hold it a fond Invention S. Chrysostom says this pious Custom receiv'd its authority from Apostolical Tradition not in vain Enacted by the Apostles and the Reformers contradict it S. Chrysostom admonishes us that these Prayers only belong to them who die with hopes of Salvation They are said for those who departed in the Faith Disc pag. 65. And the Reformers explicate him corruptedly of the Damned O wonderful Piety of Reformers Rather than they should not be cruel to their Dead they labour to pervert the Writings of the Fathers Yet I cease to be surpriz'd why they exclude the Dead from their Prayers when I consider how they banish Christ from their Altar and abolish the dreadful Sacrifice Eusebius Caesariensis Speaks of the earnest desire which Constantine the Great had to be pray'd for after Death who took care that his Corps should be intomb'd near the shrines of the Blessed Apostles whether all pious People resorted to perform the Devotions for the Dead to GOD and his Saints He chose says Eusebius Lib 4. de vita Const c. 60. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this place of Reposal with an incredible Cheerfulness of Faith foreseeing that he should share after Death in their Prayers which were said in honour of the Apostles believing that their Remembrance would exceedingly profit his Soul nor was he frustrated of his expectation An innumerable Multitude of People with the Priests of God Ibidem Cap. 71. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not without Lamentation and with many tears offer'd Prayers to God for the Soul of the Emperor These Prayers were offer'd with intent to relieve the Emperor's Soul Constantine believ'd that the Intercession of the Apostles to God for him would profit his departed Soul exceedingly And this must be to free him from the confinement of a middle state It could not be that of the Damned in Hell Eusebius had never such an impious thought of Constantine It could not be that of Heaven the blessed Apostles there were to interceed for him It must then be that of Purgatory wherein if detain'd the Emperor believ'd that the prayers of the Faithful would relieve him There is no reason in the world to understand this Third State after death of the Discoursers place of Sequester which was fill'd with quietness nor of the Millenary Kingdom which abounded with delights Eusebius was never accus'd of these errors nor ought he to be taxed with these Opinions And what removes all doubt is that he speaks of the Third State above mentioned not as an Opinion but delivers it as the custom of the universal Church This is verified by the devotions of the people of the whole Empire who pray'd to God for the Soul of the departed Emperor Nor could it be less than the Sentiment of the first Vniversal Council because it was that of Constantine and Eusebius who both sate in this Synod among the Nicean Fathers of whom Constantine receiv'd most of his instructions Arnobius Tells us how Christians labouring under Persecution were not permitted the reasonable Exercise of their Religion which made them thus to complain Why should our Chappels be so outragiously thrown down Lib. 4. Adu Gent. Pag. ult Cur immaniter Conventicula dirui meruerunt in quibus summus oratur Deus pax cunctis venia postulatur Magistratibus Exercitibus Regibus Familiaribus Inimicis adhuc vitam degentibus resolutis Corporum vinctione in which Prayers were offer'd to our soveraign God peace and pardon was implor'd for all for Magistrates Armies Kings Friends and Foes whether alive or dead This is exactly what the Council of Trent has defin'd Sess 22. Can. 3. Prayers offer'd for the living and the dead for their sins pains and satisfactions Did not Christians anciently pray for one another that they might be absolv'd from their sins and satisfactions And why must not the Dead share in these Prayers Arnobius affirms they pray'd for all whether alive or dead Why do you divide them And these dead were in pain or inquietude because they pray'd for peace They were in sin because pardon was implor'd for them If this be not to pray for Souls in Purgatory the Discourser has forg'd a new one of his one Tertullian Exhorts Widows to be mindful in their Devotions of the souls of their deceased Husbands after this manner De Monogamia Pro anima ejus oret refrigerium interim adpostulet ei in primà Resurectione consortium offerat annuis diebus dormitionis ejus Let her pray for his soul and beg now for him ease or refreshment and his company in the first Resurrection and let her see sacrifice be offer'd yearly for him on the day of his departure Here are Prayers offer'd with intent to free the dead from pain and anguish We pray for what is wanting Now Tertullian exhorts Widows to pray for ease for their Husbands therefore they wanted ease and so were in pain He exhorted them to pray for refreshment they wanted then refreshment and so were in anguish This ease or refreshment was not beg'd for them in the Millenary Kingdom Disc pag. 47. Tertull. Refrigerium interim adpostulet ei Disc pag. 4. of which the Discourser would understand the first Resurrection For Tertullian exhorts them to beg this refreshment now for the Dead before the first Resurrection Nor can this be expounded of the Discoursers place of sequester Here neither Ease nor Refreshment was wanting And of this Tertullian speaks no where And this Exhortation of praying for the Dead was grounded on the then Universal Practise of the Church Had it been otherwise the Writers of those times would have reply'd 't was a Novelty which Tertullian brought into the Church and so have silenc'd him Thus they opposed with all their might the Error of Montanus towards which I know Tertullian was at this time much inclin'd But what has the rigid Error of the Montanists which allow'd of no Repentance in this life for the relapsed into grievous and notorious sins to do with this pious custom which extends devotion even after death to Souls departed And what is considerable those Books which Tertullian wrote when he could not be censur'd of the suspition of being a Montanist deliver the same doctrine Thus he says in his Book Oblationes pro defunctis pro natalitijs annuà die fa cimus de Corona Militis and third Chapter that we offer sacrifices for the dead and keep the anniversary of their Birth Oblations and Anniversaries ought not to be confounded Oblations are for the Faithful not yet fully purg'd Anniversaries in honor of the Saints 'T is S. Gregory Nazianzen's Explication Some says he we perform S. Greg. Nazian Orat. in laud. Caesarij Alia quidem persolvimus alia vero dabimus anniversarios Honores Commemorationes offerentes and some we give We perform Anniversary Honors we give Commemorations or Oblations when Commemoration of the dead is made With what
rarely spoken of in ancient Times because less common 'T was compil'd sometime before our Saviours comming with the addition of those Books which were Written after the Collection of the First Canon Lib. 2. Cont. Appion Joseph the Jew assures us of such an addition made where he cites the Text of Ecclesiastick as part of their Scripture which Book is not found in the Collection of the First Canon of the Jews and was written near Two Hundred Years after it This suppos'd I am of the Discoursers mind that the Books of Maccabees were not by the Jews acknowledg'd as part of the First Collection of Canonical Scripture they were written near Three Hundred Years after the First Collection made by Esdras But can the Discourser prove to me that these Books were not by the Jews receiv'd as part of the Second Collection of Canonical Scripture If the Discourser notwithstanding this reasonable Distinction remains unsatisfied and still scruples their Authenticness and continues to say that the Jews did not receive them as Canonical I le humour him in this and grant him what he asks But are we Jews If the Jews did not the Church of Christ receiv'd them as Canonical Scripture S. Jerome 't is true says In Praef. Salom that the Church did not look upon them as part of that Canonical Scripture which was contain'd in the First Canon of the Jews and which was universally receiv'd from the beginning by all Christians So did S. Gregory the Great Lib. Moral 19. c. 13. Neither of them deny the Maccabees to be part of that entire Canon of Scripture which the Church of Christ appprov'd of and read in their dayes In this entire Canon of Scripture Canon 47. Sunt autem Canonicae Scripturae Maccabaeorum Libri duo the Third Council of Carthage which all well-meaning Christians alwayes look'd upon as Orthodox number'd the Maccabees So did Innocent the First Head of the Universal Church of Christ upon Earth in his Letter to Exuperius Bishop of Tholouse S. Austin in express Words says That the Jews do not receive the Books of Maccabees as Canonical S. Aug. l. 18. de Civit. Dei. c. 37. Maccabaeorum Libros non Judaei sed Ecclesia pro Canonicis habet but the Church does And in the Second Age the Valentinian Hereticks asserted That the Bible no where patroniz'd it to be lawful to venture their Lives for GOD ALMIGHTY's sake And Origen instanc'd that Famous Example of the Mother and seven Sons who died upon this Account out of the Second of Maccabees as part of Holy Scripture and confuted them Reasons without exception that if the Jews did not Christians number'd these Books with the rest of Canonical Scripture In S. Matthew We read an other Confirmation of this Truth where Christ himself says Chap. 12. v. 32. That the Sin against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven neither in this World nor in that to come I cannot chuse here but take Notice how wittily the Discourser Reasons upon the World to come He will have the World to come to be in this present World and not to be till this World end Thus he delivers himself They Catholicks suppose That the World to come Page 19. must signify the time between every mans Death and the General Resurrection The World to come cannot be till this World end i. e. till the time be That Purgatory shall be no more which now is in this Present World. I expected the acuteness of so sharp a Wit could have distinguished between Life and Death this World and the next especially when Scripture had done it before him We therefore following the distinction which Scripture gives understand by this World this present Life which all Mankind more or less enjoys and by that to come the State of Man after Death a middle State where some Sin is to be expiated 'T is certain that by this passage neither in this World nor in that to come is meant that the Sin against the Holy Ghost in which Man dies is never to be forgiven For if it were ever to be forgiven certainly it would be pardon'd in this World or that to come for no other place can be assign'd where Pardon is to be expected S. M. c. 3. v. 29. And thus S. Mark interprets the Phrase He hath not Forgiveness for ever and shall be guilty of an eternal Sin. From hence Roman Catholicks infer That there are some Sins not eternal to be pardon'd in the next World and if to be pardon'd without dispute in a middle state of Souls for whose delivery Prayers are offer'd by the Faithful living Our Reason is because Scripture assigns this World and that to come as the only two places where Sin may be pardon'd saying That the Sin against the Holy Ghost shall in neither of them or never be pardon'd Let those sayes S. Bernard who deny Purgatory ask of him S. Bern. super Cantica Serm. 66. Quaerant ergò ab eo qui dixit quoddam peccatum esse quod neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro remitteretur Cur hoc dixerit si nulla manet in futuro remissio purgatione peccatis who said there is some Sin which shall neither be forgiven in this World nor in that to come Why did he say this if there remain in the World to come no forgiveness or purgation of Sin S. Isidore of Spain is more express Lib. 1. de off Eccles. c. 18. Nam cum Dominus dicit qui peccaverit in Spiritum sanctum non remitteretur ei neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro demonstrat quibusdam illic dimittenda peccata quodam purgatorio igne purganda For when our Lord says whosoever shall sin against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this World nor in that to come he demonstrates that Sin is forgiven to some there and expiated in a certain Purgatory Fire And to the same Words of CHRIST S. Austin gives the like Interpretation S. Aug. Civit. Dei l. 2. c. 24. De Defunctis quibusdam vel ipsius Ecclesiae vel quorundam piorum exauditur Oratio neque enim de quibusdam veraciter diceretur quod non eis remittatur neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro nisi essent quibus etsi non in isto tamen remittetur in futuro For some Souls departed the Prayers of the Church or pious Persons are heard for otherwise it would not be truly said of some that it should not be forgiven them neither in this World nor in that to come unless there were some to whom if not in this it shall be forgiven in the World to come And I am of opinion if the Discourser will but seriously consider our Saviours own Words that he will acknowledge some Sins to be pardon'd in this Life and some after Death I shall instance only one Example somewhat of the like nature to convince him If
THE BELIEF OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A holy and Godly Thought Maccab. l. 2. c. 12. Permissu Superiorum London Printed and Sold by Matthew Turner at the Lamb in High-Holbourn 1688. THE Introduction I Lately met in the Country with a Discourse concerning Purgatory and Prayer for the Dead wherein the Author endeavours by many waies to wean me from my Faith in these Points First He begins to discountenance the Belief of the Roman-Catholick Church which teaches me to Pray for the Deceased by telling me She was beholden for This to Her Worthy Forerunners the Poets and Heathen Philosophers Then he labours to intangle it with the ancient Custom of the Primitive Church Praying to GOD for all the Saints After he proceeds to contradict it by the opposite Profession of the Greeks who never receiv'd any such Doctrine from their Ancestors And he finally resolves to lose it amidst the divers Opinions of the Fathers concerning the State of Men after Death But all this in vain For we know who is the Master of Confusion and Contradiction And the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against that Faith which is built on the Rock CHRIST 'T is here Roman Catholicks fix their Article of Praying for Souls departed Read without Prejudice judge without Partiality confess your Conviction without Obstinacy THE BELIEF OF Praying for the Dead CHAP. I. Of Pagans Praying for the Dead THE Discourser troubled at the early Practice of Praying for the Dead in the Church of GOD allows this Custom with a smile Page 3. to have been of very venerable Antiquity and to have exceeded even Christianity it self for some Hundreds of Years The Ghost of Elpenor in Homer Hom. Odyss 12. Virg. Aeneid 6. and of Palinurus in Virgil abundantly shew this Jests are not seasonable in serious debates of Religion Nor do Roman Catholicks believe Prayers to be profitable for the Dead because the Poets have described many Ceremonies used for their deliverance which nearly resemble the present Practice of the Roman Church Which of our Authors have given this loose Account Where has our Church thus explicated the Reason of Her Belief When Pagans speak like Christians we do not condemn them And if the Poets seem to hint in their Fancies at something of our Faith we still continue to profess it Praep. Evang. l. 11. c. 16. Eusebius recounts of Plato that he divided Mankind into three States Some who excell'd in Holiness of Life enjoy eternal Felicity which it is neither possible for any Words to express nor Thoughts to conceive Others who abandon'd themselves to Vices and Wickedness he supposed were at their deaths convey'd to Hell there to be tormented for ever But now besides these he speaks of a middle sort who though they had sinn'd yet had repented of it and these he thought went down for some time into Hell to be purg'd and absolv'd by grievous Torments but after this they should be remov'd and share in Honours prepared for them The Discourser catches hold of this third State and will have the Church of Rome beholden to Paganism for it which introduc'd it before Christianity was heard of some Hundreds of Years This is very remarkable But Is not Hell and Heaven too as Christians believe them describ'd by this Pagan Philosopher Will he call Hell a piece of Paganism and renounce Heaven upon the same score as he does Purgatory or a middle State where the Dead are reliev'd by the Prayers of the Faithful because these Doctrines are of very venerable Antiquity and exceeded Christianity for some Hundreds of Years I warrant ye the Discourser will in his next Pamphlet condemn for the same reason the Old Testament which was writ long before Christianity and call in question the New Testament too which exceeded even the Religion by Law establish'd many Hundreds of Years CHAP. II. Of the Primitive Church Praying that GOD would be mindful of the Saints 'T IS one thing to Pray to God with reference to the Saints and another to Pray to God for Souls departed The Primitive Church meant by praying to God for all the Saints to honour the Blessed Citizens of Heaven and beg'd that God being mindful of them would at their intercession grant the Faithful upon earth their Petitions These Prayers were Thanksgivings She pray'd to God for Souls departed that he would be pleased to remit to them those lesser faults which they had through humane frailty contracted and for which they suffer'd in a middle State. These Prayers were Expiations The present Church performs her Devotions after the same manner Prayers for the Deceased are offer'd as an Expiation to God for their Sins * Con. Trid. Sess 22. cap. 2. Docet Sancta Synodus Sacrificium verè propitiatorium esse pro Defunctis in Christo nondùm ad plenum Purgatis The holy Sacrifice is an Expiation says the Council of Trent for the Departed in Christ not yet throughly purg'd Prayers for the Saints are directed as a Thanksgiving to God for their Happiness whose Favour we covet * Et. cap. 3. De Sanctorum victoriis gratias agens eorum patrocinia implorat Giving Thanks to God continues the same OEcumenical Synod for their Victories whose protection we implore Had the Discourser taken this distinction he would not have told us that he needed no other Evidence than the Liturgies of the Primitive Church in which we find them to have pray'd for the best of persons Pag. 49. for our B. Lady for the holy Apostles c. to shew that they did not pray for the Dead with any intent to relieve them from Purgatory or place of punishment by their Suffrages And I answer we need no other Evidence than these publick Records and the very places of those Liturgies he cites to prove that the Primitive Church meant by praying that God would be mindful of His Saints to beg their Intercession and by praying for Souls departed to relieve them Lit. Aegyp ex Arab. Con. Ush In the Liturgy of the Church of Aegypt ascrib'd saies the Discourser to S. Basil S. Gregory Nazianzene and S. Cyril of Alexandria thus they pray Be mindful O Lord of thy servants which have pleased thee from the beginning our holy Fathers the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Evangelists and all the Souls of the Just which have died in the Faith especially the holy glorious and ever more Virgin Mary Mother of God S. John the Forerunner the Baptist and Martyr S. Stephen the first Deacon and Martyr S. Mark the Apostle Evangelist and Martyr See how fervent the Primitive Church was in this Devotion which alledges the Memories of Her Saints thereby to move God's mercy towards Sinners This is confirm'd in the Book of Exodus Chap. 32.13 where we read the like prescription of Prayer Remember Abraham Isaac and Israel thy servants to whom thou swarest by thy own self and saidst unto them I will multiply your Seed as
of Hell Fire If he fail as all of us do witness this Sentence of S. James We all offend in many things S. Jam. 3.2 before he may recover these Lapses Death may surprize him when he neither thinks of them nor of the World to come where then must these smaller Offences be Expiated Must the Delinquent go straight to Heaven This is not a place of Punishment Must he be thrown head-long down into Hell This is not a state of expiation The Justice of God will not punish this Delinquent eternally with the Damned because his divine Mercy has declar'd in this passage of S. Matthew that these lesser blemishes with which he died engag'd carry not along with them the Guilt of Hell Fire The Mercy of God will not as yet deck him with the beauties of Heaven Apocalyp because His Justice has pronounc'd That no unclean thing enters into Heaven and elsewhere he sayes Psal 14. Ingreditur sine Macula Who enters enters without stain There is then some middle place of Souls assign'd by the Divine Providence to punish these lighter Offences that Justice and Mercy may meet together This Roman Catholicks believe and call Purgatory Conclusion I Hope the Pretended Reformers will hereafter be so just as to grant That the Holy Fathers anciently pray'd with the same intent which the Church of Rome does at present to free Souls departed of their Lesser Offences and Pains in a middle State or Purgatory Petrus Venerabilis prays That their Sins not yet forgiven may be pardon'd S. Bernard That they may be Freed from Purgatory S. Isidore That their remaining Sins may be expiated in a certain Purgatory Fire S. Austin That GOD may deal more meekly with them than their sins deserv'd S. Jerome For lesser Faults Theodoretus For what thorough Imprudence they had committed S. Chrysostom To profit the Deceased and to appease GOD S. Epiphanius To extinguish not inexpiable but lesser sins Arnobius For their sins and satisfactions Tertullian For their ease and refreshment and Dionysius Areopagite For all their sins through human frailty committed These Authorities are so plain and convictive That to speak sincerely I cannot see how any Word of Reply may be given them Had these Holy Writers delivered their private Opinions one might have given them a put-off and said they were Men and so might erre But what they speak of either intimates the Practice of the whole Church in their Times or reckons it APOSTOLICAL TRADITION or hold it part of their Faith in which they cannot be said without Injury to mistake Would it not be injurious to say That the Learnedest Prelates of the Reformers might now mistake all of them in their Books delivering to Posterity that in England Service according to the Religion by Law Established is generally said in the Language of the People The Peasant knows as much and the very Ideot is not ignorant of it Sure the same may be granted to the FATHERS of the Church Then they cannot all be said with Injury to mistake in delivering what was the Belief of the Church in their dayes Petrus Venerabilis assures us that the Denyal of this pious Devotion for the Dead is a Breach of Faith S. Bernard believes this Article delivered in Scripture S. Isidore What is practised thorow the whole World and taught by the Apostles S. Austin What the Universal Church observes S. Chrysostom What is Instituted by the Apostles S. Epiphanius Which is ordained by the Church Eusebius What Christians did in the flourishing Encrease of the Church Arnobius How they pray'd for the Dead in time of Persecution Tertullian What Faith observes and Dionysius Disciple of S. Paul alledging the same Practice who can deny it to be Apostolical Tradition Or if it were nothing when the Pretended Reformers left the Roman Church to have utterly lost the whole Assembly of Fathers and renounc'd Apostolical Tradition yet it is considerable to overlook rather than believe this pious Devotion for the DEAD Recommended to us in the Maccabees in S. Matthew in S. Paul and in S. John the Beloved of CHRIST Good GOD What a state is that Christian in who rejects the Belief of the Universal Church of Christ contradicts Apostolical Order and struggles with Holy Scriptures The Apostles instituted what was right they were inspir'd by the Holy Ghost The whole Church erres not in her Belief the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her. Holy Scriptures agree in the Recommendation of the same Doctrine they are the infallible Word of GOD. Here I leave the Pretended Reformers to a serious Consideration of a speedy Conformity with the Church of Rome in this pious Practice and Belief of Praying for the DEAD THE END Ecclesiae Judicio subjiciantur
the like Sin made a Collection among them of a considerable summ of Money and sent it to Jerusalem to offer Sacrifice for the Sin well and religiously thinking of the Resurrection Edit Sixti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For unless he hop'd that they that were fallen should rise again it would seem superfluous and vain to pray for the Dead After considering that there is an excellent Reward laid up for those that die piously which was a Holy and Godly Thought he therefore made an Expiation for the Dead that they might be Absolv'd from their Sin. This is so plain and easy that I cannot imagin how any one except he wilfully will mistake should understand it otherwise than in the Roman Catholick Affirmation The Sin questionless that they committed whom GOD permitted to be cut off by the Enemy was mortal The Law forbad to covet Deut. 7. Josh 7. or take any thing appertaining to Idols They were commanded to destroy it and therefore because this People had taken the Donaries of Idols they were slain says the Text. Judas and his Company hop'd that their fellow-Souldiers repented before they died of their grievous Sin. There was sufficient Ground for this They fought in defence of their Country and their Religion For these they bravely Ventur'd their Lives As therefore the Justice of GOD punished their Crime by permitting them to be kill'd might not their surviving Associates hope the Divine Goodness would recompence the venturing of their Lives for GOD's Honour and Glory by Repentance before Death surpriz'd them His Mercy exceeds all other of the Divine Attributes At least this makes the case dubious And in ambiguous things a favourable Interpretation is approv'd of For who knows the sense of the Lord or who was His Counsellor If this be not satisfactory what follows will convince you for it is certain That Judas order'd Prayers to be offer'd for the slain because he hop'd they repented of their Sin Considering says the Text That there is an excellent Reward laid up for those that die godlily he therefore made an expiation for the Dead Is not a godly Death a mark of Repentance These Prayers order'd by Judas were offer'd as an Atonement for the Sin of the deceased That this was his design is apparent No body can dispute the being of a Sacrifice among the Jews which was offer'd for Sin. The Law of Moses in Numbers and Deuteronomy frequently makes mention of such a one And all the Tribes forthwith after the Battle agreeing in a general Collection of a summ of Money to be sent upon this Account to Jerusalem demonstrate that this Sin-Offering was extended to and allow'd of for the Dead Two Motives excited Judas hereunto First the Resurrection to Life For unless he hop'd that they that were fallen should rise again it would seem superfluous and vain to pray for the Dead And Secondly the Pardon of Sin after considering continues the Text That there is an excellent Reward laid up for those that die godlily he therefore made an Expiation for the Dead that they might be absolv'd from their Sin. By Sin for which Prayers were offered is meant the remainder of mortal Sin the Guilt which infers an Obligation to some temporal Penalty this is evident Judas hop'd that the Slain died godlily or repented but he could not be of this perswasion unless he likewise believ'd that the Fault of their notorious Crime was pardon'd For Repentance carries along with it Forgiveness Whensoever you shall invoke my Name saith the LORD I will hear you Now besides the Guilt of eternal Damnation which follows the Fault of grievous Offences as the shadow does the body both standing or perishing together there can nothing remain to which the Title of Sin may be given but the Guilt which infers an Obligation to temporal Punishment 'T is then this Guilt which is here call'd Sin for which Judas after the hope of Pardon and Repentance of the Fault as the Text affirms Considering That there is an excellent Reward laid up for those that die godlily who repent of their Sins and are pardon'd therefore made an Expiation for the Dead that they might be absolv'd from their Sin. This is further confirm'd in these other Words of the Text And turning to Prayers they beg'd of God That the Sin Committed might be perfectly blotted out The Sin then was before blotted out the Fault pardon'd but not perfectly blotted out the Guilt which deserv'd some temporal Penalty remain'd to be expiated For had they deem'd it had been before perfectly blotted out they would not have beg'd of God a perfect Forgiveness This had been already Granted There was then some Penalty that remain'd of which they beg'd forgiveness But the Pain of Sin is ordinarily speaking only compleatly satisfied with pain Nor can any one hope to be perfectly pardon'd of Sin according to the rate of God's ordinary Providence without entire satisfaction which if not paid now must hereafter be compensated This is exactly what Mr. de Meaux Writes of the Roman Catholick Belief in this point in his excellent Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church Exposit pag 17. Sect. 8. which all Christendom approves of Those who depart this Life says this Venerable Prelate in Grace and Charity but nevertheless indebted to the Divine Justice some Pains which it reserv'd are to suffer them in the other Life This is what Oblig'd all the Primitive Christians to offer up Prayers Alms-deeds and Sacrifices for the Faithful who departed in Peace and Communion of the Church with a certain Faith that they might be assisted by these means This is what the Council of Trent proposes to us to believe touching Souls departed in Purgatory Sess 25. de Purg. without determining in what their Pains consist or many other such like things concerning which this Holy Council demands great Moderation blaming those who divulge what is uncertain or suspected And to finish This passage of Holy Scripture out of the Second Book of Maccabees is so strong and convictive in behalf of praying for the Dead that our Adversaries can have nothing at all to say for themselves but with a strange Boldness to deny these Books to be part of the Bible Yet the old Editions of Scripture in English which were printed near the Beginning of the Pretended Reformation give them without distinction their proper place in the Bible What private Revelation the Reformers have had since to displace them and cast them out they never told us The Discourser indeed gives us this Reason for it that they were never receiv'd by the Jews as Canonical That we may well understand the Meaning of this Objection it will not be amiss to speak here of Two Canons of a Bible which the Jews used The First Canon of the Bible was composed by Esdras This is generally allow'd of The Second Collection was more ample and encreas'd by the superaddition of many Books to the former This was more