Veneer on Article XXII: Of Purgatory

[…]

of ©00*

The Exposition.

F we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we huve Fellowjhip one with another and the Blood of Jesus Chrifi his Son cleanfeth us from all Sin. These are the Words of St. John in his First Epiftle, chap. i. and ver. 7. And Ren), xiv. 13. we have these Words, And I heard a Voice from Hca’ven saying unto me Write Bleffed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Tea faith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them. And S. Cle?nent o£ Alexandria teils us t. That he who repents here, fhail not repent when he leaves

± S)jiii Dives [dv. c, .li. p. 1

and c. 40. p. loj-.

his

\

Tbirty-Nine Articles. 445

his Body ; neither shall he be afliamed when he Ll’ fees his Saviour coming in his Glory and Power ; neither shall Fire burn him. This ‘tis to repent and condemn such Things as i\re past, and beg Pardon for them of the Father, who alone, among ail others, is able to undo thofc Things that are done , and by his Mercy and the Dew of his Spirit, can blot out our Tranfgrcffions : In which, faith he, if I find you, for them will I judge you. ” There is not, faith S. Cyprian ’ neither can there be, any Confellion of Sins ” among the Dead. ”

I N a Word, it appears from the latter End of the 25th Chapter of St. Matthew’s Gofpcl, and several other Places of Scripture, that there will be a State of Eternal Happineis after thi so/ pr/?7. Life, for the Good and Pious, and a State of Eternal Milery for the Wicked ; but a third State, of a mixt Nature, is no where fo much as hinted at throughout the Bible. So ground- less is the Komijh Fidion of Purgatory, by which they mean a Place in which departed Souls are cleanfed, which were not fully purged from their Sins in this Life f.

What this Article calls the Dodrine o? of Vardons^ Pardons, is alio called the Dodlrine of Indul- gences, by which those of the Church of Rome heap to themselves an immense Treasure out of the over-flowing Merits of Christ and the Sain ts, of which the Pope is the chief Manager : He

• £/>//?. ss-

t See Homily of Prayer, Part III. Snllingfieefs Idolatry of the Church of Rome, p. i8o. Patrick’s Anfwcr to the Touch-Stone, §.47. Trideaux Fafc. Contr. 6^. §. 2. q. 7. JewelVs Def. Apol. Part II. c. 16. Div. i. Tleld of the Church, pag. 33J, 75-1. Tillotfon on i Cor, iii. ly. and 2 Cor» V. 6.

takes

44^ ^^ Expofitioft on the

Art. XXII. takes upoti him to apply, to whomfbevcr h^

[…]

for the Pv.emilTion of such Punifhmcnts as remain

to be inflided aiter the Faults themselves are

forgiven.

For those of the Church of Rome luppofe, that afr.er Mens Sins by the Sacrament of Pe- nance are forgiven to them, fo that now there is no more Guilt remaining, nor by Conlequence any more Obligation to an Eternal Punishment due to it 3 there continues nevertheleis, an Obligat’on to Temporal Punishment, to be un- dergone as a true and proper Satisfaction for Sin, either here or in Purgatory ; and that this, the Pope hath Power to difpenfe with, by ap- •plying to them the Satisfactions not only of Christ, but of all his Saints j who, having led ievere Lives, and sufFered a greater Temporal Punishment than was requisite to satisfy for their own Sins, have left a Stock in Bank to the Treasure of the Church, for the Advantage of others, and the Remiflion of those Temporal Pains by such an Application. This is that they properly call Indulgence; for the Support of which, there is not one PafTage in Holy Scrip- ture ; but there are several which are incon- fiflent with the DoCtrine and Pra6tice of the Church of Kome in this Particular. Thus I John i. 9. we are told, that it is God that cleanfeth us from all Unrighteoufnefs. And St. Peter speaking of our Blefled Saviour, As iv. 12. hath these Words : Neither is there Sal- n)ation in any other for there is none other Name under Hea’ven gwen among Men whereby we rauft he saved. And the Prophet Isaiah tells us chap. liii. 5. “Vhit he was wounded for our ranf- grejjms and hruifed for our Iniquities -, That

the

Thirty ‘Wne Articles. 447

the Chaftifement of our Peace was upon him and Art. Xxil that with his Stripes we are healed. And that f the Saints have no Merit at all, and much less such a Degree of it as this Dodrine fuppofes, is already proved under the XlVth Article.

I MUST not conclude this Head, without taking Notice of another Dodrine of the Church of Ro7ne. Our Bleffed Saviour says to his DiC- ciples, Johnyyi, 23. Whose Sins ye remit they are remitted. And St. James . chap. v. ver. 15. ipeaking of a Sick Peribn, laith, Ka.v amjioi ‘TTc-mimui d(piQmi7nt AVTa, Which Words are not to be rendered as our Translators have rendered them, but thus : And if he have committed Sins Ahfolution shall he gi’ven him ; as appears from Dr. Hammond’s Notes upon those Words, and from the Practice of the Primitive Church, the best of Commentaries, which always granted Abfolution to Persons lying in Danger of Death, From hence the Church of England rightly concludes, that Christ hath left a Power with his Church to declare Forgiveness of Sins to all such as truly repent of them, and believe in him ; and that when the Ministers of his Word are called in to the Afliftance of fick or icrupulous Persons, they may, upon the Sup- position of a true Repentance, pronounce in God’s Name, the Pardon of their Sins to them. ’

But in this, they only deliver the Sentence of God j which, if the Sinners be truly penitent, God will infallibly make good ; otherwise it would be of no Ufe to them, because it was erroneously, though charitably pasTed upon them.

But the Church of Rome holds, That tho’ a Sinner be not affedted With such a Sorrow for

his

44 8 ^n Eipofitioli nn the

Art. XXII. his Sins, as would otherwise be sufficient to “y obtain God’s Pardon yet by rightly confeiling them to a Priest, they fliall be forgiven, and an Entrance opened into Heaven by the Power of the Keys in Abfolution. She likewise holds. That the Pope may grant a Man a full Remif fion of Sins, though he has neither confeffed them to any Priest, nor finds in his own Heart any manner of Contrition for them ; fo that fhe ufurps upon the Prerogative of God’s Power to forgive Sins, Mark ii. 7. and alfb lays a very dangerous Stumbling-Biock in the Way of wicked Men , whilst fhe encourages them to rely on such a Sorrow, and such a Method for the Forgiveness of Sins, as will certainly fail and ruin them in the End. For the Scripture aflures us, in Places innumerable, that except we repent inje Jhall all per’tflo , and that without HoUnefs vo Maw Jhall fee the Lord *.

of Images, The Worshippers of Images have endea- voured to excuse themielves from the heinous Charge of Idolatry, by diftinguilhing betwixt an Image and an Idol, betwixt an Abiblute and a Relative Worihip ; but in vain : For God hath not only forbidden the Worshipping of Idols, as I John v. 21. Little Children^ keep yotirfehues from Idols : And in a Multitude of Places befidcs , but hath absolutely forbidden us to pay any Religious Worihip to Images, Exod. XX. 4, 5. Thoiijloalt not make unto thee any Graven Image^ or any Ltkenefs of any 1’hing that is in

Catcchifm, §. 18,

Heaven

Thirty-Nme Articles. 449

Heaven ahove, or in the Earth beneath or that is Art. xxil. in the Water under the Earthy fhoujhalt not bow OTV/j down thyfelf to them nor serve them ; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous Gody ifiting the Jm quity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me.

’ Without doubt, faith Laantius there ’ is no Religion where there is an Image. For ’ if Religion relate to such Things as are Divine ’ there is nothing Divine but Heavenly Things. ’ Images therefore have nothing to do With Re- ” ligion, because nothing can be Heavenly ” which is made out of the Earth ” ” If we ’ are, faith Origen to hearken to those who ’ endeavour to gain Profelytes to their leveral ’ Parties among the Greeks or Barbarians ; ” how much rather ihould we believe in Him ’ who is God over all, and teacheth us, that ’ He alone is to be worshipped, and that we ’ are in a manner to defpife all other Things ” which either never were, or are indeed worthy ”• of fome Refped, yet do not deserve to be

adored and worshipped }

A s to Reliques, it seems strange to me how of Kellquei, they came to be adored, since the Saints them- selves, when they were upon Earth, refused Adoration when it was offered them, and that too with a great deal of Vehemence, as we fee, As X. 25, 26. And as Peter was coming in Cor- nelius met him and fell dozvn at his Feet and worfloipped him. But Peter took him up saying Stand up ; / myself also am a Man. And chap, xiv. ver. 13, 14, 15. hen the Priejl qf Jupiter

F f whick

4)0 An Exposition on the

Art.xX1I which ivas hefore their City Ironght Oxen and VON-/’ Garlands unto the Gates and ivould have done Sacrifice with the People. iVhtch when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of they rent their Cloaths and ran in among the People crying out and saying Sirs why do ye the/‘e things ? We also are Men of like PaJJions with you. And how the Reliques came to be more holy than the Saints themselves, is hard to imagine. I fhail close this Head with a Declaration of the Church of Smyrna , t ” We worship Christ as the Son of God ; but the Martyrs we love, * as we ought, as Disciples and Imitators of ” our Lord, and for the Sake of their ftedfaft ” and unfhaken Affeftion to their King and ” Master.”*

of Invocation A s to Invocation of Saints, since all Invoca- cfsmPi. .-jQj j yjn where there is not Faith, James i. 6, 7. where we are commanded to ask in Faith ; and since there can be no Faith, where there is no Word of God to support it, it follows, that Invocation of Saints muil be a vam 1 hing, in- afmuch as there is no W ord of God to found it on. And farther, since we have but one Mediator i lim. ii. 5 who is able to fave to the uttermoft them that cnme unto God by him Heb. vii. 25. whofoever betakes himself to the Mediation of Saints, puts a Slight upon Christ, who is our true and only Medator. The Rea- fon which the Komanifts alledge for the Invo- cation of Saints, is only a Simile or Resemblance of the Court of Heaven to an Earthly Prince, whom no inferior Subjed: must presume to ap-

.4: Euiebii Hill. lib. 4. cap. if.

preach

ThIrty-Nhie Articles. 4^1

preach with any Petition, be it never fb reason* Art. xxir;

able, till Ibme Officer of State, or Gre -t Man ^w/’VNJi

about the Prince^ is pleased to introduce hm,

and {peak in his Behalf From whence they

argue. That we who are wretched Sinners, on

whom the Vengeance of God is ready to fall, are

not to rush, immediately into God’s Presence,

when we desire to have ourWants supplied, but to

make our Application to rhofe who nre fuppoied

to be very high in his Favour, and intimately

converiant with him.

T o which I anfwcr. That Earthly Princes have neither Time nor Opportunities to examine into the Truth and Pv.eafonab]en els of all Peti- tions that are brought them and that if Men were promifcuoufly admitted to them, it would endanger their Safety. And lastly, 1 hat tho’ they may not fulFer Men to approach them without being introduced by fbme Fave irite or Minister, out of an Opinion that they thereby procure the greater Refpeclfrom their Subjeds ; and though this Refervednels may have its desired Eifed:, yet every Man, I am sure, would be gladly freed from the Trouble which it many times occasions. Why then Ihould we look out for others to make known our R equefts to God, who are not declared in the Scriptures to be capable of doing it, or to be authorized for this Purpose, especially fmce we are covci- mandd to go boldly imto the 7’brone of Grace that we may obtain Mevcy and find Grace to help in fime of Need J Heb. iv. i6. ? *

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F f 2 ^»

452 An Expofitioti on the

[…]

IT is not a little to be considered in Opposition to the Dodlrine of Purgatory, that the Scrip- tures not only every where represent to us this present Life as the Time of Trial and Exercise, of Sufferings and Afflidions ; but alfb encourage us, on this very Consideration, to bear them with Patience and Resignation, that as foon we die they shall all end, and we shall receive the llejfcd Reward which God hath prepared for them that bear them as they ought to do. I look upon it, faith St. Paul Konh viii. i8. hat the Sufferings of this present Life are 7iot worthy to he compared with the Glory which shall he revealed. And again, 2 Cor. iv. 17. For the Sufferings of this present Life work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal IVeight of Glory, Many other Places of this kind there are, in which our present Sufferings are compared with, and opposed to our future Reward. Now, if when all these Encounters are ended, there be flill another and more dreadful Sort of Trial to be undergone elsewhere, how could the Apostle have used those kind of yntithefes and have encouraged us to a Conftancy in our present Afflidions, from the Profped of a Time, when, according to these Men, there are yet greater and more levere ones to be undergone by us And this then may be afecond Obfcrvation • That the Scripture always Ipeaks of the Death of

Good

Thirty ‘Nine Articles.^ 455

Good Men as a BleJJlng an immediate Kefl from Art.xxii: their Labours ; and therefore underllood nothing ‘VN,* of those Torments to which they are now condemned by the Church of Rome according to Revel, xiv. 13. before-mentioned. ‘Twas this AfTurance that made the Holy Men of Old fb defirous of their DiiTolution, that they might find an End of all those Labours and Evils which they fuffcred here. / am in a Straiglot hetwixt twoy iaith St. Pauly halving a Be fire to depart and to he with Christ Phil. i. 23. Surely St. Paul never thought of Purgatory, when he talked thus of going to Christ j nor would he have appeared fo defirous of his DifTblution, had he known he ihould have been cast into such a Fire as the Romanifis fuppofe to be in this infernal Region : Nor can it be reasonably said, that this was the Apostle’s peculiar Happiness ; and there- fore, that though he indeed was secure of going immediately to Christ, yet others were not therefore to exped: the like Favour ; for 2 Cor. V. I. we find him promising the very fame to all Christians indifferently ; / know says he, that if our Earthly House of this tabernacle were dlffolved we have a Building with Gody an House not made with Hands., eternal in the Heavens. And again, ver. 8. IVhen we are absent from the Body lays he, we are pre font with the Lord : By which it appears, that when good Men die, they go to the Lord, to Christ, to their heavenly House ; and surely that is not Purgatory. To this agree thoie few Instances v/e have of Just Mens dying, in the New eftamera. Lazarus in the Parable, i? said to be in Abraham”* Bosom ; the Penitent fhief on the Cross. was promised that he should be that Day with Christ in Paradise. And we have good Reaibn to believe, that the fame is the State of all others F f 3 not

454 ^^ Ex-nofitioii on tie

Art. XXII. not Only from the Paffages already mentionedj /Y’sj and many more of the like kind that might have been offered but also from this, that we have not, as 1 observed before, in all the Holy Scrip- ture, the least Intimation of any such Place as Purgatory : That there is neither Precept nor Example, of any one that either prayed for the Delivery of their Friends departed out of these Pains, or any Diredions left for any one here- after io to do : Now certainly it is not easy to be imagined, that the Holy Penmen should have been fo perfectly filent in this Matter, had there been fo great a Cause for it, as the Delivery of their Souls out of Purgatory undoubtedly would have been 3 or had they then efleemed it fo excellent and necelTary a Piece of Christian Charity, as it is now pretended to be. And this Presumption against Purgatory the Holy Scriptures will afford us. If we look, Secondly, to the Holy Fathers of the Church, we shall find them proceeding exadly upon the fame Principles : They thought the Just when they were departed were preiently in a State ofHappi ness that it was injurious to Christ to hold, that such as died in his Faith were to be pitied 5 that Chrirtians therefore ought not by any Means to be afraid of dying. Thus St. Cyprian in another Place besides that which I have already m.entioned, tells us, that ‘tis for him to fear Death, that is unwilling to go to Christ : And that ‘tis for him to be unwilling to go to Christ, who doth not believe that he beginneth to reign with Christ. Simeon said, continues he, Lord noiKj letteft thou thy Servant depart in Peace ; proving and witnefling, that the Servants of God then have Peace, then enjoy free and quiet Rest, when being drawn from thelc Storms of the World, we arrive at the Haven of our

ever«

Thirty^lSJine Articles, 455

everlafling Habitation and Secur-ty. —Let us Art, XXII- therefore embrace the Day that bringeth every oOTN*/ one to his own Houle, which hiving taken us away from hence, and loofed us from the Snares of this World, returneth us to Paradise, and to the Kingdom of Heaven,

I SHALL now leave it to any one to con- fider, whether this Holy Father, who dif. courfed thus of our Dying, believed any thing of these tormenting Purgatory-Fires thit now keep Men in Anxiety, and make the best Christians afraid to die ? And the fame is the Language of all the rest. St. Chryfoftom particularly inforces the fame Confidcrations, from those Psalms that were usually laid at the Burial of the Dead. Return to thy Keft^ O my Soul^ for the Lord hath heen gracious nnto thee. You fee, says that Holy Father, how that Death is a Blefling, a .

Reft. God calls it a Bleffin?, and doft

thou lament ? What couldft thou have done more if thou hadft been his Enemy * ? But to put this Matter, as to the Point of Antiquity, beyond al) Doubt, I will remark diftindly two or three Things, i. That several of the most antient Fathers, not only believed the Souls of the Faithful to be in Happinels, immediately upon their Departure, but to be carried instantly into Heaven : So Athenagoras St. Cyprian Origen Gregory Nazianzen Chry-* fofiom Cyril of Alexandria St. Jerom and

Ff 4 others.

45 6 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XXII. Others t- Now certainly, they who believed

L/^‘VN^ that Just Men when they die go straight to

Heaven, could not have believed that they were

for a long while after their Death tormented in

Purgatory , and therefore, all these must have

been of an Opinion different from the Church

of Rome in this Matter. Secondly, Another

Thing remarkable in fome of the antient Fathers

is, that they utterly deny, that the Soul is

capable of being purged in another World ;

and this is, to be sure, exprefly contrary to the

prefent Dodrine of the Komanifts in this Point.

Thus Gregory NaziajiZen^ {peaking of the

Judgment after Death, faith, That ‘tis better

to be now chaftifed and purged, than to be

delivered over to that Torment, when it shall be

no longer a Time of Purgation, but of Punish-

ment. Where we fee the Father exprefly op-

poses the Time of Purgation in this Life, to

the Time, not of Purgation, but of Punishment

in the next. And St. Chryfoftom says. If the

Soul be purged here (that is from Sin) that

Fire shall not hurt it when it departs hence :

But the Soul that goes hence in Sin, that Fire

(not of Purgatory, but of Hell) shall receive.

This was the Dodlrine of those Times ; the

Soul that was clear of Sin, by God’s Pardon

and Forgiveness, no Fire could hurt 3 that

which was not, no Fire could cleanse ; but it

was to remain in the Torments of Hell for ever.

Nor may we omit to observe, Thirdly, That

the Fathers take no Notice of Purgatory, in

iuch Places, as, had they believed it, they could

Bot well have omitted it. Hence we fee, no

[…]

TJjWty^Wine Articles. 457

mention of it in any of their Creeds or Art. xxil Councils, or Catechetical Difcourfes, in which V""* the other Articles of their Faith are fet down and explained. The fifth General Council which condemned Origen for his Errors con- cerning the Pains after Death, never mentioned any other Purgatory in Opposition to that which he had Heretically invented. But that which Ihews it yet more plainly to have been unknown to them, is, that not only St. Attguftine but Pope Gregory himself, the great Patron of this Error, yet spoke of it with fome Doubt ; not as they used to do of a Point firmly believed by the Church, but as a peculiar Thing, in which they were not themselves very well resolved. When the Fathers disputed against Origen they none of them mention any of the Purga- tory Pains, which the Orthodox Faith taught, to diftinguilh them from those which he had erroneously invented. When Epiphanius dif- puted against Aer’ius concerning the Reason and Benefit of praying for the Dead, is it to be imagined he could then have forgot the great Conctrn of delivering the Souls departed out of Puigatory, had the Church then believed any such Thing ? To all which, if we finally acjd. That the Greek Church neither at this Day does, nor ever did receive this Dodrine ; I cannot tell what clearer Evidence we can desire to fhew, that this whole Bufinefs of Purgatory, is but an Error of the Latin Church, not an Article of the Catholick Faith.

The Subtlety of a ilo;;?//7^ Adversary, may, perhaps, furnish out an Appearance of a Con- tradidion from what 1 have said in relation to Origen. He’ll fay, perhaps, that I have first quoted this Father in Opposition to Purgatory, and

then

45 S Jn Eipofition on the

Art, XXII. then have acknowledged that he invented a Y Purgatory himlelf: ‘Tis therefore necelTary to diftinguifh betwixt the Purgatory of Origen and that of the Church of Rome. Origens Opinion was. That after this Life there were no other Pains but Purgatory, that is, that after a ccrta’n Time, not only all Men, though never fo wicked, but the Devils themselves, should be purified by them, and fo saved in the Endj or, in other Words, that the Torments of Hell (hall not be Eternal. This Bellarmhie himself confcff s to have been his Opinion * ; and to th’s, the Place which he quotes out of him clearly refers : ” He that is saved, is saved ’ by Fire, that o if by Chance he has any ’ thing of Lead mixed in him, the Fire may *• melt and separate it, that fo all may be made ’ pure Gold f. ” Whereas the Komijlo Purga- tory, is defined to be a Fire, in which the Souls of the Faithful, being tormented for a Time, are expiated , that fo a Paffage may be opened for them into their Eternal Country, into which no defiled I hing can enter.

From hence it appears, Thnt the Dilates of right Reaion are no \t{s against this Dodrine of Purgatory, than Scripture and Antiquity. They who are fuppofed to go thither, mull be perfed in Charity, in the Grace of God, and secure of their Salvation ; for their Satis- fadion is fappofed to have been made by the Blood of Chrifl”, and fo God’s Juilice ‘s fup- posed to be satisfied. Now when all this is already done, to what end is it that they f lould be tormented ? Had there been any

[…]

Means

Thirty-Nme x\rticles. 459

Means by such a Purgatory, either to fit them Art. xxil, for Heaven, or to latisfy the Divine Justice, V.”TX there might then have been fome Pretence for it. But to think that God punilhes Men only for punilhing-fake,andthis toohisownServants, Men who are in his Favour, that have lived well, and upon that account are justified by him thro’ the Blood of Christ -, this is such an Idea of an infinite Love, Mercy, and Goodness, as sure can never be the Didate of right Pvcaibn, I think I may fay is utterly inconiiftent with it. ‘Tis true, indeed, that God doth sometimes forgive Men their Sins with relation to the Eternal Punifliments of another \ orld, when he doth not think fit to execute them, from Temporal PunifhmentSj but Scripture as well as Reason will acquaint us, that there are several very excellent Ends to be served by it, both for the Benefit of the Sinner, and to warn others by his Example not to offend , nor is there the leall mention of any Thing of this kind made in Scripture, where the Punishments inflicted, or to be inflided, are not clearly limited to this Life 3 for, indeed, there can be no Neccijty to make thole Men better, who are finally secure of Eternal Happiness ; or to punish thole whose Sins are fully nd perfely attoned for, by the Blood of Christ. And when we hive departed this Life, our Sufferings in another State cease to be Examples to such as iurvive us j for Exam.ples of this kind, are nothing elie in the very Nature of them, but Appeals to our Senses to convince us of our Folly, to awaken us to a Consideration of God’s Power and Ihreatnings, and to rivet it in our Minds, — I’ bat there is a God that jitdgetb in the Earth. As to the Dodrine of the Church of Rome concerning Venial Sins, /. e, such Sins as are fght and

trivial^

4^0 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XXII. trivial, which we are told defer ve fome Tern- -yy” poral Muld, but not Eternal Torments ; fothat he that dies impenitent in them can’t go to Heaven, because nothing that is in the least defiled can enter therein • nor to Hell, because he deserves not those everlasting Burnings 3 and that therefore, there must be a third State, even Purgatory, where he may in fome Sense be purged, and through his own Satisfadlion, in enduring its Torments, prepare and qualify himself for Heaven : As to this Dodlrine, I fay, it fets a Man above the Satisfaction of Christ’s Merits, by fuppofmg his Sins to be too small to need his Expiation ; it finds Remillion for a Man dying in Impenitence ; it contradicts the whole Current of the Gospel, which teacheth us, that without Repentance there can be no Remiffion : And again, to fix a Purgatory, calls in Queflion the Justice and Equity of God him- self, who hath pronounced by his Holy Spirit, that he that (hall offend in the lead of his Com- mands, (hail in no wife be his Difciplc, and then, certainly, by no Means enter into his Glory.

The Texts of Scripture which the Komanijis ufe to urge for the Support of their Figment of Purgatory, are all of them fet down in the Margin ^ ; but I cannot prevail upon myself to coafider above two of them, the Application which is made of the rest is too trifling to be ferioufly refuted. The First of those Texts

:f

:<ru7nh. :s

:iv. 31,

3V E

xod. i.

ly-

a. n, 2j-.

Mat. V.

1 Cor. :■:

:v. Z9.

I John

V . 16.

Zci

:h.

ix. II.

F/kl. Ixvi.

I 2..

1 S^m.

iii. 2

Kings i.

Mich

8,

9. Ifaii

zhi%. iS.

M.-?/.

Mat. X

I Cor.

iii. :

‘5—

Matt. V

’, ly, 2(5.

I Fet

.iii. 19.

Jixis

ii. H*

Lake:

sxxii

2. P/^^.

that

Tbirty-Nbte Articles. 461

that I fhalltake Notice of, is Mat. xii. 32. But Art. XXII. ivhofoe’ver fpeaketh against the Holy Ghost it V/’V Jhall not he forgiven him neither in this World nor in the World to come. The main Stress of the Argument from these Words lies in that Expreilion, neither in this Worlds nor in the iVorld to come , that is as Bellarmine and his Followers understand it, 7ieither in this IVorld nor in Purgatory. Indeed St. Augustine seems to infer fome future Remiilion of Sins after this Life from this Text, but what Remiffion, or of what Sins he declares he dares not aver fb that his Conje6ture was far from Bellarmine % Imagination of a Purgatory which determines what is remitted, ‘viz. the Guilt of fome light Mifcarriages ; and alfb the Way how it is remitted, iz. by a determinate Endurance of Pains and. Torments. Secondly, Whatever Remiflion that Holy Father conceived should be hereafter, it could only be a Thing probable and conjectural, and therefore no Ground for an Article of Faith, which he tells us is to be founded on plain and indubitable Scripture be- cause he himself was both doubtful and uncer- tain of it, as is apparent in four diftin6t Places of his Writings . I confeis it seems very strange to me, how the World to come should here signify Purgatory which is fixed in an inter- mediate Space of Time between a Man’s Death and the Refurredion ; fmce the Scriptures do o generally understand by it the Day of Judg- ment, or the Time after the Refurredion ; as we read particularly Lukex. 35. ‘ifhofe thatJJjall he accounted worthy to enjoy that IVorld ajid the

[…]

a Kefur^

462 Jn Exposition 071 the

Art XXII. Refiirreiwn from the Bead. The coming of yy’- Christ to Judgment is every where represented to us as the End of this World, fo that the other must commence from the Time of his coming to Judgment ; and this, if considered, will take off all Pretences of Impertinence in these Words of our Saviour, without that Pur gatory RemiJJion which the Cardinal infers for a Salvo for our Saviour’s Discretion in expref- fmg himself in these Terms, neither in this Morldj netther in the World to come. For is it any Impertinence or Uncouthnefs to fay, Blai- ph’emy against the Holy Ghost, is a Sin of that dreadful Account as ihall neither be allowed Pardon in this World, by the Abfolution of Men, nor be pronounced or proclaimed par- cloned by Christ himself at the Day of Judg- ment, when he shall perfect and coniummate the Remiifion or Punidiment entered here on Earth, when he shall call the Righteous, come ye Blejfedj give the final ImprefHon to their Pardon , but against the Ungodly pronounce, go ye Ciirfedj eternally bind up thoie Sins which have, or ought to have been bound on Earth. And that which may confirm this Explication, is the Ufe and Manner of the Scriptures them- selves, which all along express the T ime for the Retributions of Rewards and Punishments to be the Day of Judgment as Mat. xxv. 32, 33. And, indeed, this is elegantly explained by the Cardinal himself, in his fourth Chapter concerning Purgatory, where he fhews us. That though a particular Sentence pailes upon every Man in the Day of his particular Trial after Death, yet the fame is said to be done at the Last Day, and that properly too, because then it is pubiilhed before the wholeWorld, to the greatest Honour of the Righteous, the iiigheft

Infamy

Tbirty-Nine Articles. 4(5;

Infamy and Reproach of the Ungodly : And Art. xxil does the Scripture any where fuggeft to us, V”VN under the Title of the World to come, any Place or State diftind from Heaven and Hell ? So that without inferring a third Place in the World to come for the Rem-flion of Sins, ac- cording to Bellarmine himself, our Saviour’s manner of Ipeaking may be allowed most clear and e-xpreffive. Secondly, Since Blasphemy ainft the Holy Ghost is here exprelTed a Sin of the mod unpardonable Provocation to God ; mce our Saviour repeats it with the highest Abhorrency, telling us twice. That though all other Sins and Blafphemies may be forgiven, yet still that againfl the Holy Ghost shall not, may we not very agreeably to the whole Narra- tion, here aver, that our Lord makes ufe of that Expreflion, neither in this IVorld nor in the World to come rather by way of Aggrava- tion, or to express still the greater Heinoulhefs of the Sin, then tacitly to infer, that there remains a Remiilion and Forgiveness of other Sins in the World to come , rather to (liew that this Sin shall be eternally unpardonable, or, as St. Mark expreiTes it, “ver. 14. never be forgiven at all, than to teach us, that other Sins and Tranfgreflions not forgiven in this, may yet be remitted in the World to come, and that too, before we enter into the other World, which is the Cafe of RemiHion had by Purgatory. All that the Cardinal replies to this is, That by a like Aggravation we may shuffle off Hell itself, and call it an Acgravation when our Lord condemns the W icked, Go you into enjerlafitng Burnings ; but bv what Losick, or from what Premises he draws his Conclusion, it is past my Cap city to conjedlure. Our Lord in divers ilaces, and upon several Opportunities, cxprefly tells us.

That

L/^rx^

‘464 An Expofitioii on the

Aptxxii. That the Portion of the Wicked shall be ever- lading Burnings : Well, therefore, when he lays, Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost lliall not be forgiven, neither in this IVorld neither in the World to come he must either be under- stood to infinuate a Remiilion of Sins in Purga- tory, or we may as reasonably conclude, that there is no such Punishment as Hell-Fire. Is not the Cardinal naore impertinent in this Indu6tion, than he would infer our Saviour’s Expreffion to be, were there no Purgatory Remiflion after this Life ? That this Exprellion is Hyperbolical and Figurative, St. Mark manifeftly infinuates, briefly comprehending this more figurative and ample Circuition of St. Matthew in that fliort Speech, Non remittetur in Mternim shall never be forgiven.

Indeed, Bellarmine says, That St. Mark is ;j0i fit Interpreter of St. Matthew and his rfcafbn for it is, because St. Matthew writ more copioufly and largely, and St. Mark!s Gospel is but a Compendium of St. Matthew : As if that Man which contrads another Man’s Meaning, and that too by the Guidance of an infallible Spirit, were not to be allowed a competent Judge of his Intentions. Or again, as if the more Flourishing and Rhetorical, were to de- termine and over-rule the more Concise and Comprehensive. ‘Tis certain St. Alark who was guided by the fame Spirit with St. Matthew hath delivered nothing different from or dif- cording with St. Matthew’s Meaning , and therefore, fmce the whole Tendency of the Scriptures may incline us this way, and St. Mark hath explained it to this Purpose, must it not be most consequential to infer, that, 0 be forginjen neither in this IVorld nor in the IVorfd to come

imports^

Thirty-Wine Articles. 4(^5

imports no more but this, /:7// fienjer he for- Art. xxiL gi’ven. As for this Indudlion which the Car- ‘VX-Zi dinal makes, either our Saviour fpake the Words as St. Matthew relates them, or as St. Marky or as both : If as St. Matthew or as both, we have gained our Point, it will in no measure advantage his Cauie , for though he spoke the very Words of St. Matthezv yet he meant no more by them than St. Mark hath ex- plained : So that by Consequence, they are very far from evincing a third Place for Remiffion of Sins after Death ; or inflru6ling us. That that Remiflion in the World to come, which he here denies to the Sin against the Holy Ghofl, he tacitly infinuates to be compatible to other Sins. The Cardinal himself acknowledges such an Inference as this to be no good Logick : And to argue by way of Instance 3 When the Scrip- tures affirm Hypocrisy to be a Sin fo hateful to God, that he cannot bear it, may we ra- tionally infer, that there be fome other Sins of that Nature, that his infinite Purity can bear with them ? Is it not more clear to affirm, That by this Expreilion, the Scriptures only manifest the Grievoufnels of this Sin o Hypocrisy, but no ways tacitly affirm, that God can endure and bear with other Sins ? So that according to the Way of the Scriptures themselves, we may lay-j that our Saviour in these Words, only aggra- vates the Odiouliiefs of the Sin against the Holy Ghost, (hewing it shall never be forgiven but no ways advises us, that there are other Sins which may be forgiven, if not in this, yet in the World to come. As to what the Cardinal alledges of the Impropriety of this Expreffion, Neither in this IVorld 7tor in the World to come ; if there were no Remiffiori in the World to come it is impertinent, and to no purpose, G g fines

466 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XXII. since those Words do fully answer the Purpose V-Z’VN^ of our Saviour, and with the greater Vehe- mency deny all Remiflion whatever to that Sin : And although it would be improper to fay, I will marry neither in this World, neither in the World to come, because there is no such Thing as marrying, and giving in Marriage there ; yet it doth not follow, that it must be as im- proper to fay, It shall neither be remitted in this World, neither in the World to come, be- cause, though there is no Remiflion for Sins not remitted in this World, yet all RemifHon is said to be confirmed there, and the Scriptures usually acquaint us our final Doom and Sentence shall be pronounced at the Judgment-Seat of Chrifl. Thirdly, That this Text is no Advantage to the Popifh Purgatory is further clear, because it treats of the Remiflion itself of Sin, not Satisfaction for fbme light Failures, which is the chiefeft Remiflion of their Purgatory. All that the Cardinal hath to reply here, is no more but this, that in Purgatory there is also a RemifHon of Venial Faults. To which I answer. That Venial Sins, as they call them, have nothing to do with this Place , for since they are the mofl mortal Sins and Blafphemies, to which our Lord here compares the Sin againfl the Holy Ghofi:, declaring, that though They might be forgiven, yet This should not, neither in this, nor in the World to come ; mufl it not follow, that if any RemifTion in the World to come, be to be in- ferred from these Words of our Lord, it mufl certainly be a Remiflion of mortal Sins ? and fo the Cardinal must be as far to feek as ever for the Eflabllfhment of his Purgatory, since from thence they profefs all mortal Sins ex- cluded, fo as that there is no Remiflion at all for them there. The Cardinal makes an Offer

of

Thirty^I^ine Articles. 467

of a Return to this, but it is such a one, as LJiP may quite end the Controversy of a Purgatory from this Text ; for he says, our Saviour fpake here of a compleat and perfect Remifiion, which comprehends the Remiflion both of the Sin and the Punishment, in which manner the mofb grievous Sins are said to be remitted in another World, for this Reason, because their Remii fion is compleated there. But first, What’s all this to Venial Sins, or the Remiflion had in Purgatory, which, according to his own Princi- ples, hath nothing to do with grievous Sinners? Again, how can the Completion or Perfection of all Remiflion belong to Purgatory, when the Scriptures every where refer it to the Last Judgment by Christ ? Secondly, If the most grievous Sins are said to be remitted in the other World, for this Reason, because their Remif fion is compleated there, then why may not this BiprGironJhall be forginjen neither in this IVorld neither in the World to come signify one and the fame Remiflion ; the one, njiz. That /;/ the World to come being only a Confirmation and Completion of the other ? Thirdly, If the Re- miflion in the World to come be the fame v/ith that in this Life only in a higher and more comprehensive Perfedlion compleating it, then how can these Words infer a third State for Remifliion of such Sins as are no ways remitted in this World. Indeed, according to the Doctrine of Chriflianity, though not according to the Dodrine of the Church of Rome the Remiflion of the Punishment always accom- panies the Remiflion of the Sin, but yet it will not follow, that this Text of Scripture which treatcth of the Remiflion of Sins only, is agree- able or applicable to, much less demonftrative of their Purgatory, wherein they pretend to a G g 2 Remif

4.68 An Exposition on the

Art. XXII. Rcmiflion of Punirnment, and fome Penal Satis- V/W^ fadions for such Sins as are already remitted in this World. And thus I think, by the Help of the Cardinal, we have fufHciently disappointed them of the Affiftance of this Text in the Sup- port of their Purgatory.

The next Place which I am toconfider, is i Cor. iii. 15’ 77// befa’ved fo as by Fire. The Cardinal tells us this is one of the obfcurefl-, but yet most profitable Texts ; fo illuftrioufly manifest is their Cause in the Scriptures, that its highest Advan- tages are the deepefl Obicurities, and its clearest Light treasured up in the profoundeil: Darkness. He also tells us, it is reckoned by St. Augustine amongst those difficult Sentences which St. Peter speaks of, which many wreft to their own De- llrudion , and therefore we may all conclude, what an incomparable Bottom it must be whereon to found an Article of Faith. If we consider the Circumstances of the whole Place, we shall find them in no refpcd: fuiting with their Purgatory : For Verse the 13th, the Apofrle tells us, the Fire here spoken of, is that whereby every Man’s Work shall be made manifest, and there- fore, consequently, that all Men, both Bad and ’ Good, both Apostles and others, (hall pals through the Trial and Examination of that Fire here mentioned , which agrees not with their Notion of Purgatory, from which Apoflks and Saints are wholly to be exempted. 2. As the Examination of this Fire extends itself to all Men, fo is its Force and Operation laid to exert itself upon the Works, not the Persons of every Man, as in the latter Part of the 13th Verse, be Fire Jloall try e’very Mans IVork of what Sort it is y and fo again, Verse 14, 15. If any Mans IVork ahideth or // any Mans M’ork Jhall

U

ThWty-Nine Articles. 4^9

le burnt. Whereas the Fire of their Purgatory Art.xxii. hath nothing to do with the Works of Men, -/""" which are fuppofed to be accepted before an Entrance therein, but wholly exercifeth its Sting and Puniihment upon the very Souls of Men. 3. If we consider the Day which shall thus de- clare our Works, we shall perceive that can no ways agree with their Chimerical Purgatory : For though the Text tells us it (hall be revealed in Fire, yet fome interpret this Revelation by Fire, of the final Conflagration of the World ; others of such a one as shall fiame out at the Day of God’s final Judgment , the last of which Bellarmine acknowledges to be the general Opinion of the Fathers, and aifo admits of, and allows it for the mod true *. Now how from this Fire which fliall be revealed at the Day of Judgment, we may infer a present Fire purging and cleansing the Souls of Men immediately after their Departure out of this Life, I confess I want the Cardinal’s Dexterity to make out ? I fuppofe, according to their own Principles, the • Fire o Purgatory fliall be no more then (what- ever it is now) at that last Judgment; and therefore, how this Description or Infinuation of that examining and determining Flame which shall thus search and prove the \Vorks of all Men then, can declare or manifest to us this purging Fire at present, out of which Millions fnall have escaped before, and into which, per- haps. Millions (hall never enter, njiz. all remain- ing here in the Flefn at that terrible Day of the Lord, fome of the Cardinal’s Friends would do well to explain to us. As to all the Particulars of this Text, such as are Foundation, Builders Gold, Silver, V/ood, Kay, Stubble, nay the

G g 3 Vm

K./^yyu

470 jfn Exposition on the

Arxxii. Fire which (hall try every Man’s Work, what Sort it is, the Cardinal with Proteflants interprets to have an improper and metaphorical Meaning, and then what Agreement can this Clause bear to the rest, if taken properly, and in its literal Signification ? Bellarmine confefTes one or two apparent Equivocations in his own Exposition, understanding, whose IVorks the Fire Jhall try of a metaphorical and figurative Fire ; JJoall he saved fo as by Fire of a material and afflicling Fire : But it is the Incoherence of his own imaginary Dodlrines, not any Varia- tion in the Text itlelf, which forced and obliged him thereunto : For if we understand the Whole in a metaphorical Way, we do no Violence, but altogether clear up the Apoflle’s Meaning ; for as to that Clause, J M TTJcj fo as by Fire upon which all his Streis depends, this certainly clearly manifests that Fire is here mentioned only Figuratively, or by way of Likeneis or Resemblance 3 as who should fay, his Works shall perish in the Fire, but the Workman shall escape, yet with that Difficulty and Hazard, as if that ex- amining Fire had got hold on, and been ready to devour him , now the Cardinal acknow- ledges that examining Fire to be metaphorical : Indeed the Apostle seems carefully to have obviated the Impropriety of the proper Ac- ceptation of the Word Fire, here, by the Inter- position of that Particle (?), nor can the Grammatical Conftruclion any Vvays help out the Cardinal’s Imagination of such a material Fire, which by its Pains and Tortures, should actually fave an restore the Perlbn tortured therein, unto Life. As for what the Cardinal al ledges from those Words, If any Mans Iferkj’haU be. burnt hs fiall suffer Loss infer-

ring^

Thirty-Nme Articles. 471

r\i:ig that it meaneth that such a Person ihall Art. xxil, receive a Punishment : Though a Loss and ‘“VNw. Punishment are very different Things the one being inflicted on us by another, the other many times the Effed of a Man’s Personal Negligence and Error yet if we agree with the Cardinal in this Pun5iilio it will not follow, that the Punishment referred to here, mufl neceffarily be a Punishment by Fire : Is not the Loss of all his Labours, and the Experiencing them to be rather Works of Damnation than leading to a Reward, a very heavy Punishment? As for any other, there is not the leafl Colour or Pretence from the Words.

The most material Objedion I find made to this Explication, is this. That if the Words, fo as hy Fire^ are not to be underflocd of a material and tormenting Fire • then those Builders, who are laid to Build, Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones, may as properly be {aid to escape fo as by Fire, as the Railers up of Wood, Hay, and Stubble , and fo that Di- ftindlion which the Apoflle plainly fuggefts to be between them, insignificant, and to no purpose. But this is easily removed, if we observe, that though they are all fubje6l to this Fire of Trial and Examination, yet they are not all obnoxious to the like Hazard and Danger by it , for though it consumes and deflroys the one Qviz. the Wood, Hay, and Stubble) yet it does but illustrate and make more manifest the Worth and Perfedions of the other, “viz. the Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones. As I fuppofe two Men of unequal Qualifications, may run through the fame Ex- amination, though the one with no Hazard, but rather Advantage to his Reputation : So G g 4 that.

472 -^^^ Expofttion on the

Art.xxii. that as Wood, Hay, and Stubble, which refer tyVV to such falie and unwarrantable Doctrines as ihall be accounted for at the fiery Examination of God’s fierceft Judgment, bear no relation at all to Venial Sins, which a small Penance, per- haps a fupernumerary Ave Maria may wipe off in this Life, or at mofi: a few Pangs in Purga- tory clear us from, long before that terrible Day, which shall declare our Works : So is the Fire here mentioned to try every Man’s Work, of what Sort it is, far from the Nature of their Purgatory Scorchings, becaule they are only to purge and satisfy, these to examine and make trial in a Word, the one is a Pro- hatory the other a Purgatory Fire. There are those, indeed, which interpret this Fire of those Tribulations and Afflidions wherewith God often examines our Works and Doctrines in this Life, particularly St. Augustine and Gregory the Great whose Dreams and Delusions, as hath been said before, seem to have given the first Occasion to this Chimerical Purgatory ; but I shall not determine the Time when God will exercise and examine us with this fiery Trial, it being sufficient to fhew, that the Nature of this examining Fire, let it happen when it will, is no ways suitable to that imaginary one, fancied to be now burning in Purgatory the Property of that being to try Works, but the Efficacy of this to affiid: and punish Souls. And that this Place is thus to be understood Metaphorically, we might confirm by divers of their own Expolitors: Besides many preffing Arguments urged by Erasmus to evince that

• Erasmus in locum. Su3rez, torn. 4. in Thorn, difput, 45*. §. I. numb. 2/, Ibid, §. i. numb, zS.=

Tbirty^Nme Articles. 475

it makes neither for Venial Sins, nor a Purga- Art. xxil tory, for which BeUarmme declares it fo pro- L/Vw fitable. Suarez cites SedttUus Lyranus Ca- jetan and others, interpreting it almost in our very Words, though, indeed, he himself will have the whole Place understood of a proper and material Fire ; but he brings no better Inducements to determine us on his Side, than BeUarmme offers to make out, that though Fire in one Part of the Text mull be meant Alle- gorically, yet fo as hy Fire mufi: neceffarily be taken in a literal and proper Meaning : Indeed, the Instance by which the Cardinal undertakes to make it appear to us, that it was the Manner and Custom of St. Paul thus to ufe the lame Word in divers Senses in the fame Sentence, is ’ most remarkable, and doGs abundantly evince, that the Cardinal’s Wit was more put to it to make out this Point, than his Conscience con- cerned for laying down the Truth : The Text appealed to is this, He bath ynade him Sin for iis ‘•joho knew no Sin ; here the Word Sin is to be taken in as different an Acceptation as the Word Fire in the former Place : What ? was he made Mortal Sin who knew only Venial , Sins or how is Sin here taken in a different Meaning ? Indeed, to he made Sin and to kfio-iv Sin have different Meanings, but then thev are alio different Sentences ; but as for the Word Sin that imports the very fame in relation to them both : As to his being made Sin it means no other than that that fpotlefs Lamb was fent by God to be the Sacrifice for our Mortal Sins ; and the Punishment he underwent fhews, that the Sins imputed to him, or for which in our Stead he accounted, were those very Sins which he knew not, that is, which he had not been yerfonally concerned in committing. What

Agree-

474 -^^ Exposition on the

Art XXII. Agreement is there here with Sins differentj KyySJ such as Mortal and Venial^ with a Resemblance of a metaphorical and proper Fire ? Or because we meet the one Expreflion, what Countenance can it give to the other Inference and Dedu- ction ; they were the fame mortal Tranfgref- fions which the Apostle speaks of in the one Place, and it was no doubt one and the fame metaphorical Fire which he reprelents and al- ludes to in the other : But thus it is when Men will appeal to Scripture for the Confirmation of such Dodrines as differ from the very Spirit and Letter of the Scriptures, that they are com- pelled to such irrational and unconcluding Mif’ applications. .

A ]Bi T X G ;. S

Tbirty-Nme Articles.

Notes

• Sec Stillingfleefs Idolatry of the Church of Rome, page 478. Patricks AnRvcr to the Touchftone, c. i6. Field of the Church, Book III. Append, cap. 25-. Archbidiop M’ake’s Sermons, page 79, 80, and 308. His Expolition on the
• Injlitut. lib. 2. c. 19. f Lib, I. fdg, 10.
• See Stillrngfieet’s Idol. c. i. Patrick’^ Answer to the Touchftone, §. 34, 49. Homily against Idolatry. Jewel’s Reply, Art. XIV. Bllfon of Christ. Subj. Pait IV. p. gi^-
• Hieron. in Of. com. 5. Aiigfi(th. Epift. 28. ad Hier, torn. 2. p. 31. A. Sc Tiacl:. 49. in Joan. torn. 9. p. 124. A. Au6i:or. Quaeft. fub Juftiai nomin. quceft. yj*. p. 436. D. E. Paris 1656. Clnylbil:. Horn, de SS. Bemicc &. Profdore, torn. ?. Fronted, p. /d 3. Pads, G. L. 1636.
• Bell, de Purg. lib. i.