PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

SERMON VI.

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66

THE tenth canon of the synod of Celichyth (holden in 816) enjoins, that, on the death of a bishop, the tenth of his property of every kind should be bestowed in alms, and that every English slave belonging to him should be manumitted, for the sake of obtaining mercy for his sins. “ Quandocunque aliquis ex numero episcoporum migraverit de seculo, tunc pro anima illius præcipimus, ex substantia cujuscunque rei decimam partem dividere, ac distribuere pauperibus in eleemosynam, sive in pecoribus et armentis, seu de ovibus et porcis, vel etiam in cellariis, nec non omnem hominem Anglicum liberare, qui in diebus suis sit servituti subjectus, ut per illud sui proprii laboris fructum retributionis percipere mereatur, et indulgentiam peccatorum." (Spelman. Conc. 330.)

The thirteenth, and three following of king Edgar's canons, declare that satisfaction for sins may be made by means of alms, and enumerate various ways of exercising such benevolence. A church may be built, it is said, a glebe settled upon it, and young men placed in it, for the performance of divine offices. Or some benefaction may be bestowed upon God's Church, roads may be mended, bridges built over waters, causeways over bogs.

Relief may be given to the poor, assistance to widows, step-children, (orphans,) and strangers. A man's own slaves may be manumitted, and money given for the manumission of slaves belonging to other people; especially of such as have lost their liberties by becoming prisoners of war. The needy may be found in food, clothing, house, fire, bath, and bed. Tithes may be paid of every thing in the party's possession. The Church may frequently be visited with alms, and holy places greeted with lights. Shelter, meat, protection, fire, fodder, (Foddor, alimentum quodlibet. Spelman. edulium hominum. Lye.) bed and bath may be supplied to such as want them. Visits may be paid to the sick, both in body and mind. The dead may be buried. He who is unable to do most of these things, may do, it is observed, at least some of them, and he is admonished to do what he can earnestly.

In another collection of canons, adopted by the Anglo-Saxons from the Capitulars of Theodulf, (bishop of Orleans, near the end of the eighth century,) the one setting forth Origen's seven remedies for sins, from which an extract has already been made in illustration of the last sermon, (note 15,) has the following clause. "Thirdly, sins are absolved through alms; according to that which Daniel said to Nabuchodnosser, the king, Redeem thy sins with alms, in shewing mercy upon the poor: (Dan. iv. 27. sec. LXX. v. 24. ràs áμaptías σoũ év éλenμooúvais λúτpwoas.) and that, Even as water extinguisheth fire, so alms extinguish sin: and the Lord saith in the Gospel, Give your alms, then may ye, through that, be clean. Spelman. Conc.

330, 471,611. Johnson's Collection of Eccl. Laws, vol. II.

2 66

3.66

Super animæ statu, memini vestræ quæstiunculæ, immo maxime ecclesiasticæ questionis; utrum lapsæ de cœlo sit, ut Pythagoras Philosophus, omnesque Platonici, et Origenes putant; an a propria Dei substantia, ut Stoici, Manichæus, et Hispaniæ Priscilliani hæreses suspicantur." (Hieronymus Marcellino et Anapsychiæ.-Epist. 82.-Divi Hieronymi Stridonensis, Opp. Paris. 1602. tom. II. col. 492.) See also Huet's Origeniana, pp. 92, 93. Applicavit se deinde" (Origenes sc.) ad Ammonium, cognomento Saccam, et in ejus exhedris insignem philosophiæ peritiam comparavit, sed Platonicæ præsertim, quæ tam altas in ejus animo radices egit, ut succrescentes Christianæ doctrinæ fruges interficeret: nam Ecclesiæ scita fere exigebat ad normam Platonis, et sincera Christi dogmata Platonicis, ut dicam, coloribus oblinebat." Origeniana: Auctore Pet. Dan. Huet. ad Origenis Opera præfixa. Rothomag. 1668. vol. I. p. 4.

4 "Satis ex superioribus, etiam me silente, colligitur, damnatorum pœnis modum aliquando et finem ex decreto Origenis impositum iri: cum enim futurum ratus sit, ut quemcumque teneant statum animæ, peccare possint, et reipsa sæpe peccant, ac pro peccatis vel meritis perpetuo circuitu ab imis ad summa, a summis ad ima revolvantur, ipsiusque Diaboli aversa a Deo voluntas olim conterenda, et Deo Patri regnum Christus sit traditurus, tumque existimaverit plenam omnium άπокатάσтаσ ac perpetuam felicitatem futuram, cum Deus erit omnia in omnibus; consequitur illinc necessario desitura damnatorum supplicia, eaque noxarum duntaxat ex

purgandi causa a Deo hominibus infligi." Origeniana, p. 151.

"Perspicuum hinc est non alias.admisisse pœnas Origenem quam piaculares et temporarias; cujusmodi sunt Purgatoriæ illæ quas Ecclesia Catholica agnoscit." Ibid. p. 153.

"Cum ait aversam a Deo Diaboli voluntatem olim fore conterendam, satis significat se ne dæmones quidem ab æterna felicitate excludere." Ibid. p. 154.

5" In summa quum carcerem illum, quem Evangelium demonstrat, inferos intelligamus, et novissimum quadrantem, modicum quidque delictum mora resurrectionis illic luendum interpretamur; nemo dubitabit animam aliquid pensare penes inferos, salva resurrectionis plenitudine, per carnem quoque." (Tertullian. De Anima, cap. ult. Opp. ex edit. N. Rigaltii. Lutet. 1634. p. 357.) See also the Bishop of Lincoln's Eccl. Hist. Illustrated, Camb. 1826. p. 343.

6" Et sicut diaboli, et omnium negatorum atque impiorum qui dixerunt in corde suo: Non est Deus, credimus æterna tormenta: Sic peccatorum atque impiorum, et tamen Christianorum, quorum opera in igne probanda sunt atque purganda, moderatam arbitramur et mistam clementiæ sententiam judicis." (Comment. Hieronymi, lib. XVIII. in Esaiam, cap. 66. Opp. ex edit. Reatini. Episc. Amer. Lutet. Paris. 1623. tom. IV. p. 229.) This passage, it is observable, amounts to nothing more than a mere opinion. Arbitramur is not a term for the use of an eminent divine in propounding an article of faith."

"Facta resurrectione mortuorum non deerunt