Beveridge on Article XVI: Of Sin after Baptism

future life. And if so, every sin of a regenerate man cannot be the sin against the Holy Ghost, for that shall never be pardoned : and it shall therefore only never be pardoned by God, because never repented of by us. For if it could be repented of by us, it could not but be pardoned by God, the promise of pardon to repentance running in general terms, that if a man do confess his sins to God, God will pardon his sins to him. And therefore, though a regenerate man may fall into sin, yet seeing he may also afterwards rise from it, and repent of it, it may also be pardoned to him; and there- fore it is not the sin against the Holy Ghost. And therefore also are they to be condemned that say they can no more sin as long as they are here, or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent. For if after baptism and regeneration we can sin no more, or if we do sin, it is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and so unpardonable; it must needs follow, that repentance is not to be granted to any that sin after baptism, for then it would be granted to the sin against the Holy Ghost, which God himself denies it to.

The sum of all is this: Every sin willingly committed after baptism is not an unpardonable sin, but it may be repented of by us, and therefore pardoned by God.

And this is clear from the case of Simon Magus, who, as St. Augustine? observes, was baptized before he fell into that horrid sin which we from him call simony ; and yet St. Peter admonished him, saying, Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee, Acts viii. 22. Which plainly shews, that though Simon did sin, yea, and against the Holy Ghost, yet Peter did not think he sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost, but that upon his prayer and repentance this his sin, his great sin, might be pardoned: ¢so that Peter did not deny the grant of repent-

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e Simonem quoque Magum ar- guens Petrus apostolus, quod tam

male de Spiritu Sancto senserit, ut eum venalem putans pecunia sibi emendum proposcerit, non tamen ita de illo desperavit, ut venice locum nullum relinqueret; nam benigne etiam, ut eum peeniteret, admonuit.

Ibid. [15.]

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338 Of Sin after Baptism. Arr.

ance to him, but advised him to repent. Yea, and Peter himself after baptism denied his Master; but though he denied Christ, Christ did not deny the grant of repentance to him.

To which we might also add the many places of scripture where all are commanded to repent; but of what force would that command be, if we might repent and yet not be par- cloned? f Certainly to exclude any penitents from pardon is to keep off all sinners from repentance: for it would be in vain to repent of their sins, if they might repent of them and yet not obtain a pardon for them. But what means that place also, A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again? Prey. xxiv. 16. Doth it not intimate to us that a man may fall from grace given, and yet rise again? If he rise again, it must be by repentance: and therefore a just man may fall, a just man may sin, and yet he may afterwards repent, and if he repents and confesseth his sin, God is just and righteous to Forgive him his sin, 1 John i. 9; and if God grants pardon, man cannot deny the grant of repentance to them that fall into sin and rise again.

But I need not insist any longer upon so plain a truth. For I have proved before, article IX. that there are re- mainders of sin in the best of saints, and in the article immediately before this, that the best of saints are guilty of sin; and therefore if after baptism and regeneration every sin were unpardonable, the saints themselves must all be damned, because guilty of sin after baptism and regeneration, and so none could be saved. The unregenerate could not be saved, because not regenerate; the regenerate could not be saved, because they sin after regeneration. Which to assert would inevitably lead us into atheism and blasphemy.

f Atque O frustrande fraternitatis

sed nullam pacem quam queris ac- irrisio! O miserorum lamentantium

cipies. Quis non statim pereat?

caduca deceptio! O heretice insti- tutionis inefficax et vana traditio ! hortari ad satisfactionis peenitentiam, et subtrahere de satisfactione medi- cinam! Dicere fratribus nostris, Plange et lachrymas funde, ac diebus et noctibus ingemisce, et pro ablu- endo et purgando delicto tuo largiter et frequenter operare; sed extra ec- clesiam post omnia morieris! Que- cunque ad pacem pertinent facies,

Quis non ipsa desperatione deficiat ? Quis non animum suum a proposito lamentationis avertat ? Cyprian. Ep. ad Antonianum. [55. ad fin.] Pra- cludere est atque abscindere iter doloris ad peenitendi viam, ut cum scripturis Dominus Deus reverten- tibus ad se et poenitentibus blandi- atur, nostra duritia et crudelitate, dum fructus poenitentiz intercipitur, peenitentia ipsa tollatur. Ibid.

XVI. Of Sin after Baptism. 339

I shall not therefore speak any more to this article, but only to shew its agreement with the doctrine of the primitive church. Gregory Nyssen saith, 8 “In the choice of evils it is rather to be chosen, that a man having obtained baptism should be again in sin, than that he should end his life void of grace. For sin indeed may perhaps have pardon and mercy, whereof good people have great hope: but salvation is alto- gether forbidden to the other, by a certain and determinate sentence.” And therefore every sin after baptism is not unpardonable. And Theodoret to the same purpose: )“ But he that hath attained the gift of baptism calleth God Father, as one that is inserted into the order of the sons of grace. These therefore are commanded to say, Yorgive us our debts. The wounds therefore that are made even after baptism are also curable.”

Hence St. Cyprian, in whose days Novatianus, the grand oppugner of this plain truth, arose, saith, ’“‘ But I wonder that there are some so obstinate, as not to think repentance ought to be given to such as are fallen, or suppose that pardon should be denied to penitents, when it is written, Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the Jirst works.” Apoe. ii. 5. And afterwards, * “ Which reading to wit and holding, we think none ought to be driven away from the fruit of satisfaction and the hope of peace, when we know, according to the faith of the scriptures, God himself

& In electione malorum magis est eligendum, ut salutare lavacrum as- secutus, rursus sit in peccato, quam ut gratie expers vitam finiat. Nam

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i Miror autem quosdam sic obsti- natos esse ut dandam lapsis non

peccatum quidem veniam fortasse consequetur, aut clementiam, cujus magna est spes apud bonos; alteri autem est omnino vetita salus ex certa et definita sententia. Nyssen. Orat. adversus eos qui differunt baptismum. [p. 219. vol. IT.]

h Qui autem baptismatis donum est assecutus Patrem vocat Deum, ut qui in gratize filiorum ordinem sit allectus ; ii ergo jussi sunt dicere, Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Sunt ergo medicabilia etiam que post baptismum fiunt vulnera. Theodo- ret. de divinis decretis, c. de poeni-

putent peenitentiam, aut poenitenti- bus existiment veniam denegandam, cum scriptum sit, Memento unde cecideris, et age penitentiam, et fac priora opera. Cyprian. Epist. [55. | ad Antonianum.

k Quod legentes scilicet et tenen- tes neminem putamus a fructu satis- factionis et spe pacis arcendum, cum sciamus juxta scripturarum fidem, autore et hortatore ipso Deo, et ad agendam peenitentiam peccatores re- digi, et veniam atque indulgentiam penitentibus non denegari. Ibid, [ad calc. |

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340 Of Sin after Baptism.

being the Author and Exhorter to it, sinners are compelled to act repentance, and pardon and indulgence is not denied to the penitents.” And again: |“ But seeing we find none ought to be prohibited from acting repentance, and that to such as deprecate and pray for the mercy of the Lord, according to that wherein he is merciful and holy, peace may be granted by his priests, the sighs of the sorrowful are to be admitted, and the fruit of repentance is not to be denied to such as grieve.” So that after baptism such as do fall into sin are not therefore to be denied the grant of repentance. And this Father’s testimony is to be of the greater value, because it was in his days this truth was first opposed, and so by him the first defended.

St. Augustine hath also many things to this purpose: m‘ But,” saith he, “if any one think that then the word is spoken against the Holy Ghost when it is spoken by him to whom his sins are forgiven him by baptism, let them consider, that even from such, by the holiness of the church, the place of repentance is not taken away.” And afterwards more sharply: “For if ignorance only obtains pardon, and ig- norance is not accepted but only before a man be baptized, not only if he speak a word against the Holy Ghost after baptism, but also if he speak against the Son of man, yea, and if he defile himself with fornication, homicide, or any other sin or fault after baptism, he cannot be cured by re- pentance. Which such as hold, they are excluded from the catholic communion, and it is judged that they cannot be

™ Quod si quisquam tune putat verbum dici adversus Spiritum Sanc- tum, cum ab eo dicitur cui jam per baptismum dimissa sunt peccata, attendant nec talibus per ecclesiz sanctitatem auferri poenitentie lo- cum. Aug. Exposit. epist.ad Roma-

nos inchoat. [16. part. ii. vol. III.] n §i enim sola ignorantia veniam meretur, et ignorantia non accipitur nisi antequam quisquam fuerit bap- tizatus, non solum si adyersus Spi- ritum Sanctum, sed etiam si adver- sus Filium hominis post baptismum dixerit verbum, et omnino si qua fornicatione, vel homicidio, vel ullo flagitio aut facmore post baptismum sese maculaverit, non potest poeni- tendo curari. Quod qui senserunt, exclusi sunt a communione catho- lica, satisque judicatum est eos in illa crudelitate divine misericordiz participes esse non posse. Ibid.

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partakers of God’s mercy so long as they lie in that cruelty.” I shall conclude these testimonies with that of the same Father : °“ But the love of our neighbour, that is, the love of man, even unto the love of our enemy, the Lord himself com- mendeth to us ; and we see how many that are baptized both acknowledge them to be true, and reverence them as the commands of God. But when they undergo the enmities of any one, they are so inflamed with the desire of revenge, that they burn with such flames of hatred, that they cannot be appeased though the Gospel itself be read and recited to them; and the churches are full of such men already baptized > which notwithstanding spiritual men do not cease in a bro- therly way to admonish, and with the spirit of meekness they constantly instruct them, that they would be ready to meet and resist such temptations, and that they would love rather to reign in the peace of Christ, than to rejoice in the oppres- sion of the enemy, which would be done in vain if there was no hope of pardon nor cure of repentance left for such sins or sinners.”

But notwithstanding this truth is so clear of itself, and hath had so many to stand up in the defence of it, yet hath it had its opposers too, especially in the primitive church. For Philastrius tells us, that P“‘in the persecution, because many believers fell, and were received again into repentance by the church, some being angry, or rather led with presumption and pride, endeavoured to sow a vain doctrine, separating them-

© Dilectionem autem proximi, id est dilectionem hominis usque ad inimici dilectionem nobis Dominus ipse commendat; et videmus quam multi jam baptizati, et vera esse ista fateantur, et tanquam Domini pre- cepta venerentur. Cum autem perpessi fuerint alicujus inimicitias, ita rapiuntur animo ad ulciscendum, ut tantis inardescant facibus odio- rum, ut nec prolato et recitato evan- gelio placari possint. Et talibus ho- minibus jam baptizatis ecclesiz ple- nz sunt, quos tamen spiritales viri fraterne admonere non cessant, et in spiritu lenitatis instanter mstruunt, ut hujusmodi temptationibus occur- rere atque resistere parati sint, et

[…]

P In persecutione, quia lapsi sunt multi fideles, et in poenitentiam sus- cepti sunt a catholica ecclesia, irati imo potius presumptione ducti ac superbia, vanam doctrinam conati sunt seminare, separantes se ab ec- clesia catholica, atque a Christi bonitate et misericordia dissonantes, et dicentes, non esse fideli post baptismum locum aliquem poeniten- tie. Philastrius. [81.]

Notes

• Quod si invenimus a peenitentia agenda neminem debere prohiberi, et deprecantibus atque exorantibus Domini misericordiam, secundum quod ille misericors et pius est, per sacerdotes ejus pacem posse concedi, admittendus est plangentium gemi- tus, et poenitentize fructus dolentibus non negandus. Ibid.