1 John i. 45. Sap. iii. Rom. v. death. For since every man must acknowledge himself a sinner, (1 John i.) and not believe that Christ's death were sufficient, but that he must also go to purgatory, who should depart this world with a quiet mind? The wise man saith, The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. They seemed to die in the eyes of the foolish, and their end was thought to be pain and affliction, but they are in peace. (Sap. iii.) There is no man but he must needs grant me that every faithful is Habak. ii. righteous in the sight of God, as it is written, (Habak. ii.) The righteous man liveth by his faith. And, (Rom. v.) Because we are justified by faith, we are at peace with It is mere God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. When these faithful or righteous depart, then, saith this text, That they are fools which think them to be in pain or affliction, for it affirmeth that they are in peace. Now since their purgatory, which they imagine, is pain and affliction, and yet feign that the righteous only shall enter into it after their death, then are they fools that suppose there is a purgatory, or else this text cannot be true. foolishness to think there is a purgatory. 46. Rom. x. For what intent will God have us tormented in purgatory, to make satisfaction for our sins? Verily then is Christ dead in vain, as we have often proved before. But think you not rather that our purgation should be to increase our faith, or grace, or charity? (for these three cover the multitude of sins.) No, verily, we cannot feign a purgatory for any such cause. For faith springeth by hearing of the word. (Rom. x.) But the Pope The Pope sendeth then no preachers thither; ergo, their faith cansendeth no not there be increased. And again, pain engendereth into purga- and kindleth hate against God, and not love or charity. Furthermore, my Lord of Rochester is compelled to grant, that "the souls in purgatory obtain there neither more faith, nor grace, nor charity, than they brought in with them ;" and so can I see no reasonable cause why there should be a purgatory. Nevertheless, M. More preachers tory. M. More and the Lord of Rochester cannot agree. saith, "that both their grace and charity is increased.” And so may you perceive that lies can never agree, how witty soever they be that feign and cloak them. For in some points they shall be found contrary, so that at the length they may be disclosed. 47. God is fully pacified with thy will when thou hast no power to accomplish the outward fact. For the wise man saith, (Prov. xxiii.) Son, give me thy heart. Now Prov. xxiii. if thy will be upright, and so that thou have a desire to fulfil the law, then doth God reckon that will unto thee for the full fact. If then, through the frailty of thy members, thou fall into sin, thou mayest well say with the apostle, (Rom. vii.) The good that I would do, Rom. vii. that do I not; that is, I have a will and desire to ful to displease my heavenly But the evil which I hate, commit sin which indeed I fil the law of God, and not Father, yet that I do not. that do I; that is, I do hate. Now if I hate the sin which I do, then love I the law of God which forbiddeth sin, and do consent unto this law that it is good, righteous, and holy. And so the sin which I hate and yet commit it through the frailty of my members, is not imputed or reckoned unto me for sin. Neither will St. Paul grant that it is I which do that sin: but he said, I have a will to do good, but I cannot perform that will. For I do not that good which I would, but the evil which I would not, that do I. Now if I do that thing which I would not do, then is it not I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth within me. I delight in the law of God with mine inward man, (that is, with my will and mind, which is renewed with the Spirit of God,) but I see another law in my members which rebelleth against the law of my obey the mind, and maketh me bound unto the law of sin which law of God, is in my members. So that I myself in my will and sinful flesh mind do obey the law of God, (hating sin as the law will not commandeth me, and not consenting unto it in my mind thereunto. We have a will and mind to but our consent Example. God accept eth our and will,) but in my flesh and members I serve the law of sin, for the frailty of my members compelleth me to sin. (Rom. vii.) As by example, if I see a poor man which is not of ability to do me any pleasure, and, nevertheless, doth all his diligence to seek my favour, and would with heart and mind give me some acceptable present, if he were of power, being also sorry that he cannot perform his will and mind towards me; now if there be any point of humanity or gentleness in me, I will count this man for my friend, and accept his good will as well, as though he had indeed performed his will; for his ability extendeth no further. If his power were better, better should I have. Even so since we are not of good will if power and ability to perform the law of God, and yet we do that bear a good heart towards God and his law, lamenting in us is to our imbecility that we can do him no further pleasure ; obey his command- then will God recount us not as his enemies, but as his dear children and beloved friends. Neither will he afterwards thrust us into purgatory, but, as a tender father pardon us our trespasses, and accept our good will for the full deed. ments. 48. Gal. vi. St. Paul exhorteth us (Gal. vi.) that we work well while we have time, for whatsoever a man doth sow that shall he reap: by this may we evidently perceive that he shall not receive according to his doing or suffering in Purgatory another world, and, therefore, can there be no purgatory. is needless. 49. The wise man saith, (Eccles. xiv.) Work righteousness Eccles. xiv. before thy death, for after this life there is no meat, that is to say, succour to be found. There are some which will understand this place, and also the text in the fortyeighth argument, on this manner; that there should be no place of deserving, but yet there may well be a place of Some ima- punishment. But this solution, besides that it is not gine purgatory to be a grounded on Scripture, is very slender. For I pray place of sa- you, wherefore should their invention of purgatory serve tisfaction. but to be a place of purging, punishment, and penance, by the which the soul should make satisfaction, that it might so deserve to enter into the rest of heaven? 50. that die in are blessed, and there fore are not in purga tory. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforward: Yea truly, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours. But their works follow with them. This text they use in their soul-masses, as Apoc. xiv. though it made for purgatory; but surely, methinketh that it maketh much against them. For let us The dead inquire of all the proctors and fautors of purgatory, the Lord whether the souls that must be prayed for are departed in the Lord or not? And they must needs answer that they are departed in the Lord, for the unfaithful which die not in the Lord must not be prayed for; and, therefore, must they be upright Christian souls which are tormented, for the others are all damned. Now saith the text, that all such dead as die in the Lord are blessed but what blessedness were that to broil in purgatory? And if they would here feign a gloss (as their manner is, when they are in a strait ever to seek a starting hole,) and say that they are blessed because they are in a good hope, although they have not yet the rest, but must suffer before in purgatory; that evasion will not this text suffer, for the text saith, that they rest and are in peace, as Isaiah also saith in the 57th chapter; that Isa. Ivii. the righteous (and every faithful man is righteous in the sight of God, as we have often proved before,) when he departeth, resteth in peace as in a bed. And (Sapien. Sap. iii. iii.) it is said, that the righteous souls are in peace: and so is it not possible that there should be such a painful purgatory. Thus have we confuted Rastell, both his arguments and also solutions; for all that he writeth is false and against Scripture. Furthermore we have brought in, to prove that there can be no such purgatory, fifty arguments all grounded on Scripture; and if need were, a The conclusion of John Frith against Rastell's book. man might make a thousand, of which our clergy should not be able to avoid one. Here I think some men will wonder that I have the Scripture so full on my side, because that there are certain men, as my Lord of Rochester and Sir Thomas More, which, by Scripture, go about to prove purgatory; and this is sure, that Scripture is not contrary unto itself. Therefore, it is necessary that we examine the texts which they bring in for their purpose, in marking the process, both what goeth before, and what cometh after. And then shall we easily perceive the truth, and how these two men have been piteously deceived. First, I will answer unto M. More, which hath in a manner nothing but that he took out of my Lord of Rochester, although he handles it more subtily. And whatsoever is not answered in this part, shall be touched and fully convinced in the third, which shall be a several book against my Lord of Rochester. Thus endeth the First Book. THE SECOND BOOK, WHICH IS AN ANSWER UNTO SIR THOMAS MORE. M. More beginneth pitifully. Frith. MASTER MORE beginneth with "the silly souls of purgatory, and maketh them to wail and lament that they hear the world wax so faint in the faith of Christ, that any man should need now to prove purgatory to Christian men, or that any man could be found which would in so great a thing, so fully and fastly believed for an undoubted article this fifteen hundred years, begin now to stagger and stand in doubt," &c. Verily, methinketh it a foul fault so sore to stumble even at the first. It were a great blot for him, if he should be compelled by good authority to cut off four hundred of his aforesaid number. Now if we cannot |