Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	ghost_n	holy_a	remit_v	8,165	5	11.0672	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68090	An apology or defence for the Christians of Frau[n]ce which are of the eua[n]gelicall or reformed religion for the satisfiing of such as wil not liue in peace and concord with them. Whereby the purenes of the same religion in the chiefe poyntes that are in variance, is euidently shewed, not onely by the holy scriptures, and by reason: but also by the Popes owne canons. Written to the king of Nauarre and translated out of french into English by Sir Iherom Bowes Knight.; Apologie ou défense pour les chretiens de France de la religion reformée. English	Gentillet, Innocent, ca. 1535-ca. 1595.; Bowes, Jerome, Sir, d. 1616.	1579 (1579)	STC 11742; ESTC S103023	118,829	284

witnes that no mā liuing can be iustified before god And therefore it may bee rightly sayd to these iolly doers of works of super erogation as Christ sayd to the Pharisies It is you that iustify your selues before men but God knoweth your hartes For that which is highly esteemed amonge men is abhominable before God. I knowe right well there are many textes in the holy Scripture to proue that who so will enter into euerlasting life must keep the cōmandements of god and that those which haue kepte the commaundementes shal possesse the kingdome of heauen and that those which haue not kept them shall goe into euerlasting damnation But it is not to be inferred vpō these textes that a man may be instified by his good workes for no man at any tyme doth performe Gods commandements to the full But euen the best of all doe breake them euery day many times For what man is so arrogant as to challenge to himself such sincerity of life that he loueth and hath alwayes loued God with all his hart and his neighbour as himselfe or hath not wished somewhat that was an other mans To be short there needeth no great disputation vpon this poynt for our conscience doth here accuse vs and of it selfe condemne vs. Now then if no man can fulfill the commaundements It followeth that no man can haue euerlasting life by his owne workes but must seek some other iustification than by workes if hee will be iustified before the face of god And in seeking an other iustification he commeth to the righteousnes of fayth which is by imputation through the free bestowed benefite of Christ For like as if a poore detter that were vnable to pay were kept in prisō for a det of ten thousād crowns and his creditor should tell him that if he paid the debt he would set him at liberty or els he should rot in prison he had no redier remedy than to get such a surety as would be so fauourable and frendly to him as to pay the det for him without trusting to his own substance which is vtterly vnable to discharge such a dette In like sort man knowing on the one side that without performing the Law throughout he is in danger of damnation and on the other side that he is not able to perform it hath no other shifte but to repaire to Iesus Christ to take holde of his righteousnesse by faith to the end that the same may be imputed vnto him and that by this meanes his sinnes may be wyped out and himselfe made capable of eternall life And as it may truely be sayd that that detter hath well payd his dette when his surety hath payd it for him euen so may a Christian say that he hath kept and fulfilled the commaundements of God when he doth assure himselfe through faith that Christ hath fulfilled them for him Thus should be vnderstoode those textes of Scripture which inioyne vs to obserue the commaundements to haue therby euerlasting life And after that sort we should make them to agree with the textes before alleadged which say that we cannot be iustified but by faith only By which saying euery man of sound iudgement may easely know that the doctrine of the Protestants is builded vpon the pure word of God and consequently that according to our secōd Maxime it is the most true and auncient and not to bee called new but of such as do not vnderstād it Neither may the Catholicks call this doctrine hereticall according to our third Maxime because it is ratified euen by their owne Canons For thus sayth one of the Canons Ciprian did call vnto him the Byshoppe Satyrus and did thinke that there was not any true grace sauing that which commeth by fayth c. And an other Canon sayth thus Looke where is no fayth there can be no righteousnes for the righteous liueth by faith c. There is another taken out of S. Augustine which speaketh yet more plainly saying thus The Lord purposing to declare playnly that mens sinnes are forgeuen by the holy Spirite which he hath geuen to the faithful and not by their own merites sayth thus in a certayne place Receiue the holy Ghost And immediatly he addeth whose sins ye remit their sinnes shall be forgeuen As if he should say it is the holy Ghost that forgeueth sinne and not you Which Canon doth shew playnly that the merites of good workes do no whit iustify vs and so consequētly that it is fayth onely without works which is that instrumentall cause of our iustification the very efficient cause therof is Iesus Christ working by the holy ghost And if the Romish catholicks themselues did wel vnderstand what they ment when they say cōfes that they be saued by the grace of our redeemer they would neuer depend any more vpon their good workes merits For as sayth an other Cannon Grace is not grace if it be not freely geuen and receiued And hereunto accordeth the saying of Saynt Basile A man sayth he doth then glory whollye and throughlye in God when hee doth not vaunt of hys owne righteousnesse but acknowledgeth himselfe destitute of the true righteousnesse and that hee is iustified thorough his onely fayth in Christ After the same manner speaketh Saynt Ambrose saying Dauid calleth them right happy whome God hath determined to iustify by fayth onely without any paynes taking or without their keeping of the law And in an other place in expounding these words of the Apostle freely iustified by his grace he sayth thus They be iustified freely because that hauing not done any thing nor requited like for like they be iustifyed by faith onely which is the gift of God. I coulde to this purpose alleadge many other canōs aūcient doctors but these may suffice For my purpose is not to build the doctrine of our reformed Religion neither vpon Doctors nor vpon Canons but onelye to rehearce and alleadge some of them to shew vnto the Romish catholicks that in condemning the same so boldly of heresy by the same meanes they vnaduisedly condemne their own canons and doctors And because they doe so greatly brag that they hold the fayth of the Romish Church I mean to proue that they do not so euen by their owne Canons Harken now what a Canon sayth in an Epistle written by Pope Marcell to the bishop of Antioch We beseech you deere beloued brethren sayth he that you neither teach nor allow any other doctrine than that which you haue receiued of S. Peter and of the other Apostles and Fathers For hee is the head of the whole Church to whom the Lord sayd Thou art Peter and vpon this stone will I build my church the seate whereof was first established in your Countrey and afterward remoued to Rome by the commaundement of the lord c. Hereby it appeareth that the fayth of the Romish Church ought to bee grounded vpon the pure and onely doctrine of

legacies and foundacions of Obites to massepriests and chauntrypriests and to make good prouision of pardons specially in the time of the great Iubileis and Croysseys which they sell very good cheape And in very truth this doctrine of Purgatory hath exceedingly inriched the Cleargie yea more than any other thing For there dyed not so poore a wretch which gaue not some legacie to the priest yea often times euen the best thing they had to haue them sing masses for the case of their soules and to shorten the time of their abode in purgatory And hereunto were al sick folke perswaded by their Confessors which would make great difficultye nicenes to geue them absolution except they would promise to geue one thing or other to the church And the better to draw them hereunto they made them beleue that for euery mortall sinne their soules shold remain as is said seuen yeares in the paynes of purgatory which would be an infinite time if it were not shortened by masses For say they although that God doe in this world pardon the sinnes of all such as confesse them to the priest and make satisfaction yet doth he remit but the sinne only and not the payne so as we must needes goe to purgacory to suffer paynes for al the sinnes which we haue committed in all our life time Which paines are so great as greater are not possible For say they there is as greate difference betwixt the fire of purgatory and the fire of this world as is betwixt a burning coale the breath of a mannes mouth By reason wherof the poore world had so great feare and conceit of this hote fire of purgatory and of the infinite time which they should be fayn to remaine there accounting seuen yeares for euery mortall sinne which was committed in a mannes life time that euery man gaue vnto the Priestes as much as they would craue to the end that their time in purgatory might be shortned But contrary to this doctrine the Protestantes doe hold opinion that we haue no other purgatory than the bloud of our Lord Iesus Ghrist which washeth away and clenseth all mens sinnes which beleue in him And they say that his precious bloud is more then sufficient to wipe out all our sinnes without hauing neede to be purged by any fier And that our sauiour doth not clense vs by halfes but throughly altogether and we should doe him wrong and iniury to beleue that we haue need of any other kinde of clensing than of that which he him selfe maketh in iustifying vs by bearing our iniquities and by wyping away our sinnes and blemishes And that it is a mockery to say that God doth pardon our sinnes and not the payn due for sinne as if you wold say he forgeueth vs the dets that we doe owe him but not the payment of the dettes for he will haue that still And now to say the truth all men may easily iudge that this doctrine is better thā the doctrine of the Romish Catholickes according to our first rule because that by the same Christ our Redeemer is most honored forasmuche as he is acknowledged to be the only and whole purger of our iniquities and our true and only Attonementmaker and Iustifyer And asfor the holy scripture that doth teach vs that the faythfull and chosen of God do dye vnto the Lord and that those which dye vnto the Lord are very happy do go into the place of rest These are the expresse wordes of S. Iohn Happy are they which from this time forth do dye to the Lord for they do rest from their labors And for those which dye not to the Lord forasmuch as they be none of his nor members of the body of the true church whereof christ is the head it is certayne that there is no saluation for them And therefore it is in vayne to imagine a purgatory either for the one or for the other For as many as die to the lord go presently to rest not into purgatory And those which doe not dye to the Lord do go into euerlasting payn not into purgatorye and there is no saluation for them And as for the text taken out of the booke of the Machabees which alloweth prayer for the dead and so by consequence purgatory also The Protestantes say that it ought to be houlden for a certayn and vndoubted rule that we ought not to build any article or fayth vpon the bookes called Apocripha of which nūber this booke of the Machabyes is one insomuch as the Author thereof that wrate it confesseth that he may perchaunce haue ouershot himselfe and that he hath written in simple stile and that he was not of skill to write any better which is an vnmeete kinde of speech for the holy Ghost who can not erre nor hath any neede to be excused for speaking in a base stile for when he listeth he speaketh in a higher stile than the excellentest Orators that ouer were in the world And as touching the text where it is sayes that the sinne against the holy Ghost is not pardoned neither in this world nor in the would to come Whereupon the Romish Catholicks doe inferre following the interpretation of S. Gregory that then the other sinnes are forgeuen in the other world and so by consequence that there must nedes be a purgatory the protestantes affirme that to be an ill conclusion For in so saying our Lord Iesus Christ mente nothing else but that the sinne againste the holy Ghost shal neuer be forgeuē S. Oregory himself as we will declare hereafter doth not say that all other sinnes sauing the sinne agaynst the holy Ghost shall be pardoned in the world to come but onely that the smalest sort of sinnes which are called veniall sinnes shal be then forgeuen Let vs now come to the Canons There are two peeces of Canons in the decrees of Graecian which may easely quench and confound purgatory For by the one it is sayd that in this world one of vs may wel be helped by the prayers of another But when we depart from hence to appeare before the seate of Christ euery man must beare his own burthē and then the prayers of Saints which are in paradise will nothing auaile vs and much lesse will the prayers of mē of this world stand vs in any steade These are the wordes of the Canon In this present world we know we may helpe one another with our prayers and good aduice but when we come before the iudgement seate of Christ then neyther Iob. nor Daniell nor Noe can pray for any but euery man shall then beare his own burthen The other Canon sayth that neither the bishops nor the Apostles can assoyle the dead of their sinnes Wherupon it followeth that men haue bought the Popes pardons in vaine for the redeeming of those which are sayd to haue been in Purgatory These are the very words of the said Canon taken out of

the decrees of Pope Gelasius We reade that Christ hath raysed the dead to life But we read not that euer he released any of those which were dead in sinne And he who only had the power to doe it hath geuen this principall commaundement to S. Peter saying That which thou vnbindest vpon earth shall be vnbound in heauen and that which thou bindest vpon earth shall be bound in heauen He sayth vpon earth but he neuer sayd that he which is departed bound by sin shal be released Which Canon doth well shew that the power to vnbinde doth not stretch so farre as to hell nor so farre as to the pretended Purgatory but only to the earth and that the Popes of late yeares haue gone about to extend the boundes of their territories to farre in commaunding the angels as they doe by their bulles of pardons to goe fetch the soules of such out of purgatory as the Popes themselues listed to name for they haue no cōmaundement that reacheth either higher or lower than the earth It is true that for ground of this doctrine of Purgatory they alleadge that the custome of praying for the dead hath been allowed and receaued now of long time euen from the time of the primitiue Church But it doth not therby follow but that an error is an error although it be neuer so old Moreouer as Pope Innocent the third doth witnes many of the auncient Fathers haue beleeued that the glory of those which are in Paradise might still grow greater vntil the day of iudgement and so by consequence they did imagine that it was lawfull to pray to god for the increase of their glorifying S. Augustine also wryteth how be it that he alloweth not the opinion that some auncient Fathers haue imagined that to pray for the damned sort might doe them good not to exempt them from eternall payne but to moderate their tormēts And therfore although that this kinde of praying for the dead were sufferable as in deede it is not seeing it hath no foundation in the word of God yet cannot Purgatory be grounded therupon forasmuch as the praying of the Fathers of olde time was either for those which were happy in Paradise for that their glory and blessednesse might increase or for those which were damned that their payne might be diminished and not for any which they beleeued to haue bin lodged in Purgatory For in those dayes they knew not yet what was meante by Purgatory nor where Purgatory stoode For it is but a late inuention of the new descriptions of hell The famosest doctor that euer spake of Purgatory is S. Gregory who notwithstanding speaketh after such a fashion that he seemeth to make no great reckning of the matter For he sayeth that none but veniall sinnes may be purged by the fire of Purgatory the deadly sins cānot So that by this reckning the paines torments of this pretended Purgatory haue no more power to purge than hath the simple holy water whereunto they doe likewise attribute the vertue of clensing and of washing away of mennes veniall sinnes These are the very words of S. Gregory Such as a man departeth hence such is he presented in the day of iudgement But yet we must beleue that before the iudgemēt there is a fire of purgation for certayne degrees of sinnes because the truth sayth that if any mā haue blasphemed the holy Ghost his sinnes shall not be forgeuen neither in this world nor in the world to come By which wordes it is geuen vs to vnderstand that there are some sinnes which may be pardoned in this world and some in the world to come For that which is denied in one sinne is graunted in an other by consequent interpretation But yet as I haue sayd you must vnderstand this to be spoken of the leaste sinnes as the speaking many idle wordes to much laughter to great carefulnes for a mans owne family which is a sinne that can hardly be shūned euen of suche as know best how to keepe thēselues from sinning or to erre in poyntes which are of no great importance or to be ignorant of thē Al which sinnes make a mans burthen the heuier euē after death if they be not pardoned in his life tyme. Vpon this text and vpon the interpretation which S. Gregory hath made of it howbeit amisse as I haue sayd before in the text of the holy scripture which sayth that the sinne against the holy Ghoste is not pardoned in this world nor in the world to come the Romish Catholicks or rather the Scholemen and sophisters haue altogether builded and founded their purgatory And they are not contented that onely veniall sinnes should there bee purged as S. Gregory would but they will needes haue it to serue for the doing away of deadly sinnes also either by remayning there the full time of seuen yeares for euery deadly sinne or else by redeeming or shortening that long season by the celebrating and founding of Masses and other suffrages Which addition of the Sophisters hath maruelously inriched the kitchins of the clergy mōkes and brought great aboundance of water to their milles which had neuer happened to them if purgatorye had serued but onely to purge veniall sinnes according to the aforesayd opiniō of S. Gregory for the good people of christendome had rather to haue purged themselues from those sinnes with holy water which did no harme to those that sprinckled themselues therewith then by the fyer of purgatory which is affirmed to be extremely burning and scalding hot or by the founding of masses and Obits which were farre deerer then was the holy water So as purgatorye had bene brought to nothing as a wast and barren soyle if men had held themselues to the onely sayings of S. Gregory Thus may you see how the poore world hath bene abused by the inuētors and practisors of such holy deceytes ¶ Of the exception of prescription The xiii chapter HEtherto I thinke I haue made it to appeare playnely enough that the Romish Catholickes are not so well groundes as they imagine in the poynts of religion which they would mayntayne agaynst the protestantes Now therfore let them blame the reformed religion asmuch as them listeth and report it to be new full of errors and heresies and contrary to the word of God and finally let them deface it as much as shal please them For when it cōmeth to the vpshot their hasty headines and their wilfull fordeeming through the corruptnes of their affections shall neuer bring to passe but that truth shall alwayes be truth and darcknes be darcknes Do what they can to the vttermost yet will the trueth continue alwayes to strong for them in the iudgement of the wisest sort I know well that those which thinke themselues to haue the best braynes and to be of greatest insight in all matters are the persons that vtter their opinions so boldly in this controuersy of Religion saying that the