The souls exaltation A treatiseThe soules exaltation A treatise

Now I come to the reasons of the point in general, why our Saviour suffered pains both in body and in soul, then the reasons of it are three, and they are all of special use.

Now I come to the reasons of the point in generall, why our Saviour suffered paines both in body and in soule, then the reasons of it are three, and they are all of speciall use.

Reason 1 First, it is taken from the divine justice of God which required this by way of satisfaction, as being only suitable and agreeable to the divine justice of God by reason of sin, whereby Adam had entrenched upon the privilege of God the Father: every breach of the Law of God entrencheth nearly upon God himself, and therefore every sin is of a provoking nature, because it is committed against an infinite majesty: therefore that divine justice may not be a loser, there must be a punishment not only corporal, ⟨p. 284⟩but also spiritual, for justice abates not any thing of the satisfaction, God is just, and this is justice to give every one his due; honour to whom honour belongs, and punishment to whom punishment belongs; therefore that justice may be preserved, she must inflict these punishments upon our Saviour being in our room: the Jesuits have devised a cavil against this reason: say they, it needed not that Christ should suffer these, for the dignity of the person of our Saviour may dispense with some part of the punishment, and if he bear death, it is sufficient, he may be, freed from the other pains in his soul. Now that this conceit of theirs is a thing marvellous injurious to the justice of God the Father, and to the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to the death of Christ, I prove it thus; for by the same right that the dignity of the person of our Saviour might abate of the punishment, by the same right the dignity of his person might as well take it quite away: if one drop of the blood of Christ would save all the world, then what needed Christ to have suffered the pains of death; for if the dignity of the person might free him from the one, it might free him from the other also, but the Law and Justice of God required whatsoever Christ did in his wisdom suffer and the death of Christ was not superfluous, and besides the dignity of the person is to far from freeing him from the punishment, that it fits him to bear the punishment, it exempts him not from the punishment, but it furnisheth him with