erect piece of wood (which himself first carried towards the place of execution) made fast in the earth, and a transverse beam fastened towards the top of it, and after that another piece of wood fastened to, and standing out from the top of that which was fixed in the ground; his body being lifted up, was fastened to the straight piece of wood that stood in the earth, his hands were nailed to the transverse beam that went across or thwart over the other, his head reached above the transverse beam, towards the top of that which was fixed in the ground; and towards the bottom of it, were his feet nailed, his body resting upon that other piece of wood that was fastened into and stood out from that which was fixed in the earth. Upon his head was a crown of thorns, above his head was a table fastened, on which, after the Roman custom, his accusation was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin characters, that all might read what it was he was there nailed and crucified for. Neither was Jesus only thus nailed and fastened to the cross, but there he hung till his soul was forced from his body, and so he dead. After which, he was not suffered any longer to hang there, but was taken down, and laid in a sepulchre, and so 'buried.'

Neither did he mind his own things in all this; no, it was only upon their account that laid these things upon him, that he was pleased to undergo them. He suffered for us, only that we might not suffer from God; he was crucified here that we might be glorified hereafter: he died that we might live, and was buried for a time, that we might not be damned to eternity; for he suffered, was crucified, dead,

habitus crucis fines et summitates habet quinque, duos in longitudine, et unum in medio, ubi requiescit qui clavis affigitur. Iren. lib. ii. cap. 42.

Lactantius, de Vera Sap. lib. iv. p. 370. edit. Oxon. 1684. doth not only produce the prophets, but the Sibylline oracles to prove Christ should suffer. Hæc autem (saith he) sic futura fuisse, et prophetarum vocibus et Sibyllinis carminibus denunciatum est. Apud Esaiam ita scriptum invenitur,Non sum contumax, neque contradico; dorsum meum posui ad flagella, et maximillas meas ad palmas; faciem autem meam non averti fœditate sputorum.' Similiter, David. in Psalmo 34. Congregata sunt super me flagella, et ignoraverunt, dissoluti sunt nec compuncti sunt; tentârunt me et deriserunt me derisu, et striderunt super me dentibus suis.' Sibylla quoque eadem futura monstravit ;

and buried,' and all to reconcile God to us. Man naturally is at odds with God; God hates man's person, and man God's precepts. To make up this enmity betwixt them,

Εἰς ἀνόμους χεῖρας καὶ ἀπίστων ὕστερον ἥξει,
Δώσουσι δὲ Θεῷ ῥαπίσματα χερσιν ἀνάγνοις,
Καὶ στόμασιν μιαροῖσι τὰ πτύσματα φαρμακούντα,
Δώσει δ' εἰς μαστίγας ἁπλῶς ἀγνὸν τότε νῶτον.

Item de silentio ejus quod usque ad mortem pertinaciter tenuit, Esaias iterùm sic locutus est, 'Sicut ovis ad immolandum ductus est, et sicut agnus coram tondentibus se sine voce, sic non aperuit os suum.' Et Sibylla supradicta,

- Καὶ κολαφίζομενος σιγήσει μήτὶς ἐπιγνῶ

Τὶς λόγος, ἢ πόθεν ἦλθεν, ἵνα φθιμένοισι λαλήσῃ,

Καὶ στέφανον φορέσει τὸν ἀκάνθινον.

De cibo verò et potu quem antequam eum figerent illi obtulerunt, Davidis, in Psalmo lxviii. sic ait, 'Et dederunt in escam meam fel, et in siti mea potum mihi dederunt acetum.' Ita hoc futurum etiam Sibylla concionata est;

Εἰς δὲ τὸ βρῶμα χολὴν κ' εἰς δίψαν ὄξος ἔδωκεν,

Τῆς ἀφιλοξενίης ταύτην δείξουσι τράπεζαν.

Et alia Sibylla Judæam terram his versibus increpat,

Αυτὴ γὰς σὺ ἄφρων τὸν σὸν Θεὸν οὐκ ἐνωήσας
Παίζοντ ̓ ἐν θνητοῖσι νοήμασιν, ἀλλὰ κ ̓ ἀκάνθαις
Εστρέψας στεφάνῳ φοβερὴν τε χολὴν ἐκέρασας.

Of the four first of these Sibylline verses, the two last are not read in the Sibylline oracles that are now extant; but the two first are in the eighth book, p. 245. though something altered thus

Εἰς ἀνόμων χεῖρας, καὶ ἁπίστων ὕστατον ἥξει,

Καὶ δώσουσι Θεῷ ῥαπίσματα χεςσιν ἀνάγνοις.

The second three verses, beginning, Καὶ κολαφιζόμενος, are read in the same eighth book, p. 242. only for the beginning of the second of them, Tis λόγος · we have now, Τις τίνος ὤν — The two next we have now coming immediately after χερσιν ἀνάγνοις, in the four first here mentioned, but something altered,

Εἰς δὲ βρῶμα χολὴν καὶ πιεῖν ὄξος ἔδωκαν,

Τῆς δε φιλοξενίης ταύτης τίσουσι τράπεζαν.

The three last we have also now extant in the sixth book of the Sibylline oracles, p. 209. but the two first something altered too;

Αυτὴ γὰρ δυσφρῶν τὸν σὸν νόμον οὐκ ἐνοήσας,

Πταίοντα θνητοῖσι νοήμασιν, ἀλλ ̓ ἐπ ̓ ἀκάνθης.

But Augustine read them in Lactantius as we now do, and translates them verbatim in the same order as Lactantius quotes them. In manus

Christ joins both their natures in one person, and so by shedding the blood of the human, he appeased the wrath of the divine nature; and so reconciled his Father to us, not only by quenching the fire of his anger towards us, but also And by this by purchasing his love and favour for us. means also, laying down his life for us, he offered himself a sacrifice to God; a sacrifice not only for 'original guilt,' but also for actual sins of men.' A sin-offering, to propitiate God and obtain his pardon, not only for the natural corruptions of our sinful hearts, but also for the actual provocations of our sinful lives. All which appears from the light both of Scripture and reason.

6

1. Confirmation from SCRIPTURE.-And truly that Christ suffered, was crucified, dead and buried, is the whole sum and substance of both law, prophets, and Gospel; the first foreshowing it in types; the second foretelling it in prophecies; the third relating it in history. Isaac was a type', the brazen serpent a shadow of it. Isaiah was that pro

S

iniquas infidelium (nobis mendosè inquit fidelium) postea veniet, et dabunt Deo alapas manibus incestis, et impurato ore expuent venenatos sputos; dabit verò ad verbera simpliciter sanctum dorsum, et colaphos accipiens tacebit, nequis agnoscat quid verbum vel unde venit ut inferis loquatur, et coronâ spineâ coronetur. Ad cibum autem fel, et ad sitim acetum dederunt in hospitalitate (alias inhospitalitatis) hanc monstrabunt mensam. Ipsa enim insipiens gens tuum Deum non intellexisti ludentem mortalium mentibus; sed et spinis coronâsti, et horridum fel miscuisti. - Aug. de Civit. Dei, 1. xviii. c. 23. And there is another verse, the last but two in the sixth book of the Sibylline oracles, wherein they foretel the crucifixion of our Saviour, not cited by Lactantius, but by Sozomen, Tripart. Hist. l. ii. c. 1. And it is thus,

Ω ξύλον ὦ μακαριστὸν ἐφ ̓ ᾧ Θεὸς ἐξετανῦσθῆ.

which the same Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. 1. reads also,

Ω ξύλον ματάριστον ἐφ ̓ οὗ Θεὸς ἐξετανῦσθη.

• Itaque in primis Isaac cùm à patre hostia duceretur, et lignum ipsi sibi portaret, Christi exitum jam tunc denotabat, in victimam concessi à Patre, lignum passionis suæ bajulantis.— Tertul. adv. Judæos, cap. 11. In hoc tam grandi mystico fidei sacramento, et Abraham sanctus apparuit probatus, et filius in præsenti est liberatus, in quo est Christus prænunciatus. Aug. de 4 Virtutibus Charitatis.

* Καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ ἑρήμῳ διὰ τοῦ Μωσέως τὸν χαλκοῦν ὄφιν ἐνέργησε γενέσθαι καὶ ἐπὶ σημεῖον ἔστησε, δι ̓ οὗ σημείου ἐσώζονται οἱ ὀφιόδηκτοι· καὶ ἀναίτιός ἐστιν ἀδικίας. μυστήριον γὰρ διὰ τούτου, ὡς προέφην, ἐκήρυσσε, δι ̓ οὗ καταλύειν μὲν τὴν δύναμιν

phesying evangelist, or evangelizing prophet, that expressly related his sufferings to come, as if they had been already past, saying, "He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Isaiah, liii. 3. "He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth." verse 7. But should I write down all the historical prophecies, or prophetical histories concerning the passions of this Immanuel, God-man, I should transcribe, not only all this chapter, but the greatest part of all the prophets. And as for the evangelists, though there be some things which only one of them relates, others which only two, others which three only have recorded; yet, that he 'suffered, was crucified, dead and buried,' they all with one consent left on record, for the confirmation of our faith in so great a mystery. To pass by, therefore, his tender years, which he spent in subjection to his earthly parents, though themselves and all the world ought always to be subject unto him; if we follow him in our thoughts to the garden of Gethsemane, or the mount of Olives, the field, it seems, himself had appointed to fight the devil and all his angels in, here we may behold a doleful sight, the Son of God beginning to be "sorrowful, and very heavy," Matt. xxvi. 36. Mark, xiv. 32. Luke, xxii. 39. presently saying to his disciples, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, whom he had taken with him to behold the combat; "My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death." Matt. xxvi. 3. Then leaving them, he goes to his Father, pouring forth his mournful soul to him, having prostrated himself upon his face before him, crying out, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt," verse 39. and elsewhere, "Now is my soul troubled, and

τοῦ ὄψεως, τοῦ καὶ τὴν παράβασιν ὑπὸ τοῦ ̓Αδὰμ γενέσθαι ἐργασαμένου ἐκήρυσσε· σωτηρίαν δὲ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐπὶ τοῦτον τὸν διὰ τοῦ σημείου τούτου, τουτέστι τὸν σταυροῦσθαι μέλλοντα. Justin. Dial. cum Tryph. Judæo, p. 321. D. Ed. Par. 1636. Idem rursus Moses post interdictam omnis rei similitudinem, cur æneum serpentem ligno impositum pendentis habitu in spectaculum Israeli salutare proposuit, eo tempore quo à serpentibus post idololatriam exterminabantur ? Nisi quòd hic Dominicam crucem intentabat, quâ serpens diabolus publicabatur.- Tertul. adv. Jud. cap. 11. p. 396. B. Edit. Par. 1664.

what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour," John, xii. 27. And if we view his body, behold sweat gushing out of it," as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground," Luke, xxii. 44. And whilst his soul is thus surrounded with sorrows, his body is compassed about with enemies. Judas, his own disciple, betraying him, the soldiers apprehending him; the malicious Jews, resolved against their own salvation, hauling him from one place to another: spitting in his face, striking him with their hands, and crying out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" And at the last, having by their importunity obtained his condemnation from Pilate, who then sat in judgment upon him, away they hurry him with his cross upon his shoulders, and a crown of thorns upon his head, unto the place of execution: he himself all this while vouchsafing by his almighty power to uphold them, whilst they thus abused him. But for fear lest he, being wearied by bearing of the cross himself, should not endure so much pain when borne upon it, they afterwards compelled one Simon a Cyrenian to carry it for him, not out of compassion for him, but design against him: that coming fresh and lively to it, he might be the more able to grapple with the pains of death, and so they might have a longer time to glut their eyes with that pleasing object. Having at last gotten him to the place of execution, they presently fasten the cross in the ground, and him upon the cross,

This place the ancients took to be the same place where Adam was buried. So Origen, Venit ad me traditio quædam, talis quòd corpus Adæ primi hominis ibi sepultum est, ubi crucifixus est Christus; ut sicut in Adamo omnes moriuntur, sic in Christo omnes vivificentur, ut in loco illo qui dicitur Calvariæ locus, i. e. locus Capitis,' Caput humani generis resurrectionem inveniat cum populo universo per resurrectionem Domini Salvatoris, qui ibi passus est, et resurrexit.— Origen tract. 35. in Mat. 27. And St. Ambrose, Quam suscepit in Golgotha Christus, ubi Adæ sepulchrum, ut illum mortuum in sua cruce resuscitaret; ubi ergo in Adam mors omnium, ibi in Christo omnium resurrectio, lib. v. epist. 19. And hence it is that they believed, that one of those that rose from their graves at the resurrection of our Saviour was Adam; of which tradition Augustine excellently, Et de illo quidem primo homine patre generis humani quòd eum ibidem solverit, ecclesia ferè tota consentit, quòd eam non inaniter credidisse credendum est, undicunque; hoc traditum sit, etiamsi canonicarum Scripturarum hinc expressa non proferatur authoritas. - Epist. 99. Vide etiam Athanas. Quæst, ad Ant. 47. tom. ii. p. 350. A.