The soule of the godly being separated from their bodies are in rest but the souls of the ungodly suffer punishment until the bodies of them do rise again unto everlasting life and the bodies of these to eternal death which is called the second death In his Book of the Vanity of the World Tom. 9. Chap. 1. he saith Scitote quod cum anima à corpore evellitur aut in Paradiso pro meritis bonis collocatur aut certe pro peccatis in inferni tartara praecipitatur Know that when the soul departeth out of the body it is presently placed in Paradise because of her good works or is thrown down head-long into the Pit of Hell because of her sins And in the second Sermon of the Consolation of the Dead which is in the ninth Tome of his works he saith Recedens anima ab Angelis suscipitur collocatur aut-in sinu Abrahae si fidelis est aut in carceris inferni custodia si peccatrix est The soul going out of the body is received and placed in Abraham's Bosom if it be faithful or in the Infernal Prison of Hell if it be sinful And moreover in his 232. Sermon against Drunkenness he saith Nemo se decipiat Fratres duo enim loca sunt tertius non est ullus Qui cumt Christo regnare non meruerit cum Diabolo absque dubitutione ulla Peribit Let no man deceive himself my Brethren there are but two places and a third there is not any He that shall not merit to reign with Christ shall without doubt perish with the Devil S. Hierome upon the ninth of the Prophet Amos saith Quando anima vinculis larata-corporit volandi quò velit sive quò ire compellitur propter tenuitatem substantiae habuerit libertatem aut ad inferna Ducetur aut certe ad Coelestia sublevabitur When the soul loosed from the bonds of the body shall be at liberty because of the lightness of its substance to fly whither it will or whither it is constrained to go it shall either be carried to Hell or without fail be lifted up to Heaven And Gregory Nyssen in the Book of those that sleep saith Per mortem soluto Bello quod in nobis est pacem mens agitat The War that is in us being ended by death our souls rest Yea the Fathers were so far from believing that faithful souls are tormented in fire until the-Resurrection as the Papists would make men believe that very many of them held that the soul separated from the body could not suffer any torment Chrysostome in his 39. Homily upon the first Epistle to the Corinthiane saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Although the soul remaineth although it were ten thousand times immortal as in truth it is it shall not without the body receive those unspeakable blessings nor suffer any punishment Gregory Nissen in his third Oration upon the Resurrection of Christ saith Animam per se separatim ignis nunquam attigerit nec tenebrae quidem ei molestae fuerint utpote quae oculis caret c. Fire can never touch the soul separated from the body neither can darkness be troublesome to it because it wanteth eyes c. Tertullian in his Apology Chap. 48. saith Neque pati quicquam potest anima sola sine stabili materia id est Carne The soul alone cannot suffer any thing without solid matter that is the Flesh Another affirmeth that it is injustice to punish the soul for sin before the Resurrection in regard the body hath been partaker with her but he will have the body and soul as they have sinned both together to be punished both together saying If sins shall be punished before the Resurrection God shall not deal justly with the soul for she alone would be put to suffer the punishment of those things which she offended in the life at the porturbation of the body drawing her to these appetites and motions And according to S. Ambrose in his tenth Chapter of the Book of the benefit of death all the punishment that souls suffer being separated from their bodies is that they remain in great fear and disquietness attending the punishment that is prepared for them at the latter day Fourthly The Doctrine of Purgatory condemneth the practice of all Christian Churches For it cannot be but an exceeding great breach of duty in them all but especially in those that believe the souls of the dead may be benefitted by the prayers of the living if they do not pray for the souls therein for this is not to do by others as they would have others to do by them and therefore is against both the Law and Prophets and directly opposite to the Command of Christ And that this is the continual practice of all Christian Churches is manifest for the Greek and all other Eastern Churches notwithstanding they daily pray for the dead yet they never pray for the souls in Purgatory for indeed they believe there is no Purgatory but the prayers they offer up for the dead are that they may be saved at the Resurrection Likewise the Church of Rome although it pray daily for the souls departed yet it never prayeth for the souls in Purgatory nor once craveth their deliverance thence And although this may seem strange in regard of the many Masses she daily by her Priests undertaketh to say for the souls therein yet if we consider the reason 't is no wonder at all for when the prayers used in her said Masses were first hatched she did not believe of her now Purgatory but the belief thereof through the great profit she perceived might thereby accrue to her Pope and Clergy hath been infused into her fancy since And to the end the same may appear truth to wit that she prayeth not at all for the souls in Purgatory I shall here give you an account of the prayers she at any time useth for the souls departed The first of which is a very foolish prayer in the Canon of her common Mass the which is this Memento etiam Domine Famulorum Famularum tuarum here is made a particular mention of certain particular dead Folks whom it pleaseth the Priest to name and after is added qui nos praecesserunt cum signo fidei dormiunt in somno pacis c. Remember O Lord thy Servants and Handmaids that have gone before us with the sign of Faith and sleep in the sleep of Peace To these O Lord and to all those that rest in Christ we pray thee that thou wilt grant place of comfort of light and peace through the same Christ our Lord Amen I call this prayer foolish because it speaketh against it self For first it confesseth that the dead do sleep in the sleep of Peace and that they rest in Christ and yet notwithstanding afterward it desireth that God would give them place of comfort of light and peace For if they sleep in the sleep of Peace and rest in Christ have
they not the place of peace What need is there to ask that those that sleep in peace should have the place of peace Is it not all one to sleep in peace and to have the place of peace to rest in Christ and to have the place of comfort If souls be tormented in Purgatory yet they are not dead in their torment there how therefore can they be said to rest Peradventure the Defenders of the Canon of the Mass will answer that this prayer speaketh of the body when it saith that the dead sleep and not of the soul Well suppose it do for the soul indeed sleepeth not but only the body but it saith also that they have quietness and rest which speech cannot well be understood of the body but of that part that may be troubled for what rest can it be to rest in that part that can feel no manner of thing without the soul and to be troubled in that part which indeed feeleth and liveth When they say in their service for the dead Requiescant in pace let them rest in peace doubtless they mean to speak of the soul and not of the body forasmuch as there is no need to pray that the body of the dead should rest because that of necessity it doth rest but the soul may as they think have trouble and pain in Purgatory and therefore they pray that they may have rest as concerning the foul S. John in the Apocalypse when he saith Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord Why doth the Spirit say that from henceforth they rest from their labours Will we say that he speaketh there of the rest of the body and not of the soul If he speak of the body what Prerogative have the bodies of the Just until the day of Judgment more than the bodies of the Wicked since the one and other would rest equally and there would be no difference in this point And yet S. John maketh a difference between them for he calleth them the Dead in the Lord that is to say the Just blessed And why blessed because that from henceforth they shall rest from their labour and be in quiet giving to understand that the other do not rest from their labour but have more than ever they had because they be damned to everlasting pain So that when the rest of the Just is spoken of there is meant the rest of the soul and not of the body Being then thus that this prayer in the one part affirmeth that the Just sleep in peace and rest in Christ and in the other part desireth that God would give them a place of peace and comfort it plainly appeareth that this prayer speaketh against it self and is absurd and foolish But to return to the matter in hand in the said prayer you see is no mention at all of the souls that broil in Purgatory but of the souls that sleep in peace and rest in Christ The second prayer by which she prayeth for the souls departed is a prayer in her Mass for the dead and the same desireth that the soul of the Man or Woman departed to wit for whom it prayeth may not be given into the hands of the Enemy but be received by the holy Angels and carried into the Country of Paradise to the end that having believed and hoped it may not suffer everlasting pain but possess everlasting joys But here she neither speaketh of the pains of Purgatory nor prayeth for the souls in Purgatory for such a request doth not agree with the pains of Purgatory for the pains of Purgatory they say are temporal but the pains mentioned in this prayer are eternal Neither doth it agree with the souls in Purgatory for the souls in Purgatory she will have to be such as departed this World in the state of Grace which as she granteth her self are neither in peril nor possibility of suffering eternal pain whereas the souls prayed for here as the prayer it self giveth us to understand are such as are subject and liable to eternal damnation for it prayeth they may not be given into the hands of the Enemy nor suffer everlasting pain The third prayer with which she prayeth for the souls departed is also in her Mass for the Dead and is commonly called the Offertory the which is as followeth Domine Jesu Christe Rex gloriae libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de manu inferni de profundo lacu libera eas de ore leonis ne absorbeat eas tartarus sed signifer S. Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam c. O Lord Jesus Christ King of Glory deliver the souls of all faithful dead from the pains of Hell and from the deep Lake deliver them from the mouth of the Lyon that Hell may not swallow them up but that thy Standard-Bearer S. Michael may present them in the holy Light the which in time past thou didst promise to Abraham and his Seed But in this Offertory you see there is not a word spoke of Purgatory but of Hell and the deep Lake and the Mouth of the Lyon all which cannot agree with Purgatory but with the place of the damned Likewise the souls here spoke of cannot be the souls in Purgatory for they as she holdeth her self are not in the least danger of being swallowed up into Hell however so far therein but that S Michael their Standard-Bearer as she calleth him may be able to present them when it shall please God into the holy light but this prayer desireth that the souls it prayeth for may not be swallowed up into Hell and in such sort but that S. Michael their Standard-bearer may present them into the holy light Her other prayers for the Souls departed are certain Ejaculations to wit Fidelium animae per misericordiam Dei requiescant in Pace Let the faithful Souls by the mercy of God rest in peace Requiem aeternam dona eis domine Give them O Lord eternal rest A Porta inferi erue Domine animas corum Deliver their Souls O Lord from the gates of Hell But in these Ejaculations also there is no mention at all either of Purgatory or of the Souls in Purgatory and besides the Ejaculations also are needless For as for the rest here spoke of She acknowledgeth in the aforesaid Prayer in the Canon of her common Mass they have the same already and as for the Gates of Hell they never enter them But suppose they did enter them out of Hell there is no redemption and so she prayeth in vain This latter also and moreover the two prayers before mentioned in the Mass for the dead are no better than blasphemous for they give us to understand that the Souls of the Faithful departed this life may be damned in Hell and that to all Eternity 15ly The Doctrine of Purgatory robbeth God of his Justice For since the sins of the Faithful are sufficiently satisfied for by the Death of Christ since God in him forgiveth
the less I have always hitherto found my self in a Capacity to express that great and inward desire I have to do some Act that may be grateful to you and considering with my self I ought to give you some little sign of my good Will and of my great regard and good Remembrance of you and that the longer I defer it the more it ought to answer the debt I owe Newly returned from his Holiness's the Popes Pallace and fearing I might seem to be like the evil Servant in the Gospel who hid the Talent received at the Courtesie of his Patron I here present you with a List I there obtained of the publick Treasure that although it be yet so much unknown in many other Cities it may be now known to you who are the holy Company of our habit given by the ever Virgin the Mother of the Son of God the which you accepting as I hope you will and Conjure you that ye so do you have all the Indulgences may be gained by the Brothers and Sisters of our Company in this little Book which giving to you together I dedicate and consecrate to you beseeching you to place this laudable Inscription in our Church of the Servants accompanying the same to the Altar of the most holy Crucifix with your Society to the end that in Life and in Death you may obtain a double Treasure and Patronage and so Precious as these two are the which joyntly in the dangerous Navigation of this world the one will be the Ship and the other the Star to the port of Salvation The gift is not small because it is a gift Spiritual neither ought the respect to be small that is had thereto in regard of the great Benefit that may accrue thereby And for a Credit and truth of what is therein contained I have caused the same to be confirmed with the great Seal of our Office and have subscribed the same with mine own hand Dated at Florence in our Convent della Nonciata the ninth day of February 1599. Fr. Arcangelo Tortello The Treasure of the Brothers and Sisters of the Holy Order of the Servants of Saint Mary CLASSE I. The Indulgences which they obtain by reason of the Habit of the Servants of our LADY TO them that receive the Habit of the Servants Innocent the Eighth granted that the Prior General or any other constituted by him might absolve any whether He or She that should have that Habit not only at his or her Entrance but at any time whensoever there should be need from any sin or Censure whatsoever And Sisto the Fourth granted a Plenary Indulgence to any when they received the Habit of the Servants To those invested with the Habit of the Servants Innocent the Eighth Alexander the Fourth Benedict the Eleventh and other Popes their Successors granted that once in their life time and once in their death they should obtain a plenary Indulgence of all their sins And Sisto the Fourth said that they should obtain a Plenary Indulgence when they dyed and wanted a Confessor because they dyed in the state of grace And Leo the Tenth granted to any one invested with the Habit of the Servants that should say the seven penitential Psalms once over or five Pater-noster's and five Ave Maria's before an Altar of the Church where he or she should reside that he or she that said the same should thereby release any one Soul out of Purgatory what Soul the party that saith the same pleaseth To those which to the honour of the blessed Virgin Mary shall devoutly kiss the Habit of one of the Servants John the twenty third hath given five years and five Quarantenes one of which is forty days space of Indulgence To those which shall serve with the Habit under the Servants Clement the Fourth Nicholas the Third and Vrban the Fifth granted a forgiveness of the third part of their sins and Sisto the Fourth and Leo the Tenth granted them a plenary Indulgence To those invested with the Habit of the Servants and shall say five Pater-noster's and five Ave-Maria's Paul the second hath granted all the Indulgences which are at any time within or without Rome as well as to those that visit the Holy Churches where they are to be obtained And Leo the Tenth hath granted that saying five Pater-noster's and five Ave-Maria's and at the end of each Pater-noster and Ave-Maria one Gloria Patri all entire and afterwards another Pater-noster and Ave-Maria singly with the Gloria Patri c. That is to say in the whole six Pater-noster's six Ave-Maria's and six Gloria Patri's five whereof with an intention to gain the Indulgence and one for his Holiness the Pope they gain and obtain all the Indulgences in the Stations at Rome at St. James of Galitia in Compostella and at Jerufalem and other places in the Holy Land And moreover this Pope hath said that in whatsoever hour of the day or of the night they will or in whatsoever place they will to wit in the Choire or in the Church or in the Cloyster or in the Cell if any can say the said Pater-noster's Ave-Maria's and Gloria Patri's c. they shall obtain the Indulgences CLASSE II. The Indulgences at the Holy City of Rome which are gained not only by devout Pilgrims and such others as visit the sacred places where they are to be obtained but also by the Brothers and Sisters of the Servants of our Lady IN the famous City of Rome where commonly resideth the Pope the Vicar of Jesus Christ the place where so many Saints and Saintesses have been martyred and sanctified the ground with their most holy blood there is not a Church in which there is not any day most great Indulgences but among the rest there are seven called for their Excellency The Seven Churches of Rome the which are every day very devoutly with great adorations by great numbers of people visited and as they have been so they are daily by his Holiness the Pope priviledged and benefitted The first of the Seven Churches is the Church of Saint John Lateran the which was built by the Emperour Constantine and dedicated by St. Silvester the Pope who at its dedication gave so many Indulgences thereto that is to those that devoutly visit the same that none can number them but only God First at the great Altar they gain an Indulgence of forty eight years and of forty eight times forty days space and moreover a forgiveness of the third part of their sins Saint Silvester gave to whosoever should come to visit this Church at what time of the year soever he came a full remission of all his sins In this Church of S. John Lateran where an Image visibly and miraculously appeared when S. Silvester consecrated the same there is full remission of all their sins Pope Boniface hath said that whosoever comes for Devotion 's sake to visit the Church of S. John Lateran shall be clean absolved from all
the sixth Feriae after the third Sunday through the whole Octave of Easter any day hath granted an Indulgence of three thousand seven hundred and eighteen years and one hundred and thirtie daies And Benedict the tenth hath granted any day eightie years and eightie times forty daies space and twice the Remission of the third part of their sins and by going to a Church dedicated to S. Salvatore any day they obtain a plenary Indulgence To those that shall visit the Churches of the holy order of the Servants in the Feasts ensueing have been granted by divers Popes these Indulgences following to wit The day of S. Anthony by Gregory the ninth and Innocent the fourth a thousand years and an hundred daies Indulgence The day of S. Fabian and Sebastian by Leo the fourth and Innocent the fourth a thousand years and seven times forty daies space of Indulgence The day of S. Thomas of Aquine by John the twenty second Alexander the fifth and Vrban the fifth an hundred and forty years The day of S. Peter and Paul by Innocent the Eighth Martin the Fifth and Leo the Fourth a thousand two hundred and forty seven years and two hundred thirty two times fortie daies space of Indulgence And by Sisto the Fourth the Remission of the third part of their sins The day of S. John the Baptist by Gregory the Ninth Innocent the Eighth Leo the Fourth and Martin the Fifth a thousand two hundred forty seven years and two hundred thirty two times forty days space of Indulgence The day of S. Dominick by Clement the Fourth Gregory the Ninth Boniface the Eighth Nicholas the Fourth Innocent the Fourth Alexander the Fourth Boniface the Second John the Twenty Second Alexander the Fifth and Sisto the Fourth seventy seven hundred thousand years Indulgence The day of S. Philip our Brother by Martin the Fourth and Innocent the Fourth forty hundred years and twelve times forty days space The day of the Apparition of S. Michael Arch-Angel by Leo the Fourth seven years and seven times forty daies space and by Nicholas the Fourth the like Indulgence The day of S. Francis by Gregory the Ninth and Martin the Fourth an hundred and forty Years and twelve times fortie daies space of Indulgence The day of all Saints by Leo the Fourth and Innocent the Fourth a thousand and seven Years and seven times fortie daies space of Indulgence The day of S. Nicholas by Leo the Fourth seven years and seven times forty daies space of Indulgence THE TRANSLATOR'S APPENDIX Wherein the very Grounds and Foundations of the said Indulgences are utterly overthrown and consequently the Indulgences themselves apparently proved to be a meer Cheat. CHAP. I. Wherein is shewed what the Indulgences before mentioned are and upon what they are grounded THE said Indulgences according to the Doctrine of the Roman Church are certain Distributions made by the Pope of certain penal and fatisfactory Works taken by him out of the Churches Treasury and bequeathed to such persons as although dying in the state of grace yet having not first here in this world fully satisfied the Justice of God for their sins are after their death cast into Purgatory where they are burnt and tormented in the fire thereof until such time the same be fully satisfied They are grounded upon certain false and pernicious Tenents whereby she holdeth First that there lyeth a necessity upon all the Faithful notwithstanding their Redemption by Christ to satisfie and content the Justice of God for their sins which satisfaction the Catechism of the Council of Trent defineth thus Cap. de Sacramento Penitentia Satisfactio est rei debitae integra solutio Est compensatio cum homo pro peccatis commissis Deo aliquid persolvi Satisfaction is an entire Payment of that thing which is due and a recompence which a man maketh to God for his sins And it is made they say here in this life by fasting whipping Pilgrimages giving something to the Church and such like works of Penance and after this life by being imprisoned involved and tormented in a fire called Purgatory 2. That many in this life do not only satisfie the Divine Justice for their sins but exceed the same for them in their satisfactions for there be many say they that have sinned but little yet have satisfied very much and consequently have undergone more Punishments than their sins have deserved or Gods Justice for the same required and this excess or superfluity which they call Superabundant Satisfaction That is to say the overplus that these men have paid to God more than they needed to have done may be given to others that want the same And thirdly That the Church hath a certain Treasury in which are reserved inestimable Treasures that is to say the said superabundant satisfactions to wit the superabundant satisfactions of the Saints Martyrs Monks Nuns Fryers Eremites and such like others as have satisfied beyond Gods Justice or the desert of their sins Of which Treasury the Pope having the Keys and being thereof Guardian turneth the said Treasures into pay for others and bequeaths them out by Indulgences to those that are wanting in satisfactory Works These Indulgences although they are now and have been of late years through the great resort of Pilgrims to the places unto whom they are given and the great and splendid Solemnities of the Jubilees at Rome had in great veneration and esteem among the Romanists were never known in the Churches Infancy nor for a long time afterward Alph. congr bares 8. verbe Indulgentia Durand Sontent 4. dist 20. quae 3 â—…den Sess 25. Decretum de Indulg but as Alphonsus à Castro confesseth harum usus in Ecclesia videtur strò receptus their use is seen to have been received but lately in the Church and moreover Durand another of their own Writers telleth us De Indulgentiis pauca dici possunt per certitudiuem quia nec scriptura expressè de iis loquitur Sancti etiam Ambrosius Hilarius c. minimè loquuntur de Indulgentiis Little can be said of any certainty of Indulgences or of their being undoubtedly true seeing the Scriptures speak not expresly of them and S. Hilary S. Ambrose and other Fathers speak not at all of them And yet the Council of Trent doth not only teach and command them to be retained in the Church but also condemneth all them with a Curse which either term them unprofitable or deny the Churches Authority to grant them Now what a bold presumption was it for a Council to determine a new and uncertain Doctrine for a Point of Faith And what a senseless and weak Faith must it needs be which wanteth Antiquity Authority of Scriptures and consent of Fathers But I will not stand to argue this in regard it maketh not much to our present purpose neither will I altogether deny but the said Indulgences are to some profitable For indeed since many are come to have so good an opinion as they have of them they
perfectly made satisfaction to God for our sins and that the Doctrine of our satisfaction overthroweth our Faith and Devotion and is manifestly false is injurious to Christ blasphemous against God teacheth men to be disloyal and revengeful implyeth an impossibility and is also needless I Renaeus writing against Valentinus and other like Hereticks saith Scripturis Divinis uiti quae certa indubitata veritas est in firma valida Petra est Domum suam aedificare hac vero derelista aliis niti quibusdam Doctrinis effusa arenae unde facilis eversio est Domum suam adificare To lean upon the holy Scriptures which are the sure and undoubted truth is for a man to build his house upon a sure and strong Rock but if leaving it that is the truth of the Scriptures he sticketh to some other Doctrine the same is to build his house upon the unstedfast Sand from whence it is easily overthrown Now that our Lord Jesus Christ hath fully and perfectly satisfied God for our sins and hath wholly and only wrought our Redemption Purgation and Reconciliation is a Doctrine grounded upon the holy Scriptures for the holy Scriptures attribute the same wholly and only to him affirming that Jesus Christ hath washed us from our sins in his own blood Rev. 1.5 That he his own self bare our sins in his own Body on the Tree by whose stripes we are healed 1 Pet. 2.24 That through him we have peace with God Rom. 5.1 That he is the Reconciliation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world 1 Joh. 2.2 That be was wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities had the chastisement of our Peace laid upon him and with his stripes we are healed Isa 53.5 That he hath obtained eternal redemption for us Heb. 9.12 That by one Offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 That he it able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him Heb. 7.25 That it pleased the Father by him to reconcile all things to himself both which are in Earth and which are in Heaven Col. 1.19 20. That there is no Salvation in any other nor other Name under Heaven whereby we must be saved Act. 4.12 And to be short it is the whole scope of the Gospel And yet the Papists neither regarding Scripture Gospel Irenous nor any other thing that may make against their pretended satisfactions will have a necessity lye upon us to pay and satisfie God for our sins But this their Doctrine first overthroweth our Faith destroyeth our Devotion and is manifestly false for we are taught to believe the forgiveness of our sins and to pray for the forgiveness of our sins and God forgiveth us our sins and that freely whereas God could not be said to forgive us our sins did he either here in this life or hereafter in the other require satisfaction Secondly It is injurious to Christ for it defaceth the sufficiency of his Death Thirdly It is blasphemous against God for first it maketh him like a very unjust and hard Landlord who having granted an Estate in a Bargain to a younger Brother upon a sufficient Fine tendred by the Elder yet will not let the younger enjoy it unless he Fine for it again himself Secondly It maketh him like a cruel Creditor who having the Debt discharged to the uttermost by a Friend yet casteth the poor Debtor himself into Prison until he there also in part make satisfaction Thirdly It maketh him like a merciless Judge who having punished an effence with condign punishment yet will have the Offender punished again as if he delighted in the torments of the miserable Fourthly It maketh men disloyal and revengeful and ministreth matter to malicious persons to the fully satisfying their malicious humours seeing as God doth pardon us so we ought to deal with others and therefore if God doth so forgive us our sins in Christ as that we must still either here afflict our selves with the rigorous works of Penance or else hereafter be cast into the extreme torments of Purgatory then we may also so forgive our Brother as that we may yet procure his most grievous punishment and say 't is true I have pardoned him but I will not yet cease extremely to punish him for will you have me to be more patient and merciful than God himself that dealeth thus with us who after having declared that all our faults are forgiven either ceaseth not here to torment us by our Fasting Whipping Pilgrimaging and such like Penal Works or hereafter to burn us for I know not how many thousand years in a scorching Fire Fifthly It implieth an impossibility for satisfactions for sins ought to be according to the quality of the Person thereby offended and God and the Divine Justice being altogether Infinite require therefore an infinite satisfaction which no sinite Creature can possibly make But suppose there were a possibility of our making a recompence to God and satisfying the Divine Justice for them which there is not yet Sixthly It is altogether needless for Jesus Christ by one offering hath perfected for ver them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 And what Estate is there beyond that of Perfection And what Perfection greater than that which abideth and continueth for ever Now the Papists to avoid those gross absurdities and horrid consequences which otherwise they see must of necessity attend this their Doctrine first will have that in sin are two things Malum Culpae Poenam Culpae the fault and the punishment the fault they say is taken away and satisfied for by Jesus Christ but the punishment is left behind and is to be satisfied for by us Thus to take away the sufficiency of Christs satisfaction to the end they may imply a necessity of ours they make up sin into a certain Hodg-podge containing both the fault and the punishment as if the sin were not the fault only whereas the punishment is not in the least any part of sin but the reward of sin Rom. 6.23 But this Fetch being altogether defective is easily defeated and will not in the least serve their turn For the cause which only produceth an effect being taken away by necessity the effect ceaseth Now the fault is the cause which only produceth satisfying punishment therefore the fault being taken away necessarily satisfying punishment is taken away This is affirmed by Tertullian Exempto saith he reatu remittitur Paena the fault being taken away the punishment is omitted And the same also is manifested by our Saviour Christ who no sooner had forgiven the sick of the Palsie his sins but his Palsie left him Mar. 2. The Prophet Isaiah also speaking of Christ in the work of our Redemption saith He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows Esa 53.4 which are not the guilt but the punishment of our sins And S. Augustius saith Suscipiendo Christus Poenam non
them and since all such Souls as the Church of Rome would have in Purgatory are as she affirmeth her self void of fault having as she faith all their guiltiness first taken away and the same forgiven them here in this world It followeth necessarily that if God punish them and Purgatory the Papists say is a place for that purpose he punisheth Souls that are no longer guilty taketh vengeance of sins that are already pardoned and exacts debts that are already paid taking two payments for one and the self same debt and two satisfactions for one and the self same sin to wit the Passion of Christ and the pains of Purgatory and this notwithstanding the first was intire 'T would be very unjust for us to deal thus with our enemies how much more then for God to deal thus with his Children 6ly The Doctrine of Purgatory maketh God a mocker for God would absolutely mock us did he but sa to us as the Doctrine of Purgatory would have him to wit I will forgive thee but yet I will punish thee I forgive thee thy debt but thou shalt pay me For our sins are debts the payment whereof is the punishment In fine we need not go any further to confute the Doctrine of Purgatory than to the Romanists own Tenents For if the Pope be infallible as the Romanists hold and affirm he is Pope Gregory the first in his 13. Book upon Job Chap. 20. telleth us plainly that Quia authoris nostri gratia redempti sumus hoc jam coelestis muneris habemus ut cum de carnis nostra habitatione subtrahimur mox ad coelestia premia ducamur Because we are redeemed by the grace of our Creator we have this heavenly gift that when our Souls depart out of this fleshly habitation we are presently carried to the heavenly rewards Likewise if the Book of Wisdom be Canonical as they hold it is and the Souls in Purgatory be the Souls of the Righteous as they also hold the same is as clear and as evident a testimony against it as may be For 't is said there The Souls of the Righteous are in the hands of God there shall no Torment touch them Wis 3.6 The Papists alledge certain places of holy Scripture to prove their pretended Purgatory but against their true sence First they alledge Mat. 12.32 where Christ speaking of the sin against the Holy Ghost saith It shall nor be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come And thereby they would imply that some sins shall be forgiven in the world to come which they say is Purgatory But Purgatory cannot be said to be the world to come because as they say 't is already in being Besides Purgatory they say is is a place of torment and Punishment and not of pardon And moreover according to their own Doctrine sin is pardoned before the Souls enter into Purgatory The sence of this place is as clear as may be Not to pardon sin is to punish it And Jesus Christ declareth that God will punish the sin against the holy Ghost both in this life and at the day of Judgment which in Luk. 20.35 is called the other world 2ly They alledge Luk. 12.58 59 where 't is said Whilst thou goest with thine Adversary to the Magistrate as thou art in the way give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him lest he draw thee to the Judge and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer and the Officer cast thee into Prison I tell thee thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the very utmost Mite The Way they would have to signify Life the Magistrate God the Prison the Fire of Purgatory the Officer they know not who and the Adversary the Devil and so by consequence they would have us to agree with the Devil And that we are in the way with the Devil For S. Mathew speaking of this same passage rendereth it thus Agree with thine Adversary quickly whilst thou art in the way with him Mat. 5.25 For these very reasons some of them would have the Devil to be the Sergeant and the Law the Adversary but this mendeth not the matter at all but maketh it worse For doth the Devil draw the faithful into Purgatory are we in the way with the Law Is the Law of God our Enemy are we to seek means to deliver our selves from it and to shake off its yoke for 't is said here that we must give diligence in the way that we may be delivered from the Adversary And if this Prison be Purgatory and Souls must stay therein till such times they have paid the very utmost mite how cometh it to pass that the Pope by Indulgences may deliver them out from thence before But this their comment is a meer Fiction and is not the sence of this place of Scripture Christ here exhorteth us to peace and Unity and would not have us to strive and contend one with another in law This is affirmed by S Ambrose who in his exposition hereupon saith that Christ speaketh here De reconciliand a pace dissidentium Fratrum Of making peace between Brethren at strife 3ly They Alledge 1 Cor. 3.11 12 13 14 15. where 't is said no other Foundation can any man say than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ And if any man build on this Foundation Gold Silver precious stones Timber Hay or Stubble every mans work shall be made manifest for the day shall discover it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is if any mans work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive wages if any mans work burn he shall suffer loss but he shall be saved himself yet so as it were by fire The fire that is here spoke of they would have to be the fire of Purgatory but this cannot be for the fire mentioned here doth not agree with the fire of Purgatory For the fire of Purgatory they say burneth and punisheth the Soul but this burneth and tryeth the works The fire of Purgatory they say is real but this is only comparative for t is said here he shall be saved yet so as it were by fire Moreover from the fire of Purgatory they say are exempted Martyrs but from this are exempted none for 't is said â—…wise here it shall try every mans works As for the sense of this place of Scripture the day that is here spoke of is the course of time we have to spend here in this life Of which S. Paul speaking 2 Cor. 6.2 saith Behold now is the accepted time Behold now is the day of Salvation And the fire that is here mentioned is the heat of affliction Persecution and trouble we suffer in which course of time of which S. Peter speaking 1 Pet. 1.5 6 7. saith We are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time wherein we greatly rejoice though