others more priuily vnto the eare but in a publique place in the Church confessed their sinnes those sinnes I meane that were very grieuous and enormous and caused themselues in this man̄er as I haue said to be bound or excommunicated and to haue penance inioyned them that they might afterwards in fit time get reconciliation by the power of the keyes and consequently forgiuenesse in heauen without faile And here you are to obserue that the Keyes were employed onely vpon great and enormous crimes for as for more light and ordinary sinnes though mortall there were other externall remedies as I shall hereafter shew and that by way of accusatiō either by others or by the delinquent himselfe but the binding and reconciling and whole processe was in the same man̄er Whereby you may perceiue that this was not a Sacrament as the Romanists would now haue it for vpon the accusation of others and iudiciall conuiction they proceeded vnto this binding and iniunction of penance after which the partie accused aswell not confessing as confessing publiquely or priuately was absolued with the same for me of reconcilement neither is there to be found in those dayes any other Confession or Absolution Moreouer that this was not then any Sacrament it appeareth in that there was not any verball Absolution nor any ordinary forme of absoluing but this alone was sufficient that the Bishop or his Substitute did giue leaue to the penitent to come into the Church euen into the place where the other people remained which were not in penance and to partake the Communion with them And this was alwayes called Reconciliation not Absolution And howsoeuer afterwards there were brought-in certaine prayers which were pronounced ouer the penitent in the act of his reconcilement yet all was by way of supplication and not by authoritatiue Absolution as may be yet seene in the Romane Pontificall And as for other sinnes which were not so grieuous and enormous howsoeuer mortall of themselues God in his mercy doeth require lesse disposition and lesse adoe concerning them and so supposing alwayes inward repentance namely detestation of those sinnes and firme remouall of the will from them and liuely faith and due confidence God hath promised to acquite them much more easily vpon some performances taught and imposed in the holy Scripture as principally the Lord's praier taught by my Sauiour Christ For assuredly vpon the presenting that petition Forgiue vs our trespasses as wee forgiue them that trespasse against vs there followeth the remission of lighter and smaller sinnes which S. Augustine and other holy Fathers doe vnderstand of sinnes which are in trueth mortall howsoeuer they style them by the name of venial not that a veniall sinne is not mortall for euery sinne that is truely a sinne is mortall and if not mortall it is no sinne but because it is in that sort mortall that God vouchsafeth to deeme it veniall that is fit to be pardoned with more facilitie then other heinous offences which by the holy Fathers are called crimes and distinguished from ordinary faults yet both the one and the other are mortall In like sort these lesser or veniall sinnes are cancelled vpon giuing of Almes for as water putteth out fire Ecclus. 5.30 so Almes extinguisheth sinne as also vpon vndergoing tribulations with faith and patience Ecclus. 2.11 God is full of compassion and very pitifull and forgiueth sinnes and saueth in time of affliction Luke 6.37 Also vpon pardoning of iniuries Forgiue and it shall be forgiuen vnto you Also at my requests and intercessions such sinnes are remitted Amb. depae nit l. 1. c. 1. l. 2. c. 7. Aug. l. 3. de bapt c. 17. Chrys in ep ad Rom. home 24. and gemitu columbae by my groaning as you may finde in S. Ambrose and S. Augustine with other conuenient wayes also taught and allowed by holy Scripture and expounded by S. Chrysostome But beware lest you beleeue that any sinnes howsoeuer veniall are cancelled by the holy-water-sprinkle this is a meere superstition Where doeth the holy Scripture euer teach that sinnes are washed away by water of the Priests hallowing This were to bring in a second Baptisme They will haue this effect to arise either ex opere operato or else ex opere operantis That is to say They will haue this effect to bee wrought either by the water it selfe through the vertue of the benediction of it if there be no impediment in him that is sprinkled with it or else they will haue it to come of the deuotion of him that vseth this water If they say by the deed done as for the most part they auouch this is an intolerable impudency namely to auouch that the hallowing of this water doeth giue vnto it a certaine supernaturall force to cleanse sinnes without any further diuine institution or promise and so this becommeth the dotage of the Turkes who by often washings hold themselues to be purified from their sinnes without faile and how then can there be a more formall superstition then to giue to things meerely naturall and humaine a certaine supernaturall force If they will say that it commeth ex opere operantis to what purpose then serues that water otherwise then to bring-in the superstition The other operation which they attribute hereunto is the scaring away of Diuels which certainely this water cannot doe vnlesse God doe impart such vertue vnto it And where I pray you hath God bound himselfe to giue such vertue to a creature by the blessing of a Priest I would haue you therefore to fly from holy Water as from an idle superstition so also take heed you beleeue not that blessings giuen by Pope Bishop or Priest whilest they make the signe of the Crosse ouer you in the aire can cancel your sinnes though but veniall which is likewise a superstition of the same kinde whereto I may adde the Agnus Dei and other such idle trinkets Well may yee collect out of that which I haue said and obserue how manifold great are the abuses of the Romane faction about Confession First they make a Sacrament where none is taking the word Sacrament in the proper and strict sense Secondly they allow an efficacie to authoritatiue absolution which is neither necessary nor hath any force at all Reconciliation being sufficient which in ancient times might bee performed euen by my Deacons but so as in my name Thirdly they make Auricular Confession necessary at least in mens desire of it when it cannot bee had for the remission of euery mortall sinne Yet haue I shewed you that it is left to your liberty thus to worke or no your owne security by first causing your selues to be bound by the keyes that afterwards you may bee let loose by the same And this retention or binding or discommuning ought not to bee vndertaken by me for petty sinnes but onely for those that are heynous and scandalous there beeing in my family so many other meanes for
from affoording to any of them a pretended title of greatnesse aboue the rest of his fellowes that when as they diuers times cast out words among themselues and disputed concerning Soueraigntie he alwayes checked them Luke 22.26 and would haue them to remaine as brethren and ioyntly to attend his seruice and mine and to keep themselues from affecting dominion either ouer me or among themselues And when he tooke his leaue of them at his departure vp into heauen they still dreaming on this idle fantasie and asking him whether he would then restore the Kingdome to Israel Actes 1.6 namely that hereby they might know which of them should bee exalted aboue the rest they had the repulse of him in this behalfe with intimation that they should attend and that ioyntly with equall charge and office no other thing then to be throughout the world witnesses vnto him of his resurrection Certes if euer there were a time for him to speake plaine and to declare that hee left in his roome his Lieutenant Peter or some other to bee their and mine Head then most of all it behooued when in regard of his bodily presence he gaue them his farewell and yet he then recommended me his Spouse to them all together ioyntly and equally that they might employ their attendance on me Hane sponsam suis amicis sponsus abiens commendauit Aug. cont 2. Gaud. epist lib. 2. cap. 12. Which is well obserued by my holy doctor S Augustine There was no reason for it nor decencie in it that I beeing his Spouse and an vniuersall Mother should bee domineered ouer and lorded by any one of mine owne members mine owne sonnes nay mine owne seruants As for my Peter certainly he neither exercised nor euer chalenged any such soueraignety ouer me or ouer his Collegues and fellowes neither did he pretend to be an vniuersall Pope or only Vicar-generall of Christ One of the first actions of employment about me after the ascent of my Spouse into heauen was the ordayning of Deacons which should take care of the widowes and poore And this action was neither performed nor gouerned by Saint Peter but by all the twelue Apostles ioyntly This being my perpetuall ordinance Actes 6.2 as I haue receiued it from my Spouse that my Ministers and Officers all together ioyntly should treat concerning the externall good guidance of my family So likewise when there were some to bee sent into Samaria Actes 8.14 to finish the good worke of their conuersion Saint Peter was so farre from taking vpon him to send whom hee pleased that hee himselfe was by the whole body of the Apostles chosen and sent thither as one of the many When the first controuersie brake out in Antioch concerning the obseruation of the ancient Iudaicall Ceremonies to whom did Paul and Barnabas thinke they ought to haue recourse for certaine resolution in that point Surely if Christ had left Saint Peter his Vicar they ought to haue addressed themselues to him principally yet did they say among themselues and resolue that it behooued them to goe vp to Ierusalem to consult about this question with the Apostles Actes 15.2 and Elders of that City Which accordingly was done and there was gathered a Councel and that summoned and ordered not by Peter alone but the Apostles of themselues ioyntly met together with the Elders also And howsoeuer Saint Peter as the most stept in age and the most ancient Apostle and much respected by the rest of the Apostles was the first that deliuered his opinion yet Saint Iames prosecuting the same did further adde of his owne did strike vp the matter And the publique letters dispatched in that behalfe were not stiled in the name of Saint Peter but of all the Apostles and Elders in common Neither was it a sleight checke or reproofe wherewith St. Paul openly tooke vp Saint Peter Galat. 2.11 for halting in the instruction of the faithfull which hee might doe beeing the Apostles were in their office and care of my affaires all of them equall and euen brothers among themselues And howsoeuer yee read in the Gospell that Christ said to Peter Thou art Peter Matth. 16.18 and vpon this rocke will I build my Church yet are ye not therefore to deeme that Peter had hereby committed vnto him any dominion or command ouer mee or that hee was entrusted with a larger cure then the rest of the Apostles For these words according to the interpretation of them communicated to me by the spirit of my Spouse and declared by my most sincere pure and holy Doctors import that that confession made by Saint Peter saying Thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God must bee that Rocke whereon was to bee grounded that faith which is indeed my foundation and supporter By this Rocke is also vnderstood he whom Peter confessed euen Christ who is my true foundation whereon and not on Peter I was built for if Peter had bene my foundation certes more then once should I haue fallen by his falls Matth. 26.70 But if any man will presse yet further Galat. 2.12 that Christ doth in these words promise that I should bee built vpon Peter let him vnderstand withall that to build my house is nothing else but to get and prouide petras stones and to reare them vp in my walles that is to say to preach the Gospell to conuert the vnbeleeuers and to bring them home to mee And forasmuch as Peter was to bee of all the twelue or rather by the default of Iudas eleuen Apostles the most feruent and most diligent in conuerting a many of soules therefore to him as to a principall Minister and Builder there was a prediction made of the worke which hee was to performe and that I was to be built vpon him namely that Christ had especiall confidence in his care for the building of my house as being more zealous then the other ten Apostles But it followeth not thence that hee was the onely builder or that hee was chosen for the onely Architect or Chiefe-builder for the other Apostles also were Masteres of this Art and laid to their hands for the rearing vp of my Fabrique and in speciall Saint Paul laboured more abundantly 1. Cor. 15.10 then they all and so surpassed euen Saint Peter himselfe in edifying me and hath acquit himselfe for a skifull Master-builder 1. Cor. 3.10 In like maner when ye heare it said to Saint Peter Matth. 16.19 I will giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt bind vpon earth shall bee bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose on earth shall bee loosed in heauen yee are to remember that the same was also spoken to all the rest of the Apostles So likewise though the keyes were promised to Peter Matth. 18.18 yet it was neuer said to him I will giue the keyes to thee onely And when this promise was performed
remission of venials yet alwayes supposing Repentance Fourthly they doe first absolue and afterwards impose the penance that is to say they loose him whom they neuer bound and then they bind him againe whom they neuer loose afterward And yet for my part I cannot loose but that onely which my selfe haue bound and my order is first to binde and then to loose which is the true vse of the keyes True it is that euery sinne doth presently before God binde euery sinner and of this binding Christ did not speake when he said Whatsoeuer yee shall loose in earth shall be loosed in heauen inasmuch as my loosing is a relatiue vnto my binding and therefore Christ there vnderstandeth not that bond whereby a sinner is bound before God but that bond which is knitte by me whatsoeuer saith hee yee shall binde and when a sinner doth binde himselfe before God by his sinne it is not I that binde him but hee bindeth himselfe by sinning Therefore I let loose nothing but that which my selfe haue bound and so the binding goeth before with imposing of penance and satisfaction and then in good order followeth loosing And he that is bound onely before God and not in respect of mee cannot be loosed by me because I neuer bound him but he must seeke his loosing of God and cary this businesse betweene God and him alone and then he knocketh at the right doore for Absolution Which if hee desire to haue at my hands let him first come to haue me binde him and subiect himselfe to my holsome censures and then in fitte time I may let him loose againe inasmuch as I haue bound him Thus and not otherwise standeth the case of Absolution by my keyes there beeing also a liberty left to euery grieuous offendor to vse or not to vse the benefit thereof beeing that euen without these keyes he may be assoyled from his sinnes alwayes excepting those offenders who being accused before mee though against their owne wills stand bound by mee And for such as these my Spouse committed the keyes to mee to binde and loose withall but he dothnot oblige any man to come to me that I may binde him and afterwards loose him there beeing other ordinary meanes of remission prouided for such namely Repentance onely those that either with or against their owne wills haue beene bound by mee are obliged by mee to wait their deliuerance at my hands without which my release except in case of necessity by vertue of Christ's owne words they shall neuer bee loosed in heauen And in this man̄er I exhort all of you my beloued children in grieuous sinnes alwaies to seeke to haue remission by my keyes subiecting your selues voluntarily to my binding but secretly that you may afterward obtaine at my hands Reconcilement whereupon infallibly followeth loosing in heauen Behold this Rocke of Confession and Absolution which are so corruptly and preposterously handled by the Romanists They load you with more bonds then you are liable vnto they beare you in hand with a Sacrament where indeede there is none they secure you with Absolution ex opere operato whereupon you putting such trust in the power of this Absolution especially in that it beareth the name to make you ex attritis contritos it maketh you cast away all care and luls you fast asleepe so that you looke not after true inward repentance without which it is not possible to haue true remission and you rely too-too much vpon this Absolution which is giuen you without first beeing exercised in penance And alas how many wretches be there among you that lead still a wicked life vpon presumption of the great force of Absolution saying thus to themselues When I shall be at the brinke of death I will confesse mee and receiue Absolution and so I shall stand on a sure ground But Saint Augustine saith to such as these Aug. lib. 50. hom 41. serm 47. de temp that indeede hee will not deny them reconciliation presently vpon their confession but he will not bee their warant that it will boot them at all because there doth not come betweene their Confession and reconcilement such penitence as is necessary And so in a most important businesse concerning your soules you my children that are blinde are lead by blinde guides and both of you fall into the gulfe and beat your ship against this infamous Rocke of Auarice for your Confessors excepting some few good ones ordinarily when as they see your almes prepared especially when it glisters rather yellow then white they presently absolue you when you are nothing fit for it or to intertaine the more pay they shuffle vp the businesse that they may runne ouer others and so they dispatch you without examining without sifting your consciences without due considering your estate as well or ill disposed for Absolution I passe ouer the abhominable abuses of making aduantage of Confession either to discouer the secrets of Princes States or to make way for inclinations to forraigne Princes or to fish for inheritances and legacies or to satisfie their owne wanton lusts I passe by the errors and grosse enormities whereby vpon pretence of the secrecie of the seale of Confession rebellions conspiracies king-killing and such like abhominations are couched cherished secured Iudge you therefore if this be not an horrible and dreadfull Rocke Let vs passe on to the rest ¶ The third Rocke with two blind Rockes abutting namely Purgatory together with Satisfaction and Indulgences THe distinction of fault and punishment in mens sinnes beeing an vpstart inuention yet some Ages since deuised by my stubborne vnruly daughter the Church of Rome for the feeding thereby her vnsatiable auarice this distinction I say hath layd the foundation of that harmefull Rocke of Purgatory inlarging it selfe with those two vnderlurking companions Satisfaction after absolution or Penance as they call it and Indulgences I for my part through many the purer ages haue alwayes published absolute and entire pardon and complete remission of sinnes for such I haue learned of my Spouse of whom it is long since testified in the Psalme that with him there is plenteous redemption Psalm 130.7 neither did I euer finde that hee in pardoning of sinnes and giuing Absolution from the fault did at any time change the eternal punishment into temporall or euer enioyned any punishment Luke 7.48 or satisfaction Behold the example of the sinfull woman Matth. 9.2 of the man sicke of the palsie consider the parable of the debtors I forgaue thee all thy debt Matth. 18.32 So also by Ezechiel that God when hee pardoneth a man his sinnes mentioneth them to him no more Ezech. 18.22 whereas if hee left their debt of punishment vnsatisfied certainely he should remember it vntill the said punishment were wholly performed And how can it bee said that a man doeth pardon his enemie if forbearing to take away his life hee should make reseruation vnto himselfe of some
my Spouse are thunderbolts and fierie darts in the hands of the Bishop of Rome as being the successor of Iupiter Capitolinus Behold the deceipts and cunning of this new Iupiter There was neuer any thunderbolt that strake or hurt any man vnlesse it were actually darted out but they put a vaine ridiculous scare-crow vpon you making you beleeue that they haue certaine close thunderbolts in a corner which of themselues fly abroad and smell out euen in the most secret closets those that doe or say any thing which may displease the Pope though neither the parties themselues bee knowne to him nor any hint giuen what they doe Alas what poore fooles are they that giue credit to this These my keyes which you see in my hands no doubt are mannageable by my Prelats and Ministers and haue power sometimes also to thunder out an Excommunication But you must know that I am to cary an hand in the guiding of such thunderbolts and if they be darted foorth contrary to my order prescribed me by my Spouse they are of no force at all and haue no other operation then to make a vaine rumbling to scare yong children withall Excommunication my beloued children is of diuers sorts in my family The first is when any of my children hauing committed some grieuous publique notorious crime whereby he hath scandalized all his brethren of that particular Church where he remaineth for the recalling him vnto true wholesome inward repentance by outward medecinall shame is not onely reproued by the Prelate in the publique Congregation when my children come together vnto spirituall exercises but also is expresly forbidden to receiue the sacred communion of the holy Eucharist and of the Lord's Supper and so is kept off for some time vntill he make satisfaction vnto God inwardly and to the Church outwardly by penitentiall workes imposed vpon him by the said Prelate A second sort of Excommunication is something more rigorous when as one of my children being a publique and notorious sinner is for one or more grieuous and scandalous faults not onely put backe from the holy Communion but also from all other meetings that is from all holy assemblies and is prohibited from entring into the Church with the rest of the faithfull brethren to whatsoeuer sacred exercise whether hearing of the word of God or receiuing the holy Sacraments or being present at the publick holy Seruice praiers and this restraint to endure for a time by way of wholsome medicinall penance that by this his cōfusion of face both he may conceiue griefe for his sinne committed and others may take example by him and be striken with an holy terror for the shunning of such sinnes Both the one and the other of these two Excommunications is taken away by publique Reconciliation when he hauing with due humiliation performed what was imposed on him and giuen the Church outward euidence of his true inward repentance is now readmitted both to the Church and to the holy Communion and both these may truely be called the lesser Excommunication The third and most terrible Excommunication which I haue learned out of the Gospel is when one of my children hauing bene giuen ouer in prey vnto grieuous publicke notorious and scandalous sinnes after he hath bene tried but all in vaine by the two precedent medicinall Excommunications being now incorrigible is wholy cut off from the number of the faithfull and vtterly cast off from being my child and seuered from my body that is from the body of Christ my Spouse and cut off as a dead and rotten member and consequently deliuered vp vnto Satan and held as if he were a Gentile and Publican depriued of all the blessings graces and heauenly riches which are to be found within my house This is the true and dreadfull thunderbolt which may most fitly bee called the greater Excommunication Thus you see that the two first Excommunications are rather outward then inward rather medicines then punishments hauing externall effects and not inwardly working vpon the soule otherwise then indirectly and by diuers deductions namely so farre as vpon the two first Excommunications the remission of the sin remaineth in a sort suspended etiam in coelo euen in heauen also vntill it be remitted him by me on earth according to the promise made vnto me by Christ my Spouse And only the third if it bee executed without any errour in the keyes hath its operation directly vpon the soule But all these three Excommunications then onely are Excommunications and then only haue their operation when they are made in special and actually sent forth and employed not before the fact done but when the crime is already in being Therefore obserue what a trifle that is which the Popes and their flatterers haue inuented in enacting one Excommunication à iure ipso facto and another ab homine that is to say that there is an actuall Excommunication which worketh actually and by the deede it selfe and not by way of threatning onely and that by vertue of the law before made and written it alwaies worketh of it selfe without comming to any speciall act of excommunicating the particular offender as often as he committeth such or such an offence before forbidden by the Law The other is that which without beeing made vniuersall by the lawes is from time to time darted out by the Prelate against a particular man by name for some fault committed by him This distinction is both false and manifestly deceitfull and it is that very deuise whereof I spake before namely to dreame of a thunderbolt which doth not onely affright a man but also beat him downe to the ground without beeing darted foorth and so there can bee no secret among Christians which by this meanes the Pope cannot pierce into Surely as for the two first Excommunications if they bee not sent forth from time to time against the parties by name no man will euer absteine from the Cōmunion or from spirituall conuersation in spirituall meetings for as for ciuill and humane commerce no Excommunication can hinder it In the third Excommunicatiō likewise it is certaine that no effect can follow vpon it vnlesse it bee actually but without errour thundered out Where was it euer seen that a Delinquent was bound to execute a penalty vpon himselfe True it is that euery man is bound to beare with patience his owne iust punishment but no man can bee bound to execute it on himselfe and to be his owne hangman How then is it possible that any of my children by vertue of a wandring vncertaine vniuersall Excommunication which is indifferent by the law should vpon an ipso facto be truely and actually excommunicated that is disseuered and cut off from my body vnlesse he himselfe being the onely man that knoweth himselfe to haue committed that fault shall of himselfe bee executioner of the punishment vpon himselfe For my part I haue no spirituall power to chastise secret sinnes no nor
sinnes in any sauing Christ alone and in his merits Rom. 3.24 for hee freely iustifieth you without any merit of yours True it is and therefore take heede of the other extreame that no man can present himselfe to God nor rely vpon Christ's merits that goeth on in a wicked resolution to continue still in sin against his conscience And therefore I told you that you must addresse your selues vnto Christ to obtaine this remission but with faith that is with a true and liuely faith Iam. 2.17 not with that faith which without workes is dead but with such a faith in the mind which is accompanied with holy affections and that is to beleeue in Christ to bee subiect vnto him to obey him with detestation of faults committed and intending of a new life and yeelding vp a man's selfe to the keeping of God's holy Commandements And whosoeuer doth not this in vaine shall hee rely vpon Christ and his merits neither shall he euer obtaine remission of his sinnes This rysing vp from sinne and submitting to the obseruance of God's Commandements as farre as humane frailty will afford is not in you any merit whereto remission should bee repayed as due but it is a necessary disposition and taketh away the impediments that otherwise would hinder remission of sinnes And herein consisteth Penitence being both the inwards of true repentance which is the most principall disposition requisite for remission and the outside also of penitentiall workes as fasting almes mortifying the flesh and other workes of piety which are indeede no merits nor causes of forgiuenesse but fruits of inward true repentance and a fit appurtenance vnto the inward good disposition and vnto due humiliation These dispositions being forelaid as necessary required by God let a man hold himselfe to his faith and confidence in Christ and by his mercy hee shall without faile obtaine remission and the whole conueyance betweene God and a sinner is carried in this man̄er by the meanes of Christ mine and your onely Mediatour without any necessity at all of any other Confession made vnto man due Confession made vnto God beeing of it selfe sufficient whereby a sinner beeing humbled doth not any more defend his sinnes but confesseth to God Chrys in ep ad Heb. hom 31. that he hath sinned I doe not aduise thee saith Saint Chrysostome to lay thy selfe open nor to accuse thy selfe to others Psalm 57. but to obey the Prophet who sayeth Reueale thy way vnto the Lord. Confesse thy sinnes before God declare thy offences before the Iudge though not with thy tongue yet with thy memory and then hope that thou shalt obtaine mercy So saith that worthy holy Father I doe not know that I euer intertayned in my house any such Sacrament appointed mee by my Spouse as a true and proper Sacrament whereby hee hath obliged himselfe to giue remission of sinnes after Baptisme I beleeue indeed that whosoeuer groaning vnder the load of sinne shall with true inward pentience and reall repentance approach vnto the holy table and receiue the Communion with due preparation shall receiue remission of his sins For although this Sacrament was principally instituted by Christ and committed to mee for the spirituall feeding of the soule and for the preseruing of charity among my children yet in that it is also a remembrance of the Passion of Christ it auayleth much for the remission of sinnes for the obtayning whereof Christ's body was sacrificed vpon the Crosse his most pretious blood shed and therefore in his first giuing the Communion to his Apostles hee said vnto them Luc. 22.19 Math. 26.28 that that was his body which was giuen for them and his blood shed for the remission of sinnes You must vnderstand also that Auricular Confession and Priestly Absolution which are the ground of this Rocke now set before your view is neither practised aright nor well vnderstood by those that follow the Romane doctrine who hereupon haue built a shop of money-mart and gaine Recall I pray you to your remembrance that which I obserued before in the fourth Rocke of the first part concerning the two first medicinall Excommunications and you shall finde that my ancient custome prescribed vnto mee by my Spouse and practised by my holy and learned Ministers of at least foure of the first Ages was publickly to correct grieuous and scandalous offendors and according to the authority committed to me by Christ to binde them in their sins and afterwards to loose them againe and in this man̄er to imploy the keyes about the remitting of sinnes namely to debarre such offenders for some while from the holy Table sometime also from all other Congregations and meetings of the faithfull for spirituall exercises as heynous delinquents drowned in their sinnes and vnworthy of such participation vnlesse they should first recall themselues vnto due inward penitence and giue also outward satisfaction vnto mee by penitentiall workes enioyned them by me and my Ministers when they thus had by scandalous sins disgraced mee and not yet made mee any due satisfaction And yet in due time according to the pious discretion of my Ministers such as these were loosed and reconciled and were anew admitted to the holy meetings with others and to the Communion of the Lord's Supper This was a course taken to very good purpose and at length did work great setlednesse and comfort in the consciences of such offenders though perhaps it did goe downe with some bitternesse and shame For such a sinner being in this man̄er bound by me vpon earth was infallibly also bound in heauen nor could obtaine remission at God's hands though hee were neuer so well disposed by penitence and inward contrition betweene God and him for that promise made by Christ is most certaine and cannot faile Matth. 18.18 that he would bind in heauen all those whom I had without error bound vpon earth Iohn 20.23 and that he would withhold and suspend all remission from those sinners whose sinnes I had withheld namely by the aforesaid retention or excommunication or solemne penance and as soone as such a sinner thus first bound by me was afterward reconciled and remaunded to the Church and restored to religious commerce and to the participation of the holy Sacrament he did without faile obteine remission of Christ himselfe by vertue of his aforesaid promise that he would release and forgiue the sinne assoone as I had loosed the person and released the sinne by this externall remission and so the internal remission afforded by Christ in such a case dependeth vpon the externall remission giuen by me which truely was a way of dealing on a very sure hand And moreouer many grieuous and also secret offenders nay perhaps all the sort of them in regard of the suretie of this course came to their Bishop or to some other deputed by him who was afterward called the Penitentiary or Confessor and some openly with a lowd and audible voyce
would giue you a full pardon both of fault and punishment for you deeme their Absolutiō to bee sufficient for you and that it doth without faile make riddance of your fault and as for the backe-reckoning of punishment ye cheere vp your selues that a little tast of Purgatory shall make you free-men and so it falls out that you passe to another life perhaps which God forefend with your whole load both of fault and also of obligation vnto eternall punishment But when you know there is no Purgatory at all you will for the scaping of hell looke better to your tacklings and you will not then say as I heare many among you now speake I will not performe the penance that is inioyned me I am content rather to make it vp afterward in Purgatory And your instructers teach you that you may lawfully say and doe thus The other hidden Rocke that groweth to this Rocke of Purgatory are Indulgences It is a shamelesse boldnesse to say that Christ indeede hath fully satisfied for all the punishments due to euery sinner which addresseth himselfe vnto him but yet that the applying of Christ's merits goes in this man̄er the Confessor when he absolueth thee applieth the merits of Christ vnto thee onely in respect of the fault and the eternall punishment but as for temporall punishment that lies still at thy doore and that therefore in respect of this punishment it is in the Popes power to apply the said merits of Christ for the remitting the said punishment in part or in whole as he shall thinke good But I say if the Confessor absolue by the power of the keyes who hath restrayned him in this Absolutiō to the fault not to the entire punishment who hath halfed out vnto him the power of the keyes that by them hee should apply the merits of Christ for the taking away onely of the fault and of the eternall punishment but not of the temporall Surely the keyes containe entire remission who then thus hath minced it out And if the Confessor can impose such satisfaction whereby all kind of punishment may beecancelled and certainely as the Papists teach this satisfaction worketh by the power of the keyes being Sacramentall then his power extendeth also to the whole punishment and by absoluing and by Absolution applying Christ's Satisfactions vnto the penitent hee doth apply them with all the power and vertue which is either in Christ's merits or in the keyes or in the Minister himselfe that worketh by them there is therefore no kind of punishment which he hath not remitted and what then remaines behinde for Indulgences to worke vpon I say nothing of the merits of the Saints Supererogation which they shuffle into this Treasure among Christ's merits with as great falsehood as wrong and iniury done to Christ himselfe The falsehood lies in this for that the workes of any Saints whatsoeuer both as they are maritorious if they may bee called meritorious at all and also as satisfactory are wholly pay'd for the Saints owne debt nor is there any ouerplus left for others in case they were sufficient for the Saint himselfe as I shall afterward declare To Christ himselfe great wrong is done as if a man should poure a drop of water into the Sea and should say that this drop carries euery ship to the hauen but especially he is wronged in that onely he and none else beeing appointed of God the Mediator both for faults and punishments of the world and all men in it it must needes bee an odious blasphemy to say that the merits of Saints doe serue for the taking away of the punishments of sinnes for the cancelling whereof God accepteth nothing else but the blood of his onely-begotten Sonne as also hee hath sent none other nor chosen any other for that office then this his only Sonne neither is any other money currant in Gods Treasury for our complete redemption either from fault or from punishment then the treasure of the blood merits of Christ stamped with the image of Christ himselfe all other money vsed for this purchase is false coine and is reiected by the mint-master of heauen But besides this how is the Pope inabled to apply the treasure of Christ's merits who hath made him Master of it who hath put into his hands onely the keyes of it I haue heard that the principall key which leads to this treasure lieth open in publicke to be vsed by euery one that will take it and that the hand by which euery one may take it is true and liuely faith nor is there any neede to aske this key of the Pope or of any other man it lying open to all nor to beg of any man the fauour to bee made partaker of this treasure which Christ hath made common without giuing the custody thereof to any man in the world I haue indeede a particular key committed vnto mee by him but without any preiudice to the common key which lyeth open to all and this is that key by which I binde and loose and this is equally in the hands of euery of my Ministers and specially of my Bishops and this key doth after a sort apply vnto the penitent that treasure namely the merits of Christ according to the promise of Christ himselfe who whensoeuer he remits the fault remitteth also all kinde of punishment neither is it in my power or in the power of any that vseth this key of mine to separate the punishment or any part thereof from the fault for the money of this treasure payes all in the totall and that is the currant rate of it It is therefore open tyrannie in the Pope to incroach this key into his owne hands onely and to impart it to whomsoeuer he please and in what degree hee thinkes good whereas this key was giuen to me and I haue committed it to the handes of all and euery my Ministers equally without distinction And if there were any true Indulgences to bee had it were a great folly in you to seeke them of the Pope when as your owne Bishops can aswell graunt them as the Pope himselfe and this is not denied by the doctors of his owne side namely those that yeeld that Bishops haue all their authoritie power and Episcopall Iurisdiction from God and not from the Pope To comprise this briefly There are onely three Keyes which keepe the treasury of my house The one is common to all my children lying open to euery man as I said and not committed specially to the hands of any the other two are in the hands of my Officers and of euery of them for by them onely are they to be imployed but to the benefit of all the faithfull One is of the holy Sacraments namely of Baptisme and the Eucharist the other is for binding and loosing as I haue declared And whosoeuer brags that he hath another key besides these as the Pope vaunteth that he hath the key of Indulgences hee both is deceiued
himselfe and deceiueth others For we haue in the Scriptures expresse Patent for those three sorts of Keyes but of that fourth no graunt appeares but forgery and vsurpation and if it be one of these three it cannot haue any proper and distinct name nor different effect neither can it be appropriated to any more then they neither can it be vsed otherwise then in remitting the whole punishment together with the fault and so it will not bee diuers from them There hath bene indeed in my house and still may be the vse of certaine Indulgences but without imploying any Treasure in them from whence those false Indulgences haue occasionally taken their beginning and not from Apostolique tradition as is pretended and this was when as some Penitent being bound by me in man̄er aforesaid with iniunction of penance for some prefixed and determinate time wherein the Penitent was to giue euidence of his repentance and to bee taken downe to a fit degree of humiliation which course of time for performance of penance was now and then the space of seuen whole yeeres together yet vpon the good behauiour of the partie and out of my owne compassion and mercy towards him as also by the instance and prayers of my children I was wont to shorten this time and to moderate these penalties and so to graunt him reconciliation sooner as S. Paul did to the incestious Corinthian 2. Cor. 2.10 And this was my Indulgence which as you see hath nothing to doe with the punishment of sinnes nor with Purgatory For these workes of Penance inioyned the Penitent before his Absolution were not punishments otherwise due vnto the sinne by God's iustice but meere signes of repentance and of necessary humiliation the true punishments of sinne being cancelled by his Reconcilement and consequently by the applying of Christ's treasure in such sort as I haue declared and not by abreuiating the time of precedent trials and humiliations So here ye see the blind-Rocke of those Indulgences that now-adayes are vsed A Rocke whereat many doe suffer shipwracke The maine mischiefe of it is that it taketh away cleane out of the world and disanulleth true Christian repentance and so robbeth many a soule of the true remission of their sinnes I will demonstrate this to you A sinner heauieloaden with heinous crimes putting his confidence in the great vertue of Sacramental Absolution which ex opere operato by the deed done must remit sinnes and make ex attrito contritum of a brused heart a broken heart hereupon doeth not hate his sinne nor abhorre it and so he doth not rise vp from sinne but he goes to finde one of these triuiall Confessors with a brace of sixpences in his hand and for more or lesse vpon the bargaine without any troublesome examination he gets Absolution and now he holds himselfe secured from his sinnes in respect of the guilt and of eternall punishment And as for the temporall punishment there are imposed vpon him so many fasts so many Masses such a quantitie of Almes which he accepts but with intent to performe neuer a whit of them He is content to leaue them on the score for Purgatory and yet he hath a tricke to escape that paiment too he will gape after a planary Iubily or rather he will take a gainer way hee hath in his Bead-row or Rosary certaine beads crosses and medals which haue bene all to be-blest by the most holy Father and these containe in them Indulgentiam plenariam a full Indulgence ouer and ouer and so with chewing ouer threescore and three Auemaries and seuen Paternosters he hath rid himselfe of all this troublesome matter and thus without Penance without Satisfaction and without Purgatory hee is more then certaine of Paradise And when these diuelish inuentions were first in vre Indulgences à culpâ paenâ aswell from all fault as punishment were granted euen without Confession and without Absolution to all that would put to their helping hand so that it had money in it But now-adaies gran-mercy Luther the Pardon-mongers are somewhat more moderate though not reformed For they doe not now trucke for the fault but for the punishment onely Where you may note at least the goodly beginning of these Indulgences with marting the remission of sinnes at What will you giue And yet notwithstanding for the gaine that commeth of them they are defended and extolled by the Papists as likewise the Stations to such and such Churches the visiting of such an Altar or such Reliques with so much adoe in iangling the Bells for many dayes afore and setting vp titles and banners in the chiefe corners and eminent places of the Citie with vehement vrging these things in the pulpit Such doings as these whither else do they tend but to rob you my simple children of your money But such Stations as these and Indulgences lest they should passe without income to the Pope they are not granted but in his Court of Chancery in forme of Bulls and this is a very good meanes for the ingrossing vp of money at Rome To preuent murmures of the people there was a new deuise brought into Rome for the speeding of Indulgences per Breue gratis by Breues without fees but now-adayes againe he that will haue any of these gainefull Indulgences must goe the olde way by the Chancery and by Bulls as for Breues they are rarely graunted and they also now not altogether gratis But it is an excellent tricke of thrift the Pope hath gotten vp both in leuying forces and Souldiers in forreine Estates for his owne enterprises as also in giuing of presents which as a temporall Prince he is to bestow on other Princes and on their Embassadors he to saue his owne purse puts his hand into the endlesse treasure of Indulgences and loads them with whole bags full of blessed beads medailes and croslets of copper paltry pictures printed on paper with a catalogue of Indulgēces belonging to them whereof more accompt is made by the Pope's gentle customers then of so many Spanish Doublons Such trinkets as these together with the tricke of a plenary Indulgence and of opening the gate of Paradise fly abroad vpon euery designe of the Popes And yet all this while this treasure shrinketh not but it bulkes vp euery day by the canonizing of new Saincts and with their merits and works of supererogation O wofull blindnesse of men which take no knowledge of such abuses and deceits The Pope not content with the Keyes of heauen and earth will needs haue his keyes reach vnder the earth also and exerciseth his omnipotence vpon the soules which are in the center of the earth stretching forth his Indulgences vnto the imagined Purgatory per modum suffragij by way of suffrage but so that they may haue their certaine effect without faile as much as concerneth his authoritie if the indisposition of the soules themselues doe not hinder it and all this for the whetting on of simple men especially