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
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
some of the Discoursers Companions should tell him that he had a Law-suit in hand and that he was certain never to win it neither at the Kings-Bench nor Court of Chancery I am perswaded the Discourser or any man of sense would infer from this Person 's talk that Law-suits were pleaded both at the Kings-Bench and in Chancery And why will he not infer from these Words of our Saviours Some sins shall never be pardon'd neither in this World nor in that to come that there are some sins both pardonable in this World and in that to come And if there be some sins there to be forgiven I suppose he will allow of some Pain there to be suffered for all sin deserves some Punishment And 't is upon this account the Roman Church prays for the Dead that their pain may be eased and sins forgiven S. Paul 1 Cor. c. 15. v. 29. Makes use of two Arguments to verify the Resurrection of Man Devotion perform'd for the Dead and the exposing of his own Life which was in danger preaching this ineffable Mystery which is the Foundation of Christian Religion Otherwise says the Text what shall they do that are baptised for the Dead if the Dead rise not at all Why also are they baptised for them Why also are we in danger every hour I expect here the Discourser will exclaim against the hardness of this passage I am somewhat of his opinion 't is so difficult that if I were a Reformer I could make no sence of it Mark 10. Orat. in S. Lumina This Word Baptism as hard as 't is S. Mark interprets to be pain or austerity And S. Gregory Nazianzen calls Purgatory Fire the last Baptism But let the word Baptism signify whatever affliction the Discourser shall please to assign Penance or Prayer it will still Literally be true that it is performed to benefit the Dead For if the Dead are not hereby helped why does S. Paul urge again so earnestly Why also to what end are they baptised or afflicted for them If this Devotion profit not the Dead might not we answer the Apostle and say to no end at all And so void and silence his pressing Forwardness Far be it from me Divine APOSTLE to contend against thy Testimony S. John The beloved Disciple of Christ speaks of Two states of Sinners after Death He speaks of those who we know depart in mortal or deadly sin For these he forbids us to pray They are without Redemption abandon'd by God. S. John speaks of an other sort of Sinners whom we know by outward signs of Repentance die not in deadly sin For these he does encourage us if he do not command us with confidence to pray And this is says the Scripture Ep. Catho 1. Chap. 5. v. 14. the Confidence which we have towards him that whatsoever we shall ask according to His Will He heareth us He that knoweth his Brother to sin a Sin not to Death let him him ask and Life shall be given him sinning not to Death Here is Encouragement for us to pray for those who die with Repentance And Two strong Motives excite us hereunto First We are encourag'd thus to pray because we ask What is according to GOD's Will And Secondly God will hear us pardon the Delinquent and give him Life everlasting The Text continues There is a sin to Death for that I say not that any man ask Here is an Inhibition to pray for any of whom we have no signs no Hopes of Repentance at their Death I do not expect here that the Discourser will deny S. John speaks of Praying for the Dead The Text is too plain against him And what is convincing neither the Church nor any Man is disswaded here from praying for any Sinner yet living nor for the Remission of any Sin in this Life I know the Montanist Hereticks held some sins not pardonable But the Church of Christ before the Death of any Sinner prays and is often heard for the sins of Hereticks Jews Turks Apostates or what other Infidels or ill-Livers soever in the World so long as Life is all have hopes of Pardon But S. John speaks here of a Sinner now placed in such a state that Prayer for him will not be available therefore he speaks of praying for the sins of the Departed Of these some die without repentance These we are not to pray for Others duly repent for these we are encouraged to pray and God will hear us and give them Life everlasting CHAP. IX Of Purgatory IF the Word Purgatory be not found in Scripture no pious Reader ought upon this sole account to scruple at it the sense of it is delivered in Holy Writ Do we read any where in the Bible of the Word Trinity We all of us believe in the blessed Trinity one GOD and three divine Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost The Word Catholick is not written in Scriptures We all of us profess in the Creed I believe one Catholick Church By the Word Purgatory we not improperly signify a middle state after Death where Souls departed endure some Pain for smaller Offences not forgiven in this World. That there is such a state of Souls I have already from Fathers and Scripture demonstrated for if both these teach us to pray as I have shewn that God will be pleased to deal with some Souls departed more mildly than their sins deserve to forgive them and to seat them in the Kingdom of Heaven who can justly refuse the being of Purgatory This is all we mean by it This is our Belief and of this I will add one more Proof very plain and easy There are two sorts of sin Mortal and Venial I call a Mortal sin that Crime which breaks Charity between God and the Delinquent and for which hee 's to suffer eternal pain I mean by Venial sin that Fault which lessens Friendship between God and the Just for which he must undergoe some Penalty because he has transgres'd yet not that of eternal Damnation I know that God might have punished all sins and this too with Justice eternally But the Divine Goodness considering the weakness of human frailty which failes almost at every step it makes will'd all Offences should not be Mortal or lyable to everlasting Torments This he has revealed to us in S. Matthew where we read Math. 5.23 Whosoever is angry with his Brother shall be in danger of Judgment whosoever shall say to his Brother Raca shall be in danger of Council whosoever shall say to his Brother thou Fool shall be guilty of Hell Fire Is not here an uncontroul'd difference of two sorts of sin Some are guilty of Hell Fire these I call Mortal Others are not guilty of Hell Fire but in danger of Judgment these I name Venial faults And they are these quotidian slips which the Prophet attributes to the Just who fails seven times a day If he be just hee 's GOD's Favourite and not guilty