him that not the asserting of these opinions but the imposing of them on us as conditions of our communion with them the obtruding them into their Liturgies and publick offices are the causes of our refusing Communion with them and therefore that Mr. C. would he draw the Parallel must evidence that this was done by the universal Church in the daies of St. Gregory Nor 4. That it is not evident that there was such an Harmony betwixt the Eastern and Western Churches but rather the contrary as touching the Celibacy of Priests the power of the Pope c. I say to omit all these and many other things my last Proposition shall be this That neither St. Sect. 10 Gregory taught all these Doctrines nor yet were they embraced by our Church at that time 9 Proposition For to begin with St. Gregory 1. I have sufficiently evinced already that hee denied the Popes Supremacy 2. As for the infallibility of the Roman Church had hee known this to have been the opinion of those daies is it not a wonder that he should never plead it against his opponents and Adversaries 3. Touching transubstantiation Communion in one kinde the Sacrifice of the Mass what can you produce out of Gregory for them And 1. Mr. C. p. 137. As for Communion in one kinde you acknowledge that it was not practised for a thousand years and upward and where doth St. Gregory tell us that it may bee practised otherwise we have shewed you above that Pope Leo and Gelasius thought it no better then Sacriledge to Rob the People of the Cup and therefore if you affirm Gregory to have held the contrary as it is gratis dictum so will it be but an evidence of his departing from what was formerly maintained by his own Church 2. Where doth he say that Christ is corporeally in the Sacrament and that the substance of bread and wine remains not Nay Sacrificium quod passionem filii semper imitatur Dial. l. 4. c. 58. Non inordinate agimus si ex libris licet non Canonicis sed tamen ad edificationem Ecclesiae editis testimonia proferamus Moral l. 19. c. 16. Graeg in Ezek. l. 1. Hom. 9. that it then obtained not in the Church of God nor was esteemed as an Article of their faith is fully evidenc'd by Bishop Usher in his book de Christ Eccles success l. 1. c. 2. And for the sacrifice of the Mass he tells us that Christ is Mystically there offered and that this is such a sacrifice which is an imitation of Christs passion Against your new Canon of Scripture which the Dr. quarreld with he is most evident in his Morals where hee saith citing the 6 of Maccabees that it was not Canonical Against your Traditions necessary to supply the defect of Scripture hee tells us whatsoever serveth for edification and instruction is contained in the Volume of the Scripture And again Hereticks do usually for the confirmation of their perverse opinions suggest such proofs which are not found in Scripture and what I pray you are your Traditions yea all the doctrines you contend for in this Book And whereas you Sacrilegiously Rob the People of the use of Scripture he on the contrary assures us Graeg l. Epist 40. ad Theod. Med. that it is an Epistle sent from God to his Creature that is to Priest and People And if thou receive a Letter saith hee from an Earthly King thou wilt never sleep nor rest till thou understandest it The King of Heaven and God of men and Angels hath sent his Letters to thee for the good of thy soul and yet thou neglectest the reading of them Therefore I pray thee study them and dayly meditate on the Word of thy Creatour and learn the minde of God in the words of God You tell us that the worship of images must be observed Graeg l. 9. Ep 9. Adorare imagines omnibus modis devita and acknowledged by all means he contrariwise that by all means it must be avoided And again in the same place 't is unlawful to worship any thing that is made with hands because it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve and again in his Epistle to Serenus Bishop of Massilia I commend you that you had that Zeal that nothing made with hands should be worshiped but yet you should not have broken them c. but let them bee proserved and forbid the people the worshiping of them that the ignorant may have whence to gather the knowledge of the history and yet not sin in worshiping the Picture You assert a Purgatory after this life he is thought to contradict it by John Pank who p. 20. proves the contrary 1. Moral l. 8. c. 8. From his Morals where he saith whom mercy now delivereth not him justice after the world alone imprisoneth To which purpose is that of Salomon That in whatsoever place the tree falleth whether toward the South or towards the North there it shall be because at the time of a mans death either the good spirit or the evil spirit shall receive the soul going from the body he shall hold it with him for ever without any charge that neither being exalted it can come down to punishment nor being drowned in eternal punishments can thenceforth rise to any remedy of Salvation If then after death there bee no deliverance there be no change but as the Angel either good or bad receiveth the soul out of the body so it continueth for ever either exalted in joy or drowned in punishment then there can be no Purgatory then there can be nothing but Heaven or Hell where they that come shall abide for ever And in another place It is undecent to give our selves to long affliction for them whom wee are to beleive have come by death to true life This therefore seeing wee know we are to have a care not to be afflicted for the dead but to bestow our affliction on the living to whom our piety or devotion may bee profitable and our love yeild fruit Here is no place for Purgatory seeing he teacheth us to beleive that the faithful in death do attain to true life and that their passage from this world is to a better Neither doth hee acknowledge any use of Prayers Masses Trentals or any other offices or obsequies for the Dead who saith that our devotion and love yeildeth no fruit or profit to them Lastly as for Marriage of Priests I do not deny but that at first Pope Gregory did command them to live single but when hee understood that they were given secretly to fleshly pleasure and that hereupon many Children were Murthered many infants heads found in a Fish-pond hee disanulled that commandment p. 288. Vid. Sup. chap. 17 sect ult Now against this evidence we have nothing but the confession of an Osiander an Hâ—mphry and a Carrion whose citation by the way is altogether impertinent with
into Hell with the damned but receive them into glory which prayers the Church of Rome at this day makes for all the faithfull Now after these testimonies produced Sect. 15 our * Pag. 120. Authour returns to his Dilemma before sufficiently confuted If these Souls were believ'd to be in Heaven would it not be ridiculous and must then Liturgies and Fathers cited by us be ridiculous which pray for pardon of sins refreshment light and peace and a place in the bosome of Abraham for those whom you acknowledge to have been already at rest in the enjoyment of God in Abrahams bosome If in Hell would it not be impious Oh impious St. Chrysostome St. Augustine * Origen Greg. Nyssen Jerome and perhaps Epiphanius to offer the dreadful sacrifice to make supplications to be at charge in alms for the obtaining them repose c. but if they be neither in Heaven nor Hell where are they then Answ In sinu Abrahae or at rest in some state of pleasure and free from all punishment as you are told by Irenaeus Tertullian Origen Pseudo-Justin Lactantius Victor Dilly de Satisfact l. 5. c. 3 4 5 6. Hilary Ambrose Prudentius Chrysostome Jerome Augustine expecting the enjoyment of the Kingdom of Heaven at the Resurrection And thus having gone over our Adversaries testimonies in Defence of Pugatory we shall now add ex abundanti a few Arguments against it And first if there be no such punishments as the Papists do imagine suffer'd by the faithfull after this Life then are not their Souls in Purgatory but there is no such punishment of the faithful after this Life And first were there any such punishments of the faithful after this Life how wonderful is it that no Consolations should be given in against them There is not any evil that can befall us here but the Scripture hath afforded us some Consolation against it But though the punishments in Purgatory be more grievous by their own confession then any we can suffer here yet have we not one word of Consolation against them Secondly Abraham tells Dives that he had receiv'd his good things in this Life and Lazarus his evil and now he is comforted and thou tormented what is this comfort but his being carried into Abrahams bosome When was he carried thither when he dyed verse 22. The beggar died and was carried not into Purgatory but into Abrahams bosome The rich man dyed also and was buried I suppose none will deny that the rich man was buried presently after his death and then why should they deny that Lazarus was carried into Abrahams bosome soon after his death And if Abrahams bosome were Purgatory I cannot say he had cold but I 'me sure he had but small comfort of being there But be it so that he was not in Abrahams bosome yet he had receiv'd his evil things in this Life saith Father Abraham which with what truth could he have so said had he been to receive so great and so long punishments when his life was ended Now seeing this beggar had no prae-eminence over other beggars that are supposed to live piously as this Lazarus did or above other of the Saints of God if he escaped Purgatory and was immediately receiv'd into Abrahams bosome why may not they Thirdly The evils which the faithful suffer they suffer in the time of their peregrination and absence from their Fathers house but that is terminated and defined by our being in the body thus Peter Ep. 1. c. 1. vers 17. calls it the time of our sojourning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the time of our being from home the time of our being in this world saith Estius And again 2 Cor. 5.6 Dum sumus in corpore peregrinamur à Deo And when we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord therefore we are not absent from the Lord when we are in Purgatory we are absent from the Lord Ergo when we are absent from the body we are not in Purgatory A second Argument shall be this They that go to Abrahams bosome Paradise or an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens do not go to Purgatory at the same time but the faithful presently after death go to the fore-mentioned places or some of them Because they go to them when their earthly Tabernacle is dissolved 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly tabernacle were dissolved we have a building not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Now this implies that as soon as we are dispossess'd of one of these houses we go to the other or else the comfort would be but cold and the oration not worthy of God but delusory For put the Case I should tell my friend I see thy house is going to ruine But care not for it I have a better for you to betake your self to when that fails If he should come to me a while after for this house and I tell him true I have an house for him but he must be content to lie first ten or twenty years in the street and after that he shall go into it would not my friend think I had dealt very deceitfully with him having given him ground to hope that presently after the fall of his house he should have another So God here tells us well Christians if your house once fall your body be dissolved be not troubled you shall have an house in heaven when their body is dissolv'd they come expecting an house in heaven pleading his promise should God say true you shall have an house in Heaven but you must burn In purgatory first for a 100. yeers or two would he not seem to mock us 2. The house is said to be had when our earthly body is dissolved now this is either because we are then presently to enjoy it then down falls purgatory or else because after a hundred years in purgatory we shall enjoy it If so why may we not be said to have it before this house is dissolv'd seeing by our good works Martyrdom indulgence procured we may make our purgatory the shorter while we live here Bellarmine Answers true we shall go to heaven presently but only we that are cloathed that is endued with excellent vertues and merits and have perfected our repentance But the rest that are naked shall be saved so as by fire But 1. The Apostle saith they alone shall have the heavenly house who are cloath'd that being the condition yea this is the condition of their groaning to be dissolved which saith he we would not do were we to be found naked and yet they that were in this tabernacle did groan therefore none of them would be found naked 2. Those that go to Heaven are cloathed upon But those that go naked to purgatory cannot be so For seeing to be cloathed is to be adorn'd with more eminent degrees of virtue and they themselves acknowledge that in purgatory there is no place for the encrease of virtue
Consider what these Psalms mean The same General Practice and the like Intention of the Church therein is expressed and earnestly urged by him in the same Homily on the Epistle to the Hebrews Do we not praise God and give thanks unto him for that he hath now crowned him that is departed for that he hath freed him from his labours for that quitting him from fear be keepeth him with himself Are not the Hymnes for this End Is not the singing of Psalmes for this purpose All these be tokens of rejoycing Whereupon he thus presseth them that used immoderate mourning for the dead Thou sayest return O my soul unto thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee and dost thou weep Is not this Stage-playes Is it not meer simulation For if thou dost indeed believe the things that thou sayest thou lamentest idly But if thou playest and dissemblest and thinkest those things to be Fables why dost thou then sing why dost thou suffer those things that are done wherefore dost thou not drive away them that sing And in the end he concludeth somewhat prophetically That he very much feared lest by this means some grievous disease should creep in upon the Church Whether the Doctrine now maintained in the Church of Rome that the Children of God presently after their departure out of this life are cast into a Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone be not a spice of this disease and whether their practice in chanting of Psalmes appointed for the expression of joy and thankfulness over them whom they esteem to be tormented in so lamentable a fashion be not a part of that Scene and Pageantry at which Saint Chrysostome doth so take on I leave it unto others to judge That his fear was not altogether vain the event it self doth shew The Citation out of Eusebius touching the prayers of the people and clergy not without tears and groanings Sect. 10 De vita Constan l. 4 c. 9. for the soul of Constantine what doth it infer more then this that they were earnest with God that his soul might be partaker of some of those various benefits which we mentioned before and none of which at all refer to Purgatory But yet notwithstanding that they thought the Emperour in a State of Bliss must needs be granted if we suppose them to have believed what he told them being at the point of death that he had now attained the true life Euseb de vita Constant l. 4 c. 63. and that none but himself did understand of what happiness he was made partaker and that therefore he hastned his going immediately to God As to that of Epiphanius Sect. 11 telling us That prayers made fâ—â— the dead profit us albeit they do not blot out entirely all mortall sins First if this word stand which he puts in then must it be granted that they alleviate even Mortal sins and are well made for those that dye under the guilt of them and then he is necessarily to be understood in Saint Chrysostomes sence or else he contradicts the known Doctrine of the Church of Rome which is that those prayers are not made for any that dye under the guilt of Mortal sin And indeed if this be the sence viz. That prayers for the dead are profitable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 albeit they do not wholly blot out the sins of those that are prayed for then must it be said that some are prayed for whose sins are not yet wholly forgiven Secondly the Case stands thus Aerius had objected if the Prayers of those here do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 altogether profit the dead then let him procure some to pray for him after he is dead that those heinous sins he hath committed may not be required at his hands and then there will be no need of his being good Now Epiphanius thus Answers He that would see more of the sence of Epiph. in this place may Consult Bishop Usher from p. 236. to 246. where he shews evidently that the Romanists are Aâ—rians not we Although the prayer for the dead do not cut off all their sins which is the onely thing thou goest about to prove yet doth it profit notwithstanding for another purpose Now from this Sentence can it not be infer'd that Epiphanius thought these prayers profitable to the cutting off of any sins which the person had committed in his life time But this is onely added because Aerius went about to prove this only that prayers made for the dead did not cut off all their sins Now whereas Sect. 10. our Author would avoid the Answer usually return'd upon their Arguments Sect. 12 By telling them that Prayers are made for Martyrs Apostles yea all Saints p. 115 Sect. 11. by the Fathers which yet they dare not say are still in Purgatory with this old Salvo that such prayers as are made for remission of sins refreshment c. are not made for them but imperfect sinners ' This reply hath been obviated already by me by shewing that such prayers as these he mentions were made for the Martyrs and Apostles as 't is more largely done by Dally Page 501. and 507. as to refreshment with such abundant Evidence as I am confident Master Cressie will not be able to reply unto it and as to remission of sins with convictive Evidence Yea further they prayed for them that they might be delivered from the punishments of Hell and obtain everlasting bliss as appears from the Liturgy of Saint James That they might pass by the Gates of Hell and the wayes of Darkness From the prayers used of old in the Roman Church For all departed in the Confession of the Holy Trinity that they might be separated from the punishments of the wicked and obtain everlasting bliss And from what the Romanists say daily in their Mass Desiring the Lord Jesus that he would deliver the souls of all the Faithful that are departed from the pains of Hell and from the deep Lake and from the mouth of the Lion that Hell do not swallow them up that they fall not into darkness Sect. 13 Well but our Author proceeds and tells us that indeed many of these prayers did regard the day of Judgement p. 115. Sect. 11. and the glory ensuing yet withall that they thought to some souls a present refreshment did accrew in the intermedial condition is evident from what Saint Ambrose saith He would never cease his Intercessions for the Soul of the dead Emperour till he found a deliverance by them And we answer him Where is it that Saint Ambrose saith so And of what Emperour Doth he think we have nothing to do but to read over Authors to find out his Quotations Quotations did I say or falfifyings For let us hear Saint Ambrose thus speaking Let us believe that Valentinian is ascended from the desert that is to say De Obitu Valent Imp. from this dry and unmanured place unto those flowry delights where
there is no probability of being cloathed upon and therefore they cannot be supposed to go to purgatory naked since they that go thither are sure afterward to go to heaven Again vers 6 7. the Apostle tells us that whilest we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord and that Here the faithful desire to be absent from the body because it hinders them from the presence of the Lord and walking by sight now had they been acquainted with purgatory surely they would have express'd their desires of being absent from that also seeing that was like not only to be more irksome to them but also more durable and therefore a greater impediment since therefore they groan'd so much to be deliver'd from a short life here which hinders their enjoyment of Gods presence and not at all for deliverance from a hundred or two hundred years continuance in purgatory for so long saith Bellarmine the Church hath prayed for Souls in purgatory we infer they were not acquainted with it Again they that are to be receiv'd into Eternal habitations when their life fails them are to be received at death for then they fail But so are charitable men and by parity of Reason other pious souls The minor is proved from Luke 16. v. 8. Make unto your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that is use it so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that when you fail i. e. dy they may receive you that is may procure you a reception or rather as Doctor Hammond you may be received into everlasting habitations But our Author hath his arguments also Sect. 18 which come now to be considered And first he tells us of an express testimony for Purgatory in the Book of Macchabees Now not to call upon him for an Answer to Dr. Cosens of the Canon of Scripture as knowing how impossible it is to be done albeit it be necessary to make this Testimony a Cogent proof seeing he onely tells us that there is such a place in the Book of Macchabees I will add where the words may be found even in Dally page 439. where they are fully considered and it made evidently to appear that they come not up to a proof of Purgatory neither are they consistent with the received Maxims of the abettors thereof and whereas our adversary calls in the Universal Tradition and practice of the Synagogue of the Jews to justifie this place the same worthy person hath made it evident that neither this nor any other Testimony produced by them is any tolerable proof of such practice p. 449. 450. Nay he evinceth most clearly from this passage that this practice was not received in our Saviour's or the Apostles time Ne apud infimos corruptos Judaeos yea he spends the 14. Chapter of his second Book to evidence that the Jewes were ignorant of Prayers for the dead and should we after all this give any credit to your confident assertions of such evident untruths It concerns you if you respect your credit to answer what is extant in the forecited places of the Learned Dally and to evince this universal Tradition and practice you here speak of without the least offer of any proof unless what follows must be so esteem'd viz. that from the Jewes no doubt Plato borrowed this Doctrine and from Plato Cicero But I pray you Sir permit us who have the Arguments fore-mentioned to evidence that in our Saviours time the Jewes had no such Custome to doubt of what you boldly here assert l. 4. c. 5. p. 360. especially when the same Dally runs antipodes unto you and tells us though with greater modesty ab iis Platonicis ut videtur illam Purgatorii rationem baustam atque acceptam tum Judaei tum adversarii retinent Sect. 19 that both you and they as it seems received your Purgatory from the Platonists Mr. Cr. P. 120. You have one assault more from natural Reason which you say will tell us that heaven into which no unclean thing can enter is not so quickly and easily open to imperfect souls as unto perfect nor have we any sign that meerly by dying sinful livers become immediately perfect 1 Thess 4.17 Now to this I Answer that what ever natural Reason may seem to dictate I am sure the Oracles of God will tell us that they who are alive at the Resurrection if pious souls though surely some of them shall be imperfect shall not go to Purgatory for 100. years but be caught up into the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall be for ever with the Lord. Secondly albeit there be nothing of Reason or Scripture to intimate that onely by dying we become perfect yet doth both Reason and Scripture more then intimate that presently after death we are amongst the Spirits of just men made perfect that when this Tabernacle is dissolved we go to an house Eternal in the Heavens when we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord and consequently are purified by the holy Spirit from the imperfections that adhered to us CHAP. XI Master Cressie's misadventures Sect. 1. His first Argument from 1 Cor. 11. Answered Sect. 2. His second from Reason Sect. 3. His Authorities spurious Sect. 4. As 1. Saint Basils Liturgy Sect. 5. Cyrils Mystag Catechism Sect. 6. The Acts of the Nicene Council Sect. 7. Greg. Nyssens Catechism Sect. 8. Saint Cyrils testimony considered Sect. 9. His Authorities say no more then our Churches Liturgy Sect. 10. Saint Chrysostome not for them but against them Sect. 11. His Citation abused by Master Cressie Ib. as likewise Saint Ambrose Sect. 12. The Doctours argument from the fruit of the Vine vindicated Sect. 13 14. Mr. Cressie's evasion confuted Sect. 15. The weakness of his argument against the Doctours Exposition evidenced and confessed by Jansenius Sect. 16 17. an argument against Transubstantiation Sect. 18. Why the Fathers not insisted on Sect. 19. The Fathers are not for the adoration of the Sacrament Sect. 20. Saint Chrysostome Saint Ambrose and Saint Austins testimonies considered Sect. 21 22 23. The contrary evidenced from Doctor Taylor Sect. 24. IN this Chapter we meet with many misadventures Sect. 1 Mr. Cressie p. 124. and mistakes as 1. that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as old as the first general Council whereas it was never used by any Father or at least never applied unto this matter for the space of a thousand years and upwards nor can I find any of their own writers besides himself that ever pleaded the use of such a word 2. Another mistake is that the Church onely saith the change made in the holy Sacrament is usually called Transubstantiation when the Trent Council expresly tells us Mr. Cressie p. 124. that it is called so propriè convenienter aptissime most fitly properly and conveniently 3. Whereas you tell us Sect. 5 that it is a difficult matter to define what is our Churches Tenent