penaunce whereby the woundes of mans frailty are profitably cured be found 5 Aske your owne conscience M. Allen whether you haue not miserably wrested the Scriptures your selfe And lette all reasonable men aunswere whether such textes of Scriptures as you haue wrested out of the true sense I haue not wrested out of your handes And that not by shamefull denial of the Doctors but euen by the testimony exposition of the doctors them selues with force of matter rather then flow of wordes with plaine meaning rather then with deceitfull dealing And whereas you boast your selfe to be a reporter of antiquity you haue shewed your selfe to be a fauorer of forgery and a corrupter of antiquity As for the gracious giftes and conceit of comfort that you bragge of in your counterfeit Church of hypocrites and sclaunderous Synagoges of Satan how so euer you paynt it out with glorious termes we geue most humble harty thaÌ„ks to the infinite goodnes of God which hath geuen his holy spirite into our hearts with perfect assurance of his fauour euerlasting and hath so furnished his seruaunts with such giftes as he hath thought sufficient for the setting forth of his praise in his Church vpon earth that we neede not desire any other giftes or comfort out of his family but onely the continuance and increase of the same which we haue already in his owne house vntill we shall be translated from this mortall and corruptible state to the eternall and incorruptible glory which is laid vp in heauen for all them that wait for the appearing of the glorious God our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ to whom be all honour and dominion both now and euermore Amen THE ENDE OF THE FIRST BOOKE THE SECOND BOOKE INTREATING OF THE PRAIERS and other ordinary reliefe that the Church of Christ procureth for the soules departed THE PREFACE OF THIS BOOKE wherein the matter of the treatise and the ordre of the Authors preceading be briefely opened 1 WE haue now taried very longe in the consideration of Gods iustice mighty scourge not onely for the euerlasting outcastes but also for the exacte triall of the chosen childrens wayes The beholding whereof must needes ingender some sorow and sadnesse of minde and with all as it commonly happeth in our frailety a certaine bitter tediousnesse both in the writer and the reader though for my parte I will say with S. Paule that it greeueth me neuer a whit that I haue in my talke geuen you occasion of sadnesse being assured that this present greefe may worke perfect penaunce to vndoubted saluation But the wearinesse of that rough part which might both by the weight of the matter and also by my rude handeling quickely arise to the studious reader I shall in this booke wholy wipe away not by art or pleasant fall of words which in plaine dealing is not much requisite but by the singular comfort of our cause In the continuall course whereof we shall ioy more and more at the beholding of Gods passing mercy in remission of sinnes and mitigatioâ—â—f the paines which iustice enioyned For now we must talke how the fiery sword of Gods ire may be turned from his people VVhich as one of the fathers truely saide beareth a great shewe of vengeaunce and iudgement because it is named a firy sworde but yet knowen withall to be a tourning sworde that is gladius versatilis it shall geue great cause of comfort againe O sapientes sayth deuoute Dasmacene ad vos loquor scrutamini erudimini quia plurimus est timor Dei domini omnium sed multò amplior bonitas formidabiles quidem minae incomparabilis autem clementia horrenda quidem supplicia ineffabile autem miserationum suarum pelagus Thus he speaketh of Purgatory and mercy O you of the wise sorte to you do I speake searche and learne that the feare of God the Lorde of all thinges is maruaillous much but his goodnesse farre ouerreacheth it His threatning exceding feâ—refull but his clemency vncomparable the prepared punishmeÌ„ts doubtlesse horrible but the bottomlesse â—ea of his mercies is vnspeakable so saide he Therefore if our sinnes forgeuen were neuer so greuous or our vicious life so farre wasted in idle welth that space of fructefull penaunce and opportunity of well working by the nightes approching and our Lordes sodden calling be taken away in which longe differring of our amendement heuy and sore execution must needes for iustice sake be done yet let vs not mistrust but God measureth his iudgement with clemency and hath ordeined meanes to procure mercy and mitigate that sentence euen in the middest of that firy doungion that the vessels of grace and the redemed flocke may worthely sing both mercy iudgement to our gracious God who in his angre forgetteth not to haue compassion neither withdraweth his pity in the middest of his ire For this imprisonment endureth no longer then our debtes be paide this fire wasteth no further then it findeth matter to consume this disâ—riet wise flame as some of the fathers before termed it chastiseth no longer then it hath cause to correct Yea often before this fire by course of iustice can cease God quencheth it with his sonnes bloude recompenseth the residew by our maisters merittes and accepteth the carefull crie of our mother the Church for hâ—r children in paine The memorie of Christes death liuely and effectually setforth in the soueraigne misteries vppon the Altare in earth entereth vp to the presence of his seate and procureth pardon in heauen aboue the merites of all sainctes the prayer of the faithfull the workes of the charitable both earnestly aske and vndoubtedly finde mercye and grace at his hande For of such the Prophet Dauid asketh Nunquid in aeternum proijciet Deus aut continebit in ira sua misericordias suas VVill God caste them awaye for euer or will he shutte vp his mercy when he is angrie No he will not so sayth S. Ambrose Deus quos proijcit non in aeternum proijcit God casteth of many whom he doth not euerlastingly for sake Then let vs seeke the wayes of this so mercyfull a Lorde that we may take singular comforte therein our selues against the day of our accompt and indeuour mercyfully to helpe our deare brethern so afflicted lest if we vse not compassion towardes them we iustly receiue at Gods hande for the rewarde of our vnmercyfulnesse iudgement and iustice with out mercy THE SECOND BOOKE TO THE PREFACE 1 YOu haue taryed longer in consideratioÌ„ of Gods iustice then is agreable to the matter of his mercy which is the death of his only sonne our Lord and Sauiour Christ. And now you will mollyfie the hardnesse of that handling with the sory comforte of your vnchristian cause Wherin you haue more regarde to the heating of your owne harthe then to the cooling of the selye soules to kindle a good fire in your owne kitchen then to quench the
Nouatians Socrates testifieth he could doe not good with them because they enuied his ambition saying that the bishoprike of Rome like as of Alexandria was long before growen beyonde the bondes of priesthood into foreine lordship Lib. 7. cap. 11. By these examples it is plaine that although the mysterie of iniquitie beganne to worke in Victor Cornelius Stephanus Anastasius Innocentius Zozimus Bonifacius and Caelestinus yet it was reproued by some godly men as Irenaeus Polycrates Dionysius Alexandrinus Cyprianus the Councell of Aphrica and Socrates the Historiographer 4 VVhether all nations sodenly and in one yeare were moued to the doctrine of the Papistes no one man of all their true Church neither preaching teaching writing nor attempting any thing against it or making mention of it WHen the scripture telleth vs that the mysterie of iniquitie preparing for the generall defection and reuelation of Antichrist wrought euen in S. Paules time 2. Thess. 2. it is foly to aske whether sodenly and in one yere all Religion was corrupted And yet all nations neuer consented to the doctrine of the Papistes for as it hath bene often saide the Greeke church and other Orientall churches hath neuer receiued the Popish religion in many cheefe pointes and especially in acknowledging the Popes authoritie what preaching teaching and writing hath bene against it is shewed before and shal be more declared hereafter 5 VVhether sodenly all bookes of seruice were altered NO forsoothe but by litle and litle in the Latine Church as for the Greeke Orientall Churches neuer receyued nor vsed your Latine seruice bookes 6 VVhether in a moment the Masse was saide in steede of other Apostolike Communion WHen Durande your owne doctor sheweth what Pope sewed on euery patche that belongeth to your Masse it were foly for vs to say it came in sodenly and impudencie in you to affirme that it came whole from the Apostles which was so long a framing in so many peeces 7 VVhether men beganne sodenly to praye for the soules departed FIrst it is manifest that men had no warraÌ„t out of God his worde to pray for the dead and it can not be proued for 200 yeares after Christ by any credible author that it was vsed in the Church wherefore it is certeine that it was first planted by the deuill as were other abuses And because it hath a pretence of Charitie deceyued simple men the sooner Yet did it not so preuaile in the primitiue Church that they durst define what profit the soules receyued thereby for Chrysostome in his 3. Homelie vpon the first Chapter of the Epist. to the Philippians sayeth Procuremus eis aliquid auxilij modici quidem attamen iuuemus eos Let vs procure them some helpe small helpe truely but yet let vs helpe them Likewise Augustine in the 9. booke and 13. Chapter of his confessions where he prayeth for his father and mother declareth how vncertaine he was of that matter one while he feareth the danger of euery soule that dieth in Adam An other while he beleueth that they neede not his prayer yet he desireth God to accept the same and moue other men to remember them in their prayers Thus it is necessary that they wander which leane vnto mens traditions without the worde of God. 8 Sodenly required the helpe of Sainctes in heauen WHether sodenly or by litle and litle men were brought to such superstition that they required helpe of Sainctes it maketh litle matter seeing it is contrary to the worde of God and the example of the primitiue Church for 200. yeares after christ Yet it is to be thought that it grew vp as other errors by litle and litle And S. Augustine in his booke De cura pro mortuis agenda wearieth him selfe and in the ende can define nothing in certeine how the Sainctes in heauen should heare the prayers of men on earth Such doubtfulnesse they fall into that leaue the word of God and leaue to traditions 9 Sodenly the tongue of common prayers altered FIrst the Greeke church other churches both in Asia Aethiopia neuer receiued the Latine tongue but to this day continue in their vulgare tongue The Westerne Church for the most parte all spake and vnderstoode Latine as the sea coast of Aphrica Italye Fraunce Spayne Britayne as for Germany was lately conuerted to the faith Then seeing they spake Latine and had their common prayer in Latine The tongue of their common prayer was not altered but their speach was altered from the tongue of their common prayer and this was not sodainely for it was more than twelue hundred yeares after Christ before it waâ— taken for a Catholike doctrine that common prayer should be vsed in latine S. Augustine preached in latine all the people vnderstoode him and that they might the better vnderstand him he doth vse such phrases and termes which were not pure latine but commonly vsed of the people as Ossum and Foenerare c. But soone after his time when the Gothes and Vandalles oueranne the Empire the latine tongue which before was not pure among the people began daily to be more corrupted and yet remained after a sort latine vntill the yeare of our Lorde 768. when Charles the great began to râ—igne in France and long after for within the time of his reigne which was 47. yeares a Councell was holden at Turon in France what yeare it is not certeyne but it is probable that in the latter ende of his empire in which it was decreed that euery bishop should haue certeine homilies Et easdem quisque apertè studeat transferre in rusticam Romanam linguam aut Theotiscam quo facilius cuncti possint intelligere quae dicuntur Turon 3. cap. 17. And that euery one studye to translate them plainly into the rusticall Romane tongue or into the Theotisce tongue that all men may more easily vnderstand what is sayd By this Canon it is euident that at this time the people vnderstood the Latine tongue though it were very rude and rustical And where the Canon prescribeth the same homilies to be translated either into the rude latine tongue or into the Theotisce tongue Although this word Theotisca seeme to be corrupted yet it is most certeine that they meant Dutch tongue for as much as Carolus magnus had a great part of Germanie vnder his dominion and the Germanes as neuer throughly subdued by the Romanes neuer throughly receiued the latine tongue Yet it is manifest that they vnderstoode their common prayer in the latine tongue though not perfectly because the Canon sayth Quo facilius c. That all men may more easely vnderstand signifying that they vnderstood the pure latine tongue though hardely and not perfectly About the yeare of our Lorde 813. the knowledge of the latine tongue beganne more and more to weare awaye from amongest the common people which when the bishops perceiued they decreed in the Councell of Magunce cap. 25. that euery Sondaye and holy daye there shoulde be a
not what sense they made so they were handsomly matched togither Well howsoeuer our workes shal be found when they shall be openly iudged before him that best doth know them I am sure they shall not proue worse then the popish cleargy and if they shall be examined by mans iudgement me thinke they should be very vnequall Iudges before whom we should not be able to approue our innocency in comparison of our aduersaries doings But that in wordes we praise all maner of sinne whether it be in committing that which God forbiddeth or in omitting that which God commaundeth If that I say can be proued against vs then let our enemy pursue our soule and take it yea let him tread our life downe to the earth and lay our honour in the dust But to returne to our works what example is brought out to confirme the same Not the particular faultes of some of our profession that might beare some colour of confirmation lest for the infirmitie of euery one of our side he might be requited with the enormities of an hundreth of his owne sect but that he chuseth which is common to most of our preachers not to be found in any one of theirs This no doubt must be some great offence to iustifie so heinous an accusation In deede a great mote in the Papistes eyes that is the mariage of our ministers Blessed be God that although some singular persons may be accused of notorious crimes yet our whole state can not be charged by this instrument of Sathan with no greater fault then the allowance of Gods owne institution And yet see howe this rowling rhetorician scoffeth with the schole mens terme of Annexum ordini Be like S. Paule taketh mariage to be so annexed to the order of an ecclesiasticall minister that he neuer describeth the perfect paterne of a Bishop or Deacon but one of the first pointes is that he be the husband of one wife But I pray you M. Allen though you can not away with the mariage of vowed Priestes are you also angry with the matrimony of our new disordered ministers as it pleaseth you to call them which neuer tooke your order nor medled with any vowes you were wont to account them for mere lay men and will you not allow the mariage of lay men at least wise to be lawfull if you can not with the Apostle call it honorable Is that which the Apostle counteth honorable of you called licentious life and which the spirite of God nameth an vndefiled bed dare you terme it contemptibly a couch for delicate persons ease What haue you here to cloke your open blasphemy for your wordes are not of the abuse but of the state of mariage it selfe You procede with like modesty to affirme that we haue remoued all those meanes that might serue for the abating of sinnes dominion and which are they For soth the Sacrament of penaunce fasting and the opinion of purgatory To the first we answere that we know no Sacrament of penaunce instituted by Christ but the doctrine of repentance defaced by the false and deuilish perswasions of auriculer confession superstitious satisfaction and popish absolution we haue faithfully restored according as the same is taught in the holy Scriptures of god And those other we haue remoued as being not onely contrary to the doctrine of Gods word but also as most pernicious pillowes and blasphemous boulsters of all sinne and securitie For what feare or conscience could be of sinne intended or committed where this perswasion tooke place that the fast once rehearsed in the eare of a priest and a fewe wordes by him pronounced after a sory satisfaction of a pelting penance according to the Priestes pleasure was a full and sufficient discharge both before God and the world And as for the power and authoritie of pardoning or reteining sinnes that our Sauiour Christ hath committed to his ministers is not taken away by vs but truly declared to be the iudgement of God and not the absolute authority of man But how blasphemously the Papists chalenge vnto them selues this authority let it appeare by this that M. Allen calleth it that power which the sonne of man hath in earth to forgiue sinnes by which words our Sauiour Christ challengeth vnto him self that which is proper vnto his diuinitie although he were humbled in the shape of a seruaunt vppon earth namely an absolute authority to forgiue sinnes which none hath in heauen or in earth but only god And as to the remouing of fasting if that be fasting which they call fasting namely the eating of fish it hath not bene diminished but increased in our time and as for true fasting and abstinence in deede it hath bene publikely commaunded obserued as occasion was offered and priuate fasting with the right vse thereof is still commended in our doctrine men exhorted vnto it Onely the abuses superstition and deuilish doctrine set forth by the papistes is remoued if it be litle practised it is because among many professors there are but few followers of the Gospel But looke vpon the persecuted congregations and you shall see often publike fasting the priuate exercise the Lord knoweth and hath commaunded to be couered rather then opened Nowe must we come to the opinion of purgatory which in deede togither with masse of Scala coeli we haue vtterly remoued and digged vp euen from the very foundations howsoeuer M. Allen gathering togither the old rude rubbish tempering it with new fine cement would labour to build it vp againe And euen as I sayd of popish confession and satisfaction so say I of purgatory we abhorre the opinion therof not only as blasphemous against the bloud of Christ which purgeth vs from al our sinnes but also as a very canch of careles securitie which Sathan hath deuised to aduaunce the dominion of sinne For where as the feare of euerlasting torments of hell fire is the right terrour to bridle iniquitie as that which is due for sinnes and wickednes yet restraineth not the vngodly from their abominable life what restraint shall there be when the eternall paines are chaunged into temporall the temporall paines may be redemed by so small a price as popish satisfactions may be bought for which redemption if it be neglected in mens life yet it may be performed by their friendes after their death M. Allen sayth fewe of vs consider the deepe wound that sinne maketh in mans soule But we may iustly say to the Papistes that they neither consider the depth of the wound nor the perfection of the medicine For we consider the wound of sinne to be as deepe as the deepest pitt in hell which will not be filled vp with the slabbersawce of mens merits and satisfactions but onely with the bloud of the onely sonne of god which is so soueraigne a salue for this so desperate a sore that of them that were the children of wrath and deade in sinnes it quickneth them rayseth
to the places of punishment in the next life let them with purgatory rase vp the fathers resting place so plainely set forth by scripture beleued of the whole Church and alwayes taught by the holy fathers Yea let them that will haue no place for sinners finde with blasphemie hell like torments for Gods owne Sonne with the damned spirites My hearte surely will scarse serue me to report it and yet cursed Caluine was not afearde to write it and with arrogant vauntes against the blessed fathers to auouch the same That miserable forsaken man sawe that the onely graunt of the olde fathers punishment by the lacke of euerlasting ioye might of force driue him to acknowledge that God sometimes exerciseth his iustice vpon those which he loueth in the next life and so consequently that Purgatory paynes might be inferred therevppon therefore he fell headelong to this horrible blasphemye that Christ went not to loose any from the paynes of the next life but to be punished in hell with the deadely damned him selfe for to amend the lacke of his passion vppon the Crosse. O our cursed tyme O corrupt conditions this beast writeth thus agaynst our blessed Sauiours death and against the sufficiency of the abundant price of our redemption and yet he liueth in mans memory yea his bookes be greedely redd redde Nay by such as would be counted the chiefe of the cleargy and beare Byshops names they are commaunded to be redde and the very booke wherein this all other detestable doctrine is vttered especially by their authority commended to the simple Curats study that they might there learne closely in deuilish bookes such wicked heresies as the preachers them selues dare not yet in the light of the world vtter nor maintaine But other be not so farre fallen therefore they must of reason confesse that God by iust correction hath before Christes comming visited in the next world many hundred yeares togither the sinnes of those whome he dearly loued Although not onely in all that time the soules of the holy Patriarches felt the lacke of the aboundant fruition of the Maiesty but also for sinne they both then in rest and now in vnspeakeable felicity want till this day the encrease of ioy and blesse that by the receauing of their bodyes yet lying in dust they are vndoubtedly sure of Therfore it is ouer much presumption to limit the maiesty of God in the gouernment of his owne creatures to the borders of our short life and almost it toucheth his very prouidence with iniury to say that he letteth him scape without punishment for his sinnes that repented not till the houre of death as for whom he hath no scourge in the next life as he had here if death had not preuented his purpose These childish cogitations can not stand with the righteousnes of his will that for the first sinne committed doth not onely punish many euerlastingly of the forsaken sorte but also for the same punisheth both his best beloued in earth and for a time abateth the felicity of the blessed Sainctes in heauen But I will not stray after these men My matter is so fruitefull that I may not roue And though the sectes of these dayes haue so infected euery braunch of our christian faith that a man can not well ouerpasse them what so euer he taketh in hand yet I will not medle with them no further then shall concerne the quicke of our cause and the necessary light of our matter 5 Now this lusty gallaunt as though he had fully repayred and fortified the olde ruinous and battered towers of limbus patrum with canuas paynted walls he standeth vpon his bulwarke of browne paper and cryeth defiaunce to all his enemies and especially he vttereth his spite agaynst Caluine as a notorious enemy of his cause quarel Whom because he is to young to encounter withall by any witt learning reason or truth he spitteth out against him most impudent sclaunders raylings and lyes in which faculty he hath striued so much to shew him selfe eloquent that not satisfying him selfe with the voyce of a man he hath borrowed the tongue of the Deuill him selfe or at the least wise for feare he should not lye throughly geuen ouer his shamelesse tongue to be wagged by the father of lyes For what man with any shewe of humane reason would accuse Caluine to deny the sufficiency of the redemptiō of Christ to affirme that Christ went downe into hell after his death to be punished there with the damned him selfe for to amend the lacke of his passion vpon the crosse whose doctrine God him selfe the Angells and all the world doth knowe and testifie to be directly contrary to these sclaunders For who euer more constantly affirmed or more substantially proued the sufficiency of our redemption by Christes death what asse so vnlearned if he can but conster Caluins latine in his catechisme institutions or any part of his workes where he entreateth of that article of Christes descense in to hell may not plainly see that he vtterly denieth his descending into hell after his life affirming the same to be vnderstood of the wrath of God which he sustayned for our sinnes before his death at that time especially when he that was God complained that he was forsaken of God which mystery if M. Allen vnderstand not it is no maruell seeing he abridgeth so much the benefite of Christes redemption as all papistes doe alwayes and he specially in this his defence of purgatory and yet he is not ashamed to say of Caluine this beaste writeth against our blessed Sauiours death If I did not moderate somwhat my corrupt affections I could requite him the like reproches but this much I must needes say Is Caluine a beast for speaking the truth to the glory of Christes redemption Allen an honest man for sclaundering him to the defacing of Gods honour But because he would not be thought to haue spued oute all his poison against Caluine he goulpeth vp an other bowlefull of rayling and sclaundering against our Bishoppes who haue not onely suffered but also commended Caluins bookes to be reade and studied of the simple curates affirming that they doe priuily set forth by books that which they dare not openly preach If euery man that can be a witnesse that M. Allen lyeth in this matter should pull one heare from his heade or bearde they would leaue him neuer an heare of an honest man behinde them But that he maie returne to his gentle aduersaries with whome is lesse daungerous dealing there be some he sayth that graunt the punishment of the fathers after their death of whose liberall concession he doubteth not but to patch vp his Purgatory In which practise he is not vnlike a fonde fellowe of whome I haue hearde men iest in Cambridge who when he was non plus as they terme it in disputation and all his argument spent that he had prouided Now sayth he will I dispute of your concesses
and graunts So M. Allen for euery matter when his owne reasons faile hath the concessions of his aduersaries which if they will not franckly make he wil forcibly compell them to say what he will haue them Last of all he sayth it is presumption such as toucheth the very prouidence of God with iniury to say that he letteth any sinner scape vnpunished which repented not vntill the houre of death as for whome he hath no scourge in the next life as he had here if death had not preuented his purpose But these he calleth childish cogitations but he might well haue termed them deuilish imaginations which will controule the wisedome and mercie of God vnder his blinde reason and corrupt affections and not suffer God to shew mercy vpon whome he will shew mercy Rom. 9. without his blaspemous and enuious murmuring His promise made so pleasauntely not to digresse from his fautlesse matter how perfectely he performeth we shall see afterwarde That the practise of Christes Church in the courte of binding and loosing mans sinnes doth liuely set forth the order of Gods iustice in the next life and proue Purgatory CAP. III. 1_THis being then proued that God him selfe hath oftē visited the sinnes of such as were very deare vnto him let vs now diligently beholde the graue authority of loosing and binding sinnes and the courte of mans conscience which Christ woulde haue kept in earth by the Apostles and Pastours of our soules where we neede not doubt but to finde the very resemblaunce of Gods disposition and ordinance in punishing or pardoning offensies For the honor and poure of this ecclesiasticall gouernement is by especiall commission so ample that it conteineth not onely the preaching of the Gospell and ministerie of the Sacraments but that which is more neare to the might and maiestie of God and onely aperteineth to him by proprietie of nature the very exact iudgement of all our secret sinnes with loosing and binding of the same For as God the father gaue all iudgement to his onely Sonne so he at his departure hense to the honor of his spouse and necessarie giding of his people did communicate the same in most ample maner as S. Chrysostome sayth to the Apostles and priestes for euer that they practising in earth terrible iudgemēt vpon mans misdeedes might fully represent vnto vs the very sentence of God in punishment of wickednesse in the worlde to come The princes of the earth haue poure to binde too but no further then the body but this other sayth he reacheth to the soule it selfe and practised here in the world beneth which is a straunge case hath force and effect in heauen aboue The poure of all potentates vnder the maiestie of the blessed Trinitie in heauen and earth is extreme basenesse compared to this By this graue authoritie therefore the Pastors and Priestes imitating Gods iustice haue exercised continually punishment from the spring of Christian religion downe till these dayes vpon all sinners perpetually enioyning for satisfying of Gods wrath penaunce and workes of correction either before they would absolue them as the olde vsage was or els after the release of their offensies which now of late for graue causes hath bene more vsed In which sentence of their iudgement we plainely see that as there was euer accomp◠made amongest all the faithfull of paine due vnto sinne though the very offense it selfe and the giltinesse as you would say thereof were forgiuen before so we may gather that it was euer enioyned by the priestes holy ministerie after the qualitie and quantitie of the fault committed VVhereupon they charged some maner offenders with certaine prayers onely other with large almose diuerse with long fasting many with perilous peregrinations some with suspending from the sacraments and very greuous offenders with curse and excommunication VVhereby thou maiest not onely proue that there is paine to be suffred for thy sinnes but also haue a very image of that miserie which in the next life may faule not onely to the damned for euer but also to all other which neglected in this time of grace the fructes of penaunce and workes of satisfaction for the aunswere of their liues past This great correction of excommunication and separation from the sacramentes S. Paule termeth the rodde wherewith he often threatened offenders yea and some times though it was with great sorow the punishment was so extreme he mightely in Gods steade occupied the same As once against Himeneus and Alexander and an other time towardes a Corinthian vpon whome being absent he gaue sentence of their deliuery vp to Satan not to be vexed of him as Iob was for the increase of merite sayth Chrysostome but in their flesh meruelously to be tormented for paiment for their greuous offensies and as the Apostle writeth of the Corinthian that his soule might be false in the day of our Lorde CAP. III. 1 BEcause this man would shew him selfe mindeful of his promise hereafter he is euen now wandered out of Purgatory into excommunication which notwithstanding he counteth no digression at all because it doth set forth the order of Gods iustice in the next life and proue Purgatory which were neither so nor so but that he hath a speciall grace to make all thinges serue his purpose though they be neuer so farre from it Omnia ex omnibus he can make what he liste of euery thing We confesse the power of excommunication geuen by Christ vnto his Church and the seueritie of the punishment thereof to be greater then the swelling wordes of M. Allens eloquence can expresse but where as he addeth that it hath bene the perpetuall vsage of Gods church for satisfying of Gods wrath to enioyne penaunce and workes of correctiō before they would absolue which was the olde custome or els after the release of their offence which was the new fashion he sheweth him selfe ignoraunte of the right vse and end of that auctoritie which our Sauiour hath committed vnto his Church For the chiefe ende of this discipline is to bring the sinners to repentaunce which if it may be obtained by admonitiō the sworde of excommunication must not be drawen out As appereth plainely by Christes owne wordes Matth. 18. If priuate admonition where the offence is not publike may preuaile to winne our brother there needeth no witnesse to be called If two or three may serue to admonish the matter neede not to be referred to the Churches knowledge and he that heareth the Church so that by the admonition thereof he is brought to harty repentaunce is not to be cut of from the Church nor to be deliuered to Sathan for how should the Church refuse him whome God receiueth But if he obstinatly contemne the gentle admonition of the Church or as our Sauiour saieth if he refuse to heare the Church then let him be as an heathen or publicane For afterwarde if being excommunicated he shew harty tokens of repentaunce
and good workes shew their coÌ„uersion not only by wordes but in deed and in trueth c. With them the Byshop maie deale more gently whereas those that thinke it is sufficient onely to enter into the Church are charged in any wise to keepe the ordinary time c. Wherefore he that gathereth that paines are due to sinnes after remission of them by example of them that remitted no sinnes but after sufficient paines suffered for them or amendes made for them I holde him not onely malitious blinde but beastly vnreasonable 4 And if any man yet doubt why or to what end the Church of Christ thus greuousely tormenteth her owne children by so many meanes of heuy correction whome she might by good authoritie freely release of their sinnes let him assuredly know that she coulde not so satisfie Gods iustice alwayes by whome she holdeth her authoritie to edifie and not to destroye to bynd as well as to loose Although such dolour for offensies committed and so earnest zele may she sometimes finde in the offender that her chiefe and principall pastors may by their soueraigne authoritie wholy discharge him of all paines to come But els in the commoÌ„ case of Christian men this penaunce is for no other cause enioyned but to saue them from the more greuous torment in the worlde following In the which sense S. Augustine both speaketh him selfe and proueth his meaning by the Apostles wordes as followeth Propterea de quibusdam temporalibus poenis quae in hac vita peccantibus irrogantur eis quorum peccata delentur ne reseruentur in finem ait Apostolus si enim nosmetipsos iudicaremus a domino noÌ„ iudicaremur Cum iudicamur autem a domino corripimur ne cum hoc mundo dâ—mnemur Therefore sayth he it is of certaine temporall afflictions which be laid vpon their neckes that being sinners haue their trespasses pardoned lest they be called to an accompt for them at the latter ende that the Apostle meaneth by when he sayth If we woulde iudge our selues we shoulde not then be iudged of our lord And when we be iudged of our Lord then are we chastened that we be not damned with the worlde This onely carefull kindnesse of our mother therefore that neuer remitted sinne that was notorious in any age but after sharp punishment or earnest charge with some proportionall penaunce for the same doth not onely geue vs a louing warning to beware and preuent that heuie correction of the worlde to come which S. Paule calleth the iudgement of God because it is a sentence of iustice but also in her owne practise here in earth of mercy in pardoning of iustice in punishment she geueth vs a very cleare example of both the same to be vndoubtedly looked for at the handes of God him selfe by whome in the kingdome of the Church these both in his behalfe be profitably practised For if there were no respect of the dredfull day in the ende of our life nor any paine further due for sinnes remitted in the next world then were it cruell arrogancy in the ministers to charge men with penaunce needlesse to the offender and foly to the sufferer But God forbid any shoulde be so malipert or misbeleuing as to miscredit the doinges and doctrine of the Catholike Church which by the authoritie she hath to binde sinnes and the protection of the holy Ghost hath vsed this rodde of correction to the profit of so many and hurte of none euer sence our maisters death and departure 4 Marke here gentle reader what an absolute power of remissioÌ„ of sinns this Papist doth ascribe to the Church that she might he sayth by good authority freely release men of their sinnes with out satisfying of Gods iustice but that she will not except in some case where she findeth such dolour and zeale in the offender that her chiefe and principall Pastors may by there soueraine authoritie wholy discharge him of all paines to come Marke here the soueraigne authoritie of the Pope not subiect no not to the iustice of god For els how should the Popes pardons stand or Christes merites be excluded if the Pope had not power to doe by his soueraigne authority that Christ coulde not doe by his bitter passion to discharge penitent sinners of all paines to come you see therefore that the Popish church is not as a wife subiect to Christ her spouse to exercise on earth the authoritie of Christ in heauen according to his will but a presumptuous harlot to claime soueraigne authoritie in earth wherevnto he is bounde which is in heauen For otherwise though the olde fathers that were most earnest in maintaining the Churches authoritie as Cyprian Sermo de lapsis speaking against theÌ„ which thought it was sufficient if they were receiued by the ordinary authoritie of the Church although they were not truely penitent writeth thus Nemo se fallat nemo decipiat Solus dominus misereri potest veniam peccatis quae in ipsum commissa sunt solus potest ille largiri qui peccata nostra portauit qui pro nobis doluit quem Deus tradidit pro peccatis nostris Homo Deo esse non potest maior nec remittere aut donare indulgentia sua seruus potest quod in dominum delicto grauiore commissum est ne adhuc lapso hoc accedat ad crimen si nesciat esse praedictum Maledictus homo qui spem habet in homine Dominus orandus est dominus nostra satisfactione placandus est qui negantem negare se dixit Let no man sayth he deceiue him selfe let no man begile him selfe It is onely the Lorde that can shew mercy Onely he can graunt pardon to offenses that are coÌ„mitted against him who hath borne our sinnes Who hath suffered sorrow for vs whome God hath geuen for our sinnes A man can not be greater then God neither can the seruaunt by his indulgence remit or forgeue that which by so great offence is committed against the Lorde lest this offence also be added to him that is fallen away if he know not that it is fore shewed Cursed is that man that putteth his trust in man The Lorde must be intreated the Lorde must be pacified with our satisfaction which sayth he doth deny that man that denieth him In these wordes Cyprian not onely plainely denieth that absolute soueraigne authoritie of men which M. Allen affirmeth but also declareth what he meaneth by satisfactioÌ„ of god Namely that those which counterfected repentaunce and though by some outwarde obseruations to satisfie the Church might know they had to doe with God who was not pleased but with inwarde and harty conuersion whose knowledge they must satisfie with true repentaunce in deede as they seeke to satisfie iudgement of the Church by externall signes and tokens thereof But to returne to the common case of Christian men for the Popes cases be out of the common case of christen men M. Allen sayth penaunce and by penaunce he
purged of the smaller spottes which sticke by him In the same sense doth Theodoretus both expounde the wordes of the Apostle and vtter his iudgement of Purgatory also and almost the rest of all the Latine or Greeke writers which my purposed breuitie with plentifull proofe otherwise forceth me to leaue to the studious reader 3 Next ensueth the authoritie of Ieronym or Bede or perhaps neither of them both but yet of some olde writer which holdeth that from light sinnes men may be absolued after their death by paynes prayers almes or masses This was a writer for M. Allens tooth but neither of antiquitie nor credit sufficient to cary away this cause The iudgement of Oecumenius and Theodoretus though they were writers about that time when corruption of doctrine had greatly preuailed yet are they not cleare for popish purgatory which the greeke Church although they pray for the dead yet would neuer agree to acknowledge 4 One place more I will onely adde out of Remigius because he learnedly may knit vp the place by ioyning both the Prophet and Apostles wordes together vpon which we haue stand so longe Thus that good author writeth Ipse enim quasi ignis conflans peccators exurens Ignis enim in conspectu eius ardebit in circuitu eius tempestas valida Hoc igne consumūtur lignum foenum stipula Nec solum erit quasi ignis sed etiam quasi herba fullonum qua vestes nimium sordibus infectae lauantur Porro his qui grauiter peccauerunt erit ignis conflans exurens illis vero qui leuia peccata commiserunt erit herba fullonum Hinc per Isaiam dicitur si abluerit dominus c. Qui enim habent sordes leuium peccatorum spiritu iudicij purgantur qui vero sanguinem habent hoc est grauioribus peccatis infecti sunt spiritu ardoris exurentur purgabuntur Et sedebit conflans emundans argentum colabit eos quasi aurum argentum hoc est intellectum colloquium vt quicquid mixtum est stanno vel plumbo camino domini exuratur quod purum aurum est argentum remaneat Et purgabit filios Leui In filijs Leui omnem sacerdotalem ordinē intelligimus a quibus iudicium incipiet quia scriptum est tempus est vt iudicium incipiat a domo dei alibi à sanctuario meo incipite Si autem sacerdos flammis purgandus est colandus quid de caeteris dicendum est quos nullum commendat priuilegium sanctitatis These golden wordes haue this sense He shall come as the goldesmithes fire burning sinners For in his sight a flame shall rise and a mighty tempest rounde about him by which fire our woodde hay and stooble shall be wasted and worne away VVith that he shall be like the clensers herbe whereby garments very much stained be purged To all those that haue greuously offended he wil be a burning and melting fire but to the light sinners he shall be as the washers herbe VVhich difference the prophet Esay noteth thus If our Lorde wipe away the filthe of the daughters of Syon and bloude from the middest of Israel in the spirite of iudgement and fire For such as haue onely the spottes of veniall sinnes they may be amended by the spirite of iudgement but men of bloude to witte the more greuous offenders must be tried by fire And he shall sit casting and purifying siluer and shall purge men as golde and siluer be purified that is to say our thoughtes understanding and wordes from impurity and vncleannesse as from pewter and leade by Gods fornace shall exactly be purged and nothing shall be left but as pure as golde and fine siluer And he shal purge the sonnes of Leui that is the ordre of priesthood where this heuy iudgement shall first begin For so it is writtē Time is now that iudgemēt begin at the house of God and againe Begin at my sanctuary If the priest must be purged and fined what shall we deme of other whome priuilege of holy ordre doth not commende or helpe thus farre goeth the author in conference of diuerse scriptures VVho with the rest of al the holy fathers that compassed their senses within the vnity of Christes Church hath founde by euident testimony of sundry scriptures the paines of purgatory which the busy heades of our time by vaine bragging of scriptures in singular arrogancy of their owne wittes can neuer finde 4 Last of all here is vaunt made of the testimony of Remigius as though he were a new author and perhaps M. Allen in his notes founde him so but it is nothing else but the saying of Ieronym almost word for word vppon 3. Malach 3. which before we haue shewed sufficiently to be mēt of the iudgement that Christ should exercise by his doctrine at his first comming and nothing at all pertayning to purgatory And therefore these golden words as you cal them M. Allen haue a leaden exposition when they be drawne from the preaching of the Gospell to the mayntenance of purgatory A further declaration of this pointe for the better vnderstanding of the doctours vvordes VVherein it is opened hovv purgatory is ordeined for mortal sinnes hovv for smaller offences vvho are like to feele that griefe vvho not at all CAP. IX 1 ANd I thinke they now haue small aduantage by the exception of Origens testimony by occasion whereof such light is founde for our cause that we now by goodly authority haue both founde the placies alleaged plainely to proue purgatory and also what sinnes it namely purgeth and what men after their death may be amended thereby That not onely the bare trueth but some necessary circumstances to the studious of the trueth haue bene here by iust occasion opened and all errour wholy remoued Except this point may somewhat stay the reader that heareth in some places the paines of Purgatory to be both a punishment for greuous sinnes and a purgation of lighter trespasses with all and yet that it now may appeare the contrary by the minde of some learned authors who expressely make that paine as a remedy onely for veniall sinnes and not to apperteine at all to the capitall and deadely crimes that man often times doth commit Therefore to be as plaine as may be necessary for the vnlearned or any other that is godly curious in things much tending to the quiet rest of mans conscience it is to be noted that this ordinary iustice of God in the life following for the purgation of the elect can not discharge any man of mortall sinne which was not pardoned before in the Church militant vppon earth And therefore what crime so euer deserueth damnation and was not in mans life remitted it can not by purgatory paines be released in the next because it deserueth death euerlasting and staieth the offender from the kingdome of heauen for euer no peine temporall in this
and Angels in heauen to the chosen and elect people either in earth or vnder the earth beneth And that this holy consent of good workes and mutuall agreement of prayer to the continuall supplying of eche others lackes doth also apperteine to the soules departed no man that hath any sense of this happy community can denie for being membres of our common body they must needes be partakers of the common vtilitie CAP. II. 1 IF you aske me by what meanes they may be releued whome the bloude of Christ hath not purged from all their sinnes suerly I must aunswere you plainely as I haue learned in the scripture that there is no name geuen vnder heauen by which they maye be helped which are not helped by Christes death Act. 4. But you haue merites of men to helpe the merites of Christ. O blasphemy they that can not be iustified by their owne merites by the vertue of them shall healpe to iustifie other But this is worthy to be noted that they which are in purgatory can not by any motion of minde atteine more mercy then their life past deserued Therefore faith either is not in them or else pâ—ofitteth them nothing for that is a notable motion of the minde Then the merites of other men must profite with out faith or els they profitte them not all But with out fayth it is not possible that they shoulde profit them for as much as with out fayth it is not possible to please God Heb. 13. therefore it is not possible that other mens workes aliue shoulde profit them that are dâ—ad But we haue an other shift sought out to serue them that is the communion of Saintes What manner of communion is that which is with out fayth But because M. Allen bringeth in the communion of saintes I must shew where in the same consisteth The communion of saintes is considered either of the whole body of the church or else of the Church militant here on earth The communion of the whole body is the participation of life and all other offices of life that euery member and the whole body hath of the heade as S. Paule teacheth plainely Ephes. 4. The communion of saintes here on earth as it is a paâ—te of the whole communion so the whole Vertue commeth also from the heade and the members haue but the administration thereof according to the measure and office of euery one So that when we speake of the vniuersall Church we beleue that all the elect of God are one mysticall body that so liueth by Christ that it is not possible for any one member thereof to perish when we speake of the communication of the faythfull heare on earth we meane the dispeÌ„sation of the grace and gifts of God which as euery one hath receiued of God so of charity he is bouÌ„d to imploye the same to the profit of his fellowe members here on earth what place is here to merit for them that are deade when one can not merit for an other that is aliue no not for him selfe but euery man hath his worthynesse of Christ this is the doctrine of the scripture the other participation of merittes is a mere deuise of men hauing no foundation in the worde of God so that M. Allen him selfe can not vouch so much as one text of scripture to warranty where in he can haue any coullor for such communion of merites For that which S. Paule writeth 1. Cor. 12. is manifestly vnderstood of the mutuall offices of loue whereby one member hath compassion with an other by no meanes teacheth either the estate of the deade or the merittes of the liuing Of like credit it is that he so constantly affirmeth that the Saintes in heauen pray for their fellowes beneth and that they belowe pray for the helpe of the Saintes aboue moreouer that Christ our heade by whose bloude the society standeth will haue no worke nor waye of saluation that is not common to the whole body in generall and particularly profitable to supply the neede of any parte thereof Here you see by a plaine distribution that M. Allen will haue other workes and wayes of saluation beside the bloude of christ These things being onely affirmed and not proued by the authority of Scriptures although I might confute at large by the same yet it shall suffice to aunswere with that auncient father That which hath no authority in the Scriptures is as easily denied as it is affirmed But it is a worlde to see what a compasse you fetch to bringe in the Masse for one of the speciall meanes It was wont to be a sacrifice propitiatory both for the quicke and the deade nowe you haue nicer termes for it Now it is the sacrifice of the Church By whome instituted I pray you which by the will of the author if you make God the author where haue you one sillable in the Scripture to declare his will but that which followeth passeth By the likenesse of the exemplar as in deede being in an other manner the very selfe same What is this that I heare doth the Masse aueyle because it is like the exemplar if you meane the sacrifice of Christ his passion to be the examplar the masse is as like it as an apple is like an oyster for all the apish pageantes that be played in it We read in the Scriptures that all the sacrifices of the olde lawe with the tabernacle were made conformable to the exemplar and paterne that was shewed vnto Moses which was Christ Exod. 25. Heb. 8. Act. 7. But that there shoulde be any more shadowes or resemblaunces when the bodye and substance it selfe is come it is contrary to the whole scope of the Epistle to the Hebrues M. Allen hath a shift for that saying it is the very selfe same in an other maner But he is so deepe in diuinity that he forgetteth his first principles of logike For euery boye in Oxford can tell him that those things which be like can not be the same If therefore the Masse be like the sacrifice of Christ then is it not the sacrifice of Christ it selfe Againe the exemplar and the example be proper relatiues therfore if the sacrifice of Christ be the exemplar whereof the Masse is the example the Masse can not be the sacrifice of christ Neither will it helpe that he sayth It is the selfe same in an other maner so long as the same respect remaineth But let him make of his Masse what he can the Church of God instructed by Gods worde receiueth no more sacrifices propitiatory but onely the sacrifice of Christ his death which was offered by no other but by him selfe and that once for all Seeing that by one oblation he hath made perfect for euer those that are sanctified Hebr. 10. 2 And so sayth S. Augustine in these words Neque enim piorum animae mortuorum separantur ab ecclesia quae nunc est regnum Christi alioquin nec ad
confesse before the Lorde that it is nothing in comparison of his mercy towards vs nor our duety towards him But yet blessed be his holy name that it is sufficient to iustifie our profession against the Papistes if not to stoppe their malicious mouthes yet to condemne their cancred conscience of obstinate lying against the manifest light of truth And whereas M. Allen will haue vs told that the blood of Christ maketh mens workes meritorious we will not let to tell him that the church of Christ abhorreth that blasphemy whereby Christes blood is made not the only nor the principall but an accessary and helping cause of remission of sinnes eternall saluation and will not doubt to tell him all such hypocrites as he is that neither see feele tast nor know the mystery of Christes redemption or any thing that ishueth vnto vs thereof which mingle merites of men by what colour or conueiance of wordes what so euer with the infinite and onely cause of our saluation the meere mercy of god And whereas he biddeth vs come into his Church we say to all them that are curable among them as the spirite of God hath taught vs come out of her my people come out of her lest ye be partakers of her plages and torments But nowe at the last he returneth to his matter of mercy affirming that after mens departure the representation of almes by such as receiued it shall moue God exceedingly to mercy O vaine imagination for which he hath neither Scripture nor doctor for neither the example of Peter and the saying of Cyprian helpeth him one iote because there is not the like comparison betwene man and God nor betwene deliuerance from hel which is certayne purgatory which is the controuersie 2 If thou yet chaunce to be negligent in the working of thine owne saluation when thou art in strength and helth when ouer much carefulnesse of worldly welth hindereth the remembraunce of thy duety towardes God for all that helpe thy selfe at the least in thy latter ende for though it had bene much better before yet it is not euill nowe I speake not for priestes aduauntage God is my iudge I am not of that roome my selfe and will not condemne my soule for other But I speake for pity of the deceiued people for compassion of the soules that lacke the reliefe of so soueraigne a remedy for mine owne helpe and those that I so dearly loue against the day of our accompt I speake it because I beleue it and I beleue it because I finde it practised of those men and in those dayes when true christianitie was yet feruent in Christes bloude when the faith was vndefiled and when workes and faith ranne together in the rase of mans life ioyntly without contention Then floorished this doctrine and thou shalt haue further tast of their vsage for mine owne discharge we can not occupy our penne better S. Chrysostome thus instructed his flocke in this case Si adhuc in hac vita constitutus omnia quibus animae tuae prodesse poteras bene dispensare neglexisti vel ad calcem vitae tuae tuis mandasti vt tua tibi ipsi submittendo erogent bonisque operibus te adiuuent eleemosinis dico oblationibus etiam hac ratione saluatorem conciliaueris scribe in tabulis cum filijs cognatisque tuis haeredem nomina dominum Nulli autem viuentium propterea occasionem damus ne faciat eleemosinas differendo vsque ad mortem If thou in thine owne time was ouer negligent in disposing thy goods for the proffit of thy soule and yet at the very ende doest at the last charge thy frendes or executors that they will employ thy proper goods for the reliefe of thy selfe and so helpe thee with good workes that is to saye with almes and oblation euen that way there is great hope thou maiest procure Gods fauour write in thy will that our Lorde may be named a fellowe heire with thy children and kinnesfolkes Neuerthelesse let no man take occasion hereby to be slacke in his life time or to differe his almes charitie till deathes approching This was the preaching of that doctours dayes this proceeded out of his golden mouth and this sounded out of euery pulpit And surely if you knew his life and qualities you woulde not take him to be the priestes proctor of whose dignity as he wrote much so where he founde any vicious he punished sore But he was a true proctor of our soules Chrysostome was no crauer perdye nor Christ neither though they warne vs to make frâ—ndes by Mammon for our owne saluation They aske not much they thrust out no inheretours it was but a mite that wanne the poore widowe that prayse a cuppe of cold water where more abilitie wanteth shall winne heauen at th end This then is the benefite of almes giuen in the time of mans life or otherwise by his appointment of his owne goodes after his departure both which procure mercie as well by the deede it selfe as by the prayers of those to whome that charity apperteined 2 This matter standeth vpon chaunce medly for if thou chaunce sayth he to be negligent c. and more rightly then he termeth the buriall of Geneua it may be called a matter of mumchaunce for he beginneth with a chaunce but he hath neuer a title of scripture nor any sufficient authority of a doctor to proue that almes bequeathed in a mans testament helpeth him out of purgatory And yet as though he had some greate speake to make he protesteth that he speaketh not for priestes aduantage because he is not of that roome him selfe c. but hereby you maye see what he counteth almes cheefely that which is geuen vnto priestes or else what needeth he to make any such protestation But he speaketh it because he beleueth it he would fayne counter fect his speach like the Apostle but an ape will be an ape although he be clothed in purple For the grounde of his belefe is not as the Apostles was the worde of God Rom. 10. but the practise of men which though they were neuer so good yet they were such as might deceiue and be deceiued But to the matter the florish of this doctrine was so great in those times which he commeÌ„deth to be so happy that he can not finde one man that speaketh of it but he is fayne to cite out of Damascene that which Chrysostome shoulde saye Which wordes proue no more but that almes is better geuen at the last then not at all of deliuerance from purgatory neuer a worde There is one word oblationibus which perhaps M. Allen would draw to masses for he translateth it oblation in the singular number which in the Latine is the plurall numbre His fetch is easy to finde the Masse though it be sayed neuer so often yet is it called of them but one oblation But I inferre vppon his owne conscience Chrysostomes
worde is oblationibus oblations therefore he meaneth not Masses but onely almes deedes which in scripture are called oblations or sacrifices where with God is pleased Heb. 13. But I will let this slight geare passe and goe to the rest 3 Nowe there is an other way of reliefe by almes of other men which for loue and pitie they bestow vpon the poore that the soule hense departed may through their charitie receiue comforte And this conteineth a double worke of mercie principally towardes the deceased for whome it was geuen and then towardes the needy that receiued present benefit thereby and it singularly redoundeth to the spirituall gaine both of the geuer and the person for whose sake it is geuen And this kinde of almes is it which good Tobie did commende vnto his sonne being so much more meritorious to the person that procureth it then the other whiche we spake of before because it is grounded not onely of loue towardes a mans owne proper person but reacheth to the benefite of our neighbour by the singular gift of compassion and tender loue that we beare euen towardes them which can neither helpe vs nor them selues It is nothing els but a wing of prayer and a token of earnest sute for the party on whome it is practised which no man will vse for his neighbours good that list not do it before in his owne behalfe This effectuall supplication by wordes and workes together is as straunge nowe a dayes in our country either for the liuing or the departed either in our owne lackes or in other mens necessities as it was common in olde time and commended in the scripture Bona est oratio cum ieiunio eleemosina Prayer is soueraigne ioyned with almes and fasting the which being done either for the liue or deade is with speede by Angels ministery caried into heauen For I take it and so the text excedingly beareth that the bitter prayers which the Angell so commended in that good father and which had such good successe was made in the funerals of the faithfull departed Quando orabas cum lachrimis sayth Raphael sepeliebas mortuos ▪ c. Ego obtuli orationem tuam Domino Tobie when thou with teares prayd and buried the deade I offered vp thy prayers to our Lord god he seemeth to tearme that prayers with weeping which in other placies of scripture is called mourning ouer the deade And weying the wordes with out affection it must needes be graunted that the iuste funeralls had and required prayers with weeping and that the Angels of God do speedely offer such effectuall requeste vp to the presens of the Maiesty as well to the reliefe of the dead as to the comfort of the procurer But I would be lothe to descant vpon Gods worde for the beating out of any newe doctrine or deuised meaning or to auouch a sense not knowen to the time of perfect spring in religion Therefore to go surely to worke I will looke about me for example of this good Tobies almes and prayers for the poore departed soules that we may learne withall not onely to be beneficiall to our selues but to our neighbours both a liue and deade All the antiquitie here offer to take my part in so good and so knowen a quarell I may haue as many as I will and whome I will ▪ such therefore I doe searche for as be plainest for testimonie of open doles and reliefe of the poore in the burials of Christian people That not onely one mans assertion but also the plaine practise of the Church of God may beare downethe aduersaries boldnesse and the more auncient the better Origene then shall helpe vs to the vsage of his time and Church He writeth thus Celebramus diem mortis quia non moriuntur hi qui mori videntur Celebramus nimirum religiosos cum sacerdotibus conuocantes fideles vnà cum clero inuitantes adhuc egenos pauperes pupillos viduas saturantes vt fiat festiuitas nostra in memoriam requiei defunctis animabus c. VVe solemnly kepe the day of our frendes departure because they be not deade which appeare vnto vs to dye And this is our way of celebrating their funerals VVe gather the religious men and priestes the faithfull people with the cleargy we inuite also the poore the needy and the fatherlesse with the widowes and we fill their bellies that the memorial of their rest may be kept solemnly But Tobies scholar may learne his duety yet better of the Apostles owne scholar S. Clement who once or twise hath these wordes in effect To viset the sicke to bury the deade to kepe their obittes to pray and geue almes for them is commendable vpon whose wordes I will not now stand because by and by other occasion must driue me to repeate for the worthynesse of the man and the weight of his testimonie more plaine euidence of his Church and time If thou here yet doubt how the prayer worke or sacrifice of one mā a liue may helpe an other departed remembre alwaies what I saide in the beginning for the knot of our brotherhood and society in one body and vnder one heade and thou shalt not wonder how one membre by compassion may helpe relieue an other And there with for example consider how the sacrifice of Iob and daily almes were auaylable for the misdeedes of his children and appeaced Gods wrath towardes his importunate freindes And though his benefite went onely then amongest the liuing in this worlde neither his children nor freindes at that time departed yet the case of the liuing amōgest them selues differeth nothing herin from the communion and fellowship which the departed in Christ hath with the liuing in earth And therefore I bring the example of Iob amongest many like in scripture for that S. Chrysostome fitly induceth the same to proue the partaking of good workes to be common as well betwixt the liue and deade as of the liuing among them selues These be his wordes in english Let vs helpe our brethern departed keeping a memory of them For if the oblation of Iob purged his children why doubtest thou of the solace that may arise by our offeringes vnto such as be asleepe in Christ seeing God is pleased with some for other mens sakes It was so knowen a trueth in that time that they neuer put difference nor doubt any more of the mutuall helpe of the liue towardes the deade then they did for that benefite which in Christes Church one man may holde of an other 3 Nowe commeth an other waye of releefe by almes of other men which being ioyned with prayers in our countrie is as straunge as sometime it was common He woulde make fooles beleue that prayers and almes as they are in deede not so common as they should be yet among vs are not at all But omitting that sclaunder with the rest almes for soules departed is neuer mentioned in the scripture And
quotidiano sacrificio vis diuina placatur A virgine is the oblation of her mother by whose dayly sacrifice the wrath of God is pacified But speaking expressely of the celebration he sheweth that Christ is not offered but by him selfe and that the oblation which is here made of him is but in an image and representation Officiorum cap. 48. Hic in imagine ibi in veritate vbi apud Patrem pro nobis quasi aduocatus interuenit Here he is offered in representation there in deede where he maketh intercession for vs with the father as an aduocate As for the oblations whiche he nameth in the 8. Epistle to Faustinus be nothing but prayers For as he doth but vary his wordes where he sayth weeping and mourning which are all one euen so it is all one where he sayth prayers and oblations And whereas you say there are none of our new Bishops will followe Ambrose in such kind of letters they can shewe better reason not to follow him where he went amisse then your popish Prelates can shew not to followe him where he writte well which of your Prelates will follow him in his commentary vppon the epistle to the Romaynes where he so often affirmeth that a man is iustified before God by faith onely Or in his commentary vppon the Apocalyps where he interpreteth the whore of Babylon to be the citie of Rome or where he affirmeth that not Peter but the fayth the confession of Peter is the foundation of the Church and that the primary of Peter was a primacy of faith not of honour of confession not of authoritie or higher order De incarnat Dom. cap. 4. 5. or in an hundreth places of his writinges beside The other places that you allege out of Ambrose Paulinus do not so much helpe your purpose with prayer for the deade as they are contrary to your doctrine concerning purgatory For Ambrose praying for Theodosius calleth him a perfect seruaunt of God but you hold that perfect men come not at all in purgatory and therefore you haue qualified the matter by translating perfecto famulo to thy good seruaunt Gratianus was not baptised and therefore by your doctrine he should not come in purgatory but strayt to hell As for the wordes that Ambrose speaketh of oblations for his brother Satyrus you doe shamefully wrest them contrary to his meaning For he was so farre of from beleuing his brother to be in purgatory that he prayeth to him as a Sainct in heauen and the oblation and sacrifice that he offereth to God is the soule of his brother and not prayers or masses for his soule Tibi nunc omnipotens Deus inno xiam commendo animam Tibi hostiam meam offero cape propitius ac serenus fraternum munus sacrificium sacerdotis haec mei iam liba praemitto To thee now O Almighty God I commend his innocent soule to thee I offer my sacrifice receiue mercifully and fauorably this gifte of a brother and sacrifice of a Priest this sacrifice as a part of my selfe I now send before me By which wordes as it is euident that he meaneth not the sacrifice of the masse so it is manifest howe licentiously he vsed the name of sacrifice oblation that we may know when he speaketh of the sacrifice of the body of Christ he meaneth not so grosely as the Papistes take it and vse it them selues 5 Paulinus one of the same time and Bishop of Nola declareth him selfe to be of the same faith by the like practise He prayeth bitterly him selfe for a brother departed and besecheth Amandus a holy man of his acquaintaunce to ioyne with him for the helpe of the departed soule By his wordes the paine of Purgatory is noted and the benefite of our prayers is proued ▪ thus he sayth Impense rogamus vt quasi frater vnanimos fratres iuuans hanc meritis fidei tuae mercedem accumules vt pro eo infirmitati nostrae compatiaris orandi ab ore conspires vt misericors miserator Deus qui facit omnia in coelo in terra in mari abyssis refrigeret animam stillicidijs misericordiae suae per orationes vestras quia sicut ignis accensus ab eo ardebit vsque ad inferni nouissima ita proculdubiò etiam ros indulgentiae inferna penetrabit vt roscido pietatis eius lumine in tenebris ardentibus aestuantes refrigeremur I hartely beseeke ye that as one brother helping an other you woulde increase the desertes of your holy faith by taking compassion with me ioyning prayers with me for the departed soule that the God of pity and compassion who worketh all thinges in heauen and earth in the sea and the depthe woulde at the contemplation of your prayers refresh and coole his soule with some droppe of his mercy For as the fire kindled by him will burne to the bottom of hell beneth so doubtlesse the dewe of his grace and mercie shall passe downe to the neither partes that by the comfortable louely light of his piety the soules broyling in burning darkenesse may be refreshed And writing also to Delphinus he alludeth to the feruent heate that the rich man suffered in Hell when he craued for Lazarus helpe And prayeth him to refresh the mans soule deceased with some droppe of pity and his holy prayers This man was very deare to Paulinus in his life time for whome he was so carefull after his death he doubted not of his saluation though as he sayth he went out of this worlde a debter and therefore feared him to be in great paine So certaine was the doctrine of purgatory in the primitiue Church and so profitable were the prayers counted for the deceased in Christ. 5 The wordes of Paulinus importe that he thought those whom he prayed for were in hell howe so euer you dissemble it by translating inferna the nether partes and dare not rehearse his wordes vnto Delphinus where he iudgeth them that were prayed for to be where the rich man was that desired refreshing of Lazarus For purgatory in those dayes was but euen a breding yet not throughly shaped out of prayers for the deade and such other superstitious ceremonies as were vsed about the departed 6 But if you will haue an examplare and a full waraunt of your duety and deuotion with vnderstanding the vsage of the auncient Church in such aboundance of many the like you shall I thinke be fully satisfied for this parte by S. Augustine in the goodly historie of his mothers death a blessed woman and worthy of such a sonne Her name was Monica well knowen in Gods Church and numbred amongest the sainctes This good matrone prouided especially by her testament that she might not be forgotten at the altar of God when the names of the faithfull departed were in the sacrifice remembred For that was common in all Churchies as partly is and yet shall be better declared anone The which her
Scriptures nor in the most auncient writers that lyued with in an hundreth yeares and more after the time of christ And to the particuler practise of the later times we aunswere that it is not sufficient to controll the auncient doctrine and primer practise If we be required to shew some place of any auncient writer which denyeth purgatory or prayers for the deade we haue already shewed that Augustine some time doth doubt whether there be purgatory some time affirmeth there is no meane or thirde place but heauen for the elect and hell for the reprobate likewise for praying or satisfying for the deade we haue alleaged Cyprian and others your owne common law out of Hieronym sayth that the prayers of the liuing profit not the deade 13. quaest 2. In praesenti saeculo c. In this present worlde we knowe that one of vs may be helped of an other either by prayers or by counsells but when we shoulde come before the iudgement seate of Christ neither Iob nor Daniel nor Noe can intreate for any man but euery man must beare his owne burthen Yea Gelasius the Pope sayth that no man can be absolued of the Pope after his death 24. q. 2. C. legatur Wherefore serue the Popes pardons then To that which is required of the expresse word of God forbidding prayers for the deade we aunswere that all places of scripture that forbidde prayers without fayth forbidde prayer for the deade for faith is not euery mans vaine perswasion but an assurance out of the worde of God which because we can not haue in praying for the dead therefore we are forbidden to praye for them If it be against the hope of Christians to morne for the deade much more it is against the fayth and hope of Christians to praye for them For by our prayer we suppose them to be in misery whome the worde of God doth testifie to be in happines to be at rest to be with Christ Iohn 17. Apoc. 14. And as for a place so expounded by an auncient writer I will seeke no farther then the place of Hieronym euen now alleaged out of your owne canon lawe vppon 2. Cor. 5. referring the reader to many other places alleaged in this aunswere as out of Cyprian Origene and others by which the intollerable lying bragging and rayling of this miscreant shal be better confuted then by any contradiction of wordes And where as he sayeth we chalenge the olde doctors before the simple for our partakers whether they be simple or wise before whom we speake as we speake not alwayes before the simple onely but often times and commonly before as wise and well learned men as M. Allen we neuer make any such challenge of them as the Papistes doe which offer to stand to their iudgement in all thinges and yet in most thinges yea in the cheefest pointes of religion that be so in deede or be so compted of them they are contrary to the doctors and olde councells for which cause and not for confirmation of trueth we alleage the authoritie of men for we haue learned as Augustine sayth to geue this honor only to the canonicall scriptures that we must beleue them with out controuersie and all other writings we receiue so farre as they agree with the scriptures and not other wise wherefore we doe not onely saye that the doctors haue erred like men but we haue proued it so that the Papistes them selues can not saye naye for shame But to that he sayth we doe boldely condemne the holy Scriptures that it out of all measure impudent and sclaunderous And that which he citeth out of Irenaeus belike as he had it of some foolish priest that fedde him with notes of doctors or as he is impudent enough to peruerte the fathers meaning him selfe so if he had alleged the whole sentence he might well haue taken him selfe and the rest of his fellowes by the noses for heretikes by the iudgemeÌ„t of Irenaeus whose wordes be these Cum enim ex scripturis arguantur in accusationem conuertuntur ipsarum scripturarum quasi non rectè habâ—ant neque sit ex authoritate quia variè sunt dictae quia non possit inueniri veritas ab his qui nesciant traditionem non enim per literas traditam illam sed per viuam vocem When they be confuted by the scriptures they are turned into the accusation of the scriptures them selues as though they were not well nor of sufficient authority both because the trueth can not be founde of them which knowe not the tradition for that was not deliuered by writing but by worde of mouth How saye you M Allen who is an heretike by Irenaeus iudgement who accuseth the scriptures as though they were not of sufficient authority who sayth the scriptures are like a nose of waxe who saye the trueth can not be founde in scriptures without tradition of vnwritten verities In good sooth M. Allen you haue the worst grace of any that euer I knew in alleaging the sentences of the doctors for you alleage fewe or none but either in whole or in parte they make against you 9 But if you thinke that I feane of them you shall see what shamefull shiftes the maisters and captaines of the contrary assertion haue deuised for the defense of them selues I dare say if the studious be but any whit indiffereÌ„t he will leaue their sâ—hoole for euer The chiefe Captaine of all these contentious heades like an vnshamefast childe affiâ—meth that the doctors praysed and followed the common errors of the ignorant people in almes and prayers for the departed Brentius aunswereth that Tertullian making mention of yearly oblations for the deceased tooke his error of the hethen vsage of the gentility And Augustine he saith affirmed purgatory prayers and almes for them for the affiance that he had in mens merites towardes the remission of sinnes Melancthon as though he were no man that might orre him selfe sayth the doctors were men and discented amongest them selues As for the vsage of any celebration in the worlde what roume can it haue with these champians when Câ—luin confesseth in plaine termes that the celebration of the Sacrament hath bene contaminated euen in a maner sith the Apostles time and first planting of our religion and to reduce it to the puritie againe the man frames a newe one of his owne so farre from superstition that it hath no steppe of religion or true worship of god But well the worde of God is yet safe with them there a man may holde them No surely they are as â—alsie with the very scripture it selfe when so euer it maketh against them Brentius before named is not ashamed to saye that he pardoneth the author of the Machabeis of his error and ignorance And that thou may see the perfect image of a prowde heretike Caluin sayth thus as for the booke of the Machabeis I will not vouâ—hsalfe to make aunswere to it Mercifull God what faithfull
thought that all men should passe through his purgatory at length be saued Afterward when prayers for the deade were growne out of memoryes for the deade which were without prayers in Origens tyme as appeareth in his wordes in Iob. lib. 3. but kept with almes to the poore and reioysing for their rest about S. Augustines time the name of purgatory was first inuented by some mediatores and conciliatores of Origens error with the erroneous practise of the church And this was a great corruption of those auncient tymes that they did not alwaies weigh what was most agreeable to the word of God but if the Gentiles or heretikes had any thing that semed to haue a shew of pietie or charitie they would draw it into vse with such correction as they thought was sufficient So they tooke the signe of the crosse from the Valentinians oblations for the dayes of death and birth of the Gentiles prescript tymes of fasting and vnmeasurable extolling of sole life in the ministers of the Church from the Maniches Tacianistes and Montanistes prayer for the deade of the Montanistes purgatory fire of the Originestes yea Ieronym was almost fallen into the heresie of Tertullian in condemning second mariages yea euē the name of sacrifice which was commonly vsed for the celebration of the Lordes supper they tooke vp of the Gentiles Finally it appeareth that the faithfull in Tertullians tyme which were not of his sect beleued not that the soules of Christians departed came into his hell or lower partes where he maketh so many mansions but that they were placed in heauen where Christ is against whom he reasoneth after his brawling and taunting maner that he vseth against the Catholikes libro de anima cap. de inferis And they that so beleue allow no prayers for the deade Wherefore it is left that Montanus and his followers were the first that taught prayers for the deade to be profitable because that the soules of the faithfull that were not made perfect by martyrdom or other streight penance must pay the vttermost farthing in prison and suffer the least offences in the lower partes if they were not holpen with prayers Therfore Aerius was not the first that helde our opinion but Montanus before him was the first that held your opinion throughly against the Catholikes of his tyme Wherfore you are welcome home for heretikes by your owne rule 5 Then for many a day together this doctrine was dashte till the time of holy S. Bernard and Petrus the reuerent Abbate of Cluny by which two notable housekeping dogges that were neuer dumme in the Churches neede this woolfe appearing once againe was both noted and oppenly vanquished And in their dayes this falsehood that before was a compagnion of the Arrians marke well the course of thinges good reader was nowe matched with the Anabaptistes who in that time as the saide writers doe recorde did call them selues Apostolici that is to say Apostolicke or followers of the Apostles so they woulde be termed to delude the ignorant by the bewty of that glorious name as now their ofspring call them selues Euangelici that is to say gospellers and the pure preachers of the word and gospell S. Bernard touched them to the quicke in a sermon by these wordes Loe sayeth he these miscreants loe these dogges they laugh vs to skorne that we baptise infants that we pray for the deade that we require the helpe of holy Sainctes they exclude Christes grace in all sortes and euery kinde in olde and younge in the liue and in the deade Looke you nowe with their Gospell like name they were counted no better then prophane dogges of this holy father that laught so skornefully at Christes Church for praying for the deade and inuocation of Sainctes and shall we make such Iewels of their scholars now a dayes In all ages since this wielde seede was first sowne the true preachers the workemen of Gods haruest haue euer plucked it vp as it first appeared The which wede was better knowene from the corne because it euer grewe amongest the bundels of briers and brembles was of that waisting nature that it could not be tolerated without the vtter choking of the wheate 5 Barnard was but a late writer to speake of and whether those that were called in his tyme Apostolici were sclaundered for denying of baptisme to infantes when perhaps they denyed onely some of your popish ceremonies which you vse about baptisme I am not able to say certein it is that the godly called pauperes de Lugduno VValdenses which were about that tyme were sclaundered with many detestable opinions which it is nowe well knowne that they neuer did holde But howe so euer it were that which they affirmed of trueth must not be condemned because of that where in they erred the Arrians were the first that added vnto the Symbole the article of descending into Hell shall we thinke worse of that article which is true because of there heresie which is false 6 This doctrine I saye being of it selfe very pernicious yet it is euer in company of other mischiefe For the principall author of this secte was an Arian then the followers as Bernard witnesseth were Anabaptistes or worse To whome all men much maruell that God should rather reueale such misteries of trueth then to other that were sownde in faith And in deede I woulde gladly meete with some one good fellowe or other of that secte that were learned with al that he might resolue me in this doubt why this conclusion of not offering or praying for the deade of not keping the ordinarie fastes of contemning the Sainctes helpe in heauen and the residue of your new Creede why God seeing all light of trueth commeth of his grace openeth these misteries alwayes and onely to such as you your selues can not deny to be heretikes VVhy did he reueale in the primitiue Church that doctrine to an Arian being an open enemie of his holy name and not to Athanasius or Epiphanius or some other blessed men of that time I stande the longer vpon this point that the worlde and who so euer is the simplest maye beholde your miserie and shame for I knowe you can say nothing in this case for your defense but euen beare with blacke blotted consciencies the infamy of willfull blindnesse Howe saye you did not your doctrine afterwarde appeare againe amongest wicked Anabaptistes that deny amongest other things the baptising of infants it was neither reueled to Bede nor Bernard I warrant you But come lower yet to our owne time you knowe full well we haue store of Anabaptistes of Arians of Saduceis of Epicures and of all other sectes that the deuill euer deuised such light of trueth hath our happy age by your preaching tell me trueth nowe be not all these whome you counte heretikes as well as we doe be they not all I saye of your opinion in this matter and not one of them of our 6 I
conteyned the argument is most inuincible that concludeth negatiuely thus All true doctrine is taught in the Scripture purgatory is not taught in the Scripture therefore purgatory is no true doctrine And this conclusion M. Allen him selfe made of mans authoritie cap. 13. purgatory and prayers for the dead were not preached against at their first entry ergo they are true But of all mens authoritie it is false wheras he sayth we are ouerthrowers destroyers we confesse we are so of all false doctrine and heresie For the word of God is appoynted not only to teach truth but also to ouerthrow error not onely to build faith but to destroy falshood But it is a proper cōceit wherin he pleaseth him self as other of his sect do to tel vs that all our faith standeth vpon negatiues I could frame the Papists as holsome a creede all vpō affirmatiues if they wil receiue it This is more then boyish babling All trueth is to be affirmed all falshood to be denyed Therefore it is not to be loked what is affirmatiue and what negatiue but what is true or false that is affirmed or denyed But to runne through the articles of that creede which he hath framed for vs we truely beleue that man after his fall hath not free will no not aptnes of will to thinke any thing that is good 2. Cor. 3. we beleue truely that a man is not iustified by workes but by faith onely Rom. 3. And yet we beleue that good workes are necessary to be in euery man that is iustified Iac. 2. we beleue that the Church is not alwayes knowne to the wicked vpon earth neither the vniuersall Church seene at all of men because it is in heauen Gal. 4. we beleue that the catholicke Church hath no chiefe gouerner vppon earth but Christ vnto whom all power is giuen in heauen earth Matth. 28. we beleue there are but 2. Sacraments of the new testament baptisme and the Lordes supper instituted by Christ 1. Cor. 10. we beleue that they geue not grace of the worke wrought but after the faith of the receiuer and according to the election of God. 1. Cor. 10. Baptisme is necessary for all Christians to receiue that are not by necessitie excluded from it 1. Pet. 3. Christ is present at his Supper but not after a grosse and caparnaiticall maner but as he was present in Manna to the fathers 1. Cor. 10. There is no sacrifice propitiatory for our sinnes but onely the sacrifice of Christes death once offered for all Heb. 10. There is no priesthood to offer sacrifice propitiatory but only the priesthood of Christ according to the order of Melchizedech Heb. 7. The spirituall priesthood is common to all Christian men and women 1. Pet. 1. we haue an altar of which it is not lawfull for them to eate which serue the tabernacle and other beside we haue none Heb. 13. we call not vpon Sainctes because we beleue not in them for how shoulde we call vpon them in whome we beleue not Rom. 10. There is no prayer for the deade nor purgatory after this life because they that liue vnto Christ dye vnto him and being dissolued are with him Ioan. 17. Christ descended into hell to redeeme vs out of hell by suffering the wrath of God for our sinnes Heb. 5. There is no Lymbus for the fathers were at rest with God where they are now whether we call the place Abrahams bosome or paradise or heauen Luke 16. and 23. 2. Cor. 12. The rest which you adde maye be the beginning of the Popish creede which you maye as you list continue negatiuely or affirmatiuely after this maner God a lone knoweth not the heartes of all men God onely is not to be worshipped and serued for Sainctes haue both the one and the other God onely is not true for the Pope can not erre Christ is not our onely mediator and aduocate for Marie and the Sainctes are also Christes death is not a sufficient redemption for vs for we must satisfie for our selues Christes death hath not taken away both our sinnes and the punishment of them but the Popes padon maye Christ is not onely our high priest according to the order of Melchizedech for euery hedge priest is of the same order Christ hath not made them that are sanctified perfect by a sacrifice once offered for all For y greatest part is lefte to the masse Our sinnes are not freely forgeuen vs by Christ for we must satisfie for them A man is not iustified by fayth without the workes of the lawe for euery man must merite for him selfe The scriptures are not sufficient to teach vs all trueth but we must haue vnwritten verities The worde of God is not of soueraine authoritie for the decrees of the Pope and generall councells be equall with it This is the Papistes creede both in the affirmatiue and in the negatiue But in that you exhort the Papistes to reade Caluins institution and there to see whether he teacheth any truth therein I woulde to God that all Papistes in Englande woulde followe your counsell pray vnfaynedly that God would open there eyes that they may see his trueth if it be taught in that booke 2 This negatiue faith hath no grounde nor confidence of thinges to be hoped for nor any certaintie of such thinges as doe not yet appeare but it is an euident ouerthrowe of all our hope and a very canker of the expectation of thinges to come This faith therefore of these pluckers downe must needes vse a conuenient instrument to destroye and not to builde to plucke vp and not to plante to improue and not to make proofe But what way is that mary by way of negatiue proofe they confirme their negatiue and no faith Purgatory say they nor prayers for the deade be not so much as once named in all the scripture ergo there is neither of them to be beleued VVhich forme of argument serued the Arians against the consubstātiall vnitie of God the father his sonne our Sauiour It helped the Anabaptistes against the baptisme of infantes it was profitable to Heluidius against the perpetuall virginitie of Gods mother and it helpeth all pluckers downe but it neuer serueth a buylder The vanity whereof is so well knowen that I will not stande to talke thereof namely seeing it hath no place in our cause for which we haue brought diuers scriptures all construed by most learned fathers for that sense and some so euident that they droue our aduersaries to the open deniall of the holy canonicall scripture 2 What grounde or confidence of thinges not seene and yet hoped for our fayth hath it is not for infidells to iudge no more then for blinde men to iudge of collours And as for our negatiue argument it is stronger then your affirmatiue error can abide there of groweth the spight But when as you saye we frame our argument of the name of purgatory onely or prayers for