A defence of the Apologie of the Churche of Englande conteininge an answeare to a certaine booke lately set foorthe by M. Hardinge, and entituled, A confutation of &c. By Iohn Iewel Bishop of Sarisburie.

The B. of Sarisburie.

Wée raite at you, M. Hardinge, euen as Christe railed at certaine others, in whoes steppes ye séeme to treade, for that they had made of the House of God a Caue of theeues.

The places of the Scriptures, whiche ye thought it beste to passe ouer, and whereby your Purgatorie by your iudgemente vndoubtedly maie be proued, if a man be not very contentious,* 1.1 I trowe, be these: Verily, Verily, I saie vnto you, he that heareth my Woorde, and beleeueth in him, that sente me, hath Euerlastinge Life: and shal not comme into damnation: but hathe passed from Deathe vnto Life. Or, that Esai the Prophete saithe of Christe:* 1.2 He was wounded for our transgressions: He was bro∣ken for our iniquities: The chastisemente of our Peace was vpon him: and with his stripes wee were made whole. Or, that S. Paule saith, Christe hath taken the Obligation, that was againste vs,* 1.3 and hathe fastened it vnto his Crosse. Or, that S. Iohn saith, Blessed be the Deade, that die in the Lorde. Euen so saithe the Sprite. For they reste from theire laboures: and theire Woorkes folowe them. He saithe not, they be in Purgatorie: but, they reste from theire Laboures.* 1.4 And againe, They shal hunger nomore: They shal thirste nomore. For the Lambe, whiche is in the middes of the throne, shal gouerne them, and shal leade them (not into Purgatorie, but) vnto the liuely Fountaines of VVaters: and God shal wipe a waie al teares from theire eies. These, or sutche other like Places, I trowe, they be, whereby ye assure your selfe so certainely of your Purgatorie.

But vnto S. Augustine, wée haue appealed: and to S. Augustine, ye saie, wée shal goe. Howe be it, if ye consider the mater wel, ye shal finde, that our ap∣peale liethe not vnto S. Augustine. It had benne more indi••ferente dealinge, to haue saide with S. Bernarde,* 1.5 Ad Euangelium appellasti: & ad Euange∣lium ibis: Ye haue appealed vnto the Gospel: and vnto the Gospel ye shal goe.

As for S. Augustine, notwithstandinge his Authoritie be greate, and his learninge deepe, yet in these cases, as it shal wel appeare, he can be but a doubteful Iudge. And a doubteful Iudge, so far foorthe, as he doubteth, is no Iudge.* 1.6 Your owne Canon telleth you, In erroris Labyrinthum nonnulli intricando impingunt, cùm ante iudicant, quàm intelligant: Many menne geuinge Iudgemente before they can vnderstande, by entanglinge them selues, fal into a Maze of errour. For howe can he pronounce sentence of that, he confesseth, he knoweth not? Or how can he assure vs,* 1.7 that is not hable to assure him selfe?

Touchinge the certainetie of this Doctrine, to alleage one, or twoo places out of many, S. Augustine writeth thus: Tale aliquid, etiam post hanc Vitam fieri, incredibile non est: &, vtrùm ita sit, quaeri potest: Somme sutch thing (he meaneth the Fire of Purgatorie) to be after this Life,* 1.8 it is not incredible: And vvhether it be so, or no,‡ 1.9 It maie be a question. Againe, Quòd Spiritus Defunctorum, &c. ignem transitoriae Tribulationis inueniant, non redarguo: quia Forsitan Verum est: That the Sprites of the Deade finde a Fire of transitorie Tribulation, I reproue it not: For * 1.10 Perhaps it is true.* 1.11

Againe, Siue ergo in hac Vita tantùm homines ista patiuntur, siue etiam post hanc vitam talia quaedam iudicia subsequuntur: non abhorret, Quantum Arbitror,* 1.12 à ratione

Veritatis iste intellectus huius sententiae:* 1.13 Therefore whether menne suffer sutch thinges one∣ly in this Life, Or els somme sutche Iudgementes folowe euen after this Life,‡ 1.14 As mutche as I thinke,* 1.15 the vnderstandinge of this sentence disagreeth not from the order of the Truthe.

And againe he saithe, Quis sit iste modus, & quae sint ista Peccata, quae ita impedi∣ant peruentionem ad Regnum Dei, vt tamen Sanctorum amicorum meritis imperrent in∣dulgentiam, difficillimum est inuenire: Periculosissimum definire Ego certè vs{que} ad hoc tempus, cùm inde ••atagerem, ad eorum indaginem peruenire* 1.16 non potui: VVhat meane this is, and what Sinnes these be, whiche so lette a man from comming vnto the King∣dome of God, y^t thei maie notwithstanding obteine Pardonne by the Merites of Holy frendes, is it very harde to finde: and very dangerous to determine. Certainely I mee selfe, notwith∣standinge greate studie,* 1.17 and trauaile taken in that behalfe, coulde neuer attaine to the knovvledge of it.

By these it is plaine, that S. Augustine stoode in doubte hereof, whether there be any sutche Purgatorie Fire, or no. Therefore vndoubtedly he tooke it neither for an Article of the Christian Faith (for thereof it had not benne lawful for him to doubte) nor for any Tradition of the Apostles.

Ye saie, S. Augustine neuer doubted, whether there were any sutche Place of Purgatorie, or sutche Fire, or no: But onely, whether the tormentes there doo satis••ie the Iustice of God for Sinne, or no: and whether the same tormentes doo by degrees diminishe the Venial Sinnes, and Seculare Affections, whiche y^e Par∣ties carried with them, or no. Notwithstandinge what shoulde any question be raised hereof? Plato, and Vergile, and other Heathen writers, from whom this Doctrine first flowed abroade, woulde soone haue put you quite out of doubte. Ver∣gile hereof emongest others saithe thus:

Quin & supremo cum lumine vita reliquit,* 1.18 Non tamen omne malum miseris, nec funditus omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes: Penitus••ue necesse est Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris. Ergo exercentur poenis, veterum••ue malorum Supplicia expendunt: Aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad ventos: alijs sub gurgite vasto Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur igni.

But reade you S. A••gustine, M. Hardinge: you, I saie, that, to vse your owne woordes, are so profoundely seene in al the Doctours, that ye maie boldely despise al others what so euer: Reade, I saie, S. Augustine: examine better the Places, and weigh the woordes: And ye shal finde, that he neuer neither mentioneth, nor toucheth any of these your prety fantasies: but saithe plainely, vvhether it be so, or no, it maie be a question: I reproue it not: For perhaps it is true.

And are ye so Profoundely seene in al the Doctoures, & Scriptures, M. Har∣ding, that ye thinke, there is either Fire, or Water, or any other Creature, where∣with to satisfie the Iustice of God againste Sinne, sauinge onely the Bloude of the Lambe of God, that taketh awaie the Sinne of the Worlde? Or thinke you, that S. Augustine woulde turne vs from the Satisfaction of Christe, and sende vs to séeke for any other? Certainely S. Augustine him selfe saithe, Valeat mihi ad Perfectio∣nem liberationis tantùm Pretium Sanguinis Domini mei:* 1.19 Let Onely the Price of the Bloude of my Lorde auaile me to the Perfection of my deliuerie.

Againe he saithe,* 1.20 Quando aliquis se conuerterit ad Deum, Prorsus illi omnia di∣mittuntur. Nemo sit sollicitus,* 1.21 quòd aliquid ei non dimittatur: When so euer any man turneth him selfe vnto God, al thinges vtterly are foregeeuen him. Let noman be doubteful, leste any thinge happily be not foregeeuen. Chrysostome imagineth God thus to saie of a sinner:* 1.22 Vnum tantùm requiro, vt confiteatur pec∣cata, & ab eis desistat: Nec vltrà infero Poenam peccatis: This thinge onely (saithe God) I require of a Sinner, y^t he cōfesse his Sinnes (vnto me) and leaue y^e same. Aftervvard I laie nomore pounishemente vpon his Sinnes.* 1.23 Likewise againe he saithe, Ego Fideiubeo: Si quis nostrum recedat a Peccatis ex animo, & verè Promittat Deo, se ad illa non rediturum, nihil Deum requisiturum ad Satisfactionem: I wil stande bounde in Goddes behalfe: If any of vs foresake his Sinnes with al his harte, and make true promisse vnto God, that he wil nomore returne vnto them, that then God shal require nothinge els vnto Satisfaction. He, that knoweth not thus mutche, hath no greate cause to vaunte him selfe of his profound knowledge in the Doctours. But it Gods Iustice againste your sinne be fully satisfied by the Bloude of Christe: If the Onely price of our Lordes Bloude haue vvrought the perfection of your deliuerie: If there remaine nothinge vnforegeeuen: If God require no further pounishemente: What shoulde you seeke for other Satisfaction in your painted Fires, and smokes of Purgatorie?

To conclude, ye saie thus, In effecte, S. Augustines question is, whether the Fire of Purgatorie be not double. O M. Hardinge, it ye were simple, and meante simply, ye woulde not so vainely double the pointe. I beseche you, what double Fire of Purgatorie meante S. Augustine? Or where was he euer so double in dea∣linge? By your double Diuinitie, and Profounde knowledge in the Doctoures, ye haue at the laste skilfully founde out a Double Purgatorie Fire, and a Double Purgatorie. Howe be it, as you are nowe troubled about the Fire of your Pur∣gatorie: so were somme others of your frendes, not long sithence, as mutche trou∣bled aboute the VVater.* 1.24 Sir Thomas Moore saide, and helde for certaine, that in al Purgatorie there is no VVater: no, not one droppe. And that, he saide, he would proue by the wordes of the Prophete Zacharie: Eduxisti vinctos tuos de lacu, in quo non erat Aqua: Thou haste deliuered thy Prisoners out of the Doungeon, wherein there is no VVater.

Of the other side,* 1.25 Roffensis saith, Yes, there is in Purgatorie good stoare of VVater. And that, he saith, he can proue by the Prophete Dauid: Transiuimus per Ignem, & Aquam: & eduxisti nos in Refrigerium: Wee haue passed through Fire, and VVater: and thou haste brought vs foorth into a Place of refreasshinge. Albertus, and Roffensis saie, The Executioners, and Ministers of Purgatorie, be Holy Angels: Sir Tho∣mas Moore saithe, Out of doubte, they be no Angels, but very Diuels. So hande∣somely these dreames agrée togeather.

To returne to the mater, where ye saye, Wée mutche mistooke the place of S. Augustine, being deceiued by the Ignorante note in the Margine, where also ye so pleasantly sporte your selfe with our Profounde knovvledge in the Doctoures, the Woordes of S. Augustine,* 1.26 that ye meane, be these, Primum Locum Fides Catho∣licorum, Diuina Authoritate, Regnum credit esse Coelorum: vnde non Baptizatus excipitur: Secundum, Gehennam: vbi omnis Apostata, & à Christi Fide alienus Aeterna Supplicia experietur: Tertiū Penitùs ignoramus: imò nec esse in Scripturis Sāctis inueniemus: The First Place the Catholique Faithe, by Goddes Authoritie, beleeueth to be the Kingdome of Heaune: From whence, who so euer is not Baptized, is excluded: The Seconde Place, the same Catholique Faithe beleueth to be Hel: Where al Renegates, and who so euer is without the Faithe of Christe, shal taste Euerlasting Pounishement. As for any Thirde Place, vvee vtterly knovve none: neither shal vvee finde in the Holy

Scriptures, that there is any sutche.* 1.27 If these woordes make not against your Purgatorie, yet truely, in any appearance, they make but sclenderly for your Pur∣gatorie. S. Augustine saithe, Any other Thirde place (after this life, bisides Hea∣uen, and Helle) vvee vtterly knovve none. Neither can vve finde in the Holy Scriptures, that there is any sutche.

But if al these three places, Heauen, Hel, and Purgatorie, had benne cer∣tainely knowen, and Vniuersally receiued in the Churche, & yet bisides these three places, the Pelagian Heretiques would haue diuised, as you imagine, an other se∣ueral Place, to receiue the Soules of sutche Children, as departed out of this life without Baptisme, then coulde not S. Augustine haue truely saide, Tertium lo∣cum ignoramus: VVee knovve no Thirde place: But rather he shoulde haue saide,* 1.28 Quartum locum ignoramus, Fourthe place wee knowe none. For, by your iudgemente, the doubte had benne, not of the Thirde place, but of the Fourthe. And it had benne a greate ouersight for S. Augustine, in the reckeninge onely of Foure places, to haue forgotten One: and specially sutche a One too, as hath benne founde more gaineful of late yéeres, then the other Three: But his woordes be plaine: Heauen vvee knovve: and Hel vvee knovve: But any Thirde place bisides Heauen, and Hel, vvee knovve none.

This woorde, Purgatorium, was noted in the Margine, not by the Printer, as you saie, but by Erasmus, a man of famouse memorie: whose name for learninge, & iudgemente, hath at al times emonge the Learned, benne mutche estéemed: with whom your yonge Louanian Cleregie maie not wel compare, in the profounde knowledge of y^e Doctours, without great blusshinge. And thus mutche, touchinge this one place of S. Augustine, wherein it hath pleased you so déepely to charge vs with grosse ignorance. But for better trial of his iudgemente herein, ye should haue considered, what he hath written otherwheres to like purpose.

In his Epistle to Hesychius he saithe thus:* 1.29 In quo quen{que} inuenerit suus nouis∣simus dies, in hoc eum comprehendet mundi nouissimus dies. Quoniam qualis in die isto quisque moritur, talis in die illo iudicabitur: In what state his ovvne laste daie shal finde eche man, in the same state the laste daie of the vvorlde shal finde him. For sutche as euery man in this daie shal die, euē sutche in that daie shal he be iudged. Againe, Qualem inuenit Dominus,* 1.30 cùm hinc vocat, talem & iudicat: As our Lorde findeth a man, vvhen he calleth him hence, euen so he iudgeth him. And a∣gaine, Qui in hac vita Deo nō placuerit, habebit quidem Poenitentiam in Futuro Soecu∣lo de malis suis: sed indulgentiam in conspectu Dei non inueniet. Quia etsi erit ibi stimulus poenitudinis, nulla tamen erit correctio voluntatis: Who so in this life shal not please God, shal in the worlde to comme haue Repentance for his Sinnes: but Pardonne in the sighte of God he shal not finde. For although there shalbe there the pricke of Repentance,* 1.31 yet there shalbe no amendemente of the wil. Againe he saithe, Vnusquisque cum causa sua dormiet, & cum causa sua resurget: Euery man shal die with his owne cause, and rise againe vvith his ovvne cause. Olympiodorus saith, In quocun{que} loco &c. deprehendetur homo, cùm moritur, in eo gradu, at{que} ordine permanet in Aeternum. In what place, or state so euer a man shalbe founde, when he dieth, in the same state, and degree he shal remaine for euer.

But to recken vp al, that might be saide in this behalfe, it woulde be longe. A simple man, M Harding, without any profounde knovvledge of y^e Doctoures, maie easily, sée, that these saieinges wil hardly stande with your Doctrine of Pur∣gatorie. Your owne Roffensis saithe,* 1.32 Nemo nunc dubitat Orthodoxus, in Purga∣torium sit: De quo tamen apud Priscos, vel nulla, vel quàm rarissima fiebat mentio. Sed & Graecis ad hunc vs{que} diem non est Creditum: Quamdiu enim nulla esset cura de Purgatorio, nemo quaesiuit Indulgentias: No Catholique man now doub∣teth

of Purgatorie:* 1.33 Whereof notwithstandinge emonge the Ancient Fathers there is either no mētion at al, or very seldome. Yea euen vntil this daie the Grecians Beleue it not. For so longe as there vvas no care for Purgatorie, noman sought after Pardonnes. By whiche witnesse it appeareth, that Pardonnes, and Purgatorie were brought in iointely bothe togeather. And as the case nowe standeth, and as moste menne thinke, the Pope could be contented to lose bothe Heauen, and Helle, to saue his Purgatorie.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Iohan 5.
• * 1.2

  Esai. 53.
• * 1.3

  Coloss. 2. Apocal. 14.
• * 1.4

  Apocal. 7.
• * 1.5

  Bernard. in Can∣tica, Serm. 65.
• * 1.6

  August. ad Lau∣renti. Ca. 67. & Dist. 29. Sciendū.
• * 1.7

  August. In 8. qu. ad Dulcitiū q 1.
• * 1.8

  Augu. De Ciuit. Lib. 21. Cap. 21.
• ‡ 1.9

  It maie be a question.
• * 1.10

  Perhaps it is true.
• * 1.11

  Augu. De Fide & Operib ca. 16
• * 1.12

  Quantum arbitror.
• * 1.13

  S. Augu∣stine doubteth.
• ‡ 1.14

  As mutche as I thinke.
• * 1.15

  Augu. De Ciuit. Lib. 21. Cap. 27.
• * 1.16

  Nō potui.
• * 1.17

  I coulde ne∣uer attaine to the knowledge.
• * 1.18

  Aeneid. 6.
• * 1.19

  Augustin. in Psalm. 25.
• * 1.20

  Double Fiere.
• * 1.21

  Augu. De Verbis Domini, Serm. 59
• * 1.22

  Chrysost. in Ge∣nes. Homil. 44.
• * 1.23

  Chrysost. De B. Philogonio.
• * 1.24

  Sir Thomas Moore. Zachar. 9.
• * 1.25

  The Bishop of Roche∣ster. Psalm. 65.
• * 1.26

  August. Hypo∣gnosti. Lib. 5.
• * 1.27

  S. Augu∣stine deni∣eth Pur∣gatorie.
• * 1.28

  Fourthe place.
• * 1.29

  August. Epist. 80.
• * 1.30

  August. in Apo∣calyp. Homil. 11. August. ad Pe∣trum Diacon. Cap. 3.
• * 1.31

  Augustin. in Io∣han. Tracta. 49. Olympiodorus in Ecclesiast. Ca. 9.
• * 1.32

  Polydor. De In∣uentorib. Lib. 8. Cap. 1.
• * 1.33

  Ceremo∣nies.