564 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XVF.
might be embraced and cherishedby him ; Abraham's bosom
is Paradise. And the ministeringangels carriedthe poor
man, and placed him in Abraham's bosom, because though
he laydespised,he yet despairednot nor blasphemed,saying,
This rich man livingin wickedness is happy and suffers
no tribulation,but I cannot get even food to supplymy
wants.
Aug. AUG. Now as toyour thinkingAbraham's bosom tobe any
A^im'8 thing bodily,I am afraidlestyou should be thought totreat
4i16. so weighty a matter ratherlightlythan seriously.For you
could never be guiltyof such folly,as to suppose the corpo
realbosom of one man ableto hold so many souls,nay,to
use your own words, so many bodies as the angelscarry
thitheras they did Lazarus. But perhaps you imaginethat
one soul to have alonedeservedto come to that bosom. If
you would not fallintoa childishmistake,you must.under
stand Abraham's bosom to be a retiredand hidden resting-
place where Abraham is; and thereforecalledAbraham's,
not thatitishisalone,but becausehe isthe fatherof many
nations,and placed first,that othersmight imitatehispre
eminence of faith.
Greg.in GREG. When the two men were below on earth,thatis,
Hom.40. tne p00r anj tne ricn,there was one above who saw into
theirhearts,and by trialsexercisedthe poor man to glory,
by endurance awaitedthe rich man to punishment. Hence
Chrys. itfollows,The richman alsodied. CHRYS. He diedthenin-
VnTad6 deed,in body, but hissoulwas dead before.For he didnone
Cor. of the works of the soul. All thatwarmth.which issuesfrom
the love of our neighbour had fled,and he was more dead
Chrys. than hisbody. But no one isspoken of as having ministered
2°^' to the richman's burialas to thatof Lazarus. Because when
Lazaro. ne livedpleasantlyin the broad road,he had many busyflat
terers; when he came to his end, allforsookhim. Forit
simply follows,and was buried in hell. But his soulalso
when livingwas buried,enshrinedin itsbody as itwere in
a tomb. AUG. The burialin hellisthe lowestdepth of tor
ment which afterthislifedevoursthe proud and unmerciful.
InEsai.5. PSEUDO-BASIL. Hellisa certaincommon placeintheinterior
of the earth,shaded on allsidesand dark,in which thereis
a kind ofopening stretchingdownward, through which liesthe