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spirit_n	bear_v	enter_v	kingdom_n	5,396	5	6.1932	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60278	Sin dismantled, shewing the loathsomnesse thereof, in laying it open by confession; with the remedy for it by repentance & conversion Wherein is set forth the manner how we ought to confess our sins to God and man, with the consiliary decrees from the authority thereof, and for the shewing the necessity of priestly absolution, the removing the disesteem the vulgar have of absolution, setting forth the power of ministers. With an historical relation of the canons concerning confession, and the secret manner of it; also shewing the confessors affections and inclinations. By a late reverend, learned and judicious Divine.	Late reverend, learned and judicious Divine.	1664 (1664)	Wing S3850; ESTC R221495	353,931	367

to come by forgiveness of sin without actual confession namely contrition of heart whereupon the sin is forgiven before the sinner can confess unto the Priest And for that confession prerequireth forgiveness of sin according to the more probable opinion by an antecedent sorrow and by reason whereof sin is never forgiven by confession but is presupposed by it Thou wilt reply how Biel speaketh of actual confession and not of potential or the purpose and resolution in the heart to confess which is ever concomitant with contrition I answer Holy vows and purposes not reduced into act are in themselves of no worth but in case where they shall earnestly be endeavoured to be put in act and to be effected but the ability being wanting or disappointed by some greater power then they are taken for the deed and a faithful promise of confession is as good as confession it self Here when a Priest is at hand there needs no such vow or purpose there being no likelyhood the same should be crossed or intercepted this actual confession then supposeth none that is promissory I desire therefore this popish block may no more be cast in the way 2. Necessitas Finis Ends prescribed in popish shrift unnecessary Other ends then may be excogitated and for them confession may be thought a necessary mean for sure the shoe will not fit this foot the Question is indeed and upon this occasion proposed by the Master of the Sentences If it be demanded why Confession should be necessary Ad quid confessio necessaria cùm in contrition● jam deletum sit peccatum Resp 1. per conf●ssionem intelligit Sacerdos qualiter debeat judicare de crimine 2. per eam peccator fit humilior cautior Lomb. l. 4. dist 17. Sect. ult since the sin already is blotted out by Contrition In answering to that demand he flies to other ends 1. As to inform the Priest of the nature of the offence and what he is to judge thereof but there can be no great end of that information when the sin is cancelled for why should another man remember when God hath forgotten it 2. And to make the sinner more humble and more cautelous Conduce it may somewhat this way but there are better texts for those themes and auricular Confession left out some inducements these but no ncessary prescriptions Furthermore saith Gabriel If we will narrowly and circumspectly listen unto the virtue of Confession Si sunditùs attendimus vi●tutem Conf●ssionis ipsa non est instituta saltem in actu tanquam necessaria remissioni p●ccatorum sed hanc praesupponit sed propter tri● instituta est 1. so ut P●ccator innotescat Ecclesiae tanquam absolutus 2. ut certa satisfactio per quam poena peccati tollitur à Confessore ●mpon●tur 3. ut poenae pars virtute Sacramentalis absolutionis remittatur Gab. Bicl ib. it was not instituted at least in act as necessary for the forgiveness of sin but that ●t supposeth but it was ordained for three other purposes 1. that the finner might appear unto the Church to be absolved 2. That a certain satisfaction might be imposed by the Confessor whereby the punishment of sin may be taken off 3. and that a part of the punishment might be remitted by Priestly absolution Grave considerations and weighty sure but the scales must then hang at Rome to weight them in else with us on this side of the Alpes they will be found lighter than vanity it self and in Biels own judgment imposition of penance the second reason is not so necessary to a discreet Penitent that c. n. allot himself a just portion for his sin yea absolution saith he may be injoyned without any imposition of penance at all Non videtur necessarium praesertim ubi co●sitens non indiget inform●tione poena quae hic non solvitur solvitur in futuro fient quoque tales salvi sed non nisi per ignem Gab. ib. as he saith if the Penitent will run the hazard of Purgatory and not make payment here but defer till then where the utmost pardon shall be exacted And in truth prescription of penance is the principal mark aimed at in Popish shrift and satisfaction the choicest imployment where Penitents are taught more to rely upon that reed and arm of flesh than upon him that dyed upon the Cross Like the Ambassadours of Ptolomaeus and Cleopatra who acknowledged in their Masters nàme Plus cos S. P. Q. R. quàm parentibus ejus quam Diis immortalibus debere per quos obsidione miserrimâ liberati essent regnum propè amissum recepissent Tit. Livius lib. 45. Sect. 13. that their Countrey was more bound to the Senate and people of Rome for their deliverance from a miserable siege and for the restitution of their kingdome in danger to be lost than to their own d●ar Parents yea than to the immortal Gods Let I say their actions be scanned and their intentions thereby discerned and when these ends are resolved to be necessary let confession be decreed to be so also But what say you to the third necessity 3. Necessitas Praecepti which is of Precept and Command Indeed Divine precepts should not be questioned but observed Let there be shewed any mandamus from heaven with a peremptory command for Confession upon such conditions and we submittimus fasces will yield the Bucklers as extremely loth to espouse any contrary opinion to the express word of God Therefore speak Lord for thy servants would g●adly hear The Lord hath said indeed Except a man be born again of water and of the Spirit but no where Except a man repent and be shriven by a Priest he cannot enter into the kingdome of God This is it the School-men and Jesuites have sought for narrowly Quod Cajetanus in Commentariis super hunc locum asserit institutionem Sacramenti Poenitentiaeindè haberi non praecoptum certissimè fallitur Canus Relect. de Poenit. pag. 899. and are yet to seek And how well they have found it in these words whose sins soever ye remit c. hath in part been discussed and Cajetan saith but is checked for so saying that the institution of repentance may there be found but no precept A late Sorbonist hath found another Precept Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart Tout homme qui a perdula grace est tenu obliegé de droit divine de la recouvrer attendu que pas commandment express il est tenu d'aimer Dieu de tout son cour Diliges Dominum c. Or celui qui n'a point la grace n'aime point son Dieu l'homme pecheur est privé de cete grace il est donc tenu de la recouvrer il la recouvre en confessant ses pechez an Prestre Pierre Bess Caresme Tom. 2. p. 723. A Paris 1628. c. But how is Auricular confession concluded here marry thus The

old man the flesh and in the quickning of the spirit Nor have they stayed here but have called on for the fruits and exercises thereof professing the end and scope of repentance to be the restitution of Gods image decayed in us Officia pietatis erga Deunt charitatis erga homines externa testimonia quae sinceram resipiscentiam commendant Calv. have injoyned the offices of piety to God and of charity towards man That penitent sinners are trees of Righteousness of Gods own planting Es 6.3 Ezek. 47.12 growing by the waters that flow out of the Sanctuary and therefore must bear fruit that may serve for meat and leaf for med cine Behold then the subtilty of Satan and iniquity of these times perswading many to have inward Repentance and grief in the heart without any external exercise or fruit whereas the tree is known to be good by the fruit it beareth 'T is true bodily exercise upon the flesh where the spirit and inward grace of Contrition is wanting profiteth nothing yet if true sorrow be planted in the heart it will break forth in the eye with tears and tongue with confession Consider how unsuitable it is to cut off all bodily Repentance for sins done in the body as thou hast given thy members to the one so give them to the other also Thus have I opened so far as is necessary the doctrine of Repentance and shall dismiss the same with certain conclusions The very nature and essence of Repentance consists in turning Conclus 1. The first text that Saint Paul preached on to the Gentiles after his own conversion Acts 26.20 was that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for Repentance the summe and drift of Repentance being to pass from our selves to God which conversion is not a substantial change altering the subject but an alteration in the qualities of the Converts soul changing them from evil to good as for example the same body now in health 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist de gener corrup l. 1. text 23. now diseased where the substance is the same but not the state or as the same metal wrought in an angular or circular figure materially the same though not formally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. ib. In repentance then the substance is not changed as in generation and corruption nor the quantity as in growth and diminution but in qualities and conditions onely a transformation of the inward man therefore called a new heart and described by returning unto the Lord putting away abominations out of his sight Ezek. 18.31 Jer. 4.1 3 4. by breaking up of fallow ground and circumcising the fore-skins of the heart wherein lies the amendment and alteration A Penitent upon the sense of his sins and Gods judgments Conclus 2. Peccati odium poenitentiae exordium illum arbitror plurimum profecisse qui sibi plurimum displicere didicit Calvin becomes a person much dejected as David and Peter and thereupon grows into a great dislike with himself wishing he were another man and as the beginning of Repentance proceedeth from the hatred of sin so doth the hatred of sin spring from the fear of God and that penitent hath made a fair progress in Repentance which hath truly learned with himself to be highly displeased Contrition in a true Penitent is a godly sorrow for sin and for incurring Gods displeasure Conclus 3. Grief for sin is where the sin is more abhorred than the punishment that if there were no Conscience to accuse no Devil to terrifie no Judge to arraign and condemn no hell to torment yet to be humbled for all that for sin and brought upon our knees for offending such a God and that sin should be the more displeasing to us for that it is unto Him displeasing There was in the heart of Anselmus such a detestation of sin as to profess that if the horror of sin on the one side and terror of hell on the other were so proposed as one of them chuse which he would must needs be undergone by him Si hinc peccati horrorem hinc inferni dolorem corporaliter cerneret necessariò uni eorum immergi deberet priùs infernum quàm peccatum appeteret Malle se purum à peccato innocentem Gehennam habere quàm peccati sorde pollutum coelorum regna tenere Eadmer vita Anselm lib. 2. that he would prefer the torments to suffer there before the filthiness of sin to be unclean here and that in his option and choice he had rather descend into hell an innocent and undefiled than to ascend into heaven with guilt and uncleanness such hearts and holy resolves God send us A Penitent indeavoureth by all wayes and means possible to appease the wrath of God Conclus 4. to make his atonement for the obtaining of mercy by faith in Christ and the efficacy of his merits by humility of heart by confession and acknowledgment of the offence by promises of amendment and by frequenting the best remedies against sin supporting himself in all his anguishes and afflictions and though he have fallen among theeves be stripped of his rayment and wounded yet he is not quite dead gasping for relief Luke 10.30 Clem. Alex. paed lib. 1. pag. 89. and anchoring himself upon the coming of the good Samaritan his soul is a wounded spirit indeed but wounded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a father speaketh not to death but so as may be healed Arbitror quòd etiam Judas potuisset tantâ Dci miseratione non excludi à venia si poenitentiam non apud Judaeos sed apud Christum egisset l. 2. de poen c. 5. Hoc auferre vultis Novatiani propter quod agitur poenit●ntia tolle Gubernatoris perveniendi spem in mediis fluctibus incertus errabit tolle luctatori coronam lentus jacebit in stadio Bonum Dominum habemus qui velit donare omnibus Ambr. lib. 2. de poenit cap. 3. This expectation of pardon and reconcilement differenceth the godly sorrow of true Converts from the gulph of grief and desperation of forlorn Miscreants such as were Cain and Judas men swallowed up of sorrow without the least beam of comfort Judas went the wrong way in confessing his sins unto the Jewish Priests and not unto God I suppose saith Ambrose that if that Confession had been directed unto Christ he might have found mercy hope of mercy is the onely incouragement to Repentance without this Anchor the Pilot and his ship are t●ssed incertainly with winds and waves take away this laurel the Champion will languish upon the theatre But a good Lord we have that will forgive all and to all that seek him saith the glory of Millaine And in this last Conclusion we have news of Confession which is a good means to obtain mercy and forgiveness to which we hasten CHAP. III. The Contents Discipline of Penance wherefore injoyned by the Church

Greg. And hence it comes to pass that the Fathers erect thrones for these Presbyters making them Judges and honouring their resolves as solemn judgments Saint Austin expounds the thrones Rev. 20.4 and those that sate thereon and the judgment given unto them in the Revelation Non hoc putandum est de ultimo judicio dici sed sedes Praepositorum ipsi praepositi intelligendi sunt per quos ecclesiae nunc gubernatur Judicium autem datum nullum mela●is accipiendum quàm id quod dictum est Quaecunque ligaveritis c. undè Apostolus Quid enim inquit mihi est de his qui foris sunt judicare nonne de his qui intus sunt vos judicatis Aug. lib. 20. de Civit. Dei cap. 9. not of the last judgment But the seats of the Rulers and the Rulers themselves are understood to be those by whom the Church is now gove●ned And the judgment given unto them cannot be taken better than of that which is spoken whose sins soever ye remit c. and the Apostle what have I to do to judge those that are without and do not you judge of those that are within And Saint Chrysostome extols the same far above the glittering pomp of earthly Tribunals Although the Kings Throne seem unto us majestical for the precious stones dazling therein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tom. 5. p. 152. and the gold wherewith it is beset But withall the administration of earthly things alone comes under the jurisdiction thereof and further authority it hath not whereas the Priests throne is seated in heaven and matters thence are turned over to their decision And Saint Hierome having the keys of the kingdome of heaven they judge after a sort before the day of judgment Qui claves Regni coelorum habentes quodammodo ante diem judicii judicant Hierom. ad Heliod And Saint Gregory Behold they are not onely secured on their own behalf Ecce non solum de semetipsis securi sunt sed etiam alienae obl●gat●onis potestatem relaxationis accipiunt principatumque superni judicii sortiuntur ut vice Dei quibusdam peccata retineant quibusdam r●laxent Greg. sup●à but receive the power of loosing the bonds from others and obtain a principality of judgment from above that they may in Gods stead retain the sins of some and release the sins of others Either then we must ascribe judgment to the Priests in the Ministery of the keys or else afford but little in this behalf to these Doctors Judges sure they are if these Ancient worthies have any judgment 3. The exercise of the keys We are now come to the exercise of this power which is indeed the very life thereof and this practice is spiritual as the weapons of our warfare are containing the means in the discreet use and application whereof God forgiveth sin and his Minister giveth notice of that forgiveness Dr Field of the Church Book 5. chap. 22. pag. 104. London 1610. Now there are four things in the hand of the Minister as a great Divine of our Church noteth the Word Prayer Sacraments and Discipline by the word of Doctrine he frameth winneth and perswadeth the sinner to repentance and conversion seeking and procuring remission from God By Prayer he seeketh and obtaineth it for the sinner By the Sacraments he instrumentally maketh him partaker as well of the grace of remission as of conversion and by the power of the discipline he doth by way of authority punish evil doers and remit or diminish the punishments he inflicteth according as the Condition of the party may seem to require Thus that judicious man hath reduced the practick of the keys unto four heads and we receiving this method from him shall open them more particularly The first is the word of Reconciliation 1. By the Word and consisteth in the preaching and due applying thereof and the Ministery thereof doth the Apostle specially place as a powerful ordinance 2 Cor. 5.18 whereby a sinner is cleansed from his iniquity Now are ye clean through the word I have spoken unto you whereupon Aquinas observeth God to have given us the virtue Dedisse virtutem inspirasse in cordibus nostris ut annuntiemus mundo hanc reconciliationem esse sactam per Christum Aquin. in 2 Cor. 5. and to have inspired into our hearts that we should declare unto the world this reconciliation to have been made by Christ Therefore it is called 1. the word of salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 2.15 Acts 13.26 2. and the word of his grace Acts 14.3 and the word of promise Rom 9.9 and the word of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 and the word of faith which we preach Rom. 10.8 Insomuch that when Timothy shall rightly divide the word of truth that is promises to whom promises belong and judgment to whom judgment appertaineth and that by preaching of the word instantly 2 Tim. 4.2 and applying the same by way of reproof and exhortation or by private admonition therein he doth the work of an Evangelist and maketh good proof of his Ministery Solvunt eos Apostoli sermone Dei testimoniis Scripturarum exhortanone virtutum Hieron Lib. 6. Comment in Es 14. After this manner did the Apostles loose the cords of sin by the word of God saith Hierome by the testimony of the Scriptures Remittuntur peccata per Dei verbum cujus Levites interpres quidam executor est Ambr. and by exhortations unto virtue And Saint Ambrose sins are remitted by the word of God whereof the Levite was an Interpreter and a kind of Executor And in this sense the Apology of the Church of England acknowledgeth the power of binding and loosing Ministris à Christo datam esse ligandi solvendi aperiendi claudendi potestatem solvendi quidem munus in eo situm esse ut Minister dejectis animis verè resipiscentibus per Evangelii praedicationem merita Christi absolutionem offerat certam peccatorum condonationem ac spem salutis aeternae denunciet c. Apol. Eccles Anglic. of opening and shutting to have been given by Christ unto the Ministers and the power of loosing to consist herein when the Minister by the preaching of the Gospel shall tender the merits of Christ and absolution to dejected spirits and truly penitent and shall denounce unto them an assured pardon of their sins and hope of eternal salvation Luke 11.52 This is that key of knowledge mentioned by our Saviour Matth. 23.13 And as the Jewish Scribes were by him justly reprehended for shutting up the kingdome of heaven against men by their wicked and adulterine expositions of the Law folding up the prophesies lest the people should read Christ therein and believe maliciously detaining the key of knowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl in Luc. 11. and not opening the Gates of the Law that