is the estate of the godly soule departing without acknowledging any mid place or condition that when it is absent from the body by corporall death it is straightway present with the Lord in life euerlasting Bellarmine likewise in his first Booke of the Beatitude of the Saints to shew the conformitie that is betweene Christ and his members in their estate immediately after death brings in That as he was not after death immediately blessed in his bodie which rested three dayes in the graue till his resurrection but that in his soule notwithstanding he was immediately blessed and in Paradise according to his owne speech to the Thiefe on the crosse This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise Therefore likewise the Saints to be conformed with Christ saith he while they rest in their graues according to their bodies yet according to their soules they are happy and blessed in Paradise Which conformitie then wee see will clearely euince that there is no going to Purgatorie but that as Christs soule immediately after death went vnto Paradise and was blessed there so doth the soules of the godly that are Christs members goe thither immediately after death and are blessed likewise else if immediatly they went any where else in place of a conformitie there should bee a disconformitie and as his bodie abode in the graue till his resurrection notwithstanding of the present beatification of his soule after death So that their bodies shall in like manner abide in the graue till their resurrection notwithstanding of the present beatification of their soules likewise after death 3. Fathers adduced by Bellarmine himselfe to proue that the Saints presently inioye the vision of God and making expressely for vs against the dotage of Purgatorie And first Dyonisius Areopagita Dyonisius Areopagita saith thus the Saints in their death knowe surely that that wholly they shall attaine rest and a full conformitie with Christ when they come to the end of this present life in cleerely beholding the way to immortalitie hard at hand they praise the Lords bountie and with a heauenly mirth reioyce speaking so of all the Godly in common Whereupon Belarmine doth will vs to remarke this Nota saith he dicere Dyonisium animas Sanctorum statim a morte hominis consequi immortalitatem which they could not doe nor so exceedingly reioyce in death if â— vicino or hard at hand they saw the tormenting fire of Purgatorie rather then a glorious rest to abide them Iustin Martyr saith thus But after the departure of the soule from the body statim or instantly there is made a distinction betweene the good and the euill for they are carried to the places that they are worthy of the soules of the godly by the Angels being carried to Paradise where the company and sight of the Angels and Archangels is as also the sight of Christ our Sauiour according to these words while we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord but the soules of the wicked are carried into Hell Cyprian saith excluding no godly soule O what dignity and security is it in a moment to close thy eies whereby men in the world are seene and to open them instantly that God and Christ may be seene Oh what great happinesse is it to bee suddenly pulled from the earth that thou mayest presently be placed in heauen Augustine saith thus speaking of all the godly O happy soule who how soone it is loosed from the body being set at liberty presently goeth to heauen and is secure and at rest And againe he saith surely the good that are faithfull since that time that they are redeemed by that price which Christ by his blood-shedde powred forth doe no wise know any infernall place after death Prosper saith thus because according to the speech of Scripture the whole life of man is a temptation vpon earth then is the temptation ended when the fight is ended and then is the fight ended when to the same secure victory succeeds at the very end of this life that so all the Souldiers of Christ who euen to the end of this their present life by diuine aide haue valiantly resisted their enemies hauing ended their painefull pilgrimage may presently thenceforth raigne happy in their natiue Countrey Anselmus thus speaketh the Preachers of the Church after that they haue departed out of the body they are no wise delayed of the present possession of their Heauenly Countrey but instantly as they depart from the flesh whereunto the soule was formerly tyed so soone are they made to rest in the heauenly seate 4. Reasons adduced by Bellarmine to proue the Saints present fruition of ioy and making directly for vs against Purgatorie God saith he is no readier or more inclinde to punish then he is to reward wherefore it followes that if the wicked be presently cast in torment as we see the example of the rich Glutton teaches vs that by a like equitie that the godly instantly after death likewise receiue their owne reward As Basilius notes saith he before Christs comming the death of the Godly was lamented but since that time the same is celebrated with mirth and why so but because to die then it was a misery but now death is the beginning of happinesse which surely it could not be say we if the soule went to a tormenting fire in Purgatorie but a greater miserie then when the soule went before as they say to a painelesse Limbo Leuit. 19.13 Thou shalt not retaine the wages of the hireling beside thee all night till the morning therefore lest God should seeme lesse iust or pitifull at the very end of the day of his life much more wil he giue glory to the godly according to that Parable Mat. 20. and consequently say we he will not delay them of that reward not only one night but many hundreds of yeares as the Papists hold tormenting their soules in Purgatorie Bellarmines Arguments for Purgatory answered 1. Out of the Old Testament 2 Maccab. 12.45 It was a holy and good thought saith the Authour to pray for the dead that they might bee absolued from their sinnes Whence it followeth saith Bellarmine that the dead after this life may be absolued and may haue sinnes to satisfie for whereof before their death they were not absolued And this is done in Purgatorie 1. Our generall reply to all such Arguments brought out of Apocripha is that no disputation can bee but out of principles mutually by both parties receiued such as these Bookes are not by vs as Canonicall And therefore it is that wee argue not with a Iew out of the New Testament 2. Our reason of reiecting them as not Canonicall is beside the consent of the Primitiue Church with vs confessed by Bellarmine and testified by Ierome the proofe which wee haue out of Canonicall Scripture and out of themselues For all Scripture saith Paul is by immediate and by diuine
to take it only Metaphorically there when no note of similitude is perfixed thereto as in the second place and to take it properly only there where expreslie in the contrary the spirit of God doth put vpon it a speciall note of similitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to preuent any such fallacie as he doth in the last place Neither is that instance of Bellarmines vnto this valid to the contrary where out of Iohn 1.14 he would proue that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not euer a note of militude which wee grant but that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not euer a note of similitude hee shall neuer proue 1 Cor. 15.29 What shall they doe then that are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not Where by baptizing is meant afflicting saith Bellarmine which none needed to doe for the dead by mourning and fasting c. if they were not in Purgatorie 1. This is a most difficile place as Bellarmine grants and variously expounded by the Auncients all whose expositions hee reiect and therefore no ground of Faith can bee proued thereby 2. Admitting that to be baptized is to be afflicted yet this is not actiuely to afflict themselues but passiuely as the word beares to bee afflicted by others and although it were actually to afflict themselues by mourning and fasting for the dead yet this will not import that therefore they are in Purgatorie for the faithfull mourned for Stephen who being a Martyr is not thought by the Papists owne confession that therefore he was in Purgatory To be baptized then for the dead or rather for dead is o to be afflicted for the beleife and profession of Christs resurrection and the hope of the godlies resurrection through him whereof the Apostle speakes so as both in others account and their owne resolution likewise they were esteemed as dead men through the fiercenesse of persecution then in ieopardie euery houre as the Apostle saith and dying daily Or else the Apostles scope being to proue the resurrection he imployeth baptisme to this his purpose which then was by plunging the whole body in water in token that the baptized were to die and be buried to sin and out of which their comming vp againe did represent both the dutie to rise to holinesse here and the hope of a ioyfull resurrection hereafter Which mortification of sinne and being baptized for dead thereto by denying carnall pleasures to liue in them were needlesse for any man to practise but to liue like an epicure if there were not a resurrection to a better life hereafter So that whether wee consider our promise at baptisme to die to sinne or the representation that is in it of dead men thereto or the efficacie thereof flowing from Christs death to mortifie sin in vs or the hazard of Christians then amongst their enemies for the profession of Christian Baptisme as the Apostle shewes the sense is euer sound vnrested and orthodoxe Mat. 3.11 He shall baptize you with the Holy-Ghost to wit heere saith Bellarmine and with fire that is in Purgatorie hereafter 1. If by fire Purgatorie were meant then it would follow that all whom Christ baptizeth with the Holy-Ghost here should goe to Purgatorie hereafter which Bellarmine himselfe denies Next Christ is only said to be the baptizer with fire here but by diuers reuelations saith Bellarmine it hath beene showne that soules in Purgatorie are baptized or afflicted with Deuills But what truly is meant by fire Chrysostome on this place declares saying Comemoratione ignis adiuncta rursus ipsius vehemens gratia et incoprehensibile signauit donum Mat. 5.26 Verily thou shalt not come out thence till thou paye the vttermost farthing Purgatorie then is this prison wherein men must satisfie for their veniall sinnes 1. This place is only properly to be taken as Theophylact Chrysostome Tolet vpon Luke and your owne Ferus on this place witnesse Christ therein perswading vnto brotherly reconciliation if it were but for eschewing of temporall incommodities 2. Giuing that it were allegoricall yet Augustine who expounds it so makes the prison to be Hell as Bellarmine grants the payment eternall punishment donec to signifie no certaine time but neuer as Psal. 110.1 1 Cor. 15.25 is euident Againe vnreconciled persons with their aduersary are cast into this prison but the godly are reconciled with God before they depart hence say the Papists themselues therefore it cannot be they that goe to this prison And last of all by paying the vtmost farthing is meant as our vsuall phrase of speech witnesseth the full summe without the least want and so it is not to be vnderstood exclusiue of the greatest part but inclusiue of the least portion and whereby man so should be made perfectly to be his owne Sauiour Matthew 5.21 Out of this place saith Bellarmine Augustine gathers that there are three sortes of sinnes and three sorts of punishments after this life lighter sinnes hauing lighter punishment which saith Bellarmine is the temporall that soules sustaine in Purgatorie compared here to the councell 1. That there are diuers degrees of sinne and diuers degrees of punishment after this life wee willingly graunt with Augustine but that the godly sustaine any such in Purgatorie this place will neuer proue Neither from alligories can be drawne any such enforcing arguments or from words denotating only Courts of Iudiciall Decrees heere to proue places of execution or punishment hereafter euen as who would proue Golgotha by Gabbatha Next if it be rightly concluded by Bellarmine that punishments after this life are here spoken of decreted in foro poli because Gehenna is mentioned then by a like reason it will follow that punishments inflicted only in this life are by the other whereby he meanes Purgatory spoken of decreed in foro soli because such Iudicatories are only in this life and so that Gehenna is the only punishment that is after the same And last if Bellarmines exposition and argument out of this place were good it would follow that wrath euill speeches were but veniall sinnes for such are said only to deserue the counsell which he expounded to be Purgatorie and yet the Apostles Iames and Iohn shewe that such deserue eternall death and so both of them are belied by the Cardinall Luk 16.9 Make you friends of the Mammon of of iniquitie that when yee faile they may receiue you into euerlasting habitations and this is by their prayers saith Bellarmine deliuering them out of Purgatory This place is most cleare against them shewing that at the charitable Christians departure their soules are straight way received into Heauen without going to any Purgatory and therefore ther is one word of the deliuerance out of the but one only of the receiuing into the other So likewise as little makes that prayer of the Thiefe for them Luk. 23.24 disiring of Christ an entrie into his heauenly kingdome but no egresse out of a hellish
punishment of sinne and is inflicted vpon the godly not to preuent sinne but for satisfaction to Gods Iustice. Whereto wee answere That to no purpose doth hee instance the common calamities of all men or death of all in generall seeing our controuersie heere is onely of satisfactory punishment proper to the godly in particular which Bellarmine himselfe confesseth the former not to be and so most clearly answeres for vs saying That Indulgences take not away Poenas naturales communes sed illam quae infligitur in foro poenitentiario haec enim est per quam Domino satisfacimus cui succedit nisi Domino satisfiat in praesenti purgatorii poena So that these other naturall and common calamities are the fruites of sinne but not satisfactions for sinne Againe Bellarmine more plainely as yet answeres for vs saying Mortis debitum non erat solum vt moreremur sed vt in morte perpetuò maneremus And this debt by his satisfaction Christ hath so freed vs thereof that death altering its nature to the godly is now but a safe passage to life of a curse made a full cure and blessing ending our fight leading vs to our crowne bringing vs to our countrey to the sight of God company of Angels societie of Saints and coniunction with Christ and therefore so expected with ioy and desired with longing which no punishment could bee Besides that hereby he contradicts himselfe saying that in baptisme the whole guilt and the whole punishment of sinne is remitted and yet sodainely after baptisme many Infants die To say therefore that the death of these is a satisfactory punishment when nothing is to bee satisfied for vnremitted fully is an absurd contradiction His third instance is of violent death inflicted on some as a satisfactorie and temporall punishment after the remission of the sinne as Exod. 32. of those that were killed for worshiping the golden Calfe Numb 14. of those that murmured against the Lord. 1 King 13. of the Prophet slaine by the Lyon and 1 Cor. 11. the death of those that vnworthily communicate We answer that these first that were slaine were manifest Idolaters of whose repentance or remission we reade not but of the iust deserued temporall punishment here and what such merite hereafter 1 Cor. 6.9 Next the others that murmured are called by the Apostle hard-hearted misbeleeuing wicked and disobedient and who as cleerely appeares Heb. 4.2.3 were also excluded out of the heauenly rest that which God remitted being according to Moses desire only their full deletion as God had threatned and their posterities To the other two examples we answer that all that they proue we grant to wit that disobedience and sinne is the efficient cause of temporall punishments but such punishments of the godly are not payments to God and redemptions of themselues So our difference is of the finall cause which is either for example to others to be aware or amendment of themselues or as Augustine saith cited by Bellarmine vel ad demonstrationem debitae miseriae vel emendationem labilis vitae vel ad exercitationem necessariae patientiae Neither read we of the Prophets repentance nor remission nor of the reconcilement of these vnworthy receiuers against whom that are such the Apostle threatneth the receiuing of their damnation Last of all when enforced by truth Bellarmine is made to confesse meritū Christi sufficere ad omnē culpam et poenam tollendam he comes to this shift that it must be applyed by Purgatory and all be it that in baptisme it take away all yet hee saith blasphemously quod deus tantum semel utitur ea liberalitate et postea contrahit nonnihil manum and will haue vs to satisfie for our selues and that for the temporall punishment quod vna tantum si actualis satisfactio et ea sit nostra Whereunto wee answer that wee grant that Christs merit is not auailable to any without application but the meanes are set downe expresly in the word to wit faith by the Word and Sacraments and by which meanes whensoeuer it is applyed it looseth none of its full vertue nor as they blasphemously affirme doth the Lord but once only vse such liberalitie to accept it for as much as it is worth towards the godly like the Pope who neuer but once at his Coronation scatters his copper money amongst the people but Faith applies it euer and he accepts it euer according to the full vertue and value thereof as being sufficient to free the godly as well from the temporall satisfactorie punishment which is the lesse as from the eternall which is the more Besides likewise that the meanes of applying a thing should be actiue and not a passion or torment so neither should these meanes be contrary to the benefit which we enioy by them as who to see should cloose his eie lids applying Gods mercie by the execution of his Iustice pardon by punishment discharge of debt by payment and applying the grace of Christ by a meanes derogating from his grace which is altogether impious and absurd As for his testimonies of Councels and Fathers that he brings in for prayer for the dead out of which hee would inferre Purgatory they neuer proue his point 1. Because this did proceede of an errour that sundry of the Fathers did hold and the whole Greeke Church as yet whom Bellarmine refutes that the soules of the Godly remained till the resurrection in certaine hid receptacles without seeing God 2. Their owne Canon of the Masse prayes for the soules of the faithfull which doe sleepe in the slumber of peace for so are the words Memento domin◠animarum famulorum famularumque tuarum quae nos pracesserunt in signe fidei et dormiunt in somno pacis And yet these soules so long since departed cannot be said now to be in the fire of Purgatory for none could sleepe peaceable or found in so easelesse a bed except they make labouring and rest sleepe and waking peace and torment to bee all one 3. Cyprian testifies that they offered for the Apostles and Martyrs whom yet they thought not to be in Purgatorie and in the ancient Missalls Bellarmine grants that on the day of Pope Leo the 8. canonized Saint the Church said Annuè quaesumus domine vt animae B. Leonis haec prosit oblatio and yet this prayer for his soule imported not by their owne confession that it was in Purgatory 4. Likewise they prayed for the dead for declaration of their loue to them and not doubting that the soules notwithstanding were in blisse already and in that ioy which they prayed for vnto them as Augustines words for his mother Monica plainely manifests et credo domine quod feceris quod te rogo sed voluntaria oris mei approba domine And whereas the same Augustine would seem more plainely to make for Purgatorie in other places againe he either calles it in doubt if
other creatures in part nor whole here nor hence therefore notably saith the Apostle By grace yee are saued by faith and not of your selues it is the gift of God then not by workes least any man should boast and so to conclude by the like reason then neither also by sufferings as Rom. 8.18 least any man should boast and consequently not by Purgatory Rom. 8.33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of the godly that are justified saith the Apostle or who shall condemne seeing Christ hath dyed for them Whence we argue If nothing can bee laid to the godlies charge that are reconciled or iustified and that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ as verse 1. because Christs death hath taken away all then there remaines not any guilt of whatsoeuer sinne or condemnation to any temporall fire after this life differing only from hells fire not in acrimony of paine but only in length of indurance But the Hypothesis is true and proued by the Apostle Ergo so is also the sequel that followeth thereon To the same purpose is it said Rom. 5.1 Being iustified we haue peace with God Whence we infer If the godly who depart being iustified haue peace with God through Christ then they are not by God adiudged to a fiery torment with the damned differing onely in indurance for these two are contraries to bee agreed and at peace and yet be cast in such a painfull prison as Math. 5.25 is most euident But the godly who depart being iustified haue peace with God through Christ as is said Ergo they are not cast in such a fiery prison to satisfie for themselues Reuel 14.13 Blessed are they who dye in the Lord for they rest from hence from their labours and their workes follow them Hence we reason If all these who die not onely for the Lord as well as in him as Martyrs but they also who only die in the Lord as all the godly doe who liue in him if they inioy present blessednesse after death consisting of rest and remuneration then presently after death they are not sent to restlesse torment and a long time delayed of their happinesse and reward euen till the last day as Bellarmine would haue the sense of the word amodo But all those who die in the Lord are pronounced presently blessed and straightway they rest and are rewarded Ergo they are not delaied of their blessed estate nor sent to any restlesse torment in Purgatory To the same purpose is that which is said 2 Timothie 4.7 I haue finished my course saith Paul and from hencefoorth is layde vp for mee a Crowne which the Lord shall giue mee in that day and not onely for mee but to all that loue the comming of Christ. 2. Corinth 5.1 If our earthly habitation bee destroyed wee haue an eternall in the Heauens In which place wee must first consider the meaning of this eternall habitation in the Heauens euen by our Aduersaries exposition that our Argument may be the stronger Bellarmine saith That thereby the Fathers either meane the immortall body which we shall haue at the last day or else eternall life and the present vision of God after death and of these he saith Sine dubio verior est haec posterior expositio and he giues his reason because the Apostle speaks in the present time after the bodies dissolution saying Habemus wee haue which if he had spoken of the immortall body after the resurrection and not of eternall life presently after death hee could not haue said habeâ—â—â— sed habebimus Therefore he saith Apostoli ergo argumentio est optima nimirum ista si vita haec mortalis perit habemus statim aliam longe meliorem in coelo ergo bonum est cito mori in hoc mundo vt cito vinamus in coelo Whence with Bellarmine we conclude If after the dissolution of the godly they in the very present thereafter haue statim or incontinently and possesse eternall life in the heauens then after their dissolution they are not a long time delayed thereof and sent to torment in Purgatory But by our aduersaries exposition and concession after dissolution the godly presently haue and instantly possesse eternall life in the Heauens Ergo they are not delayed thereof nor sent to the torment of Purgatory To the same purpose is that speech of the Apostle I desire to bee dissolued ioyning and to bee with Christ. Coloss. 1.20 For it pleased the Father by him to reconcile all things to himselfe whether they bee on earth or in heauen Whence we argue If the Apostle speaking of the Church expressely comprehends the same in these two only to wit that part which is on earth and that which is in heauen or militant and triumphant in via in patria then he knew no third part such as the Romanists put in their diuision and make to bee in torment and labouring in Purgatory But the Apostle comprehends the whole Church in these two parts onely to wit that which is on earth and that which is in heauen Ergo he knew no such tripartition as the triple crowned Pope and the Papists make and consequently that there is no such place nor any part of the Church therein As also to backe this Argument with our Aduersaries testimony of the ancient Churches beleefe Bellarmine relates While it was vpbraided to the ancient Catholikes by the Donatists that they made two Churches one consisting of good and euill on earth and another of good onely in the heauens The Catholikes answered That they made not two Churches but distinguished the two times onely of the Church Whence we inferre If the ancient Catholikes had then beleeued Purgatory and made any such tripartition as the new Romane Catholikes doe then the Donatists had vpbraided them not onely with making two Churches but with making three and the Orthodox Catholikes had answered them that they made not three Churches but distinguished the three times of the Church But this they did not Ergo the ancient Catholikes beleeued no such thing Galatians 6.8 Hee that soweth to the Spirit shall reape of the Spirit life eternall So Iob 7.2 2 Tim. 4.7 Reuel 14.13 Out of all which places thus we reason If in Scripture there bee a twofold time onely of sowing on earth and reaping in heauen of working in this life and reward in the next of fighting here and triumph hereafter of finishing our course at death and thenceforth getting the Crowne of life and of labouring now and immediately resting after our departure then surely there is no mid time nor place for the godly to feare or expect But there is a twofold time onely as is said and as Scripture proues Ergo there is no mid time of torment nor mid place of Purgatory The truth of which Argument most clearely doth that Parable Math. 20.1 illustrate where straightway at the end of the day the Labourers receiue their hyre Now Purgatory