I do constantly hold and confefs, that there is a Purgatory, and that the Souls which are cleansing from their Sins, do receive benefit from the Prayers and Devotions of the Faithful.

I do likewise affirm, that † the Souls of the Just

in his 7th Homily upon Leviticus, and a great many other places a Lactantius in the 21ft Chap. of his 7th Book; Vilprinus in his Commentary upon the words, I fam under the Altar; Ambrofius in his 2d Book of Cain and Abel; Chryfoftom in his 39th Homily upon thofe words, If in this life only, in the ift to the Corinth. The Author of the Imperfe& Work, in his 34th Homily upon St. Matthew; Auftin in his Enarration upon the 36th Pfalm; Theodoret in his Commentaries upon the 11th to the Heb. Oecumenius in his Commen

Purgator.] John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, in his 19th Article against Luther, does acknowledge the Doctrine of Purgatory to be an Article of Faith of no long ftanding in the Church. Multa (inquit) funt de quibus in primitivâ Ecclefia nulla queftio factura fuerat, que tamen pofteriorum diligentiâ, fubortis dubitationibus jam evaferunt perfpicua. Nemo certè jam dubitat Orthodoxus an Purgatorium fit, de quo tamen apud prifcos illos nulla, vel quàm rariffima fiebat mentio, fed & Græcis ad hunc ufque diem, non eft creditum Purgatorium effe. Legat qui velit Græcorum veterum Commentaries upon the fame place; Theotarios, & nullum (quantum opinor) phylact in his Commentaries upon aut quàm rariffimum de Purgatorio the 23d of St. Luke; Aretho on fermonem invenier. Quamdiu enim thofe words, How long, O Lord, &c. mulla fuerat de Purgatorio cura; Ne- Euthymius upon the 23d of St. mo quafruit Indulgentias, nam ex Luke; and Bernard in his Sermon illo pendet omnis Indulgentiarum ex- upon All Saints day: And to Pope iftimatio; quum itaque Pugatorium John the 22d being charged with tam ferò cognitum ac receptum Eccle- having believed this Doctrine, fia fuerit univerfe, quis jam de Indul- Bellarmin returns the following gentiis mirari poteft quod in principio Anfwer, Joannem hunc 22 dum. nafcentis Ecclefie nullus fuerat ea- reverâ fenfiffe Animas non vifuras rum ufu, cœperunt igitur Indulgen- Deum nifi poft refurre&ionem, catetis,poftquam ad Purgatorii cruciatus rum hoc fenfiffe quando adhuc fentire aliquando trepidatum eft. licebat fine periculo Hærefis, nulla enim adbuc præcefferat Ecclefiæ definitio. Which Confeffion makes the Do&rines of praying to Saints, and of Purgatery, and of Indulgences, to be very new Articles of Faith.

The Souls of the Juft.] This was the common Opinion of the Ancient Fathers; namely, Trenaus at the end of his 5th Book; Justin. Quæft.76th. Tertullian in his 4th Book against Marcion; Origen

and

of the SYNOD of Diamper.

111

and Faithful, which at their departure out of this Life, have entirely fatisfied for the Punishment due to the Sins that they have committed; as alfo thofe in Purgatory which have made an end of fatisfying for their fins according to the Divine Pleasure and Ordination; as alfo those who after Baptifm have committed no Sin, do at the moment of their death go immediately into Heaven, where they behold God as he is: And I do condemn, and anathematize the Heresy of those, who think that the Souls of the Juft are in a Terreftrial Paradife till the day of Judgment; and that the Damned are not Tormented any otherwife than by the certainty they have of the Torments they are to enter into after the day of Judgment.

And I do confefs, and affirm, that the Saints now reigning with Chrift in Heaven, are to be Reverenced, and Invoked, and that they offer Prayers to God for us, whofe Relicks are likewife to be reverenced on Earth: And moreover, that the Images of our Lord Chrift, and of our Lady the Glorious Virgin Mary, and of all the other Saints, are to be kept, ufed, and reverenced, with due Honour and Veneration.

*Images,] Gyraldus, a Learned Papiff, in the 18th Page of the Hiftory of the Gods, fpeaking of Images in the Church of Rome, faith, At de iftiufmodi magis mutire poffumus, quam palam loqui,

idcircò fatius ea fuerit Hippocrati d Angerona confignare; illud certè non prætermittam, Nos dico Chriftianos, ut aliquando Romanos,fuiffe fine Imaginibus in primitivâ, que vocatur, Ecclefiâ.

I do also believe, that our Lady the most Holy Virgin Mary is the proper and true Mother of God, and ought to be called fo by the Faithful, for having brought forth according to the Flesh, without any pain or paffion, the true Son of God, and that she always continued a Virgin, în, and after her Deliverance, having never been defiled by any actual Sin.

I do confefs, that the power of granting Indulgences was left to the Church by our Lord Jefus Chrift; the use whereof I do affirm to be healthful and profitable to all Christian People.

I do acknowledge the Holy, Catholick, and Apoftolick Roman Church to be the Head, Mother and Mistress of all other Churches in the World; and do hold all that are not fubject and obedient to her, to be Heretical, Schifmatical, and disobedient to our Lord Jefus Chrift, and his Commands, and to the Order that he left in the Church, and to be Aliens from Eternal Salvation.

I do promise and fwear true Obedience to the Pope, the Roman Bishop, the Succeffor of the Bleffed Prince of the Apostles St. Peter, and Vicar of our Lord Jefus Chrift on earth, the Head of the whole Church on earth, and Doctor and Master of the fame, and the Father, Prelate, and Paftor of all Chriftians; and do confefs, that all who deny Obedience to the faid Roman Bishop, the Vicar of Chrift, are Tranfgreffors of the Divine Commands, and cannot attain to Eternal Life.

I do without any fcruple receive, approve, and confefs all other Matters, defined and declared in the Sacred Canons, and General Councils, and chiefly in the Holy Council of Trent ; and do in the fame manner condemn, reject, and anathematize every thing that is contrary to the fame; together with all Herefies condemned, rejected and anathematized by the said Church; Namely, the Diabolical and perverse Herefie of Neftorius, together with its perverfe Author Neftorius, and its falfe Teachers Theodorus and † Diodorus, and all that have and do follow it, who being perfwaded and feduced by the Devil, do impioufly maintain, That our Lord and Saviour Chrift

*

*Theodozus. They, fhould not have been fo hard upon Theodorm,for Pope Honorius's fake,who by Name was condemned toge ther with him by the 5th. Gene ral Council; and I am miftaken, if Pighius, and fome other Popifh Writers, have not for that very reafon laboured hard to vindicate Theodorus's Memory.

+ Diodorus. Du Pin in his 4th. Century of Chriftianity, p. 189. faith: As to what concerns his Doctrine of the Incarnation,we could better judge of it, if we had his Books; but there is no great probability, that one who was praised, efteemed and cherifhed by Meletius, St. Bafil, St.. Gregory Nazianzen, Sc. Epiphanius, and even by St. Athanafius, and his Succeffors Peter and Timothy of Alexandria; who was alfo con-, fidered in a General Council as

one of the moft Learned and most Orthodox Bifhops of all the Eaft; and in fhort, who was Mafter to St. Chryfoftom, should be guilty of fo grofs an Error as that of Ne florim. 'Tis true, that he had for his Scholar Theodorus of Motfue ftia, and that he was accufed of the fame Error with Neftorius, and that he was condemned as convicted of this Error after his Death in the 5th. Council. But befides, that there have been fome Ferfons who have undertaken to justifie him: Yet if it should be granted that he was guilty of this Error, it would not follow that he learned it of hys Matter, fince we daily fee Heretical Difciples who have had Orthodox Matters. Should not the Faith of St. Chryfoftom rather terve to juftifie Diodorus, than the Error of Theodorus to condemn him?

confifts of Two Perfons, affirming the Divine Word not to have taken the Flesh into a Unity of Person with it felf, but only to have dwelt therein as in a Temple, and fo will not fay, that God was Incarnate, or that our Lady, the most Blessed Virgin Mary,was the Mother of God, but only the Mother of Chrift; all which I reject, condemnand anathematize as Diabolical Herefies; and do believe, and embrace, and approve of all that was determined about this Matter, in the Council of Ephefus, confifting of two hundred Fathers, in which by order of Celestine 1ft. Bishop of Rome, the Bleffed St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, was Prefident, whom I acknowledge to be a Saint now enjoying God, and that all that blafpheme him are in a state of Damnation.

Moreover, I do condemn all that fay, that the Paffion of our Saviour ought not to be mentioned, and that it is an Injury to him to do it; on the contrary, I do believe and confefs, that the Confideration and Difcourfes thereof are holy, and of benefit to Souls.

I do likewife confefs and believe, that in pure Christianity there is only one Law of our Lord Jefus Chrift, true God, and true Man; in like manner as there is no more than one only trueGod, one only Faith, and one only Baptifm; which one onlyLaw was preached by all the holy Apostles,and their Difciples andSucceffors after the fame manner. I do therefore condemn and reject all those who ignorantly teach, That there was one Law of St. Thomas,