The rule of faith, or, An exposition of the Apostles Creed so handled as…

The fifth question is, Whither he ascended? and the answer to that is in the Creed, and the Scriptures before quoted, into Heaven; and Christ himself saith, He went to his Father in heaven, Joh. 14. 12. and 20. 16. Heb. 9. 20. Now this heaven doth not signify God himself, or a heavenly conversation, or heavenly glory, but by heaven is meant that place of eternal blessedness, which is without the corruptible world, which is above all these moveable & worldly heavens, and to us now living on earth is invisible. It is ⟨p. 482⟩that place that Christ calls, The house of his heavenly Father, in which are many Mansions, Joh. 14. 12. and Solomon calls the place of Gods habitation, the heavens, Chron. 6. •1. and the habitation of his holiness in heaven, 1 King. 8. 31. Christ therefore is now in that highest heaven, which must contain him till the times of the restoring of all things. It is objected, that Christ ascended above all heavens, Eph. 4. Answer. It is true, above all these visible heavens, above the Air and the celestial Orbs, in which are the Sun, Moon, and Stars, and so went into that heaven called the third heaven, which is the seat of the blessed. It is further objected, if Christ ascended above all those worldly heavens, then his body is in no place, because Aristotle proves in his first book of heaven, that above all heavens is no place. Answer. It is false that above all heavens is no place, for though there be not such a place as Aristotle describes Physically, yet there is a place: for where there is a body, there must needs be a space in which that body is contained, according to that known saying, Take away spaces from bodies & they will be no where, and if no where, then they are not. This space the Scripture calls a place. But against Aristotle we oppose the express authority of Christ himself, who affirmeth, there are places in heaven,