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
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
Sacrifice of the Altar the holy Synod commands c. Our Article of Belief is thus worded in our profession of Faith Apud Conc. Trid. Sess 25. in fine Constanter teneo Purgatorium esse Animasque ibi detentas Fidelium Suffragijs juvari couch'd in the Bulla of Pius the Fourth I firmly hold that there is a Purgatory or middle State and that the Souls there retained are help'd by the Suffrages of the Faithful In the Canon of the Mass the Priest makes this Commemoration of the Dead In Can. Miss Memento etiam famulorum famularumque tuarum N. N. qui nos praecesserunt cum signo Fidei dormiunt in somno Pacis Be mindful O Lord of thy servants N. and N. who are gone before us with the sign of Faith and rest in the sleep of Peace Here are mention'd such Dead as are pray'd for in particular Ipsis Domine omnibus in Christo quiescentibus locum refrigerij lucis pacis ut indulgeas deprecamur Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum Amen To whom O Lord and to all that rest in Christ grant we beseech Thee a place of refreshment of light and of peace through the same Christ our Lord Amen In Miss Defunct Fidelium Deus omnium Conditor Redemptor animabus samulorum famularumque tuarum remissionem cunctorum tribue peccatorum ut indulgentiam quam semper optaverunt Piis supplicationibus consequantur And in the Mass for the Dead he prays thus O God the Creator and Redeemer of the Faithful grant to the souls of thy servants both men and women remission of all their sins that by the pious supplications of the faithful for them they may obtain the Pardon they have alwaies wished for Tho' the Custom Intention and Belief of the Roman Catholick Church be fully laid down and manifested from these publick Records as to what She means by praying for souls departed yet perhaps the repeating of them in some few Reflections may not be ungrateful to meaners Capacities I. Reflection WE pray for all Sinners though never so great of whose Salvation we have some Signs and Hopes at their departing hour For these may be call'd the Faithful deceased Conc. Flor. Sess ult in Definit Fidei This is what the Council of Florence includes in these Words If they dyed truly penitent in the Love of God. They may be called the deceased in Christ as the Council of Trent expresses it Con. Trid. Sess 22. c. 2. and the Souls of thy Servants as the Priest prays for them in the Mass for the Dead Nor ought we to be blamed for complying with this pious Exercise though some of the deceased for whom Prayers are offer'd should be really in Heaven or in Hell for in doubtful things the securest is best to be chosen And Prayers some wayes or other still prove beneficial S. Austin illustrates this after his usual manner with great sense and approbation When Offerings either of the Altar says this Father or of Alms are ordered for all the Dead who were Baptised in Christ S. Aug. Enchir. 110. Cum ergo Sacrifica sive Altaris sive quarumcunque Eleemosynarum pro Baptizatis defunctis omnibus offeruntur pro valdè bonis gratiarum actiones sunt pro non valde malis propitiationes sunt pro valdè malis si nulla sunt Adjumenta Mortuorum qualescunque Vivorum Consolationes sunt if they be made for the very Good or Saints they are thanksgivings if for them who are not very Bad or in a middle State they are Expiations if for the very Wicked or the Damned although they prove not advantagious to these unfortunate Deceased yet they become Consolations to the Living They are Witnesses of the performance of their Christian Charity II. Reflection VVE pray that God would be pleas'd to lessen the pain which the Faithful deceased endure in a middle State. Conc. Flor. in Decret The Council of Florence declares we pray with intent to free them from their Sufferings that of Trent affirms Con. Trid. Sess 22. Can. 3. The sacrifice is offer'd as an Expiation for their pains the Priest at Mass in the Memento begs That God would grant them a place of Refreshment What this Pain substantially consists in the Church allowing of a Middle State concludes to be the suspension of seeing God which musts needs be grievous in regard the Object expected is so earnestly desired For Hope prolong'd Proverb Spes quae differtur affligit Animam as the wise Man teaches torments the Soul. How far this suspension of seeing God is extended whether accompanied with grief or darkness or anguish or real fire when these pains are to end where undergon in the dusky aire where the Devils dwell or under ground or elsewhere are School-Questions variously agitated by Divines and appertain not to Faith. But we are sure there is some pains to be endur'd because there is somthing of sins remain to be purg'd and pardon'd III. Reflection THe cause of Pain is Sin Sin consists of Two Parts The Fault which stains the Soul and the Guilt which Renders it Liable to punishment If the Sin be mortal eternal if venial it must be temporal For all Sin deserves some punishment Now besides eternal pain which the Fault of all mortal Sin carries along with it there remains sometimes at least the Guilt of some temporal penalty due to the Justice of God to be paid in this world or in the next The Church has pronounced this Truth in these Words of the Council of Trent Conc. Trid. Can. 30. Sess 6. Si quis post acceptam Justificationis gratiam cuilibet peccatori poenitenti ita Culpam remitti reatum aeternae poenae deleri dixerit ut nullus remaneat reatus poenae temporalis exsolvendae vel in hoc saeculo vel in futuro in Purgatorio antequam ad regna Coelorum aditus patere possit Anathema sit If any one shall say That the Fault after the Grace of Justification is so remitted to every penitent Sinner and the Guilt of eternal Punishment is so blotted out that there remains no Guilt of temporal pain to be paid for now or hereafter in Purgatory before there be an Entrance granted into the Kingdom of Heaven let him be Anathema And GOD has revealed the same in Holy Scriptures Is it not true That the Fault and Guilt of eternal Punishment of the first Sin which we call Original are both expiated and and quite wash'd away in the waters of Baptism And yet there remains a Guilt of temporal Affliction to be undergone that of Death Rom. 5.12 We must all die Again the Israelites grievously offended God by murmuring Moses interceded for them Numb 14. And our Lord said I have forgiven it And yet God with the same breath declares That he has not remitted the temporal Punishment which remains due to His Divine Justice This they are to pay Their Fathers
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
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
the like Sin made a Collection among them of a considerable summ of Money and sent it to Jerusalem to offer Sacrifice for the Sin well and religiously thinking of the Resurrection Edit Sixti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For unless he hop'd that they that were fallen should rise again it would seem superfluous and vain to pray for the Dead After considering that there is an excellent Reward laid up for those that die piously which was a Holy and Godly Thought he therefore made an Expiation for the Dead that they might be Absolv'd from their Sin. This is so plain and easy that I cannot imagin how any one except he wilfully will mistake should understand it otherwise than in the Roman Catholick Affirmation The Sin questionless that they committed whom GOD permitted to be cut off by the Enemy was mortal The Law forbad to covet Deut. 7. Josh 7. or take any thing appertaining to Idols They were commanded to destroy it and therefore because this People had taken the Donaries of Idols they were slain says the Text. Judas and his Company hop'd that their fellow-Souldiers repented before they died of their grievous Sin. There was sufficient Ground for this They fought in defence of their Country and their Religion For these they bravely Ventur'd their Lives As therefore the Justice of GOD punished their Crime by permitting them to be kill'd might not their surviving Associates hope the Divine Goodness would recompence the venturing of their Lives for GOD's Honour and Glory by Repentance before Death surpriz'd them His Mercy exceeds all other of the Divine Attributes At least this makes the case dubious And in ambiguous things a favourable Interpretation is approv'd of For who knows the sense of the Lord or who was His Counsellor If this be not satisfactory what follows will convince you for it is certain That Judas order'd Prayers to be offer'd for the slain because he hop'd they repented of their Sin Considering says the Text That there is an excellent Reward laid up for those that die godlily he therefore made an expiation for the Dead Is not a godly Death a mark of Repentance These Prayers order'd by Judas were offer'd as an Atonement for the Sin of the deceased That this was his design is apparent No body can dispute the being of a Sacrifice among the Jews which was offer'd for Sin. The Law of Moses in Numbers and Deuteronomy frequently makes mention of such a one And all the Tribes forthwith after the Battle agreeing in a general Collection of a summ of Money to be sent upon this Account to Jerusalem demonstrate that this Sin-Offering was extended to and allow'd of for the Dead Two Motives excited Judas hereunto First the Resurrection to Life For unless he hop'd that they that were fallen should rise again it would seem superfluous and vain to pray for the Dead And Secondly the Pardon of Sin after considering continues the Text That there is an excellent Reward laid up for those that die godlily he therefore made an Expiation for the Dead that they might be absolv'd from their Sin. By Sin for which Prayers were offered is meant the remainder of mortal Sin the Guilt which infers an Obligation to some temporal Penalty this is evident Judas hop'd that the Slain died godlily or repented but he could not be of this perswasion unless he likewise believ'd that the Fault of their notorious Crime was pardon'd For Repentance carries along with it Forgiveness Whensoever you shall invoke my Name saith the LORD I will hear you Now besides the Guilt of eternal Damnation which follows the Fault of grievous Offences as the shadow does the body both standing or perishing together there can nothing remain to which the Title of Sin may be given but the Guilt which infers an Obligation to temporal Punishment 'T is then this Guilt which is here call'd Sin for which Judas after the hope of Pardon and Repentance of the Fault as the Text affirms Considering That there is an excellent Reward laid up for those that die godlily who repent of their Sins and are pardon'd therefore made an Expiation for the Dead that they might be absolv'd from their Sin. This is further confirm'd in these other Words of the Text And turning to Prayers they beg'd of God That the Sin Committed might be perfectly blotted out The Sin then was before blotted out the Fault pardon'd but not perfectly blotted out the Guilt which deserv'd some temporal Penalty remain'd to be expiated For had they deem'd it had been before perfectly blotted out they would not have beg'd of God a perfect Forgiveness This had been already Granted There was then some Penalty that remain'd of which they beg'd forgiveness But the Pain of Sin is ordinarily speaking only compleatly satisfied with pain Nor can any one hope to be perfectly pardon'd of Sin according to the rate of God's ordinary Providence without entire satisfaction which if not paid now must hereafter be compensated This is exactly what Mr. de Meaux Writes of the Roman Catholick Belief in this point in his excellent Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church Exposit pag 17. Sect. 8. which all Christendom approves of Those who depart this Life says this Venerable Prelate in Grace and Charity but nevertheless indebted to the Divine Justice some Pains which it reserv'd are to suffer them in the other Life This is what Oblig'd all the Primitive Christians to offer up Prayers Alms-deeds and Sacrifices for the Faithful who departed in Peace and Communion of the Church with a certain Faith that they might be assisted by these means This is what the Council of Trent proposes to us to believe touching Souls departed in Purgatory Sess 25. de Purg. without determining in what their Pains consist or many other such like things concerning which this Holy Council demands great Moderation blaming those who divulge what is uncertain or suspected And to finish This passage of Holy Scripture out of the Second Book of Maccabees is so strong and convictive in behalf of praying for the Dead that our Adversaries can have nothing at all to say for themselves but with a strange Boldness to deny these Books to be part of the Bible Yet the old Editions of Scripture in English which were printed near the Beginning of the Pretended Reformation give them without distinction their proper place in the Bible What private Revelation the Reformers have had since to displace them and cast them out they never told us The Discourser indeed gives us this Reason for it that they were never receiv'd by the Jews as Canonical That we may well understand the Meaning of this Objection it will not be amiss to speak here of Two Canons of a Bible which the Jews used The First Canon of the Bible was composed by Esdras This is generally allow'd of The Second Collection was more ample and encreas'd by the superaddition of many Books to the former This was more
rarely spoken of in ancient Times because less common 'T was compil'd sometime before our Saviours comming with the addition of those Books which were Written after the Collection of the First Canon Lib. 2. Cont. Appion Joseph the Jew assures us of such an addition made where he cites the Text of Ecclesiastick as part of their Scripture which Book is not found in the Collection of the First Canon of the Jews and was written near Two Hundred Years after it This suppos'd I am of the Discoursers mind that the Books of Maccabees were not by the Jews acknowledg'd as part of the First Collection of Canonical Scripture they were written near Three Hundred Years after the First Collection made by Esdras But can the Discourser prove to me that these Books were not by the Jews receiv'd as part of the Second Collection of Canonical Scripture If the Discourser notwithstanding this reasonable Distinction remains unsatisfied and still scruples their Authenticness and continues to say that the Jews did not receive them as Canonical I le humour him in this and grant him what he asks But are we Jews If the Jews did not the Church of Christ receiv'd them as Canonical Scripture S. Jerome 't is true says In Praef. Salom that the Church did not look upon them as part of that Canonical Scripture which was contain'd in the First Canon of the Jews and which was universally receiv'd from the beginning by all Christians So did S. Gregory the Great Lib. Moral 19. c. 13. Neither of them deny the Maccabees to be part of that entire Canon of Scripture which the Church of Christ appprov'd of and read in their dayes In this entire Canon of Scripture Canon 47. Sunt autem Canonicae Scripturae Maccabaeorum Libri duo the Third Council of Carthage which all well-meaning Christians alwayes look'd upon as Orthodox number'd the Maccabees So did Innocent the First Head of the Universal Church of Christ upon Earth in his Letter to Exuperius Bishop of Tholouse S. Austin in express Words says That the Jews do not receive the Books of Maccabees as Canonical S. Aug. l. 18. de Civit. Dei. c. 37. Maccabaeorum Libros non Judaei sed Ecclesia pro Canonicis habet but the Church does And in the Second Age the Valentinian Hereticks asserted That the Bible no where patroniz'd it to be lawful to venture their Lives for GOD ALMIGHTY's sake And Origen instanc'd that Famous Example of the Mother and seven Sons who died upon this Account out of the Second of Maccabees as part of Holy Scripture and confuted them Reasons without exception that if the Jews did not Christians number'd these Books with the rest of Canonical Scripture In S. Matthew We read an other Confirmation of this Truth where Christ himself says Chap. 12. v. 32. That the Sin against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven neither in this World nor in that to come I cannot chuse here but take Notice how wittily the Discourser Reasons upon the World to come He will have the World to come to be in this present World and not to be till this World end Thus he delivers himself They Catholicks suppose That the World to come Page 19. must signify the time between every mans Death and the General Resurrection The World to come cannot be till this World end i. e. till the time be That Purgatory shall be no more which now is in this Present World. I expected the acuteness of so sharp a Wit could have distinguished between Life and Death this World and the next especially when Scripture had done it before him We therefore following the distinction which Scripture gives understand by this World this present Life which all Mankind more or less enjoys and by that to come the State of Man after Death a middle State where some Sin is to be expiated 'T is certain that by this passage neither in this World nor in that to come is meant that the Sin against the Holy Ghost in which Man dies is never to be forgiven For if it were ever to be forgiven certainly it would be pardon'd in this World or that to come for no other place can be assign'd where Pardon is to be expected S. M. c. 3. v. 29. And thus S. Mark interprets the Phrase He hath not Forgiveness for ever and shall be guilty of an eternal Sin. From hence Roman Catholicks infer That there are some Sins not eternal to be pardon'd in the next World and if to be pardon'd without dispute in a middle state of Souls for whose delivery Prayers are offer'd by the Faithful living Our Reason is because Scripture assigns this World and that to come as the only two places where Sin may be pardon'd saying That the Sin against the Holy Ghost shall in neither of them or never be pardon'd Let those sayes S. Bernard who deny Purgatory ask of him S. Bern. super Cantica Serm. 66. Quaerant ergò ab eo qui dixit quoddam peccatum esse quod neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro remitteretur Cur hoc dixerit si nulla manet in futuro remissio purgatione peccatis who said there is some Sin which shall neither be forgiven in this World nor in that to come Why did he say this if there remain in the World to come no forgiveness or purgation of Sin S. Isidore of Spain is more express Lib. 1. de off Eccles. c. 18. Nam cum Dominus dicit qui peccaverit in Spiritum sanctum non remitteretur ei neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro demonstrat quibusdam illic dimittenda peccata quodam purgatorio igne purganda For when our Lord says whosoever shall sin against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this World nor in that to come he demonstrates that Sin is forgiven to some there and expiated in a certain Purgatory Fire And to the same Words of CHRIST S. Austin gives the like Interpretation S. Aug. Civit. Dei l. 2. c. 24. De Defunctis quibusdam vel ipsius Ecclesiae vel quorundam piorum exauditur Oratio neque enim de quibusdam veraciter diceretur quod non eis remittatur neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro nisi essent quibus etsi non in isto tamen remittetur in futuro For some Souls departed the Prayers of the Church or pious Persons are heard for otherwise it would not be truly said of some that it should not be forgiven them neither in this World nor in that to come unless there were some to whom if not in this it shall be forgiven in the World to come And I am of opinion if the Discourser will but seriously consider our Saviours own Words that he will acknowledge some Sins to be pardon'd in this Life and some after Death I shall instance only one Example somewhat of the like nature to convince him If
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