that worketh the will and the deed saith S. Paul Phil. 2.13 2. Cor. 3.6 and without him wee cannot thinke any good saith the same Apostle 5. Let vs step yet farther We demande how where or when the thiefe bare the satisfactory paines for his sinne towards God But here in liew of answering directly they stand vpon the magnifying and extolling of the faith charitie and zeale of this thiefe but to what purpose seeing vertues are no satisfactory paines but rather lenitiues and proppes to strengthen and fortify the soule against all the griefes thereof 6. That which I hold to be the principall in this case is this That these our Masters doe make the charitie zeale patience of this thiefe in a moment to be of so great merit as to exempt him from the torments of Purgatory yet that they will not graunt that the charitie of the faithfull that are in this burning fire their zeale or any other the vertues which in these soules were in greater perfection then they were in the thiefe in that hee was yet a sinner could haue any merit or power to draw them out of this fire But wherefore should they by their magisterial auctoritie take from these poore soules the power of meriting but only by prolonging the torments of the dead the consciences of the living being the more astonished might bee stirred vp to redeeme them whiles they may by masses anniversaries gifts to the Church yea and that so far forth as to perswade the people that an offering for the dead being by a surviver offred was of power and merit to free the dead from that torment and yet that in the dead himselfe neither his faith neither his charitie neither his patience no not the torments of many yeares haue any merit or can moue God to abridge this torment 7. Hereto let vs also adioine thus much that the punishment that the thiefe suffered being deserved inevitable and by civill iustice imposed vpon him could not bee counted for a satisfactorie worke to God for hee ought voluntarily to haue vndergon it and by order of the Church not by sentence of the Magistrate especially according to the doctrine of the Romish Church â— Moreover is it not a meere mockage â—o say that the exemption from enteâ—ing into Purgatory was a privilege granted to this thiefe Bellarm. lib. 1. cap 8 Privilegia paucorum legem non faciunt considering that â—hroughout all the worde of God wee caÌ„not find the example of any one that ever went into Purgatory Privileges are extraordinary but here they seeke to make that which is ordinary and without exception in the word of God to passe for a priviledge 9 In this also doe they much forget themselues that they wil here bring in privileges where the matter concerneth the Iustice of God which saith these men after the pardon of the fault will neverthelesse haue vs to satisfie for the paine If then Gods iustice hath suffered one man to enter into Paradise without any satisfactory paine for his sinnes why should it not suffer two If two why not ten If ten whie not a hundred or a thousand and so forth infinite Our Reverend writers of fires furnaises and torrents doe giue way to the maine body of these reasons as being to great too strong and too close set together and having hidden themselues doe afterward make semblance to appeare Pag. 68 but farre enough of The auctor of the fire of Helie no griefe to his person hath made vs a little merry for supposing that hee hath found some newe matter to make this privilege currant saith that the blood of Iesus Christ which they boiled and sprang vpon the thiefe carried him immediatly into eternall felicitie Where found he this Did the blood of Iesus Christ spring forth but on one side and so the eviâ— thiefe through disgrace could obtainâ— no aspersion of it Or how could a few drops of blood moistning the outward parts of the body bring forth so wholâ—some an effect Considering that in the Masse they hold that the wicked do receaue all Iesus Christ inwardly and yâ—â— are never the better nor more happy But now I remember where he found this fable hee remembred that blessed S. Longin who pierced the side of Iesus Christ and so recovered his sight for of that speare the Church of Rome hath made a speareman and of that speereman a Saint And why not sith that of Deucalion Pirrhaes casting of stones behind them men and women sprang vp That which he here produceth concerning the baptisme of the thiefe on the Crosse is already confuted in the first Chapter and this man maketh the heathen Executioners to be baptizers of Christians By all this it doth appeare that togither with this thiefe Purgatory was crucified for I am ashamed to produce the argument of these Doctors who doe make even this thiefe an advocate for Purgatorie The sire of Helie p. 67 For say they he craved succours not in this life for death was even betweene his iawes already but after his death he therfore beleeved that after death the soules stood in need of succours Hereto doe we answer that he craved indeed no succour for this life neither for after this death but even for the death it selfe and for the departure of his soule which Iesus Christ entring into Paradice tooke and brought with him into the coelestiall glory But who can here forbeare laughing at this Portugall The boldnesse of this fire p. 95. who would haue the worde Paradice here to signifie hell Or how can he faiâ— of an answer that suffereth himselfe soliceÌ„tiously to interpret the Scriptures 9 S. Iohn in his first Epistle chap. 1. saith The blood of Iesus Christ purgeth or cleanseth vs from all sinne Our sinnes are the spots and vncleanesse of our soules and there be no other Iesus Christ purgeth and taketh them all away saith S. Iohn then is there no more to purge so no more Purgatory For albeit after all our offences pardoned there should yet remaine some paine to be endured for the satisfying of the iustice of God yet could not this punishmeÌ„t be called a Purgation for who did ever here the whip or the gibbet called a Purgation for theft or murder Pag 69. A stander The fire of Helie slandering vs answereth and maketh vs to say that it is enough that Iesus Christ satisfied for vs so as for our parts wee need doe nothing at all An opinion which we abhorre and leaue to the prophane and Libertines Whereas wee say that the punishment of a sinne cannot be called a Purgation the frier affirmeth the contrary Pag 97. saying that it is never called otherwise and to that end he alleageth many places wherin he preteÌ„deth that to purge signifieth to punish and chastise Passages which I am even ashamed to confute The first maketh cleane against him all the rest are false The Apostle to the Hebrewes chap. 1.3
beleeue neither heaven nor hell The intent of the Ministers saith he is to deny both Purgatory and Paradice for wee know that at Geneva in the Italian Church after they had argued of the means to root out the beliefe of Purgatory one of their Deacons rising vp said let vs doe that which we had once determined let vs deny the Immortalitie of the soule so shall wee soone see Purgatory laid along The fire of Helie saith it was not a Deacon but a Minister yea he saith moreover that one Perrat a Minister of Geneva in his life coÌ„plained that among vs the beasts are buried with greater honour then men But he speaketh as if a man already deceased so truely hee is informed but the man yet liveth and if the accuser or accusation did deserue it I could easily from himselfe procure the confutation of so cold a slander Herevpon were the Divell our principall enimie a man to be examined I would demand of him whether our fathers that suffered martyrdome for the Gospell who were so lavish of their blood and so sparing of the glory of God did think that there was no heaven or that the soules were mortall But in as much as wee meddle not with coniurings or making the spirits to appeare as our adversaries doe let the Frier take his place and be our Iudge therein Dare hee say that these persons did not aspire to eternall life The two Decij Curtius or Empedocles who with their deathes did purchase fame voluntary lost their liues to purchase commendatioÌ„s after death might haue done it without hope of immortalitie But where the death is accompanied with infamy the ashes overlaid with reproach what man will without hope of immortalitie seeke an inglorious death and voluntarily lose both his life and his honor Moreover who be our slanderers Even the props and pillers of the Roman sea a sea that hath beene blemished with Popes that haue made profession to teach that there is no Paradise and that the soules of men doe die together with their bodies as doe the soules of beastes Let these writers of fires furnaces torrents acknowledge whether these bee not the very words of the Councell of Constance Sess 11. Iohn the 23. Often and very often in the presence of sundry prelats and other good and honest men hath said supported taught and obstinately at the instigation of the divell maintained that there is no eternall life neither any other life after this yea he hath said and obstinately beleeued that the soule of man dieth with his body and is extinct as those of brute beasts He hath also said that man once dead shall neuer rise againe at the last day c. And afterward it is said that all this is publikely and well knowne O how the pulpets should haue rung of it if any one of vs had spoken but the huÌ„dreth part hereof 12 There resteth yet one place taken out of S. Paule 1. Cor. 15.29 What shal they doe that are baptised for dead The Frier in liew of these wordes for dead hath set downe for the dead The fire of Helie committeth a notable falsehood and disguiseth the passage thus Pag. 46. Falshoods What shall they doe that baptise themselues for the dead And then expoundeth that which he hath corrupted in this maner To baptise ones selfe signifieth to doe laborious and satisfactory workes for the dead and withall wee must vnderstand that it is to fetch them out of Purgatory Good God what a troublesome thing lying is This interpretation is taken from Bellarmine who according to his manner hauing alleaged the explication of a number of the fathers as Tertullian Ambrose Sedulius Theodoret Chrysostome Oecumenius Theophilact c washeth al their heads and for the establishment of his owne exposition confuteth all their explications And this doth the Frier confirme with the autoritie of Turrian the Iesuite who maketh vse of this passage An excelent testimonie and of great antiquity But the sense of these wordes must be taken of the Apostles intent This is bee seene in Mat. 5 16â— Marc. 1.10 his intent was to proue the resurrectioÌ„ here to hee imployeth baptisme which in those daies was celebrated by plonging the whole body in water in token that we are in death the comming forth of the water representeth the resurrection S. Paules meaning is that this signe were in vaine if there were no resurrection and that in vaine we are baptized for dead or as dead and to represent vnto vs that wee are in death if there be no hope of Resurrection The explicatioÌ„ of Theodoret groweâ—h much herevpon which also Caietan doth follow The places of scripture wherevpon these Doctors doe lay the foundations of their Purgatory 1. Cayer pag. 5. proveth the multitude of habitations vnder the earth by the creed where it is saide Descendit ad Inferos in the plurall number but his grammar faileth him for in the Greeke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the singular and Inferi in the plurall importeth no more diversity of chambers or habitations then Superi which signifieth those that liue vpon the earth Virgill Aeneid 6. Apud superos furto laetatus inani 2 Againe vpon the last of the Revelation where it is written Pag. 9. Out of the throne proceeded a river of water cleare as christall He foundeth Purgatory in rivers in bathes in yce vnder the leaues of trees c To the same end he alleageth the 92. Psalme The righteous shall flourish like a Palme tree And this passage doeth hee make to serue for a defence of his flowred medow that lieth at the end of Purgatory Let vs yeeld Peter Victor Palme Cayer this Doctor taketh vp the straw which is not like the palme albeit he assumeth that name but rather like the figge tree which Christ cursed it bare no more fruit 3 Himselfe defendeth the altars wherevpon the saying of a stinted nuÌ„ber of Masses sufficeth to fetch a soule out of Purgatory Pag. 17. because in the lawe there was an altar of propitiation 4 In page 23. he heapeth vp a whole bedroule of passages for Purgatory as if they were paternosters 1. Because there was a flaming sworde before the garden of Eden and the same passage doth the fire of Helie make vse of 2. By the fire of sacrifices after the law of nature for he imagineth that the making of sacrifices by fire is a law of nature thus doth he confesse that he hath lost his humane nature because he doth not sacrifice by fire 3. Because the law was given in fire 4. By the perpetuall fire that was vpon the altar 5. By the iudgement of God that must be in fire 2. Pet. 3. Out of al this he coÌ„cludeth that there is a purgatory How many pens sonnets shall wee pin vpon this doctor in reward of his profound subtlety Some few other passages there bee but they wil be found among those of
that baptisme was not necessarie for any but the children of vnbeleevers that out of our Kalenders we haue raised the Virgin Mary the Apostles and in their places haue inserted Luther and Calvin that our Ministers doe preach liberty of conscience without any apprehension of divine iudgemēt that we hold that it sufficeth vs that Iesus Christ suffered for vs and therefore that wee neede not doe any more that at the Funerals of the late Queene of England they sung Masse had their offertory and prayed for her soule that Luther and Calvin in liew of raising the dead to life did put the living to death and that they are our Masters Patriarkes and Apostles c. To bee briefe they set downe even all the slanders that hatred can devise or malice can suggest wherewith they seduce the people and abuse their simplicitie What shall I speak of their vprightnesse in alleaging the Scriptures All the passages that they produce are for the most part either falsified or wrested to a contrary sense or to no purpose With a Magisteriall license they force a number of passages quoined vpon the anvill of Avarice that are not to be found in the originals either Greeke or Hebrew yea and sometimes contrary to the Roman translations Of so much negligence or dulnesse of their reader do they presume assuring themselues that the people shall never perceaue any thing or can so much as cōsult with the Scriptures which vnto them are as sealed letters and suspected bookes albeit in the meane time they are permitted to read the monstrous Legends the Psalters of the Virgin Mary ful fraught with blasphemy and the frivolous and and fabulous bookes of the life of Iesus Christ O yee soules that long for your salvation will you still liue in such grievous bondage What shall we yet be so vaine as to passe the seas to looke vpon the relickes of some Saints and will we not heare Iesus Christ when he offereth himselfe vnto vs in the holy Scriptures Shall we stoop more to curiositie thē to necessitie To the cōtent of our eies then to the salvation of our soules Shall we still be so rashly negligent as in a matter of such importance to credit the first commer Contenting our selues with following in liew of knowing Placing pietie in the knoweledge of nothing thrusting our selues into the presse and shrowding vs amōg the multitude Againe when any man shall say vnto vs that Iesus Christ or any of his Apostles do in such a place or in such a place teach vs Purgatory or the Invocation of saints c. Shall wee be so cruelly cowards to our selues or so vnthankfull to God as not to take so much paines as to look whether the same be truely alleaged And indeed wherefore should these Doctors cite the places but that we might see them For what an absurditie is this to quote the places to the people and then to debarre them from seeing of them To referre them to the places and then to command them not to looke in the booke The people of Beroe practised this examination of the things that S. Paul taught Acts. 17.10 for albeit he preached with farre more auctoritie and certitude thē any man in our age yet did they examine his preaching by the reading of the Prophets farre more obscure then the new Testament Enter therefore in to this examination I say and yet I say vnto you especially if you haue recourse to the originals that you shall enter as it were into a shop where they sell vizards yea where they doe not only sell them but where they make thē so excessiue is their licentious liberty Of all this will wee in this Treatise produce sundry proofes according as occasion shall serue A Treatise whose principall drift is a defence of the only purging of our sinnes which is the bloud of our Saviour Iesus Christ against the fire of Purgatorie An argument that carrieth with it the confutation of the doctrine of the Limboes of Traditions of Prayer for the dead of mans satisfactions and of Popish Indulgences I plead the cause of Iesus Christ I confute the reasons and passages of these Doctors and their burning writings yet touch not their persons neither their furnitures full of Invectiues that concerne not the argument Two things there are neverthelesse which I cannot overpasse their folly in vanting and their false dealing in answering me Fire of Helic p. 4. First they paint forth many triumphs great conquests and an extreame shaking of our Church so many goodly soules such a multitude of notable personages namely forty at Diepe revolted to the Romish Church which now is in travel of them If they come to life they shal come forth These men doe packe them very grosly for enquiring of any such breach in the Church of Diepe I cannot learne of more long time revolted then two the one a maiden who allured by a carnall marriage hath violated her spirituall marriage with Christ the other an English Iesuit 2. Pet. 5.22 who vpon a fained conversion intruded himselfe into our company and is now returned to his vomit Howbeit let vs put the case that the reporte of these conversions were as true as they be forged at pleasure Is it any mervaile that some loue the world turn wing to that part that yeeldeth most quietnesse and worldly promotion Were it not rather a wonder if there were none such Ioh. 6.66 Iesus Christ was forsaken of his disciples how much more wee who haue nothing but by his bounty Men in these daies in matter of Religion do follow the course of the affaires and do fit their beliefe to their worldly commodities The belly hath no eares And as vsually such are deafe as dwell neere the downefall of great waters even so the word of God pierceth not into the eares that are deafned with the bruit of the world and stopped with the currāt of Covetize of voluptuousnesse and of ambition especially at Paris where mē are bought and sold where rewardes are propounded And God graunt that Idolatry possesse none but those whō she hath deerely paid for herein are we to acknowledge the work of God that notwithstanding so many allurements and discommodities yet do the flocke of Iesus Christ grow and encrease yea even since these men made their vaunts that our Church was so sore shakē But we boast not so much neither indeede are these victories ours but our Lorde Iesus Christs In their triumphs they paint mee forth make me a party in the proofs of their sufficiencie The auctor of Helies fire saith that in the disputation against the frier I was twise or thrice at a non plus and so made some of them merry but hee sheweth neither when nor whervpon It might peradventure be when the frier refused to enter into any orderly disputation or to propoūd his reasons in forme saying that he was not permitted so to do either when he said
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
ensuing besides the aforesaid absurdities hath yet this particular that it presupposeth that the Lords praier is said for the dead also If so theÌ„ do we also pray that God would giue them their dayly bread As for bread it is the lesse strange because the fire of Purgatory is sufficient to bake it and sith in the Masse it is said that the soules do sleepe in this fire and rest in a slumber of peace it is like wheÌ„ they awake they haue a good appetite But I cannot comprehende howe this bread may be called Dayly sith there they haue neither day nor sun Hereto let vs adioine the same that our doctors haue confessed That God hath already pardoned those roasted soules from all their offences that he only requireth of them the paines due to the sins already pardoned how can we theÌ„ desire God to forgiue theÌ„ their sins which are already forgiven them A lyer must haue a good memory The last passage for subtiety beareth away the bel Iesus Christ saith the Monk shed his blood for many therefore for the dead What need he to seeke so farre set proofes to proue that which we confesse who denieth but the blood of Iesus Christ was shed for many for al the faithful for all the Saints and Martyrs How impertinent also is this collection that the Frier here maketh out of the ancients to proue that the Lords Supper is a sacrifice What maketh it for Purgatory Sith we grant that it is a sacrifice but as it is said in the Masse A sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving neither Propitiatory nor redemptory but by representation because the supper is a commemoratioÌ„ of the death of Iesus Christ the only propitiatorie sacrifice And in regard hereof this sacrifice was alwaies called Eucharistia that is A thaÌ„ksgiving As for the coÌ„memoration of the dead practised by some of the ancients in the supper I wil in the next chapter following proue that it maketh against Purgatorie for therein they also made a commemoration of the Apostles and Martyrs And in this place doth the Frier proue himselfe a most ridiculous flatterer in spreading abroad such Panegericks and praises of Monsieur Duranti one that deserveth commendations out of an honester mans mouth as also of our king who is too wise to thinke that such commeÌ„dations are other then shamelesse beginnings But what is become of those daies when men of his coat went in Procession in armes the pike in one hand the portuise in the other and were the firebrands of publike combustions encouraging the people against their king whilst we as good subiects even such as we will be to the death did shed our blood in his service Of like substance also is the fable that hee patcheth vp of a Masse song in England for the soule of the late Queene and the offerings contributed in her funerall wherevpon in full hope he exclaimeth At length the truth shall rise out of Democritus well you deceaue your selfe good man she rose from thence even in the time of the Apostles and primitiue Church But the divel hath dealt with her as he did with Ioseph when hee came out of the well she hath been sold to strange marchaÌ„ts brought into bondage and put in subiection not as Ioseph was to an Eunuch but to the father of lies marveilous fruitfull 8 This now decided let vs into our way againe In his 19. page hee bringeth in a prayer for the dead taken out of Esay 57.1 2. Cayer also pag. 24 citeth the same place but contrarieth the Frier saying that it is not a prayer for the dead but a lamentation that he maketh because that in those daies in Israel they prayed not for the dead The fire of Helie is content to say only that this passage doth not condemne Purgatory Pag. 66. Thus doe these our masters agree among themselus but in the third Chapter we haue shewed that the Frier falsifieth this place and that the same quite quencheth Purgatory 9 Nowe followeth the passage which all the 3 Doctors make vse of whereof they forme a mightie Bulwarke It is in the 2. of the Machabes the 12. where say they Iudas sent 12 thousand drachmes of silver to Hierusalem to be offered in sacrifice for the dead Hereto we answer 1. They falsifie the place The Frier pag. 10. 2. The book is not Canonicall 3. Were it Canonical yet maketh it nothing for Purgatory 4. They sinne against the naturall principles of the question For we never dispute against any but by the principles and autorities that we receaue Men dispute not with Iewes by the autoritie of the new Testament neither will the Gentils disputing against the Christians produce the testimony of Hesiods Theogony This S. Augustine knowing in his question against Maximine saith in his third booke and 14. Chapter that he will vse the Scriptures non quorumcunque propâ—ijs sed vtrique communibus Not proper to such or to such but coÌ„mon to both Now let vs returne over the three first points First the falsification is proued by reading over the place This it is Iudas sent to Hierusalem the summe of twelue thousand drachmes of silver to offer sacrifises for the sinne hee saith for the sinne not as the Frier saith for the dead Now what these wordes for the sinne doth signifie shall hereafter appeare That the book is not Canonicall we haue infinite proofes 1. First these books are not in the Hebrewe 2. Iesus Christ and his Apostles whoe vpon every occasion did alleage the passages of the old Testament never named any of these bookes neither out of them cited any passage 3. The Autor himselfe cap. 2. v. 19. saith that his purpose is to abridge the fiue bookes of Iason the Cirinean into one booke Now if Iasons bookes were not Canonicall how can the abstract of them be Canonicall If Trogus or Dyon bee prophane bookes how can Iustine or Xiphiline be sacred S. Paule 2. Tim. 3.16 saith All Scripture is given by inspiration of God But what inspiration is it to say the same that another in a prophane booke hath spoken and only to abridge his words What more The Autor doubting whether he had said well toward the ende concludeth thus If I haue said well and as it appertaineth to the history it is as much as I desire Are the motions of the spirit of God so insensible or doubtfull as to leaue the mind in suspense and vncertaine concerning the excellency of such things as it hath suggested a little after hee excuseth the simplicitie of his stile Will God who hath no interest to be beleeued whose naked words doe farre exceed the most polished words of man excuse the poverty of his owne phrase Or shall not hee that made the tongue haue eloquence enough yes for hee inspireth his servants with so much eloquence as he thinketh good neither is it for vs either to distast it or to bring excuses But in the reading of these
These be his words in the 48. chapt of his Apologeticall The soule alone can suffer no thing without some solide matter that is without flesh Hilary vpon the seconde Psalme toward the end saith Hell receaveth vs at the very instant and if we haue lived so wheÌ„ we depart out of this body we perish from the right way Hereof haue wee for witnesse the rich man and the poore in the Gospell of whom the one was by the Angels placed in the seat of the blessed and in Abrahams bosome the other was received into the Region of torments Theodoret in the fifth booke of his history cap. 9. Dominus nostâ—â— humano generi absolutissimam contulit salutem vt hominem totumà toto peccato occupatum à toto peccato liberaret citeth an Epistle of Damasus which saith Christ the son of God our Lord hath by his passion conferred to mankinde a most accomplished salvation to the end to deliver from all sinne man whollie possessed with all sinne But this must bee false if the faithfull shal yet endure torments to satisfie to God for their sins We haue also S. Cyprian a mighty enemie to Purgatory In his works he hath an excellent tract of mortality wherein we are to note that he therewith coÌ„forteth his auditory in a time of Contagion speaketh of the death not of the Martyrs but of such as dyed by sicknesse Lord novv leauest thou thy seruant in peace protesting and prouing that the seruants of God do theÌ„ enter into peace Expuncta hac morte ad immortalitatem venimus yea into a free and quiet rest vvhen being takeÌ„ out of the troubles of this vvorld they arriue in the hauen of Eternal rest and vvheÌ„ from this mortality they enter into immortality And againe God doth promise thee immortality at thy departure out of this vvorld and dost thou doubt of it TheÌ„ dost thou not knovv God Againe wishing the living not to weepe over their dead brethren he saith accersione dominica de saeculo liberatos Non exitus sed transitus temporali itinere de cursu ad aeterna transgressus That God having called them to him they are deliuered from this vvorld Non amitti sed praemitti That they be not lost but sent before That vve should not put on blacke garments vvhen our friends put on vvhite that death is the passage to eternity How cold woulde these comfortes bee to such as shoulde thinke their deceased friends to be tormented in a fire Surely such haue great cause to lament as thinke that their friends are in such horrible flames and of so long continuance Eius est mortem timere qui ad Christum nolitire Eius est ad Christum nolle ire quise non credit cum Christo incipere regnare who caÌ„not be said to put on white but red robes wheÌ„ they shall bee throwne into such scortching flames and scalding heates In the same sermon Hee may feare death that vvill not goe to Christ Iesus It is not for him to be vvilling to go to Iesus Christ who beleeueth not that he doth begin to raigne with Iesus Christ Aevi temporalis fine coÌ„pleto ad aeternae vel mortis vel immortalitatis hospitia dividimur Amplectamur dieÌ„ qui assignat singulos domicilio suo qui nos laqueis secularibus exutos paradiso restituit regno celesti Quando istinc excelsuÌ„ fuerit nullus iam locus poenitentiae est nullus satisfactionis effectus Tusub ipso licet exitu vitae temporalis occasu pro delicto roges Deum venia confitenti dabitur credenti Indulgentia salutaris de divina pietate conceditur ad immortalitatem sub ipsa morte transitur In the same place speaking of death Ad refrigerium iusti vocantur ad supplicium rapiuntur iniusti Datur velocius tutela fidelibus perfidis poena That is the righteous are called to a refreshing the wicked are haled to torments Safety is soone granted to the faithfull and to the transgressors punishmeÌ„t The same in his tract against Demetria This temporall life ended we are seuered into the habitations either of death or of Eternall life hee also speaking of the day of death saith Let vs embrace the day that bringeth every man into his house which hauing dravvne vs out of the snares of this world returneth vs into Paradice and into the kingdome of heauen Also toward the end of the same treatise Being departed hence there is no farther place for penance neither any fruit and effect of satisfactioÌ„ Then he addeth If at Gods hand thou cravest pardon for thy sin were it euen at thy end and departure out of this temporal life yet vpon thy confession it should be graunted thee and through the Divine goodnes salutary forgiuenes is giueÌ„ to all beleeuers and in death it selfe we passe to immortality What could hee haue spoken more expresly against Purgatory Againe in his aforesaid sermon of mortality Qualem te inuenerit Deus cum vocat talem iudicabet such as God shall find then when he calleth such will he iudge thee He there speaketh of the day of iudgement One place of Cyprian doe our adversaries alleadge but they corrupt it as wee will hereafter shew Cyrill of Alexandria in his 12. booke vpon Iohn cap. 36. saith The souls of the Saints departed from their bodies remaine not vpon earth then not in a fire vnder the earth Firmitur credentes in manibus Dei nos post mortem futuros vitamque multo meliorem ac perpetuo cum Christo victuros not in bathes not in rivers crept but are in the handes of God the father And then he addeth For Iesus Christ hath returned his soule in to the hands of his father to the end that the beginning being made by her we may haue a stedfast hope hereof stedfastly beleeving that after death we shall be in the hands of God and shall for ever liue with Christ in a far better life S. Hierome in his Epistle to Marcella concerning the death of Lea Scimus Nepotianum esse cuÌ„ Christo also in his Epitaph of Nepotian and Basill saith that their souls do already enioy the eternall beatitude that they are already entred into the light that they were receiued by a quier of Angels Himselfe vpon the 9. of Amos. When the soule freed from the bonds of this body hath her liberty Quando anima vinculis relaxata corporis volandi quo velit seu quo ire compellitur propter tenuitatem substantiae habis erit libertateÌ„ aut ad inferna ducetur aut certe ad sublimia sublevabitur in regard of the thinnesse or lightnes of her substance to fly where shee list or at the least where she is enforced to go then shall she be led into the hell whereof it is written sinners shall be reduced or cast into hell or els she shall be exalted into the Coelestiall heavens Bellarmin in his first
the fire of Helie p. 44. The lowest place is hell the habitation of the damned and the same is divided if wee beleeue our adversaries into two parts The one where the soules are tormented in fire the other where they are tormented in snowe Throughout alâ— the word of God can we not find that that ever any came out of this place Yet Pope Gregory the first in the first Booke of his Dialogues cap. 12. reporteth that S. Severus raised a dead bodie whome the Divels had carried away Also Damascen In 4 Dist 45 quest 2. and after him Thomas Durand and Richard doe tell vs that by the prayers of S. Gregory Traian an heathen Emperour was fetched out of hell Gabriel Biel in his 56. Lesson vpon the Cannon of the Masse holdeth the same opinion And Ciacconus hath written an Apologie expresly for this history Cayer and the Doctors that subscribed to his book do approue this historie The secoÌ„d place but his coÌ„panions do reiect it The second place is the Purgatory that serveth for such as are indeed righteous and do not sinne but in their life time haue committed some trespasses for which they haue not satisfied The same â—ope Gregory teacheth that so soone as â— man is deceased his soule is presented before the Iudge Lib. 4. c. 36. also that soÌ„time there happeneth abuse they bring before God one that was not called As saith he it chanced to one named Stephen who being deceased and his soule presented before God immediatly as God saw him hee said that was not the man that hee had called for but that it was â—n other Stephen a beater of Iron who therevpon died incontinentlie and the former Stephen revived againe and was sent backe because hee dyed before he was called These soules thus presented before the Iudge if they need any purging are instantly sent to this second place which they tearme Purgatory And this doctrine is grounded vpon this principle which is a third article of their faith and taken out of the vnwritten word Read the catechisme of the couÌ„cel of Trens in the châ—â— of pennaÌ„ce namely that Jesus Christ by his death and passion hath indeede dischardged vs from the fault and from the paines due to sinnes committed before baptisme but from the paine duâ—â— to sinnes committed after baptisme he hath not discharged vs. Therefore that such as haue not made full satisfaction in this life by fastings scourgings gifts to the Church c shal be sent to Purgatory there to finish their satisfaction and to pay as they say even to the last penny Herehence grewe that pennance which the Priest imposeth vpon the sinner which do farre differ from the pennance vsed in the primitiue Church which was publicke of long continuance and rigorous thereby to humble the sinner and to repaire the scandall to the Congregation but at this day in the Church of Rome they impose for the most part privat pennances and the same either very easie or ridiculous these doe they make vse of to prevent Purgatory and yet to pay and satisfy Gods iustice The formes of these pennances are to say a set number of Anees intermixed with Paters vpon a paire of beads to scourge their bodies or vpon tâ—e bare flesh to gird themselues with aâ—cord or to goe in pilgrimage to Saint â—â—mes in Galicia N. Giles an 768. c. Our Annals do informe vs of a pennance imposed by a â—ope vpon one Robert the Norman surnamed the Divell vpon sundry his â—ots committed that is that for the space of seven yeares hee should not â—â—eake and that he should all that time 〈◊〉 at a staier foote and take no other food but the relicks of such bones as a Grayhound should haue gnawn Was iâ— meet to abridge the benefit of Iesus Christ and to supply the places with such frivolous devises and in such couÌ„terfeit quoine to satisfie the iustice of God which Iesus Christ had before satisfied to the full The Frier pag 75. As concerning the torments that the soules doe there endure these our masters doe tell vs that all the fires and torments in this life are â—ut easie in regard of the heate of the â—te of Purgatorie and that the tormeÌ„t â—hereof equalleth that of the damned This doctrine was not yet receaued in the Church of Rome when to the CaÌ„noÌ„ of the Masse they added these words ensuing which the Priest must daily say for the soules in Purgatory Memento Domine Remember Lord thy servants whose soules doe rest in the sleepe of peace Hereby it appeareth that they then beleeved that the paine was easie or rather none at all and that the soules for whom they prayed did rest in peace as in a sleepe Hereto accordeth the saying of the aforenamed Gregory who advoweth that the soules of S. Severus S. Pascasius wrought miracles in the Bathes where they lay in Purgatory Lib. 7. Epist 61. For it is hard to worke any great miracles in such cruell torments This is the same Pope Gregory who doth in earnest confesse that the Apostles celebrating the Lords supper added vnto the consecration nothing but the Lords prayer and so consequently prayed not for any soules in Purgatory Againe the Church of Rome holdeth this torment to be of long continuance for every sinne they must abide there seaven years besides also that we pray for some that died many hundred yeares since And in this regard doth the Pope grant pardons some for fifty some for an hundred thousand yeares and the Frier may verie well remember that when I shewed him in the Masse booke a praier that contained foure fiftie thousand yeares of pardon thereto adioined he did not onlie advow it but tooke vpon him to defend these so â—iberal indulgences In the Church of S. Bibian at Rome vpon the day of all Saintes they haue sixe hundred thousand yeares of verie pardon for the space of one whole day In the booke of Romane Indulgences these sixe hundred thousand years are writteÌ„ at large The Pope that granted that pardon preâ—upposing that a soule may haue committed so many sinnes besids those for which the paines of Jesus Christ haue â—atisfied that hee must haue so manie â—eares of torment to purge all his sins â—nlesse the Masses and suffrages of the â—ving togither with the Popes indulgences doe procure him ease and abbreviation of his paines At Paris in the entering into a chappel of the friers Fevillans in the suburbs of S. Honorat hangeth to be seene a long bedrole of pardons wherein among other is contained that vpon everie daie of lent there are to bee purchased three thousande eight hundred sixtie seaven yeares and two hundred and seaven Quarentines of daies of verie pardon In the church of S. Eusebius at Rome they haue seaven thousand foure hundred fifty and foure Quarenteins of daies of verie pardon for such as shall bring thither any honest offering and as
diminish the paines thereof yet haue the Popes found out a more ready and gallant invention to the same end and this it is Hee raketh together all the superabundant satisfactions as wel of Iesus Christ as of all his Saints which remain in the treasurie of the Church whereof himselfe doth carrie the keyes and these doth he distribute among his Indulgences for the freeing of soules out of the fire of Purgatorie To the same vse doth he also apply his hallowed graines and medals which hee distributeth abroad granting hundreds and thousandes of yeares of pardon to all such as shal kisse or reverently keepe them And these pardons serue not only for this life but also for Purgatory The Church of the Fevillants at Paris haue this priviledge That the Masses in that church said for the dead vpon the moonday or wednesday doe every of them deliver one soule out of Purgatorie Many such Churches doth Rome containe S. Potentian S. Laurence without the walls S. Praxede c. vpon the 7. of May anno 1586. did Pope Sixtus the 5. grant to such of the fraternitie of the corde of S. Frances as should say 5 Paternosters as many Ave Marias vpon the Saturday before palme Sunday and vpoÌ„ the feast daies of St Iohn Evangelist and St Iohn Port Latyn plenary Indulgence for all their sinnes yea and more then then that for they shall moreover deliver one soule out of Purgatorie as appeareth in the booke of Indulgences granted to that reverend Corde printed at Paris by Iohn le Bouc vpoÌ„ Mount S. Hillary at the signe of diligence ann 1597. And these priviledges were reconfirmed by other letters pattents of the same Pope Given at S. Markes the 9. of August ann 1587. But the principall matter that we are herein to note is this That this grace is not conferred to any that is not of that fraternity albeit in the same places hee should say the 5. Paters and as many Avees yea and fifty more and that with farre greater devotion then that fraternity doth Some Alters also there be whereto his holinesse hath conferred such priviledges that vpon the saying of a set number of Masses vpoÌ„ them At Rome in the church of S. Praxe de and in many other places they shall bring a soule out of Purgatorie Some people also there bee that are so priviledged that after their deaths either they go not into Purgatory at all or if they go in they staie not there any time but come forth by and by albeit they be as heavy loaden with sin as any other such shall the elect bee that shall liue in the day of Iudgement or such as shall die immediatlie after the Iubile Sub auspiciis sapientissimi D.N. Bartholomei Guitart Navarrici Wee haue seene certaine Theologicall Theses disputed on at the Carmelites in Paris vpon the eighth of October 1601 by a certaine Carmelite named Iacobus de Rampont Carmelitarum presentatus ac Metensis Carmeli Alumnus at the end whereof the said Rampont in good sort and with a good grace maketh a briefe Oration in commendatioÌ„ of his order tearming the Carmelites the first Anachorites the Imitators of the Apostolicke life practising both the life wearing the habit of Elyas and Elizeus brethren ro the Virgin Mary and among al other preeminences endued with this singuler priviledge That whosoever is entred or shall vowe to enter into this fraternitie shall no longer abide in Purgatorie but from his death vntill the next Saturday following A priviledge which Cayer with tooth and naile defendeth in his Oven of Reverberate c. and promiseth shortly to show vs the Bull of that Pope which graunted this priviledge with whom the Carmelites are vnited who thereto haue set their seales and among the rest this frier RaÌ„pont And this is the reason that they vse so few Masses for the soules of their brethren especially if they die vpon the Friday The Pope himselfe sometimes granteth his Buls as our selfe haue seen whereby at the petition of some surviver of the kindred that craveth it hee fetcheth the soule out of this fier Yet for the expedition of such Buls as also of all other Buls of Absolution or dispensation the Penitentiaries That is to say Notaries dataries brethren of the lead c. Who farme their offices at the Popes hand must be greased in the fists and these our Masters must be paid in duckats of the chaÌ„ber as in the pallace of Paris the spices are paid only in crownes of the sunne Thus doe they wrong in subscribing their Buls Datum Romae for if they wold deale truly they should write Venditum Romae Hereof did Aeneas Silvius complaine before he was Pope saying Epist 66. ad 1. PeregalluÌ„ Nihil est quod absque argento Rom. curia dedatâ— nam ipsae manuuÌ„ impositiones Spiritus sancti dona venduntur nec peccatorum venia nisi nummatis venditur That is to saie in few words In the Court of Rome nothing passeth without mony no not the holy Ghost or remission of sinnes Thus is he named in the froÌ„t of the booke of the conformitie of S. Frances This might suffise for this argumeÌ„t were it not that I am willing to gratifie our Portugall frier in regarde of our friendship Whose patron the Typicall Jesus namely S. Frances in their booke of conformities compared with Jesus hath greatly contributed to the redeeming of souls out of Purgatory For the Rosary of Barnardin Thomas 2. quaest vlt. Artic. EandeÌ„ grati am consequuÌ„tur Religionem intrantes quam coÌ„sequuntur Baptizati Anton. tit 24 cap. 7 Rosarium Bernardini Assisium a towne in the Dutchy of SpoletuÌ„ wherein dwelt the first Franciscan Friers also Thomas vpon the fourth booke of Sentences doth testifie that the taking of S. Frances habit is of like vertue as Baptisme hereof it must needs ensue that whosoever dieth in this habit doth go straight into Paradice And in hope hereof there haue bin some who in the verie agonie of death haue cauled themselus to be shrowded in this habit Or haue at the least thrust an arme into the sleeue thereof Among others Robert King of Sicill as Anthoninus reporteth To this Reverend Saint being at his towne of Assisium in Italyan o 1223 appeared an Angell who told him that Iesus Christ the Virgin Mary and the â—ngels attended him in the Church â—alled St Mary of the Angels wherevpoÌ„â—e being come thether Iesus Christ â—aid vnto him Frances Luk. 2 22. demand any thing concerning the salvation of soules for thou art set to be a light to the Gentiles Frances answered I require thee to grant pardon for all sinnes to every one that shall enter into this Church and I beseech the Virgin Mary the advocate of mankind to assist me in this petition Then said Iesus vnto him Brother Frances thou hast desired a great matter but thou art worthy of greater Goe therefore to my Vicar to whome I
say that if it be spoken of Baptisme it cannot bee vnderstoode but in case of contempt That is to say if any man that may bee baptized hath opportunitie to cause himselfe to be baptized doth notwithstanding in cōtempt reiect it such a one cannot be saved of which baptisme S. Peter in the 3. chapter of his first Epistle maketh mention likewise of this washing of the soule speaketh Zacharias ca. 13.1 which the Church of Rome calleth Baptismus flaminis Whereas in the 7. of Iohn Jesus Christ said that Out of his belly that beleeved in him should flovv rivers of life S. Iohn addeth that by this water he meant the holy Ghost which they shoulde receiue that beleeved in him also as in the 3. of Matthew v. 11. It is said that Jesus Christ baptizeth or washeth vs with the holy Ghost with fire is meant with the holy ghost warming purifying our harts so that to bee borne of water and the holy Ghost signifieth to be regenerat by the holie Ghost washing and cleansing our harts which is a phrase of speech familiar among men and vsed in the Gospell as in S. Iohn the 14. 6. verse I am the waie the truth the life in liew of saying I am the true way to the life Of the limbo of the Fathers The fourth place is the Limbo of the fathers mothers that is to say The fourth place of such persons as lived before the comming of Christ There were say they Adam Eue Noah Abraham c. vntill that Jesus Christ vpon the day of his resurrection in his returne from hell delivered them out of this prison himselfe also say our adversaries by his ascention brought them into heaven For they suppose that the way into heaven was not open vntil that Christ by his ascentiō entered in But because Jesus Christ said vnto the thiefe This day thou shalt be with me in Paradice wherby it appeared that the thiefe passed into Paradice forty daies before the ascention of Jesus Christ our Monke preventeth him by vsing his priviledge hee will haue vs hereby Paradice to vnderstande the lower parts that is to say Limbo or Purgatorie For page 95. he saith wheresoever the presence of God is there is Paradice as much as if he should say The thiefe being on the Crosse was in Paradice because Jesus Christ was there present and that Jesus Christ did but mocke him in promising him that hee should shortly be in Paradice sith hee was there already Now in as much as it was forty daies betweene Christs resurrection and his ascention It may be said that these souls being come out of Limbo were set sentinels in some corner or other or that peradventure they walked their stations here below for of this matter we find no decision of the Popes Extrav de Constit tit 2. Can. licet to whom only it belongeth to decide all matters of Religion as to thē that cannot erre in faith in their Cānons doe boast that all right resteth in the shrine of their harts Our Franciscan and the auctor of Helies fire do say that during the forty daies those soules were with Jesus Christ that is to say Pag. 38. 44. when Jesus Christ was in the chamber with his Apostles all the soules of the old Testamēt were there also with him That when he went to Emaus they followed him That when he was by the sea side there also they were assembled and arranged vpon the sands Into this Limbo entred two sorts of soules The one sort such as without need of purgation came directly in the other they that after their purgation and satisfaction in Purgatory came neverthelesse thither In those daies was the torment of Purgatory of much lōger continuance then in this age it is For then the soveraigne high Priests gaue no Indulgences neither fetched any soules out of Purgatory whereby it appeareth that God being now more liberall they doe wrong to call the first age The goldē age Of this Limbo would our men make Iacob to speake in the 37 of Genesis where according to the Roman translation he saith I shall go down into hell bewailing my sonne wherevpon say we that it followeth that in the 42 Chapter where these words are repeated Iacob spake of this Limbo yet he there saith that his white haires shall go downe The soules then are hairy for these good fathers went downe into Limbo with gray haire whereof we are also to presuppose that in that country they haue barbers And all this absurdity groweth of this that they wil not vnderstand that Sheol in Hebrew namely in these places signifieth sometimes the state of the dead and somtime the Sepulcher albeit they be driven to it by sundry places of the scripture as in the 14 Psal ver 7. and in the 30. vers 4. in many other places They also produce the 9. of Zachary and the 4. of S. Paule to the Ephes but they do only quote the places and so leaue the reader to guesse at the matter and good reason for of Limbo there is no speech throughout al the scriptures but cōtrarywise we finde that Moses and Elias talked with Jesus Christ vpon the mountaine wherby it appeareth that they were not in a corner vnder the earth Againe if the death of Iesus Christ were of force to deliver the fathers of the old Testament out of hell why not out of Limbo which they say is a more easie prison As concerning the passage in the ninth of Zachary there is no speech of Limbo but of the deliverance from hell vnder the figure of the deliverance from the Captivitie of Babilon The words of the prophet are these In the blood of thy covenāt thou hast delivered thy prisoners out of the lake where is no water They also obiect vnto vs the 4. of S. Paule to the Ephes Where speaking of the Incarnation and habitation of Jesus Christ vpon earth hee saith that he descended into the lowest parts of the earth accommodating to our Savior Christ the words of David in the Psalme 139. v. 15 where he saith that he was formed in the lowest parts of the earth that is in his mothers wōb and according to the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the superlatiue but what communitie hath this with Limbo Much lesse is it meant of the fetching of the Fathers out of Limbo which is in the eight verse Hee led captivitie captiue for would he haue led captiue the soules of the fathers considering that they would that hee should haue brought them out of captivitie For in the Greeke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to lead into captivity those whō they haue taken at the swordes point These captiues thē are the divels death c. The Auctor of the fire of Helie giveth it vs brauely he maketh S. Paul Heb. 11. v. 39. 40. to say that these fathers are not rewarded before vs but neither there nor
plain and open tearmes Wee therefore demand what commandement of God he can find throughout the old Testamēt wherein it is commanded to pray for the dead or to offer any sacrifice for them either among them to distribute the superabundant merits and satisfactions of holy men deceased as Abraham or Moses to helpe them out of Purgatory Here our adversaries are at a stand and bite the bit for were there any cōmandement that might bear wreasting to that sence they that can so cunningly rack the Scriptures to their purposes would no doubt haue produced it Here doth our Frier frie in his greace would faine shift it of with blasphemies as they that are beset with fires would gladly leap out at the windows He doth no longer accuse the olde Testament of obscuritie but of omission and impection How many things saith he hath God left vnmentioned in the olde Testament Pag. 16. to the end to take from the people all occasion of Idolatry and yet are necessarie to saluation As invocation of the Trinitie Pag. 18. the immortalitie of the soule c Againe he saith vnder the law prayers for the dead were not so frequēt publike least they should giue the Iewes occasiō with the Gentils to thinke that they ought to sacrifice to the infernall powers Secondly that in regard that before the redemption of man kind the estate of the deceased was not so well knowne as after that our Saviour Iesus Christ descended into hell And thirdly because they had not so good means to relieue the dead as they had after that the merits of the death and passion of our Lord were committed into the hands of the Church to apply them So many wordes so many monsters and blasphemies First in that hee denieth that in the old Testament there is any mention of the Immortality of the soule wee haue before heard the depositions of Daniell Salomon and the Prophet Balaam prophecying Let vs hereto adioine the taking vp of Enoch and Elias into heaven proofes of their immortality The wordes of Iacob on his death bed Lord I haue waited for thy salvation Gen. 49.18 Iob. 18.26 The hope of Iob who assured himselfe that after his skinne should be consumed he should yet see God in his flesh The words of God himselfe who saith I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac Mat. 22.32 and the God of Iacob God is not God of the dead saith Jesus Christ but of the liuing The only name of Religion importeth the Immortality of the soule which being taken away what is Religion but an intollerable yoake a scrupelous feare a superfluous labour If in this life only saith S. Paul we haue hope in Christ wee are of all men the most miserable 1. Cor. 17.19 what was the old Testament but the Religiō of Gods people It doth therefore presuppose and as it were in the forehead beare written this title The Immortality of the soule As for Invocation of the Trinity it is commanded in the old Testament for there we are commaunded to call vpon God and he that calleth vpon God calleth vpon the Trinitie But what shall we say to the discretion of our Moncke who maketh God marveilous provident in that he would not speake of the Immortalitie of the soule so to take from the Jewes all occasion of Idolatry alas poore man God cureth not one evill by an other much lesse a smaller evill by a greater Idolatry by Atheisme or superstition by Irreligion the mother of all excesse As if it should be forbidden to speak of God either good or evill for feare of blaspheming him or as if a man should cut of his head for saving the wearing of a cap. What discretion to loose the principall for saving of the dependant To sell the horse for saving of the hay God provideth not against evils in such manner as the Popes who will saie they prevent heresies by prohibiting the vse of Gods word the diminishing of Ecclesiasticall profits by prohibiting marriage of the Cleargie Dist 18 Can Sirac vxor filii per quos Ecclesiast solet periclitari substantia contrarie to the doctrine of S. Paul 1. Tim. 3.2 howbeit if God followed this precept of discretion in the old Testament why did he alter his mind in the new where with too much simplicity if we beleue this Moncke he doth in every place inculcate Eternall life Are men since the daies of Jesus Christ lesse bent to Idolatry Nay which is more The opinion of the death of the soule Idolatry do for the most part follow each other between them there is a fraternity The heathen that had little or no hope of eternal life were Idolaters did not Pope Iohn 24. celebrating his Masse kneele to the bread yet did he beleeue that the souls of men died as the souls of beasts for which small sin togither with 54. others Consil Const Sess 11. the Councell of Constance in their eleventh session condemned him That which ensueth is ferial smelleth of the friery He yeeldeth an other reason why in the old Testament prayers and sacrifices for the deade were so vnfrequented It was saith he because before the redemption of mankinde ehe estate of the dead was not so well knowne as after that Christ descended into Hell He doth therefore presuppose that Jesus Christ when he came from hell brought assured news as if that Jesus Christ before his death knew not the state of the dead as well as after his resurrection or els that either he would not or could not instruct his disciples of the estate of the dead as wel before his death as after But now I pray you what be the news that Jesus Christ brought vndoubtedly even the same that the golden legend and the booke of the life and death of Jesus Christ do report how he came to hel gates and the good thiefe Dinas carying a Crosse before him how hee made the gates to be opened how hee beat and hampered the Divels how he entertained the fathers whom he foūd in this Limbo with goodly discourses a thousande such Iolly gallant histories after the imitation of the Romanes all which the Evangelists had forgotten for either of these or of any other news that ever Jesus Christ brought out of Limbo out of Purgatory or out of Hell we finde not one sillable in all the newe Testament The souldier raised again of whom S. Gregory Dialogue 4. cap. 36. doth make mention and one Nicholas mentioned in the legend of S. Patricke who by a Caue that he found in Ireland entred into Purgatory at their returne related his things as they had seen below more exactly As that they had seen mē fryed in frying pans others fluttering about the chimnies like small flames a bridge of yce of two fingers broad vnder the which ran a torrent of fire and over this bridge must they passe that were to enter into Paradice Thus grew
Jesus Christ are a sufficient satisfaction The father that punisheth his children to take satisfaction putteth of his naturall affections correcteth them not for their amendment but to satisfie his owne content Now if this bee an Inhumane iustice in a father what shall wee thinke of our heavenly father who is bounty it selfe And who in his worde assureth vs that albeit the mother shoulde forsake the fruit of her wombe yet will hee never forsake vs Never shall wee serue God with a filial obedience vnlesse we bee fully perswaded of his fatherly loue toward vs. The Fryer alleadgeth yet two examples more Pag. 76. yet both false according to his custome The one in the 14. of Numbers where God having forgiven his people their sin doth neverthelesse depriue them from entring into the land of promise for by the 4. of the Apostle to the Hebrewes it appeareth that euen they that were excluded frō the land of promise were also shut out out of the caelestiall rest The pardon therefore that God graunted was only the grant of Moses petition who desired God that he would not vtterly root out the people of Israell But heare we are not in hand with any such kinde of pardō In an other place he produceth the example of Baptisme and saith in Baptisme God pardoneth Original sin but not the paines thereof as subiection to death the fire of concupiscence with other calamities Concerning the death of the faithfull we haue spoken before and proved that it is no calamity vnto them Pag. 100. The Counsell of Trent Ses 5. saith that Paul calleth cōcupiscence a sinne but it is no sinne neither any satisfaction to the Iustice of God And as for the fire of concupiscence the frier is mistaken in bringing that for an example of the punishment for sin which in it selfe is a sinne and in the law forbidden This maine thus overthrown which made the body and principal of our adversaries reasons let vs now thrust forward and yeelde the truth an absolute victorie 12 God commanding vs to pray that he would forgiue vs our trespasses as we forgiue them that trespasse against vs sheweth that wee are to attend from him forgiuenesse in like manner as hee willeth vs to forgiue our neighbours that is to say without revenging our selues or taking any satisfaction or amends in all or in part After therefore that hee hath forgiven vs all our offences as S. Paule witnesseth shall hee yet draw one payment out of so tedious burning a fire 13 Farther yet to vrge this matter presupposing that there is a purgatory I demand whether Iesus Christ doth in heaven intercede for the soules there tormented Rom. 8.27 and pray for their deliverance for S. Paul teacheth vs that Iesus Christ sitteth at the right hand of God making intercession for vs. Dare they say that he intercedeth no more for those souls and that in their behalfes he hath given over the office of a mediatour But if he pray for them no doubt but God heareth him Iohn 11.22 and so they come forth at his intercession to what ende then do now serue those offerings and suffrages of the liuing with the Popes Indulgences but to that which Iesus Christ hath already done 14 Againe sith the death of Iesus Christ is sufficient to redeeme vs even out of Purgatory why may it not serue to that vse Iesus Christ hauing paid all the paine and penaltie that we did owe will not God receaue this payment ransome for so much as it is worth God who saved vs when wee were his enemies envieth not our good neither abateth any part of the price of the death of his sonne neither will hee ever permit that Iesus Christ hauing paid enough wholly to satisfie his iustice and to exempt vs from Purgatory that in this case the benefit of his sonne should be shortned vnto vs. Also the Apostle to the Hebrewes cap. 7. v. 15. saith He is able perfectly to saue them that come to God by him seeing hee ever liveth to make intercession for them If hee then can perfectly saue vs why will hee not doe it and being able fully to acquit vs towards God shall his power to doe it be greater then his willingnesse Can he be content to see his brethren his members his spouse for one sinne tormented seaven yeares in a fire like to that of hell To such forcible reasons my adversaries doe answer very coldly or rather not at all For they answere themselues not my obiections They labour to shew how our satisfactions and the paines of their Purgatory may no way derogatfrō the merits of Iesus Christ but they answer nothing to my demand what the reason is that Iesus Christ hauing paid enough wholly to satisfie the Iustice of God to exempt vs from Purgatory they will not suffer that his benefite should stead vs so much Yet doe we shew them that they doe not only fly but also in flying doe blaspheame blemish the brightnesse and curtal the perfection of the merits and satisfaction of Iesus Christ Then say they that the merit of Iesus Christ is indeed sufficient but it must be applied vnto vs and that cannot be but by meanes then among other meanes they come in with our satisfactions and paines and the tormēts of Purgatory 1. Hereto wee say Rom. 10.17 1. Cor 10. Gal. 3.27 Ephes 3.17 that it belongeth to the word of God and not to them to prescribe vnto vs the means to enioy the benefit of Iesus Christ and the meanes that that doth set vs down is faith the word and the sacraments but but in no wise any roasting of souls of any fire after this life 2. Next let any man of vnderstanding bee iudge whether the meanes to enioy the benefit of Iesus Christ ought to bee contrary to the benefit it selfe The meanes of taking profit by physicke consisteth not in taking of poison The meanes to enioy the light of the sunne resteth not in shutting vp the windows of the house or the windowes of the body that is the eies Sith therefore that the benefit of Iesus Christ and his satisfaction is the soveraigne pledge of the mercy o◠God what likelihood is there that the meanes to enioy it can consist in the execution of the iustice of God An◠sith the satisfaction of Iesus Christ i◠our acquittance towards God what appearance is there that the meanes to attaine to it can rest in forcing vs to pay and tormenting vs in a fire some hundreds or thousands of yeares Wee are not to omit that the meanes to apprehend the grace offered vnto vs in Iesu◠Christ ought to be actiue and tending to the enioying thereof and not a passion or torment 4. That the meanes to apply to our selues or to apprehend a thing ought to be of another kind then the thing apprehended or applied as we cannot apply one medicine by another one plaister by another or the satisfaction
of this fire howe chaunceth it that hee drawes out no more What humanity is this in him that is tearmed The holy father and is the head of the Church to let his children lie frying in the horrors of a flaming fire and yet is able to help them out And he who saith that if by his bad courses hee shoulde carry innumerable troopes of souls into hell with him Can. si Papa Dist 40. yet let no mā presume to reproue him for he that is iudge of all is not to be iudged of any Why doth hee not fetch thē out of Purgatory by troops 8. Neither are we here to alleadge that the Popes giue their pardons to the dead in forme of suffrages intercessiō but not of Iurisdictiō absolute power for in this questiō that is of no import because it is holden that in whatsoever forme the Pope giveth these pardons they be alwaies of force and the soules be released by thē out of this fire there fore our continual demand is this why he offereth not his Indulgences or suffrages for more folkes and for longer time then he doth 9. At the least this remaineth sith the Pope pretendeth Iuridical power over the living and giveth them pardons with Iurisdiction and power to absolue from all temporall paine why doth he not take order that every mā may before his death receiue ful Indulgence And that everie the soules of the faithfull may carry along with it three or foure hundred thousand yeares of pardon for her better indemnitie why should the French or Spanish be in lesse favour with God then the enhabitants of Rome of whō none goe to Purgatory vnlesse he be a very dolt considering that even at his dore he hath so many Churches where in in one day he may purchase two or three hundred thousand yeares of pardon 10. Again how is it that the Pope delivereth the soules that are not of his charge from so long and grievous a torment and yet cannot deliver the living that are as he saith of his charge from the smallest paines diseases and afflictions Hereto the Frier in liew of answer saith J am a foole and so overslippeth them with many frivolous demands to no purpose 11. Whereof also cōmeth it that our Doctors memories are so short as to forget that before hauing said that of necessitie the soules that haue not sufficiently satisfied in this life must be purged in Purgatory so to satisfie the Iustice of God they can now be content to permit the Pope by his pardons to fetch the soules out of this fire and thereby hinder both the purging of the soules and the satisfaction of Gods iustice But if they reply that Gods iustice is satisfied because the Pope presenteth for them the overplus of the merits of Iesus Christ and his Saints they runne themselues on the pikes for why did he not presēt to God the same merits before the soules departed out of their bodies so to exempt thē wholy out of Purgatory Or rather why should wee goe into Purgatory at all sith Iesus Christ sitting at the right hād of God and offering to his father his benefit for our redemptiō performeth all that the Pope pretendeth to doe Against so many such pregnant obiections our Doctors do shroud themselues vnder a miserable distinction as vnder a wet net against the raine They say that the Pope delivereth no soules out of Purgatory by any Iuridicall authoritie but by suffrages And the Doctor Du Val expoundeth this dictinction by a similitude he saith If the french King were desirous to redeeme out of Spaine a prisoner there detained for debts he would not offer to fetch him thence by authoritie or iurisdiction but by suffrage and entreatie offering his debt to the king of Spaine Here he compareth our King to the Pope the king of Spaine to God and Spaine it selfe to Purgatory but that wee must say is in regard of the Inquisition Now albeit this distinction hath no more force against such maine obiections then their holy water against the divels yet must I open the falsehood and absurditie thereof Pag. 41. 48. 75. For first herevpō these Doctors do contradict themselues for Cayer fighteth against his companions and maintaineth that the Pope giueth his Indulgences to the dead by power of absolution and that hee pardoneth their sinnes as a king and indeed in the taxe of the Popes Chancery wee finde these words For an excommunicate person for whom his parents doe entreat the letters of absolution Pro mortuo excommunicato pro quo supplicāt cōsanguinei litera absolut vaenit Duc. 1 Caro. 9. disp 7. c 34. disp 6. c. 41. Bielin Can. Missae lec 57 the charge is one duckat and nine Carolus Also Michael Medina a Doctor of note among our adversaries doth hold that the soules in Purgatory are vnder the Popes iurisdictiō See also the wordes of Bonaventure alleaged by Gabriel Biel. If any man maintaineth that the Vicar of Iesus Christ hath power of Iurisdiction over the dead wee must not greatly contradict him Thus our people are of contrary minds but reason and practise are on Cayers side Reason because these words to pardon informe of suffrage or intercession beare no sense besides that there is contradiction in them for how is it possible to pardon a man by entreating for him to pardon by forme of petition or intercession hee that hath interceded to the king for a criminall person will never say that he pardoned him The same doth common practise convince for what meaneth a pardon given to the soule by buls patents sealed in forme of a decree Doe wee not also reade in Maior and Wesselus Maior in 4. Dist 20. quaest 2. Clemens 6. In Bulla super Iubileo quod revocavit ad Annos 50. that Clement the sixt commanded the Angels to transport into Paradice the soules of those that died in the voiage to the holy land Nay more Toward the end of the Councel of Lateran holden vnder Innocent the 3 yee shall find a Bull wherein he promiseth to all chose that shall goe in the expedition to the holy land not only plenary remission of all their sinnes but also an augmentation and higher degree of glory in the kingdome of heaven but to such as would not goe themselues but send others at their charges he granteth only remission of sinnes yea he proceedeth so farre as against the gainesayers of the iourney hee denounceth that they shall answer him in the day of iudgement as if the Pope should then be iudge In all this it appeareth that the Pope pretendeth to haue power over the dead But what should we seeke for more proofe whē Pope Sixtus the fourth in a Bull set downe in the first booke of sacred ceremonies in the chapter of the benediction of the sword vanteth that hee hath all power in heaven and in earth The same degree is also attributed to Pope Leo the tenth in the last
his companions The auctor of the fire of Helie affordeth vs as devout ones He in his 11. page endevouring to stall his proofes which saith he are as cleere as the sun compareth me to Senecas maide but I trust to make him more like to Plutarches boy who plaid the Philosopher whiles they be laboured him 5 Hee cutteth vp his reasons with this knife flourishing at the gate of the earthly Paradice This sword is Purgatory and so did S. Ambrose vnderstand it but hereafter wee shall proue it false 6 Then commeth the ninth of Esay Impiety is kindled as fire and shall destroy the bryers and thornes This fire is Purgatory and well it may bee because it is compared to iniquity 7 Then followeth the Prophet Micheas the 7. Reioice not against mee O mine enemie though I fall I shall arise whē I shall sit in darknesse I will beare the wrath of God vntill hee plead my cause hee will bring me to light and I shall see his righteousnesse This darknesse and this wrath are Purgatory and these be the wordes of those poore roasted soules speaking to their enimies that doe reioice to see them tormented 1. But how do these enimies reioice if they be in hel 2. how doe they speake one with another 3. If these enimies be living who ever reioiced in his enimies death because he was in Purgatory Or who told him that he was there and why doth he not rather feare then persist in his hatred Why is he not rather sory that he is not in hel 4. How commeth it to passe that God hath not yet iudged the cause of these poore souls against their enimies 5. but reade the whole chapter and you shall perceiue that they that there speake be the living and not the dead 8 After commeth the ninth of Zachary In the blood of thy covenant thou haste delivered thy prisoners out of the pit where is no water Pag. 46. Pag. 68. This pit without water is Purgatory why doth he feare to put water in Purgatory sith hee hath put snow in hell Therefore also doth the frier contradict him and saith that the most common expositiō speaketh of delivering soules out of Limbo They shall agree if they list S. Augustine in his citty of God lib. 18. cap. 35. shall vnderstande this of the deliverance from sinne and from the miseries of this life S. Hierome in his cōmentary vpon this place vnderstandeth it of hell yet were it better that Gods word should be the iudge S. Matthew 21. v. 5. alleadging the former verses sheweth that this passage is meant of Iesus Christ Now what is the deliverāce of the Church through the bloode of Iesus Christ but our redemption from the captivity of Satan and eternall death Of this deliverance speaketh Zacharie albeit vnder the figure of the deliverance from the captivity of Babilon as also it were strange that Zachary speaking of the deliverāce of the Church through the bloode of the covenant shoulde speake only of Purgatory and Limbo and make mention of the redemption from hell and eternall death 9 That which followeth is verie pleasant Psal 66. We went through fire water but thou broughtest out into a refreshing In the former passage he woulde haue no water in Purgatory now he will haue both fire and water there Besides the place is falsified For according to the Hebrew text it is Thou haste brought me out into a plentifull place Other passages he hath which are to bee found among the friers passages The Frier pag. 30. 10 The first passage that he alledgeth is out of Esay 30.33 Tophet is prepared of old It is even prepared by the king he hath made it deepe large the burning thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lorde kindling it like a river of brimstone This hee saith p. 34. Pag. 60.16 Tophet saith the Frier is Purgatory this king is God and the breath of the Lord bringeth with it consolation the end and the beatitude c. But against this doth Cayer quarrell and saie that it concerneth the iudgement of God against the iniquity of Assur and confesseth that this king is the king of Assur Pag. 47. The fire of Helie returneth the ball to the Frier holdeth this passage to be a Noli me tangere but as I haue answered so I answer stil that we groūd no articles of faith vpon Allegories 2. Secondly Tophet is a place neere to Hierusalem in the valley of Hynnon as witnesseth Iosua 15. and 2. King 23. where the Idolaters burned their children to Moloch or Baal Wherevpon the Prophet here taketh Tophet for the tormēt prepared for the wicked 3. That in the whole course of the text it appeareth that Esay speaketh of the wicked not of the children of God 4. That the frier falsifieth the passage in saying by the king where in the Hebrew it is for the king 5. The frier taketh Assur to be a mās name not of a Country As if I had said the king Assur but I said the king of Assur That this king is the king of Assur or of Assiria of whō we spake not many lines before 6. That this king being an enimie to God and his people the torment that is provided for him cannot be Purgatory The Frier in all this reproveth two things which make nothing to this question First he will not haue Tophet in this place to bee the place where they made their children to passe through the fire Gen. 31.27 Exod. 15 10 Ios 18.34 but let him then learne what is written 2. King 23. Iosias defiled Tophet which was in the valley of the children of Hynnon that no man should make his son or his daughter to passe through the fire to Moloch This word Tophet commeth of Toph which in Hebrewe signifieth a drumme because the Priestes of the Idoll so long as the burning of the children lasted made a noise with drums and basons after the manner of the Coribantes Maldonat Lyra upon the 5. of Matth. least the parents should heare the crie of their children Therevpon did Iob complaining that hee was disdained and shouted at say that hee was made Tophet a tympanization and a by-word or scorne as also the Greek doth so translate it The Roman translation turneth it and saith He hath made me an example The Fryer will haue this tympanization to be Purgatory or had there beene here any speech of a tub or of a lanthorne hee woulde also haue found some shift to proue that those things signified Purgatory Iob therefore by his account albeit aliue yet complaineth that hee was placed in Purgatory Secondly he doth contest that the children were not burned or consumed in Tophet but only purged this cannot proceed but either of grosse ignorance or of extreame malice for the Scripture is full of proofes to the contrary Ieremy 7.31 saith They haue built the high place of Tophet in the valley of the
against his owne Doctours and all antiquity As concerning this fire S. Augustine and Pope Gregorie the first doe say that they be the tribulations of this life Chrysostome Nazianzē Theophilact Oecumenius doe vnderstand it of hell among them there is marvailous discordance It is also a pleasure to reade Bellarmine and to consider how hee gathereth the opinions of the fathers and confuteth them all for of fiue or sixe severall opinions sometimes he alloweth never a one but bringeth in a new sometime he retaineth that which hee best liketh or that most favoureth Purgatory 20 The Frier also citeth this passage out of the 21. of the Revelatiō And there shall enter into the cittie of Hierusalem no vncleane thing how little soever wherin we finde a double falshood for these words how little soever are his addition afterward in this passage by the vncleane are meant the profane and reprobate as appeareth by that which is added thereto There shall not enter therin any thing that is vncleane or any that worketh abhomination or falshood This last word might haue terrified him and caused him to haue apprehended the punishment denounced against falsifiers Moreover nothing that is vncleane shall enter into Paradise for the wicked are excluded and as for the good Jesus Christ purgeth them from all sin 21 Cayer obstinately armeth himselfe to make vse of the resurrection of Lazarus in his proofe of Purgatory and yet is this argument trivial among our adversaries The soule of Lazarus saie they where was it before it did rise againe It was not in hell for frō thence none commeth againe neither in Paradice for then Iesus Christ shoulde haue done him wrong to fetch him from thence thē must there be a third place and the taile that they here adde is notable that is that this third place is a place of torment Luk. 16.25 and a fire called Purgatory Hereto we say That the soule of Lazarus whom Christ raised was in the same place with the soule of the other Lazarus mentioned in the 16. of Luke that is in Abrahams bosome which is no place of torment for Abraham was there Iesus Christ saith that Lazarus after the miseries of this life was comforted Neither should our adversaries thinke it strange that God taketh a soule out of the place of rest to returne it for a short time into a place of combat and affliction sith Iesus Christ in Iohn 11.4 saith that it was done to the end the son of God might bee glorified for the glorie of God ought alwaies to take place aboue all particular interest besides that God was able afterward to reward him with greater glory The best is that our adversaries at vnawares do argue against themselues for they beleeue that Henoch and Elyas men already blessed shal returne downe to fight against Antichrist and shall suffer persecution yea and death it selfe They also say that the Pythonesse fetched the soule of Samuel from his rest If they hold that God permitted this to a witch sorceresse for the contenting of the vngodly curiositie of Saule why wil they not permit as much to Iesus Christ for the glorie of God and the advancement of the Gospell But if this Lazarus came forth of a burning fire why brought he no news Or could hee conceale a matter of such importance or had he so soone forgotten so sensible a torment There are yet two passages that are common to all these doctors S. Paule Philip. 2.10 saith Like as at the name of Iesus everie knee should bowe both of things in heaven of things in earth and of things vnder the earth Also in the fifth of the Revelation And all the creatures which are in heaven and on the earth or vnder the earth and in the sea yea and all things comprehended in them heard I saying to him that sitteth on the throne and to the lambe be praise honor c. With these passages they blow their Imaginary fire and say that they that are in heaven are the Saints They that are vpon the earth are the people living That they are vnder the earth are the soules that are tormented in Purgatory 1. But who shall bee the creatures that are in the sea The fire of Helie saith They be the inhabitants of the Ilands that is to say The English the Corses the Candiots c. He taketh these people to bee creatures that are not vpon the earth Let vs not laugh but proceed and heare how he proveth it He produceth the sixt of Esay in these words Thy heart shall reioice when the whole multitude of the sea shall come vnto thee A passage for the purpose But read over all the whole Chapter and I will turne Munke if you find any such word 2. But why doe they rather say that they be the soules in Purgatory then the soules of children that died without baptisme who they say are vnder the earth 3. Withall note that they adde a prettie patch which S. Paule and S. Iohn had forgotten namely that they that are vnder the earth are tormented in fire for a time for in defence of new Divinitie wee must seeke new Logicke 4. Neither are we to omit that this passage is become a paire of bellowes to Purgatory Sith they hold that it is vnder ground for according to Pope Gregory Alcuyne Peter Damyan and others that place Purgatory in bathes in Rivers in the Ice in the winde and vnder the leaues this passage is to no vse And surely the fire of Helie who saith that the Church hath defined nothing concerning the place where Purgatory standeth Pag. 33. hath greatly overshot himselfe in vsing this passage and defining that Purgatory is vnder the ground Now to proue that those that are vnder the earth are not the divels they vrge these words of bowing the knee also these words of giuing praise and glory which the Frier falsely accuseth me to haue omitted They say then that the divels never bow their knees before God neither praise him For the bowing of the knee doth import a submissiō and voluntary obedience 5. In answere I say that S. Paule himselfe in this selfe place shall decide this controversie For in saying that every knee shall bow Sclander of those that are in earth he evidently comprehendeth all men both good bad whereby it appeareth that bowing the knee doth not in this place signifie voluntarily and religiously to serue but only to bee in subiection or else they must say that the wicked doe voluntarily serue Iesus Christ 6. Also in this place S. Paule speaketh of the soveraign Empire given to Iesus Christ over all creatures then withall over the wicked and divels which haue beene and shall be forced to giue glory to Iesus Christ 7. Wee haue another passage of the same Apostle taken out of the fiue and forty of Esay where this word to bowe the knee is plainely expounded Luk 8.27.28 for in the 14. to the
I knowe that thou wilt answer it is to the ende the deceased may obtaine rest and find his iudge favourable thou weenest that thou must weepe for these matters but seest thou not that even in the same thou dost wrong him For considering that thou thinkest he is gon into the flowred fields why dost thou yet stir vp great stormes against him Againe in his 70. hom ad populum Antiochenum speaking of the funerals and the duty that we performe to the dead with torches and hymnes he saith What is the meaning of these flaming lamps No other but that we convey the Champions after the combat ended and these hymnes but that in them we glorifie God and giue him thankes that he hath crowned the dead and freed him froÌ„ all sorrowes that he now keepeth him about him hauing taken from him all vncertainties all which are actions of ioy Hee hath almost the same words in the moralitie of his fourth homily on the Hebrewes Both there and in his third homily on the Philippians hee gathereth that the duties that wee performe to the dead do testifie that their soules are in rest for the people say Convertere anima mea in requiem My soule returne into thy rest Againe in his 32. homily vpon Matthew Teares and lamentations beseeme the enemy not thee that goest to rest surely Death is a quiet hauen from all troubles Againe There is the spirituall bride bed and coelestiall And he saith that after death there is no more sorrow To bee briefe In Nilus Bâ—shop of Thessalonica we haue an expresse book against Purgatory which is an Apology for the Greeke Churches wherein they saie that this temporall fire was coÌ„demned in the fifth Councel as also to this day the Churches of the Greeks and Russians the Abissines and the Armenians knowe not what this Imaginary fire meaneth There also the Greeke Churches do protest that S. Chrysostome never beleeved any such matter nether any of their ancient Doctors whereof we doe gather that some places of this doctour which seeme to make for Purgatory either must bee vnderstoode of an other kind of Purgatory such as was the purging fire of Origen and Ambrose which shall be spoken of hereafter or els that those passages are corruptly inserted and suggested Tunc est tentatio finieÌ„da quando finitur pugna tunc est finienda pugna quando post hanc vitam succedet secura victoria paulo post milites Christi labori osa peregrinatione traÌ„sacta regnant felices in patria Illis omnia remissa sunt delicta nihil ob delicta puniâ—is for likewise in the couÌ„sell of Florence where the Greekes armed them selues with the auctority of their Doctours the Latins would not haue forborne to bring in these passages to convince them Prosper in his first book of Contemplatiue life cap. 1. saith Temptation shall end when the Combat is ended and the Combut shall end when after this life an assured victory shall succeed Againe soone after he saith The souldiours of Iesus Christ after they haue finished their laborious pilgrimage do raigne happyly in their Countrey Procopius vpon Exodus To those who by faith are entred into the number of their confederates and brethren and haue beene made partakers of the divine nature by the participation of the holy Ghost all their sinnes are pardoned they haue received no punishmeÌ„t for their offences Epiphanius in his second book of heresies heresie 39 which is the same of the Catares and Novatians seemeth to haue taken a smatch in the ConfutatioÌ„ of Purgatory where he saith In the age to come after a mans death there is no more helpe by fasting no more vocation of pennance no more exhibition of Almes hee also saith It is as the corne that swelleth not after it is reaped neither can be spoiled with the winde Finally he coÌ„cludeth The Garners are sealed vp the time is past the combat is finished the lists are voided and the Garlands are given Now saith hee all this is finished at the departure out of the body after which departure our adversaries do impose grievous penances and augment the difficulty of the fight and torments and doe deferre the giuing of the Crownes vntill the comming out of Purgatory that is to say many hundreds and thousands of yeares after death Arnobius in his second book against the gentils saith that Plato after this life hath set downe Rivers of fire in quibus animas asseverat volui mergi exuri where the soules are tossed plunged and burned But himselfe contrarywise doth holde that the souls out of the bodies can endure no sorrow Quis hominum non videt quod sit immortale quod simplex nulluÌ„ posse dolorem admittere Wherein albeit he erreth not yet doeth it sufficiently shewe that hee beleeveth not that the soules without bodies can after this life bee cast into a fire Note also that throughout all antiquity wee finde no mention of buls of fetching of soules out of Purgatory of Indulgences for the dead aulters and of fraternities that haue priviledge to fetch a soule out of Purgatory As this is but lately inveÌ„ted and as old age encreaseth in covetousnesse so hate Avarice beene more inventiue in this declining old age of the world for it is credible that the Apostles and their first successours omitted the fetching of foules out of this fire by indulgences for want either of knowledge either of abilitie either else of good will Also that togither with their greatnesse and riches skill spirituall power pietie and charitie haue growne vp in the Bishops of Rome That the Doctours in the primitiue Church in this matter had their errors which the Church of Rome reiecteth namely in this that for the most part they beleeved that the soules are detained in dennes or corners vntil the day of iudgmeÌ„t whereof neverthelesse it appeareth that they knew not Purgatory Irineus toward the end of his fourth and last booke condemneth two opinions the one that hell is in the world the other that the soule which hee calleth the inward man comming out of the body ascended into the region that is aboue the heauens Then he addeth For sith our Lord went into the middest of the shadow of death where the soules of the dead remained and is since corporally risen againe and after his resurrection was receaued on high It is evident therefore that the soules of his disciples for whom Iesus Christ acted and suffered these things shall also goe into an invisible place to them appointed by God where they shall remaine vntil the resurrection afterward being perfectly that is corporally raised as Iesus Christ was they shall appeare in the presence of God for no disciple is aboue his master c. In summe his meaning is that herein the condition of the faithfull deceased shall bee conformable to that of Iesus Christ whose soule came not into the presence of God before his resurrection but was in darknesse and
so to omit Pope Iohan. Pag. 35. of being tainted with this heresie wherein he sheweth himselfe a sclanderer in print for how is it possible we should holde that opinion sith we condemne it in others As for Iohn the 22. alias 23. the case is to plaine to be dissembled William Ockam in his worke of 53. daies and Adrian in the question of confirmation doe accuse him to haue held that the souls should not see God before the resurrection Gerson in his sermon of the passeover witnesseth the same and saith that the Divines of Paris with the assistance of Philip the long king of France forced him to vnsay it Neither doth it any whit helpe the Monke to search whether the time quoted by Calvin be free from error for it importeth not whether Gerson lived in the time of the said Iohn or after so long as the matter is true as Bellarmine from whom the Monke borrowed this Arithmeticall disputation doth confesse in his fourth booke De Pontifice Rom. in these words In the behalfe of Adrian I answer that this Iohn did indeed beleeue that the soules shall not see God vntill after the resurrection Iohannem hunc revera sensisse animas non visuras Deum nisi post resurrectione The autorities of the Fathers that he doth afterward alleage are false and hereafter shall be spoken of 18 They do yet adde one passage more out of the 12 of Matthew v. 32. The fire of Helie Whosoeuer shall speak against the holy Ghost it shall not be forgiuen him in this world nor in the world to come This would not Iesus Christ haue spoken say our masters if there were not some sinnes that shall not be forgiven in this world but shall in the world to come and this world to come is Purgatory wherein their memory faileth them for they say that Purgatory was already in the time of Iesus Christ then could not Iesus Christ call it in the world to come But if our mens reply be true that Purgatory is the world to come in regard of every particular living person to whome this punishment is yet to come there shall be by that reason a thousand millions of worlds to come all differing in beginning and in continuance This at the least doth remaine that with Iesus Christ who spake Purgatory could not be the world to come 2. Againe Iesus Christ speaketh of a world wherein sinnes are forgiuen but they say that in Purgatory sinnes are punished and that the pardon for all manner of sinnes is already granted in the life through Iesus Christ only In Purgatory they bear the punishment of the sinnes alreadie pardoned Thus doe they runne themselues on the Pikes as also they answer nothing to the matter And as for the Frier his answers are ridiculous haue no correspondence with that which I haue said The autor of the fire of Helie doth shew by the example of David Achab that the sinner obtaineth mercy by the punishment but hee deceaueth himselfe for it is true as concerning such paines of this life as tend to the amendment of the sinner but not of Purgatory where there is no amendment neither could this haue bin better confuted then by cyting S. Augustine who saith Hie vre hic seca vt in aeternū parcas For he saith Hic not in purgatorio 3. Thirdly what is this world to cōe then Let vs learne it not of these people which transforme all things into matches to kindle their Purgatory but of Iesus Christ himselfe and his word Iesus Christ Luke 20.35 telleth vs that this other world beginneth by the resurrection They saith he that shall bee coūted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection of the dead Neither must we think it strange that it is said that in that day sinnes shall be forgiuen 2. Tim. 1.18 1. Sith S. Paule desireth that God would shewe mercy to the house of one Sephorus in that day which is as much as to pardon the sinnes 2. S. Peter also Act. 3.19.20 saith that in that day our sinnes shal be blotted out Amend your liues that your sinnes may be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and that hee shall haue sent Iesus Christ who was before preached vnto you 3. Rom. 8.23 Luk. 21.28 For as the holy Scripture calleth that day the day of our redemption and adoption because that then it shall bee fully revealed and consummate so the same day vpon the same reasons may be called the day of remission of our sinnes And some sinnes there be which albeit by the iudgement of the Church they may be pardoned in this life yet they shall not bee pardoned in the last day such is the sinne against the holy Ghost To all this our adversaries are as dumbe as a fish and endeavor by a great heap of the Fathers to proue that sinnes are also forgiuen in the world to come but to what purpose sith we doe grant it Shall this people be suffered to pervert our words turne our speech contrary to that which wee beleeue They beat the aire and lose their blows and our Monke sclandereth mee saying that I call the fathers our adversaries Sclander but where did I so 19 The passage wherevpon they doe most insist is taken out of the first to the Corinth cap. 3. where S. Paule saith Other foundation can no man laie thē that which is laid which is Iesus Christ If any man build vpon this foundation gold siluer precious stones timber hay stubble every mans worke shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans worke of what sort it is If the worke of any that hath built therevpō doe abide he shall receaue waies If any mās worke burne he shall lose but hee shall bee safe himselfe howbeit as by fire For fire say my men is Purgatory wherein the workes are tried by fire for it is said If any mans worke burne and againe Hee shall be saued but as it were by fire Al this is full of impossibilities and absurdities 1. First an article of faith must not bee grounded vpon allegories saith S. Hierom on Mat. lib. 2. Nunque Parobolae du bia aenigmatum intelligentia potest ad autoritatem dogmatum proficere so saith Tertullian also But albeit S. Paul who by revelation receaved the sence of the Scriptures did sometime vse the Allegorie as in the fourth to the Galathians it followeth not that it is to be permitted to every newe commer much lesse to men that plead for their owne profit Besides the selfe same thing that S. Paule teacheth by Allegories is elsewhere proued by evident demonstrations Ierem. 30. Heb. 12.9 But these men produce no manifest passage where it is said that after this life there is a place wherein the soules of such as haue not satisfied to the full
in this life must bee purged by fire They resemble foxes who being hunted doe saue themselues in some thick bush for they seeke only thorny and darke places 2. It is here spoken of a fire that trieth the worke but tormēteth not the persons 3. Also even in Purgatory the soules are not tried but punished for God needeth not their triall to knowe them 4. Againe here it is spoken of a fire wherein every mans worke shall be manifest In Purgatorie nothing is manifest to vs. 5. Againe of a fire wherein every mans works are tried Pag. 17.18 then also the worke of the Virgin Mary and of the Apostles which moved the autor of the fire of Helie to make them also to passe through Purgatory But he saith this fire shall bee to them as the fiery furnace was to the three children which seemed a moist wind Thus doth this doctor imagin or mock but his companions say nothing 6. It is here spoken of a fire that burneth the worke but not the soules and vpō this place it was that the Frier being demanded whether was whipped the thiefe or the theft answered with the mirth of all the assistants that it was the theft that was whipped 7. Hereto adioine that it is said if it burne the workeman shall haue losse but in Purgatory nothing is lost besides although the sins were burned yet in such burning there should be no losse 8. This examen and triall by fire is called Day but Purgatory if we list to beleeue them is vnder earth The fire of Helie denieth that this fire is called Day but note these words of the Apostle Every mans worke shal be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire For hee setteth this proofe in the day in sight and therefore the fire of Helie hath omitted these words The day shall declare it It is in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Frier hath changed them saith The day of the Lord shal declare them This day of the Lord say they is the day of death so large is their liberty to falsifie and to wrest For whoe did ever heare death called the day of the Lord Yea and admit this explication were receaueable how is every mans worke then revealed and manifested But the sense of this word day must bee taken from the same Apostle in the 13. verse of the next Chapter where this worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth triall and iudgement 9. Againe S. Paul saith as by fire it is not then by fire and to no purpose do they bring vs in the words of S. Iohn Vidimus gloriam quasi vnigeniti for the barbarisme and incongruities of the vulgar translation must not be admitted for a rule The autor of the fire of Helie produceth yet another passage out of the 125 Psalme where this word Quasi importeth no similitude but the truth it selfe When Syon returned out of captivity we were as comforted but according to the Hebrew originall Wee were as they that dreame and so hath Pagnine and Arias and all good translations 10. Also throughout all this passage there is not one word whereby it may appeare that this tryall is made after this life I confesse that the rewarde of the faithfull is after this life and the fire of Helie neede not to admonish vs with such exclamations for the question concerneth not the time of the reward but the time of the triall 11. Neither is there any word that speaketh of the torment of the soules for the saide fire of Helie endevouring to proue that here it speaketh of tormēts is deceived in his Logicke For these be his words Doth not S. Paule say Pag. 16. If any mans works burne he shall incurre damages Is not hee that is tormented endamaged An argument in the second figure composed all of affirmatiues He that is tormented endureth damage He whose works burne endures damage Thē he whose work burneth is tormēted Besides the first proposition is manie times false and particularly in this matter considering that the torment of the soules in Purgatory is if wee beleeue these men without losse to the good of the soules Now herein I must frākly confesse that the auctor of the fire of Helie hath yet some dexterity in sophistry Du Val. but the Frier speaketh like an Ideot and a man of a crased braine for all his discourse is spent in laying of maximes and principles whereby hee will haue this case decided as if it were in him to impose lawes and principles in this businesse And indeed if you looke narrowly into the matter you shall finde these principles to bee the case it selfe for they set downe as a plaine case and confessed that in this fire the people are tormented and do feele the trial of this fire Now this is the point of the controversie and that which wee doe stiffe and stedfastly deny that S. Paule speaketh no such thing Howbeit in the end he must haue the grace of it admireth my slacknesse as being incapable to comprehend his so childish principles As for the explication of this passage it must be gathered out of that that goeth before S. Paule in the 5. verse of this chapter speaketh of doctors and pastours and of the preaching of the Gospell And particularly of Doctors who holding a good foundatiō which is Jesus Christ do neverthelesse adde of their inventions and slight doctrines which he calleth wood hay and stubble in regard of the pure and solide doctrine which he tearmeth Gold silver and pretious stones This wood therefore this stubble being examined by the word of God as mettals in fire can not subsist but must needs be consumed But as cōcerning the parson of the pastor he shal be saved in regard of the good foundation that he hath holden yet after triall made as it were by fire This explicatiō is naturall and springeth of it selfe and every one that knoweth that S. Paule here speaketh of shepheards whom he nameth Builders Hieron cōtra Iovinian lib. 2. will easily admit this explication And hereto do agree Saint Ambrose S. Hierome Sedulius Tertullian in his first book against Marcion cap. 6. yea even the chiefe doctours of the Romish Church Lyra Thomas Caietan and Bellarmine in his first booke of Purgatory cap. 4. They all hold I say that these builders are the pastours and the preachers § Vtraque Hormildas Pope in the Tomes of the coūsels saith that the builders are the doctors and the fire the Synode Dial. 4. c. 39. and the building the preaching of the Gospell yet doth the Fryer make a scorne of all this and saith that they be meere fopperies This also is the reason that in the front of his book hee armeth himselfe with these titles The reverent father Frier Iames an Observantin Portugall Doctor of Divinity and preacher ordinary to the King that so hee may with the greater auctority fight