Being composed of men individually fallible, they must be collectively so; and this is evident both from the consideration that many of them were factiously and intriguingly conducted, and more particularly from the fact of their having passed contradictory decrees*.

We receive the decrees of the first four, because they may be proved by Holy Scripture. At Nice, it was decreed, "that Christ was God;" at Constantinople, "that the Holy Ghost was God;" at Ephesus, "that the divine and human nature of Christ were united in one person;” and at Chalcedon, "that they remained nevertheless distinct.”

SECT. IV. ART. XXII.

OF PURGATORY.

The Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping, and Adoration, as well of Images as of Reliques, and also Invocation of

Several subsequent Councils contradicted the decree of that of Nice; a second Council at Ephesus, approved the doctrine of Eutychus, which was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon; a second Council at Nice approved image-worship, which had been condemned by the Council of Constantinople; and the very point in question, "the authority of General Councils," was asserted at Constance and Basil; and condemned in the Lateran, and laid aside in the Trent Councils.

Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

The Romish doctrine of purgatory, pardons, worship of images, and of reliques, and invocation of saints, are all in this article denounced as unscriptural. The Church of Rome held that every man is liable both to temporal and eternal punishment for his sins that God indeed remits the latter, for the merits of Christ; but that the former must be expiated either by acts of penance and sorrow in this world, or else by a state of suffering and misery, for a proportionate time, in an intermediate state, in the next world. That to shorten the period of this purgatory, as it was called, the prayers* and supererogations of men on earth, or intercessions of saints in heaven, were very efficacious.

The foundation of this doctrine is not supported by Scripture: we find there, no such peculiar distinction of remission made, as between that of temporal and eternal punishment of sin; on the contrary we read, that "being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through Jesus Christ + ;" and

Praying for the dead began in the third century, but the doctrine of purgatory was not fully established till the beginning of the seventh century.

† Rom. v. 1.

that "God will remember our sins and iniquities no more." In these words of God's covenant, there is no limitation; a full indemnity is mentioned ; and it is inconsistent with God's character, that there should be any secret reserves.

This doctrine is, moreover, contrary to the express words of Scripture, which also declares that "the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin;" and that "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." It manifestly also derogates from the efficacy of Christ's merits †. Besides our Saviour's promise to the thief on the cross; Paul's wish "to depart and be with Christ;" "to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord ‡ ;” and John's declaration, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours §;"all imply a contradiction to this belief; for how shall they rest if the pains of purgatory are to be endured ||?

*Heb. viii. 12.

+ The passage, "Thou shalt not come out till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing," is rather an argument against purgatory, than for it for the whole scope of the parable goes to shew the impossibility of the man ever paying off so immense a debt.

:

‡ 2 Cor. v. 8.

§ Rev. xiv. 13.

|| Burnet here refutes an argument, set up to support the doctrine of praying for the dead, drawn from a passage in 2nd Maccabees

The doctrine of Pardons, as held in the Romish Church, is founded on the unscriptural distinction between the remission of temporal, and not of eternal punishment. The practice arose from the abuse of the power, granted to the Bishops at the Council of Nice, to relax or remit the discipline and punishment, ordered in the primitive times, to be inflicted on offenders. The Pope, seeing the great accession of power it would give him, took it into his own hands, in the 11th century, and still further abused it; till at last pardons were sold publicly, under the name of indulgences, or "remissions of all sins past, present, and future." The doctrine, being unscriptural, is therefore false; and, indeed, the bare statement of it is a sufficient refutation.

On the Worship of Images. In the Old Testament, there are many strong and express declarations against idolatry of every species; as well against that of worshipping any thing absolutely, as

12-42, where Judas Maccabæus is represented as " offering sacrifices for the slain;" by first stating, that the book, being uncanonical, is of no authority; and second, by shewing that Judas offered the sacrifice to purify the survivors from the idolatrous sin, which their dead associates had been guilty of. He also shews that the passage, (1 Cor. iii. 16) "he shall be saved yet so as by fire;" is a metaphorical use of the word, implying that the fiery persecutions which were approaching, would put every man's faith to the test.

God; as also against setting up any image as a symbolical representation of God. The first and second commandments are sufficient on these two points. In the gospel part of the New Testament, no mention indeed is made of idolatry, because after the Babylonish captivity, the Jews were never guilty of it. But in the Acts, we find that St. Paul was greatly displeased when he saw the idolatry of the Athenians +; and St. John, in his epistle, says, "Little children keep yourselves from idols ‡."

Image worship began about the fifth century, and by degrees increased to the grossest idolatry, so that Christians were accused of it both by Jews and Mahometans. In the next century, a famous controversy began about the breaking of images, (which was done in consequence of the people's superstitiously worshipping them,) and lasted 100 years; different Councils and Popes, (though claiming to be infallible,) taking different sides; at length, by the

*The reason which Moses gives, as the foundation of the second commandment, is manifestly pointed against what is termed an inferior sort of idolatry, viz., 'the worshipping of God through a symbolical representation of Him.' He says, (Deut. iv. 12-16.) "Ye saw no similitude when the Lord spake unto you; take heed, lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, the similitude of any figure," &c.

† Acts xvii. 29.

+ 1 John v. 21.