Treatise Roman Catechism With Reply
| Author | John Wesley |
|---|---|
| Type | treatise |
| Year | None |
| Passage ID | jw-treatise-roman-catechism-with-reply-014 |
| Words | 382 |
A. Yes: For whosoever shall say that there is no debt of
temporal punishment to be paid, either in this world or in
purgatory, before there can be an admission into heaven, is
accursed. (Concil. Trid, Sess. 6, Can. 30, & Sess. 25, Decret. de Purg.) And whosoever shall say, The sacrifice of the mass
is not to be used for the dead, is accursed. (Ibid., Sess. 22,
Can. 3.) This is one of the principles, without the belief of
which there is no salvation. (Bulla Pii Quarti.)
REPLY. Bishop Fisher saith, that there is none or very little
mention of purgatory among the ancients. (Roffens. Luther? Confut., Art. 18; & Polyd. Virg. de Invent. l. 8, c. 1.) It is
then no little encroachment on the Christian world, to make
it now a doctrine of faith, and to require it, upon pain of
damnation, to be believed. Q. 25. In what place were the souls of the Patriarchs, and
other good men, before the coming of Christ? A. Before the death and resurrection, (Catech. Rom.,
par. 1, c. 6, n. 3, 6,) or ascension of Christ, (Bellarm. de
Christ., l. 4, c. 11,) the gates of heaven were open to none;
and the souls of good men departed were detained in a
certain place called Limbus Patrum, which is the uppermost
part of hell; the lowermost being the place of the damned;
next above that, purgatory; next to that, limbus infantum;
above that, limbus patrum. (Bellarm. de Purg. l. 2, c. 6, sec. Quod autem.)
REPLY. We read that Elijah was taken up into heaven,
(2 Kings ii. 11,) and he and Moses appeared in glory. (Luke
ix. 30; Matt. xvii. 2.) And Abraham is represented as in
paradise, the blessed abode of good men in the other world. (Luke xvi. 23.)
So St. Austin expounds it: “The bosom of Abraham is
the rest of the blessed poor, whose is the kingdom of heaven,
into which, after this life, they are received.” (Quaest. Evangel, l. 2, c. 38.)
Q. 26. In what condition were they while thus detained in
limbo ? A. They are not agreed in the nature and condition of the
place: For the Catechism saith, “They were sustained by
hope, and were without any sense of grief.” (N.