CHAPTER XIII.

The seventh inference-Belief in purgatory not calculated to encourage virtue-Men influenced more by the present than by future time-The terrors of the general judgment disregarded by many believers-If the Bible is true, the doctrine of purgatory must be false-Purgatory irreconcilable with the tender mercy of Jehovah-Inference eight— The chance of pardon in the world to come renders our Lord's threatenings ineffectual-The silence of the Jews when warned by our Blessed Lord about dying in their sins shows they did not expect forgiveness on the other side the grave-Inference nine-The prayers of the living not effectual on behalf of the dead-Death followed by a separation, but not immediately by the general judgment-Inference ten-Men are justified by faith, and not by works-Scripture proofs -Men unprofitable servants when they have done all they are commanded-The righteous who shall be found alive upon the earth at the second advent of Christ will not pass through purgatory, which is a proof that there is no such place.

By the seventh inference we have to believe that the Bible warns men to abstain from sin, but virtually encourages them to continue therein.

That a belief in the doctrine of purgatory is more calculated to encourage vice than to lead to virtue, is manifest from the very nature of man. We know too well how all men are more or less influenced by surrounding circumstances, and how much they think of the present in comparison with either the past or the future. So great, indeed, is the impression made upon the minds of most men by things near at hand, that even the terrors of the general judgment, and the possibility of falling into the hands of an angry God, often fail to produce those salutary effects upon man which might reasonably be expected. The temporal concerns of this world actually influence men in this manner who believe that their eternal doom will inevitably be sealed at death, and who do not for a moment imagine the possibility of any change beyond the grave. If things present exercise

such mighty and all-absorbing power over the minds of those who are convinced that this world is the only place of moral trial, how much more would they be likely to influence them for the worse, if they could only feel persuaded that they had another chance in the next world, in event of their having failed to make their peace with God while on the earth! In fact, if the doctrine of purgatory were true, men have a hundred motives to persist in vice where they have only one to incite them to the practice of virtue. Let such a doctrine be universally admitted, and then the great barrier to a sinful course is broken down, and a gate opened for filling the whole earth with violence. To permit such a state of things would not be a manifestation of mercy on the part of Jehovah; but we know that His delight is in mercy. The seventh inference, then, seems altogether incompatible with the nature of man and the tender mercy of God. It must also be rejected on the ground of making the Bible contradict itself, or representing it as commanding one thing and encouraging the contrary.

If inference eight were correct, our Lord's words, which He addressed in so solemn a manner to His hearers, must have been almost without weight or significancy. In the Gospel of St. John (viii. 24) He thus spake: "For if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." Now, if there be a purgatorial locality in which men can be purified within a certain time, our Lord's words, to say the least, must be materially weakened, nor can it be supposed that they would excite any amount of alarm in the minds of those who are almost wholly occupied with temporal things. Every one who felt sure of a secondary state of probation, would still have the inward feeling that, if he did die in his sins, there was a prospect for him in the future, and opportunities given for making himself right and happy forever. Hence, upon the assumption of the truth of purgatory, we deduce the fact that there would be nothing terrible in our Blessed Redeemer's threat; which we cannot admit to be the case. We may here remark that had the Jews, to whom our Lord addressed these words,

"Ye shall die in your sins," believed in the probability of repentance and reformation in the next world, they would have intimated to Him that they were not so deeply concerned as to the state in which death might find them, inasmuch as they would have time for settling their spiritual concerns during their disembodied state. The silence of the Hebrews on the occasion in question seems to justify the conclusion that they had no expectation of changing their condition in the world to come. They knew that their eternal doom must be fixed by the cold hand of death, and therefore they did not attempt to rebut our Blessed Lord's solemn declarations.

Of the ninth inference, which leads us to believe that the prayers of the living on behalf of the dead are effectual in the sight of God, we may observe that this is sufficiently answered by the fact that there is not a state of probation in the next world, and consequently any prayers offered to God for the benefit of the departed must, in the very nature of things, be without effect. In the Epistle to the Hebrews (ix. 27) we learn, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

Now, what is this judgment for, but to separate the wheat from the chaff, to sever the good from the bad, to draw forever the line of demarkation between those who die in Christ and those who perish in their sins? The word judgment in this text does not mean the general judgment, but that separation which takes place immediately after death.

By inference ten it would seem that men are justified by works rather than by faith; and this we know is not the doctrine of Scripture. We are justified by faith, and not by works. This is evident from many texts that could be advanced. We will, however, mention the following as being sufficient to establish the doctrine. In the Gospel according to St. Luke (xvii. 10) we thus read: "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." In these words our Divine Master declares that when

we have done all that He commands us, we are unprofitable servants. And, I would ask, where is the man that does all, or even half, of the things he is commanded? If we are unprofitable servants after we have done all that we are enjoined, how must that unprofitableness be increased when we do only a portion of that which we are commanded? Can we, after reading such a text, ever dream of being justified by our works? No; they are altogether excluded from the ground of justification. Again, in St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (ii. 8, 9) we have these words: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." The subordinate position taken by works in the justification of man is evident from the Book of Revelation (xiv. 13), where it is thus written: "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." Here be it observed that the works of those who die in the Lord neither precede nor accompany the departed, but follow them, which clearly shows that they are not to be regarded as the cause of justification. If works were the cause of our justification, it would be necessary that they should go before the departed on his way to eternal happiness, whereas Scripture saith they follow.

Let us, then, avoid falling into error by supposing that works alone are the basis of our justification. Though good works spring from a true faith and are pleasing to God, yet they are not the cause of justification. "We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not by our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification." (Art. XI.) As regards good works, the 12th Article of our Church thus speaks: "Albeit that good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and

endure the severity of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit." It is then undeniably the doctrine of Scripture and of our Church that faith, and not works, is the cause of man's justification.

The doctrine of purgatory is also condemned by what will actually take place at the end of the world; for at the Second Advent of our Blessed Lord, we know that all those who shall be found alive on the earth will be taken away to the general judgment, and pass immediately after that solemn event either into hell or heaven. Now, if the souls of all good men have to pass through the ordeal of purgatory for special purification prior to their entrance into heaven, how comes it to pass that the righteous, who shall be living on the earth at the second appearance of Christ, should be an exception? Why should they have the privilege of escaping that punishment through which, according to the Romish Church, all other righteous individuals are compelled to pass? If such teaching is not absolutely false, then the Bible cannot speak the truth when it asserts that God is no respecter of persons. That the living righteous will escape purgatory is manifest from these words (I. Thess. iv. 17): "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (the righteous dead, after their resurrection) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." We plainly see, then, that from what point soever purgatory is viewed, it is contradicted and condemned by the word of God, upon which alone we depend for accuracy of information. We may also observe that when our Lord appears the second time, at the end of the world, the righteous who shall be found alive, will not even be required to enter Hades.