A treatise of the sibyls so highly celebrated, as well by the antient heathens, as the holy fathers of the church : giving an accompt of the names, and number of the sibyls, of their qualities, the form and matter of their verses : as also of the books now extant under their names, and the errours crept into Christian religion, from the impostures contained therein, particularly, concerning the state of the just, and unjust after death / written originally by David Blondel ; Englished by J.D.

CHAP. XXXII. That the Primitive Sence of the Prayers, whereby the Remission of Sins is demanded for the Dead, is not embraced by any.

THe Prayers, which the antient Church made for Remission of Sins on the behalf of the Faithfull departed, did not onely proceed from the Hypothesis of the Sibylline Writing, concerning the consinement of all Souls in Hell, and of Justine Martyr, concerning the power of the Devils, even over those of the greatest Saints; but is also an effect of their Opinion, who imagined, that our Saviour, and his Apostles, after his Example, being, after their departure, descended into Hell, had preached there, and, in effect, converted many of those, who were gone thither in the state of Sin. For, looking upon, as reduced to the Trial of some punishment, those, whose Beatitude was (during their restraint in the common prison of the Dead) deferred, and conceiving that their Condition was capable of being changed into better, they inferred, very suitably to these Opinions, that it was necessary to implore the mercy of God, and to demand, on their be∣half, the forgiveness of their Sins, which for a time kept the Gates of glo∣ry shut against them, and exposed them in some manner to the violences of Evil spirits, till such time, as that, by their own supplications, and the suffrages of their surviving Friends, they might better their Condition.

We have already produced Examples of those Prayers, and there is not any Expression so strong, or efficacious, which we finde not employ∣ed to make us comprehend, that heretofore the surviving Faithfull were of a Belief, that their departed Brethren were treated as Malefactours, and in a manner, covered with the wrath of God. But from the beginning of the Third Age, and afterwards, those among the Fathers, who had more attentively considered the Oracles of God, affirming, That a There is no condemnation for those, who are in Christ Jesus; That b No man is able to pluck them out of his hand; That c They are (at the hour of death) taken away from the evil to come; That d They depart out of the Body, to be with the Lord; That e Their iniquity shall be sought for, and there shall be none, because God hath pardoned them; That, as soon as they are dead in the Lord, f they rest from their labours, and (according to what we finde in express Terms in the Canon of the Mass) sleep a sleep of Peace, as being actually in Peace, and freed from Sin, which de∣prives a man of it, and g makes a separation between the Lord, and him, that commits it: the Fathers, I say, not discontinuing (out of the respect they had for their Ancestours) the Prayers inserted by them, up∣on prejudications both ill-grounded, and extremely mistaken, into the Service of the Church, do, by the formal Confession of the insufficiency of those Principles, make a certain disclaim of the Prayers, enough to

justifie, that (according to them) being taken literally, they are ab∣solutely unprofitable, as being destitute of Truth, and a maintainable Foundation.

Hence is it, that in the year 252. St. Cyprian tells us of the advantage, which accrews to the Faithfull at their death, h Lucrum maximum jam nullis peccatis, & vitiis carnis, obnoxium fieri, &c. It is a very great gain not to be any longer subject to sins, and the lusts of the flesh. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, i about the year 350. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Remission having its Ordinance onely in this life. St. Epiphamus, in the year 375. in the nine and fiftieth Haeresie, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 There is not any progress either of Piety, or Repentance, after death. St. Ambrose, k about the year 378. Qui hic non acceperit remissionem, illic non erit, &c. He, who shall not have received remission here, shall not be there; that is, in glory. St. Hierome, l in the year 386. Ubicunque tibi locum prae∣paraveris, futurámque sedem, sive ad Austrum, sive ad Boream; ibi, cùm mor∣tuus fueris, permanebis, &c. Mortis tempestate subversus, ubicunque cecideris, ibi jugiter permanebis: sive te rigidum, & trucem, sive clementem, & misericor∣dem, ultimum invenerit tempus, &c. Lignum, quod in hac vita corruerit, & con∣cisione mortalitatis fuerit incisum, aut peccavit, dum staret, & in Boreae parte posteà ponetur, aut, si dignos Austro fructus attulit, in plaga jacebit Australi, &c. Whereever thou shalt have provided a place for thy self, and the seat thou shalt come into, whether it be towards the South, or towards the North, there shalt thou remain after thy death, &c. Being once overwhelmed by the tempest of death, in what place soever thou shalt fall, there shalt thou perpetually re∣main: whether thy last hour have found thee there harsh, and cruel, or mild, and mercifull, &c. The Tree, which shall be faln in this life, and hath been cut down by the stroak of Mortality, or hath sinned, while it stood, shall afterwards be pla∣ced on the North-side; or if it hath brought forth Fruits worthy the South, he shall be disposed into the South-Quarter. St. Chrysostome, m in the year 396. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 After we are departed, it is no longer in our power to repent, and to cleanse our selves of the sins, which we have committed. St. Augustine, n in the year 420. Qualis in die isto quisque moritur, talis in die illo judicabitur, &c. Such, as every one dyes in this day, as such shall he be judged in that day. Again; o Qualis exîeris ex hac vita, talis redderis illi vitae, &c. Such, as thou shalt depart this life, such shalt thou be delivered up to the other. Olympi∣odorus, p 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 In what place soever a man, at his departure, hath been seized, whether it were of light, or of darkness, as also in what work, whe∣ther of iniquity, or of virtue, he shall remain in the same degree, and rank; ei∣ther in Light, with the just, and Christ the King of all; or in Darkness, with the unjust, and the Prince of this World.

For, if from the very hour of their departure the Faithfull are no longer subject to any sin; if repentance, and remission of sin have place onely in this life; and, if such as men die, such they shall rise again, and be judged at the Last-day, there neither is, nor can be any pardon, either to be asked, or to be obtained for them, after their death. Whereof the

Consequence is, that the Prayers, which are made for them, are (by their very Confession, who have most recommended them) unreasonable, in that they suppose what (according to their own Principles) neither is, nor can be, viz. that the Faithfull departed in Jesus Christ are subject to sin: besides, they are fruitless, in that they demand (according to the same Principles) an effect, which is already fully accomplished, and is to be unchangeably such to all Eternity.

Notes

• a

  Rom. viii.
• b

  Joan. x. 28.
• c

  Esa. lvii. 1.
• d

  Phil. i. 23.
• e

  Jer. l. 20.
• f

  Apoc. xiv. 13.
• g

  Esa. lix. 2.
• h

  De Mor∣t••litate.
• i

  Catech. 18.
• k

  De bono Mortis.
• l

  In Eccles. cap. xi.
• m

  De La∣zaro, Hom. 2.
• n

  Epist. 80.
• o

  In Psalm. xxxvi.
• p

  In Eccles. xi.