who is received unto the Father, and therefore certainly came from the Father: his Father sent him, and we have received the message from him, and are assured that it is the same mes*The Seleuciani and Hermiani istum oculis carneis visibilem, expotaught that the body of Christ ascended no farther than the sun, in which it was deposited, of whom Philastrius, and out of him St. Augustin, thus: 'Negant Salvatorem in carne sedere ad dexteram Patris, sed ea se exuisse perhibent, eamque in sole posuisse, accipientes occasionem de Psalmo, In sole posuit Tabernaculum suum.” Hares. 59. The same opinion Gregory Nazianzen attributeth to the Manicheans: Ποῦ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα νῦν, εἰ μὴ μετὰ τοῦ προσλαβόντος; οὐ γὰρ δὴ κατὰ τοὺς Μανιχαίων λήρους τῷ ἡλίῳ ἐναποτέθειται, ἵνα τιμηθῇ διὰ τῆς ἀτιμίας. Epist. 1. ad Cledonium, p. 739. And St. Augustin says they taught the sun to be Christ: Manichæi solem I. i. c. 19.

6

situm, et publicum, non tantum hominibus, sed etiam pecoribus ad videndum, Christum Dominum esse putarunt.' Tract. 34. in Ioan. §. 2. This opinion is more clearly set down, but without a name, in the Catena Patrum on the 18th Psalm: Ov уàρ πроσεκτέον τοῖς τῶν Αἱρετικῶν φληνάφοις, οἵ φασιν ὅτι μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐν τῇ ἡλιακῇ σφαίρᾳ ἀπέθετο ὃ ἐφόρησε σῶμα, φυλάττεσθαι μέχρι τῆς δευτέρας παρουσίας. This was the old heresy of Hermogenes, as is related by Theodoret: Οὗτος (ὁ Ερμογενὴς) τοῦ Κυρίου τὸ σῶμα ἐν τῷ ἡλίῳ εἶπεν ἀποτεθῆναι, τὸν δὲ διάβολον καὶ τοὺς δαίμονας εἰς Työλŋv ávax¤ýσεo¤ai. Hæret. Fab.

sage which he was sent to deliver, because he is so highly rewarded by him that sent him for delivering it. Our faith is thereby exalted and augmented, as being the " evidence of things not seen." (Heb. xi. 1.) The farther the object is removed from us, the more of faith hath that act which embraceth it.* Christ said unto Thomas, "Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed:" (John xx. 29.) and that blessedness by this ascension he hath left to the whole Church. That Christ ascended is the ground and glory of our faith; and by virtue of his being in heaven, our belief is both encouraged and commended; for his ascent is the cause, and his absence the crown, of our faith: because he ascended, we the more believe; and because we believe in him who hath ascended, our faith is the more accepted.

Secondly, It is necessary to believe the ascension of Christ for the corroboration of our hope. We could never expect our dust and ashes should ascend the heavens; but being our nature hath gone before in him, we can now hope to follow after him. He is our Head,† (Eph. i. 22.) and where that is, the members may expect admission: for in so great and intimate a union there is no fear of separation or exclusion: there are many mansions in his Father's house." (John xiv. 2.) And when he spake of ascending thither, he said expressly to his disciples, "I go to prepare a place for you, and will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." (Ibid. 3.) The first-fruits of our nature are ascended, and the rest is sanctified. "This is the new and living way, which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." (Heb. x. 20.) And hence we "have our hope as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast, which entereth into that within the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered." (Heb. vi. 19, 20.) For if Christ in his ascension be the forerunner, then are there some to follow after;§ and

* Magnarum hic vigor est mentium, et valde fidelium lumen est animarum, incunctanter credere quæ corporeo non videntur intuitu, et ibi figere desiderium, quo nequeas inferre conspectum. Hæc autem pietas unde in nostris cordibus nasceretur, aut quomodo quisquam justificaretur per fidem, si in iis tantum salus nostra consisteret, quæ obtutibus subjacerent? Leo in Ascen. Serm. 2. c. 1. Fides eorum qui Deum visuri sunt, quamdiu peregrinantur, corda mundantur, quod non videt credit; nam si vides, non est fides: credenti colligitur meritum, videnti redditur præmium. Eat ergo Dominus et paret locum; eat ne videatur, lateat ut credatur: tunc enim locus paratur, si

ex fide vivatur: creditus desideretur ut desideratus habeatur, desiderium dilectionis præparatio est mansionis.' S. August. Tract. 68. in Ioan. §. 3.

† 'Christi ascensio nostra provectio est, et quo præcessit gloria capitis, eo spes vocatur et corporis.' Leo de Ascen. Serm. 1. c. 4.

† Διὰ τοῦτο ἑορτάζειν ὀφείλομεν, ἐπειδὰν σήμερον τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ ἡμετέρου φυράματος, τουτέστι τὴν σάρκα, ἐν οὐρα vois Xploròs ȧvýyaye. S. Chrysost. Orat. 1. de Ascens. Διὸ λοιπὸν χρηστὰς ἔχομεν τὰς ἐλπίδας, πρὸς τὴν ἡμε réрav åπapɣýv åpopõvres. Id. Orat. 2. de Ascens.

§ There is a double notion of podpoμos, to this purpose: one of a man sent before to make preparations

not only so, but they which follow, are to go on in the same way, and to attain unto the same place: and if this forerunner be entered for us, then we are they which are to follow and overtake him there; as being of the same nature, members of the same body, branches of the same vine, and therefore he went thither before us as the first-fruits before those that follow, and we hope to follow him as coming late to the same perfection.

As therefore God "hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together," (Eph. ii. 5, 6.) by virtue of his resurrection; so hath he also "made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," (Ibid. 6.) by virtue of his ascension. We are already seated there in him,* and hereafter shall be seated by him; in him already as in our Head, which is the ground of our hope; by him hereafter, as by the cause conferring, when hope shall be swallowed up in fruition.

Thirdly, The profession of faith in Christ ascended, is necessary for the exaltation of our affections. "For where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also." (Matt. vi. 21.) "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me," (John xii. 32.) saith our Saviour; and if those words were true of his crucifixion, how powerful ought they to be in reference to his ascension! "When the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven, Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee:" (2 Kings ii. 2.) when Christ is ascended up on high, we must follow him with the wings of our meditations, and with the chariots of our affections. "If we be risen with Christ, we must seek those things

ing particularly weρì ovens, hath these words: YOXεitoμévns yàp theίOVOL τῆς τοιαύτης ὑγρότητος, ὅταν ἀὴρ ἐπιγένηται μαλακὸς καὶ ὑγρὸς καὶ θερμὸς, ἐξεκαλέσατο τὴν βλάστησιν· ὅτε δὲ τοῦτο συμβαίνει φανερὸν, ὅτι ἐκ τούτου τοῦ μέρους ὁ καρπὸς ἀνίεται, ὅθεν καὶ οἱ πρόδρομοι. De Causis Plant. l. v. c. 1. and paulo post: Πάλιν δὲ τοὺς προδρόμους αἱ μὲν φέρουσιν, οἶον, ἥτε Λακονικὴ καὶ Λευκομφάλιος καὶ ἕτεραι πλείους· αἱ

for others which follow; in which it is
well observed by St. Chrysostom: O
δὲ πρόδρομος τινῶν ἐστὶ πρόδρομος,
ὥσπερ Ἰωάννης τοῦ Χριστοῦ· καὶ οὐκ
εἶπεν ἁπλῶς εἰσῆλθεν, ἀλλ' ὅπου πρόδρο-
μος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν· ὡς καὶ ἡμῶν
ὀφειλόντων καταλαβεῖν. Οὐ πολὺ γὰρ τοῦ
προδρόμου καὶ τῶν ἑπομένων ὀφείλει εἶναι
τὸ μέσον· ἐπεὶ οὐδ' ἂν εἴη πρόδρομος"
τὸν γὰρ πρόδρομον καὶ τοὺς ἑπομένους
ἐν τῇ αὐτῷ χρὴ εἶναι ὁδῷ· καὶ τὸν
μὲν ὁδεύειν, τοὺς δὲ ἐπικαταλαμβάνειν. δ ̓ οὐ φέρουσιν.
Homil. 11. in Epist. ad Hebræos.
Another notion there is among the
Greeks of the fruit, which is ripe and
come to perfection before the rest, as
Isaiah xxviii. 4. Καὶ ἔσται τὸ ἄνθος τὸ
ἐκπεσὸν τῆς ἐλπίδος τῆς δόξης, ἐπ' ἄκρου
τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ· ὡς πρόδρομος
σUKOV,, tanquam primitia, or
fructus primogeniti, ficus præcox.
Hesychius: Πρόδροσμα, τὰ ἐν τῷ ἄξονι
ξύλα, ἢ τὰ προακμάζοντα συκα (lege
Πρόδρομοι) for they indeed are pro-
perly τὰ προακμάζοντα σύκα, praeoces
ficus. For so Theophrastus, speak-

The first-fruits of the early figs were called podpoμoi, and the tree which bare them ρоTερu. Now as this early fruit doth forerun the latter fruit of the same tree, and comes to ripeness and perfection in its kind before the rest; so our Sa viour goes before those men of the same nature with him, and they follow in their time to the maturity of the same perfection.

* Τῆς κεφαλῆς καθεζομένης καὶ τὸ σῶμα συγκάθηται· διὰ τοῦτο ἐπήγαγεν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. S. Chrysost. in Epist. ad Ephes. Hom. 4.

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