Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	death_n	sin_n	sin_v	6,726	5	9.1768	5	false

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

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