when our Sins are abandon'd, * 'tis Charity that must advance us into the Number of the Righteous and Bleffed.

But ftill 'tis to be confider'd, that fuch Works are not the Proper and Meritorious Causes of our Salvation; tho' they may feem to be fo, from fome Expreffions, both in the Holy Scriptures, and in the Writings of the Primitive Fathers. But fince the Holy Scriptures ought to be their own Interpreters, and that Sense of a few Expreffions, which is repugnant to the whole Tenour of the Gofpel, cannot be the True Sense of fuch Expreffions; and fince this Truth runs through the whole Gofpel, That Chrift is the only Meritorious Caufe of Salvation, or, as St. Paul + expreffeth it, that Eternal Life is the Gift of God, thro' Jefus Christ our Lord: It muft needs be concluded, that every Expreffion, wherein Works of Charity seem to be represented as the Causes of Remiffion, does only denote, that through

*Dixi de iis quæ Vetantur. Dicam nunc breviter quæ Jubentur. Innocentiæ proxima eft Mifericordia. Illa enim malum non facit; hæc bonum operatur. Illa Inchoat juftitiam; hæc Complet. Lactant. Epit.

† Rom. vi. 23.

the Merits of Chrift, they recommend us to God's Favour. So likewise ought fuch Expreffions, in the Primitive Fathers, to be interpreted agreeably to the Main Principles advanced by them. Thus, if St. Irenæus *reprefents Alms, as Loofing, or Freeing Men from former Sin, 'tis highly Reasonable to conclude, that he means only fuch a Redemption from Sin, as is Subordinate to, and Depends upon, the Redemption effected by the Merits of Chrift; because he does elsewhere †, under great Plainnefs and Fulness of Expreffion, declare the Obedience and Sufferings of Chrift, to be the Cause of our Redemption from Sin and Death. And it would be very unreasonable to imagine, that any of the other Catholick Writers, in the First and Pureft Ages of Christianity, fhould mention the Merit of Charitable Works in fuch an Acceptation as would contradict the Fundamental Doctrines of the Gospel, and of their own Writings. This is a very Juft and Useful

c. 26.

موع

ea quæ poffidentur, pauperibus divifa, Solutionem faciant præteritæ cupiditatis -Adv. Hæref. L. 4. † L. 3. c. 18, 20. L. 5. c. 1, 2, 14. Obfer

alibi paffim.

Observation, which Voffius* produceth out of Caffander: "To Merit does in "Ecclefiaftical Authors, commonly fig"nify to Attain, or be difpofed and qualified for Attaining. And this may appear, amongst other Inftances, from a Paffage in St. Cyprian: For, when "St. Paul fays, 1 Tim. i. I obtained Mercy, according to the Vulgar Translation; St. Cyprian thus Tranflates that Expreffion, I Merited mercy. And "there are many other Places in Ecclefi"aftical Offices and Prayers, where this "Word is ufed in the fame Senfe. And "this Obfervation may foften fome, o"therwife, Harfh Expreffions, and ren«der them agreeable.

This Remark, concerning St. Cyprian's Words, may be ftill carried a little farther: For in the Place refer'd to, it does not only appear, that he hath actually Tranflated the Apostle's Words differently from the other Verfions, and from the Apoftle's meaning, which poffibly might have been thought a Mistake; but 'tis

*Thef. Theol. & Hiftor. Difp. 4.

K 2

likewife

likewise evident, that He himself, by Meriting mercy, did not fo much as Intend any thing more than the Attainment of mercy; for having observed, * that those who offend, out of Simplicity, or pure Ignorance, may be Forgiven, he immediately urgeth St. Paul's Words, as a Proof of that Obfervation. And therefore 'tis plain, that in his own Intention, to be actually forgiven, and to merit forgiveness, are here ufed as Terms of the fame Signification.

After these Obfervations, and efpecially concerning St. Cyprian, who is fo very full in expreffing the Purifying Power, and (in his Senfe of Merit) the Merit of Alms-deeds; it feems Rational to conclude, that the Strict acceptation of the Word Merit, when applied to Charitable Works, did not prevail in the Early Ages of the Church. But, though Works of Charity are not Meritorious, yet may we depend affuredly upon their Accep

*Ignofci enim poteft fimpliciter erranti, ficut de fe ipfo dicit Apoftolus Paulus: Qui primò, inquit, fui blasphemus, & perfecutor, & injuriofus; fed mifericordiam merui quia ignorans feci. S. Cypr. Epift. ad Jubaianum.

⚫tance

tance and Reward. For our hopes of their Acceptance is raised upon an immoveable Foundation, God's Faithfulnefs and Truth: Though they are not properly the Causes of Salvation; yet they are a Principal Condition, to which God's Promise hath annexed Eternal Life. And after all the Umbrage which St. Cyprian himself, in his many Warm expreffions concerning Works of Mercy, feemingly gives to the Merit of them; 'tis manifeft, that he did not imagine them to be Meritorious of a Reward, as of a Debt, in refpect of God's Justice: For he fixeth the hopes of Charitable Men in the Promife of God, as the Encouragement to their Duty. After these Neceffary Cautions, the present Enquiry may eafily

* Fidelis Dominus, qui fe nobis debitorem fecit, non aliquid a nobis accipiendo fed tanta nobis promittendo.---Promifit enim hominibus Divinitatem, mortalibus Immortalitatem, peccatoribus Juftificationem, abjectis Glorificationem. Quicquid promifit, Indignis promifit, ut non quafi operibus merces promitteretur S. Aug. in Pfal. 109.

t-In miferationibus pauperum Deum cogitat. Operatur enim ideo quia credit, quia fcit vera effe quæ Prædicta funt verbis Dei, nec Scripturam Sanctam pofle mentiri: arbores infructuofas, id eft, Steriles homines excidi, & in ignem mitti, mifericordes autem ad regnum vocari. S. Cypr. de Op. & Eleem.