Regius Vorstius Vossius Dr. Field Bishop Andrews and passing over in silence very many others as he saith he recites the Words of the Liturgy of Edward 6. both in the Office for the Communion and that for Burials laments that such most ancient and pious Prayers should by the Persuasion of Bucer and others be expunged and wisheth that the Church of England which hath shewed great Moderation in many other things of less moment had rather conformed her self in this business as also in some others to the most ancient Custom of the Universal Church than for some Errors and Abuses which had by degrees crept in plainly rejected it and wholly taken it away to the great Scandal of almost all other Christians I need add no more after this Learned and Apostolick Bishop only in short take notice of what Vrbanus Regius saith that None reject it but Epicureans and Sadduces and Vorstius that No Good Man can dislike it and Bishop Andrews that There is little that can be said against it and conclude this matter with the Words of the learned and famous Hugo Grotius The use of Praying for the Dead received through all Churches of the East no less than of the West ought not to be condemned And after some reasons for it and something concerning the Jews he adds The Ancient Liturgies are not to be condemned since Christ himself did never reprehend the Prayers for the Dead commonly used among the Jews of which there is a Form extant in the Talmud made as is believed in the Babylonian Captivity and mentioned in the second Book of the Maccabees It will be replied That as great a Man and of the Church of England as any of those hath written against it the famous Vsher Arch-Bishop of Armath It is very true he hath and imployed and strained all his Learning all his Parts and all his Skill and a little too much to oppose it and all to very little purpose for his own Cause but to very good purpose against it For it is a great Evidence and Demonstration of what Bishop Andrews truly said That there is little that can be said against what this great Man takes such pains to oppose The sole Question between him and his Adversary was Whether the Fathers of the first 400 or 500 Years held that Prayer for the Dead is both commendable and godly as appears by the Challenge which was in those very Words and no other How and where doth he answer this plain Question His Title of that part of his Answer is general Of Prayer for the Dead He saw well enough how little he had to say to that plain Question and therefore resolved to take more Liberty to say something of the matter of his Title tho little or nothing to the Question He spends three score and ten pages upon the general matter but if I mistake not not ten lines directly and closely to the special Question * To use his own words p. 170. He alleadgeth indeed a number of Authorities to blear Mens Eyes with all which being narrowly looked into will be found nothing at all to the purpose Which is to abuse not so much his Adversary as his Reader with a specious appearance of an Answer which in truth and reality is nothing to the purpose That which comes nearest to the purpose is what he saith pag. 246. These Two Questions saith he must necessarily be distinguished Whether Prayers and Oblations were to be made for the Dead and Whether the Dead did receive any peculiar Profit thereby In the latter of these he the Reader shall find great Difference among the Doctors in the former very little or none at all This is indeed to the purpose but his Resolution of the former Question tho' very true is a plain Confession against himself For if they be agreed that Prayers and Oblations were to be made for the Dead then certainly they held that that was commendable and godly which is all that his Adversary did affirm then and that I do principally assert now for what I have to alleadge farther is but a Consequence of that And his Resolution of the latter Question is manifestly false and a disingenuous Assertion for if among so great a number of Doctors in so many Years he could have assigned five or six or ten who had really differed in that point from the rest which those few he cites rightly understood did not had that been a Great Difference And if some Authors do say that some or that many in their time were doubtful in the point is that a sufficient proof that it was still a Question in the Church when they name not one Person in particular much less any Doctor nor tell us so much as of what quality they were who had those Doubts When a Difference is Great there must be some proportion between the Contenders and where a Question is continued there must be some Disputes Contention or Debates But if Peoples secret Doubts must be taken for Questions in the Church that is the ready way to bring all Religion into question and it is not to be doubted but such dealings in Controversies hath had its share in producing this growth of Scepticism and Atheism of late That such a Man as this should put Colours upon Causes should hold up Contentions should be so addicted to Parties as in favour to them to confirm People in Opinions which if false are mischievous and if true of little Advantage and contrary to so great Authority as is on the other side and so expose his Judgment or Integrity is a great Unhappiness to himself and a Scandal to others It is possible what others may have observed in this great Man for 't is a scurvy thing to be ingaged in an ill Cause may have taught them more Wisdom for for ought I can find as well in the Controversial Writings of late as in the Disputations at the University the Old Cause An Preces pro Defunctis sint Licitae is quite deserted and that Question is turned into another An Preces pro Defunctis antiquitus usurpatae inferant Purgatorium Papisticum It is well Men have learned so much Wisdom for themselves as to mend their Cause so far as that and it is to be wished that they may also learn so much Honesty as to undeceive the People and restore to them for themselves and their Friends the Comfort and Benefit of that ancient Catholick Practice Mr. Thorndike one of the learnedst Persons this Church hath produc'd and a late Bishop of St. Asaph have done well to do what they could and restore it upon their own Tomb-stones tho' they could not do it in the Church and if all who believe well would but do so well as profess what they believe which certainly they ought to do we should soon see the Truth revive and flourish beyond Expectation and so much of our Contentions abated Thus concerning the Persons who have opposed this
ashamed of Christ or his Words the Doctrines and Institutions delivered by Him in Person or by his Apostles to the Churches Matt. 10.28 32. Mar. 8.34 and lastly the Danger of a fruitless and ineffectual Profession expressly declared in the conclusion of our Saviour's first Sermon upon the Mount Matt. 7.21 c. and in his Farewel Discourse when he went last out of the Temple in the whole 25th chapter of St. Matthew all concerning Professors whence it appears how far People may go in a Profession and yet at last fail of their Expectation upon the consideration whereof it may be doubted whether as many Souls do not miscarry by Security in an ineffectual Profession as by living in gross and scandalous Sins To Souls thus prepared Truth will undoubtedly find admittance and the Good Spirit will be ready to lead them into all necessary Truth The Discourses above-mentioned are OF Prayers for the Dead With a Preface shewing the Necessity of a Retraction of the mistaken Reformation for a more firm Settlement of the Peace of the Nation A Profession of Faith comprizing the Ancient Forms of the Catholick Church with other Articles concerning the Roman Terms of Communion A Letter to a Young Man of one of the Religious Societies in London concerning Separation and the Proceedings of the Reformation Common Principles of a just Vindication of the Rights of the Kingdom of God upon Earth OF PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD Whether the Practice and Tradition thereof in the CHURCH be truly CATHOLICK and a competent Evidence of Apostolick Original and Authority Humbly tendred to the Consideration of the Right Honourable the JUDGES and of the Gentlemen of the Honourable Profession of the LAW With a PREFACE concerning the Reasons thereof and the Concern of the Nation that the Differences about Religion be better considered in order to a more firm Foundation of an Honourable and Lasting PEACE LONDON Printed in the Year 1699. To the Right Honourable John Lord Summers Baron of Evesham Lord High Chancellour of England Sir John Holt Lord Chief Justice of the Kings-Bench Sir George Treby Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas Sir Edward Ward Lord Chief Baron and the rest of the Honourable Judges May it please Your Lordships THough at first to some it may seem strange and improper to offer a Theological Controversie to the Consideration of Magistrates and Judges of Civil Causes yet if the present Constitution of the Church of England the Nature of the Question and the special Qualifications of the Persons for the Consideration of such a Question besides the Common Concern of all States and Persons in Matters of Religion be well consider'd nothing can be more reasonable A Church professing and glorying in the Profession of a Religion Established by Law and so intirely subject to the Authority of the State that it cannot call a Synode choose a Bishop Dean or Prebend make a Canon or alter any publick Prayers of the Church without it a Question of Prescription Vsage and Custom than which none are more frequently examined tryed and determined in our Civil Courts and by consequence no Persons more proper to give a Judgment upon such a Question because none more versed and expert in Cases of that nature than those of the Honourable Profession of the Law Besides Your Lordships and the rest of that Honourable Profession have another Qualification indispensably requisite to a just and true Judgment Indifferency and Freedom from any special Prejudice more than what is common to the whole Nation and as much above that as any Persons in it I mean that of Education by which tho' the inconsiderate Vulgar and People of little Judgment are very strangely affected and moved either fondly affecting or childishly abhorring what hath nothing of real Good or Evil but what proceeds from an abused or deceived Imagination yet Men of Parts Judgment and Experience can more easily extricate themselves out of the fetters and manacles of such Impressions and Prejudice upon consideration of sufficient Grounds and Reasons But the Generality of the English Clergy and Non-Conformists are under a double special Prejudice and Pre-ingagement the Authority and Credit of their Party and their own in particular having not only imbibed a Special Opinion in the Case but inconsiderately asserted and so espoused it also besides the Prudential Caution of not disobliging or offending their Auditors tho' many Protestants in other Parts are of another Opinion and the most learned here have deserted the old Cause both in their Disputes in the Vniversity and in their Controversial Writings And therefore as every honest Man in any Difference would desire the Judgment of such as are most indifferent unbyassed and impartial so every wise Man will desire that they may be Persons of most Ability Skill and expert in such Matters And in both these respects I know none more proper to judge of this Case than Your Lordships and the Gentlemen of Your Honourable Profession Nor is this all that You are thus qualified to judge of this matter but you have also a Concern a double Concern in it but that it may be fairly and truly determined a Concern which obligeth you to Impartiality that the Truth may be cleared and an End put to such Differences both in regard to the Places you hold and the Interest you have in the Civil State of the Nation and in regard of your Personal Interest and particular Concerns both in this Life and hereafter For Matters of Religion are of no little Importance to the Well-being of States as well as of particular Persons and to the Well-being of particular Persons as well in this Life as hereafter And all this in a double respect in respect to the Providence of God and in respect of their Natural Efficacy and Tendency It is very manifest that almost all the Vnhappiness Troubles and Disturbance which this Nation hath suffered for more than 150 Years last past have proceeded from unhappy Differences about Matters of Religion And it would be as evident if duly considered that there is as little Likelyhood if Possibility of any long Continuance of Peace without some proper Application to so fatal a Root of Mischief amongst us for the Extirpation or Suppression of it Nor is this so vain unreasonable or impracticable a thing to be thought on or attempted as most Men are apt to presume upon the Vnsuccessfulness of the Attempts which have been made if better consider'd It is no unusual thing for Men to learn from the Errors of former Attempts so to correct their Methods and Measures as to accomplish with ease what others with great Labour were not able to effect Many things in Practice are like Riddles in Speculation which after many have found insoluble by their utmost Study appear at last when the Secret is once revealed very plain and easie to the meanest Capacity But in such Differences as these there is usually a double Secret the one Supernatural managed by
are other Matters very observable in this Case as several indirect Ends and Motives which probably might be and certainly were the Inducements to many of the Beginners and Promoters of it the Irregular Manner in which it was managed and settled the subtile Accommodations of the principal parts of the Work to recommend the Preachers and gratifie the People but undermining the Honour of Christ and the Power of Godliness and settling the People in Presumption and Security upon a False Foundation according to the Description of the Apostle Speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them and the Fruits and Effects agreeable thereunto a plain Indication that it was not of God but in the Nature of a Judgment and that they knew not what they did nor what Spirit they were of which tho' certain Truths and very evident when looked into yet are not so obvious to common Observation Nor indeed was I my self so sensible of much of them till after much Study and Indeavours to promote the Service of God and Good of my Country it all seemed to me to be under an Enchantment so that no Good could be done Whereupon considering the Fruits according to our Saviour's Rule upon a fair Invitation and Opportunity I resolved upon a Retirement and a Review of the Reformation the Root which produced no better Fruits And coming to it with much Sincerity and Impartiality I soon perceived all this that I have here said and more very clearly and some things which relate to the Civil State and present Settlement of this Nation of which I soon gave an account to such Persons as I thought most proper to acquaint His Majesty with it to discharge my own Conscience what-ever was farther done in it I do not deny but there was need of a Reformation of divers things but none know better than your Lordships and the Gentlemen of your Profession how common a thing it is for Men who have really a good Cause to make it ill through Passion Partiality unreasonable Demands or Charges and such ill Management as if it come to Tryal it must be found against them or tho' it be not Good yet through Partiality or Prejudice to think it Good and then when by degrees they have well fixed and rivetted that Opinion and besides engaged their Reputation in it to persuade themselves that those things are lawful for the Maintenance of it which in truth are not and those things useful or necessary which in conclusion will but expose and ruine it how much Mischief People thus affected frequently bring upon themselves and others and endless Vexations when obstinate in their Opinion resolute in their Demands and pertinacious in their Contentions right or wrong how undecent and unbecoming even in Civil Matters this appears to all wise and good Men who have Opportunity to observe the Truth of the Case On the other side how much more Prudent it is as well as Just and Honest if a Man have the Misfortune to purchase an ill Title or be unhappily concerned in an ill Cause to indeavour to make it Good by fair Agreement with Parties concerned and Tender of what is just and reasonable and such honest Means as will at least secure his Reputation if not his Cause also however much mend the matter This has been always my Practice and this I am resolved to do in this Case of what I have discover'd upon my Review aforesaid I do utterly disclaim all the Iniquity of the Case that I have already discovered or can discover all the Sacrilege Schism and Heresie and other Corruptions of the pretended Reformation in general and of that of England in particular And tho' I do not forsake the Corruptions of this Church to espouse those of another yet I think fit to make my own Cause good and to stand only upon such Terms as I can comfortably refer to the Goodness and Mercy of God and as I am satisfied will make it their Faults not mine who shall refuse Agreement and Communion with me What I think prudent in my own Case if it be so indeed I could wish the whole Nation did see it as well as I For I believe it a more firm Foundation for a lasting Peace and true Happiness than any other we can build upon And if I be not mistaken in the Matters in Difference there is scarce any but such as many principal Men of the one side think ought to be yielded by them or as all on the other confess may for just Cause be granted by them or may be otherwise accommodated by only fit Explications and Expressions To which since the most considerable on both sides have shewed a very good Disposition and the Nature and Precepts of the Gospel and the Peace and Repose and Common Good of Mankind especially in this part of the World which may have a great Influence upon the rest do require it I believe it would be for the Honour and Interest of which side soever should do it to make the Proposal provided it be very just and reasonable Of those Matters which are thought ought to be yielded this which I propose to your Lordships Consideration concerning the ancient Practice of Prayers for the Dead is one and the most proper Instance that can be in all respects It is indeed a double Instance for it is a plain Evidence that one of the principal Suppositions with which not only Multitudes of People in these last Ages but ever since the first Ages of Christianity have been deceived and misled with very plausible pretence is notwithstanding false in it self besides fallacious misapplications of what is true as appears abundantly by Irenaeus Tertullian and the Common Practice of the Ancient Christians in their Contests with Hereticks and Schismaticks And it is in its self one of the greatest Instances of the Power of Prejudice to abuse weak Men out of their apparent Interest without any other competent ground or reason of the Weakness of Men to be so abused and of the Inconsiderateness of those who presume to be positive and direct others in such Cases that I know of My intention at first was to have published a Vindication of the True English Liturgy the first Book of Ed. 6. composed by known English Clergy-Men and afterward corrupted and disordered by Cranmer and a Faction of Foreigners and other unknown Calvinian Sectaries in Secret and so craftily imposed upon the Church and Nation But when I considered in these unhappy Differences how partially Zealous the Generality of Clergy-Men who have any Zeal at all are for their own Party more than for the common Concerns of Religion or of their Country and how unconcerned the chief of the Clergy of this Nation are and have been ever since the State assumed the Supream Power of Ecclesiastical Matters as if either dispirited or presuming that the Care also is incumbent only upon them who have assumed the Power and how little I have found by
relied not upon any Hypothesis but upon the received Custom of the Church And that he did rely upon as is confessed But he did not in the least rely upon any thing at all of the pretended Sibyl Nor hath this Champion produced I think any one Proof that either Tertullian or any other of the Ancient or Modern Christians did at all rely upon any such Authority for that Practice but all unanimously relied upon Tradition from the Apostles His whole Book is full of Fallacy and Deceit and of the very Spirit and Genius of an Heretick who makes no scruple to abuse the whole Church of Christ and the most Excellent Persons in it to maintain his own Principles It is certain that divers of the great Truths of Christianity were known to the Gentiles long before and received by Tradition from the Common Parents of Mankind but received as Articles of Faith by Christians upon the Authority of Christ and his Apostles And such was this which he fathers upon an Impostor and pretends the Church received it from him without any Proof of either whereas if he was a Christian it is much more likely that he received the Hypothesis from the Practice of the Church at that time and is therefore rather an Evidence of it Other matters of this Book have been considered by learned Men of our own Country and I think I need say no more of this with any regard to him But as to the Practice besides all this positive and Affirmative Evidence I do deny that any competent Evidence can be produced among all the Churches of the World of any where the Christian Religion was planted without it or where it was introduced by any particular Person upon any special Occasion at any different time after the first planting of Christianity there in all those Ages since the Apostles being verily persuaded that no such thing can be produced but what will strongly confirm and illustate the contrary Evidence like Mr. Vsher's Flourish with his most ancient Manuscript Missals wherein the Commemoration of the Dead doth no where appear which yet were but two in all if not all but one mentioned by two several Authors and that no compleat Missal neither but only Liber Sacramentorum an Abstract and it self at last not to be found as his expression habebatur seems to imply a good Argument of the Agreement of all or most others in that particular that so industrious a Searcher into ancient Records and Monuments of Antiquity of that kind especially could neither see nor hear of any other either at home or abroad wherein it was not Such another Exception may perhaps be met with which may serve to confirm the general Rule but not any thing considerable I believe to any other purpose Certain it is it must either have been settled in all those several Places in the World where Churches were planted together with the rest of the Christian Doctrines and Institutions and then it must have proceeded from the same Founders who agreed as unanimously in this as they did in other necessary things of which sort this may therefore be concluded to be one or it must have had a several distinct particular Introduction by it self in all or most of those several Places and be derived from several Authors Originals Occasions and Times and then the Accounts of its special and particular Introduction in all probability would have very much varied in several places at least have remained upon Record or by Tradition in some But not a word of any such thing can I find that was ever heard of in any part of the World but a Unanimous Agreement in all both in the Practice continued by Custom and Original by Tradition from the Apostles And thus much for Proof à posteriori from Evidence of Matter of Fact which I think enough to satisfie any reasonable Man of competent Ability and to convince any Man of Modesty and Sincerity yet because simple genuine Truth is always consistent with all that is such it may ex abundanti gratifie an honest ingenuous Reader to observe briefly the Vniversal Agreement of this Catholick Practice of the Church of Christ 1. With common Reason and the Nature of things 2. With the common Sentiments of the Primitive Christians concerning the middle State of Souls 3. With divers plain Texts of the Holy Scriptures And 4. with the common Practice of the Jews in and before our Saviour's time never reprehended by him or any of his Apostles and therefore allowed by all and indeed practised by them and on the contrary the Inconsistence of the obstinate Opposition with Truth and Justice in divers respects As for Common Reason The Universe is of vast and unconceivable extent in it we see are many great Bodies Orbs and Regions the Life of Man upon this of the Earth is very short the Time from the Resurrection of our Saviour to this is near 1700 years and how much more it may be to the General Judgment no Mortal knows in the mean time the Souls of Mortals go out of their Bodies in infinitely various States of Purity and Impurity And certainly it is most reasonable that there should be not only one general Distinction of Souls but moreover many distinct Places States and Conditions wherein the separate Souls are disposed according to their several Qualifications when they go out of the Body And as that curious Observer of the Works of Nature as well of the Holy Scriptures the late Lord Chief Justice Hale speaking of towardly Plants by Death transplanted into another Region a Garden of Happiness and Comfort adds And possibly by continuance of time as they received Improvement and Perfection here so in that other Region they add to their Degrees of Perfection and are promoted to farther Accessions and Degrees and Stations of Happiness and Glory till they come to the State of Spirits of just Men made perfect Now in all these Varieties of States is there nothing capable of receiving Benefit by the Prayers of the Living Is there no Communion of Saints between those in the Body and those out of the Body But if there be how can it better be exercised or expressed than in the solemn Offices of the Church For the Common Sentiments of the Primitive Christians because it would be too long to recite so many Testimonies in this place and they are collected already to my hand by Sixtus Senensis and others I need but refer the Reader to them But this also is confessed and asserted by Blondel and Dalle but they would have us believe that they received them from an Impostor a Counterfeit Sibyl a groundless impudent and impious Calumny The Agreement with plain Scriptures is observable in that expression of our Saviour concerning the Sin which shall not be forgiven neither in this World neither in the World to come Mat. 12.32 and that which agrees with this of being cast into Prison and not coming out by any means till