No More Learning

The
second place is Gal. 1. 8. "Though we, or an Angell from Heaven preach
any other Gospell unto you, than that wee have preached unto you, let
him bee accursed. " But the Gospell which Paul, and the other Apostles,
preached, was onely this Article, that Jesus Is The Christ; Therefore
for the Beleef of this Article, we are to reject the Authority of
an Angell from heaven; much more of any mortall man, if he teach the
contrary. This is therefore the Fundamentall Article of Christian Faith.
A third place is, 1 Joh. 4. 1. "Beloved, beleeve not every spirit. Hereby
yee shall know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesseth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God. " By which it is evident,
that this Article, is the measure, and rule, by which to estimate,
and examine all other Articles; and is therefore onely Fundamentall.
A fourth is, Matt. 16. 18. where after St. Peter had professed this
Article, saying to our Saviour, "Thou art Christ the Son of the living
God," Our Saviour answered, "Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will
build my Church:" from whence I inferre, that this Article is that,
on which all other Doctrines of the Church are built, as on their
Foundation. A fift is (1 Cor. 3. ver. 11, 12, &c. ) "Other Foundation can
no man lay, than that which is laid, Jesus is the Christ. Now if any man
build upon this Foundation, Gold, Silver, pretious Stones, Wood, Hay,
Stubble; Every mans work shall be made manifest; For the Day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try
every mans work, of what sort it is. If any mans work abide, which he
hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward: If any mans work shall
bee burnt, he shall suffer losse; but he himself shall be saved, yet so
as by fire. " Which words, being partly plain and easie to understand,
and partly allegoricall and difficult; out of that which is plain, may
be inferred, that Pastors that teach this Foundation, that Jesus Is The
Christ, though they draw from it false consequences, (which all men are
sometimes subject to,) they may neverthelesse bee saved; much more that
they may bee saved, who being no Pastors, but Hearers, beleeve that
which is by their lawfull Pastors taught them. Therefore the beleef of
this Article is sufficient; and by consequence there is no other Article
of Faith Necessarily required to Salvation.

Now for the part which is Allegoricall, as "That the fire shall try
every mans work," and that "They shall be saved, but so as by fire,"
or "through fire," (for the originall is dia puros,) it maketh nothing
against this conclusion which I have drawn from the other words, that
are plain. Neverthelesse, because upon this place there hath been an
argument taken, to prove the fire of Purgatory, I will also here offer
you my conjecture concerning the meaning of this triall of Doctrines,
and saving of men as by Fire. The Apostle here seemeth to allude to
the words of the Prophet Zachary, Ch. 13. 8,9. who speaking of the
Restauration of the Kingdome of God, saith thus, "Two parts therein
shall be cut off, and die, but the third shall be left therein; and
I will bring the third part through the Fire, and will refine them as
Silver is refined, and will try them as Gold is tryed; they shall call
on the name of the Lord, and I will hear them. " The day of Judgment, is
the day of the Restauration of the Kingdome of God; and at that day
it is, that St. Peter tells us (2 Pet. 3. v. 7, 10, 12. ) shall be the
Conflagration of the world, wherein the wicked shall perish; but the
remnant which God will save, shall passe through that Fire, unhurt,
and be therein (as Silver and Gold are refined by the fire from their
drosse) tryed, and refined from their Idolatry, and be made to call upon
the name of the true God. Alluding whereto St. Paul here saith, that The
Day (that is, the Day of Judgment, the Great Day of our Saviours comming
to restore the Kingdome of God in Israel) shall try every mans doctrine,
by Judging, which are Gold, Silver, Pretious Stones, Wood, Hay, Stubble;
And then they that have built false Consequences on the true Foundation,
shall see their Doctrines condemned; neverthelesse they themselves
shall be saved, and passe unhurt through this universall Fire, and live
eternally, to call upon the name of the true and onely God. In which
sense there is nothing that accordeth not with the rest of Holy
Scripture, or any glimpse of the fire of Purgatory.




In What Sense Other Articles May Be Called Necessary

But a man may here aske, whether it bee not as necessary to Salvation,
to beleeve, that God is Omnipotent; Creator of the world; that Jesus
Christ is risen; and that all men else shall rise again from the dead
at the last day; as to beleeve, that Jesus Is The Christ. To which I
answer, they are; and so are many more Articles: but they are such, as
are contained in this one, and may be deduced from it, with more, or
lesse difficulty. For who is there that does not see, that they
who beleeve Jesus to be the Son of the God of Israel, and that the
Israelites had for God the Omnipotent Creator of all things, doe therein
also beleeve, that God is the Omnipotent Creator of all things? Or how
can a man beleeve, that Jesus is the King that shall reign eternally,
unlesse hee beleeve him also risen again from the dead? For a dead man
cannot exercise the Office of a King. In summe, he that holdeth this
Foundation, Jesus Is The Christ, holdeth Expressely all that hee
seeth rightly deduced from it, and Implicitely all that is consequent
thereunto, though he have not skill enough to discern the consequence.
And therefore it holdeth still good, that the beleef of this one Article
is sufficient faith to obtaine remission of sinnes to the Penitent, and
consequently to bring them into the Kingdome of Heaven.




That Faith, And Obedience Are Both Of Them Necessary To Salvation

Now that I have shewn, that all the Obedience required to Salvation,
consisteth in the will to obey the Law of God, that is to say, in
Repentance; and all the Faith required to the same, is comprehended in
the beleef of this Article, Jesus Is The Christ; I will further alledge
those places of the Gospell, that prove, that all that is Necessary to
Salvation is contained in both these joined together. The men to whom
St. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, next after the Ascension
of our Saviour, asked him, and the rest of the Apostles, saying, (Act.
2. 37. ) "Men and Brethren what shall we doe? " to whom St. Peter answered
(in the next verse) "Repent, and be Baptized every one of you, for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. "
Therefore Repentance, and Baptisme, that is, beleeving that Jesus Is The
Christ, is all that is Necessary to Salvation. Again, our Saviour being
asked by a certain Ruler, (Luke 18. 18. ) "What shall I doe to inherit
eternall life? " Answered (verse 20) "Thou knowest the Commandements,
Doe not commit Adultery, Doe not Kill, Doe not Steal, Doe not bear false
witnesse, Honor thy Father, and thy Mother;" which when he said he had
observed, our Saviour added, "Sell all thou hast, give it to the Poor,
and come and follow me:" which was as much as to say, Relye on me that
am the King: Therefore to fulfill the Law, and to beleeve that Jesus
is the King, is all that is required to bring a man to eternall life.
Thirdly, St. Paul saith (Rom. 1. 17. ) "The Just shall live by Faith;" not
every one, but the Just; therefore Faith and Justice (that is, the Will
To Be Just, or Repentance) are all that is Necessary to life eternall.
And (Mark 1. 15. ) our Saviour preached, saying, "The time is fulfilled,
and the Kingdom of God is at hand, Repent and Beleeve the Evangile,"
that is, the Good news that the Christ was come. Therefore to Repent,
and to Beleeve that Jesus is the Christ, is all that is required to
Salvation.




What Each Of Them Contributes Thereunto

Seeing then it is Necessary that Faith, and Obedience (implyed in the
word Repentance) do both concurre to our Salvation; the question
by which of the two we are Justified, is impertinently disputed.
Neverthelesse, it will not be impertinent, to make manifest in what
manner each of them contributes thereunto; and in what sense it is said,
that we are to be Justified by the one, and by the other. And first,
if by Righteousnesse be understood the Justice of the Works themselves,
there is no man that can be saved; for there is none that hath not
transgressed the Law of God. And therefore when wee are said to be
Justified by Works, it is to be understood of the Will, which God doth
alwaies accept for the Work it selfe, as well in good, as in evill men.
And in this sense onely it is, that a man is called Just, or Unjust; and
that his Justice Justifies him, that is, gives him the title, in Gods
acceptation, of Just; and renders him capable of Living By His Faith,
which before he was not. So that Justice Justifies in that that sense,
in which to Justifie, is the same that to Denominate A Man Just; and not
in the signification of discharging the Law; whereby the punishment of
his sins should be unjust.

But a man is then also said to be Justified, when his Plea, though in
it selfe unsufficient, is accepted; as when we Plead our Will, our
Endeavour to fulfill the Law, and Repent us of our failings, and God
accepteth it for the Performance it selfe: And because God accepteth not
the Will for the Deed, but onely in the Faithfull; it is therefore Faith
that makes good our Plea; and in this sense it is, that Faith onely
Justifies: So that Faith and Obedience are both Necessary to Salvation;
yet in severall senses each of them is said to Justifie.




Obedience To God And To The Civill Soveraign Not Inconsistent

Whether Christian, Having thus shewn what is Necessary to Salvation; it
is not hard to reconcile our Obedience to the Civill Soveraign; who is
either Christian, or Infidel. If he bee a Christian, he alloweth the
beleefe of this Article, that Jesus Is The Christ; and of all the
Articles that are contained in, or are evident consequence deduced from
it: which is all the Faith Necessary to Salvation. And because he is a
Soveraign, he requireth Obedience to all his owne, that is, to all the
Civill Laws; in which also are contained all the Laws of Nature, that
is, all the Laws of God: for besides the Laws of Nature, and the Laws of
the Church, which are part of the Civill Law, (for the Church that
can make Laws is the Common-wealth,) there bee no other Laws Divine.
Whosoever therefore obeyeth his Christian Soveraign, is not thereby
hindred, neither from beleeving, nor from obeying God. But suppose that
a Christian King should from this Foundation, Jesus Is The Christ, draw
some false consequences, that is to say, make some superstructions of
Hay, or Stubble, and command the teaching of the same; yet seeing St.
Paul says, he shal be saved; much more shall he be saved, that teacheth
them by his command; and much more yet, he that teaches not, but onely
beleeves his lawfull Teacher. And in case a Subject be forbidden by
the Civill Soveraign to professe some of those his opinions, upon
what grounds can he disobey? Christian Kings may erre in deducing a
Consequence, but who shall Judge? Shall a private man Judge, when the
question is of his own obedience? or shall any man Judg but he that is
appointed thereto by the Church, that is, by the Civill Soveraign that
representeth it? or if the Pope, or an Apostle Judge, may he not erre
in deducing of a consequence? did not one of the two, St. Peter, or St.
Paul erre in a superstructure, when St. Paul withstood St. Peter to his
face? There can therefore be no contradiction between the Laws of God,
and the Laws of a Christian Common-wealth.




Or Infidel

And when the Civill Soveraign is an Infidel, every one of his own
Subjects that resisteth him, sinneth against the Laws of God (for such
as are the Laws of Nature,) and rejecteth the counsell of the Apostles,
that admonisheth all Christians to obey their Princes, and all Children
and Servants to obey they Parents, and Masters, in all things. And for
their Faith, it is internall, and invisible; They have the licence that
Naaman had, and need not put themselves into danger for it. But if they
do, they ought to expect their reward in Heaven, and not complain of
their Lawfull Soveraign; much lesse make warre upon him. For he that
is not glad of any just occasion of Martyrdome, has not the faith be
professeth, but pretends it onely, to set some colour upon his own
contumacy. But what Infidel King is so unreasonable, as knowing he has
a Subject, that waiteth for the second comming of Christ, after the
present world shall be burnt, and intendeth then to obey him (which is
the intent of beleeving that Jesus is the Christ,) and in the mean time
thinketh himself bound to obey the Laws of that Infidel King, (which
all Christians are obliged in conscience to doe,) to put to death, or to
persecute such a Subject?

And thus much shall suffice, concerning the Kingdome of God, and Policy
Ecclesiasticall. Wherein I pretend not to advance any Position of
my own, but onely to shew what are the Consequences that seem to me
deducible from the Principles of Christian Politiques, (which are the
holy Scriptures,) in confirmation of the Power of Civill Soveraigns, and
the Duty of their Subjects. And in the allegation of Scripture, I have
endeavoured to avoid such Texts as are of obscure, or controverted
Interpretation; and to alledge none, but is such sense as is most plain,
and agreeable to the harmony and scope of the whole Bible; which was
written for the re-establishment of the Kingdome of God in Christ. For
it is not the bare Words, but the Scope of the writer that giveth the
true light, by which any writing is to bee interpreted; and they that
insist upon single Texts, without considering the main Designe, can
derive no thing from them cleerly; but rather by casting atomes of
Scripture, as dust before mens eyes, make every thing more obscure than
it is; an ordinary artifice of those that seek not the truth, but their
own advantage.



CHAPTER XLIV. OF SPIRITUALL DARKNESSE FROM MISINTERPRETATION OF
SCRIPTURE




The Kingdome Of Darknesse What

Besides these Soveraign Powers, Divine, and Humane, of which I have
hitherto discoursed, there is mention in Scripture of another Power,
namely, (Eph. 6. 12. ), that of "the Rulers of the Darknesse of this
world," (Mat. 12. 26. ), "the Kingdome of Satan," and, (Mat. 9. 34. ), "the
Principality of Beelzebub over Daemons," that is to say, over Phantasmes
that appear in the Air: For which cause Satan is also called (Eph. 2.
2. ) "the Prince of the Power of the Air;" and (because he ruleth in the
darknesse of this world) (Joh. 16. 11. ) "The Prince of this world;" And
in consequence hereunto, they who are under his Dominion, in opposition
to the faithfull (who are the Children Of The Light) are called the
Children Of Darknesse. For seeing Beelzebub is Prince of Phantasmes,
Inhabitants of his Dominion of Air and Darknesse, the Children of
Darknesse, and these Daemons, Phantasmes, or Spirits of Illusion,
signifie allegorically the same thing. This considered, the Kingdome
of Darknesse, as it is set forth in these, and other places of the
Scripture, is nothing else but a "Confederacy of Deceivers, that to
obtain dominion over men in this present world, endeavour by dark, and
erroneous Doctrines, to extinguish in them the Light, both of Nature,
and of the Gospell; and so to dis-prepare them for the Kingdome of God
to come. "




The Church Not Yet Fully Freed Of Darknesse

As men that are utterly deprived from their Nativity, of the light
of the bodily Eye, have no Idea at all, of any such light; and no man
conceives in his imagination any greater light, than he hath at some
time, or other perceived by his outward Senses: so also is it of the
light of the Gospel, and of the light of the Understanding, that no man
can conceive there is any greater degree of it, than that which he hath
already attained unto. And from hence it comes to passe, that men
have no other means to acknowledge their owne Darknesse, but onely by
reasoning from the un-forseen mischances, that befall them in their
ways; The Darkest part of the Kingdome of Satan, is that which is
without the Church of God; that is to say, amongst them that beleeve not
in Jesus Christ. But we cannot say, that therefore the Church enjoyeth
(as the land of Goshen) all the light, which to the performance of
the work enjoined us by God, is necessary. Whence comes it, that in
Christendome there has been, almost from the time of the Apostles,
such justling of one another out of their places, both by forraign,
and Civill war? such stumbling at every little asperity of their own
fortune, and every little eminence of that of other men? and such
diversity of ways in running to the same mark, Felicity, if it be not
Night amongst us, or at least a Mist? wee are therefore yet in the Dark.




Four Causes Of Spirituall Darknesse

The Enemy has been here in the Night of our naturall Ignorance, and sown
the tares of Spirituall Errors; and that, First, by abusing, and
putting out the light of the Scriptures: For we erre, not knowing the
Scriptures. Secondly, by introducing the Daemonology of the Heathen
Poets, that is to say, their fabulous Doctrine concerning Daemons, which
are but Idols, or Phantasms of the braine, without any reall nature of
their own, distinct from humane fancy; such as are dead mens Ghosts, and
Fairies, and other matter of old Wives tales. Thirdly, by mixing with
the Scripture divers reliques of the Religion, and much of the vain and
erroneous Philosophy of the Greeks, especially of Aristotle. Fourthly,
by mingling with both these, false, or uncertain Traditions, and
fained, or uncertain History. And so we come to erre, by "giving heed
to seducing Spirits," and the Daemonology of such "as speak lies in
Hypocrisie," (or as it is in the Originall, 1 Tim. 4. 1,2. "of those that
play the part of lyars") "with a seared conscience," that is, contrary
to their own knowledge. Concerning the first of these, which is the
Seducing of men by abuse of Scripture, I intend to speak briefly in this
Chapter.




Errors From Misinterpreting The Scriptures, Concerning The Kingdome

Of God

The greatest, and main abuse of Scripture, and to which almost all the
rest are either consequent, or subservient, is the wresting of it, to
prove that the Kingdome of God, mentioned so often in the Scripture, is
the present Church, or multitude of Christian men now living, or that
being dead, are to rise again at the last day: whereas the Kingdome of
God was first instituted by the Ministery of Moses, over the Jews onely;
who were therefore called his Peculiar People; and ceased afterward, in
the election of Saul, when they refused to be governed by God any more,
and demanded a King after the manner of the nations; which God himself
consented unto, as I have more at large proved before, in the 35.
Chapter. After that time, there was no other Kingdome of God in the
world, by any Pact, or otherwise, than he ever was, is, and shall be
King, of all men, and of all creatures, as governing according to his
Will, by his infinite Power. Neverthelesse, he promised by his Prophets
to restore this his Government to them again, when the time he hath in
his secret counsell appointed for it shall bee fully come, and when they
shall turn unto him by repentance, and amendment of life; and not
onely so, but he invited also the Gentiles to come in, and enjoy the
happinesse of his Reign, on the same conditions of conversion and
repentance; and hee promised also to send his Son into the world, to
expiate the sins of them all by his death, and to prepare them by his
Doctrine, to receive him at his second coming: Which second coming not
yet being, the Kingdome of God is not yet come, and wee are not now
under any other Kings by Pact, but our Civill Soveraigns; saving onely,
that Christian men are already in the Kingdome of Grace, in as much as
they have already the Promise of being received at his comming againe.




As That The Kingdome Of God Is The Present Church

Consequent to this Errour, that the present Church is Christs Kingdome,
there ought to be some one Man, or Assembly, by whose mouth our Saviour
(now in heaven) speaketh, giveth law, and which representeth his person
to all Christians, or divers Men, or divers Assemblies that doe the same
to divers parts of Christendome. This power Regal under Christ, being
challenged, universally by that Pope, and in particular Common-wealths
by Assemblies of the Pastors of the place, (when the Scripture gives it
to none but to Civill Soveraigns,) comes to be so passionately disputed,
that it putteth out the Light of Nature, and causeth so great a
Darknesse in mens understanding, that they see not who it is to whom
they have engaged their obedience.




And That The Pope Is His Vicar Generall

Consequent to this claim of the Pope to Vicar Generall of Christ in the
present Church, (supposed to be that Kingdom of his, to which we are
addressed in the Gospel,) is the Doctrine, that it is necessary for a
Christian King, to receive his Crown by a Bishop; as if it were from
that Ceremony, that he derives the clause of Dei Gratia in his title;
and that then onely he is made King by the favour of God, when he is
crowned by the authority of Gods universall Viceregent on earth; and
that every Bishop whosoever be his Soveraign, taketh at his Consecration
an oath of absolute Obedience to the Pope, Consequent to the same, is
the Doctrine of the fourth Councell of Lateran, held under Pope Innocent
the third, (Chap. 3. De Haereticis. ) "That if a King at the Popes
admonition, doe not purge his Kingdome of Haeresies, and being
excommunicate for the same, doe not give satisfaction within a year,
his Subjects are absolved of the bond of their obedience. " Where, by
Haeresies are understood all opinions which the Church of Rome hath
forbidden to be maintained. And by this means, as often as there is
any repugnancy between the Politicall designes of the Pope, and other
Christian Princes, as there is very often, there ariseth such a Mist
amongst their Subjects, that they know not a stranger that thrusteth
himself into the throne of their lawfull Prince, from him whom they
had themselves placed there; and in this Darknesse of mind, are made to
fight one against another, without discerning their enemies from their
friends, under the conduct of another mans ambition.




And That The Pastors Are The Clergy

From the same opinion, that the present Church is the Kingdome of God,
it proceeds that Pastours, Deacons, and all other Ministers of the
Church, take the name to themselves of the Clergy, giving to other
Christians the name of Laity, that is, simply People. For Clergy
signifies those, whose maintenance is that Revenue, which God having
reserved to himselfe during his Reigne over the Israelites, assigned
to the tribe of Levi (who were to be his publique Ministers, and had no
portion of land set them out to live on, as their brethren) to be their
inheritance. The Pope therefore, (pretending the present Church to be,
as the Realme of Israel, the Kingdome of God) challenging to himselfe
and his subordinate Ministers, the like revenue, as the Inheritance of
God, the name of Clergy was sutable to that claime. And thence it is,
that Tithes, or other tributes paid to the Levites, as Gods Right,
amongst the Israelites, have a long time been demanded, and taken of
Christians, by Ecclesiastiques, Jure Divino, that is, in Gods Right. By
which meanes, the people every where were obliged to a double tribute;
one to the State, another to the Clergy; whereof, that to the Clergy,
being the tenth of their revenue, is double to that which a King of
Athens (and esteemed a Tyrant) exacted of his subjects for the defraying
of all publique charges: For he demanded no more but the twentieth part;
and yet abundantly maintained therewith the Commonwealth. And in the
Kingdome of the Jewes, during the Sacerdotall Reigne of God, the Tithes
and Offerings were the whole Publique Revenue.

From the same mistaking of the present Church for the Kingdom of God,
came in the distinction betweene the Civill and the Canon Laws: The
civil Law being the acts of Soveraigns in their own Dominions, and
the Canon Law being the Acts of the Pope in the same Dominions. Which
Canons, though they were but Canons, that is, Rules Propounded, and but
voluntarily received by Christian Princes, till the translation of
the Empire to Charlemain; yet afterwards, as the power of the Pope
encreased, became Rules Commanded, and the Emperours themselves (to
avoyd greater mischiefes, which the people blinded might be led into)
were forced to let them passe for Laws.

From hence it is, that in all Dominions, where the Popes Ecclesiasticall
power is entirely received, Jewes, Turkes, and Gentiles, are in the
Roman Church tolerated in their Religion, as farre forth, as in the
exercise and profession thereof they offend not against the civill
power: whereas in a Christian, though a stranger, not to be of the Roman
Religion, is Capitall; because the Pope pretendeth that all Christians
are his Subjects. For otherwise it were as much against the law of
Nations, to persecute a Christian stranger, for professing the Religion
of his owne country, as an Infidell; or rather more, in as much as they
that are not against Christ, are with him.

From the same it is, that in every Christian State there are certaine
men, that are exempt, by Ecclesiasticall liberty, from the tributes, and
from the tribunals of the Civil State; for so are the secular Clergy,
besides Monks and Friars, which in many places, bear so great a
proportion to the common people, as if need were, there might be raised
out of them alone, an Army, sufficient for any warre the Church militant
should imploy them in, against their owne, or other Princes.




Error From Mistaking Consecration For Conjuration

A second generall abuse of Scripture, is the turning of Consecration
into Conjuration, or Enchantment. To Consecrate, is in Scripture, to
Offer, Give, or Dedicate, in pious and decent language and gesture, a
man, or any other thing to God, by separating of it from common use;
that is to say, to Sanctifie, or make it Gods, and to be used only by
those, whom God hath appointed to be his Publike Ministers, (as I have
already proved at large in the 35. Chapter;) and thereby to change, not
the thing Consecrated, but onely the use of it, from being Profane
and common, to be Holy, and peculiar to Gods service. But when by such
words, the nature of qualitie of the thing it selfe, is pretended to be
changed, it is not Consecration, but either an extraordinary worke of
God, or a vaine and impious Conjuration. But seeing (for the frequency
of pretending the change of Nature in their Consecrations,) it cannot
be esteemed a work extraordinary, it is no other than a Conjuration or
Incantation, whereby they would have men to beleeve an alteration of
Nature that is not, contrary to the testimony of mans Sight, and of all
the rest of his Senses. As for example, when the Priest, in stead of
Consecrating Bread and Wine to Gods peculiar service in the Sacrament of
the Lords Supper, (which is but a separation of it from the common use,
to signifie, that is, to put men in mind of their Redemption, by the
Passion of Christ, whose body was broken, and blood shed upon the Crosse
for our transgressions,) pretends, that by saying of the words of our
Saviour, "This is my Body," and "This is my Blood," the nature of Bread
is no more there, but his very Body; notwithstanding there appeared not
to the Sight, or other Sense of the Receiver, any thing that appeareth
not before the Consecration. The Egyptian Conjurers, that are said
to have turned their Rods to Serpents, and the Water into Bloud, are
thought but to have deluded the senses of the Spectators by a false shew
of things, yet are esteemed Enchanters: But what should wee have thought
of them, if there had appeared in their Rods nothing like a Serpent, and
in the Water enchanted, nothing like Bloud, nor like any thing else but
Water, but that they had faced down the King, that they were Serpents
that looked like Rods, and that it was Bloud that seemed Water? That
had been both Enchantment, and Lying. And yet in this daily act of
the Priest, they doe the very same, by turning the holy words into the
manner of a Charme, which produceth nothing now to the Sense; but they
face us down, that it hath turned the Bread into a Man; nay more, into
a God; and require men to worship it, as if it were our Saviour himself
present God and Man, and thereby to commit most grosse Idolatry. For if
it bee enough to excuse it of Idolatry, to say it is no more Bread, but
God; why should not the same excuse serve the Egyptians, in case they
had the faces to say, the Leeks, and Onyons they worshipped, were
not very Leeks, and Onyons, but a Divinity under their Species, or
likenesse. The words, "This is my Body," are aequivalent to these,
"This signifies, or represents my Body;" and it is an ordinary figure of
Speech: but to take it literally, is an abuse; nor though so taken, can
it extend any further, than to the Bread which Christ himself with his
own hands Consecrated. For hee never said, that of what Bread soever,
any Priest whatsoever, should say, "This is my Body," or, "This is
Christs Body," the same should presently be transubstantiated. Nor did
the Church of Rome ever establish this Transubstantiation, till the time
of Innocent the third; which was not above 500. years agoe, when the
Power of Popes was at the Highest, and the Darknesse of the time grown
so great, as men discerned not the Bread that was given them to eat,
especially when it was stamped with the figure of Christ upon the
Crosse, as if they would have men beleeve it were Transubstantiated, not
onely into the Body of Christ, but also into the Wood of his Crosse, and
that they did eat both together in the Sacrament.




Incantation In The Ceremonies Of Baptisme

The like incantation, in stead of Consecration, is used also in the
Sacrament of Baptisme: Where the abuse of Gods name in each severall
Person, and in the whole Trinity, with the sign of the Crosse at each
name, maketh up the Charm: As first, when they make the Holy water, the
Priest saith, "I Conjure thee, thou Creature of Water, in the name of
God the Father Almighty, and in the name of Jesus Christ his onely Son
our Lord, and in vertue of the Holy Ghost, that thou become Conjured
water, to drive away all the Powers of the Enemy, and to eradicate, and
supplant the Enemy, &c. " And the same in the Benediction of the Salt
to be mingled with it; "That thou become Conjured Salt, that all
Phantasmes, and Knavery of the Devills fraud may fly and depart from the
place wherein thou art sprinkled; and every unclean Spirit bee Conjured
by Him that shall come to judge the quicke and the dead. " The same in
the Benediction of the Oyle. "That all the Power of the Enemy, all the
Host of the Devill, all Assaults and Phantasmes of Satan, may be
driven away by this Creature of Oyle. " And for the Infant that is to be
Baptized, he is subject to many Charms; First, at the Church dore the
Priest blows thrice in the Childs face, and sayes, "Goe out of him
unclean Spirit, and give place to the Holy Ghost the Comforter. " As
if all Children, till blown on by the Priest were Daemoniaques: Again,
before his entrance into the Church, he saith as before, "I Conjure
thee, &c. to goe out, and depart from this Servant of God:" And again
the same Exorcisme is repeated once more before he be Baptized. These,
and some other Incantations, and Consecrations, in administration of the
Sacraments of Baptisme, and the Lords Supper; wherein every thing that
serveth to those holy men (except the unhallowed Spittle of the Priest)
hath some set form of Exorcisme.




In Marriage, In Visitation Of The Sick, And In Consecration Of Places

Nor are the other rites, as of Marriage, of Extreme Unction, of
Visitation of the Sick, of Consecrating Churches, and Church-yards, and
the like, exempt from Charms; in as much as there is in them the use of
Enchanted Oyle, and Water, with the abuse of the Crosse, and of the holy
word of David, "Asperges me Domine Hyssopo," as things of efficacy to
drive away Phantasmes, and Imaginery Spirits.




Errors From Mistaking Eternall Life, And Everlasting Death

Another generall Error, is from the Misinterpretation of the words
Eternall Life, Everlasting Death, and the Second Death. For though we
read plainly in Holy Scripture, that God created Adam in an estate of
Living for Ever, which was conditionall, that is to say, if he disobeyed
not his Commandement; which was not essentiall to Humane Nature, but
consequent to the vertue of the Tree of Life; whereof hee had liberty
to eat, as long as hee had not sinned; and that hee was thrust out of
Paradise after he had sinned, lest hee should eate thereof, and live for
ever; and that Christs Passion is a Discharge of sin to all that beleeve
on him; and by consequence, a restitution of Eternall Life, to all the
Faithfull, and to them onely: yet the Doctrine is now, and hath been a
long time far otherwise; namely, that every man hath Eternity of Life by
Nature, in as much as his Soul is Immortall: So that the flaming Sword
at the entrance of Paradise, though it hinder a man from coming to the
Tree of Life, hinders him not from the Immortality which God took from
him for his Sin; nor makes him to need the sacrificing of Christ, for
the recovering of the same; and consequently, not onely the faithfull
and righteous, but also the wicked, and the Heathen, shall enjoy
Eternall Life, without any Death at all; much lesse a Second, and
Everlasting Death. To salve this, it is said, that by Second, and
Everlasting Death, is meant a Second, and Everlasting Life, but in
Torments; a Figure never used, but in this very Case.

All which Doctrine is founded onely on some of the obscurer places of
the New Testament; which neverthelesse, the whole scope of the Scripture
considered, are cleer enough in a different sense, and unnecessary to
the Christian Faith. For supposing that when a man dies, there remaineth
nothing of him but his carkasse; cannot God that raised inanimated dust
and clay into a living creature by his Word, as easily raise a dead
carkasse to life again, and continue him alive for Ever, or make him
die again, by another Word? The Soule in Scripture, signifieth alwaies,
either the Life, or the Living Creature; and the Body and Soule jointly,
the Body Alive. In the fift day of the Creation, God said, Let the water
produce Reptile Animae Viventis, the creeping thing that hath in it a
Living Soule; the English translate it, "that hath Life:" And again,
God created Whales, "& omnem animam viventem;" which in the English is,
"every living Creature:" And likewise of Man, God made him of the dust
of the earth, and breathed in his face the breath of Life, "& factus est
Homo in animam viventem," that is, "and Man was made a Living Creature;"
And after Noah came out of the Arke, God saith, hee will no more smite
"omnem animam viventem," that is "every Living Creature;" And Deut.
12. 23. "Eate not the Bloud, for the Bloud is the Soule;" that is
"the Life. " From which places, if by Soule were meant a Substance
Incorporeall, with an existence separated from the Body, it might as
well be inferred of any other living Creature, as of Man. But that
the Souls of the Faithfull, are not of their own Nature, but by Gods
speciall Grace, to remaine in their bodies, from the Resurrection to
all Eternity, I have already I think sufficiently proved out of the
Scriptures, in the 38. Chapter. And for the places of the New Testament,
where it is said that any man shall be cast Body and Soul into Hell
fire, it is no more than Body and Life; that is to say, they shall be
cast alive into the perpetuall fire of Gehenna.




As The Doctrine Of Purgatory, And Exorcismes, And Invocation Of Saints

This window it is, that gives entrance to the Dark Doctrine, first, of
Eternall Torments; and afterwards of Purgatory, and consequently of the
walking abroad, especially in places Consecrated, Solitary, or Dark, of
the Ghosts of men deceased; and thereby to the pretences of Exorcisme
and Conjuration of Phantasmes; as also of Invocation of men dead; and to
the Doctrine of Indulgences; that is to say, of exemption for a time,
or for ever, from the fire of Purgatory, wherein these Incorporeall
Substances are pretended by burning to be cleansed, and made fit
for Heaven. For men being generally possessed before the time of our
Saviour, by contagion of the Daemonology of the Greeks, of an opinion,
that the Souls of men were substances distinct from their Bodies, and
therefore that when the Body was dead, the Soule of every man, whether
godly, or wicked, must subsist somewhere by vertue of its own nature,
without acknowledging therein any supernaturall gift of Gods; the
Doctors of the Church doubted a long time, what was the place, which
they were to abide in, till they should be re-united to their Bodies in
the Resurrection; supposing for a while, they lay under the Altars: but
afterward the Church of Rome found it more profitable, to build for them
this place of Purgatory; which by some other Churches in this later age,
has been demolished.
The Texts Alledged For The Doctrines Aforementioned Have Been Answered

Before

Let us now consider, what texts of Scripture seem most to confirm these
three generall Errors, I have here touched. As for those which Cardinall
Bellarmine hath alledged, for the present Kingdome of God administred by
the Pope, (than which there are none that make a better show of proof,)
I have already answered them; and made it evident, that the Kingdome
of God, instituted by Moses, ended in the election of Saul: After which
time the Priest of his own authority never deposed any King. That which
the High Priest did to Athaliah, was not done in his own right, but in
the right of the young King Joash her Son: But Solomon in his own right
deposed the High Priest Abiathar, and set up another in his place. The
most difficult place to answer, of all those than can be brought,
to prove the Kingdome of God by Christ is already in this world, is
alledged, not by Bellarmine, nor any other of the Church of Rome; but
by Beza; that will have it to begin from the Resurrection of Christ.
But whether hee intend thereby, to entitle the Presbytery to the Supreme
Power Ecclesiasticall in the Common-wealth of Geneva, (and consequently
to every Presbytery in every other Common-wealth,) or to Princes,
and other Civill Soveraignes, I doe not know. For the Presbytery hath
challenged the power to Excommunicate their owne Kings, and to bee the
Supreme Moderators in Religion, in the places where they have that form
of Church government, no lesse then the Pope challengeth it universally.




Answer To The Text On Which Beza Infereth

That The Kingdome Of Christ Began At The Resurrection The words are
(Marke 9. 1. ) "Verily, I say unto you, that there be some of them that
stand here, which shall not tast of death, till they have seene the
Kingdome of God come with power. " Which words, if taken grammatically,
make it certaine, that either some of those men that stood by Christ at
that time, are yet alive; or else, that the Kingdome of God must be now
in this present world. And then there is another place more difficult:
For when the Apostles after our Saviours Resurrection, and immediately
before his Ascension, asked our Saviour, saying, (Acts. 1. 6. ) "Wilt thou
at this time restore again the Kingdome to Israel," he answered them,
"It is not for you to know the times and the seasons, which the Father
hath put in his own power; But ye shall receive power by the comming of
the Holy Ghost upon you, and yee shall be my (Martyrs) witnesses both in
Jerusalem, & in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part
of the Earth:" Which is as much as to say, My Kingdome is not yet come,
nor shall you foreknow when it shall come, for it shall come as a theefe
in the night; But I will send you the Holy Ghost, and by him you shall
have power to beare witnesse to all the world (by your preaching) of
my Resurrection, and the workes I have done, and the doctrine I have
taught, that they may beleeve in me, and expect eternall life, at my
comming againe: How does this agree with the comming of Christs Kingdome
at the Resurrection? And that which St. Paul saies (1 Thessal. 1. 9, 10. )
"That they turned from Idols, to serve the living and true God, and
to waite for his Sonne from Heaven:" Where to waite for his Sonne from
Heaven, is to wait for his comming to be King in power; which were
not necessary, if this Kingdome had beene then present. Againe, if the
Kingdome of God began (as Beza on that place (Mark 9. 1. ) would have it)
at the Resurrection; what reason is there for Christians ever since the
Resurrection to say in their prayers, "Let thy Kingdome Come"? It
is therefore manifest, that the words of St. Mark are not so to be
interpreted. There be some of them that stand here (saith our Saviour)
that shall not tast of death till they have seen the Kingdome of God
come in power. If then this Kingdome were to come at the Resurrection
of Christ, why is it said, "some of them" rather than all? For they all
lived till after Christ was risen.




Explication Of The Place In Mark 9. 1

But they that require an exact interpretation of this text, let them
interpret first the like words of our Saviour to St. Peter concerning
St. John, (chap. 21. 22. ) "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee? " upon which was grounded a report that hee should not dye:
Neverthelesse the truth of that report was neither confirmed, as well
grounded; nor refuted, as ill grounded on those words; but left as a
saying not understood. The same difficulty is also in the place of St.
Marke. And if it be lawfull to conjecture at their meaning, by that
which immediately followes, both here, and in St. Luke, where the same
is againe repeated, it is not unprobable, to say they have relation
to the Transfiguration, which is described in the verses immediately
following; where it is said, that "After six dayes Jesus taketh with
him Peter, and James, and John (not all, but some of his Disciples)
and leadeth them up into an high mountaine apart by themselves, and
was transfigured before them. And his rayment became shining, exceeding
white as snow; so as no Fuller on earth can white them. And there
appeared unto them Elias with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus,
&c. " So that they saw Christ in Glory and Majestie, as he is to come;
insomuch as "They were sore afraid. " And thus the promise of our Saviour
was accomplished by way of Vision: For it was a Vision, as may probably
bee inferred out of St. Luke, that reciteth the same story (ch. 9. ve.
28. ) and saith, that Peter and they that were with him, were heavy with
sleep; But most certainly out of Matth. 17. 9. (where the same is again
related;) for our Saviour charged them, saying, "Tell no man the Vision
untill the Son of man be Risen from the dead. " Howsoever it be, yet
there can from thence be taken no argument, to prove that the Kingdome
of God taketh beginning till the day of Judgement.




Abuse Of Some Other Texts In Defence Of The Power Of The Pope

As for some other texts, to prove the Popes Power over civill
Soveraignes (besides those of Bellarmine;) as that the two Swords that
Christ and his Apostles had amongst them, were the Spirituall and the
Temporall Sword, which they say St. Peter had given him by Christ: And,
that of the two Luminaries, the greater signifies the Pope, and the
lesser the King; One might as well inferre out of the first verse of the
Bible, that by Heaven is meant the Pope, and by Earth the King: Which
is not arguing from Scripture, but a wanton insulting over Princes, that
came in fashion after the time the Popes were growne so secure of their
greatnesse, as to contemne all Christian Kings; and Treading on the
necks of Emperours, to mocke both them, and the Scripture, in the words
of the 91. Psalm, "Thou shalt Tread upon the Lion and the Adder, the
young Lion and the Dragon thou shalt Trample under thy feet. "




The Manner Of Consecrations In The Scripture, Was Without Exorcisms

As for the rites of Consecration, though they depend for the most part
upon the discretion and judgement of the governors of the Church,
and not upon the Scriptures; yet those governors are obliged to such
direction, as the nature of the action it selfe requireth; as that the
ceremonies, words, and gestures, be both decent, and significant, or at
least conformable to the action. When Moses consecrated the Tabernacle,
the Altar, and the Vessels belonging to them (Exod. 40. ) he anointed
them with the Oyle which God had commanded to bee made for that
purpose; and they were holy; There was nothing Exorcised, to drive away
Phantasmes. The same Moses (the civill Soveraigne of Israel) when he
consecrated Aaron (the High Priest,) and his Sons, did wash them with
Water, (not Exorcised water,) put their Garments upon them, and anointed
them with Oyle; and they were sanctified, to minister unto the Lord
in the Priests office; which was a simple and decent cleansing, and
adorning them, before hee presented them to God, to be his servants.
When King Solomon, (the civill Soveraigne of Israel) consecrated the
Temple hee had built, (2 Kings 8. ) he stood before all the Congregation
of Israel; and having blessed them, he gave thanks to God, for putting
into the heart of his father, to build it; and for giving to himselfe
the grace to accomplish the same; and then prayed unto him, first,
to accept that House, though it were not sutable to his infinite
Greatnesse; and to hear the prayers of his Servants that should pray
therein, or (if they were absent) towards it; and lastly, he offered a
sacrifice of Peace-offering, and the House was dedicated. Here was no
Procession; the King stood still in his first place; no Exorcised Water;
no Asperges Me, nor other impertinent application of words spoken upon
another occasion; but a decent, and rationall speech, and such as in
making to God a present of his new built House, was most conformable
to the occasion. We read not that St. John did Exorcise the Water
of Jordan; nor Philip the Water of the river wherein he baptized the
Eunuch; nor that any Pastor in the time of the Apostles, did take his
spittle, and put it to the nose of the person to be Baptized, and say,
"In odorem suavitatis," that is, "for a sweet savour unto the Lord;"
wherein neither the Ceremony of Spittle, for the uncleannesse; nor the
application of that Scripture for the levity, can by any authority of
man be justified.




The Immortality Of Mans Soule, Not Proved By Scripture To Be Of Nature,

But Of Grace

To prove that the Soule separated from the Body liveth eternally, not
onely the Soules of the Elect, by especiall grace, and restauration of
the Eternall Life which Adam lost by Sinne, and our Saviour restored
by the Sacrifice of himself, to the Faithfull, but also the Soules
of Reprobates, as a property naturally consequent to the essence of
mankind, without other grace of God, but that which is universally given
to all mankind; there are divers places, which at the first sight seem
sufficiently to serve the turn: but such, as when I compare them with
that which I have before (Chapter 38. ) alledged out of the 14 of Job,
seem to mee much more subject to a divers interpretation, than the words
of Job.

And first there are the words of Solomon (Ecclesiastes 12. 7. ) "Then
shall the Dust return to Dust, as it was, and the Spirit shall return to
God that gave it. " Which may bear well enough (if there be no other text
directly against it) this interpretation, that God onely knows, (but
Man not,) what becomes of a mans spirit, when he expireth; and the same
Solomon, in the same Book, (Chap. 3. ver. 20,21. ) delivereth in the same
sentence in the sense I have given it: His words are, "All goe, (man
and beast) to the same place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust
again; who knoweth that the spirit of Man goeth upward, and the spirit
of the Beast goeth downward to the earth? " That is, none knows but God;
Nor is it an unusuall phrase to say of things we understand not, "God
knows what," and "God knows where. " That of Gen. 5. 24. "Enoch walked
with God, and he was not; for God took him;" which is expounded Heb.
13. 5. "He was translated, that he should not die; and was not found,
because God had translated him. For before his Translation, he had this
testimony, that he pleased God," making as much for the Immortality
of the Body, as of the Soule, proveth, that this his translation was
peculiar to them that please God; not common to them with the wicked;
and depending on Grace, not on Nature. But on the contrary, what
interpretation shall we give, besides the literall sense of the words of
Solomon (Eccles. 3. 19. ) "That which befalleth the Sons of Men, befalleth
Beasts, even one thing befalleth them; as the one dyeth, so doth the
other; yea, they have all one breath (one spirit;) so that a Man hath no
praeeminence above a Beast, for all is vanity. " By the literall sense,
here is no Naturall Immortality of the Soule; nor yet any repugnancy
with the Life Eternall, which the Elect shall enjoy by Grace. And (chap.
4. ver. 3. ) "Better is he that hath not yet been, than both they;" that
is, than they that live, or have lived; which, if the Soule of all them
that have lived, were Immortall, were a hard saying; for then to have
an Immortall Soule, were worse than to have no Soule at all. And
againe,(Chapt. 9. 5. ) "The living know they shall die, but the dead know
not any thing;" that is, Naturally, and before the resurrection of the
body.

Another place which seems to make for a Naturall Immortality of the
Soule, is that, where our Saviour saith, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
are living: but this is spoken of the promise of God, and of their
certitude to rise again, not of a Life then actuall; and in the same
sense that God said to Adam, that on the day hee should eate of the
forbidden fruit, he should certainly die; from that time forward he was
a dead man by sentence; but not by execution, till almost a thousand
years after. So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were alive by promise, then,
when Christ spake; but are not actually till the Resurrection. And the
History of Dives and Lazarus, make nothing against this, if wee take it
(as it is) for a Parable.

But there be other places of the New Testament, where an Immortality
seemeth to be directly attributed to the wicked. For it is evident, that
they shall all rise to Judgement. And it is said besides in many places,
that they shall goe into "Everlasting fire, Everlasting torments,
Everlasting punishments; and that the worm of conscience never dyeth;"
and all this is comprehended in the word Everlasting Death, which is
ordinarily interpreted Everlasting Life In Torments: And yet I can find
no where that any man shall live in torments Everlastingly. Also, it
seemeth hard, to say, that God who is the Father of Mercies, that doth
in Heaven and Earth all that hee will; that hath the hearts of all men
in his disposing; that worketh in men both to doe, and to will; and
without whose free gift a man hath neither inclination to good, nor
repentance of evill, should punish mens transgressions without any end
of time, and with all the extremity of torture, that men can imagine,
and more. We are therefore to consider, what the meaning is, of
Everlasting Fire, and other the like phrases of Scripture.

I have shewed already, that the Kingdome of God by Christ beginneth at
the day of Judgment: That in that day, the Faithfull shall rise again,
with glorious, and spirituall Bodies, and bee his Subjects in that his
Kingdome, which shall be Eternall; That they shall neither marry, nor
be given in marriage, nor eate and drink, as they did in their naturall
bodies; but live for ever in their individuall persons, without the
specificall eternity of generation: And that the Reprobates also shall
rise again, to receive punishments for their sins: As also, that those
of the Elect, which shall be alive in their earthly bodies at that
day, shall have their bodies suddenly changed, and made spirituall, and
Immortall. But that the bodies of the Reprobate, who make the Kingdome
of Satan, shall also be glorious, or spirituall bodies, or that they
shall bee as the Angels of God, neither eating, nor drinking, nor
engendring; or that their life shall be Eternall in their individuall
persons, as the life of every faithfull man is, or as the life of Adam
had been if hee had not sinned, there is no place of Scripture to prove
it; save onely these places concerning Eternall Torments; which may
otherwise be interpreted.

From whence may be inferred, that as the Elect after the Resurrection
shall be restored to the estate, wherein Adam was before he had sinned;
so the Reprobate shall be in the estate, that Adam, and his posterity
were in after the sin committed; saving that God promised a Redeemer to
Adam, and such of his seed as should trust in him, and repent; but not
to them that should die in their sins, as do the Reprobate.




Eternall Torments What

These things considered, the texts that mention Eternall Fire, Eternal
Torments, or the Word That Never Dieth, contradict not the Doctrine of
a Second, and Everlasting Death, in the proper and naturall sense of the
word Death. The Fire, or Torments prepared for the wicked in Gehenna,
Tophet, or in what place soever, may continue for ever; and there may
never want wicked men to be tormented in them; though not every, nor
any one Eternally. For the wicked being left in the estate they were in
after Adams sin, may at the Resurrection live as they did, marry, and
give in marriage, and have grosse and corruptible bodies, as all
mankind now have; and consequently may engender perpetually, after the
Resurrection, as they did before: For there is no place of Scripture to
the contrary. For St. Paul, speaking of the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15. )
understandeth it onely of the Resurrection to Life Eternall; and not the
Resurrection to Punishment. And of the first, he saith that the Body is
"Sown in Corruption, raised in Incorruption; sown in Dishonour, raised
in Honour; sown in Weaknesse, raised in Power; sown a Naturall body,
raised a Spirituall body:" There is no such thing can be said of the
bodies of them that rise to Punishment. The text is Luke 20. Verses
34,35,36. a fertile text. "The Children of this world marry, and are
given in marriage; but they that shall be counted worthy to obtaine that
world, and the Resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given
in marriage: Neither can they die any more; for they are equall to
the Angells, and are the Children of God, being the Children of the
Resurrection:" The Children of this world, that are in the estate
which Adam left them in, shall marry, and be given in marriage; that is
corrupt, and generate successively; which is an Immortality of the Kind,
but not of the Persons of men: They are not worthy to be counted amongst
them that shall obtain the next world, and an absolute Resurrection from
the dead; but onely a short time, as inmates of that world; and to the
end onely to receive condign punishment for their contumacy. The Elect
are the onely children of the Resurrection; that is to say the sole
heirs of Eternall Life: they only can die no more; it is they that are
equall to the Angels, and that are the children of God; and not the
Reprobate. To the Reprobate there remaineth after the Resurrection,
a Second, and Eternall Death: between which Resurrection, and their
Second, and Eternall death, is but a time of Punishment and Torment; and
to last by succession of sinners thereunto, as long as the kind of Man
by propagation shall endure, which is Eternally.




Answer Of The Texts Alledged For Purgatory

Upon this Doctrine of the Naturall Eternity of separated Soules, is
founded (as I said) the Doctrine of Purgatory. For supposing Eternall
Life by Grace onely, there is no Life, but the Life of the Body; and no
Immortality till the Resurrection. The texts for Purgatory alledged by
Bellarmine out of the Canonicall Scripture of the old Testament, are
first, the Fasting of David for Saul and Jonathan, mentioned (2 Kings,
1. 12. ); and againe, (2 Sam. 3. 35. ) for the death of Abner. This
Fasting of David, he saith, was for the obtaining of something for them
at Gods hands, after their death; because after he had Fasted to procure
the recovery of his owne child, assoone as he know it was dead, he
called for meate. Seeing then the Soule hath an existence separate from
the Body, and nothing can be obtained by mens Fasting for the Soules
that are already either in Heaven, or Hell, it followeth that there be
some Soules of dead men, what are neither in Heaven, nor in Hell; and
therefore they must bee in some third place, which must be Purgatory.
And thus with hard straining, hee has wrested those places to the proofe
of a Purgatory; whereas it is manifest, that the ceremonies of Mourning,
and Fasting, when they are used for the death of men, whose life was
not profitable to the Mourners, they are used for honours sake to their
persons; and when tis done for the death of them by whose life the
Mourners had benefit, it proceeds from their particular dammage: And so
David honoured Saul, and Abner, with his Fasting; and in the death of
his owne child, recomforted himselfe, by receiving his ordinary food.

In the other places, which he alledgeth out of the old Testament, there
is not so much as any shew, or colour of proofe. He brings in every text
wherein there is the word Anger, or Fire, or Burning, or Purging, or
Clensing, in case any of the Fathers have but in a Sermon rhetorically
applied it to the Doctrine of Purgatory, already beleeved. The first
verse of Psalme, 37. "O Lord rebuke me not in thy wrath, nor chasten me
in thy hot displeasure:" What were this to Purgatory, if Augustine had
not applied the Wrath to the fire of Hell, and the Displeasure, to that
of Purgatory? And what is it to Purgatory, that of Psalme, 66. 12. "Wee
went through fire and water, and thou broughtest us to a moist place;"
and other the like texts, (with which the Doctors of those times
entended to adorne, or extend their Sermons, or Commentaries) haled to
their purposes by force of wit?




Places Of The New Testament For Purgatory Answered

But he alledgeth other places of the New Testament, that are not
so easie to be answered: And first that of Matth. 12. 32. "Whosoever
speaketh a word against the Sonne of man, it shall be forgiven him; but
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not bee forgiven
him neither in this world, nor in the world to come:" Where he will have
Purgatory to be the World to come, wherein some sinnes may be forgiven,
which in this World were not forgiven: notwithstanding that it is
manifest, there are but three Worlds; one from the Creation to the
Flood, which was destroyed by Water, and is called in Scripture the
Old World; another from the Flood to the day of Judgement, which is the
Present World, and shall bee destroyed by Fire; and the third, which
shall bee from the day of Judgement forward, everlasting, which is
called the World To Come; and in which it is agreed by all, there shall
be no Purgatory; And therefore the World to come, and Purgatory, are
inconsistent. But what then can bee the meaning of those our Saviours
words? I confesse they are very hardly to bee reconciled with all the
Doctrines now unanimously received: Nor is it any shame, to confesse the
profoundnesse of the Scripture, to bee too great to be sounded by the
shortnesse of humane understanding. Neverthelesse, I may propound such
things to the consideration of more learned Divines, as the text it
selfe suggesteth. And first, seeing to speake against the Holy Ghost, as
being the third Person of the Trinity, is to speake against the Church,
in which the Holy Ghost resideth; it seemeth the comparison is made,
betweene the Easinesse of our Saviour, in bearing with offences done to
him while he was on earth, and the Severity of the Pastors after him,
against those which should deny their authority, which was from the Holy
Ghost: As if he should say, You that deny my Power; nay you that shall
crucifie me, shall be pardoned by mee, as often as you turne unto mee by
Repentance: But if you deny the Power of them that teach you hereafter,
by vertue of the Holy Ghost, they shall be inexorable, and shall not
forgive you, but persecute you in this World, and leave you without
absolution, (though you turn to me, unlesse you turn also to them,) to
the punishments (as much as lies in them) of the World to come: And
so the words may be taken as a Prophecy, or Praediction concerning the
times, as they have along been in the Christian Church: Or if this be
not the meaning, (for I am not peremptory in such difficult places,)
perhaps there may be place left after the Resurrection for the
Repentance of some sinners: And there is also another place, that
seemeth to agree therewith. For considering the words of St. Paul (1
Cor. 15. 29. ) "What shall they doe which are Baptized for the dead, if
the dead rise not at all? why also are they Baptized for the dead? " a
man may probably inferre, as some have done, that in St. Pauls time,
there was a custome by receiving Baptisme for the dead, (as men that now
beleeve, are Sureties and Undertakers for the Faith of Infants, that
are not capable of beleeving,) to undertake for the persons of their
deceased friends, that they should be ready to obey, and receive our
Saviour for their King, at his coming again; and then the forgivenesse
of sins in the world to come, has no need of a Purgatory. But in both
these interpretations, there is so much of paradox, that I trust not
to them; but propound them to those that are throughly versed in the
Scripture, to inquire if there be no clearer place that contradicts
them. Onely of thus much, I see evident Scripture, to perswade men, that
there is neither the word, nor the thing of Purgatory, neither in this,
nor any other text; nor any thing that can prove a necessity of a place
for the Soule without the Body; neither for the Soule of Lazarus during
the four days he was dead; nor for the Soules of them which the Romane
Church pretend to be tormented now in Purgatory. For God, that could
give a life to a peece of clay, hath the same power to give life again
to a dead man, and renew his inanimate, and rotten Carkasse, into a
glorious, spirituall, and immortall Body.

Another place is that of 1 Cor. 3. where it is said that they which
built Stubble, Hay, &c. on the true Foundation, their work shall perish;
but "they themselves shall be saved; but as through Fire:" This Fire, he
will have to be the Fire of Purgatory. The words, as I have said before,
are an allusion to those of Zach. 13. 9. where he saith, "I will bring
the third part through the Fire, and refine them as Silver is refined,
and will try them as Gold is tryed;" Which is spoken of the comming of
the Messiah in Power and Glory; that is, at the day of Judgment, and
Conflagration of the present world; wherein the Elect shall not be
consumed, but be refined; that is, depose their erroneous Doctrines, and
Traditions, and have them as it were sindged off; and shall afterwards
call upon the name of the true God. In like manner, the Apostle saith
of them, that holding this Foundation Jesus Is The Christ, shall build
thereon some other Doctrines that be erroneous, that they shall not be
consumed in that fire which reneweth the world, but shall passe through
it to Salvation; but so, as to see, and relinquish their former Errours.
The Builders, are the Pastors; the Foundation, that Jesus Is The Christ;
the Stubble and Hay, False Consequences Drawn From It Through Ignorance,
Or Frailty; the Gold, Silver, and pretious Stones, are their True
Doctrines; and their Refining or Purging, the Relinquishing Of Their
Errors. In all which there is no colour at all for the burning of
Incorporeall, that is to say, Impatible Souls.




Baptisme For The Dead, How Understood

A third place is that of 1 Cor. 15. before mentioned, concerning
Baptisme for the Dead: out of which he concludeth, first, that Prayers
for the Dead are not unprofitable; and out of that, that there is a Fire
of Purgatory: But neither of them rightly. For of many interpretations
of the word Baptisme, he approveth this in the first place, that by
Baptisme is meant (metaphorically) a Baptisme of Penance; and that men
are in this sense Baptized, when they Fast, and Pray, and give Almes:
And so Baptisme for the Dead, and Prayer of the Dead, is the same thing.
But this is a Metaphor, of which there is no example, neither in
the Scripture, nor in any other use of language; and which is also
discordant to the harmony, and scope of the Scripture. The word Baptisme
is used (Mar. 10. 38. & Luk. 12. 59. ) for being Dipped in ones own
bloud, as Christ was upon the Cross, and as most of the Apostles
were, for giving testimony of him. But it is hard to say, that Prayer,
Fasting, and Almes, have any similitude with Dipping. The same is used
also Mat. 3. 11. (which seemeth to make somewhat for Purgatory) for
a Purging with Fire. But it is evident the Fire and Purging here
mentioned, is the same whereof the Prophet Zachary speaketh (chap. 13.
v. 9. ) "I will bring the third part through the Fire, and will Refine
them, &c. " And St. Peter after him (1 Epist. 1. 7. ) "That the triall
of your Faith, which is much more precious than of Gold that perisheth,
though it be tryed with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour,
and glory at the Appearing of Jesus Christ;" And St. Paul (1 Cor. 3.
13.