Exposition of the Moral Law, Book 1 · Commandment 2 · Exercitation 1
EXERCITAT. I. Of Idolatry in generall.
Exod. 20.5. Thou ſhalt not make to thy ſelfe any graven Image &c.
THere are two things forbidden in this Commandement: firſt to make an Image for a religious worſhip, and ſecondly to worſhip it.
Some condemne the act of painting and carving, as the Iewes doe,The lawfull uſe of painting. who will not ſuffer a painter to dwell amongſt them. But this gift of it ſelfe, is the gift of God, as may be ſeene in Aholiab and Bezaliel whom the Lord indued with this skill. Exod. 31.3. Secondly ſome will not allow the hiſtoricall uſe of them in houſes, or upon the Princes Coine for diſtinctions ſake, but this is lawfull, and Chriſt himſelfe alloweth it. Mat. 22.20. But ſome goe further and allow them,What uſe of painting unlawfull. not onelyonly for ornaments in privat houſes, but alſo in Churches, as the Lutherans doe. Fourthly, ſome allow them for excitation, to move them to worſhip: and laſtly, ſome allow them for adoration. Theſe are not Lawfull.
Thou ſhalt not make to thy ſelfe &c. There is a difference betwixt him that maketh the I…, and him that prayeth to it when it is made; the one is the materiall Idolater, the other is the formall Idolater. The artificer maketh onelyonly the Image, but hee who prayeth before it and adoreth it, maketh a god of it. The Children of Iſrael cryed unto Aaron, make us gods to goe before us, Exod. 32.1. It was Aaron that made the Calfe, but the people made the Calfe a god. If a man had come into the ſhop of Demetrius the ſilver ſmith, and had asked him, what hee was doing? and he ſhould have anſwered, I am making gods; hee ſhould not have anſwered rightly here: for it was hee that bowed before the Idoll, and prayed before it, that made a god of it, Pſal. 115.8. They that make them are like unto them: ſo are all they that put their truſt in them. This is the ſpeciall ſort of making of gods, when men truſt in them and adore them: The Poet Martiall ſaith,
Qui fingit ſacros, auro vel marmore vultus,
Non facit ille Deos; qui rogat, iſte facit.
Thou ſhalt not bow downe to them &c. There are two things forbidden here, Nihil dandum idolo, nec accipiendum ab Idolo: Nothing muſt bee given to the Idoll, nor nothing taken from the Idoll. Wee muſt give nothing to the Idoll, as reverence or maintenance.No worſhip to be given to an Idoll.
Firſt wee muſt doe no homage or reverence to the Idoll.foreign genuaflexit. foreign dimiſſio capitis cum ſuperiore corpore. foreign verticen… inclinare. foreign totum corpus proſternere. The Hebrews have foure words, to note the foure ſeverall geſtures of the bodie, the firſt is Barach, The bowing of the knee, 2 Chr. 6.13. The ſecond is Carang, which ſignifieth the bowing of the head, with the bulke of the body, Pſal. 95.6. The third is Kadad, the bowing of the head, the fourth is Hiſhtahhavah, The proſtrating of the whole body upon the ground. So he forbiddeth to lift …e eyes to an Idol, Ier. 18.6. So to kiſſe the Idoll, 1 King 19.18. I have reſerved ten thouſand whoſe mouth have not kiſſed Baal. Cicero maketh mention of the Image of Hercules, foreign quando abſolute ponitur ſignificat oſculari.cujus mentum oſculis adorantium attritum fuit. And when they could not reach to the Idoll to kiſſe it, they kiſſed their hand in token of homage which they did to their Idoll. Contrarie to this ſort of worſhip is the kiſſing of the Sonne Ieſus Chriſt, Pſal. 2.12. This oſculum homagij, is due onelyonly to Chriſt.
Secondly,Nothing to be given to the maintenance of an Idoll. wee muſt give nothing to an Idoll for the maintenance of the ſervice of it, as the Iſraelites tooke their eare-rings and Iewels to make the golden calfe. So we muſt not plant groves to it, Deut. 16.22. Pſal. 137.2. We hanged our harpes upon the willowes, when they deſired us to play to their gods; wee hung up our harpes upon the Willowes, that is, upon the groves conſecrat to Belus or Bel, and we ſaid, it were better that our tongues ſhould cleave to the roofe of our mouth, than that wee ſhould forget the worſhip of the true God at Ieruſalem; ſo to erect any title or inſcription in honour of them, Levit. 26.1.
So to inſtitute a Prieſthood to ſerve theſe Idols,Nuplere manum quid Hebreyes. Iud. 17.12. As Micah conſecrated a Levite, in the originall it is Implevit Micah manum Levitae, where this Idolater imitated the forme of conſecration of the Lords Prieſts, Exod. 29.31. 2 Chro. 13.3. Omnis veniens ad implendam manum ſuam, that is, to bee ordained: When the Prieſt was conſecrat to the Lord, the Ramme which was to be offered, was called Aries impletionis Exod. 29.31. Becauſe the hand of the Prieſt was filled with it when he was ordained. Theſe Idolatrous Prieſts, 2 King. 23. are called Kemarim, as ye would ſay, blacke,foreign denigrare. becauſe they were ſmoked with the ſmoke of the ſacrifices.
The Prieſts ſtood barefoot before the Lord when they ſerved.So to ſtand barefooted before the Idoll which the heathen called Nudipedalia, they borrowed this cuſtome from the Preiſts of the Lord, who ſtood barefooted before the Lord when they ſerved,
All theſe ſorts of externall worſhip given to Idols the Iewes called Gnabhuda Zara, and it conſiſted in foure things,foreign Cultus alienus foreign altare foreign fuffitus foreign incurvatio foreign libatio How adoration differeth from prayer. firſt Altare, ſecondly Suffitus, thirdly, Incurvatio, and fourthly Libatio.
Adoration conſiſteth in the inward adoration of the heart, and outward geſture of the body; and it differeth from Prayer, which may bee performed by the inward act of the mind ſometimes, without any outward geſture of the body.Adoration is an act of religious worſhip.
This Adoration is an act of religion, properly to bee performed to God onelyonly, as the object of it; for it ariſeth of an apprehenſion of the excellence of God above all things created, and it is Idolatrie when this worſhip is given to any creature either directly or indirectly.
Spirituall and civill worſhip are diſtinguiſhed by the end and intention of the worſhipper.Spirituall Adoration and civill adoration are diſtinguiſhed by the end, and the intention of the worſhipper onelyonly diſtinguiſheth them. There is no outward worſhip which is done to God but it may be done to men, except onelyonly ſacrifice which is due to God onelyonly, Exod. 22. Otherwayes the intention of theſe who worſhip, and the end wherefore they worſhip, diſtinguiſheth them. When the mother of the ſonnes of Zebedeus came to Chriſt and bowed to him, Mat. 20.20. deſiring that one of her ſonnes might ſit at his right hand, and the other at his left hand, this was but civill adoration which ſhe gave to him; becauſe it was but a civill thing which ſhe required of him, taking him to bee a temporall King: but when a Catholicke cometh and boweth before the Pope, he giveth him more then civill honour, he giveth him divine honour; why? becauſe he taketh him to bee one that cannot erre in his calling, and who is Chriſts vicar upon earth here: So hee giveth him in effect that which is due to Chriſt, and that he hath that ſame power to forgive ſinnes which Chriſt hath.
There is Totum poteſtativum and Totum contractum; Totum Poteſtat…vum. Contractum.Totum poteſtativum is the power of ruling and governing in a King; Totum contractum is the ſame power contracted in an inferiour magiſtrat; as in a Major or Proveſt, Chriſt hath Totum poteſtativum, abſolute power to remit ſinnes, but his miniſters have not Totum contractum, as inferior magiſtrates have the power of the King,Miniſters hauehave not totum contractum but they are as heraulds to pronounce remiſſion of ſinnes. they are onelyonly but Heralds to make intimation of the remiſſion of ſinnes: the inferiour magiſtrat may urge obedience to himſelfe, becauſe he hath. Totum poteſtativum contractum in himſelfe; but no man hath Totum poteſtativum contractum within himſelfe to remit ſinnes. When they bow before the Pope, they hold that he hath not onelyonly poteſtatem contractam to remit ſinnes, but poteſtatem excellentiae, and that it differeth onelyonly in degree from Chriſts power, whereas the Miniſter in remiſſion of ſinnes, hath not this power foreign ſed tantum foreign, and he doth nothing in abſolution but diſpoſeth onelyonly the penitent,poteſtas foreign. foreign. and by the word and probable ſignes abſolueth him: this abſolution is not a proper act of forgiveneſſe of ſinne, as if it had a direct, neceſſarie and phyſicall influence in forgiveneſſe of ſinne: but he is onelyonly Cauſa moralis, ſeu concilians, whereupon God is moved to pardon the penitent when he ſeeth him humbled. But they aſcribe to the pope the ſame power which is in Chriſt to forgive ſinnes, although not in the ſame degree: therefore when they bow before the pope it is idolatrous worſhip, & as the people called Simon Magus the great power of God. Act. 8.10. ſo do they the pope.
The intention of the worſhiper maketh not that civill worſhip which was firſt inſtituted to be ſpirituall.The intention of the worſhiper maketh not that civill worſhip which was firſt inſtituted to be ſpirituall worſhip. Example, If a man ſhould ſtand before an idoll, and faine himſelfe to bow before it, for the looſing of the lachet of his ſhoe, this were idolatrie; why? becauſe bowing before an idoll was inſtituted for the honour of the idoll: and here we muſt diſtinguiſh inter finem operis, Finis Oteris. Operantis.& finem operantis, and the action is to be judged à fine operis & non operantis.
Concluſion. 1 The concluſion of this is, No bodily geſture diſtinguiſheth ſpirituall worſhip from civill; therefore God counteth nothing of the outward bodily worſhip, where the inward worſhip of the heart is wanting. To bow downe the head like a bull-ruſh and to ſpread ſackcloath and aſhes under them. Eſay 58.5. this did not pleaſe the Lord: and when the Lord willeth us to keepe our foote when wee goe into the houſe of God, Eccleſ. 5.1. It is meant of the affections, and not of the foote of the bodie.
Concluſion. 2 Secondly, it is finis operis, and not operantis which diſtinguiſheth the action, therefore theſe turne-coats, and time ſervers, who have a knee readie for every idolatrous ſervice, their intentions will not excuſe them from idolatrie, becauſe the chiefe thing which is intended there is idolatrie.