CHAP. XII.] ?*uaoaToav. 381 88y8 tbat the place (1 Cor. iii, 15) is very difficult and obscure, and one of those places in St. Paul which Peter pronounces hard to be un- derstood: and therefore Augustine would not make that a matter of fa/th wh/ch he founds on that place. And this was the principalnplace on which he and other fathers founded their doctrine of purffatio in a future state. ?['?r?y. That cannot be an article of faith to such persons as el- press their doubts concerning its truth. So Augustine expressed him- 8elf doubtfully respecting a future purgation.* But he did not so express himself respecting the incamarion, the trinity, &c., which Homanists place with purgatory as articles of faith. 2. These things bein? premised, we proceed to examine the testi- mony of the fathers concerning purgatory. Though Polycarp discusses the resmTecrion of the dead, he wholly omits the doctrine of pur?tor?.t Ignatius assera that ties states only exist in the future worM, a 8tale of death and a state of llfe; so that every one who dOlUtrts shall ?o to the one or the other place.?: Irenmus overturns pur?ator? when he says, "The souls of the dead shall depart into an invisible place prepared of God for them, where they shall abide in constant expectation of the resurrection and reunion of the body."�hough Athenagoras wrote a treatise on the resurrection of the dead, he says not one word concerning purgatory.[ .Justin M? declares, "that immediately after death there i8 made a separation between good and bad men, anti that the good are carried into paradise."*[ Cyprian, who flourished about the middle of the third century, says, "?nen once we have departed hence there is no longer any place for repentance, no longer any effectiveness of satisfaction. Here life b either lost or hem; here we may provide for our eternal salvation !? the worship of God and the fruitfulness of faith. Let not any one, then, be retarded, either by sins or by length of years, from attaining to salvation. To a person, while he remains in this world, repentance is never too late. Those who seek a?er, and understand the truth, may always have an easy' access to the indulgence of God. Even to the very end of your life pray for your sins, and by coufession and faith implore the sue only true Deity. To him who confesses, pardon i? freely gumted: to him who believes, a 8alutar? indulgence is gumted from the divine pity: and XMMSDA?E,V AF?ER DE?H HE PASSmS TO A BLESSED IMMORTALITY, ?� De Fide et ODer., c. 16. Each., c. 69. ? EpMt. ud Philip., sec. ii, iil.
- t Epist. ad Malines., sec. v. �ver9. Hmres., lib. v, c. L?, sec. ii, iii.
It De lteour. Mort. in Oper. �(?ueat. mi OnhdoL, 75.
- (?uando isthinc exceasum fuerit, nullus jam locus pmnitentim eat, nullus satishc.
tiehis efFectus. Hic vits tat omittitur, 8ut tenetur. Hic saluti toterore cultu ]Dei et fructu &hi provkletur. Nec quasquare aut peceatb retardetur, aut annis, quo minus veuiat, ad cousequendam nlutem. In isto sdbuc *nundo tmmenti pmuiteath nulh sera est. Patet ud indui?entiam Dei editus, et queerentibus atque intell?eutiblm veri- tatera faci]is 8cceesus est. Tu sub ? licet oxitu et vitro ?occtmu pro delletas rogea, et Deum, qui anus et verus eot, confemsione et fide pieres, veals confitenti datur, et crodenti indulgentis salutaris d.e divans pictate- cones, if?.?me, tom. i, p. 404. 1
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