are excluded the Land of Canaan and die in the Wilderness And their Children wander forty Years in the Desert This Guilt of temporal Penalty which is oftentimes the remainder of mortal Sin remitted retains the name of Sin. Thus the Evening or Remainder of the day is not improperly still call'd day And it is upon this Account and for lesser or venial Sins whose Fault whilst the Sinner liv'd upon earth is not forgiven or Guilt not pardon'd that we generally pray God to remit to Souls departed Con. Flor. in Decret their Sins who have not sufficiently satisfied for their Offences says the Council of Florence for their Sins and Satisfactions decrees the Council of Trent Conc. Trid. Can. 3. Sess 22. for the Remission of all their Sins prays the Priest in the Mass for the Dead IV. Reflection I Close the Controversy between Catholicks and Protestants in this narrow Compass whether We ought to believe that the Dead in Purgatory are help'd by the Prayers of the Living as our Article of Faith words it or which is the same thing and contains all whether It be part of a Christians Duty to pray as the Priest does at Mass that God will remit to Souls departed their Sins The Discourser cannot blame me for omitting the word Pain in my Proposition For if there be any detained in a middle State whose Sins are not yet fully purg'd or if they be small ones and entirely remain there is without dispute some Penalty to be undergone for them This is undeniably true because all Sin as the Discourser acknowledges infers an Obligation to Punishment Page 31. CHAP. VI. Why Roman Catholicks believe the Dead are help'd by Prayers IF you ask me the Formal Reason Why Roman Catholicks believe it to be a part of a Christians duty to pray for the Faithful deceased I answer Because God has taught us so Apostolical Tradition assures us of it the Practise of the Vniversal Church confirms it Holy Scriptures authorise it We do not pretend that Sciptures have any where commanded this Doctrine Tertull. l. de Coron Mil. c 4. Si Legem expostules Scripturarum nullam invenies If you seek a Precept in the Scriptures says Tertullian you cannot find any Nor is this absolutely necessary to make it a part of Christian duty It is abundantly sufficient for this Obligation if first it be recommended to us by Revelation from Heaven and secondly propos'd to the Faithful or practis'd by the Universal Church of CHRIST The Will of GOD or Revelation is recommended to us in Holy Scriptures or convey'd to us by the Apostles and their Successors The Vniversal Church is either taken diffusively as it is spread over the World or collectively as it is assembled in an OEcumenical Synod which represents the whole Church All Four conspire together to confirm Roman Catholicks in their Belief of Praying for the Dead and to confound their Opposers The Holy Scriptures recommend it in many places to the Faithful The Apostles taught it The Universal Church practis'd it And General Councils have defin'd it As for General Councils I have alledg'd already Two very plain Ones that of Florence and that of Trent The Council of Trent pretended no Command in Scripture for this Doctrine We read it decreed by the Tridentine Fathers because the Apostles taught it according to the Tradition of the Apostles declares this OEcumenical Synod in the 2d Chap. 22d Session and because it is recommended in the Scriptures the same Council in the Decree of Purgatory determines Prayers for the Dead from the Scriptures CHAP. VII Of the Universal Church Praying for the Dead TO ackowledge Prayers offer'd by the Vniversal Church of CHRIST with intent to expiate the Sins of Souls departed in a middle State is to believe this Pious Custome came from the Divine Apostles S. Aug. Ep. 118. Quod universa tenet Ecclesia nec à Conciliis institutum sed semper retentum est nonnisi authoritate Apostolica traditum rectissimè creditur For as S. Austin observes What the whole Church holds and was not Instituted by Councils but was alwaies retain'd is most truly believed to come from Apostolical Tradition In finding out then one of these we learn both of them Our Masters shall be the holy Pen-men of Primitive Times Petrus Venerabilis Writing against the Petrobrusian Hereticks thus exhorts all Christians out of the Book of Maccabees to pray for the Dead The Faithful Jews pray'd for the heinous Offences of their Dead that what they had Committed Ep. 2. cont Petrob Cap. 5. Rogant fideles Judaei pro delictis tam gravibus defunctorum ut quod fecerant oblivioni traderetur non rogabunt fideles Christiani pro defunctis in spe bona fidelibus eundem Deum ut eis nondum plenè laxata Peccata remittantur Rogaverunt hoc illi adhuc in tempore irae non rogabunt hoc isti in tempore gratiae might totally he forgiven and the faithful Christians will not pray for their faithful piously departed that their sins not fully remitted may by the same GOD be Pardon'd The Jews pray'd in the time of Anger and Christians are negligent in the day of Grace Is not this to pray with intent as Roman Catholicks do that God will remit to souls departed their sins And what follows will not give you leave to doubt that this pious Devotion was believ'd the duty of Christians in those dayes * Ibidem Qui bona vivorum Mortuis qui digni sunt prodesse denegat ad communis fidei laesionem pertinere cognoscat Let him continues this Venerable Writer that denies the good Works of the Living to be advantagious to the Dead who deserve them know that he makes a Breach in Faith. S. Bernard Calls them who deny this pious Doctrine Hereticks and Hypocrites Is it not says this Saint Super Cantica Ser. 66. pag. 762. Non sufficit haereticos esse nisi hypocritae sint Mortuos viventium fraudantes auxilijs non credunt ignem Purgatorium restare post mortem sufficient for them to be Hereticks unless they be Hypocrites too They are Hereticks because they Defraud the Dead of help from the Living nor do they believe that there remaines after Death Purgatory Fire As Hypocrites they make a fair shew and pretending to follow the pure Word of God. S. Isidore of Spain Says Because sacrifice and prayers are offer'd thorow the whole world for the rest of the Faithful Deceased S. Isid Hisp l. 1. de Offic. Eccles. c. 18. Sacrificium pro Defunctorum fidelium requie offerri vel pro eis orari quia per totum hoc Orbem custoditur credimus quod ab ipsis Apostolis traditum sit Hoc enim ubique Catholica tenet Ecclesia quae nisi crederet fidelibus defunctis dimitti peccata non pro eorum spiritibus vel Eleemosynam faceret vel Deo sacrificium offerret we believe this Custom comes
of Hell Fire If he fail as all of us do witness this Sentence of S. James We all offend in many things S. Jam. 3.2 before he may recover these Lapses Death may surprize him when he neither thinks of them nor of the World to come where then must these smaller Offences be Expiated Must the Delinquent go straight to Heaven This is not a place of Punishment Must he be thrown head-long down into Hell This is not a state of expiation The Justice of God will not punish this Delinquent eternally with the Damned because his divine Mercy has declar'd in this passage of S. Matthew that these lesser blemishes with which he died engag'd carry not along with them the Guilt of Hell Fire The Mercy of God will not as yet deck him with the beauties of Heaven Apocalyp because His Justice has pronounc'd That no unclean thing enters into Heaven and elsewhere he sayes Psal 14. Ingreditur sine Macula Who enters enters without stain There is then some middle place of Souls assign'd by the Divine Providence to punish these lighter Offences that Justice and Mercy may meet together This Roman Catholicks believe and call Purgatory Conclusion I Hope the Pretended Reformers will hereafter be so just as to grant That the Holy Fathers anciently pray'd with the same intent which the Church of Rome does at present to free Souls departed of their Lesser Offences and Pains in a middle State or Purgatory Petrus Venerabilis prays That their Sins not yet forgiven may be pardon'd S. Bernard That they may be Freed from Purgatory S. Isidore That their remaining Sins may be expiated in a certain Purgatory Fire S. Austin That GOD may deal more meekly with them than their sins deserv'd S. Jerome For lesser Faults Theodoretus For what thorough Imprudence they had committed S. Chrysostom To profit the Deceased and to appease GOD S. Epiphanius To extinguish not inexpiable but lesser sins Arnobius For their sins and satisfactions Tertullian For their ease and refreshment and Dionysius Areopagite For all their sins through human frailty committed These Authorities are so plain and convictive That to speak sincerely I cannot see how any Word of Reply may be given them Had these Holy Writers delivered their private Opinions one might have given them a put-off and said they were Men and so might erre But what they speak of either intimates the Practice of the whole Church in their Times or reckons it APOSTOLICAL TRADITION or hold it part of their Faith in which they cannot be said without Injury to mistake Would it not be injurious to say That the Learnedest Prelates of the Reformers might now mistake all of them in their Books delivering to Posterity that in England Service according to the Religion by Law Established is generally said in the Language of the People The Peasant knows as much and the very Ideot is not ignorant of it Sure the same may be granted to the FATHERS of the Church Then they cannot all be said with Injury to mistake in delivering what was the Belief of the Church in their dayes Petrus Venerabilis assures us that the Denyal of this pious Devotion for the Dead is a Breach of Faith S. Bernard believes this Article delivered in Scripture S. Isidore What is practised thorow the whole World and taught by the Apostles S. Austin What the Universal Church observes S. Chrysostom What is Instituted by the Apostles S. Epiphanius Which is ordained by the Church Eusebius What Christians did in the flourishing Encrease of the Church Arnobius How they pray'd for the Dead in time of Persecution Tertullian What Faith observes and Dionysius Disciple of S. Paul alledging the same Practice who can deny it to be Apostolical Tradition Or if it were nothing when the Pretended Reformers left the Roman Church to have utterly lost the whole Assembly of Fathers and renounc'd Apostolical Tradition yet it is considerable to overlook rather than believe this pious Devotion for the DEAD Recommended to us in the Maccabees in S. Matthew in S. Paul and in S. John the Beloved of CHRIST Good GOD What a state is that Christian in who rejects the Belief of the Universal Church of Christ contradicts Apostolical Order and struggles with Holy Scriptures The Apostles instituted what was right they were inspir'd by the Holy Ghost The whole Church erres not in her Belief the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her. Holy Scriptures agree in the Recommendation of the same Doctrine they are the infallible Word of GOD. Here I leave the Pretended Reformers to a serious Consideration of a speedy Conformity with the Church of Rome in this pious Practice and Belief of Praying for the DEAD THE END Ecclesiae Judicio subjiciantur
their final Consummation in Glory Euseb Hist l. 3. c. 39. An other Opinion there was of the Millenary Kingdom That those of the Faithful whose Piety had been most eminent should reign a thousand years in all delights with Christ upon earth A Third Opinion and that too not without Patrons was That all men being rais'd up at the Last Day should pass through a certain probatory Fire in which every man should be scorched and purified some more others less according as they had lived better or worser Lives here upon earth Pag. 47. The First says the Discourser Pray'd that GOD would comfort them in the bosome of Abraham with the blessed Company of Holy Angels and the Vision of our Saviour Christ till the wished for day of Judgment should come The Second flattered themselves That by their Prayers they might hasten the Felicity of their Friends and accordingly pray'd for their speedy rising in Christ's Kingdom The Third sort pray'd that God would have Mercy on their Dead at the last day and not suffer them to be so much sing'd and burnt in the General Conflagration at the end of the World. How true these things are I shall not enquire The Discourser advances them without proof and holds them no more than Opinions This is sufficient for me at present Pag. 5. But the Discourser avers that it is from these Opinions That those of the Roman Communion impose upon the unwary their pretence of Antiquity for this Doctrine Confidence will assert any thing And I expected a great Warranty for this bold Assertion And may expect long enough before I get one for the Discourser is so far from thinking of this that he has not as yet made Choice of which of these Opinions he shall pitch upon to do our business and therefore barely asserts from these Opinions it is but he knows not from which of them it is or rather he knows 't is from none of them nor upon any other pretence whatsoever do the Roman Catholicks endeavour to impose upon the Vnwary This indeed he waranted sufficiently wiping off in some manner the foregoing Aspersion Disc p. 10. by taking care to tell the Reader That he allow'd of what Natalis Alexander said to be the Belief in this point of the Roman Church Nat. Alexand. Sec. 4. par 3. pag. 352. Id unum itaque Catholicos inter Protestantes in Controversiam venit utrum Fides doceat aliquem esse defunctorum statum in quo poenis temporaneis expientur à quibus Ecclesiae precibus liberari vel in ijs sublevari possint These are Natalis's Words The only thing therefore that is in Controversy between Catholicks and Protestants is this whether Faith teaches there is a State of the Dead in which they shall be expiated by temporary Punishments and from which they may be freed or otherwise helped by the Prayers of the Church How far distant this Belief and Sense of Roman-Catholicks is from the Three mentioned Opinions a short perusal and slight comparison will abundantly evidence For the First that place of Sequester was free as the Discourser will have it of all pain and trouble And the Second that of the Millenary Kingdom overflow'd with satisfactions there is no Sin in either of them to be pardon'd no penalty to be endur'd which are the Motives Why Roman Catholicks pray that God will be pleas'd to help the detained in a Middle State or Purgatory Nor can the last State viz. that of the general Conflagration enter into this present Controversy because it has not as yet a Being it only will be Disc pag. 5. says the Discourser in the end of the World. And what is convincing the Discourser acknowledges all this to be true where he says It is evident to any one that shall please to compare these with the Account I shall hereafter give of the present Roman Purgatory how vastly different they were from what is now proposed to us as an Article of Faith. 'T is very true That Roman Catholicks distinguish between Faith and Opinion what they now believe in this present Controversy was alwaies lookt upon as part of a Christians duty But I cannot see how Reformers can allow of any such distinction Opinion increas'd their pretended Reformation of Religion into Thirty Nine Articles But Roman Catholicks are the Old Church with which Christ has promis'd and his Promises are certain to be present till the end of the World. Nihil innovetur nisi quod traditum est She daily repeats what blessed Pope Stephen said in the Third Age in the Voice of Her surviving and chief Pastors upon Earth Let nothing of Novelty be introduc'd keep what you have from Tradition CHAP. V. What it is the Church of Rome means by Praying for the Dead I Have already given a short and as I think satisfactory Account of this Chap. 3. in the Decree of the Council of Florence where it is determin'd That we pray for the Faithful deceased who have not sufficiently satisfy'd here upon earth for their Offences for which they now suffer that God would be pleas'd to free them from these Sufferings The Council of Trent teaches the very same Concil Trid. Sess 22. cap. 2. Docet sancta synodus sacrificium istud vere propitiatorium esse quod non solùm pro fidelium vivorum peccatis poenis satisfactionibus alijs necessitatibus sed pro defunctis in Christo nondum ad plenum purgatis rité juxta Apostolorum Traditionem offertur That the Sacrifice is an Expiation offer'd not only for the sins pains satisfactions and other necessities of the Living but also for the deceased in Christ not yet fully purg'd according to the Tradition of the Apostles In the Third Canon of the same Session Sess 22. Can. 3. Si quis dixerit Missa Sacrificium non esse propitiatorium neque pro Vivis Defunctis pro peccatis poenis satisfactionibus alijs necessitatibus offerri debere Anathema sit the same Council thus resolves If any shall say that the Mass is not a propitiatory Sacrifice nor ought to be offered for the Living and the Dead for their sins pains satisfactions and other necessities let him be Anathema And in the Decree of Purgatory we find these Words Since the Catholick Church Sess 25. Decretum de Pur. Cum Catholica Ecclesia Spiritu sancto educta ex sacris Literis antiqua Patrum-Traditione in sacris Conciliis novissime in hâc OEcumenica Synodo docuerit Purgatorium esse Animasque ibi detentas fidelium Suffragiis potissimum verò acceptabili Altaris Sacrificio juvari praecipit sancta Synodus c. inspir'd by the Holy Ghost has from Holy Scriptures and Ancient Tradition of Fathers taught in Holy Councils and last of all in this OEcumenical Synod that there is a Purgatory and that the Souls there detained are help'd by the Suffrages of the Faithful especially by the acceptable
intent these Obblations were made Tertullian teaches us elsewhere for lesser Faults for which the dead are imprison'd he GOD will cast thee into the infernal Goal Tertull. de Anima c. 35. Ille te in Carcerem mandet infernum unde non dimitteris nisi modico quoque delicto mora Resurrectionis expenso whence thou shalt not go forth until the smallest Fault be expiated in the delay of Resurrection And finally Tertullian affirms this middle state or prison where smaller Faults are to be expiated before the detained go to Heaven into the delay of Resurrection to be part of what the Church believ'd in these Words If you ask a Command for this in Scripture there is none to be found Lib. de Coron Mil. c. 4. Traditio tibi pretendetur auctrix consuetudo confirmatrix fides observator Tradition from the Apostles has increas'd this into a Precept Custom confirms it Faith observes it Dionysius Areopagita Makes mention of Three States of Men after death De Hierar Eccles. tom 1. c. 7. Edit Paris 1644. Pag 352. 357. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The First are the Wicked who die miserably and go straightway to Hell and for whom the Priest never prays at the Altar For the Wicked deceased he never prays The Second State is of the Just who go straightway to Heaven and of these he recounts two degrees Some liv'd a divine Life upon earth others not so fervent in Charity a holy Life both after death enjoy the sight of God. The Prelate prays for neither They want not his Prayers For both of them he gives Thanks to God Ib. pag. 352. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who leads here a divine says S. Denis and most holy Life as much as 't is possible for man to imitate God shall in the next World enjoy divine and happy Rest And whose Life is inferiour to this divine one yet likewise holy he will receive equal recompence for his Merits The blessed Prelate giving Thanks for this divine Justice goes on with the holy Sacrifice Thus the Roman Catholick Church holds prayers offer'd with reference to the Saints a Thanks-giving to GOD. Besides these Two States we find mention of a Third This cannot be Hell the place admits of Mercy It cannot be Heaven the detained are not yet fully purg'd from sin or lesser Faults And it is for the remission of these that the Prelate prays The Prayer of the Holy Prelate implores the Divine Goodness to pardon the deceased of all his sins committed by humane frailty Ib. Parag. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to transfer him into the light and region of the Living and to seat him in the Bosom of Abraham Isaac and Jacob in a place where there is no more any pain sorrow or sighing S. Maximus in his exposition of this passage S. Max. in Dionys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calls these Faults of human frailty little Sins and these are those venial Offences which accompanyed the dead to Purgatory there to be expiated before the detained change sorrow grief or weeping into joy and eternal felicity and of which the Church of ROME begs pardon in her Prayers for Souls departed And lest succeeding Ages should be forgetful of the dead or oppose this pious Devotion of the Faithful for them S. Denis guided with a Prophetick Spirit left in few words Three strong Motives which are of themselves proper to remind the Forgetful of this duty and able to convince any unbyas'd Understanding of it First he says That this Doctrine is divinely reveal'd Secondly That it is grateful to Heaven Thirdly That these Prayers will prove effectual to relieve the Dead Ib. Pag. 357 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The holy Bishop concludes this ancient FATHER asks what is divinely promis'd what is acceptable to God and what will certainly be granted And after this can any one pretend to be exempted from praying with intent to help Souls departed in a middle state of pain sorrow and sighing or of Purgatory where lesser Faults are expiated This is the sense the Greeks gave of Dionysius Areopagite and they understood his Language Mich. in Ep. ad Nilum Mona 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You have says Michael Glyca chiefly Dionysius the Great banishing the Opinion of no middle State and openly teaching what sins may and what may not be pardon'd For discoursing of those who died in Sin he adds this if they be small they receive help from Good Works which are done for them if they be notorious Faults GOD has concluded against them And Gabriel Severus a Greek Schismatick writing against the Latins about the being of real Fire in Purgatory which is no matter of Faith declares the Greeks agree with the Latins In as much as we the Greeks likewise affirm That the Souls of those who piously departed are help'd in those places in which they are kept Gab. Tract de Purgat adu Lat. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and set free by Alms-deeds and Prayers which are offer'd for them as Dionysius Areopagite says The Discourser apprehended very much the pressing of this ancient Father's Authority and therefore would have us doubt of his Works and calls him the pretended Dionysius But the two Greeks above-mentined call him the true Areopagite so does S. Gregory the Great S. Greg. hom 34. Evang. Conc. 6. Gen. Act. 5. Relatio est aliud Testimonium è Codicillo S. Dionysij Episcopi Atheniensis Martyris Apud Niceph. l. 15. c 14. S. Greg. Naz. orat 42. in Pascha so does the sixth OEcumenical Council Juvenalis Bishop of Jerusalem who Liv'd at the Time of the fourth OEcumenical Synod affirms the same S. Gregory Nazianzen makes use of this Authority Dionysius Alexandrinus Commented upon him in the Third Age as S. Maximus assures us And the Monotholite Hereticks citing his Authority 't was explicated by the Fathers of the Church as that of Dionysius And I think these grave and weighty Authorities will easily sink down the light Pretension of a Discourser CHAP. VIII Of Scriptures recommending Prayers for the DEAD HOly Scriptures have in many places recommended this pious Office to the Faithful I 'le content my self with three or four Instances The First shall be what we read in the Second Book and Twelth Chapter of The Maccabees And the day following Judas came with his Company to take away the bodies of them that were overthrown and with their Kins-men to lay them in the Sepulchres of their Fathers And they found under the Coats of the slain some of the Donaries of the Idols that were in Jamnia from which the Law forbideth the Jews therefore it was made plain to all that for that cause they were slain All therefore Blessed the just Judgment of our Lord who had made manifest the hidden things And turn'd to Prayers they beg'd of him that the Sin committed might be perfectly blotted out Then Judas exhorted the People to keep themselves from