CHAP. VII.-OF PURGATORY. What is the doctrine of the Church as to this point? We constantly hold that there is a Purgatory; and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful: that is, by the prayers and alms offered for them, and principally by the holy sacrifice of the mass*. What do you mean by Purgatory? A middle state of souls which depart this life in God's grace, yet not without some lesser stains or guilt of punishment, which retards them from entering heaven. But as to the particular place where these souls suffer, or the quality of the torments which they suffer, the Church has decided nothing. What sort of Christians then go to Purgatory? 1st. Such as die guilty of lesser sins, which we commonly call venial; as many christians do, who, either by sudden death or otherwise, are taken out of this life before they have repented for these ordinary failings. 2dly. Such as having been formerly guilty of greater sins, have not made full satisfaction for them to the divine justice. Why do you say that those who die guilty of lesser sins go to Purgatory? Because such as depart this life before they have repented of these venial frailties and imperfections, cannot be supposed to be condemned to the eternal torments of hell, since the sins of which they are guilty are but small, which even God's best servants are more or less liable to. Nor can they go straight to heaven in this state, because the scriptures assures ús, Rev. xxi. 27, "There shall in no wise enter thither anything that defileth." Now, every sin, be it ever As the enormities which Popery is pleased to denominate ❝ venial errors," and which she professes to remit, after death, is a doctrine which Protestants condemn as contrary to the express word of God, it is rather surprising (as in her profession of faith she so often urges what proceeds from "Protestant mouths,' See p. 125.) that neither the Pope nor the Doctor should have mis-stated that Protestants “seem to agree with them" in praying for the dead, since Protestants do pray for the dead, although they deny the existence of the Pope's Purgatory. In their burial service they pray, that they, "with all those that are departed in the true Faith of God's holy name, may have their perfect consummation," &c. Also, in their Communion office, they bless HIM "for all his servants departed this life in his faith and fear;" and pray that "with them" they "may be partakers of his heavenly kingdom." We thus for pray ourselves, and for that which we know must happen, namely, that those who have died in the true faith and fear of God" may have "their perfect consummation of bliss." Christ himself has taught us thus to pray when we pray, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done," we know that these things must be accomplished; but by this language of our Saviour, we are taught to express our anxious wish for their completion. Protestants, however, know that their Church has no power either to give or to sell them indulgences, pardons, or remissions, here or hereafter; and that their salvation, through Christ, must depend upon their own faith, repentance, and works : they dare not, therefore, rely upon the merits of others, nor trust to a superstitious ceremony of a solitary mass-which money can always purchase-to release them hereafter from whatsoever torments their crimes may subject them to, so small, certainly defileth the soul. Hence our Saviour assures us, that we are to render an account" even for every idle word," Matt. xii. 36. Upon what then do you ground your belief of Purgatory? How upon Scripture ? Because the scripture in many places assures us, that "God will render to every one according to his works," Ps. lxii. 12., Matt. xvi. 27., Rom. ii. 6., Revel. xxii. 12. Now, this would not be true, if there were no such thing as purgatory; for how would God render to every one according to his works, if such as die in the guilt of any, even the least sin, which they have not taken care to blot out by repentance, would nevertheless go straight to heaven? Have you any texts which the Fathers and ecclesiastical writers interpret of Purgatory? Yes, 1 Cor. iii. 13, 14, 15. Every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon," (that is, upon the foundation, which is Jesus Christ, ver. 11.)" he shall receive a reward. If any man's works shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED, YET SO AS BY FIRE." From which text it appears, that such as both in their faith, and in the practice of their lives, have stuck to the foundation, which is Jesus Christ, so as not to forfeit his grace by mortal sin; though they have otherwise been guilty of great imperfections, by building wood, hay, and stubble (ver. 12), upon this foundation; it appears, I say, that such as these, according to the apostle, must pass through a fiery trial, at the time that “ every man's work shall be made manifest :" which is not till the next life; and that they shall be "saved" indeed, "yet so as by fire," that is, by passing first through Purgatory. 2dly. Matt. v. 25. “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." Which text St. Cyprian, one of the most ancient Fathers, understands of the prison of Purgatory. Epistle 52, ad Antonianum. 3dly. Matt. xii. 32. "Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." Which last words plainly imply, that some sins, which are not forgiven in this world, may be forgiven in the world to come; otherwise, why should our Saviour make any mention of forgiveness in the world to come? Now, if there may be forgiveness of sins in the world to come, there must be a purgatory; for in hell there is no forgiveness, and in heaven no sin. L Besides, a middle place is also implied, 1 Pet. iii. 18, 19, 20, where Christ is said by his spirit to have gone and “ 'preached to the spirits in prison which some time were disobedient." Which prison could be no other than Purgatory; for, as to the spirits that were in the prison of hell, Christ did certainly not go to preach to them. How do you ground the belief of Purgatory upon tradition ? Because both the Jewish Church, long before our Saviour's coming, and the Christian Church from the very beginning in all ages and all nations, have offered prayers and sacrifice for the repose and relief of the faithful departed: as appears in regard to the Jews from 2 Machab. xii, where this practice is approved of, which books of Machabees, the church, says St. Augustine, 1. 18. de Civ. Dei, c. 36, accounts canonical, though the Jews do not. And in regard to the Christian Church, the same is evident from all the Fathers, and the most ancient liturgies. Now, such prayers as these evidently imply the belief of a purgatory: for souls in heaven stand in no need of our prayers, and those in hell cannot be bettered by them. How do you ground the belief of Purgatory upon reason? Because reason clearly teaches these two things: 1st. That all and every sin, how small soever, deserves punishment, 2dly, That some sins are so small, either through the levity of the matter, or for want of full deliberation in the action, as not to deserve eternal punishment. From whence it is plain, that besides the place of eternal punishment, which we call hell, there must be also a place of temporal punishment for such as die in lesser sins, and this we call purgatory. The late Father O'Leary, who is spoken of by many of the Popish Church as a great wit, when opposed as to the belief of a Purgatory, once told an antagonist that he "might go farther and fare worse," although those for whose especial accommodation it was invented were of a far different opinion, as we shall show presently. By the present chapter, Roman Catholics are taught that their friends in Purgatory are "helped" by " prayers and alms;" or rather by alms and prayers, since, in a Romish country, at least, the prayers would be of little service until the work of alms had been first duly performed by the "faithful." We are then told that,— although Popery found the invention of Purgatory to be a most valuable source of her revenue,-she has not yet cided" as to the "particular place," "or the quality of the torments" where the souls suffer. We will only say, in charity, ،، de we trust Popery herself may never be more assured of its precise situation. But this Purgatory, it seems, is for those of the Popish Church, who are merely guilty of venial sins;such, for instance, as the sins of fornication, adultery, &c.not for those who are guilty of the "mortal or deadly sin of denying the infallibility of a priest;-this is a sin, the Pope's Church tells us, which "deprives the soul of her spiritual life *." Where the Pope relies upon his own logicthat is to say, where he cannot even find any portion of Scripture that he can pervert to his purpose, we are always content to leave him to the full benefit of it. Christians must take the sacred writings as the basis of their arguments; and, in our present undertaking our reliance is upon the SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE we produce. Passing by, therefore, the Pope's reasoning upon his own false premises until he, or his Church, adduce something deserving of notice, we arrive at the references to the Bible. Here, as usual, the very verses he selects from, overturn his own conclusions when they are fairly quoted; thus, Rev. xxi. 27, as above--" And there shall in no wise enter into it [the New Jerusalem] anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie; but they [i. e. they only] which are written in the lamb's book of life." Can this verse be screwed into any allusion to Purgatory? Is it because we are told, that we are to render an account of our idle words, and that God will render to every man according to his works-is this Christian doctrine to be impiously pronounced to be a lie if the Pope's Purgatory be denied †? Who, calling * Q. Is any GREAT HONOUR due to Priests and ghostly fathers? A. Yes; for they are GOD'S ANOINTED-represent the PERSON of CHRIST, and are the fathers and feeders of our souls!-See Douay Cat., p. 70 and 41. Keating and Brown, 1824. Who can marvel when such are the principles instilled into the infant mind, that as the youth grow up they should worship their priests with a pagan idolatry? We must again here express our hope that the impiety we are obliged to repeat may not be laid to our charge-but the Popish clergy invariably declare, (see p. 31.) "if they themselves are in an error, the ALMIGHTY is accountable for it!!!"—The writer of this note has himself heard the blasphemy so pronounced by the lips of a Roman Catholic priest! themselves Christians (Papists alone excepted) are not satisfied that the oblation of Christ himself, and their own faith and repentance is a sure means of obtaining the mercy of God? As the next quotation (from Corinthians) speaks of fire, it is, of course, quite enough for Popery to prove it, by her usual means, to be her own Purgatory. The above commences at the 13th verse, and contains an allusion to the 11th. This allusion was, we presume, as near as Popery dared approach towards the tenth verse, lest she should jostle against her supremacy?-It runs thus, (1 Cor.iii. 10,) R According to the grace of God, which is given unto me," says St. Paul, "as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man, [Popes and their Churches should well consider this] take heed how he buildeth thereupon." Ver. 11. "For other foundation can no man lay [i. e. but ut his peril] than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."qo Ver. 12. "Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble," &c. It was requi -site thus to give the quotation fairly (as the Pope nor Doctor thought it necessary to do so), to show more clearly how the word "fire" has been strained into Purgatory. The chapter treats of "Paul's commendation of his ministry; and Christ the Foundation,"-themes which are certainly of a very dis similar kind to Purgatory. Those who build "gold" or stubble," (which the Pope has barely alluded to,) are the preachers of sound and unsound doctrines; but," every man's work," says the Apostle, "shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." And did not the cruel persecutions of the early Chris tians try their faith and works? Do not the fires of the Inquisition-does not the inhuman Auto de Fe (where Popery has, or ever hus had, the power of enkindling the flame,) clearly prove the Apostle's prediction?" If any man's work A |