"OF PRAYER FOR SOULS DEPARTED"

From A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man, commonly called The King's Book, published by authority of King, Parliament, and Convocation in sixteenth century.

"It is much necessary that all such abuses as heretofore have been brought in by supporters and maintainers of the papacy of Rome, and their complices, concerning this matter, be clearly put away; and that we therefore abstain from the name of purgatory, and no more dispute or reason thereof. Under colour of which have been advanced many fond and great abuses, to make men believe that through the Bishop of Rome's pardons souls might clearly be delivered out of it, and released out of the bondage of sin; and that masses said at Scala Coeli and other prescribed places, phantasied by men, did there in places more profit the souls than in another; and also that a prescribed number of prayers sooner than other (though as devoutly said) should further their petition sooner, yea, especially if they were said before one image more than another which they phantasied. All these, and such like abuses, be necessary utterly to be abolished and extinguished."

XV.

The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory

`HERE are few among those who believe that the

THE

next life is one of progress who could not accept the dogmatic teaching of the Roman Church as to Purgatory, if Purgatory be explained to be the name given to the means by which progress is made, whatever those means may be. When we pass from the dogmatic to the Romish popular teaching as to Purgatory we at once understand what is meant by our Article XXII., which says that "The Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory (Doctrina Romanensium de Purgatorio) . . . is a fond thing vainly invented and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."

It is very necessary clearly to distinguish between a belief in a future process of purification and spiritual growth-a belief held as an opinion in the Eastern Church, by multitudes of Protestants of all denominations, and by very many Anglicans-and the Romish doctrine concerning this process. This distinction is a well-understood one. It is, for instance, quite possible

to believe firmly that "there is a Heaven, or Paradise," and yet confidently to assert that "the Mohammedan doctrine concerning Paradise is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.”

To some extent this distinction was recognised by the Council of Trent itself, which published "a decree touching Purgatory" that ran as follows: "The holy Synod enjoins on bishops that the sound doctrine on Purgatory, delivered by the holy Fathers and sacred Councils, be believed. . . . But let the more difficult and subtle questions, and those which tend not to edification, and from which for the most part there is no increase of piety, be excluded from popular discourses before the uneducated multitude. In like manner such things as are uncertain or which labour under an appearance of error, let them not allow to be made public and treated of. But those things which tend to a certain kind of curiosity, or superstition, or which savour of filthy lucre, let them prohibit as scandals and stumbling-blocks of the faithful.”1

Unfortunately, the good intentions of the Fathers of Trent have been for the most part frustrated, and those abuses which sprang from the "difficult and subtle questions" that the theologians and pious writers are chiefly concerned with have by no means been abolished, though they may have suffered some abatement. The Romish doctrine settles everything "concerning PurgaThe first part of this decree is quoted on p. 289.

1 Session xxv.

tory" that the Councils left undecided. Thus, according to Romish doctrine, it is everywhere taught (1) that the souls in Purgatory are tortured with pains the least of which is greater than the worst torture imaginable on earth; (2) that the souls are tormented by material fire, and according to some by devils; (3) that the Pope can grant indulgences applicable to the souls in Purgatory; (4) that the Pope can make an altar "privileged" so that every Mass said at such an altar offers to God a sufficient satisfaction to free a soul from Purgatory; (5) that the Blessed Virgin on certain occasions descends into Purgatory and delivers those who were devout to her; and a multitude of similar fables.

As all this body of Romish doctrine is everywhere taught in the Roman communion, it is difficult to choose quotations from the immense storehouse there is to draw from. One might begin with the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas, and in the writings of every approved theologian down to the present day find abundant material; to this we could add, by way of supplement, the whole mass of legends and revelations to be found in the Lives of the Saints and in the approved books of devotion used in the Roman communion throughout the world. All that is here possible is to give a typical quotation on each of the above points from a standard work of theology, or a well-known spiritual writer.

I. As to tortures.—Quotations have already been

given from Aquinas.1 The Catechism of the Council of Trent-a work of great authority-says: "There is a purgatorial fire, where the souls of the righteous are tortured by a temporary punishment (ad definitum tempus cruciata expiantur) that entrance may be given them into their eternal home, where nothing that is defiled can have a place." Pope Benedict XIV. writes, in his explanation of the Offertorium, to which reference has been made: 2 "It seems that we should say that the Church, in that anthem of Offertory in Masses for the dead, means the punishments of Purgatory: she calls Purgatory Hell, because there is the same fire in both places; and she prays that the souls may be delivered from the deep pit and the mouth of the lion-that is, from the subterranean prison in which the souls of the just are expiated; and, finally, the Church prays to God that 'Tartarus may not swallow them up, and that they may not fall into the thick darkness'—that is, that they may not be longer detained in the gloomy prison, struggling in so many torments."

Bellarmine writes: "The Fathers constantly teach that the pains of Purgatory are most fierce (atrocissimas)," and that "no pains in this life can be compared to them," and that "in a certain sense all writers admit that the pains of Purgatory are greater than those of this life."

1 See p. 263.

2 See p. 256.

3 This is not true, for even in the time of St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) there was nothing more taught than the possibility of some Purgatory (see p. 219).