Two Treatises Against the Papists, Book 2 · Preface
THE PREFACE OF THIS BOOKE, wherein the matter of the treatise, and the ordre of the Authors preceading, be briefely opened.
1 WE hauehave now taried very longe, in the consideration of Gods iustice & mighty scourge, not onelyonly for the euerlasting outcastes, but also for the exacte triall of the chosen childrens wayes. The beholding whereof, must needes ingender some sorow and sadnesse of minde: and with all, as it commonly happeth in our frailety, a certaine bitter tediousnesse both in the writer, and the reader: though for my parte,2. Cor. 7. I will say with S. Paule, that it greeueth me neuer a whit, that I hauehave in my talke geuen you occasion of sadnesse: being assured, that this present greefe, may worke perfect penaunce to vndoubted saluation,
But the wearinesse of that rough part, which might both by the weight of the matter, and also by my rude handeling, quickely arise to the studious reader, I shall in this booke wholy wipe away: not by art or pleasant fall of words, which in plaine dealing is not much requisite, but by the singular comfort of our cause. In the continuall course whereof, we shall ioy more and more at the beholding of Gods passing mercy in remission of sinnes, and mitigatio… …f the paines, which iustice enioyned. For now we must talke, how the fiery sword of Gods ire may be turned from his people:Ambros. VVhichWhich, as one of the fathers truely saide, beareth a great shewe of vengeaunce and iudgement, because it is named a firy sworde, but yet knowen withall, to be a tourning sworde, that is gladius versatilis, Rupert. in 3. cap. Genes.it shall geue great cause of comfort againe. O sapientes (sayth deuoute Dasmacene) ad vos loquor, scrutamini & erudimini, quia plurimus est timor Dei domini omnium, sed multò amplior bonitas, In orat. pro defunctis.& formidabiles quidem minae, incomparabilis autem clementia: & horrenda quidem supplicia, ineffabile autem miserationum suarum pelagus. Thus he speaketh of Purgatory, and mercy: O you of the wise sorte: to you do I speake, searche and learne, that the feare of God the Lorde of all thinges, is maruaillous much,A comparison of the mercy and iudgement of God, tovvardes the soules in Purgatory, & that mercy is more. but his goodnesse farre ouerreacheth it: His threatning exceding fe…refull, but his clemency vncomparable: the prepared punishmēts doubtlesse horrible, but the bottomlesse …ea of his mercies is vnspeakable, so saide he. Therefore if our sinnes forgeuen were neuer so greuous, or our vicious life so farre wasted in idle welth, that space of fructefull penaunce, and opportunity of well working, by the nightes approching and our Lordes sodden calling, be taken away, (in which longe differring of our amendement, heuy and sore execution must needes for iustice sake be done) yet let vsus not mistrust, but God measureth his iudgement with clemency, and hath ordeined meanes to procure mercy, and mitigate that sentence, euen in the middest of that firy doungion: that the vessels of grace and the redemed flocke, may worthely sing both mercy & iudgement to our gracious God, who in his angre forgetteth not to hauehave compassion, neither withdraweth his pity in the middest of his ire.Psal. 76. For this imprisonment endureth no longer then our debtes be paide, this fire wasteth no further, then it findeth matter to consume, this dis…riet & wise flame (as some of the fathers before termed it) chastiseth no longer, then it hath cause to correct. Yea often before this fire by course of iustice can cease, God quencheth it with his sonnes bloude, recompenseth the residew by our maisters merittes, and accepteth the carefull crie of our mother the Church, for h…r children in paine. The memorie of Christes death, liuely and effectually setforth in the soueraigne misteries vppon the Altare in earth,The motiōs of Gods mercy, In releasing or mitigation of the paine of Purgatory. Psal. 76. entereth vp to the presence of his seate, and procureth pardon in heauen aboue. the merites of all sainctes, the prayer of the faithfull, the workes of the charitable, both earnestly aske, and vndoubtedly finde mercye and grace at his hande. For of such the Prophet Dauid asketh: Nunquid in aeternum proijciet Deus, aut continebit in ira sua misericordias suas? VVill God caste them awaye for euer, or will he shutte vp his mercy, when he is angrie?Li. 1 de poenit. cap. 1. No he will not: so sayth S. Ambrose: Deus quos proijcit non in aeternum proijcit: God casteth of many, whom he doth not euerlastingly for sake.
Then let vsus seeke the wayes of this so mercyfull a Lorde, that we may take singular comforte therein our selues, against the day of our accompt, and indeuour mercyfully to helpe our deare brethern so afflicted: lest if we vse not compassion towardes them, we iustly receiue at Gods hande, for the rewarde of our vnmercyfulnesse, iudgement and iustice with out mercy.
THE SECOND BOOKE
TO THE PREFACE.
1 YOu hauehave taryed longer in consideratiō of Gods iustice, then is agreable to the matter of his mercy, which is the death of his only sonne our Lord and Sauiour Christ. And now you will mollyfie the hardnesse of that handling, with the sory comforte of your vnchristian cause. Wherin you hauehave more regarde to the heating of your owne harthe, then to the cooling of the selye soules, to kindle a good fire in your owne kitchen, then to quench the flambes of purgatory. But as I hauehave noted before, that you hauehave hetherto kept this order for the most parte, to plante one thinge in one chapter, and then to pull it vp by the rootes in the next, so you hauehave not forgotten your selfe in the diuision of your bookes. But that the latter shoulde be a sufficient confutation of the former, or else the former a manifest excluding of the latter. For if the iustice of God doth so necessarily require a punishment for sinnes remitted, that the same coulde not be satisfied, no not by that only sacrifice, which the sonne of God offered once for all, on the aulter of the crosse: it is a colde comforte that a carefull conscience can receiue, that the same shoulde be done by his merites, or your Masses, which was not done by the bloude of Christ Yet now you will talke how the fiery sword maye be turned away, surely if the fiery and shaking sworde that was set to exclude man from Paradise, was not taken away by the death of Christ, when he opened Paradise, yea the kingdome of heauen whereof Paradise was but a sacrament, vntounto all beleuers, I meruaill how either the penitent these had passage into Paradise, or what engins you Papistes hauehave to turne it awaye, which he had not. The wordes of Damascene if they were not applied (as you saye they are) to purgatory paines and remedies of the same, were true of Gods iustice and his mercy, but as his age is to young, so his authoritie is to light, to controll the trueth of the worde of God, or the practise of the first & purest Church, which knew no purgatory, nor prayers for the deade. But if our sinnes forgeuen were neuer so greuous, &c. what mad man woulde euer write thus? Euen such a one as might be allowed to speake thus: if blacke were neuer so blacke before it were cleane taken away and perfect white placed in the steede, yet when white is white, it is white. But M. Allen wil not allowe that the coullor of our sinnes is cleane taken away and a contrary coullor of righteousnesse set vppon vsus, but that sinnes forgeuen, be but halfe forgeuen, the gilte taken awaye, the punishment due for the gilte, still remayning. And this one halfe of forgeuenesse, is but graunted in wordes, and denied in deede. For if the gilte of our sinnes be cleane taken away from vsus, and layed vponupon the person of Christ, and the righteousnesse of Christ is communicated vntounto vsus, what is there lefte in vsus that God of his goodnesse can hate or of his iustice can punish? So it is but for a fashion, that the papistes graunt any parte of our sinnes forgeuen, when they will hauehave vsus make satisfaction for them our selues. But where as M. Allen is out of measure prodigall in promising releiffe and release of purgatory paines to them whose sinnes were neuer so greuous, their vicious life wasted in idle wealth, the space of penaunce and opportunity of working neglected in time, preuented by sodaine death &c: rehersing so many meanes of mitigation, as sometime the bloude of Christ, the residew of his merites, the crye of the mother Church, the memory of the Masse, the merites of all Sainctes, the prayers of the faithfull and workes of the charitable: All this notwithstanding take heede you poore Papistes, that you geue no credit to these flattering wordes. For it is the opinion of all the olde writers, that doe allowe any of these thinges, to profit men after their death, and concluded by the Maister of the Sentence, and aduouched by Allen him selfe afterwarde chapt. 7. that no man can receiue benefit after his departure, by any worke or will of the liuing, but he that in his life deserued the same, neither shal any thing worke vponupon him more or lesse, but according to his owne deseruing in this life. Trust not therefore in these sophisticall vanities, which are contrary one to an other, but imbrace the vniforme & vndoubted doctrine of Gods word, which teacheth repentaunce, faith, iustification, and saluation, not with curious questions to troble your braynes, but with perfect conclusions to quyet your conscience, not suffering you to sleepe in securitie vponupon hope of helpe after your death, but charging you to shew the force of mortification and fruictes of fayth while you are aliue. Not puffing vp your phantasie with pride of your owne merites, but teaching you to ascribe all prayse to Gods glorious grace, and infinite mercy.
2 The cruell aduersary of man kinde, as before he wrought his worst against Purgatory, so here he busely pricketh forwarde the schoole of Protestantes, to improue to their owne vtter damnation, and the notable hinderaunce of our louing bretherns saluation, all such meanes as God by scripture or other testimony. of his worde, hath reueled to be profitable for the abating of paine, or the release of the apointed punishment, in that place of temporall torment to come. Against which deceiuers, I meane by Gods helpe in this ordre to trauell.
2 The cruell aduersary of mankinde, and enuyor of Gods glory, inuented Purgatory to deface the merites of Christes death, and to blemish the onelyonly meanes of mans, eternall life, which when he coulde not with any seemely coullor establish, by the authority of the holy Scriptures, the onelyonly testimony of his worde and will reueiled and confirmed by his holy Spirite, he hath inuented fayned fables and deuilish illusions to deceiue the mindes of them whome he had enclined vntounto superstition, and not bene ashamed to match them in credit and estimation with the very worde of God it selfe. As appereth by this scribe of Sathan, which nameth the scriptures for a simple shew, but by and by addeth other testimonies of Gods worde, beside the scriptures inspired by God: whereby he maketh equiualent, those false reuelations raised vp from Hell, with the inspiratiō of the holy Ghost which hath brought the truth from heauen. But now commeth in the order of this deuillyshe horror.
3 First I will proue, that sinnes may be pardoned, or the debt and bonde thereof released, in the next worlde.
3 You shall neuer proue by authoritie of Gods word that sinnes not repented in this life, shalbe pardoned after this life, where there is no repentaunce profitable, nor yet any debt payed but by them that paye it eternally in perpetuall torments.
4 Then I shall shewe what meanes the holy Scripture approueth,A briefe note of the contentes and principall pointes of this booke. or the example thereof awarraunteth to be proffitable for the soules departed.
4 When you can proue either by doctrine, or example agreable to doctrine of the canonicall Scriptures, that any thing profiteth the soules departed that be not in happy state, we will beleue it.
5 I will open what the principall pillars, and in a maner the flowre of all the faithfull sorte in sundry agies, and almost in all Christian contryes, hauehave lefte in writinge for this pointe.
5 You are not able to bring one authenticall writer, that within one 100 yeares and more after Christ, hath allowed prayer for the dead, or any point of purgatory.
6 I will declare what they practised for their dearest frends priuately, and what the Churches of most notable Nations vsed for all deceased in Christes faith, in their publike seruice openly: I shall proue vntounto you, that the practise of suffrages and Sacrifice for the deade, isshued downe to vsus from the Apostles dayes.
6 You shall not proue that either in publicke or priuate prayers, the deade were commended otherwise then by waye of thankes geuing for their departure, or that any suffrages or sacrifice was offered for them by the Apostles or their lawefull successors, or many yeares after the Apostles times.
7 I shall pointe you to the first father of the contrary doctrine, and his principall abettours, in such troublesome times at such marchants were to be founde. Ye shall see them knowen amongest all the holy of their time by the name of heretikes.
7 You shall shew no heretike that denied your doctrine, but I will shew you other heretikes before him that allowed it.
8 You shall see their doctrine improued, and them selues condemned, by the graue iudgement of Councells, both Generall & prouinciall, for heretikes. If any of them all can say any thing, to the contrary of that, which we vponupon so good groundes mainteine, he shall be aunswered with no worse, then the very wordes of the holy auncient writers. Finally, if any other thinges be necessary beside, for the declaration of this matter to the simple, or for proofe against our aduersaries, they shall not be omitted: as occasiō, by course and fall of the matter, may be geuen. All which pointes being auouched and not proued, shall condemne me of arrogancy: But both auouched, and fully proued, they shall deserue any reasonable mans consent, and beare testimony of the aduersaries impudency here, and witnesse of their contempte of Gods approued trueth, in the worlde to come.
8 How vayne your bragge is of generall counsels, it appeareth by this, that with in fouretene hundreth yeares after Christ, you can finde none to serue your turne, vntill you come to the councells Florens and Trent, whereof the one was held in our grandfathers dayes, the other within these 20. yeares, your prouinciall councells shal be aunswered by as good prouinciall councells as they are. And that which I hauehave to say in confutation of your heresie, shall be no worse then the very word of God it selfe, which is better then ye consent of all the world against it. And although the custome of praying for the dead, be an auncient errour, so that fewe of the latter writers there are, but they shewe them selues to be infected therewith, yet hath it not such an vniuersall consent of all writers, but that I shall be able by Gods grace to shew that the most auncient and nearest to the Apostles tyme, receiued it not, and that they which of later time admitted it, had neither any ground out of the Scriptures to warrant their doing, nor any certainty of faith to assure their conscience, which when it is found in the ende, as it is now sayd in the beginning, your arrogant boasting and impudent lying togither with the falshoode of your opinions, shall be manifest to all men.