The Elf-Fire of Purgatory, Text
AN ANNEXE TO this Treatise of Purgatorie, concerning the Distinction of Sinne into Mortall and Veniall, which is the maine Pillar of this Pyrotechnie, and being pulled downe, makes the whole Fabricke to fall.
IF we consider aright what Sinne is of its own nature, as Saint Iohn describes it;1 Iohn 3.4. to wit, that all sinne whatsoeuer is a transgression of the Law: or if we consider, what is the proper wages of sinne, of whatsoeuer sort it bee, as Saint Paul cleares it,Rom. 6.23. to wit, death: or if we consider what is onelyonly able to expiate, and doth purge vsus from all sinne, (name it as they will,) to wit▪ Christs blood and death onelyonly:Galat. 3.10. Then surely any such distinction of sinne into Mortall and Veniall by nature,Hebr. 9.22. will quite evanish,1 Iohn 1.7. and sinne of it owne nature will bee acknowledged to bee mortall solely; and to say Peccatum, and yet Veniale simply, and not Mortale properly, will be … to bee vertuall contradiction; and we know that there is no composition of meerely opposites, nor construction of mutuall destructiues.
Yea, out of their owne mouth to condemne them, how is sinne vniuer…ally distinguished by themselues into Veniall and Mortall, if the Veniall bee not sinne, and that properly: and if it bee sinne, (or foreign) then of necessitie it must bee as is said,Galat. 3.10. foreign, as saith Saint Iohn; and the wages thereof; as the Lawe threatneth, is Gods curse;Rom. 6.23. or as Saint Paul pronounceth, doome is death.
So that eueryevery sinne is as a Viper: and there is no Viper,Actes 28. if wee respect the meere nature of the best of them, but shee killeth whom shee biteth▪ yet if one shall light on the hand of Paul, shee is shaken off into the fire without any harming▪ but not the lesse is shee to bee feared, and accounted deadly of her owne nature, although the Apostle be safe.
Wherefore the distinction of sinne into …ortall and Veniall, ariseth … sed personis. From whence it followes, That all sinnes are damnable in all men, but not to all men; all deserving, but not all receiuing damnation: for to the reprobate no sinne is finally veniall, and to the elect no sinne is finally mortall. Notwithstanding that there is one sinne, which is simply, and vniuersally mortall, because it is not only punishable, but euer punished with eternall death, and is that sinne against the Holy Ghost; but is no wayes incident to the elect.
Therefore I call sinne mortall two wayes. First, by explication and generally; and to say a mortall sinne, is to shew the nature of all sinne. Secondly, by way of distinction and specially; and so to say a mortall sinne, is to designe that sinne against the Holy Ghost in particular: and which sinne Impenitencie doth follow necessitate ineuitabili, as an inseparable consequent, where in all other sinnes it is rather contingent: for as no sinne can bee forgiuen without repentance; so this sinne excludes possibilitie of repentance:Hebr. 6.4. and therefore is irremissible, and is called Mortall in an eminent degree, and neuer becomes veniall; not because God in his absolute power cannot forgiue it, but because in his iust will hee hath decreed neuer to forgiue it, the partie so sinning being euer obdured by his owne vniust action, and Gods iust desertion.
And this is that which is spoken, Mathew 12.31. and which Christs beloued Disciple vnderstands,1 Iohn 5.16. saying, There is a sinne to death, and a sinne not vntounto death: distinguishing so, not betweene some sinnes mortall in nature, and some sinnes veniall by nature: But betweene one sinne simply mortall in nature, and in necessary effect vntounto all; and all other sinnes simply mortall in nature also, but not in necessary effect vntounto all: and therefore possibly and by repentance veniall through grace vntounto the elect. Whereas the same sinnes are iustly through want of repentance retained, and be comes finally mortall to the obdured reprobate.
Bell. lib. 1. de purg. ca. 11.Neither is it to any purpose which Bellarmine alledgeth out of Iames 1.15. that because concupiscence brings foorth sinne; and sinne consummate brings foorth death▪ therefore that concupiscence it selfe should not bring foorth death, or be a mortall sinne, but veniall. Where in the contrary it is rather to bee reasoned, that Concupiscence being the euill Tree budding, or poysoned Spring flowing, it is the cause of all that which proceeds therefrom; to wit, both sinne consummate, and death inflicted; as from the seed both stalke and each eare comes.
And in the very regenerate, where no consent is thereto, as it is called sinne properly, and a rebellion against the Law of God, Rom. 7.20, 23. so the fruit and merit thereof is affirmed to be death, vers. 24▪ and Rom. 8.2. and consequently it is of nature mortall.
Neither is it forbidden in the Law with that restriction of giuing consent thereto; but simply it is said, Thou shalt not couet: and therefore to lust or couet, although it proceed no further, (as Christ himselfe expounds that Precept) is a breach of the Lawe,Math. 5. and consequently merits death, and the curse▪ Neither may we (according to Bellarmines owne rule) restraine that which God hath set downe more amply.Bell. lib. 4. de Poenit. c. 13.
And as for that out of a 1 Corinth. …. where veniall sinne is desweined (saith Bellarmine) Ex leuitate materiae, wee may iustly say, it is leuis probatio: and whereas through wanting more solid stuffe, for proouing their distinction, they hauehave their recourse then to stubble; they may fitly bee compared to that thralled people in the Egyptian bondage, who wanting long straw, were forced to gather short stubble to themselues, to make vp their …aske, which they could not accomplish: and for building such stuffe, not vponupon the foundation, but rather thereby euerting the foundation, they may feare a fearefull and consuming fire at last.
But heereunto wee will onelyonly giuegive them but their owne answeres, and fully pay them with their owne coyne.
Bellarmine then testifies,Bell. l. 1. de purg. c. 5. that because by the Builders in that place, is vnderstood Doctors: therefore by the worke must bee vnderstood doctrine; and consequently by Hay and Stubble, (saith hee) is vnderstood curious and vnprofitable doctrine.
Next he saith, That by the fire that burneth this combustible and light stuffe, Purgatory (wherein Veniall sinnes enter) cannot bee meant, because it purgeth not the worke, but altogether consumes the worke. This likewise is but Metaphorically then so called fire: but that of Purgatory is reall; Et ignis Purgatoriae qui ver… & realis est, (saith Bellarmine) non potest opera comburero, quae sunt actiones transeuntes, & jam transierunt.
And whereas the Ancients seeme to poynt at this Distinction, making mention of Mortall sins any iudicious Reader will finde, that thereby they vnderstand Peccata vastantia conscientiam, or such great and gross… sinnes, as vsually exclude penitentiall grace from the presumptuous Actour, by which onelyonly our sinnes become veniall.
Likewise seeing eueryevery sinne (name it as yee will, if yee graunt it once to bee sinne,) is mediately at least committed against an infinite obiect, who consequently requireth iustly an infinite punishment: It followeth necessarily that the same is mortall, although it were but as idle word;Bell. lib. 1. de Purg. c. 11. which Bellarmine saith, were a foolish thing in man to breake friendship for such light offences, and can not bee vnderstood in God how it can deserue eternall punishment, although in the contrary Christ hath said▪ that euen of such account shall bee giuen at the day of Iudgement; at which time onelyonly eternall punishment shall bee inflicted, and not a temporall, such as they allot to veniall sinnes.
Wherefore it was requisite, that as our Sauiour should hauehave our nature, that in it sinne might hee punished iustly: so this nature was to subsist in an infinite person, that by it sinne might bee conquered fully.
But when … himselfe is to bee punished by God, according to the merit of his vnpardoned offence, the Lord not hauing meanes to satisfie his Iustice on an infinite person, to make proportion betweene his Iustice, and mans sinne some way, hee chuseth an infinite time▪ because the person punished, is no wayes match with the partie offended: therefore this punishment is truly called Passion, but not Satisfaction ▪ whereas the infinitenesse of Christs Nature in person, made his Passion to bee a sufficient Satisfaction.
From whence it followes that nothing can bee done by man, either actiuely or passiuely in this life, nor after the same; that can be reputed a condigne satisfaction to God for any one sinne whatsoeuer committed by vsus; the guilt and whole punishment whereof is perfectly abrogated by Christ: the first being imputed to him, and the second inflicted vponupon him: that so all who are engraft in him, may be freed from both; the merit of his blood, and fire of his spirit, and not any other Purgatorie effectuating that to vsus.
Not, that by this ouerthrow of that distinction of sinne into mortall and veniall,The inequality of sinne, or degrees thereof. (which at last among the Papists becomes also venall) that we denie an inequalitie to be in sinnes, and so consequently in their due punishments.
For first, wee hold sinnes to bee vnequall in respect of the obiect against, which we sinne; and so a sin against God is a greater sin, then a sin against man; and a sinne against the first Table, is greater then a sinne against the second Table; being compared in equall and paralell acts. Otherwise if we compare a sinne in the least part of a Commandement in the first Table, with a sinne in the greatest part of a Commandement in the Second Table, the latter is more hainous then the first.
Likewise, as a sinne against God is greater then a sinne against man, for the essentiall diuersitie of the obiect; so the sinne against one man may bee greater then a sinne against another, for the accidentall diuersitie of the obiect; as in eminencie of place against a King, or propinquitie of blood, & bond of nature against a Parent: for although all men naturally considered are alike and the same, yet ciuilly and politickly they are not.
Secondly, in respect of the matter wherein wee sinne, there is an inequalitie: so Murder is a greater sinne then Theft, because life is more precious then goods. Likewise if we compare sins in the same matter, one may be greater then another, according to the extent or quantitatiue measure: as to kill three, is a greater offence then to kill one; and to steale 100. pounds, is a greater theft then 10.
Thirdly, in respect of the manner how we offend, there is an inequalitie of sinning, and so a sinne of malice is greater then a sinne of infirmitie: so is that of knowledge, greater then that of ignorance. As likewise sinnes that consist only in immanent action or thought of the minde, are lesse then these that come to transient action being accomplished by the body; eueryevery further addition making the sinne more intense in degree.
The inequalitie of punishment, or degrees thereof.And as sins are vnequall; so are their punishments; God in his distributiue iustice, allotting seuerall portions of paine to the seuerall proportions of sinne.
The priuatiue punishment, or poena damni, in time & degree is alike to all; Depart from me &c.
The posi…iue or poe…a sensus, is partly from an inward cause, which is the gnawing worme of conscience, whose life is perpetuated in death; or from an outward cause, which is such exquisite meanes whereby at last the whole man is afflicted, decreed by God in his wisedome, executed by his power, to demonstrate his iustice, and is ordinarily called the fire of Hell.
And as the outward paine of fire primarily inflicted on the body, doth worke effectually to afflict the soule; so doth the inward paine of the worme which is in the soule, worke effectually to afflict the body: that as they were brethren in euill, and participated in sinne, so they may bee coupled likewise, and pertake in torment.
And as the soule hath one estate in her selfe at death independant vponupon the body by her seperation from it, and another in the body vponupon her revniting with it at the resurrection: so in the first she suffereth outward paine immediately, and in the second by the body mediately.
In all which, the punishment of all is equall in time, because in respect of duration, there is neither more nor lesse in that which is eternall, but the punishment is vnequall in degree, Gods iustice hauing a relatiue respect to mans sinne.
And so although we denie that any sinnes are veniall by nature, yet we affirme some to be lesse then others, and in a lesse measure punished: and so the vniust slander of our Aduersaries, affirming that we make all sinnes, and consequently all punishments equall, may easily hence appeare.
FINIS.
End of the text · William Guild, The Elf-Fire of Purgatory (1625)