Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 5 · Controversies
5. Places of controversie.
1. Controv. That idolaters and worshippers of images, make them their gods.
v. 4. They praised the gods of gold and siluer, &c. The Babylonians and other Gentiles were not so grosse to thinke, that the diuine essence consisted of siluer or gold, or that the verie images were their gods: for they did hold that their gods were in heauen: as the men of Lystra said, Act. 14. 11. gods like vntounto men are come downe vntounto vsus, yet the spirit of God giueth this iudgement of them, that they make such images their gods: because they hauehave deuised such of themselues, God requireth no such thing, to be represented by: Therefore vaine is the defense of the Papists, which alleadge that they doe not worship the image, but as it hath relation to him, that is represented thereby, Poaln. See further of this controversie, Synops. Centur. 2. p. 402.
2. Controv. Whether images in Churches may be retained, though they be not worshipped.
Like as they onelyonly doe not worship God, which doe pray vntounto him, and fall downe before him, but they also which doe fight for him: So they are not onelyonly worshippers of images, which doe bowe vntounto them, but they also which doe maintaine them, and striue still to hauehave them retained: In this place they are not said to worship the gods of siluer and gold, but to praise them. So they are praisers of images, which thinke they may be retained as ornaments in their Churches: for the verie making of such images for any religious vse, is accursed before God, and abominable, and therefore defileth Gods house, it can be no ornament vntounto it. As Deut. 27. 15. Cursed is the man that shall make any carued or molten image, which is an abhomination to the Lord, &c. God did not onelyonly forbid the Israelites to make them any such images, but he commanded them to breake downe and deface the images of the Cananites, Deut. 7. 5. they might with as good pretense hauehave kept them for ornaments, as the Lutherans doe popish images in their Churches: But as Augustine saith, Deus istarum omnium superstitionum euersionem, iussit, permissit, exhibuit, God hath commanded, permitted, exhibited vntounto Christians the subuersion and ouerthrowe of all such superstitions.
3. Contro. That no Protestants but Papists are the profa…ers of holy things.
v. 23. They hauehave brought the vessels of his house before thee. Pererius taketh here occasion, p. 399. to enueigh against protestants, whom he falsly and contumeliously calleth heretikes, quires sacras Iudi…rio & contemptui habeant, &c. which doe contemne and make a mocke of holy things, which they take away from sacred places and persons, and put them to impure and wicked vses.
Contra. 1. We denie that Church vessels and implements taken from idolaters, are sacred things: they were neuer consecrate vntounto God, but to superstitious vses, and therefore it can be no sacriledge to conuert such things to ciuill vses. 2. If any hauehave abused such things notwithstanding to riot and excesse, they are not to be excused. 3. But the Papists are the profaners of holy things indeed: they profane the Scriptures, not suffering them to be read to the peoples vnderstanding, and the Sacraments, in polluting them with their owne inuentions, they baptise bels, and make an idol of bread in the Eucharist. 4. the Church▪ maintenance by tithes they first tooke away from the Churches, and translated them to their Abbeys, where their fatte bellied Monkes wasted and consumed them in riot, as all the world knoweth.
4. Controv. That there are no certaine periods of kingdomes.
Pappus here noteth, that concerning the periods of kingdomes, they are for the most part quingentorum annorum, of fiue hundreth yeares, or halfe so much: as the Assyrian Empire continued 520. yeares: from the going out of Israel are counted 480. yeares: and thence to the captiuitie of Babylon 430. yeares: from thence to the comming of Christ 490. yeares: the kingdome of Athens from Cecrope to Codrus, continued 490. yeares: and so long the commonwealth of the Lacedemonians from Lycurgus to the ende and subuersion thereof: Some kingdomes continued but halfe the time of this periode, as the kingdome of Israel in Samaria 262. yeares: the Persian Monarchie 230. the kings among the Romanes raigned 245. yeares.
Contra. 1. First they can define no certaine periode of kingdomes: some will hauehave 500. yeares the periode, some 700. some an 120. yeares: and here before diuerse examples are alledged of vnlike continuance.
2. The examples are impertinent: the Assyrian Empire is held to hauehave continued aboue a 1000. yeares: the state of the Iudges exceeded not 300. yeares: the 490. yeares till the comming of the Messiah, take not beginning from the captiuitie, but from the reedifying of Ierusalem after the captiuitie, as is euident, Dan. 9. and in that time there were great alterations in the commonwealth of the Iewes.
3. But many contrarie examples may be produced: the Romane state after the kings were expelled, vnderunder Consuls and Dictators eudured aboue 600. yeares: The dominion of the Turkes hath borne sway a 1000. yeares, the kingdome of France hath continued a 1200. yeares: the state of Venice 800. And for short continuance, the Monarchie of the Athenians exceeded not 50. yeares: nor the Chalde Empire many aboue 70. This therefore is a vaine obseruation, of any such certaine and definite periode of kingdomes.
4. Further in that this Chaldean Monarchie was dissolued because of their iniquitie, two other errors are met withall. 1. of them which thinke that the alteration and change of kingdomes is ruled by the constellations, and aspects of planets: the Chaldeans were very expert in such contemplations, who could foresee no such thing, that their Monarchie was so neere vntounto an ende. 2. they are also here confuted, which thinke there is a fatall destinie of kingdomes, that by an ineuitable necessitie, which dependeth vponupon the connexion and concurrence of certaine secundarie causes, commonwealths come vntounto their fatall ende: We see in this place that no such second causes here concurred, but it was Gods decree, and the writing of his owne hand, which dissolued the Babylonian state for the iniquitie thereof.