A confutation of those mennes arguments or reasons,
which affirme, that dead mens soules doo appeare:
And first that is aunswered whiche certaine doo alleage,
to witte, that God is omnipotent, and therfore
that he can worke contrary to the ordinary course of
nature.
FIrst our aduersaries do laie against vs, that by the vsuall and common course of things, the soules of the godly abide in heauen, and the soules of the wicked in hell, vntill the last day, and do not walke at all: but yet that God may dispence with them to appear here sometimes, therby to instruct and admonish vs: And then Samuel did appeare after his death vnto king Saule, and Moses also which forsooke this life many yeres before: Likewise Elias, who was taken vp in to heauen in a firie charet, appeared vnto Christ our sauior & his thrée disciples, whom he tooke with him at his transfiguration in the mount. Lazarus also of Bethanie, returned from death into yͤ earth, and many other also were raised from death by Christ, his Apostles, and Prophets.
Farther they alledge this, yͭ Christs Apostles beléeued, that yͤ spirit or soule either of Christ, (as som of the fathers vnderstand it) or of som other person did appear vnto them. Besides to proue this matter, they alledge places out of the fathers, decrées of councels, & the common report yͭ hath bin bruted of those yͭ returned frō the dead. To al these reasons by Gods assistance, we will briefly and orderly answere.
The soules do returne to instruct men contrary to the common course of nature, by the omnipotent power of god.
As touching yͤ first obiection, yͭ al things are possible vnto God, we deny it not. We graunt then, that God can bring soules out of heauen or hel, and vse their trauell & seruice to instruct, comfort, admonish, & rebuke men. But for yͭ no text or example is found in holy scripture, that euer any soule came from yͤ dead, which did so scoole & warn men: or yͭ the faithfull learned or sought to vnderstand any thing of the soules deceased, we cannot allow yͤ sequele of their reason. We may not of Gods almightie power inferre conclusions to our pleasure. For this is a principle holdē in schooles, yͭ the reason doth not truly folow, yͭ is set from yͤ power of doing, to the déed done. For God doth nothing against himself, or his word writen, to warrāt their reson: they shuld first haue proued, that it was gods wil, yͭ soules shuld return into the erth: for so do holy fathers intreat of gods almightie power.
How we oght to reason of the omnipotent power of God.
Tertullian against Praxias saith: Truly I neuer thought that any thing was hard to bee done of God, we may faine of God what we list, as if he had done the same, because he is able to doo it. But we must not beléeue that God hath therefore done all things, because he is able to doo them. But first wee ought to make enquirie whether hee hath done them.
Ambrose.