Although the Roman Catholics believe, that mercy, grace, and salvation, are to be had through, the merits of Jesus Christ only; yet they hold that it is good and useful to have recourse to the prayers of the saints in heaven, petitioning them to pray to God for them to obtain their request, as they know them to be the favourites of the great king; in the same way, that a subject wishing to get something of consequence from a most gracious sovereign, who alone had that in his power to give, besides his own earnest petition laid before his majesty to obtain the same, would beg also of some one of the king's favourites to intercede for him. This is what Roman Catholics mean by the invocation of Saints.1 They also believe, that the Saints pray for them; for charity, which made them pray and labour for the salvation of men on earth, they think, must spur them on to wish the same more earnestly in heaven, as charity there is made perfect. Roman Catholics firmly believe, that to give (λara, or) the worship due to God, to any creature whatever, is the abominable crime of (doara) idolatry, destructive of salvation; but, at the same time, they constantly hold, that (Susa) due honour is to be given the Saints; a thing, indeed, they believe due to earthly kings, magistrates, and superiors, and Ephrem. t. 2. ed. Vatic. p. 230. 236. S. Athan. Apol. ad Constant. t. 1. p. 300. Euseb. de Vita Constant. I. 4. c. lx. p. 556. and c. lxx. p. 562. c. lxxi. p. 562. S. Ambr. Orat. fun. de Theod. n. 37. t. 2. p. 1208. 1 Concil. Trid. Sess. 25. 2 To worship Christ, and venerate the Saints, are the words of the Council of Trent, ib. instead of thinking this any ways injurious to God they believe they would not comply with their dut to him, if they did not give honour to whom honou is due. That a certain kind of honour and veneration to be given to the relics of the Saints, is a thing the likewise constantly hold. For as a Roman Catho lic loves, esteems, and honours a Saint, he likewis venerates the body of the Saint, which had bee the temple of the Holy Ghost, and will one day b glorified with Christ, because it is the body of th Saint: as a loving wife, who loves and honours a affectionate husband, or good and kind superio will, after their death, respect and honour, not on their bodies, but other things belonging to them not for any excellency which is in these things themselves, but because they belonged to thos whom she justly loved and honoured. They most firmly assert, that the images Christ, of the blessed Virgin, and of the oth Saints, are to be had and retained, and that da honour and veneration is to be given them. Imag are a kind of books with them, which convey mo instruction in a short time, even to the unlearne than a good deal of reading will do to the learne The sight, for instance, of an image of Christ up the cross, dying for the love of us, will often affe a pious soul more than half an hour's reading abo the same; and if the person be entirely illiterate, may be considered at least a very useful book instruction for him, to present to his memory wh he had heard in preachings before about our Saviour's passion; and Roman Catholics think this a good reason, not to mention others, for retaining images and pictures of Christ and the Saints. The honour which they give them is but a relative honour; they honour, for example, the image of Christ, not for any intrinsic excellency or virtue in the image itself, but for the relation it has to Christ, whom the image represents, and thus the honour is wholly given to Christ: For suppose a Roman Catholic thus honouring an image, which he believes the image of Christ, but finding out, from some learned person, that it is the image of a man he knows nothing about, that moment the honour ceaseth, though the image is intrinsically the same; the reason is, he finds it is not the image of Christ; a proof it is not the image, but Christ whom he honours. In the same way, an affectionate daughter keeps with care, respect, and honour, what she got for a lock of hair, and the picture of a kind and loving father, whom death has untimely snatched away, merely because it is a relict and picture of her beloved parent; but make her once perfectly sensible, that it is a lock of hair and picture of some other man unknown to her, and the whole regard and honour is at an end. Had the doctrine of Indulgences, in as far as their faith is concerned, been properly understood, it would not have given so much offence to so many in the sixteenth century, who began their separa 1 Concil. Trid. Sess. 25. tion from the Roman Catholic Church, by calling this doctrine in question. What the Church teaches concerning it is, "that the power of indulgences was left by Christ to her, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people."-By an indulgence, according to almost all theologians of her communion, is meant, a releasing the debt of temporal punishment which remains due upon account of our sins, after the sins themselves, as to the guilt and eternal punishment, have been already remitted by repentance and confession: But, according to a few of them, it means only, a releasing from the obligation of performing the penance imposed by the canons or confessor. That the Church has power to release one, in whole, or in part, from the obligation of performing the public or private penance imposed by herself, when she sees a good and just cause for it, is no difficult thing to believe; and that she has power to release the debt of temporal punishment due to sin, is a thing not of faith. It is true, almost all Divines think she has power, by applying Christ's superabundant satisfactions to a just man, to cancel the debt of temporal punishment due for his sins, in place of the satisfactions, by good works of penance, he himself should give to divine justice through the merits of Jesus Christ to redeem the said debt; but they require a just cause for granting an indulgence; without which, they all say, it can have no effect. The Church, however, has not declared it to be of faith, that such a power as this was left to her by Christ; but it will not follow from this, that the use of indul gences cannot therefore be useful. For if they are taken in the second sense given, it must be useful for a man to be released of a burden, when circumstances concur to make that relaxation just and desirable: and if they are taken in the first sense, in which, indeed, they are commonly understood, they cannot but be useful. For the person who wishes to gain an indulgence in that sense, must first call to mind his sins, make a sincere act of contrition for them, firmly resolve to avoid them for the future, and apply to the sacrament of confession in hopes of pardon; and after he has good reason to believe, he has, through the merits of Jesus Christ, obtained it, he has then to say such prayers, and give such alms, or perform any other good works of penance as shall be appointed to gain the indulgence. And besides, having to do all these good works as absolutely requisite to come at the end proposed, he has also the well-grounded opinion of almost all Roman Catholic divines on his side, that he may come by this to cancel at least a great part of the temporal debt due for his sins, while he loses nothing, and is certainly greatly the gainer by the several acts of virtue he has to go through to come at the indulgence. Moreover, he is left by the Church at liberty to use, or not to use, indulgences as he pleases. He may, without them, satisfy divine justice for the temporal punishment due for his sins by penitential good works, which he is desired never to leave off while he lives, however much he may be thought to be the gainer by indulgences; and the Council of Trent says, that |