de facto concedant super votis dispensent a perjuriis homicidiis peccatis aliis sibi consitentes absolvant male ablata incerta data sibi aliqua pecuniae quantitate remittant tertiam aut quartam partem de paenitentiis injunctis relaxent animas tres vel plures parentum vel amicorum illorum qui elecmosynas eis conferunt de purgatorio ut asserunt mendaciter extrahant ad gaudia paradisi perducant benefactoribus locorum quorum Quaestores existunt remissionem plenariam peccatorum Indulgeant aliqui ex ipsis eos a paenâ a culpâ ut eorum verbis utamur absolvant Nos abusus hujusmodi per quos censura vilescit Ecclesiastica cldvium Ecclesiae authoritas ducitur in contemptum omnimode aboleri volentes inhibemus c. Lastly the Council of Trent ‖ Sess 21. c. 9. after the lost labour of several precedent Councils to reform these persons who also gave so great scandal to Luther and his followers quite abrogated this Office and the priviledges belonging thereto and hath committed the publishing of such Indulgences and collection of Charities to the Ordâ—nary of the place and two of the Chapter joyned with him to be done nullâ prorsus mercede acceptâ i. e. when these Alms are directed to some certain publick work and not left to the peoples own distribution of them to what poor and necessitous persons themselves think good in such a quantity as every ones devotion shall move him to as in many Indulgences they are where we see that all the Sales Harvests Trading Avarice Cheating of the Pope and his Hucksters occurring almost in every page of our Authors discourse comes only to this the relieving of some poor and the occasioning of some deeds of Charity to the rich where themselves judg it best bestowed And doth this Author think in this liberty he takes to say what he pleases that if words spoken words also printed and those somwhat more than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall not be called to an account Mat. 12.36 But suppose it be a Collection of the peoples Charity for some publick work as the building of a Church or Hospital the maintaining of a just War against some Enemy and oppressor of Christianity and this amounting to some vast sum of money may every one therefore take the liberty to charge the Pope or the Churches Prelates with fraud covetousness putting all or a great part thereof in their own Coffers and pretending only not intending a publick benefit at pleasure and without proof Or this being a tâ—uth may he therefore deny the lawfulness of Indulgences and defame the Church that allows them upon such a Personal fault § 61 Personal abuses in Indulgences are granted whilst the Doctrine and practice allowed by the Church are justified A good Catholick this Author may be and be obliged to believe no more than now he doth several things which in this discourse he eagerly opposeth Doth he condemn concessions of Indulgences for frivolous causes and some slight work So do the Catholick Authors And doth he not hold the Popes judgment to be infallible in these Neither do they Is he for no Treasure of the Church If the infinite and inexhaustible treasure of the Merits and satisfactions of our Lord Jesus Christ be only allowed by him the Roman Divines hold no other Treasure necessary Will he have Indulgences only remit Canonical Penances Those Authors that hold so are not censured by the Roman Church Doth he think that some of the Roman Doctors in their stating of Indulgences have swerved from the Doctrine of the ancient Church he may enjoy the Churches Communion and hold with others of them those tenents that please him better I have here frequently quoted several of them to shew that nothing here said by me is singular Doth such a frequency of Iudulgences as ruines Church-Discipline and renders the Power of the Keys contemptible displease him So doth it the Council of Trent ‖ Sess 25. Decr. de Indulg desiring a greater moderation therein a reduction to the pattern of Antiquity So hath it likewise done several Popes as is said before Doth he detest the base Arts and mis-informations of the people for filthy lucres sake promising them much more than Indulgences extend to or the Churches Doctrine warrants So have Councils and Popes as I have shewn censured and endeavoured to suppress them Are such conplaints of the abuse of Indulgengences made now So were they in St. Cyprian's time Of which he said * Serma de Lapsis Irrita pax perniciosa dantibus nihil profutura accipientibus And ‖ Epist 11. Ad Martyres Confessor Ea concedere quae in perniciem vertuntur decipere est nec erigitur sic lapsus from the Indulgence sed per Dei offensam magis impellitur ad ruinam But not therefore for such abuses the use of Indulgences to be abrogated To conclude the present allowed practice of Indulgences by occasioning the examination of mens Consciences and a sence and sorrow for their sins a repairing to the Sacraments and performing many penances seems rather to improve Christian Discipline as the times are now degenerated from the ancient than to impair it And ordinarily by the Indulged his disposing of his own Alms this practice is sufficiently cleared from Covetousness Bargains Sales Cheating this Authors main charge Again the Doctrine of the Church concerning them is very compendious and general Nor is there any part of this Authors book wherein so much may be granted him without violating any thing taught by It. And as no Point commonly is more baited by Protestants than this of Indulgences so none seems to afford them less pretence of discontent or to give less cause of departing from the Churches Communion yet this is said to be the first that occasioned that of Luther and the Reformation since it is a Priviledg or Favour that none are compelled to make use of and those who have any fears or scruples concerning it and therefore would have no Indulgences may let them alone do their penances and all is well § 62 And here I might well pass by the Fifteen Questions every one also containing many sub-Questions in it with which this Author ‖ c. 6 §. 9. p. 5â—8 concludes his Discourse of Indulgences and saith the Roman Doctrine of Indulgences with a touch of these flyes in pâ—eces like a Glass-drop though this Doctrine hath been touched by the chiefest of these Questions long ago asked by Luther Calvin Chemnitius and others and the Catholicks Answers to them seem to have made them vanish away like so many water-bubbles Neither hath this Author for all his terrible and destructive touches had the courage to touch these Answers These I say I might pass by having already spoken to all that seems material and pertinent therein in the precedent Discourse Besides He that maintains a thing as a point of his Faith cannot therefore
a multitude of Credends here accuse her silence reservedness So Doctor Taylor observes in his Disswasive * c. 1 §. 3. p. 39. That because the Doctrines were so dangerous uncertain invidious by the advice of the Bishop of Modena the Council of Trent left all the Doctrines all the Cases of Conscience quite alone and slubbered or better passed over the whole matter in this Question in general and recommendatory terms That they established no Doctrine neither curious nor incurious nor durst they i. e. the Council bold enough in other matters decree the very Foundation of this whole matter the Churches Treasure And so all this our Author's Questions about this Treasure which amount to Ten of the Fifteen Queries he proposeth p. 518 c. and saith That when be once seeth those Questions satisfactorily answered he may then think better of our Doctrine are beside the purpose and to be cancell'd if he intends only to encounter the professed Doctrine of the Roman Church But we on the other side say That these men deal not fairly who for defending their discession from the Church of Rome and from the Communion of their Fore-Fathers urge such Doctrines as none in staying in this Communion are obliged to maintain and that the less this Church hath determined or required our assent to in this point the more freely may any holding what ever seems to him the most probable submit to her Decrees and hath the less cause to accuse or reproach her § 40 All then that the Council hath stated and asserted in this matter is this ‖ See Con. Trid. Sess 25. Deer de Indulg as Doctor Holden F. Veron and others have observed who have endeavour'd for the frustrating such Discourses as these to sever points of Faith from School-Opinions Indulgentias conferendi potestatem ab ipsomet Christo Ecclesiae concessam fuisse at que hujusmodi potestate antiquissimis etiam temporibus Ecclesiam usam fuisse Hunc usum Christiano populo esse maxime salutarem Sacrorum Conciliorum authoritate probatum in Ecclesiâ retinendum Fosque Anathemate Synodum damnare qui aut inutiles esse asserunt aut eas concedendi in Ecclesiâ potestatem esse negant This is all the Council hath determined And upon this F. Veron in his Rule of Catholiek Faith ‖ c. 17. justly contends That no more ought to be proposed to separatists to be believed than what the profession of the Catholick Faith and the General Councils engage them to That it is sufficient to render one a true Child of the Church if he submit to these and that other Questions wherein the Council is silent are impertinencies and digressions § 41 Now because the Council in this her Decree we see defends her present Doctrine and Practice by that of Ancient times and by what is approved in former Councils if we look into Antiquity concerning this matter we may there easily discover thus much 1. That severe and long Penances were then imposed on greater sinners some way proportionable to their faults and these not only for satisfaction of the Church and the Scandal many times given to it in publick sins but chiefly for the Satisfaction of Gods Justice and appeasing his wrath for Reconciliation unto Him Remission of their sins and Eternal punishment due thereto and for begetting in them a true and solid Repentance and Contrition for their Sin and so for saving their Souls For which I refer the Reader to what hath been said before § 16. and the many testimonies of the Fathers collected by Morinus De Paenitent l. 3. c. 11 12 and l. 10. c. 24. To which effects these Penances were esteemed very advantageous and though not as to all of them any proper Satisfactions yet a means very beneficial for perfecting the Sinner's Repentance and Sorrow for sin and procuring the application to them of the Merits and Satisfactions of Christ Gods Mercy and Justice still accompanying one another as in respect of Christs sufferings and satisfactions paid for our sins by Him so in respect of some temporal sufferings of our own either freely offered and tendered by our selves or if not Prevented by these inflicted on us by God to such a degree as seemeth meet to his Divine Majesty § 42 2. We may find That there were then somtimes Indulgences granted of such Penances all or part to some Persons thought rightly qualified for them upon certain just causes of a greater advancement of piety and Gods Glory and Service thereby either in respect of such Persons private or some other publick and greater good Which cause was thought a sufficient motive for such a relaxation and prevalent with God for ratifying such indulgent act of the Church-Governors to whom our Lord hath committed in his stead the power of binding and loosing Sinners whereby the same punishment of sin due to the Divine Justice is presumed to be remitted by God to persons if being as they appear sufficiently contrite upon such Indulgence granted as would have been upon the Penances performed for else if such punishment in Gods Court and not only that of the Church had not been taken away by them the Indulgence conceded as a favour would have been really much to the Penitents loss whilst after it those heavier punishments remaine to be inflicted on and undergone by them from which their much easier Penances if not indulged would have discharged them And so this power of the Keys would have been rather to Destruction than Edification § 43 To come to some Instances Such was St. Paul's Indulgence or Remission in the person of Christ as he saith ‖ 2 Cor. 2.10 or by the Commission of Quorum remiseritis * Jo. 20.23 of part of the Penance that was formerly imposed by him upon the incestuous Corinthian as for the scandal given to the Heathen and the Church so also chiefly for the saving of his Soul 1 Cor. 5.5 Yet such remission of them was not without several just Motives inciting the Apostle thereto and which he judged more acceptable to God so more effectual for procuring the application of Christs Merits for this Sinners pardon than the remainder of his Penance had it been fulfilled Such as were the gratifying the Intercessions for this person of the Saints in Corinth and preventing their apprehensions of the Apostles too great severity the excessive sorrow and confusion appearing already in the Penitent and least perhaps through a despondency of mind he should throw off the Christian Faith and abandon himself to vice in all which the Apostle saw Satans wiles See 2 Cor. 2.6 7 11. § 44 Such again were the Indulgences used in the Primitive times upon several judged by them just causes moving the Church-Governors thereto either for the private good of the Penitent or publick of Religion 1st Such anciently were in respect of the private good of the Penitent 1. An extraordinary diligence and fervour in their performing
Bellarmin * De Indul l 1. c. 12. nisi quia ot osae manes irritae sunt quas quidam Ecclaesiarum Praelati facere non verentur claves Ecclesiae contemnuntur paenitentialis satisfactio enervatur decerninus c. Thus Innocentius 3. long ago in the great Lateran Council ‖ Can. 62. And Sixtus 4. having been somwhat Prodigal in this kind recalled many Indulgences formerly conceded by him See Extravag Commun l. 5. tit 9. c. 5. And so Clement 8. effusas nimis Indulgentiarum concessiones restringere aggressus est saith Baronius * A D. 147. And of the possibility of the failing of the Pope himself somtimes in this sufficiency of the cause thus speaks a Jesuite ‖ Sua ez De Indulg Disp 56. §. 3. Quamvis Pontifex expresse declararet se moveri propter talem causam quam reputat sufficientem ad tantam indulgentiam concedendam non esset infallibile vel causam esse talem vel quod consequens est totam indulgentiam esse validam Quia talis declaratio Pontisicis non est de doctrinâ ad sidem pertinente sed de quodam facto particulari quod ad prudentiam spectat in quo Pontisex non habet infallibilem assistentiam Spiritus Sancti sed in his tantum quae ad doctrinam sidei morum spectant And again Quamvis Pontifex existimet aut declaret talem causam subesse nihilominus decipi potest quia quoad hoc prudentiâ existimatione humanâ gubernatur possetque etiam humano affectu moveri Thus Suarez comparing the Popes dispensing in Penances with that in vows And thus Estius ‖ In. 4. Sent. Dist 20. §. 9. Si nullâ rationabili causâ movente Pâ—ntifex vel Episcopus Indulgentiam concederet existimandum non est eam alicujus efficaciae seu valoâ—is fore What a many Jests and Sarcasmes now hath this unserious Writer lost here in playing upon the Pope's infallibility in this matter the chief common-place of Protestants when seeking quarrels perhaps content to seem ignorant herein that he may shew wit Though mean while the Christian Humility and Obedience in the Subjects of this Church is far from distrusting the prudence or fidelity especially of this their chief Pastor assisted with so wise a Council in his dispensing these favours and far from weighing and discussing whether the cause of such promulgation be sufficient or no Which as it is a thing of difficult resolution where many circumstances are to be considered that are not so well known to Subjects and such cause not expressed or not totally in the Indulgence for the pious work may be diverse from the cause or motive of the promulgation of such a pardon ‖ See Suarez De Indulg Disp 56. §. 3 as I say it seems to be a matter of difficult resolution so the assurance thereof as I shall shew by and by is of little consequence § 53 As for Indulgences their Valent quantum sonant the sonant is to be understood not of that sense which an illiterate person not well instructed may possibly take them in but with those commonly-known limitations or suppositions belonging to them and particularly those now mentioned Valent quantum sonaent 1 To persons rightly prepared and 2 if passed upon a just and sufficient cause which are or ought to be common praecognita to all that make use of them Scarce any promise passed amongst men but includes some condition which being well known is thought not necessary to be expressed And when we find Remission in the Scriptures promised in several places to Faith to Almes to the Sacrament to the love of God to our For giving our Neighbours sins against us c. I hope we may rightly say these Texts valent quantum sonant and that the Holy Ghost in them intends no fraud and yet some other Conditions must be understood which are commonly known and learnt from other Scriptures without which none of these Texts rigidly and singly taken are true and valid If then some particular Indulgences upon the defect of some condition requisite to their validity should fail at least in part of what they promise yet as rashly and untruly as uncivilly doth our Author therefore pronounce the Promulgator a Cheat Because one may possibly be mistaken without a design to deceive and this Author himself when in a calmer temper may discover a Medium between speaking a truth and cheating Otherwise it will follow that himself also in all he saith is either infallible or a Cheat. § 45 3ly They are taught that though perhaps there should be some invalidity in an Indulgence by reason of some defect in the cause as to the full effect thereof yet is not the Indulgence therefore totally invalid any pious cause whatever serving for a partial effect and so that it would prove an oversight in any Christian to lose this benefit And if the releasment of some temporal punishment by the omitting our penances and the Indulgences failing of its full effect be not had yet 1st Some other pious work enjoyned by the Indulgence is performed which hath its reward 2ly Whilst some part of such temporal punishment that remains so uncompounded for may retard for some time ones future bliss yet his preparation to render himself in the state of Grace and so capable of the benefit of the Indulgence how dimuinitive soever this be may be of much more consequence to him than is such punishment uncancelled whilst it secures the main business i. e. his Salvation and this way he gains much more by the Indulgence than he loseth another 3ly It is also very considerable that the Penances now a-days remitted by Indulgences are such as are due indeed to Gods Justice and these as great as ever yet most of them are not now imposed as formerly they have been and so we should have as much omitted such a quantity of these Penances as is not enjoyned which is the most without as with our receiving an Indulgence for them And so indeed it is but a small penance that the most do forbear by gaining an Indulgence and as much temporal punishment we may think would remain unsatisfied for without such Indulgence granted to us as now we become answerable for by any defect in it and so if we have no gain by it neither is there any great loss I mean from our neglects in doing penance upon the security of the Indulgence But 4ly No loss there is but a sure gain by it if we take care both to perform all our penances enjoyned in these latter times not so burdensome nor bearing any porportion to those prescribed by ancient Canons and also to gain the Indulgence by doing the pious works it enjoyns for that wherein our penances performed may fall short of the satisfaction due If any then shall urge here that it is difficult to know the true validity of an Indulgence or the sufficiency of its cause I