beleeue neither heaven nor hell The intent of the Ministers saith he is to deny both Purgatory and Paradice for wee know that at Geneva in the Italian Church after they had argued of the means to root out the beliefe of Purgatory one of their Deacons rising vp said let vs doe that which we had once determined let vs deny the Immortalitie of the soule so shall wee soone see Purgatory laid along The fire of Helie saith it was not a Deacon but a Minister yea he saith moreover that one Perrat a Minister of Geneva in his life coÌ„plained that among vs the beasts are buried with greater honour then men But he speaketh as if a man already deceased so truely hee is informed but the man yet liveth and if the accuser or accusation did deserue it I could easily from himselfe procure the confutation of so cold a slander Herevpon were the Divell our principall enimie a man to be examined I would demand of him whether our fathers that suffered martyrdome for the Gospell who were so lavish of their blood and so sparing of the glory of God did think that there was no heaven or that the soules were mortall But in as much as wee meddle not with coniurings or making the spirits to appeare as our adversaries doe let the Frier take his place and be our Iudge therein Dare hee say that these persons did not aspire to eternall life The two Decij Curtius or Empedocles who with their deathes did purchase fame voluntary lost their liues to purchase commendatioÌ„s after death might haue done it without hope of immortalitie But where the death is accompanied with infamy the ashes overlaid with reproach what man will without hope of immortalitie seeke an inglorious death and voluntarily lose both his life and his honor Moreover who be our slanderers Even the props and pillers of the Roman sea a sea that hath beene blemished with Popes that haue made profession to teach that there is no Paradise and that the soules of men doe die together with their bodies as doe the soules of beastes Let these writers of fires furnaces torrents acknowledge whether these bee not the very words of the Councell of Constance Sess 11. Iohn the 23. Often and very often in the presence of sundry prelats and other good and honest men hath said supported taught and obstinately at the instigation of the divell maintained that there is no eternall life neither any other life after this yea he hath said and obstinately beleeued that the soule of man dieth with his body and is extinct as those of brute beasts He hath also said that man once dead shall neuer rise againe at the last day c. And afterward it is said that all this is publikely and well knowne O how the pulpets should haue rung of it if any one of vs had spoken but the huÌ„dreth part hereof 12 There resteth yet one place taken out of S. Paule 1. Cor. 15.29 What shal they doe that are baptised for dead The Frier in liew of these wordes for dead hath set downe for the dead The fire of Helie committeth a notable falsehood and disguiseth the passage thus Pag. 46. Falshoods What shall they doe that baptise themselues for the dead And then expoundeth that which he hath corrupted in this maner To baptise ones selfe signifieth to doe laborious and satisfactory workes for the dead and withall wee must vnderstand that it is to fetch them out of Purgatory Good God what a troublesome thing lying is This interpretation is taken from Bellarmine who according to his manner hauing alleaged the explication of a number of the fathers as Tertullian Ambrose Sedulius Theodoret Chrysostome Oecumenius Theophilact c washeth al their heads and for the establishment of his owne exposition confuteth all their explications And this doth the Frier confirme with the autoritie of Turrian the Iesuite who maketh vse of this passage An excelent testimonie and of great antiquity But the sense of these wordes must be taken of the Apostles intent This is bee seene in Mat. 5 16â— Marc. 1.10 his intent was to proue the resurrectioÌ„ here to hee imployeth baptisme which in those daies was celebrated by plonging the whole body in water in token that we are in death the comming forth of the water representeth the resurrection S. Paules meaning is that this signe were in vaine if there were no resurrection and that in vaine we are baptized for dead or as dead and to represent vnto vs that wee are in death if there be no hope of Resurrection The explicatioÌ„ of Theodoret groweâ—h much herevpon which also Caietan doth follow The places of scripture wherevpon these Doctors doe lay the foundations of their Purgatory 1. Cayer pag. 5. proveth the multitude of habitations vnder the earth by the creed where it is saide Descendit ad Inferos in the plurall number but his grammar faileth him for in the Greeke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the singular and Inferi in the plurall importeth no more diversity of chambers or habitations then Superi which signifieth those that liue vpon the earth Virgill Aeneid 6. Apud superos furto laetatus inani 2 Againe vpon the last of the Revelation where it is written Pag. 9. Out of the throne proceeded a river of water cleare as christall He foundeth Purgatory in rivers in bathes in yce vnder the leaues of trees c To the same end he alleageth the 92. Psalme The righteous shall flourish like a Palme tree And this passage doeth hee make to serue for a defence of his flowred medow that lieth at the end of Purgatory Let vs yeeld Peter Victor Palme Cayer this Doctor taketh vp the straw which is not like the palme albeit he assumeth that name but rather like the figge tree which Christ cursed it bare no more fruit 3 Himselfe defendeth the altars wherevpon the saying of a stinted nuÌ„ber of Masses sufficeth to fetch a soule out of Purgatory Pag. 17. because in the lawe there was an altar of propitiation 4 In page 23. he heapeth vp a whole bedroule of passages for Purgatory as if they were paternosters 1. Because there was a flaming sworde before the garden of Eden and the same passage doth the fire of Helie make vse of 2. By the fire of sacrifices after the law of nature for he imagineth that the making of sacrifices by fire is a law of nature thus doth he confesse that he hath lost his humane nature because he doth not sacrifice by fire 3. Because the law was given in fire 4. By the perpetuall fire that was vpon the altar 5. By the iudgement of God that must be in fire 2. Pet. 3. Out of al this he coÌ„cludeth that there is a purgatory How many pens sonnets shall wee pin vpon this doctor in reward of his profound subtlety Some few other passages there bee but they wil be found among those of
These be his words in the 48. chapt of his Apologeticall The soule alone can suffer no thing without some solide matter that is without flesh Hilary vpon the seconde Psalme toward the end saith Hell receaveth vs at the very instant and if we haue lived so wheÌ„ we depart out of this body we perish from the right way Hereof haue wee for witnesse the rich man and the poore in the Gospell of whom the one was by the Angels placed in the seat of the blessed and in Abrahams bosome the other was received into the Region of torments Theodoret in the fifth booke of his history cap. 9. Dominus nostâ—â— humano generi absolutissimam contulit salutem vt hominem totumà toto peccato occupatum à toto peccato liberaret citeth an Epistle of Damasus which saith Christ the son of God our Lord hath by his passion conferred to mankinde a most accomplished salvation to the end to deliver from all sinne man whollie possessed with all sinne But this must bee false if the faithfull shal yet endure torments to satisfie to God for their sins We haue also S. Cyprian a mighty enemie to Purgatory In his works he hath an excellent tract of mortality wherein we are to note that he therewith coÌ„forteth his auditory in a time of Contagion speaketh of the death not of the Martyrs but of such as dyed by sicknesse Lord novv leauest thou thy seruant in peace protesting and prouing that the seruants of God do theÌ„ enter into peace Expuncta hac morte ad immortalitatem venimus yea into a free and quiet rest vvhen being takeÌ„ out of the troubles of this vvorld they arriue in the hauen of Eternal rest and vvheÌ„ from this mortality they enter into immortality And againe God doth promise thee immortality at thy departure out of this vvorld and dost thou doubt of it TheÌ„ dost thou not knovv God Againe wishing the living not to weepe over their dead brethren he saith accersione dominica de saeculo liberatos Non exitus sed transitus temporali itinere de cursu ad aeterna transgressus That God having called them to him they are deliuered from this vvorld Non amitti sed praemitti That they be not lost but sent before That vve should not put on blacke garments vvhen our friends put on vvhite that death is the passage to eternity How cold woulde these comfortes bee to such as shoulde thinke their deceased friends to be tormented in a fire Surely such haue great cause to lament as thinke that their friends are in such horrible flames and of so long continuance Eius est mortem timere qui ad Christum nolitire Eius est ad Christum nolle ire quise non credit cum Christo incipere regnare who caÌ„not be said to put on white but red robes wheÌ„ they shall bee throwne into such scortching flames and scalding heates In the same sermon Hee may feare death that vvill not goe to Christ Iesus It is not for him to be vvilling to go to Iesus Christ who beleeueth not that he doth begin to raigne with Iesus Christ Aevi temporalis fine coÌ„pleto ad aeternae vel mortis vel immortalitatis hospitia dividimur Amplectamur dieÌ„ qui assignat singulos domicilio suo qui nos laqueis secularibus exutos paradiso restituit regno celesti Quando istinc excelsuÌ„ fuerit nullus iam locus poenitentiae est nullus satisfactionis effectus Tusub ipso licet exitu vitae temporalis occasu pro delicto roges Deum venia confitenti dabitur credenti Indulgentia salutaris de divina pietate conceditur ad immortalitatem sub ipsa morte transitur In the same place speaking of death Ad refrigerium iusti vocantur ad supplicium rapiuntur iniusti Datur velocius tutela fidelibus perfidis poena That is the righteous are called to a refreshing the wicked are haled to torments Safety is soone granted to the faithfull and to the transgressors punishmeÌ„t The same in his tract against Demetria This temporall life ended we are seuered into the habitations either of death or of Eternall life hee also speaking of the day of death saith Let vs embrace the day that bringeth every man into his house which hauing dravvne vs out of the snares of this world returneth vs into Paradice and into the kingdome of heauen Also toward the end of the same treatise Being departed hence there is no farther place for penance neither any fruit and effect of satisfactioÌ„ Then he addeth If at Gods hand thou cravest pardon for thy sin were it euen at thy end and departure out of this temporal life yet vpon thy confession it should be graunted thee and through the Divine goodnes salutary forgiuenes is giueÌ„ to all beleeuers and in death it selfe we passe to immortality What could hee haue spoken more expresly against Purgatory Againe in his aforesaid sermon of mortality Qualem te inuenerit Deus cum vocat talem iudicabet such as God shall find then when he calleth such will he iudge thee He there speaketh of the day of iudgement One place of Cyprian doe our adversaries alleadge but they corrupt it as wee will hereafter shew Cyrill of Alexandria in his 12. booke vpon Iohn cap. 36. saith The souls of the Saints departed from their bodies remaine not vpon earth then not in a fire vnder the earth Firmitur credentes in manibus Dei nos post mortem futuros vitamque multo meliorem ac perpetuo cum Christo victuros not in bathes not in rivers crept but are in the handes of God the father And then he addeth For Iesus Christ hath returned his soule in to the hands of his father to the end that the beginning being made by her we may haue a stedfast hope hereof stedfastly beleeving that after death we shall be in the hands of God and shall for ever liue with Christ in a far better life S. Hierome in his Epistle to Marcella concerning the death of Lea Scimus Nepotianum esse cuÌ„ Christo also in his Epitaph of Nepotian and Basill saith that their souls do already enioy the eternall beatitude that they are already entred into the light that they were receiued by a quier of Angels Himselfe vpon the 9. of Amos. When the soule freed from the bonds of this body hath her liberty Quando anima vinculis relaxata corporis volandi quo velit seu quo ire compellitur propter tenuitatem substantiae habis erit libertateÌ„ aut ad inferna ducetur aut certe ad sublimia sublevabitur in regard of the thinnesse or lightnes of her substance to fly where shee list or at the least where she is enforced to go then shall she be led into the hell whereof it is written sinners shall be reduced or cast into hell or els she shall be exalted into the Coelestiall heavens Bellarmin in his first
plain and open tearmes Wee therefore demand what commandement of God he can find throughout the old Testamēt wherein it is commanded to pray for the dead or to offer any sacrifice for them either among them to distribute the superabundant merits and satisfactions of holy men deceased as Abraham or Moses to helpe them out of Purgatory Here our adversaries are at a stand and bite the bit for were there any cōmandement that might bear wreasting to that sence they that can so cunningly rack the Scriptures to their purposes would no doubt haue produced it Here doth our Frier frie in his greace would faine shift it of with blasphemies as they that are beset with fires would gladly leap out at the windows He doth no longer accuse the olde Testament of obscuritie but of omission and impection How many things saith he hath God left vnmentioned in the olde Testament Pag. 16. to the end to take from the people all occasion of Idolatry and yet are necessarie to saluation As invocation of the Trinitie Pag. 18. the immortalitie of the soule c Againe he saith vnder the law prayers for the dead were not so frequēt publike least they should giue the Iewes occasiō with the Gentils to thinke that they ought to sacrifice to the infernall powers Secondly that in regard that before the redemption of man kind the estate of the deceased was not so well knowne as after that our Saviour Iesus Christ descended into hell And thirdly because they had not so good means to relieue the dead as they had after that the merits of the death and passion of our Lord were committed into the hands of the Church to apply them So many wordes so many monsters and blasphemies First in that hee denieth that in the old Testament there is any mention of the Immortality of the soule wee haue before heard the depositions of Daniell Salomon and the Prophet Balaam prophecying Let vs hereto adioine the taking vp of Enoch and Elias into heaven proofes of their immortality The wordes of Iacob on his death bed Lord I haue waited for thy salvation Gen. 49.18 Iob. 18.26 The hope of Iob who assured himselfe that after his skinne should be consumed he should yet see God in his flesh The words of God himselfe who saith I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac Mat. 22.32 and the God of Iacob God is not God of the dead saith Jesus Christ but of the liuing The only name of Religion importeth the Immortality of the soule which being taken away what is Religion but an intollerable yoake a scrupelous feare a superfluous labour If in this life only saith S. Paul we haue hope in Christ wee are of all men the most miserable 1. Cor. 17.19 what was the old Testament but the Religiō of Gods people It doth therefore presuppose and as it were in the forehead beare written this title The Immortality of the soule As for Invocation of the Trinity it is commanded in the old Testament for there we are commaunded to call vpon God and he that calleth vpon God calleth vpon the Trinitie But what shall we say to the discretion of our Moncke who maketh God marveilous provident in that he would not speake of the Immortalitie of the soule so to take from the Jewes all occasion of Idolatry alas poore man God cureth not one evill by an other much lesse a smaller evill by a greater Idolatry by Atheisme or superstition by Irreligion the mother of all excesse As if it should be forbidden to speak of God either good or evill for feare of blaspheming him or as if a man should cut of his head for saving the wearing of a cap. What discretion to loose the principall for saving of the dependant To sell the horse for saving of the hay God provideth not against evils in such manner as the Popes who will saie they prevent heresies by prohibiting the vse of Gods word the diminishing of Ecclesiasticall profits by prohibiting marriage of the Cleargie Dist 18 Can Sirac vxor filii per quos Ecclesiast solet periclitari substantia contrarie to the doctrine of S. Paul 1. Tim. 3.2 howbeit if God followed this precept of discretion in the old Testament why did he alter his mind in the new where with too much simplicity if we beleue this Moncke he doth in every place inculcate Eternall life Are men since the daies of Jesus Christ lesse bent to Idolatry Nay which is more The opinion of the death of the soule Idolatry do for the most part follow each other between them there is a fraternity The heathen that had little or no hope of eternal life were Idolaters did not Pope Iohn 24. celebrating his Masse kneele to the bread yet did he beleeue that the souls of men died as the souls of beasts for which small sin togither with 54. others Consil Const Sess 11. the Councell of Constance in their eleventh session condemned him That which ensueth is ferial smelleth of the friery He yeeldeth an other reason why in the old Testament prayers and sacrifices for the deade were so vnfrequented It was saith he because before the redemption of mankinde ehe estate of the dead was not so well knowne as after that Christ descended into Hell He doth therefore presuppose that Jesus Christ when he came from hell brought assured news as if that Jesus Christ before his death knew not the state of the dead as well as after his resurrection or els that either he would not or could not instruct his disciples of the estate of the dead as wel before his death as after But now I pray you what be the news that Jesus Christ brought vndoubtedly even the same that the golden legend and the booke of the life and death of Jesus Christ do report how he came to hel gates and the good thiefe Dinas carying a Crosse before him how hee made the gates to be opened how hee beat and hampered the Divels how he entertained the fathers whom he foūd in this Limbo with goodly discourses a thousande such Iolly gallant histories after the imitation of the Romanes all which the Evangelists had forgotten for either of these or of any other news that ever Jesus Christ brought out of Limbo out of Purgatory or out of Hell we finde not one sillable in all the newe Testament The souldier raised again of whom S. Gregory Dialogue 4. cap. 36. doth make mention and one Nicholas mentioned in the legend of S. Patricke who by a Caue that he found in Ireland entred into Purgatory at their returne related his things as they had seen below more exactly As that they had seen mē fryed in frying pans others fluttering about the chimnies like small flames a bridge of yce of two fingers broad vnder the which ran a torrent of fire and over this bridge must they passe that were to enter into Paradice Thus grew
vides quotidie Meretricius nitor c intestina insanab est plaga Ecclesiae Hereof read the complaints of Petrarch in his Epistles and sonnets The Epigrams of Zanazarus the complaints of St. Bernard who tearmeth the traine of the Court of Rome the traine of the whore of Babylon and of Antichrist And after all this must these people with a Romish Catholike zeale come and preach to vs the necessitie of good workes and complaine that wee open â—he gate to all vice Faelicia saecula quaevos â—oribus opponunt habeas iam Roma puâ—orem But what if we shall proue that the â—octrine of the Church of Rome is a â—octrine of Licentiousnesse and openâ—th vnto men a large gate to escape at â—ow much people feeling the approch â—f the Iubile do emboldeÌ„ theÌ„selues vnâ—er the assurance of plenary pardon â—hat a gate of liceÌ„tiousnes do they opeÌ„â—o the rich who assure theÌ„selus that by â—iving to the Church after their deaths â—hey may haue masses enough song for â—hem and so abridge the paines of Purâ—atory And doth not the custome of â—uying other mens praiers make a man â—egligent in praying for himselfe Yea â—nd which is more by enioining the sin â—er for his penance to fast and pray do â—hey not make that a punishmeÌ„t which â—ught to be a consolation Also when â—hey make but seaven mortal sinnes calâ—ing the rest venial and easie sins such as may be blotted out with an Aue oâ— a little holy water do they not entertaine the sinner in wickednes and sow cushions vnder his elbowes to lul him the faster a sleepe in his vice Or terrifying the consciences with the feare oâ— Purgatory do they not therby corrupt piety vnder the colour of establishing it Making it not a filiall and voluntary obedience but a servile feare Led oâ— not for the loue of God but for fear oâ— punishment not for hate to the sin buâ— for terror of the torment Rom. 12. The Apostlâ— exhorteth vs by the mercies of God to consecrate and offer our selues to God yet not for fear of his iustice PropouÌ„â— to the sinner the loue and excellenciâ— of the son of God shewing him that iâ— was our sin that crucified him that oâ—â— offences are the very nailes that pieâ—ced him what is there of greater forâ—â— to plant in his hart both a loue of Iesuâ— Christ and a hatred of sin which waâ— the cause of the torments of the son oâ— God Especially when he shal consideâ— that by this death himselfe shal obtaine â—ife that from a bondman of Satan he is bought to bee the sonne of God also that in beleeving in him he shal not perish but haue life everlasting Shal hee not feele himselfe moved to loue God and in acknowledgement of so great a grace to consecrate himselfe to God and after the rule of his worde to â—spire to the reward that God hath pitched him at the end of his course these men therefore by their traficke doe but subvert religion and in the fire of Purgatory in liew of true piety forge an â—dea and fantastical forme of the feare of God 15 The same fire blasteth and abaâ—eth the mercy of God as not pardoâ—ing vs at the full sith our selues must â—n a fire beare part of the punishment Wherefore shall we limit the mercies of God in matters wherein hee will bee pleased and glorified by doing vs good 16 The iustice of God is likewise â—iolated therein in that they make it to exact two payments for one debt The first which it receaved of Iesus Christ and was sufficient for all the punishments due to our sinnes what interest therefore haue these people that they are so willing to enter into this fire aâ—â— the charge of the glory of God whoâ— could be content freely to pardon thâ—â— through Iesus Christ 17 Againe every payment and satisfaction that is acceptable to Goâ— must be voluntary and not forced otherwise he accepteth it not But thâ— paine of Purgatory say our people 〈◊〉 vnto those that haue not sufficientâ— satisfied in this life inevitable and whether they will or no they must of necâ—â—sitie passe that way Then is it not a paâ—ment acceptable with God And albeâ—â— these men say that the poore soules dâ— patiently beare those paines yet câ—â— we hardly beleeue but that they had other presently be in Paradice then to â—bide a thousand or two thousand yeaâ—â— broiling in a fire 18 Hereof ariseth another reason namely that those soules do not satisfie God but that God rather satisfieth him selfe in punishing them against their wills 19 By the same doctrine also the consciences are in perpetuall torment through the apprehension of this fire for what would not we giue to avoid a fire of an houre long how much more if it should last a moneth Yet what were this in regard of many hundreds and thousands of yeares and that in a fire as hot as the fire of of hell saith our frier Ioh. 14.27 where is that peace promised by Iesus Christ or how in our death shall we haue these effects of the spirit of God dwelling in the hearts of the faithfull namely ioy and peace as saith Saint Paul Galat. 5.22 My adversaries doe contradict theÌ„selues in their answers which indeed are no answers but recriminations Pag. 106. A slaunder The frier saith that we doe preach liberty of conscience without apprehension of the iudgements of God which is false and slanderous Wee preach neither libertie nor licentiousnesse but peace of conscience to such as repent beleeue in Iesus Christ but to the impenitent we denounce the iudgements of God Thus this frier accuseth vs of flattering and lulling mens consciences asleepe But the fire of Helie contrariwise accuseth vs of holding them in torment because we account all sinnes both mortall and veniall equall Whereto I answer that albeit wee should hold those which they tearme veniall equall with the mortall yet in as much as we teach that both mortall and veniall are forgiven by Iesus Christ A slaunder wee doe no whit astonish the consciences But in truth it is a slander of our adversaries Wee acknowledge the inequalitie of sinnes In some God is more offended grieved then in other some yea even amoÌ„g the sinnes that they call mortall some are more hainous then other some To overskip a leafe or two at mattins or vnder color of shrift to talke of loue are smaller sins theÌ„ to slay his own king Sacrilege is more hainous then simple theft Incest then whoredome only we smile at their folly in distinguishing sins into veniall and mortall because this word veniall signifieth pardonable And we knowe that the sinnes which they cal mortall as murder and whoredome doe growe pardonable in such as doe convert and truly repent as in David who was defiled in both these sinnes But in the impenitent these sinnes are indeed mortall and punished with eternall death And so through ImpeniteÌ„cy that sinne which is
from eternall life To the ende also that our adversaries should not make cursing a mortall sinne by their glosses and consequences their owne decree distinct 25. maketh a long list of veniall sinnes among which cursing hath his place saying Si cum omni facilitate vel temeritate maledicimus quoniam scriptū est nec Maledici possidebunt regnum Dei By the iudgement therefore of their own Canōs cursing is of two natures The one that it is veniall the other that it is excluded out of the kingdome of heauen and consequently deserveth eternall death Whereas our frier doth coniecture granteth that the calling of a mans brother foole draweth with it the sinne of wrath consummate hee shall hold vs excused although we admit not his coniectures for rules besids I will returne him to Cayer Caier p. 20 who will haue Gehenna here to signifie Purgatory not hel as the Frier would haue it Ioh. 8.11 6 Our Saviour Christ said to the woman taken in adultery Goe and sinne no more Dismissing her hee did not impose vpon her any satisfactory paines no more then S. Paul when hee pardoned the incestuous man That which particularly maketh against Purgatory is this That if neither Iesus Christ not S. Paul imposed any satisfactory paines vpon the sinners even when in apparance they might haue beene profitable for amendment howe much lesse will God impose satisfactory paines vp on his children in a burning fire when there is no farther place for amēdmēt Here doth our Monk come forth with such an answer as hitteth himselfe and his fellowes on the knuckles saying The griefe may ly so heauie on the sinner that it may satisfie for the whole obligation of the paine For besides that hee doth thus coniecture of the womās cogitation he also evidētly accuseth the Popes and Priests of manifest iniustice rashnesse in that they impose satisfactory paines vpon the sinner that protesteth sorrow and repentance For what know they whether the sinner bee so oppressed with sorrow as that heauinesse may serue for satisfaction Or what knowe they whether she hath sufficiently satisfied sith they wot not how grievous her sorrow was 7 Againe who hath givē the Pope or his Priests auctority to impose corporal or pecuniary punishments vpon sinners Let them shew vs any cōmandemēt from God or his Apostles The Primitiue Church indeed reproved sin by excluding men for a time from the communion of the faithful and that after the example of S. Paule who for a time cut of the incestuous person from the Church of Corinth but after absolution to impose Corporal or pecuniary punishment or to enioine men to pilgrimages or scourgings we find no example The old Testament doth indeed furnish vs of some examples of such as haue fasted and wept for their sins because weeping proceedeth from sorrow and fasting is a helpe to devotion and freedome of minde but as I said after forgiuenes to impose punishments vpon the sinner whereby to redeeme the paines of Purgatory and so to satisfie the Iustice of God I finde no example 8 And it seemeth that these our masters haue compounded with God that they are assured that God wil be content with any summe of mony or any pilgrimage and so wil bee appeased toward the sinner But if this seem hard to be beleeved how can mens consciences be at quiet How shal they be assured that God wil be cōtent with such satisfactions imposed by the Priest Whosoever vndertaketh to pay his debts must first inquire what he oweth as also consider of the valew of coines that he giveth to his creditor but the sinner knoweth not howe much temporal paine he oweth to God neither the value of every of his satisfactions How shal he then know when he hath sufficiently satisfied What knoweth he how neere every fast bringeth him to Paradice every pilgrimage every scourging and indeed we see how these consciences whom they haue captivated are in perpetual disquiet and so haue recourse to the satisfactions of others to buy Masses for after their decease to depart hence in marveilous feare anguish A iust punishment for choosing for the foundation of their hope other props and stayes then the only satisfaction of Iesus Christ 9 Againe in as much as some condemned to corporal pennances can exchange them into pecuniary how shall we be assured that God in liew of corporal punishments will be cōtent with money Penitent Ro. Tit. 9. c. 29. The Romane penitentiall telleth vs that A rich man may redeeme one fasting day for two shillings but an extreame poore mā must giue at the lest foure pence Thus may the poore man when he hath paid his money fast for more 10 If in absolution they pretende to loosen the sinner how doe they in loosing his bonds entangle him farther and by pardoning him condemne him to greater paines 11 I would farther demand whether the satisfactions that they impose be good works or no. If they bee not good why do they enioine thē If they bee good why doeth the Pope release them and by his Indulgences dispense with them Can we without horrour read that which Bellarmine hath writtē in his booke De poenitentia Bellar. de Penit l. 4. c. 13. Indulg faciunt vt pro iis poenis quae nobis per Indul condonantur non teneamur praecepto illo de faci endis dignis paenitentiae fructibus Bellar. de paenit l. 1. c. 4. That Indulgences do dispense with obedience to this cōmandement in the third of Matthew Bring forth fruits worthy repentāce for sith they will needes haue it so that this saying Bring forth fruits worthy repentance to signifie to chastise a mans owne selfe and the Pope doth dispense with this chastisement it plainly appeareth that the Pope dispenseth with Gods Commandements 12 And here I beseech you consideratly to way howe farre superstition hath encroached vpon the auctority of the Gospel Our enemies do make a ceremony and a sacrament of Penance which indeed is of it selfe a vertue Being demaunded whether Penance were a sacrament before the comming of Christ they say no Cons Trid. Sess 4. c. 1. Even the prelates assembled in the Councell of Trent doe acknowledge that the pennāce which Iesus Christ before his passion and resurrection and Iohn the Baptist preached was no sacramēt for they wil haue it to be made a sacramēt since the resolution of Jesus Christ and that without any other proofe then their owne authority for they wil be beleeved vpon their owne words But wee haue one passage in the Revelation written since the ascention of Jesus Christ that expoūdeth vnto vs the signification of Agere poenitentiam to doe penance or to repent In the second of the Revelation God complaining of the Ephesians who were fallen from their first loue commandeth them to Repent and to do their first works therby shewing that Repentance consisteth in amendment of life At the least thus much we
deceaue himselfe for there are but two places and no third He that hath not deserued to raign with Christ shall no doubt perish with the divell In his booke of the deserts of sinne and of the forgiuenesse of the same cap. 28. There is no middle place and therefore hee that dwelleth not with Iesus Christ cannot abide any where but with the divell Our adversaries say that S. Augustine speaketh of eternall places and acknowledgeth but two wherin they doe diversly deceaue vs. 1. Read the passages and you shall see that hee speaketh in generall of all the places whatsoever 2. Had he known of any place of temporall punishment when hee so often said that there were but two and no third at all hee would surely haue added some restriction as that he meant not to exclude Purgatory and the places of temporall torment but spake this only of the eternall places 3. Which is more wee see by these passages that he excludeth the childrēs Limbo which cannot bee eternall for the Church of Rome placeth it vnder the earth which also cannot be eternal but according to the Scriptures must perish 4. But what an absurditie is it to say that he speaketh but of the eternall places For that is it that we maintaine neither could he speak but of these two eternall habitations Heaven and Hell because there is no other 5. Finally wee haue alleaged such passages as can in no sort admit this distinction as where he saith that instantly after death they are carried either into Paradice or into Hell But let vs againe heare the same Father In quo quecunque inuenerit suus novissimus dies in hoc cum comprehendet mundi novissimus dies quia qualis in die isto quisque moritur talis iudicatur In his 80. Epistle which is to Hesichius In like estate as the last day of mans life shall find him in like estate also shall the last day of the world take hold of him for such as a man shall die in that day such shall he bee iudged in the last day Cōferre this with that which our adversaries doe say and represent to your selues a man that dieth loaden with many sins for the which hee must be a long time tormented and purged in Purgatory at the end of which Purgation he shall come forth purged and cleansed Surely I say that the soule of such a one cannot in the day of iudgement appeare such as shee came forth of his body for say our men she came forth vncleane and in need of purging but now she is represented cleane and purged in the day of iudgement so this saying must be false Qualis moritur talis in die illo iudicatur Such as hee dieth such shall he be iudged in the day of iudgement Himselfe in the 9. booke of his confessions cap. 3. saith that his friend Nebrides deceased liveth in Abrahams bosome sine fine foelix for ever happy Againe in the fifth of his 50. homilies Let vs be at one with the word of God while we are in this life Posteaquam de hoc saeculo transierimus nulla cōpunctio vel satisfactio remanebit Index restat minister carcer for when wee are gon out of this world there shall bee no more compunction or satisfaction there remaineth no more but the Iudge the serieant and the prison But Purgatory is the principall and grievous satisfaction of the church of Rome After this life there is no satisfaction saith S. Augustine then no Purgatory This is also to be noted that this good Doctor saith this in his exposition vpon that passage of Matthewe which our adversaries doe make most vse of for their Purgatory Agree with thy adversary quickly whiles thou art in the way with him least thy adversary deliver thee to the Iudge c. It is much to be marvailed that throughout all this homely he speaketh not of Purgatory but how much more is it that evē there he overthroweth it Himselfe in his 37. sermon vpon the wordes of the Lord wresteth frō our adversaries their chiefest principle which is the sole foundation of Purgatory That Iesus Christ hath indeed discharged acquitted vs frō the fault but not from the punishment But he saith Suscipiendo paenam nō suscipiendo culpam culpam delevit poenā Iesus Christ taking vpō him the punishmēt but not the fault hath there by blotted out both the faulte and the punishment And this after Tertullian in the fourth Chapter of his book of baptisme Exempto reatu eximitur poena Now all these sentences of the doctor should be taken for so many resolutiōs vpon a doubt that somtimes had troubled him Whether after this life there were any temporall torment and a purging fire In his manual to Laurentius cap. 68. he saith that this fire which tryeth everie mans worke and is spoken of by S. Paule 1. Cor. 3. is the triall of affliction he saith it is in this life In the next chapter following Tale aliquid post hanc vitā fieri incredibile non est vtrum sit queri potest c. continuing the same argument he saith It is not altogither incredible but that some such matter may happē after this life and a man may doubt or enquire whether it be so whether it may be found or whether it bee a matter hidden that some faithfull haue beene saved by some purging fire either sooner or later according as they haue more or lesse loved the transitorie goods Againe in his first question of his booke of Dulitius 8. questions Be it that men do suffer such afflictiōs only in this life Sive etiam post hanc vitā talia quaedam iudicia subsequūtur non abborret quantum arbitror à ratione veritatis or that some such punishments may follow after this life it is not a matter as I thinke altogither estranged frō apparance of truth thus to vnderstand this sentence In this 26. Chapt. of his 21. book of the citty of God hee is yet in greater doubt having doubted whether mē are to suffer a fire of transitory tribulations whether there only that is to say after this life or both here and there or here to the end not there he lastly concludeth without conclusion I do not reproue it for peradventure it may be true As for some other passages wherein hee seemeth to speake for Purgatory wee will come to them hereafter Tertullian is so farre from beleeving that the souls after their departure out of their bodies are sent into any temporall fire that hee doth even thinke that the soule cannot suffer any torment so long as it is separate frō the body Neque pati quicquam potest anima sola sine stabili materia id est carne Testes nobis sunt Evangelii dives pouper quorum vnum angeli in sedibus beatarum in Abrahae sinu locaverunt alium statim poenae regio suscepit
the fire of Helie p. 44. The lowest place is hell the habitation of the damned and the same is divided if wee beleeue our adversaries into two parts The one where the soules are tormented in fire the other where they are tormented in snowe Throughout alâ— the word of God can we not find that that ever any came out of this place Yet Pope Gregory the first in the first Booke of his Dialogues cap. 12. reporteth that S. Severus raised a dead bodie whome the Divels had carried away Also Damascen In 4 Dist 45 quest 2. and after him Thomas Durand and Richard doe tell vs that by the prayers of S. Gregory Traian an heathen Emperour was fetched out of hell Gabriel Biel in his 56. Lesson vpon the Cannon of the Masse holdeth the same opinion And Ciacconus hath written an Apologie expresly for this history Cayer and the Doctors that subscribed to his book do approue this historie The secoÌ„d place but his coÌ„panions do reiect it The second place is the Purgatory that serveth for such as are indeed righteous and do not sinne but in their life time haue committed some trespasses for which they haue not satisfied The same â—ope Gregory teacheth that so soone as â— man is deceased his soule is presented before the Iudge Lib. 4. c. 36. also that soÌ„time there happeneth abuse they bring before God one that was not called As saith he it chanced to one named Stephen who being deceased and his soule presented before God immediatly as God saw him hee said that was not the man that hee had called for but that it was â—n other Stephen a beater of Iron who therevpon died incontinentlie and the former Stephen revived againe and was sent backe because hee dyed before he was called These soules thus presented before the Iudge if they need any purging are instantly sent to this second place which they tearme Purgatory And this doctrine is grounded vpon this principle which is a third article of their faith and taken out of the vnwritten word Read the catechisme of the couÌ„cel of Trens in the châ—â— of pennaÌ„ce namely that Jesus Christ by his death and passion hath indeede dischardged vs from the fault and from the paines due to sinnes committed before baptisme but from the paine duâ—â— to sinnes committed after baptisme he hath not discharged vs. Therefore that such as haue not made full satisfaction in this life by fastings scourgings gifts to the Church c shal be sent to Purgatory there to finish their satisfaction and to pay as they say even to the last penny Herehence grewe that pennance which the Priest imposeth vpon the sinner which do farre differ from the pennance vsed in the primitiue Church which was publicke of long continuance and rigorous thereby to humble the sinner and to repaire the scandall to the Congregation but at this day in the Church of Rome they impose for the most part privat pennances and the same either very easie or ridiculous these doe they make vse of to prevent Purgatory and yet to pay and satisfy Gods iustice The formes of these pennances are to say a set number of Anees intermixed with Paters vpon a paire of beads to scourge their bodies or vpon tâ—e bare flesh to gird themselues with aâ—cord or to goe in pilgrimage to Saint â—â—mes in Galicia N. Giles an 768. c. Our Annals do informe vs of a pennance imposed by a â—ope vpon one Robert the Norman surnamed the Divell vpon sundry his â—ots committed that is that for the space of seven yeares hee should not â—â—eake and that he should all that time 〈◊〉 at a staier foote and take no other food but the relicks of such bones as a Grayhound should haue gnawn Was iâ— meet to abridge the benefit of Iesus Christ and to supply the places with such frivolous devises and in such couÌ„terfeit quoine to satisfie the iustice of God which Iesus Christ had before satisfied to the full The Frier pag 75. As concerning the torments that the soules doe there endure these our masters doe tell vs that all the fires and torments in this life are â—ut easie in regard of the heate of the â—te of Purgatorie and that the tormeÌ„t â—hereof equalleth that of the damned This doctrine was not yet receaued in the Church of Rome when to the CaÌ„noÌ„ of the Masse they added these words ensuing which the Priest must daily say for the soules in Purgatory Memento Domine Remember Lord thy servants whose soules doe rest in the sleepe of peace Hereby it appeareth that they then beleeved that the paine was easie or rather none at all and that the soules for whom they prayed did rest in peace as in a sleepe Hereto accordeth the saying of the aforenamed Gregory who advoweth that the soules of S. Severus S. Pascasius wrought miracles in the Bathes where they lay in Purgatory Lib. 7. Epist 61. For it is hard to worke any great miracles in such cruell torments This is the same Pope Gregory who doth in earnest confesse that the Apostles celebrating the Lords supper added vnto the consecration nothing but the Lords prayer and so consequently prayed not for any soules in Purgatory Againe the Church of Rome holdeth this torment to be of long continuance for every sinne they must abide there seaven years besides also that we pray for some that died many hundred yeares since And in this regard doth the Pope grant pardons some for fifty some for an hundred thousand yeares and the Frier may verie well remember that when I shewed him in the Masse booke a praier that contained foure fiftie thousand yeares of pardon thereto adioined he did not onlie advow it but tooke vpon him to defend these so â—iberal indulgences In the Church of S. Bibian at Rome vpon the day of all Saintes they haue sixe hundred thousand yeares of verie pardon for the space of one whole day In the booke of Romane Indulgences these sixe hundred thousand years are writteÌ„ at large The Pope that granted that pardon preâ—upposing that a soule may haue committed so many sinnes besids those for which the paines of Jesus Christ haue â—atisfied that hee must haue so manie â—eares of torment to purge all his sins â—nlesse the Masses and suffrages of the â—ving togither with the Popes indulgences doe procure him ease and abbreviation of his paines At Paris in the entering into a chappel of the friers Fevillans in the suburbs of S. Honorat hangeth to be seene a long bedrole of pardons wherein among other is contained that vpon everie daie of lent there are to bee purchased three thousande eight hundred sixtie seaven yeares and two hundred and seaven Quarentines of daies of verie pardon In the church of S. Eusebius at Rome they haue seaven thousand foure hundred fifty and foure Quarenteins of daies of verie pardon for such as shall bring thither any honest offering and as
the words of the Bul do run Manus porrigentibus adiutrices for such as shall put to their helping hands In the Church of S. Mary deliver vs from the paines of hell for that is the Churches name there are dailie granted eleven thousand yeares of IndulgeÌ„ce to such as shal bring an honest offering that is to say that shal giue not to the poore indeed but to the rich Moncks not to those that weep but to those that sing for now almes with the true vse thereof hath also altred the signification of the word In the church of S. Praxede you haue dailie twelue thousand yeares of verie pardon and as manie Quarentines of daies with the remission of the third part of your sins in such maÌ„ner that visiting this church three daies on a row you shal purchase plenarie pardon of all your sins and six and thirtie thousand years by provision besides the Quarentines which the Popes haue since encreased to sixscore thousand years for everie daie witnes the book of Indulgences printed at Rome in the house of Iulius Accolto an 1570. see also the book of Romaine Indulgences sundrie times printed at Rome namely in the yeare 1519 the second of Februarie by Marcell Franck. Yet are all these pardons but few in regard of those that belong to the Church of S. Iohn of Lateran Gab. Biel in his 17. lesson vpoÌ„ the CannoÌ„ of the Masse the somme whereof yee shal find either hanging vpon tables or graven in the wals of divers churches of Rome All this do we set downe to shew that as the plaister ought to be fitted to the largenes of the wound so the Popes haue thought it meet to perswade men to beleeue that the paines of Purgatorie are of long continuance sith they require so long a time to purchase release from the paines thereof withal presupposing that in that so fiery and scortching a countrey where the sun hath no being they reckon all by daies and by yeares This long continuance is also to bee gathered out of the Revelation of Venerable Bede in the fifth booke of his historie cap. 13. That is to say about some nine hundred years since where he saith that the souls which in his time were in Purgatorie should be delivered in the daie of Iudgement except some few that shoulde bee redeemed from thence by the praiers of the living Moreover besides all this the selfe doctors of the Romish Church doe agree that even during these so violent torments the soules neverthelesse are assured of their salvation out of the danger of hell neither do I know since when this opinioÌ„ crept into the church of Rome for in the Masse for the dead we finde a clause after the Gospell that contrarywise doth testifie that still they are in danger These be the words Libera Domine animas omniuÌ„ fidelium defunctorum de poenis Infernis de profundo lacu libera eos de ore Leonis ne absorbeat eos Tartarus O Lord deliver the soules of all the faithfull departed from the infernall paines from the deepe lake deliver them from the throat of the lyoÌ„ least the gulph of hell should swallow theÌ„ vp so they fall into vtter darknes Tearms over bitter to signifie Purgatory and such as may in no case stand with people assured of their salvation We haue also the ordinary prayers said â—t burials yea and vsed at the funerall of 〈◊〉 Pope wherein we find no mention of Purgatory Indeed this soule is brought â—n as praying to be delivered from hel and from eternall iudgement in these words Saue me o Lord from eternall death â—n the terrible day when the heauens and â—he earth shall bee moved Sacrar Cerem lib. 1. Sect 15. and when thou halt come to iudge the world by fire I treÌ„ble and quake and doe feare when the examination shall come and the day of wrath of calamitie and of misery that great and woÌ„derfull better day Speeches which caÌ„not proceed from a soul assured of her salvatioÌ„ Surely wheÌ„ these praiers were first penned these matters were not yet well considered of and this may we easily gather from Pope Gregory the first who in his dialogues placeth the Purgatory of some souls in bathes of some vnder the leaues and of some vnder the Ice and this do these three champions that haue assaulted my treatise both say and defend for nothing to them is to hard or to hot Damian speaketh of a soule that had her Purgatory in a river but whither she swam with the stream or against it he saith not The Rosarie of Bernardine hath of this nature many revelations and the Legend of S. Patricke telleth vs that in Ireland there is a caue that openneth into Purgatory to be briefe albeit many soules are returned from those partes which haue brought news yet did the matter still rest full of doubt vntil the Councell of Florence which among other occasions was assembled to perswade Purgatory to the Greeke Churches who both before and yet do deny it albeit their deputies in the Councell did agree vnto it in hope of succours against the Turk True it is that we find some more ancient Councels which made mention of prayer for the dead but hereafter we shall most evideÌ„tly proue that these prayers make nothing for Purgatory also that such prayers as we find among the ancients doe plainely shewe that they beleeved no Purgatory Even to this day doe the Greek Churches pray for the dead yet doe they deny Purgatorie In the last session therefore of this Councell holden in the yeare 1539. was it defined that wee should beleeue Purgatory In which Counsell as in all others holden within these fiue hundred yeares the Pope sat president and that with such auctority that hee grew to bee adored and intituled The Divine Maiestie the spouse of the Church the Saviour and Lion of Iuda the king Prince of all the world having all power both in heaven and in earth All which titles were attributed to Pope Leo the 10. in the Councell of Lateran Thus in all these Councels nothing passed but by his will Sess 1. 3. 9. 10. in such wise that if any did contradict him hee was soone burned as was Iohn Husse in the Councell of Constance notwithstanding the safe coÌ„duct and faith given by the Emperour and al the Councell But to returne to our Matter The soules thus purged in this fire are brought into Paradice Howbeit because this purgation will growe somewhat long the Popes mercy doth sometimes abridge this punishment For besides that the paines that the living haue vndergon for theÌ„ as fastes almes whippings pilgrimages liberalities to the Church c. also that the Masses fouÌ„ded for the deceased which leaue any rents or annuities to a convent or abbey or other religious house if we may beleeue those that sing theÌ„ are of great vse to mitigate and allay the heat of Purgatory and to
the world very skilfull and a good boy but to the detriment of the purity and simplicity of the Gospell Lastly he saith that Vnder the olde Testament they had no such meanes to releeue the dead as they had after that the merites of Iesus Christ were committed into the handes of the Church to apply them These are three principles forged in the Vatican to vnderprop the Popes greatnes to bring in the traffique for soules first that the dead could not bee so well relieved before the cōming of Jesus Christ as now they are Secondly that the merits of Jesus Christ are nowe in the Churches hands to apply thē Thirdly that these merits of the death and passion of Iesus Christ were never passed over to the Church vntill since the comming of Iesus Christ since which time the dead haue beene the better relieved And this is to bee noted that by the Church we are to vnderstand the Pope who taketh vpon him to be the Guardian and treasury of this treasure of the Church where he shutteth vp the merits and supererogatorie satisfactions both of Iesus Christ and of the Saints Monks And this we cannot finde very strange Dist 95. causa satis and in the last councel of Lateran sess 9. Extrav De facund Eccl. Can. quoniā for having assumed to himselfe the name of God of the divine Maiesty and the name of Jesus Christ and tearming himself the Spouse of the church it is no great matter for him to take the name of the Spouse of Jesus also Let vs now therfore proceed to the examination of these three principles For the first That the dead could not bee so well relieved before the comming of Iesus Christ as since I demande whether he speaketh of the reliefe of man or of the reliefe of God To say that God hath now better meanes to relieue the dead then he had before is Blasphemy His power and goodnesse are ever infinite and without encrease and craue no helpe of any new means but if he speak of the reliefe of man I aske him who imparted to them now those meanes that their forefathers had not The Monke no doubt wil say that God gaue them to them thē belike God had thē If he had then I suppose he would then haue bestowed them as wel as men do in these daies whereof it must follow that the faithfull that liued before Iesus Christ might by praiers and sacrifices haue entreated God to employ those means which since he hath committed into hands the of men Wherefore did they not Wherefore was there in the law no sacrifice for the dead Nor no publike service instituted by God Thus doth this difficulty still remaine vnresolved The second principle is That the merits of Iesus Christ were cōmitted into the hands of the Church to apply them 1. Tim. 2.6 A doctrine as farre repugnant from the gospell as helping to the Popes commodity For by the scripture it plainely appeareth That Iesus Christ offered himselfe 〈◊〉 ransome to God for vs to whom wee were endebted and enthralled to eternall paine and emprisonment This ransome then did God receiue at his sonnes hands If he receiued it when did he againe dispossesse himselfe of it to passe it over into the Popes hands May it be lawful for vs in a matter of such importance which concerneth the participation in the merites of Jesus Christ to speake without the authority of the worde of God Againe what prodigious dealing is this that a creditor having received of his debtors surety the ransome for many prisoners shoulde deliver the same over into the handes of some one of his prisoners to apply it to the rest It is a matter not only without example but even besides all reason All men do know that in such a case it is enough that the creditor or detainer receiue the ransome and that the debter or prisoner reape and enioy the benefit God hath for me receaved the full ransom by the hands of my surety redeeme◠Iesus Christ God then hath it with himselfe therefore will I go neither to the Pope nor to any other to entreat them to distribute it to me but will rely onlie vpon Iesus Christ and will trust to his death and in acknowledgement of so great a favour will consecrate my life to his service The pastors are set over vs to preach this benefit to the penitent sinner to let him vnderstād that he is reconciled to God also that whosoever beleeveth in Iesus Christ shal through his name obtaine remission of his sinnes Act. 10.43 If our frier shall yet invent any reason to proue it to bee necessarie that the Pope or his Prelates should be the treasurers and dispensers of the merits of Iesus Christ he shal but skirmish with him selfe for he shal find the same necessities before the comming of Iesus Christ considering that both quick and dead in that age stoode in no lesse necessity of Gods graces then they that liue in these daies Againe if the Pope haue in his treasury the merits of Iesus Christ his Saints to distribute them to others how commeth it that he taketh none to himselfe Or why doth he not keepe for himselfe so many as may serue to keepe him out of Purgatorie How is it that after his death they saie so many Masses for his soule Must sillie Priests by their Masses and suffrages apply bestow the merits of Iesus Christ and his Saints vpon him who distributing them to others yea even so farre forth as to graunt to some one an hundred thousand yeare of plenary pardō could not reserue enough for himselfe albeit if we list to beleeue him himself continually carryed the keies of this treasure even to his last gaspe Where note withall that if the distributing and applying of the merits of Iesus Christ to the faithfull be a part of the Pastors charge it followeth that the dead haue no part in this the Popes liberality considering that he is no longer their pastor Now let the reader iudge whether this gay principle be not a butteresse or prop to support tiranny that the people may thinke that they cannot participate in the merits of Iesus Christ but by the hands of the Pope or of such as he doth authorize therevnto The third principle is the worst and as it were vpon the highest step of impietie and therefore it is our dutie to cast it downe headlong The merits of Iesus Christ saith hee were not in the hands of the Church vnder the old Testament as now they are and therefore there were not so good meanes to relieue the dead But here we wil set down another principle gathered out of the word of God That is that the merits of Iesus Christ were of power sufficient to saue the faithfull even from the beginning of the world as saith St. Paule 2. Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ and reconciled the world to himself not imputing their sinnes
sufferingt Thus our Monke by doing of iustice and iudgement which signifieth to deale vprightly and to giue to every man his owne vnderstandeth it to chastise a mans selfe shewing himselfe a Novice in the phrase of the old Testament where this word Iudgement signifieth equitie and vpright dealing As in Deut. 32 4. Daniel 4.37 The Auctor of the fire of Helie answereth otherwise for they seldome concurre in their answers he will haue these words I will no more remember to signifie Pag. 6. I will not punish as an enimie that is to say with eternall punishment By his account the keeping of a man many thousands of yeares in a fire for his sinne signifieth not to remember his sinne How often did David pray to God to remember his sinnes and wickednesse of his enimies yet not so that he desired that God should punish them with eternall punishment After all this the frier maketh a digression wherein hee chargeth vs with sundry slanders but all besides the matter 2 Gods Angell Revelat. 14.13 saith thus Blessed are the dead that hereafter dy in the Lord yea truly the spirit saith that they rest from their labours their works follow them Surely if they rest from their labours they goe not into a burning fire This speech concerneth not the Martyres only as our adversaries doe faine for throughout that whole chapter there is not any word of the Martyres but of all such as keepe the commandements of God faith of Iesus as it is said one line before But if the Martyres only doe die in the Lord in whom doe the rest of the faithfull die Bellarmine saith they die in part in the Lord and in part not in the Lord Bellarm. de Purgat lib. 6. cap. 1. hee was ashamed to say in part in the Lord and in part in the divell 3 Esay cap. 57. v. 1. 2. saith The righteous perisheth and is taken away from the evill then he addeth Hee shall enter in peace or peace shall come they shall rest in their beds every one that hath walked before him Why did he not except those that goe to Purgatory or what peace or rest is there in a burning fire And this is the point wherein the Frier is brought into such a straight that his only recourse is to his ordinary boldnesse Pag. 19. and laboureth to make this passage a meanes to establish his Purgatory Hee affirmeth it to bee a prayer of Esay for the dead and to make it the more probable in liew of these words Peace shall come he saith let peace come also for They doe rest he saith let them rest contrary to the truth of the original Hebrew which hath Iavo that is to say shal come and Ianuchu they shall rest Yet let vs thus farre yeeld all this to his ignorance in the Hebrew tongue but herein doth he shew his bad meaning even in this that hee affirmeth it to bee a prayer of Esay sith by the words ensuing it appeareth that they bee the wordes of God who saith Yee witches children come hither yee seed of the adulterer and of the whore drawe neere Whome haue yee mocked c. and againe Can I be content with all these things and thou hast discovered thy selfe behind mee Throughout all this Chapter God opposeth the blessed estate of the righteous against the curse prepared for the wicked 4 S. Paule to the Corinthians saith 2. Cor. 5.1 If our earthly habitation be destroied we haue an eternall building in heaven But why did he not adde but that shall bee after you are purged with fire 5 The Apostle in the 9. to the Hebrewes saith It is ordained that all men shall once die after that the iudgement He forgat Purgatory that should haue gon betweene For throughout the holy Scripture we find not any other iudgment spoken of after death but the last and vniversall iudgement 6 In the 20. Matt. the laborers doe all receaue their promised wages towards the end of the day that is to say in the end of their liues and when their works is done but Purgatory can bee no part of this labour as the auctor of the fire of Helie would haue it to be for in that place they speake only of labouring in the Lords vinyard which is his church which hath no communitie with any torment in fire Againe Purgatory caÌ„not be the last houre of the day because they make it continue much longer then all the life Besides that even in this last houre some labourers are called and hired but in Purgatory no man is called to the service of God 7 In the holy Scriptures we haue many examples of men receaved into Paradice immediatly after their decease but no example of any soule sent into Purgatory Luk. 2.26 Simeon had a promise that he should not see death before hee had seene the Messias S. Paul 2. Tim. 4. saith that after he had fought the good fight there remained no more but to receaue the crowne of glory And S Luk cap. 1â— saith that the Angels carried the soule of Lazarus into Abrahams bosome where hee was comforted whiles the â—ich man was tormented but of any passage to Purgatory either to or fro we heare no newes 8 Iesus Christ said to the good theif This day thou shalt be with me in Paradice This thiefe was surely a great sinner satisfied civill iustice either for theft or murder But where had hee made satisfaction to God for all his sinnes committed all the daies of his life Hee that was converted to God in the very article of his death But God requireth no satisfactory paines of such as doe repent but for them hee doth accept of the obedience and death of Iesus Christ who hath sufficiently satisfied aswell for our sinnes as for the punishment due to our sinnes The auctor of the fire of Helie with the rest will needes haue this priviledge to bee granted to this thiefe in regard of the greatnesse of his faith of his hope of his charitie of his zeale c. wherein they doe the more accuse themselues 2. By exalting the faith of the thiefe they do at vnawares confesse that in case we haue a stedfast faith in Iesus Christ we shall not come in Purgatory 3. Herein also they do coÌ„fesse that it standeth with the iustice of God freely and without imposing any satisfactory paines to pardon alwaies provided that the sinner haue a stedfast faith and hope in Iesus Christ 4. How could this thiefe at Gods hand merite this privilege by his faith and hope considering that God endued him with this faith For what kind of merit is this to receaue the gifts and graces of God with a stedfast faith which faith also God gaue him who giueth not only the benefits but also the means to receaue them And the same doe I say also of other vertues which were the gifts and effects of the spirit of God in him For it is God
that worketh the will and the deed saith S. Paul Phil. 2.13 2. Cor. 3.6 and without him wee cannot thinke any good saith the same Apostle 5. Let vs step yet farther We demande how where or when the thiefe bare the satisfactory paines for his sinne towards God But here in liew of answering directly they stand vpon the magnifying and extolling of the faith charitie and zeale of this thiefe but to what purpose seeing vertues are no satisfactory paines but rather lenitiues and proppes to strengthen and fortify the soule against all the griefes thereof 6. That which I hold to be the principall in this case is this That these our Masters doe make the charitie zeale patience of this thiefe in a moment to be of so great merit as to exempt him from the torments of Purgatory yet that they will not graunt that the charitie of the faithfull that are in this burning fire their zeale or any other the vertues which in these soules were in greater perfection then they were in the thiefe in that hee was yet a sinner could haue any merit or power to draw them out of this fire But wherefore should they by their magisterial auctoritie take from these poore soules the power of meriting but only by prolonging the torments of the dead the consciences of the living being the more astonished might bee stirred vp to redeeme them whiles they may by masses anniversaries gifts to the Church yea and that so far forth as to perswade the people that an offering for the dead being by a surviver offred was of power and merit to free the dead from that torment and yet that in the dead himselfe neither his faith neither his charitie neither his patience no not the torments of many yeares haue any merit or can moue God to abridge this torment 7. Hereto let vs also adioine thus much that the punishment that the thiefe suffered being deserved inevitable and by civill iustice imposed vpon him could not bee counted for a satisfactorie worke to God for hee ought voluntarily to haue vndergon it and by order of the Church not by sentence of the Magistrate especially according to the doctrine of the Romish Church â— Moreover is it not a meere mockage â—o say that the exemption from enteâ—ing into Purgatory was a privilege granted to this thiefe Bellarm. lib. 1. cap 8 Privilegia paucorum legem non faciunt considering that â—hroughout all the worde of God wee caÌ„not find the example of any one that ever went into Purgatory Privileges are extraordinary but here they seeke to make that which is ordinary and without exception in the word of God to passe for a priviledge 9 In this also doe they much forget themselues that they wil here bring in privileges where the matter concerneth the Iustice of God which saith these men after the pardon of the fault will neverthelesse haue vs to satisfie for the paine If then Gods iustice hath suffered one man to enter into Paradise without any satisfactory paine for his sinnes why should it not suffer two If two why not ten If ten whie not a hundred or a thousand and so forth infinite Our Reverend writers of fires furnaises and torrents doe giue way to the maine body of these reasons as being to great too strong and too close set together and having hidden themselues doe afterward make semblance to appeare Pag. 68 but farre enough of The auctor of the fire of Helie no griefe to his person hath made vs a little merry for supposing that hee hath found some newe matter to make this privilege currant saith that the blood of Iesus Christ which they boiled and sprang vpon the thiefe carried him immediatly into eternall felicitie Where found he this Did the blood of Iesus Christ spring forth but on one side and so the eviâ— thiefe through disgrace could obtainâ— no aspersion of it Or how could a few drops of blood moistning the outward parts of the body bring forth so wholâ—some an effect Considering that in the Masse they hold that the wicked do receaue all Iesus Christ inwardly and yâ—â— are never the better nor more happy But now I remember where he found this fable hee remembred that blessed S. Longin who pierced the side of Iesus Christ and so recovered his sight for of that speare the Church of Rome hath made a speareman and of that speereman a Saint And why not sith that of Deucalion Pirrhaes casting of stones behind them men and women sprang vp That which he here produceth concerning the baptisme of the thiefe on the Crosse is already confuted in the first Chapter and this man maketh the heathen Executioners to be baptizers of Christians By all this it doth appeare that togither with this thiefe Purgatory was crucified for I am ashamed to produce the argument of these Doctors who doe make even this thiefe an advocate for Purgatorie The sire of Helie p. 67 For say they he craved succours not in this life for death was even betweene his iawes already but after his death he therfore beleeved that after death the soules stood in need of succours Hereto doe we answer that he craved indeed no succour for this life neither for after this death but even for the death it selfe and for the departure of his soule which Iesus Christ entring into Paradice tooke and brought with him into the coelestiall glory But who can here forbeare laughing at this Portugall The boldnesse of this fire p. 95. who would haue the worde Paradice here to signifie hell Or how can he faiâ— of an answer that suffereth himselfe soliceÌ„tiously to interpret the Scriptures 9 S. Iohn in his first Epistle chap. 1. saith The blood of Iesus Christ purgeth or cleanseth vs from all sinne Our sinnes are the spots and vncleanesse of our soules and there be no other Iesus Christ purgeth and taketh them all away saith S. Iohn then is there no more to purge so no more Purgatory For albeit after all our offences pardoned there should yet remaine some paine to be endured for the satisfying of the iustice of God yet could not this punishmeÌ„t be called a Purgation for who did ever here the whip or the gibbet called a Purgation for theft or murder Pag 69. A stander The fire of Helie slandering vs answereth and maketh vs to say that it is enough that Iesus Christ satisfied for vs so as for our parts wee need doe nothing at all An opinion which we abhorre and leaue to the prophane and Libertines Whereas wee say that the punishment of a sinne cannot be called a Purgation the frier affirmeth the contrary Pag 97. saying that it is never called otherwise and to that end he alleageth many places wherin he preteÌ„deth that to purge signifieth to punish and chastise Passages which I am even ashamed to confute The first maketh cleane against him all the rest are false The Apostle to the Hebrewes chap. 1.3
which we can satisfie the divine Iustice our Lord hath not otherwise satisfied but in applyed to vs his merites by the which our satisfactions doe supply that temporall paine but he giveth vs power to satisfie and to giue a man power to beare the deserued punishment and to make the satisfaction to be of force implyeth not to satisfie or to be punished for him But the Friers memory faileth him much more his respect to the word of God in that he endevoureth to frame vs new articles of faith yea which is more even in that that is of greatest importance and is as it were the soule and principall part of Religion without any auctority of the holy scriptures saying that Iesus Christ did not otherwise satisfie for temporal punishment that is Purgatory but by applying to vs his merits whereby wee do satisfie Thus much for the agreement of Purgatory and mans satisfactions with the merits of Iesus Christ from which argument before I depart I cannot forbeare but must of necessity propounde one excellent note that Cardinal Bellarmine setteth downe in his booke De poenitentia where he laboureth to shewe that the sinnes committed before baptisme are redeemed by the blood of Iesus Christ without our satisfactions Bellarm. de poenitent lib 4. cap. 10. but the sinnes after baptisme are redeemed by our owne satisfactions He saith that S. Iohn the Evangelist instructing a yong man who after baptisme had committed many Ryots he exhorted him to fasting and to praier as saith Eusebius And herevpon the Cardinall setteth downe this note Euseb Hist Eccl. l. 3. c. 17 Iohannes non id precepit quod luther anisolent vt Christi sanguine peccata sua purgata esse certò crederet sed preces Ieiunia indixit that is S. Iohn commanded him not that which the Lutherans doe vse to command that is that hee should certainely beleeue that his sinnes were purged by the blood of Iesus Christ but he enioyned him to fasting and praier In this regard then are wee called Lutherans and Heretickes Thus also shall the Apostle himselfe be foūd a Lutheran and worthy the Inquisitiō because he saith 1. Ioh. 1.7 The blood of Iesus Christ purgeth vs from all sinnes for he writ to the faithful and to the baptized and to those whom hee calleth his children These our Masters matters thus discovered and themselues convict of prophaning the merits of Iesus Christ to be revēged they vse this recrimination The Frier saith that We doe so assure the soules in this blood Pag. 91. A slander that the only remembrance of baptisme once received is a remedy against all sinne without need of any other matter A slander forged in the shop of the father of Lyes as is also the same which the fire of Helie chargeth vs withall namely that It is enough that Iesus Christ suffered 62. A slander and so for our parts we need do nothing and herevpon they heap vp many passages proofes for the necessity of pennance and good works but all in vaine considering wee beleeue nothing of that they accuse vs of but do affirme that the only way to life is to obey the commandements of God It is necessary that we heare his word and obey him that we repent vs of our sinnes and convert vnto God That we subdue the flesh and quench the heate of the concupiscence therof that we suffer with Iesus Christ and for Iesus Christ to the end we may be glorified with Iesus Christ For albeit our paines and good workes bee no sufficient price to purchase salvation yet are they necessary for the attaining thereto In that we extoll the excellencie of the satisfaction of Iesus Christ we doe it not to make vs negligent in good workes but to invite and stirre vs vp to loue God and to acknowledge his graces God is not good to vs to the end we should be wicked to him His benefits are to vs as bonds Iesus Christ is vnto vs not only matter to hope well but also a rule to liue well If he haue bought vs it is to the end we should be his and how his by seruing the divell The pascall Lambe must be all eaten for Iesus Christ cannot bee divided wee cannot participate in the fruit of his death if we be not made conformable to his resurrection by newnesse of life neither can we enioy his promises vnlesse wee keepe his commandements And there fore saith David Psal 130. There is forgiuenesse with thee that thou maist be feared There by shewing vs that the mercy of God towards vs must be by vs accompanied with his feare According to this Franciscans doctrin David should haue said There is no full forgiuenesse with thee that thou maist be feared He thē that of Gods mercy shall make an exemption from wel doing or shal put of his amendmēt from day today thinking that it is not yet time to become an honest man wil find himselfe deceaved for repentance is a guift of God which hee giueth not to scorners And ordinarily such as seek to reserue to God the last part of their daies and as it were the lees and dreggs of their liues are surprised by death before they attaine thereto as being a matter iust and equall that they should haue no portion in God who did so vnequally divide with him In the meane time to heare these men dispute of the necessitie of good workes you would thinke them to bee saints or pettie Gods and our Church to be a harbour to all wickednesse and a schoole of excesse as if sinne were a matter lawfull among vs. Indeed to our great griefe we confesse that wee haue but over many bad examples among vs. We could earnestly wish that as the high Priest disrobed himselfe at the entring into the holy place so that every of vs could put of his olde sinnes and rellicks of wickednesse at the entry into the Church of God but the perversitie of this age together with the contagion and haunt that wee hold with such as be yet out of the Church doe corrupt the manners of many yet dare I say thus much that among vs you shall find more examples of charitie of sobrietie and of diligent reading the word of God then among our adversaries that the pillars of the Church of Rome are more polluted then the pauement of ours that our spend thrifts are more tollerable then the sobrietie of those that reproue vs that our vices are evē vertues in regard of the riotous excesse of the Roman Prelats The murderers of Kings were not of our flocke Vices and sinnes against nature haue no place among vs. Trading and Pride haue in the Court of Rome put of the habit of vices and are now accompted for honest carriage activitie and ordinary occupation ietting vp and downe in the cloake of of discretion and wisedome Bern. ser 33 super Cant. Ministri Christi sunt serviunt Antichristo Inde is que
at libertie because some friend of his hath scourged himselfe or fasted for him 3. Whether the pardons that the Pope giueth without enioining any penance be of any force as also those which he giueth with conditiō to work some wickednesse as in the yeares 1587 and 1588. when hee gaue seven yeares of pardon to every one that would ioine with the holy Vnion that is to say that would rebell against their king yet he a Roman Catholike 4. Againe In as much as these superabundant satisfactions of Saints are gathered together into the Popes treasurie because God will haue nothing lost how haue the superabundant satisfactions of such holy men as died vnder the old Testamēt as Moses Abraham c. beene husbanded be those also in the Popes treasury But where were they laid vp before the Pope had them Did they lie lurking in some corner two or three thousand yeares vntill the Pope gathered them together and found meanes to employ thē It were not amisse also to enquire the reason why the world in the yeare of Iubile maketh such hast to Rome cōsidering that at Rome they may at all times obtaine millions of yeares of Indulgences and full remission of sinnes and some six hundred thousand yeares of plenary pardon Aboue all we would gladly know when a man that needeth ten thousand yeares of pardon doth purchase enough for fiftie thousand yeares what becommeth of the fortie thousand yeares that remaineth Cayer saith that they returne into the treasurie for the good of others but because his companions doe despise disgrace him wee would willingly bee taught by some substantiall Doctor the rather for that at Rome and in one selfe place a man may obtaine besides the plenary pardon certaine thousands of yeares of surplussage To what end may that surplussage serue wil the Pope therewith pardon sins giue Indulgences by provision CAP. 6. That all the passages of holy Scripture by our adversaries quoted for prayer for the dead and for Purgatory are either false or vnprofitable IN all the Premises wee may see that our enimies fight but faintly that they are armed but with strawes against the force of the truth how much lesse shall they be able to do any thing when they shall be quite stripped and that little armour that is left them be cleane taken away This is it which in this Chapter wee will with Gods helpe performe My adversaries therfore whose desire of gaine induceth them to practise Pyrotechny doe heape together stubble good store that is to say simple proofs to kindle this fire of Purgatory Of these proofes some concerne prayer for the dead and some Purgatory some taken out of the old some out of the new Testament we will then without dissimulation propound them all and for my part I will deale with thē with as much equitie and sinceritie as they haue dealt with me with fraud vniustice which consisteth in suppressing my best obiections and corrupting the rest Passages produced by these three Doctors to proue prayer for the dead All that my adversaries doe alleage concerning prayer for the dead is groūded vpon a false principle namely that who so prayeth for a dead body presupposeth that there is a Purgatory but in the last Chapter wee will shew that the prayers for the dead which some of the ancients did vse were even against Purgatorie Here might we dispense for answering hereto the rather for that albeit they should obtaine their desires yet had they gained nothing toward the establishment of their Purgatory Howbeit we will doe them thus much more then right that nowe receaving their principle we wil lay open the falshood and impertinencie of their proofes therevpon 1. Cayers passages p. 24. A falshood Cayer shall haue the credit to march foremost as the most skilfull His words are these It is said Numbers 16. v. 47. 48. that Aaron reconciled the people both the quick and the dead A passage false and by him invented for as well in the Hebrew as in the translations even in the Roman it is thus Aaron standing vpright betweene the dead and the living besought God for the people and the plague ceased 2. In the third book of Kings cap. 8. v. 38. There is a manner of prayer for the dead saith Cayer in these words Every prayer and supplication made by any man for the wound of his heart in the Church it shall be acceptable to God Also in the 33. verse it is said If the people fall before their enimies in praying to God they shal be heard Were not this passage falsified yet shew me one word in it that importeth praying for the dead 3. Againe he saith that in the 57. of Esay the Prophet complaineth that they did not pray for the dead This also is false neither is there any such speech throughout all the Chapter Looke also what wee haue already said in the third Chapter and third Argument 4. He goeth on and saith that in the third Chapter of Baruch it is set downe in expresse words Heare o Lord God the prayer of the dead Israelits and of their children that haue sinned before thee And soone after Remember not the iniquitie of our Fathers First the booke is Apocriphall secondly In these wordes of Israell are comprised all the people of Israell who in those daies through the extremitie of their captivitie misery were as if they lived not as it appeareth in the eleventh verse where it is said Israell is counted with them that go downe to the graue Tearming those dead after the ordinary phrase of the Scripture that are oppressed with affliction and as it were within two inches of death As David in the 88. Psalme albeit aliue counteth himselfe among the dead and those that goe downe to the pit so also in the 18. Psalme v. 5. 6. and in the 116. Psalme v. 3. hee saith that he is environed and surprised with the snares of death and with the bonds of the sepulcher Also in the 18. Psalme v. 19. the faithfull doe desire of God that he would restore them to life as if they had beene dead and already brought to the graue Thirdly to what purpose doth hee come in with a prayer of the dead considering that our question cōcerneth only the prayer of the living for the dead Fourthly as concerning these words Remember not the iniquitie of our fathers hee prayeth that the threats of the lawe which denounce that God will visit the iniquitie of the Fathers vpon the children be not executed vpon them hee therefore prayeth that the sinnes of the fathers be no cause to prolong their captivitie as plainely appeareth in the eight verse Cayer produceth yet another passage out of the second of the Machabes but that you shal find among the passages of the other two 5. The Frier having discharged all his anger vpon M. Calvin and charged that good man with infinit slanders wresting the Interpretion of sundry his
his companions The auctor of the fire of Helie affordeth vs as devout ones He in his 11. page endevouring to stall his proofes which saith he are as cleere as the sun compareth me to Senecas maide but I trust to make him more like to Plutarches boy who plaid the Philosopher whiles they be laboured him 5 Hee cutteth vp his reasons with this knife flourishing at the gate of the earthly Paradice This sword is Purgatory and so did S. Ambrose vnderstand it but hereafter wee shall proue it false 6 Then commeth the ninth of Esay Impiety is kindled as fire and shall destroy the bryers and thornes This fire is Purgatory and well it may bee because it is compared to iniquity 7 Then followeth the Prophet Micheas the 7. Reioice not against mee O mine enemie though I fall I shall arise whē I shall sit in darknesse I will beare the wrath of God vntill hee plead my cause hee will bring me to light and I shall see his righteousnesse This darknesse and this wrath are Purgatory and these be the wordes of those poore roasted soules speaking to their enimies that doe reioice to see them tormented 1. But how do these enimies reioice if they be in hel 2. how doe they speake one with another 3. If these enimies be living who ever reioiced in his enimies death because he was in Purgatory Or who told him that he was there and why doth he not rather feare then persist in his hatred Why is he not rather sory that he is not in hel 4. How commeth it to passe that God hath not yet iudged the cause of these poore souls against their enimies 5. but reade the whole chapter and you shall perceiue that they that there speake be the living and not the dead 8 After commeth the ninth of Zachary In the blood of thy covenant thou haste delivered thy prisoners out of the pit where is no water Pag. 46. Pag. 68. This pit without water is Purgatory why doth he feare to put water in Purgatory sith hee hath put snow in hell Therefore also doth the frier contradict him and saith that the most common expositiō speaketh of delivering soules out of Limbo They shall agree if they list S. Augustine in his citty of God lib. 18. cap. 35. shall vnderstande this of the deliverance from sinne and from the miseries of this life S. Hierome in his cōmentary vpon this place vnderstandeth it of hell yet were it better that Gods word should be the iudge S. Matthew 21. v. 5. alleadging the former verses sheweth that this passage is meant of Iesus Christ Now what is the deliverāce of the Church through the bloode of Iesus Christ but our redemption from the captivity of Satan and eternall death Of this deliverance speaketh Zacharie albeit vnder the figure of the deliverance from the captivity of Babilon as also it were strange that Zachary speaking of the deliverāce of the Church through the bloode of the covenant shoulde speake only of Purgatory and Limbo and make mention of the redemption from hell and eternall death 9 That which followeth is verie pleasant Psal 66. We went through fire water but thou broughtest out into a refreshing In the former passage he woulde haue no water in Purgatory now he will haue both fire and water there Besides the place is falsified For according to the Hebrew text it is Thou haste brought me out into a plentifull place Other passages he hath which are to bee found among the friers passages The Frier pag. 30. 10 The first passage that he alledgeth is out of Esay 30.33 Tophet is prepared of old It is even prepared by the king he hath made it deepe large the burning thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lorde kindling it like a river of brimstone This hee saith p. 34. Pag. 60.16 Tophet saith the Frier is Purgatory this king is God and the breath of the Lord bringeth with it consolation the end and the beatitude c. But against this doth Cayer quarrell and saie that it concerneth the iudgement of God against the iniquity of Assur and confesseth that this king is the king of Assur Pag. 47. The fire of Helie returneth the ball to the Frier holdeth this passage to be a Noli me tangere but as I haue answered so I answer stil that we groūd no articles of faith vpon Allegories 2. Secondly Tophet is a place neere to Hierusalem in the valley of Hynnon as witnesseth Iosua 15. and 2. King 23. where the Idolaters burned their children to Moloch or Baal Wherevpon the Prophet here taketh Tophet for the tormēt prepared for the wicked 3. That in the whole course of the text it appeareth that Esay speaketh of the wicked not of the children of God 4. That the frier falsifieth the passage in saying by the king where in the Hebrew it is for the king 5. The frier taketh Assur to be a mās name not of a Country As if I had said the king Assur but I said the king of Assur That this king is the king of Assur or of Assiria of whō we spake not many lines before 6. That this king being an enimie to God and his people the torment that is provided for him cannot be Purgatory The Frier in all this reproveth two things which make nothing to this question First he will not haue Tophet in this place to bee the place where they made their children to passe through the fire Gen. 31.27 Exod. 15 10 Ios 18.34 but let him then learne what is written 2. King 23. Iosias defiled Tophet which was in the valley of the children of Hynnon that no man should make his son or his daughter to passe through the fire to Moloch This word Tophet commeth of Toph which in Hebrewe signifieth a drumme because the Priestes of the Idoll so long as the burning of the children lasted made a noise with drums and basons after the manner of the Coribantes Maldonat Lyra upon the 5. of Matth. least the parents should heare the crie of their children Therevpon did Iob complaining that hee was disdained and shouted at say that hee was made Tophet a tympanization and a by-word or scorne as also the Greek doth so translate it The Roman translation turneth it and saith He hath made me an example The Fryer will haue this tympanization to be Purgatory or had there beene here any speech of a tub or of a lanthorne hee woulde also haue found some shift to proue that those things signified Purgatory Iob therefore by his account albeit aliue yet complaineth that hee was placed in Purgatory Secondly he doth contest that the children were not burned or consumed in Tophet but only purged this cannot proceed but either of grosse ignorance or of extreame malice for the Scripture is full of proofes to the contrary Ieremy 7.31 saith They haue built the high place of Tophet in the valley of the
booke of Purgatory cap. 9. alleadgeth this place and falsifieth it both in the words and in the sense He saith that S. Hierom speaketh of the vnbinding of the soule that is made by speculation not of the transporting of the soule in her substance but by imagination and to set the greater shew vpon this glosse and contemplation hee omitteth these words propter tenuitatē substātiae which do proue that S. Hierom spake of the trāsport of the soule in her substance with all that contemplation doeth not deliver the soule from the body neither necessarily trāsporteth her into Paradice or into hell for Contemplation hath infinite other obiects Can. in praesenti In the decrees of the Romish Church Causs 13. Quest 2 there is a Canon taken out of S. Hierom and these be the words In this present world we know that we may helpe one another either by praier or by Councell but when we shall come before the tribunall seat of Christ neither Iob nor Daniell nor Noah can pray for any but every one shal bear his owne burden But the decree hath clowted on a taile and saith that S. Hierom spake of the impenitent But how can that be For S. Hierom putteth himselfe in the number saying But when wee shall come Gregory Nazianzen in the Epitaph of his brother Caesarius saith I beleeue the words of the wise namely that every honest soule that loueth God when it is delivered from this body that is tyed thereto and is departed away IMMEDIATLY it is admitted to the fruition and contemplation of that good that attend it and doth reioice in admirable pleasure Vpon this principle doeth hee ground his stedfast perswasion that his brother is already blessed Now was he neither Martyr nor Saint nor otherwise qualified then the ordinary of the faithfull The like he speaketh in the Epitaph of his sister Gorgonia S. Ambrose hath written an excellent treatise of the benefite of death De bono mortis Vt corpus resolvatur acquiescat anima autem cōvertatur in requiem suā which is no other but a refutation of the Purgatory of the Romish Church And it is to bee noted that he speaketh of the death of all the faithfull but omitteth the Saints and Martyres more priviledged by God In this third Chapter he doth thus define death Death is a separation of the soule from the body Then he addeth Now what doth this separation saving that the body dissolveth and resteth but the soule is set in quiet and free who if shee be faithfull shall be with Christ In the fourth Chapter he saith that Death is a haven after a storme and that shee reserveth vs to iudgement such as shee founde vs and addeth that by her Transitura corruptione ad incorruptionem à mortalìtate ad immortalitatem à perturbatione ad tranquillitatē We passe from corruptiō to incorruption from mortalitie to immortalitie from trouble to rest Againe in the 7. Requies post labores finis malorum Mors stipendiorum plenitudo summa mercedis gratia missionis Chapter The foole doth feare death as the soveraigne evill the wise man doth desire it as a rest after labour and the ende of all calamities In the same place Death is the fulnesse of wages the sum of rewards the favour or grant of dispensation or license In the tenth Chapter he mocketh such as thinke that the habitation of soules is vpon earth and saith Animarū superiora esse habitacula scripturae testimonijs varijs probatur It appeareth by many testimonies of the scriptures that the habitation of the soules is aboue In the last Chapter speaking of himselfe and of al that beleeue in Iesus Christ hee saith Intrepide ad Abrahamū patrem nostrum cum Dies advenerit proficisca mur intrepide pergamus ad illum sanctorum coetū c. When that day shall come let vs goe boldly to Abraham our father to the assembly of Saints and congregation of the righteous for wee shall goe to our fathers to the schoolemasters of our faith to the ende that albeit our workes faile vs yet faith may succour vs and the inheritance be kept for vs. And to the ende no man should thinke that he speaketh only of the most holy and perfect he saith Etiamsi opera desint albeit workes faile vs and soone after he saith that it doth appertaine to all the beleevers in God and that When the day of death shall come to the end the Popes factors should not put of that day to the issue out of Purgatory Also that our adversaries may no longer shrowd themselues vnder this passage in the 12. of Matthew Blasphemy against the holy Ghost shall not be forgiuen neither in this world nor in the world to come he saith in the second Chapter of the same booke Qui hic non acceperit remissionem peccatorum illic non erit Hee that will not here receaue remission of sinnes shall not bee there S. Chrysostome hom 75. in Matth. If we now doe not that we should when wee come there we shall haue no meanes to satisfie Againe hom 22. ad populum Antiochenum Read the Scriptures of our Saviour and learne that none can helpe vs when we depart hence Also in his 2. hom vpon Lazarus Pay all here that without trouble thou maist come to that tribunall seat while we are here we haue great hope but so soone as wee are departed to goe thether it remaineth no longer in our power to doe pennance or to blot out or amend that we haue done amisse Hereto Bellarmine answereth that Chrysostome speaketh of the remission of mortal sinnes which no man saith are remitted in Purgatory And all this is false for Chrysostom speaketh of all sinnes and in any of all these places never maketh distinction betweene mortall and veniall sinnes indeed hee speaketh of the wicked rich man who was not punished for one sinne only but for all his sinnes withall that our adversaries do hold that in Purgatory they may beare the punishment for mortall sinnes but that by the mercy of God of eternall they be made tēporall Yea they proceed so far as to limit the time of this punishment namely seaven yeares for every sinne as wee shewed in the first Chapter Likewise vpon the 23. of Matthew hom 25. hee saith that pennance after death is as vnprofitable as the Phisitian who after death can doe no good The same he saith vpon the first of Genes hom 5. Also vpon the fourth to the Romans hom 8. Where there is grace there is forgiuenesse where there is forgiuenesse there is no punishment Now punishment being taken away and righteousnesse through faith granted nothing may hinder vs but that we shall be made heires of this promise which is by faith Himselfe vpon Matth. hom 32. asketh of the parents of the deceased these questions Wherefore after the death of thy friends dost thou call them poore Why dost thou desire the Priest to pray for them
I knowe that thou wilt answer it is to the ende the deceased may obtaine rest and find his iudge favourable thou weenest that thou must weepe for these matters but seest thou not that even in the same thou dost wrong him For considering that thou thinkest he is gon into the flowred fields why dost thou yet stir vp great stormes against him Againe in his 70. hom ad populum Antiochenum speaking of the funerals and the duty that we performe to the dead with torches and hymnes he saith What is the meaning of these flaming lamps No other but that we convey the Champions after the combat ended and these hymnes but that in them we glorifie God and giue him thankes that he hath crowned the dead and freed him froÌ„ all sorrowes that he now keepeth him about him hauing taken from him all vncertainties all which are actions of ioy Hee hath almost the same words in the moralitie of his fourth homily on the Hebrewes Both there and in his third homily on the Philippians hee gathereth that the duties that wee performe to the dead do testifie that their soules are in rest for the people say Convertere anima mea in requiem My soule returne into thy rest Againe in his 32. homily vpon Matthew Teares and lamentations beseeme the enemy not thee that goest to rest surely Death is a quiet hauen from all troubles Againe There is the spirituall bride bed and coelestiall And he saith that after death there is no more sorrow To bee briefe In Nilus Bâ—shop of Thessalonica we haue an expresse book against Purgatory which is an Apology for the Greeke Churches wherein they saie that this temporall fire was coÌ„demned in the fifth Councel as also to this day the Churches of the Greeks and Russians the Abissines and the Armenians knowe not what this Imaginary fire meaneth There also the Greeke Churches do protest that S. Chrysostome never beleeved any such matter nether any of their ancient Doctors whereof we doe gather that some places of this doctour which seeme to make for Purgatory either must bee vnderstoode of an other kind of Purgatory such as was the purging fire of Origen and Ambrose which shall be spoken of hereafter or els that those passages are corruptly inserted and suggested Tunc est tentatio finieÌ„da quando finitur pugna tunc est finienda pugna quando post hanc vitam succedet secura victoria paulo post milites Christi labori osa peregrinatione traÌ„sacta regnant felices in patria Illis omnia remissa sunt delicta nihil ob delicta puniâ—is for likewise in the couÌ„sell of Florence where the Greekes armed them selues with the auctority of their Doctours the Latins would not haue forborne to bring in these passages to convince them Prosper in his first book of Contemplatiue life cap. 1. saith Temptation shall end when the Combat is ended and the Combut shall end when after this life an assured victory shall succeed Againe soone after he saith The souldiours of Iesus Christ after they haue finished their laborious pilgrimage do raigne happyly in their Countrey Procopius vpon Exodus To those who by faith are entred into the number of their confederates and brethren and haue beene made partakers of the divine nature by the participation of the holy Ghost all their sinnes are pardoned they haue received no punishmeÌ„t for their offences Epiphanius in his second book of heresies heresie 39 which is the same of the Catares and Novatians seemeth to haue taken a smatch in the ConfutatioÌ„ of Purgatory where he saith In the age to come after a mans death there is no more helpe by fasting no more vocation of pennance no more exhibition of Almes hee also saith It is as the corne that swelleth not after it is reaped neither can be spoiled with the winde Finally he coÌ„cludeth The Garners are sealed vp the time is past the combat is finished the lists are voided and the Garlands are given Now saith hee all this is finished at the departure out of the body after which departure our adversaries do impose grievous penances and augment the difficulty of the fight and torments and doe deferre the giuing of the Crownes vntill the comming out of Purgatory that is to say many hundreds and thousands of yeares after death Arnobius in his second book against the gentils saith that Plato after this life hath set downe Rivers of fire in quibus animas asseverat volui mergi exuri where the soules are tossed plunged and burned But himselfe contrarywise doth holde that the souls out of the bodies can endure no sorrow Quis hominum non videt quod sit immortale quod simplex nulluÌ„ posse dolorem admittere Wherein albeit he erreth not yet doeth it sufficiently shewe that hee beleeveth not that the soules without bodies can after this life bee cast into a fire Note also that throughout all antiquity wee finde no mention of buls of fetching of soules out of Purgatory of Indulgences for the dead aulters and of fraternities that haue priviledge to fetch a soule out of Purgatory As this is but lately inveÌ„ted and as old age encreaseth in covetousnesse so hate Avarice beene more inventiue in this declining old age of the world for it is credible that the Apostles and their first successours omitted the fetching of foules out of this fire by indulgences for want either of knowledge either of abilitie either else of good will Also that togither with their greatnesse and riches skill spirituall power pietie and charitie haue growne vp in the Bishops of Rome That the Doctours in the primitiue Church in this matter had their errors which the Church of Rome reiecteth namely in this that for the most part they beleeved that the soules are detained in dennes or corners vntil the day of iudgmeÌ„t whereof neverthelesse it appeareth that they knew not Purgatory Irineus toward the end of his fourth and last booke condemneth two opinions the one that hell is in the world the other that the soule which hee calleth the inward man comming out of the body ascended into the region that is aboue the heauens Then he addeth For sith our Lord went into the middest of the shadow of death where the soules of the dead remained and is since corporally risen againe and after his resurrection was receaued on high It is evident therefore that the soules of his disciples for whom Iesus Christ acted and suffered these things shall also goe into an invisible place to them appointed by God where they shall remaine vntil the resurrection afterward being perfectly that is corporally raised as Iesus Christ was they shall appeare in the presence of God for no disciple is aboue his master c. In summe his meaning is that herein the condition of the faithfull deceased shall bee conformable to that of Iesus Christ whose soule came not into the presence of God before his resurrection but was in darknesse and
in the shadow of death herevpon also doth Erasmus in his preface to the fifth booke of Irineus note that Irineus did suppose that the soules dismissed from the bodies did not immediatly enioy the sight of God but are reserued in some secret place vntil the resurrection The same father in the same booke not farr from the beginning saith that God hath placed man in Paradice Quapropter dicunt presbyteri quisuÌ„t Apostolorum discipuli eos qui sunt traÌ„stati illuc translatos esse which is the gardeÌ„ of Eden froÌ„ whence for his disobedience he was driven into the world and theÌ„ he addeth Therefore the ancient fathers that were the Apostles disciples do say that such as are translated from hence are translated into that place Hee therefore did thinke that the garden of Eden from whence Adam was expelled was the secret corner where the soules are hidden vntil the resurrection A frivolous doctrine yet such as testifieth that in his time there was yet no speech of purgatory which Erasmus also hath noted in the same preface Origen in his seventh homily vpon Leuiticus saith thus Nondum saÌ„cti receperuÌ„t laetitiam suaÌ„ c. The Saints no not the Apostles themselues haue not yet receaued their ioy but they expect vntil I bee made participant thereof with them And in his second book of his principles toward the end he saith with Irineus That the saints after their decease are transported into the earthly Paradice Eam Regionem sinuÌ„ dico Abrahae et si non coelâ—stem sublimiocem tamen inferis interim refrigerium praebituram animabus iustorum donec comsummatio rerum resurrectionem omnium plenitudine mercedis expungat Quae infra terram iaceÌ„t neque ipsa sunt digestis ordinatis potestatibus vacua Locus enim est quo piorum animae impiorum ducuÌ„tur c. Tertullian in his fourth book against Marcion cap. 34. I call Abrahams bosome that region albeit not celestiall yet higher then the hels which nevertheles must giue rest to the soules of the righteous vntil the consummation of things accomplish the resurrection through the fulnes of reward The same he repeateth in his fourth poeticall booke against Marcion cap. 6. in his booke of the soule cap. 55. Constituimus omnem animam apud inferos sequestrari in Diem Domini Wee hold assured that every soule is sequestred into the lower partes vnto the day of the Lord. The same hee also saith cap. 56.57.58 Nouatian in his booke of the Trinity and is to bee found among the bookes of Tertullian cap. 1. saith The things that are vnder the earth are not void of powers digested and ordered For it is the place whether the soules both of the faithfull and of the wicked are brought feeling already the foreiudgement of the iudgement to come Now were it to no purpose to say that Novatian was an hereticke for it is well knowne hee was never holden to be an hereticke for this opinion but because hee refused reconciliation to the Church to those that were once fallen Chrysostome on the first to the Corinthians hom 39. If the body riseth not againe the soule shall not be crowned but be kept out of the celestiall beatitude The same he saith hom 28. vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes In the same father we finde some sentences to the contrarie as indeed it was his fault to be of smale constancy and yet all that he saith doth yet make more against Purgatory And in his homily vpon the Epistle to the Philippians The righteous whether it bee here or whether it be there are ever with the king but there much more yea more neer not as it were by the way not in faith but face to face And wee consequently doe say not in a fire not in a prison vnder earth Theophilâ—ot a follower of Chrysostom vpon the 11. to the Hebrews The saints haue not yet obtained the celestiall promises Omnes in vna communi que custodia detinentur donec temp adveniat quo maximus iudex meritorum faciat examen Lactantius lib. 7. cap. 11. Let no man thinke that the soules be iudged immediatly after death for they are all detained in a common prison vntil the time come that the great iudge taketh the examination of what they haue deserved Victor in Martyr vpon the sixt of the Revelation saith that Saint Iohn saw vnder the alter the soules of the Martyrs and those that were slaine and these words sub ara hee doth expound sub terra Thus then hee placeth the soules of the Martyrs and Saints vnder earth S. Hillary vpon the 38. Haec humanae lex necessitatis est vt sepultis corporib animae ad inferos descendant c Psalme It is the law of necessity where to man is subiect that the soules should descend into the lower parts after the dead be buried Which law Iesus Christ for the accomplishment of a very perfect man did not refuse Neither may we say that hee speaketh of the fathers of the old Testament for in all that place hee hath not a word of them besides he would haue said This was the law but he saith This is the law Finally saying it is a humane necessitie which Iesus Christ vnderwent to become very man hee sheweth that it is a condition imposed vpon all man kind which if Iesus Christ had not vndergon hee had not participated in all that was proper to mankind Hee also vpon the second Psalme saith The daiâ— of iudgement is the eternall retribution of beatitude or of punishment but the houre of death in the meane time holdeth every one vnder her lawes whiles the bosome of Abraham or the paine reserveth every one to iudgement Euthimius vpon Luke 16. saith that the history of Lazarus is a parable wherein is described vnto vs what shall bee done in the day of iudgement And vpon the 23. Psalme he saith None of the righteous haue receaued the promises and the kingdome shal be giuen in the day of the vniversall retribution Wherevpon also Io. Hentenius a Monke of the order of S. Hierom hath noted in the margent that Euthimius as a Greek followeth the errors of the Greekes S. Bernard in his 3. sermon of all Saints maketh three habitations for soules Primum in Tabernaculis secundum in Atrijs tertium in Câ—â—lis The first in Tabernacles that in this body the second in Porches the third in heaven these receptacles hee tearmeth hals As for S. Ambrose and S. Augustine we finde them wavering and vnlike to themselues sometimes speaking according to the truth sometime carried away with the common error Ambrose indeed hath before told vs that the habitation of the souls separated is aboue and in the 11 Chapter he saith Incerâ—â— supremi Iudicij non verentur eventum But in his second booke of Abell and Cain cap. 2. he saith thus The Pilot arrived at the shore thinketh not himselfe at the ende of his travaile for
He held that all must passe through fire Iste transit vnam aliam septimanam immunditia sua tertia demuÌ„ incipiente ob oriri septima na purgatur and that the Saints such as were least laden with sinne should but passe through and be but slightly singed others not so pure should stay there a weeke or two but the wicked and the divels should abide there a longer time yet in the end after a long purgation should come forth of that fire be saved as appeareth in his homily vpon Leviticus on the 25. of Numbers and in the sixt vpon Exodus He is of opinion that this PurgatioÌ„ by fire must begin at the day of Iudgment at the entry into the world to come In many places namely in his 8 homily vpon Leviticus Of which purgation S. Augustin in his booke of heresies wherin he rancketh Origen among the heretickes in 43 heresie saith Many doctrins hath this OrigeÌ„ which the Catholike church doth not receiue whereof he is not wrongfully reproved neither can his defenders excuse him but principally in the point of purgation and deliverance Now let all men iudge with what conscience our adversaries can vse the auctority of Origen to establish their Purgatory Now albeit this doctrin was reiected by such as came after yet the actiue and quicke spirit of Origen drew many to admire him and into the mindes of some infused the sparkes of this purgatiue fire yet such as hath no resemblance with the Purgatory of the Church of Rome Wheras he limiteth an end to the purgation of the divels and then will haue them to be saved therein he is not followed otherwise he hath followers so farre forth as he wil haue the fire in the last iudgement to serue to purge even the Saints and Apostles Medico quoque de licto morâ resurrectionis expenso Iustos cum iudicaverit Deus igni eos examinabit TuÌ„ quorum peccata vel pondere vel numero praeualuerint perstringentur atque amburentur some more some lesse according to the multitude and weight of their sins We haue already heard one opinioÌ„ of Tertullian in his last chapter of his book of the soule that commeth neere to this where he saith They shall pay eveÌ„ their least sinnes by the delay of their resurrection Lactantius in his seaventh book cap. 21. When God shall haue iudged the righteous he shall examine them by fire thoÌ„ they whose sinnes shall prevaile either in waight or number shal by the fire be singed and lightly scortched He speaketh of a fire that is not yet but shall beginne at the day of Iudgement The Frier page 63. vseth this passage for his Purgatory but he doth but quote it for he coulde not for shame alleadge it at large S. Ambrose vpon the 36 Psalme is as plaine as any Igne purgabuntur filii Levi igne Ezechiel igne Daniel The sonnes of Levy shall bee purged by fire and Ezechiell and Daniell And these is they shall be examined by fire shall also say We haue passed through fire water Two things he here delivereth The one that even the most holy must passe by this fire The other that this purgation of the Saints of Ezechiel and of Daniell c. is not yet for hee saith Purgabuntur Examinabuntur Omnes opâ—rtet transire per flammaâ— sive ille Iohannes Evangelista sive ille sit Petrus They shall be purged and examined Againe in his 20 sermon vpon the 118 Psalm he saith thus All must of necessity passe through the flames yea were it Iohn the Evangelist whom our Lord loved or were it Peter to whom he delivered the keyes And there hee still speaketh of a fire which is not yet which also must bee even for the most holy Again in the same place he vseth the Allegory of the flaming sword placed in the entring into the earthlie Paradice and that with farre more dexteritie then our adversaries who practise to make vse of it for their Purgatorie for Ambrose who referreth this purging fire to the day of iudgement hath some smal colour for his Allegorie because the last iudgement is the entry as it were the gate into the Eternall kingdome as this sword was in the entry into the terestriall Paradice But there is no more proportion betweene this sword and the roasting of souls after death then betweene S. Peter the Pope S. Hierom taketh the same course and as he was a great imitator of Origen so doth he follow him in this excepting so much as concerneth the purging of divels and Infidels He therefore in the last lines of his Commentary vpon Esay setteth down two sorts of Impious and wicked persons The one that are Christians the other that are not Peccatorum atque impioruÌ„ tamen Christianorum quoruÌ„ operae igne probanda sunt atque purganda moderatam arbitramur mixtam clementiam sententium Iudicis Hee holdeth that the torments of the divels and of the wicked that are no ChristiaÌ„s shall be Eternall but as for the wicked and vngodly Christians their workes shall be purged by fire and that the sentence of the iudge shall bee moderated and mixed with mercie The Frier according to his vsuall fidelity pag. 36. citeth this place for his Purgatory as also he maketh vse of the auctority of Origen The same father vpon the 46. of Ezechiell tearmeth the last day which is the day of the ResurrectioÌ„ Omnis creatura ad comparationem creatoris immunda est ac divino igne parganda The Sabaoth and the seaventh day and saith Every creature in comparison of the Creator is vncleane and must bee purged by divine fire He theÌ„ here telleth vs two things one that this fire is for every creature and consequently for the Saintes and Martyrs the other that this fire is not yet for he saith purganda and expreslie he specifieth that it shal bee in the last day which he tearmeth The Sabaoth the seaventh day Emundatio que nos S. spiritus sanctificet adâ—â—entu iudicii igne noâ— decoquat Hilar. Can. 2. In Matt. Baptisatis in spiritu sancto reliquum est â—â—â—summari igna iudicii S. Hilary vpon the 119. Psalme in the pause Gimel expoundeth how many things are to bee vsed in the purging of vs from our sinnes besides Baptisme and there hee bringeth in the holy Ghost sanctifying of vs and the fire of Iudgement that doth purifie vs. And in the same pause or section hee doth more plainly deliver his opinion which is that the fire in the day of iudgment must bake and burne the faithfull yea even the Virgin Mary These be his words An cum ex omni otioso verbo rationeuâ— simus praestituri diem Iudicij concupiscimus in quo nobis est indefessus ille ignis obeandus in quo subcunda sunt gravia illa expiandae à peccatis animae supplicia Againe soone after Si in Iudicij severitatem
capax illa Dei virgo ventura est desiderare quis à Deo audebit Iudicari To bee briefe his feare of the heate of this fire which must burne even the Virgin Mary doth keepe him saith he from desiring the day of iudgement Of this fire then doth Gregory Nazian speak in the passage alleadged by the Frier page 84. Whereout I gather two things First how easily mans spirit is misled when it strayeth from the word of God secondly that my adversaries do abuse the people and perswade them that these Doctors doe speake of Purgatory They do indeed speak of the fire of the last iudgment likewise that they make mention of a torment reserved to those only that haue not sufficiently satisfied in this life when they speake but of a torment or purgation common to all the faithfull to the saints to the Martyrs and to the Virgin Mary And this is a second degree of their vnfaithfulnesse in their allegations S. Augustine who throughout the whole course of this questiō hath shewed himselfe inconstant in his 20. book of the Citty of God cap. 25. saith well that in the day of iudgement the fire shall to some only stand insteed of the paines of Purgatory Ex his quae dicta sunt videtur evidentius ap parere in illo Iudicio quasdam quorundam poenas purgatorias futuras The Frier pag. 37. citeth this passage but to dissemble that S. Augustine spake of the day of iudgement he concealeth these words In illo Iudicio Againe in his 16. booke of the citty of God cap. 24. Significatur isto igne dies Iudicij dir imens carnales salvandos per ignem igne damnandos This day signifieth the day of iudgement which must discerne the carnall men who are to bee saved by the fire and who to bee condemned into the fire There is nothing so evident This error is condemned then by the Church of Rome which could not fit it selfe to this Purgatory that beginneth not vntil the day of the resurrection very well foreseeing that the Popes Indulgences dispensations could haue no colour if they should dispense with this purging whereto the father 's subiected the Apostles yea even the blessed Virgin which also is of so short cōtinuance And therefore it was requisit to make a Purgatory that should begin immediatly after death and a torment equall with the torments of hell long and horrible from whence the Pope might exempt and fetch forth by his Indulgences such as it pleased him That the Fathers doe speake of another purgation by fire which is in this life The ancients doe often vse the Allegoricall wordes of S. Paul 1. Corin. 3. namely of stubble hay wood of triall by fire and they tearme the afflictions and pennance of this life a fire or a triall or purgation by fire S. Hierom vpon the 3. of Matthew speaking of this fire saith that when the children of Levi shall be purged they shall offer sacrifices acceptable to God for Iuda and for Hierusalem which cannot be done but in this life and that by fire S. Augustine in the 21. booke of the citty of God cap. 13. Wee confesse that in this life there be Purgatory paines Nos in hac mortali vita esse quasdam purgatorias poenas confitemur but such as are purging to those who being exercised in them doe amend their liues And in cap. 26. Such delights and carnall loues shall be burned by the fire of tribulation To this fire doe belong the losse of kindred and all sorts of calamitie Marke this Canon of Pope Siricius which is to be seene in Luityrandus and others Vt in suis ergastulis detrusi Purgatorio possiat poenitud nis igne decoqui Hee commanded that the Monkes should immediatly bee driven out of the Monasteries to the ende that being shut vp in their workehouses they might bee baked in the Purgatory fire of pennance He tearmeth the labour of a Monke shut vp in a shop and tied to travaile as it was the custome of the first Monks to haue an occupation and to labour with their hands a Purgatory fire S. Gregory in his fourth dialogue cap. 39. speaking of the fire whereby men be saved saith It may be meant of the fire of the tribulations of this life And S. Augustine in his Manuel to Laurentius cap. 68. Est ignis tribulatio tentationis This fire is the temptation of afflictions Againe soone after he saith that This fire is in this life S. Cyprian in his fourth booke and 2. Epistle speaking of Ecclesiasticall pennance imposed vpon such as for feare had revolted to Idolatrie compareth the condition of those penitents which he saith are to be purged by fire with the condition of such as never shrunke but suffered martyrdome And hee holdeth the condition of such Martyrs to be more blessed then the condition of those penitents marke his comparison It is one thing standing vp to aske forgiunesse as did these penitents after their revolt another thing to attaine to the glory as they did that persevering receaved Martyrdome One thing it is being cast into prison not to come forth vntill thou hast payd the vttermost farthing another thing immediatly to receaue the reward of thy faith and vertue One thing it is being afflicted by a long sorrow for sinne to be corrected and purged a long time by fire and another to be cleansed from all sin by passion and martyrdome To bee briefe One thing it is long to hang in suspense cōcerning the sentence that the Lord shall giue in the day of iudgement and another to be incontinently crowned by the Lord. According to the manner of the ancients he tearmeth pennance and long affliction after sinne a purging fire opposeth it against the present and assured glory of the Martyres as against a condition more assured and farre more blessed And this said he to the end that such as were prisoners for Christ shold not revolt vpon this perswasion that afterwards repenting they should enioy like blisse and assurance as others that suffered martyrdome But of temporall torment after this life or of any purgation of soules separated from the bodies there is not one word throughout that Epistle neither elsewhere throughout all Cyprian who in puritie giueth place to none of the Ancients And indeed wee need not to seeke farther then the same Epistle wherein hee willeth that the penitents confessing their fault should be receiued For saith he Apud inferos confessio non est nec Exomologests illic fieri potest Which is more none of the wordes vttered in this passage can in any wise stand with our adversaries Purgatory 1. For he saith Longo dolore cruciatum emendari purgari diu igne The penitent long time tormented is amended and purged by the fire Now our adversaries say that the soules doe not or cannot amend thēselues in their Purgatory 2. It is also said that hee that is thus purged resteth in suspense and
doubt of the Lords sentence in the day of iudgement The Friers falshood But our adversaries say that the soules in Purgatory are assured of their salvation and therefore the Frier pag. 56. omitteth these last words of S. Cyprian 3. Finally sith hee speaketh of such as doe pennance after their revolt it is not possible hee should speake of soules separated from their bodies either of Purgatory Wrongfully therfore doe my adversaries make so many brags of this passage for it is most vniustly and fraudulently alleaged As also the Frier pag. 63. citeth S. Hierom vpon the fourth of Ieremy and in his second booke against Iovinian also Nazianzē in his 39. oration and Basil in his oratiō vpon the 9. of Esay where hee speaketh of purging torments and afflictions of a fire that trieth the faithfull but in this life or at the day of iudgement And here doe our adversaries shew the third degree of their bad consciences in their allegations of the Doctors Of Commemoration and prayer for the dead practised by divers of the ancients and that it maketh nothing for their Purgatory Throughout the bookes of my adversaries there is nothing more grosse thē their false presuppositiōs that they make aboue an hundred times wherby so soone as they haue alleadged any father that speaketh of Commemoratiō Almes Oblations or Sacrifice for the dead they strait conclude Then is there a Purgatory A matter false and that for sundry reasons 1. Wherefore did Saint Augustine in writing a whole tract of the care for the dead set downe never a word therin of Purgatory 2. Why did they offer for the Apostles Prophets Martyrs and made sacrifices for them As witnesseth Cyprian in his third book Epist 6. and in his fifth booke Epist 4. dare my adversaries therevpon inferre that the primitiue Church beleeved that the Apostles were in Purgatory 3. Epiphanius accuseth Arrius of heresie because hee reiected praier for the deade and bringeth many reasons to proue that this prayer made for the Patriarches Prophets Apostles and al the faithful is profitable to bee received yet speaketh hee not one word of Purgatory albeit that was the place where to speak of it or not at all 4. Denis falsly tearmed Areopagite disputing of the cōmodity of prayer for the dead still presupposeth that those for whom wee pray are blessed propounded for examples to the living and for matter of thanksgiving but of Purgatory or of any fire that purgeth soules he hath not a word 5. We haue heard in the second of the Macchabees that to pray for the dead is but meere madnesse vnlesse we haue regard to the Resurrection so not to the torment of Purgatory 6. The Greeke churches do pray for the dead yet do they denie Purgatory 7. Wee heard before by Chrysostome in his 32. homily vpō Matthew that such as procured praiers for their dead parents did beleeue that they were in flowred meddowes in that homily in aboue twēty places he saith that Death is the entrie to rest and an end of sorrow S. Augustin in the ninth book of his Cōfessions praieth for his mother Monica and S. Ambrose for the Emperour Valētinian yet do they protest that they beleeue that these parsons deceased are with God do enioy the pleasures of Eternall life But the matter of greatest consideratiō is that S. Ambrose saith that Valentinian dyed without Baptisme Oratione de obitu Valentiniani Valentinian I say who was a great Emperour and a Christian even from his birth having so many cleargy men at his command at whose hands to haue received Baptisme who then did better deserue to bee confined into Limbo or Purgatorie then he yet saith Ambrose He is in coelestiall felicity 9. Wee haue heard that most of the ancients shut vp the soules of all men in certaine hidden receptacles where they desired refreshing thervpon had they some groūd to pray for the dead albeit they did not beleeue Purgatorie wherin appeareth the corrupt faith of the Frier for he sets a brag vpon the words of S. Augustine in the 110. chapter of his Manual Wee must not deny but that the soules of the dead are relieued by the piety of the liuing but hee was wiser then to alleadge the wordes going before namely The soules are in hidden receptacles euen from their decease vntill the resurrection For so it woulde haue appeared that the opinion of S. Augustin touching praier for the dead was grounded vpon an error which the Church of Rome reiecteth also that frō an error will soone spring an abuse 10. We haue alreadie heard the opiniō of Origen and his followers touching the fire of the daie of Iudgement that should scortch and burne the soules evē of the most holy and perfect Also wee haue shewed howe fearefull S. Hillary was of this fire All this therfore might haue ministred vnto thē argument sufficient to haue praied for the deade as trembling at the punishment to come 11. What more can we desire Let vs make our adversaries our iudges in this case Do not the Priests many times receiue money for saying Masses for the young children that dyed soone after Baptisme who neverthelesse as they beleeved were neither in Limbo nor in Purgatory Let them now choose whether they will confesse their error or acknowledge their Avarice their want of knowledge or their bad consciences 12. Do they not in their dailie Masse pray for the soules that sleepe in a slumber of peace and therfore are not in the horror of flames 13. Let vs therfore heare the forme of the ordinarie praiers of the Church of Rome for the dead This book of sacred cerem sect 5. c. 1. libera domine à morte aeterna in die illo tremendo Saue them O Lorde from Eternall death in that terrible day when the heavēs and the earth shall bee moved when thou shalt come to iudge the world by fire I trēble and feare when the triall shall come and the wrath to come that day of wrath of calamity of misery that great and mervailous bitter day They pray that the souls of the dead may be saved from eternall death and the last iudgement which is more Throughout all the publicke praiers of the Church of Rome for the dead we finde not one word of Purgatory which proveth that it was not yet established in the Church at that time when they praied onlie for the refreshing of souls in their hidden receptacles or for the last iudgement or to eschew Eternall death 14. Finally is it not a matter mervailous notable that among such a multitude of the passages of the fathers by our adversaries quoted for praier for the dead there is not one that saith that these praiers were made to redeeme soules out of Purgatory This thē is the fourth degree of the deceipts and fraudulent allegations that our adversaries do make whē at every speech they still inculcate praier for the dead for proofe of