in any other place shall wee find any word thereof Thus is this place now emptie if we cannot find any to lodge in it And because it is likely that the Franciscans according to their rule doe not goe into Purgatory single but by two and by two This Limbo lying in the way to Purgatory seemeth a very convenient place to lodge him who being departed hence alone must attend his companion Besides these foure places Bellarmine who lately writ at Rome The flowred meddow and as it were in the Popes bosome with the approbation and commendation of all the Church of Rome but particularly of al our Doctors in the 7. Chap. of his second booke of Purgatory hath found out a fifth place that is to say a bright and cleere meddow all diapred with sweet smelling flowers which hee maketh to be a dependance of Purgatory and as it were a withdrawing chamber wherein those doe take their rest who are most kindly entreated most gently dealt withall and groundeth himself vpon the auctoritie of venerable Beda and Dionise a Charterhouse Monk an auctor of great credit whoe is full fraught with fantasticall revelations he should haue added how these flowers doe spring without sun or raine frō whence that goodly brightnesse could pierce into those deepe partes of the earth Out of this meddow do the souls immediately passe into Paradice but before the comming of Iesus Christ they went thence into Limbo a matter of great compassion that passing out of a bright meddow full of recreation they should come to bee shut vp in a darke prison Such therfore is the building which our Masters haue erected vnder groūd making by an order contrary to nature the lowest chambers to be the hottest digging without any autoritie of the Gospell sundry compartiments vnder the earth like to mouldwarpes blinded with the sunshine of Gods word In this place I would entreat the reader throughout all this mysterie to take note of a certaine kinde of soules which should haue more agilitie experience then their fellowes so many walkes and turnings are they put vnto These are those soules who departing from their bodies vnder the old Testament were first presented before the Iudge and thence sent into Purgatory but escaping thence after a scalding fire entered into a bright meddow ful of recreation Afterwards from this medow they passed into Limbo thence came forth with Iesus Christ then did they follow him 40 daies vpon the earth finally entered into Paradice Let vs therefore finde no farther fault with Plato or his Metempsychosis for his revolutions and passages of soules are nothing so prodigious indeed our Masters doe carry away the bell for invention from all Poets These matters thus dispatched and set out as it were in a table it resteth that wee now examine this Purgatory and the abuses therevpon depending and proue that the word of God is a spring more then sufficient to quench this the Popes so profitable a fire Here may our Reader if it please him note that Purgatory is by our adversaries placed among the Articles of our beleefe so as vnlesse wee beleeue therein Bellarm. de Purgat lib. 2 cap. 12. Haec sunt we cannot bee saved that the importance of the matter may tie him to attention So shall we breake one of the legges of this Colossus one of the principall pillers of Babylon CAP. 2. That the holy scripture is a sufficient iudge for this question as also for all other cōtroversies concerning faith and that therein is no mention of Purgatory or of any Indulgence whereby to release soules out of the torment thereof to a iudge that beareth them so smal favour they many times giue it some gird Thus saith the Auctor of the fire of Helie Pag. 61. Albeit there bee no mention of Purgatory in the Scripture yet cannot Du Moulins conclusion bee but bad in saying there is no Purgatory And here he raketh togither a number of things which saith he are not in the holy Scripture Yea so presumptuous is our Franciscans ignorance as to say that throughout the old Testament there is not one expresse word of the immortalitie of the soule Pag. 16. In this regard it is requisite that before we proceed any farther we trie these Doctors in this case to the quicke and defend the perfection of the holy Scripture Amid the corruptions of the world wee haue yet this honor that we be the advocates of Gods cause and of the worthinesse of his word Which as S. Paul 2. Tim. 3. saith is able to instruct vs and to make vs wise to salvatiō Initio lib. 2. adversus Gentes which also saith Athanasius abundantly suffiseth to instruct vs in all truth Wherein as saith Chrysostome vpon the second Chapter of the 2. to the Thessalonians is cleerly cōtained al that is necessary For was it possible that aforetime the fiue books of Moses were sufficient to instruct the Church to salvation that now the same fiue bookes together with the Prophets Evangelists and Apostles cannot suffice hath God forbiddē to adde or diminish to the bookes of Moses Deut. 4.1 and nowe that both in the old and new Testament we haue much larger instruction shal it be tollerable to adde an vnwritten word Other Canonicall bookes Other articles of faith Jf the Gospell be sufficient to saue vs who shal be so bold as to say that the new Testament doth containe but part of the Gospel To alleadge either the tiranny of custome or the antiquity of a traditiō without the word of God what is it but to alleadge the antiquitie of Error and to arme both Iewes Gentils with the like reasons cōsidering that vntruth is very ancient yea it hath beene even from the beginning also that against the truth no prescription of time may take place To ioine therfore to the holy scriptures an vnwritten word and to make the traditions of the Romish Church equal with the bookes of the olde and new Testamēt is a great disparagemēt to the Maiestie of the holy Scripture It is as much as to do that which expresly is forbiddē in the law of Moses that is to plow with an oxe and an asse to yoake togither things very vnequall to make man equall with God and the lead of the Popes Buls with the pure steele of the spiritual sword of the Gospel True it is that they tearme these Traditions the word of God and traditions of the Apostles but they shewe not when or to whom God did first inspire them They deliver vnto vs the Canon of the Masse for an Apostolical tradition wherein neverthelesse they name some persons that lived three hūdred yeares after the Apostles time Thus the Indulgences the forgiunesse of all sins at the end of every 25. yeares The communion vnder one kinde The fetching of souls out of Purgatory by Popish Indulgences The prohibiting of the lay people from reading of the holy
which we can satisfie the divine Iustice our Lord hath not otherwise satisfied but in applyed to vs his merites by the which our satisfactions doe supply that temporall paine but he giveth vs power to satisfie and to giue a man power to beare the deserued punishment and to make the satisfaction to be of force implyeth not to satisfie or to be punished for him But the Friers memory faileth him much more his respect to the word of God in that he endevoureth to frame vs new articles of faith yea which is more even in that that is of greatest importance and is as it were the soule and principall part of Religion without any auctority of the holy scriptures saying that Iesus Christ did not otherwise satisfie for temporal punishment that is Purgatory but by applying to vs his merits whereby wee do satisfie Thus much for the agreement of Purgatory and mans satisfactions with the merits of Iesus Christ from which argument before I depart I cannot forbeare but must of necessity propounde one excellent note that Cardinal Bellarmine setteth downe in his booke De poenitentia where he laboureth to shewe that the sinnes committed before baptisme are redeemed by the blood of Iesus Christ without our satisfactions Bellarm. de poenitent lib 4. cap. 10. but the sinnes after baptisme are redeemed by our owne satisfactions He saith that S. Iohn the Evangelist instructing a yong man who after baptisme had committed many Ryots he exhorted him to fasting and to praier as saith Eusebius And herevpon the Cardinall setteth downe this note Euseb Hist Eccl. l. 3. c. 17 Iohannes non id precepit quod luther anisolent vt Christi sanguine peccata sua purgata esse certò crederet sed preces Ieiunia indixit that is S. Iohn commanded him not that which the Lutherans doe vse to command that is that hee should certainely beleeue that his sinnes were purged by the blood of Iesus Christ but he enioyned him to fasting and praier In this regard then are wee called Lutherans and Heretickes Thus also shall the Apostle himselfe be foūd a Lutheran and worthy the Inquisitiō because he saith 1. Ioh. 1.7 The blood of Iesus Christ purgeth vs from all sinnes for he writ to the faithful and to the baptized and to those whom hee calleth his children These our Masters matters thus discovered and themselues convict of prophaning the merits of Iesus Christ to be revēged they vse this recrimination The Frier saith that We doe so assure the soules in this blood Pag. 91. A slander that the only remembrance of baptisme once received is a remedy against all sinne without need of any other matter A slander forged in the shop of the father of Lyes as is also the same which the fire of Helie chargeth vs withall namely that It is enough that Iesus Christ suffered 62. A slander and so for our parts we need do nothing and herevpon they heap vp many passages proofes for the necessity of pennance and good works but all in vaine considering wee beleeue nothing of that they accuse vs of but do affirme that the only way to life is to obey the commandements of God It is necessary that we heare his word and obey him that we repent vs of our sinnes and convert vnto God That we subdue the flesh and quench the heate of the concupiscence therof that we suffer with Iesus Christ and for Iesus Christ to the end we may be glorified with Iesus Christ For albeit our paines and good workes bee no sufficient price to purchase salvation yet are they necessary for the attaining thereto In that we extoll the excellencie of the satisfaction of Iesus Christ we doe it not to make vs negligent in good workes but to invite and stirre vs vp to loue God and to acknowledge his graces God is not good to vs to the end we should be wicked to him His benefits are to vs as bonds Iesus Christ is vnto vs not only matter to hope well but also a rule to liue well If he haue bought vs it is to the end we should be his and how his by seruing the divell The pascall Lambe must be all eaten for Iesus Christ cannot bee divided wee cannot participate in the fruit of his death if we be not made conformable to his resurrection by newnesse of life neither can we enioy his promises vnlesse wee keepe his commandements And there fore saith David Psal 130. There is forgiuenesse with thee that thou maist be feared There by shewing vs that the mercy of God towards vs must be by vs accompanied with his feare According to this Franciscans doctrin David should haue said There is no full forgiuenesse with thee that thou maist be feared He thē that of Gods mercy shall make an exemption from wel doing or shal put of his amendmēt from day today thinking that it is not yet time to become an honest man wil find himselfe deceaved for repentance is a guift of God which hee giueth not to scorners And ordinarily such as seek to reserue to God the last part of their daies and as it were the lees and dreggs of their liues are surprised by death before they attaine thereto as being a matter iust and equall that they should haue no portion in God who did so vnequally divide with him In the meane time to heare these men dispute of the necessitie of good workes you would thinke them to bee saints or pettie Gods and our Church to be a harbour to all wickednesse and a schoole of excesse as if sinne were a matter lawfull among vs. Indeed to our great griefe we confesse that wee haue but over many bad examples among vs. We could earnestly wish that as the high Priest disrobed himselfe at the entring into the holy place so that every of vs could put of his olde sinnes and rellicks of wickednesse at the entry into the Church of God but the perversitie of this age together with the contagion and haunt that wee hold with such as be yet out of the Church doe corrupt the manners of many yet dare I say thus much that among vs you shall find more examples of charitie of sobrietie and of diligent reading the word of God then among our adversaries that the pillars of the Church of Rome are more polluted then the pauement of ours that our spend thrifts are more tollerable then the sobrietie of those that reproue vs that our vices are evē vertues in regard of the riotous excesse of the Roman Prelats The murderers of Kings were not of our flocke Vices and sinnes against nature haue no place among vs. Trading and Pride haue in the Court of Rome put of the habit of vices and are now accompted for honest carriage activitie and ordinary occupation ietting vp and downe in the cloake of of discretion and wisedome Bern. ser 33 super Cant. Ministri Christi sunt serviunt Antichristo Inde is que
Afterward the sixt vniversall Councell approueth and confirmeth all the contents of the Councell of Laodicea Hereto agreeth the Councell of Carthage wherein S. Augustine was preseÌ„t True it is that the Latine copies miserably falsified by our adversaries doe place these bookes among the Canonicall At Paris by Conrad Neobarius 1540. but in the Greek copies printed by themselues they are not once mentioned As for the ancieÌ„t Doctors Prologus Galeatus when shall we haue produced their depositions herevpon S. Hierome in his Prologue vpon the Bible Machab. lib. inter Scripturas Canonicas Ecclesia non recipit hath expresly handled this matter There hee admitteth no other bookes of the olde Testament to be Canonicall but such as be in the Hebrew Bible in number two and twentie himselfe in the preface vpon the bookes of Salomon speaking of Ecclesiasticus and the wisdome of Salomon saith thus As the Church indeed readeth the bookes of Iudith of Toby and of the Machabes but not among the Canonicall Scriptures even so also shee readeth these two volumes for the edification of the people but not to confirme the doctrine of the Church S. Hillary vpon the prologue to the Psalmes agreeth with S. Hierome and saith that in the old Testament there bee as many bookes as there be letters in the Hebrew Alphabet that is two and twentie Athanasius in his booke entituled Synopsis S. Scripturae nameth all the bookes of the olde Testament vnto two and twentie and saith That the rest of the bookes of the olde Testament are not Canonicall neither read to any but to the Catechumeni Manethon â—ishop of Sardis giueth vs a catologue of the bookes of the old Testament in the fourth booke of Eusebius cap. 25. Where in the Macchabees are not named Eusebius in his thirde booke and tenth Chapter speaking of the bookes of the old Testament saith We haue no infinite number of discordant bookes but only two and twenty And farther he saith that whatsoever is written since the time of Artaxerxes is not worthy like credit as the former and of this sort are the Macchabees Epiphanius in his booke of measures saith as much nameth all the bookes of the old Testament but speaketh not of the Macchabees Among the works of S. Ciprian we finde a treatise of the exposition of the Creed which seemeth rather to bee of Ruffinus Therein the autor nameth all the bookes both of the old and new testament then saith These are the books which the fathers haue encloased in the CaÌ„non and Rule from whence wee are to take the proofes of our faith yet are wee to vnderstand that there be other bookes not Canonicall but Ecclesiasticall among which are the bookes of Tobie Iudith the Macchabees c. What woulde wee haue more Among al the Bishops of Rome even Gregory the great in his morals vp on Iob. lib. 19. cap. 29. purposing to alleadge the Macchabees concerning the act of Eleazar excuseth himself in these words Qua in re non inordinatè agimus si ex libris noÌ„ Canonicis c. Bell. lib. 1. de verbo Dei cap. 10. Wherein we speake not from the purpose albeit wee produce testimonies out of the bookes not Canonicall but written for the edification of the Church he wrot sixe hundred yeares after Jesus Christ Even Bellarmine doth confesse that Origen Athanasius Nazianzen Epiphanius Hierome received not the Macchabees among the Canonical Our adversaries make a buckler of S. Augustine set him in counterpoize against all antiquity in this point contemning all the auctority of the fathers and their own Popes And yet herein they doe him wrong for this good father never straied from the vniversall consent of the Church in his time August ad Gaudent li. 2. cap. 23. Vnto Gaudentium who vsed the auctority of the example of Razias that killed himselfe and is meÌ„tioned in the second of the Macchabees he answereth thus The Iewes hold not this booke in like degree as the law the Prophets and the Psalmes to whom Iesus Christ yeeldeth testimony as to those that heare witnesse of him but this booke is received by the Church not vnprofitably if it be read discreetly especially in regarde of the sufferings of certaine Martyrs Read the whole page and yee shal see that S. Augustines intent was to beate downe the obiection of Gaudentius who armed himselfe with the auctority of this booke also to proue that Iesus Christ deferred no auctority to any other but to the law to the Prophets and to the Psalmes Yet do our adversaries produce some passages out of S. Augustin to the contrary but manifestly falsified In his eighteenth booke of the cittie of God cap. 36. he saith thus QuoruÌ„ supputatio temporum non in Scrip sanctu quae Canonica appellant ur sed in aliis invenitur in quibê° sunt Machab libri quos non Iudaei sed Ecclesia pro Canonicis habet The supputation of this time from the new building of the temple is not found in the holy scriptures which are called Canonicall but in other bookes which are the Macchabees could hee more expresly raze the Macchabees out of the Canonical scriptures but at the ende hereof let vs see a taile most botcherly clapt on by some MoÌ„k Which booke not the Iewes but the Church holdeth for Canonicall O grosse Impostor After he hath saide that the Macchabees are not holy scripture nor Canonicall would he say that the Church receiveth them for Canonicall The frier saith that sundry fathers haue vsed these books and do cite passages out of them To what purpose is this Whosoever alleadgeth a book doth he therfore hold it to be Canonicall But we stand now vpoÌ„ much stronger tearms For this passage well wayed will bee found contrary to Purgatory He saith that Iudas offering sacrifice for sinne thought vpon the resurrection yea hee saith that otherwise it had beene a folly to pray for the dead whereby it appeareth that the auctor never imagined that Iudas praied to bring these soules out of Purgatory but that he praid that the sinne by theÌ„ committed might not hinder them from rising to glory and salvation for any man that is demanded wherefore he prayeth for the dead if he answer that it is for the resurrection he manifestly sheweth that he beleeveth no Purgatory Otherwise hee would not haue omitted that which is most vrgent but would haue craved to be released out of such long and horrible torments Aske all these our Masters wherefore they pray for the dead I am sure none of them will say for the resurrection Pag. 11. The Frier foreseeing a storme of passages of the fathers conspiring to overthrow the auctority of this book shrim king betimes and as it were forsaking the place saith That at the least it cannot not be denyed but that this is a historie which assureth vs that Iudas made praiers and sacrifices for his brethreÌ„ deceased there is
Church Whereas it is I fulfill the rest of the afflictions of Iesus Christ Let the reader look vpon the places and he shall finde that almost every where he corrupteth and changeth the wordes of the scripture for of many we deliver but few examples that so we may be the more briefe calâ—ing to minde the commaundement that is in the rule of S. Frances Dominus fecit verbum abbreviatum super terram Rom. 9.28 And therefore we must study for brevity CAP. 7. That the Doctours of the foure first ages knew not Purgatory with the refutation of the passages alleadged by our adversaries Also the beginning and progresse of Purgatory of prayer for the dead of Indulgences and satisfactions c. OVR controversies do not coÌ„sist only in coÌ„trariety of opinions but also in diversity of means to search out the truth Our adversaries wil haue the truth to be iudged by antiquity we wil haue antiquity iudged by truth They seeke to prooue the antiquity of their doctrine by the testimonies of men we proue the truth of ours by divine testimonies taken out of the holy Scriptures The Antiquity that they pretend requireth infinit passages out of divers auctors Tertul. in Marcionem lib. 1. Viva Germana divinitas nec de novitate nec de Vetustate sed de sua veritate censetur the truth that we mainetaine may bee defended by one only passage of the holy Scripture The way that we take is so much the shorter and better assured because reasons in disputations are better then yeares and the auctority of God then the testimony of men And which is more No man can denie but the truth is more ancient then the lie for the lie is but a corruption of the truth whereof it doth ensue that when a man hath proved the trueth of a doctrine he hath also proved the antiquitie thereof But contrarywise antiquity proved a man may neverthelesse doubt of the truth For lying hath beene even from the beginning and is in a manner as ancient as the truth which eveÌ„ since the fall of Adam hath borne the divels contradictions who said No you shall not die And that we may speake but of Christianitie S. Paule 2. Thess 2.7 telleth vs that in his time the entrie of the son of perdition was prepared and the misterie of iniquitie was in working But if we guide our selues only by the time what is there in the Church of Rome whereby shee may oppose against Iudaisme or Paganisme Againe if prescription may haue place in Religion let them tell vs how manie yeares maie suffice to auctorise a doctrine Or how many testimonies of men shal we need to institute an article of faith But wee say that lapse of time giveth no autoritie to the gospell also that the truth is of as great force alone as in companie That for the decision of doubts we are to bring the ballance of reason rather then the calculation of yeares Yea I say that he that teacheth the truth but vnderproppeth it with the testimonies of men in weening to establish it doth overthrowe it Theod hom Eccl. l. 1. c 7 a lie beeing no greater fault then such a defence of the truth For it is as much as if a man shoulde arme himselfe with paper taking vp strawes insteed of weapons shoulde in this furniture expose himselfe to the power and mallice of the Divell The worde of God naked is of more force then so armed Synod Constantinop 6 Act. 1. Propositis in medio sacrosanctis Evangeliis In that regard did the auncient Church in the beginning of their Synodes lay nothing vpon the table but the books of holie scripture but our adversaries haue great interest not to be content with this simplicity for even in the beginning a number of questions should be decided considering that in the Romish Church they confesse that they teach many things wherof they haue neither commaundement nor example in the holy scripture As Invocation of Saints worshipping of Images praying in a laÌ„guage vnknown to him that praieth Priestes vowes and single life Elevation and adoration of the Sacrament c. Therefore do they seeke a farther way about and having wrested the holie scripture out of Lay mens hands they crie out the fathers nothing but the fathers in liew of the soveraigne father which is God whoÌ„ neverthelesse they do at euerie opportunitie hit handsomelie over the thoÌ„bs and when these ancient doctors do coÌ„tradict each other in the explication of the scriptures as manie times they do these our Masters take vpon them to be the moderatours and iudges in their contrary opinions allowing sometime one and reproving somtimes an other and sometimes reiecting all and bringing in some explication more to the Popes availe They will graunt the fathers to be our iudges but with proviso that the Church of Rome shal iudge of the Fathers Let anie man reade the writings of the Iesuits Maldonat Gregorie of Valentia or Bellarmine and he shall see that I say the truth This maÌ„ner of disputation is to theÌ„ more coÌ„modious as giving theÌ„ meanes in their need to find a starting hole for it is an infinite field a bottomlesse sea a thicke darcknesse wherein to shrowde themselues as seeking only how to cavill and delay their plea. For among so manie auctors as might fill a house it is an easie matter to finde somewhat to wrest to a mans owne advantage and never to be perceived because few meÌ„ haue these books of them that haue them few do read them and of those that read them fewest of all doe vnderstand them for the fathers ordinarilie are repugnant among themselues and not only among themselues but everie man in himselfe and do retract confesse his ignorance Yea I dare say there is never an heresie howsoeuer extravagant for the which wee cannot finde some especiall passages in some of the doctors besides these divers ages haue retained the ancient words but altered the doctrine as also the phrase of many of them is obscure subiect to sundrie interpretations besides that many vsuall words haue altered their significations As these Indulgences satisfaction Pope Bishopricke aulter oblation sacrifice merit station sacrament excommunication pennance words extant in many auctors but in an other sense then in these daies and yet it is an easie matter to make theÌ„ passe for such as at this day wee take them and in regarde of the resemblance of the marke to perswade men that they are of the same substance Moreover if any Doctor hath forgotten him selfe or hath vsed any difficult tearmes these wil our adversaries stand vpon and vse them to their most advaÌ„tage therin resembling such beasts as can liue vpon serpents At Paris by Nivel in S. Iames Street at the storcks 1571. Ex sanctiss concilii Trid. Decreto veterum patruÌ„ Codices sunt expurgendi Cum in Catholicis veteribus plurimos feramus erreres extenuâ—mus excusemas excogitato per
their Purgatory there vpon haue they spent at the least three quarters of their allegations Now as concerning this praier for the dead the truth is that the Apostles in the celebration of the Lords Supper retained the institution of Iesus Christ and Pope Gregorie hath before testified vnto vs that to that Institution that is set downe in the holy Gospell they added only the Lords praier which argueth an vntruth in Chrysostome who saith that the Commemoration of the dead in the Eucharist is an Apostolicall tradition Soone after Martyrdome encreasing for the better encouragement of the Christians they brought in a custome in the celebration of the sacrament to name the Martyrs with the Prophets and Apostles and in everie Church they had a list or double tables called Diptiches wherin were writ ten the names of all such deceased as were to be mentioned in Commemoration and so far there was no harme The custome encreasing the parents and friends of the deceased beganne to giue almes vpon the day of the Cōmemoration of the deceased The almes togither with the commemorations they called oblations of the dead also sacrifices for the dead as we may see in the sixt epistle of the third book of S. Cyprian speaking of the Martyrs deceased in prison Celebrentur à nobis oblationes et Sacrificia in Commemorationem eorum Let vs celebrate sacrifices and oblations in commemoration of them Likewise in the fifth Epistle of his fourth booke speaking of Laurence Heb. 13.16 Phil 4 18. Celerine and Ignatius Martyrs Sacrificia pro eis offerimus quoties Martyrum passiones dies Aniuersariae Commemoratione celebramus That is to say We doe offer sacrifice for them alwaies and so often as from yeare to yeare we doe celebrate the daies and passions of the Martyrs In summe this is it The almes called in the Scripture sacrifices were offered for the dead that is to say in remembrance of them and in their steed as if the dead gaue them Thus in the eight booke of the Institutions of Clement cap. 18. The Bishop or minister prayeth We doe offer vnto thee for all those that haue pleased thee from the beginning of the world for the Saints Patriarkes Prophets righteous men Apostles Martyrs c. For such doth the Church of Rome hold that wee ought not to pray or to offer That these oblations and sacrifices were almes it appeareth by two Canons Vases Can. qui oblationes can Clerici one of the Councell of Vases the other of the Councell of Agatha Which are in Can. 13. quest 2 The Councell of Vases saith thus Can. Qui oblatione can clerici Such as detaine the oblations of the dead are slack in bringing them to the Churches are to be cut of from the Church as Infidels because they doe depriue the faithfull of the accomplishment of their vowes and the poore of their food and substance That of Agatha condemneth those that detaine the oblations of their deceased parents as murderers of the poore Burchard in his fifth booke alleageth many examples Nowe because part of these offerings were imployed in the Communion of the holy supper S. Cyprian in his sermon of Almes complaineth that the rich offering nothing yet came to take part of the sacrifices offered by the poore Domini cum sine sacrificio venis partem de sacrificio quod pau per obtulit sumis Now that this nomination of the dead in the administratiō of the sacrament tended not to fetch him out of Purgatory it appeareth evē by the same that our adversaries alleage out of Cyprian namely for that hee would not permit any nomination of of a certaine deceased person who had charged a clarke with a tutorship for surely it had beene excessiue inhumanitie to depriue a soule tormented in fire from ordinary reliefe for so slight an offence and where it was rather want of consideration then of piety as also to hold such a one for that sinne to be dāned were a rash and precipitat iudgement It was therefore a deprivation of honour among the living not a prohibition from succouring of the soule of the deceased And yet in all this there is no harme In those daies sprang vp the error of the receptacles of soules and of the fire of the last iudgemēt that should purge even the Virgin Mary and the Apostles began to take footing in the church Hereby mēs minds growing into feare and being perplexed concerning the estate of the dead prayers for the succor of the dead soone after came to bee adioined to the oblations sacrifices and almes And thus errour begat abuse which sprang from the loue of friends yet without any conceit of Purgatory and without any foresight of such abuses as might ensue and did befall in the daies of Gregory Bishop of Rome who lived in the yeare of Iesus Christ six hundred For then learning being smothered by the inundation of the barbarous nations the Gothes the Hunnes the French the Vandales c. And these lights of the primitiue Church extinct whiles there were no more Basils Cyprians or Augustins c. The divell taking his time and making vse of the covetise of the Clergie cosened the world with visions and aparitions of soules returning from Purgatory as we see in Gregories dialogues and Beda his workes who made report of a soul that appeared musled in a cloke of fire of an other that had beene a master of the bathes and being there in Purgatory offered to pull of a mans hose They also tell vs a fable of one Nocholas who getting forth of Purgatory by a hole that is in Ireland reported that hee had seene soules some broiled some fried get-some roasted c. Gregory in the fourth of his dialogues cap. 41. putteth to him selfe this question Quid hoc est quaeso quod in his extremis temporibus tam multa de animabus clarescunt quae ante latuerant And ordinarily these souls in their appearance shewed the cause of their tormēt ether that they had not paid the Church what they ought or had vowed and so entreated the living to satisfie for them or that they had withstood the Bishop of Rome c. Then began these great donations to the Church especially after the stations and Indulgences of Rome were added which are of the topgallant the last supream top of all Babylon Against this progresse of abuse what better remedy then to reduce the people to the spring head which is the holy Scripture And to say as Iesus Christ said to the Saduces Mat. 22. You erre not knowing the scriptures but from the beginning it was not so For throughout the old Testament that is for the full space of foure hundred yeares there was no prayer either for the dead or to fetch any soule out of Purgatory neither in the daies of Iesus Christ or his Apostles nor of a long time after Thus shall we attribute the glory to God to
that the theft was scourged Suetonius Iulius in segmento 73. Plautus in Aphitruone aut satisfaciat mihi aut adiuret in super nolle esse dicta quae in me in sontem protulit but not the thiefe That excogitatum Commentum signified a Commentary That the pardons of foure and fifty thousand yeares are good and receaueable That satisfacere signifieth not to acknowledg his fault to the partie offended or to testifie that he was sorry for it or when he saying vnto me that God should be vniust if there were no purgatorie I answered that then God should be vniust to such as should liue in the day of iudgmeÌ„t also to the Carmelites that dy vpoÌ„ the friday who as themselues report haue a priviledge that they shal remain in purgatory no longer but vntill the next saterday But who would thinke that vntruth could so farre exceed Verily I am one of the least amonge the servants of God yet would I be sorrie that my yeares or want of capacitie should any way preiudice the equity of my cause but the word of God is mighty even in the mouthes of babes Besides should I trouble my selfe with answering an vnlearned man vnseene in the Greeke and Hebrew as appeared when we were to haue recourse to the Originals in both those laÌ„guages wher vpon the Iesuits of Turnon tooke vpoÌ„ them to stuffe his booke with passages collected out of prophane auctors and the Rabbins into whoÌ„ hee never thrust his snowt which Iesuits neverthelesse were many times mistaken in diverse things The manner of these Doctors in answering as in place convenient shall appeare But how should they make faithful report of things spoken who make no coÌ„science to falsifie my writing See therefore how they entreat me They produce not my wordes they reverse the order of my speeches The frier beginneth with the last page of my booke here there they mangle snatch at my discourse one beginneth at one end an other in the middest If I speak any thing that biteth they can quietly passe it over with silence They obiect the matter that I answer but my answers they suppresse He that seeketh the truth ought to produce the very wordes of his adversary he should trace him step by step without counterfeiting curtalling or disseÌ„bling but these men by a certaine doctoral disposition do skippe as at their masse over whole leaues they conceale the most forcible and the sooner to lead the reader that followeth vs out of our tracke they shuffle the course of my reasons and bring the head forth last Then having thus sented my discourse they proclaime before the pallace their fiery burning magnificall and ridiculous titles Some coulor they might haue had for their flight had my first booke been either tedious or ful of wordes The chardges of the Impression with the readers impatiencie might haue serued them in steede of figge leaues to cover their shame but my writing contained few pages the Arguments lay close for I studied to lay the bones bare that the sinewes might bee the better seene Their vnfaithfull dealing doth proceed yet farther for they forge other obiections then mine and of mine do they take away the edge by propounding them in other manner then I did Thus do they skirmish and sport them in answering of themselues much like vnto the Bulles in the amphitheater to whoÌ„ they cast men made of straw vpoÌ„ whoÌ„ being provoked they dischardged their rage As if they should say vnto me you are too rough The Church of Rome must be more gently entreated Take away your forcible argumeÌ„ts for these reasons lie to hard vpon vs so wil we commune with you Thus and thus must you obiect that so wee may answere with some coulor but they forgat to giue this warning before I doe therefore protest that these writings of these Doctors doe not coÌ„cerne me for that I never spake manie things that they impute to me they haue either fearefully dissembled or malitiously corrupted my best obiections Neither can I thinke my selfe sufficiently satisfied vntill I see my own writing perfect in the writings of my adversaries and their answer set down article to article reason to reason without cutting of or altering my wordes or disordering the order of my discourse Reverend Doctors I beseech you in curtesie None of these Doctors haue yet answered therfore the victory yet resteth with the Aâ—uctor yea I adiure you by the relicks of your coÌ„sciences to entreat me with more equirie take this booke which againe I offer vnto you encreased amplified and corroborated with reasons and some passages of Scriptures and answer it in such wise as that my reasons may not be mangled nor thrust out of order but that all men may see your answers at the foot of my obiections If your desire to bring the truth to light faileth you not no more then your leasures meanes books and support albeit all these faile vs wee shall soone perceaue which of vs hath the word of God to warrant and from the encounter of our reasons truly and vprightly reported wil proceed the sparks of the truth The Lord God vouchsafe to direct our pennes and dispose our hearts to propound such matters as may bee profitable to the salvation of his people proper to the glory of God and comfortable to the truth of his word THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOKE 1. A description of the foure chambers or stages which the Church of Rome placeth vnder the earth Namely of Hell of the Limboe of Children of the Limboe of the fathers and of Purgatory Also of the meanes to get out of Purgatory 2. That in this controversie as in all other that concerne faith the holy Scripture ought to bee iudge also that the same speaketh not of Purgatory nether of any temporall torment after this life nether of any Indulgences wherewith to fetch soules out of this torment 3. That the holy Scripture overthroweth Purgatory and that there is no other purgation of our sinnes but the blood and death of Iesus Christ and consequently that papall Indulgences are vnprofitable to the deceased 4. Against mans satisfactions in general 5. Against Popish Indulgences and the extraction of soules out of Purgatory 6. A confutation of such passages of the holy Scripture as these Doctors haue alleaged 7. What the Doctors of the foure first ages after Iesus Christ did hold and beleeue concerning this matter and that they never beleeued any Purgatory Also of prayer for the dead of Indulgences and of the satisfactions of the primitiue Church A CONFVTATION OF PVRGATORY CAP. I. A description of the foure Chambers or stages which the Church of Rome placeth vnder the earth and particularly of the place called Purgatory THE Doctors of the Church of Rome doe hold that vnder the earth there bee 4. severall places which are so many prisons wherein the foules are either broyled or shutt vp The lowest place The auctor of
sufferingt Thus our Monke by doing of iustice and iudgement which signifieth to deale vprightly and to giue to every man his owne vnderstandeth it to chastise a mans selfe shewing himselfe a Novice in the phrase of the old Testament where this word Iudgement signifieth equitie and vpright dealing As in Deut. 32 4. Daniel 4.37 The Auctor of the fire of Helie answereth otherwise for they seldome concurre in their answers he will haue these words I will no more remember to signifie Pag. 6. I will not punish as an enimie that is to say with eternall punishment By his account the keeping of a man many thousands of yeares in a fire for his sinne signifieth not to remember his sinne How often did David pray to God to remember his sinnes and wickednesse of his enimies yet not so that he desired that God should punish them with eternall punishment After all this the frier maketh a digression wherein hee chargeth vs with sundry slanders but all besides the matter 2 Gods Angell Revelat. 14.13 saith thus Blessed are the dead that hereafter dy in the Lord yea truly the spirit saith that they rest from their labours their works follow them Surely if they rest from their labours they goe not into a burning fire This speech concerneth not the Martyres only as our adversaries doe faine for throughout that whole chapter there is not any word of the Martyres but of all such as keepe the commandements of God faith of Iesus as it is said one line before But if the Martyres only doe die in the Lord in whom doe the rest of the faithfull die Bellarmine saith they die in part in the Lord and in part not in the Lord Bellarm. de Purgat lib. 6. cap. 1. hee was ashamed to say in part in the Lord and in part in the divell 3 Esay cap. 57. v. 1. 2. saith The righteous perisheth and is taken away from the evill then he addeth Hee shall enter in peace or peace shall come they shall rest in their beds every one that hath walked before him Why did he not except those that goe to Purgatory or what peace or rest is there in a burning fire And this is the point wherein the Frier is brought into such a straight that his only recourse is to his ordinary boldnesse Pag. 19. and laboureth to make this passage a meanes to establish his Purgatory Hee affirmeth it to bee a prayer of Esay for the dead and to make it the more probable in liew of these words Peace shall come he saith let peace come also for They doe rest he saith let them rest contrary to the truth of the original Hebrew which hath Iavo that is to say shal come and Ianuchu they shall rest Yet let vs thus farre yeeld all this to his ignorance in the Hebrew tongue but herein doth he shew his bad meaning even in this that hee affirmeth it to bee a prayer of Esay sith by the words ensuing it appeareth that they bee the wordes of God who saith Yee witches children come hither yee seed of the adulterer and of the whore drawe neere Whome haue yee mocked c. and againe Can I be content with all these things and thou hast discovered thy selfe behind mee Throughout all this Chapter God opposeth the blessed estate of the righteous against the curse prepared for the wicked 4 S. Paule to the Corinthians saith 2. Cor. 5.1 If our earthly habitation be destroied we haue an eternall building in heaven But why did he not adde but that shall bee after you are purged with fire 5 The Apostle in the 9. to the Hebrewes saith It is ordained that all men shall once die after that the iudgement He forgat Purgatory that should haue gon betweene For throughout the holy Scripture we find not any other iudgment spoken of after death but the last and vniversall iudgement 6 In the 20. Matt. the laborers doe all receaue their promised wages towards the end of the day that is to say in the end of their liues and when their works is done but Purgatory can bee no part of this labour as the auctor of the fire of Helie would haue it to be for in that place they speake only of labouring in the Lords vinyard which is his church which hath no communitie with any torment in fire Againe Purgatory caÌ„not be the last houre of the day because they make it continue much longer then all the life Besides that even in this last houre some labourers are called and hired but in Purgatory no man is called to the service of God 7 In the holy Scriptures we haue many examples of men receaved into Paradice immediatly after their decease but no example of any soule sent into Purgatory Luk. 2.26 Simeon had a promise that he should not see death before hee had seene the Messias S. Paul 2. Tim. 4. saith that after he had fought the good fight there remained no more but to receaue the crowne of glory And S Luk cap. 1â— saith that the Angels carried the soule of Lazarus into Abrahams bosome where hee was comforted whiles the â—ich man was tormented but of any passage to Purgatory either to or fro we heare no newes 8 Iesus Christ said to the good theif This day thou shalt be with me in Paradice This thiefe was surely a great sinner satisfied civill iustice either for theft or murder But where had hee made satisfaction to God for all his sinnes committed all the daies of his life Hee that was converted to God in the very article of his death But God requireth no satisfactory paines of such as doe repent but for them hee doth accept of the obedience and death of Iesus Christ who hath sufficiently satisfied aswell for our sinnes as for the punishment due to our sinnes The auctor of the fire of Helie with the rest will needes haue this priviledge to bee granted to this thiefe in regard of the greatnesse of his faith of his hope of his charitie of his zeale c. wherein they doe the more accuse themselues 2. By exalting the faith of the thiefe they do at vnawares confesse that in case we haue a stedfast faith in Iesus Christ we shall not come in Purgatory 3. Herein also they do coÌ„fesse that it standeth with the iustice of God freely and without imposing any satisfactory paines to pardon alwaies provided that the sinner haue a stedfast faith and hope in Iesus Christ 4. How could this thiefe at Gods hand merite this privilege by his faith and hope considering that God endued him with this faith For what kind of merit is this to receaue the gifts and graces of God with a stedfast faith which faith also God gaue him who giueth not only the benefits but also the means to receaue them And the same doe I say also of other vertues which were the gifts and effects of the spirit of God in him For it is God
veniall and pardonable in one is mortall in another The parts therefore of this distinction doe iustle and encroch each vpon other besides I will say thus much more that it is rashnesse in our adversaries to define that there bee but seuen mortall sinnes that all other sinnes be pardonable for it is the office of the iudge not of the offender to determine what paine each sinne deserueth for in the sight of God we be all guiltie 20 Purgatory likewise bringeth with it many inconveniences for in that it teacheth that the fasts offerings and almes deeds of the living doe serue to bring soules out of Purgatory the same maketh many to bee more negligent to relie vpon their friends that surviue Daily examples we haue many of people that buy Masses hire men to pray for their soules whiles in the meane time they take license to practise all excesse dissolution and rapine All Doctor Du Valles answer stil resteth in recriminations Pag. 75. The auctor of the fire of Helie denieth that Iesus Christ hath fully satisfied He saith that we are they that make men carelesse in that we teach that Iesus Christ hath fully satisfied and that on our behalfe there is nothing to satisfie Hereto I haue before fully answered and at large Yea I doe protest that we hold no such beliefe Hee farther saith that the prayers made for such as are in Purgatory make not men more carelesse then the same which in this world one maketh for another whereto we say that it is true that the prayers of the living one for another make the sinner to be more negligent when these prayers are taken for payments redemptions and satisfactions Herevpon the Auctor of the fire of Helie to shaddow his purposes in liew of speaking of fasts offerings speaketh only of prayers which peradventure he would haue beene ashamed to reckon among the redemptions and payments for other mens offences sins 21 By this gate also came in the trafficke and the exchange was opened in the Church The rich do build obits and anniversaries for their soules for them are the privat Masses song the poore must be content with the generall praiers wherein the rich also haue their shares Al the Churches shal ring with peales praiers and diriges after the decease of a man that hath been extraordinary liberall and bountifull to the Clergie but for one that hath giuē nothing ye shal never heare so much as one Masse neither will the orders of begging Friers presse to a poore mans house By these means haue the church of Rome heaped togither so much goods that one only hospital entituled of the Spirit in Rome may in rents dispende foure thousande crownes a day His holynes keies are of gold a mettall that openeth both heavē Purgatory for this good prelate and his factors followers are better studyed in the golden number then in the dominicall letter which is the holy scripture Should a poore beggerly soule participate in those graces which his holinesse hath reserved for the greatest Lords It were a goodly sight to see some porter or pointmaker or some such base fellow sollicite in the Court of Rome for to purchase buls of delivery of the soule of some poore kinsman of his out of Purgatory and indeed the booke of rates in the Popes chancery hath sundry clauses of this nature Sed hoc tātum pro qualificatis Printed at Paris by Toussain Denis in S. Iames street at at the sign of the Crosse 1520. with priviledge of the court istae gratiae non conceduntur pauperibus By this reckoning Jesus Christ was deceived when he said Blessed are the poore considering that the rich haue such goodly priviledges by thē do so soon enter into Paradice This traficke also doth appeare in this that the Church of Rōedoth hold that children dying soone after Baptisme do go straight into Paradice which notwithstanding the Priests do not forbeare to take money for their Masses for such children also in that the Cleargie pay least for the souls of their friends there by acknowleging the slightnes of their marchandize Page 76. The Doctor Du Vall confesseth there is abuse so daintyly doth he speake of so horrible and publike abhomination The Frier knowing that this traficke the more it is stirred the more it stincketh saith nothing at all of it 23 The same errour maketh God more favourable to those that shal liue in the day of Iudgment then to others for they shall not come in Purgatorie at all to the Carmelite Friers then to the Franciscans for they pretend a priviledge to abide there but vnto the next saterday after their deathes to those that haue meanes and friendes to procure them Masses then to others For why should a poore man giue sixe pence to be named in the memento of the Masse if hee did not hope of some good that he should haue lost if he had not beene therein named Yet had hee not bin named if he had given nothing for with thē No peny no paternoster Let vs also cōsider that by this doctrin such as die immediately after they haue ended their Iubile go straight to Paradice and are exempt from Purgatory but that man peradventute not so vitious neither oppressed with so many sinnes yet dieth before the yeare of Iubile goeth into Purgatory and is deprived of so great a benefite likewise that he that is wel horsed and dwelleth not far from the place where these pardons are to be had doth much more easily obtaine pardon for his sinnes then he who dwelling three hundred leagues of hath never a horse The same abuse also tyeth the mercy of God to one certain place as that al sinnes are remitted at the Frāciscans but not at the Carmelites or Iacobins Yea so far doth some pardon stretch that hee that in the Covent of the Franciscans shall say the praiers in the bull ordained obtaineth plenary pardon for al his sinnes but though he say ten times more praiers in an other couvent yea and that with much greater devotiō yet shal he al this notwithstanding obtaine thereby no remission of sinnes For like a foole he went to seeke remission of his sinnes in places that the Pope had not appointed Herevpon the auctor of the fire of Helie taketh vs at the first rebound and saith You say not well for mercy hath regard to the offence and eternall punishmēt but iustice hath regard only to the temporall Wel spoken of this doctor What hath not Gods iustice regard likewise to eternall paine Page 71. And doth he not also shew his mercy in remitting the temporall The same doctor doth also wōder that in all these things I can finde any inconveniencie And willeth vs here vpon in profound silence to adore the impenetrable Iudgements of the Lord. But I doe more marvaile that with me he doth not marvaile that at our hāds he should require adoration with silence where
at libertie because some friend of his hath scourged himselfe or fasted for him 3. Whether the pardons that the Pope giueth without enioining any penance be of any force as also those which he giueth with conditiō to work some wickednesse as in the yeares 1587 and 1588. when hee gaue seven yeares of pardon to every one that would ioine with the holy Vnion that is to say that would rebell against their king yet he a Roman Catholike 4. Againe In as much as these superabundant satisfactions of Saints are gathered together into the Popes treasurie because God will haue nothing lost how haue the superabundant satisfactions of such holy men as died vnder the old Testamēt as Moses Abraham c. beene husbanded be those also in the Popes treasury But where were they laid vp before the Pope had them Did they lie lurking in some corner two or three thousand yeares vntill the Pope gathered them together and found meanes to employ thē It were not amisse also to enquire the reason why the world in the yeare of Iubile maketh such hast to Rome cōsidering that at Rome they may at all times obtaine millions of yeares of Indulgences and full remission of sinnes and some six hundred thousand yeares of plenary pardon Aboue all we would gladly know when a man that needeth ten thousand yeares of pardon doth purchase enough for fiftie thousand yeares what becommeth of the fortie thousand yeares that remaineth Cayer saith that they returne into the treasurie for the good of others but because his companions doe despise disgrace him wee would willingly bee taught by some substantiall Doctor the rather for that at Rome and in one selfe place a man may obtaine besides the plenary pardon certaine thousands of yeares of surplussage To what end may that surplussage serue wil the Pope therewith pardon sins giue Indulgences by provision CAP. 6. That all the passages of holy Scripture by our adversaries quoted for prayer for the dead and for Purgatory are either false or vnprofitable IN all the Premises wee may see that our enimies fight but faintly that they are armed but with strawes against the force of the truth how much lesse shall they be able to do any thing when they shall be quite stripped and that little armour that is left them be cleane taken away This is it which in this Chapter wee will with Gods helpe performe My adversaries therfore whose desire of gaine induceth them to practise Pyrotechny doe heape together stubble good store that is to say simple proofs to kindle this fire of Purgatory Of these proofes some concerne prayer for the dead and some Purgatory some taken out of the old some out of the new Testament we will then without dissimulation propound them all and for my part I will deale with thē with as much equitie and sinceritie as they haue dealt with me with fraud vniustice which consisteth in suppressing my best obiections and corrupting the rest Passages produced by these three Doctors to proue prayer for the dead All that my adversaries doe alleage concerning prayer for the dead is groūded vpon a false principle namely that who so prayeth for a dead body presupposeth that there is a Purgatory but in the last Chapter wee will shew that the prayers for the dead which some of the ancients did vse were even against Purgatorie Here might we dispense for answering hereto the rather for that albeit they should obtaine their desires yet had they gained nothing toward the establishment of their Purgatory Howbeit we will doe them thus much more then right that nowe receaving their principle we wil lay open the falshood and impertinencie of their proofes therevpon 1. Cayers passages p. 24. A falshood Cayer shall haue the credit to march foremost as the most skilfull His words are these It is said Numbers 16. v. 47. 48. that Aaron reconciled the people both the quick and the dead A passage false and by him invented for as well in the Hebrew as in the translations even in the Roman it is thus Aaron standing vpright betweene the dead and the living besought God for the people and the plague ceased 2. In the third book of Kings cap. 8. v. 38. There is a manner of prayer for the dead saith Cayer in these words Every prayer and supplication made by any man for the wound of his heart in the Church it shall be acceptable to God Also in the 33. verse it is said If the people fall before their enimies in praying to God they shal be heard Were not this passage falsified yet shew me one word in it that importeth praying for the dead 3. Againe he saith that in the 57. of Esay the Prophet complaineth that they did not pray for the dead This also is false neither is there any such speech throughout all the Chapter Looke also what wee haue already said in the third Chapter and third Argument 4. He goeth on and saith that in the third Chapter of Baruch it is set downe in expresse words Heare o Lord God the prayer of the dead Israelits and of their children that haue sinned before thee And soone after Remember not the iniquitie of our Fathers First the booke is Apocriphall secondly In these wordes of Israell are comprised all the people of Israell who in those daies through the extremitie of their captivitie misery were as if they lived not as it appeareth in the eleventh verse where it is said Israell is counted with them that go downe to the graue Tearming those dead after the ordinary phrase of the Scripture that are oppressed with affliction and as it were within two inches of death As David in the 88. Psalme albeit aliue counteth himselfe among the dead and those that goe downe to the pit so also in the 18. Psalme v. 5. 6. and in the 116. Psalme v. 3. hee saith that he is environed and surprised with the snares of death and with the bonds of the sepulcher Also in the 18. Psalme v. 19. the faithfull doe desire of God that he would restore them to life as if they had beene dead and already brought to the graue Thirdly to what purpose doth hee come in with a prayer of the dead considering that our question cōcerneth only the prayer of the living for the dead Fourthly as concerning these words Remember not the iniquitie of our fathers hee prayeth that the threats of the lawe which denounce that God will visit the iniquitie of the Fathers vpon the children be not executed vpon them hee therefore prayeth that the sinnes of the fathers be no cause to prolong their captivitie as plainely appeareth in the eight verse Cayer produceth yet another passage out of the second of the Machabes but that you shal find among the passages of the other two 5. The Frier having discharged all his anger vpon M. Calvin and charged that good man with infinit slanders wresting the Interpretion of sundry his