Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	distinction_n	mortal_a	venial_a	4,934	5	12.1153	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42386	A brief examination of the present Roman Catholick faith contained in Pope Pius his new creed, by the Scriptures, antient fathers and their own modern writers, in answer to a letter desiring satisfaction concerning the visibility of the protestant church and religion in all ages, especially before Luther's time.	Gardiner, Samuel, 1619 or 20-1686.	1689 (1689)	Wing G244; ESTC R29489	119,057	129

Cap 19. Passio Domini in qua tingimur Mystag 4. In Sacramentis non quid sint sed quid ostendant attenditur quoniam signa sunt rerum aliud existentia aliud significantia Aug. cont Max. l. 3. c. 22. Ne quis attendat in eis quod sunt c. de Doctr. Christ c. 7. Hom. 16. in Sacram. Euchar. Tom. 6. wherein neither we nor our Adversaries admit of any Transubstantiation Thus Tertullian in his Book of Baptism saith that thereby we are dyed in the passion or bloud of our Lord. In like manner Cyril of Hierusalem after he had instructed Christians not to look upon the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament as mere Bread and Wine whatever sense suggesteth but as the body and bloud of Christ affirmeth the same of the Water in Baptism that it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mere or bare Water and the same he saith of the Oil in Chrism though neither of them are substantially chang'd into the very bloud of Christ Many more instances might be added but these may suffice I will onely take notice of a Similitude used by St. Chrysostom in which Bellarmin triumphs 'T is this As saith he Wax set on fire loseth its substance being turn'd into fire so by consecration the substance of the bread is chang'd into the flesh of Christ To which and the like expressions quoted out of the Fathers In Epiphanium pag. 244. pag. 288. I shall answer in the words of Petavius the Jesuit There are many things saith he in the Holy Fathers especially in Chrysostom scatter'd here and there in their Homilies which if you would reduce to the rule of exact Truth they will seem altogether void of good sense Sixtus Senensis lib. 6. Biblioth Annotat 152. Another of their own Church ingenuously aknowledgeth that Preachers such as the Fathers were in their Homilies and popular Discourses often speak things by an Hyperbole being carried away affectuum impetu orationis cursu with the heat of their affections which often saith he befell Chrysostom Yea Rhetoricati sumus ali quid declamationibus dedimus Saint Hierom confesses of himself We have play'd the Rhetoricians in a Declamatory way To close this Similitudes are the weakest kind of Arguments Neither may our Adversaries in prudence urge this similitude of fired Wax too vehemently against us If so they must necessarily grant that not onely the substance of the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament ceaseth to be but the very outward accidents also For when Wax is fired not onely the substance but the very accidents are disserent from what they were before And so much at present for Transubstantiation I pass to the next Article Purgatory 3. Art. Concerning Purgatory The Antient Fathers for five hundred years after Christ did not hold the Romish Doctrine of Purgatory as an Article of Faith yea some of them expresly contradict it I will begin with the Greek Fathers Clemens Romanus and Ignatius in their genuine Writings take no notice at all of it Justin Martyr denies it We believe saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ☜ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every man after his departure hence goeth according to his works either into everlasting punishment or life And immediately addeth Men would avoid sin if they consider'd that they must go without Repentance into eternal punishment by fire But of enduring temporal punishment for sin by fire not a word is to be found in all his Writings Quest 75. Amongst the Questions and Answers which are printed with his Works it is thus resolved After the departure of Souls out of their Bodies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 presently they are by Angels carried to places fit for them the Souls of the just to Paradise of the unjust to Hell in which places they are kept until the Resurrection Here no notice is taken of Purgatory or any middle or third place out of which Souls may be deliver'd by Prayers Masses Indulgences c. It 's true this Writer is much younger than Justin Martyr but it maketh the more against our Adversaries for it sheweth that long after his death this Article of Roman Faith was not Catholick or universally received In Irenaeus as Erasmus also hath observ'd who was very well seen in his Writings there is no mention of Purgatory but in the close of his last Book there is somewhat contradicting it for without any distinction of Persons or sins mortal or venial he declares his opinion that the Souls of all Christ's Disciples go to one invisible place Origen Hom. 18. in Jeremiam pag. 163. edit Huet Dum hic sumus remedium non postea Vita Constant lib. 4.63 hades there remaining till the Resurrection as Tertullian Origen Lactanctius Ambrose and other of the Fathers held which is inconsistent with Purgatory as invocation of dead Saints also and contradicted by the Romanists Eusebius Caesariensis hath written several Volumes in all which as Scultetus hath noted there is not the least mention of Purgatory It 's true he relates how the people pray'd for the Soul of Constantine But Constantine as he assures us in the next Chapter went not to Purgatory but was taken up to his God and joined his divine part his Soul to God yea a little before his death he himself as Eusebius reports used these words Now I know my self to be happy to be now accounted worthy of eternal life Prayer then for the dead doth not necessarily infer Purgatory De Praep. Evang. lib. 11. c. 20. lib. 13. I grant he reporteth Plato's opinion concerning purgation of a middle sort of men by temporal punishments after death But adds that Plato through ignorance of the Scripture erred in many things I pass to Athanasius in all whose Writings tho many and large I can find no mention of this Article of Faith Purgatory and am the more confirm'd it cannot be found in regard Bellarmin quotes nothing out of him or Eusebius against us Gregory Nazianzen in his Oration in Caesarium Oratio 10. delivers himself thus I am mov'd by the sayings of the Wise that every Soul that is belov'd of God as the Souls sent by Romanists to Purgatory are acknowledg'd to be presently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the loosing from the body and departure hence that which darkned the mind being either purged or cast from it or done away in what sort I cannot well express whence it's evident he believed not they were purged by fire as Romanists peremptorily affirm beginneth sensibly to discern that good which remaineth for it to be filled with wonderful delight and to leap for joy But this wonderful delight and joy cannot consist with Purgatory torments or the fear of them Nazianzen then was no Papist in this point On those words Orat. de Paschate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye shall carry out nothing until the morning c. He saith Beyond or after this night i. e. after death there

tormented in the fiery flames of Purgatory The same Father in another place hath these words Hom. 5. in Genesin He that in this present life shall not wash away his sins shall find no consolation hereafter this is the time of combating that of crowning I shall onely add what he writeth in his second Homily upon Lazarus quoted by Bellarmin When we are departed hence it is not in our power to repent or to wash away the sins we have committed V. Cyril Alexand in Joan. lib. 12. c. 36. Thus we have seen that the Greek Fathers in the first Ages of the Church were not of the present Roman Faith as to this new Article of Purgatory I might descend lower were it not needless for 't is confess'd by some of the Romish Writers V. Polyd. Virg. de invent rerum lib. 8. c. 1. Alph. de Castro c. 8. p. 572. particularly Roffensis the Pope's Martyr in Henry VIII his days That in the ancient Fathers especially the Greeks there is either none or very rare mention of Purgatory Neither saith he did the Latin Fathers all at once receive it neither does the Greek Church at this day believe it This Concession is true for the Greeks in their printed Confession offer'd to the Council of Basil Jeremy Patriarch of Constantinople Ann. 1438. in his Censure of the Lutheran Confession and Cyril Patriarch of that Church in his Confession of Faith sent by him to Cornelius Hage Ambassadour for the States of Holland at Constantinople An. 1630. deny any purgation of sins after death by fire in Purgatory which say the Greeks in their Apology was condemn'd by the fifth General Council altho it is not now to be found in the late Editions of the Councils From what hath been said I hope it is evident First That there neither is nor ever was any Catholick or universal consent of all Christian Churches as to this new Roman Article of Faith viz. Purgatory Secondly That Bellarmin the Jesuit doth but abuse the World in quoting the Greek Fathers as owning it For is it probable that the Romans should understand their meaning in their Writings better than themselves It 's true some of them as Origen Gregory Nyssen c. mention Purgation of Souls from sin by Fire but it makes nothing for the Popish doctrine of Purgatory For First Origen's Purgatory is universal which all Prophets Apostles Origen in Exod. Hom. 6. the blessed Virgin must pass through not some onely neither very good nor very bad but of a middle sort as Romanists hold Secondly The Purgation Saint Basil Gregory Nyssen and others speak of is not before the Resurrection V. Origen in lib. Regum p. 36. Contra Celsum lib. 5. p. 241. Cyrilli Catech. l. 15. pag. 168. Ego puto quod post resurrectionem ex mortuis indigeamus sacramento nos eluente purgante Origen Hom. 14. in Lucam but at the end of the World by the fire of Conflagration which shall purge as some think the whole Creation so that at last all men even Devils too shall be saved as Origen held who turn'd Hell into Purgatory Such Sentences of the Fathers will not at all be serviceable to our Adversaries purpose So much for the Greek come we now to the Latin Fathers I shall begin with Tertullian who in his Apologetick Cap. 47. mentions onely two places to which Souls go Hell and Paradise In his Book De Testimon Animae Cap. 4. He thus bespeaketh the Soul We affirm thee to remain after death and to expect the day of judgment Expectare diem Judicii proque merito aut cruciatui destinari aut refrigerio utroque sempiterno and according to your behaviour to be destinated to torment or comfort and both eternal As for temporary torments in the fire of Purgatory before the day of Judgment Tertullian takes no notice of them In his fifth Book against Marcion Cap. 6. commenting on that famous place 1 Cor. 3. he rightly understandeth the Gold Silver Hay Stubble not of sins venial or mortal but Doctrines worthy or unworthy of the foundation i. e. Christ or Christian Religion Strom 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with whom agrees Clemens of Alex. in his fourth Book Cap. 34. against Marcion as also De Anima Cap. 35.55 he saith The Souls of all good Christians are in Abraham 's bosom in refrigerio a place of refreshment until the Resurrection as many of the ancient Fathers thought when they shall receive plenitudinem mercedis the fulness of their reward Not as Papists now teach any of them in Purgatorian torments It is farther observable that he there distinguisheth that place from Hell or any part of it as Purgatory is supposed to be And discoursing on those words apply'd by Romanists to Purgatory Thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing He affirmeth that all Souls abide apud inferos till the Resurrection Which utterly overthrows the Roman Doctrine of Purgatory and renders all their Masses Indulgences c vain and unprofitable From the Master let us pass to his Scholar Saint Cyprian who in his Epistle to Demetrian saith that at the ending of this temporal life we are severed into the receptacles either of eternal death or immortality Ad aeternae mortis vel immortalitatis hospitia dividamur p. 166. And in his Book De bono mortalitatis he comforts the Christians generally in a time of raging Pestilence with these considerations That the servants of Christ when they die depart as Simeon desired in peace Enter into Paradise go to Christ begin to reign with Christ that when they are taken out of the storms of this World they gain the haven of Rest and eternal security Securitatis aeternae portum petimus Lastly That after death the righteous are call'd ad refrigerium to refreshment not torment in Purgatory fire whither some are sent by the Romanists and the unrighteous to punishment All which expressions are utterly inconsistent with this new Article of Faith as every man not blinded with prejudice may easily discern To the same purpose in his Epistle to Antonium he adviseth in contradiction to the bitter doctrine of Novatus that pardon and peace should be granted to Penitents in extremis at or a little before their death Because saith he apud inferos exomologesis fieri non posset in Hell or the state of death or in the grave as the word Inferi is sometimes taken there can be no satisfaction made by suffering penance or punishment for sin It 's true in the latter end of the same Epistle he saith It 's one thing to be presently admitted to the reward of Faith or heavenly Glory and another to be purged from sins by being long tormented in fire But this testimony is no good proof of the Roman Purgatory in regard he there speaketh expresly De die judicii of the day of Judgement after the Resurrection whereas our Adversaries

confess that their Purgatory Fire is of no use after the Resurrection and eternal Judgment The like saying he hath in his Epistle to Demetrian After we have gone out of this life nullus remanet satisfactionis locus There is no place for satisfying for our sins Here life is got or lost for ever Our Adversaries say after we are gone out of this World we may by suffering in Purgatory fully satisfie God for our sins compleat our Exomologesis or Penance obtaining thereby at last life eternal Surely Saint Cyprian was of another opinion Come we to Lactantius The Heathens saith he Instit lib. 6. c. 3. lib. 3. c. 19. Caeli inferorum speak of a Bivium two ways apud inferos relating to the dead which more truly say that these two ways are Heaven and Hell for to the righteous immortality to the wicked eternal death belongs Here Lactantius mentions two not three ways men go after death The next Latin Father is Saint Hilary who in his Comment on Matth. C. 27. overthroweth the main ground on which Purgatory is built for he saith expounding the Parable of the Virgins Alienis meritis ac operibus neminem adjuvandum c. that no man after this life can be helped or deliver'd by the good works or merits of others because every man must necessarily provide Oil for his own Lamp. The wise Virgins in Saint Hilary's judgment are they who embracing the opportunity or season of this life the time of repentance and reconciliation with God prepare themselves for Christ's coming The foolish are they who would be borrowing Oil of their Neighbours provide not in time for themselves but depend on the courtesie of others their Works Prayers Merits which will stand them in no stead when being out of their bodies they have neglected and lost the time of repentance If Hilary was in the right redemption of Souls out of Purgatory by other mens Prayers Merits Fastings by Indulgences Masses Pardons Scapularies and such foolish inventions are all vain and insignificant which will stand men in no stead yield them no help or relief The same Father elsewhere maketh only two sorts of men Fideles Impii In Psal p. 120. faithful and impious The former he saith going out of the body are placed in Abraham's bosom where they are kept free from evil viz. of punishment till after the resurrection so he thought they be admitted into Heaven the other are hindred like Dives by the interposing Gulf from going thither To the same purpose he discourseth in Psalm 2. I pass to Saint Ambrose who in his Book De Bono Mortis saith thus Cap. 2. He that receiveth not here remission of sins shall not be there i. e. in Heaven He speaketh indefinitely of all sins whether mortal or venial And again Cap. 12. When that day viz. of death cometh they go to their Redeemer to the very bosom of Abraham a place of rest not torment speaking of good Christians Certainly it is harsh to affirm that justify'd persons reconcil'd to God by Christ's bloud for as Hilary even now taught us this must be done here in this life or no where and consequently in a state of Grace and favour with him should in regard of some small venial sins or mortal as they are called not fully satisfy'd for in this life by Penance Fasting Alms c. be cast into fiery torments and to lie there many years none know how long unless helped out by the uncertain Prayers Merits c. of others particularly unless the alsufficient and abundantly satisfactory Merits of Christ be applyed to them by the Popes Indulgences I add next Saint Hierom In Amos cap. 9. who saith When the Soul freed from the bands of the body shall have liberty to fly whither it will or whither it is compell'd to go It shall either be carried to Hell of which it is written In Hell who will confess to thee or it shall be lifted up to Heaven It seemeth a third place viz. Purgatory Hierom knew not I will end with Saint Augustin who having mention'd Heaven and Hell Hypognost lib. 5. De Pecc mer. remiss c. 28. Epist 80. adds A third place we are altogether ignorant of neither do we find it in holy Scripture Elsewhere he saith There is no middle place to any that he should not be with the Devil who is not with Christ In his Epistle to Hesychius he writeth thus In what state the day of death findeth any one accordingly shall he be judged at the last day The like Sentence almost word for word we find in Justin Martyr In Dial. p. 107. who quoteth it as a saying of our Saviour In what things I find you so will I judge you In his Epistle to Macedonius he saith After this life there is no place to correct our manners or what hath been amiss How then can Repentance or temporal satisfaction for sins be perfected or supply'd after death I will add his words upon the 31. Psalm If God pardon sins he will cover them if he cover them he will not take notice of them if he will not take notice of them he will not punish them How is this reconcileable with Gods punishing the sins that he hath pardon'd in Purgatory It 's true We know God punisheth sometimes in this life such as he pardons for their future amendment and for example to others but what is this to punishing men after this life when there is no amendment possible as our Adversaries grant nor others to be thereby warned I acknowledge there are some places quoted by Bellarmin and others wherein St. Augustin seemeth to own Purgation of the Souls of some men from sin after this life as De Genesi lib. 2. contr Manich. Cap. 10. de Civit. Dei lib. 21. cap. 24. Altho Ludovicus Vives saith Comment in locum the place is not to be found in the antient Manuscripts nor in that printed at Friburge Hom. 16. inter 50. in Psalm 37. But in his Enchiridion his Book De fide operibus and Ad Dulcitium where he professedly handles this Point and expoundeth the principal place of Scripture now urged by Romanists for their Doctrine of Purgatory he speaketh very doubtfully and uncertainly First He acknowledgeth that 1 Cor. 3. is difficult and obscure one of those intimated by Saint Paul 2 Epist Cap. 3. ver 16. of the true meaning of which he was not certain But such an obscure place is as all will grant a very unfit ground to build an Article of Faith upon which to deny shall be Heresie and destructive of Salvation Secondly To Dulcitius quoting his own Books before-mention'd he interprets it expresly De igne doloris of the figurative and metaphorical Fire of grief according to Psalm 39. My heart was hot within me at last the fire kindled c. arising from the loss of temporal enjoyments as Estate Wealth c. too earnestly loved