of the incestuous man whom the Church in Corinth allowed to remain in its fellowship, Paul determined to do what he cen- sured the Church for not doing ; that is, in virtue of his apostolic jurisdiction extending over all the churches, he excommunicated the offender, or, delivered him to Satan, that he might repent. (1 Cor. v.) When the man did repent, the Apostle exhorted the Corinthians to restore him to their fellowship, saying, " To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also." (2 Cor. ii. 10.) He claimed for himself no power which he did not recognize as belonging to them. It was a mere matter of Church discipline from beginning to end. This power of discipline, which all Churches recognize and exercise, the Romanists have perverted into the priestly power of absolution.
2. Admitting, what, however, is not conceded, that the Apos- tles had special power to forgive sin, that power must have rested on their peculiar gifts and qualifications. They were in- fallible men ; not infallible indeed in reading men's hearts, or in judging of their character, but simply infallible as teachers ; and they had authority to organize the Church, and to lay down laws for its future government and discipline. These gifts and pre- rogatives, indeed, in no way qualified them to sit in judgment on the souls of men, to pardon or condemn them at discretion , but, such as they were, they were personal. Those who claim to be their official successors, and arrogate their peculiar preroga- tives, do not pretend to possess their gifts ; they do not pretend to personal infallibility in teaching, nor do they claim jurisdic- tion beyond their own dioceses. As no man can be a prophet without the gifts of a prophet, so no man can be an Apostle without the gifts of an Apostle. The office is simply authority to exercise the gifts ; but if the gifts are not possessed what can the office amount to ?
But even if the impossible be admitted ; let it be conceded that the prelates have the power of remitting and retaining sin, as claimed by Romanists, in virtue of their apostleship, how is this power granted to priests who are not Apostles ? It will not do to say that they are the representatives and delegates of the bishop. The bishop is said to have this power because he has received the Holy Ghost. If this means anything, it means that the Holy Spirit dwells in him, and so enlightens his mind and guides his judgment, as to render his decisions in retaining or remitting sin, virtually the decisions of God ; but this divine illumination and guidance can no more be delegated than the
766 PART IV. Ch. L— STATE OF SOUL AFTER DEATH.
knowledge of the lawyer or the skill of the surgeon. How can a prophet delegate his power to foresee the future to another man ? It is impossible to believe that God has given men the power of forgiving or retaining sin, unless He has given them the power of infallible judgment; and that such infallibility of judgment belongs to the Romish priesthood, no man can believe.
It has already been urged as valid arguments against the Romish doctrine of purgatory, (1.) That it is destitute of all Scriptural support. (2.) That it is opposed to many of the most clearly revealed and most important doctrines of the Bible. (3.) That the abuses to which it always has led and which are its inevitable consequences, prove that the doctrine cannot be of God. (4.) That the power to forgive sin, in the sense claimed by Romanists, and which is taken for granted in their doctrine of purgatory, finds no support in the words of Christ, as recorded in John xx. 23, and Matt. xvi. 19, which are relied on for that pur- pose. (5.) The fifth argument against the doctrine is derived from its history, which proves it to have had a pagan origin, and to have been developed by slow degrees into the form in which it is now held by the Church of Rome.
History of the Doctrine.
The details on this subject must be sought in the common books on the history of doctrine. Here only the most meagre outline can be expected. A full exposition on this subject would require first an account of the prevalence of the idea of a purifi- cation by fire among the ancients before the coming of Christ, especially among the people of central Asia; secondly, an ac- count of the early appearance of this idea in the first three cen- turies in the Christian Church, until it reached a definite form in the writings of Augustine ; and thirdly, the establishment of the doctrine as an article of faith in the Latin Church, principally through the influence of Gregory the Great.
Fire is the most effectual means of purification. It is almost the only means by which the dross can be separated from the gold. In the Scriptures it is frequently referred to, in illustra- tion of the painful process of the sanctification of the human soul. In Zechariah xiii. 9, it is said, " I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried : they shall call on my name, and I will hear them : I will say, It is my people ; and they shall say, The Lord is my God." It is in allusion to the same familiar