Sinners which are much weakned by some Popish Doctrines 2. THe Gospel of Christ was intended to give the highest demonstration of God's Love to Mankind and the greatest possible Security to all humble penitent Sinners of the Forgiveness of their Sins Hence the Gospel is called the Grace of God and the Gospel of Grace as being a Dispensation of Love and Goodness and therefore whatever lessens and disparages the Gospel-Grace can be no Gospel-Doctrine As to consider this particularly The Gospel magnifies the Grace of God in giving his own Son for us God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life 3 John 16. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins 1 John 4.9 10. And St. Paul assures us that this is such a glorious manifestation of God's love as will not suffer us to doubt of any other expressions of his Goodness He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things 8 Rom. 32. So that the Gospel of our Saviour gives us much higher demonstrations of God's love and goodness than either the Light of Nature or the Law of Moses did Love is the prevailing Attribute of God under the Gospel-dispensation For God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him 1 John 4.16 Thus the Gospel of Christ gives a humble Penitent as great assurance of Pardon as his own guilty Fears can desire for Repentance and Remission of Sins is preached in the Name of Christ He has expiated our Sins by the Sacrifice of his Death God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more then being justified by his bloud we shall be saved from wrath through him for if when we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life 5 Rom. 8 9 10. For as he was delivered for our Offences so he was raised again for our Justification And him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins So that if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is able to save all them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them 7 Heb. 25. These are the fundamental Doctrines of Christianity and therefore nothing can be a Gospel-Doctrine which weakeâ—s or overthrows them Let us then examine the Popish Doctrine of Purgatory and the Invocation of Saints and Angels as our Mediators with God and see how they are reconcileable with the Gospel-notion of God's love and that security it gives us of Pardon through the Merits and Intercession of Christ. 1. Let us consider the Doctrine of Purgatory which is but the outward Court or Region of Hell where the Punishments are as severe as in Hell itself only of a less continuance and yet as short as they are they may last many hundred nay thousand Years unless their Friends and the Priests be more merciful to them or they themselves have taken care before Death to pay the Price of their Redemption This is a barbarous Doctrine and so inconsistent with that mighty Love of God to penitent Sinners as it is represented in the Gospel of Christ that it is not reconcileable with any notion of Love and Goodness at all you may call it Justice you may call it Vengeance if you please but Love it is not or if it be it is such a Love as no man can distinguish from Hatred for my part I declare I do not desire to be thus loved I should rather chuse to fall into nothing when I die than to endure a thousand Years torments to be happy for ever for Humane Nature cannot bear the Thoughts of that And is this that wonderful Love of God to Sinners which is so magnified in the Gospel to torment those who are Redeemed by the Bloud of Christ some hundred or thousand Years in the Fire of Purgatory which is not cooler than the Fire of Hell The Light of Nature I confess never taught this for Mankind never had any Notion of such an outragious Love they always thought that the Love of God consisted in doing good not in damning those whom he loves for so many Ages And if this be all the Discovery the Gospel has made of the Love of God we have no great reason to glory in it He who can believe that God who so loved the World as to give his only begotten Son for the Redemption of Sinners will torment a penitent Sinner so many Years in Purgatory till he has either endured the punishment of his Sins himself or is released by the Charity of his Friends or the Masses of some Mercenary Priests deserves to lie in Purgatory till he thinks more honourably of the divine goodness and be convinced that it is no such extravagant commendation of the love of God to send penitent Sinners to Purgatory There are two extravagant Notions whereon the Doctrine of Purgatory is founded which overthrow all the natural Notions men have of Goodness and destroy all the hope and confidence of the most penitent Sinners in the goodness of God. As 1. That God may forgive Sins and yet punish us for them for no man can go into Purgatory according to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome whose Sins are not already forgiven but though his Sins are forgiven he must make satisfaction for that temporal punishment which is due to them either in this World or in Purgatory Now how reconcilable these two are to forgive and to punish let all mankind judge I believe very few men think they are forgiven when they are punished for that which all men desire should be forgiven them is the punishment they have deserv'd What is it men are afraid of when they have sinned is it not that they shall be punished for it What is it men desire when they desire Pardon is it not that they may not be punished And is it any comfort to a Malefactor to be pardoned and to be hanged Does any man boast of his love and kindness or take any comfort in it who freely forgives him but exacts the payment of the Debt or the punishment of his fault And if this be so contrary to the very notion of goodness and forgiveness among men how comes it to be the notion of goodness and forgiveness in God How comes that to be love and goodness which the Sinner receives no benefit by for love and goodness I think signifies
this Case to Pardon the Sentence of Death would deliver such a man from all other Punishments too which by the Law are due only to that man who is under the Sentence of Death and in such a Constitution for any man to say that the Prince's Pardon extends only to Life but does not excuse from Whipping and Pilloring and perpetual Imprisonment would be to make the Pardon void since no man by the Law can suffer those other Punishments but he who is Condemned to Die and therefore he who is pardoned the Sentence of Death in consequence of that is pardoned all other Punishments too Thus it is here the original Curse against sin was in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die which by the Gospel of Christ is expounded of Eternal Death and there is no other threatning in all the Gospel against sin but Eternal Death and therefore all other Punishments are inflicted by Vertue of this Law and consequently he who is delivered from this Curse of the Law from Eternal Punishments is delivered from the whole Punishment due to sin unless they can find some other Law in the Gospel besides that which threatens Eternal Death which obliges a Sinner to Punishment Again since they acknowledge that Christ by his Death has delivered us from Eternal Punishments I do not think it worth the while to Dispute with them whether those Sufferings and Calamities which good men are exposed to in this World may properly be called Punishments or only Correction and Discipline but I desire to know Why they call Purgatory which is a place of Punishment in the other World a Temporal Punishment for this is an abuse of the Language of Scripture which makes this World Temporal and the next World Eternal as St. Paul expresly tells us the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4. 18. And therefore Temporal Punishments signifie the Punishments in this World but the unseen Punishments as well as the unseen Rewards of the next World are Eternal which is a demonstration that there is no Purgatory unless it be Eternal and then it is but another Name for Hell and therefore the State of the next World is called either Life or Death eternal life or eternal death those who believe in Christ shall never die 11 John 25 26. Now I desire to know the difference between Living and Dying and Perishing in the next World for bad men do not cease to be nor loose all sence in the next World no more than good men and therefore Life can only signifie a state of Happiness and Death a state of Misery which is much worse than not being now if good men must not perish must not die but live in the next World they must not go to Purgatory which as much perishing as much dying as Hell though not so long but if they must never die never perish they must never suffer the pains of Purgatory which is a dying and perishing that is a state of Torment and Misery while they continue there Let us then see how a Papist who believes a Purgatory-fire in the next World wherein he shall be tormented God knows how long for his Sins can prove that a penitent Sinner shall not be eternally damned Oh! says he Christ has died for our Sins and made attonement for them and we are pardoned and justified through Faith in his Bloud and what then may we not still be punished for our Sins If not what becomes of Purgatory If we may prove that we shall not be eternally damned for Sin which is the proper punishment of it For if to be pardoned and justified signifie to be delivered from punishment it signifies our deliverance from the whole punishment of Sin since the Scripture does not limit it if they do not signifie our deliverance from punishment then we may be eternally punished for Sin though we are pardoned and justified But we are redeemed from the curse of the Law and saved from wrath But if such a man may go to Purgatory why not to Hell Or if the Curse of the Law and the Wrath of God be in Hell but not in Purgatory though the torments are equally great why may not he lie for ever in Purgatory as well as a thousand Years with this comfort that though he be infinitely tormented yet it is not the curse of the Law nor the wrath of God. Well but Christ has promised That those who believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life And that proves that the pains of Purgatory cannot be for ever for then Christ could not make good his promise of bestowing everlasting Life on them so I confess one would think and so I should have thought also that when Christ promised that such Believers should not perish and should never die that he meant such men should not go to Purgatory in the next World but if falling into Purgatory be not perishing and not dying it may be everlasting life too for ought I know and then the pains of Purgatory may be eternal Whoever would not forfeit all the assurance the Gospel has given us of our Redemption from Hell and a glorious Immortality must reject the Popish Doctrine of Purgatory as a flat contradiction to all the gracious Promises of the Gospel for Hell or an eternal Purgatory is as reconcileable with the Promises of Forgiveness and immortal Life as the Popish Purgatory is 2. This Doctrine of Purgatory destroys our hope and confidence in the Mediation and Intercession of Christ and that for these two plain reasons 1. As it represents him less merciful and compassionate And 2. less powerful than the wants and necessities of Sinners require him to be For I. After all that is said in Scripture of his being so merciful and compassionate an High-Priest a Sinner who hears what is told him of Purgatory could wish him a great deal more compassionate than he is for it is no great sign of tenderness and compassion to leave his Members in Purgatory-fire which burns as hot as Hell. Could I believe this of our Saviour I should have very mean thoughts of his kindness and not much rely on him for any thing We should think him far enough from being a merciful and compassionate Prince who can be contented to torture his Subjects for a year together and it is a wonderful thing to me that when a merciful man cannot see a Beast in torment without relieving it it should be thought consistent with the mercy and compassion of our Saviour to see us burn in Purgatory for Years and Ages To be sure this destroys all our hope in him in this World for why should we think he will be concerned what we suffer here who can contentedly let us lie in Purgatory to which all the calamities and sufferings of this life are meer trifles O Blessed and Merciful JESU pardon such Blasphemies as these For II. If he be
for sin that he is a propitiation through faith in his blood that he has redeemed us from the curse of the lawâ— being made a curse for us that remission and forgiveness of sins is preached in his name that by him we are justified from all those things from which we could not be justified by the Law of Moses that being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ that we are reconciled unto God and saved from wrath by him Now I desire to know Whether all these expressions signifie that for Christ's sake and through the atonement and expiation of his Blood a penitent Sinner shall be delivered from the punishment due to his sins If they do not signifie this how is a Sinner secured that though his sins are pardoned and he is justified and reconciled to God and redeemed from the Curse of the Law and saved from Wrath he shall not after all this be damned for his sins since â—â—â—t is the punishment of sin which it seems is not removed when the sin is pardoned and the Sinner justified and reconciled to God If these expressions do not signifie taking away the punishment of sin I desire one Text of Scripture to prove that a Sinner who is pardoned and justified shall not undergo the Eternal Punishment of his sins If to be pardoned and justified c. does signifie to be delivered from the punishment of sin I desire to know How a sinner who is pardoned and justified can be punished for his sins that is How a sinner who is released from the Punishment of his sins should be bound to suffer the punishment of his sins in Purgatory Our Roman Adversaries do indeed distinguish between the Temporal and Eternal Punishment of Sin the Eternal Punishment of Sin they say Christ has made satisfaction for and that is removed by his Death that no penitent Sinner shall be Eternally damned but a Sinner must make satisfaction for the Temporal punishment of Sin himself either in this World or in Purgatory and consequently that forgiveness of Sins signifies the remission of the Eternal Punishment of sin but not of the Temporal now I shall not put them to prove this distinction from Scripture which is a very unreasonable Task because there is nothing in Scripture about it but yet I would gladly be secured that I shall be saved from Eternal Punishments and therefore I would gladly know how forgiveness of Sins and our Redemption from the Curse of the Law signifies our deliverance from Eternal Punishments if they do not signifie our deliverance from the Punishment of our sins And how they can signifie our deliverance from the punishment of our sins if notwithstanding this we must suffer the punishment of our sins in Purgatory If they signifie that we shall not be punished for our sins then indeed they may signifie that we shall not be Eternally Punished but they cannot signifie that we shall not be Eternally punished unless they signifie that we shall not be punished and therefore not in Purgatory neither if that be the Punishment of sin The truth is this is a very senceless distinction between the Temporal and Eternal Punishment of sin for I desire to know Whether the Temporal Punishment be not the Punishment of sin be not the Curse of the Law if it be then forgiveness of sin if it remits the Punishment remits the Temporal Punishment for that is the Punishment of sin then our Redemption from the Curse of the Law redeems us from Purgatory for that is the Curse of the Law too if you add and from Death for that is the Curse of the Law too and yet those who are redeemed and justified die still which shows the fallacy of this Argument for it seems Redemption from the Curse of the Law does not signifie our Redemption from the whole Curse for then a justified Person must not die since bare dying is part of the Curse I answer this had certainly been true had not the necessity of dying been expresly excepted out of this Redemption for in Adam all die and it is appointed by a Divine Decree for all men once to die and could they show where Purgatory is excepted too then I would grant that those who are redeemed from the Curse of the Law might fall into Purgatory if that be any comfort to them and yet the case is vastly different between Death and Purgatory for though Death be the Curse of the Law yet we may be delivered from Death as a Curse and Punishment without being delivered from the necessity of dying and thus good men are redeemed from Death for their Sins are expiated and pardoned and then the Sting of Death is gone for the sting of death is sin and therefore when our Sins are pardoned Death cannot sting us can do us no hurt because it does not deliver us over to Punishment but transplants us into a more happy State. The fears of Death are conquered by the promises of Immortal Life and Death itself shall at the last day be swallowed up in Victory when our dead Bodies shall be raised immortal and glorious so that tho' good men still die yet they are redeemed from the Curse of the Law from Death itself as a Curse and a Punishment But the Popish Purgatory is a place of Punishment and nothing but Punishment and therefore is not reconcileable with the remission and forgiveness of sin Again I ask Whether there are two kinds of Punishments due to sin Temporal and Eternal of such a distinct nature and consideration that the Promise of forgiveness does not include both Nay that God cannot forgive both that only the Eternal Punishment can be forgiven but the Temporal Punishment must be satisfied for or endured by the Sinner if this were the case indeed then I would grant the Promise of forgiveness could extend only to Eternal Punishments because God can forgive no other and the forgiveness of Eternal Punishment does not include the forgiveness of the Temporal Punishment But if the Curse of the Law be Eternal Death and all other Punishments which can properly be called the punishment of sin for Correction and Discipline is not the Wrath of God and the Curse of the Law are only parts of the Curse and a partial execution of it if the only thing that makes Sinners obnoxious to Temporal Punishments is that they are under the Sentence of Eternal Death which God may execute by what degrees he pleases then to forgive Eternal Punishment must include the forgiveness of Temporal Punishments as parts or branches of it As suppose there were a Law that no man should suffer any Bodily Punishments but such a Malefactor as is condemned to die but when the Sentence of Death is past upon him it should be at the Prince's pleasure to defer the Execution of this Sentence as long as he pleased and in the mean time to inflict all other Punishments on him whatever he pleased in
must neither believe their Senses nor trust their Reason nor read the Scripture it is easie to guess what knowing and understanding Christians they must needs be But it may be said that notwithstanding this the Church of Rome does Instruct her Children in the true Catholick Faith though she will not venture them to judge for themselves nor to read the Scriptures which is the effect of her great care of them to keep them Orthodox for when men trust to their own fallible Reasons and private Interpretations of Scripture it is a great hazard that they do not fall into one Heresie or other but when men are taught the pure Catholick Faith without any danger of Error and Heresie is not this much better then to suffer them to reason and judge for themselves when it is great odds but they will judge wrong Now this would be something indeed did the Church of Rome take care to Instruct them in all necessary Doctrines and to teach nothing but what is true and could such men who thus tamely receive the dictates of the Church be said to know and to understand their Religion How far the Church of Rome is from doing the first all Christians in the world are sensible but themselves but that is not our present dispute for though the Church of Rome did instruct her people into the true Christian Faith yet such men cannot be said to know and understand their Religion and to secure the Faith by destroying knowledge is a direct contradiction to the design of the Gospel which is to make men wise and understanding Christians For no man understands his Religion who does not in some measure know the reasons of his Faith and judge whether they be sufficient or not who knows not how to distinguish between Truth and Error who has no Rule to go by but must take all upon trust and the credit of his Teachers who believes whatever he is told and learns his Creed as School boys do their Grammar without understanding it This is not an active but a kind of passive knowledge such men receive the impression that is made on them as wax does and understand no more of the matter now will any one call this the knowledge and understanding of a man or the Discipline of a Child But suppose there were some men so dull and stupid that they could never rise higher that they are not capable of inquiring into the reasons of things but must take up their Religion upon trust yet will any man say that this is the utmost perfection of knowledge that any Christian must aim at is this the meaning of the word of God dwelling in us richly in all wisdom is this the way to give an answer to any one who asks a reason of the hope that is in us the perfection of Christian knowledge is a great and glorious attainment to understand the secrets of God's Laws those depths and mysteries of wisdom and goodness in the oeconomy of Mans Salvation to see the Analogy between the Law and the Gospel how the Legal Types and ancient Prophecies received their accomplishment in Christ how far the Gospel has advanced us above the state of Nature and the Law of Moses what an admirable design it was to redeem the world by the Incarnation and death and sufferings and intercession of the Son of God what mysteries of Wisdom and Goodness the Gospel contains the knowledge of which is not only the perfection of our understandings but raises and ennobles our minds and transforms us into the Divine Image These things were revealed that they might be known not that they should be concealed from the world or neglected and despised but this is a knowledge which cannot be attained without diligent and laborious inquiries without using all the reason and understanding we have in searching the Scriptures and all other helps which God has afforded us Now if Christian Knowledge be something more than to be able to repeat our Creed and to believe it upon the authority of our Teachers if the Gospel of our Saviour was intended to advance us to a true manly knowledge Christ and the Church of Rome seem to have two very different designs our Lord in causing the Gospel to be wrote and publisht to the world the other in concealing it as much as she can and suffering no body to read it without her leave as a dangerous Book which is apt to make men Hereticks for it is hard to conceive that the Gospel was written that it might not be read and then one would guess that he by whose authority and inspiration the Gospel was written and those by whose authority it is forbid to be read are not of a mind in this matter 1. This I think in the first place is an evident proof that to forbid Christian people to read and study and mediate on the word of God is no Gospel Doctrine unless not to read the Bible be a better way to improve in all true Christian knowledge and wisdom than to read it for that is the duty of Christians to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ this was one great end of publishing the Gospel to the world to enlighten and improve mens understandings as well as to govern their Lives and though we grant men may be taught the principles of Christian Religion as Children are without reading the Bible yet if they will but grant that studying and meditating on the holy Scriptures is the best and only way to improve in all true Christian knowledge this shows how contrary this prohibition of reading the Scriptures is to the great design of the Gospel to perfect our knowledge in the mysteries of Christ. 2 ly This is a mighty presumption also against Transubstantiation that it is no Gospel Doctrine because it overthrows the very Fundamental Principles of Knowledge which is a direct contradiction to the design of the Gospel to advance Divine Knowledge to the utmost perfection it can attain in this world Whoever has his eyes in his head must confess that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is contrary to Sense for were our senses to be Judges of this matter they would pronounce the Bread and Wine after Consecration to be Bread and Wine still and therefore what ever reason there may be to believe it not to be Bread and Wine but Flesh and Blood yet it must be confessed that our Faith in this matter contradicts our sense for even Roman Catholick Eyes and Noses and Hands can see and feel and smell nothing but Bread and Wine and if to our senses it appears to be nothing but Bread and Wine those who believe it to be the Natural Body and Blood of Christ believe contrary to what they see Thus there is nothing more contrary to the natural notions we have of things than the Doctrine of Transubstantiation for if this Doctrine be true then the same individual body of Christ