for sin that he is a propitiation through faith in his blood that he has redeemed us from the curse of the lawâ— being made a curse for us that remission and forgiveness of sins is preached in his name that by him we are justified from all those things from which we could not be justified by the Law of Moses that being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ that we are reconciled unto God and saved from wrath by him Now I desire to know Whether all these expressions signifie that for Christ's sake and through the atonement and expiation of his Blood a penitent Sinner shall be delivered from the punishment due to his sins If they do not signifie this how is a Sinner secured that though his sins are pardoned and he is justified and reconciled to God and redeemed from the Curse of the Law and saved from Wrath he shall not after all this be damned for his sins since â—â—â—t is the punishment of sin which it seems is not removed when the sin is pardoned and the Sinner justified and reconciled to God If these expressions do not signifie taking away the punishment of sin I desire one Text of Scripture to prove that a Sinner who is pardoned and justified shall not undergo the Eternal Punishment of his sins If to be pardoned and justified c. does signifie to be delivered from the punishment of sin I desire to know How a sinner who is pardoned and justified can be punished for his sins that is How a sinner who is released from the Punishment of his sins should be bound to suffer the punishment of his sins in Purgatory Our Roman Adversaries do indeed distinguish between the Temporal and Eternal Punishment of Sin the Eternal Punishment of Sin they say Christ has made satisfaction for and that is removed by his Death that no penitent Sinner shall be Eternally damned but a Sinner must make satisfaction for the Temporal punishment of Sin himself either in this World or in Purgatory and consequently that forgiveness of Sins signifies the remission of the Eternal Punishment of sin but not of the Temporal now I shall not put them to prove this distinction from Scripture which is a very unreasonable Task because there is nothing in Scripture about it but yet I would gladly be secured that I shall be saved from Eternal Punishments and therefore I would gladly know how forgiveness of Sins and our Redemption from the Curse of the Law signifies our deliverance from Eternal Punishments if they do not signifie our deliverance from the Punishment of our sins And how they can signifie our deliverance from the punishment of our sins if notwithstanding this we must suffer the punishment of our sins in Purgatory If they signifie that we shall not be punished for our sins then indeed they may signifie that we shall not be Eternally Punished but they cannot signifie that we shall not be Eternally punished unless they signifie that we shall not be punished and therefore not in Purgatory neither if that be the Punishment of sin The truth is this is a very senceless distinction between the Temporal and Eternal Punishment of sin for I desire to know Whether the Temporal Punishment be not the Punishment of sin be not the Curse of the Law if it be then forgiveness of sin if it remits the Punishment remits the Temporal Punishment for that is the Punishment of sin then our Redemption from the Curse of the Law redeems us from Purgatory for that is the Curse of the Law too if you add and from Death for that is the Curse of the Law too and yet those who are redeemed and justified die still which shows the fallacy of this Argument for it seems Redemption from the Curse of the Law does not signifie our Redemption from the whole Curse for then a justified Person must not die since bare dying is part of the Curse I answer this had certainly been true had not the necessity of dying been expresly excepted out of this Redemption for in Adam all die and it is appointed by a Divine Decree for all men once to die and could they show where Purgatory is excepted too then I would grant that those who are redeemed from the Curse of the Law might fall into Purgatory if that be any comfort to them and yet the case is vastly different between Death and Purgatory for though Death be the Curse of the Law yet we may be delivered from Death as a Curse and Punishment without being delivered from the necessity of dying and thus good men are redeemed from Death for their Sins are expiated and pardoned and then the Sting of Death is gone for the sting of death is sin and therefore when our Sins are pardoned Death cannot sting us can do us no hurt because it does not deliver us over to Punishment but transplants us into a more happy State. The fears of Death are conquered by the promises of Immortal Life and Death itself shall at the last day be swallowed up in Victory when our dead Bodies shall be raised immortal and glorious so that tho' good men still die yet they are redeemed from the Curse of the Law from Death itself as a Curse and a Punishment But the Popish Purgatory is a place of Punishment and nothing but Punishment and therefore is not reconcileable with the remission and forgiveness of sin Again I ask Whether there are two kinds of Punishments due to sin Temporal and Eternal of such a distinct nature and consideration that the Promise of forgiveness does not include both Nay that God cannot forgive both that only the Eternal Punishment can be forgiven but the Temporal Punishment must be satisfied for or endured by the Sinner if this were the case indeed then I would grant the Promise of forgiveness could extend only to Eternal Punishments because God can forgive no other and the forgiveness of Eternal Punishment does not include the forgiveness of the Temporal Punishment But if the Curse of the Law be Eternal Death and all other Punishments which can properly be called the punishment of sin for Correction and Discipline is not the Wrath of God and the Curse of the Law are only parts of the Curse and a partial execution of it if the only thing that makes Sinners obnoxious to Temporal Punishments is that they are under the Sentence of Eternal Death which God may execute by what degrees he pleases then to forgive Eternal Punishment must include the forgiveness of Temporal Punishments as parts or branches of it As suppose there were a Law that no man should suffer any Bodily Punishments but such a Malefactor as is condemned to die but when the Sentence of Death is past upon him it should be at the Prince's pleasure to defer the Execution of this Sentence as long as he pleased and in the mean time to inflict all other Punishments on him whatever he pleased in
sinners while they continue in their sins if they believe the judicial authority of the Priest to forgive sins for they every day absolve men who do not forsake their sins and if their absolution be good God must forgive them too and thus the holiness and inflexible justice of God loses its force upon good Catholicks to reform their lives and therefore were there no other arguments against it it is not likely that the judicial absolution of the Priest as it is taught and practised in the Church of Rome should be a Gospel-Doctrine 3. The Death and Sacrifice of Christ is another Gospel-Motive to Holiness of Life not only because he has now bought us with his own Blood and therefore we must no longer live unto our selves but to him who died for us but because his Blood is the Blood of the Covenant and the efficacy of his Sacrifice extends no farther than the Gospel-Covenant which teaches us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world That is no man can be saved by the Blood of Christ but those who obey the Gospel which obliges all men who hope to be saved by Christ to the practise of an universal righteousness This the Church of Rome seems very sensible of that none but sincere Penitents and truly good men can be saved by the Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross which gives no hope to Sinners who do not repent of their sins and amend their lives and therefore she has found out a great many other ways of expiating Sin which give more comfort to Sinners The Sacrifice of the Mass has a distinct vertue and merit from the Sacrifice upon the Cross it is a propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead to expiate especially the sins of those for whom it is particularly offered and thus those sins which are not expiated by the Death of Christ upon the Cross are expiated by the Sacrifice of the Mass and that by the bear opus operatum by the offering this Sacrifice of the Mass itself without any good motion in the person for whom it is offered and thus the Sacrifice of the Mass destroys the vertue of Christ's Sacrifice upon the Cross to oblige men to holiness of life for though none but sincere and reformed Penitents are pardoned by the Sacrifice of the Cross the Sacrifice of the Mass will expiate the sins of unreformed Sinners and then there is no need to reform our lives Thus I am sure all men understand it or they would never put their confidence in the Mass-Sacrifice for if it does no more for us than Christ's Death upon the Cross it might be spared for it gives no new comforts to impenitent Sinners They are very sensible that holiness of life is necessary to intitle us to the Pardon and Forgiveness purchased by the Death of Christ but then the Sacrifice of the Mass Humane Penances and Satisfactions and Merits and Indulgences seem on purpose contrived to supply the place of Holiness of Life for no body can imagine else what they are good for Christ has by his Death upon the Cross made a perfect Atonement for the sins of all true penitent and reformed Sinners and therefore a true Penitent who according to the terms of the Gospel denies all ungodliness and worldly lusts and lives soberly righteously and godly in this present world needs no Expiation but the Death of Christ Will they deny this by no means They grant that all our sins are done away in Baptism meerly by the application of Christ's Death and Passion to us and therefore the Death of Christ is a complete and perfect satisfaction for all Sin or else Baptism which derives its whole vertue from the Death of Christ could not wash away all sin What use can there be then of the new propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass of humane Satisfactions and Merits and Indulgences Truly none but this that when our sins are expiated by the Death of Christ and the pardon of all our sins applied to us in Baptism the Gospel exacts a holy life from us and therefore men forfeit the baptismal Pardon of their sins by the Bloud of Christ unless they either live very holy lives or make some other satisfaction for their not doing so And for this purpose the Sacrifice of the Mass humane Penances and Satisfactions serve It will not be unuseful nor unpleasant to draw a short Scheme of this whole matter which will explain this great Mystery and make it intelligible which now appears to be nothing but nonsence and confusion Christ then has made a perfect Atonement and Expiation for sin this is applied to us at Baptism wherein all our sins are forgiven and while we continue in this state of Grace we cannot be eternally damned though we may be punished for our sins both in this World and Purgatory But every mortal sin puts us out of the state of Grace which we were in by Baptism and till we be restored to the state of Grace again we must be eternally damned because we have no right to the Sacrifice and Expiation of Christ's Death the only way in the Church of Rome to restore us to this state of Grace is by the Sacrament of Penance and the Absolution of the Priest which restores us to the same state which Baptism at first put us into and therefore very well deserves to be thought a Sacrament And thus we recover our interest in the Merits of Christ's Death and therefore cannot be eternally damned for our sins but still it is our duty to live well for the Death of Christ does not excuse us from Holiness of Life which is the condition of the Gospel and therefore if we are in a state of Grace and thereby secured from eternal damnation yet if we live in sin we must be punished for it unless we can find some other expiation for sin than the Death of Christ upon the Cross which still leaves us under the obligations of a holy life and therefore cannot make such an Expiation for sin as shall serve instead of a holy life Now here comes in the Sacrifice of the Mas Humane Penance Satisfactions Indulgencies For the sacrifice of the Mass as I observed before does not serve the same end that the Sacrifice of the Cross does the Sacrifice of the Mass is a propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead But what sins is it a Propitiation for For such sins for which men are to satisfie themselves that is for all sins the eternal punishment of which is remitted for the Sacrifice of the Cross. This is evident from their making the Sacrifice of the Mass a propitiatory Sacrifice for the dead that is for the Souls in Purgatory who suffer there the temporal punishments of sin when the eternal punishment is forgiven the Souls in Hell are capable of no Expiation and therefore an expiatory Sacrifice for the dead can be only for
to do good or if this be goodness let those take comfort in it that can If it be said that it is an Act of goodness to exchange the eternal punishment of Hell which is due to sin into the Temporal punishment of Purgatory I grant this is something but only ask whether it would not have been a more perfect expression of love and goodness to have remitted the Temporal Punishment also of it may be some thousand years Torment in Purgatory whether this might not have been expected under a dispensation of the most perfect love and from that God who sent his only begotten Son into the World to save Sinners Whether those sins are perfectly forgiven which shall be avenged thô not with Eternal yet with long Temporal Punishments in the next World Whether any man thinks himself perfectly forgiven who is punished very severely tho' not absolutely according to his deserts And consequently whether the Doctrine of Purgatory be not a very great diminution of the Love of God and the Grace of the Gospel And whether that can be a true Gospel Doctrine which represents the Love of God much less then the Love of a kind and good man who when he forgives the Injury forgives the whole Punishment of it Nay Whether that can be a Gospel Doctrine which represents the Love of God less than infinite and I suppose an infinite Love may forgive true Penitents the whole Punishment of their Sins and then there is no need of Purgatory 2 ly In Purgatory God does not only punish those whom he has pardoned but he punishes for no other reason but punishment-sake For thus the Roman Doctors tell us that the Souls in Purgatory are in a state of Pardon and in a state of Perfect Grace and they suffer the pains of Purgatory not to purge away any remains of Sin or to purifie and refine them and make them more fit for Heaven but only to bear the punishment due to Sin for which they had made no satisfaction while they lived Now I dare boldly affirm this is irreconcileable with any degree of Love and Goodness to make any Punishment just it must have respect to the guilt of sin to make it an act of goodness it must be intended for the reformation of the sinner but when sin is pardoned the guilt at least is taken away and therefore such punishments can have no relation to guilt and when the sinner is in a perfect state of Grace and needs no amendment such punishments can have no respect to the good and reformation of the sinner and therefore such punishments are neither just nor good and this is the exact notion of Purgatory and methinks we should consider whether this agrees with that account the Gospel gives us of the love and goodness of God should a Prince have a Jayl of the same nature with Purgatory where for several years he torments those whom he pretends to have pardoned and who are grown very good men and good Subjects and need no correction or discipline I believe all the World would laugh at those who should call this love and goodness pardon and mercy Hell is very reconcileable with the goodness of God because it is prepared only for those who are the Objects of a just a righteous Vengeance and a very good God may be very just but Purgatory can never be reconciled with the superabundant goodness of God to sinners through Jesus Christ unless men think it a great kindness to suffer the pains of Hell for several Months Years or Ages for no reason which makes it either just or good to suffer them So that a Popish Purgatory is inconsistent with the belief of God's great Love and Goodness to sinners in Jesus Christ and destroys the hope and confidence of sinners for if they may lie in Purgatory for some thousand years as they may do notwithstanding the Love of God and the Merits of Christ if the Pope or the Priests or their Mony be not more merciful unto them they have no great reason to glory much in the Goodness of God though they should go to Heaven at last so that our Protestant need not dispute much about Purgatory let him only ask a Popish Priest How the Doctrine of Purgatory can be reconciled with that stupendious Love of God declared to penitent sinners in his Son Jesus Christ for it is a contradiction to the Notion of Goodness among men to inflict such terrible punishments in meer Grace and Love even when the sin is pardoned and the sinner reconciled and no longer in a state of Discipline and Tryal Secondly The Doctrine of Purgatory destroys or weakens that Security the Gospel hath given Sinners of their Redemption from the Wrath of God and the just punishment of their Sins One great Security is the Love of God declared to the World by our Lord Jesus Christ but if the Love of God to penitent Sinners who are Redeemed by the Blood of Christ be consistent with his tormenting them in Purgatory so many thousand years as you have already heard it will be a very hard thing to distinguish such Love from Wrath and a Sinner who is afraid of so many thousand years punishment can take no great comfort in it but besides this the Doctrine of Purgatory destroys mens hope and confidence in the Merits and Intercession of Christ and in the express promises of Pardon and Remission of Sins in his Name 1. It destroys mens hopes in the Merits of Christ and the atonement and expiation of his Blood For if the Blood of Christ does not deliver us from the punishment of Sin what security is this to a Sinner Yes you 'll say Christ has Redeemed us from Eternal tho' not from Temporal Punishments and therefore penitent Sinners have this security by the expiation of Christ's Death that they shall not be eternally Damned This I know the Church of Rome teaches but I desire to know How any man can be satisfied from Scripture that Christ by his Death has delivered us from Eternal Punishments if he have not delivered us from Temporal Punishments of Sin in the next World I thankfully acknowledge and it is the only hope I have that the Gospel has given us abundant assurance of the expiation and atonement made for Sin by the Blood of Christ but what I say is this that if these Texts which prove our Redemption by the Death of Christ do not prove that Christ has redeemed us from the whole punishment due to Sin in the next World they prove nothing and then we have not one place of Scripture to prove that Christ by his Death has redeemed us from Eternal Punishments which is enough to make all Christians abhor the Doctrine of Purgatory if it destroy the Doctrine of Salvation by Jesus Christ. As to show this briefly The hope and security of Sinners depends upon such Scripture expressions as these that Christ has died for our sins that he has made atonement
this Case to Pardon the Sentence of Death would deliver such a man from all other Punishments too which by the Law are due only to that man who is under the Sentence of Death and in such a Constitution for any man to say that the Prince's Pardon extends only to Life but does not excuse from Whipping and Pilloring and perpetual Imprisonment would be to make the Pardon void since no man by the Law can suffer those other Punishments but he who is Condemned to Die and therefore he who is pardoned the Sentence of Death in consequence of that is pardoned all other Punishments too Thus it is here the original Curse against sin was in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die which by the Gospel of Christ is expounded of Eternal Death and there is no other threatning in all the Gospel against sin but Eternal Death and therefore all other Punishments are inflicted by Vertue of this Law and consequently he who is delivered from this Curse of the Law from Eternal Punishments is delivered from the whole Punishment due to sin unless they can find some other Law in the Gospel besides that which threatens Eternal Death which obliges a Sinner to Punishment Again since they acknowledge that Christ by his Death has delivered us from Eternal Punishments I do not think it worth the while to Dispute with them whether those Sufferings and Calamities which good men are exposed to in this World may properly be called Punishments or only Correction and Discipline but I desire to know Why they call Purgatory which is a place of Punishment in the other World a Temporal Punishment for this is an abuse of the Language of Scripture which makes this World Temporal and the next World Eternal as St. Paul expresly tells us the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4. 18. And therefore Temporal Punishments signifie the Punishments in this World but the unseen Punishments as well as the unseen Rewards of the next World are Eternal which is a demonstration that there is no Purgatory unless it be Eternal and then it is but another Name for Hell and therefore the State of the next World is called either Life or Death eternal life or eternal death those who believe in Christ shall never die 11 John 25 26. Now I desire to know the difference between Living and Dying and Perishing in the next World for bad men do not cease to be nor loose all sence in the next World no more than good men and therefore Life can only signifie a state of Happiness and Death a state of Misery which is much worse than not being now if good men must not perish must not die but live in the next World they must not go to Purgatory which as much perishing as much dying as Hell though not so long but if they must never die never perish they must never suffer the pains of Purgatory which is a dying and perishing that is a state of Torment and Misery while they continue there Let us then see how a Papist who believes a Purgatory-fire in the next World wherein he shall be tormented God knows how long for his Sins can prove that a penitent Sinner shall not be eternally damned Oh! says he Christ has died for our Sins and made attonement for them and we are pardoned and justified through Faith in his Bloud and what then may we not still be punished for our Sins If not what becomes of Purgatory If we may prove that we shall not be eternally damned for Sin which is the proper punishment of it For if to be pardoned and justified signifie to be delivered from punishment it signifies our deliverance from the whole punishment of Sin since the Scripture does not limit it if they do not signifie our deliverance from punishment then we may be eternally punished for Sin though we are pardoned and justified But we are redeemed from the curse of the Law and saved from wrath But if such a man may go to Purgatory why not to Hell Or if the Curse of the Law and the Wrath of God be in Hell but not in Purgatory though the torments are equally great why may not he lie for ever in Purgatory as well as a thousand Years with this comfort that though he be infinitely tormented yet it is not the curse of the Law nor the wrath of God. Well but Christ has promised That those who believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life And that proves that the pains of Purgatory cannot be for ever for then Christ could not make good his promise of bestowing everlasting Life on them so I confess one would think and so I should have thought also that when Christ promised that such Believers should not perish and should never die that he meant such men should not go to Purgatory in the next World but if falling into Purgatory be not perishing and not dying it may be everlasting life too for ought I know and then the pains of Purgatory may be eternal Whoever would not forfeit all the assurance the Gospel has given us of our Redemption from Hell and a glorious Immortality must reject the Popish Doctrine of Purgatory as a flat contradiction to all the gracious Promises of the Gospel for Hell or an eternal Purgatory is as reconcileable with the Promises of Forgiveness and immortal Life as the Popish Purgatory is 2. This Doctrine of Purgatory destroys our hope and confidence in the Mediation and Intercession of Christ and that for these two plain reasons 1. As it represents him less merciful and compassionate And 2. less powerful than the wants and necessities of Sinners require him to be For I. After all that is said in Scripture of his being so merciful and compassionate an High-Priest a Sinner who hears what is told him of Purgatory could wish him a great deal more compassionate than he is for it is no great sign of tenderness and compassion to leave his Members in Purgatory-fire which burns as hot as Hell. Could I believe this of our Saviour I should have very mean thoughts of his kindness and not much rely on him for any thing We should think him far enough from being a merciful and compassionate Prince who can be contented to torture his Subjects for a year together and it is a wonderful thing to me that when a merciful man cannot see a Beast in torment without relieving it it should be thought consistent with the mercy and compassion of our Saviour to see us burn in Purgatory for Years and Ages To be sure this destroys all our hope in him in this World for why should we think he will be concerned what we suffer here who can contentedly let us lie in Purgatory to which all the calamities and sufferings of this life are meer trifles O Blessed and Merciful JESU pardon such Blasphemies as these For II. If he be
all these Jewish Rites and has Instituted nothing in the room of them excepting the two Sacraments Baptism and the Lord's Supper which are of a very different Nature and Use as we shall see presently He did not indeed while he was on Earth blame the Observation of the Law of Moses which till that time was in full force and which he observed himself but he blamed the External Superstitions of the Pharisees in washing Cups and Platters and making broad their Phylacteries and thinking themselves very righteous persons for their scrupulous observation even of the Law of Moses in paying Tithe of Mint and Cummin c. while they neglected the weightier matters of the Law judgement mercy and faith 23 Mat. 23. But when our Saviour was Risen from the Dead and had accomplished all the Types and Shadows of the Law then the Apostles with greater freedom opposed a Legal and External Righteousness and though they did for a time indulge the Jews in the Observation of the Rites of Moses yet they asserted the Liberty of the Gentile Converts from that Yoke as we may see in the first Council at Antioch and in St. Paul's Disputes with the Jews in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians and elsewhere And indeed whoever considers the Nature of the Christian Religion will easily see that all those ends which such External Rites served either in the Jewish or Pagan Religion have no place here and therefore nothing that is meerly External can be of any use or value in the Christian Worship As to show this particularly 1. There is no expiation or satisfaction for sin under the Gospel but only the Blood of Christ and therefore all External Rites are useless to this purpose Him and him only God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Death was the punishment of sin and Death is the only expiation of it and none else has died for our sins but Christ alone and therefore he only is a propitiation for our sins and yet we know how great a part both of the Pagan and Jewish Religion was taken up in the expiation of sin all their Sacrifices to be sure were designed for this purpose and so were their Washings and Purifications in some degree and many other voluntary Severities and Superstitions this being the principal thing they intended in their Religious Rites to appease God and make him propitious to them since then Christ has made a full and compleat satisfaction and atonement for sin and there is no expiation or satisfaction required of us all external Rites for expiation and atonement can have no place in the Christian Worship without denying the atonement of Christ and this necessarily strips Christian Religion of a vast number of external Rites practised both by Jews and Heathens 2 ly Nor does the Gospel admit of any legal Uncleannesses and Pollutions distinction between clean and unclean Meats which occasioned so many Laws and Observances both among Jews and Heathens so many ways of contracting legal Uncleanness and so many ways to expiate it and so many Laws about Eating and Drinking and such Superstition in Washing Hands and Cups and Platters but our Saviour told his Disciples Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth the man. For whatsoever entreth into the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out into the draught but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witnesses blasphemies these are the things which defile a man but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. And this also delivers Christian Religion from all those Rites and Observances which concerned legal cleanness which were very numerous 3 ly Nor is there any Symbolical Presence of God under the Gospel which puts an end to the legal Holiness of Places and Things God dwelt among the Jews in the Temple at Jerusalem where were the Symbols and Figures of his Presence it was God's House and therefore a holy place and every thing that belonged to it had a legal Holiness for the Holiness of Things and Places under the Law was derived from their relation to God and his Presence this was the only place for their Typical and Ceremonial Worship whither all the Males of the Children of Israel were to resort three times a year and where alone they were to offer their Sacrifices and Oblations to God the very place gave Virtue to their Worship and Sacrifices which were not so acceptable in other places nay which could not be offered in other places without sin as is evident from Jeroboam's sin in setting up the Calves at Dan and Bethel for places of Worship and the frequent Complaints of the Prophets against those who offered Sacrifices in the High Places and therefore the Dispute between the Jews and Samaritans was which was the place of Worship whether the Temple at Jerusalem or Samaria but Christ tells the Woman of Samaria that there should be no such distinction of places in the Christian Worship Woman believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the father But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth Not as if the Father should not be Worshipped neither at Jerusalem nor Samaria but that neither the Temple at Jerusalem nor Samaria should be the peculiar and appropriate place of Worship that God's Presence and Worship should no longer be confined to any one place that the Holiness of the place should no longer give any value to the Worship but those who worshipped God in spirit and in truth should be accepted by him where-ever they worshipped him Such Spiritual Worship and Worshippers shall be as acceptable to God at Samaria as at Jerusalem and as much in the remotest Corners of the Earth as at either of them for God's Presence should no longer be confined to any one place but he would hear our devout Prayers from all parts of the World where-ever they were put up to him and consequently the Holiness of places is lost which consists only in some peculiar Divine Presence and with the Holiness of places the external and legal Holiness of things ceases also for all other things were Holy only with relation to the Temple and the Temple Worship For indeed God's Typical Presence in the Temple was only a Figure of the Incarnation Christ's Body was the true Temple where God dwelt for which reason he calls his Body the Temple Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up in three days And the Apostle assures us that the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ Bodily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 really and substantially in opposition to God's Typical Presence in the material Temple and therefore
real and substantial Piety and Virtue Now let any man judge whether this be not apt to corrupt mens notions of what is good to perswade them that such external observances are much more pleasing to God and therefore certainly much better in themselves than true Gospel-Obedience than Moral and Evangelical Vertues for that which will merit of God the pardon of the greatest immoralities and a great reward that which supplies the want of true Vertue which compensates for sin and makes men great Saints must needs be more pleasing to God than Vertue it self is and if men can believe this all the Laws of Holiness signifie nothing but to let men know when they break them that they may make satisfaction by some meritorious Superstitions Thus the Doctrine of venial sins which are hardly any sins at all to be sure how numerous soever they are or how frequently soever repeated cannot deserve eternal punishments is apt to give men very slight thoughts of very great Evils For very great Evils may come under the notion of venial sins when they are the effects of Passion and Surprize and the like Indeed this very Doctrine of venial sins is so perplexed and undermined that the Priest and the Penitent may serve themselves of it to good purpose I am sure this distinction is apt to make men careless of what they think little faults which are generally the seeds and dispositions to much greater such as the sudden eruptions of Passion some wanton thoughts an indecorum and undecency in words and actions and what men will please to call little venial sins for there is no certain Rule to know them by so that while this distinction lasts men have an excuse at hand for a great many sins which they need take no care of they are not obliged to aim at those perfections of Vertue which the Gospel requires if they keep clear of mortal sins they are safe and that men may do without any great attainments in Vertue which does not look very like a Gospel-Doctrine which gives us such admirable Laws which requires such great circumspection in our Lives such a command over our Passions such inoffensiveness in our Words and Actions as no Institution in the World ever did before Whatever corrupt mens Notions of Good and Evil as External Superstitions and the distinction between Venial and Mortal Sins is apt to do is a contradiction to the design of the Gospel to give us the plain Rules and Precepts of a perfect Vertue Secondly Let us consider some of the principal Motives of the Gospel to a Holy Life and see whether the Church of Rome does not evacuate them also and destroy their force and power Now 1. The Fundamental Motive of all is the absolute necessity of a Holy Life that without holiness no man shall see God for no other Argument has any necessary force without this But the absolute necessity of a holy life to please God and to go to Heaven is many ways overthrown by the Church of Rome and nothing would more effectually overthrow the Church of Rome than to re-establish this Doctrine of the absolute necessity of a good life For were men once convinced of this that there is no way to get to Heaven but by being truly and sincerely good they would keep their Money in their Pockets and not fling it so lavishly away up Indulgencies or Masses they would stay at home and not tire themselves with fruitless Pilgrimages and prodigal Offerings at the Shrines of some powerful Saints all external troublesome and costly Superstitions would fall into contempt good men would feel that they need them not and if bad men were convinced that they would do them no good there were an end of them for the only use of them is to excuse men from the necessity of being good But this is most evident in their Doctrine about the Sacrament of Penance that bare Contrition with the Absolution of the Priest puts a man into a state of Salvation I do not lay it upon Attrition which is somewhat less than Contrition though the Council of Trent if I can understand plain words makes that sufficient with the Absolution of the Priest but because some men will unreasonably wrangle about this I shall insist only on what is acknowledged by themselves that Contrition which is only a sorrow for sin if we confess our sins to a Priest and receive absolution puts us into a state of Grace now contrition or sorrow for sin is not a holy life and therefore this Doctrine overthrows the necessity of a holy life because men may be saved by the Sacrament of Penance without it and then I know no necessity there is of mortifying their Lusts for if they sin again it is only repeating the same remedy confessing their sins and being sorry for them and receiving absolution and they are restored to the favour of God and to a state of salvation again Nay some of their Casuists tell us that God has not commanded men to repent but only at the time of death and then contrition with absolution will secure their salvation after a whole life spent in wickedness without any other good action but only sorrow for sin and if men are not bound by the Laws of God so much as to be contrite for their sins till they find themselves dying and uncapable of doing any good all men must grant that a holy life is not necessary to salvation 2. More particularly The love of God in giving his own Son to die for us and the love of Christ in giving himself for us are great Gospel Motives to Obedience and a Holy Life but these can only work upon ingenuous minds who have already in some measure conquered the love of sin for where the love of sin prevails it is too powerful for the love of God but the holiness and purity and inflexible justice of the Divine Nature is a very good argument because it enforces the necessity of a holy life for a holy God cannot be reconciled to wicked Men will not forgive our sins unless we repent of them and reform them which must engage all men who hope for pardon and forgiveness from God to forsake their sins and reform their lives but the force of this Argument is lost in the Church of Rome by the judicial absolution of the Priest for they see daily the Priest does absolve them without forsaking their sins and God must confirm the sentence of his Ministers and therefore they are absolved and need not fear that God will not absolve them when the Priest has which must either destroy all sence of God's essential holiness and purity and perswade them that God can be reconciled to sinners while they continue in their sins or else they must believe that God has given power to his Priests to absolve those whom he could not have absolved himself To be sure it is in vain to tell men that God will not forgive