Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	offer_v	sacrifice_n	sin_n	8,215	5	5.1703	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68090	An apology or defence for the Christians of Frau[n]ce which are of the eua[n]gelicall or reformed religion for the satisfiing of such as wil not liue in peace and concord with them. Whereby the purenes of the same religion in the chiefe poyntes that are in variance, is euidently shewed, not onely by the holy scriptures, and by reason: but also by the Popes owne canons. Written to the king of Nauarre and translated out of french into English by Sir Iherom Bowes Knight.; Apologie ou défense pour les chretiens de France de la religion reformée. English	Gentillet, Innocent, ca. 1535-ca. 1595.; Bowes, Jerome, Sir, d. 1616.	1579 (1579)	STC 11742; ESTC S103023	118,829	284

was once a Priest yet as now he hath resigned that office vnto others The Apostle testifyeth that he is a Priest still and euer shall be saying thus of him Thou art a high Priest for euer after the order of Melchizedech And because we shold not thinke that there should be any other priest thā he the Apostle teacheth vs that there may be none other in that he saith that no man may take the honor of high priest vnto himselfe except he be called of God as Christ was called to that office by his Father These be his very words No man may take that honor vpon him but he shall enioy it which is called of God as was Aaron Neyther hath Christ presumed of himselfe to be made high Preest but he hath bestowed that dignity vpon him which fayde vnto him Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee Now as we are taught by this text that neyther there is nor ought to be any mo then one Sacrifice for the forgeuenes of sins that is to wit Iesus Christ which is and shal be the high preest for euer So are we taught also by other texts that there is but one only Sacrifice once offered for all sinnes and to obtayn euerlasting life which is the death and passion of Iesus Christ our Saviour And that we need none other Sacrifice for the remission of our sinnes but only that This is the very text of the Apostle which is so playn and cleere as nothing can be more By the which will we are made holy euen by the offering of the body of Christ once for all For by that one offering hath he made them perfect for euer which are to be sanctified where remission of sinnes is there needes no more Sacrifice for sinne Which words of the Apostle are a very definitiue sentence pronounced against the Masse For if there be no more offering for sinne what shall become of the masse seeing it is no other thing in substance as the very words of the consecration doe declare but a Sacrifice and an offering for the forgeuenes of the sinnes of the quick and the dead And in very deede the Catholick Schoolemē not being able by any meanes to rid themselues of these textes which are so playne and cleere do say for their refuge that the Mas is not a very Sacrifice in deed but a remembrance of the only and true Sacrifice of our Lord Iesus Christ But the answere to this shift of descant is very easie For seeing they doe maintayne that the very body of Christ is in the mas and that the bread of the singingcake is changed into his very body and the wine into his very bloud And that they breake his body in peeces and offer vp both the body and the bloud in Sacrifice vnto God It followeth of necessitie that their opinion is that it is a very Sacrifice and not a remembrance only On the other side the protestants doe say that the remembrance of the true Sacrifice of Iesus Christ ought to be done by celebrating his holy supper after the same maner that he hath appointed it For he hath ordayned that his Supper should be celebrated by many at once because it is a sacramentall communion of the body and bloud of our Sauiour by the which we are made one body and as it were one loafe in Iesus Christ become partakers of one selfesame bread of euerlasting life These are the wordes of S. Paule vpon the same matter Is not the cup of blessing which we blesse a partaking of the bloud of Christ And is not the bread which we breake a partaking of the body of Christ For we that are many are one loafe and one body because we be al partakers of one bread By which text it appeareth euidently that the remembrance of the Sacrifice of our Sauiour ought to be vsed in celebrating the holy Supper by many together accordingly as when he did institute and celebrate it with his Disciples they were many together And so consequently it followeth that the Mas neither is nor can be a true remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ seeing that none taketh part of it but the priest him selfe Now let vs come to the Canones The Canons which we haue alleaged in the former Chapter when we spake of the Lordes Supper doe sufficiently confute this Transubstātiation which is the very principall parte and foundation of the Masse And therfore we will speake no more of that point But I will speake of certain difficulties into the which the Transubstantiatiō hath led the schole diuines as it hapneth commonly according to the saying of the Logicians that in admitting one absurditie there follow many moe The schole doctors hauing once graunted that the bread and wine in the Masse are Transubstantiated into the very body and bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ are greately troubled how to resolue diuers other questions which haue growen vpon the same matter Pope Innocent the third reciteth one of them which he sayth was greatly debated amongst the sayd Scholedoctors howbeit in such sort as they knew not how to determine it That is to witt whether the water which the preest putteth into the chalice with the wine be transubstātiated into bloud or not for they imagine that water must nedes be put into the chalice where the wine is bicause it is written that out of the side of our Lord Iesus Christ there did issue both bloud and water Notwithstanding their opinion is that there ought to be more wine than water For Pope Honorius the third did sharply checke a certayne Bishop who in singing masse did put more water in his chalice then wine wherupon grew a great disputation amongst the Scholediuines as Pope Innocent reporteth For some of thē held opinion that the water was not Transubstantiated into wine but remayned naturall water still bicause say they there was water in the bloud which issued out of the side of our Lord Iesus Christ when he was vpon the Crosse And therfore seeing that the wine in the Chalice at the masse tyme is Transubstantiated into the very bloud it must needes be that the water remayneth water still to the ende that there be an answerable resemblance aswell of the water as of the bloud Others sayd that although it were graunted that water must needes remayne still in the Chalice with the bloud yet notwithstanding it must alwayes be beleeued that the water which the priest putteth into the Challice is turned into the selfe same water which issued out of the side of our Lord Iesus Christ Which opinion seemeth to haue most shew of wit and most proportionble resemblance agreeing to the matter though at the first sight it might seeme an absurde thinge to saye that water is turned into other water For looke by what reason the wine is trāsubstantiated into the very bloud by the same reason is the water changed into the

goodnes by heaping vpon vs his blessings as it were in recompence of the good works which he himself hath wrought in vs and in making vs to reap the fruit of his own labor and to receyue the reward which he himself hath deserued But touching the great and incōprehensible benefit of the gifte of eternall life and of knitting vs vnto him selfe in euerlasting happines he doth not geue it vs in any other respect or consideration thā only for the loue of his welbeloued sōne Iesus Christ That was the cause why he wold haue him to come down into this base world and to take our nature vpon him and to fulfill the law for vs and to beare our iniquities and greefes and at a word to be our Mediator our redeemer our high priest our Shepheard and our spirituall king All which titles he hath taken vpon him to saue vs and to be the onely cause of our euerlasting felicitie and to knit and incorporate vs vnto himselfe and to make vs partners for euer of his heauenly glory Yet may we not hereupon conclude that we should not doe good workes as though they stoode vs in no stead to saluatiō for they be fruits of faith and whosoeuer hath the true faith doth incontinently shew it by the good fruites and effectes which it bringeth forth in him And he that doth no good workes cannot saye that hee hath true fayth Besides that we also are sufficiently led to doe good workes by the great number of other benefites and blessinges wherwith God crowneth thē as we haue sayd before This is the sūme of the doctrine which the Protestants do hold concerning faith and good workes Whereby they yelde wholly vnto God and to our Sauiour Iesus Christ the honour which belongeth to hym as to the true onely cause of our saluatiō of all the good things which we haue and receiue aswell Spirituall as Temporal whatsoeuer they be It followeth then acording to our first Maxime that this doctrine is better thā the doctrine of the Romish catholicks who affirme that by theyr good works they deserue Paradise all the other good things which God geueth them that these good works do partly proceed of themselues and of their owne free will and partlye of Gods grace as if God alone coulde not saue them if they helped not the matter by their owne good workes which they hold to be part of the cause of their saluation which doctrine all men may easely perceiue to be repugnant to the nature of god For seing that he is altogether and perfectlye mercifull it must needes follow that those that be saued be saued wholly and not in part by his onely mercy which should not be perfect if the effect thereof were not perfecte and entyre Notwithstanding the Catholickes holde opinion still that their good workes are part of the cause of theyr saluation and that they be not saued by the onely mercy of God. Yea there are monkes which take themselues to haue such aboundance of good workes in store that they not onelye haue ynow wherewith to merite their owne saluation but also a great masse of ouerplus which they cal works of supererogation to purchase the saluation of other men but chiefly of such as do them good and geue them liberally of their temporall goods which doctrine in very truth all such as loue the name of God ought to reiect For it is an vtter defacing of the benefit of our lord Iesus Christ an attributing of the honor of our saluation to the vncleane works of sinners whereas in deed we ought to attribute the same to the death and passiō of the son of god who is without sinne Also it is to be discerned by Gods word which of the two doctrines is the truest and most auncient For the Scripture doth playnelye teache vs that we be iustified by fayth without the workes of the law so consequently by fayth onely when it sayth Wherfore no flesh shall be iustified before him by the workes of the law And it sayeth in an other place for you are saued by grace through fayth and not of your selues it is the gifte of God Not for workes leaste any man should boast of himselfe And in an other place it is sayd He hath saued vs not by the works of righteousnes which wee our selues haue done but of his owne mercy And Saynt Paule sayeth in an other place I esteme all things as doong so I may gain Christ and be found in him not hauing mine owne righteousnesse which is of the law but the righteousnes which cōmeth by beliefe in Christ Now as there is no comparison betwixt the desertes of Iesus Christ our sauiour and the desert of mens good workes no more than is betwixt the brightnes of the Sun a litle sparke of fire so must we needes confesse that our consciences do finde without all comparison far greater and excellenter quietnesse in the righteousnesse of fayth thā in the righteousnes of good workes And in that respect doth S Paule say Beeing then iustified by fayth we haue peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ By whom we haue also accesse through fayth to this grace wherin we stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God. But yet this fayth which doth iustifye vs may not be void of good workes for then it were like the fayth of deuils who beleue that God hath commaunded the contentes of the tenne commaundementes but doe quite contrary For such a faith wyll not iustify vs as S. Iames doth teache vs And wheras the Catholicks hold opinion that we are iustified by the grace of Christ and our good workes both together S. Paule doth answere them thus If it be of grace then is it no more of workes for then grace were no more grace And if it be of workes It is no more of grace for thē were works no more workes And whereas the Monkes beare men in hād that by their good works of Supererogation they deserue Paradise for themselues and for theyr benefactors Iesus Christ doth aunswere them himselfe and vtterly cast down their pride and ouerwéening in that he sayth when you haue done all the things that are commaunded you say vnto your selues we are vnprofitable seruauntes we haue done no more than we ought to do Neither may we say that Iesus Christ doth commaūd vs to say so to make shew of humility for he who is the truth it selfe doth not cōmaūd vs to lye for any intent good or euil And therfore it followeth that seing he commaundeth vs to say that though we haue done al the cōmaundements which neuer any man did but onely Iesus Christ yet were we but vnprofitable seruauntes and god were nothing in our dette for it because we haue done nothing but that whereunto our duety bindeth vs I say it followeth that the same is certayne and true Dauid also doth

the decrees of Pope Gelasius We reade that Christ hath raysed the dead to life But we read not that euer he released any of those which were dead in sinne And he who only had the power to doe it hath geuen this principall commaundement to S. Peter saying That which thou vnbindest vpon earth shall be vnbound in heauen and that which thou bindest vpon earth shall be bound in heauen He sayth vpon earth but he neuer sayd that he which is departed bound by sin shal be released Which Canon doth well shew that the power to vnbinde doth not stretch so farre as to hell nor so farre as to the pretended Purgatory but only to the earth and that the Popes of late yeares haue gone about to extend the boundes of their territories to farre in commaunding the angels as they doe by their bulles of pardons to goe fetch the soules of such out of purgatory as the Popes themselues listed to name for they haue no cōmaundement that reacheth either higher or lower than the earth It is true that for ground of this doctrine of Purgatory they alleadge that the custome of praying for the dead hath been allowed and receaued now of long time euen from the time of the primitiue Church But it doth not therby follow but that an error is an error although it be neuer so old Moreouer as Pope Innocent the third doth witnes many of the auncient Fathers haue beleeued that the glory of those which are in Paradise might still grow greater vntil the day of iudgement and so by consequence they did imagine that it was lawfull to pray to god for the increase of their glorifying S. Augustine also wryteth how be it that he alloweth not the opinion that some auncient Fathers haue imagined that to pray for the damned sort might doe them good not to exempt them from eternall payne but to moderate their tormēts And therfore although that this kinde of praying for the dead were sufferable as in deede it is not seeing it hath no foundation in the word of God yet cannot Purgatory be grounded therupon forasmuch as the praying of the Fathers of olde time was either for those which were happy in Paradise for that their glory and blessednesse might increase or for those which were damned that their payne might be diminished and not for any which they beleeued to haue bin lodged in Purgatory For in those dayes they knew not yet what was meante by Purgatory nor where Purgatory stoode For it is but a late inuention of the new descriptions of hell The famosest doctor that euer spake of Purgatory is S. Gregory who notwithstanding speaketh after such a fashion that he seemeth to make no great reckning of the matter For he sayeth that none but veniall sinnes may be purged by the fire of Purgatory the deadly sins cānot So that by this reckning the paines torments of this pretended Purgatory haue no more power to purge than hath the simple holy water whereunto they doe likewise attribute the vertue of clensing and of washing away of mennes veniall sinnes These are the very words of S. Gregory Such as a man departeth hence such is he presented in the day of iudgement But yet we must beleue that before the iudgemēt there is a fire of purgation for certayne degrees of sinnes because the truth sayth that if any mā haue blasphemed the holy Ghost his sinnes shall not be forgeuen neither in this world nor in the world to come By which wordes it is geuen vs to vnderstand that there are some sinnes which may be pardoned in this world and some in the world to come For that which is denied in one sinne is graunted in an other by consequent interpretation But yet as I haue sayd you must vnderstand this to be spoken of the leaste sinnes as the speaking many idle wordes to much laughter to great carefulnes for a mans owne family which is a sinne that can hardly be shūned euen of suche as know best how to keepe thēselues from sinning or to erre in poyntes which are of no great importance or to be ignorant of thē Al which sinnes make a mans burthen the heuier euē after death if they be not pardoned in his life tyme. Vpon this text and vpon the interpretation which S. Gregory hath made of it howbeit amisse as I haue sayd before in the text of the holy scripture which sayth that the sinne against the holy Ghoste is not pardoned in this world nor in the world to come the Romish Catholicks or rather the Scholemen and sophisters haue altogether builded and founded their purgatory And they are not contented that onely veniall sinnes should there bee purged as S. Gregory would but they will needes haue it to serue for the doing away of deadly sinnes also either by remayning there the full time of seuen yeares for euery deadly sinne or else by redeeming or shortening that long season by the celebrating and founding of Masses and other suffrages Which addition of the Sophisters hath maruelously inriched the kitchins of the clergy mōkes and brought great aboundance of water to their milles which had neuer happened to them if purgatorye had serued but onely to purge veniall sinnes according to the aforesayd opiniō of S. Gregory for the good people of christendome had rather to haue purged themselues from those sinnes with holy water which did no harme to those that sprinckled themselues therewith then by the fyer of purgatory which is affirmed to be extremely burning and scalding hot or by the founding of masses and Obits which were farre deerer then was the holy water So as purgatorye had bene brought to nothing as a wast and barren soyle if men had held themselues to the onely sayings of S. Gregory Thus may you see how the poore world hath bene abused by the inuētors and practisors of such holy deceytes ¶ Of the exception of prescription The xiii chapter HEtherto I thinke I haue made it to appeare playnely enough that the Romish Catholickes are not so well groundes as they imagine in the poynts of religion which they would mayntayne agaynst the protestantes Now therfore let them blame the reformed religion asmuch as them listeth and report it to be new full of errors and heresies and contrary to the word of God and finally let them deface it as much as shal please them For when it cōmeth to the vpshot their hasty headines and their wilfull fordeeming through the corruptnes of their affections shall neuer bring to passe but that truth shall alwayes be truth and darcknes be darcknes Do what they can to the vttermost yet will the trueth continue alwayes to strong for them in the iudgement of the wisest sort I know well that those which thinke themselues to haue the best braynes and to be of greatest insight in all matters are the persons that vtter their opinions so boldly in this controuersy of Religion saying that the