But howsoever this wee are sure of that the Canonists afterward held no absolute necessitie of obedience to be required therein as unto a Sacramentall institution ordayned by Christ for obtayning remission of sinnes but a Canonicall obedience onely as unto an usefull constitution of the Church And therefore where Gratian in his first distinction de Poenitentiâ had in the 34. chapter and the three next following propounded the allegations which made for them who held that men might obtaine pardon for their sinnes without anie orall confession of them and then proceeded to the authorities which might seeme to make for the contrarie opinion Iohannes Semeca at the beginning of that part upon those words of Gratian Alij é contrario tesâ—antur putteth too this Glosse From this place untill the section His auctoritatib he alledgeth for the other part that sinne is not forgiven unto such as are of yeares without confession of the mouth which yet is false saith he But this free dealing of his did so displease Friar Manrique who by the command of Pius Quintus set out a censure upon the Glosses of the Canon law that hee gave direction these words which yet is false should be cleane blotted out which direction of his notwithstanding the Romane Correctors under Gregory the XIII did not follow but letting the words still stand give them a check only with this marginall annotation Nay it is most true that without confession in desire at least the sinne is not forgiven In like maner where the same Semeca holdeth it to be the better opinion that Confession was ordayned by a certaine tradition of the universall Church rather then by the authoritie of the new or old Testament and inferreth thereupon that it is necessarie among the Latins but not among the Greekes because that tradition did not spread to them Friar Manrique commandeth all that passage to be blotted out but the Romane Correctors clap this note upon the margent for an antidote Nay confession was ordayned by our Lord and by Gods Law is necessary to all that fall into mortall sinne after Baptisme as well Greekes as Latins and for this they quote onely the 14. Session of the Councell of Trent where that opinion is accursed in us which was held two or three hundred yeares ago by the men of their owne religion among whom Michael of Bononia who was Prior general of the order of the Carmelites in the dayes of Pope Vrban the sixth doth conclude strongly out of their owne received grounds that confession is not necessary for the obtayning of the pardon of our sinne and Panormitan the great Canonist professeth that the opinion of Semeca doth much please him which referreth the originall of Confession to a generall tradition of the Church because saith he there is not anie cleare authority which sheweth that God or Christ did clearely ordayne that Confession should be made unto a Priest Yea all the Canonists following their first Interpreter say that Confession was brought in onely by the law of the Church and not by anie divine precept if we will beleeve Maldonat who addeth notwithstanding that this opinion is eyther alreadie sufficiently declared by the Church to be heresie or that the Church should doe well if it did declare it to be heresie And we finde indeed that in the yeare of our Lord 1479. which was 34. yeares after the death of Panormitan by a speciall commission directed from Pope Sixtus the fourth unto Alfonsus Carillus Archbishop of Toledo one Petrus Oxomensis professor of Divinitie in the Vniversitie of Salamanca was driven to abjure this conclusion which hee had before delivered as agreeable to the common opinion of the Doctors that confession of sinnes in particular vvas grounded upon some statute of the universall Church and not upon divine right and when learned men for all this would not take warning but would needs be medling againe with that which the Popish Clergie could not indure should be touched as Iohannes de Selva among others in the end of his treatise de Iurejurando Erasmus in diverse of his workes and Beatus Rhenanus in his argument upon Tertullians booke de Poenitentiâ the fathers of Trent within 72. yeares after that conspired together to stop all mens mouthes with an anathema that should denie sacramentall confession to be of divine institution or to be necessarie unto salvation And so we are come to an end of that point OF THE PRIESTS POVVER TO FORGIVE SINNES FRom Confession we are now to proceed unto Absolution which it were pitie this man should receive before he made confession of the open wrong he hath here done in charging us to denie that Priests have power to forgive sinnes whereas the verie formall words which our Church requireth to be used in the ordination of a Minister are these Whose sinnes thou doest forgive they are forgiven and vvhose sinnes thou doest retaine they are retained And therefore if this be all the matter the Fathers and we shal agree well enough howsoever this make-bate would faine put friends together by the eares where there is no occasion at all of quarrell For wee acknowledge most willingly that the principall part of the Priests ministerie is exercised in the matter of forgivenesse of sinnes the question only is of the maner how this part of their function is executed by them and of the bounds and limits thereof which the Pope and his Clergie for their owne advantage have inlarged beyond all measure of truth and reason That wee may therefore give unto the Priest the things that are the Priests and to God the things that are Gods not coÌ„municate unto any creature the power that properly belongeth to the Creator who will not give his glory unto another we must in the first place lay this downe for a sure ground that to forgive sinnes properly directly and absolutely is a priviledge onely appertayning unto the most High I saith he of himselfe even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake and will not remember thy sinnes Esai 43.25 Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquitie saith the Prophet Micah 7.18 which in effect is the same with that of the Scribes Mark 2.7 and Luk. 5.21 Who can forgive sinnes but God alone And therefore when David saith unto God Thou forgavest the iniquitie of my sinne Psalm 32.5 Gregory surnamed the great the first Bishop of Rome of that name thought this to be a sound paraphrase of his words Thou vvho alone sparest who alone forgivest sinnes For who can forgive sinnes but God alone Hee did not imagine that he had committed anie great error in subscribing thus simply unto that sentence of the Scribes and little dreamed that anie petie Doctors afterwards would arise in Rome or Rhemes who would tell us a faire tale that the faithlesse Iewes thought as Hereticks now adayes that to forgive
in them of the first 400 years In what Pope his dayes was the true Religion overthrowne in Rome Next I would faine know How can your Religion be true which dissalloweth of many chiefe articles which the Saints and Fathers of that primitive Church of Rome did generally hold to be true For they of your side that have read the Fathers of that unspotted Church can well testifie and if any deny it it shall be presently shewen that the Doctors Pastors and Fathers of that Church doe allow of Traditions that they acknowledge the real presence of the body of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar that they exhorted the people to confesse their sinnes unto their ghostly Fathers that they affirmed that Priests have power to forgive sinnes that they taught that there is a Purgatory that prayer for the dead is both commendable and godly that there is Limbus Patrum and that our Saviour descended into Hell to deliver the ancient Fathers of the Old Testament because before his Passion none ever entred into Heaven that prayer to Saints and use of holy Images was of great account amongst them that man hath free-will and that for his meritorious works he receiveth through the assistance of Gods grace the blisse of euerlasting happinesse Now would I faine know whether of both haue the true Religion they that hold all these above said points with the Primitive Church or they that doe most vehemently contradict and gaine-say them They that doe not disagree with that holy Church in any point of Religion or they that agree with it but in very few and disagree in almost all VVill you say that these Fathers maintained these opinions contrary to the word of God why you know that they were the pillars of Christianitie the champions of Christ his Church and of the true Catholike Religion which they most learnedly defended against diverse heresies and therefore spent all their time in a most serious studie of the holy Scripture Or will you say that although they knew the Scriptures to repugne yet they brought in the aforesaid opinions by malice and corrupt intentions VVhy your selves cannot deny but that they lived most holy and vertuous lives free from all malitious corrupting or perverting of Gods holy word and by their holy lives are now made worthy to raigne with God in his glory In so much as their admirable learning may sufficiently crosse out all suspition of ignorant error and their innocent sanctitie freeeth us from all mistrust of malitious corruption Now would I willingly see what reasonable answer may be made to this For the Protestants graunt that the Church of Rome for 400 or 500 yeares held the true Religion of Christ yet do they exclaime against the abovesaid Articles which the same Church did maintaine and uphold as may bee shewen by the expresse testimonies of the Fathers of the same Church and shall be largely laid down if any learned Protestant will deny it Yea which is more for the confirmation of all the aboue mentioned points of our Religion wee will produce good and certaine grounds out of the sacred Scriptures if the Fathers authority will not suffice And we do desire any Protestant to alleage any one Text out of the said Scripture which condemneth any of the aboue written points which wee hold for certaine they shall never be able to doe For indeed they are neyther more learned more pious nor more holy then the blessed Doctors and Martyrs of that first Church of Rome which they allow and esteeme of so much and by which we most willingly will be tryed in any point which is in controversie betwixt the Protestants and the Catholicks VVhich wee desire may be done with christian charity and sincerity to the glory of God and instruction of them that are astray W. B. AN ANSVVER TO THE FORMER CHALLENGE TO uphold the Religion which at this day is maintained in the Church of Rome and to discredit the truth which we professe three things are here urged by one who hath vndertaken to make good the Papists cause against all gainesayers The first concerneth the originall of the errors wherwith that part standeth charged the Author and time whereof he requireth us to shew The other two respect the testimonie both of the Primitive Church of the sacred Scriptures which in the points wherein we varie if this man may be believed maketh wholly for them and against us First then would he faine know what Bishop of Rome did first alter that Religion which wee commend in them of the first 400 yeares In what Popes dayes was the true Religion overthrowne in Rome To which I answere First that wee doe not hold that Rome was built in a day or that the great dung-hill of errors which now wee see in it was raised in an age and therefore it is a vaine demand to require from us the name of anie one Bishop of Rome by whom or under whom this Babylonish confusion was brought in Secondly that a great difference is to be put betwixt Heresies which openly oppose the foundations of our Faith and that Apostasie which the Spirit hath evidently foretold should bee brought in by such as speake lyes in hypocrisie 1. Tim. 4.1 2. The impietie of the one is so notorious that at the verie first appearance it is manifestly discerned the other is a mysterie of iniquitie as the Apostle termeth it 2. Thes. 2.7 iniquitas sed mystica id est pietatis nomine palliata so the ordinarie Glosse expoundeth the place an iniquitie indeed but mysticall that is cloked vvith the name of pietie And therefore they who kept continuall watch and ward against the one might sleepe while the seeds of the other were a sowing yea peradventure might at unawares themselves have some hand in bringing in of this Trojan horse commended thus unto them under the name of Religion and semblance of devotion Thirdly that the originall of errors is oftentimes so obscure and their breede so base that howsoever it might be easily observed by such as lived in the same age yet no wise man will mervaile if in tract of time the beginnings of manie of them should be forgotten and no register of the time of their birth found extant Wee reade that the Sadducees taught there were no Angels is any man able to declare unto us under what high Priest they first broached this error The Grecians Circassians Georgians Syrians Egyptians Habassines Muscovites and Russians dissent at this day from the Church of Rome in many particulars will you take upon you to shew in what Bishops dayes these severall differences did first arise When the point hath been well skanned it will be found that many errors have crept into their profession the time of the entrance whereof you are not able to designe and some things also are maintained by you against them which have not been delivered for Catholick doctrine in the primitive times but brought in afterwards your selves
there where Satan had his throne who privately employed both their tongues and their penns in defence of the truth as out of Zacharias Chrysopolitanus Rupertus Tuitiensis and others I have elsewhere shewed Vntill at length in the yeare 1215. Pope Innocent the third in the Councell of Lateran published it to the Church for an oracle that the body and blood of Iesus Christ are truely contayned under the formes â—f bread and wine the bread being transsubstantiated into the bodie and the wine into the blood by the power of God And so are wee now come to the end of this controversie the originall and progresse whereof I have prosecuted the more at large because it is of greatest importance the verie life of the Masse and all massing Priests depending thereupon But this prolixitie shall be some wayes recompensed by the briefer handling of the points following the next whereof is that OF CONFESSION OVr Challenger here telleth us that the Doctors Pastors and Fathers of the primitive Church exhorted the people to confesse their sinnes unto their ghostly fathers And wee tell him againe that by the publike order prescribed in our Church before the administration of the holy Communion the Minister likewise doth exhort the people that if there be any of them which cannot quiet his owne conscience but requireth further comfort or counsell he should come to him or some other discreet and learned Minister of Gods word and open his griefe that he may receive such ghostly counsell advice and comfort as his conscience may be relieved and that by the ministery of Gods word hee may receive comfort and the benefite of absolution to the quieting of his conscience and avoyding of all scruple and doubtfulnesse Whereby it appeareth that the exhorting of the people to confesse their sinnes unto their ghostly fathers maketh no such wall of separation betwixt the ancient Doctors and us but we may well for all this be of the same religion that they were of and consequently that this doughtie Champion hath more will then skill to manage controversies who could make no wiser choyce of pointes of differences to bee insisted upon Be it therefore knowne unto him that no kinde of Confession either publick or private is disallowed by us that is anie way requisite for the due execution of that ancient power of the Keyes which Christ bestowed upon his Church the thing which wee reject is that new pick-lock of Sacramentall Confession obtruded upon mens consciences as a matter necessarie to salvation by the Canons of the late Conventicle of Trent where those good Fathers put their curse upon everie one that either shall deny that Sacramentall confession was ordayned by divine right and is by the same right necessary to salvation or shall affirme that in the Sacrament of Penance it is not by the ordinance of God necessarie for the obtayning of the remission of sinnes to confesse all and every one of those mortall sinnes the memory wherof by due and diligent premeditation may be had even such as are hidden and be against the two last Commandements of the Decalogue together with the circumstances which change the kinde of the sinne but that this confession is only profitable to instruct and comfort the penitent and was anciently observed onely for the imposing of Canonicall satisfaction This doctrine I say wee cannot but reject as being repugnant to that which wee have learned both from the Scriptures and from the Fathers For in the Scriptures wee finde that the confession which the penitent sinner maketh to God alone hath the promise of forgivenesse annexed unto it which no Priest upon earth hath power to make voyde upon pretence that himselfe or some of his fellowes were not first particularly acquainted with the businesse I acknowledged my sinne unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid I said I will confesse my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquitie of my sinne And lest we should thinke that this was some peculiar priviledge vouchsafed to the man who was raised upon high the Anointed of the God of Iacob the same sweet Psalmist of Israel doth presently enlarge his note and inferreth this generall conclusion thereupon For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found King Salomon in his prayer for the people at the dedication of the Temple treadeth just in his Fathers stepps If they turne saith hee and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity saying Wee have sinned we have done amisse and have dealt wickedly if they returne to thee with all their heart and with all their soule c. forgive thy people which have sinned against thee all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee And the poore Publican putting up his supplication in the Temple accordingly God bee mercifull to me a sinner went back to his house justified without making confession to anie other ghostly Father but onely the Father of Spirits of whom S. Iohn giveth us this assurance that if wee confesse our sinnes he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sinnes and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse Which promise that it appertained to such as did confesse their sinnes unto God the ancient Fathers were so well assured of that they cast in a maner all upon this Confession and left little or nothing to that which was made unto man Nay they doe not onely leave it free for men to confesse or not confesse their sinnes unto others which is the most that we would have but some of them also seeme in words at least to advise men not to doe it at all which is more then we seeke for S. Chrysostome of all others is most copious in this argument some of whose passages to this purpose I will here lay downe It is not necessary saith he that thou shouldest confesse in the presence of witnesses let the inquiry of thy offences bee made in thy thought let this judgement be without a witnesse let God onely see thee confessing Therefore I intreat and beseech and pray you that you would continually make your confession to God For I doe not bring thee into the theater of thy fellow servants neyther doe I constraine thee to discover thy sinnes unto men unclaspe thy conscience before God and shew thy wounds unto him and of him aske a medicine Shew them to him that will not reproach but heale thee For although thou hold thy peace he knoweth all Let us not call our selves sinners onely but let us recount our sinnes and repeate every one of them in speciall I doe not say unto thee Bring thy selfe upon the stage nor Accuse thy selfe unto others but I counsaile thee to obey the Prophet saying Reveale thy way unto the Lord. Confesse them before God confesse thy sinnes before the Iudge praying if not with thy tongue yet at least with thy memory and
of the Greek Church I finde the absolution expressed in the third person as attributed wholly to God and not in the first as if it came from the Priest himselfe One ancient forme of Absolution used among the Latins was this Almighty God be mercifull unto thee and forgive thee all thy sinnes past present and to come visible and invisible which thou hast committed before him and his Saints which thou hast confessed or by some negligence or forgetfulnesse or evill vvill hast concealed God deliver thee from all evill here and hereafter preserve and confirme thee alwayes in everie good worke and Christ the sonne of the living God bring thee unto the life which remayneth without end And so among the Grecians whatsoever sinnes the penitent for forgetfulnes or shamefastnesse doth leave unconfessed we pray the mercifull and most pitifull God that those also may be pardoned unto him and we are perswaded that hee shall receive pardon of them from God saith Ieremy the late Patriarch of Constantinople Where by the way you may observe no such necessitie to be here held of confessing everie knowne sinne unto a Priest that if either for shame or for some other respect the penitent doe not make an intire confession but conceale somewhat from the notice of his ghostly father his confession should thereby be made voyde and hee excluded from all hope of forgivenesse which is that engine whereby the Priests of Rome have lift up themselves into that height of domineering and tyrannizing over mens conscience wherewith we see they now hold the poore people in most miserable awe Alexander of Hales and Bonaventure in the forme of absolution used in their time observe that prayer was premised in the optative and absolution adjoyned afterward in the indicative mood whence they gather that the Priests prayer obtayneth grace his absolution presupposeth it that by the former he ascendeth unto God and procureth pardon for the fault by the later he descendeth to the sinner and reconcileth him to the Church for although a man be loosed before God saith the Master of the Sentences yet is he not held loosed in the face of the Church but by the judgement of the Priest And this loosing of men by the judgement of the Priest is by the Fathers generally accounted nothing else but a restoring of them to the peace of the Church and an admitting of them to the Lords table againe which therefore they usually expresse by the termes of bringing them to the communion reconciling them to or with the communion restoring the communion to them admitting them to fellowship granting them peace c. Neyther doe we finde that they did ever use anie such formall absolution as this I absolve thee from all thy sinnes wherein our Popish Priests notwithstanding doe place the verie forme of their late devised sacrament of Penance nay hold it to be so absolute a forme that according to Thomas Aquinas his new divinitie it would not be sufficient to say Almightie God have mercie upon thee or God grant unto thee absolution and forgivenesse because forsooth the Priest by these vvords doth not signifie that the absolution is done but intreateth that it may be done which how it will accord with the Romane Pontificall where the forme of Absolution is layd downe prayer-wise the Iesuites who follow Thomas may doe well to consider I passe this over that in the dayes not onely of S. Cyprian but of Alcuinus also who lived 800. yeares after Christ the reconciliation of Penitents was not held to be such a proper office of the Priest but that a Deacon in his absence was allowed to performe the same The ordinarie course that was held herein according to the forme of the ancient Canons is thus layde down by the fathers of the third Councell of Toledo that the Priest should first suspend him that repented of his fault from the communion and make him to have often recourse unto imposition of hands among the rest of the penitents then when hee had fulfilled the time of his satisfaction as the consideration of the Priest did approve of it he should restore him to the communion And this was a Constitution of old fathered upon the Apostles that Bishops should separate those vvho said they repented of their sinnes for a time determined according to the proportion of their sinne and afterward receive them being penitent as fathers would do their children To this Penitential excommunication and absolution belongeth that saying eyther of S. Ambrose or S. Augustin for the same discourse is attributed to them both Hee who hath truely performed his repentance and is loosed from that bond wherewith he was tyed and separated from the body of Christ and doth live well after his repentance whensoever after his reconciliation he shall depart this life he goeth to the Lord he goeth to rest he shall not be deprived of the kingdome of God and from the people of the Divell he shall be separated and that which we reade in Anastasius Sinaita Binde him and till thou hast appeased God doe not let him loose that he be not more bound with the wrath of God for if thou bindest him not there remaine bonds for him that cannot be broken Neither doe we enquire whither the wound were often bound but whither the binding hath profited If it have profited although in a short time use it no longer Let the measure of the loosing be the profit of him that is bound and that exhortation which another maketh unto the Pastors of the Church Binde with separation such as have sinned after baptisme and loose them againe when they have repented receiving them as brethren for the saying is true Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven That this authoritie of loosing remaineth still in the Church wee constantly maintaine against the heresie of the Montanists and Novatians who upon this pretence among others that God onely had power to remit sinnes took away the ministeriall power of reconciling such penitents as had committed haynous sinnes denying that the Church had anie warrant to receive them to her communion againe and to the participation of the holy mysteries notwithstanding their repentance were ever so sound Which is directly contrarie to the doctrine delivered by S. Paul both in the generall that if a man be overtaken in a fault they who are spirituall should restore such a one in the spirit of meekenesse and in the particular of the incestuous Corinthian who though hee had beene excommunicated for such a crime as was not so much as named amongst the Gentiles yet upon his repentance the Apostle telleth the Church that they ought to forgive him and comfort him lest he should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow Where that speech of his is specially noted and pressed against the hereticks by S. Ambrose To whom
calumniators and lyars or a Parrat likewise if hee be taught the words may aswel absolve as the Priest as if the speech were all the thing that here were to be considered and not the power where we are taught that the kingdome of God is not in word but in power Indeed if the Priests by their office brought nothing with them but the ministerie of the bare letter a Parrat peradventure might be taught to sound that letter as well as they but we beleeve that God hath made them able ministers of the New Testament not of the letter but of the spirit and that the Gospell ministred by them commeth unto us not in word onely but also in power and in the holy Ghost and in much assurance For God hath added a speciall beautie to the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace that howsoever others may bring glad tydings of good things to the penitent sinner as truely as they doe yet neyther can they doe it with the same authoritie neyther is it to be expected that they should doe it with such power such assurance and such full satisfaction to the afflicted conscience The speech of everie Christian we know should be employed to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers and a private brother in his place may deliver found doctrine reprehend vice exhort to righteousnesse verie commendably yet hath the Lord notwithstanding all this for the necessarie use of his Church appointed publicke officers to doe the same things and hath given unto them a peculiar power for edification wherein they may boast above others and in the due execution whereof God is pleased to make them instruments of ministring a more plentifull measure of grace unto their hearers then may be ordinarily looked for from others These men are appointed to bee of Gods high commission and therefore they may speake and exhort and rebuke with all authoritie· they are Gods Angels and Ambassadors for Christ and therefore in delivering their message are to be received as an Angel of God yea as Christ Iesus that looke how the Prophet Esay was comforted when the Angel said unto him Thine iniquitie is taken away and thy sinne purged and the poore woman in the Gospell when Iesus said unto her Thy sinnes are forgiven the like consolation doth the distressed sinner receive from the mouth of the Minister when hee hath compared the truth of Gods word faithfully delivered by him with the worke of Gods grace in his owne heart according to that of Elihu If there be an Angel or a messenger with him an Interpreter one of a thousand to declare unto man his righteousnesse then will God have mercy upon him and say Deliver him from going downe to the pit I have received a reconciliation For as it is the office of this messenger and interpreter to pray us in Christs stead that we would be reconciled to God so when wee have listened unto this motion and submitted our selves to the Gospell of peace it is a part of his office likewise to declare unto us in Christs stead that we are reconciled to God and in him Christ himselfe must bee acknowledged to speake who to us ward by this meanes is not weake but is mightie in us But our new Masters will not content themselves with such a ministeriall power of forgiving sinnes as hath beene spoken of unlesse we yeeld that they have authoritie so to doe properly directly and absolutely that is unlesse wee acknowledge that their high Priest sitteth in the Temple of God as God and all his creatures as so manie demi-gods under him For we must say if we will be drunke with the drunken that in this high Priest there is the fulnesse of all graces because hee alone giveth a full indulgence of all sinnes that this may agree unto him which we say of the chiefe prince our Lord that of his fulnesse all we have received Nay wee must acknowledge that the meanest in the whole armie of Priests that followeth this king of pride hath such fulnesse of power derived unto him for the opening and shutting of heaven before men that forgivenesse is denyed to them whom the Priest will not forgive and his Absolution on the other side is a sacramentall act which conferreth grace by the worke wrought that is as they expound it actively and immediately and instrumentally effecteth the grace of justification in such as receive it that as the winde doth extinguish the fire and dispell the clowdes so doth the Priests absolution scatter sinnes and make them to vanish away the sinner being thereby immediately acquitted before God howsoever that sound conversion of heart be wanting in him which otherwise would be requisite for a conditionall Absolution upon such termes as these If thou doest beleeve and repent as thou oughtest to doe is in these mens judgement to no purpose and can give no securitie to the penitent seeing it dependeth upon an uncertaine condition Have wee not then just cause to say unto them as Optatus did unto the Donatistes Nolite vobis Majestatis dominium vendicare Intrude not upon the royall prerogative of our Lord and Master No man may challenge this absolute power of the keyes but he that hath the key of David that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth hee to whom the Father hath given power over all flesh yea all power in heaven and in earth even the eternall Sonne of God who hath in his hands the keyes of death and is able to quicken whom he will The Ministers of the Gospell may not meddle with the matter of soveraignetie and thinke that they have power to proclaime warre or conclude peace betwixt God and man according to their owne discretion they must remember that they are Ambassadors for Christ and therefore in this treatie are to proceed according to the instructions which they have received from their soveraigne which if they doe transgresse they goe beyond their commission therein they doe not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and their authoritie for so much is plainly voyde The Bishop saith S. Gregory and the Fathers in the Councell of Aquisgran following him in loosing and binding those that are under his charge doth follow oftentimes the motions of his owne will and not the merit of the causes Whence it commeth to passe that he depriveth himselfe of this power of binding and loosing who doth exercise the same according to his owne will and not according to the manners of them which be subject unto him that is to say he maketh himselfe worthy to be deprived of that power which he hath thus abused as the Master of the Sentences and Semeca in his Glosse upon Gratian would have S. Gregories meaning to be expounded and pro tanto as hath
so they call it peradventure hath no intention to receive it or is not rightly disposed or putteth some blocke in the way Therefore the Minister saith hee signifieth nothing else by those words but that hee as much as in him lyeth conferreth the sacrament of reconciliation or absolution which in a man rightly disposed hath vertue to forgive all his sinnes Now that Contrition is at all times necessarily required for obtayning remission of sinnes and iustification is a matter determined by the Fathers of Trent But marke yet the mysterie They equivocate with us in the terme of Contrition and make a distinction thereof into perfect and imperfect The former of these is Contrition properly the latter they call Attrition which howsoever in it selfe it be not true Contrition yet when the Priest with his power of forgiving sinnes interposeth himselfe in the businesse they tell us that attrition by vertue of the keyes is made contrition that is to say that a sorrow arising from a servile feare of punishment and such a fruitlesse repentance as the reprobate may carry with them to hell by vertue of the Priests absolution is made so fruitfull that it shall serve the turne for obteyning forgivenesse of sinnes as if it had beene that godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of By which spirituall coosenage many poore soules are most miserably deluded while they perswade themselves that upon the receipt of the Priests acquittance upon this carnall sorrow of theirs all skores are cleered untill that day and then beginning upon a new reckoning they sinne and confesse confesse and sinne afresh and tread this round so long till they put off all thought of saving repentance and so the blinde following the blinde both at last fall into the pit Evill and wicked carnall naturall and divellish men saith S. Augustin imagine those things to be given unto them by their seducers which are onely the gifts of God whether sacraments or any other spirituall workes concerning their present salvation But such as are thus seduced may doe well to listen a little to this grave admonition of S. Cyprian Let no man deceive let no man beguile himselfe it is the Lord alone that can shew mercy He alone can grant pardon to the sinnes committed against him who did himselfe beare our sinnes who suffered griefe for us whom God did deliver for our sinnes Man cannot be greater then God neyther can the servant by his indulgence remit or pardon that which by haynous trespasse is committed against the Lord lest to him that is fallen this yet be added as a further crime if hee be ignorant of that which is said Cursed is the man that putteth his trust in man Whereupon S. Augustin sticketh not to say that good ministers doe consider that they are but ministers they would not be held for Iudges they abhorre that any trust should be put in them and that the power of remitting and retayning sinnes is committed unto the Church to be dispensed therein not according to the arbitrement of man but according to the arbitrement of God Whereas our adversaries lay the foundation of their Babel upon another ground that Christ hath appointed Priests to be Iudges upon earth with such power that none falling into sinne after Baptisme may be reconciled without their sentence and hath put the authoritie of binding and loosing of forgiving and retayning the sinnes of men in their arbitrement Whether the Ministers of the Gospell may be accounted Iudges in some sort we wil not much contend for we dislike neyther that saying of S. Hierome that having the keyes of the kingdome of heaven they judge after a sort before the day of judgement nor that other of S. Gregory that the Apostles such as succeed them in the governement of the Church obtaine a principalitie of judgement from above that they may in Gods stead retayne the sinnes of some and release the sinnes of others All the question is in what sort they doe judge and whether the validitie of their judgement doe depend upon the truth of the conversion of the penitent wherein if our Romanists would stand to the iudgement of S. Hierome or S. Gregory one of whom they make a Cardinall and the other a Pope of their owne Church the controversie betwixt us would quickly be at an end For S. Hierome expounding that speech of our Saviour touching the keyes of the kingdome of heaven in the sixteenth of S. Matthew The Bishops and Priests saith he not understanding this place assume to themselves somewhat of the Pharisees arrogancie as imagining that they may either condemne the innocent or absolve the guiltie vvhereas it is not the sentence of the Priests but the life of the parties that is inquired of vvith God In the booke of Leviticus vvee reade of the Lepers vvhere they are commanded to shew themselves to the Priests and if they shall have the leprosie that then they shall be made uncleane by the Priest not that the Priests should make them leprous and uncleane but that they should take notice who was a leper and who was not and should discerne who was cleane and who uncleane Therefore as there the Priest doth make the leper cleane or uncleane so here the Bishop or Priest doth binde or loose not binde the innocent or loose the guiltie but when according to his office hee heareth the variety of sinnes hee knoweth who is to be bound and who to be loosed Thus farre S. Hierome S. Gregory likewise in the very same place from whence the Romanists fetch that former sentence doth thus declare in what maner that principalitie of iudgement which he spake of should be exercised being therin also followed step by step by the Fathers of the Councell of Aquisgran The causes ought to bee weighed and then the power of binding and loosing exercised It is to be seene what the fault is and what the repentance is that hath followed after the fault that such as almightie God doth visite with the grace of compunction those the sentence of the Pastor may absolve For the absolution of the Prelate is then true when it followeth the arbitrement of the eternall Iudge And this doe they illustrate by that which we reade in the Gospell of the raysing of Lazarus Ioh. 11.44 that Christ did first of all give life to him that was dead by himselfe and then commanded others to loose him and let him goe Behold say they the disciples doe loose him being now alive whom their Master had raysed up being dead For if the disciples had loosed Lazarus being dead they should have discovered a stinche more then a vertue By which consideration vvee may see that by our Pastorall authoritie vvee ought to loose those vvhom vvee know that our Authour and Lord hath revived vvith his quickning grace The same application also doe wee finde made not onely
answer Surely this we may say and thinke that God alone doth forgive and retayne sinnes and yet hath given power of binding and loosing unto the Church but He bindeth and looseth one way and the Church another For he only by himselfe forgiveth sinne who both cleanseth the soule from inward blot and looseth it from the debt of everlasting death But this hath he not granted unto Priests to whom notwithstanding he hath given the power of binding and loosing that is to say of declaring men to be bound or loosed Wherupon the Lord did first by himselfe restore health unto the leper and then sent him unto the Priests by whose judgement he might be declared to be cleansed so also he offered Lazarus to his disciples to be loosed having first quickned him In like maner Hugo Cardinalis sheweth that it is onely God that forgiveth sinnes and that the Priest cannot binde or loose the sinner with or from the bond of the fault and the punishment due thereunto but onely declare him to be bound or loosed as the Leviticall Priest did not make nor cleanse the leper but onely declared him to be infected or cleane And a great number of the Schoolemen afterward shewed themselves to be of the same judgement that to pardon the fault and the eternall punishment due unto the same was the proper worke of God that the Priests absolution hath no reall operation that way but presupposeth the partie to be first justified and absolved by God Of this minde were Guilielmus Altissiodorensis Alexander of Hales Bonaventure Ockam Thomas de Argentinâ Michael de Bononiâ Gabriel Biel Henricus de Huecta Iohannes Major and others To lay downe all their words at large would be too tedious In generall Hadrian the sixth one of their owne Popes acknowledgeth that the most apprâ—ved Divines were of this minde that the keyes of the Priesthood doe not extend themselves to the remission of the fault and Major affirmeth that this is the common Tenet of the Doctors So likewise is it avouched by Gabriel Biel that the old Doctors commonly follow the opinion of the Master of the Sentences that Priests do forgive or retaine sinnes while they iudge and declare that they are forgiven by God or retained But all this notwithstanding Suarez is bold to tell us that this opinion of the Master is false and now at this time erroneous It was not held so the other day when Ferus preached at Mentz that man did not properly remit sinne but did declare and certifie that it was remitted by God so that the Absolution received from man is nothing else then if he should say Behold my sonne I certifie thee that thy sinnes are forgiven thee I pronounce unto thee that thou hast God favourable unto thee and vvhatsoever Christ in Baptisme and in his Gospell hath promised unto us he doth now declare and promise unto thee by me Of this shalt thou have me to be a witnesse goe in peace and in quiet of conscience But jam hoc tempore the case is altered these things must be purged out of Ferus as erroneous the opinion of the old Doctors must give place to the sentence of the new Fathers of Trent And so we are come at length to the end of this long question in the handling whereof I have spent more time th◠〈◊〉 aniâ— of thâ— râ—st by reason our Priests doe make this facultie of pardoning mens sinnes to be one of the most principall parts of their occupation and the particular discoverie thereof is not ordinarily by the writers of our side so much insisted upon The performance therefore of my promise of brevitie is to be expected in the briefer treating upon those articles that remaine the fift whereof we are now to take into our consideration which is OF PVRGATORIE FOr extinguishing the imaginarie flames of Popish Purgatory wee need not goe farre to fetch water seeing the whole current of Gods word runneth mainly upon this that the blood of Iesus Christ cleanseth us from all sinne that all Gods children dye in Christ and that such as dye in him doe rest from their labours that as they be absent from the Lord while they are in the bodie so when they be absent from the bodie they are present with the Lord and in a word that they come not into judgement but passe from death unto life And if wee need the assistance of the ancient Fathers in this businesse behold they be here readie with full buckets in their hands Tertullian to begin withall counteth it iniurious unto Christ to hold that such as be called from hence by him are in a state that should be pittied whereas they have obtayned their desire of being with Christ according to that of the Apostle Philip. 1.23 I desire to depart and to be with Chrest What pitie was it that the poore soules in Purgatorie should finde no 〈◊〉 in those dayes to informe men better of their ruefull condition nor no Secretarie to draw up such another supplication for them as this which of late years Sir Thomas Moore presented in their name To all good Christen people In most piteous wise continually calleth and cryeth upon your devoute charitie and most tender pitie for helpe comfort and reliefe your late acquaintance kindred spouses companions playfellowes and friends and now your humble and unacquainted and halfe forgotten suppliants poore prisoners of God the sely soules in Purgatorie here abiding and enduring the grievous paynes and hote clensing fire c. If S. Cyprian had understood but halfe thus much doubtlesse he would have strucken out the best part of that famous treatise which hee wrote of Mortalitie to comfort men against death in the time of a great plague especially such passages as these are which by no meanes can be reconciled with Purgatorie It is for him to feare death that is not willing to goe unto Christ it is for him to bee unwilling to goe unto Christ who doth not beleeve that hee beginneth to raigne with Christ. For it is written that the just doth live by faith If thou be just and livest by faith if thou dost truly beleeve in God why being to be with Christ and being secure of the Lords promise doest not thou embrace the message whereby thou art called unto Christ and rejoycest that thou shalt be ridd of the Divell Simeon said Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seene thy salvation proving thereby and witnessing that the servants of God then have peace then injoy free and quiet rest when being drawen from these stormes of the world vvee arrive at the haven of our everlasting habitation and securitie vvhen this death being ended wee enter into immortalitie The righteous are called to a refreshing the unrighteous are haled to torment safety is quickly
them And therefore it is no marvaile that somewhat not so fitt should be contayned in the foresaid prayers and be tolerated in the Church seeing such prayers were made by private persons not by Councells neyther vvere approved at all by Councells And we easily doe beleeve indeed that their Offices and Legends are fraught not only with untrue and unfit but also with farre worse stuffe neyther is this any newes unto us Agobardus Bishop of Lions complayned about 800. yeares agoe that the Antiphonary used in his Church had many ridiculous and phantasticall things in it and that hee was faine to cut off from thence such things as seemed to be eyther superfluous or light or lying or blasphemous The like complaint was made not long since by Lindanus of the Romane Antiphonaries and Missals wherein not only apocryphall tales saith he out of the Gospell of Nicodemus and other toyes are thrust in but the very secret prayers themselves are defiled with most foule faults But now that wee have the Romane Missall restored according to the decree of the Councell of Trent set out by the command of Pius V. and revised againe by the authoritie of Clemens VIII I doubt much whether our Romanists will allow the Censure which their Medina hath given of the praiers contained therein And therefore if this will not please them he hath another answer in store of which though his country man Mendoza hath given sentence that it is indigna viro Theologo unworthy of any man that beareth the name of a Divine yet such as it is you shall have it Supposing then that the Church hath no intention to pray for anie other of the dead but those that are detayned in Purgatorie this he delivereth for his second resolution The Church knowing that God hath power to punish everlastingly those soules by which when they lived he was mortally offended and that God hath not tyed his power unto the Scriptures and unto the promises that are contayned in the Scripture forasmuch as he is above all things and a◠omnipotent after his promises as if he had promised nothing at all therefore the Church doth humbly pray God that he would not use this his absolute omnipotencie against the soules of the faithfull which are departed in grace therefore shee doth pray that he would vouchsafe to free them from everlasting paines and from revenge and the judgement of condemnation and that he would be pleased to rayse them up againe with his Elect. But leaving our Popish Doctors with their profound speculations of the not limiting of Gods power by the Scriptures and the promises which he hath made unto us therein let us returne to the ancient Fathers and consider the differences that are to be found among them touching the place and condition of soules separated from their bodies for according to the several apprehensions which they had thereof they made different applications and interpretations of the use of praying for the dead whose particular intentions and devotions in that kinde must of necessity therefore be distinguished from the generall intention of the whole Church S. Augustine that I may begin with him who was as the most ingenious so likewise the most ingenuous of all others in acknowledging his ignorance where hee saw cause being to treat of these matters maketh this Preface before hand unto his hearers Of Hell neyther have I had any experience as yet nor you and peradventure it may be that our passage may lye some other way and not prove to be by Hell For these things be uncertain and having occasion to speake of the departure of Nebridius his deare friend Now he liveth saith he in the bosome of Abraham whatsoever the thing be that is signified by that bosome there doth my Nebridius live But elsewhere he directly distinguisheth this bosome from the place of blisse into which the. Saincts shall be received after the last judgement After this short life saith he thou shalt not as yet be where the Saincts shall be unto whom it shall be said Come ye blessed of my Father receive the kingdome which was prepared for you from the beginning of the world Thou shalt not as yet be there who knoweth it not But now thou mayest be there where that proude and barren rich man in the middest of his torments saw a farre off the poore man sometime full of ulcers resting Being placed in that rest thou dost securely expect the day of judgement when thou mayest receive thy body when thou mayest be changed to be equall unto an Angell and for the state of soules betwixt the time of the particular and generall judgement this is his conclusion in generall The time that is interposed betwixt the death of man and the last resurrection contayneth the soules in hidden receptacles as every one is worthy eyther of rest or of trouble according unto that which it did purchase in the flesh when it lived Into these hidden receptacles he thought the soules of Gods children might carry some of their lighter faults with them which being not removed would hinder them from comming into the kingdome of heaven whereinto no polluted thing can enter and from which by the prayers and almes-deeds of the living he held they might be released But of two things he professed himselfe here to be ignorant First What those sinnes were which did so hinder the comming unto the kingdome of God that yet by the care of good friends they might obtaine pardon Secondly Whether those soules did endure anie temporary paines in the Interim betwixt the time of Death and the Resurrection For howsoever in his one and twentieth book of the City of God and the thirteenth and sixteenth chapters for the new patch which they have added to the foure and twentieth chapter is not worthy of regard he affirme that some of them doe suffer certaine purgatorie punishments before the last and dreadfull judgment yet by comparing these places with the five and twentieth chapter of the twentieth booke it will appeare that by those purgatory punishments he understandeth here the furnace of the fire of Conflagration that shall immediatly go before this last judgement and as he otherwhere describeth the effects thereof separate some unto the left hand and melt out others unto the right Neither was this opinion of the reservation of soules in secret places and the purging of them in the fire of Conflagration at the day of iudgement entertained by this famous Doctor alone diverse others there were that had touched upon the same string before him Origen in his fourth book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we have him translated by Ruffinus for in the Extracts selected out of him by S. Basil and S. Gregory wee finde the place somewhat otherwise expressed saith that such as depart out of this world after the common course of death are disposed of according to their deeds and
finde it to be held indeed both by some of the ancient as namely in Caius who lived at Rome when Zephyrinus was Bishop there and is accounted to be the author of the treatise falsely fathered upon Iosephus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a large fragment whereof hath beene lately published by Hoeschelius in his notes upon Photius his Bibliotheke and by the latter Grecians in whose name Marcus Eugenicus archbishop of Ephesus doth make this protestation against such of his countrymen as yeelded to the definition of the Florentine Councell We say that neither the Saincts do receive the kingdome prepared for them and those secret good things neyther the sinners doe as yet fall into Hell but that eyther of them doe remaine in expectation of their proper lott and that this appertayneth unto the time that is to come after the Resurrection and the Iudgement But these men with the Latines would have these to receive presently after death the things they have deserved but unto those of the middle sort that is to such as dye in penance they assigne a purgatory fire which they faine to be distinct from that of Hell that thereby say they being purged in their soules after death they likewise may be received into the kingdome of heaven together vvith the righteous That barbarous impostor as Molanus rightly styleth him who counterfeyted a letter as written by S. Cyrill Bishop of Ierusalem unto S. Augustin touching the miracles of S. Hierome taketh upon him to lay down the precise time of the first arising of this sect among the Grecians in this maner After the death of most glorious Hierome a certaine heresie or sect arose amongst the Grecians and came to the Latines also which went about with their wicked reasons to prove that the soules of the blessed untill the day of the generall Iudgment wherein they were to be joyned againe unto their bodies are deprived of the sight and knowledge of God in which the whole blessednesse of the Saincts doth consist and that the soules of the damned in like maner untill that day are tormented with no paines Whose reason was this that as the soule did merit or sinne with the body so with the bodie was it to receive rewards or paines Those wicked sectaries also did maintaine that there was no place of Purgatory wherein the soules vvhich had not done full penance for their sinnes in this world might be purged Which pestilent sect getting head so great sorrow fell upon us that we were even weary of our life Then he telleth a wise tale how S. Hierome being at that time with God for the confutation of this new-sprong heresie raysed up three men from the dead after that hee had first ledd their soules into Paradise Purgatory and Hell to the end they might make known unto all men the things that were done there but had not the witt to consider that S. Cyrill himselfe had need to be raysed up to make the fourth man among them for how otherwise should he who dyed thirtie yeares before S. Hierome as is knowne to every one that knoweth the history of those times have heard and written the newes which those three good fellowes that were raised by S. Hierome after his death did relate concerning Heaven Hell and Purgatory Yet is it nothing so strange to me I confesse that such idle dreames as these should be devised in the times of darknesse to delude the world withall as that now in the broad day light Binsfeldius and Suarez and other Romish merchants should adventure to bring forth such rotten stuffe as this with hope to gaine anie credite of antiquitie thereby unto the new erected staple of Popish Purgatory The Dominican Friars in a certaine treatise written by them at Constantinople in the yeare 1252. assigne somewhat a lower beginning unto this error of the Grecians affirming that they followed therein a certain inventer of this heresie named Andrew Archbishop sometime of Caesarea in Cappadocia who said that the soules did wayt for their bodies that together with them with which they had committed good or evill they might likewise receave the recompense of their deeds But that which Andrew saith herein he saith not out of his own head and therefore is wrongfully charged to be the first inventer of it but out of the judgement of many godly fathers that went before him It hath been said saith he by many of the Saincts that all vertuous men after this life do receive places fit for them whence they may certainly make conjecture of the glory that shall befall unto them Where Peltanus bestoweth such another marginall note upon him as Gretser his fellow-Iesuite did upon Anastasius This opinion is now expressely condemned and rejected by the Church And yet doth Alphonsus de Castro aknowledge that the Patrons thereof vvere famous men renowned as well for holinesse as for knowledge but telleth us withall that no man ought to marvaile that such great men should fall into so pestilent an error because as the Apostle S. Iames saith he that offendeth not in word is a perfect man Another particular opinion which wee must sever from the generall intention of the Church in her oblations and prayers for the dead is that which is noted by Theophylact upon the speech of our Saviour Luk. 12.5 in which he wisheth us to observe that hee did not say Feare him who after hee hath killed casteth into hell but hath power to cast into hell For the sinners which dye saith he are not alwayes cast into hell but it remaineth in the power of God to pardon them also And this I say for the oblations and doales which are made for the dead which do not a little avayle even them that dye in grievous sinnes He doth not therefore generally after he hath killed cast into hell but hath power to cast Wherfore let us not cease by almes and intercession to appease him who hath power to cast but doth not alwayes use this power but is able to pardon also Thus farre Theophylact whom our Adversaries doe blindely bring in for the countenancing of their use of praying and offering for the dead not considering that the prayers and oblations which he would uphold doe reach even unto such as dye in grievous sinnes which the Romanists acknowledge to receive no reliefe at all by anie thing that they can doe and are intended for the keeping of soules from being cast into Hell and not for fetching them out when they have been cast into Purgatorie a place that never came within the compasse of Theophylacts beleefe His testimonie will fit a great deale better the prayer of S. Dunstan who as the tale goeth having understood that the soule of King Edwin was to be carried into Hell never gave over praying untill hee had gotten him ridd of that danger and transferred unto the coast of penitent soules where hee well deserved doubtlesse to
our Lord as in the end of this booke saith he he doth testifie meaning the apocryphall Appendix which is annexed to the end of the Greeke edition of Iob wherein we reade thus It is written that he should rise againe with those whom the Lord was to raise which although it be accounted to have proceeded from the Septuagint yet the thing it selfe sheweth that it was added by some that lived after the comming of our Saviour Christ. Touching Adam S. Augustine affirmeth that the whole Church almost did consent that Christ loosed him in Hell which we are to beleeve saith he that shee did not vainely beleeve whencesoever this tradition came although no expresse authoritie of the Canonicall Scriptures be produced for it The onely place which he could thinke off that seemed to look this way was that in the beginning of the tenth Chapter of the booke of Wisedome Shee kept him who was the first formed father of the world when hee was created alone and brought him out of his sinne which would be much more pertinent to the purpose if that were added which presently followeth in the Latin text I meane in the old edition for the new corrected ones have left it out Et eduxit illum de limo terrae and brought him out of the claye of the earth which being placed after the bringing of him out of his sinne may seeme to have reference unto some deliverance like that of Davids Psalm 40 2. He brought me up out of the horrible pit out of the mirye claye rather then unto his first creation out of the dust of the earth So limus terrae may here answere well unto the Arabians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 al-tharai which properly signifying moyst earth or slime or claye is by the Arabick interpreter of Moses used to expresse the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate Hell or Grave And as this place in the booke of Wisedome may be thus applied unto the raysing of Adams body out of the earâ—h whâ—rein hee lay buried so may that other tradition also which was so currant in the Church be referred unto the selfe same thing even to the bringing of Adam out of the Hell of the Grave The verie Liturgies of the Church doe lead us unto this interpretation of the tradition of the Church beside the testimony of the Fathers which discover unto us the first ground and foundation of this tradition In the Liturgie of the Church of Alexandria ascribed to S. Marke our Saviour Christ is thus called upon O most great King and coëternall to the Father who by thy might didst spoyle Hell and tread downe death and binde the strong one and raise Adam out of the grave by thy divine power and the bright splendour of thine unspeakeable Godhead In the Liturgie of the Church of Constantinople translated into Latin by Leo Thusâ—us the like speech is used of him He did voluntarily undergoe the Crosse for us by which he raysed up the first formed man and saved our soules from death And in the Octoëchon Anastasimon and Pentecostarion of the Grecians at this day such sayings as these are very usuall Thou didst undergoe buriall and rise in glory and rayse up Adam together with thee by thy almighty hand Rising out of thy tombe thou didst rayse up the dead and break the poâ—er of death and rayse up Adam Having slept in the flesh as a mortall man ô King and Lord the third day thou didst arise againe raysing Adam from corruption and abolishing death Iesus the deliverer who raysed up Adam of his compassion c. Therefore doth Theodorus Prodromus begin his Tetrastich upon our Saviors Resurrection with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rise up thou first formed old man rise up from thy grave S. Ambrose pointeth to the ground of the tradition when he intimateth that Christ suffered in Golgotha where Adams sepulchre was that by his Crosse he might rayse him that was dead that where in Adam the death of all men lay therein Christ might be the resurrection of all Which he receaved as he did many other things besides from Origen who writeth thus of the matter There came unto me some such tradition as this that the body of Adam the first man mas buried there where Christ was crucified that as in Adam all doe die so in Christ all might be made alive that in the place which is called the place of Calvarie that is the place of the head the head of mankinde might finde resurrection with all the rest of the people by the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour who suffered there and rose againe For it was unfit that when many which were borne of him did receive forgivenesse of their sinnes and obtayne the benefit of Resurrection he who was the father of all men should not much more obtaine the like grace Athanasius or who ever else was author of the Discourse upon the Passion of our Lord which beareth his name referreth this tradition of Adams buriall place unto the report of the Doctors of the Hebrewes from whom belike hee thought that Origen had received it and addeth withall that it was very fit that where it was said to Adam Earth thou art and to earth thou shalt returne our Saviour finding him there should say unto him again Arise thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee light Epiphanius goeth a little furthet and findeth out a mysterie in the water and bloud that fell from the Crosse upon the relicks of our first father lying buried under it applying thereunto both that in the Gospell of the arising of many of the Saints Matth. 27.52 and that other place in S. Paule Arise thou that sleepest c. Ephes. 5.14 which strange speculation with what great applause it was received by the multitude at the first delivery of it and for how little reason he that list may reade in the fourth book of S. Hieroms coÌ„mentaries upon the 27. of S. Matthew in his third upon the fifth to the Ephesians for upon this first point of Christs descent into the Hell of the grave and the bringing of Adam and his children with him from thence we have dwelt too long already In the second place therefore we are now to consider that as Hádes and Inferi which we call Hell are applied by rhe Interpreters of the holy Scripture to denote the place of bodies separated from their soules so with forraine authors in whose language as being that wherewith the common people was acquainted the Church also did use to speake the same tearmes do signifie ordinarily the common lodge of soules separated from their bodies whether the particular place assigned unto each of them be conceived to be an habitation of blisse or of miserie For as when the Grave is said to be the common receptacle of dead bodies it is not meant thereby that all dead
therefore given us because we will or by it God doth worke even this also that we doe will The worthy Doctor maintaineth that Grace goeth before and worketh the will unto good which he strongly proveth both by the word of God and by the continuall practise of the Church in her prayers and thanksgivings for the conversion of unbeleevers For if thou dost confesse saith he that we are to pray for them surely thou dost pray that they may consent to the doctrine of God with their will freed from the power of darknesse And thus it will come to passe that neither men shall be made to be beleevers but by their free-will and yet shall be made beleevers by his grace who hath freed their will from the power of darknesse Thus both Gods grace is not denied but is shewed to be true without any humane merits going before it and free-will is so defended that it is made solide with humilitie and not throwne downe headlong by being lifted up that he that rejoyceth may not rejoyce in man either any other or yet himselfe but in the Lord. and againe How doth God expect the wills of men that they should prevent him to whom he might give grace when we doe give him thanks not undeservedly in the behalfe of them whom not beleeving and persecuting his doctrine with an ungodly will he hath prevented with his mercy and with a most omnipotent facilitie converted them unto himselfe and made them willing of unwilling Why doe we give him thanks for this if he himselfe did not this Questionlesse we doe not pray to God but faine that we doe pray if we beleeve that not he but our selves be the doers of that which we pray for Questionlesse we doe not give thanks to God but faine that we give thanks if we doe not thinke that he doth the thing for which we give him thanks If deceitfull lips be found in any other speeches of men at leastwise let them not be found in prayers Farre be it from us that what we doe beseech God to doe with our mouthes and voices we should denie that he doth it in our hearts and which is more grievous to the deceiving of others also not conceale the same in our disputations and whilest we will needs defend free-will before men we should leese the helpe of prayer with God and not have true giving of thanks whilest we doe not acknowledge true grace If we will truly defende free-will let us not oppugne that by which it is made free For who so oppugneth grace whereby our will is made free to decline from evill and to doe good he will have his will to be still captive Thus doth S. Augustine deale with Vitalis to whom he saith I doe not beleeve indeed that thou art a Pelagian hereticke but so I would have thee to be that no part of that error may passe unto thee or be left in thee The doctrine of the Semi-pelagians in France is related by Prosper Aquitanicus and Hilarius Arelatensis in their severall epistles written to S. Augustine of this argument They doe agree saith Hilarius that all men were lost in Adam and that from thence no man by his proper will can be freed but this they say is agreeable to the truth or answerable to the preaching of the word that when the meanes of obtaining salvation is declared to such as are cast downe and would never rise againe by their owne strength they by that merit whereby they doe will and beleeve that they can be healed from their disease may obtaine both the increase of that faith and the effecting of their whole health And that grace is not denied when such a will as this is said to goe before it which seeketh only a Physitian but is not of it selfe otherwise able to doe any thing For as touching that place As he hath distributed to every one the measure of faith and other like testimonies they would have them make for this that he should be holpen that hath begun to will but not that this also should be given unto him that he might will Prosper in his Pöems doth thus deliver it Gratia quâ Christi populus sumus hoc cohibetur Limite vobiscum formam hanc asseribitis illi Ut cunctos vocet illa quidem invitetque nec ullum Praeteriens studeat communem adferre salutem Omnibus totum peccato absolvere mundum Sed proprio quemque arbitrio parere vocanti Iudicioque suo motâ se extendere mente Ad lucem oblatam quae se non subtrahat ulli Sed cupidos recti iuvet illustretque volentes Hinc adjutoris Domini bonitate magistrâ Crescere virtutum studia ut quod quisque petendum Mandatis didicit jugi sectetur amore Esse autem edoctis istam communiter aequam Libertatem animis ut cursum explere beatum Persistendo queant finem effectumque petitum Dante Deo ingenijs qui nunquam desit honestis Sed quia non idem est cunctis vigor variarum Illecebris rerum trahitur dispersa voluntas Sponte aliquos vitijs succumbere qui potuissent A lapsu re vocare pedem stabilesque manere Against these opinions S. Augustine wrote his two bookes of the Predestination of the Saints and of the gift of Perseverance in the former whereof he hath this memorable passage among divers others Many heare the word of truth but some doe beleeve others doe contradict Therefore these have a will to beleeve the others have not Who is ignorant of this who would denie it But seeing the will is to some prepared by the Lord to others not we are to discerne what doth proceed from his mercy and what from his iudgement That which Israël did seeke saith the Apostle he obtained not but the election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded Rom. 11.7 Behold mercy and judgement mercy in the election which hath obtained the righteousnesse of God but judgement upon the rest that were blinded and yet the one because they would did beleeve the others because they would not did not beleeve Mercy therefore and judgement were executed even upon the wills themselves Against the same opinions divers treatises were published by Prosper also who chargeth these men with nourishing the poyson of the Pelagian pravitie by their positions inasmuch as 1. the beginning of salvation is naughtily placed in man by them 2. the will of man is impiously preferred before the will of God as if therefore one should be holpen because he did will and did not therefore will because he was holpen 3. a man originally evill is naughtily beleeved to begin his receiving of good not from the highest good but from himselfe 4. it is thought that God may otherwise be pleased than out of that which he himselfe hath bestowed But he maintaineth constantly that both the beginning and ending of a mans conversion is wholly to be ascribed unto grace