hour of death from Anselme Some sins are specially and by name to be rehearsed in confession The nature and quality of those sins described and determined p. 179. CHAP. VIII Of the Confessary or Priest that receiveth confessions and his authority for the same Divided into two Sections p. 208. SECT I. The vulgarly disesteem of the power of Absolution in the hand of Priests Keys diverse Of 1. Authority 2. Excellency 3. Ministery The office of the Ministerial key in discerning and defining Ecclesiastical and conscientious Consistories The gift of Science in the Priest not properly the Key but the Guide Absolution a judicial act Magistrates spiritual and temporal distinguished in their jurisdiction and ends Bonds of sin culpable and for sin penal Satisfaction expiatory vindictive God for giveth sins properly and effectively The Priest by way of application and notice as also dispositively qualifying by his function sinners for the same in which he proceedeth as a subordinate cause both declaratively and operatively The priority of binding and loosing on Earth to Heaven in respect of the sensible apprehension in the Penitent not of the purpose and operation in God Power of Absolution primitive in God in his Ministers derivative and delegate A Penitent absolving himself by the finger of Gods Spirit in what sense The power of binding in the Church rather privative than positive and declarative onely p. 211. SECT II. Peter seised of the keys to the use of the Church â—ower of Absolution conferred and confined unto Priests â—aicks usting the same not in case of office but necessity and where they are the parties grieved Bonds of the soul and sin onely loosed by this key The accomplishment and actual donation of this power God remitteth by the Churches act The form of Priestly Ordination Heresie of the Novations denying in the Church power to reconcile Penitents Seed and bellows thereof austerity of those times Absolution in the Priest not absolutely efficacious but as relating to conditions in the Penitent The Priest not secured from failing in the act of absolution The erring key Priestly absolution declarative and demonstrative and in a moral sense energetical Judgments forinsecal are applied declarations of the Law to the fact Absolution a Ministerial act but powerful and judicial but not Soveraign nor despotical The spirit of judgment to discerne and determine how necessary for Priests in the act of absolution Fathers making Priests Judges of the Conscience The exercise of the keys 1. In the word of reconciliation 2. In Prayer ancient forms of absolution expressed in a deprecative manner not indicative 3. In the Sacraments 4. In interdictions and relaxations of publick censures Keys abused at Rome dangerous to Soveraign Majesties and Republicks The superciliousness of Roman Priests in usurping upon Divine right subjecting the power of forgiveness in God to their arbitrements Their preposterous way in absolving first and afterwards in enjoyning Penanâ—â— The feigned virtue of absolution Ex opere operato destructive of Piety and penitency Conditions requisite in the Penitent to be relieved by the keys and lawful use of Absolution p. 239. CHAP. IX Paternal affection in the Confessary Good for sheep if the shepherd know their diseases Medicinal Confession The grief better healed when clearer opened Ghostly counsel of great importance to a Penitent Great care in the choice of a discreet Confessor Rome's rigid Tenet Absolution denounced by any Priest besides the Ordinary to be invalid The inconveniences thereof The Parochial Priest not to be deserted without just cause and the same to be approved by the Diocesan p. 282. CHAP. X. Many positive precepts without fixed times The practick for times and seasons left to the Churches arbitration Times necessary for Confession when particular persons and consciences are perplexed Times convenient for all Christians 1. When visited with desperate diseases 2. Vpon the undertaking of solemn actions and exploits accompanied with danger and meeding special help from God 3. Vpon the receiving of the blessed Eucharist before which Confession to the Priest is alwayes Convenient and sometimes necessary and the neglect thereof in some cases damnable p. 295. CHAP. XI All convenient secrecy apprimely requisite in the Confessary Suspicion of discovery a great enemy to confession Sins already committed with expressions of grief to be concealed The Schoolmen bringing sins de futuro to be committed within the compass of the seal The damnable doctrine of the Jesuites that Treasons and Conspiracies yet plotting against Church or State and confessed to the Priest ought to be shut up in privacy The odious consectaries and inconveniences thereof Examples of sundry Confessors revealing treasons detected in Confession The preservation of Prince Church or State to be preferred before the secrecy of the Seal Sins opened in confession the concealment whereof complieth not with the Priests fidelity to his Prince and Countrey to be discovered Marriage in the Clergy no prejudice to the lawful secrecy of the seal especially if the penalty of the old Canons against the violaters thereof should be revived p. 300. CHAP. XII An Historical relation of the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England concerning Confession and the practice thereof by some of the chief Members in the same p. 312. OF CONFESSION OF SINNE ΠΡΟΘΕΩΡΙΑ BE perswaded industrious Reader to stand a little at the Gate and receive this light in the Porch lest a scandal may be taken where none is given The subject the Author of this ensuing discourse treateth upon is a duty of late times laid aside and which through the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sluggishness of our devotion hath waxed old as it were and wasted it self but now beginneth to peep out from under a cloud of many abuses Inertiâ Caesarum quasi consenuit atque decoxit nisi sub Trajano Principe movet lacertos c. Florus Prolog histor and the sinews thereof requickned with spirits and motion as the Historian said of the decayed Empire of Rome And because the practice thereof is no whit plausible to flesh and bloud it is likely to be opposed by all such that are not guided by the Spirit He foreseeth also that some though otherwise well minded may herein be contrary-minded which may well come to pass by not looking narrowly into the duty it self covered under a mass of inordinances and thereupon crying down the duty because of the abuse But his hope is they will be better perswaded when they shall perceive the same to be defecated and disabused The matter it self is of no small importance and conducing to Repentance for sin and Remission And herein a great and learned Antiquary said truly that the chiefest point of the Ecclesiastical state and function is taken up in Repentance it self Ecclesiasticae rei functionisque praecipua pars poenitenliâ ejusque usu administratione continetur Dionys Petav. animadvers in Epiphan haeres 59. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 1.10 the use and administration thereof His care hath
by our Priests likewise Mittit Christus nè calumninrentur Sacerdotes Calv. Nec repudiavit penitùs christus Judaeorum presbyterium cùm de leprae dijudicatione ageretur Ostende te inquiens Sacerdoti Beza de Presb. excom p. 17. Why then did Christ send them thou wilt say To shew the respect he bare unto Levi's order and to remove that scandal as if he went about to break the Law And why the Lepers above all others of the diseased were sent to Christ Lyra gives two reasons 1. That the Priests might testifie if they were thorough by healed 1. Quia Sacerdotes debebant judicare num talip eâ—â—et verè curatus 2. Quia pro sua emendatione tenebatur offerre sacrificium determinatum in lege Lyr. in Luc. 17. and so against their wills be witnesses of the Lepers coration and Christs miracle 2. To offer for their healing the sacrifice appointed under the Law upon other errands than they were sent and not to confess their sins Remitted then they were unto the Priests for trial and examination not for any acknowledgment not to confess they were Lepers but to make it apparent to the Priests first and by the Priests to the people that they were healed from their Lepry and freed from the danger of infecting It being the Priests office to try such men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylact in Luc. 17. and they to undergo the censure How impertinent then is it to infer a Divine institution from a politick ordinance Importuna est illorum allegoria qui legem merè politicam inter ceremonias reponunt Calvin and to make a Law of State to become a typical ceremony especially where the manner and end are so different Siste te summo Sacerdoti de publico coetu intelligendus est ut praeteream fieri id solitum magis ad publicam gratiarum actionem vel ad partae sanitatis aut alterius cujuspiam beneficii judicium Iac. Rex Med. in Orat. Dom. p. 63. lat edit for in Auricular Confession the sin is acknowledged here the binefit the act there is private here publick there the spiritual lepry is revealed that it may be cured here after the cure that it may be censured there that the Confessed sinner might be restored to the saithful society here that the convicted leper might be exiled there exposed as an example of devotion here expelled upon danger of infection there penitents make their resort to receive the benefit and here the lepers to be thankful for the benefit received This shewing therefore unto the Priests shews no such matter as Auricular Confession to be of Divine right and institution We must then see better cards Their best plea is from the words of Christ Receive the holy Ghost Ioh. 20.22 23 whose sins soever ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose sins soever ye retain they are retained Words of a pregnant sense in the Church of Rome as to bring forth at one venter twins two Sacraments of Penance and of Oeder That Christ therein conferred a power to the Apostles and their successors over sins is a clearer truth than may well be denied but whether such a power over consciences as is exercised in that Church must now be questioned The power it self in remitting and retaining fins we must adjourn to its proper place and must for the present examine whether the words of Christ in themselves considered or by necessary consequent prove auricular confession to be of divine right and institution The Roman Divines insist upon the latter and endeavour by necessary consequent to infer the same thus Such as have fallen into sin after Baptisme are bound by Gods law to repent thereof and seek to be reconciled unto him but none can be truly penitnet or reconciled unto God without confession of sin unto the Priest which assumption they further confirm thus Christ hath instituted the Priests judges upon earth with such power Christus instituit Sacerdotes Judices super terram cum ea potestate ut sine ipsorum sententia nemo post Baptismum lapsus reconciliari potest sed nequent Sacerdotes judicare nisi peccata cognoscant Bellar. lib. 3. de poenit c. 2. as without their sentence No sinner after his Baptisme can be reconciled but no Judge can pass a sentence upon unknown sins and secret sins cannot be known but by Confession of the party therefore they conclude c. from which discourse thus framed arise in their opinion these two Consectaries 1. That Priests are instituted by divine right to hear and determine of sins brought before them by Confession 2. Comme l'institution des Prestres est de droit divine pour confesser les Pecheurs ausi est bien la confession des Pechez pour estre sait devant ses Juges comme Diâ—u les a ordonaé commandé aux Prestres d'ouir les confessions pardonner les pechez ausi par la mesme ordonnance commandment à il obligâ— les fideles Penitens a lieur dâ—coâ—urir declarerleurs sautes D. Bâ—ss Carefme Tom. 2 p. 724. That sinners are injoyned by the same authority to appear at this Tribunal and there to accuse themselves that they may be absolved And as God hath ordained and commanded Priests to hear Confessions and to pardon sins so by the same ordinance and command hith he obliged the believing Penitents to discover and declare their offences No argument more cried up than this and as common with Romes proselytes as water in Tiber and thou hast it good Reader as it is pressed by a Jesuite and a Soâ—bonist who would be thought to be the onely Scribes and Pharisees of Papal Divinity and mayst observe how all the force hangs but upon the by one wheel moving another that if the least flaw happen in any one the motion that is the conclusion ceaseth Many consequences but how put together by what pins and contignations that 's a secret depinge ubi sistam Persius Satyr ult Inventus Crysippe tui finitor acervi For according to this induction without Confession to a Priest no absolution and without Priestly absolution no remission and without remission from the Priest no reconciliation with God Or thus No reconcilement betwixt God and a sinner except his repentance be sincere no Repentance is sincere till the Priest approve and judge it to be so no Priest can judge of the Sincerity of Repentance without notice of the offence and notice he cannot have without a sinners confession Christus certè nihil horum dicit in sententia illa Joan. 20 de tali judiciario processu nulla syllaba ibi extat Chemnit ex part 2. p. 178. Thus have you this argument up-staires and down-staires And if all these inferences flow so naturally and necessarily from the text how dull-sighted were the Ancient Doctors that could espy none of them Let us tread this Climax 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
their trust is committed the Ministery of Reconciliation of this key Saint Ambrose thus Behold sins are forgiven by the holy Ghost Ecce quia per Spiritum Sanctum peccata donantur homines autem in remission em peccatorum Ministerium suum exhibent non jus alicujus potestatis exercent neque enim in suo sed in Patris Fihi Spiritus Sancti peccata dimittuntur isti rogant divinitas donat humanum enim obsequium sed Munificentia supernae est potestatis Ambr. l. 3. de Spir. S. cap. 19. but men contribute their Ministery toward the Remission of sin but exercise no right of any power for sins are not remitted in their name but in the name of the Father the Son aâ—d the Holy Ghost they supplicate and pray God grants and pardoneth the service is from man but the bounty from an higher power So then the higher power is the key of authoâ—ity and the humane service is the key of Ministery These several keys were well known to Scotus who writeth thus Authoritas judiciaria sententiandi coelum huic aperiendum vel apertum esse tripliciter intâ—lligitur 1. Authoritas simpliciter principalis solius Dei 2. Non Princâ—palis sed praecellens solius Christi quâ—tatum ad duplicem prae minentiam 1. unam quidem in universaâ—itate causarum judicaâ—darum 2. aliam in siâ—mitate sementiae dâ—siâ—itivae utraque praeeminâ—nia potest conâ—nircilli qui omnia mâ—rita dâ—â—â—rita novit quae sunt â—ausae propâ—er quas coeluÌ„â—st aperiendu vel claudenduÌ„ habet etià voluâ—taâ—eÌ„ inseparaâ—iliter conformem justitiae divinae propter pâ—imuÌ„ pâ—rest in omnibus causis sentâ—â—tiarâ— quia omâ—â—es novit propter secuadum potâ—st ejuâ— sententia sâ—aplicitâ—r esse fiâ—ma irrevocabilis quia semâ—er justa Non potest haec Clavis esse in ecclesiâ— Militante qâ—ia nullus in ecâ—lesia novet omnes causaâ—â—udiciarias nec habet voluntatem imâ—nutabilitâ—r justam 3. Paâ—ticulaâ—is quantâ—m ad causas cognoscendas infirma quantum ad sententiam ferendam puta quia ipsa fit aliquando revocabilis si quando praeter lâ—gem divinam judicat potest ergò esse in ecclesia una clavis coelum aperiendi sc autoritas sententiandi particulariter non irrevocabiliter coelum esse apertum Scot. l. 4. dist 19. Sect. Haec secunda Judicial authority in censuring heaven to be open or to be opened to any man or not is understood in a threefold sense 1. as the most principal and absoluâ—e residing in God onely 2. not as the most principal but a very excellent authâ—rity appertaiâ—ing unto Christ by a double preeminence which he hath 1. â—ver all causes as one who knoweth all mens hearts and can judge thereof 2. in the validity of his sentence definitive as ever just and never to be repealed which prerogative can onely sort with him who knoweth how well or ill all men have deserved for heaven stands open and shut towards us according as our deserts are as also in regard the will of Christ is and ever was undividedly conformable to divine justice for the first reason He may be a Judge in all causes who knoweth all things and for the second his sentence is firm and irrevocable because alwayes just The militant Church is not capable of this key because there is not any member in that Church endowed with so ample intellectuals as to know all causes nor hath a will so confirmed in justice as therein to be immutable 3. There is a particular authority to hear causes but weak to give sentence and is many times revocable as pronounced besides the law of God there may be then in the Church a certain key to open heaven that is the authority of sentencing in particular and yet heaven not irrevocably open unto any Thus much Scotus from whose testimony clearly stream these deductions 1. The Ministerial key in the custody of the Church is not so ample and firm as that excellent key which is upon Christs shoulder and those words As my Father sent me so send I you relate to the certainty of the Commission and not to the extent thereof 2. That there is not in the Militant Church therefore not at Rome such a key as can fit all wards or such a Judge as can take cognizance of all causes nor is there that Oecumenical jurisdiction intituling Rome above all and unto all nor do all causes turn upon that Rota 3. That there is no mortal Judge either Ecclesiâ—stical or Civil so confirmed in justice Clavis triplex 1. Authoritatis istam habet solus Dâ—us qui solus dimittit peccata authoritativè 2. Excellentiae quaÌ„ solus homo Christus habet ia quantum essecâ—uÌ„ Sacramentorum potest dare siâ—e Sacrameatis 3. Clavis Ministerii istam clavem habent Sacerdotes per quam ligant solvunt Raymond sum tract 4. de Poenit. but that he may swerve and deviate from that rule Nullus in Ecclâ—sia saith Scotus In the Church no not one but hath a will subject to change the Pope then that boasteth of the infallibility of his keys either is not of the Church or above it And as this Schoolman hath expressed the differential properties of these keys so a Canonist the several titles and persons to whom they appertain The key saith he is tripartite 1. of Authority and that is in the hands of God alone who onely forgiveth sins with authority 2. Of Excellency which the man Christ hath insomuch that he without the Sacraments can confer the effect and benefit of the Sacraments 3. Of the Ministery and this key is in the custody of the Priests by virtue whereof they bind and loose The Church then must rest contented and good cause she hath so to do with this Ministerial key for the first authentical key posuit pater in potestate sua the Father hath put in his own power for the excellent key omnem potesâ—atem dedit filio he hath given that power to his Son and for the Ministerial key habemus thesaurum istum in vasis fiâ—â—ilibus 2 Cor. 4.7 we poor Clergy-men are rich in this treasure the vessels containing the same are earthly but the key is from the Lord and heavenly the excellency of this power is from God the Ministery from us onely And that we may not be thought to accomplish any thing as from our selves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophil Com. in 1 Cor. 4. but that every one who seeth it may say it is wholly of God nipping withall the false Apostles who ascribed all unto themselves as Theophilact piously admonisheth And indeed we need not be ambitious of further dignities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God having highly honoured our Order with this depositum for to which of the Angels said he at any time To thee will I give the keys c. and whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in
the order for the visitation of the sick the said particular absolution being read his Majesty exceedingly well approved it adding that it was Apostolicall and a very good Ordinance in that it was given in the name of Christ to one that desired it upon the clearing of his conscience And herein the English Church is associated by her sister Churches of the Reformation The Augustan Confession The Church ought to impart absolution unto such as have recourse unto repentance Ecclesia redeuntibus ad poenitentiam impertire absolutionem debeat Harm Confes S. 8. quòd absolutio privata in Ecclesiis retinenda sit Ib. art 12. and that private absolution is to be retained in the Churches Absolutionem ex potestate Clavium remissione peccatorum per Ministerium Evangelii à Christo institutum singuli expetere possint à Deo suo consequi se sciant quando haec à Ministris eis praestantur accipere ab his tanquam rem à Deo ad commodandum ipsis salutariter inserviendum institutam cum siducia debeant remissione peccatorum sine dubitatione frui secundum verbum Domini Cui peccata remiseris remittuntur Harmon Confes c. 5. The Church of Bohemia All persons may specially crave absolution from the power of the keys through the Ministery of the Gospel instituted by Christ and may know for certain that they obtain the same from their God And when it is performed by the Minister unto them they ought to receive it at their hands with confidence as a thing instituted by God and serving for their profit and salvation thereby enjoying beyond all question forgiveness of sin according to the word of the Lord whose sins thou forgivest they are forgiven And the Saxon Church We affirme the rite of private absolution to be retained in the Church Affirmamus ritum privatae absolutionis in Ecclesia retinendum esse constanter retinemus propter multas graves causas de hac fide commonefacere nos absolutio debet eam confirmaâ—e sicut confirmabatur David audita absolutione Dominus abstulit peccatum tuum ità tu scias vocâ—m Evangelii tibi quoque annunciare remissionem quae in absolutione tibi nominatim proponitur non fingas nihil ad te pertinere Evangelium sed scias ideò editum esse ut hoc modo salventur homines side amplectentes Evangelium mandatum Dei aeternum immotuÌ„m esse ut ei credas Art 16. and we for many weighty causes constantly retaine the same Of this belief absolution ought to admonish us and to confirm the same as David was upon the hearing of his absolution The Lord hath taken away thy sin so mayest thou perceive the voice of the Gospel to declare unto thee also forgiveness which by name is proposed unto thee in absolution Thou mayest not feign the Gospel to appertain nothing unto thee but know that it is therefore set forth that by this meant men by faith imbracing the Gospel may be saved and Gods commandment abiding for ever and never to be removed that thou mayest believe the same So the Transmarine Churches herein lend us the right hand of fellowship And thus much for the power of loosing Binding thâ— other part of their office and power is in binding For the Lord saith Ambrose hath given the like power in binding as in loosing Dominus par jus solvendi voluit esse ligandi qui utrumque pari conditione permisit ergo qui solvendi jus non habet nec ligandi habet Ambr. l. 1. de poen c. 3. and hath granted the same upon the like condiâ—ion therefore he that hath not the power of absolution hath not the power of ligation Thereby the Father refuting the Novatians Hereticks of his time and of whom we shall hear some news anon that arrogated unto themselves the power of binding but not of loosing and affirmed the Church to have power to cast out a sinner but not to call in a Penitent Ligandi facultas mandatum Evangelii Ministris datur quanquâ—m notandum est hoc Evangelio esse accidentale quasi praeter naturam Calvin harm in Matth. 16. whereas both these properties are belonging to one key The Church is armed with this power though loth to strike and never but in the case of necessity the inâ—quity of men forcing her to use this weapon it being not so natural to the Gospel but accidental onely to lock up sinners in their offences And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience saith the Apostle when your obedience is fulfilled 2 Cor. 10.6 q d. Revenged of the false Apostles we could be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. in 2 Cor. 10 p 400. and would but for that you which are obedient are mingled with them we forbear lest some strokes might fall upon you also Where note that this key is turned upon the disobedient onely and often respited for their sake who are obedient This power of binding being rather privative than positive for the guilt of sin binds the sinner over unto punishment and the Priest is said to bind when be finds no cause to loose those bonds Insomuch that whether you respect the private exercise of these keys upon private notice of a sinners state or the publick practick thereof in the Censures of the Church the Ministerial power of binding is declarative onely or applying Gods threats generally expressed in his Law upon refractory transgressors So upon the point the Priest is said to bind when he looseth not and as induration of the heart blinding of the eyes stopping of the ears c. are not to be understood of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Damasc Orat. fid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 127. Graecè as effecting and working the same but permitting and dispensing therewith onely It being the usual guise of the Scripture to call the permission of God his effect and operation So the Priest is said to bind when he permitteth onely and that upon just cause the sinner to remain in the same pickle he found him And as Henâ—y the VIII King of England is reckoned of for the Founder of Christs-Church in Oxford because he let it stand In that sense do Priests bind leaving obstinate sinners standing upon the same termes they formerly did in a fearfull expectation of Judgment except Repentance come betwixt that we need not make any longer stay upon this subject The handling of this part viz. the power of the keys in binding and loosing so at large shall excuse the brevity of that which followeth to be considered in the other parts and members of this promise SECT II. The Contents Peter seised of the keys to the use of the Church Power of absolution conferred and confined unto Priests Laicks using the same not in case of office but necessity and where they are the parties grieved Bonds of the soul and sin onely loosed by this key The accomplishment and actual donation of this power God remitteth by
all promises are but like Ixions cloud flattering our hopes for a season but at last sending us empty away Our God is faithful that hath promised and will never cheat our expectation The promise then was accomplished when Christ said John 10.23 Receive the Holy Ghost whose sins soever ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose sins ye retain they are retained Wherein is a collation of the former power shadowed under the Metaphor of the keys and of binding and loosing which being already sufficiently discussed little remaineth to be spoken save the weighing of the words and the method how they are set and placed And so they are not onely a concession of authority in remitting and retaining sins to certain persons but a ratihabition and confirmation of whatsoever they shall do in the lawful use thereof The Persons therein mentioned are three 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. the person of the sinner or penitent in Quorum whose sins soever 2. of God in remittuntur they are forgiven 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but by whom God who in his own right pardons sins 3. of the Priest in remiseritis ye my Apostles and Ministers 3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there are then three expressed and where three are expressed three are required we cannot rend off one part of the sentence If you leave out the sinner there is no work for remission and if God remission hath no force and if the Priest no ordinary application It is Gods will and ordinance to proceed by the Churches act and to associate his Ministers and to make them workers together with him they cannot be more excluded forth of this than any part of their function and to exclude them is after a sort to wring the keys out of their hands to whom Christ hath given them and to account of their Ministery in what sins soever they shall remit and of their solemn sending and inspiring John 20.21 as if it were an idle and fruitless ceremony And so the Persons are distinct Now the Confirmation of the Priests power is wonderfully expressed also if we respect first the order the Priests remiseritis standeth first and Gods remittuntur second whom the Minister forgives is seconded with Divine remission and it was Chrysostomes observation as I have formerly shewed and explicated the sober sense thâ—reof how forgiveness beginneth upon earth and that heaven followeth after so that whereas in prayer and other parts of Religion it is sicut in coelo sic in terra as in heaven so in earth Heaven being made a precedent for earthly imitation here it is sicut in terra sic in coelo as on earth so in heaven as if earth were a fit Pattern for Heaven to follow which how that Father hath amplified as if heaven should derive from earth authority of judging and God come after his servant giving him leave to judge first and himself after and how the same may not be understood as if God did conform himself and censures to the Priests but confirm rather their just proceedings hath been by me formerly mentioned and not now to be rehearsed I come to the next circumstance which is the time remittuntur they are not shall be remitted no delay instantly upon the conception of these words as Naâ—han to David not transferet but transtulit the Lord hath taken away thy sin Thirdly the manner in setting down the words so as if Christ were contented it should be accounted their act and the Apostles the Agents himself but the Patient suffering it to be done For the Apostles part is delivered in the active remiseritis ye shall remit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imperium obtineo potior superior sum vinco mordicus retineo H. Stephan his own in the passive remittuntur they are forgiven and so for the retentive part retinetis whose sins ye retain the Greek signifying to retain with power and force they are retained Fourthly the certainty in the Identity of the word not changing the same for it is not whose sins ye wish pray for or declare to be remitted but whose sins ye remit using no other word in the Apostles office than he useth in his own right It is well observed by Richardus against such as diminish this authority in the hands of the Ministers as if God used them but as Heralds and Criers to declare his pleasure onely Dicunt Apostolicos viros peccata remittendi vel retinendi potestatem non habere cum Dominus hoc dicat dicunt eos tantummodo habere potestatem utrumque ostendendi cum Dominus hoc non dicat Quorum remiseritis inquit peccata non quorum remissa ostenderitis remittuntur eis Rich. de Clavibus cap. 1â— Such men say the Apostolical men have not power to remit and retain sins whereas the Lord saith they have and say withall they have onely power to shew forth the same whereas the Lord saith not so Whose sins soever ye remit saith he not whose sins ye shew or declare to be remitted are remitted unto them The words then of our Commission we retain precisely not challenging more than the Lord hath given us which were presumption nor abridging his bounty which were in us either supineness or ingratitude And these words solemnly pronounced by the Bishop are still used and so ever have been are still accounted and so ever have been the very form and soul of Priestly order and institution thereby those Reverend persons exercise that branch of their supereminent power in conferring the holy orders of Priesthood in begetting Fathers not Children Masters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiphan har 75. pag. 908. not Scholars in the Church as Epiphanius rightly and this is the word that spiritual seed whereby that Paternity is conceived and brought forth And is it not a wonder that any son of this Mother any member of this Church should envy this power or sleight this gift seeing the Ministers receive not this benefit to their own use put not this Candle under a bushel lock not up this treasure within their own coffers But like the good Scribe bring forth new and old as occasion serveth and like the faithful Apostle That which they received of the Lord deliver they unto you Who then is Paul or who is Apollo 1 Cor. 3.5 Veâ—se 9. but Ministers by whom ye believed You the people are Gods husbandry we the Clergie are labourers together with God And are you troubled at the seed we sow or the implements of husbandry we use to make you a fruitfull field ye are the Lords building and we his Builders think you much of our skill and indeavours that you may be edified Therefore whether Paul Verse 22. or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours all ye are Christs and Christ is Gods The greater the trust reposed in us is the greater is your hope and our
Greg. And hence it comes to pass that the Fathers erect thrones for these Presbyters making them Judges and honouring their resolves as solemn judgments Saint Austin expounds the thrones Rev. 20.4 and those that sate thereon and the judgment given unto them in the Revelation Non hoc putandum est de ultimo judicio dici sed sedes Praepositorum ipsi praepositi intelligendi sunt per quos ecclesiae nunc gubernatur Judicium autem datum nullum melaâ—is accipiendum quà m id quod dictum est Quaecunque ligaveritis c. undè Apostolus Quid enim inquit mihi est de his qui foris sunt judicare nonne de his qui intus sunt vos judicatis Aug. lib. 20. de Civit. Dei cap. 9. not of the last judgment But the seats of the Rulers and the Rulers themselves are understood to be those by whom the Church is now goveâ—ned And the judgment given unto them cannot be taken better than of that which is spoken whose sins soever ye remit c. and the Apostle what have I to do to judge those that are without and do not you judge of those that are within And Saint Chrysostome extols the same far above the glittering pomp of earthly Tribunals Although the Kings Throne seem unto us majestical for the precious stones dazling therein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tom. 5. p. 152. and the gold wherewith it is beset But withall the administration of earthly things alone comes under the jurisdiction thereof and further authority it hath not whereas the Priests throne is seated in heaven and matters thence are turned over to their decision And Saint Hierome having the keys of the kingdome of heaven they judge after a sort before the day of judgment Qui claves Regni coelorum habentes quodammodo ante diem judicii judicant Hierom. ad Heliod And Saint Gregory Behold they are not onely secured on their own behalf Ecce non solum de semetipsis securi sunt sed etiam alienae oblâ—gatâ—onis potestatem relaxationis accipiunt principatumque superni judicii sortiuntur ut vice Dei quibusdam peccata retineant quibusdam râ—laxent Greg. supâ—à but receive the power of loosing the bonds from others and obtain a principality of judgment from above that they may in Gods stead retain the sins of some and release the sins of others Either then we must ascribe judgment to the Priests in the Ministery of the keys or else afford but little in this behalf to these Doctors Judges sure they are if these Ancient worthies have any judgment 3. The exercise of the keys We are now come to the exercise of this power which is indeed the very life thereof and this practice is spiritual as the weapons of our warfare are containing the means in the discreet use and application whereof God forgiveth sin and his Minister giveth notice of that forgiveness Dr Field of the Church Book 5. chap. 22. pag. 104. London 1610. Now there are four things in the hand of the Minister as a great Divine of our Church noteth the Word Prayer Sacraments and Discipline by the word of Doctrine he frameth winneth and perswadeth the sinner to repentance and conversion seeking and procuring remission from God By Prayer he seeketh and obtaineth it for the sinner By the Sacraments he instrumentally maketh him partaker as well of the grace of remission as of conversion and by the power of the discipline he doth by way of authority punish evil doers and remit or diminish the punishments he inflicteth according as the Condition of the party may seem to require Thus that judicious man hath reduced the practick of the keys unto four heads and we receiving this method from him shall open them more particularly The first is the word of Reconciliation 1. By the Word and consisteth in the preaching and due applying thereof and the Ministery thereof doth the Apostle specially place as a powerful ordinance 2 Cor. 5.18 whereby a sinner is cleansed from his iniquity Now are ye clean through the word I have spoken unto you whereupon Aquinas observeth God to have given us the virtue Dedisse virtutem inspirasse in cordibus nostris ut annuntiemus mundo hanc reconciliationem esse sactam per Christum Aquin. in 2 Cor. 5. and to have inspired into our hearts that we should declare unto the world this reconciliation to have been made by Christ Therefore it is called 1. the word of salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 2.15 Acts 13.26 2. and the word of his grace Acts 14.3 and the word of promise Rom 9.9 and the word of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 and the word of faith which we preach Rom. 10.8 Insomuch that when Timothy shall rightly divide the word of truth that is promises to whom promises belong and judgment to whom judgment appertaineth and that by preaching of the word instantly 2 Tim. 4.2 and applying the same by way of reproof and exhortation or by private admonition therein he doth the work of an Evangelist and maketh good proof of his Ministery Solvunt eos Apostoli sermone Dei testimoniis Scripturarum exhortanone virtutum Hieron Lib. 6. Comment in Es 14. After this manner did the Apostles loose the cords of sin by the word of God saith Hierome by the testimony of the Scriptures Remittuntur peccata per Dei verbum cujus Levites interpres quidam executor est Ambr. and by exhortations unto virtue And Saint Ambrose sins are remitted by the word of God whereof the Levite was an Interpreter and a kind of Executor And in this sense the Apology of the Church of England acknowledgeth the power of binding and loosing Ministris à Christo datam esse ligandi solvendi aperiendi claudendi potestatem solvendi quidem munus in eo situm esse ut Minister dejectis animis verè resipiscentibus per Evangelii praedicationem merita Christi absolutionem offerat certam peccatorum condonationem ac spem salutis aeternae denunciet c. Apol. Eccles Anglic. of opening and shutting to have been given by Christ unto the Ministers and the power of loosing to consist herein when the Minister by the preaching of the Gospel shall tender the merits of Christ and absolution to dejected spirits and truly penitent and shall denounce unto them an assured pardon of their sins and hope of eternal salvation Luke 11.52 This is that key of knowledge mentioned by our Saviour Matth. 23.13 And as the Jewish Scribes were by him justly reprehended for shutting up the kingdome of heaven against men by their wicked and adulterine expositions of the Law folding up the prophesies lest the people should read Christ therein and believe maliciously detaining the key of knowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl in Luc. 11. and not opening the Gates of the Law that
is the obscurity thereof as Theophylact noteth So the good Scribes praise in the Gospel is to open to his hearers by preaching of the word the door of faith Acts 14.26 unlocking as it were the kingdome of heaven unto them by giving knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of sins Luke 1.77 79. to give light unto them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace for to whom doctrine and instruction is committed that man hath the key of knowledge saith Theophylact. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl suprà The key of knowledge is the authority of teaching saith Lyra by which the true understanding lying inwardly hid ought to be opened Clavis Scientiae est authoritas docendi per quam debet intellectus latens interiùs aperiri ipsi è contrario claudebant perversè interpretando Lyra in Luc. 11. and they on the contrary did shut it up by perverse interpretation Upon the point then to shut up the kingdome of heaven is to handle the word of God deceitfully or not at all and Christs woe unto you Lawyers which take away the key of knowledge is equivalent with Saint Pauls woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel And this key is truly turned when the word is duly applied The next means ordained by God for procuring remission of sins 2. Prayer and wherein the Minister doth exercise his function is Prayer Jam. 5.14 15. Is any sick amongst you saith Saint James let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him anointing him with oyl in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him And as the chains fell off from Peters hands upon the prayers and intercessions of the Church Acts 12.6 so the Angel of the Covenant toucheth a Penitents soul and the bonds of sin are released upon the prayers of the Presbyters Saint Chrysostome informes us that Priests do not onely exercise this power of forgiveness of sins when they beget us again in Baptisme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 6. pag. 17. but after the administration thereof that power of remitting sins continueth in them and for proof of that continuance he alleageth that former passage of Saint James and thereupon inferreth that Priests forgive sins not by teaching and admonishing onely but by helping us with their prayers Aug. de Bapt. contr Donat. l. 3. c. 17 18. And Saint Augustine maketh this one special way whereby the power of the keys is exercised in remitting sins and to this end he adviseth offenders to do publick Penance that the Church may pray for them Agite poenitentiam qualis agitur in Ecclesia ut oret pro vobis Ecclesia Aug. hom 49. ex 50. and impart the benefit of absolution unto them and that which hath already been alleged from Leo Qui pro delictis Poenitentium precator accedit Leo in fine Epist 80. ad Episcop Campan that confession of sin is to be tendred to the Priest who cometh in as an intreater for the sins of the Penitent And that of Ambrose but lately quoted The Priests intreat Isti rogant Divinitas donat humanum enim est obsequium sed munificentia supernae est potestatis Ambr. de S. Spiritu l. 3.19 but the Deity bestoweth the service is from man but the bounty from an higher power And his reason is sound because it is the Holy Ghost onely that forgiveth sins by their function and none can send the Holy Ghost but God and stand he doth not at the Priests command but intreaty In the Schools two not of the meanest rank Alexander Halensis and Bonaventure are clear of opinion Alex. Hal. in sum part 4. Qu. 21. memb 1. that the power of the keys extendeth to remission of sins by way of intercession onely and deprecation not by imparting any immediate absolution whereof the later giveth reasons why the form thereof is deprecative and indicative Secundum quod ascendit habet se per modum inferioris supplâ—cantis secundum quod descendit per modum superioris judicantis secundum primum modum potest gratiam impetrare ad hoc est idoneus secundum posteriorum modum potest Ecclesiae reconciliaâ—e ideò in signum hujus in forma absolutionis praemittitur oratio per modum deprecativum subjungitur absolutio per modum indicativum deprecatio gratiam impetrat absolutio gratiam supponit Bonav l. 4. d. 18. art 2. Qu. 1. for that by the former he looketh upward and ascendeth unto God by prayer and as a suppliant obtaineth grace and pardon by the second he reconcileth to the Church and for a sign and demonstration hereof to the form of absolution there is prayer premised by way of request then followeth the absolution it self by way of recognition the prayer begging for grace and the absolution supposing the same to be obtained And the ancient method or form of Divine Service observed in the absolving of a person excommunicate was first to repeat a Psalme or say the Lords Prayer Primò dicat aliquem Psalmum seu orationem Dominicam secundò dicat Salvum fac servum tuum Deus meus sperantem in te Vers Domine exaudi orationem meam Resp Et Clamor meus ad te veniat Vers Dominus vobiscum Râ—sp Et cum Spiritu tuo Oratio Deus cui proprium est misereri semper parcere suscipe deprecationem nostram ut hunc famulum tuum quem excommunicationis catena constringit miseratio tuae pietatis absolvat per Christum Dominum nostrum Dein dicat Ego te absolvo c. Sum. Angel verb. absolutio 3.1 secondly O Lord save thy servant which putteth his trust in thee Vers O Lord hear my prayer Ans And let my cry come unto thee Vers The Lord be with you Ans And with thy spirit The Prayer O God whose property is ever to have mercy and to forgive receive our humble petition that this thy servant whom the chain of excommunication bindeth the pitifulness of thy great mercy may absolve through Christ our Lord. Then say I absolve thee from the bond of excommunication in the name of the Father c. And accordingly in the new as well as ancient rituals of the Latin Church the form of absolution is expressed in the third person deprecatively as if it proceeded from God and not indicatively in the first person as if it proceeded from the Priest himself thus Almighty God be mercifull unto thee and forgive thee all thy sins past Misereatur tui omnipotens Deus dimittat tibi omnia peccatatua praeterita praesentia futura quae commisisti coram eo Sanctis ejus quae confessus es vel per
aliquam negligentiam seu oblivionem vel malevolentiam abscondisti liberet te Deus ab omni malo hic in futuro conservet confirmet te semper in omni opere bono perducat te Christus Filius Dei vivi ad vitam siae fine manentem Confitentium Cerem antâ—q Colon. 1530. present and to come which thou hast committed before him and his Saints which thou hast confessed or by some negligence or evil will hast concealed God deliver thee from all evil here and hereafter preserve and confirm thee alwayes in every good work and Christ the Son of the living God bring thee to the life which remaineth world without end After this form are conceived all the Absolutions prescribed for use in the Liturgy of our Church as savouring of more modesty and less superciliousness and that none of Gods glory might be thought to cleave unto the Ministers fingers for instance In the general absolution upon the confession of sin at the entrance of Gods worship He pardoneth and absolveth all such as truly repent them of their sins Forms of Absolution in the Church of England and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel wherefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance c. And after a general confession of sins premised by the Communicants the Minister or Bishop if present turning himself unto the people saith Almighty God our heavenly Father who for his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all such which with earnest repentance and true faith turn unto him have merey upon you pardon and forgive you all your sins strengthen and confirm you c. And at the visitation of the sick the sick party having confessed any weighty matter wherewith his conscience is troubled the Priest absolveth him after this sort our Lord Jesus Christ who hath left power to his Church to absolve all sinners which truly repent and believe on him of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences and by his authority committed unto me I absolve thee from all thy sins in the Name of the Father c. By all of which it is evident how much the Church attributeth to prayer and Divine authority in this ministration A third Ordinance whereby the Minister remitteth sins 3. By the Sacraments Sacrament a non excludimus quae verbo tanquam sigillo regio appâ—ndi solent Masar de Minister Anglic. l. 5. c. 10. pag. 635. Acts 2.38 Acts 22 16. â—ur Baptizatis si pâ—r hominem peccaâ—a dimiâ—â—i non licet in Baptismo utique remissio peccatorum omaium est Quid interest utrum per poenitentiam an per Lavacrum hoâ— jâ—s sibi datum sacerdotes vendicent unum in utroâ— Mâ—aistâ—rium est Ambr. l. 1. de Poen c. 7. is in dispensing the mysteries of God the holy Sacraments and these added to the word of God render the pardon under seal the more to confirm and quiet a distracted Conscience for of Baptisme it is evident Repent saith Peter and be baptized every one of you in the Name of the Jesus Christ for the remission of sins And now why tarriest thou saith Ananias unto Paul arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins And the Nicene Creed I believe one Baptisme for the remission of sins Upon which ground Saint Ambrose questioned the Novatians that baptized and yet acknowledged no power in the Church to remit sins Why baptize you if sins may not lawfully by man be forgiven assuredly in Baptism there is a pardon for all offences What difference is there whether Priests claim this power as given unto them in the reconciling of Penitents or in the washing of Baptisme The Ministery in both being one and the same So for the holy Eucharist that lively mirror of our Saviours passion wherein Christ is crucified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Before our eyes wherein the Bread is broken and delivered in token that his body was broken and his merits given unto us wherein the Bloud of the new Testament is shed for many for the remission of sins Matth. 26.28 Now the virtue annexed to these Blessed Sacraments which are seals of the Promises of the Gospel as the Censures are of the threats is from God whose Sacraments they are and not from man who is but the Minister thereof From his side flowed the bloud and water and because both rise from that spring they have both this power Herein is no power for man where the grace of the Divine bounty prevaileth saith Ambrose It is one thing to baptize by the way of Ministery Nulla in his hominis potestas est ubi divini muneris gratia viget Ambr. suprà and another thing by the way of power saith the Oracle of Hippo the power of baptizing the Lord retaineth to himself Aliud est baptizare per Ministerium aliud per potestatem sibi tenuit Dominus potestatem baptizandi servis Ministerium dedit Aug. tract 5. in Joan. the Ministery he hath given to his servants And that School-man argued not amiss that framed this conclusion thence To baptize inwardly and to absolve from mortal sin are of equal power Paris potestatis est interiùs baptizare à culpa mortali absolvere sed Deus non debuit potestatem baptizandi interiùs communicare ne spes poneretur in homine Ergo pari ratione nec potestatem absolvendi ab actuali Alex. Halens sum part 4. Qu. 21. Memb. 1. But God ought not to communicate the power of baptizing inwardly lest any hope should be placed in man therefore by the like reason ought he not to commit the power of absolving from actual sin unto any To conclude this point touching the Sacraments Cyprian or the Author of the XII Treatises De Cardinalibus operibus Christi writeth thus Forgiveness of sins Remissio peccatorum sive per baptismum sive per alia Sacramenta daretur propriè Spiritûs Sancti est ipsi soli hujus efficientiae privilegium manet Cypr. tract de bapt Chr. whether it be given by Baptisme or by other Sacraments is properly of the Holy Ghost and the privilege of effecting this remaineth unto him alone So much for the third mean wherein the power of the keys is exercised viz. in the due administration of the Sacraments 4. By excommunication ecclesiastical censures The fourth and last thing wherein the power of the keys is discerned consisteth in the interdictions and relaxations of publick Censures Therefore Divines refer the promise of the keys made unto Peter Matth. 16. to the Ministery and Preaching of the Gospel Illa deligando solvendo Petro facta promissio non aliò debet râ—sâ—â—â—i quâ—m ad vâ—â—bi ministerium locus Matth. 18. ad disciplinam excommunicatioms pâ—rtinet quae ecclesiae promissa est Calvin Instit lib. 4. c. 11. Sect. 1 2. and the mention of the keys to be granted again Matth. 18. to Ecclesiastical discipline and excommunication The censure of the Church is
Exhomologesis divers kinds of Confession Publick penance of Apostolical practice The austerity thereof in the Primitive times Order thereof prescribed in the dayes of Cyprian and Ambrose Divers examples of publick Penitents The solemn Practique thereof in Records of the Church Sinners admitted but once to solemn Penance Actual reconciliation denied by the Church to lapsed sinners No renewing unto repentance how understood in the Epistle to the Hebrews Four stations observed by the ancient Penitents The restoring of this discipline much desired I Have touched in the former passages how Repentance began to be placed in the exercises and practick part thereof as the subduing of the body with austerity of food and rayment by which external means Man rather came to the notice of our sorrow than God for the Almighty as he is the searcher of the reins and heart hath an eye principally upon those inward parts to see how they stand affected I say because God can make a scrutiny into the spirit of man onely it was thought fit by the Church which is a select company of men and understand as man to prescribe unto sinners such rules to be observed in Repentance whereby the same might appear to be real and sincere unto them also for if the Church have any power as sure she hath in the reconcilement of Penitents there must needs be some such means supposed as are proportionable to the Churches apprehension whereby inward contrition for sin may be unto them demonstrated and forthwith the party to be reconciled But grief of heart cannot be made known unto man without some sensible sign therefore as Saint James called upon the professors James 2.18 shew me thy faith by thy works so did the ancient Disciplinarians shew us your Repentance by the fruit thereof Now this evidence and demonstration consisted in the undergoing of an outward humiliation according to the Penitential Canons then in force of which discipline there were several degrees Nomine Poenitentium apud veteres soli publici poenitentes intelligi solebant Bell. l. 2. de poenit c. 14. p. 1403. Ministerium ejus Tertul. according to the nature of the offence and this the Ancients called Exhomologesis for as in the Primitive times they onely were named Penitents that underwent the publick prescript thereof so publick penance was comprehended under that title as the ministerial part thereof for what was it else but a publick manifesto and declaration of sin joyned with a submission to open Penance and shame Insomuch that the Jesuits themselves confess that Exhomologesis is a word of such latitude Apud veteres nomine Exhomologesis interdum non intelligitur sola Confessio sed etiam contritio satisfactio Bel. de poen l. 2. c. 5. and use with the old Doctors as to comprehend contrition and satisfaction as well as vocal Confession onely and expresly that Cyprian thereby meant not that Exhomologesis apud Cyprian sacramâ—ntalem ut vocant confessionem non significat D. Petavius animadvers ad Epiphanium her 49. p. 233. which they terme Sacramental Upon good ground then Erasmus first and after him Chemnitius have observed how divers Divines not advisedly considering what the old Doctors say are deceived or else have a purpose to deceive in their allegations for what the Fathers speak of a general Pontificii quae propria sunt hujus confessionis ea transferunt tribuunt auriculari suae enumerationi Chemnis exam part 2. p. 187. and open Exhomologesis that they wrest by and by to a secret and privy kind of confession as it is now used in the Church of Rome To cut off all ambiguities we shall therefore in a table both for brevity and perspicuity represent the several kinds and uses of Confession Confessio laudis Confessio fraudis Aug. hom 8. sup verb. hujus Psal 30.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil in Psal 29. p. 80. by which draught the Reader may be instructed to what head and place such testimonies produced by such Divines may be justly referred Exhomologesis then is a confession of laud and thanksgiving as well as of fraud and iniquity and so Basil upon Psal 29. as the LXXII number it Give thanks unto the memorial of his holiness Confess that is to say give thanks for confession there is taken for giving of thanks This kind of confession is much to the purpose but not to the present that of fraud and sin being most proper to a penitent as a recognition of his own unworthiness the draught and Synopsis thereof behold in this digramma Confession of sin is publick in the face and open assembly of the Church is 1. Of the whole Church Ordinary in every sacred meeting Extraordinary for some national sin or judgment 2. Of one particular member fallen into notorious and scandalous sins and smitten with the censure of the Church who is publickly to confess the same with much sorrow and affliction humbly deprecating for the same and desiring his state and reconciliation as the Corinthian Confession of sin is Private To God onely To man 1. For the good of our souls and healing of our infirmities 1. Unto the Pastor ex effecâ— most fit and proper 2. To a faithful and discreet friend in extraordinary cases and times 2. To our Neighbour for to pacifie and satisfie him for some offences and to be reconciled unto him This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and order to be observed in the ensuing discourse Publick Penance hath bordered upon the Apostles times yea imposed by them When a Christian Gentile at Corinth had fallen into that foul sin which a Heathen Gentile would have stuck and blush'd at viz. Incest with his Step-mother the Apostle held it fit to proceed against such an offender Tradi Satana i. e. jus civitatis amittere Beza to deliver him to Satan i. e. to exclude him from the communion of the faithful and put him out of that corporation The fact was evident the sin was scandalous for he kept her as his wife therefore must the punishment be publick also Ommes crimen sciebant publicè enim novercaâ— suam loco uxoris habebat in qua re neque testibus opus erat neque tergiversatione aliquae tegi poterat crimen Ambr. on 1 Cor. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Ut pudore tristitia sapere discat and that penance was for the destruction of the flesh that Satan should afflict his body as he did Job Pauls will was that the flesh being the sink of lust should thereby be tamed and humbled that sorrow and shame might teach him better manners This censure was put in execution according to his directions in the first Epistle Now after some time and good experience of his contrition and tears 2 Cor. 2.6 the Apostle writes again in his second Epistle therein approving of his punishment so solemnly imposed and undertaken for sufficient and acquaints the Church there that he was not yielded
In hac sententia debet esse illa discretio ut quotidiana lâ—viaque peccata invicem coaequalibus confiteamur eorúmque quotidianâ credamus oratione salvari Porrò gravioris leprae immundiâ—iâ—m juxta lâ—gem Sacâ—rdoti pandamus atque ad ejus arbitrium qualiter quanto tempore jusscrit purificari curemus Bed Com. in Jac. 5. and believe to be holpen by their dâ—ily prayers whereas the uncleannesse of a fouler leprosie we should according to the law unfold unto the Priest and as he shall determine to endeavour our purification after such manner and time as he shall appoint But the Cardinal fixeth upon these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one for another and one to another and contendeth that they are to be understood as the consequence of the words of the Scripture or rather of his impertinent glosses shall require Voces illâ—e ALTERUTRUM INVICEM accipiendae sunt prout exigit consaquâ—ntia verborum Scripturae divinae Confitemini homines hominibus qui absolutionâ— indigetis illis qui potestatem habent absolvendi Bellar. lib. 3. de Poen c. 4. Sect. Sed haec insomuch that confesse one to another is nothing else but you men that need absolution to such men that have the power of absolving A very discreet Comment and which will settle the practice of his Church throughout in the point of Penance thus Confess you that have committed lesser sins and have less money to pay fees to your Sir Johns at home but you whose sins are riper and purses fuller to commute unto the Bishop and purchase absolution from his Consistory But you whose sins are of a deeper grain and your selves of vaster possessions gang ye on pilgrimage to Rome as a dainty reserved for his Holinesse and remember to carry something with you besides your Pilgrims-staff and habit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 4.9 for fear you prove unworthy of Papal absolution All these glosses are warranted by that liberty of interpretation the Cardinal hath here taken to himself which to maintain he would faine paraphrase with a place in Pâ—ter viz. Vse hospitality one to another without grudging that is Eos qui tecto indigeat hospitio recipiendos esse ab his qui domum habent imperitos à Doctis instruendos agrotos à Medicis cucandos sia qui peccatorum vinculis constricti tenentur ad cos accedâ—re debâ—nt quibus dictum est Quaecunque solve it is c. id ib. not all to use hospitality promiscuously but those that are able to those that are in want so instruct one another that is the Doctor the unlearned so heal one another that is the Physician the sick so confesse you that are held with the bonds of sin to such to whom it was said Whose sins soever you shall loose c. Thus the Jesuit but sophistically for the former instances are distributiones accommodae wherein every one is to do good according to his power the gift that he hath received viz. those to be given to hospitality that are enabled with means those to instruct that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taught of God and those to heal that have the skill Now where God gives the gift he requires the duty annexed and of such as receive the grace the good-work for example the hope of the Resurrection is common to every believer and upon a dead friend a sure comfort for a sad loss wherefore comfort ye one another with these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thes 4. ult 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Joan. 13.34 a duty belonging to all Christians because all of them had the like means and assurance of Consolation so This is my commandment that ye love one another all Christians then are tied to reciprocal love because the precept bindeth all and so in this present place To pray one for another is an universal duty of all Christians and that one Christian may the better pray for another the Apostles advice is to confess the sins which lie heavy upon the Conscience to another Christian to enable and instruct him the better to procure of God by prayer that which thou seekest ease and refreshment as every Christian therefore hath or should have the gift to pray for another so hath he the capacity to receive the confession of another This I say truly understood pro distributione accommoda will bring to light the Jesuites sophistry and shew how vain his instance was to uphold his fancy Bishop Fisher a Cardinal as well as he although his head went off before his hat went on but of greater conscience in handling of Scriptures contradicteth not the former sense of confession to a Lay-brother Quòd si quispiam contendat sensisse Jacobum quod frater fratri cuivis debeat confiteri nihil moror si tamen hoc mihi donaverit quod alteri cuiquam omninò quà m Deo sit confitendum Roffens contr Luther art 8. pag. 139. and is contented to approve thereof so it may be granted him from thence and he hath a hard heart that will not that confession may be made to another besides God onely And this all the Conclusion according to Lyra that from hence may be deducted how Ex quo pater quod confessio debâ—t fieri non solùm Deo sed homini Lyra. in Jac. 5. it is manifest that confession ought to be make not to God onely but to man also and to that end I produced it In the next place such testimonies of the Fathers shall be alleaged which speak confession to be made unto others over and above that which the Penitent maketh unto God Origen expounding those words A sword shall passe through thy heart that the thoughts of many may be revealed writeth thus There were in men evil thoughts which to this end are revealed Cogitationes erant malae in hominibus quae propterea revelatae sunt ut proâ—atae in medium perderentur interfectae atque emortuae esse desinerent occideret eas ille qui pro nobis mortuus est quamdiu enim absconditae erant cogitationes nec prolatae in medium impossibile erat eas penitùs interfici Undè nos si peccaverimus debemus dicere Peccatum meum notum fecitibi iniquitatem meam non abscondi Dixi annuntiabo iniquitâ—tem contra me Domino si enim haec fecerimus revelaverimus peccata nostra non solùm Deo sed his qui possunt mederi vulneribus nostris atquae peccatis delebuntur peccata nostra ab eo qui ait Ecce delebo ut nubem iniquitates tuas sicut caliginem peccata tua Origen tom 6. hom 17. in Luc. pag. 145. that being published they may be lost and be as if they had not been and being dead cease to have been and that He might kill them who for us was killed for so long as our thoughts are hid and not brought forth it was impossible
ecclesia Christi cùm sit ipsa afflictis conscientiis unicum remedium Luther cap. Babyl tom 6. fol. 109. our Church hath ever most soundly maintained the truth of this doctrine And again Verily there is not any means more excellent to humble a proud heart nor to raise up an humble spirit then this spiritual conference betwixt the Pastor and his people committed to his charge Pag. 766. if any sin trouble thy conscience confesse it unto Gods Minister ask his counsel and if thou doest truly repent receive his absolution and than doubt not but in foro Conscientiae thy sins be as really forgiven on earth as if thou didst hear Christ himself in foro judicii pronouncing them to be forgiven in heaven Luke 10.16 Qui vos audit me audit try this and tell me whether thou shalt not find more ease in thy conscience than can be expressed in words Reformed Churches of Germany did profane men consider the dignity of this divine calling they would the more honour the calling and reverence the persons Nos confessionem retinemus praecipuè propter absolutionem quae est verbum Dei quòd de singulis authoritate divina pronunciat potestas Clavium quare impium esset ex Ecclesia privatam absolutionem tollere neque quid sit remissio peccatorum aut potest is Clavium intelligunt si qui privatam absolutionem aspernantur Augustan Confess Thus is the doctrine of the Mother justified by her children and lest any should think our Church and Divines stand here alone I will adjoyn some forraign testimonies The Doctrine of the Protestants in Germany is related in the Augustan Confession thus We retain confession chiefly for absolution which is Gods word that the power of the keys denounceth by authority divine of each person in particular wherefore it were wickedly done to take private absolution out of the Church nor do they understand what remission of sins or the power of the keys meaneth if so be they contemn private absolution And the manner observed in the German Churches is set forth by Chemnitius thus The use of private Confession is with us preserved Privatae Confessionis usus apud nos servatur ut generali professione peccati ex significatione poenitentiae petatur absolutio cumque non sine judicio usurpanda sit clavis vel solvens vel ligans in privato illo colloquio Pastores explorant Auditorum judicia an rectè intelligant de peccatis exterioribus interioribus de gradibus peccatorum de stipendio peccati de fide in Christum deducuntur ad considerationem peccatorum explorantur an seriò doleant de peccatis an iram Dei ti meant cupiant illam effugere an habeant propositum emendationis interrogantur etiam si in certis quibusdam peccatis haerere existimantur traditur ibi doctrina exhortatio de emendatione quaeritur vel consilium vel consolatio in gravaminibus conscientiae tali confessioni impartitur absolutio Exam. Conc. Trid. part 2. pag. 195. that upon a general confession of sin and intimation of Repentance absolution may be desired and since that the keys whether binding or loosing may not be used without judgment in that private conference the Pastors sift into the discretion and judgment of their Auditors whether they rightly understand betwixt internal sins and external as also the degrees in sin and the wages thereof and of faith in Christ they are brought into a consideration of their offences they are tried if they truly repent them of their sins and stand in awe of Gods wrath and desire to flie from the same If they have any purpose of amendment they are further interrogated if any particular sins stick upon them the doctrine and exhortation to amendment is there delivered counsel and consolation is there sought for overburt boned consciences and upon such a Confession there is granted an absolution Beatus Rhenanus B. Rhenanus a great Secretary to ancient learning treating of private confession and from whence it derived its original Quà m saluberrimam esse nemo potest inficiari si morositatem scrupulositatem nimiam amputes Quid enim per Deum immortalem utilius habere possit Ecclesia ad continendam disciplinam Quid commodius quà m privatam istam confessionem ad populum in necessariis crudiendum ubi horulae spatio plüs proficit Laicus quà m triduanâ concione Mihi libet disciplinae encomium apud Cyprian accommodare confessioni ut dicam eam retinaculum fidei ducem itineris salutaris fomitem nutrimentum bonae indolis magistram virtutis B. Rhen. praefat ad Tertull. de poenit falls into these words Which no man can deny to be very wholesome if too much austorenesse and scrupulosity therein were cut off for in the name of God what can be more profitable to uphold Ecclesiastical discipline what more fit than private confession to instruct the people in points necessary to be known where a Lay-man shall be more edified in an hours space than at a three-dayes Sermon May it be lawful for me to bestow the praise Cyprian hath of Discipline upon confession and to call it the retentive of faith the guide of a saving journey the seed and nursery of good behaviour and the mistress of virtue I am not ignorant that the Treatise it self containing this passage is by express order from Index Expurgatorius taken off the file Argumentum libri de poenitentia totum expungatur nam commodè repurgari non potest Ind. expurg Madriti 1584. as a discourse not capable of a Roman salve but needing the spunge throughout with a deleatur Their handling of Authors old and new is much like the Turkish policy in depriving Christian Parents of their Children and those infants of their virilities by castrating them and training them up to be Janizaries and persecutors of their own unknown bloud and Religion Such are their dealings with the Doctors of the Church cutting off their masculine expressions and setting them against themselves in their own tenets also Calvin hath left his mind behind him thus Although Saint James hath not named any man into whose bosome we may empty our selves Tamet si Jacobus neminem nominatim assignando in cujus sinum nos exponeremus liberum permittit delectum ut ei confiteamur qui ex Ecclesiae grege maximè idoneus suerit visus quia tamen Pastores prae aliis ut plurimùm judicandi sunt idonei potissimùm etiam nobis eligendi erunt dico autem ideò prae aliis appositos quia Ministerii vocatione nobis à Deo designantur quorum ex ore erudiamur ad subigenda corrigenda peccata tum consolationem ex vemae fiducia percipiamus Id officii sui unusquisque fidelium meminerit si ita privatim angitur afflictatur peccatorum sensu ut se explicare nisi alieno adjutorio nequeat non nâ—gligere quod illi à Domino offerturremedium
ever do so and we cannot imagine any erroneous sentence to be confirmed above sine Coeli infamia without dishonouring the Supream Judg. And that sometimes the Priest is out the School distinguishing of the erring key confirmeth for what need to distinguish of the erring key if the key never erreth therefore Lyra hedgeth him in and tells him that his sentence is allowed of by God Hoc tamen intelligendumest quando judicium ecclesiae divino judicio conformatur Lyr. in Ioan. c. 20. When the judgment of the Church is conformable to his Never any simple Priest hath been so arrogant as to assume this priviledge to be infallible the claim whereof the high-Priest at Rome hath made his prerogative but what will you say if the Pope hath erred and that in this present business of absolution and eke in his own case Read this ensuing story you that are devoted to his chair and tell me how you like it Popes have power to make choice of their Confessor of whom they please and there was a Pope perceiving his life to draw to an end Capellano suo authoritatem Apostolicam contulit se absolvendi sub plenaria remissione ut fieri solet in anno Jubilaeo that committed to a Chaplain of his own Apostolical power to absolve with plenary authority as in the year of Jubile By virtue whereof after confession made he received absolution and so departed this life Not many dayes after he appeared to his Chaplain with a heavy look and in a mourning weed and being demanded If he was the late Pope answered yea also the Chaplain desiring to know why he was so dejected in countenance and clothes for that quoth the Pope I am adjudged to eternal death Is it possible replied the Chaplain since upon thy confession thou receivedst the benefit of plenary absolution it is even so said the Pope Supremus judex absolutionem illam ratam non habuit Spec. Exempl dist 9. Sec. 30. because the highest Judge would not ratifie that absolution The Relator tells us how by this apparition God would let us know that if it be so in the green wood and top of the Church we should consider what may fall out in the dry and under branches thereof where there is less authority that although God and the Pope have but one Consistory yet they are not alwayes of one mind and if Christ confirm not in heaven the sentence of his Vicar on earth we may well doubt if every Sir John's absolution discharge us before God and if the Popes keys may erre in his own case we may suspect their integrity in other mens and so we see the second link in this Sorites is feeble and apt to be broken For all this let it be granted that sins must be fully opened before the Priest can proceed to Sentence and that he could not proceed amiss in the sentence of absolution and pardon yet except God had made over the hearing of all sins unto his Priests Illa potestas remittendi peccata non ita intelligenda est data Sacerdotibus quasi Deus se eâ abdicarit eam prorfùs transtulerit in Sacerdotes ità ut in absolutione non Deus sed Sacerdos remittat peccata Chemnit Exam part 2. p. 176. and reserved none to himself as not minding to be troubled about any such matters and had resolved neither to forgive the sin nor give the audience but to such onely as the Priests have remitted the argument would be the more impregnable But if our God be contrary minded as sure he is having shut out no sins from his gracious audience and is of so quick an ear as to hear the very desires of our hearts and so swift to mercy as to prevent oral Confession with a pardon how loosly doth this reason hang The present Greek Church upon confidence hereof addresseth her self unto God for a pardon even for those sins which upon some causes were left out in Confession Thus writeth their late Patriarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hierem. Patr. Constant ad Tubing Resp. 1. c. 11. Whatsoever sins the Penitent for forgetfulness or shamefastness doth leave unconfessed we pray the merciful and most pitiful God that those also may be pardoned unto him we are perswaded that they shall receive a pardon of them from God thus he God then remitteth sins never confessed to a Priest and ofttimes retaineth sins that are confessed for the Priests sentence is not alwayes agreeable with his nor of the same latitude and extent God remitting whomsoever the Priest assoileth if he proceed aright and many more besides and retaining whose sins soever he retaineth and many millions besides Thereupon Scotus observeth that the words of this Commission are not precise that is whatsoever you remit I remit also and no more and whatsoever you retain I retain and that onely For that many more sins are retained by God over and above those which the Priest retaineth is evident The Priest onely retaining such which are detected Illud verbum Quorum retinueritis c. non est praecisum non solùm enim illa retenta sunt à Deo peccatori ad poenam quaeretenta sunt à Sacerdote quia Sacerdos noa retinet aliqua nisi aliquo modo sibi accusata sed signis indebitis poenitentiae tamen illa quae nullo modo sunt ostensa Sacerdoti Deus retinet ad vindictam Gehennae Ergò nec istud verbum Quorum remiseritis c. erit praecisum in such a confession whereof there are apparent signs that it proceeds not from a penitent heart in such cases where a sinner shall confess his sins and express no sorrow for the same like those Qui peccant publicant sin and glory in their sin wherein the Priest doth not absolve that is he retaineth and reserves for future sorrow or punishment Now God retaineth those that draw nigh to himself and the Priest with their lips but are far from both in their hearts God I say retaineth these and all those likewise that are not known to the Priest if they be not repented of to be punished in hell fire So for the other member viz. remission of sins If more sins be retained by God than are by the Priests it followeth that more sins are forgiven by God than are by Priests also for be it far from us to think that God shall be more strict than the Priest in retaining and not more copious than the Priest in pardoning or that God should exceed the Priest in detention of sins and not in remission No no God is rich in mercy and though in mercy he so far remember justice as to reâ—ain more sins than Priests take notice of yet his goodness is so great as to forgive more than Priests are able to take notice of or well understand Therefore the Commission runnes in words affirmative and not negative as if the remission and retention of sinnes made by the
Apostles were precisely equall and of the same dimensions with the remission and retention of sinnes made by God which the negative termes if they had been added had also comprised for Christ doth not say by way of negation after this manner Undè neutri affirmationi adjunxit negativam denotantem remissionem factam ab Apostolis vel retentionem esse praecisam respectu remissionis retentionis à Deo faciendae Scotus lib. 4. dist â—7 whose sinnes soever ye remit not they are not remitted and whose sinnes soever ye retain not they are not retained for then the power in the hand of the Priest had been adequate unto that of God himself and all sins must necessarily have come through their hands to Absolution But their power is as a lesser sphere wrapt in a greater a spark onely of that celestiall flame or as the crumbs which fall from their Masters Table For example as every thing that standeth under the roof of an house is under the cope of heaven but not wwhatsoever is under the Sun is included under that roof so accordingly whatsoever the Priest remitteth according to Gods Word God remitteth but not convertibly whatsoever God remitteth the Priest remitteth There remaineth then forgiveness for sin in store besides that which the Priest ratione officii bequeatheth Therefore all sins are not restrained to Priestly remission nor by consequence to Auricular Confession as the onely means to come by absolution and pardon and so the third link is broken Last of all let it be granted that the Apostles and their successors have power from hence to remit sins not principally but Ministerially by way of arbitration and that they cannot arbitrate in an unknown cause and thereupon the matter which they are to decide is to be made known unto them and let that manifestation be granted to be confession what will follow from hence No more in the judgment of Scotus Ratio ista benè concludil quòd Sacramentum poenitentiae est institutum à Christo tanquam utile efficax non tamen sequitur ex hoc quòd sit necessariò recipiendum ut cadens sub praecepto quia extrema unctio est instituta à Christo confiâ—mationis Sacâ—amentum tamen neutrum est simpliciter necessarium nec est praeceptum de isto vel isto recipiendo Sint quatuor Sacerdotes quorum quilibet habet authoritatem absolvendi istum peccatorem non tamen tenetur peccator se cuilibet submittere sedillorum uni cui voluerit Scot. supr then that this was a good and profitable ordinance instituted by Christ yet not necessary to be observed for instance whereof Confirmation and extream Vnction which go for Sacraments at Rome as well as Penance both must be thought to be of divine institution yet neither adjudged necessary nor is there saith this Schoolman any precept urging the use thereof So here Arbitrators are appointed in cases of conscience but no express command for any to submit to that arbitration Pose le cas There are 4. Priests with equal power of absolution yet a Penitent being in place is not tied to submit to any one but to whom he please Here is then a judgment-seat erected a Judge set upon the Pench with commission to hear and determine of all sins and yet no sinners compelled to come in but such as please It seemeth Scotus held the words of Christ to invest the Priest with the power of a Judge and Arbiter in the case of sin to him that voluntarily submitted to that Trâ—bunal but withall that the words command not sinners to consent and subject themselves precisely to that jurisdiction At Caesars judgment seat Paul stood and ought to be judged here a sinner may stand if he please and be judged if he please and subject himself to that censure but he oweth no necessary service thereunto This seemeth to be this Doctors opinion though I suppose the business dependeth not upon this uncertainty but that there are some kind of sins though not all and some sort of sinners too though not all that not onely may but must come in be judged here if they love the welfare of their souls as we shall see hereafter Let us now gather up the broken pieces of this Argument 1. The Priest is to have notice of the sins of the Penitent before he can proceed to censure that 's true but a general knowledge may sometimes suffice without exaction at all times of particular Items 2. The Priest is constituted a Judge in such cases that peradventure is true but then he is fallible and often erring in judgment 3. The Priest remitteth sins that 's true in a good sense but God remitteth more properly and more then he and many more without him 4. The Court of Conscience is up the Judge enabled with authority and is present at the Bench to hear true but liberty is left to Christians to resort or not to submit or not to that jurisdiction Thus this Master-proof hangs together like a rope of sand for the matter it self I suppose great is the authority which Christ in this place hath put his Priests in and to great purpose questionless as in due time may appear and great care is to be taken by such that depend upon them how they frustrate not the power of God or rather their own souls of salvation for the Priests bear not this power in vaine Nor may the Spiritual men vainly imagin that they are in place Qui ex his cristas erigunt tyrannidem quandam sibi vendicant cur non meminerint corum quae mox praecesserint Erasm Hunc locum quidam non intelligentes aliquid sumunt de supercilio Pharisaeorum c. Hieron in Matth. 16. cristas erigere aliquid sumere de supercilio Pharisaeorum as Hierome said of some to become Pharisaically insolent or tyrannical nor are the people to dread the same as an usurpation upon their consciences but to be perswaded that this power is conferred for their peace this Physick for their diseases and this Ministery for their reconciliation Therefore when other Physick will not work prove this when the peace of Conscience cannot otherwise be had seek it here and when thy Reconciliation can no way else be made use these Arbiters and Mediators And although Christ hath not expresly charged thee to repair unto this Court to lay open thy case before these Judges Duo ista sibi mutuò respondent ut ubi nulla est confessio ibi nulla esse possit absolutio Confess Pertcroviae p. 252.2 and submit thy self unto their censure yet consider how God would never constitute a Judge without a Circuit nor erect a Court without a jurisdiction and bethink with thy self for thy good all this was and is ordained He hath said Dixit Medicis ut curarent sed non dixit infirmis ut ad Medicos curandi causâ venirent hoc enim quasi certum esse voluit quod Aegri
bind up the wounds but cruel Tyrants to rent them wider More than time it is to consider of these things and to discharge the duty it self of such abuses And from our endeavours herein hath sprung the controversie between Rome and us viz. our dislike of such a commanding necessity as shall lay violent hands upon a sinner and urge him to this Physick against his will where ofttimes the Purge becomes more violent than the disease and the potion more bitter than the grief it self The profit and great good reaped by Confession we willingly subscribe unto but confession upon the rack is that we distaste It is not called into question saith a Roman Doctor Non versatur in quaestione num utilis salutaris sit confessio nam Adversarii hoc ultrò donant sed hoc in contentionem rapitur An enumeratio delictorum in confessione sit de jure divino necessaria M. Vehe tract de secreto Confess c. 1. Lypsiae 1535. but no Tridentine whether confession be beneficial and wholesome for our adversaries grant this of their own accord but the controverted point is whether the numbring up of sins in confession be necessary by Gods law or not The Trent Fathers decree the same to be a matter of necessity laid upon the necks of all sinners and plant their sixt Canon Si quis negaverit confessionem Sacramentalem vel institutam vel ad salutem esse necessariam jure divino c. Anathema sit Con. Trid. cap. 5. can 6. to discharge Anathema's against all such as shall deny the institution of confession and the necessity thereof from divine right for the obtaining of salvation Many moderate Divines of Germany as Chemnitius witnesseth endeavoured pacification herein as desirous to lenifie and mitigate the severity of this Papal practice with gentle Medicines Conati fuerunt multi Pontificii scriptores in Germania praesertim acerbitatem legis Pontificiae de confessione variis pharmacis mitigare sed concilium sine misericordia durissimas conditiones Pontificiae confessionis renovat confirmat stabilit Chem. Exam. part 2. p. 195. but that merciless council ratified and injoyned bitter pills and sharp receipts very corrosive upon the Consciences of men as apprimely necessary for the health of their soules And observes the progresse and proceeding how Confession came by those necessary tyes In the Primitive Church it was used as a profitable and wholsome discipline and did much good in restraining from sin and in pacifying the conscience after sin full and frequent are the passages in the volumes of the Fathers looking this way and commending the same to our Christian care Apud Patres extant exhortationes ad confessionem disciplinae gratiâ Gratiani Lombardi tâ—mpore coeptum fuit disputari An necessaria suit confessio Gratianus Lectori liberum permiâ—tit Judicium Longobardus inclinat ad necessitatâ—m Chemnit ib. p. 198. but in their dayes it was but exhortative not compulsatory After their dayes in Gratians time the necessity thereof came to be disputed yet so as nothing peremptorily was then resolved The Master of the sentences seemed to incline and draw to that opinion which held the same to be necessary and that which in his time was but probable and which might piously be embraced began at length to be entertained as certain and firmly to be believed And so now a necessity is laid upon us with a woe and an Anathema if we come not to confession It is very true what he spake of those two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lombard Gratian the Castor and Pollux of Canonical and School-Divinity for Gratian reciteth at large the several sentences of the Doctors and at length leaves the matter wholly in suspense after this manner Vpon what authorities Quibus authoritatibus vel quibus rationum firmamentâ—s utraque sententia innitatur in medium breviter exposuimus Cui autem potiùs adhaerendum sit Lectoris judicio reservatur utraque enim sautores habet sapientes religiosos viros De Poen dist 1. c. 89. Quamvis or upon what strength of reasons both these opinions are grounded I have briefly laid open but to whether of them we should adhere is reserved to the judgment of the Reader for both of them have for their Favourers wise and religious men The Scales it seems hung so even that he durst not turn them to either side and so the business rested in suspense and undecided in his time which was M C L. years after Christ and all that while Christianity stood without this decision Peter Lombard hangs something upon one scale who proposing these questions 1. Whether sin is remitted upon contrition of the heart onely 2. Whether confession unto God sufficeth without any unto the Priest 3. And whether confession may be made to a faithful Lay man Of which In his docti diversa sentire inveniuntur quia super his varia ac penè diversa tradidisse videntur Doctores l. 4. d. 17. Sect. 1. learned men saith he are found to hold diversly and concerning them the Doctors seem to have delivered diverse yea and almost adverse resolutions But his resolution is thus framed It may be said that sins are remitted upon contrition Dici potest quòd sine confessione oris solutione poenae exterioris peccata delentur per contritionem humilitatem cordis Quae dicta sunt de confessione Poenitentia vel ad confessionem cordis vel ad interiorem poenam referenda sunt ad contemnentes vel negligentes referenda and humility of the heart without oral confession and performance of external punishment And that such testimonies of the Doctors as import confession are to be understood of the inward Confession of the heart or else touch those as neglect and contemn confession which is made unto the Priest But he addeth withall that a Penitent ought to confess if he have time Oportet poenitentem si tempus habeat confiteri tamen antequam sit confessio in ore si votum sit in corde praestatur ei remissie yet before confession be in the mouth if there be a resolution thereof in the heart that a man is forgiven But afterwards he grows more peremptory From these and more proofs then these it appeareth without all doubt Oportet Deo primùm deinde Sacerdoti offerri confessionem nec aliter posse pervenire ad ingressum Paradisi Id. ib. that confession ought to be tendred unto God first thence to the Priest if he may be had otherwise there can be no possibility of coming into Paradise This Magisterial determination hath these parcels 1. sin is remitted upon inward confession 2. a purpose of Confession is required for the remission of sin 3. the neglect or contempt of Confession either to God or the Priest is damnable 4. Confession of sin if opportunity serve is actually to be made unto God and the Priest upon peril of exclusion from Gods
to come by forgiveness of sin without actual confession namely contrition of heart whereupon the sin is forgiven before the sinner can confess unto the Priest And for that confession prerequireth forgiveness of sin according to the more probable opinion by an antecedent sorrow and by reason whereof sin is never forgiven by confession but is presupposed by it Thou wilt reply how Biel speaketh of actual confession and not of potential or the purpose and resolution in the heart to confess which is ever concomitant with contrition I answer Holy vows and purposes not reduced into act are in themselves of no worth but in case where they shall earnestly be endeavoured to be put in act and to be effected but the ability being wanting or disappointed by some greater power then they are taken for the deed and a faithful promise of confession is as good as confession it self Here when a Priest is at hand there needs no such vow or purpose there being no likelyhood the same should be crossed or intercepted this actual confession then supposeth none that is promissory I desire therefore this popish block may no more be cast in the way 2. Necessitas Finis Ends prescribed in popish shrift unnecessary Other ends then may be excogitated and for them confession may be thought a necessary mean for sure the shoe will not fit this foot the Question is indeed and upon this occasion proposed by the Master of the Sentences If it be demanded why Confession should be necessary Ad quid confessio necessaria cùm in contritionâ— jam deletum sit peccatum Resp 1. per confâ—ssionem intelligit Sacerdos qualiter debeat judicare de crimine 2. per eam peccator fit humilior cautior Lomb. l. 4. dist 17. Sect. ult since the sin already is blotted out by Contrition In answering to that demand he flies to other ends 1. As to inform the Priest of the nature of the offence and what he is to judge thereof but there can be no great end of that information when the sin is cancelled for why should another man remember when God hath forgotten it 2. And to make the sinner more humble and more cautelous Conduce it may somewhat this way but there are better texts for those themes and auricular Confession left out some inducements these but no ncessary prescriptions Furthermore saith Gabriel If we will narrowly and circumspectly listen unto the virtue of Confession Si sunditùs attendimus viâ—tutem Confâ—ssionis ipsa non est instituta saltem in actu tanquam necessaria remissioni pâ—ccatorum sed hanc praesupponit sed propter triâ— instituta est 1. so ut Pâ—ccator innotescat Ecclesiae tanquam absolutus 2. ut certa satisfactio per quam poena peccati tollitur à Confessore â—mponâ—tur 3. ut poenae pars virtute Sacramentalis absolutionis remittatur Gab. Bicl ib. it was not instituted at least in act as necessary for the forgiveness of sin but that â—t supposeth but it was ordained for three other purposes 1. that the finner might appear unto the Church to be absolved 2. That a certain satisfaction might be imposed by the Confessor whereby the punishment of sin may be taken off 3. and that a part of the punishment might be remitted by Priestly absolution Grave considerations and weighty sure but the scales must then hang at Rome to weight them in else with us on this side of the Alpes they will be found lighter than vanity it self and in Biels own judgment imposition of penance the second reason is not so necessary to a discreet Penitent that c. n. allot himself a just portion for his sin yea absolution saith he may be injoyned without any imposition of penance at all Non videtur necessarium praesertim ubi coâ—sitens non indiget informâ—tione poena quae hic non solvitur solvitur in futuro fient quoque tales salvi sed non nisi per ignem Gab. ib. as he saith if the Penitent will run the hazard of Purgatory and not make payment here but defer till then where the utmost pardon shall be exacted And in truth prescription of penance is the principal mark aimed at in Popish shrift and satisfaction the choicest imployment where Penitents are taught more to rely upon that reed and arm of flesh than upon him that dyed upon the Cross Like the Ambassadours of Ptolomaeus and Cleopatra who acknowledged in their Masters nà me Plus cos S. P. Q. R. quà m parentibus ejus quam Diis immortalibus debere per quos obsidione miserrimâ liberati essent regnum propè amissum recepissent Tit. Livius lib. 45. Sect. 13. that their Countrey was more bound to the Senate and people of Rome for their deliverance from a miserable siege and for the restitution of their kingdome in danger to be lost than to their own dâ—ar Parents yea than to the immortal Gods Let I say their actions be scanned and their intentions thereby discerned and when these ends are resolved to be necessary let confession be decreed to be so also But what say you to the third necessity 3. Necessitas Praecepti which is of Precept and Command Indeed Divine precepts should not be questioned but observed Let there be shewed any mandamus from heaven with a peremptory command for Confession upon such conditions and we submittimus fasces will yield the Bucklers as extremely loth to espouse any contrary opinion to the express word of God Therefore speak Lord for thy servants would gâ—adly hear The Lord hath said indeed Except a man be born again of water and of the Spirit but no where Except a man repent and be shriven by a Priest he cannot enter into the kingdome of God This is it the School-men and Jesuites have sought for narrowly Quod Cajetanus in Commentariis super hunc locum asserit institutionem Sacramenti Poenitentiaeindè haberi non praecoptum certissimè fallitur Canus Relect. de Poenit. pag. 899. and are yet to seek And how well they have found it in these words whose sins soever ye remit c. hath in part been discussed and Cajetan saith but is checked for so saying that the institution of repentance may there be found but no precept A late Sorbonist hath found another Precept Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart Tout homme qui a perdula grace est tenu obliegé de droit divine de la recouvrer attendu que pas commandment express il est tenu d'aimer Dieu de tout son cour Diliges Dominum c. Or celui qui n'a point la grace n'aime point son Dieu l'homme pecheur est privé de cete grace il est donc tenu de la recouvrer il la recouvre en confessant ses pechez an Prestre Pierre Bess Caresme Tom. 2. p. 723. A Paris 1628. c. But how is Auricular confession concluded here marry thus The
them performed convincing them of hainous sin openly though not evidencing the same unto all Thus the Church became contented with publick penance and remitted the confession of the sin unto private ears howbeit the publick detection of sin was left off earlier in the Greek Church than in the Latin for in the East the persecution under Decius was no sooner blown over but that the Church appointed a discreet Presbyter to receive Confessions that Penitents might resort unto him and interest his bosome with their offences out of which he was to select such and prepare as he thought meet for the publick and conceal the reft and herein his office consisted The substituting of this Officer is witnessed by Socrates and Sozomen both whereby the penitent was not as formerly left to his choice of what Physician he pleased but confined to that Penitentiary the Church had ordained and this is that addition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat. hist l. 5. c. 19. viz. the election of one certain Penitentiary which those Historians note to have been made unto the penitential Canon Episcopi hanc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Canoni adjecerunt ut Presbyter bonae conversationis prudens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad hoc ordinaretur ut lapsi ad illum accederent ipsi confiterentur peccata Chemnit ex Sozomen Exam. p. 192. But whether this Penitentiary was taken to receive Confession of all sins and conceal them all onely imposing publick Penance or to discern what sins should publickly be rehearsed and what not can hardly by the light of story be discerned for the former opinion namely that none of the sins confessed were to be revealed serveth that requisite quality that he should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that could lay his hand upon his mouth and say nothing And for the later scilicet that some sins were revealed appeared by the confession of the vitiated Matron so foul that it caused the Church to stop the mouth of all publick Confession ever after My thoughts lead me to this issue that the Primitive Penitents were too forward to confess publickly more than needed therefore it was ordained that they should confess in private first and then if any of their sins were deemed fit by the Confessor to come abroad in publick they were admitted to that publick Medicine whereas the succeeding Penitents were too remiss in publick Confession and needed the spur insomuch that offences of that nature as needed publick expiation and discovered upon a private hearing were reserved for the Theatre and they obliged to publick recital and penance And when this also was taken away upon the Matrons stupration and the Church would hear no more of such matters without doubt the Confession and Penitentiary too were then abrogated In the Latin Church the discipline was on foot till Leo I. who was the first that exiled the same and set up Auricular Confession in its stead In whose dayes a writing the contents whereof were particular sins was exhibited by the Delinquents to be publickly read in Churches the same was attempted for private confession not long since and as that course was broken off by Leo Declarat non licere per literas seu internuncium Confessario absenti peccata Sacramentaliter confiteri ab eodem absolutionem obtinere Caracalla vit Clem. 8. in Platinae supplem so this attempt by Clement VIII who condemned the same as false temerarious and scandalous to confess by deputation or writing and receive absolution from a Priest not present The injunction of Leo followeth Let not a confession of several sins conceived in writing be publickly rehearsed Ne de singulorum peccatorum genere libellis scripto professio recitetur cúmque reatus sufficiat conscientiarum solis sacerdot bus indicari confessione secretâ Quamvis enim plenitudo fidei videatur esse laudabilis quae propter Dei timorem apud homines crubescere non veretur tamen quia non omnium hujusmodi sunt peccata ut ea quae poenitentiam poscunt non timeant publicare removeatur tam improbabilis consuetudo ne multi à poenitentiae arceantur remediis dum aut erubescunt aut metuunt inimicis suis facta sua reserare quibus possint legum constitutionibus percelli sufficit enim illa Confessio quae primùm Deo offertur tunc etiam Sacerdoti qui pro delictis Poenitentium precator accedit quòd tum demùm plures ad poenitentiam poterunt provocari si populi auribus non publicetur Conscientia confitentis Leo Epist 80. ad Episcopos Campaniae c. seeing it may suffice that the guilt of mens consciences be declared in secret Confession to the Priests alone for although the fulness of faith may seem to be laudable which for the fear of God doth not fear to blush before men yet because all sins are not of that nature that Penitents may not be afraid to publish such of them as require repentance Let so inconvenient a custome be removed lest many be driven back from the remedies of repentance whilest either they are ashamed or afraid to disclose their deeds before their enemies whereby they may be drawen within the peril of the laws For that confession is sufficient which is offered first unto God and then unto the Priest who cometh as an Intercessor for the sins of thè Penitent for then at length we may be provoked to Repentance if that the Conscience of him that confesseth be not published to the ears of the people From this testimony of Leo we may observe 1. That to open confession of secret sins secret confession succeeded in the room thereof 2. We may observe also the reasons of this alteration viz. fear and danger of the law which accompanied the former practice and retarded many from the same to remove which impediments it self also was removed or rather changed 3. And lastly that the manner of Confession be it private or publick is but a Church-constitution and the law thereof but temporal and may be changed at the discretion of the Church as that ancient discipline so highly extolled by the Fathers yet by Leo is removed as an unprofitable custome and subject to divers inconveniences and notwithstanding his edict the times may come when the same may be fancied again and private Confession give way thereunto Private Confession then is not an ordinance of absolute necessity the thing to be demonstrated And therefore that conjecture of Beatus Rhenanus for which his mouth is stopt by the Index expurg is more than probable Ne quis admiretur Tertullianum de clancularia ista admissorum confessione nihil loquutum quae quantùm conjicimus nata est ex ista exomologesi per ultroneam hominum pietatem ut occultorum peccatorum esset exomologesis occulta nec enim usquam praeceptam legimus B. Rhenan Arg. lib. de Poenit. pag. 11. edit Franekerae 1597. that clancular confession now in use took its beginning from the
Church-Constitution continue it must and a necessity of obedience is required till the same appear unto the Church to be destructive of charity or tranquillity and by the same authority be abolished by which it was at first prescribed and for the second how far necessary as an Ordinance Divine and in what sense it may be said to be ordained by God I must send back my Reader to the former Section where the point is stated We will tread the footsteps of necessity in the Schoolmens path and see what will result from thence Necessitas Praecepti Medii with them necessity is twofold 1. As a necessary Precept 2. or a needful mean Now every just command is grounded upon some reason and every lawful mean conduceth to some good In Divine Precepts we are not scrupulous to enquire after the Cause or Reason thereof but where Gods pleasure is to set it down for with us his will passeth for a cause all-sufficient So then it is necessary to salvation to obey all Gods commands or to repent for the disobedience although all his divine Precepts conduce not necessarily thereunto Josh 6.18 At the sacking of Jericho the spoils were devoted to the Lord and the Israelites might reserve nothing to themselves a necessity there lay in obeying the same though the commandment it self was not so necessary In the old Law as I shewed before there was a precept for Confession and in the new a president for the same why should it not then be thought necessary But take this along with you Positive Precepts contained in the Scripture are not to be extended further than the written Word or intention of the Law-giver direct for example God intendeth pardon upon sincere confession of the sin committed which Pardon when it may be had upon confession made unto God himself we extend it not unto Man So again if it may be procured upon a general confession before man we urge not the Delinquent to be particular but if the Conscience cannot be pacified except the pungitive sin be discovered in that case we require a special detection of that sin by name So then if the intended pardon may be compassed by any of these wayes that way is to be reputed necessary for that penitent which served the turn If by none but by all of these all of these then are necessary Moreover Gods word commandeth sins to be discovered to the Priest in termes absolute without further circumstance we dare not therefore extend that precept to the manner thereof whether it should be publick or private of all sins or some followed with remorse of Conscience and whether with the addition of aggravating circumstances or no. I say we lay no necessity of these cases upon any because we have not any express word for our warrant we counsel onely that no man permit sin to lie still in his bosome so long as he feels pain but complain still to his Physician till the cure be perfect Thus for the necessity of Precept The second branch is necessit as medii And we are to judge of that necessity by the end for no mean can be of greater necessity than the end for which it serveth and if the end be found necessary the mean must be thought to be so and in means we are to enquire if the proposed end may be attained by one onely mean or by divers some means may be useful but not necessary as a horse for a journey or simply necessary as wings to flie To apply remission of sins is the end a Penitent proposeth to himself which to compass we say that confession to a Prieft is not of absolute necessity as the adequate only mean for faith in Christ who onely hath deserved it is also required nor a necessary concurrent mean for of faith I read but never of Auricular Confession that without faith it is impossible to please God but onely a conditional mean and so the necessity thereof hypothetical in some cases of Conscience to be instanced hereafter for sin in no case may be remitted without God in many without man But if we take confession as a medium utile in that sense we shall ever approve thereof although we resolve confession in it self not to be of absolute necessity for all but a precept binding some sinners and for some special sins onely As the holy Eucharist is a Sacrament of divine institution and singular benefit necessary to some Christians and at some times and the contempt thereof at all times damnable though in it self not simply necessary nor at all times nor to be imposed upon all persons without discretion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then for all that can be said this Confession challengeth not any such necessity in it self as inherent in the same or any way belonging of soveraign virtue and necessary use but as a condition supposed for the acquiring of some necessary good Necessit as â—onditionalis seu necessitas consequentiae non est absoluta nec competit subjecto ex natura rei sed solùm consequitur ad talem suppositionem vel conditionem ex qua necessariò infertur id quod ex tali conditione dicitur necessarium necessitate secundum quid licèt absolutè secundum se est liberum contingens Alvarez de Auxil l. 3. Disp 22. n. 40. viz. forgiveness of sins and reconciliation a penitent taking all good courses to ingratiate himself into the favour of God and this is onely conditional necessity and by way of consequence and so far to be urged as we shall find it a cause to promote the same and further we reither require nor orge it And amiss it cannot be that shall promove so good an end nor superfluous that advanceth such a purpose nor a heavy burden that brings so happy a benefit SECT III. The Contents Scrupulous enumeration of all sins decreed in late Councils Circumstances aggravating and altering the property of sin Mill-stones to plain-people Anxious inquisition into each sin with every circumstance a perplexed piece Particular reckonings for every sin a heavy load to the Conscience and without express warranty from God implying difficulty and impossibility and tending to desperation No urgent necessity to be so superstitious in casting up of all sins and the circumstantial tailes thereof Romish closets of Confession seminaries of sin and uncleanness Venial and reserved sins exempted by Rome from the ears of ordinary Priests upon what grounds Strict and specifick enumeration of sins but of late standing in the Church General Interrogatories proposed at the hour of death from Anselme Some sins are specially and by name to be rehearsed in Confession The nature and quality of those sins described and determined WE are now come unto the Contents of Confession namely sins and hence a difference springeth betwixt us and Rome about the extent and latitude thereof Whether forsooth all and every sin committed after Baptisme together with every aggravating circumstance following every sin be
after unnatural lusts and become not Confessores but contaminatores Sir Rob. Heath at Earl of Castlehavens attainder April 25. 1631. as one of their own Order speaketh proposing such Questions which to do is contra naturam and to relate contra reverentiam naturae as a learned Lawyer spake in a late unfortunate Earls case These Ghostly Fathers ofâ—times grievously offending in pleasing themselves with such obscene Questions Qui saepissimè peccant mortaliter delectando se de â—ujusmodi interrogationibus propter delectationem saciendo eas Sum. Angel tit Interrog in Confess contriving them up on set purpose for their delight and pastime Such formes of confession you may swear altogether different from the ancient Penitential Canons by whose directions the spiritual Fathers of the last society looking a-squint upon the desires of the flesh inquire after the difference of sins obscene and beastly matters Formulas confessionum quibus sancti illi Pneumattâ—â— circa peccatorum differentias obsâ—oena quaedam impudica exquirunt quae sinâ— Interrogati cujus auribus inauditae turpitudines lasciviae instillantur rubore Interrogantis inhonesti appetitus titillatione vix ullis vâ—â—bis aut ne vix quidem enunciari poslint Pâ—nt Tyard Episc Cabilon de fratribus Jesu pag. 35. which cannot be mentioned without blushing in the Examinat whose ears tingle at the hearing of unknown lusts and uncleanness and not without the titillation of a dishonest appetite in the Examiner himself that moveth them Oh times that such filthy communication not once named amongst the Heathen should be thus plaied withall these Ghostly Fathers to be so carnal this penitential practice so obscene this pretended Laver of the soul to become the sink of iniquity this Confession of sin a profession of sinning where men learn rather than leave sin displeasing rather than appeasing God and at the end of this exercise become far worse than at the beginning Pardon good Reader the exuberancy of my speech justly occasioned when the most holy pretences are the most fowly profaned Good reason had Canus to tax such Confessors who by their foolish interrogatories became scandalous to their Penitents Nec eos quidem probo qui imprudenter interrogando Poenitentibus scandalii inâ—iciunt atque adeò eo peccare docent Qua in re confidenter etiam reprobo summ is istas Confessionum interrogitionibus plenas quae idiomate vulgari non solùm eduntur sed passimâ—etiam mulâ—erculis Idiotis conferuntur ut indè discant non Confitendi sed ut ego sentio peccandi ratioâ—m normam Can. Relect. de Poen part 6. pag. 908. so far as to teach them to sin and withall confidently to reprove these summes of Confessions stuffed with Questions of that nature and are not onely put forth in the vulgar tongue but are bestowed abroad upon women and simple people thereby to learn not the manner and form of confessing but as I suppose of sinning Our last exception against this Specifique enumeration of every sin in Confession 6. Of Venial sins Of Reserved cases is derived from a practice of theirs in exempting of Venial sins and reserved cases from the ordinary and parochial Ghostly Father Venialia quamvis râ—ctè utiliter in Confessione dicantur taceâ—i tamen citra culpam multisque aliis remediâ—s expiaâ—â— possint Concil Trid. c. 5. Those as superfluous and scarce worthy of a Priests skill and notice these as too haâ—nous and desperate diseases exceeding his skill Patribus nostris visumâ—st utâ—atrociora quaedam graviora crimina non à quibusvis sel à summis duntaxat Sacer lotibus absolveretur Conc. Trid. de casuum reservatione cap. 7. therefore reserved for Physicians of higher place and power and in such cases every simple Priest is inhibited to proceed but to send corpus cum causa to such Penitentiaries to whose jurisdiction they are immediately subject Now if all sins that come into a sinners mind must upon pain of the second death and that by Gods law be opened to a Priest by what law are some exempted and more reserved from his audience than others Again if Papal reservations and dispensations be in these sins and cases of validity it will follow that the precise enumeration of all sins is but a Church ordinance or if Divine then no dispensation lieth in such cases it being a ruled case that Papal power cannot dispense with the Divine law but with Ecclesiastical constitutions onely Let the Jesuites try the hornes of this Dilemma Now by the same reason that they take off such sins from Confession may we make bold to leave out such as many such there are that stand not in need of Priestly advise and absolution It will be said venial sins are not here to be reckoned for Venialia exnatura ratione peccati quae non sunt contraria charitati Dei proximi Bellar l. 1. de amiss gratiae cap. 3. because being of their own nature pardonable nor so averse to God as to lose his favour they need not to be remitted this way neither ingage so deeply to hell nor make so great a breach betwixt God and man as to require the Priest to stand in the gap and to make the atonement To the contrary although we acknowledge great distinctions betwixt sin and sin and punishments proport onable yet we affirm no sin so little but it is in its own nature mortal and no sin so great but from the event may be venial The least sin makes a breach upon Gods law and makes the delinquent accessary to the breach of the whole law is an offence against an infinite Deity therefore may be punished in the strictness of his righteous judgement Doctor Field of the Church Book 3. c. 32. yea with utter annihilation for that saith a profound Divine there is no punishment so evil and so much to be avoided as the least sin that may be imagined so that a man should rather chuse eternal death yea utter annihilation than commit the least effence in the world Again if all Spiritual wounds must pass thorough the Priests hands of necessity for curation then venial sins also for though they are not vulnera lethifera with the Cardinal Bellar. l. 1.1 de Amiss grat c. 2. yet they are plagae leves which slighted by neglect thereof may prove deadly a ship leaking at a little flaw may indanger drowning The want of one naile as the French Proverb is may cause the loss of shooe horse and horseman Pour un clou on perd un fer pour un fer un cheval pour un cheval un Chevaliâ—r for great weights many times hang upon small wires and however some Roman controversie-men put off venial sin from Confession as in it self not mortal but venial Bishop Fisher dares not like of that avoidance Quòd peccatum veniale solùm ex Dei misericordia veniale sit in hoc tecum
his authority for the same Divided into two Sections ANd thus much for Confession of sin in the lips of the Penitent proceed we now to speak of the Confessary as it relates to his ears who is to receive into his custody and discretion the sad narration of a sinners life and to promote the just designs and purposes the penitent aimeth at Of great and necessary importance this practice must be as much opposing our native pride in turning the best side outward and beautifying our external carriage like the Pharisees clensing the outside of the platter never taking notice or at least careful that others should not of our inward corruption Verily to subdue this inbred tumour and natural Typhon so far as to lay aside shame and to lay open our sins to discover our offences and to diminish our reputation it must needs be the end is heavenly when worldly respects are thus troden under foot to accomplish the same As when David strip'd himself into an Ephod and danced before the Lord in the Ark 2 Sam. 6.21 22. and was for the same derided by Michal as shamefully uncovering himself in the eyes of his handmaids answered It was before the Lord I will yet be more vile than thus and will be base in mine own sight and of the maid-servants which thou hast spoken of of them shall I be had in honour So it is with a devout Penitent for how ever he may by discovering himself thus be exposed to the scoffs and jeers of irreligious and profane Michals yet he knoweth before whom he doth it in the presence of the Lord and that in so doing he shall be had in honour of the Lords servants his Priests therefore he resolveth vilior adhuc fiam I will become yet more vile than this for with me to confess my sin is nothing so vile as to commit and blush more entring into the stewes than coming forth abasing my self in mine own sight to become pretious in the Lords eyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 12.1 When therefore sin is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 compassing and besetting the sinner about beleagring his soul he finds it not in his own power to raise the siege nor to explicate and unfold himself from such ingagements when the Conscience is insnared and perplexed and can find no peace at home In such cases the sinner hath recourses unto the Overseers of his soul for help and ease and freedome as the nature of his disease requireth as to a 1. Ghostly Father indulgent to his Children 2. as to a Physician careful of his Patients 3. as an Advocate and Counsellor able to direct and protect his Clients and lastly but chiefly as unto the Priest whose office is to grant absolution to the truly Penitent So that to the wounded Conscience here is a Medicine to the perplexed counsel to the dejected comfort and to the distressed pardon The sting of sin is lost by the power of absolution the filth of sin is purged by the Laver of tears the wages of sin struck off by the Intercession of the great Advocate the deceitfulness of sin discovered by this Counsellor and the danger of sin prevented by the balme of mercy A Physician is sought unto for health and sometimes for remedy A Lawyer for advice and counsel A friend for consolation A good Priest is virtually all these and something more thy spiritual Physician against spiritual diseases healing them by application of thy Saviours merits and prescribing rules for thy direction and remedy against sin Thy spiritual Advocate to counsel thy soul in such cases to plead thy cause before the supreme Judge and which crowneth all he is the Lords Sâ—eward and Deputy in his name to reach forth unto thee pardon and absolution These and such like to these are the motives inducing a sinner to deposit his mind and heart to the Dispensers of the Mysteries of God viz. 1. upon hope of Physick restaurative and preservative to heal his soul and to continue the same in health 2. of good advice to demean and behave himself for future times 3. and above all upon the hope and comfort of absolution these are his inducements and to be now treated of And therein the last shall be first Nemo potest benè agere poenitentiam nisiqui speraverit indulgentiam Ambros as the chiefest and choicest motive to confession of sin namely the virtue and power of absolution inherent in the Priestly office and Ministery that saying of Ambrose being true None can be truly penitent but upon hope of Pardon SECT I. The Contents The vulgarly disesteem of the power of absolution in the hand of Priests Keys diverse Of 1. Authority 2. Excellency 3. Ministery The office of the Ministerial key in discerning and defining Ecclesiastical and conscientious Consistories The gift of Science in the Priest not properly the key but the Guide Absolution a judicial act Magistrates Spiritual and Temporal distinguished in their jurisdiction and ends Bonds of sin culpable and for sin Penall Satisfaction expiatory vindictive God forgiveth sins properly and effectively The Priest by way of application and notice as also dispositively qualifying by his function sinners for the same in which he proceedeth as a subordinate Cause both declaratively and operatively The Priority of binding and loosing on earth to heaven in respect of the sensible apprehension in the Penitent not of the purpose and operation in God Power of Absolution primitive in God in his Ministers derivative and delegate A Penitent absolving himself by the finger of Gods spirit in what sense The power of binding in the Church rather privative than positive and declarative onely IF the Priests and Ministers of the Gospel were not in Commission to enquire to hear and to take some order about the sins of the people their function were to as little purpose and as little to be esteemed as the Lutins of the times account it for as in the time of Galen they expressed weak-men under the title of Scholasticks Cujacius so are Priests entituled by the Hot-spurs of this age as silly and contemptible meer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and John a Nokes Could men live without sin or enter into heaven with sin or having sinned stand in need of no grace to amend of no gift to repent and in fear of no Deity to be reconciled or were the wounds of sin so little as to heal up of themselves without any further plaister or were there no law that there might be no transgression or if a Law with no great penalty to be inflicted upon the transgressors head or if the penalty were great yet the Law-giver of small power to inflict the same there could be no great necessity to erect this Court of Conscience the matter thereof no great consequent and the Censures viz. retention and remission of sins of no great importance and sinners discharged of further suit and service And the Priests might do well with Gallio
have been clean Now because Ministerial and subordinate causes work in the power and strength of the superiour and principal the effect ofttimes is ascribed unto them who have the least finger in the business and thus much to the first point For the second the Priests sentence on earth is onely at such times ratified in heaven Non sequitur Deus Ecclesiae judicium quae per surreptioneÌ„ ignorantiam saepè judicat Lomb. l. 4. dist 18. when it proceeds according to heavenly directions God leaving such judgments in the Church gained by surreption or ignorance unto themselves It being a received maxim that as the Judge of all the world cannot do otherwise but right no more can or will he approve of any censure but what is just and righteous that of Saint Augustine being true in this case also that thing cannot be unjust wherewiâ—h the just God is pleased Injustum esse non potest quod placuit justo Aug. Qui scit illum intelligere potest non ni si grande aliquod bonum à Nerone damnatum Tertul. Apologet. c. 5. And as the most ancient and learned of the Latin Fathers said of Nero The man that hath any knowledge of him cannot but understand that it was some great good that Nero condemned So contrarywise those to whom the justice and goodness of God is known cannot be ignorant but that the cause must of necessity be good and just which he approveth and bad withall which he distasteth Either suppose then the Priests sentence on earth to proceed alwayes according to equity else not alwayes to be ratified in heaven In the third doubt there sticks a little difficulty how binding and loosing on earth can precede and go before that which is in heaven for those Fathers cannot be ignorant whose Deputy the Priest is and by virtue of whose commission he proceedeth That God absolveth upon contrition of the heart Non solùm piissimû dispensatione Leprosi antequam ad Sacerdotes venirent in via mundati sunt ut ipsi mundatorem suum cognoscerent Sacerdotes nihil horum mundationi se contulisse sentirent juxta verò spiritualem intelligentiam Leprosi antequam ad Sacerdotes veniant mundantur quia non Sacerdotes sed Deus peccata dimittit Haymo Dominic 14. post Penrecost pag. 401. and where contrition is not the Priest absolveth but in vain That as the Lepers were cleansed in the way in going to shew themselves unto the Priests so sin is no sooner repented of but instantly the sinner by God is pardoned how can then this Ministerial absolution take place of that powerful one of God Omnes concedunt quòd per contritionem veram sufficientem peccatum remittitur sine Sacramento in actu Gabriel l. 4. dist 14. Quaest 2. For answer whereunto these conditions must be premised 1. The sinner that stands in need of Priestly absolution hath his conscience perplexed and not quieted 2. The sinner before the Priest hath done his office conceiveth hope onely of pardon from God but no full assurance But 3. upon the Priests application of mercy from the word of God he receiveth comfort his conscience is quieted and be rests assured of forgiveness And to these we must premise again for our better understanding that many persons are members of Christ in election onely as Paul before his conversion 2. Many in election and preparation as Saint Augustine a Catechumen Membrum Christi 3. 1 praedestinatione 2 praeparatione 3 concorporatione Rich. de Clav. c. 20. Corde credens devotione fervens ad baptisma festinavit believing in his heart and fervent in devotion he made haste to be baptized 3. And many in election preparation and admission as reconciled penitents by ablution and absolution This priority then is not in respect of Gods election or preparation for mercy but in respect of the actuall and complete admission of the Penitent into his grace and his sensible remonstrance thereof for as the Divine purpose to save a Penitent was from eternity so to remit his sins also but in respect of the sinners first feeling and apprehension of mercy Gods goodness intended unto him by the Priests Ministery being reduced into the outward act Forgiveness may be first resolved upon in heaven but first felt and apprehended on earth When we were enemies we were reconciled to God Rom. 5.10 saith the Apostle who was himself a Persecutor and yet reconciled to God and by him whom he then persecuted quoad veritatem but he reaped not the fruit thereof was not sensible of this reconciliation quoad patefactionem salutarem â—jus communicationem in respect of the manifestation and saving communication thereof till his Conversion Now in regard a thing is said first to be when it is first taken notice of so a Penitent is then said to be first absolved when the Priest maketh known the benefit and the sinner groweth first sensible and communicateth thereof which because a sinner upon earth first apprehendeth and God in his heavenly word alloweth of that apprehension it remaineth that in this sense those sayings of the Fathers are to be allowed of and thus much for the clearing of those doubts The premisses considered the distinction is easily made betwixt the power of absolution which God exerciseth by himself and by his servant for from God is the Primitive and original power the Apostles power is meerly derived that in God Soveraign this in the Apostles dependent Ministri peccata remittunt non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in him onely absolute in them delegate in him imperial in them Ministerial Nor do the Bishops and Clergie forgive sins by any absolute power of their own for so onely Christ their Master forgiveth but ministerially as the servants of Christ and Stewards to whose fidelity their Lord and Master hath committed his keys and that is Pract. of Piety pag. 758. when they do declare and pronounce either privately or publickly by the word of God what bindeth what looseth and the mercies of God to penitent sinners and his judgments to impenitent and obstinate persons They then do remit sins because Christ by their Ministery remitteth sins as Chrâ—st by his Disciples loosed Lazarus John 11.44 And the Ancients have made the raising and loosing of Lazarus and the cleansing and admitting of the Lepers into the Camp a Type of the power residing in God and of the authority he hath given unto man And as Christ by his power made Lazarus alive and the Apostles onely loosing his bonds set him free so it is the grace of God which revives and justifies a sinner The Priests publishing his liberty whom the son of man hath made free In like manner the cleansing of the Lepers was Gods doing the Priest serving onely to discern what God hath already done and to pronounce the same Richardus herein saith well though not alwayes well Distinguamus diligenter quid Dominus
account The Charge is ours but the commodity is yours for whose good we are enfeoffed with this power then for any man to slight or disparage the gift will argue either a disesteem of the thing it self or despair to reap any benefit from it rather give God the glory that hath given such power unto men and remember for whose sakes it was given I shall make up this part with the saying of Theophylact Behold with me the dignity of Priests 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. in Joan 20. pag. 137. how God-like it is for to God it belongeth to forgive sins they are then to be honoured as from Gâ—d Let them be otherwise worthless what then They are Ministers of Divine graces Grace worketh by them as it spake by the mouth of Balaams ass for our unworthiness doth not frustrate or hinder grace seeing then grace comes by Priests in that respect let them be honoured By this that hath been said Novatian Heresie it appeareth how much the Church was wronged by Novatus a Bishop in Africk and Novatian a Priest of Rome for those two laid their heads together in the conception of that desperate heresie Spoiling her of this Ministerial power in reconciling Penitents lapsed after baptisme into notorious offences though their repentance were never so sound or soundly demonstrated An opinion begotten upon the severity of those Primitive times wherein the Fathers of the Church however they might believe that the Church had warrant to receive such sinners yet they abstained from the use thereof Non quòd lapsos ad communionem Ecclesiasticam pacem admittendos negarent sed quod nullam ad eos reconciliandos condonandáque delicta jus in Ecclesia esse perfidiosè crudeliter asseverarent quod Clavium potestatem Sacerdotibus detraherent D. Petav. Animadvers in Epiphan haer 59. p. 226 227. leaving them to their grief and Gods mercy nor were those Hereticks proscribed by the Church as Petavius informeth us for denying lapsed sinners to be admitted to the communion again but for cruelly and despâ—tefully maintaining that the Church had no right nor authority to reconcile them Aiunt Novatiani se Domino deferre reverentiam cui soli remittendorum criminum potestatem reservent immo nulli majorem injuriam faciunt quà m qui ejus volunt mandata rescindere nam cùm ipse in Evangelio suo dixerit Dominus Jesus Accipite c. Quis est ergâ— qui magis honorat utrum qui mandatis obtemperat an qui resistit Ecclesia in utroque servat obedientiam ut peccatum alliget relaxet haeresis in altero immitis in altero inobediens vult ligare quod non resolvat non vult solvere quod ligavit Ambr. l. 1. de Poen c. 2. and to pardon their offences and upon the point wrested from her Priests the power of the keys The Novatians saith Ambrose tell us how they ascribe this reverence to God as to reserve unto him onely the power of pardoning offences whereas in truth none do him greater wrong than those that go about to repeal his commandments seeing the Lord Jesus himself in the Gospel hath said Receive the Holy Ghost whose sins soever ye remit c. who is it therefore that honoureth him most whether the man that obeyeth or he that opposeth his commandments the Church in both preserves her obedience as well in binding as in loosing sin But this heresie in that is cruel in this disobedient and will bind that it may not loose and will not loose what it hath bound And in this way the Latin Fathers set down this heresie but the Greek I know not how truly charge them further as affirming them to cut off such sinners not onely from the society of the Church without hope of reconcilement but from salvation without hope of mercy that those who denied Christ could not obtain mercy So Theophylact. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodoret. And Epiphanius Novatus brâ—ached this herefie saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiphan adv haer l. 2. tom 1. haer 59. there was no salvation but one repentance and he that fell after Baptisme could never after be able to obtain mercy But whether they called the mercy of God into question as they did the reconciliation of the Church may be doubted and it may well be whether Tertullian came home to them in this opinion or no in whom we read Christianos cum his non misceri eos neque congregare neque participare cum Christianis Tertul. contr Nat. l. 1. c. 5. That Christians should not be mingled with such grievous sinners who were to have neither right nor fellowship with Christians following the sharp discipline of the times wherein such lapsed sinners were made over unto God so Tertulliani temporum disciplina ità firmè observavit Ut ii Deo committerentur i. c. ut post longam quamlibet diuque tractam poenitentiam pacem ab Ecclesia impetrare non possint neque eorum ratio haberetur verùm in perpetuum Ecclesiâ absolutione vel in morie privarentur Gottofredi Notae ad Tert. Contr. Nationes as after a long and tedious repentance they could not be admitted to be at peace with the Church without any respect unto thâ—m at all but were for ever and at their death also excluded from the Church and absolution saith that learned Civilian who hath of late enriched the Church with another piece of Tertullian and pieced the same with his learned Notes Cyprian being censured for the breach of this discipline and dispensing and admitting of such who had fallen in persecution Ut his qui libellis conscientiam suam maculaverint vel nefanda sacrificia commiserint laxandam pacem putaverim Cyprian Epist ad Anton. and through frailty had incensed unto Idols made his apology for his practice herein The Church in his dayes and the dayes following not onely claimed the power but acted and used the same towards Penitent sinners of all sorts reaching the hand of absolution to such as devoutly craved the same For God maketh no distinction saith Ambrose who hath promised his mercy unto all Deus distinctionem non facit qui misericordiam suam promisit omnibus relaxandi licentiam Sacerdotibus suis sine ulla exceptione concessit sed qui culpam exaggeraverit exaggeret etiam poenitentiam majora enim crimina majoribus abluuntur fletibus Ambr. l. 1. de Poen c. 5. and hath granted to his Priests licence to absolve without any exception but he that hath aggravated in offending let him increase his sorrow for greater sins are to be washed with larger tears whereby we are given to understand that sins in themselves unlike are alike in pardon and if a Penitent distinguish of them in tears God will put no difference in pardoning 2 Cor. 2.10 The incestuous Corinthian smitten with the Churches censure is upon his sincere repentance restored to his state again and that
discharge nor absolution could be expected from the Minister till all reckonings were ended by the Penitent It is the fashion in this Church to absolve immediately upon confession Hodâ—è statim à facta confessione manus poenit nti imponitur ad communionis jus admittitur post absolutionem opera aliqua pietatis quae ad carnis castìgationem reliquiarum peccatorum expurguionem saciant injunguntur Casland Consult Art 11. de Confessione and after absolution to impose the penance and so come in with their after-reckonings And what is this but as some of the Ancients have observed first to loose and afterwards to bind Putting herein as that Ecebolius of the times and Renegado Spalatto once observed the cart before the horse La Romana perversità pone il carro inanti alli Bovi prima concede la remissione poi impone l'opere di penitenza quali dourebbono procedere dal Pentimento cosi molto piú precedere la remissione Marc. Anton. de Dominis Predica in Londra appresso Giovanni Billio 1617. first conferring pardon and afterwards impose the work of Penance which ought before to proceed from the Penitent and much more to precede Remission But not the least wrong committed against the just use of the keys is in making the absolution of the Priest a Sacramental act conferring grace by the work wrought and that absolution issuing from the Priests lips striketh such a stroke that by virtue thereof attrition doth become contrition Absolution not efficacious ex operato As much as if they had said that a sorrow arising from a servile fear of punishment and such a fruitless Repentance as Judas carried to hell with him may by virtue of the Priests absolution become a godly sorrow working repentance to salvation not to be repented of which must needs proceed from a secret and mysterious kind of operation in the absolution it self when as sorrow conceived upon dread of punishment and that may be found in wicked Cain as well as in righteous Abel shall be changed into such a sorrow as ariseth upon an hatred of sin upon an apprehension of Gods displeasure and his abused mercy that his gifts are slighted and virtuous exâ—rcises too much neglected which is a filial sorrow and proper to such which are sealed by the Spirit to the day of adoption It cannot be conceived the great harmes that fall out upon this Spiritual cosenage which flattereth and milketh sinners that although they bring not perfect repentance D'attrito si sacci subito contrito cioé che se bene non há il vero persetto pentimento d' suoi pâ—ccati má un certo picciolo leggiero per timor solamâ—nte dâ—l divin castigo non per odio del peccato con l'assolutione Egli goda il beneficio della remissione tanto quanto se egli havesse il vero perfetto pentimento col vero odio del peccato Predica supra pag. 47. but a light and small sorrow conceived upon fear of punishment and not upon hatred of sin pieced with absolution they shall obtain remission of sins in as ample manner as if they had brought all the sorrow in the world and their repantance had been as compleat as might be accompanied with a very hatred of sin Is not this to dandle sinners in their evil way And as for that temporal punishment which is supposed to remain for the Priest to inflict and to afflict the sinner either a formal penance or a Papal indulgence shall strike off that likewise A plausible doctrine for those that would live after the flesh that sin may be pardoned without hatred of sin that sorrow in it self imperfect by virtue of another mans help may be perfected That there lies such virtue in absolution as to qualifie persons otherwise indisposed to reap the fruit thereof for what sinner would stand so much upon contrition if attrition would serve the turne or earnestly repent if such a small or crude sorrow might be accepted I may not well stay any longer upon this abusive part of the keys And at the length soit peu soit prou as the French man speaks be it little or much I have God being my help absolved this point the Ministery of the keys being no small part of our Sacred Function and with what success I had rather the judicious Reader suppose then make the relation my self it being a matter not usually or at least not methodically unfolded by your ordinary writers By all this that hath been said Conclusion you may discerne how powerful and usefull the keys are how far forth they conduce to remission of sin by the act and benefit of absolution promised Matth. 16.19 and accomplished John 20.23 Now little or no use can be made hereof except the sin and inward contrition for the same be discovered by some sensible demonstrations And no sins either for number or greatness are excepted from absolution Christ teacheth us to forgive till seventy times seven which amounteth to (a) 490 times accounting as it ought to be a Jubilee to consist of 49 years not 50. Psal 40.12 Orat. Manasseh Luke 4.27 Qualities requisite in such that desire to be relieved by the benefit of the keys ten Jubilees of pardon and we have example of one whose sins were more in number than the hairs of his head and of another whose were more than the sands of the sea that obtained pardon Yet as Christ saith There were many Lepers in Israel in the time of Elizeus the Prophet and none of them were cleansed save Naaman the Syrian So many sins there be and many sinners there be and none remitted except they be of the Quorum remiseritis by God or the Ministery of his Priests You may perceive by what hath been discoursed that many things are required to remission of sins The Priest may do his devoir yet the absolution may not close except the Penitent stand rightly disposed The party then rightly qualified 1. he must be within the house or family to whom the keys belong for what have Priests to do to judge those that are without It is required then that he be within his jurisdiction that is to say a member of the Church and a believing Christian In the Law the Propitiatory was annexed to the Ark Exod. 26.34 to shew that they must hold of the Ark as Gods people that would be partakers of the propitiation for their sins Remission of sins being sors sanctorum dos ecclesiae the inheritance of the Saints and dowry of the Church 2. Also he that would claim any benefit of the keys must be repentant for in Christ's name are preached Repentance and forgiveness of sins Luke 24.47 and those whom he hath put together man cannot part asunder And to Repentance there go two things 1. a feeling of chaines and imprisonment 2. a grief for them with a desire to be loosed for sentiat
operire tegere dâ—licta superiora ut non ci imputctur peccatum ergo tegamus lâ—psus nostros posterieribus factis Amb. l. 2. de Poen c. 5. saith Saint Ambrose ought not onely to wash away his sins with tears but amends being made to cover and hide his former defects that his offences may not be imputed unto him Satisfactio duplex 1. Propitiatoria pro nostris totius mundi peccatis Christus est 2. Quam Ecclesia exigâ—t à peccatoribus vindicta â—st quam ex praescripto sacerdotis velut spirituâ—lâ—s Medici de nobis sumere debemus comm ssis peccatis contraria sacientes Grop de Sacram. Poenit. p. 107. Edit Antw. 1556. let us therefore cover our former faults with good deeds following Sound is that distinction of Groperus 1. there is a propitiatory satisfaction which is Christ Jesus for our sins and the sins of the whole world 2. and there is another which the Church requireth of sinners a Revenge which according to the prescriptions of the Priest our spiritual Physician we ought to take of our selves by performance of holy actions diametrically opposite to the former iniquities whereby the sinner is humbled God is pleased and the Church satisfied and the dregs of sins by the contrary acts of virtue defecated and cleansed Thus much for Theodorus Egbert was the next who made Ordinances on this behalf Anno Dom. 740. Egbert A man who by his birth as Brother to a (b) Egbert King of Northumberland King and by his office an (c) At York Arch-Bishop might well be sufficiently authorized for such proceedings A Penitential was by him prescribed highly esteemed and carefully preserved amongst the huge devastations of Religious houses and Libraries although time had like to have deprived him of the honour of such a work Opus poenitentiale in magno olim fuisse precio post veterum MSS. Codicum insigneÌ„ cladem quae Coenobiorum subsequuta est cataclysim supersunt hodie diversa exemplaria splendidè quidem antiquissimè exarata Spelman Concil pag. 275. and given it to one whose learning and piety might render him suspicious thereof for placed it is at the end of Venerable Bedes works under this Title Canones ad remedia Peccatorum are antidotes for sinful and sorrowful Patients and the Priest as Ghostly Physician is taught well and seriously to advise upon the sex age condition state and person of each penitent Sacerdos Christi sexum aetatem conditionem statum personam cujusque poenitentiam agere volentis ipsum quoque cor poenitentis curiosè discernat nè post stultum Medicum vulnera animarum fiant pejora to distinguish exactly of several maladies to enquire all he may into the heart and inward man and accordingly to administer lest in case he proceed confusedly the wounds in the soul by the Physicians folly prove more dangerous for prevention whereof Non omnibus unâ câdâ—mque librâ pensandum est there followeth a catalogue of sins and of such penances as concern the same holding an equal analogie between the malady and the medicine the sin and the sorrow Aâ—d all this not to expiate or satisfie for what hath passed but to exclude and prevent what may follow non pro remissione peccatorum sed pro remedio Poenitentibus atque lugentibus vera medicamenta salutis not for the remission of siâ— but for remedy against sin for so much they are intituled Excâ—rpta Patrum remedia animarum Receipts of the Fatherâ— for thâ— souls preservative All which sowre and sharp potions prescribed by the Ancients serve not to justifie but sanctifie real converts For the not imputing the remitting and covering of sin appertain to the righteousness of faith Whereof cordial sorrow fasting and chastising of the body Psal 32.1 almesdeeds c. are the fruits of a good life and evidence of justifying faith Place then such exercises of piety under sanctification and no incroachment will be upon the solemn Sacrifice of our Redemption The like construction charity may put upon all the subsequent testimonies These Canons were decreed about the year of grace 740. at which time Egbert possessed the Chair at York and for that cause could not be published by Bede dead four years before as Florentius Wigorniensis Beda in magna devotione tranquillitate ultimum è corpore spiritum efflavit Flor. Wigorn. ann Dom. 735. Chron. pag. 271. Lond. an 1592. Fasti Regum Episcoporum Angliae ad finem Rerum Anglic. Scriptor Lond. à Dom. H. Savilio editi and the Savilian Fasti testifie A Council celebrated at Calchurch situated as Hollingshed will have it in the Mediterranean Kingdome of this Island King Offa then reigning in the year of our Lord 787. where a Roman Legat presided and where were assembled the Arch-BB and BB. of both Provinces Gregorius Ostiens Episcopus Praesidens ponit Author Antiq. Britan. Ecclesiae in Northumbria Hollenshedus verò rectiùs in regno Merciorum insomuch that the Noble Collector styles it Concilium Legatinum Pan-Anglicum A Convocation of all England Si quis autem quod absit sine poenitentia confessione de hac luce discessit pro eo minimè orandum est where amongst other Chapters and Constitutions there is one De conversione poenitentia confessione and for Confession thus If any person which God forbid depart this life without repentance and confession that man is not to be prayed for and not to pray for the Dead was in that age held as uncharitable as with us to pray for the living is esteemed charitable And that Confession there mentioned is the same made unto the Priest the words immediately before specifie where we read According to the judgment of the Priest Juxta judicium Sacerdotum modum causae Eucharistiam sumite fructus dignos poenitentiae sacite and nature of the offence receive the Eucharist and bring forth fruit meet for repentance Inter Concilia Orbis Britan. c. operâ scrutinio V. C. Henrici Spelman Equ Aurati edita Lond. A. D. 1639. King Athelstane who began his reign over all England by him reduced to a Monarchy A. D. 924. King Athelstane and Crowned at Kingston by Athelmus Arch-Bishop of Canturbury in the year of grace 924. amongst his and other laws of the Saxon Princes collected by Mr Lambard this is fifth that was enacted by him If any being condemned desire to confess himself unto the Priest that all do earnestly and diligently promote all the Laws of God c. I have not seen the law in Lambard himself the Treatise being in few mens hands where I suppose it is more at large but rather as it is pointed unto Book 16. pag. 1360. and the title rehearsed by Doctor Bridges in his defence of the Government c. Afterwards King Alured wearing the Diadem of this land amongst the Ecclesiastical laws by him ordained and ratified
Sin Dismantled SHEWING THE LOATHSOMNESSE THEREOF In laying it open by CONFESSION With the Remedy for it by Repentance Conversion Wherein is set forth the Manner how we ought to confess our Sins to God and Man with the Consiliary decrees from the Authority thereof and for the shewing the necessity of Priestly Absolution the removing the disesteem the vulgar have of Absolution setting forth the power of Ministers With an Historical Relation of the Canons concerning Confession and the secret manner of it also shewing the Confessors affections and inclinations By a late Reverend Learned and Judicious Divine LONDON Printed by J. Best for WILLIAM CROOK at the three Bibles on Fleet-Bridge MDCLXIV The Principal CONTENTS OF THE WHOLE BOOK CHAP. I. THe names of things exemplifie their nature The Authors purpose Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth Repentance and Consolation which is variously rendred by the Septuagint Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Confession or a casting off by the same Interpreters is translated to give thanks and to praise Exagreusis a forinsecal word an Indictment Exhomologesis Metanoea and Metameleia usuall in the New Testament Resipiscence and Penitude their difference and several uses pag. 1. CHAP. II. Repentance a Conversion and wherein it consisteth The Fathers define it from the sensible effects and figns thereof The Schoâ—lmens errour in placing it in bodily corrections rather than in mental change The Reformed Divines seat it in the humiliation of the heart requiring also outward expressions of sorrow Conversion is the essential form of Repentance Self abnegation godly sorrow a Penitents practice and endeavour p. 10. CHAP. III. Discipline of penance wherefore enjoyned by the Church Exhomologesis divers kindi of Confession publick penance of Apostolical practice The austerity thereof in the Primitive times Order thereof prescrib'd in the dayes of Cyprian and Ambrose Divers examples of publick Penitents The solemn practick thereof in Records of the Church Sinners admitted but once to solemn Penance Actual reconciliation denyed by the Church to lapsed sinners No renewing unto Repentance how understood in the Epistle to the Hebrew Four stations observed by the ancient Penitents The restoring of this Discipline much desired p. 16. CHAP. IV. Confession of sin addressed unto God chiefly and to Man also with considerable relations grounded upon the Law of Nature with God himself a necessary antecedent to pardon Adam and Cain interrogated to extract Confession Sundry precedents of Penitents recoursing to God in Confession There is shame in confessing to God as well as unto Man Penitential Psalmes composed by David for memorials and helps to Confession The Rabbins doctrine of Confession of sin before God practised in the time of the Gospel preached and urged by the Ancient Fathers and so far by Chrysostome as a tribute due to God onely for which the Pontificians are jealous of him Confession before God is not destructive of Confession before man in a qualified sense though preferred before it and especially called for by the old Doctors although that be of singular use also p. 43. CHAP. V. Of Confession to Man The Confession of sin under the Law before the Priest at the Altar and the Sacrifice Special enumeration of all sins not required of the Jews The Law commandeth the acknowledgment of sin and restitution Jobs friends confessed their errours unto him who sacrificed for them Davids confession unto Nathan Rabbins affirming sins to be confessed unto the Fathers and Levites The place in St James chap. 5. Of mutual Confession explained and vindicated Testimonies of the Fathers for Confession unto man The opinion of the Schoolmen that sin in case of necessity and in way of Consultation for a remedy not in way of Absolution for reconcilement may be detected to a Lay-man and of the Reformed Divines That sins may be confessed to a Believing Brother for advice and to a Minister of the Gospel p. 65. CHAP. VI. Divers Offices and administrations in the Church The peoples Confession unto John at Jordan wherein they were particular The Confession of the Believers at Ephesus to St Paul Proofs from the Fathers for Confession to the Priests of the Gospel Such Confession withdraweth not from God but leadeth to him Testimenies of the worthiest Divines of the Church of England for Confession seconded with Divines of the Reformation from the Churches beyond the seas p. 90. CHAP. VII Concerning the Institution necessity and extent of Confession and is divided into three Sections p. 111. SECT I. The Decrees of the Tridentine Council for Divine right and authority of Confession The Anathema's held too severe by some moderate Romanists Publick Exhomologesis vilipended by those Fathers The Schoolmens faintness in reasoning for the divine institution of Auricular Confession The Canonists plant the same upon the universal Tradition of the Church Divines siding with the Canonists Oppugners of Auricular Confession in former ages Pretences of Divine authority from places of Scripture examined Different proceedings in the Court of Conscience from earthly Tribunals Special cognizance of all sins not a necessary antecedent at all times to Priestly Absolution God pardoneth many sins immediately never spoken of to a Priest Differences of Popish Divines concerning the matter and form in Penance prove to be no such thing as Sacramental Confession which reacheth not higher than the Lateran Council Confession of sin of the same institution as Repentance is Divine institution manifold In what sense Confession may be said to be of Divine institution p. 113. SECT II. The abusive necessity of Confession Tyrannical inquisition into mens consciences distasteful Confession left at liberty in Gratians time Schoolmen leaning to the necessity thereof Confession not the onely Necessary means for absolution and remission The Ends aimed at in Popish confession unnecessary No express precept in Scripture for the absolute necessity thereof Confession an heavy burden upon fleshly shoulders Private Confession not practised from the beginning Established in the place of the publick by an Edict from Leo I. The fact of Nâ—â—tarius abrogating confession with the several answers and expositions of Roman writers expended Confession deserted in the Greek Church Divers kinds and forms of Necessity Confession in what cases necessary and the necessity thereof determined p. 144. SECT III. Scrupulous enumeration of all sins decreed in late Councils Circumstances aggravating and altering the property of sin Mill-stones to plain people Anxious inquisition into each sin with every circumstance a perplexed peece Particular reckonings for every sin an heavy load to the Conscience and without express warranty from God implying difficulty and impossibility and tending to desperation No urgent necessity to be so superstitious in casting up of all sins and the circumstantial tails thereof Romish closets of confession Seminaries of sin and uncleanness Venial and reserved sins exempted by Rome from the â—ars of ordinary Priests upon what grounds Strict and specifick enumeration of sins but of late standing in the Church General Interrogatories proposed at the
his mother onely was instructed in the mysteries of the Christian faith This is certain that Lactantius and Ambrose affirme Constantine to be the first that planted the Cross of Christ upon the Imperial Crown and Eusebius himself tells us that he came by the former story but by report onely The same Author makes relation of one Natalis who being seduced by certain Hereticks to be of their faction to gain a Bishoprick and an annual pension was oftentimes admonished in his dreams Frequenter admonebatur in somni is à Domino ad ultimum à sanctis Angelis per totam noctem verberatus poenis gravibus excruciatus cilicio se induit cinere conspergit ac multis lacrimis errorem suum deflens ante pedes Zepherini Episcopi prosternit vestigiis omnium non modo Clericorum sed Laicorum multa cum lamentatione provolutus c. Euseb Eccl hist lib. 5. c. 28. how Jesus Christ would not the destruction of him that had made so many and so good confessions of him under the Cross to which he it seemeth giving little credit was not long after for a whole night well scourged and tortured by Angels in the morning he gate up put on sackcloth and did ashes on his head and with many tears bewailed his apostasic he prostrated himself at the feet of Zepherine the Bishop and of all the Clergie and Laity also in so lamentable wise as he moved the whole Church to tears and compassion that by their prayers he might obtain from Christ forgiveness shewing forth the sears and wounds he had endured for his name and at length with much dissienlty he was restored The next news to me occurring of the voice of this turtle Fabiola is the example of a Roman Dame Fabiola drawn to the life by that excellent Artist Saint Hicrome Umbram quandam miserabilis subire conjugii quà m sub gloriâ univirae opera exercere meretricum her sin was if I dare call it so the repudiating of her former husband for adultery and he yet living the marrying of another which although Hierome stile the shadow of a miserable marriage yet confessing the fault he avoideth the same by a necessity of better to marry thâ—â— to burn and I will that yâ—onger widows marry c. and prefers it before the credit of being the wife of one husband and to play the Harlot shewing that he disliked such marriages as unexpedient not disapproving them as unlawful He limns her penance with this pensil How she came forth wrapped in sackcloth to make publick confession of her errour before the people of Rome Saccum induere ut errareâ—â— publicè fateretur tatâ urbe spectante Romanâ ante diem Paschae in Basilica quondam Laterani staret iâ— ordine poenitentium Episcopo Presbyteris omni populo collacrimantibus sparsum crinem ora lurida squalidas manus sordida colla submitteret Quae peccata fletus iste non purget quas inveteratas mâ—culas haec lamenta non abluant Aperuit cunctis vulâ—us suum decolorem in corpore cicatricem flens Româ— conspexit dissuta habuit latera nudum caput clausum os non est ingressa Ecclâ—siam Domini sed extra castra cum Maria sorore Mosi separata consedit ut quam sacerdos ejecerat ipse revocaret descendit dâ—solio dâ—liciarum suarum accepit molam fecit farinam discalâ—i â—is pedibus transivit fluenta lacrimarum sedit super carbones ignis hi fâ—êre in adjutorium Faciem per quam secundo viro placuerat verberabat oderat gemmas linteamina videre non poterat ornamâ—nta fugiebat sic dolebat quâ— adulterium commâ—sisset multis impendiis medicaminum unum vulnus sanare cupiebat Recep â sub occulis omnis Ecclesiae communione Hierom ad Ocean Epitaph Fab. how a litle before Easter she resorted to the Lateran Church ranking her self among the Penitents the Bishop the Priests and the whole assimbly bemoaning with her her hair diffufed or carelesly spread her countenance wan and doleful her sordid neck and hands besmeared with such tears as could wash away any sin with such mourning as could fetch out any spots and elsewhere she laid open hâ—â— offence to all Rome beheld and not with dry eyes her disfigured and ill coloured wound her coats rip'd and unsâ—wâ—d hâ—â— head naked her face veiled she entred not into the Church of God but like Miriam Moses sister separated from the Camp she abode without that the Priest who had cast hâ—r forth might call her in She came down from her castle of pleasure she took the mill-stones and ground the meale and making bare the leg passed through the river of tears sate upon the coles of fire which were a help unto her buffeting that face which was her second husbands felicity She hated jewels no linen napry within her eyes she eschewed all ornaments and so took on as if guilty of adultery applying divers plasters for the curation of one wound and so in the view of the whole Church was received to the Communion Where to say nothing of this Matrons sin in her penance we may take notice of these steps 1. Of the exclusion and barring of baynous offenders from the assembly of Christians in that she was shut out from the Church as Miriam from the tent 2. That there was a set place and time where the penitents ftood and when they performed their penance in that she set her self amongst them and resorted to the Church a little before Easter 3. The manner thereof her habit mournful her hair loose her eyes full of tears her countenance cast down and all things about her instruments and tokens of sorrow 4. The Confession of her sin was publick before the Bishop his Clergy Aparet tempore Hieronymi clanculariam confessionem institutam non suisse Erasm schol in Epitaph Fabiolae and his people for private confession if you beleeve Erasmus was not yet set up 5. The Clergy and People were all of them indulgent in compassionating the state of such Christian abjects 6. And lastly the censure was taken away and the penitent reconciled The succeeding times were not so pregnant in examples of this kind by reason that this discipline was for a while discontinued but set on foot again by the power of Charles the great and the Fathers assembled in the fourth Council at Arles Concil Are-Int 4. c. 26. an 800. according to the direction of the ancient Canous and not long after chanced that remarkable Penance of Fulco Norra Earl of Anjou Accompagnè seulement de six valets auquelles il fit â—â—rer de faire 〈◊〉 2 qu'il leur â—ommanderoit commanda à l'un de eux de lui mettre la corde à Col le tirer par icella à S. Sepulcre à deux autres de prendre des verges de le fouetter lâ—â—n rudement encores qu'il eut les espaules de
schiquetées de coups de verges il print la poigne de l'un de â—ux redoubla bien plus rudiment que n'avoient seâ— serviteurs for murdering of his Nephew and Pupill the young Count de Nantes so rack'd and tortured in his conscience which to appease he went on pilgrimage to the S. Sepulchre as Jerusalem attended with six servants whom he obliged by oath to execute whatsoever he should command entred into the Sepulchre forthwith he strips himself into his skin and commandeth one of his servants to fasten a rope to his neck and bind him thereunto and two others to whip him soundly with cords exposing himself to the sight derision of the Infidels and purchasing of them free access to the Sepulchre with great sums of money after the inflicting of many stripes his servants pittying the furrows wounds upon his body and refusing to scourge him any more he compassed one of their scourges and redoubled the blows upon himself in far greater measure than they had done crying out Lord receive to grace Seigneur recoy à pardon le miserable parjure fugitiff Foulques A. Thenet vies des hommes illustres Livre 4. c. 2. and pardon the miserable perjur'd fugitive Fulk after he had performed this solemn penance he returned to his Countrey so esteemed and honoured his sanctity purchasing unto him such renown as he seemed to have received a Crown at Jerusalem of inestimable value So went the world in those dayes and such conscience was made of sin and sorrow after that came in the Canonists and School-men the two supporters of the Roman chair and this discipline escaped not their hands without some violence and wresting to serve their own inventions for whereas in the Primitive times it was prescribed as a sign and expression of inward sorrow and used as a remedy against sin and a medicine for sin they make it a satisfaction in the scale of justice for publick sin and in that sense Poen entia hîc non accipitur pro virtuts quia ista est in sola voluntate nec pro Sacramento quia hujus forus secretissimus est sed pro satisfactione publica pro publicis peccatis imposita Biel. l. 4. dist 14. Q. 3. dub 6. as they do their private satisfactions injoyned upon secret confession and close audience as expiatory both for the appeasing of Gods anger and remitting of the offence an office peculiar to our Saviour What these men have made of penance you shall hear Gabr. ubi supra Raimund tr 4. Poenitens in die cinerum debet se repraesentare ante fores Ecclesiae in tristi habitu nudis pedibus c. which the Canonists say they have from the Council of Agatho I will not defraud my Reader thereof and for his plenary knowledg herein will compare the narration of a School-man and a Canonist that is Gabriel Biel and Raymundus and thus it goes About the beginning of Lent that is upon Ash-wednesday such sinners that are designed to undergo this solemn penance must present themselves at the Church door before the Bishop of the place and his Clergie in sackcloth naked on the head and feet their countenance dejected and cast down to the earth professing by their very habit and look their guilt The Bishop then attending with his Clergie brings them into the Church Episcopus se prosternens in terram dicat cum Clericis 7. poenitentiales Psalmos cum lacrimis pro earum absolutione tunc manus imponat aquam benedictam super eos spargat cinerem pòst mittat and all prostrated on the ground he reciteth over them with tears the seven penitential Psalmes for their absolution after he hath prayed standing up he laieth his hands upon them and sprinkleth them with holy water and putteth ashes upon their heads and covereth them with sackcloth and denounceth unto them that look how Adam was cast forth of Paradise Sicut Adam suit de paradiso ejectus ita isti pro peccatis suis ab Ecclesia abjiciuntur postea jubet Episcopus Ministros nâ— eos extra januas Ecclesiae expellant Clerus verò prosequatur eos cùm responsorio In sudore vultâ—s tui vesceris pane tuo so are they for their sins expelled from the Church which sentence is no sooner given than some of his Ministers are commanded by him to drive them out the Clergie prosecuting either singing or saying the Respond In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread that beholding the Church so troubled for their sins they may not slight their penance Vpon Maundy Thursday they return again and are brought in by the Deane In coena Domini à Decano rursus Ecclesiae prasentantur licèt-stent in Ecclesia non tamen communicabant cum aliis in Eucharistia vel oscula sic erunt usque ad octavam Paschae tunc iterùm exibunt de Ecclesia erunt extra Ecclesiam usque ad talem diem sequentis anni sic fiet annuatim usque ad finem Poenitentiae Ex Gabr. Raymundo or some Priest of good respect where they neither communicate in the Eucharist nor in the Pax and so they continue till the Vtas of Easter and then they depart away from the Church and are not admitted till the Ash-wednesday following and this course to hold every year till the date of their penance be expired and they perfectly restored Ritus ista hodiè in nullis so I read for nonnullis in the copy I use vel paucissimis Ecclesiis observaour This Rite Gabriel confesseth in his dayes seldome to be practised in any Church and we see how in tract of time it had gathered some rust and dross of superstition very incident to exercises of this kind A Penance they say not to be inflicted on all sorts of people as the Clergy are exempted for the honour of their order and young men for the solemnity of the discipline and that but once upon any Indeed Saint Ambrose inclines to this opinion who reprehending the inordinate use of such persons as frequent such heynous offences Meritò reprehenduntur qui saepiùs agendam poenitentiam putant qui luxuriantur in Christo nam si verè agerent poenitentiam iterandum postea non putarent quia sicut unum baptisma ita una poenitentia quae tamen publicè agitur nam quotidiani nos debet poenitere peccati sed haec delictorum leviorum illa gravierum Ambr. l. 2. de Poen c. 10. for which publick penance is injoyned affirmeth that if such sinners had sincerely repented and in their hearts detested sin so much as they made shew to do this Physick once taken would have wrought so perfect a cure upon them as there could be no fear of relapse nor further use of any Medicine of that nature and the same Father seems also to have no good liking of that disease or Patient where this Physick will not work and in those
severe times lapsed sinners already disciplined were neither restored to publick penance nor to the publick Communion after which publick penance saith Petavius if again they intangle themselves with the same sins Post illam poenitentiam si iisdem se criminibus obstrinxissent ab Ecclesiae aditu à mysteriorum communione penitùs exclusi reconciliari ampliùs non poterant D. Petav. animadvers in Epiphan haer 59. p. 239. they altogether shut out from the Church and participation of the mysteries could never after be reconciled for to Christians there belongeth one Baptisme whereby they are bound unto the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Strom. 2. pag. 282. so one penance publickly to be performed Surely in Christian policy there are great reasons why this Penance should not be reiterated for the Christian Church may well grow jealous of that party as defective in the inward compunction of the heart that his affections were not fully taken off from sin and that he had no perfect hatred thereof and by consequent not disposed to this discipline where the sign and thing signified namely internal and external sorrow are both required that shall make no bones of falling into the same or like grievous offences for which he underwent so great a shame and made so solemn a detestation thereof the Ancients therefore suspend their judgments in that sinners case God saith Epiphanius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiphan lib. 2. hares 59. tem 1. p. 498. accepteth the penance of a sinner that falleth after Baptisme but what shall become of him if he sin after penance he onely knoweth whose judgments are past finding out And because the wayes of Gods mercy are past finding out such a lapsed sinner may not be uncapable of pardon although of penance and may find reconciliation at Gods hands although his servants are fearful to intermeddle therein not as envying Gods mercy like Jonas to Nineveh or denying lapsed sinners to be capable thereof as Novatian but careful onely not to exceed their Lords instructions and commission although saith Austin a place for humble penance be denied in the Church Quamvis eis in Ecclesia locus humillima poenitentiae non concedatar Deus tamen super cos suae poenitentiae non obliviscitur God will not be unmindful of his patience towards them where the Father relating the works of piety and labour of contrition performed by such relapsed sinners demandeth shall they avail them nothing afterwards Nihil ista proderunt in posterum avertat Deus tam immanem sacrilegaâ—â—que dementiam Aug. Epist 54. God defend us from so savage and sacrilegious madness for God in whose hands are all mens hearts can soften and harden and make them malleable which no man can do Psal 51. he can create a new heart and renew a right spirit a piece of work which none but he can do It is he that gives repentance 2 Tim. 2.25 and he can best discern of the effect and operation that grants the influence This being certain where true contrition is there is remission of sin and where Repentance is Gods own work the Contrition is unfeigned and the pardon sealed insomuch that two passages in the sixth and tenth Chapters to the Hebrews that seem less favourable and equal to lapsed sinners the one taking away Repentance and the other the Sacrifice for pardon which drew many into a hard conceit of the Author and Epistle it self although the errour lay onely in the misapprehension have been often urged by the old Precisians and as often vindicated by the old Pathers whereof I will give my Reader a taste before I come clean off from this subject In the Epistle thus It is impossible that those who were â—nce inlightned Heb. 6.4 5 6 c. If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves afresh the Son of God and put him to open shame where to such persons initiated in the holy mysteries of Christianity and fallen away all possibility of renewing by repentance is taken away as guilty of another crucifying of Christ and opprobry towards him A repentance is there denied it cannot be denied and denied to them that were formerly baptized into the Christian faith is apparent also Such then cannot be renewed that is in such a manner as at their first admission into Christianity which was by Baptisme and imposition of hands it comes home then as if the Apostle had said such as were at the first received into Baptisme and thereby obtained the remission of sins if such fall they are not so to be renewed that is by a second Baptisme of Repentance the solemnization whereof is but once to one party so lapsed sinners may be renewed but not after that way As virginity once lost cannot corporally be restored yet the lost credit may be repaired by a chast conversation afterwards so the lapsed sinner after Baptisme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Epiphanius hath another salve though not another bath Epiphan lib. 2. contr haetes tom 1. p. 494. And this to be the Aposties meaning Saint Chrysostome makes good by a twofold reason First because mention is made of a fresh crucifying of the Son of God for after he had said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is impossible to be renewed to repentance he keeps not there silence but addeth crucifying afresh c. now Baptisme is a figure of the Cross of Christ and as it was not for Christ to be crucified again no more is it for a Christian to be again baptized and as he died but once so are we but once baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be renewed proveth baptisme to be meant for that 's the Sacrament of Renovation whereby we put on the new man Christ Jesus with whom agreeth Ambrose The words themselves shâ—w Baptisme to be meant De baptismate autem dictum verba ipsa declarant quibus significavit impossibile esse lapsos renovari per poenitentiam per lavacrum enim renovamur per quod renascimur Ambr. lib. 1. de Poenit. cap. 2. wherein is expressed that it is impossible the lapsed to be renewed by repentance for by that Laver we are renewed by which we were born again the flower of Greece therefore concludeth what then is there no more repentance there is repentance but there is not a second Baptisme The Novatian then is not here justified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad Hebr. tom 4. p. 482. but the Anabaptist condemned So his Disciples and abridgers Theophylact and Oecumenius tread his paths What saith the former is Repentance cast forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph in Heb. 6.5 God forbid but a renewing by a second Baptisme is rejected for Baptisme representing Christs death and passion there remaineth then no more a second Baptisme than a second Cross The same
and application After that they were admitted amongst the fideles at the celebration of the Sacrament but were not yet come so far as to partake thereof and this was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their station 5. Their penance fully accomplished and ended they were reconciled and received the sacred Eucharist and this was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the complement Thus far the Cardinal though not so faithfully as he ought hath related from Pacianus Greg. Neocaesar and Photius men well acquainted with these rites Thou seest Christian Reader at what a distance sinners were held in the dayes of old and not fully restored till time and grief had worn out their sin the scandal satisfied and their hearts seasoned with devotion I will wind up this discourse with Cassander In the Primitive Church that sluggish professors might become more zealous In veteri Ecclesia ut segniores excitarentur poenitentilus ob graviora scelera certa tempora officia definita fuerunt quibus non solum coram Deo interiorem animi poenitentiam excitarent exercerent sed etiam Ecclesiae verè se atque ex animo poenitere declararent atque it a mâ—nûs impositione Episcopi Cleri reconciliarentur jus Communicationis acciperent atque haec praescripta officia canonicae satisfactiones seu poenae vocarentur quae jam imperitiâ Episcoporum Pastorum in abusum negligentiâ segnitie tà m pastorum quà m Populi in desuetudinem venerant nisi quòd in privatis confessionibus aliqua ejus rei vestigia remanserint Cassand Consult Confessio certain times and offices were appointed unto Penitents guilty of fouler crimes wherein they might not onely stir up and exercise the inward repentance of the minde before God but declare unto the Church their sincere and unfeigned sorrow and so be reconciled by imposition of hands from the Bishop and the Clergie and restored to the Communion the which prescribed duties were called canonical satisfactions or punishments which now adayes by the unskilfulness of Bishops and Pastors have grown to be abused and through the wegligence and lukewarmness both of Pastors and people wholly laid aside save that some foot stops thereof have remained in private Confessions This modern and moderate Divine hath laid down the use and scope of this discipline to rouse us up for religious duties and to set forth before the Church our sincere repentance and to be reconciled by Gods Ministers the decay whereof he ascribeth to the supine negligence of the later Prelates and that a shadow thereof remaineth to this day in private confession the restitution whereof he much sighed after as appeareth in these his words Which ancient and Apostâ—lick custome of publick satisfaction for publick and grievous offences were very profitable Quem publicae satisfactionis priscum Apostolicum morem ob publica graviora peccata restitui utile ac propemodùm necessarium est in quo potestas Ecclesiastica Clavium in ligando solendo i. e. poenitentiam indicendo à Communione separando rursum indulgendo absolvendo seu reconciliando manifestissimè cernitur Cassand ib. yea very necessary to be restored wherein the Ecclestastical power of the keyes in binding and loosing that is in imposing of penance in separating from the communion and again in releasing absolving and reconciling is manifestly discerned And thus have I prosecuted this discipline 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as accurately as I could that the same being known (a) Communion-Book at the Commination the vote of our Church for the restitution thereof may be the better perceived which thing were much to be wished and to which all that love the Lord Jesus must needs say Amen CHAP. IV. The Contents Confession of sin addressed unto God chiefly and to man also with considerable relations grounded upon the law of nature with God himself a necessary antecedent to pardon Adam and Cain interrogated to extract Confession Sundry Precedents of Penitents recoursing to God in Confession There is shame in confessing to God as well as unto man Penitential Psalmes composed by David for memorials and helps to Confession The Rabbins doctrine of Confession of sin before God practised in the time of the Gospel preached and urged by the Ancient Fathers and so far by Chrysostome as a tribute due to God onely for which the Pontificians are jealous of him Confession before God is not destructive of Confession before man in a qualified sense though preferred before it and especially called for by the old Doctors although that be of singular use also HItherto of Repentance both external and internal the inward sorrow and the outward demeanour thereof and that solemn performance was not onely a vocal and publick confession of the guilt but a real expression that as Saint Hieroâ—â—e said of John the Baptist his food of Lâ—â—â—sts and his garment of Cameâ—s hair Omnia poenitentiae praeparata Hicron Matth. 3. and the place of his abode the desart how they expresly set forth what he preached the doctrine of Repentance we are now to arrest our selves upon that branch and part thereof which consisted in the verbal opening and declaration of sin which is a recognition of a sinners unworthiness opened by himself in orall confession to the principal party wronged and sometimes to such persons also that by reason of their office place or respect may be a mean to procure forgiveness and reconcilement Now by sin God is ever principally and very often onely grieved and sometimes Man also In the first case to God onely and properly belongs confession as He who is chiefly and onely offended in the second this Confession must be made to God and the Man also that is wronged by us to whom satisfaction for the trespass also belongeth and the end brotherly Reconciliation The Dean of Lovaine hath taken notice of all thus There is a Confession which is made unto God alone Est Confessio quae fit Deo soli quae homini atque haec ruâ—sùs varia 1. Quaedam fit homini quem laesinius pro obtinenda reconciliatione cum ipso remissione offensae in illum alia fit homini de peccatis in alium admissis pro consilio aut reconciliatione habenda sunt hae confessiones juris naturae saltem reformatae per gratiam Ruard Tapper art 5. pag. 73. and another unto man and this again is divers 1. either unto the man whom we have hurt for the obtaining of reconcilement with him and forgiveness of the wrong from him or which is made unto a man of such sins as are done against any other to ask coursel upon the matter of Reconciliation and all these confessions are of the law of nature at the least as it is refined by grace So Confession is made unto God and in some cases to man also furthermore the fact is acknowledged unto man in many points wherein he is not the Party offended but considered as a mean and instrument to
a general manner The next instance is a law grounded upon the VIII Commandment against usurpers of that which is not theirs injoyning confession of the wrong and restitution Numb 5.7 They shall confess their sin which they have done and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof and add unto it the fifth part thereof and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed Materia restâ—tutionis latissima quidem sed valdè necessaria Biell l. 4. d. 15. Q. 2. The point of restitution is indeed of great latitude and great necessity a doctrine too sowre for the palat of our times and we can no more away with it then with Confession Oh preposterous shame we blush not to commit sin but to confess we blush not to do violence but to restore that speech of Augustâ—ne is grounded upon infallible truth The sin is not remiâ—ted Non dimittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum except what was deteined be restored If thou haft not a mind to augment the principal four-fold as Zacheus did yet add â…•th thereunto as the Law enjoyned or at least the Principal as reason willeth Lexista loquitur in casu in quo aliquis poenitentià ducius vulâ— sacâ—re satisfactionem proximo Lyra. in loc This case of Confession is unto man as damnified together with God and therefore he likewise this way is to be satisfied the offender voluntarily detesting and detecting the fact tendring satisfaction and desiring reconciliation Here the Rhemists exceed the bounds of the Tridentine faith in affirming that a general Coâ—fession under the law sufficed not for purging sins and that sinners were bound by a divine positive law Rhâ—mists Aâ—â—oâ— upon Num. 5. Tom. 1. pag. 333. to confess expresly and distinctly their sin which they had committed whom I send to Cardinal Tolet a man of more judgment then all their College to be corrected who ingeniously confesseth that not so much as a purpose to confess was necessary in the old law Propasitum consitâ—ndi non sait necessarium in vâ—teri lege Toler tract de confes for my part I verily believe the same divine law for confession that is in force under the Gospel to have been a law for Gods people at all times and of like necessity to all penitents and that the Priests after the order of Aaron had power to make the atonemant as well as those after the order of Melchisedec to grant the absolution both in their several kinds being Ministers of Reconciliation Christ the supreme head of either hierarchy giving in proper person a period to the Levitical Priesthood and investing his Ministers with their authority which seems to be the greater because it shines the clearer and the more substantial because the lesse ceremonious The next but precedent in time unto the former is the submission of Jobs friends and that by special command of God unto him with a direction from God likewise that Job by sacrificing for them should pacifie his incensed anger for God held himself wronged through his servants side and all this should they perform upon pain of his high displeasure the words in the story are these Job 42.7 8 9 10. And it was so that after the Lord has spoken these words unto Job The Lord said unto Eliphaz the Temanite my wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt offering and my servant Job shall pray for you and him will I accept lest I deal with you after your folly in that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did according as the Lord commanded them and the Lord also accepted Job and the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends Where note 1. As God was offended and his servant Job so the offence must be acknowledged to both that both may be pacified 2. God retains his anger till the party wronged together with him be satisfied 3. Gods wrath incensed against any for wronging his servants will not be quenched but by his servants means and procurement for his fury provoked by offending Job must be appeased by Job reconciling ' Ite ad servum meum Job offeret holocaustum pro vobis ita legit Greg. vulg lat assavoir par le moin de Job tellement qu'il vous serve comme de Sacrificateur Genev not in Bibl. Gallic They were to offer their sacrifices to Job and Job to God for them so the ancient Latine copies followed by Gregory read Go unto my servant Job and he shall offer an Holocaust for you and those words him will I accept and the Lord accepted Job import no less Pro semetipso Poenitens tantò cititùs ex audiri meruit quantò devotè pro aliâ—s intâ—rcessit Greg. Mor. l. 35. c. 20. 4. God heareth a man sooner in his own cause that is sollicitous on the behalf of others as Job turned away his own captivity in praying for his friends Thou wilt say but where did Jobs friends confess their sins unto him Canst not thou spell their Confessions in their Sacrifices for what meant those Sacrifices and Jobs intercessions on their behalf but for their sins and how could he offer and pray for he knew not what they then confessed the trespass presented unto him the trespass offering and desired his intercessions that God would be reconciled for their offences The next President is David confessing his sin to Nathan for albeit the Prophet gave him a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and draught thereof in a Parable and made David pass the sentence against himself in thesi and brought it home to his Conscience by a special application uncasing the Parable and shewing that He was the man yet Davids heart thus roused awoke and he cried out I have sinned against the Lord 2 Sam. 12. and Nathan said unto David the Lord hath also put away thy sin thou shalt not dye There was no tergiversation no apology no accusing of the instruments but the King wholly took the sin upon himself Thus did not Saul in the case of Agag and Amalek the charge he had from God was the utter subversion of that Prince and State contrariwise the victory gained he spareth the King and maketh a prey of the richest and fattest spoyls and being reprehended by Samuel spread a religious cloak over his transgression as if that prey had been reserved for a sacrifice and being further charged by Samuel for disobedience he conveyes the fact away from himself to the people I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and gone the way the Lord sent me but the people c.
Galatin de arcan Cath. verit l. 10. c. 3. Every one that in offending hath offended necessarily he must express the offence in a special manner By these Masters of the Synagogue it may easily be guessed how confession was ordered and practised by their Disciples and Proselytes In the New Testament the onely pertinent place to prove Confession unto man not circumstantiated with any office quality c. is in the Epistle of Saint James Confesse your faults one to another James 5.17 and pray one for another that ye may be healed where the disease is sin the remedy confession and prayer the Physicians and Patients subalternal one another the end curation that ye may be healed wherein mutual prayer is injoyned and mutual confession and as the precept is one to pray for another so is it also one to confesse to another and as not onely the order of Priests may pray for others but other orders of the faithful for them and others also so sin may be detected to men of another rank than Priests onely to Priests I grant principally but not solely and little advantageth Romes clancular confession where the Laity and Clergie hold no correspondency Il ne fait rien pour ceste confession à l'oreille d'un Prestre car icy l' Apostre recommande une confession mutuelle qui ne se fait in cette practique D. Buchan l'histoire de la Conscience p. 173. they confessing to Priests onely and not Priests to People whereas the Apostle by saying Confess one to another prescribeth confession no more to be made to the Priest than to another man Dicendo Confitemini alterutrum non magìs dicit confessionem faciendam esse Sacerdoti quà m alii subdit enim Orate prose invicem Scot. l. 4. d. 17. Q. unic saith Scotus So that without forcing or racking of the words the sense will fall out to be this Confess your sins one to another that being conscious of one anothers diseases you may the better frame your request on one anothers behalf for your recovery Confession of faults serving here for an instruction unto prayer which one (a) Alterutrum i. aequalibus Gloss interlin Member of the Church maketh for another Then if none can receive Confession of sins but a Priest none but a Priest can pray for another Mutuam confessionem mutuam orationem simul injungit si solis sacrificulis confitendum ergo pro illis solis orandum Calvin Instit lib. 3. c. 4. Sect. 6. But if a Lay-Christian may pray for another yea for a Priest also then may confession be made to a Lay-Christian Reciprocâ relatione isti pro scinvicem tenentur orare Hug. Card. in loc ergo ad se invicem reciproce tenentur confiteri yea from a Priest also Again if Priests be the onely men to whom confession in this place is addressed then Priests onely pray one for another for if none can confess one another but Priest and Priest they are the Men then that can only pray one for another furthermore the Confession Saint James speaketh of passeth to and fro from one to another now if none may hear confession but a Priest Hic exigitur reciproca Confessio-atqui hoc soli sacrifici sibi vendicant ergò ad eos solos ableganda est confessio Calvin in Jac. cap. 5. none may make confession but a Priest for with the Apostle those onely must make confession that may receive confession and they onely confess that may be confessed unto This discourse is grounded upon the mutual and reciprocal injunction of Confession and intercession on the behalf of others as duties of equal latitude and extent The Reason standeth thus Bar. All such as may make supplications for others may receive the confessions of others Ba. But all Christians may make their supplications for others Ra. Therefore all Christians may receive the confessions of others Sentit de quotidianis offensis Christianorum inter ipsos quot continuò vult reconciliari alioqui si de confessione sensisset quam dicimus partem Sacramenti poenitentiae non addi disset 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. vobis invicem sed saccrdotibus Erasm annot in Jac. 5. pag. 744. There are that limit the Apostle to speak onely of that Confession which tendeth to Brotherly reconciliation whereby the offender humbly submits ingeniously acknowledgeth and thereby deprecateth the offence and pacifieth the party offended as if he should have said the faults you commit one to another confess one to another and be reconciled for had he meant Sacramental confession he would rather have said confess to the Priests than one to another This note of Erasmus had been worth the noting if the words following and pray one for another did not follow which argue the fellow-servant not to be the party grieved but the Lord to whom he is to intercede on his fellows behalf q.d. Confess one to another the sins committed against God and pray one for another to God for them Others understand by sins the sins against God by the Confessors not Priests alone Haec omnia intelliguntur de Confessione secundùm quod ipsa est praeceptum sicut praecepta quoad confessionem mortalium consilium verò quoad confessionem venialium Hug. Card. Expos in Jac. cap. 5. but others also in some cases and the confession as a duty to be performed by way of 1. Precept and of 2. Counsel If mortal sins be the subject then the Confessor is to be a Priest and the confession necessary and under command but if the sins be venial the Confessor may be a Lay-man and the Confession free and under counsel onely This later confession then being an Evangelical counsel belongeth onely to such perfect men as Monks and Friers and then a Lay brother may serve at a turne to receive the Confessions of a Cloyster which rather than those religious Cloysterers will admit this cardinal exposition shall be turned off the hinges But it will be said a Priest may take notice of such Atomes and Peccadillo's too if his leisure serve him or if not may make them over to one of the Laity as not worthy of his ears I see now a mysterie and method observed in reserved cases moats and lesser sins are reserved for a Lay-audience sins of a middle magnitude for Priests ears but beams foul and heynous offences for the Penitentiaries themselves at Rome And truly I think Saint James was as well acquainted with venial sins as with Evangelical counsels and with reserved cases as much-as with reserved confessions So as touching this interpretation all that I have to say is to put my Reader in mind that this Scripture is from an Apostle and this glosse from a Cardinal But he and I both must take notice of what Bede saith because he was our worshipful Countrey-man who willeth that daily and trivial fanlts like should confesse to like one to another of the same rank
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tom. 4. p. 838. Vpon this event the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified such as were guilty of such spels were terrified and to prevent the like danger came and confessed c. They Confessed then that 's evident and something it was they confessed and somebody to whom The party then to whom the matter what and the manner how must be explained 1. He to whom without all doubt was Saint Paul for had the party been God they need not to have come for audience who heareth when we cry from the utmost parts of the earth to whom the East and West-Indies are but as the right and left ear their coming then to confess argues that it was to such an one that could not hear much further than he saw They came then to the School of Tyrannus where Saint Paul exercised and there were heard 2. And the contents of their confession were their deeds that is their evil deeds for we heard it was a fright that drive them to this confession Metu divini judicii territi errata sua professi ac detestati sunt Bez. annot in Act. 19. and good actions are matter of hope and not of dread a sense of the punishment of sin in others drive them to a Conscience and confession of their own thereupon Chrysostom expounds it in the testimony last alleged they accused themselves now if their deeds had been any other than sinful the relating thereof had rather justified than condemned them Syriaca editio disertis verhis reddidit offensas Bell. l. 3. de Poen c. 4. vide supra add hereunto the Syriack Edition which expresly reads offences 3. And for the manner it skils not much whether it were privately performed or in publick the circumstances are more probable that it was publick and very clear that it was in specie distinct of some select and special sins though not of all and very likely of such which they saw and heard were punished in others and to which those Levantine Countreys were too much addicted viz. Magicall charmes and Conjuration and in detestation of this sin they brought their books which taught them such curious arts and committed them to the open flames the using of two words to confesse and (a) prodentes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shew forth give no less and the latter word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intimating to set forth as in a Pageant the story of their lives the Syriac word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Being of the same signification with the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to number qâ—d numbring out their offences one after another thus we have a confession of sins and that distinct and that unto a Church-man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecumen in Act. Ap. Tom. 1. pag. 147. Paris 1631. Saint Paul whereupon the Greek Schools ground this exhortation it behoveth every faithful man to utter his sins and to submit himself to be censured for the same so as he may commit them no more that he may be justified according as it is written Declare thou thy sins first that thou mayest be justified And Erasmus this collection That anciently there was some confession made of an evil life Vel hinc colligi potest fuisse antiquitùs nonnullam confessionem malè actae vitae sed apertam ut opinor in genere quam nec ipsam legimus exactam abs quoquam Caeterùm quae nunc recepta est clancularia in aurem sit videtur ex consultationibus privatis esse nata quae solent apud Episcopos fieri si quis scrupulus urgeret animâ—m Erasm annot in Act. Apost c. 19. p. 315. but that publick as he imagined and general and that not exactâ—d from any howbeit Auricular confession now in use seemeth to have taken its beginning from certain consultations made with the Bishops in private when any scruple lay upon the soul The former part of his words making good what we purposed that in the Primitive Church there was confession of sins unto the Pastor we examine not whether private or publick general or special of some or of all offences And the passage concerning the original of Clancular Confession will be considered of in its proper place Thus far from the word of God now from the words of holy men in the first place we will set Dionysius Areopagita leaving out that controversie whether the works under his name be his or no seeing all Divines confess the Author to be of great Antiquity he therefore in an Epistle to Demophylus reprehending his insolent carriage towards a Priest and a Penitent relateth the abuse thus Thou as thy letters mention whilest a sinner falling down humbled hâ—mself unto the Priest Tu ut tuae literae indicant procidentem Sacerdoli impium ut ais atque peccatorem nescio quo pacto contra disciplinae ordinem astans calce abjecisti repulisti cùm ille quidem verecundè ut oportuit sateretur se ad peccatorum remâ—dia quaerenda venisse Dionys Epist 8. Interprete Ambr. Camaldulense I know not by what means standing by against the discipline of the Church didst spurn him back with thy foot whereas he in a lowly manner as behoved him confessed that he came to seek the remedies for his sins By which it is apparent how the sinner humbled himself unto the Priest sought the best remedies against sin such as were repentance pardon and Ghostly counsel which could not be well prescribed without making his case known unto the Priest to whom he resorted for a remedy where the contemptuous carriage of an insolent Deacon towards the poor Penitent that confessed and the Priest that received him is rebuked in that Epistle Origen succeedeth who describing seven sorts or means to obtain forgiveness of sins whereof the last is repentance writeth thus The seventh though painful and laborious Est adhuc septima licet dura laboriosa per poenitentiam remissio peccatorum cùm lavat Peccator in laerimis stratum suum siunt ei lacrimae panes die ac nocte non crubescit Sacerdoti Dei indicare peccatum suum quaerere medicinam secundum eum qui ait Dixi pronunciabo adversùm me c. Origen homil 2. in Levit. tom 1. p. 68. is remission of sins upon repentance when a sinner watreth his couch with tears and tears become his bread day and night and when he blusheth not to shew his sins unto the Lords Priest and to seek for Medicine according to him who said I said I will confess c. Against this testimony there stands like a hand in the Margin Sacramental confession set there by Genebrard the publisher of that Edition to fetch his Reader over as if Auricular Confession as it now goes for current at Rome had been alive in the days of Origen doing herein as sorry Painters when the Picture cannot shew it self subscribe at the foot his name whom they meant
Authority The Godly-learned Bishop Lakes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 B. Lakes Serm. at Greenwich upon Psal 32. vers 5. p. 139. who hath left a name behind him as a precious ointment and a light whose lustre is still with us taught the same Doctrine before the same Royal Audience in these words Our Church doth not condemn Confession as simply evil and therefore in its Liturgie hath restored it to its native purity onely it were to be wished that so far as the Church allows it we would practise it for I am perswaded that many live and dye in enormous sins that never made any use of it nor received any comfort from the power of the keys the confessing unto the Lord doth not exclude confessing unto man so the due limitation be observed The next is he who is now clothed in white rayment Bishop White Praefat. ad R. Archiep. Cant. prefixed to the book of the Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who hath challenged from Nazianzen not to be the onely Divine as he from him not to be the first who before his last and useful Treatise of the Sabbath in his Preface inscribed to the most eminent Star in our Churches Horizon and the highest Watchman in her Tower amongst others hath this direction There might also be a profitable use of some private form of Pastoral collation with their flock for their direction and reformation in particular spiritual duties such as was private Confession in the ancient Church These Fathers are gathered to their Fathers Our Church hath these lamps yet burning and long may they last that follow First our Christian Antiquary Bishop Usher L. Primate of Ireland Ans to the Jesuites challenge pag. 81 82. the L. Primate of Armach who upon that exhortation made in the Service-book of the Church saith thus It appeareth that the exhorting of the people to confess their sins unto their ghostly fathers maketh no such wall of separation between the ancient Doctors and us but we may well for all this be of the same Religion they were of Again Id. â—bid pag. 88. No kind of Confession either publick or private is disallowed by us that is any way requisite for the due execution of that ancient power of the keys which Christ bestowed upon the Church And again Neither the Ancient Fathers nor we do debar men from opening their grievances unto the Physicians of their souls either for their better information in the true state of their disease or for the quieting of their troubled Consciences and for receiving further direction from them out of Gods word both for the recovery of their present sicknesse and for the prevention of the like danger for the time to come which doctrine he learnedly asserteth and vindicateth from the fringes and dregs of Popish mixture and superstition The grave and godly Prelate My Lord Bishop of Duresme Bish Morton Appeal l. 2. c. 14. who well knoweth in Polemical differences between the Reformed and Roman Churches to separate the Chaff from the Corn stateth the question concerning confession thus It is not questioned between us whether it be convenient for a man burthened with sin to lay open his Conscience in private to the Minister of God and to seek at his hands both counsel and instruction and the comforts of Gods pardon But whether there be as from Christs institution such an absolute necessity of this private confession both for all sorts of men and for every particular sin known and ordinary transgression so as without it there can be no remission or pardon hoped for from God and so reduceth the difference betwixt Protestants and Papists unto two heads 1. of necessity 2. of possibility thus The Papists impose a necessity of confession absolute de jure Divino of all sins with all circumstances which is a tyrannie and impossible and a torture to the Conscience The Protestants do acknowledge saith he the use of private confession but with a double limitation and restraint 1. the first is the foresaid freedom of Conscience 2. the second is the possibility of performance by all which passages that great Scient Man doth not remove confession but certain errors crept in of late from the same as namely in that it is averred 1. to be of divine institution 2. of absolute necessity 3. extending to all men all known sins and all circumstances 4. and that it must be taken as a necessary mean either in deed or desire for the remission of sins which tares sown in the field his Lordship would have discerned if not separated from the duty it self the continuance whereof he alloweth and prescribeth Bishop Mountagu B. Montagu Appeal pag. 299. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath asserted this doctrine usque ad invidiam of whom we may reckon not as a witnesse but Confessor also because he hath written thus It is confessed that private Confession unto a Priest is of very ancient practice in the Church of excellent use and benefit being discreetly handled we refuse it to none if men require it if need be to have it we urge and perswade it in extremis we require it in case of perplexity for the quieting of men disturbed in their Consciences I know not of what latitude in some mens conceits Popery is for censuring these words as a smack thereof for he approves of it if discreetly handled imposeth no more need thereof than to such as need it urging it not by constraint but by inducement and perswasion and that not upon all men but upon such as are disturbed and perplexed in Conscience and not of all sins but such as lie disquietly in the bosome Great parts are as often envied and traduced as admired especially when men of small parts usurp the censure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 1. p. 215. A wise and learned man contents himself with one onely meet Auditor and approver and if he meet not with so much quiets himself in his own worth and Conscience in the testimony whereof there is more solid comfort than in the vain applauses or reproches of a sandy multitude In the book well known by the Practice of Piety we read such directions in this present behalf Practice of Piety which sincerely performed were the practice of piety indeed and they are as followeth In a doubtful title thou wilt ask counsel of thy skilful Lawyer in peril of sickness thou wilt know the advice of thy skilful Physician pag. 762. and is there no danger in dread of damnation for a sinner to be his own Judge and a little after Luther saith Pag. 763. That he had rather lose a thousand worlds than suffer private confession to be thrust forth of the Church Occulta confessio quae modò celebratur etsi probari ex Scripturis non potest miro tamen modo placet utilis immò necessaria est nec vellem eam non esse immò gaudeo eam esse in
above was very sweet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athenaus Deipnâ—s lib. 2. pag. 43. but that which remained at the bottome very salt and brinish some things flow good therein but the Roman dregs are bitter And for the better discovery thereof we must look over the same again and handle three things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 openly and distinctly Punctìm agendum non precariò 1. The institution thereof by whom and of what authority it is 2. Next the necessity thereof how far forth it is required and what danger may arise upon the abuse and discontinuance thereof 3. And lastly the extent whether all sins and the circumstances of each sin fall under the verge and charge of confession The consideration of these points will give great light to descry the misdemeanours in the practick thereof SECT I. The Contents The Decrees of the Tridentine Council for Divine right and authority of Confession The Anathema's held too severe by some moderate Romanists Publick Exhomologesis vilepended by those Fathers The School-mens faintness in resolving for the divine institution of Auricular Confession The Canonists plant the same upon the universal tradition of the Church Divines siding with the Canonists Oppugners of Auricular Confession in former ages Pretences of Divine authority from places of Scripture examined Different proceedings in the Court of Conscience from earthly Tribunals Special cognizance of all sins not a necessary antecedent at all times to Priestly Absolution God pardoneth many sins immediately never spoken of to a Priest Difference of Popish Divines concerning the matter and form in Penance prove to be no such thing as Sacramental confession which reacheth not higher than the Lateran Council Confession of sin of the same institution as Repentance is Divine institution manifold In what sense Confession may be said to be of Divine institution THe Church of Rome or the most in that Church father this imp upon Christ himself and the institution thereof from no meaner an Author thereupon make it a principal part of a special Sacrament which they call the Sacrament of Penance and they have so strong a fancy that it is a Sacrament and because it is so or rather because they will have it so it must be a divine ordinance and of Christs institution Indeed if Confession did justly deserve that title and inscription of a Sacrament we should not stick to give unto God the things that are Gods it being a Maxime in Christianity that the Sacraments of the Church are of Divine institution all the doubt is whether Confession can assume so much justly unto it self as to be the essential part of any Sacrament or no and in this Inquisition we are to take these steps The first to enquire whether private Confession of sin appear to have been any where instituted by Christ And again if it may be demonstrated from the word of God that there is any such Sacrament ordained by him whereof private confession sustaineth such a part as is reported in the Church of Rome For the first it is very true the lawful use thereof depends upon the Institution for God forbid but that his Institutes should be followed and his precepts duly observed It is good yea very good saith Terâ—ullian that God commandeth Bonum atque optimum est quod Deus praecipit audaciam existimo de bono Divini praecepti disputare neque eniâ—â— quia bonum est idcircò auscultare debemus sed quia Deus praecepit ad exhibitionem obsequii prior est Majestas divinae potestatis Tertâ—l de Poen c. r. I hold it impudence once to dispute and question the goodness of Divine Precepts nor ought we to hearken thereunto because it is good but because God commandeth the Majesty of his power must conduce to the performance of our duty With God is the authority to command and with us the glory of obedience The onely doubt iâ— if God instituted any such thing and that mans inventions are not taught for Divine precepts The Council of Trent that popish Cynosura hath decreed Auricular Confession to be of absolute necessity from ordinance divine Dominus Jesus Sacerdotes sui ipsius vicarios reliquit tanquam praesides Judices ad quos omnia mortalia crimina deferantur qui pro potestate Clavium sententiam pronuntient Constat Sacerdotes judicium hoc incognitâ causâ exercere non posse Concil Trid. cap. 5. de Confes and the Institutor Christ who by investing his Apostles with the power of the keys then created this Court of conscience submitted all sinners to this jurisdiction gave the Priests power to hear and determine of all and all manner of sins and the people a command to accuse and lay open the least sinful actions and fractions before these Judges whom he hath made Lord Keepers of this privy seal where the proceedings for the trial of sins and punishments thereof are carried exceeding privately And that God hath not commanded nor doth the Church now a dayes require open confession and open penance Non est hoc divino praecepto mandatum nec satis consultè humanâ aliquâ lege praeciperetur ut delicta praesertim secreta publicâ essent confessione aperienda Concil Trid. lb. and it would be an inconsiderate act to injoyn the same by any humane Law Out of which Decree have been hatched these Anathema's Si quis negaverit Confessionâ—m Sacramentalem vel institutam vel necessariam esse jure divino Can. 1. The first against all such as shall deny clancular confession to have been enacted by Divine authority or not to be necessary upon the same ground The second fulminates against those that shall gainsay such a Confession as necessarily required for the forgiveness of sins Si quis dixerit ad remissionem petcatorum necessarium non esse jure divino confiteri omnia singula peccata Can. 2. however they may approve thereof for the instruction and comfort therein and believe it of old to have been observed that CANONICAL satisfaction might be imposed The third Ban is upon those that affirm the Confession of all sins as the Church observeth to be impossible Si quis dixerit confessionem omnium peccatorum qualem Ecclesia servat esse impossibilem traditionem humanam à piis abolendam c. Can. 3. and that it is but a humane tradition and to be abolished This is the doctrine of that Councils Caâ—ons and Decrees Where had those Fathers been as ready to prove as reprove and to confirm as Censure what they Anathematized sure their thundrings would have been less and lightnings more Nor would the Divines of Lovian and Coloign then assembled have desired more moderation in those Prelates Cavendum Patribuc nè adversariis materiam praebeant ea objiciendi quae Theologis non promptum sit refellere quin potiùs eâ moderatione utendum tam in doctrina quà m in Canone ut Catholicis ipsis offensioni non sint Hist
superfluous and unprofitable And in a declaration of Walter Bruit containing divere positions by him asserted Anno Dom. 1393. this is one Arch-B Abbot of visibility of the Church p. 72. edit Lond. 1624. that auricular confession is not prescribed in the Scripture Add unto these how in the Province of Tholouse a certain People called Boni homines a branch of the Waldenses An. Dom. 1175 if not the tree it self being questioned by the Bishop of Lyons Interrogavit Episcopus si deberet unusquisque consiteri peccata sua Sacerdotibus Ministris ecclesiae vel cuilibet laico vel illis de quibus dixit Iac. Confitemini alterutrum c. Qui respondentes dixerunt infirmis sufficere si confitentur cui vellent de Militibus vero dicere noluerunt quia non dixt Jacobus nisi de infirmantibus Quaesit it â—tiam ab eis si sufficiebat sola cordis contritio on s confessio vel si erat necesse ut facer nt satisfactionem post datam poenitentiam icjuniis eleemosynis afflictionibus peccata sua lugentes si suppeteret cis facultas Responderunt dicentes quia Iacobus dicehat Confitemini alterutrum peccata vestra ut salvemini per hoc sciebant quòd Apostolus aliud non praecipiebat nisi ut consiterentur sic salvarentur â—ec volebant meliores esse Apostolo ut aliquid de suo adjungerent sicut Episcopi faciunt Rog. Hovedon Annal. pars post Henrici secundl R. p. 319. edit London If every man ought to confess his sins unto the Priests and Ministers of the Church or else to a Lay-man or to those of whom Saint James saith confess your sins one to another They answering said for them that are sick they may confess to whom they please Of others they had nothing to say because Saint James spake onely of infirm persons The Bishop further demanded of them if contrition of the heart and confession of the mouth were sufficient or if satisfaction after penance injoyned was necessary in bewailing their sins in fasting afflictions and almes-deeds if they were able They answered saying Saint James saith Confess your sins one to another that you may be saved and by this they perceived that the Apostle commanded nothing else but that they should confess and be saved neither would they be better than the Apostle as to add any thing of their own heads as Bishops do So hath Roger Hovedon related their tenet in the process of their condemnation Afterwards Anno Dom. 1479. there issued a commission from Rome to Alphonsus Carillus Arch-Bishop of Toledo authorizing him to assemble a Synod at Salamanca and convent the Professor there Petrus Oxoniensis for teaching these conclusions 1. That mortal sins in respect of the offence Conclus 1. Peccata mortalia quantum ad culpam poenam alterius seculi delentur per solam cordis contritionem sine ordine ad claves Conclus 2. Quòd confessio de peccatis in specie fuerit ex statuto aliquo universalis Ecclesiae non de jure divino Conclus 3. Quòd pravae cogitationes confiteri non debent Prelates latin sed solâ displicentiâ delentur sine ordine ad claves Conclus 4. Quòd confessio non debet esse secreta Canus part 6. Relect. de poenit p. 899. and blotted out onely by the contrition of heart without relation to the keyes 2. That confession of each particular sin was grounded upon some stature of the universal Church and not upon divine right 3. That evil thoughts ought not to be confessed and are blotted out by a dislike and displeasure thereof without reference unto the keys 4. That confession ought not to be held in secret All of which were condemned at the meeting and that condemnation ratified at Rome and that Ratification inserted for the worth thereof into the Extravagants by Sixtus IV. This opinion then could no sooner peep out but it was cut off by such as in those ages struck the stroke It remaineth now that we examine the grounds of such Censures and condemnations Some of the Theologues that stand for divine institution alleage Christs direction to the Lepers Luke 17.14 Go shew your selves unto the Priests I say some not all for the more judicious have laid aside this leaden weapon But that some which gape more after the froth of allegories that the clearer streames of the literal and genuinous sense have somewhat esteemed thereof as Haymo for that not onely sins must be confessed to the Priest Quia non solùm Sacerdotibus peccata sua confiteri debent sed etiam secundum corum consilium poenitentiam satisfactionem veniae suscipere recte dicitur Ire ostendite vice enim Dei peccata Sacerdotibus pandenda sunt inxta illâ—um consilium poententia ageada Qui ergo babet lepram pâ—ccati in anima debet â—enirâ—â—ad Sacerdotem ci humilâ—ter peccata consiteri Haym Domin 14. post pertecost p. 401. but moreover that by their advice penance and satisfaction of pardon must be obtained it was well said Go shew your selves unto the Priests for unto the Priests instead of God are sins to be opened and penance at their discretion to be imposed And a little after The man that hath the leprosie of sin in his soul ought to resort unto the Priest and humbly make confession of his sins Thus Haymo hath laid a weak load upon a weak back yet such is the weakness of our Rhemist Rhemists Annot in Luke 17.14 judgments that they think it worthy to furnish an Annotation and in good sadness tell us that by leprosie is meant sin to be healed by the Ministery of the Priests and by shewing Confession and to that purpose quote a book of Saint Austins as truly his as their note is unto the text Such allusions may serve to stuff a Postill but not to back an argument as a French-man cries out upon his Auditory Shew your consciences good people unto your Priests Moastrez vos Consciences aux Prestres leur declarez vos Pechez si en voulez estre guarcatis Serm. pour le 14. Dimanche apres la Pentecost A Roven chez D. Landet 1634. and declare your sins unto them if you will be healed However the Pulpit may flourish with such Clerk-like collations the Polemical writers are squemish therein The Cardinal likes the allegory but not the pillar that suftaines it for we do not affirm saith he that the Lepers were dispactched by Christ unto the Priests Neque nos dicimus missos leprososâ—à Christo ad Sacer lotes ut illis peccata sua confitereâ—tur sed ut in lege veteri cogaitio lepâ—ae corporalis ità in nova cogaitio lepâ—e spâ—ritualis ad Sacerdotes pertinet Bellar. lib. 3. de poen c. 3. to confess their sins unto them but as in the old Law the leprosie of the body was of Priestly cognizance so in the new Spiritual-leprosie is to be taken notice of
in there clanculùm malis artibus at some back doore and under hand Shuffled in there belike it was but not openly Private confession was there privately carried and ordained thus Every faithfull one of either sex being come to yeares of discretion Omnis utriusque sexus fidelis postquam ad annos discretionis pervenerit omnia sua solus peccata confiteatur fideliter saltem sâ—mel in anno proprio Sacerdoti injunctam sibi poenitentiam studeat pro viribus adimplere suscipiens reverenter ad minus in Pascha eucharistiae Sacramentum c. alioquin vivens ab ingressu ecclesiae arceatur moriens Christiana careat sepultura Concil Lateran cap. 21. should by himself alone once a year at the least faithfully confesse all his sinnes unto his own Priest and endeavour according to his strength to fulfill the Penaxce injoyned unto him receiving reverently at least at Easter the Sacrament of the Eucharist otherwise in his life time let him be barred from entring into the Church and being dead want Christian buriall In which decree are these innovations 1. Solus that it must be private 2. omnia peccata sinnes and all sinnes must be confessed 3. Proprio Sacerdoti to their own Priest where the liberty of choosing the Ghostly Father is taken away And for the time which the Jesuit tells us was the onely thing there concluded on I say there was none decreed onely limited leaving Christians to confesse at other times convenient within the year but not to exceed and be without the compasse of a year Come as often within as the Confessor and his Penitent can agree and meet upon it but not to go over the year and to this head must popish shrift be referred But if Repentance be considered as a work of Grace arising from Godly sorrow whereby a man turnes from all his sinnes to God and obtaineth pardon and so including confession as an evidence of inward sorrow and a mean of reconciliation such a Confession poured out before God or unto God before his Priests is of the same right and institution as Repentance is The grace of God hath ordained in this world repentance to be the approved Physician for sinners 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Resp ad Orthod Q 97. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. Dialog cont Tryphon Judaum saith Justin Martyr And again God according to-the riches of his mercy accepteth of him that is penitent for his sinnes as just and without sin That thing then is of Divine Institution which Gods grace hath ordained and of divine power and efficacy which makes a sinner accepted of God as a Righteous person But all this thou wilt say may be done by contrition and confession to God onely without respect unto the Priest I deny not but that it may be and often is effected that way but not alwaies such may be the Condition of the sinner and quality of the sin that pardon which is the fruit of Repentance is not gathered and new obedience which is the fruit of the Penitent is not brought forth without confession to the Priest and direction from him and so to be comprised in this duty also for if the doore of Heaven would ever open upon the former knocking the Priest had keyes committed to no purpose To make this to appeare distinctly we are to consider that to institute may be taken in a twofold sense Jurisconsultis instituere est vel arbores vel vineas in aliquo loco ponere ut in conducto fundo si conductor suâ operâ aliquid necessariò vel utiliter auxerit vel aedificaverit vel instituerit l. Dominus Sec. in conduct ff loc conduct vide Turneb Advers l. 2. c. 13. first to be the cause producer and author of an effect so taken with the ancient Civilians with whom to institute trees or vineyards is to set and plant them In a ground let out if the Farmer by his industry shall have improved it have builded or have set or planted in the Digests And in this acceptation Christ is the Author of the Sacrament of the Eucharist that Vine is of his planting and institution he is the Author and his Ministers to do it by his authority Now Repentance is indeed a work of God but not in God Confession is when God openeth a sinners mouth not his own in that sense Confession is not of divine institution 2. Secondly that is said to be instituted that is commanded and enjoyned so of institution divine that is of divine law and ordinance and that of divine law which is prescribed in the Divine word the holy Scriptures as a law to be observed or as an example to be imitated And Divine ordinances are there delivered by God immediately or by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the men of God inspired by him In which sense Saint Chrysostom interpreteth those passages of Saint Paul not I but the Lord and I not the the Lord 1 Cor. 7.10 12. not as if Christ spake of himself and Paul from himself for in Paul Christ spake what is it then that he saith I and not I Jesus Christ hath delivered some lawes and ordinances in his own person unto us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To. 6.250 and some by his Apostles Furthermore a thing may be of Divine right as expresly and formally injoyned in the Scriptures or else as virtually implyed by a necessary deduction and consequence Aliquid dicitur esse jure divino duobus modis vel quòd institutum habet in sacris literis idque vel expresse vel certa deductione erutum vel exâ—mplum continuata ecclesiae praxi omni sâ—culo commendatum Junius in Bellar. controv 7. cap. 10. or els as exemplary and ratified by the constant practice of the Church So divine right and institution is accepted in a threefold sense 1. in express precept and command 2. in necessary consequence depending upon some other thing commanded Or. 3ly by approved examples in Gods word commended by the practice of the Church Confession of divine institution 1. Vâ—rtute praecepti We will lay confession unto all of these and see what authority it hath And first for divine command we read in the law that the sinner by divine edict brought his Sacrifice and confessed his sin unto the Priest Thou wilt reply Numb 5. that law was Ceremonial Levâ—t 5. so say I in respect of the Sacrifice but dare not say so in respect of the confession the one being a typical and the other a morall act And think it not strange that one precept may be mixt and composed of Ceremony and morality For is not the law of the Sabbath so the day Ceremonial Dies ceremonialis quies moraâ—lis and the rest morall Cultus à natura modus à lege virtus à gratia and it may not unfitly be applyed to Confession what is verifyed of the
Sabbath 1. Confessio Deo facta est a natura Nature it self teacheth us that a sinner must confesse unto God whom he hath wronged and this is morale positivum the morall positive part of the law 2. Modus à lege Confessio mentalis quae fit Deo est de dictaminel gis naturae adjutae quodammodo per fidem Raymund sum tract 4. To confesse unto the Priest This manner of confession was injoyned by God and this is Positivum divinum the divine positive part of the law 3. But Virtus à gratia true confession whether to God Jam donum Sâ—piritus Sancti habet qui confitetur poenitet quia non potest esse confessio peccati compunctio in homine ex seipso Aug. in Ps 1. or to his Priest is from the working of the holy spirit it being fulfilled in this as in other graces what hast thou O man that thou hast not received The Ceremonial part which consisted in the Sacrifice ceaseth for a Christian hath another Altar and another Sacrifice 2. ex necessitate Consequentiae Christ Jesus slain upon the Crosse by vertue whereof his Priests assure the Penitent of pardon absolution For the second Confession is of divine right by way of deduction For if the use of the keys in the Mini stery of the Priests be divine as it cannot be denied but that they are so and if that use consisteth in absolution and if that absolution ever presupposeth and cannot be denounced without precedaneous confession the consequent will tye them together for the world cannot break the relation that is betwixt Confession and absolution 3. ratione exempli And for the last a president we have in the Acts of the Apostles seconded with the practice of the Church as hath been declared Thou seest Good Reader how confession pretendeth to divine right in a strickt sense Jus divinum laxè vel strictè sumptum hoc in S. literis invenitur illud ex earum sive instituto sive exemplis analogia recta ratione deducitur Azorius Instit Mor. part 2. l. 1. c. 2. as injoyned in the Scripture and in a large as a necessary consequent deducted by rational proportion from divine premisses how the same is corroborated by examples set forth in the Scripture and by ecclesiastical practice set forth in the discipline of the Church likewise This I must be interpreted to speak of Confession unto Gods Ministers in generall without respect to the manner thereof privately or publickly performed Which I think is left to the power of the Church to determine There was a time when the publick performance thereof was all in all that was left off and the private doing thereof succeeded in the room to supply that defect and which at the first alteration was esteemed to be no more Sacramentall or of no more necessity for obtaining remission of sinnes then the former So that the course taken herein may well be thought to have the nature of a temporall law which as Saint Austin saith although it be just Appellemus istam legem si placet temporalem quae quamvis justa sit commutari tamen per tempora justè potest Aug. de lib. aâ—b lib. 1. cap. 6. yet in time may be justly changed Canus acknowledgeth confession in its own nature for a divine ordinance but for the Condition thereof secret or open he referreth to be ordered by natural prudence his words are these Confession of sinnes ought to be made unto the Priest Confessio peccatorum Sacerdoti fieri debet non solùm ex traditione majorum verùm etiam ex Evangelico testimonio quod quidem est de necessitate Sacramenti Secretam verò aut publicam confessionem fiâ—ri prudentiâ—e est naturali relictum quae dictat ut occulta occultè publica publicè judâ—centur Canus Relect. de poen p. 6. not onely by tradition from our Ancestors but also by testimony from the Gospel and this is of the necessity of the Sacrament But whether Confession should be secret or publick that 's left to natural prudence which willeth that secret sinnes should be judged in secret and those which are publick publickly Michael Vehe frameth to himself this objection Let it be granted that these words whose sinnes soever ye remit c. infer a confession to be made of all sinnes whatsoever which seeing it may be performed two waies privately or publickly and neither way by Christ commanded both would seeme of equall necessity But no man can say that publick confession is necessary and why may not so much be said of private answereth thus We say and affirm neither way of Confession to be necessary by any precept from Christ Respondâ—mus dicimus neutrum consitendi modum essâ— ex praecepto Christi necessarium utrumque autem necessarium sub distinctione liberum est ergo ecclesiae eligere illum vel illum cum autem etiam secretam volucrit esse confessionâ—m ad publicam non tenemur Vehe tract 6. de Sacr. Poen c. 4. and yet both necessary with a distinction The Church then was left to her choise to take which she pleased and seeing she hath embraced to confess in secret we are not tyed to the publick Which two assertions how far they cut the throat of Clancular confession Rome may doe well to consider Confession then in it self may be of Divine right and the manner thereof whether private or publick a Churches constitution and which way the Church should conceive to be most profitable and command the use what am I that should contradict the same to whose benigne censure I submit what I have here resolved concerning the institution SECT II. The Contents The abusive necessity of Confession Tyrannicall inquisition into mens consciences distastfull Confession left at liberty in Gratian's times Schoolmen leaning to the necessity thereof Confession not the onely necessary means for absolution and remission The ends aimed at in Popish confession unnecessary No expresse precept in Scripture for the absolute necessity thereof Confession an heavy burden upon fleshly shoulders Private confession not practised from the beginning Established in the place of the Publick by an edict from Leo 1. The fact of Nectarius abrogating confession with the severall answers and expositions of Roman Writers expended Confession deserted in the Greek Church Divers kinds and formes of Necessity Confession in what cases necessary and the Necessity thereof determined WE are now come to the necessity of confessing a point necessarily to be opened the over-pressing of the same upon mens Consciences hath been thought a kind of Tyranny and hath caused the busie obtruders thereof to be suspected as if they aimed at their own ends and sought not those things that are of Christ Jesus Lording it over the Consciences of the people making their keyes become pick-locks and themselves not Seers but Spies not Judges but Accusers not Physicians but Betrayers not good Samaritans to
kingdome Thus the Master and we cannot expect better from the disciples for usually they are more forward and say more than those that taught them and especially seeing the Council of Trent hath had so little compassion in this case we are out of hope that any Divines of that side should abate any thing of this decreed rigour It remaineth that we examine the grounds why this extreme necessity is imposed for Laws and ordinances are not usually enacted nor necessarily exacted except upon sound purposes and ends And if those ends may be obtained without them or come by upon better termes or if the goodness thereof be ended the Laws are repealed the ordinances taken away and the necessity ceaseth this being a received Maxim that the necessity of the means must not exceed nor be above the necessity of the end and if the end be not judged necessary the like judgment must be had of the means Again such means are onely deemed necessary which serve for the attaining of the end and so far forth as without them such a proposed end cannot be accomplished For example If eating and drinking be onely necessary for this life then if I had no necessity to live I might have no necessity to eat Again If I am to go a journey it is not necessary that I shall go afoot because I may be carried two things then constitute the necessity of the mean aptitude and propriety that it be sit and onely fit to compass such a design These notions presupposed we shall inquire into the foundations of this necessity in exacting confession and if neither the end be necessary to be had nor the means so requisite for the due obtaining thereof we shall then cast away this necessity as an exaction it being a burden not to be endured which is sustained to no purpose and a tyrannie which laies a necessity upon the conscience where Christian liberty is every way as behoofeful The first ground of this imposition is upon a supposed perill of salvation for these men teach that as there is no reconciliation with God without remission of sin so no sin is remitted without confession or at least a purpose thereof unto a Priest for saith Bellarmine Medium necessarium ad reconciliationem post baptismum est confessio peccatorum omnium Sacerdoti facta Lib. 3. de poenit cap. 2. A necessary mean to reconcilement after Baptisme is Confession of all sins made unto a Priest And hence it is they urge it so closely Confession to a Priest not necessary in all cases and to all persons necessitate medii and too urgent they cannot be if so great a matter were at stake But the question is whether the mean proposed be necessary to this end yea or no and whether remission of sins can be obtained of God no other way for if it may then we must conclude this not to be an adequate mean conducing thereunto for we must now confider of Confession not as an help and a kind of mean and in some sort of sinners onely but whether or no it be the onely mean for all sinners to gain a pardon for there can be no necessity for a Felon to use the mediation of one man onely to his Prince for pardon except the Prince be resolute to pardon no other way Now God hath not any where revealed so much that no mercy shall be had but upon such a condition nor dare the Jesuites confine him unto any such Christ the Author of the Sacraments Christus author Sacramentorum à Sacramentis suis non dependebat ideò non modò sine confessione sed etiam sine Baptismo peccata interdum remittebat Lib. 3. de poen c. 17. depended not upon his Sacraments and therefore did remit sins sometimes not onely without Confession but without Baptisme also saith Bellarmine Yea in the ordinary course remission of the sin comes in betwixt contrition of the heart and confession of the mouth Saint Augustine upon these words Non dicitur Ore confessus suerit sed conversus ingemuerit undè datur intelligi quod etiam ore tacente veniam interdum consequimur hinc Leprosi illi quibus Dominus praecepit ut ostenderent se Sacerdotibus in itinere antequam ad Sacerdotes venirent mundati sunt Aug. apud Magistr lib. 4. d. 17. Sect. 1. At what time soever a sinner shall be converted ingemuerit and shall groan he shall live and not die writeth thus It is not said and shall confess with his mouth but being converted shall groan from whence is given to understand that sometimes we obtain a pardon when our lips are shut hence it was that those Lâ—pers whom the Lord commanded to shew themselves unto the Priests in the way were healed before they came unto them And as Lazarus was first raised by the Lord Lazarus etiam non priùs de monumento eductus postea à Domino suscitatus sed intùs suscâ—â—atus prodiit foras vivus ut ostenderetur suscitatae anime praecedere confessionem Lombard and loosed from the power of death before he came forth of his grave so a sinner is first raised by Grace and loosed from the bonds of sin and guilt before be can come forth to Confession This order the Master observes 1. Nemo suscitatur nisi qui à peccato solvitur None can be raised but must be loosed first from Death because fin is the death of the soul and this solution is absolution 2. Nullus confitetur nisi resuscitatus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for as speech is the argument of life so confession of grace Psal 6.5 and in morte quis confitebitur tibi In death there is no remembrance of thee Psal 6.5 and in the grave who shall confess unto thee Now the mean in execution ever precedes the end Confession then is not the means to purchase remission which goes before it therefore Gabriel dislikes this course and tels us That many Confessio quòd sit necessaria in actu varii variis modis ostendere nituntur sed plerique insufficienter quidem non potest ostendi sufficienter ex necessitate remissionis pâ—ccati quamvis remissio pâ—ccaâ—i sit necessaria ad salutem tum quia ad remissionâ—m peccati est alius modus sufficiens sine confessione in actu sc contritio cordis per quam peccatum remittitur priusquam Peccator Sacerdoti confiteatur tum quia confâ—ssio secundum probabiliorem opinionem praeexigit remissionâ—m peccati per contritionem praeviam per hoc nunquam per confessionâ—m remittitur peccatum sed eam praesupponit Biel. l. 4. d. 17. Qu. 1. and in a diverse manner have gone about to shew the necessity of actual confession but for the most part very insufficiently and truly it cannot sufficiently be demonstrated from the necessity of remission of sin although remission of sin be necessary to Salvation for that there is another mean sufficient
illos ad confessioâ—em hoc exemplo provoco Climac Grad 4. cap. 2. wherefore by this example I would stir them up to confession Harpsfield Cope hath set forth this story with great applause and tells us full sadly that the Portugals assailing a Castle in the East Indies Nulla priùs peccatorum confessione praeeunte gravissimas negligentiae suae poenas experli sunt feles mures nigerrimi tanto numero támque horribiles noctu apparuerunt Cop. Dialog 2. pag. 297 298. came off with great loss for not being armed with confession and of a certain Portugal to whom in the night there appeared a great number of black Cats and Mice impar congressus very dreadful to see to and ready to have devoured him Histor alia impressa ante Alcoran p. 99. had they not been prevented by his prayers to a CRUCIFIX hanging in the room and his vows to be shriven with all speed I know not how such creatures as Cats and Mice may Cope in visions otherwise they hold little correspondence concerning the authority of such phantastick shades Casaub praefat de libert Ecclesiae wherewith the writings of Friers are replenished more than with wisdome and learning Poenarum celebres sub styge feriae Prudent Bellar. de purg l. 2. c. 18. Sect. ad quinrum it may be said as the Turk did of Papal Indulgences granted by Pius II. to such as took armes against him requiring his Holiness to call in his Epigrams again and as Casaubon of the late interdict against the Venetian Republick that it was Dirum carmen and as Bellarmine of Prudentius appointing certain holy-dayes in hell for the damned souls to rest from their pains that he did but play more poetico So these and many other visions of this stamp seem to me nothing else but the Poetry of the Church of Rome or a moral application of pious and useful fables Thou seest good Reader no necessary cause why Confession should be so necessarily urged and our Church is the more sparing and tender in imposing any such absolute necessity upon these grounds following The first is Reasons why Confession is not of absolute necessity in all cases and over all persons because Auricular Confession hath not been practised continually in the Church but is the daughter and successor of that which was publickly solemnized I speak not of Confession in it self absolutely considered which I have elswhere laid down as a Divine Ordâ—nance but of the clancular and privy carriage thereof to promove such ends as are designed in the Roman Church I say Confession so understood is not of absolute necessity but of late introduction Publick exhomologesis was in ancient times held such a sanctuary for troubled souls that not onely scandalous sinners which were obliged thereunto but many besides came in and confessed openly their sins carried in secrecy and submitted themselves to that discipline yea Qui de fide majore timore meliore erant quamvis nulla Sacrificii aut libelli sacinore constricti apud Sacerdotes Dei dolenter simpliciter confitentur exomologesia conscientiae suae faciunt animi sui poadus exponunt sâ—lutarem medelam parvis licèt modicis vulneribus requirunt Cypr. l. 2. de laps some devout Christians not stained with incensing unto Idols or casting the holy Scripture into the fire two scandals in those times purged with this discipline guilty onely of lesser scars and griefs grew ambitious of undergoing this burden of publick Confession and Penance and hence it was that many a scoffing Ismael Multi verò audientes vel exprobrant vel irridâ—nt vel malè loquuntur Chemnit and railing Doeg began to exprobrate and deride the Penitents To this end therefore that the discipline might be carried in a discreet manner a prudent Minister was appointed to be made acquainted before hand and by whose advise the Penitent was directed what sins onely were fit to be opened in publick Confession And here is the first mention of Confession to a private Confessor with the occasion annexed that he hearing the story of a sinners life at large may select such offences onely as seemed to him fit for publication Circumspice diligentiùs cui debeas confiteri peccatum tuum proba priùs Medicum si iâ—tellâ—xerit praevidrit talâ—m esse languorem tuum qui in conventu torius Ecclesâ—ae exponi debeat curari ex quo fortasis caeteri aedificari poterunt tu facilè senari multa hoc deliberatione satis perito Medici illius consilio procurandum est Origen hom 2. in Ps 37. tom 1. p. 293. Be circumspect saith Origen to whom thou art to Confess prove thy Physician first and if he shall understand and foreses thy disease to be such as ought to be exposed in the assembly of the Church and there to be cured whereby peradventure others may be edified and thy self easily healed this must be done upon great deliberation and skilful advise of that Physician Private sins therefore brought in private Confession to hear them by the way and to advise the Penient whether they or onely some of them are fit to be openly known and in such cases to direct him further what course he should take in publick Penance But in process of time this rigour and devotion melted and many abstained from this Confession as abhorring to publish their sins and to bring themselves upon the stage For in Tertullians age when this discipline was in force Plerosque hoc opus ut publicationem sui aut suffugere aut de die in diem differre pudoris magìs memores quam salutis Tert de poenit c. 10. and the Church exercised with persecution it may seem strange that many should be more in fear of shame than death abstaining more from being Confessors of their faults than Martyrs for the truth I say the remedy was not as in his dayes to arme the Penitent with resolution for to trample under feet censure and shame but to remit something of the severity namely that the sin should be confessed in private and buried there Ut secretò confiterontur Sacerdoti qui licèt crimen illud in facie Ecclesiae non proderet injungebat tamen delinquenti publicam poenitentiam ut ipso facto in genere coram Ecclesia confiteretur declaret se grave aliquid commisisse Chemnit ex Sozom n. in histor Tripartit l. 9. c. 35. onely the penance imposed was publickly to be performed by which the Church gathered although she knew it not that some grievous offence or other was committed as Chemnitius explicateth from Sozomen and the tripartite History Those whom you observe to do penance saith Saint Augustine have committed great sins Illi quos videtis agere poenitentiam scelera sua commâ—scrant aut adulteria aut alia immania facta Aug. l. 1. de symb ad Catechum c. 6. as adulteries or some other foul facts the penance by
publick by the voluntary devotion of men that of secret sins there might be held a secret confession for we do not read that of old it was any where commanded And this is our first ground that Private Confession is not of supreme necessity The second is founded upon a decree of Nectarius sometimes Patriarch of Constantinople Nectarius and his act for abolishing of Confession and immediate Predecessor to Saint Chrysostome by which act upon an occasion of infamy drawn upon the Clergy by the confession of a Gentlewomen defiled by a Deacon in the principal Church of the Imperial City it was thought fit the same should be abolished and every one left to the liberty and examination of his own conscience in resorting to the blessed Sacrament the Narrative is thus in Socrates Socrat. lib. 5. cap. 19. vide Sozom. lib. 7. c. 16. It seemed good unto the Church to take away the office of such Priests as were appointed throughout every Church to receive Penitents after the Confession of their sins into the company of the faithful The occasion of the removal by Nectarius was A Noble woman came unto the Priest whose office it was to hear penitents and confessed orderly the sins she had committed after Baptisme the Priest injoyning her to bring forth the fruits of Repentance As she continued longer in shriving she accused herself of another crime and declareth that a certain Deacon of that Church had abused her body at which the people being much incensed and the Church defamed the Bishop upon the advice of Eudaemon a Minister of that Church took away the function of the shriving Priest and granted free liberty to every one as his conscience served him to become partaker of the holy mysteries Thus far Socrates professing withall that he could not well tell what to think of Eudaemons advise in this behalf whether it would ought avail the Church or no or be a means that sins escape without just reprehension his thoughts he should have kept to himself for an historian must ever conceal his affections and never the truth adhering to the verity of the fact and leaving the censure unto others It cannot be imagined into how many shapes the Divines of Rome turn themselves to turn off or to turn away this decree some condemn this Patriarch for condemning the same Quamvis legatur abrogasse hanc consuetudinem hoc tamen non probat eam non esse juris divini non enim omne quod fit justè fit M. Vehe tract 6. de Confess c. 7. although we read saith Vehe that Nectarius abrogated this custome yet this disproveth not but that it might be of divine right for not every thing that is done is justly done Our Cope inclineth to this opinion that the words of the story favour the taking away of confession but then tels us withall that Nectarius did as much hurt to the Church by unbridling this discipline Si Nectarius privatam confessionem abrogarit illoâ—â—s quod dicitur non tam manibus quà m animis ad corpus Christi accipiendum ingerendi se quibuslibet aditum patefecerit quod ipsa fortè verba si generaliter accipias prae se ferunt is non minùs Ecclesiae nimiâ illâ licentiâ quà m immodicâ illâ suâ severitate incommodasset Cop. dialog 2. p. 294. as Novatus did by locking up the mercy of God with his severer key If Nectarius saith he had abrogated private confession and opened the gap to every man with unwashen hands and souls to have free access to receive the body of Christ which peradventure the words if you take them generally may seem to import he had prejudiced the Church no less by that excessive licentiousness than Novatus had done by his immoderate severity Against these men we oppose the credit and authority that Nectarius had with the Churches of God for they were so far from imagining any detriment to arise unto the Church by this decree of his that they became all of his minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 7. c. 16. The Catholick Bishops of those times approving and ratifying the same so Sozomen with the heretical conventicles it the use of Confession was retained but in the Churches of the Homousians or Orthodox believers saith Socrates it was antiquated Of whose side then are they which so sharply rebuke Nectarius (a) Harpsfield suprà Another rank of them seem to embrace the act but with a limitation that it was the publick confession and penance which he abrogated and not private confession but the addition to the Penitential which the Patriarch repealed and that was the erection of a Penitentiary to receive Confessions and unfold some sins unto the Bishop if needful that such might be ripped up in publick confession and this discipline as an appendix to the former was in opposition to the rigorous hand of Novatus suppressed But Bellarmine shall cope with Harpsfield Ista revelatio est contra jus naturae Apostolicam regulam l. 3. de poen c. 14. and tell him that cannot be because a Penitentiary having heard confession in private his mouth is so locked up that he cannot under any pretence reveal any sin so revealed unto the Bishop or to his Holiness himself though he should command it it being against the law of nature and Apostolical rule the (b) Ibid. Cardinal then hath restrained the story to these three positions and bounds 1. The first that notorious Penitents and publick offenders were subject to this penitentiary onely and that sinners for sins committed secretly might address themselves in confession to other Priests 2. The second that if any private sins and conscious to the sinner onely were confessed to this Penitentiary he was not bound to detect them but had his lips sealed up to secrecy 3. And lastly That publick sins onely and such as were known aforehand were by his command rehearsed by the Penitents before the congregation and publick penance undergone for them Against these fancies of the Cardinal I demand If publick sins and such as are come abroad into the world are here onely meant what need open sins to be opened in secret to a Penitentiary and why could not the Church proceed to censure notorious sins without that under-hand detection And what will this Jesuit say to another a greater Antiquary than himself Petavius who comes roundly off and tells us there was never any such thing as publick confession that neither publick nor private sins were openly confessed either by the Penitents in their own persons or recited out of a scroll by the Priests as generally hath been supposed from which common tenet he professeth his earnest dissent A quibus omnibus ego vehementer dissentio nec adduci possim ut existimem legem ullam in Ecclesia suisse unquam ejusmodi quae peccata proferri publicè decreverit D. Petav animadvers in Epiphan haer 49. pag. 246. nor can he be brought to
imagin that there was ever any such law in the Church at any time which decreed that sins should be publickly pronounced commentum publicae confessionis ingeniosè ac solerter excogitârunt quia alium exitum difficultatis expedire non possint Ib. and further informes us how that jingle of publick confession was ingeniously devised by writers on his side to avoid the engines and shocks of heretical arguments being driven to that strait as to be able to come off no other way We will not lose time to examine the grounds of this assertion but taking publick Confession for granted and supposing those sins publick in themselves to be rehearsed in a private way we say according to their doctrine they remain shut up under the seal because deposited in confession and though otherwise known yet the Penitentiary is put to silence and the use viz. detection of sins capable of publick penance for which the Penitentiary was ordained is quite and clean taken away Quae autem esset functio Presbyteri non est omnino certum Bellar. suprà No wonder then that in Bellarmines opinion it is not certainly known what his function was Furthermore be his function what it will it is manifest that both he and it were done away but this ordinance viz. Publick sins to be censured with publick penance was never abolished either in the East or Western Churches Likewise the Matrons sin with the Deacon was committed in private and yet openly revealed publick confession in the Church was not then of publick sins onely And lastly if none were to recourse unto the Penitentiary except publick sinners and that for their publick offences sences to what end was it so specially required that he should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no blab of his tongue Tot a narratio clamat non auricularem sed publicam confessionem à Nectario abrogatam Bellar. ib. What was it Nectarius did then in this behalf Marry saith the Cardinal the whole story crieth it out how not private but publock confession was abrogated by him how deaf then were those Divines though otherwise of a quick ear that heard not this cry I am not ignorant saith he that Thomas Walden was of this mind Non ignoro Thomam Waldensem Tom. 2. c. 141. in ea sententia fuisse ut exâ—stimaret à Nectario confessionem simpliciter abrogatam fuisse sed non facile id concâ—derem quòd Nectarii sententiam Jo. Chrysostom apertissimè tueatur Bellar. supâ—à that he supposed confession simply and absolutely to be abolished by Nectarius but I cannot grant this because John Chrysostom clearly defended the sentence of Nectarius Then whatsoever herein was provided by Nectarius the same was protected by Saint Chrysóstome and Thomas Walden though a Transalpine man was as choise in his judgment as the Cardinal no more could it lie hid from him that F. Walden stood not alone in that opinion for Canus bears him company thus Nectarius predecessor to S. Chrysostom Nectarius antecessor D. Chrysostomi confessionem secret mâ—de mâ—dio sustulerat ut illo capite Sozomen tradit quamobrem Chrysostomus Nectario saccedens de confessione hac auriâ—ulari populo verba facere noluit quia caim nondum scandalum sedatum erat quod in Ecclesia Constantinopolitana per occasionâ—m secretae confâ—ssion's fuit exorâ—um Can. Relect. de poenit part 5. pag. 897. took secret confession clean away as Sozomen delivered in that chapter wherefore his successor Saint Chrysostom would make no words of this auricular confession to the people because the scandal was not yet â—â—id occasioned in the Church of Constantinople by the means of private Confession For which saying he is perstringed in the Colâ—n edition Anno Dom. 1605. with a note clapt in the Margin where the Reader is informed that John Hessel Oculatâ—us locum illum hist Trip. inspexit Jo. Hessels ipse eximiâ—â—s Theologus qui in sâ—â—tentia sua de hoc Sâ—zomeni loco Patriâ—us coacilii Trid. exhibita eruditè ex ipso contâ—xtu Sozomeni ostendit à Nectario non auricularâ—m confâ—ssionem sâ—d â—â—us appâ—n licâ—m quandam 〈◊〉 e. publicam illam â—cecatoâ—um recitationem saisse sublatam quae fi â—â—tâ—â— communi quodam Poenitentiario coraâ—â— universo populo velut in Theat o quodam Nota in Maâ—gâ—ne a famous Divine hath look'd into the story more accurately who delivering his opinion to the Fathers in the Trent Council learnedly demonstrated from the context of Sozomen it self that it was not auricular confession but an appendix thereof that is the publick recital of sins upon the Theatre made by the Penitentiary before the face of all the people c. By warrant of which appendix it appeareth that the Penitentiary before the decree of Nectarius might break the seal and publish what sins he pleased a thing that egregious Divine must take heed of left by avoiding one rock he dash upon another I know not with what eyes or through what perspective Hessel might view the relation to blunt Vehes sight it appeared otherwise Although quoth he the narration be mixt of solemn and private confession Licèt mixtim ibi sermo fiâ—t de solenni privata confessione tamen cùm dicitur electum esse Sacerdotem servantem secretum apertè monstratur hoc non ad publicam pertinere confessionem sed ad clanculariam Vehe tract de Conf. 6. c. 4. notwithstanding seâ—ing it is said how a Priest was chosen that could keep secret it is very clear that this appertained not unto publick but private Confession Add hereunto Bishop Fisher a Prelate to whom Rome can take no just exception who upon those words of Sozomen It seemed good unto the ancient Bishops that sins (a) Ut peccata publicè recitarentur al ut non recitarentur ita vertit Christophors sequens Cassiodorum Nicephorum Videsis D. Petav. animad in Epiphan p. 242. should be opened upon a Theatre in the presence and audience of all the people within the Church and to this purpose a Priest of upright conversation that could keep counsel was elected and appointed to hear such confessions writeth thus Some man may object this is meant of publick confession At objectabit fortassè quispiam quòd hoc de publica confessione scriptum sit cui respondemus id fieri non posse cùm ipse Presbyter teneatur servare decretum lege secretum nam quomodo secretum servare potuit quod fuit publica confessione decretum sed dicet alius quid ergo Sozomen scripsit visum antiquis Pontificibus ut in Theatro c. ob id nimirum ut confessuri nequaquam ad Presbyterum in privatis aedibus accederent undè potuerint offendicula oriri maximè feminis confessuris sed publicitùs in Ecclesia non tamen ità quòd illi publicè delicta sua cunctis manifestarent sed uni Presbytero tantùm atque id clanculum to whom we answer that it cannot be so
meant seeing the Priest himself was commanded to keep it secret for how could that be kept secret that was discerned by publick confession But another will say why then hath Sozomen written It seemed good unto the ancient Bishops that sins should be published upon the Theatre and before the assembly Truly to this end that the Penitents should not resort unto the Priests within private walls where scandal might arise especially upon the approches of women but publickly in the Church not so as if they should there manifest their sins unto all but to the Priest alone and that privately So the place of confession was to be publick not the confession it self which was privately received This Bishop proceeds informing us That publick sinners resorted not unto the Penitentiary Publici poenitentes non ad hunt Presbyterum sed ad Episcopum accesserunt cujus senteatia jejuni is c. at illis qui Presbytero privatim confitebantur secundum uniuscujusque culpam Presbyter ipse taxavit mulctam Roffens contr Luth. art 8. p. 137.1 but to the Bishop and by him were ordered But such as confessed privately to the Priest at his hands received penance onely Thou seest plainly that in this Doctors opinion private confession was hereby meant and his reasons for the same and mayest further see Presbyter iste solis publicis poenitentibus praepositus how well these Cardinals agree It was publick confession of publick faults saith Cardinal Bellarmine Publick confession could not be here meant saith Cardinal Fisher This Priest was appointed for publick sins onely saith Bellarmine Publick sinners came not to the Priest but to the Bishop saith Fisher Thus God confounds their tongues that build Babel Well Fishers conclusion is Nequaquam pro publicis criminibus intelligi debeat quae semper publi 〈◊〉 vindicabantur sed pro peccatis admissis duntaxat Id. ib. that Nectarius abolished this Penitential Presbyter and left every man to his own conscience which could not be understood of publick sins for they still were punished in the Church but of private faults onely How apparently false then is the assertion of the Cardinal Jesuit Publicam poenitentiam sustulit non confessionem Petav. Doct. temp lib. 13. part 2. p. 755. Scio quibusdam visum fuisse totam hanc bistoriam esse confutatam à Socrate Bellarsuprà viz. Aâ—l consent that Nectarius abolished publick not private confession and of another Jesuit that the one was not and the other was not abolished but publick penance onely may appear by the discourse of this Cardinal Bishop and Pope-Martyr And if none of these evasions will serve Bellarmine is not ignorant of another starting hole sc to elevate the faith of the Historian and call his credit into question a shelter never fled unto but in desperate stormes The truth is by the ancient Canons hainous sins were onely subject to the censure of this discipline of vulgar confession the confession then onely frequented Others moved with devotion subjected themselves thereunto without sufficient cause which to redress the Fathers exhorted the people not to go so confusedly to work but to consult with their spiritual Physicians what diseases were fit for that publick cure and at length a certain Priest was appointed to whom they were to resort and he upon private hearing presented the Church with such sins as were worthy of publick notice and this was the onely practick of Confession in Nectarius time consisting in the private audience of sin with reference to the publick censure which was damn'd by his decree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat. Confession put out of the Church by Nectarius An. Dom. 390. Period Jul. 5103. utriusque Cycli ☉ 7. ☾ 11. Indict 3. and every man left to the judgment of his own conscience which could not be if private confession had been still kept on foot and the sinner subjected to the censure of any Ghostly Father Which abrogation then of confession simply considered however it was carried in the dayes of that Patriarch sheweth the form and prescript of confession used and praised by the Ancients to have been Canonical rather than Divine belonging to the external discipline of the Church which upon just occasion might be altered and not Sacramental and of perpetual right or absolute necessity which is the Helen the Jesuits pretend unto and by us in all cases denied Our last conjecture that Auricular Confession in the sense and practice of the Church of Rome 3. Confession of no use in the Greek Church is not of absolute necessity binding all and in all cases is the cessation or rather not admission thereof in the Greek Church for the decree of Nectarius inhibiting the use of the then received confession such as it was suspended the practick thereof in general for there occurs not in Damascenes tract De orthodoxa fide the least impression thereof and therein are treasured the principal doctrines or doctrinal principles in Christianity so it seems to have gone out of the Church like a ship upon the waters leaving no tract behind Quidam Deo solummodò peccata confiteri debere dicunt ut Graeci Grat. dist 1. de Poenit. c. ult Insomuch as Gratian citing the Penitential of Theodorus Arch-Bishop of Canturbury which in truth was none of his and no whit resembling an ancient copy thereof to be seen in Sir Robert Cottons treasury but a Canon of the Council of Cauvillon celebrated Anno DCCCXIII makes it an opinion of that Church that sins were to be confessed unto God onely I am not ignorant that Bellarmine would perswade us that those words ut Graeci in Gratian â—idetur irrepfisse in textum ex margine marginalem annotationem imperiti alicujus fuisse qui ex facto Nectarii collegit sublatam omnino fuisse confessionem apud Graecos Bellar. l. 3. de Poenit. c. 5. were by an unskilful hand first set in the Margent and thence crept into the text upon a surmise that the fact of Nectarius had altogether abandoned confession from that Church his reasons for this conjecture are so plumbeous and little worth as not worthy either of repetition or refutation Ivo decretal part 15. c. 155. for Ivo that imposed decrees before Gratian hath the same nor was the gloss or any Canonist ever so nasute as to smell out that intrusion in the decrees Yet the Gloss draws an argument from hence against the Divine authority of Confession because the Graecians denied it for necessary as their practice sheweth Glossa tale argumentum innuit pro sua opinione confessio non est necessaria apud Graecos esset autem necessaria si praeceptum de ea esset authoritate Scripturae Scotus in wholly abstaining from the same and necessary it had been had it stood upon divine precept For no Church may justly cast that forth of doors once brought in upon divine injunction and Scotus in way of answer thereunto seemes first to grant some such
mutant speciem ut furtum in loco sacro vel non ut furtum 100. aureorum idem in specie ac furtum 10. aureorum Canus 1. diminishing and 2. aggravating the offence and these latter are again twofold 1. either which change the species of sin as to rob the Church is not theft but Sacrilege 2. or else which aggravate onely as to steal a 100. l. or a 100. s. is theft alike though not alike was stollen and an example of 1. diminishing circumstances 2. or changing mortal sin into venial as to communicate ignorantly with a person excommunicate that word ignorantly shews the offence to be but venial 1. Circumstantia quae ità minuit peccatum ut ex mortali faciat veniale debeat omninò explicari Now their rules herein are these 1. Circumstances abating the sin from mortal to venial are to be expressed 2. Si circumstantiae minuant peccati malitiam intra tamen latitudixem peccati mortalis non est nesessarium illas confiteri 2. Circumstances diminishing the sin yet leaving the same to be mortal are not so much to be stood upon in confession 3. Circumstantiae mutantes speciem ex nova specie novam peccato mortalem malitiam adjicientes sunt omninò explicandae ut stuprum cum virgine Deo sacra Can. Rel. de Poen part 6. p. 906. 3. Circumstances adding new malice and changing the species of sin are precisely requisite in confession as the rape of a Nun or cloistred Virgin a Frier-like sin Now in good earnest what are such circumstantial distinctions to the people but scruples to perplex their Consciences or rocks to grind them to powder and if their Casuists alwayes versed in these points are restless in their resolutions how shall the vulgar but little or nothing at all studied in such cases discern what circumstances are fit to be put in and out in their Confessions This is the publick doctrine of the Church of Rome and which her adherents and followers with no less superciliousness averre If any of the Saints saith Bishop Fisher had wittingly concealed the least mortal sin that came into their mind at the instant of Confession Si sancti vel minimum mortale quod menti occurrisset tempore confessionis sponte subticuâ—ssent ausim dicere nec sanctos eos esse nec justificatos immò si quam antè justitiam habuissent jam propter hâ—pocrisin penitùs amiserunt Roffens Contr. Luther art 8. I dare be bold to say they were neither Saints nor justified yea if they had attained to any Righteousness before to have wholly lost it through their hypocrifie Great grace is conferred no doubt by this noble Sacrament environ'd with so many scruples and difficulties that the Penitent is in greater danger to lose the good he hath than in hope to augment it It is not certainly without cause that Luther who knew the practice thereof cried out upon it as Carnificina cruentissima Ista est Carnificina cruentissima quâ bactenus tot miseras conscientias torserunt omnium singulorum peccatorum discussionibus confessionibus cum pro se non iota habeant ullius Scriptureae tyrannide propriâ haec oncra importabilia hominibus imponentes Luther art 9. wherewithal popish shavelings have tortured so many consciences by the discussions and confessions of all and singular offences imposing importable burdens upon men through their tyranny without any jod or particle of holy Scripture Summa est confessionem auricularem per multiplices Pontificiorum abusus saepe factam jam esse ex necessitate circumstantiarum perplexitate conscientiarum Carnificinam ex formulis interrogationum illecebram lenocinium voluptatis ex istac lege non prodendi futurea peccata proditionum flagitiosarum latebram atque sigillum Reverend Episc Dunelm in Caus Regia cap. 7. Sect. 2. And a Reverend Prelate of our own these tyrannous abuses considered to censure Romish-confession for the necessity and perplexity of circumstances the rack of the Conscience for andâ— he formes of interrogatories therein adminâ—stred the bait bawd of voluptuousnâ—sse and for silencing of future sins the den and seal of prodigious treasons Thus he and how sharp soever this censure be sad experience justifies the truth hereof and a no less Reverend and learned personage to stile this particular and circumstantial eâ—umeration of sins that Engine whereby the Priests of Rome have lift up themselves into that heighth of domineering Bishop Usherâ—s Answer to the Jesuites challenge p. 124. and tyrannizing over mens conscienceâ— wherewith we see they now hold the poor people in most miserable aw and lest these Men be thought to be more rigid in their judgments than Rome in her confession let a moderate man an Angel that fled through the midst of heaven leaving the Reformed Church above him Quod subjiciunt Augustanae confessionis Authores enumerationem omnium delictorum non esse necessariam quadam ex parte rectè habit viz. si intelligatur de ignotis non occurrentibus peccatis item si intelligatur de nimis anx a inquisitione omnium circumstantiarum quae in multis conscientiae carnificinam gignit quam nemo moderatus approbat Verù si referatur ad eam enumerationem peccatorum quâ graviora omnia peccata diligenter expenduntur tanquam spiritualia vulnera spirituali Medico revelantur de ea quoque retinenda dubitandum non est Cassand Consult art 11. Lugd. 161 2. and the Roman below Cassander speak Whereas the Authors of the Augustane Confession add that an enumeration of all sins is not so necessary in some sense it is well namely if unknown sins and such as occur not be understood also if that same anxious inquisition into all circumstances be meant which in many begets a torture of conscience which no moderate man can approve of But if it be referred to that enumeration of sins wherein the more grievous offences are dil gently weighed and are revealed as spiritual wounds to a spiritual Physician there can be no question but that it ought to be retained Hereunto may be added B. Rhenanus Quam confessionem saluberrimam esse nemo possit inficiari si morositatem scrupulositatem nimiam amputes B. Rhen. prefat ad Tert. lib. de Poenit. who could not away with this morosity and scrupulosity as he calls it though otherwise the duty it self those abuses cut off is by him highly exalted 1. Enâ—meration of all sins before the Priest a burden importable and besides Gods word Our exceptions against the same follow and first we challenge them for shutting the kingdome of heaven before men and imposing harder conditions than the most indulgent times under the Gospel and grace approve of We live under a continual Jubile and may have access unto the mercy seat with confidence but by this doctrine the Gospel is turned into the Law and the light yoke become a heavy burthen and the condition of the second
offences To this end David prayed as well to number his sins as his dayes and was I suppose as scrupulous to confess and lament them as any of our Roman Penitents yet he cries out Psal 19.12 Psal 38.5 Nimirum intelligebat quanta esset peceatorii nostrorum abyssus quâ—m multâ—e seelerum sacies quot capita serret quà m longam caadamtrah ret haec Hydra Calvin Institut l. 3. c. 4. Sect. 16. Who can understand his errors cleanse me from my secret sins and again My iniquities are gone over my head as a burden they are too heavy for me Now truly he well understood how great a depth of sins there is how many strange countenances and shapes they resemble how many heads they lift up and how great a traine and long tail of circumstances this Hydra draweth after it Therefore he busieth not himself in drawing an Inventory of each several sin but cries out of the depth unto the Lord that the waters have entred into his soul that his sins are too heavy that there is no health in his bones nor rest in his conscience and in such termes spreads his sins before the Lord by better expressions than in any Method or formes of Confession and thereof are diverse set forth by our New Masters I must not forget that Popish writers streitned with the pressure of this reason remit something of the rigour Ea solùm quae post diligentem excussionem memoriae occurrunt Bellar. de Poen l. 3. cap. 16. and exact no further account than of such sins occurring unto the memory and seriously called to mind at the time of Confession and how poor a remnant this is to the sands of the Sea and how small a gleaning after so great a harvest that handful reserved for that time maketh manifest Confess all and every sin is the precept that is such onely as you can remember is the exception a gentle glosse for a severe law and as the injunction it self is too rigorous so the limitation is too ridiculous The Graecian Dame defiled by the Deacon in Sozomen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strom. 1. p. 217. lin 11. confessed her sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I read rather distinctly than partially and so used by Clemens Alexandrinus viz. the doctrine of Christ deduceth providence unto things in singular yet a distinct confession of sin differeth from a distinct confession of all sins and a sinner may be particular in some though not singular in all offences a matter as we said of impossibility 3. Obligation of confessing sins all and singular a point of desperation Our third exception that to oblige the conscience to confess every sin with the pertinent circumstance is a doctrine of desperation for confess I must all my sins else look for no comfort from Gods hands and the Priests Now what soul can tell he hath told all his sins Thou wilt say tell all thou art able do they best endeavour to lay open all and then though some are left out thou art discharged I do my best and part my sins into branches Usque ad circumstanliarum minutias fractions atomes I weight the nature and extent thereof I put thereunto every material circumstance I lanch forth into the depth of my lewd life and having nothing before but the open air and vast sea no haven no station and the further I enter into this Labyrinth the more I lose my self and the more diligent I am to number sins the more numberless I find them and after all my travel in this disquisition Haerebam inter Saxum sacrum nec alius tandem exitus reperiebatur quà m desperatio Calv. instit l. 3. c. 4. Sect. 17. my conscience is not quieted my Audit is not perfect therefore much suspect I shall not have my quietus est at the Priests hands such thoughts as these must needs present themselves to that soul whose conscience is kept awake Furthermore it is required of all penitents to use such diligence Diligentem excussionem vocant quam in rebus gravioribus ordinariè homines adhibere solent B lar l. 3. de Poenit. c. 16. to keep their sins in memory against the times of Confession as usually they do about such important affaires as otherwise much concern them and here arise new doubts and discontents in the mind whereby a Penitent is jealous he hath not done his devoire especially when he calls to mind what diligence he hath shewed in accomplishing secular ends how careful he is in the things of this life studious of his preferment watchful to prevent dangers painful to augment his store provident in laying up for his posterity all which matched with the diligence he hath used on this behalf what restless perturbations ensue herein I took not time enough I used not industry enough I let slip many sins through negligence and forgat more through my carelesness and shall such negligent forgetfulness be excused I said above what Beatus Rhenanus related from a Divine of much experience concerning the impossibility of confession let us hear him further about the perplexity and corture thereof Many religious Carthusians and Franciscans were very conversant with him Vâ—rille magno rerum usu praeditus à Carthasianis Franciscanis intervisebatur ab his dâ—scebat quibus tormentis quoruadam piae maâ—tes affligerentur ob confessionem cui satissacere ut â—psisvidebatur nequirent similes querelas adeum deserâ—baut sanctimoniales proindè motus suerat ut libellum ederet in lingua Germanica cui titulamfecit VON DEM BEICHTUNAH hoc est de morbo Confessionis quo negabant esse tristiorem qui eo tenebantur Erat Carrhusianus quidam qui propter confessionum quae ei semper ob inexplicabilem circumstantiarum vim imperfecta videbatur sed â—pse persectâ—ssimam esse frustrà conteadebat huc miseriarum venerat ut omaem salutem desponderet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cogitaret hujusmodi homines illi libuit eo libello consolari B. Rhenan praef ad Tert. l. de Poenit. from them he perceived with what torments well-disposed people were afflicted about confession which scrup'es as it seemed unto them they could not satisfie the like complaixt did the (a) We call them Nuns being for the most part Nonariae of whom the Poet Multùm gaudere paratus St Cynico barbam petulans Nonaria vellat Pers Sat. Vestal Virgins and Votaries make unto him Whereupon he was moved to publish a Treatise in the German tongue which he entituled VON BEICHTUNAH that is the disease of Confession than which those that were visited with the same confessed none to be more grievous There was a certain Carthusian all long of confession which by reason of the unexplicable violence of circumstances appeared to him as imperfect although he did his best endeavour to perfect the same all he could who was driven to that wretched exigence as to despair of salvation and contrive his own death by
sentio Roffens contr Luth. art 32. p. 317. but professeth his consent herein with Luther That venial sin is onely venial from the mercy of God and in that respect may all otâ—er sins be venial too as capable of Divine mercy So venial sin hath no prerogative that way nor may for that cause be justly exempted from auricular Confession For reserved cases wherin sins of the greater magnitude are made over to the Pope and whereby they shut up the kingdom of heaven before men without being opened by a golden key we have little to say save considering the great expences tedious journies continual delaies whereby much treasure was exhausted forth of this Land and many of the better sort of the Inhabitants made slaves we are to bless our God that this Antichristian yoke is cast off the tyrannie overthrown and our selves delivered from a more than Egyptian servitude And while the matter was proposed and scan'd at Trent Rem non esse perspicuae veritatis à nullo Patrum mentionem ejus factâ—m â—amò Durandum Gersonem Cajetanum magni nominis viros affirmare non peccata sed censuras modò Pontificis judicio reservatas Colonienses Theologi affirmantes neminem ex antiquis Scriptoribus reservationis mâ—minisse nisi in casu publicorum peccatorum certè haereticos cos accusare tanquam pecuniarum aucupes Hist Concil Trid. l. 4. p. 283. the Divines of Lovain objected that it was not a point of evident verity mentioned not by one of the Fatherâ— that Duâ—and Gerson and Cajetan affirmed not sins but censures to be reserved for Papal Judicature The Divines of Colen added how none of the ancient Writers mentioned Reservation but in case of publick sins and that the Hereticks would for certaine accuse them for contriving how to squeeze and empty mens purses and coffers So then if those men that stand so much for detection of all sins unto the Priest have made so bold as to cut off the two extremes vâ—z the greatest and the least offences I see no reason but that we may use the like liberty Auricularis Confessio prout in Ecclesia Rom. usurpatur nihil ferè est alâ—ud quâ—m reticulam ad hominum sâ—creta arcana expiscanda artificiosè contextam Quod quidem non fit ut aegris Medicina vulneratis conscientiis opobalsamum contritis solatium solidum adhiberi prossit sed ut auâ—um argentum indè conflentur omniaque ad ipsorum lucrum coavertantur Mason de Minister Anglic. lib. 5. c. 12. but upon far more likely and better reasons I shall conclude these exceptions with the saying of an able Divine at home Auricular Confession as it is used in the Church of Rome is almost nothing else but a Net artificially woven to fish after and comprehend the secret and hidden things of men nor is it so used as to afford Physick to the diseased or pretious balme for wounded consciences or sure comfort for broken and contrite hearts but thereby to compass Gold and Silver and to convert all into their own purses There are some Stories or rather superstitious Lies as Sir Tho Moore calls them devised to uphold this doctrine The one is of a Woman who having committed adultery could never in eleven years space be brought to utter the same in any Confession Two Priests whereof one was the Popes Penitentiary and another as holy as he Ad quamlibet expressionem unius peccati Bubo exibat de ore â—â—us Illi Buhones cum uno alio majoris enormioris formae turmatim ingressi sunt in os muliâ—ris ventrem coming into those parts and both being in the Church about their Priestly affaires the woman approached to the Penitentiary to be shriven at every sin she confessed the other Priest standing within view but not within hearing saw an Owle flutter out of her mouth and after the flight of many Owles she stopped it seemeth at her concealed sin and was no sooner absolved of the rest confessed by her and risen up then the same Priest saw all those Owles reenter into her mouth with another more ugly than any of the former The Priests proceeding onwards in their journey the one told unto the other what he saw The Penitentiary guessed that the woman had kept back some sin in Confession Spec. exemplor d 9. Sect. 31. Quo libro miraculorum monstra saepiùs quà m vera miracula legas Can. loc Theol l. 11. c. 6. pag. 540. Dist 3. Sect. 46. De omnibus peccatis quae modò protuli et quae non protuâ—â— culpabilem mâ—sateor corâ—m Dâ—o vobis he returned therefore but at his return found her suffocated and dead to whom her soul appear'd tortured in a fearful manner and all for burying of that sin in silence and being questioned by the Penitentiary for what sins those of her sex were usually damned For Fornication said she wanton dressing and Painting and for shame in not confessing Hereby it is intimated that Confession en partie is of no validity and one sin concealed hinders all the rest from pardon But another Woman though faulty in the same kind yet had better success of whom the relation passeth thus She was otherwise very religious but in her younger dayes had fallen into a sin of that nature as she could not for shame utter the same unto the Priest but used to conclude Of all the sins which I have opened or not I confess my self to be guilty before God and you and could never be brought to specifie the same after her death and before her burial she revived and spake to this effect that she had committed one sin which for shame she could not confess but with many tears was wont to utter the same before the Altar and image of the blessed Virgin Coram ipsius altari vel imagine and desire her intercessions that she might not be damned for this concealed sin and told withall that after her death she was seised on by evill spirits Constituit in S. ecclesia nâ—minem sine confessione salvari posse but rescued by the blessed Virgin and by her means to her Son restored from death to life to confess and be assoyled of that sin which was no sooner performed but she again yielded up the ghost Here three Popish tenets are confirmed at one blow 1. necessity to confess every sin 2. worshiping of Saints and 3. before Images and their Altars As this woman made her confession at the blessed Virgins altar so Gregory Turonensis relateth that Clotharius King of France confessed his sins at Saint Martins shrine Clotharius ad Sepulcrum Sancti Martini cunctas actiones quas fortassè negligenter egerat replicans orans cum grandi gemitu ut pro suis culpis B. Confessor Domini misericordiam exoraret Hist lib. 4. Sect. 21. and became an earnest suiter to that Confessor to become a mean for mercy for him but whether Saint Martin took that course
with that Prince as the blessed Virgin did with her penitent to send him back after death to be shriven by a Priest or tendred his confession unto God and there procured absolution the Author hath not expressed Such stories as these were thought meet for the vulgar to ruminate on yea the Pulpits sounded therewith many Historians saith Canus have been content to think how by the true law of history Ecclesiae Christi vehementer incommodant qui res Divorum praeclare gestas non se putant egregiè exposituros nisi cas fictis revâ—lationibus miraculis adornarit Canus loc Theol. lib. 11. c. 6. p. 537. they might record such things as the people thought to be true not considering the injury done unto the Church as if Saints lives were not sufficiently related except their actions were set out with fained miracles and revelations In what credit such Fables were the vulgar best know But in truth it was late in the world before men were called to so strict a reckoning In the former dayes either recourse was made to God onely or a general confession before the Church or a special discovery of such sins which made such a combustion in the sinners breast as he could not quench alone but the fire all about his ears must call for aid of his neighbours and amongst them the Priests that are best able to abate those flames Lighter sins Quotidiana incursiones as Tertullian calls them Quotidian shakings are opened in the general confession of the Church and 't is not impossible for a Penitent faithful and sincere to make his peace with God himself for sins that press more grievous But in many sins and sinners it is found by often experience that notwithstanding their private addresses unto God the wounded conscience will still pinch fearfully nor will the worm cease to gnaw Then at such a time as this when a sinner can find no ease at home what should he do but use the best means he can to seâ—k it abroad I said it was long before this busie enumeration was injoyned A general Confession or an intimation of some speciall sins which lay indigested upon the Conscience was chiefly required Now if at any time such strictness were necessary then at our last Audit when we are in extremis and in the shadow of death and about to take our leaves of this sinful world and to make our peace with God whilest the last grains of sand are running in this glassie life Yet as it appeareth in an ancient form of interrogating sick persons and ascribed to our Anselme the Priests were not then so particular the form it self is worthy to stand in this place and is thus The sick-man languishing and at the point of death ought to be this interrogated Interrogatio facienda infiâ—mo in extremis constiâ—uto ab Anselmo praescripta Infirmus languâ— is in extrâ—nis debâ—t sic interâ—oâ—â—ri sic râ—spâ—â—dâ—re Fâ—â—ter lâ—â—aris quòd iâ— side Christiâ—na mâ—â—aâ—â—s Respoâ—dâ—â—t 〈◊〉 Fateris t◠〈◊〉 tâ— ben vixisse sicâ—t aâ—bâ—â—â—ti Râ—sp â—tiam Fateris tâ—taiâ— maâ—è viâ—iâ—sse â—t â—eâ—it's â—uis aeteâ—â—â— pâ—â—â—â—â—b â—eâ—â—â— Râ—sp Etiam Paenitâ—t te Râ—sp Etiam Habes oâ—luntâ—em â—meaâ—â—â—ndi te si spaâ— um 〈◊〉 vivendi Resp. Etiam Credis quòd Jesus Christus filius Dei nâ—â—us fuit ex Marâ—a â—â—rgine gloriosa Resp. Etiam Credâ—s quòd Jesus Christus filius Dei pro te mortuâ—s fuit Râ—â—p Credo Agis ei cratias propter ista bâ—nâ—ficia Râ—sp Etiam Credis tâ— non poâ—senisi 〈◊〉 â—â—ias mortem salvari Râ—sp Etiam Quo expleto dicat infiâ—mus teâ— In manus tuâ—â— commendo Spiritum meum Clero in idipsum respon â—ente securus moritur Ediâ—â—ad sinem opusculi Epis Roffens de fide misericoâ—dia Dei à Georg. Cassandro and so to answer Brother doest thou rejoyce that thou mayest die in the Christian faith let him answer Yea. Q. Thou confessest that thou hast not lived so well as thou oughtest Ans Yea. Q. Thou acknowledgest that thou hast lived so evil as thou hast deserved eternal death Ans Yea. Q. Hast thou any purpose to amend if thou mayest have further space to live Ans Yea. Q. Thou believest that Jesus Christ the Son of God was born of the glorious Virgin Mary Ans Yea. Thou believest that Jesus Christ the Son of God died for thee Ans Yea. Thou art thankful unto him for these benefits Ans Yea. Q. Thou believest that thou canst not be saved but by his death Ans Yea. This was all the Questioning in those dayes thought fit to be used at the hour of death which after some comfortable instructions how the sick-man should behave himself in this last incounter the conclusion is Let him rehearse thrice into thy hands I commend my spirit and the Clergis answering the same he may safely and peacefully depart We see what kind of Confession then sufficed and it was not the work of one age to bring the people to any other Haymo complained that some in his dayes blushing to confess their sins unto the Priest Erubescentes peccata sua sacerdotibus confiteri quoddam occasionis ingenium invenerunt dicentes sibi sufficere ut soli Deo peccata sua consiteantur si tamen ab ipsis peccatis in reliquo cessent Haymo Dominic 14. post Pentecost pag. 401. found out a witty occasion to forbear saying it was sufficient for them that they did confess their sins unto God if so be they ceased from those sins for the time to come Others would not be brought to that full measure as began then to be imposed confessing but not fully their sins unto the Priest as may be gathered from a Council held at Cavaillon in the dayes of Charles the great Sed hoc emendatione indigere perspeximus Quòd quidam dum consitentur peccata sua non plenè id faciunt Wherein though those Fathers were otherwise minded and desire it to be amended yet they intimate that in their times it was questioned whether men should confess unto God onely or to the Priest also And they themselves put this difference betwixt both these Confessions that the one did properly serve for the cure the other for direction in what sort the repentance and so the cure should be performed their words ensue Some say sins are to be confessed unto God alone Quidam solummodò Deo confiteri debere dicunt peccata quidam verò Sacerdotibus confiâ—enda esse pâ—rcensent Quod utrumque non sine magno fructu intra Sanctam fit ecclesiam it a duntaxat ut Deo qui remissor est peccatorum confiteamur peccata nostra cum David dicamus Delictum meum cognitum tibi feci in justitiam meam non abscondi Dixi confitebor c. secundum institutionem Apostoli Confiteamur alterutrum peccata nostra c. Confessio itaque qâ—ae fit Deo purgat peccata ea verò quae Sacerdoti fit
docet qualiter ipsa purgentur pâ—ccata Dâ—us namque salutis sanitatis author largitor plerumque hanc praebet suae potâ—ntiae invisibili administratione plerum â—ue Medicorum operatione Conc. Cab. l. 2. c. 32 33. but others are of opinion that they are to be confessed unto a Priest both of which are performed in the Church not wiâ—hout great fruit so verily as we confess our sins unto God who is the forgiver thereof and say with David I acknowledge my sin unto thee and my iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my sins unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin and according to the institution of the Apostle Let us confess our sins one to another and pray one for another that we may be saved The confession therefore which is made unto God purgeth sins and that which is made unto the Priest sheweth how they may be purged For God the Author and bestower of salvation and health ofâ—times affords the same by the invisible administration of his own power and many times by the operation of Physicians wherein those words are to be noted that many sinnes are forgiven by God immediately or by the invisible administration of his own power and consequently need not be confessed unto any but God alone and many again mediately by the operation of soul-Physicians and therefore are to pass thorough their hands and ears also whence infer that to Priests some sins though not all are to be confessed The condition of those sins as ought to be confessed to the Priest But what those some are is the point indeed For if those some be left loosly and at random indiscriminatim they will hardly prove any or none at all The discerning of these sins must not hang alone upon the slender thread of a Lay-capacity and the sinners own discretion for we seldome make any prospect upon our worser parts and never but with partiality turning the perspective so upon our own sins as to make them appear Atomes and in less figures than they are and so upon the sins of others as to multiply and dilate them we are not then in this behalf wholly to be left unto our selves Venerable Bede observeth that amongst the diseased healed by Christ Nullum Dominus eorum quibus haec corporalia beneficia praestitit invenitur misisse ad Sacerdotes nisi Leprosos quia Sacerdotium Judaeorum figura erat Sacerdotii futuâ—â— regalis quod est in Ecclesia Quisquis haeâ—â—tiâ—â pravitate vel superstitione gentâ—li vel Judaicâ perfidiâ vel etiam Schismate fraterno quasi vario colore per Christi gratiam caruerit necesse est ad Ecclesiam veniat colorémque fidei verum quem acceperit ostendat caetera verò vitia tanquam valetudines quasi mâ—mbrorum animae atque sensuum per semetipsum interiùs in conscientia intellectu Dominus sanat corrigit Bed hom de 10. Lepros onely the Lepers were sâ—nâ— by him to the Priests because the Levitical Priesthood was a Type of his own and inferreth that such as were tainted with hereticall pravity gentile-Superstition Judaicall perfidiousness or Schisme from the brothe-hood and were by the grace of Christ delivered thereof should of necessity resort unto the Church and make profession of the true tincture of faith newly imbraced But other vices as it were diseases and as if of the members of the soul and sense the Lord healeth inwardly by himself in the Conscience and understanding Some sins then according to Bedâ— are to be presented to the Church and not all and as Christ healed many that were diseased and injoyned the Lepers onely to shew themselves unto the Priests so he forgiveth many sinnes privately to the Conscience of the Penitent but some are reserved for the Prâ—ests cognizance And in another place the same Bâ—de would have us to confesse our daily and light sins one to another Quotidianal viáque peccata alterutrum coaequalibus confiteamur porrò gravâ—oris leprae immunditiam Sacerdoti pandâ—mus Bed in Jac. 5. but to open the uncleanness of the greater leprosie unto the Priest Herein the Case held in the course of publick Penance will somewhat guide us for in the first and strictest dayes of the Church there were three sins held incapable of mercy but to be peccata ad mortem of which Saint John speaketh and directeth not to pray for (a) Ubi nec postulationis ibi aequè nec remissionis Tert. de Pud c. 1. now where there is no place for prayer there is no grace for pardon and these three were Idolatry Murder and Adultery This cruel opinion lasted till Tertullians dayes who either ironically or hastily thus writeth The High Priest the Bishop of Bishops saith Pontisex scilicet Maximus Episcopus Episcoporum dicit ego Moechiae fornicationis delicta poenitentiá functis dimitto O edict mâ—ui non poterit ascribi bonum factumâ—â— De Pudic. c. 5. I absolve those that have done penance of fornication and adultery O edict which none can justly commend Tertullian now a Montanist sharply taking up the dispenser of that relaxation Sunt ista Ironica Pontiâ—ex M. Christus puta edictum istud promulgaverit Notae â—r Jun. ad Tert. de pud pag. 298. By which Bishop if Christ be meant Vixit Tertullian Zephâ—rin Anno 198. as Junius then the words are otherwise salved by that great Critick or if the Pope as Petavius then the dispensation must come from Zephyrine The next age waxed milder not denying pardon and yet not conferring absolution to the guilty of these crimes were they never so penitent and zealous thereof no not at the last gasp and case of utmost extremity It was old Serapions case lapsed in persecution who could never though ever desirous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Eccl. hist l. 6 c. 36. and promising a myriad of times to wade through all the degrees of the Penitents be admitted to communicate Times were yet more gentle when Cyprian was denying not but withall deferring absolution till the point of death and then absolving the guilty of those offences This practice shewed that all sins were not equally capable of grace and pardon that in some the spot being fowler and the guilt heavier the justification was more difficult and the expiation more laborious which to assoil was at one time held by the Church to be impossible and ever difficult to be loosed by the Ministerial key Besides those sins there were others in the next rank which they called capital offences not in the sense of the School Dâ—vines Capitalia dicebantur non ut nos intelligere vulgò solemus quaecunque Dei nos gratia spiritualibus charitatis ornamentis spoliant sed quae cùm graviora caeteris esseat tum Canonibus Synodorum decretis nominatim expressa quibus poenae à Canonibus singillatim propositae alia verò leviora de quibus nulla extat in
conciliorum decretis mentio D. Petav animadvers ad Epiphan haer 49. pag. 238. who make capital and mortal of equal latitude and both which despoyls the sinner of the ornament of Charity but some more heynous than ordinary and which by name are expressed in the Canons and decrees of Councils and to which several and distinct penances were allotted and belonged Other sins also there were of an inferi ur alloy and burthen and of them the Penitential Canons took no notice saith their great Antiquary Petavius So then as of old not all sins but selected ones were assigned for publick exomologesis the like may be said that there is no necessity of revealing all but some offences which press deepest upon the Conscience to the Ministers of Reconciliation Moreover we may learn by the Church-Censures what sins properly appertain to Confession Absit ut quoties peccatum fuit toties excommunicationis sententiam exhibendam esse aut publicum resipi scentiae testimonâ—nm à singulis personis efflagitari Quà m enim multa nobis solis consciis in dies horas admittimus quae privata coram Deo confâ—ssione adjunctis precibus condonantur Quorsùm etiam erant quotidianae preces cum Sacrificiis matutinis vespertinis instâ—tutae sub lege Quorsùm nunc quoque sacros conventus à reatus nostri consessione auspicamur nisi ut quotidianâ— peccata absque ulla alia cognitione nobis condonâ—ntur de solis igitur gravioribus peccatis cum offendiculo Ecclesiae conjunctis publicae satisfactiones intelligendae sunt Beza de Presbyr excom pag. 42. edit Genev. 1590. God forbid saith Beza that the Church should fulminate her excommunication for every sin or that publick testimony or repentance should from all persons be exacted though in extremity every sin incur Gods displeasure the sinner is exiled his presence and needeth to be reconciled by repentance for how many sins do we daily and hourly commit which are pardoned upon private confession before God with prayers annexed To what end served the daily prayers the morning and evening Sacrifices under the law To what purpose do we in our sacred assemblies begin and enter into our solemn prayers with confession of our guiltiness but that our daily sins might be forgiven without any further acknowledgment Publick satisfactions therefore must be understood of such sins as are hainous and scandalous to the Congregation Hitherto Beza The objection of Erastus was All sins deserve excommunication therefore the censure was to be served either upon all or none Beza denies the consequent and sheweth good reasons why all sins are not subject to the Censure and which serve also to shew why all sins are not to be stood upon in Confession because sins of a lesser magnitude may be otherwise blotted out by private Confession and tears or by the general and publick acknowledgment of the Church and as notorious and scandalous were onely liable to the Churches censure and penance So not all sins but such as afflict the conscience and suffer the sinner to take no rest are necessary to be confessed And this doctrine our Church maintaineth and wisheth all her children to take it to heart carefully distinguishing the same from the so much abused Popish Auricular Confession which they thrust upon the souls of Christians as an expiatory sacrifice and meritorious satisfaction for sin racking their Consciences to confess when they â—eel no distress and to enumerate all their sins which is impossible that by this means they might dive into the secrets of all hearts which ofttimes hath proved pernicious not onely to private persons but also to publick States To conclude then Gravioris leprae immunditia with Bede the unclean and more grievous leprosie Bed in Jac. 5. Bernard hom 16. in Cantic Calvin Instit p. 339. Omne quod remordet consciâ—ntiam with Saint Bernard every sin that biteth the Conscience Quando quis ità angitur afflictatur peccatorum sensu ut se explicare nisi alieno adjutorio nequeat with Calvin The sins that gore or prick the conscience and out of which without and from without the sinner cannot wind himself when a man cannot quiet his own Conscience as the Church prescribeth Rubrick at the Communion Bishop Morton Appeal lib. 2. cap. 14. Bishop Montagu Appeal pag. 299. or is burdened with sin so the Bishop of Duresme Or in the case of perplexity for the quieting of men disturbed in their Consciences as the Bishop of Norwich In all of which we are injoyned to shew our selves unto the Priest and to seek at his hands both the counsel of instruction and hope of Gods pardon as Bishop Morton To receive Ghostly comfort advice and counsel and the benefit of absolution to the quieting of his conscience as our sacred Liturgie admonisheth Remember good People this Medicine is for your diseases this Balme for your griefs advancing your safety more than shewing forth the Ministers power the treasure of absolution is yours he keepeth but the key to open the same for you upon a Penitential knock A pious Priest delighteth not in the sad story of your infirmities Condolere norimus peccantes affâ—ctu intimo Quotiesâ—unque alicujus lapsi peccatum exponitur compatiaâ— nec supeâ—bè increpem sed lugeam desteam Ambr. l. 2. de poen cap. 11. nor blames you with reprochful words but embalmes you with many tears weeping with such as weep and sighing with those that are in distress his crown and rejoycing is like the good Samaritan to pour oyl and wine into your gaping wounds Despise not Gods ordinance it is powerful and to those that use it right efficaciouâ— Neglect not the benefit of the keys for the Priest beareth them not in vain slight not his Ministery it is the word of Reconciâ—iation Keep thy conscience waking and the eyes thereof open the case is fearful where the Conscience slumbreth and the soul is dark where that light is extinguished Oh preserve the voice of this Turtle Vox Turturis vox gementis Bern. stop not thine ears at this Charmer it is Gods Deputy and Watchman Thou hast just reason to fear he hath yielded up thy fort unto the enemy when it no longer keeps Centinel Keep this jewel alive Preserve it with a meditation of Gods Judgments and thy deserts feed it with the promises of the Gospel and yet it will inform thee when this Physick must be used It will send thee to the Minister as the voice in the vision did Paul to Ananias Act. 9. It will open thy cause without flattery spur thee on to seek comfort without delay and comfort thee more in the remission and pardon than the terrour of the sin could afflict thee Make the Conscience thy Examiner and thou shalt the better discern in what cases the Priest must be thy Judge and his Ministery thy relief and comfort CHAP. VIII The Contents Of the Confessary or Priest that receiveth Confessions and
they might be coheirs with him as learned Bâ—za conjectureth Add hereunto another reason to make the guilt of sin better known which is an obligation to punishment and an obstacle unto happiness now the key in opening the door doth put back the bolt and bar wherewithall it was held and God by the ministery of his Priests removes this bar and pardons this guilt which hath shut up the kingdome of heaven against us Absolution presupposeth binding as enlargement restraint Viâ—â—â—â— 1 Pecâ—â—â— 2 Proâ—â—â—â—â—â—â—catum we are then in the first place to distinguâ—sh betwixt the bonds of sin and the bonds for sin for with the bonds of his own sin is a sinner captiv'd this is the bondage and desert of sin and so is he bounden for his sins by the doom and sentence of Gods Ministers which is the punishment and Ecclesiastical censure 'T is the grace of God onely which looseth the bond of sin Dâ—us ipse soâ—â—â—t à pâ—â—â—ati mâ—â—uâ—a in â—tis caligiâ—◠〈…〉 biâ—â— Magistr lib. 4. dist 18. Esay 5.18 Prov. 5.22 and the power of the keys that absolveth from the censure The Prophet acquaints us with the cords of vanity and a cart-rope of sin implying the worse than Egyptian bondage of a sinner and the wise man who had great experience of these bonds saith his own iniquities shall take the sinner himself and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin God shall not greatly need any Lictors or Tormenters or to say bind him hand and foot Domino vinculis alioqui apparitâ—â—â—â—â— vel torto ibus qui cum ad suppliâ—â—◠〈◊〉 nil est opus 〈◊〉 suis ipse 〈…〉 â—â—â—tringatur quò minus poenam essâ—â—â—at Meâ—cer Comment in Prov. 5. for the sinners own offences shall perform that office and the knot fastening these bonds is the habit and custome the sinner hath gotten to do evil Non potest facilitâ—r opâ—rari bâ—â—â— proâ—â—â— habitum viâ—â—â—sum inclinantâ—m ad 〈◊〉 Lyra in Prov. 5. fast binding and fettering him from all good actions the weight whereof presseth so sore and the Chaines are so strong that the arme of God onely must alleviate the one and break the other in sunder These bonds Richardus maketh of two sorts culpable and penal by the first a sinner is bâ—und with the bonds of Captivity â—st oblâ—gâ—tion per quam hâ—â—o obligatur ad culâ—â—m 〈…〉 â—â—â—am in uno 〈◊〉 vâ—â—culo captiviâ—â—tâ—◠〈◊〉 altâ—â—â— debito damnaâ—â—◠〈…〉 potest qui 〈◊〉 â—â—â—ipotens â—â—â—tia potest Rich. de Clav. c. 2 3. and by the latter he is liable to the debt of eternal death both these oâ—ligations are upon him because sin is an offâ—nce against an eteâ—nal and infinite Deity and both these obligations he onely cancelleth that is omnipotent and can do all things Anoâ—â—er laiâ—th a threefold bond upon a sinner the bond of sin the bond of eternal punishment and the bond of satisfaction Peccans mortaliter statim ligatur 1. vinculo culpae ab hoc absolvit eum solus Deus 2. Vinculo poenae aeternae ubi Sacerdos absolvit id est absolutum ostendit 3. Vinculo satisfactionis ubi commutat poenam aeternam in temporalem Expos cum Gloss in Matth. 16. MS. in the first case God onely granteth absolution in the second the Priâ—st absolveth that is sheweth whom God hath absolved in the third the Priest absolveth by binding or by commutation freâ—ing the sinner from eternal pain and obliging him to satisfactory Penance The two former wayes we well allow of but are scrupulous concerning the latter by reason of the too much abused handling of satisfactions and commutations as not ignorant who it is that hath pacified his Fathers wrath and by whose stripes we are healed and that we receive not the grace of God by way of exchange but from the free charter of mercy though we hold it very reasonable that where any person is wronged or the Church scandalized satisfaction may justly be imposed and herein we distinguish betwixt the satisfaction of revenge and of expiation 1. Satisfaction expiatory is Satisfaction expiatory vindictive and propitiatory in Christ probatory in Christians when the sin is blotted out the sinner pardoned and God reconciled 2. and vindictive when the guilt remaineth the sinner is punished and God revenged the expiation was performed by him who trod the wine-press alone Christ Jesus The Revenge if eternal is executed upon such whose sins are not washed in the bloud of that Lamb. If temporary upon the Lords own servants not thereby to make an amends to the justâ—ce of God but to make an amendment in the Penitent For instance in David God put away his sin but not the sword that was unsheathed all his time Now this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or tâ—mporary penance inflicted upon any either by the censure of the Church or voluntary by the delinquent himself In foro mundano peccata quatenus sunt contra bonum pacis publicae sub iciuntur potestati politiâ—ae per quam judicâ—ri poenis publicis puniri â—d beant in foro Ecclesiastico quatenus sunt offensa Dei saluti spirituali nocent subsunt potestati Ecclesiae Apol. pro jure Princip pag. 178. no more prejudiceth that plenary and expiatory satisfaction made by Christ to his Father for believing sinners than the just infliction of temporary punishment by the Magistrate upon Malefactors where a pardon may come from God and judgment be executed by the Magistrate for one and the same offence God himself both ratifying the temporal punishment and remitting the eternal Thus we have seen the obligations let us now come to the absolutions And herein we must carefully distinguish what God doth by himself and what he doth by his Minister what God hath in his own power from that power given by him to his Priests and the better to keep this distance we will lay down these assertions To forgive sins efficienter that is Assertion 1. to be the true and proper cause of Remission is a pretogative appertaining to God onely Absolution from sin then directly cometh from him alone Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity therefore when Christ made bold with this power Esay 43.15 claiming the same by virtue of his Godhead the Scribes said within themselves Matth. 9.3 4. this man blasphemeth by usurpation upon the privilege of the most High for they held it no less than blasphemy for man to forgive sin which our Saviour denied not intimating withall that he might without blasphemy exercise that power who sustained in one person both God and man thereby saith Irenaeus did Christ both cure the man Peccata igitur remittens hominem quidem curavit semetipsum autem manifestè ostendit quis esset Irenae l. 5. adv haer cap. 7. and manifestly discover who he was And Chrysostome observeth that hereby Chrâ—st shewed himself to be God equal to his
Father otherwise he would have said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys hom 29. in Matth. why do you attribute unto me an unfitting opinion I am far from that power And proved himself further to be God because be saw their thoughts and by many passages of holy writ it is evident that God onely beholdeth what man beareth in mind Insomuch that as none but God can know the thoughts of men so none but he can forgive the sins of men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph in Mar. 2.5 Athan. orat 3. contr Arrian the like collection maketh his Scholar and abridger Theophylact upon Mark 2.5 And Athanasius maketh this power to forgive sin not the least of his arguments to prove Christ to be God A truth that shined so clearly in the Fathers dayes that it was not altogether overcast when the Schoolmen sate at the sterne Peter Lombards conclusion is God alone washeth away the spot of sin and absolveth from the debt of eternal death Solus Deus maculam peccati abstergit à debito mortis aeternae absolvit Lib. 4. dist 18. Obligationem culpae solus Dominus solet valet dissolvere Rich. de Clavib cap. 3. and Richardus who gives the Priests more than their due herein abridgeth not God of his but confesseth how God onely is wont and able to dissolve the obligation of sin that 's a reserved case in a point then confessed on all hands we will make no longer stay The Priest substituted by God Assertion 2. and in his name absolveth from sin 1. applicativè 2. and dispositivè first Priest absolves applicativè dispositivè by applying unto the Penitent the promises of the Gospel and assurance of pardon And how welcome the Messengers of peace are a distressed Conscience can best declare to whom these Dâ—ves after an inundation of sin and sorrow are ever accepted with olive branches in their mouthes Although Christ the good Samaritan putteth wine and oyle of pardon into our wounded hearts by the finger of the holy Ghost yet great comfort we receive in the further assurance thereof plighted by the Ministery of a godly Priest A discreet word is the physician of a languishing soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inquit ille ego etiam dixerim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod in corporis morbis usu evenit ut qui se sentit jam convalescere magnoperè praeterea audito peritorum Medicorum judicio confirmetur Bez. de Excom contr Erastum said he but I say of a soul in health which is seen usually in bodily diseases where a man sensible of his own recovery is much confiâ—med therein upon the hearing of the judgment of skilful Physicians Great was the consolation David felt upon those words of Nathan The Lord hath put away thy sin heâ—ce ariseth the first sense and apprehension of spiritual joy for remission of sin and the acceptation of a sinners person in the beloved are in God actiones immanentes nihil ponunt in subâ—ecto actions alwayes inherent in God without any touch in the penitent as Paul was a chosen vessel long before he was cleansed and knew not so much till Ananias gave him some light thereof but are then transient and sensible when the Minister brings news thereof to a sinner that repenteth God in Christ hath reconciled the world unto himself 1. Cor. 5.18 19 quantùm ad rei veritatem truly and really and he hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation Quoad veritatis evidentiam to evidence and make known the same by the due application thereof unto a contrite heart There cannot be a greater thing committed to the Priests charge and peoples comfort than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Ministery of Reconciliation From Christ we come whose Ambassadours we are and unto you sinners now in hostility with him and our instructions are to conclude a peace and reconcile you unto him Good God! how highly doth Paul magnifie his office for Christs sake saith he are we Ambassadours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecumen in 2 Cor. 5. pag. 639. for we have taken his business upon us in Christs stead therefore are we sent unto you as if the Father by us did exhort you who not only exhorted you by Christ but he being crucified doth by us still exhort as the Gâ—eek Scholia paraphrase upon the place thus do Priests forgive that is apply the gracious promises of the Gospel unto the penitent Quis potest peccata dimittere nisi solus Deus qui per eos quoque dimittit quibus dimittendi exhibuit potestatem Ambros lib. 5. Expos in Luc. for who saith Ambrose can forgive sins but God alone yet doth he forgive by them also to whom he hâ—th given power to forgive Quamvis Dâ—i proprium opus sit remittere peccata dicuntur etiam Apostoli remittere non simplaciter sed quia adbibent media per quae Deus remittâ—t peccata haec autem media sunt verhum Dâ—i Sacramenta Ferus in Joan. 20. And to this purpose Ferus Although it be Gods proper work to forgive sin yet the Apostles are said to remit also not simply but because they apply those means whereby God remitteth sins whâ—ch are his Word and Sacraments and this is the first manner after which Priests remit sins by way of application The second sense wherein the Minister of the Gospel absolveth from sin is dispositivè Remittit maculam peccati dispositivè in quantum suo Ministerio assistit virtus divina quae peccata remittit Sum Angel verb. Claves n. 5. as an instrument fitting and preparing by divine helps and means a sinners heart so as God in Christ Jesus may be merciful unto him and so the sin is cancelled by the Ministery of the Priest or rather by divine virtue assisting therein for we are not to imagine that these choice graces salvation and remission of sins are promiscuously thrown open unto all that indeed were to cast pearls before swine (a) Donare scit perdere nescit contrary to Otho Tacit. histor lib. 1. God knoweth how to give not how to cast away his jewels The Covenant of grace requiring some conditions to be performed on our part for we read of two exceptions 1. except ye repent 2. except ye believe Now unto both of these doth a Priest by the power of his Ministery render a sinner well disposed Luke 13.3 John 3.3 For the first Peters Sermon wrought so effectually upon the peoples hearts that they were pricked therewith and said unto him and the rest of the Apostles Acts 2.37 38. Men and brethren what shall we do Then Peter said unto them Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins Where there is 1. preaching 2. next compunction 3. then Repentance 4. afterwards Baptisme 5 and lastly remission of sins atchieved by Peters Ministery And for the second condition that faith
the Churches act The form of Priestly ordination Heresie of the Novatians denying in the Church power to reconcile Penitents Seed and bellows thereof austerity of those times Absolution in the Priest not absolutely efficacious but as relating to conditions in the Penitent the Priest not secured from failing in the act of absolution The erring key Priestly absolution declarative and demonstrative and in a moral sense energetical Judgments forinsecal are applied declarations of the Law to the fact Absolution a Ministerial act but powerful and judicial but not Soveraign nor despotical The spirit of judgment to discerne and determine how necessary for Priests in the act of absolution Fathers making Priests Judges of the Conscience The exercise of the keys 1. In the word of reconciliation 2. In prayer ancient formes of absolution expressed in a deprecative manner not indicative 3. In the Sacraments 4. In interdictions and relaxations of publick Censures Keys abused at Rome Dangerous to Soveraign Majesties and Republicks The superciliousness of Roman Priests in Usurping upon Divine right subjecting the power of forgiveness in God to their arbitrements Their preposterous way in absolving first and afterwards in enjoyning Penance The feigned virtue of absolution Ex opere operato destructive of piety and penitency Conditions requisite in the Penitent to be relieved by the keys and lawfull use of absolution 3. Persons Tibi dabo IN the next place it comes to be considered who the persons are to whom this Commission is directed the Trustees to whose charge this power is deposited Some throw it open too far extending it to all Christians which if so what need of special offices and functions in the Church He gave saith the Apostle some Apostles Ephes 4.11 some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers Now if all are Pastors and all Teachers then not some and if some are Apostles and some Prophets then not all Others shrink it up and confine it unto Peter or if to his Successors such as they appoint entailing it upon those that sit in the Chaire at Rome But if none but that Chaire be Apostolical Hoc modo Ecclesiae Apostolicae census suos deferunt sicut Smyrnaeorum ecclesia babens Polycarpum à Joanne conlocatum refert sicut Romanorum Clementem à Petro ordinatum edit Tert. advers haeres praescript cap. 32. Tertullian was mistaken in affirming the Chaire of Polycarpus at Smyrna to be Apostolical and instituted by John Christus Apostolis omnibus post resurrectionem suam parem potestatem tribuit Cypr. de unit eccles Universam significabat ecclesiam Aug. tr 124. in Joan. Ecclesia quae fundatur in Christo claves ab eo regni coelorum accepit in Petro i. e. potestatem ligandi solvendique peccata Id. as well as the choire of Clemens at Rome ordained by Peter and Cyprian in writing how Christ after his Resurrection bestowed the power upon all the Apostles and Saint Augustine that Peter at that time represented the whole Church and againe the Church founded upon Christ received the keys of the kingdome of heaven that is the power of binding and loosing by Peter And Theophylact All they have the power of remitting and binding that have obtained the sacred function of a Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. in Matth. 16. p. 94. Paris 1635. as well as Peter for albeit it was said unto Peter onely I will give to thee yet the keys were given to all the Apostles It is the Inheritance of the Church to whose use Peter was seised of these keys and the power executed by all that succeed in the function of Priesthood nor can Peter boast herein to have been anointed with any oyl above his fellows But withall as this oyl descended from Aarons beard to the skirts of his garment so it condescendeth no further for omni soli sacerdoti to all the Priests and to them onely is this authority conferred and confined To this purpose the Oracle of our Divines Bishop Andrews resolveth Serm. of Absolution the Apostles to be three wayes considerable 1. as Christians in general so it was said unto them Vigilate watch 2. or else as Preachers Ministers Priests so it was said Ite praedicate hoc facite Go and preach and Do this Mark 13. ul◠c. 3. or lastly as Apostles and so personally They were to be witnesses of his miracles and Resurrection Now the power of absolution was not peculiar to them as Apostles nor common as Christians but committed to them as Preachers Ministers Priests and consequently to those that in that function and office do succeed them yet not so committed unto them as if God could not work without them for Gratia Dei non alligatur mediis the grace of God is not bound but free can work without means of Word or Sacrament or Ministers either but ordinarily this is an Ecclesiastical act or course by him established the Ministery of reconciliation to Ecclesiastical persons And if God at any time vouchsafeth by Lay-men that are not such they are Ministri necessitatis non officii in case of necessity Ministers but by office not so Hitherto are Mentis aureae verba bracteata the grave resolves of that learned Prelate at the feet of this Gamaliel we sit and take these Dictates 1. The Apostles received power to absolve as Priests and Ministers of the Gospel and so those that succeed them in that calling 2. That God can and doth remit sins by himself immediately without any subordinate means at all 3. That this power conferred upon Ministers is an ordinary and Ecclesiastical act 4. And that Lay men taking unto themselves this power are Ministers in case of necessity onely and not usual nor called to that office Hereupon saith Ambrose This right is onely permitted unto the Priests Jus hoc solis permissum est Sacerdotibus rectè igitur ecclesia vendicat quae veros Sacerdotes habet Ambr. de Poen l. 1. c. 3. therefore the Church may truly pretend thereunto that hath true Priests The Church then includeth Priests and Priests absolution The poor Christians in the Vandalick persecution were sensible hereof for when the Orthodox Clergis were exiled by the Arrians the People casting themselves at their feet Victor Uticens lib. 2. cried out To whom will you leave us wretches while you go forward to your Crown Who shall Christen these sucklings in the font of the everlasting water Who shall impart unto us the benefit of penance by reconciling and indulgence absolving us from the bands of our sins The Laity could not be in such distress if the grace of absolution had not been inherent in the person of the Priests and ready to go into banishment with them Furthermore the words of absolution cannot have the same power from the lips of a Lay-brother as from them whom God hath made able
infallible in pardoning the sentence of the Priest is then in force when grounded upon Gods word and treads the footsteps of the Judge eternal whatsoever sins ye remit that is after the form of the Church Quorum remiseritis peccata scilicet in forma Ecclesiae clave non errante remittuntur Bonav in Joan. 29. p. 20. Tom. 1. p. 417. Mogunt 1609. and not with an erring key are remitted saith their Serâ—phical Bâ—naventure and Lyra limits the confirmation to just proceedings on earth Hoc tamen intelligendum est quando judicium Ecclesiae divino judicio conformatur Lyra in Joan â—0 sins are remitted and retained in heaven when the judgment of the Church is conformable to Divine judgment Supposito hîc in terra debito usu clavis Deus illud approbat in coelis aliter non Idem in Matth. cap. 16. And again Vpon supposition of the true use of the keys God approves thereof in heaven otherwise not And these Caveats need not be entred if the Priest could not mistake herein And Richardâ—â— observing the words that they are not whatsoever thou hast a will to bind on earth Non dicit quodcunque volueris ligare sed quodcunque ligaveris Ligat itaque absolvit sacerdotis sententia justa neutrum verò Sacerdotis sententia injusta Rich. de Clavibus cap. 11. but whatsoever thou shalt bind deduceth from thence that it lies not in the Priests pleasure to bind whom he thinks good but as he finds just cause and concludeth A just sentence from the Priest bindeth and looseth whereas the unjust sentence of the Priest is a meer nullity The Schoolmen are seconded by the Canonists As the Minister or instrument hath no efficacy in operation but as moved by the principal Agent Sicut Minister instrumentum non habet efficaciam in agendo nisi secundum quod moventur à Principali Agente sic Sacerdos cùm operatur per istas claves instrumentaliter si utitur istis clavibus secundum proprium arbitrium dimittens rectitudinem divinae monitionis peccat Sum. Angel verb. Claves nu 4. So the Priest who worketh by those keyes instrumentally If he use these keys after his own appetite and shall omit the just monition of God sinneth saith one of that rank and another much to that purpose It is not lawful for the Priest to use the keys as he please Sacerdoti non licet his clavibus uti pro libito suae voluntatis quia cùm operetur ut instrumentum Dei divinam motionem sequi debet aliter peccat Barthol Armill aur verb. Claves n. 6. for seeing he worketh as an instrument of God he ought to follow the divine motion else he is out Now what need these Cautions and restrictions that the Priest must be directed by divine monitions if this instrument were infallibly moved by the virtue of the first agent and that advise to follow the divine motion if the keys in his hand were ever and undoubtedly swayed to the right wards These prescriptions are jealous of some eccentricities in the motion of these inferiour orbs and of some tamperings in these lower keys This unanimous consent of School-men and Canonists in this point whether it proceed from the beams of Divine truth or for that they would not throw open the Popes prerogative in Common whom they hold onely to be infallible I cannot say But it may safely be concluded Absolution to be then onely in force when matters are carried with right judgment and no errour committed in the use of the keys 3. Absolution declarative The third property that Absolution from the Priest is declaratory that is not absolving so much as pronouncing a Penitent from God to be absolved As the two Apostles having healed the lame man and the people filled with wonder and amazement had recourse unto them to do them honour they professed that it was not their power and holiness that had made that man whole but that the name of Christ Acts 2.10 12 16. through faith in his name had made that man strong as very shie and fearful of Sacriledge in concealing the theft of Divine honours which the peoples opinion had stollen for them So it is not the holiness or power of the Priest and Minister that remitteth sin but God in the Name and Faith of Christ Jesus The Priest is an Herald making intimation thereof his absolution is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his own right pardoning but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 demonstrative onely as a special officer of the King of mercy And as Gemini an old Astronomer delivered of the constellations in heaven that they are not the causes of rain winds tempests c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Genimi Isag Astron p. 36. apud Petavii ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But because observation found such accidents usually coming to pass upon the Cosmical and Acronical rising and setting of such asterismes such effects were ascribed unto them whereas they were not causes thereof but indications giving notice that the times and seasons were now come when such effects come to pass That which the Priest doth is to dispose the Penitent and by the word upon probable signs of sorrow to absolve him which absolution is not a proper act of forgiveness of sin no more then he that brings the Princes pardon can be said to pardon the Delinquent nor hath it any direct necessary or Physical influence in forgiveness of sin but he is onely causa moralis seu concilians whereupon God is said to pardon the Penitent when he seeth him humbled And as a Messenger of the Princes pardon is a mean whereby the prisoner is actually discharged and causa sine qua non a cause without whose message by him deliverâ—d the offender had been still a captive and perhaps executed So oftentimes the Minister is a cause though not of pardoning yet of freeing the sinner and though not of remission yet of the sense and feeling thereof by applying the mercy of God without which the poor sinner might peradventure have been swallowed up of grief Although then the Priests absolution be declarative yet it is not so jejune and leaden as many therefore imagine the same to be for what else are all Juridical sentences determinations and judgments in all kind of laws but the application of a point in law to a matter in fact and a declaration what the thing questioned then is in law and what justice either assertive or vindictivs belongeth thereunto Now because the Judge is nothing else but the speaking law and his judgment an applied declaration thereof shall his sentence be therefore infirm because he judgeth according to law or shall the Priests absolution be the less respected because it is grounded upon Gods word denounced in his Lords name and applied by his special direction The place wherein they serve is a Stewards place and the Apostle telleth them 1 Cor. 4.2 that it is
required in stewards that they be faithful They may not therefore behave themselves like the unjust Steward Luke 17.7 8. presuming to strike out their Masters debt and put less in the place without his direction and contrary to his liking Ambassadors they are for Christ 2 Cor. 5.20 and must be careful to follow their Masters instructions and not to intrench upon soveraign points as to imagine the power of proclaiming war or concluding peace lay at their devotion this indeed were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to exceed their Commission and upon the matter to subject themselves to the danger of the law and their proceedings to be vacated and made of none effect The Master of the Sentences resolveth this power to consist not in binding or in loosing Sacerdotibus tantùâ—tribuit potestatem solvendi ligandi i. e. ostendendi homines ligatos vel solutos In Levitico se ostendere Sacerdotibus jubentur Leprosi quos illi non faciunt leprosos vel mandes sed discernunt qui mundi vel immundi sunt hi ergo peccata remittunt vel retinent dum dimissa à Deo vel retenta indicant ostendunt Lomb. l. 4. dist 18. Sect. non autem but in shewing forth onely who are bound and who are loosed and produceth the authority of Saint Hierome to maintain his resolution that as in the Levitical law the Lepers were commanded to present themselves unto the Priests whom they made neither clean nor unclean but discerned who were so and concludeth that Evangelical Priests remit and retain sins when they discover and shew forth what sins by God are retained or reâ—itted Lombard is followed by Oceam The Priests hind or loose in shewing men to be bound or loosed Sacerdotes ligant solvunt quia ostendunt homines ligatos solutos Occ. l. 4. Q. 8 9. And they both by Ferus Not that any man properly remitteth sin but that he sheweth and ceâ—tifieth from God that it is remitted Non quòd homo propriè remittat peccatum sed quòd ostendat certificet à Deo remissum neque enim aliud est absolutio quam ab homine accipis quà m si dicat En fili certifico te tibi remissa esse peccata annuntio tibi te habere propitium Dâ—um quaecunque Christus in baptismo Evangelio promisit tibi nunc per me aununciat promittit Ferus in Matth. 9. edit Mogunt 1559. for the absolution thou receivest from man is nothing else then as if he should say Behold my son I certifie unto thee thâ— siâ—s to be forgiven I declare unto thee that thou hast a merciful God and look whatsoever Christ in baptisme or in the Gospel hath promised unto us he now by me declareth and promiseth unto thee And with this pregnant testimony we conclude this property Whether Ministerial and Judicial The last property to be inquired If the act of this absolution be Ministerial or Judicial and my answer is both ministerial and judicial per partes to be demonstrated For the first It cannot be otherwise no effect exceeding the virtue of its cause and no property transcending the nature of its subject If therefore our calling be ministerial so is every office and act thereof And let none of that order distaste the name for Jesus Christ was a minister of Circumcision Rom. 13.8 and the Apostle styles himself a Minister of the Gospel Colos 1.23 1 Tim. 4.6 and Timothy a consecrated Bishop a good Minister of Jesus Christ Away then with all contemptuous thoughts 2 Cor. 3.6 Heb. 1.7 for God hath made his Ministers a flame of fire able Ministers and of the Spirit Ministers of the Spirit and graces thereof amongst whom remission of sin is not the meanest and not Lords Therefore before they were habilitated for remission of sins our Lord is said to breathe upon them and say Receive the Holy Ghost for this is not the gift of man saith Ambrose neither is he given by man Non humanum hoc opus neque ab homine datur sed invocatus à Sacerdote à Deo traditur in quo Dei munus Ministerium Sacerdotis est Paulus Atestolus in tantum se huic officio imparem credidâ—t ut à Deo nos spiritis optaret impleri Quis tantus est qui hujus traditionem muneris sibi audeat arrogare itaque Apostolus votum precatione detulit non â—us authoritate aliqua vendicavit impetrare optavit non imperare praesumpsit Ambr. l. 1. de Spiâ—itu S. cap. 7. but being called upon by the Priest is given by God wherein the gift of God is the Ministery of the Priest Paul the Apostle held himself so far unmeet for this office that he rather prayed we should be filled with the Spirit of God what man hath so highly conceited of himself as to arrogate the collation of this gift The Apostle therefore made his request by prayer and challenged no right by authority choosing rather to intreat and not presuming to command Ministers then we are and suppliants on the peoples behalf that they may receive power from above and not Lords or commanders of the Spirit of Grace The same Father also informeth us saying Behold how sins are forgiven by the Holy Ghost Ecce quia per Spiritum peccata donantur homines autem in remissione peccatorum ministerium suum exhibent non jus alicujus potestat is exercent neque enim in suo sed in Patris Filii Spiritûs Sancti nomine peccata dimittuntur isti rogant Divinitas donat humanum enim obsequium sed munificentia supernae est potestatis Ambr. l. 3. de Spirit S. cap. 19. but men exhibit their Ministery in the remission exercising no right or faculty of any power for sinnes are not forgiven in their name but in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost They intreat but the Deity bestoweth the obsequiousness is from man the bounty from an higher power and thus much for the Ministerial part Whether judicial For the second I have cast my self into divers cogitations why this office of absolution should be denied to be a judicial act Is it because declarative The like exception lieth against all civil judgments Judicium est definitio cjus quod est justum which are declarations what Law is in particular cases or is it because the Priest may erre in his declaratory sentence and that laies hold of a Civil Judge likewise who hath lawful authority to judge right yet no assured infall bility that his judgments shall alwayes be right Is it because Ministerial Then exclude all Judges from the Bench that sit there by virtue of an higher power we determine then that Ministerial power in the Priest is opposed to Soveraigne and Despotical but not judicial because the power in an inferiour Judge is Ministerial in respect of the Authority and
Sacrifices and the exta that were presented at the Altar and upon that inspection made their predictions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens Alexandrinus flyles them or else shepherds inquiring into the diseases of their flock in particular intimating thereby that the Priests under the Gospel did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a previous examination view the bowels cōscience of those that approched to the Table of the Lord. And our Church instructeth that if upon this examination where God and the party about to receive are onely present the Conscience remaineth unquiet but further comfort and counsel is required then let him make the Minister of his privy counsel also his presence may do thee good it cannot hurt thee In my opinion then in case where the conscience wrings and that there may be great reason to fear the Judge may be prejudicate and bribed with self-love in his own cause the approbation of the Priest is alwayes convenient and sometimes necessary as the Communicant finds himself in case and thus much briefly for the time of Confession CHAP. XI The Contents All convenient secrecy apprimely requisite in the Confessary Suspicion of discovery a great enemy to Confession Sins already committed with expressions of grief to be concealed The Schoolmen bringing sins de futuro to be committed within the compass of the seal The damnable doctrine of the Jesuites that Treasons and Conspiracies yet Plotting against Church or State and confessed to the Priest ought to be shut up in privacy The odious consectaries and inconveniences thereof Examples of sundry Confessors revealing treasons detected in confession The preservation of Prince Church or State to be preferred before the secrecy of the seal Sins opened in Confession the concealment whereof complieth not with the Priests fidelity to his Prince and Countrey to be discovered Marriage in the Clergy no prejudice to the lawful secrecy of the seal especially if the penalty of the old Canons against the violaters thereof should be revived THat which comes next under our consideration is a necessary adjunct and condition wherein the discretion of the Priest is much desired that is that he be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that can lay his hand upon his mouth seal up in all convenient secrecy the sins that are mustred up in Confession that they may never once see the light but lie buried in eternal silence And truly this condition must be observed else few will come to confession upon the least hint of publication No man in his right senses will lie naked in his Tent and expose himself to the scornes of a scoffing Canaan therefore the Priest may shut his ears except his lips be closed for few men would have their doings brought upon the stage And if a course may be thought on to preserve mens reputation and yet this part of the Priestly function may be executed I see no reason but the same may and ought to be preserved In the reprehension of one Brother that hath trespassed upon another Christ enjoyneth in the first place private monition of his fault between them two alone Matth. 18.15 and so thou hast gained thy brother and he hath not forfeited his reputation Christs will was sinners to be reproved in private saith Theophylact lest being openly rebuked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. in Mat. 18. they may grow past shame The reprehension then must be privately carried to preserve the offenders credit Open reproof for the most part begetting either despair or impudence If such care must be had upon the redargution of a sinner then greater must be the respect of his good name when he comes in as a voluntier upon his own confession accusing himself upon hope of pardon And 't is very fit where God covereth the sinnes in mercy the Priest should cover them in secrecy for besides the prescript and light of nature which willeth us to do as we would be done by Celare peccatum de lege naturae eleganter probat Scotus quatuor rationibus 1. ex ratione charitatis 2. ex ratione fidelitatis 3. ex ratione veritatis veracitatis 4. ex ratione unitatis mutuae utilitatis Biel l. 4. dist 21. Qu. Unica and we would be loth any secret of ours should be divulged whereby our credit might be questioned and good name which to all men is a precious odour should be defamed Besides we repute the Betrayers and publishers of secrets no better than betrayers of trust and faithless persons and not so onely but false in their promise and word whereby they ingaged themselves to privacy Now if these reasons have force for keeping secret a matter of importance which as a secret hath been commended unto us and we passed our words for the Concealment thereof All these conditions should swear the Priest to convenient privacy For the Penitent comes to him of his own accord acquainteth him with the state of his soul turnes the inside of his conscience outward and resorteth to him as Gods Deputy for comfort for absolution and the Priest herein should resemble God whom he represents amongst the miracles of whose mercy Saint Chrysostome placeth the concealment of sin confessed unto him and the not upbraiding of a sinner for the same as well as the forgiveness it self his words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 6. pag. 608. lin 10. This is not onely wonderful that God forgiveth sins but that he doth not reveal them nor lay them open or make them manifest And how reserved Saint Ambrose was herein appeareth in his Life written by Paulinus who reporteth thus of him the causes of sins which the penitents confessed Causas Criminum quas Poenitentes confitebantur nulli nisi Domino soli apud quem intercedebat loquebatur Paulin. in vit Ambr. he spake of to none but unto the Lord to whom he interceded for them He is unworthy sure of the Ministery of the keys so to wrong that grieved party as to be unto him a further occasion of sorrow he came to find grace in God◠eyes and not to lose his reputation in the sight of men and to make use of the Ministerial key to unloose the bonds of sin and not to unlock the secrets of his heart in the open view Let that Priest be branded for a Doeg a Judas and what not that shall not keep this trust that is committed unto him that through his folly breaks off that spiritual commerce betwixt himself the Pastor and the sheep of his pasture in the case of sin absolution direction and consolation for take away the opinion of trust and secrecy and confession will grow weak and languishing The Priest then is conjur'd to secrecy but whether in all cases and sins as may be brought before him is a great Question The Canonists restrain and confine this secrecy to such sins onely as are detected in foro poenitentiali that is to such sins as have already
past and for which signes of sorrow appear in the Penitent never extending the same to future sins for to cry Peccavi I have sinned may be the voice of a Penitent but Peccabo I will sin never now where there is a resolution to sin there with safety can lie no absolution Then if such sins are to be lock'd under secrecy which are confessed in ord ne ad claves with relation to absolution and remission It will follow that peccata committenda sins purposed to be committed and in fieri to be done not in fa â—o done already although spoken of in confession are not so necessary to be concealed Panormitan puts the case A certain man confessed unto the Priest Quidam fuit confessus Sacerdoti quòd intend bat interficere Sempronium vel aliud malesicium committere quòd non poterat abstinere Nunquid Sacerdos peccet revelando Innocentius instat concludâ—t quod hoc peccatum non dicitur detectum in poenitentia tum quia peccatum est committendum non commissum tum quia non habet contritionem Undè Sacerdos dâ—bet quantùm cautiùs potest revelare ut peccatum impediatur â—ene hoc semper menti quod peccatum commissum non committendum dicitur detegâ— in Poenitentia Panorm supra 5. de poenit remiss c. Omnis utriusq n. 24. that he had a mind to kill Sempronius or to do some other mischief and that be could not hold his hand The Question is whether the Priest offendeth in revealing the same oâ— no Innocentius instanceth and at length coâ—cludeth that this sin cannot be said to be detected in a repentant way as well because the sin confessed remaineth to be committed and is not committed already as also because the sinner had no contrition wherefore the Priest ought as warily as he may to reveal the samâ— that the sin may be prevented for keep this alwayes in mind that sin committed and not to be committed is commanded to be concealed in Penance And Frier Angelo when any one confisseth that he will do a mischief Quando quis confitetur se velle faccre aliquod malum quia istud non est dictum in poenitentiali foro ut ideò propter rationem istius Sacramenti non tenetur celare sed quando vergeret in periculum communitatis vel alterius tum si nullo modo cessaret talis quin illud faciat credo sine praejudicio quòd non solùm potest immo tenetur revelare ei quâ— potest prodesse non obesse ut mâ—lo obviâ—tur Sum. Angel v. Confe ult nu 7. because the same is not opened in the consistory of Repentance wherefore the Priest is not tied by virtue of that Sacrament to conceal the same but when it shall verge and incline to the prejudice and danger either of the whole Commonalty or of any man in particular then if the sinner cannot be taken off but that be will needs do it I am of opinion without prejudice to any that the Priest not onely may but is tied to â—eveal the same to such an one as will further and not hinder the prevention of further mischief This Canonist maketh the purposed evil to be of two sorts 1. either when the damage may light upon the sinners own head alone 2. or which may redound to the prejudice and hurt of others the former the Priest may reveal if he please but the later he is bound to discover for the crossing and averting thereof And the first School-man our Countrey man Alexander of Hales thus A man may confess a sin not present Potest quis confiteri peccatum non tamen ut praesens sed potius ut est â—n proposito de futuro ut cum dicit se velle fornicari nolle desistere dico ergo quòd non tenetur celare simpliciter nec si Sacerdos talâ—m confessionem revelaret posset condemnari tanquam violator sigilli confessionis tamen quia hoc species esset mali infamia sequeretur propter hoc credo et si non tenetur de jure talem confessionem occultare debet tamen celare ratione publicae honestatis nisi inconveniens aliquod grave sequeretur tunc enim credo quòd non esset talis confessio penitùs tacenda nec tamen publicè revelanda propter periculum infamiae sed cautè secretò alicui qui possit vellet prodesse innotescenda Alex. Halens part 4. Qu. 28. nu 2. art 2. in Resp but yet to come and in purpose as that he will commit fornication and not forbear I say therefore that the Priest is not bound simply to conceal it nor may he for any such detection be justly condâ—mned as a violater of the seal of Confession Yet because it may seem to have an outward shew of evil and infamy may follow thereupon for that cause I am thus minded that although by law he is not tied to hide such a confession yet he should do well to conceal it for publick honesties sake except some grievous inconvenience may like to ensue upon the same then I believe that such a Confession ought not altogether to be silenced nor yet openly to be published for dread of infamy but cautelously and secretly to such an one that can make good use of the discovery wherein he would seem to be more circumspect and cautelous in the manner of the detection than those Canonists whereas the following School-men Scotus and Biel are so strict upon the matter that purposed sins and not committed come under the seal of secrecy also Non solùm peccata commissa sed etiam committenda in confessione detecta sunt tanquam secreta celanda Biel l. 4. d. 21. Qu. 1. Conclus 3. And again it is not lawful for a Priest in any case come what will come to reveal confession whether the party confessing be Penitent or not In nullo casu licet Sacerdoti revelare confessionem sive confitens poeniteat sive non sive confiteatur peccata jam opere perpetrata sive perpetranda sive sit peccatum in moribus sive in fide Biel sup resp ad dub 2. whether he confess sins already committed or which he hath a mind and resolution to commit whether it be a sin in faith or in behaviour And the Modern Divines in the Roman Church are no way moderate herein but so Stoicall and stiff for the seal as let the sin be what it will whether past or to come it skils not whether the welfare of Church or State depend thereon 't is not material Heaven and Earth shall pass away rather than the seal of Confession shall be opened A Ghostly Father saith a late Sorbonist Car estant en le place de Dieu il n'a point de bouche pour reveler ce qu'il a entendu Os habent non loquentur Et le Sceau de la confession est si important religieux que pour rien du Monde il
remission of sins and were not perhaps so punctual for private particular confession whose belief that Prelate censured for erroneous By the same man are Ghostly Fathers under a great penalty conjured to secrecy and silence That if at any time or by any means or upon passion of hatred Nullus sacerdosirâ odio metu etiam mortis audeat detegere quovis modo alicujus conâ—â—ssionem signo motu vel verbo generaliter vel specialiter Et si super hoc convictus fuerit sine spereconciliationis non immeritò debet degradari Lin. l. 5. de poen remis c. Prohibemus or fear of death shall lay open by signs motions or words either generally or specially what hath been privately deposited in Confession and shall be convicted thereof he shall be degraded without hope of reconciliation Also another Constitution of the same mans doing for the reviving of Publick penance for notorious scandalous offences Ut peccata graviora vulgatissimo suo scandalo totam commoventia civitatem sint solenni poenitentiâ castiganda Lindw l. 5. de poen remis c. Praeterea complaining that by the neglect of the ancient Canons the same hath been long buried in oblivion whereby heynous sins have been the more frequented and the reynes and rigour of Christian discipline too much remitted And a * Lindw lib. 5. de poen remiss c. Licet fourth for the substitution of a grave and learned Penitentiary in every Deanry to take the Confessions of the Clergy residing within the same John Straiford Arch-Bishop of Canâ—urbury A. D. 1334. MCCCXXXIV made a Provisional Law that Priests should not be cited juridically and thereby forced either to detect such arcana as they received under the seal of Confession Et illis ex tunc Parochiani peccata renuunt confiteri Lind. l. 2. de Judiciis c. Exclusis infra or else offer violence to their consciences lest thereby Parishioners might refuse to come to confession It seems equivocations mental reservations and such juglings devised to cheat justice were not up nor thought on when this course was taken that Judges should forbear to examine them The last of these Metropolitans that made any law for Confession is Simon Sudbury who was preferred to that eminency An. Confessiones mulierum audiantur in propatulo quantum ad visum non quantum ad auditum Moneantur Laici in principio Quadragesimae â—ito post lapsum confiteri ne peccatum suo pondere ad aliud trahat Lind. l. 5. de poen remis c. confessiones mulicrum MCCCLXXV He ordained women to be shriven in an open place where they may be seen of all but not heard And to admonish the Laity to repair unto Confession every year about the beginning of Lent and whilest their sins are green in their memory lest the weight of one sin press them upon another He ordained likewise to confess and communicate three times a year viz. at the three solemn Feasts of Christmas Easter and Whitsontide And to prepare themselves with such abstinence as the Priest should prescribe Prius tamen se praeparent per aliquam abstinentiam de consilio sacerdotis faciendam vivens ab ingressu ecclefiae arceatur moriens christianâ careat sepulturâ Lind. l. 5. de poen remis c. Confessiones And all and every such Persons as should not come to confession and to the communion once a year at the least to be debarred from entring into the Church in his life time and after death his body not to be interred in Christian Burial By which constitutions we see how other times were appointed for Confession as well as Easter but then chiefly required for four causes and at those times is Confession required 1. Ratione sacramenti sc si vult celebrare vel communicare vel sacrum ordinem suscipere c. 2. Ratione periculi si est in periculo mortis 3. Ratione conscientiae ut si dictet sibi conscientia quod statim teneatur confiteri 4. Ratione dubii ut si nunc habeat confessoris copiam caeterùm per totum annum non habiturum Lindwood supra saith Lindwood 1. In respect of the Sacrament whensoever the same shall be celebrated and received so upon admission into holy Orders c. 2. In respect of the danger or dread of death 3. In respect of the Conscience if a mans heart shall tell him that he hath present need of Confession 4. If it be doubtful a Confessor cannot be had within a year to take him while we may Some of these Canonical reasons we have before examined and censured These were Ecclesiastical Constitutions made by several Church-men in their times A. D. 1533. A book of Religion entituled Articles devised by the Kings highness set forth an Reg. Henrici 8.28 But when Henry VIII had wrested the Supremacy of Spiritual causes from forraign Usurpation and annexed it to the Crown then for essayes of that new authority was substituted a Vicegerent for the Clergie Articles of Religion set forth and said to be devised by his Highness which caused the commotion of the * April 28. an R R. Hen. 8.31 Hall Chron. p. 228. Lincoln-shire men And in a Parliament held at Westminster was established (a) Hall fol. 224. the act of the six articles which was named the bloudy statute and the whip of six strings which drew so much bloud upon poor Christians and whereof Auricular Confession was one of the strings The procurer of that Draconical law together with the occasion thereof is particularly described by our Ecclesiastical Annalist Mr John Fox whoever was the chief doer therein Ecclesiastical persons were the chief sufferers The King upon some distaste to his Clergy was willing to sharpen the edge of the Law against them and his minde being known there wanted not abbetters to whet him thereunto So fearful is the condition of the Church if once removed from under the shadow of the Crown and wings of the Royal Seepter and would soon become a prey to the little foxes if the Kingly-Lion should not protect And as in that Princes dayes the truth began to take place in the hearts of many so that party which stood for the old Mumpsimus as well as the other that imbraced the new Sumpsimus Adeo ut uno codemque lâ—co tempore in Pontificios laqueo dilamationâ— in ProtestaÌ„tes vivicomburio saeâ—ir tur Cambd. Appar ad Elizabeth pag. 6 7. escaped not the penalty of his rigorous Statutes that it was no strange spectacle to behold at once a Protestant at the stake and a Papist at the Galhouse By that law Incontinency in Priests and Marriage were equally made felony and death in their persons either to use the sin or the remedy and the benefit of the Clergy otherwise a privilege was to them a snare and that offence capital in Church-men which then was scarce criminal in the Laity
A man that shall survey the Acts of Parliament under that Prince shall find that they were truly under him who melted the courage of both those Houses as wax making them capable of any impression Unde domi terribilis foras tyranaicus hiberetur Camb. ibid. and his Will a Law But of him and his memory enough as also of such Laws and Constitutions which have to my observation been enacted in this point of Confession and of what force they are at this present it were much to be wished the Reverend of that profession would determin Sundry Princes of England that used confession I will add hereunto such inctances as have obviously occurred unto me of those Princes that have worn the Diadem of this Kingdome and yet not abhorred from this exercise of Piety but have confessed their sins unto Spiritual Fathers and Pastors in hope of absolution I. King Edred reigned 10. years died A. D. 955. the first is King Edred who ended his reign and life in the year of the Worlds redemption DCCCCLV of whom Florentius Wigorniensis writeth thus The glorious King of England Edred fell sick in the tenth year of his reign and despairing of recovery sent away with all speed for holy Dunstan the Abbot Qui missa celeri legatione confessionum suarum Patrem Beatum Dunstanum scil Abbatem accersivit and Father of his confessions who in all haste resorted to the Court Vox desuper clarè sonuit Rex Edredus nunc in pace quiescit Florent Wigorn. ad ann 955. pag. 353 354. and having come half his journey a voice from heaven sounded cleer in his ears King Edred resteth now in peace At which voice the horse whereon he sate not able to bear the burden sunk under him to the ground without any harm unto him upon the back The Kings body was brought to Winchester II. William Conqueror Resumpto animo quae christiani sunt executus est in confessione viatico Malmsb. de Will. 1. pag. 63. col 2. Lon. and there by Abbot Dunstan decently interred By which it seemeth Dunstan was the Kings Ghostly Father though he came too late to take his Confession The second Prince is William the Conqueror whose sickness increasing at Roan and the Physicians upon inspection of his Urine had judged his death to be at hand upon the hearing whereof saith William of Malmesbury he filled the room with lamentation that death had prevented him long bethinking how to amend his life But pulling up his spirits he did the duty of a Christian in confessing and receiving the blessed Sacrament The third is Margaret the Queen of Scots III. Margaret Q. of Scots but extracted of the * Sister to Edgar Ethling Presbyteris ad se accersitis eisque peccata sua consessa oleo se perungi coelestique viatico muniri secit Rog. Hoved. Pars prior Annal pag. 266. Edit Lond. A. D. 1093. English bloud having heard the fatal news of the death of King Malcolme her husband and Prince Edward her son slain by the English as they were invading the Marches of Northumberland she took it so much to heart saith Roger Hovedon as suddenly she fell into a great infirmity and without delay having sent for her Priests she went into the Church and there made confession of her sins unto them caused herself to be anointed and to be housled by receiving the Sacrament beseeching the Lord with fervent and daily prayers that he would not permit her any longer to live in this sorrowful life and her prayer was heard for the third day after the slaughter of her husband being dissolved from the bonds of flesh as is believed to the joys of eternal salvation This sad accident fell out in the year of Grace MXCIII and the VI. year of William Rufus The next is William Rufus IV. William Rufus A. D. 1102. who came to an unfortunate end by the glance of an arrow whether aimed at him or no is uncertain or whether he stumbled upon the same but by the wound thereof he took his death as he was hunting in the New Forest called YTENE 2d day of August In Nova Forresta quae linguâ Anglorum Ytene nuncupatur à quodam Franco Waltero Tyrello sagittâ incautè directâ percussus vitâ— finivit 4. Non. Augusti fer 5. indict 8. Florent Vigorn Chron. p. 469 470. and in the XIII year of his Reign which sudden accident was the more lamentable as preventing his repentance and confession and other comforts his soul might have found if sickness had given him notice of his approching end The want whereof Eadmer a grave Historian thus lamenteth Vpon the second day of August he fetched his last breath Secunda dies Augusti vidit eum expirantem siquidem illa die mane pransus in sylvam venatum ivit ibique sagittâ in corde percussus impoenitens inconfessus è vestigio mortuus est omni homine mox derelictus Eadmer hâ—st Nov. l. 2. p. 54. for upon that day breaking his fast he came into the Forest to hunt and there was wounded with an arrow and forthwith died impenitent and unconfessed and was immediately abandoned of all men The want of Confession had not been worth the noting if the use thereof at the last close had not been generally received To him succeeded his Brother Henry I. a moderate and as those times afforded a learned Prince V. Henry I. Beauclerk who after he had swayed the Scepter full XXXV years and odd moneths then being in Normandy sickned of that disease whereof he died And perceiving his own weakness sent for Hugh whom he had constituted his first Abbot at Reading where he founded a goodly Abby and there lieth interred and after advanced him to the Metropolitical See at Roan which Arch-Bishop in an Epistle to Pope Innocent relateth the pious end of that Prince thus Prout ei dicebamus ipse ore proprio sua confitebatur peccata manu propria pectus suum percutiebat malam voluatatem dimittebat pro nostro officio tertio cum per triduum absolvimus Crucem Domini adoravit corpus sanguinem Domini devotè suscepit Elecmosynam suam disposuit ipsius piâ petitione oleo sancto eum inunximus sic in pace quievit Hugo Rothmag Epist ad Innocent 3. extat apud Malmesb. hist Novell l. 1. p. 100. col 2. London He being surprised with a grievous sickness dispatched a Post to us with all haste to come unto him we came and abode with him being full of pain for three dayes and as we advised him he confessed with his own mouth his sins and with his own hand beat his breast and put away his evâ—â—l mind Through Gods counsel and ours and other Bishops he promised to observe and amend his life and by reason of our office we thrice in three dayes space absolved him He reverenced the Lords Cross devoutly received the
off things superfluous as withall to impose necessary This later age hath not been so much a vintage as a pruning of the Churches vineyard And 't is not impossible for a quick and fruitful branch to be amputated and cut off amongst so many fruitless and unprofitable Matth. 13.9 Those Weeders had need to have great care that pull not up some hopefull blades amongst store of weeds There is not any I suppose that can throughly purge his floor and gather the wheat into his garnâ—r Matth 3.12 but he whose fan is in his hand and will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fiâ—e I honour the memory of the first Reformers of the Church as good men yet but men and not exempted from errour and verily believe that the great abuse and jugling under the sacred veil of the keys Confession and Absolution the merchandize and trading in Indulgences the lewd profaning of Ecclesiastical censures made them less zealous for the true use of Confession the keys and censures and so by a kind of connivency there waxed a general coldness in all the parts of the mystical body of Christ in the commendable and necessary exercise thereof The Ministers and Pastors of Christs flock could wish no sins for Confession no perplexity for the Conscience no wounds no diseases in the soul and that all the flock were so sound and whole that there needed no Physicians But they may wish the best and fear the worst and find too much work for Physicians if throughly imployed too many bonds and bars for their keys and too many infirmities for their power to work on Confession cannot be out of request so long as there are so strong temptations to assault and so weak a fort and poorly man'd to defend Let then thy soul be of more worth than thy body and to the healing of spiritual wounds lend a quicker ear for thy bodily health what wilt thou not undergo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Sir lib. 1. Ut valeat corpus serrum patiâ—ris ignes Arida nâ—c suicas oâ—a â—â—gâ—bis aquâ Ut valeas animo quicquam tolerare recuses At pars haec pretium corpore majus habet what not indure lancing burning purging vomiting and is a little shame in confession a small austerity in penance tedious to be undertaken for thy souls good thou settest not that price upon the better part of thy self which thou oughtest that refusest such receipts for the safety thereof For saith a Father he is nothing neer such a Benefactor which freeth the body from a disease 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 1. p. 258. as he that delivereth the soul from unrighteousness in regard the soul is far more precious than the body Let then the great benefit redounding to the soul by confession vanquish the shame and natural repugnancy Declare thou thy sins first that thou mayest be justified Esay 43.76 as the LXXII read it Justification follows upon that declaration not condemnation Whereupon Saint Chrysostome assignes the difference betwixt the consequent of confessing at the tribunal of God from terrestrial bars For at these external tribunals below after accusation and confession of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tom 5. p. 139. deaâ—h followeth but at the divine Tribunal upon confession where the sinner accuseth himself there goes a Crown And herein is a beam of Gods mercy in not extorting Confession as our Judges do to the prejudice of the accused but as a Physician to know our diseases for their better healing and his justice too after a sort herein shineth that the sinner in confessing might blush for sin whereof he was not ashamed in committing By this means doth the Shepherd of the flock come by notice of the several kinds of infirmities wherewith his sheep are troubled and can the better prescribe the remedies By this discovery of sin many disorders may be rectified at this consistory of Conscience which no Political Benches of justice can search into or redress hereby secret wrongs may be recompensed secret amends may be made secret injuries remitted and secret enemies reconciled The greatest gainer is the Penitent himself for besides the assoyling of his offences he hath purchased a Counsellor to advise him for the best how to avoid sin a Comforter to embalme his wounded conscience from Gods word sweeter than the honey or the honey comb and an Advocate to plead on his behalf to God with prayer and intercession By this high minds are abated and a sinner waxeth sensible of a higher power incensed by his sin By this unbridled offenders are kept in some awe and discipline By this Gods Priests are the more reverenced and his ordinance in their hands more powerful In a word amongst all the Tribes Judah that is Confession hath the Star Scepter and promised seed The Answer then returned by the Neophytes or new Christians in Japonia Percontanti mihi quosnam Religionis Christianae ritus quaeve instituta sibi maxâ—mè crederent prosutura Duo illa semper sc confessionem communionem sine controversia responderunt Epist Japon l. 1. p. 59.2 Dilinguae 1571. is very remarkable when Xaverius had often demanded of them what rites and exercises in the Christian Religion seemed unto them most profitable and availing constantly answered those two without all controversie the Communion and Confession ΚΟΛΟΦΩΠAd eos qui in libellum inciderint ἘΥΦΗΜΊΖΕΙΠFUll Nineteen courses hath that glorious Bridegrome of heaven made and in which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or space the other Luminary hath through many various revolutions returned to the same point in the Celestial girdle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lunae à Sole in Enneadecaeteride est 46′ 56″ cui in signifere respondit ¾ gr 16′ 56″ since this Treatise past the Authors last hand and eye having for ought he knew like the Antique subterraneous Obeliskes lyen buried or by the late more then Civil wars been driven into coverts in which process of time being grown out of knowledge and memory is by the hand of that immense providence sweetly disposing all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and poysing past and future events as two scales in a balance awaked and exposed to publick view but as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 15.8 an abortive issue or one born out of due time for serene and quiet were the seasons and Truth seemed to look down from heaven when these conceptions were formed giving hope also to this issue of entertainment But alas those Halcionia are fled and dayes of calamity have succeeded and the Cloud upon us when dispersed He onely knoweth in whose hands are times and seasons and we may sigh out these sad complaints in the Churches name Where is thy nursing Parent Reverend Paranymphâ— honourable Pillars vigilant Officers devoted members thy fenced discipline Cantic 6.4 all which made Thee terrible as an army with banners Is not