Answer to a Jesuit in Ireland — James Ussher

Answer to a Jesuit in Ireland · James Ussher

OF THE PRIESTS POVVER TO FORGIVE SINNES.

FRom Confession we are now to proceed unto Absolution: which it were pitie this man should receive, before he made confession of the open wrong he hath here done, in charging us to denie that Priests have power to forgive sinnes. whereas the verie formall words, which our Church requireth to be used in the ordination of a Minister, are these: aThe forme of ordering of Priests.Whose sinnes thou doest forgive, they are forgiven; and vvhose sinnes thou doest retaine, they are retained. And therefore if this be all the matter, the Fathers and we shal agree well enough: howsoever this make-bate would faine put friends together by the eares, where there is no occasion at all of quarrell. For wee acknowledge most willingly, that the principall part of the Priests ministerie is exercised in the matter of forgivenesse of sinnes: the question only is of the maner how this part of their function is executed by them, and of the bounds and limits thereof, which the Pope and his Clergie for their owne advantage have inlarged beyond all measure of truth and reason.

That wee may therefore give unto the Priest the things that are the Priests, and to God the things that are Gods; & not cōmunicate unto any creature the power that properly belongeth to the Creator, who bEsai. 48.11.will not give his glory unto another: we must in the first place lay this downe for a sure ground, that to forgive sinnes properly, directly, and absolutely, is a priviledge onelyonly appertayning unto the most High. I, saith he of himselfe, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake, and will not remember thy sinnes. (Esai. 43.25.) Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquitie? saith the Prophet, Micah 7.18. which in effect is the same with that of the Scribes: (Mark. 2.7. and Luk. 5.21.) Who can forgive sinnes, but God alone? And therefore when David saith unto God; Thou forgavest the iniquitie of my sinne: (Psalm. 32.5.) Gregory surnamed the great (the first Bishop of Rome of that name) thought this to be a sound paraphrase of his words. cTu qui solus parcis, qui solus peccata dimittis. Quis enim potest peccata dimittere, nisi solus Deus? Gregor. exposit. 2. Psalmi Poenittential.Thou, vvho alone sparest, who alone forgivest sinnes. For who can forgive sinnes but God alone? Hee did not imagine that he had committed anie great error in subscribing thus simply unto that sentence of the Scribes: and little dreamed that anie petie Doctors afterwards would arise in Rome or Rhemes, who would tell us a faire tale; that dRhemists, annot. in Matt. 9.6.the faithlesse Iewes thought, as Hereticks now adayes, that to forgive sinnes was so proper to God, that it could not be communicated unto man; and that eRich. Hopkins, in the Memoriall of a Christ. life, pag. 179. edis, ann. 1612.true beleevers referre this to the increase of Gods honour, which miscreant Iewes and Hereticks doe accompt blasphemie against God, and injurious to his Majestie. whereas in truth the faithlesnesse of the Iewes consisted in the application of this sentence unto our Saviour Christ, whom they did not acknowledge to be God; as the senslesness of these Romanists, in denying of the axiom it selfe.

But the world is come unto a good passe, when we must be accounted hereticks now adayes, and consorted with miscreant Iewes, for holding the selfe same thing that the Fathers of the ancient Church delivered as a most certain truth, whensoever they had anie occasion to treate of this part of the historie of the Gospel. Old Irenaeus telleth us, that our Saviour in this place fPeccata igitur remittens, hominem quidem curavit, semetipsum autem manifesté ostendit quis esset. Si enim nemo potest remittere peccata, nisi solus Deus; remittebat autē haec Dominus, & curabat homines: manifestum est, quoniam ipse erat Verbum Dei, Filius hominis factus, &c., & quomodo homo compassus est nobis, tanquam Deus misereatur nostri, & remittat nobis debita nostra, quae factori nostro debemus Deo. Irenaeus advers. haeres. lib. 5. cap. 17.forgiving sinnes, did both cure the man, and manifestly discover who he was. For if none (saith hee) can forgive sinnes but God alone, and our Lord did forgive them, and cured men; it is manifest, that he was the Word of God, made the Sonne of man: and that as man hee is touched with compassion of us, as God he hath mercy on us, and forgiveth us our debts which we doe owe unto God our maker. Tertullian saith, that gNam cùm Iudaei solummodò hominem eius intuentes, needum & Deum certi, quâ Dei quoque filium, meritò retractarent, non posse hominem delicta dimittere, sed Deum solum, &c. Tertullian. lib 4, advers. Marcion. cap. 10.when the Iewes beholding onelyonly his humanitie, and not being yet certaine of his Deitie, did deservedly reason, that a man could not forgive sinnes, but God alone: he by answering of them, that the Sonne of man had authoritie to forgive sinnes, would by this remission of sinnes have them call to minde that he was hIllum scilicèt solum filium hominis apud Danielis Prophetiam, consecutum iudicandi potestatem, ac per eam utíque & dimittendi delicta. Id. ibid.that onelyonly sonne of man, prophesied of in Daniel, who received power of judging, and thereby also of forgiving sinnes. (Dan. 7.13, 14.) S. Hilary commenting upon the ninth of Matthew, writeth thus. iMovet Scribas remissum ab homine peccatum Hominem enim tantùm in Iesu Christo contuebantur; & remissum ab eo, quod l…x laxare non poterat Fides enim sola justificat. Deinde mu…murationē eorum Dominus introspicit, dicitque facile esse filio hominis in terraâ peccata dimittere. Verum enim, nemo potest dimittere peccata, nisi solus Deus: ergo qui remittit Deus est, quia nemo remittit nisi Deus. Deus in homine manens curationem homini praestabat. Hilar. in Matth. Canon. 8.It moveth the Scribes, that sinne should be forgiven by a man. For they beheld a man onelyonly in Iesus Christ; and that to be forgiven by him, which the law could not release. For it is faith onelyonly that justifieth. Afterward the Lord looketh into their murmuring, and saith that it is an easie thing for the Sonne of man upon earth to forgive sinnes. For it is true, none can forgive sinnes but God alone: therefore hee who remitteth is God, because none remitteth but God. God remayning in man, performed this cure upon man. S. Hierom thus: kLegimus in Prophetâ dicentem Deū: Ego sum qui deleo iniquitates tuas. Consequenter ergo Scribae, quia hominem putabant, & verba Dei non intelligebant, arguunt eum blasphemiae. Sed Dominus videns cogitationes eorum, ostendit se Deum, qui possit cordis occulta cognoscere: & quodammodo tacens loquitur; Eâdem majestate & potentiâ, quâ cogitationes vestras intueor, possum & hominibus peccata dimittere. Hieronym. lib. 1. Commentar. in Matth. 9.We reade that God saith in the Prophet; I am he that blotteth out thine iniquities. Consequently therefore the Scribes, because they thought him to be a man, and did not understand the words of God, accuse him of blasphemy. But the Lord seeing their thoughts, sheweth himselfe to be God, who is able to know the secrets of the heart: and holding his peace after a sort speaketh; By the same majestie and power, vvherewith I behold your thoughts, I am able also to forgive sinnes unto men. or, as Euthymius expresseth it in his commentaries upon the same place: lVeré nullus potest remittere peccata, nisi unus, qui intuetur cogitationes hominum. Euthym. cap. 13. in Matth.In truth, none can forgive sinnes but one, who beholdeth the thoughts of men. S. Chrysostome likewise in his Sermons upon the same, sheweth that Christ here declared himselfe to be God equall unto the Father: and that mforeign.Chrysost. in Matth. 9. hom 20. Graec. 30. Latin.if he had not beene equall unto the Father, he would have said; Why doe you attribute unto me an unfitting opinion? I am farre from that power. To the same effect also writeth Christianus Druthmarus, Paschasius Ratbertus, and Walafridus Strabus in the ordinarie Glosse upon the same place of S. Matthew. Victor Antiochenus upon the second of Mark; Theophylact and Bede upon the second of Mark, and the fifth of Luke: S. Ambrose upon the fifth of Luke. who in another place also bringeth this sentence of the Scribes, as a ground to prove the deitie of the holy Ghost withall: forasmuch as nPeccata nemo condonat, nisi unus Deus: quia aequé scriptum est; Quis potest peccata donare nisi solus Deus? Ambros. de Spir. sanct. lib. 3. cap. 19.none forgiveth sinnes but one God; because it is written, Who can forgive sins but God alone? as S. Cyril doth to prove the deitie of the Sonne. oIstud enim solum malicia Iudaeorum veré di ebat, quòd nullus potest dimittere peccata, nisi solus Deus, qui legis Dominus est Cyrill. Alexandr. Thesaur. lib. 12. cap. 4.For this onelyonly, saith he, did the malice of the Iewes say truely, that none can forgive sinnes, but God alone, who is the Lord of the law ▪ and thence he frameth this argument. pforeign; Id. in lib. de rectâ fide ad Reginas.If he alone who is the Lord of all doth free us from our sins, and this agreeeth to no other, and Christ bestoweth this with a power befitting God; how should he not be God?

The same argument also is used by Novatianus and Athanasius to the selfe same purpose. qQuòd si cùm nullius sit nisi Dei, cordis nosse secreta, Christus secreta conspicit cordis: quòd si, cùm nullius sit nisi Dei, peccata dimittere, idem Christus peccata dimittit: &c. meritò Deus est Christus Novatian de Trinitat. cap. 13.For if, when it agreeth unto none but unto God to know the secrets of the heart, Christ doth behold the secrets of the heart; if, when it agreeth unto none but unto God to forgive sinnes, the same Christ doth forgive sinnes: then deservedly is Christ to be accounted God, saith Novatianus. So Athanasius demandeth of the Arrians: rforeign; Athanas. orat. 3. contra Arian. pag. 239. tom. 1. edit. Graecolat.if the Sonne were a creature, how was he able to forgive sinnes? it being written in the Prophets, that this is the work of God. For who is a God like unto thee, that taketh away sinnes and passeth over iniquities? sforeign. Id. in epist. de Synodis Arimin. & Seleuc. pag. 712. Vid. etiam Orat. 4. contra Arrian. pag. 254. & 281.But the sonne (saith hee) said unto whom he would; Thy sinnes are forgiven thee: when the Iewes murmuring also he demonstrated this forgivenesse in deed, saying to the man that was sicke of the palsie; Arise, take up thy bedd, and goe unto thine house. And therefore Bede rightly inferreth, that tSed multo dementiùs errant Arriani, qui cùm Iesum & Christum esse, & peccata posse dimittere, Evangelii verbis devicti negare non audeant; nihilominus Deum negare non timent. Bed. in Marc. lib. 1. cap. 10.the Arrians doe erre here much more madly then the Iewes: vvho when they dare not denie, being convicted by the words of the Gospell, that Iesus is both the Christ and hath power to forgive sinnes; yet feare not for all that to denie him to be God. and concludeth himselfe most soundly: that uSi & Deus est iuxta Psalmistam, qui quantum distat oriens ab occasu elongavit á nobis iniquitates nostras, & filius hominis potestatem habet in terrâ dimittendi peccata: ergo idem ipse & Deus, & filius hominis est; ut & homo Christus per divinitatis sure potentiam peccata dimittere possit, & idem Deus Christus per humanitatis suae fragilitatem pro peccatoribus mori. Id. ibid.if he be God according to the Psalmist, who removeth our iniquities from us as farr as the East is from the West, and the sonne of man hath power upon earth to forgive sinnes; therefore the same is both God and the sonne of man, that the man Christ by the power of his divinitie might forgive sinnes, and the same Christ God by the frailtie of his humanitie might dye for sinners. Whereunto wee will adde another sweete passage of his (borrowed from some ancienter author:) xNemo tollit peccata (quae nec Lex, quamvis sancta & iusta & bona, potuit auferre) nisi ille in quo peccatum non est. Tollit autem, & dimittendo quae facta sunt, & adiuvando ne fiant, & perducendo ad vitam ubi fieri omnino non possint. Bed. in 1. Iohan. 3.No man taketh away sinnes (which the Law, although holy and just and good, could not take away) but he in whom there is no sinne. Now hee taketh them away, both by pardoning those that are done, and by assisting us that they may not be done, & by bringing us to the life where they cannot at all be done.

yP Lombard. lib. 4. Sentent. distinct. 18 D.Peter Lombard alledgeth this as the saying of S. Augustine: the former sentence only being thus changed. zNemo tollit peccata, nisi solus Christus, qui est agnus …ollens peccata mundi. August.None taketh away sinnes, but Christ alone, vvho is the Lamb that taketh away the sinnes of the world. agreeable to that, which in the same place he citeth out of S. Ambrose: aIlle solus peccata dimittit, qui solus pro peccatis nostris mortuus est. Ambros.He alone forgiveth sinnes, who alone dyed for our sinnes. and to that of Clemens Alexandrinus: bforeign. Clem. Alexandr. Paedaegog. lib. 1. cap. 8.He alone can remit sinnes, who is appointed our Master by the father of all, who alone is able to discerne disobedience from obedience. to which purpose also, S. Ambrose maketh this observation upon the historie of the woman taken in adulterie, Ioh. 8.9. that cDonaturus peccatum, solus remanet Iesus. &c. Non enim legatus neque nuncius, sed ipse Dominus salvum fecit populum suum. Solus remanet, quia non potest hoc cuiquā hominum cum Christo esse commune ut peccata condonet. Solius hoc munus est Christi, qui tulit peccatum mundi. Ambros. epist. 76. ad Studium.Iesus being about to pardon sin, remayned alone. For it is not the ambassador (saith hee) nor the messenger, but the Lord himselfe that hath saved his people. He remaineth alone, because it cannot be common to anie man with Christ to forgive sinnes. This is the office of Christ alone, who taketh away the sinne of the world. Yea S. Chrysostom himselfe, who of all the Fathers giveth most in this point unto Gods ambassadors and messengers, is yet carefull withall to preserve Gods priviledge entire, by often interposing such sentences as these. dforeign. Chrysost. in 2. Corinth. 3. homil. 6.None can forgive sinnes, but God alone. eforeign. Id. in Iohan 8. homil. 54. edit. Graec. vel 53. Latin.To forgive sinnes, belongeth to no other. fforeign. Id in 1. Corinth. 15 homil. 40.To forgive sinnes, is possible to God onelyonly. gforeign. Id. ibid.God alone doth this: which also hee worketh in the washing of the new birth. Wherein, that the work of cleansing the soule is wholly Gods, and the minister hath no hand at all in effecting anie part of it; Optatus proveth at large in his fifth booke against the Donatistes: shewing that hSordes et maculas mentis lavare non potest, nisi qui ejusdem fabricator est mentis Optat▪ lib. 5.none can wash the filth and sports of the minde, but hee who is the framer of the same minde; and convincing the hereticks, as by manie other testimonies of holy Scriptur…, so by that of Esai. 1.18. which he presseth in this maner. iDei est mundare, non hominis: ipse per Prophetam Esaiam promisit se loturū, dum ait; Et si …uerint peccata vestra velut coccum, ut nivem inalbabo. Inalbabo dixit; non dixit, faciam inalbari. Si hoc Deus promisit: quare vos vultis reddere, quod vobis nec promittere licet, nec reddere, nec habere? Ecce in Esaiâ fe promisit, Deus inalbare peccatis affectos, non per hominem. Id. ibid.It belongeth unto God to cleanse, and not unto man: he hath promised by the Prophet Esai that hee himselfe would wash, when he saith; If your sinnes were as scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. I will make them white, he said: he did not say, I will cause them to be made white. If God hath promised this, why will you give that, which is neyther lawfull for you to promise, nor to give, nor to have? Behold in Esai God hath promised that he himselfe will make white such as are defiled with sinnes; not by man.

Having thus therefore reserved unto God his prerogative royall in cleansing of the soule, we give unto his under-officers their due, when we k1. Cor. 4.1, 2.account of them, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. lChrysost. in 1. Cor. 4. hom. 10.not as Lords, that have power to dispose of spiritual graces as they please: mId. in 2. Cor. 4. homil. 8. circa init.but as servants that are tyed to follow their Masters prescriptions therin; & in following therof do but bring their external ministerie (nforeign. Id. ibid. for which it self also they are beholding to Gods merciemercy & goodnes) God conferring the inward blessing of his spirit thereupon, when & where he will. o1. Cor. 3.5.Who then is Paul, (saith S. Paul himselfe) and who is Apollo? but Ministers by whom yee beleeved, even as the Lord gave to every man? Therfore, saith Optatus, pEst ergo in universis servientibus non dominium, sed ministerium. Optat. lib. 5.in all the servants there is no dominion, but a ministerie. qId. ibid. simili…er & …hrysostom. in 1. Cor. 3. homil. 8 foreign.Cui creditur, ipse dat quod creditur, non per quem creditur. It is hee who is beleeved, that giveth the thing which is beleeved, not he by whom we doe beleeve. Whereas our Saviour then saith unto his Apostles, Ioh. 20. Receive the holy Ghost, Whose sinnes you forgive shall be forgiven: rAmbros. de Spir. sanct. lib. 3. cap. 19.S. Ambrose, sAugust. contr. epist. Parmenian. lib. 2. cap. 11. & homil. 23. ex 50.S. Augustine, tChrysost. in 2. Corin. 3. homil. 6.S. Chrysostome, and uCyrill. Alexandr. in Io…an. lib. 12. cap. 56.S. Cyrill, make this observation thereupon; that this is not their work properly, but the worke of the holy Ghost, who remitteth by them, and therein performeth the worke of the true God. For indeed (saith S. xEt certé solius veri Dei est, ut possit à peccatis homines solvere. Cui enin alii praevaricatores legis liberare à peccato licet, nisi legis ipsius autori? Id. ibid.Cyrill) it belongeth to the true God alone, to be able to loose men from their sinns. for who else can free the transgressors of the law from sin, but he who is the author of law it selfe? yDaturus erat Dominus hominibus Spiritum sanctum; & ab ipso Spiritu sancto fidelibus suis dimitti peccata, non meritis hominum volebat intelligi dimitti peccata. Nam quid es homo, nis… aeger sanandus? Vis mihi esse medicus? mecum quaere medicum. Augustin. homil. 23. ex. 50.The Lord (saith S. Augustine) was to give unto men the holy Ghost, and he would have it to be understood, that by the holy Ghost himselfe sinnes should be forgiven to the faithfull, and not that by the merits of men sins should be forgiven. For what art thou, ô man, but a sick-man that hast need to be healed? Wilt thou be a physician to me? Seek the physician together with mee. So S. Ambrose: zEcce quia per Spiritum sanctum peccata donantur. Homines autem in remissionem peccatorum ministerium suum exhibent, non jus alicujus potestatis exercent. Ambros. de Spir. Sanct. lib. 3. cap. 19.Behold, that by the holy Ghost sinnes are forgiven. But men to the remission of sinnes bring their ministery, they exercise not the authoritie of any power. S. Chrysostom, though he make this to be the exercise of a great power (which also hee aChrysost. lib. 3. de Sacerdotio.elsewhere amplifieth, after his manner, exceeding hyperbolically) yet in the maine matter accordeth fully with S. Ambrose; that it lyeth in bforeign. Id. in Iohan. 20. homil. 86. edit. Graec. v…l 85. Latin.God alone to bestowe the things wherein the Priests service is employed. cforeign. Id. ibid.And what speake I of Priests? saith he. Neyther Angell nor Archangell can doe ought in those things which are given by God: but the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost doe dispense all. The Priest lendeth his tongue, and putteth too his hand. dforeign Id. in 2. Tim. cap. 1. homil. 2.His part only is to open his mouth: but it is God that worketh all. And the reasons whereby both he,eId. in Iohan. 8. homil. 54 Graec. vel 53. Latin. and Theophylact after him, doe prove that the Priests of the law had no power to forgive sinnes; are of as great force to take the same power from the ministers of the Gospell. first, because fforeign. Theophylact. in Iohan. 8.it is Gods part onelyonly to forgive sinnes. secondly, because gforeign. Id. ibid.the Priests were servants, yea servants of sinne, and therefore had no power to forgive sinnes unto others: but the Sonne is the Lord of the house; who h1. Ioh. 3.5.was manifested to take away our sinnes, and in him is no sinne, saith S. Iohn. upon which saying of his, S. Augustin giveth this good note: iIn quo non est peccatum, ipse venit auferre peccatū. Nam si esset & in illo peccatum, auferendum esset illi, non ipse auferret, August. tract. 4. in I. Iohan 3.It is he in whom there is no sinne, that came to take away sinne. For if there had beene sinne in him too, it must have beene taken away from him, he could not take it away himselfe.

To forgive sinnes therefore being thus proper to God onelyonly and to his Christ: his ministers must not be held to have this power communicated unto them, but in an improper sense; namely because God forgiveth by them; and hath appointed them both to apply those meanes by which he useth to forgive sinnes, and to give notice unto repentant sinners of that forgivenesse. kQuis enim potest peccata dimittere nisi solus Deus? qui per eos quoque dimittit, quibus dimittendi tribuit potestatem Ambros. lib. 5. commentar. in Luc. 5.For who can forgive sinnes but God alone? yet doth he forgive by them also, unto whom hee hath given power to forgive: saith S. Ambrose, and his lBeda. & Strabus in Marc. 2. & Luc. 5.followers. And mQuamvis Dei proprium opus sit, remittere peccata: dicuntur tamē etiam Apostoli remittere, non simpliciter, sed quia adhibent media, per quae Deus remittit peccata. Haec autem media sunt, Verbum Dei & Sacramenta, Io. Ferus, annota…. in Iohan 20. Item, lib. 3. Comment. in Matth. cap. 16.though it be the proper worke of God to remit sins, (saith Ferus:) yet are the Apostles (and their successors) said to remit also, not simply, but because they apply those meanes whereby God doth remit sinnes. Which means are, the Word of God and the Sacraments. Whereunto also wee may adde, the relaxation of the Censures of the Church, and Prayer ▪ for in thes… foure the whole exercise of this ministerie of reconciliation (as the n2. Cor. 5.18.Apostle calleth it) doth mainly consist. of each whereof it is needefull that wee should speake somewhat more particularly.

That Prayer is a meanes ordayned by God for procuring remission of sinnes, is plaine by that of S. Iames. oIam. 5.15, 16.The prayer of faith shall save the sicke, and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he have committed sinnes, they shall be forgiven him. Confesse your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed: for the fervent prayer of a righteous man avayleth much. The later of which sentences hath reference to the prayers of everie good Christian, whereunto we finde a gracious promise annexed, according to that of S. Iohn. p1. Ioh. 5.16.If anie man see his brother sinne a sinne which is not unto death, he shall aske, and he shall give him life for them that sinne not unto death. But the former, as the verse immediatly going before doth manifestly prove, pertayneth to the prayers made by the ministers of the Church; who have a speciall charge to be the Lords remembrancers for the good of his people. And therefore, as S. Augustin out the later proveth, that qQuòd etiam frater fratrem á delicti poterit contagione mundare. Aug. in Evangel. Iohan. tract. 58.one brother by this meanes may cleanse another from the contagion of sinne: so doth S. Chrysostom out of the former, that Priests doe performe this, not rforeign. Chrysost. lib. 3. de Sacerdot. tom. 6. edit. Savil pag. 17.by teaching onelyonly and admonishing, but by assisting us also with their prayers. and the faithfull prayers, both of the one and of the other, are by S.sAugustin. de Baptismo contra Donatist. lib. 3. cap. 17.18. Augustin made the especiall meanes whereby the power of the keyes is exercised in the remitting of sinnes: who thereupon exhorteth offendors to shew their repentance publickly in the Church, tId. homil. 49. ex 50. Agite poenitentiam qualis agitur in Ecclesiâ, ut oret pro vobis Ecclesia.that the Church might pray for them, and impart the benefite of absolution unto them.

In the life of S Basil, fathered upon uTom. 2. Vit. Sanct. ab Aloysio Lipomano edit. Vene…. ann. 1553. fol. 298. Vit. Patrum, ab Her. Rosweydo edit. Antuerp. an. 1615. pag. 160. Miscellan. á Gerardo Vossio edit. Mogunt. an. 1604 pag. 136.Amphilochius, (of the credite whereof we have before spoken) a certaine gentlewoman is brought in, comming unto S. Basil for obtayning remission of her sinnes: who is said there to have demanded this question of her. Hast thou heard, ô vvoman, that none can forgive sinnes but God alone? and shee to have returned him this answer. I have heard it, Father: and therefore have I moved thee to make intercession unto our most mercifull God for mee. Which agreeth well with that which xAlex. in Sum. part. 4 quaest. 21. membr. 1.Alexander of Hales and yBonaventur. in lib. 4. Sent. dist. 18. art. 2. quaest. 1.Bonaventure doe maintaine: that the power of the keyes extend to the remission of faults, by way of intercession onelyonly and deprecation, not by imparting anie immediate absolution. And as in our private forgiving and praying one for another, S. Augustin well noteth, that zNostrum est donante ipso ministerium charitatis & humilitatis adhibere: illius est exaudire, ac nos ab omni peccatorum contaminatione mundare per Christum, & in Christo; ut quod aliis etiam dimittimus, hoc est in terrâ solvimus, solvatur & in coelo. Augustin in fine tractat. 58. in evangel. Iohann.it is our part, God giving us the grace, to use the ministerie of charitie and humilitie; but it is his, to heare us, and to cleanse us from all pollution of sinnes for Christ, and in Christ; that what we forgive unto others, that is to say, what wee loose upon earth, may be loosed also in heaven: so doth S. Ambrose shew that the case also standeth with the ministers of the Gospell, in the execution of that commission given unto them for the remitting of sinnes, Ioh. 20.23. aI…i rogant, divinitas donat. Humanum enim obsequium, sed munificentia supernae est potestatis. Ambros. de Spir. sanct. lib. 3. cap. 19.They make request, (saith he) the Godhead bestoweth the gift: for the service is done by man, but the bountie is from the power above. The reason which hee rendreth thereof, is, because in their ministerie it is the holy Ghost that forgiveth the sinne; and it is God onelyonly that can give the holy Ghost. bNon enim humanum hoc opus, neque ab homine datur; sed invocatus á Sacerdote, á Deo traditur: in quo Dei munus, ministeriū Sacerdotis est. Nam si Paulus Apostolus judicavit, quòd ipse donare Spiritum sanctum suâ authoritate non posset; & intantum se huic officio imparē credidit, ut á Deo nos spiritu optaret impleri: quis tantus est, qui hujus traditionē muneris sibi audeat arrogare? Itaque Apostolus votum precatione detulit, non jus authoritate aliquâ vindicavit: impetrare optavit, non imperare praesumpsit. Id. ibid. lib. 1. cap. 7.For this is not an humane worke (saith he in another place) neyther is the holy Ghost given by man, but being called upon by the Priest, is bestowed by God: wherein the gift is Gods, the ministery is the Priests. For if the Apostle Paul did judge, that hee could not conferre the h…ly Ghost by his authoritie; but beleeved himselfe to be so farre unable for this office, that hee wished wee might be filled with the spirit from God: who is so great as dare arrogate unto himselfe the bestowing of this gift? Therefore the Apostle did intimate his desire by prayer, hee challenged no right by anie authoritie: hee wished to obtaine it, he presumed not to command it. Thus farre S. Ambrose of whom Paulinus writeth, that whensoever anie penitents came unto him, cCaussas autem criminum, quas illi confitebantur, nulli nisi Domino soli, apud quē intercedebat, loquebatur: bonū relinquens exemplū posteris sacerdotibus, ut intercessores apud Deū magis sint, quàm accusatores …pud homines. Paulinus, in vitâ S. Ambrosij.the crimes which they confessed unto him hee spake of to none, but to God alone unto whom he made intercession; leaving a good example to the Priests of succeeding ages, that they be rather intercessors for them unto God, than accusers unto men. The same also, and in the selfe same words, doth dIona…, in vitâ S. Eustachij Luxovi…nsi… abbatu, cap. 1. apud Surium, tom. 2. Mart. 29.Ionas write of Eustachius, the scholler of Columbanus our famous countrey-man.

Hitherto appertaineth that sentence cyted by eTho. Waldens. tom. 2. de Sacramentis, cap. 147.Thomas Waldensis out of S. Hieroms exposition upon the Psalmes: that voyce of God fQuotidie in unoquoque nostrûm flammam libidinis per confessionē & gratiam Spiritus sancti intercidit, id est, per orationem Sacerdotis facit cessare. Hieronym. in exposit. Psalm. 28. inedit.cutteth off daily in everie one of us the flame of lust by confession and the grace of the holy Ghost, that is to say, by the prayer of the Priest maketh it to cease in us and that which before hath been alledged out of Leo; of the confession offered first to God, and then to the Priest,gQui pro delictis poenitentium precator accedit Leo, in fin. epist. 80. ad episc. Campan. vvho commeth as an intreater for the sinnes of the penitent. which hee more fully expresseth in another epistle, affirming it to be hMultū enim utile ac necessarium est, ut peccatorū reatus ante ultimū diem sacerdotali supplicatione solvatur. Id. epist. 91. ad Theodor. episc.very profitable and necessarie, that the guilt of sinnes (or sinners) be loosed by the supplication of the Priest before the last day. See S. iGregor. in 1. Reg. lib 2. cap. 3. ad illud: Si peccaverit vir in virum, &c.Gregory, in his morall exposition upon 1. Sam. 2.25. Anastasius Sinaita or Nicaenus, in his answer to the 141. question (of Gretsers edition:) and Nicolaus Cabasilas, in the 29. chapter of his exposition of the Liturgie: where he directly affirmeth, that remission of sinnes is given to the penitents by the prayer of the Priests. And therefore by the Order used of old in the Church of Rome, the Priest before hee began his worke, was required to use this prayer. kDomine Deus omnipotens, propitius esto mihi peccatori, ut condigné possim tibi gratias agere, qui me indignum propter tuam misericordiam ministrum fecisti sacerdotalis officii, & me exiguum humilemque mediat rem constituisti ad orandum & intercedendum ad Dominum nostrū Iesum Christum, pro peccatoribus ad poenitentiam revertentibus. Ideoque dominator Domine, qui omnes homines vis salvos fieri, & ad agnitionem veritatis venite, qui non vis mortem peccatoris, sed ut convertatur & vivat: suscipe orationem meam, quam fundo ante conspectum clementiae tuae, pro famulis & famulabus tuis, qui ad poenitentiam & misericordiam tuam confugerunt. Ordo Roman. antiqu. de officijs divinis, pag. 18. edit. R…m. ann 1591. Baptizatorum & Confitentiū Ceremonia antiquae, edit. Colon. an. 1530. Alcuin. de divin. offic. cap. 13 in capite Iejunii.O Lord God almightie, be mercifull unto me a sinner, that I may worthily give thankes unto thee, who hast made mee an unworthy one, for thy mercies sake, a minister of the Priestly office; and hast appointed me a poore and humble mediator, to pray and make intercession unto our Lord Iesus Christ, for sinners that returne unto repentance. And therefore, O Lord the ruler, who wouldest have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, who doest not desire the death of a sinner, but that he may be reconciled and live: receive my prayer, which I poure forth before the face of thy merciemercy, for thy servants and handmaydes, who have fledd to repentance and to thy mercy.

Yea, in the dayes of Thomas Aquinas there arose a learned man among the Papists themselves, who found fault with that indicative forme of absolution then used by the Priest, I absolve thee from all thy sinnes, and would have it delivered by way of deprecation. alledging, that this was not onelyonly the opinion of Gulielmus Altisiodorensis, Gulielmus Parisiensis, and Hugo Cardinalis; but also that lAddit etiam objiciendo, quòd vix 30. anni sunt, quòd omnes hâc solâ formâ utebantur; Absolutionem & remissionem &c. Thom. Opusc. 22. cap. 5.thirtie yeares were scarce passed, since all did use this forme onelyonly, Absolutionem & remissionem tribuat tibi omnipotens Deus, Almightie God give unto thee absolution and forgivenesse. What Thomas doth answer hereunto, may be seene in his little treatise of the forme of absolution, which upon this occasion he wrote unto the Generall of his order. This onelyonly will I adde, that aswell in the ancient Ritualls and in the new mPontificale Roman. edit. Rom an. 1615. pag. 567.568.Pontificall of the Church of Rome, as in the present practise of the Greek Church, I finde the absolution expressed in the third person, as attributed wholly to God, and not in the first, as if it came from the Priest himselfe. One ancient forme of nAbsolutio Criminum. Misereatur tui omnipotens Deus, & dimittat tibi omnia peccata tua, praeterita, praesentia & futura, quae commisisti coram eo & sanctis ejus, quae confessus es, vel per aliquam negligentiam seu oblivionem vel malevolentiam abscondisti: liberet te Deus ab omni malo, hîc & in futuro, conservet & confirmet te semper in omni opere bono: & perducat te Christus filius Dei vivi ad vitam sine fine manentem. Confitentium Ceremoniae antiqu. edit. Colon. an. 1530.Absolution used among the Latins, was this. Almighty God be mercifull unto thee, and forgive thee all thy sinnes, past, present, and to come, visible and invisible, which thou hast committed before him and his Saints, which thou hast confessed or by some negligence or forgetfulnesse or evill vvill hast concealed: God deliver thee from all evill, here and hereafter, preserve and confirme thee alwayes in everie good worke; and Christ the sonne of the living God bring thee unto the life which remayneth without end: And so among the Grecians: oforeign. Ierem. Patriarch. C. P. respons. 1. ad Tubingenses, cap. 11.whatsoever sinnes the penitent for forgetfulnes or shamefastnesse doth leave unconfessed, we pray the mercifull and most pitifull God that those also may be pardoned unto him, and we are perswaded that hee shall receive pardon of them from God; saith Ieremy the late Patriarch of Constantinople. Where by the way you may observe, no such necessitie to be here held of confessing everie knowne sinne unto a Priest, that if either for shame or for some other respect the penitent doe not make an intire confession, but conceale somewhat from the notice of his ghostly father; his confession should thereby be made voyde, and hee excluded from all hope of forgivenesse. which is that engine, whereby the Priests of Rome have lift up themselves into that height of domineering and tyrannizing over mens conscience, wherewith we see they now hold the poore people in most miserable awe.

Alexander of Hales and Bonaventure in the forme of absolution used in their time, pSecundùm quod ascendit, habet se per modum inferioris & supplicantis: secundùm quod descendit, per modum superioris & judicantis. Secundùm primum modum potest gratiam impetrare, & ad hoc est idoneus: secundùm secundum modum potest Ecclesiae reconciliare. Et ideò in signum hujus, in formâ absolutionis praemittitur oratio per modum deprecativum, & subjungitur absolutio per modum indicativum: & deprecatio gratiam impetrat, & absolutio gratiam supponit. Alexand. Halens. Summ. part. 4. quaest. 21. membr. 1. & Bonaventur. in 4. Sentent. dist. 18. art. 2. quaest. 1.observe that prayer was premised in the optative, and absolution adjoyned afterward in the indicative mood. whence they gather, that the Priests prayer obtayneth grace, his absolution presupposeth it: that by the former he ascendeth unto God and procureth pardon for the fault, by the later he descendeth to the sinner and reconcileth him to the Church. for qQuia etsi aliquis apud Deum sit solutus, non tamē in facie Ecclesiae solutus habetur, nisi per judicium Sacerdotis. Petr. Lombard. lib. 4. Sentent. distinct. 18. Vid. Ivon. Carnotens. epist. 228. & Anselm. in Luc. 17.although a man be loosed before God, (saith the Master of the Sentences) yet is he not held loosed in the face of the Church but by the judgement of the Priest. And this loosing of men by the judgement of the Priest, is by the Fathers generally accounted nothing else but a restoring of them to the peace of the Church, and an admitting of them to the Lords table againe: which therefore they usually expresse by the termes of rforeign. Concil. Laodicen. can. 2.bringing them to the communion, sCommunioni, vel communione reconciliari. Concil. Eliberitan can 72.reconciling them to or with the communion, tReddi ei… cō munionē. Amb. de Poenitent. lib. 1. cap. 1. & lib. 2. cap 9.restoring the communion to them, uAd communicationem admittere. Cypr. epist. 53. communicationem dare. Id. epist. 54. tribuere communicationem. Id. de lapsis.admitting them to fellowship, xPacem dare. concedere pacem. Id. ibid.granting them peace, &c. Neyther doe we finde that they did ever use anie such formall absolution as this, I absolve thee from all thy sinnes: wherein our Popish Priests notwithstanding doe place the verie forme of their late devised sacrament of Penance, nay hold it to be so absolute a forme, that (according to Thomas Aquinas his new divinitie) yIn sacramentali absolutione non sufficeret dicere, Misereatur tui omnipotens Deus, vel, Absolutionem & remissionem tribuat tibi Deus: quia per haec verba Sacerdos absolutionem non significat fieri, sed petit ut fiat. Thom. part. 3. quaest. 84. art. 3. ad 1.it would not be sufficient to say, Almightie God have merciemercy upon thee, or, God grant unto thee absolution and forgivenesse. because, forsooth, the Priest by these vvords doth not signifie that the absolution is done, but intreateth that it may be done. which how it will accord with the Romane Pontificall, where the forme of Absolution is layd downe prayer-wise, the Iesuites who follow Thomas may doe well to consider.

I passe this over, that in the dayes not onelyonly of S. zCyprian. epist. 13.Cyprian but ofaAlcuin. de divin. offic. cap. 13. in capite Iejunii. Alcuinus also (who lived 800. yeares after Christ) the reconciliation of Penitents was not held to be such a proper office of the Priest; but that a Deacon, in his absence, was allowed to performe the same. The ordinarie course that was held herein,bVt secundùm formam Canonum antiquorū dentur poenitentiae, hoc est, ut priùs eum, quem sui poenitet facti, á communione suspensum, faciat inter reliquos poenitentes ad manus impositionem crebrò recurrere; expleto au…em satisfactionis tempore, sicuti Sacerdotalis contemplatio probaverit, eum communioni restituat. Concil. Toletan. III. cap. 11. according to the forme of the ancient Canons, is thus layde down by the fathers of the third Councell of Toledo. that the Priest should first suspend him that repented of his fault from the communion, and make him to have often recourse unto imposition of hands among the rest of the penitents: then, when hee had fulfilled the time of his satisfaction, as the consideration of the Priest did approve of it, he should restore him to the communion. And this was a Constitution of old fathered upon the Apostles: that Bishops cforeign. Constitut. Apostolic. lib. 2 cap. 16.should separate those vvho said they repented of their sinnes, for a time determined according to the proportion of their sinne; and afterward receive them being penitent, as fathers would do their children. To this Penitential excommunication and absolution, belongeth that saying eyther of S. Ambrose or S. Augustin (for the same discourse is attributed to them both:) dQui egerit veraciter poenitentiam, & solutus fuerit á ligamento quo erat constrictus, & á Christi corpore separatus, & bene post poenitentiam vixerit: post reconciliationem cùm desunctus fuerit, ad Dominum vadit, ad requiem vadit, regno Dei non privabitur & á populo Diaboli separabitur. Ambros. in Exhortat. ad Poenitent. Augustin. homil. 41. ex 50. & inter Caesarij Arelat. sermones homil. 43. & 44.Hee who hath truely performed his repentance, and is loosed from that bond wherewith he was tyed, and separated from the body of Christ, and doth live well after his repentance: whensoever after his reconciliation he shall depart this life, he goeth to the Lord, he goeth to rest, he shall not be deprived of the kingdome of God, and from the people of the Divell he shall be separated. and that which we reade in Anastasius Sinaita: eforeign. &c. foreign. Anastas. Sinait. quaest. 6.Binde him, and till thou hast appeased God, doe not let him loose; that he be not more bound with the wrath of God. for if thou bindest him not; there remaine bonds for him that cannot be broken. Neither doe we enquire, whither the wound were often bound; but whither the binding hath profited. If it have profited, although in a short time, use it no longer. Let the measure of the loosing, be the profit of him that is bound. and that exhortation which another maketh unto the Pastors of the Church: fforeign. Homil. in illud. Quaecunque ligaveritis, &c. inter opera Chrysost. tom. 7. edit. Savil. pag. 268.Binde with separation such as have sinned after baptisme; and loose them againe when they have repented, receiving them as brethren. for the saying is true: Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven.

That this authoritie of loosing remaineth still in the Church, wee constantly maintaine against the heresie of the gHieronym. epist. 54. contra Montanum, & lib. 2. adversus Iovinian. Tertullianus Montanizans, in lib. de Pudicitiâ, cap. ult.Montanists and hAmbros. lib. 1. de Poenitent. cap. 2. Socrat. lib. 1. histor. cap. 7. Sozomen. lib. 1. cap. 21.Novatians, who (upon this pretence among others, that God onelyonly had power to remit sinnes) took away the ministeriall power of reconciling such penitents as had committed haynous sinnes; denying that the Church had anie warrant to receive them to her communion againe, and to the participation of the holy mysteries, notwithstanding their repentance were ever so sound. Which is directly contrarie to the doctrine delivered by S. Paul, both in the generall; that iGalat. 6.1.if a man be overtaken in a fault, they who are spirituall should restore such a one in the spirit of meekenesse: and in the particular of the incestuous Corinthian, who though hee had beene excommunicated for such a crime k1. Cor. 5.1.as was not so much as named amongst the Gentiles; yet upon his repentance the Apostle telleth the Church, that they l2. Cor. 2.7.ought to forgive him and comfort him, lest he should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Where that speech of his is specially noted and pressed against the hereticks by S. mAmbros. de Poenit. lib. 1. cap. 16.Ambrose: n2. Cor. 2.10.To whom yee forgive anie thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave anie thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes I forgave it, in the person of Christ. o1. Cor. 5 4, 5.For as in the name, and by the power of our Lord Iesus, such a one was delivered to Satan; so p2. Tim. 2.25, 26.God having given unto him repentance, to recover himselfe out of the snare of the Divell, in the same name and in the same power was hee to be restored againe: the ministers of reconciliation standing q2. Cor. 5.20.in Christs stead, and Christ himselfe being rMatth. 18.18, …0.in the mids of them that are thus gathered together in his name, to binde or loose in heaven, whatsoever they according to his commission shall binde or loose on earth. And here it is to be noted, that Anastasius (by some called Nicaenus, by others Sinaita and Antiochenus) who is so eager against them which say that Confession made unto men profiteth nothing at all; confesseth yet, that the minister in hearing the confession and instructing and correcting the sinner, doth but give furtherance onelyonly thereby unto his repentance, but that the pardoning of the sinne is the proper worke of God. sforeign. Anastas. quaest. 6.For man (saith he) cooperateth with man unto repentance, and ministreth, and buildeth, and instructeth, and reproveth, in things belonging unto salvation, (according to the Apostle, and the Prophet:) but God blotteth out the sinnes of those that have confessed, saying; I am he that blotteth out thine iniquities for mine owne sake, and thy sinnes, and will not remember them.

There followeth now another part of the ministery of reconciliation, consisting in the due administration of the Sacraments: which being the proper seales of the promises of the Gospell (as the Censures are of the threats) must therefore necessarily also have reference to the tAct. 2.38. Matth. 26.28.remission of sinnes. And so we see, the ancient Fathers doe hold, that uCyprian. epist. 76 (sect. 4. edit. Pamelij, 8. Goulaertij.) Cyrill. Alexandr. in Ioann. lib. 12. cap 56. Ambros. de Poenitent. lib. 1. cap. 7. Chrysost. lib. 3 de Sacerdot. tom. 6 edit. Savil. pag. 17. lin. 7.5. Vid. & tom. 7. pag. 268. lin. 37.the commission, Ioh. 20.23. Whose sinnes yee remit, they are remitted unto them, &c. is executed by the ministers of Christ, aswell in the conferring of Baptisme, as in the reconciling of Penitents: yet so in both these, and in all the sacraments likewise of both the Testaments, that xAugust. quaest. in Levitic. cap. 84. Optat. lib. 5. contra Donatist. Chrysost. in Mat. 26. homil. 82. (edit. Graec. vel 83. Latin.) in 1. Cor. 3. homil. 8. & in 2. Tim 1. homil. 2. (circa finem)the ministerie onelyonly is to be accounted mans, but the power Gods. For, as S. Augustin well observeth,yAliud enim est baptizare per ministeriū, aliud baptizare per potestatem. Aug. in Evang. Ioan. tract. 5. it is one thing to baptize by way of ministerie, another thing to baptize by vvay of power: zSibi tenuit Dominus baptizandi potestatem, servis ministerium dedit. Id. ibid.the power of baptizing the Lord retayneth to himselfe, the ministerie hee hath given to his servants: aPotestatem dominici baptismi in nullum hominem á Domino transituram, sed ministerium plané transiturum; potestatem á Domino in neminem ministrorum, ministerium & in bonos & in malos. Id. ibid.the power of the Lords Baptisme was to passe from the Lord to no man, but the ministery was; the power was to be transferred from the Lord unto none of his ministers, the ministery was both unto the good and unto the bad. And the reason which hee assigneth hereof is verie good: bHoc noluit ideò, ut in illo spes esset baptizatorum, á quo se baptizatos agnoscerent. Noluit ergo servum ponere spem in servo. Id. ibid:that the hope of the baptized might be in him, by whom they did acknowledge themselves to have beene baptized. The Lord therefore would not have a servant to put his hope in a servant. And therefore those Schoolemen argued not much amisse, that gathered this conclusion thence. cParis potestatis est interiùs baptizare, & á culpâ mortali absolvere. Sed Deus non debuit potestatem baptizandi interiùs cō municare; ne spes poneretur in homine: Ergo pari ratione nec potestatem absolvendi ab actuali. Alexand. de Hales. Summ. part. 4. quaest. 21. memb. 1.It is a matter of equall power to baptize inwardly, and to absolve from mortall sinne. But it vvas not fit, that God should communicate the power of baptizing inwardly unto any; lest our hope should be reposed in man. Therefore by the same reason it was not fit, that hee should communicate the power of absolving from actuall sinne unto any. So Bernard, or whosoever was the author of the booke intituled Scala Paradisi: dOfficium baptizādi Dominus concessit multis, potestatem veró & authoritatem in baptismo remittendi peccata sibi soli retinuit: unde Ioannes antonomasticé & discretivé de eo dixit; Hic est qui baptizat in Spiritu sancto. Seal. Paradis. cap. 3 tem. 9 operum Augustini.The office of baptizing the Lord granted unto many, but the power and authoritie of remitting sinnes in baptisme he retayned unto himselfe alone. whence Iohn by vvay of singularitie and differencing said of him; He it is which baptizeth with the holy Ghost. And the Baptist indeed doth make a singular difference betwixt the conferrer of the externall and the internall baptisme, in saying: eMark. 1.8. Ioh. 1.26, 33.I baptize with water, but it is hee which baptizeth with the holy Ghost. While Iohn fIllo operante dabat Deus, qui dando non deficit. Et nunc operantibus cunctis, humana sunt opera, sed Dei sunt munera. Optat. lib. 5. contra Donatist.did his service, God did give, who fayleth not in giving: and now when all others doe their service, the service is mans, but the gift is Gods; saith Optatus. and Arnaldus Bonaevallensis (the author of the twelve treatises de Cardinalibus operibus Christi, falsely ascribed to S. Cyprian:) touching the Sacraments in generall: gRemissio peccatorum, sive per baptismum sive per alia sacramenta donetur proprié Spiritus sancti est; & ipsi soli hujus efficientiae privilegium manet. Arnald. abbas Bonaevallis, tract. de Baptismo Christi.Forgivenesse of sinnes, whether it be given by Baptisme or by other sacraments, is properly of the holy Ghost; and the priviledge of effecting this remayneth to him alone.

But the word of reconciliation is it, wherein the h2. Cor. 5.18, 19.Apostle doth especially place that ministerie of reconciliation, which the Lord hath committed to his Ambassadors here upon earth. This is that key of knowledge: which iClavis, quae & conscientiā ad confessionē peccati aperit, & gratiam ad aeternitatem mysterii salutaris includit. Maxim. Taurin. de natali Petri & Pauli. hom 5.doth both open the conscience to the confession of sinne, and include therein the grace of the healthfull mysterie unto eternitie; as Maximus Taurinensis speaketh of it. This is that powerfull meanes, which God hath sanctified for the washing away of the pollution of our soules. Now ye are cleane (saith our kIoh. 15.13. Vid. Eph…s. 5.26. & August. in Evangel. Iohann. tract. 80.Saviour to his Apostles) through the word which I have spoken unto you. And whereas everie transgressor is lProverb. 5.22.holden with the cords of his owne sinnes: the Apostles, according to the commission given unto them by their Master, that whatsoever they should loose on earth should be loosed in heaven, did loose those cords by the word of God, and the testimonies of the Scriptures, and exhortation unto vertues. as mFunibus peccatorum suorū unusquisque constringitur. Quos funes atque vincula solvere possunt & Apostoli, imitantes magistrum suum qui eis dixerat: Quaecunque solveritis super terram, erunt soluta & in coelo. Solvunt autem eos Apostoli sermone Dei, & testimoniis scripturarum, & exhortatione virtutum. Hieronym. lib. 6. comment. in Esai. cap. 14.saith S. Hierome: Thus likewise doth S. Ambrose note, that nRemittuntur peccata per Dei verbum, cujus Levites interpres & quidam executor est. Ambros. de Abel & Cain, lib. 2. cap. 4.sinnes are remitted by the word of God, whereof the Levite was an interpreter and a kinde of an executer: & in that respect concludeth, that oLevites igitur minister remissionis est. Id. ibid.the Levite was a minister of this remission. As the Iewish Scribes therefore, by pLuk. 11.52. compared with Matth. 23.13.taking away the key of knowledge, did shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: so qMatth. 13.52.every Scribe which is instructed unto the kingdome of heaven, by rAct. 14 27.opening unto his hearers the doore of faith, doth as it were unlock that kingdome unto them; being the instrument of God herein sAct. 26.18.to open mens eyes, and to turne them from darkenesse to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgivenesse of sinnes, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in Christ. And here are we to understand, that the ministers of Christ, by applying the word of God unto the consciences of men both in publick and in private, doe discharge that part of their function which concerneth forgivenesse of sinnes, partly operatively, partly declaratively. Operatively: inasmuch as God is pleased to use their preaching of the Gospell as a meanes of tAct. 10.44. Gal. 3.2. 2. Cor. 3 6.conferring his spirit upon the sonnes of men, of u1. Cor. 4.15. Gal. 4.19.begetting them in Christ, and of xRom. 10.17. Ioh. 17.20. 1. Cor. 3.5. Act. 14.27. and chap. 26. ver. 18, 20.working faith and repentance in them; whereby the remission of sinnes is obtayned. Thus Iohn yMark. 1.4.preaching the Baptisme of repentance for the remission of sinnes, and teaching zAct. 19.4.the people, that they should beleeve on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Iesus; is said to aLuk. 1.16, 17.turne manie of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and the disobedient to the wisedome of the just, by bIbid. vers 77.giving knowledge of salvation to Gods people, unto the remission of their sins. Not because he had properly anie power given him to turne mens hearts, and to worke faith and repentance for forgivenesse of sinnes when and where he thought good: but because he was trusted with the ministerie of the cAct. 20.32. Psal. 19.7. and 119. vers. 50, 93.word of Gods grace, which is able to convert and quicken mens soules, and to give them an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. by the powerfull application of which word, dIam. 5.20.he who converteth the sinner from the errour of his way, is said to save a soule from death, and to hide a multitude of sinnes. For howsoever in true proprietie,eRom. 4.6, 7. Ierem. 31.18. Revel. 1.18. 1. Thess. 1.10. Act. 3.26. Matth. 1.21. the covering of sinnes, the saving from death, and turning of men from their iniquities, is a priviledge peculiar to the Lord our God; unto whom alone it appertayneth to f2. Cor. 5.19.reconcile the world to himselfe▪ by not imputing their sinnes unto them: yet inasmuch as he hath committed unto his ambassadors the gIbid.word of reconciliation, they in performing that worke of their ministerie, may be as rightly said to be imployed in reconciling men unto God, and procuring remission of their sinnes; as they are said to hIob. 33.23, 24.deliver a man from going downe into the pit, when they declare unto him his righteousnesse, and to i1. Tim. 4.16.save their hearers, when they k1. Cor. 15.1, 2. Act. 11.14.preach unto them the Gospel, by which they are saved.

For as the word it selfe which they speake, is said to be lIoh. 17.20.their word, which yet m1. Thess. 2.13.is in truth the word of God: so the worke which is effectually wrought by that word in them that beleeve, is said to be their worke, though in truth it be the proper worke of God. And as they that beleeve by their word, are said to be their Epistle, 2. Cor. 3.2. that is to say, the Epistle of Christ ministred by them (as it is expounded in the verse following:) in like maner, forgivenesse of sinnes and those other great graces that appertaine to the beleevers, may be said to be their worke, that is to say, the worke of Christ ministred by them. For in verie deed (as Optatus speaketh in the matter of Baptisme) nHas res unicuique, non ejusdem rei operarius, sed credentis fides & Trinitas praestat. Optat. lib. 5. contra Donatist.not the minister, but the faith of the beleever and the Trinitie doe bring these things unto every man. And where the preaching of the Gospel doth prove oRom. 1.16. 1. Cor. ….18.the power of God unto salvation; onelyonly the weakenesse of the externall ministerie must be ascribed to men, but p2. Cor. 4.7.the excellency of the power must ever be acknowledged to be of God, and not of them: q1. Cor. 3.7.neyther he that planteth, being here any thing, neyther he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. For howsoever in respect of the former, such as take paines in the Lords husbandry may be accounted foreign, as the rIbid. vers. 9.Apostle termeth them, labourers together with God (though that little peece of service it selfe also bee not performed by their owne strength, but sIbid. vers. 10.according to the grace of God which is given unto them:) yet tIam veró quod sequitur, Sed Deus incrementum dedit; non per illos, sed per seipsum facit. Excedit hoc humanam humilitatem, excedit angelicam sublimitatem, nec omninò pertinet, nisi ad agr…colam Trinitatem, Aug. in Evangel. Ioann. tract. 80.that which followeth, of giving the increase, God effecteth not by them, but by himselfe. This (saith S. Augustin) exceedeth the lowlinesse of man, this exceedeth the sublimitie of Angels, neither appertayneth unto anie but unto the husbandman the Trinity.

Now as the Spirit of God doth not onelyonly u1. Cor. 12.11.wo…ke diversities of graces in us, distributing to every man severally as he will; but also maketh us to x1. Cor. 2.12.know the things that are freely given to us of God: so the ministers of the New Testament, being y1. Cor. 3.6.made able ministers of the same spirit, are not onelyonly ordayned to be Gods instruments to worke faith and repentance in men, for the obtayning of remission of sinnes, but also to declare Gods pleasure unto such as beleeve and repent, and in his name to certifie them and give assurance to their consciences that their sinnes are forgiven. they having zAct. 20.24.received this ministerie of the Lord Iesus, to testifie the Gospell of the grace of God; and so by their function being appointed to be witnesses rather then conferrers of that grace. For it is here with them in the loosing part, as it is in the binding part of their ministerie; where they are brought in, like unto those seuen Angels in the book of the Revelation, aRevel. 16.1.which powre out the vialls of the wrath of God upon the earth; b2. Cor. 10.6.having vengeance ready against all disobedience, and a charge from God, to cI…rem. 15.1.cast men out of his sig…t: not because they are properly the avengers (for thatdPsal. 94.1. title God challengeth unto himselfe) or that vengeance did anie way appertaine unto them (for eRom. 12.19. Hebr. 10.30.it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay; saith the Lord) but because they were the denouncers, not the inflicters of this vengeance. So though it be the Lord that fIerem. 18.7, 9.speaketh concerning a nation, to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy, or on the other side, to build and to plant it; yet he gIerem. 1.9, 10in whose mouth God put those words of his, is said to be set by him over the nations and over the kingdomes, to roote out, and to pull downe, and to destroy, and to throw downe, to build and to plant: as if he himselfe were a doer of those great matters, who was onelyonly hIbid vers. 5, ….ordeyned to be a Prophet unto the nations, to speake the things unto them which God had commanded him. Thus likewise in the thirteenth of Leviticus, where the Lawes are set downe that concerne the leprosie, which was a type of the pollution of sinne, wee meet often with these speeches, iforeign.The Priest shall cleanse him, and,kforeign. The Priest shall pollute him, and in the 44. verse, lforeign.The Priest with pollution shall pollute him: mContaminatione contaminabit eum, haud dubium quin Sacerdos: non quo contaminationis author sit, sed quo ostendat eum contaminatum, qui priùs mundus plurimis videbatur. Hieronym. lib. 7. in Esai. cap 23.not (saith S. Hierome) that he is the author of the pollution, but that he declareth him to be polluted, who before did seeme unto many to have beene cleane. Whereupon the Master of the Sentences (following herein S. Hierome, and being afterwards therein followed himselfe by manie others) observeth, that nIn remittendis vel in retinendis culpis id juris & officii habent Evangelici sacerdotes, quod olim habebant sub lege legales in curandis leprosis. Hi ergo peccata dimittunt vel retinent, dum dimissa á Deo vel retenta indicant & ostendunt. Ponunt enim sacerdotes nomen Domini super filios Israel, sed ipse benedixit; sicut legitur in Numeris. Petr. Lombard. lib. 4. Sentent. dist. 14. f.in remitting or retayning sinnes the Priests of the Gospell have that right and office, which the legall Priests had of old under the Law in curing of the lepers. These therefore (saith hee) forgive sinnes or retaine them, whiles they shew and declare that they are forgiven or retayned by God. For the Priests put the name of the Lord upon the children of Israel, but it was he himselfe that blessed them, as it is read in Numbers. The place that he hath referrence unto, is in the sixth chapter of that booke, where the Priests are commanded to blesse the people, by saying unto them, The Lord blesse thee, &c. and then it followeth (in the last verse of that chapter:) So they shall put my Name upon the children of Israel, and I will blesse them.

Neyther doe we grant hereupon, (as the oBellarmìn. de Poenitent. lib 3. cap. 2. sect. ult.Adversarie falsely chargeth us) that a lay-man, yea or a woman, or a childe, or any infidell, or the Divell (the Father of all calumniators and lyars) or a Parrat likewise, if hee be taught the words, may aswel absolve as the Priest as if p1. Cor. 4.19, 20.the speech were all the thing that here were to be considered, and not the power: where we are taught, that the kingdome of God is not in word, but in power. Indeed if the Priests by their office brought nothing with them but the ministerie of the bare letter, a Parrat peradventure might be taught to sound that letter as well as they: but we beleeve, that q2. Cor. 3.6.God hath made them able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit. and that the Gospell ministred by them r1. Thess. 1.5.commeth unto us not in word onelyonly, but also in power, and in the holy Ghost, and in much assurance. For God hath added a speciall sRom. 10.15.beautie to the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, that howsoever others may bring glad tydings of good things to the penitent sinner as truely as they doe; yet neyther can they doe it with the same authoritie, neyther is it to be expected that they should doe it with such power, such assurance, and such full satisfaction to the afflicted conscience. The speech of everie Christian (we know) should be employed tEphes. 4.29.to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers; and a private brother in his place may deliver found doctrine, reprehend vice, exhort to righteousnesse, verie commendably: yet hath the Lord notwithstanding all this, for the necessarie use of his Church, appointed publicke officers to doe the same things, and hath given unto them a peculiar u2. Cor. 10.8. & 13.10.power for edification, wherein they may boast above others; and in the due execution whereof God is pleased to make them instruments of ministring a more plentifull measure of grace unto their hearers, then may be ordinarily looked for from others. These men are appointed to bee of Gods high commission, and therefore they may xTit. 2.15.speake, and exhort, and rebuke with all authoritie· they are Gods yRevel. 1.20.Angels and z2. Cor. 5.20.Ambassadors for Christ, and therefore in delivering their message are to be aGal. 4.14.received as an Angel of God, yea as Christ Iesus. that looke how the Prophet Esay was comforted, when the Angel said unto him, bEsay. 6.7.Thine iniquitie is taken away, and thy sinne purged; and the poore woman in the Gospell, when Iesus said unto her, cLuk. 7.48.Thy sinnes are forgiven: the like consolation doth the distressed sinner receive from the mouth of the Minister, when hee hath compared the truth of Gods word faithfully delivered by him, with the worke of Gods grace in his owne heart. according to that of Elihu: dIob. 33.23.24.If there be an Angel or a messenger with him, an Interpreter, one of a thousand, to declare unto man his righteousnesse; then will God have mercy upon him and say, Deliver him from going downe to the pit, I have received a reconciliation. For as it is the office of this messenger and interpreter, to e2. Cor. 5.20.pray us in Christs stead, that we would be reconciled to God: so when wee have listened unto this motion, and submitted our selves to the Gospell of peace, it is a part of his office likewise to declare unto us in Christs stead, that we are reconciled to God: and f2. Cor. 13.3.in him Christ himselfe must bee acknowledged to speake, who to us ward by this meanes is not weake, but is mightie in us.

But our new Masters will not content themselves with such a ministeriall power of forgiving sinnes as hath beene spoken of; unlesse we yeeld that they have authoritie so to doe properly, directly, and absolutely: that is, unlesse wee acknowledge that their high Priest sitteth in the Temple of God as God, and all his creatures as so manie demi-gods under him. For we gOportet dicere, in summo Pontifice esse plenitudinem omnium gratiarum; quia ipse solus confert plenam indulgentiam omnium peccatorum. ut competat sibi, quod de primo principe Domino dicimus; quia de plenitudine ejus nos omnes accepimus. De regimine Principum, lib. 3. cap. 10 inter opuscula Thomae, num. 20.must say (if we will be drunke with the drunken) that in this high Priest there is the fulnesse of all graces; because hee alone giveth a full indulgence of all sinnes: that this may agree unto him, which we say of the chiefe prince our Lord, that of his fulnesse all we have received. Nay wee must acknowledge, that the meanest in the whole armie of Priests that followeth this king of pride, hath such fulnesse of power derived unto him for the opening and shutting of heaven before men: that hNegatur remissio illis, quibus noluerint Sacerdotes remittere. Bellar. de Poenit. lib. 3. cap. 2.forgivenesse is denyed to them, whom the Priest will not forgive; and his Absolution on the other side is a sacramentall act, which conferreth grace by the worke wrought, that is, (as they iActivé, & proximé, atque instrumentali…er efficit gratiam jus…ificationis. Id. de Sacrament. in genere, lib. 2. cap. 1.expound it) actively, and immediately, and instrumentally effecteth the grace of justification in such as receive it. that kVt flatus extinguit ignem, & dissi…at n…bulas; sic etiam Absolutio Sacerdotis peccata dispergit, & evanescere facit. Id. de Poenitent. lib. 3. cap. 2.as the winde doth extinguish the fire, and dispell the clowdes; so doth the Priests absolution scatter sinnes, and make them to vanish away: the sinner being thereby immediately acquitted before God, howsoever that sound conversion of heart be wanting in him, which otherwise would be requisite. for lId. ibid. sect. penult.a conditionall Absolution, upon such termes as these, If thou doest beleeve and repent as thou oughtest to doe, is (in these mens judgement) to no purpose, and can give no securitie to the penitent; seeing it dependeth upon an uncertaine condition. Have wee not then just cause to say unto them, as mOptat. lib. 5.Optatus did unto the Donatistes: Nolite vobis Majestatis dominium vendicare? Intrude not upon the royall prerogative of our Lord and Master. No man may challenge this absolute power of the keyes, but nRevel. 3.7.he that hath the key of David, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth; hee to whom oIoh. 17.2.the Father hath given power over all flesh, yea pMatth. 18.18.all power in heaven and in earth; even the eternall Sonne of God, who hath in his hands qRevel. 1.18.the keyes of death, and is able to rIoh. 5.21.quicken whom he will.

The Ministers of the Gospell may not meddle with the matter of soveraignetie, and thinke that they have power to proclaime warre or conclude peace betwixt God and man, according to their owne discretion: they must remember, that they are s2. Cor. 5.20.Ambassadors for Christ, and therefore in this treatie are to proceed according to the instructions which they have received from their soveraigne; which if they doe transgresse, they goe beyond their commission, therein they doe not foreign but foreign, and their authoritie for so much is plainly voyde. The Bishop (saith S. Gregory, and the Fathers in the Councell of Aquisgran following him) tSaepè in solvendis ac ligandis subditis suae voluntatis motus, non autem caussarum merita sequitur. Vnde fit ut ipsâ hâc ligandi & solvendi potestate se privet; qui hanc pro suis voluntatibus, & non pro subjectorum moribus exercet. Gregor. in Evangel. homil. 26. Concil. Aquisgran sub Ludovico Pio, cap. 37.in loosing and binding those that are under his charge, doth follow oftentimes the motions of his owne will, and not the merit of the causes. Whence it commeth to passe, that he depriveth himselfe of this power of binding and loosing, who doth exercise the same according to his owne will, and not according to the manners of them which be subject unto him. that is to say, he maketh himselfe worthy to be deprived of that power, which he hath thus abused; (as the uQui indignos ligat vel solvit, propriâ potestate se privat, id est, dignum privatione se facit. Petr. Lombard. lib. 4. Sentent. dist. 18. C.Master of the Sentences and xPrivat, id est, meretur privari. …o. Semeca. Gloss. Grat. caus. 11. quaest 3. cap. 60. Ipse ligandi.Semeca in his Glosse upon Gratian, would have S. Gregories meaning to be expounded) and pro tanto (as hath beene said) actually voideth himselfe of this power, this unrighteous judgement of his given upon earth, being no wayes ratified, but absolutely disanulled in the court of heaven. For hee who by his office is appointed to be a minister of yEphes. 1.13. Iam. 1.18.the word of truth, hath no power given him to z2. Cor. 13.8.do any thing against the truth, but for the truth: neyther is it to be imagined, that the sentence of man, who is subject to deceive and be deceived, should anie wayes prejudice the sentence of God, whose *Rom. 2.2.judgement wee know to be alwayes according to the truth. Therefore doth Pacianus, in the end of his first epistle to Sympronianus the Novatian, shew that at that time, absolution was aScio frater, hanc ipsam poenitentiae veniam non passim omnibus dari, &c. Pacian. epist. 1.not so easily given unto penitents, as now a dayes it is: but bMagno pondere magnoque libramine, post multos gemitus effusionemque lachrymarū, post totius Ecclesiae preces, ita veniā verae poenitentiae non negari, ut judicaturo Christo nemo praejudicet. Ibid.vvith great pondering of the matter and with great deliberation, after manie sighes and shedding of teares, after the prayers of the whole Church, pardon was so not denyed unto tr…e repentance, that Christ being to judge, no man should prejudge him. and a little before, speaking of the Bishop by whose ministerie this was done: cReddet quidem ille rationem, si quid perperàm fecerit, vel si corrupté & impiê judicârit. Nec praejudicator Deo, quo minùs mali aedificatoris opera rescindat: intereà, si pia illa administratio est, adjutor Dei operum perseverat, Id. ibid.He shall give an account (saith he) if hee have done anie thing amisse, or if he have judged corruptly and wickedly. Neyther is there anie prejudice done unto God, whereby he might not undoe the workes of this evill builder: but in the meane time, if that administration of his be godly, he continueth a helper of the workes of God. Wherein he doth but tread in the steps of S. Cyprian, who at the first rising of the Novatian heresie, wrote in the same maner unto Antonianus. dNeque enim praejudicamus Domino judicaturo, quo minùs si poenitentiam plenā & justam peccatoris invenerit, tunc ratum faciat quod á nobis fuerit hîc starutum. si veró nos aliquis poenitentiae simulatione deluserit; Deus qui non deridetur, & qui cor hominis intuetur, de his quae nos minùs perspeximus judicet, & servorum sententiam Dominus emendet. Cypr. epist. 52. sect. 11. (edit Goulart.)Wee doe not prejudice the Lord that is to judge, but that hee, if he finde the repentance of the sinner to be full and just, he may then ratifie that which shall be here ordayned by us: but if any one doe deceive us with the semblance of repentance, God (who is not mocked, and who beholdeth the heart of man) may judge of those things which we did not well discerne, and the Lord may amend the sentence of the servants.

Hereupon S. Hierome, expounding those words, Daniel 4.24. It may be God will pardon thy sinnes; reproveth those men of great rashnesse, that are so peremptorie and absolute in their absolutions. eCum beatus Daniel, praescius futurorum, de sententiâ Dei dubitet: rem temerariā faciunt, qui audacter peccatoribus indulgentiam pollicentur. Hieronym. in Daniel. cap. 4.When blessed Daniel (saith he) who knew things to come, doth doubt of the sentence of God: they do a rash deed, that boldly promise pardon unto sinners. S. Basil also resolveth us, that fforeign. Basil regul. brevior. qu. 25.the power of forgiving is not given absolutely; but upon the obedience of the penitent, and his consent with him that hath the care of his soule. For it is in loosing, as it is in binding. gCoepisti habere fratrem tuum tanquam publicanum: ligas illum in terrâ. Sed ut justé alliges, vide. Nam injusta vincula dirumpit justitia. August. de ve…bis Domini, serm. 16. cap. 4.Thou hast begun to esteeme thy brother as a publican, (saith S. Augustin:) thou bindest him upon earth. But looke that thou bindest him justly. For unjust bonds justice doth breake. So when the Priest saith, I absolve thee: Maldonat confesseth, that hee meaneth no more thereby but, hQuantum in me est, ego te absolvo. Maldonat. tom. 2. de poenitent. part. 3. thes. 5.As much as in me lyeth, I absolve thee: and Suarez acknowledgeth, that it implicity includeth this condition, iNisi suscipiens obicem ponat. Fr. Suarez. in Thom. tom. 4. disp. 19 sect. 2. num. 20.Vnlesse the receiver put some impediment; for which hee alledgeth the authority of Hugo de S. Victore, lib. 2. de Sacramentis, pa. 14. s. 8. affirming,kHanc formā magis significare virtutem suam, quàm eventum. Hugo. that this forme doth rather signifie the power and vertue, then the event of the absolution. And therefore doth the Master of the Sentences rightly observe, that lIta & hîc aperté ostenditur, quòd non semper sequitur Deus Ecclesiae judicium: quae per surreptionem & ignorantiam interdum iudicat; Deus autem semper iudicat secundùm veritatē. Petr. Lombard. Sentent. lib. 4. distinct. 18. f.God doth not evermore follow the judgement of the Church: which sometimes judgeth by surreption and ignorance; whereas God doth alwayes judge according to the truth. So the Priests mAliquando enim ostendunt solutos vel ligatos, qui ita non sunt apud Deum: & poenâ satisfactionis vel excommunicationis interdum indignos ligant vel solvunt; & indignos sacramentis admittunt, & dignos admitti arcent. Sed intelligendum est hoc in illis, quorum merita solvi vel ligari postulant. Tunc enim sententia Sacerdotis iudicio Dei & totius coelestis curiae approbatur & confirmatur, cùm ita ex discretione procedit, ut reorum merita non contradicant. Quoscunque ergo solvunt vel ligant, adhibentes clavem discretionis reorum meritis, solvuntur vel ligantur in coelis, id est, apud Deum: quia divino iudicio Sacerdotis sententia sic progressa approbatur & confirmatur. Id. ibid. h. Vid Gabriel Biel, in eand. distinct. 18. quaest. 1. lit. b.sometime declare men to be loosed or bound, who are not so before God: with the penaltie of satisfaction or excommunication they sometime binde such as are unworthy, or loose them; they admit them that be unworthy to the Sacraments, and put backe them that be worthy to be admitted. That saying therefore of Christ must be understood to be verified in them (saith he) whose merits doe require that they should be loosed or bound. For then is the sentence of the Priest approved and confirmed by the judgement of God and the whole court of heaven, when it doth proceed with that discretion, that the merits of them who be dealt withall doe not contradict the same. Whomsoever therefore they do loose or binde, using the key of discretion according to the parties merits, they are loosed or bound in heaven, that is to say, with God: because the sentence of the Priest proceeding in this maner, is approved and confirmed by divine judgement. Thus farre the Master of the Sentences: who is followed herein by the rest of the Schoolemen; who generally agree, that the power of binding and loosing committed to the Ministers of the Church, is not absolute, but must be limited with Clave non errante, as being then onelyonly of force nQuod in terrâ Sacerdos clave non errante, & recto iudicio procedens retinet, nec dimittit; Deus etiam in coelo retinet, nec dimittit. Tolet. comment. in Iohan. 20.when matters are carried with right iudgement, and no error is committed in the use of the keyes.

Our Saviour therefore must stil have the priviledge reserved unto him, of being the absolute Lord over his owne house: it is sufficient for his officers, that they bee esteemed as Moses was, oHebr 10.5, 6.faithfull in all his house as servants. The place wherein they serve, is a Stewards place: and the Apostle telleth them, p1. Cor. 4.2.that it is required in Stewards, that the man be found faithfull. They may not therefore carrie themselves in their office, as the qLuk. 16.6, 7, 8.unjust steward did, and presume to strike out their Masters debt without his direction, and contrarie to his liking. Now we know that our Lord hath given no authoritie unto his stewards, to grant an acquittance unto anie of his debtors, that bring not unfayned faith and repentance with them. rNec angelus potest, nec archangelus: Dominus ipse, (qui solus potest dicere; Ego vobiscum sum) si peccaverimus, nisi poenitentiam deferentibus non relaxat. Ambr. epist. 28. ad Theodosium Imp.Neyther Angell nor Archangell can, neyther yet the Lord himselfe, (who alone can say; I am with you) when we have sinned, doth release us, unlesse vvee bring repentance with us: saith S. Ambrose. and Eligius Bishop of Noyon, in his Sermon unto the Penitents: sAnte omnia autem vobis scire necesse est; quia licèt impositionem manuum nostrarum accipere cupiatis, tamen absolutionem peccatorum vestrorum consequi non potestis, antequàm per compunctionis gratiam divina pietas vos absolvere dignabitur. Eligius Nouiomens. homil. 11. tom. 7. Biblioth. Patr. pag. 248. edit. Colon.Before all things it is necessary you should know, that howsoever you desire to receive the imposition of our hands; yet you cannot obtaine the absolution of your sinnes, before the divine piety shall vouchsafe to absolve you by the grace of compunction. To thinke therefore that it lyeth in the power of anie Priest truely to absolve a man from his sinnes, without implying the condition of his beleeving and repenting as he ought to doe; is both presumption and madnesse in the highest degree. Neyther dareth Cardinall Bellarmine, who censureth this conditionall absolution in us for idle and superfluous, when he hath considered better of the matter, assume unto himselfe, or communicate unto his brethren, the power of giving an absolute one. For he is driven to confesse with other of his fellowes, that when the Priest tNam qui dicit; Ego te baptizo, vel absolvo, non affirmat se absoluté baptizare vel absolvere, eùm non ignoret, multis modis fieri posse, ut neque baptizet neque absolvat, licèt ea verba pronunciet: nimi…um si is, qui Sacramentum suscipere videtur, fortè non habeat suscipiendi intentionem, vel non sit ritè dispositus, aut obicem ponat. Igitur Minister illis verbis nihil aliud significat, nisi se, quod in se est, Sacramentum reconciliationis vel absolutionis impendere, quod vim habet in homine disposito peccata omnia dimittendi. Bellarmin. de Poenitent. lib. 2. cap. 14. sect. penult.saith, I absolve thee, he doth not affirme that he doth absolve absolutely; as not being ignorant, that it may many wayes come to passe that he doth not absolve, although he pronounce those words: namely if hee who seemeth to receive this Sacrament (for so they call it) peradventure hath no intention to receive it, or is not rightly disposed, or putteth some blocke in the way. Therefore the Minister (saith hee) signifieth nothing else by those words, but that hee, as much as in him lyeth, conferreth the sacrament of reconciliation or absolution, which in a man rightly disposed hath vertue to forgive all his sinnes.

Now that Contrition is at all times necessarily required for obtayning remission of sinnes and iustification, is a matter determined by the Fathers of uConcil. Tridentin. sess. 14. cap. 4.Trent. But marke yet the mysterie. They equivocate with us in the terme of Contrition: and make a distinction thereof into perfect and imperfect. The former of these is Contrition properly: the latter they call Attrition. which howsoever in it selfe it be not true Contrition, yet when the Priest with his power of forgiving sinnes interposeth himselfe in the businesse, they tell us that xA…t…i…io virtute clavium sit contritio. Romani Corrector…s Gloss. Gratiani, De poeni…ēt. d…stinct. 1. in principi…: & alij passi…n.attrition by vertue of the keyes is made contrition: that is to say, that a sorrow arising from a servile feare of punishment, and such a fruitlesse yMatth. 27.3.4.5.repentance as the reprobate may carry with them to hell, by vertue of the Priests absolution is made so fruitfull, that it shall serve the turne for obteyning forgivenesse of sinnes; as if it had beene that z2. Cor. 7.10.godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of. By which spirituall coosenage, many poore soules are most miserably deluded, while they perswade themselves that upon the receipt of the Priests acquittance upon this carnall sorrow of theirs, all skores are cleered untill that day: and then beginning upon a new reckoning, they sinne and confesse, confesse and sinne afresh, and tread this round so long till they put off all thought of saving repentance; and so the aMatth. 15.14.blinde following the blinde, both at last fall into the pit.

bMali & facinorosi, carnales, animales, diabolici, á seductoribus suis sibi da…i arbitrantur, quae non nisi munera Dei sunt, sive sacramenta sive spiritales aliquas operationes, circa praesentem salutem. August. de Baptism. contra Donatist lib. 3. cap. ult.Evill and wicked, carnall, naturall, and divellish men (saith S. Augustin) imagine those things to be given unto them by their seducers, which are onelyonly the gifts of God, whether sacraments, or any other spirituall workes, concerning their present salvation. But such as are thus seduced, may doe well to listen a little to this grave admonition of S. Cyprian. cNemo se fallat, nemo se decipiat: solus Dominus misereri potest. Veniam peccatis, quae in ipsum commissa sunt, solus potest ille largiri, qui peccata nostra portavit, qui pro nobis doluit, quem Deus tradidit pro peccatis nostris. Homo Deo esse non potest major; nec remittere aut donare indulgentiâ suâ servus potest, quod in Dominum delicto graviore commissum est: ne adhuc lapso & hoc accedat ad crimen, si nesciat esse praedictum; Maledictus homo qui spem habet in homine. Cyprian. de Lapsis (sect. 7. edit. Pamel. 14. Goulart.)Let no man deceive, let no man beguile himselfe: it is the Lord alone that can shew mercy. He alone can grant pardon to the sinnes committed against him, who did himselfe beare our sinnes, who suffered griefe for us, whom God did deliver for our sinnes. Man cannot be greater then God; neyther can the servant by his indulgence remit or pardon that which by haynous trespasse is committed against the Lord: lest to him that is fallen this yet be added as a further crime, if hee be ignorant of that which is said; Cursed is the man that putteth his trust in man. Whereupon S. Augustin sticketh not to say, that good ministers doe consider that dMinistri enim sunt, pro …udicibus haberi nolunt, spem in se poni exhorrescunt. August. in Evangel. Iohan. tract. 5.they are but ministers, they would not be held for Iudges, they abhorre that any trust should be put in them: and that the power of remitting and retayning sinnes is committed unto the Church, to be dispensed therein, eNo secundùm arbitrium hominum, sed secundùm arbitrium Dei. August. de Baptism. contra Donatist. lib. 3. cap. 18.not according to the arbitrement of man, but according to the arbitrement of God. Whereas our adversaries lay the foundation of their Babel upon another ground: that fChristus instituit Sacerdotes iudices super terram cum eâ potestate, ut sine ipsorum sententiâ nemo post Baptismū lapsus reconciliari possit. Bellarm. de Poenit. lib. 3. cap. 2.Christ hath appointed Priests to be Iudges upon earth with such power, that none falling into sinne after Baptisme may be reconciled without their sentence; and hath gIgitur in horum a…bitrio munus solvendi & ligandi, remittendi & retinendi peccata hominum, á Christo Domino, per Spiritum sanctum fuisse positum, liquido constat. Baron. An…al. tom. 1. ann. 34. s…ct. 197.put the authoritie of binding and loosing, of forgiving and retayning the sinnes of men, in their arbitrement.

Whether the Ministers of the Gospell may be accounted Iudges in some sort, we wil not much contend: for we dislike neyther that saying of S. Hierome, that hQui claves regni coelorum habentes, quodammodo ante iudicii diem iudicant. Hieronym. epist. 1. ad Heliodorum.having the keyes of the kingdome of heaven, they judge after a sort before the day of judgement; nor that other of S. Gregory, that the Apostles, & such as succeed them in the governement of the Church, iPrincipatum superni iudicii sortiuntur, ut vice Dei quibusdam peccata retineant, quibusdam relaxent. Gregor. h…mil. 26. in Evangel.obtaine a principalitie of judgement from above, that they may in Gods stead retayne the sinnes of some, and release the sinnes of others. All the question is, in what sort they doe judge, and whether the validitie of their judgement doe depend upon the truth of the conversion of the penitent: wherein if our Romanists would stand to the iudgement of S. Hierome or S. Gregory (one of whom they make a Cardinall, and the other a Pope of their owne Church) the controversie betwixt us would quickly be at an end. For S. Hierome, expounding that speech of our Saviour, touching the keyes of the kingdome of heaven, in the sixteenth of S. Matthew; kIstum locū Episcopi & Presbyteri non intelligentes, aliquid sibi de Pharisaeorum assumunt supercilio: ut vel damnent innocentes vel solvere se noxios arbitrentur: cùm apud Deū non sententia Sacerdotum, sed reorum vita quaer…tur Legimus in Levitico de leprosis, ubi iubentur, ut ostendant se Sacerdotibus, & si lepram habuerint, tunc á Sacerdote immundi fiant: non quò Sacerdotes leprosos f…ciant & immundos: sed quò habeant notitiam leprosi & non leprosi, & possint discernere, qui mundus quive immundus sit. Quomodo ergo ibi leprosum Sacerdos mundum vel immundum facit: sic & hî alligat vel solvit Episcopus & Presbyter, non eos qui insontes sunt vel noxii, sed pro officio suo, cùm peccatorum audierit varietates, scit qui ligandus scit quive solvendus, Hieronym. commentar. in Matth. cap. 16.The Bishops and Priests, saith he, not understanding this place, assume to themselves somewhat of the Pharisees arrogancie: as imagining, that they may either condemne the innocent, or absolve the guiltie; vvhereas it is not the sentence of the Priests, but the life of the parties that is inquired of vvith God. In the booke of Leviticus vvee reade of the Lepers, vvhere they are commanded to shew themselves to the Priests, and if they shall have the leprosie, that then they shall be made uncleane by the Priest. not that the Priests should make them leprous and uncleane, but that they should take notice who was a leper and who was not, and should discerne who was cleane and who uncleane. Therefore as there the Priest doth make the leper cleane or uncleane; so here the Bishop or Priest doth binde or loose: not binde the innocent, or loose the guiltie; but when according to his office hee heareth the variety of sinnes, hee knoweth who is to be bound and who to be loosed. Thus farre S. Hierome.

S. Gregory likewise in the very same place from whence the Romanists fetch that former sentence, doth thus declare in what maner that principalitie of iudgement, which he spake of, should be exercised: being therin also followed step by step, by the Fathers of the Councell of Aquisgran. lCaussae ergo pensandae sunt, & tunc ligandi atque solvendi potestas exercenda. Videndū est quae culpa, aut quae sit poenitentia secuta post culpam: ut quos omnipotens Deus per compunctionis gratiam visitat, illos Pastoris sententia absolvat. Tunc enim vera est absolutio praesidentis: cùm aeterni arbitrium sequitur Iudicis. Gregor. in Evangel. homil. 26. Concil. Aquisgran. cap. 37.The causes ought to bee weighed, and then the power of binding and loosing exercised. It is to be seene, what the fault is, and what the repentance is that hath followed after the fault: that such as almightie God doth visite with the grace of compunction, those the sentence of the Pastor may absolve. For the absolution of the Prelate is then true, when it followeth the arbitrement of the eternall Iudge. And this doe they illustrate by that which we reade in the Gospell of the raysing of Lazarus, Ioh. 11.44. that Christ did first of all give life to him that was dead by himselfe, and then commanded others to loose him, and let him goe. mEcce illum discipuli iam viventem solvunt: quem magister resuscitaverat mortuum. Si enim discipuli Lazarum mortuum solverent: foetorem magis ostenderent quàm virtutem. Ex quâ consideratione intuendum est: quòd illos nos debemus per pastoralem auctoritatem solvere, quos auctorem nostrum cognoscimus per suscitantem gratiam vivificare. …idem ibidem. & El…gius Noviomens homil. 11. tom. 7: Bibliothec. Pa…r. pag. 248. …dit. Colon.Behold (say they) the disciples doe loose him being now alive; whom their Master had raysed up being dead. For if the disciples had loosed Lazarus being dead: they should have discovered a stinche more then a vertue. By which consideration vvee may see: that by our Pastorall authoritie vvee ought to loose those, vvhom vvee know that our Authour and Lord hath revived vvith his quickning grace. The same application also doe wee finde made, not onelyonly by nP. Lombard. lib. 4. Sent. dist. 18. lit. f. Alexand. de Hales, Summ. part. 4. quaest. 2…. membr. 1. &c.Peter Lombard, and other of the Schoolemen, but also by Iudocus Clichtoveus, not long before the time of the Councell of Trent. oSed ante prodiit redivivus Lazarus ex s…pulchro, & deinde ut solveretur á discipulis & sineretur abire á Domino jussum est: quia peccatorem etiam consuetudine committendi reatus gravatū, priùs Dominus intrinsecus per seipsum vivificat, postea veró eundem per Sacerdotum ministeriū absolvit. Nullus quippe peccator absolvendus est, antequam per dignam poenitentiam correctus, & intrinsecùs appareat vivificatus. Vivificare autem interiùs peccatorē solius Dei munus est, qui per Proph…tam dicit: Ego sum qui deleo iniquitates vestras. Clichtov. in Evangel. Ioann. lib. 7. cap. 23. inter opera Cyrilli.Lazarus (saith Clichtoveus) first of all came forth alive out of the sepulchre, and then was commandement given by our Lord that hee should be loosed by the disciples and suffered to go his way: because the Lord doth first inwardly by himselfe quicken the sinner, and afterwards absolveth him by the Priests ministerie. For no sinner is to be absolved, before it appeareth that hee be amended by due repentance, and bee quickned inwardly. But inwardly to quicken the sinner, is the office of God alone, who saith by the Prophet: I am he that blotteth out your iniquities.

The truth therefore of the Priests absolution, dependeth upon the truth and sinceritie of Gods quickning grace in the heart of the Penitent: which if it be wanting, all the absolutions in the world will stand him in no stead. For example, our Saviour saith: pM…tth. 6.14, 15. &c. 18.35.If yee forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but, if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neyther will your Father forgive your trespasses. and in this respect (as is observed by Sedulius) qIn aliorum personis aut absolvimur aut ligamur. Sedul. lib. 2. Paschalis Operis, cap. 11.in other mens persons we are eyther absolved or bound:

— rId. lib. 2. Paschal. Carm.graviusque soluti

Nectimur, alterius si solvere vincla negamus.

Suppose now, that a man who cannot find in his heart to forgive the wrong done unto him by another, is absolved here by the Priest from all his sinnes (according to the usuall forme of Absolution:) are wee to thinke that what is thus loosed upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven? and that Christ, to make the Priests word true, will make his owne false? And what wee say of charitie toward man, must much more be understood of the love of God and the love of righteousnesse: the defect whereof is not to be supplyed by the absolution of anie Priest. It hath beene alwayes observed for a speciall difference betwixt good and bad men, that the one sOdetunt peccare boni virtutis amore. Horas. lib. 1. epist. 16.hated sinne for the love of vertue, the other onelyonly for the feare of punishment. The like difference do our Adve…saries make betwixt Contrition and Attrition: tFatemur enim perfectum odium peccati esse illud, quod ex amore Dei, justitiaeque procedit; & ideò dolorem, sive odium ex timore poenae conceptū, non Contritionem, sed Attritionē nominamus. B…llarm. lib. 2. de Poenitent. cap. 18.that the hatred of sinne, in the one proceedeth from the love of God and of righteousnesse; in the other, from the feare of punishment. and yet teach for all this, that uId. ibid.Attrition (which they confesse would not otherwise suffice to justifie a man) being ioyned with the Priests Absolution, is sufficient for that purpose: he that was attrite being by vertue of this Absolution made contrite, and iustified, that is to say, hee that was led onelyonly by a servile feare, and consequently was to be rancked among disordered and evill persons, being by this meanes put in as good case for the matter of the forgivenesse of his sinnes, as hee that loveth God sincerely. For they themselves doe graunt, that xArgumentū recté probat eos, qui timorem servilem habeat, inordinatos ac malos esse &c. Id. ibid.such as have this servile feare, from whence Attrition issueth, are to be accounted evill and disordered men, by reason of their want of charitie: to which purpose also they alledge that saying of Gregory, Recti diligunt te, non recti adhuc timent te. Such as be righteous love thee, such as be not right…ous as yet feare thee.

But they have taken an order notwithstanding, that non recti shall stand recti in curiâ with them: by assuming a strange authoritie unto themselves of iustifying the wicked (a thing, we know, that hath the curse of yProv. 17.15.God and zProv. 24.24.man threatned unto it) & making men friends with God, that have not the love of God dwelling in them. For although we be taught by the word of God, that a1. Ioh. 4.18.perfect love casteth out feare; that wee bRom. 8.15.have not received the spirit of bondage to feare againe, but the spirit of adoption whereby wee cry Abba, father; that mount Sinai (which cHeb. 12.18, 21.maketh those that come unto it to feare and quake) dGal. 4.24, 25, 31.engendreth to bondage, and is to be cast out with her children, from inheriting the promise; & that e1. Cor. 13.2, 3. Vid. authorem libri de verâ & fal â poenitentiâ cap. 17 inter opera Augustini, tom. 4.without love, both we our selves are nothing, and all that we have doth profit us nothing: yet these wonderfull men would have us beleeve, that by their word alone they are able to make something of this nothing; that feare without love shall make men capable of the benefite of their pardon, as well as love without feare; that whether men come by the way of mount Sinai or mount Sion, whether they have Legall or Evangelicall repentance, they have authoritie to absolve them from all their sinnes. as if it did lye in their power, to confound Gods Testaments at their pleasure, and to give unto a servile feare not the benefite of manumission only, but the priviledge of adoption also; by making the children of the bondwoman children of the promise, and giving them a portion in that blessed inheritance together with the children of her that is free.

fHebr. 6.1.Repentance from dead workes, is one of the foundations and principles of the doctrine of Christ. gPoenitentiā certam non facit, nisi odium peccati, & amor Dei. August serm. 7. de Tempore.Nothing maketh repentance certaine, but the hatred of sinne, and the love of God. and without true repentance all the Priests under heaven are not able to give us a discharge from our sinnes, and deliver us from the wrath to come. hMatth. 18.3.Except ye be converted, ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heaven. iLuk. 13.3, 5.Except yee repent, yee shall all perish: is the Lords saying in the new Testament. and in the old: kEzech. 18.30, 31.Repent, and turne from all your transgressions: so iniquitie shall not be your ruine. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby yee have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will yee dye, O house of Israel? Now put case one commeth to his ghostly father, with such sorrow of minde as the terrours of a guiltie conscience usually doe produce, and with such a resolution to cast away his sins, as a man hath in a storme to cast away his goods, not because he doth not love them, but because he feareth to loose his life if he part not with them: doth not he betray this mans soule, who putteth into his head, that such an extorted repentance as this, which hath not one graine of love to season it withall, wil qualifie him sufficiently for the receiving of an absolution, by I know not what sacramentall facultie that the Priest is furnished withall to that purpose? For all doe confesse with S. Augustin, that lTimor namque iste quo nō amatur justitia, sed timetur poena, servilis est, quia carnalis est, & ideò non c…ucifigit carnem. Vivit enim peccandi voluntas, quae tunc apparet in opere, quando speratur impunitas. Cùm veró paena c…editur secutura, latenter vivit, vivit tamen. Mallet enim licere & dolet non licere quod lex vetat: quia non spiritaliter delectatur ejus bono, sed carnaliter malum meruit quod minatur. August. in Psalm. 118. conc. 25.this feare which loveth not justice, but dreadeth punishment, is servile, because it is carnall, and therefore doth not crucifie the flesh. For the willingnesse to sinne liveth, which then appeareth in the work, when impunitie is hoped for: but when it is beleeved that punishment will follow, it liveth closely, yet it liveth. For it would wish rather, that it were lawfull to doe that which the Law forbiddeth, and is sorry that it is not lawfull: because it is not spiritually delighted with the good thereof, but carnally feareth the evill vvhichwhich it doth threaten. What man then, doe we thinke, will take the paynes to get him a new heart and a new spirit, and undertake the toylsome worke of crucifying the flesh with the lustes thereof; if without all this adoe, the Priests absolution can make that other imperfect or rather equivocall contrition, arising from a carnall and servile feare, to be sufficient for the blotting out of all his sinnes? Or are wee not rather to thinke that this sacramentall penance of the Papists is a device invented by the enemie to hoodwinke poore soules, and to divert them from seeking that true repentance which is onelyonly able to stand them in stead? and that such as take upon them to helpe lame dogges over the stile after this maner, by substituting quid pro quo, attrition in stead of contrition, servile feare in stead of filiall love, carnall sorrow in stead of godly repentance; are physicians of no value, nay such as minister poyson unto men under colour of providing a soveraigne medicine for them? Hee therefore that will have care of his soules health, must consider, that much resteth here in the good choyce of a skilfull physician; but much more, in the paines that must be taken by the patient himselfe. For that every one who beareth the name of a Priest, is not fit to bee trusted with a matter of this moment; their owne Decrees may give them faire warning, where this admonition is mDecret. de Poenit. distinct. 1. ca. 88. Quem poenitet. & dist. 6. ca. 1. Qui vulttwise laid down, out of the author that wrote of true and false repentance. nQui confiteri vult peccata, ut inveniat gratiam, quaerat sacerdotem scientem ligare & solvere: ne, cùm negligens circa se extiterit, negligatur ab illo, qui eum misericorditer monet, & petit, ne ambo in foveam cadāt, quam stultus evitare noluit. Lib. de ver. & fals. poenitent. cap 10. inter opera. Augustini, tom. 4.Hee who will confesse his sinnes, that he may finde grace, let him seeke for a Priest that knoweth how to binde and loose: least, while he is negligent concerning himselfe, he be neglected by him vvho mercifully admonisheth and desireth him, that both fall not into the pit, which the foole would not avoid. And when the skilfullest Priest that is, hath done his best: S. Cyprian will tell them, that oPoenitenti, operanti, roganti potest clementer ignoscere; potest in acceptum referre, quidquid pro tasibus & petierint martyres, & fecerint sacerdotes. Cyprian. de Lapsis. (sect. 13. edit. Pamel. 29 Goulart.)to him that repenteth, to him that worketh, to him that prayeth, the Lord of his merciemercy can grant a pardon; hee can make good that which for such men eyther the Martyrs shall request or the Priest shall doe.

If we inquire, who they were that first assumed unto themselves this exorbitant power of forgiving sins: we are like to finde them in the Tents of the ancient hereticks and schismaticks; who p2 Pet. 2.19.promised unto others libertie, when they themselves were the servants of corruption. qQuanti panem non hab…n…es & vestimen…a, cùm ipsi esuriant & nudi sint, nec habeant spirituales cibos neque Christi tunicā integram reservârint; aliis & alimonia & vestimenta promittunt, & pleni vulneribus medicos esse se jactant: nec servant illud Mosaicu, Provide alium quē mittas; aliud que mandatū, Ne quaeras judex fieri, ne fortè non possis aufe…re iniquitates. Solus Ie…us omnes … scriptum est▪ Qui sanat contritos corde, & alligat contritiones eorum. H…. onym. lib. 2. co…ent. in Esaei. cap. 3.How manie (saith S. Hierom) which have neyther bread nor apparell, when they themselves are hungry and naked, and neyther have spirituall meates, nor preserve the coate of Christ intire; yet promise unto others food and rayment, and being full of wounds themselves bragge that they be physicians: and doe not observe that of Moses, (Exod. 4.13.) Provide another vvhom thou mayest send; & that other commandement (Ecclesiastic. 7.6.) Doe not seeke to be made a Iudge, lest peradventure thou be not able to take away iniquitie. It is Iesus alone, who healeth all sicknesses and infirmities: of vvhom it is written, (Psalm. 147.4.) He healeth the contrite in heart, and bindeth up their soares. Thus farre S. Hierom.

The Rhemists in their marginall note upon Luke 7.49. tell us, that as the Pharisees did alwayes carp Christ for remission of sinnes in earth, so the Hereticks reprehend his Church that remitteth sinnes by his authoritie. But S. Augustin treating upon the selfe same place, might have taught them, that hereby the bewrayed themselves to be the off spring of Hereticks, rather then children of the Church. For whereas our Saviour there had said unto the penitent woman, Thy sinnes are forgiven; and they that sate at meate with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sinnes also? S. Augustin first compareth their knowledge and the knowledge of the woman thus together. rNoverat ergo illum poste dimittere peccata: illi autem noverant hominem non posse peccata dimittere. Et credendum est, quòd omnes, id est, & illi discumbentes, & illa mulier accedens ad pedes Domini, omnes hi nō verant hominē non posse peccata dimittere. Cùm ergo omnes hoc nossent: illa quae credidit eum posse peccata dimittere, plus quàm hominē esse intellexit. August. hom. 23. ex. 50. cap. 7.Shee knew that hee could forgive sinnes; but they knew that a man could not forgive sinnes. And wee are to beleeve that all, that is, both they which sat at table, and the woman which came to our Lords feet, they all knew that a man could not forgive sinnes. Seeing all therefore knew this, shee who beleeved that hee could forgive sinnes, understood him to be more then a man. and a little after: sTamen illud bene nost…s, bene tenetis Tenete, quia homo non potest peccata dimittere. Illa quae sibi á Christo peccata dimitti credidit, Christū non hominē tantùm, sed & Deū credidit Id. ibid.That doe you know well, that doe you hold well; saith that learned Father. Hold, that a man cannot forgive sinnes. Shee who beleeved that her sinnes were forgiven her by Christ, beleeved that Christ was not only man, but God also. Then doth hee proceede to compare the knowledge of the Iewes then with the opinion of the Heretickes in his dayes. Herein (saith tSed in eo melior Pharisaeus; quia cùm putaret hominē Christū, non credebat ab homine posse dimitti peccata. Melior ergo Iudaeis quàm haereticis apparuit intellectus. Iudaei dixerunt, Quis est hic qui etiam peccata dimittit? Audet sibi homo usurpare? Quid contrà Haereticus? Ego mundo, ego sanctifico. Respondeat illi, non ego, sed Christus. O homo, quando ego á Iudaeis putatus sum homo, dimissionem peccatorum fidei dedi. Non ego, respondet tibi Christus. O Haeretice, tu cùm sis homo, dicis; Veni mulier, ego te salvam facio. Ego cùm putarer homo, dixi, Vade mulier, fides tua te salvam fecit. Id. ibid. cap. 8.he) the Pharisee was better then these men: for when he did thinke that Christ was a man, he did not beleeve that sinnes could be forgiven by a man. It appeared therefore that the Iewes had better understanding then the Hereticks. The Iewes said; Who is this that forgiveth sinnes also? Dare a man challenge this to himselfe? What saith the Heretick on the other side? I do forgive, I doe cleanse, I doe sanctifie. Let Christ answer him, not I: O man, when I was thought by the Iewes to bee a man, I ascribed the forgivenesse of sinnes to faith. Not I, but Christ doth answer thee. O Heretick, Thou when thou art but a man sayest; Come woman, I doe make the safe. I when I was thought to be but a man said; Goe woman, thy faith hath made thee safe.

The Hereticks at whom S. Augustin here aymeth, were the Donatists: whom Optatus also before him did thus roundly take up for the same presumption. uIntelligite ves vel seró operarios esse, non dominos. Et si Ecclesia vinea est, sunt homines & ordinati cultores. Quid in dominium patrisfamilias irruistis? Quid vobis, quod Dei est, vindicatis? Optat. lib. 5. contra Donatist.Vnderstand at length, that you are servants, and not Lords. And if the Church be a vineyard, and men be appointed to be dressers of it: why doe you rush into the dominion of the housholder? Why doe you challenge unto your selves, that which is Gods? xConcedite Deo, praestare quae sua sunt. Non enim potest munus abhomine dari, quod divinum est. Si sic putatis, Prophetarū voces, & Dei promissa inanire contenditis, quibus p…obatur, quia Deus lavat, non homo Id. ibid.Give leave unto God to performe the things that belong unto himselfe. For that gift cannot be given by man, which is divine. If you think so, you labour to frustrate the words of the Prophets, & the promises of God, by which it is proved that God washeth (away sinne,) and not man. It is noted likewise by Theodoret, of the Audian hereticks: that yforeign. Theodoret. haeretic. fabul. lib. 4.they bragged they did forgive sinnes. The maner of Confession which he saith was used among them, was not much unlike that which Alvarus Pelagius acknowledgeth to have beene the usuall practise of them that made greatest profession of religion and learning in his time. zVix enim aut rarissime aliquis talium confitetur nisi per verba generalia: vix unquam aliquod grave specificant. Quod dicunt unâ die, dicunt & alterâ: ac si in omni die aequaliter offendant. Alvar. de Planct. eccles. lib. 2. artic. 78. A.For scarce at all (saith hee) or very seldome doth any of them confesse otherwise then in generall termes: scarce doe they ever specifie any grievous sinne. What they say one day, that they say another, as if every day they did offend alike. The maner of Absolution was the same with that, which Theodoricus de Niem noteth to have beene practised by the pardoners sent abroad by Pope Boniface the ninth: who aOmnia peccata etiam sine poenitentiâ ipsis confitentibus relaxârunt; super quibuslibet irregularitatibus dispensârunt inte…ventu pecuniae: dicentes se omnem potestatem habere super hoc, quam Christus Petro ligandi & solvendi contulisset in terris. Niem de schismaete, lib. 1. cap. 68.released all sinnes to them that confessed, without any penance (or repentance;) affirming that they had for their warrant in so doing, all that power which Christ gave unto Peter of binding and loosing upon earth. just as Theodoret reporteth the Audians were wont to doe: who presently bforeign. Theodor. haer. lib. 4.after confession graunted remission; not prescribing a time for repentance, as the lawes of the Church did require, but giving pardon by authoritie.

The lawes of the Church prescribed a certaine time unto Penitents, cAugust. En…birid ad Laur. cap. 65.wherein they should give proofe of the soundnesse of their repentance: and gave order that afterwards they should be d2. Cor. 2.7.forgiven and comforted, lest they should be swallowed up with overmuch heavinesse. So that first their penance was injoyned unto them, and thereby eVid. Nomocanonem Nesteutae in Theod. Balsamonis coll…ct. Canon. edit. Paris. an. 1620. pag. 1101. lin. ult. & Niconis epist. ad. Enclistium, ibid. pag. 1096 1097. & Anast…s. Sinait. quaest. 6. pag. 64. edit. Graecola…. Gretseri.they were held to be bound: after performance whereof they received their absolution, by which they were loosed againe. But the Audian hereticks, without anie such triall taken of their repentance, did of their owne heads give them absolution presently upon their confession: as the Popish Priests use to doe now a dayes. OnelyOnly the Audians had one ridiculous ceremonie more then the Papists; that having placed the Canonicall bookes of Scripture upon one side, and certaine Apocryphall writings on the other, they caused their followers to passe betwixt them, and in their passing to make confession of their sinnes: as the Papists, another idle practise more then they; that after they have given absolution, they injoyne penance to the partie absolved, that is to say, (as they of old would have interpreted it) they first loose him and presently after binde him. which howsoever they hold to be done in respect of the temporall punishment remayning due after the remission of the fault: yet it appeareth plainly, that the penitentiall workes required in the ancient Church, had reference to the fault it selfe; and that no absolution was to be expected from the Minister for the one, before all reckonings were ended for the other. OnelyOnly where the danger of death was imminent, the case admitted some exception: reconci…iation being not denied indeed unto them that desired it at such a time, yet so granted, that it was left verie doubtfull, whether it would stand the parties in anie great stead or no. fSi quis positus in ultimâ necessitate aegritudinis suae, voluerit accipere poenitentiam & accipit, & mox reconciliatur, & hinc vadit: fateor vobis, non illi negamus quod petit, sed non praesumimus quia bene hinc exit. Non praesumo, non vos fallo, non praesumo. August. homil. 41. ex 50. Ambros. exhort. ad poenitent.If any one being in the last extremitie of his sicknesse, saith S. Augustin, is willing to receive penance, and …oth receive it, and is presently reconciled, and departeth hence: I confesse unto you, wee doe not denie him that which hee asketh, but wee doe not presume that he goeth well from hence. I doe not presume, I deceive you not, I doe not presume. gAgens poenitentiam ad ultimum & reconciliatus, si securus hinc exit, ego non sum securus. &c. Poenitentiam dare possum, securitatē dare non possum. Ibid.Hee who putteth off his penance to the last, and is reconciled; whether hee goeth secure from hence, I am not secure. Penance I can give him, securitie I cannot give him. hNunquid dico, damnabitur? Non dico Sed dico etiam, liberabitur? Non. Et quid dicis mihi? Nescio: non praesumo, non promitto nescio. Vis te de dubio liberare; vis quod incertum est evadere? Age poenitentiam dum sanus es. Ibid.Doe I say, hee shall be damned? I say not so. But doe I say also, he shall be freed? No. What doest thou then say unto mee? I know not: I presume not, I promise not, I know not. Wilt thou free thy selfe of the doubt? wilt thou escape that which is uncertaine? Doe thy penance while thou art in health. iPoenitentia quae ab infirmo petitur, infirma est. Poenitentia quae á moriente tantùm petitur, timeo ne ipsa moriatur. Augustin. serm. 57. de Tempore.The penance which is asked for by the infirme man, is infirme. The penance which is asked for onelyonly by him that is a dying, I feare lest it also dye.

But with the matter of penance we have not here to deale: those formal absolutions and pardons of course, immediately granted upon the hearing of mens confessions, is that which wee charge the Romish Priests to have learned from the Audian hereticks. kNonnulli ideo poscunt poenitentiam, ut statim sibi reddi communionem velint: hi non tam se solvere cupiunt, quàm Sacerdotem ligare. Suam enim conscientiam non exuunt, Sacerdotis induunt. Ambros. de Poenit. lib. 2. cap. 9.Some require penance to this end, that they might presently have the communion restored unto them: these men desire, not so much to loose themselves, as to binde the Priest; saith S. Ambrose. If this be true, that the Priest doth binde himselfe, by his hastie and unadvised loosing of others: the case is like to go hard with our Popish Priests, who ordinarily in bestowing their absolutions, use to make more hast then good speed. Wherein, with how little judgement they proceed, who thus take upon them the place of Iudges in mens consciences, may sufficiently appeare by this: that whereas the maine ground, whereupon they would build the necessitie of Auricular confession, and the particular enumeration of all knowne sinnes, is pretended to be this, that the ghostly Father having taken notice of the cause may judge righteous judgement, and discerne who should be bound and who should be loosed, the matter yet is so carried in this court of theirs, that everie man commonly goeth away with his absolution, and all sorts of people usually receive one and the selfe same iudgement. lIerem. 1….19.If thou seperate the pretious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: saith the Lord. Whose mouth then may we hold them to be, who seldome put anie difference betweene these, and make it their ordinarie practise to pronounce the same sentence of absolution aswell upon the one as upon the other?

If we would know, how late it was before this trade of pardoning mens sinnes after this maner was established in the Church of Rome: wee cannot discover this better, then by tracing out the doctrine publickly taught in that Church touching this matter, from the time of Satans loosing untill his binding againe by the restoring of the puritie of the Gospell in our dayes. And here Radulphus Ardens doth in the first place offer himselfe: who toward the beginning of that time preached this for sound divinitie. mPotes…as peccata relaxandi solius Dei est. Ministerium veró, quod improprié etiam potestas vocatur, vicariis suis concessit; qui modo suo ligant vel absolvunt, id est, ligatos vel absolutos esse ostendunt. Priùs enim Deus interiùs peccatorē per cōpūctionem absolvit; Sacerdos veró exteriùs, sententiam proferendo, eum esse absolutum ostendit. Quod bene significatur per Lazarū, qui priùs in tumulo á Domino suscitatur, & pòst, ministerio discipulorum, á vitiis (f…r…. vittis) quibus ligatus fuerat absolvitur. Rad. A. den…, homil. Dominic. 1. post Pascha.The power of releasing sinnes, belongeth to God alone. But the ministery (which improperly also is called a power) hee hath granted unto his substitutes; who after their maner doe binde and absolve, that is to say, doe declare that men are bound or absolved. For God doth first inwardly absolve the sinner by compunction: and then the Priest outwardly by giving the sentence doth declare that he is absolved. Which is well signified by that of Lazarus: who first in the grave was raysed up by the Lord, and afterward by the ministery of the disciples was loosed from the bands wherewith he was tyed. Then follow both the Anselmes, ours of Canterbury and the other of Laon in France: who in their expositions upon the ninth of S. Matthew, cleerely teach, that none but God alone can forgive sinnes. Ivo Bishop of Chartres writeth, that nPer internum gemitum satisfit interno judici, & id…irco indilata datur ab eo peccati remissio, cui manifesta est interna conversio. Ecclesia veró, quia occulta cordis ignorat non solvit ligatum, licèt suscitatum, nisi de monumento elatum, id est, publicâ satisfactione purgatum. Ivo Carnotens. epist. 228.by inward contrition the inward judge is satisfied, and therefore without delay forgivenesse of the sinne is granted by him, unto whom the inward conversion is manifest: but the Church, because it knoweth not the hidden things of the heart, doth not loose him that is bound, although he be raysed up, untill hee be brought out of the tombe, that is to say, purged by publick satisfaction. and if presently upon the inward conversion God be pleased to forgive the sinne: the absolution of the Priest which followeth, cannot in anie sort properly be accounted a remission of that sinne, but a further manifestation onelyonly of the remission formerly granted by God himselfe.

The Master of the Sentences after him, having propounded the diverse opinions of the Doctors touching this point, demandeth at last, oIn hâc tantâ varietate quid tenendum? Ho… sané dicere ac sentire possumus; quòd solus Deus dimittit peccata & retinet, & tamen Ecclesiae contulit potestatem ligandi & solvendi: sed aliter ipse solvit vel ligat, alit…r Ecclesia. Ipse enim per se tantùm dimittit peccatum; qui & animam mundat ab interiori maculâ, & á debito aeternae mortis solvit. Non autem hoc Sacerdotibus concessit: quibus tamen tribuit potestatem solvendi & ligandi, id est, ostendendi homines ligatos vel solutos. Vnde Dominus leprosum sanitati priùs per se restituit, deinde ad Sacerdotes misit, quorum judicio ostenderetur mundatus. Ita etiam Lazarum jam vivificatum obtulit discipulis solvendum. Petr. Lombard. lib. 4. S…ntent. distinct. 18. e f.In this so great varietie what is to be held? and returneth for answer. Surely this we may say and thinke: that God alone doth forgive and retayne sinnes, and yet hath given power of binding and loosing unto the Church; but He bindeth and looseth one way, and the Church another. For he only by himselfe forgiveth sinne, who both cleanseth the soule from inward blot, and looseth it from the debt of everlasting death. But this hath he not granted unto Priests: to whom notwithstanding he hath given the power of binding and loosing, that is to say, of declaring men to be bound or loosed. Wherupon the Lord did first by himselfe restore health unto the leper, and then sent him unto the Priests, by whose judgement he might be declared to be cleansed: so also he offered Lazarus to his disciples to be loosed, having first quickned him. In like maner Hugo Cardinalis sheweth, that it is pSolius Dei est dimittere peccata. Hugo Card. in Luc. 5.onelyonly God that forgiveth sinnes: and that qVinculo culpae & poenae debitae, non potest eum Sacerdos ligare vel solvere; sed tantùm ligatum vel absolutum ostendere. Sicut Sacerdos Leviticus non faciebat vel mundabat leprosum; sed tantùm infectum vel mundum ostendebat. Id. in Matth. 16.the Priest cannot binde or loose the sinner, with or from the bond of the fault and the punishment due thereunto; but onelyonly declare him to be bound or loosed. as the Leviticall Priest did not make nor cleanse the leper, but onelyonly declared him to be infected or cleane. And a great number of the Schoolemen afterward shewed themselves to be of the same judgement: that to pardon the fault and the eternall punishment due unto the same, was the proper worke of God; that the Priests absolution hath no reall operation that way, but presupposeth the partie to be first justified and absolved by God. Of this minde were, rAltissiodorens. Summ. lib. 4. cap. de generali usu clavium.Guilielmus Altissiodorensis, sAlexand. Haelens. Summ. part. 4. quaest. 21. membr. 1.Alexander of Hales, tBonavent. in 4. dist. 18. art. 2. quaest 1. & 2.Bonaventure, uGu…l Ockam. in 4. Sent. quaest. 9. li…. Q.Ockam, xArgentin. in 4. Sent. dist. 18. art. 3.Thomas de Argentinâ, yMi…h. Angrian. in Psal. 29. & 31.Michael de Bononiâ, zBiel. in 4. Sent. dist. 14. quaest. 2. d. n. & dist. 18. quaest. 1. k.Gabriel Biel, aH…nr. de Oyta (al. lu…a) in propositionib apud Ill…ricum, in Catal. …est. veritat.Henricus de Huecta, bMa…or in 4. Sent di…t. 18. quaest. 1.Iohannes Major, and others.

To lay downe all their words at large would be too tedious. In generall, Hadrian the sixth (one of their owne Popes) acknowledgeth, that cHadrian in Quodliberic. quaest … art. 3 b.the most appr…ved Divines were of this minde, that the keyes of the Priesthood doe not extend themselves to the remission of the fault: and dMaior in 4. dist. 14. qu. 2. concl. 3.Major affirmeth, that this is the common Tenet of the Doctors. So likewise is it avouched by Gabriel Biel, that eEt illam opinionem communiter sequuntur doctores antiqui. Biel. in 4. dist. 14. quaest. 2. d.the old Doctors commonly follow the opinion of the Master of the Sentences; that Priests do forgive or retaine sinnes, while they iudge and declare that they are forgiven by God or retained. But all this notwithstanding, Suarez is bold to tell us, that fVeruntamen haec sententia Magistri salsa est, & jam hoc tempore erronea. Fr. Suar…z. in Thom. tom. 4. disp. 19 s…ct 2. num 4.this opinion of the Master is false, and now at this time erroneous. It was not held so the other day, when Ferus preached at Mentz, that gNon quòd homo proprié remittat peccatum; sed quòd ostendat ac certificet á Deo remissum. Neque enim aliud est Absolutio, quam ab homine accipis, quam si dicat: En sili, certifico te t…bi remissa esse peccata, annunc…o tibi te habere propitiū Deum; & quaecunque Christus in Baptismo & Evangelio nobis promisit, tibi nunc per me annunciat & promittit. Io. Ferus, lib. 2 comment. in Matth. cap. 9. edit. Mogunt. an. 1…9.man did not properly remit sinne, but did declare and certifie that it was remitted by God. so that the Absolution received from man, is nothing else then if he should say: Behold my sonne, I certifie thee that thy sinnes are forgiven thee, I pronounce unto thee that thou hast God favourable unto thee; and vvhatsoever Christ in Baptisme and in his Gospell hath promised unto us, he doth now declare and promise unto thee by me. Of this shalt thou have me to be a witnesse: goe in peace, and in quiet of conscience. But jam hoc tempore the case is altered: these things must be purged out of hFer. in Matth. edit. Antuerp. an. 1559.1570. &c.Ferus as erroneous; the opinion of the old Doctors must give place to the sentence of the new Fathers of Trent. And so we are come at length to the end of this long question: in the handling whereof I have spent more time, th… … ani… of th… r…st, by reason our Priests doe make this facultie of pardoning mens sinnes to be one of the most principall parts of their occupation, and the particular discoverie thereof is not ordinarily by the writers of our side so much insisted upon. The performance therefore of my promise of brevitie, is to be expected in the briefer treating upon those articles that remaine: the fift whereof we are now to take into our consideration, which is

Answer to a Jesuit in Ireland, Treatise · Section 4

p. 109OF THE PRIESTS POVVER TO FORGIVE SINNES.

OF THE PRIESTS POVVER TO FORGIVE SINNES.