Jesus Christ are a sufficient satisfaction The father that punisheth his children to take satisfaction putteth of his naturall affections correcteth them not for their amendment but to satisfie his owne content Now if this bee an Inhumane iustice in a father what shall wee thinke of our heavenly father who is bounty it selfe And who in his worde assureth vs that albeit the mother shoulde forsake the fruit of her wombe yet will hee never forsake vs Never shall wee serue God with a filial obedience vnlesse we bee fully perswaded of his fatherly loue toward vs. The Fryer alleadgeth yet two examples more Pag. 76. yet both false according to his custome The one in the 14. of Numbers where God having forgiven his people their sin doth neverthelesse depriue them from entring into the land of promise for by the 4. of the Apostle to the Hebrewes it appeareth that euen they that were excluded frō the land of promise were also shut out out of the caelestiall rest The pardon therefore that God graunted was only the grant of Moses petition who desired God that he would not vtterly root out the people of Israell But heare we are not in hand with any such kinde of pardō In an other place he produceth the example of Baptisme and saith in Baptisme God pardoneth Original sin but not the paines thereof as subiection to death the fire of concupiscence with other calamities Concerning the death of the faithfull we haue spoken before and proved that it is no calamity vnto them Pag. 100. The Counsell of Trent Ses 5. saith that Paul calleth cōcupiscence a sinne but it is no sinne neither any satisfaction to the Iustice of God And as for the fire of concupiscence the frier is mistaken in bringing that for an example of the punishment for sin which in it selfe is a sinne and in the law forbidden This maine thus overthrown which made the body and principal of our adversaries reasons let vs now thrust forward and yeelde the truth an absolute victorie 12 God commanding vs to pray that he would forgiue vs our trespasses as we forgiue them that trespasse against vs sheweth that wee are to attend from him forgiuenesse in like manner as hee willeth vs to forgiue our neighbours that is to say without revenging our selues or taking any satisfaction or amends in all or in part After therefore that hee hath forgiven vs all our offences as S. Paule witnesseth shall hee yet draw one payment out of so tedious burning a fire 13 Farther yet to vrge this matter presupposing that there is a purgatory I demand whether Iesus Christ doth in heaven intercede for the soules there tormented Rom. 8.27 and pray for their deliverance for S. Paul teacheth vs that Iesus Christ sitteth at the right hand of God making intercession for vs. Dare they say that he intercedeth no more for those souls and that in their behalfes he hath given over the office of a mediatour But if he pray for them no doubt but God heareth him Iohn 11.22 and so they come forth at his intercession to what ende then do now serue those offerings and suffrages of the liuing with the Popes Indulgences but to that which Iesus Christ hath already done 14 Againe sith the death of Iesus Christ is sufficient to redeeme vs even out of Purgatory why may it not serue to that vse Iesus Christ hauing paid all the paine and penaltie that we did owe will not God receaue this payment ransome for so much as it is worth God who saved vs when wee were his enemies envieth not our good neither abateth any part of the price of the death of his sonne neither will hee ever permit that Iesus Christ hauing paid enough wholly to satisfie his iustice and to exempt vs from Purgatory that in this case the benefit of his sonne should be shortned vnto vs. Also the Apostle to the Hebrewes cap. 7. v. 15. saith He is able perfectly to saue them that come to God by him seeing hee ever liveth to make intercession for them If hee then can perfectly saue vs why will hee not doe it and being able fully to acquit vs towards God shall his power to doe it be greater then his willingnesse Can he be content to see his brethren his members his spouse for one sinne tormented seaven yeares in a fire like to that of hell To such forcible reasons my adversaries doe answer very coldly or rather not at all For they answere themselues not my obiections They labour to shew how our satisfactions and the paines of their Purgatory may no way derogatfrō the merits of Iesus Christ but they answer nothing to my demand what the reason is that Iesus Christ hauing paid enough wholly to satisfie the Iustice of God to exempt vs from Purgatory they will not suffer that his benefite should stead vs so much Yet doe we shew them that they doe not only fly but also in flying doe blaspheame blemish the brightnesse and curtal the perfection of the merits and satisfaction of Iesus Christ Then say they that the merit of Iesus Christ is indeed sufficient but it must be applied vnto vs and that cannot be but by meanes then among other meanes they come in with our satisfactions and paines and the tormēts of Purgatory 1. Hereto wee say Rom. 10.17 1. Cor 10. Gal. 3.27 Ephes 3.17 that it belongeth to the word of God and not to them to prescribe vnto vs the means to enioy the benefit of Iesus Christ and the meanes that that doth set vs down is faith the word and the sacraments but but in no wise any roasting of souls of any fire after this life 2. Next let any man of vnderstanding bee iudge whether the meanes to enioy the benefit of Iesus Christ ought to bee contrary to the benefit it selfe The meanes of taking profit by physicke consisteth not in taking of poison The meanes to enioy the light of the sunne resteth not in shutting vp the windows of the house or the windowes of the body that is the eies Sith therefore that the benefit of Iesus Christ and his satisfaction is the soveraigne pledge of the mercy o◠God what likelihood is there that the meanes to enioy it can consist in the execution of the iustice of God An◠sith the satisfaction of Iesus Christ i◠our acquittance towards God what appearance is there that the meanes to attaine to it can rest in forcing vs to pay and tormenting vs in a fire some hundreds or thousands of yeares Wee are not to omit that the meanes to apprehend the grace offered vnto vs in Iesu◠Christ ought to be actiue and tending to the enioying thereof and not a passion or torment 4. That the meanes to apply to our selues or to apprehend a thing ought to be of another kind then the thing apprehended or applied as we cannot apply one medicine by another one plaister by another or the satisfaction
the fire of Helie p. 44. The lowest place is hell the habitation of the damned and the same is divided if wee beleeue our adversaries into two parts The one where the soules are tormented in fire the other where they are tormented in snowe Throughout alâ— the word of God can we not find that that ever any came out of this place Yet Pope Gregory the first in the first Booke of his Dialogues cap. 12. reporteth that S. Severus raised a dead bodie whome the Divels had carried away Also Damascen In 4 Dist 45 quest 2. and after him Thomas Durand and Richard doe tell vs that by the prayers of S. Gregory Traian an heathen Emperour was fetched out of hell Gabriel Biel in his 56. Lesson vpon the Cannon of the Masse holdeth the same opinion And Ciacconus hath written an Apologie expresly for this history Cayer and the Doctors that subscribed to his book do approue this historie The secoÌ„d place but his coÌ„panions do reiect it The second place is the Purgatory that serveth for such as are indeed righteous and do not sinne but in their life time haue committed some trespasses for which they haue not satisfied The same â—ope Gregory teacheth that so soone as â— man is deceased his soule is presented before the Iudge Lib. 4. c. 36. also that soÌ„time there happeneth abuse they bring before God one that was not called As saith he it chanced to one named Stephen who being deceased and his soule presented before God immediatly as God saw him hee said that was not the man that hee had called for but that it was â—n other Stephen a beater of Iron who therevpon died incontinentlie and the former Stephen revived againe and was sent backe because hee dyed before he was called These soules thus presented before the Iudge if they need any purging are instantly sent to this second place which they tearme Purgatory And this doctrine is grounded vpon this principle which is a third article of their faith and taken out of the vnwritten word Read the catechisme of the couÌ„cel of Trens in the châ—â— of pennaÌ„ce namely that Jesus Christ by his death and passion hath indeede dischardged vs from the fault and from the paines due to sinnes committed before baptisme but from the paine duâ—â— to sinnes committed after baptisme he hath not discharged vs. Therefore that such as haue not made full satisfaction in this life by fastings scourgings gifts to the Church c shal be sent to Purgatory there to finish their satisfaction and to pay as they say even to the last penny Herehence grewe that pennance which the Priest imposeth vpon the sinner which do farre differ from the pennance vsed in the primitiue Church which was publicke of long continuance and rigorous thereby to humble the sinner and to repaire the scandall to the Congregation but at this day in the Church of Rome they impose for the most part privat pennances and the same either very easie or ridiculous these doe they make vse of to prevent Purgatory and yet to pay and satisfy Gods iustice The formes of these pennances are to say a set number of Anees intermixed with Paters vpon a paire of beads to scourge their bodies or vpon tâ—e bare flesh to gird themselues with aâ—cord or to goe in pilgrimage to Saint â—â—mes in Galicia N. Giles an 768. c. Our Annals do informe vs of a pennance imposed by a â—ope vpon one Robert the Norman surnamed the Divell vpon sundry his â—ots committed that is that for the space of seven yeares hee should not â—â—eake and that he should all that time 〈◊〉 at a staier foote and take no other food but the relicks of such bones as a Grayhound should haue gnawn Was iâ— meet to abridge the benefit of Iesus Christ and to supply the places with such frivolous devises and in such couÌ„terfeit quoine to satisfie the iustice of God which Iesus Christ had before satisfied to the full The Frier pag 75. As concerning the torments that the soules doe there endure these our masters doe tell vs that all the fires and torments in this life are â—ut easie in regard of the heate of the â—te of Purgatorie and that the tormeÌ„t â—hereof equalleth that of the damned This doctrine was not yet receaued in the Church of Rome when to the CaÌ„noÌ„ of the Masse they added these words ensuing which the Priest must daily say for the soules in Purgatory Memento Domine Remember Lord thy servants whose soules doe rest in the sleepe of peace Hereby it appeareth that they then beleeved that the paine was easie or rather none at all and that the soules for whom they prayed did rest in peace as in a sleepe Hereto accordeth the saying of the aforenamed Gregory who advoweth that the soules of S. Severus S. Pascasius wrought miracles in the Bathes where they lay in Purgatory Lib. 7. Epist 61. For it is hard to worke any great miracles in such cruell torments This is the same Pope Gregory who doth in earnest confesse that the Apostles celebrating the Lords supper added vnto the consecration nothing but the Lords prayer and so consequently prayed not for any soules in Purgatory Againe the Church of Rome holdeth this torment to be of long continuance for every sinne they must abide there seaven years besides also that we pray for some that died many hundred yeares since And in this regard doth the Pope grant pardons some for fifty some for an hundred thousand yeares and the Frier may verie well remember that when I shewed him in the Masse booke a praier that contained foure fiftie thousand yeares of pardon thereto adioined he did not onlie advow it but tooke vpon him to defend these so â—iberal indulgences In the Church of S. Bibian at Rome vpon the day of all Saintes they haue sixe hundred thousand yeares of verie pardon for the space of one whole day In the booke of Romane Indulgences these sixe hundred thousand years are writteÌ„ at large The Pope that granted that pardon preâ—upposing that a soule may haue committed so many sinnes besids those for which the paines of Jesus Christ haue â—atisfied that hee must haue so manie â—eares of torment to purge all his sins â—nlesse the Masses and suffrages of the â—ving togither with the Popes indulgences doe procure him ease and abbreviation of his paines At Paris in the entering into a chappel of the friers Fevillans in the suburbs of S. Honorat hangeth to be seene a long bedrole of pardons wherein among other is contained that vpon everie daie of lent there are to bee purchased three thousande eight hundred sixtie seaven yeares and two hundred and seaven Quarentines of daies of verie pardon In the church of S. Eusebius at Rome they haue seaven thousand foure hundred fifty and foure Quarenteins of daies of verie pardon for such as shall bring thither any honest offering and as
confound it selfe But what need so many by waies when they might cut it cleane of franckly say that God doth not acquit vs freely As indeed the Frier in many places saith as much in his 99 page in these words God pardoneth the sinne howbeit for the satisfaction of his iustice he appointeth the chastisement The â—ing pardoneth a gentleman for some murâ—er committed yet coÌ„demneth him in great â—ines Sith then the pardon wherby the capitall paine is converted into pecuniâ—ry and so is no full pardon but a diminution of pain it manifestly appeareth that our adversaries doe hold that the pardon which God graunteth vs is no full or free pardon Hereto come their words That God doth freely remit the fault but not the pain the eternal pain but not the temporal for he that freely forgiveth his debtour the one part of his debt but not all cannot be said freely to giue or acquite the whole debt Neither can the pardon be said to be ful when there is a necessity imposed vpon the debtor to pay or suffer punishment for the sinne be it in the whole or in a part 11 Herein also appeareth the folly of their distinctioÌ„ between the fault and the paine The Frier saith Pag. 75. that the sin bringeth with it two things A faulâ— and a paine Had this good man beene perfect in his natural language the absurdity of his principle had been apparant for the word Culpa or fault in his language signifieth sinne witnesse the Priests words wheÌ„ in his Masse lie beateth his brest and saith Mea culpa it is my sin also Iacobs wordes to Laban for what sinne of mine Gen. 13.36 What fault haue I committed And the like throughout all the holy scripture Now let the reader iudgâ— whether the fryer had dined when hee writ or no when he saith that sin bringeth with it the fault that is to say sin The examination of the distinction between pain and fault Vpon this worthy distinction betweene the paine and the fault is Purgatory grounded and this pinne once pluckt out the whole frame falleth out of ioint They say then that God doth indeed acquit vs of all the fault but not of al the paine A saying not only vniust but even incompatible 1 The vniustnesse hereof is evideÌ„t for no man is iustly punished but for his fault and the fault taken away the offender is no longer guilty and being no longer guilty he cannot iustly bee punished These Doctors therefore do blemish dry vp the righteousnesse of God 2 The Incompatibility hereof is likewise manifest In that they say God doth forgiue vs all our offences yet punisheth them in a burning fire both to pardon and yet to punish one selfe offence are matters incompatible And when we forgiue our neighbour all his offences against vs we vse not to say I forgiue thee the fault yet wil I punish thee or I acquit thee of thy debt yet shalt thou pay me But as saith Tertullian in his fifth booke of baptisme Exemp to reatu eximitur poena 3 Againe sith our sinnes be debtes to the Iustice of God as Iesus Christ witnesseth where he teacheth vs to say Forgiue vs our debts of which debts the payment was paine satisfaction shal we not sin even against common sense if we affirme that God forgiveth al the debt but not all the payment Thus doâ— our Masters shadow vs forth Chimeraes and monsters in the aire 4 Let vs proceed How is it possible that by the death of Iesus Christ we should be purged quit and delivered from all our trespasses but not from the punishment due to our trespasses Considering that he did not otherwise beare our sins and offences but by bearing the paine due to them if he did beare the paine did he not beare it to the end to discharge vs from it Si tulit abstulit He hath borne our infirmities carryed our sorrowes saith Esay 53.4 To what end Even to discharge vs from them And this is it that S. Austin saith in his 37 sermon vpon the words of the Lord. Iesus Christ taking vpon him the punishment but not the sinne hath abolished both the sinne and the punishment 5 Throughout all this discourse this is to be noted that all our speech concerneth such paines as are paimeÌ„ts redemptions and satisfactions to the iustice of God for these our Doctours do tearme Purgatory a paymeÌ„t satisfaction to the Iustice of God These be the punishments which we say to be in compatible with a full pardon There is an other kinde of punishment which is tearmed castigatory and this is inflicted for amendment of the sinner and hath great affinity with the full pardon for God doth chastise his children even after he hath pardoned them Such chastisements are not payments and satisfactions to content the Iustice of God but fatherly corrections to bring the sinner to amendment They are not executions of his iustice but testimonies of his fatherly loue care not wouÌ„ds but salues and these can in no wise concurre with the tormenrs of Purgatory wherein it is said that the soules are already iust and can amend no more As therefore we vse to strike a man fallen into an Apoplexy not to get any satisfactioÌ„ at his hands but to awaken him so God smiteth his children when they sleep in their sinnes to make them feel their negligence He that otherwise interpreteth the afflictions that God sendeth and taketh them not for corrections health some to his soule but for satisfactions necessary to the iustice of God he maketh his afflictions bitter dippeth their edges in gall taking from them the spirituall consolations glory and ioy that supporteth the children of God in this combat Necessitie is a miserable consolation It hardneth the sore but healeth it not It raiseth the courage against the paine but asswageth it not For what mitigation is it to the afflicted to tell him that his sore is past cure and that of necessitie hee must satisfie the iustice of God Or how could S. Paule haue so boasted of his tribulations had hee beleeued they had beene payments which God did exact of him for his sinnes This doctrine being so healthfull so full of consolation and so evidently laid downe in the holy Scripture namely that God chastiseth vs for our amendment yet this frier Minor with a desperate presumptioÌ„ dareth avouch it to be a reason forged in our owne braine without the word of God without autoritie Pag. 78. and without reason Herevpon therefore let vs heare the word of God herein The Apostle to the Hebrews cap. 12. saith God chastneth vs for our profit to the end we may be partakers of his holinesse Againe Discipline bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousnesse to those that are exercised therein How often doth God say that he chastneth those whom he loveth Apoc. 3.19 Heb. 12.6 Iob 5.17 Prov. 3.11 David in the 119. Psalme confesseth that before he was
afflicted he went a stray but after his afflictions he kept the commandements of God And againe It is good for mee that I haue beene afflicted that I may learne thy Statuts 2. Chro. 33 Was not Manasses for his conversion endebted to his captivitie And are not we for Davids Psalmes endebted to Saul and Absalon For the building of the Church of God in our daies are not we endebted to the Martyrdome and torments that our fathers endured for the Gospell By the word of God and experience we finde other ends of our afflictions then satisfaction and redemption to the iustice of God Therefore saith Chrysostome in his Homely of confession pennance that God punisheth vs not for the sinnes past Non exigens supplicium de peccatis sed ad futura nos corrigens but correcteth vs for that that is to come Here doe our adversaries rouse themselues and seeke all meanes to vnderprop their so ruinous a cause and to perswade that to pardon a sinne yet to punish it with satisfactory paines to acquit a debt and yet to make the debter pay it are things compatible such as doe well agree This doth the Frier proue by a Theologicall reason Among all the workes of God saith he doe equally shine his mercy and his iustice a propositiō that beareth many exceptions Pag. 75. As in the punishment of Divels we find soveraign iustice without mercy And God doth often minister the one without the other as himself saith in the Epistle of S. Iames cap. 2. There shall be iudgement mercilesse to him that sheweth no mercy Only in the worke of redemption is this proposition true his mind is that in the Iustification of a sinner Gods mercy should be displaied in conferring vnto him the first grace and remission of eternall paines And to giue some way to his iustice he will haue it to take some satisfaction of the sinner by punishing him with temporall paines as well in this life as in Purgatory Wherein I beseech the Reader to consider the nature of the vntruth which consisteth in wrangling and iarring with his owne principles The frier said that among al the works of God his mercy his iustice did shine equally but here he maketh them altogether vnequall In that mercy revealeth her selfe in pardoning an infinite paine but iustice sheweth herselfe in making thē suffer temporall punishments which neverthelesse may be abridged and redeemed by some fasts and slight offerings made by the survivers for the dead Was it meete to seeke place for the iustice of God where wee might abase it so low and dishonor it in paying it in such base coine and clipped mony◠Even this might serue for an evident and most mightie testimony to the truth if wee proue that according to our beliefe gathered out of the word of God the Iustice of God and his mercy doe equally shine in the worke of our redemption are likewise infinit For God hath shewed himselfe infinitly iust in accepting at the hands of our pledge and redeemer Iesus Christ a sufficient price for all our offences also infinitly mercifull in allowing to vs this payment as made in our name His wisdome hath vnited things which otherwise seemed hardly to agree having found a meanes to punish all our sins and withall to forgiue them all by giving to vs his son the obiect of his iustice for an argument and matter of his mercy But to pardon a man all his sins and yet to make the same man to beare one part of the deserved punishment for satisfactiō for the same are matters contradictory The fire of Helie speaketh no better to the purpose Adam saith he had pardon for his sinne and yet both he and his posterity haue incurred many calamities 1. Hereto we do answere that to no ende hee here commeth in with the paines and sorrowes that are cōmon to all men sith that in this place wee deale only with punishments proper to the children of God 2. He deceiveth himselfe in thinking that the evils and paines for al men are punishments for the sinne of Adam For they are punishmēts because men do persist in the sin of Adam God never punisheth one man for another mans sin The child shall not beare the iniquity of his father saith Ezechiell 18.20 True it is that so manie Calamities had never befallen mākind had not Adam sinned but yet this stādeth ever firme That God never punisheth any before they haue throughly deserved it 3. He presupposeth that which is false and yet in question namely that the paines whereto the faithful be subiected by the sin of Adam be satisfactions payments and redemptions to the Iustice of God For of this kinde of paines do we now entreat because they make Purgatory to be of this nature We say then that al these evils labours diseases yea even death it selfe do alter their nature in the faithfull and of evils become medicines Of satisfactorie pains they are made healthsome exercises to the soule God by the wounds of the body healeth the woundes of the soule even in like manner as a triakle composed of venimous Ingrediences yet tempered by a skilfull Physition becommeth a very healthsome preservatiue The like do we say of the death of the faithfull It resembleth the passage over the red sea where Gods enemies are swallowed vp but his children doe finde way to the promised inheritance Farthermore if it be a punishment to satisfie the iustice of God wherfore do the faithful expect it with Ioie and in their desires even hasten the comming of it as did the Apostle S. Paule Phil. 1.13 Besides these reasons they alleadge many examples as of Mary Moses David who were punished after their offences were forgiven Namely David whose example they do vrge 2. Sam. 12. Where God having forgiven him his sinne said neverthelesse vnto him The sword shall not depart from thy house because thou hast despised me Againe Because thou hast given the Lordes enemies cause to blaspheme his name thy childe shall die There is not say they to the end thou shouldest not cause to blaspheme Likewise in the 7. of Micheas I will beare the wrath of the Lorde because I haue sinned against him wherein their iudgement fayleth them for they labour to proue that which we do grant Who denieth but that the sins of the faithfull are the efficient causes of the chastisementes that God layeth vpon them And that they fall vpon them because they haue sinned But our controversie dependeth not vpon the efficient cause but vpō the finall They say that it is to the end that Gods iustice may be satisfied by the punishment of the sinne we say that it is to the end A sinner may amend They will haue it That God punisheth as a iust iudge we that he punisheth vs as a loving father not to exercise his Iustice but correct our vnrighteousnesse for as for the satisfaction due to his Iustice the merits of
vides quotidie Meretricius nitor c intestina insanab est plaga Ecclesiae Hereof read the complaints of Petrarch in his Epistles and sonnets The Epigrams of Zanazarus the complaints of St. Bernard who tearmeth the traine of the Court of Rome the traine of the whore of Babylon and of Antichrist And after all this must these people with a Romish Catholike zeale come and preach to vs the necessitie of good workes and complaine that wee open â—he gate to all vice Faelicia saecula quaevos â—oribus opponunt habeas iam Roma puâ—orem But what if we shall proue that the â—octrine of the Church of Rome is a â—octrine of Licentiousnesse and openâ—th vnto men a large gate to escape at â—ow much people feeling the approch â—f the Iubile do emboldeÌ„ theÌ„selues vnâ—er the assurance of plenary pardon â—hat a gate of liceÌ„tiousnes do they opeÌ„â—o the rich who assure theÌ„selus that by â—iving to the Church after their deaths â—hey may haue masses enough song for â—hem and so abridge the paines of Purâ—atory And doth not the custome of â—uying other mens praiers make a man â—egligent in praying for himselfe Yea â—nd which is more by enioining the sin â—er for his penance to fast and pray do â—hey not make that a punishmeÌ„t which â—ught to be a consolation Also when â—hey make but seaven mortal sinnes calâ—ing the rest venial and easie sins such as may be blotted out with an Aue oâ— a little holy water do they not entertaine the sinner in wickednes and sow cushions vnder his elbowes to lul him the faster a sleepe in his vice Or terrifying the consciences with the feare oâ— Purgatory do they not therby corrupt piety vnder the colour of establishing it Making it not a filiall and voluntary obedience but a servile feare Led oâ— not for the loue of God but for fear oâ— punishment not for hate to the sin buâ— for terror of the torment Rom. 12. The Apostlâ— exhorteth vs by the mercies of God to consecrate and offer our selues to God yet not for fear of his iustice PropouÌ„â— to the sinner the loue and excellenciâ— of the son of God shewing him that iâ— was our sin that crucified him that oâ—â— offences are the very nailes that pieâ—ced him what is there of greater forâ—â— to plant in his hart both a loue of Iesuâ— Christ and a hatred of sin which waâ— the cause of the torments of the son oâ— God Especially when he shal consideâ— that by this death himselfe shal obtaine â—ife that from a bondman of Satan he is bought to bee the sonne of God also that in beleeving in him he shal not perish but haue life everlasting Shal hee not feele himselfe moved to loue God and in acknowledgement of so great a grace to consecrate himselfe to God and after the rule of his worde to â—spire to the reward that God hath pitched him at the end of his course these men therefore by their traficke doe but subvert religion and in the fire of Purgatory in liew of true piety forge an â—dea and fantastical forme of the feare of God 15 The same fire blasteth and abaâ—eth the mercy of God as not pardoâ—ing vs at the full sith our selues must â—n a fire beare part of the punishment Wherefore shall we limit the mercies of God in matters wherein hee will bee pleased and glorified by doing vs good 16 The iustice of God is likewise â—iolated therein in that they make it to exact two payments for one debt The first which it receaved of Iesus Christ and was sufficient for all the punishments due to our sinnes what interest therefore haue these people that they are so willing to enter into this fire aâ—â— the charge of the glory of God whoâ— could be content freely to pardon thâ—â— through Iesus Christ 17 Againe every payment and satisfaction that is acceptable to Goâ— must be voluntary and not forced otherwise he accepteth it not But thâ— paine of Purgatory say our people 〈◊〉 vnto those that haue not sufficientâ— satisfied in this life inevitable and whether they will or no they must of necâ—â—sitie passe that way Then is it not a paâ—ment acceptable with God And albeâ—â— these men say that the poore soules dâ— patiently beare those paines yet câ—â— we hardly beleeue but that they had other presently be in Paradice then to â—bide a thousand or two thousand yeaâ—â— broiling in a fire 18 Hereof ariseth another reason namely that those soules do not satisfie God but that God rather satisfieth him selfe in punishing them against their wills 19 By the same doctrine also the consciences are in perpetuall torment through the apprehension of this fire for what would not we giue to avoid a fire of an houre long how much more if it should last a moneth Yet what were this in regard of many hundreds and thousands of yeares and that in a fire as hot as the fire of of hell saith our frier Ioh. 14.27 where is that peace promised by Iesus Christ or how in our death shall we haue these effects of the spirit of God dwelling in the hearts of the faithfull namely ioy and peace as saith Saint Paul Galat. 5.22 My adversaries doe contradict theÌ„selues in their answers which indeed are no answers but recriminations Pag. 106. A slaunder The frier saith that we doe preach liberty of conscience without apprehension of the iudgements of God which is false and slanderous Wee preach neither libertie nor licentiousnesse but peace of conscience to such as repent beleeue in Iesus Christ but to the impenitent we denounce the iudgements of God Thus this frier accuseth vs of flattering and lulling mens consciences asleepe But the fire of Helie contrariwise accuseth vs of holding them in torment because we account all sinnes both mortall and veniall equall Whereto I answer that albeit wee should hold those which they tearme veniall equall with the mortall yet in as much as we teach that both mortall and veniall are forgiven by Iesus Christ A slaunder wee doe no whit astonish the consciences But in truth it is a slander of our adversaries Wee acknowledge the inequalitie of sinnes In some God is more offended grieved then in other some yea even amoÌ„g the sinnes that they call mortall some are more hainous then other some To overskip a leafe or two at mattins or vnder color of shrift to talke of loue are smaller sins theÌ„ to slay his own king Sacrilege is more hainous then simple theft Incest then whoredome only we smile at their folly in distinguishing sins into veniall and mortall because this word veniall signifieth pardonable And we knowe that the sinnes which they cal mortall as murder and whoredome doe growe pardonable in such as doe convert and truly repent as in David who was defiled in both these sinnes But in the impenitent these sinnes are indeed mortall and punished with eternall death And so through ImpeniteÌ„cy that sinne which is
haue gathered of their owne confessions that the penance or repentance practised in the Church of Rome is not the stone that Jesus Christ and S. Iohn Baptist did preach for they indeed when sinners came to them imposed no satisfactory paines Note likewise that the same which when Iesus Christ preached it was a vertue is nowe become a Ceremony and from a changing of the soule is come to be an Exercise of the body and now set down for the redemption of our soules as before we heard in Bellarmine that men are Redeemers of themselues Neither may we omit that this their sacrament of penance serveth but for the sins committed after Baptisme whereof it followeth that if an old Pagan should convert to the faith he should be received without penance or repentance 13 There is yet more For as it were Ridiculous to sowe a piece of friese vpon a satten garment so is it a matter that can hardly agree to ioine our satisfactions our fasts our scourgings a haire cloath a corde a friers coule a roasting of soules with the passion of the only son of God to make vp the total of the redemptiō of our souls and of satisfaction vnto God 14 In this matter our adversaries do still retire to their withered and olde beaten principle that is that God after he hath pardoned the sin requireth satisfaction to his iustice by the punishment of the sinne We haue already shewed that to forgiue a sinne and thē to exact satisfactorie punishment for the same are things incompatible That God never required any such satisfaction of the theefe neither Iesus Christ of the woman taken in adultery neither S. Paule of the Incestuous person after he had forgiven him That Iesus Christ hath satisfied for all the paines due to our sinnes That the iustice of God accepteth of no payment but such as shal be most exact and to the proofe of his righteousnes But there is no satisfaction sufficient to vndergoe that examen but only the satisfaction of the son of God by Ieremy called The eternall our righteousnesse And therefore that our travailes and afflictions are profitable to exercise proue amend and humble vs but not to redeeme vs or to satisfie to Gods Iustice which is already fullie satisfied by Iesus Christ and which requireth not two paymentes for one debt 15 Yea which is more themselues do acknowledge that in baptisme God forgiveth both the fault and the punishment and requireth not of the sinner any satisfactory paine Bellar. de paenit l. 4. c. 10. It is not therfore repugnant to the iustice of God to forgiue without our satisfactions 16 But in as much as this is one of the greatest abuses in popery That God by Baptisme doth pardon both the fault the punishment of sinnes committed before Baptisme yet that wee must satisfie and pay the Iustice of God for the sins committed after Baptisme It is necessary we should a little crush out this impostume 1. Conc. Trid. Sess 24. c. 8. First who authorized them in matter of remission of sins and redemptiō to invent new articles of faith with out warrant of the holy scriptures If a heathē murderer or incestuous parson shoulde hypocritically cause himselfe to be baptized shall this baptisme blot out all his former sinnes or shal his hypocrisie prooue fruitfull before God Tertul. de paenit cap. 6. Tertullian indeed in his booke de Poenitentia saith that it cannot be yet doth Spaine furnish vs of many examples thereof where the Mahumetan Marannes do cause themselues dissemblingly to be baptized 2. Againe let vs represent to our selues a heathen man a murderer a sacrilegious person c. One who sinneth not of ignorance or of feare but of meere malice and at the last in his old age repenteth frameth himselfe to Christianity and receiveth baptisme which as our adversaries do say is of such vertue that God doth simply and without satisfaction forgiue him all his sins committed before his baptisme but for the sins that he shall afterward commit albeit smal and of in firmity yet God requireth that he beare the punishment as well here as in Purgatory Doth it stande with the iustice of God simply and without satisfaction to pardon the greater sinnes committed of malice at one time and at another time to impose fiery torments for much lesser offences committed ignorantly or of infirmitie Moreover when by baptisme we haue put on Christ as saith S. Paule Galat. 3.27 haue wee put him on only for that time or for all the daies of our life Or is the benefite of Christs death of lesse effect after baptisme then in baptisme 4. Wherein I pray you consisteth the vertue of baptisme but in this that thereby wee are made partakers in the merits of the death of Iesus Christ being by baptisme buried with him in his death Also if in the holy supper Rom. 6. and in the gospell apprehēded by faith we be also partakers why should we not feel the like effects 5. I would aske againe what the reason is that sith in their Masses is applied as they say the benefit of Iesus Christ why their Masse should bee of lesse efficacy then baptisme or wherefore it cannot exempt a sinner from satisfactory punishment Also for what cause they so highly extolling the excellency of their Masse do in this point so clip her wings and trusse her vp so short Yea and why they stand in neede of so many Masses to fetch one soule out of Purgatoty cōsidering that if their Masses doe apply to that soule the benefit of Iesus Christ they cannot apply it otherwise then it is namely hauing an infinit power and consequently able to deliuer that soule at the first dash But the mischiefe is that if this should bee performed by one Masse only then should the profits of the Clergie bee mightily diminished Now albeit all these things be as cleere as the day yet are we in small hope that those men can take any relish in them that are fed maintained by the abasement of the benefit of the death of Iesus Christ For the documents of Gods word can never pierce into the vnderstanding vntill the true zeale of God be first entred into the heart Avarice Idlenesse and Incredulitie do harden the minds exasperate the stomacks and as rude barbarous vngratefull porters hinder the entry and from our mindes stop vp all the waies to the doctrine of the gospell The fruits of the Sacrament of pennance Now if there be any thing that vpholdeth the tyranny that fostereth the vices or that nourisheth the idlenesse of the Clergie it is this newe sacrament of pennance which is as it were the Palladium of Babylon First by their auricular confessiō a member of this sacrament they search into the secrets of houses and make themselues terrible to those whoe after they haue revealed to them their filthines faults cannot behold them without feare and shame By this they
purchase great liberty with Princes Princesses whose most secret affaires they doe by shrift discover By this such as make any proiects of Civill warres doe find the particular affections of the people and vnderstand of whom and how many they may make account hauing the Priests trustie to them and feede for that purpose By this doe the Priests make way to their covetous desires for hauing by shrift discovered such as bee of a good temper they can soone knowe where to find but easie resistance In this shrift they also sport themselues with strange questions for they never aske the sinner whether hee loue God withall his heart whether he preferreth the glory of God before worldly goods whether he loueth his neighbour as himselfe whether he trusteth in the promises of the Gospell and hath a stedfast faith in Christ whether he bestoweth his time in the daily reading and meditating vpon Gods word which are the first points of pietie but he asketh him whether he doth obserue Lent whether he had the company of his wife in the weeke before Easter called the great week whether hee hath paid his duties to the Church whether hee hath beene troubled with any fowle cogitations of licentious handlings voluntary or not voluntary pollutions c. Looke vpon their mirrour of confessions the comment of Anthony Augustin Bishop of Aragon vpon the poenitentiall Canons of the Roman Poenitential and namely Benedictus Summe of sinnes which is in every shop Also the 19. book of Burchard Bishop of Wormes which entreateth of confessions and then call mee a deceauer a beast the spirit of Satan as the Frier doth if you finde not all kinde of abominatioÌ„s curiously set forthwith the vices against nature the secrets of religious houses and the subtil sleights of Nunnes exactly taught vnder the shaddow of Reprehension These matters will I leaue to such as are past shaÌ„e yet can I not forbeare but must of necessitie touch some of the most tollerable that by them you may iudge of the rest The Roman Penitentiall demandeth of the sinner in his shrift Fecisti fornicationem cum equa velasina If hee haue so done the pennance is to fast with bread and water fortie daies In Burchard the Priest saith to the woman Feâ—isti quod quaedam Multeres facere solent Prosternunt se in faciem discoopertis natibus iubent vt super nudas nates confiotatur panis eo decocto tradunt maritis ad comedendum hoc ideo faciunt vt plus in amorem earum exardescantisi fecisti duos annos per legitimas ferias poeniteas Againe he asketh Fecisti quod Mulieres quaedam facere solent Tollunt piscem vivum eum ponunt in c. Againe Fecisti quod quaedam Mulieres facere solent vt cum filiolo tuo parcuùlo fornicationem faceres Let the reader seeke the rest if he list but by my counsell he shall never goe about it for if it be lawfull to speak of that a man hath not seene I thinke the discipline of Tiberius in his secrets of Capreae the Sibariticall bookes and Aretins tables for the which hee was surnamed Il Divino Aretino are in regard of these but modesty and simplicity But this mischiefe is not so done for after shrift they giue absolution and do pardon after the manner of Iudges that pronounce sentence of remission wheras they ought to pronounce pardon as herehaughts of the grace of God preaching to the penitent sinner that God is recoÌ„ciled vnto him through the blood of Iesus Christ and as ministers loosen the sinner not as Iudges but as preachers of the grace of God which is purchased for them through the death of Iesus Christ for it lieth not in mee to pardon offences committed against another but the party against whome they be committed is to pardon them much lesse then can man that is vile perverse pardon sinnes committed against God who is righteousnes it selfe If a sinner doe earnestly and hartely repent God will forgiue him although the Priest will not but if he doe not repent God will not forgiue him albeit the Pope himselfe should Now doe I leaue it to your consideration in what manner the Pope can giue pardons by his letters patents sealed in forme of Decrees coÌ„sidering that himselfe knoweth not whether his pardons be acceptable with God and may stand the sinner in any stead neither is hee sure that the sinner haue true repentance without the which there is no forgiuenesse saith God in Esay cap. 43. for it is God only that can pardon sinne as saith St. Cyprian Cyprian ser de lapsis Nemo se fallat Nemo decipiat solus Dominus miserere potest Veniam peccatis soius potestille largâ— riquâ— pâ—ecata nostra portavit c. nec remittere Indulgentia sua potest quod in Domâ—num delicto graviori commissuÌ„ est Let no man deceaue himselfe there is but one God only that can forgiue sinne And Tertullian in his booke of shamefastnesse cap. 21. saith Who forgiveth sinne but God only This absolution thus giveÌ„ the priest imposeth vpon him satisfactory paines either corporal or pecuniary herein lieth the tyranny for by this meanes albeit vnder other titles they haue encroached a civil dominion over al people yea even so far forth as to cut theÌ„ off from some sorts of meates to enioine them abstinence from the duties of marriage to condemne them to pilgrimages to girt a cord vpon their bare flesh to giue some portion of mony to some Church or religious house TheÌ„ having thus imposed corporall paines either vpon favour or vpon covetize they convert the same into pecuniary or peradventure they wil licence them to hire some other to perfourme their penance or to be scourged for them as at Rome in the passion weeke which they call the great weeke you may see whole troopes of hired persons who masked and disguised with their faces hiddeÌ„ do publikely mangle their backs with scourgings See Apuleiê° in his eight book of the golden asse where hee painteth the Priests of Diana the Syrien scourging themselus in the same manner with a mercenary cruelty and ambitious penance But wherfore is not all this performed in secret Why still vpon one day Is sorrow and repentance ordered after the course of the sunne Or is penitent affliction become an ordinary ceremony What example in all antiquity of so cruell a iest And indeed they are people but of meane calling If there be any of accoÌ„pt vndoubtedly they be frenchmen for the Italians will never do it without great pay and as men better advised do mocke our simplicity They may peradventure finde some lazy company who can be coÌ„tent that his back should feed his belly like a porter but in other manner Rhenanus a very learned man in his annotations vpon Tertullian ad Martyres saith that this maÌ„ner of scourging is taken from the Lacedemonians who customably vsed such whippings Now as the Pope is the
are dead 2. S. Paule released that which himselfe had enioined saith the doctor but the Pope fetching the soules out of Purgatory released that which he had not enioyned 3. S. Paule remitted a sin to one whose repentaÌ„ce he knew well The Pope giveth Indulgences to such as he knoweth not as when vpon his coronation day hee distributeth pardons for some thousand yeares to the presse of people that is in S. Peters street Cerem Sacr. lib. 1. Sect. 2. cap. 3. 4. S. Paule never prescribed any tearme of ten or twenty thousand yeares only after Excommunication he received the penitent sinner into the Church againe 5. S. Paule gaue no Indulgences by buls sealed in Autenticke maÌ„ner but to the penitent sinner he preached remission of his sinnes through Iesus Christ 6. S Paule never added the clauses and cautions that the Pope doth namely that such a pardon is given Manus porrigentibus adiutrices To those that shal giue and contribute â— S. Paule never tyed remission of sinnes â—o any certain day to any certain place or to any certaine yeare as the Pope doeth to the fiue and twentieth yeare which he calleth Iubile As if God were more mercifull in the yeare 1600 then he was in the yeare 1509 8. S. Paule distributed no hallowed graines no halâ—owed crosses or medalles with a thousand such bables as the Pope doth at this day which wosoever weareth or kisseth hee shal obtaine certaine hundred yeares of pardon 9. S. Paule never coÌ„secrated any Agnus Dei that had vertue to purge sinne as the Pope doth from seaven yeares to seaven yeares 10. S. Paule never priviledged any parsons that they should not go into Purgatory or that they should come forth incontinently as the Pope doth to the Carmelites and the fraternity of the Cord. 11. S. Paule receiving againe the incestuous that was cut of from the Church never imposed any paines after his reconciliation but contented himselfe with that punishment that he had vndergone before his absolution The Pope coÌ„trarywise pardoning sins imposeth paines and in one selfe action first looseth and then bindeth againe 12. S. Paule never reserved to himselfe only the autority to giue Indulgences and pardons as knowing that Iesus Christ spake to al the Apostles and pastors when he said Whatsoever yee shall binde on earth shall bee bound in heaven Mat. 18.18 Also whose sinnes you shall forgiue they shall be forgiven Ioh. 20.23 Therefore also when he forgaue he craved no leaue nor autority of Peter or of any other who had the only managing of the treasure of the Church 13. Lastly S. Paul distributed not to the sinner any of the superaboundant merits or sufferings of the Saintes for the redemption of his sin for all his skil and all his hope is in Iesus Christ crucified neither doth hee tell vs of any other redeemers With what conscience then can they bring in the example of S. Paul to establish their Indulgences and the fetching of souls out of Purgatorie As for mee who by these our Masters am provoked and challenged in so manie places may not I now challenge them to shew me in al these oppositions that I haue exhibited any correspondence betweene S Paule and the Pope But they will not deale this they will gently passe over and in liew of reasons lay vp on me Invectiues and slaÌ„ders enough Cayer only hath bethought himselfe of a proofe for the fetching of soules out of Purgatory that is that vnder the law there was an altar of propitiation as indeede the others are but dunces to him Here wee are to note wherein the principall abuse and heape of Impietie doth rest That is that the Popes Indulgences haue no community with the remission of sinnes propounded in the Gospell For the faithfull pastours doe preach to the sinner vpon his repentance remission of sinnes and in vertue of their ministery doe pronounce forgiuenesse of the same inviting the sinner to participate in this grace as herehaughts of the pardon purchased by Iesus Christ But the Pope giveth his pardons kinglike in letters patents sealed with lead in forme of decrees those letters dispatched in chancery And the office of this chamber is farmed out at a very high rate Poterit pontifex Indulgentias concedere etiaÌ„si nondum sit sacris ordinibus insignitê° Sess 10. Imperium sanctitatis vestrae c. Sess 9. Râ—gale Rom pont genus Sess 3. Papa Sacerdos Rex Sess 1. Princeps totius Orbis neither doth the Pope giue forth these pardoÌ„s as he is Bishop or a preacher of the Gospell for he not only preacheth not nor instructeth but if a meere lay man that never receaued holy orders bee chosen Pope he may confer Indulgences as we may see in the first booke of sacred ceremonies and in Bellarmine in his first book of Indulgences cap. 11. Therfore likewise doth he weare three Crownes which he nameth his Tyare Il regno as also in the last Councell of Lateran he is named the king Emperor and Prince of all the world Doctor Du Val goeth farther then al this and saith that these be only fleabitings and that I trouble my selfe without any ground in medling against the Pope Thus in liew of vnknitting the knot he cutteth it asunder and holdeth the encroaching vpon the Maiestie of God the establishing of a tyranny in the Church and the setting to sale the remission of sinnes as it were marchandize to be but small abuses and fleabitings The Frier might haue done more wisely if hee had imitated his companion Indeed in his running away he hath followed him and answered nothing to the premises yet hee addeth a childish slaunder saying Du Moulin findeth abuses in Indulgences because they are given forth in writing for he will haue them promulgated verbally Who did ever heare such a folly Or where spake I such a word Lift vp your cowl goodman and learne to read but not to slaÌ„der his iniuries bring mee in minde of Hecuba who was said togither with her estate to haue lost her humane shape and changed her speeches into howlings and barkings for this Observantine finding the overthrow of his cause cannot cease to barke Let vs now come out of this matter as out of a shop for indeed it is all but trash and trafficke and let vs requite these our masters and Doctors in questions such as being handled in schools in Quodlibetary manner may stand theÌ„ insteed of Purgations 1. I will aske first where and when the Pope first gathered togither the merits and superabundant satisfactions of Saints Martyrs and who gaue him commission to gather together this treasure or commanded them to gather vp these supererogatory satisfactions for the redemptioÌ„ of the punishments due to other mens sinnes 2. Secondly who told him that God would accept of the ierkes and lashes that a penitent giueth himselfe or of the labours of S. Frances or S. Dominicke in payment or satisfaction for others Will a Iudge set a prisoner
ensuing besides the aforesaid absurdities hath yet this particular that it presupposeth that the Lords praier is said for the dead also If so theÌ„ do we also pray that God would giue them their dayly bread As for bread it is the lesse strange because the fire of Purgatory is sufficient to bake it and sith in the Masse it is said that the soules do sleepe in this fire and rest in a slumber of peace it is like wheÌ„ they awake they haue a good appetite But I cannot comprehende howe this bread may be called Dayly sith there they haue neither day nor sun Hereto let vs adioine the same that our doctors haue confessed That God hath already pardoned those roasted soules from all their offences that he only requireth of them the paines due to the sins already pardoned how can we theÌ„ desire God to forgiue theÌ„ their sins which are already forgiven them A lyer must haue a good memory The last passage for subtiety beareth away the bel Iesus Christ saith the Monk shed his blood for many therefore for the dead What need he to seeke so farre set proofes to proue that which we confesse who denieth but the blood of Iesus Christ was shed for many for al the faithful for all the Saints and Martyrs How impertinent also is this collection that the Frier here maketh out of the ancients to proue that the Lords Supper is a sacrifice What maketh it for Purgatory Sith we grant that it is a sacrifice but as it is said in the Masse A sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving neither Propitiatory nor redemptory but by representation because the supper is a commemoratioÌ„ of the death of Iesus Christ the only propitiatorie sacrifice And in regard hereof this sacrifice was alwaies called Eucharistia that is A thaÌ„ksgiving As for the coÌ„memoration of the dead practised by some of the ancients in the supper I wil in the next chapter following proue that it maketh against Purgatorie for therein they also made a commemoration of the Apostles and Martyrs And in this place doth the Frier proue himselfe a most ridiculous flatterer in spreading abroad such Panegericks and praises of Monsieur Duranti one that deserveth commendations out of an honester mans mouth as also of our king who is too wise to thinke that such commeÌ„dations are other then shamelesse beginnings But what is become of those daies when men of his coat went in Procession in armes the pike in one hand the portuise in the other and were the firebrands of publike combustions encouraging the people against their king whilst we as good subiects even such as we will be to the death did shed our blood in his service Of like substance also is the fable that hee patcheth vp of a Masse song in England for the soule of the late Queene and the offerings contributed in her funerall wherevpon in full hope he exclaimeth At length the truth shall rise out of Democritus well you deceaue your selfe good man she rose from thence even in the time of the Apostles and primitiue Church But the divel hath dealt with her as he did with Ioseph when hee came out of the well she hath been sold to strange marchaÌ„ts brought into bondage and put in subiection not as Ioseph was to an Eunuch but to the father of lies marveilous fruitfull 8 This now decided let vs into our way againe In his 19. page hee bringeth in a prayer for the dead taken out of Esay 57.1 2. Cayer also pag. 24 citeth the same place but contrarieth the Frier saying that it is not a prayer for the dead but a lamentation that he maketh because that in those daies in Israel they prayed not for the dead The fire of Helie is content to say only that this passage doth not condemne Purgatory Pag. 66. Thus doe these our masters agree among themselus but in the third Chapter we haue shewed that the Frier falsifieth this place and that the same quite quencheth Purgatory 9 Nowe followeth the passage which all the 3 Doctors make vse of whereof they forme a mightie Bulwarke It is in the 2. of the Machabes the 12. where say they Iudas sent 12 thousand drachmes of silver to Hierusalem to be offered in sacrifice for the dead Hereto we answer 1. They falsifie the place The Frier pag. 10. 2. The book is not Canonicall 3. Were it Canonical yet maketh it nothing for Purgatory 4. They sinne against the naturall principles of the question For we never dispute against any but by the principles and autorities that we receaue Men dispute not with Iewes by the autoritie of the new Testament neither will the Gentils disputing against the Christians produce the testimony of Hesiods Theogony This S. Augustine knowing in his question against Maximine saith in his third booke and 14. Chapter that he will vse the Scriptures non quorumcunque propâ—ijs sed vtrique communibus Not proper to such or to such but coÌ„mon to both Now let vs returne over the three first points First the falsification is proued by reading over the place This it is Iudas sent to Hierusalem the summe of twelue thousand drachmes of silver to offer sacrifises for the sinne hee saith for the sinne not as the Frier saith for the dead Now what these wordes for the sinne doth signifie shall hereafter appeare That the book is not Canonicall we haue infinite proofes 1. First these books are not in the Hebrewe 2. Iesus Christ and his Apostles whoe vpon every occasion did alleage the passages of the old Testament never named any of these bookes neither out of them cited any passage 3. The Autor himselfe cap. 2. v. 19. saith that his purpose is to abridge the fiue bookes of Iason the Cirinean into one booke Now if Iasons bookes were not Canonicall how can the abstract of them be Canonicall If Trogus or Dyon bee prophane bookes how can Iustine or Xiphiline be sacred S. Paule 2. Tim. 3.16 saith All Scripture is given by inspiration of God But what inspiration is it to say the same that another in a prophane booke hath spoken and only to abridge his words What more The Autor doubting whether he had said well toward the ende concludeth thus If I haue said well and as it appertaineth to the history it is as much as I desire Are the motions of the spirit of God so insensible or doubtfull as to leaue the mind in suspense and vncertaine concerning the excellency of such things as it hath suggested a little after hee excuseth the simplicitie of his stile Will God who hath no interest to be beleeued whose naked words doe farre exceed the most polished words of man excuse the poverty of his owne phrase Or shall not hee that made the tongue haue eloquence enough yes for hee inspireth his servants with so much eloquence as he thinketh good neither is it for vs either to distast it or to bring excuses But in the reading of these
no apparance to impute the inventiō of this act to him therefore it were Impudencie to condemne him And this is the place where I meane to gratifie the frier For albeit this booke may as well bee false in this point as it is in the others that I haue laid open yet will I admit this history as a truth Thus it is at large After the battaile Iudas and his men came to gather vp the bodies of the slaine and to burie them but they found vnder their apparel things cōsecrated to the Idols that were at Iannia a matter forbiddē in the law Then had they recourse to praier and intreated that the sin committed might be forgiven and forgottē Iudas therevpon having made a collection sent to Hierusalem twelue thousand drams of silver to offer in sacrifice for the sin hitherto the history That which ensueth is the auctours Iudgement whom we receiue for an historiographer but not for a iudge or doctor in matters of faith In this history then which I pray you is the first word importing praier for the dead Or that concerneth Purgatory Had Iudas offered for the dead he would haue praied for all their sins and not for that sin only and vpon this reason did the Frier falsifie this passage and set in for the dead insteed of for the sinne Iudas therefore prayed that the sin of some might not pull downe the wrath of God vpon all the people as in the like case the sin of Acham had procured the overthrow of all the people of Israell Iosua 7. 10 The frier addeth yet one passage out of Toby forgiving Almes for the dead These saith he are the wordes of Toby Cast thy bread and thy wine vpon the graue of the righteous and beware thou eate not with sinners Toby 4.17 Whereto we saie first the book is Apocriphal al the testimonies produced against the bookes of the Macchabees are in force against the booke of Toby for it is in the same Rancke yea this book hath this in particular that it maketh the angel Raphael a lyer who being demanded by Tobyas who he was answered I am Azarias of the kindred of great Ananias and of thy brethren Yet let vs admit this booke were Canonicall and consider the passage Cast thy bread wine vpō the graues of the righteous then saith the Monke It must needs be there were almes for the dead 1. First this hath no such sequence neither can we hereof frame any good Argument 2. Againe no man denieth but it is good to giue almes for the dead that is to say not only inremēbrance of the dead but also for and insteed of the dead giving to the poore that which the deceased woulde haue given if he had lived but not for fetching his soule out of Purgatory for therof we find not one word in Toby The heathen that prayed not to fetch their dead out of Purgatory yet ceased not from giving almes and making funeral feasts ferales coenas silicernia Yea even among the Israelites there was some such matter not for the redemption of the soule departed but for the Consolation of the survivers as we learne in Ieremy Ierem. 167 Tertull. de Resur carnis c. 5. vnigus defunctos atrocissimè exaurit quos postmodum Gulosissimè nutriunt Qui in memoriis Martyr se inebriant quemodo a nobis approbari possunt c. Cyprianus de duplici Martyrio An non videmus ad Martyrum memorias Christianum a Christiano cogi ad ebrietatem where hee placeth this among the afflictions prepared for the Iewes They shall not stretch out the hands for thē in the mourning to comfort them for the dead neither shall they giue them the cup of Consolation for to drink for their father or for their mother Neither can this custome be reproued in case there be neither excesse nor superstition 3. The Christians in the primitiue Church on the day of the remembrance of the Martyrs tooke their repast neer to the graues and as abuse doth commonly intrude it selfe they many times overdranke themselues and buried their reasons vpon the sepulchers S. Augustin against Faustus the Manichean lib. 20. cap. 21. saith How can wee allow of those that drinke themselues drūken at the memories of the Martyres considering if they should do it in their houses al true doctrine would condemne them Hereby it appeareth that the meats set vpon the sepulchers were not a price or offering to deliver the soules of the dead for they were set vpon the sepulchers of those Martyres for whome the Church of Rome holdes that wee must not pray 4. Consider also I pray you whether this Monke desired to be beleeued and mocketh not himselfe when hee saith that this bread and wine was for those that were destined to weepe for the deceased and to pray for them that they might take some comfort For what a iest is this to buy teares with bread to haue certaine persons destined and affected to weeping thus to bring tears to be an occupation and so of an affliction to erect a trade A course indeed practised by the heathen and by the Iewes imitated yet by Chrysostome cōdemned which also the Prophet Ieremy mocketh saying Call for the mourning women and let them come But what appearance is there that these teares premeditated and hired may bee accepted for a payment and satisfaction to the iustice of God and so enable to redeem a soule out of Purgatory Fire of Helie pag. 12. 13. 11 The same Monke as also the fire of Helie doe inculcate many examples of weeping and fasting for the dead as the teares fastings after the deaths of Saul Ionathan Abner c Yet amōg all these lamentations we find no mention of prayer for the dead or of Purgatory Besides wee haue shewed that Saul died in Gods displeasure that Iacob and Moses were also bewailed who neverthelesse never descended into Purgatory and for such the Church of Rome saith we must not pray Places out of the new Testament for prayers for the dead 12 Now follow the Friers places gathered out of the new Testament to the same purpose The first is page 39. and is taken out of the Gospell of S. Iohn where Martha saith to Iesus Christ Lord if thou haddest beene here my brother had not died Yet doe I now know that what soever thou askest of the father he will giue it thee It is very certaine saith hee that Martha prayed our Lord Iesus Christ to make some prayer for her brother for shee beleeued not that Iesus Christ could of himselfe raise him againe All coniectures All false propositions and yet not without contradiction For if Martha beleeued that God would grāt to Iesus Christ whatsoever hee demanded shee beleeued that Iesus Christ could raise him againe for he could demand it In this place the Frier prates apace and doth imitate Cayer A slander who in the beginning of his booke saith that wee
so to omit Pope Iohan. Pag. 35. of being tainted with this heresie wherein he sheweth himselfe a sclanderer in print for how is it possible we should holde that opinion sith we condemne it in others As for Iohn the 22. alias 23. the case is to plaine to be dissembled William Ockam in his worke of 53. daies and Adrian in the question of confirmation doe accuse him to haue held that the souls should not see God before the resurrection Gerson in his sermon of the passeover witnesseth the same and saith that the Divines of Paris with the assistance of Philip the long king of France forced him to vnsay it Neither doth it any whit helpe the Monke to search whether the time quoted by Calvin be free from error for it importeth not whether Gerson lived in the time of the said Iohn or after so long as the matter is true as Bellarmine from whom the Monke borrowed this Arithmeticall disputation doth confesse in his fourth booke De Pontifice Rom. in these words In the behalfe of Adrian I answer that this Iohn did indeed beleeue that the soules shall not see God vntill after the resurrection Iohannem hunc revera sensisse animas non visuras Deum nisi post resurrectione The autorities of the Fathers that he doth afterward alleage are false and hereafter shall be spoken of 18 They do yet adde one passage more out of the 12 of Matthew v. 32. The fire of Helie Whosoeuer shall speak against the holy Ghost it shall not be forgiuen him in this world nor in the world to come This would not Iesus Christ haue spoken say our masters if there were not some sinnes that shall not be forgiven in this world but shall in the world to come and this world to come is Purgatory wherein their memory faileth them for they say that Purgatory was already in the time of Iesus Christ then could not Iesus Christ call it in the world to come But if our mens reply be true that Purgatory is the world to come in regard of every particular living person to whome this punishment is yet to come there shall be by that reason a thousand millions of worlds to come all differing in beginning and in continuance This at the least doth remaine that with Iesus Christ who spake Purgatory could not be the world to come 2. Againe Iesus Christ speaketh of a world wherein sinnes are forgiuen but they say that in Purgatory sinnes are punished and that the pardon for all manner of sinnes is already granted in the life through Iesus Christ only In Purgatory they bear the punishment of the sinnes alreadie pardoned Thus doe they runne themselues on the Pikes as also they answer nothing to the matter And as for the Frier his answers are ridiculous haue no correspondence with that which I haue said The autor of the fire of Helie doth shew by the example of David Achab that the sinner obtaineth mercy by the punishment but hee deceaueth himselfe for it is true as concerning such paines of this life as tend to the amendment of the sinner but not of Purgatory where there is no amendment neither could this haue bin better confuted then by cyting S. Augustine who saith Hie vre hic seca vt in aeternū parcas For he saith Hic not in purgatorio 3. Thirdly what is this world to cōe then Let vs learne it not of these people which transforme all things into matches to kindle their Purgatory but of Iesus Christ himselfe and his word Iesus Christ Luke 20.35 telleth vs that this other world beginneth by the resurrection They saith he that shall bee coūted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection of the dead Neither must we think it strange that it is said that in that day sinnes shall be forgiuen 2. Tim. 1.18 1. Sith S. Paule desireth that God would shewe mercy to the house of one Sephorus in that day which is as much as to pardon the sinnes 2. S. Peter also Act. 3.19.20 saith that in that day our sinnes shal be blotted out Amend your liues that your sinnes may be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and that hee shall haue sent Iesus Christ who was before preached vnto you 3. Rom. 8.23 Luk. 21.28 For as the holy Scripture calleth that day the day of our redemption and adoption because that then it shall bee fully revealed and consummate so the same day vpon the same reasons may be called the day of remission of our sinnes And some sinnes there be which albeit by the iudgement of the Church they may be pardoned in this life yet they shall not bee pardoned in the last day such is the sinne against the holy Ghost To all this our adversaries are as dumbe as a fish and endeavor by a great heap of the Fathers to proue that sinnes are also forgiuen in the world to come but to what purpose sith we doe grant it Shall this people be suffered to pervert our words turne our speech contrary to that which wee beleeue They beat the aire and lose their blows and our Monke sclandereth mee saying that I call the fathers our adversaries Sclander but where did I so 19 The passage wherevpon they doe most insist is taken out of the first to the Corinth cap. 3. where S. Paule saith Other foundation can no man laie thē that which is laid which is Iesus Christ If any man build vpon this foundation gold siluer precious stones timber hay stubble every mans worke shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans worke of what sort it is If the worke of any that hath built therevpō doe abide he shall receaue waies If any mās worke burne he shall lose but hee shall bee safe himselfe howbeit as by fire For fire say my men is Purgatory wherein the workes are tried by fire for it is said If any mans worke burne and againe Hee shall be saued but as it were by fire Al this is full of impossibilities and absurdities 1. First an article of faith must not bee grounded vpon allegories saith S. Hierom on Mat. lib. 2. Nunque Parobolae du bia aenigmatum intelligentia potest ad autoritatem dogmatum proficere so saith Tertullian also But albeit S. Paul who by revelation receaved the sence of the Scriptures did sometime vse the Allegorie as in the fourth to the Galathians it followeth not that it is to be permitted to every newe commer much lesse to men that plead for their owne profit Besides the selfe same thing that S. Paule teacheth by Allegories is elsewhere proued by evident demonstrations Ierem. 30. Heb. 12.9 But these men produce no manifest passage where it is said that after this life there is a place wherein the soules of such as haue not satisfied to the full
booke of Purgatory cap. 9. alleadgeth this place and falsifieth it both in the words and in the sense He saith that S. Hierom speaketh of the vnbinding of the soule that is made by speculation not of the transporting of the soule in her substance but by imagination and to set the greater shew vpon this glosse and contemplation hee omitteth these words propter tenuitatē substātiae which do proue that S. Hierom spake of the trāsport of the soule in her substance with all that contemplation doeth not deliver the soule from the body neither necessarily trāsporteth her into Paradice or into hell for Contemplation hath infinite other obiects Can. in praesenti In the decrees of the Romish Church Causs 13. Quest 2 there is a Canon taken out of S. Hierom and these be the words In this present world we know that we may helpe one another either by praier or by Councell but when we shall come before the tribunall seat of Christ neither Iob nor Daniell nor Noah can pray for any but every one shal bear his owne burden But the decree hath clowted on a taile and saith that S. Hierom spake of the impenitent But how can that be For S. Hierom putteth himselfe in the number saying But when wee shall come Gregory Nazianzen in the Epitaph of his brother Caesarius saith I beleeue the words of the wise namely that every honest soule that loueth God when it is delivered from this body that is tyed thereto and is departed away IMMEDIATLY it is admitted to the fruition and contemplation of that good that attend it and doth reioice in admirable pleasure Vpon this principle doeth hee ground his stedfast perswasion that his brother is already blessed Now was he neither Martyr nor Saint nor otherwise qualified then the ordinary of the faithfull The like he speaketh in the Epitaph of his sister Gorgonia S. Ambrose hath written an excellent treatise of the benefite of death De bono mortis Vt corpus resolvatur acquiescat anima autem cōvertatur in requiem suā which is no other but a refutation of the Purgatory of the Romish Church And it is to bee noted that he speaketh of the death of all the faithfull but omitteth the Saints and Martyres more priviledged by God In this third Chapter he doth thus define death Death is a separation of the soule from the body Then he addeth Now what doth this separation saving that the body dissolveth and resteth but the soule is set in quiet and free who if shee be faithfull shall be with Christ In the fourth Chapter he saith that Death is a haven after a storme and that shee reserveth vs to iudgement such as shee founde vs and addeth that by her Transitura corruptione ad incorruptionem à mortalìtate ad immortalitatem à perturbatione ad tranquillitatē We passe from corruptiō to incorruption from mortalitie to immortalitie from trouble to rest Againe in the 7. Requies post labores finis malorum Mors stipendiorum plenitudo summa mercedis gratia missionis Chapter The foole doth feare death as the soveraigne evill the wise man doth desire it as a rest after labour and the ende of all calamities In the same place Death is the fulnesse of wages the sum of rewards the favour or grant of dispensation or license In the tenth Chapter he mocketh such as thinke that the habitation of soules is vpon earth and saith Animarū superiora esse habitacula scripturae testimonijs varijs probatur It appeareth by many testimonies of the scriptures that the habitation of the soules is aboue In the last Chapter speaking of himselfe and of al that beleeue in Iesus Christ hee saith Intrepide ad Abrahamū patrem nostrum cum Dies advenerit proficisca mur intrepide pergamus ad illum sanctorum coetū c. When that day shall come let vs goe boldly to Abraham our father to the assembly of Saints and congregation of the righteous for wee shall goe to our fathers to the schoolemasters of our faith to the ende that albeit our workes faile vs yet faith may succour vs and the inheritance be kept for vs. And to the ende no man should thinke that he speaketh only of the most holy and perfect he saith Etiamsi opera desint albeit workes faile vs and soone after he saith that it doth appertaine to all the beleevers in God and that When the day of death shall come to the end the Popes factors should not put of that day to the issue out of Purgatory Also that our adversaries may no longer shrowd themselues vnder this passage in the 12. of Matthew Blasphemy against the holy Ghost shall not be forgiuen neither in this world nor in the world to come he saith in the second Chapter of the same booke Qui hic non acceperit remissionem peccatorum illic non erit Hee that will not here receaue remission of sinnes shall not bee there S. Chrysostome hom 75. in Matth. If we now doe not that we should when wee come there we shall haue no meanes to satisfie Againe hom 22. ad populum Antiochenum Read the Scriptures of our Saviour and learne that none can helpe vs when we depart hence Also in his 2. hom vpon Lazarus Pay all here that without trouble thou maist come to that tribunall seat while we are here we haue great hope but so soone as wee are departed to goe thether it remaineth no longer in our power to doe pennance or to blot out or amend that we haue done amisse Hereto Bellarmine answereth that Chrysostome speaketh of the remission of mortal sinnes which no man saith are remitted in Purgatory And all this is false for Chrysostom speaketh of all sinnes and in any of all these places never maketh distinction betweene mortall and veniall sinnes indeed hee speaketh of the wicked rich man who was not punished for one sinne only but for all his sinnes withall that our adversaries do hold that in Purgatory they may beare the punishment for mortall sinnes but that by the mercy of God of eternall they be made tēporall Yea they proceed so far as to limit the time of this punishment namely seaven yeares for every sinne as wee shewed in the first Chapter Likewise vpon the 23. of Matthew hom 25. hee saith that pennance after death is as vnprofitable as the Phisitian who after death can doe no good The same he saith vpon the first of Genes hom 5. Also vpon the fourth to the Romans hom 8. Where there is grace there is forgiuenesse where there is forgiuenesse there is no punishment Now punishment being taken away and righteousnesse through faith granted nothing may hinder vs but that we shall be made heires of this promise which is by faith Himselfe vpon Matth. hom 32. asketh of the parents of the deceased these questions Wherefore after the death of thy friends dost thou call them poore Why dost thou desire the Priest to pray for them