Of Idolatry, Text

Of Idolatry · Text

OF IDOLATRY.

foreign

OXFORD, Printed by HENRY HALL, Printer to the Univerſitie. 1646.

p. 1OF IDOLATRY.

§ 1 AS the Judgements of other men have perſwaded me to think it pertinent and ſeaſonable to adde this one unto foure former diſquiſitions, with which it holds ſome analogie and cognation; So the nature of the enquiry hath prompted and directed me to take riſe (as thoſe former have done) from the examination of the word, and that by obſerving the origination firſt, and then Criticall peculiar importance of it among ancient writers, thoſe eſpecially of the Scripture.

§ 2 To that end the word foreign, Idol, of which it is compounded, muſt firſt be viewed. And of that there is no queſtion, but that in the literall notation of it, it ſignifies an Image or repreſentation of any kind, and accordingly in the Old Teſtament is ſet to expreſſe both foreign an image, or ſimilitude, any kind of figure in generall; and foreign a carved or graven image in ſpecie, a ſtatue of wood or ſtone, any kind of Sculpture; Though the truth is, foreign is not the moſt ordinary rendring of either of theſe, but foreign imago of the former, and foreign but twice, and foreign ſculptile of the latter, and foreign but thrice.

§ 3 Three words there are to which it is moſt ordinarily applied, 1. foreign a nothing that hath no being, (to which Saint Paul referres when he ſaith an Idol is nothing) or if you pleaſe a no God, foreign that hath no Divinity, 1 Cor. 8. 4. 1 Cor. 10. 19.1 Cor 8:41 Cor 10:19no power to help the Client or Worſhiper; parallel to that paſſage, Deut. 32. they have provoked me foreign with that which is no God.

§ 4 Secondly, foreign Gods, the many falſe Gods of the heathens, by the Greek ſeven times rendred foreign Idols, unleſſe perhaps it may be conjectured, that they which ſo rendred it in thoſe places, miſtook, or miſread foreign Gods (which in other places they conſtantly render foreign, at leaſt two hundred times) for foreign nothings, vanities, which is very near in writing and ſound unto it, and ſuch miſtakes are no great news in thoſe tranſlatours.

§ 5 Thirdly, foreign Pollution, filth by which any man is contaminated; This is rendred ſometimes foreign abomination, but more frequently foreign (Idol) then any thing elſe, which certainly referres not onelyonly to the pollution of the Soul by the commiſſion of that ſinne (for by every other ſinne ſome ſuch pollution is contracted) nor onelyonly to that other notion of ſpirituall fornication, but principally to the abominable ſinnes of uncleanneſſe, and filthineſſe, which thoſe Idol worſhips were ordinarily guilty of, and from thence received a great aggravation and heightning of their guilt, and p. 2puniſhment. And to the ſame purpoſe the word foreign abomination, or filthineſſe, (and ſo moſt commonly rendred foreign, and foreign) is ſometimes foreign Idol alſo.

§ 6 Other words there are, that ſometimes (but more rarely) are thus rendred alſo, as 1 foreign (from whence the Greek foreign) high places, the Altars or Temples of their falſe Gods peculiarly, (as may appear 1 Macc. 1. 62. where foreign the Heathen Altar was by Antiochus ſet upon the foreign or Altar of the Jews) and theſe would be more properly rendred foreign, Idol Temples, or altars, then foreign Idols, and therefore perhaps in that one place Ezek. 16. 16. where it is rendred foreign, it may be a falſe print, for foreign, I am ſure our Engliſh moſt properly renders it high places, and thoſe are called foreign not onelyonly by the authour of that book 1 Macc. 1. 50. but by Saint Paul himſelf, 1 Cor. 8. 1. ſpeaking of him that eateth foreign in a Temple or other place where thoſe falſe Deities were worſhiped.

§ 7 Secondly, foreign vanitie, from whence it is that the Gentile-Idol worſhipers under the title of [foreign] all men, the generalitie of mankind (or all the world but the Jews) are ſaid to be foreign, Wiſd. 13. 1. vain or Idolatrous by Nature, that is, either by birth born in that Idolatrous age among thoſe Heathens; or elſe by long, popular, nationall, oecumenicall custome, which is, ſaith Galen, foreign an acquired nature; Thus hath Suidas interpreted the word foreign nature, that it is ſometimes foreign a chronicall evil cuſtome, and inſtances in that place where Saint Paul tells the Epheſians chap. 2. 3. that they had been by nature the children of wrath, (as foreign children of wrath, ſignifies peculiarly Gentiles, ſo) the prime if not onelyonly intent of that adjunct foreign is (as many circumſtances in the context will convince) that they were ſuch Idolatrous Gentiles, either foreign by birth, (born ſuch Gentile worſhipers, foreign as the rest alſo of the Heathen world was) or elſe foreign, by cuſtome, by long popular habit of education, or (which will unite both thoſe ſenſes, and more fully expreſſe the word foreign from foreign) by a long habit deduced from their very firſt being or birth, and ſo continuing till the time of their converſion; cuſtomary Idolaters, walking foreign, according to the age or vicious cuſtome of the Heathen World, verſ. 2. and the practices of the foreign, infidels or unbelievers. And ſo will the word be beſt rendred, when the ſame Apoſtle expoſtulates with the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 11. and demands whether foreign (we render nature) did not tell them, that it was a ſhame for a man foreign, which we render to wear long hair, but I conceive, would more properly (according to the uſe of the word in the Greek authours) be tranſlated to let the hair grow at length. If either of the p. 3Interpretations be accepted, then ſure foreign muſt onelyonly ſignifie the cuſtome and faſhion of the place, or of the generality of men, or elſe birth, as that containeth in it the diſtinction of ſexes, or in the mixt ſenſe, an univerſall continued cuſtome from their birth till then; and not nature in the ordinary acception, or as it ſignifies the law of nature written in our hearts. For then not onelyonly Abſaloms hair muſt be againſt nature, (which yet the Scripture charges not with that crime) but even the vow and practiſe of Samſon and the Nazarites, had been an unnaturall ſinne. A later Critick would have foreign be taken for braiding of hair, or making a dreſſing of it (which I confeſſe the Apoſtles argument in that place, and the mention of foreign, a covering, would perſwade) but then ſtill foreign muſt ſignifie (though not onelyonly a locall, yet) an univerſall cuſtome, ſuch as hath deſigned and fitted diſtinction of attires to diſtinction of ſexes, which it would be hard to impute to the dictate of nature in every mans heart, ſo that that ſhould be thought to define what attire is naturall to a man, what to a woman, but is an act either of locall cuſtome, foreign, (which in this matter the Apoſtle appeals to, verſ. 16. againſt all diſputers) or elſe of univerſall cuſtome of all nations, which he ſeems to plead in this place. But I conceive it without example in Authours ſacred, or heathen, that foreign ſhould ſignifie a dreſſing, (whatſoever foreign and other words of ſome affinity may be thought to do.) The notion which at firſt I gave you will ſatisfie all pretenſions both of the Grammarian and the Textuary, that it ſignifie to let the hair grow at length without cutting or poling it, that will ſatisfie the Critick, for that is foreign comam promittere, and to do ſo, there can be little reaſon aſſigned, unleſſe it be in order to braiding it, or making a covering of it, on occaſion of which it is that the Apoſtle here ſaith, that it is an honourable or decent thing for a woman to do ſo, verſ. 15. (and the contrary for a man) and not to do ſo is all one for her, as to be ſhorn or ſhaven, verſe 5. and 6. and ſo that ſatisfies the Textuary alſo.

But this by the way, from this acception of the word foreign vanity, for idols, it is that Rom. 1. 21. Saint Paul ſaith of the heathen, that foreign they became vain, that is, fell to thoſe impious idol-worſhips.

§ 8 Thirdly, foreign Lords or husbands (or as we retain the Hebrew word in Engliſh, Baalim) 2 Chron. 17. 3. Jer. 9. 15. is rendred in the Greek again foreign, idols, and ſo clearly ſignifies thoſe other heathen deities taken into a rivalry with the God of heaven.

§ 9 Fourthly, foreign; we render it the Sun-images in the margin, Eſ. 17. 8. but whoſoever conſiders the place, and Ezek. 6. 4. will acknowledge that it ſignifies (not the images, but) the places of worſhip of foreign that is, the Sun, called by the Greeks foreign & foreign, the places where the ſacred p. 4fires were made in honour to the Sunne, and the word is therefore by the Targum rendred, Iſai. 17. 8. foreign delubra, temples, (a deſcription of which is given us by Benjamin in his Itinerary, and by ſome of the Rabbins, affirmed to have been firſt of a religious inſtitution to God in thankſgiving for that glorious creature) theſe I ſay are once rendred foreign, idols, Iſai. 27. 9. but in other places foreign, temples, &c.

§ 10 Fifthly, the word foreign (farre enough naturally from any ſuch ſignification) is rendred Ezek. 36. 18. foreign, idols, and our Engliſh from thence have continued that rendring [our idols] where yet I conceive the Hebrew ſhould be tranſlated [their actions or inventions] (the word properly denoting any good or evil work or enterprize) and the Greek rendring may poſſibly have been a miſtake of the Hebrew foreign for foreign (from which before we had foreign for idols) and then it will be the ſame in our Engliſh alſo.

§ 11 Sixthly, the word, foreign that ſignifies any cauſe of grief, of toyl, of frightfull paſsion, is often rendred foreign, noting again their heathen Gods, which uſed their clients exceeding ill, the foreign, daemons, the fear and dread of whom produced the Greek word which we render Superſtition, And near of kin unto that, is a ſeventh foreign which once is rendred foreign alſo, and from the origination of the word is juſtly rendred [horrours] in our Margin, 2 Chron. 15, 16.

§ 12 Once more the word foreign Teraphim, thoſe which Rachel ſtole from Laban, are rendred foreign, idols, alſo, and ſeem to have been ſome images (foreign, ſaith Joſephus, images of his Gods) but as others gueſſe, images ſet to a certain poſition of the Starres, with the figures of the planets upon them according to the cuſtome of the Syrians then, by which they were wont to divine; not any thing like the Cup, whereby ſay the Egyptians of Joſeph, he divineth, for that I conceive was but a drinking cup, wherein he uſed to drink in thoſe ſacrifices by which he prepared to receive preſages from God, (and therefore I ſhould render thoſe words Gen. 44. 5. [with which he receiveth preſages] but Aſtrologicall inſtruments, with pictures of Starres upon them, which ſome conceive to have been ſo made, that they were able to ſpeak ſometimes, and then they will differ but little from the Sun-idols even now mentioned, for thoſe they ſay, by the operation of the fire, became vocall.

§ 13 This ſo particular weariſome trouble have I given the Reader at the entrance, to give him occaſion of obſerving that the word foreign, idol, though it ſignifie an image, or ſculpture, or repreſentation ſometimes, yet it ſignifies ſomewhat elſe beſides that, particularly theſe two things, 1. the Heathen Gods under the notion of falſe (together with the Temples wherein they were worſhiped) 2. The ſame again, and their worſhips under the p. 5notions of filthy, unclean, and abominable. Which two notions of the word (that we may proceed a ſtep further) we ſhall now look on, as they were in order to worſhip, and that will open to us ſome entrance to a view of idolatry, or the worſhip of idols what it is.

§ 14 For the former, the worſhiping of falſe Gods, and images, I ſhall give you a brief narration of it out of the ſobereſt of the Jewiſh writers, Maimonides l. 1. de Idololatria.

The firſt riſe of Idolatry is, ſaith he, to be referred to the dayes of Enoſh, when men (taking notice how God had created the Starres and Sphears for the government of the world, and by placing them in ſo eminent a ſtate ſeemed to mak them partakers of his honour, and uſed them as his Miniſters and Officers) reſolved it their duty to laud, and extoll, and honour them, and taught others that this was the will of God, that we ſhould magnifie and worſhip thoſe whom he had preferred and dignified (as a King would have his Ministers honoured) and that that is the honouring of God. Ʋpon this foundation ſaith he, they began to build Temples to the Starres, to ſacrifice to them, bow themſelves before them, that by ſo doing they might obtain Gods favour, and this was the ground of Idolatry, not that they thought there was no God but the Starres, but that they thought this worſhip performed to them to be the will of God. In proceſſe of time falſe Prophets aroſe, pretending meſſages from God, and directions for the worſhiping of ſuch or ſuch a Starre, nay for the ſacrificing to all the hoſt of them, building them Temples, making pictures of them that might be adored by women, children, and all others; and to that purpoſe they invented certain figures, affirming them to be revealed to them by propheſie, to be the images of ſuch Starres. Thereupon men began to make images in Temples, under trees, on the top of hills, and all men to meet and worſhip them, reſolving and proclaiming that from thoſe images all good and evil did proceed, and therefore in all reaſon they were to be feared and worſhiped; the Prieſts promiſing all increaſe and proſperity as the reward of this worſhip, and preſcribing of rules for the performance of it. After theſe, other impoſtours roſe, that affirmed ſuch a Starre, or Sphear, or Angel, to have ſpoken to them, and preſcribed their way and manner of worſhip; in ſumme, it was generally ſpread over the world, that images were to be worſhiped, each by a peculiar manner of ſacrifice, and adoration, and the name of God was quite loſt out of the mouth and minds of all men; ſo farre as not to be acknowledged by them, but all ſorts of people worſhiped nothing but images of wood and ſtone, built temples on purpoſe for them, adored and ſware by their name, and even the Priests and wiſe men among them thought that there was no other God but thoſe ſtarres, &c. for whoſe ſakes theſe images were p. 6made. As for the great God of this world no mortall knew him, ſave onelyonly Henoch, Methuſalah, Noah, Sem and Heber, and ſo it continued till Abraham was born, the pillar of the world. Thus much Maimon. and much more by way of ſtory and obſervation. And what is thus by him obſerved of the heathens, is by others deduced as clearly for the idolizing of Kings and great perſons, foreign, men admired by their flatterers ſaith Chryſostome: which beſides the teſtimony of Wiſd. 14. 17. and Ariſtotle Met. 1. (where he ſhews how admiration of great men and benefactours hath been the great principle of idolatry or men-worſhip) is every where obſervable in the ſtory of the Romane Ceſars, no man dying without an foreign, or being made a God; and then conſtantly the ſetting up of their ſtatues in their Temples, following as an attendant of it.

§ 15 Many Stages you ſee in this accurſed progreſſe of idol-worſhip, before they came to images, and that laſt ſo prodigious a pitch, ſuch a diſhonouring of the deity, that the Pſalmiſt could not ſay any thing more reprochfull of the makers of them, and trusters in them, then that they were foreign, like or equall to their Gods.

§ 16 To this purpoſe there are three notable paſſages which I ſhall but mention, and leave to be viewd at large; the one Iſai. 44. 13. to the twentieth verſe; and the other, Wiſd. 13. 11. and ſo to the end of that Chapter; the third, in the Epiſtle of Jeremy, ſhewing the ridiculous progreſſe of a knotty piece of wood into a ſolemne deity, and the irrationall ſenſeleſſeneſſe of that worſhip, even in the judgement of Heathens themſelves, witneſſe Heraclitus, foreign, praying to inanimate things is like talking to houſes; And yet this madneſſe the conſtant diſeaſe of thoſe that had ſet up any other deitie but that of the onelyonly true God of heaven, that ever adored any creature, foreign Rom. 1. (not onelyonly more, as we render it, but) beſides or except the Creatour; There being no ſtay for thoſe (that became thus vain to worſhip any thing but God) no ſtop in their tumbling (as Maimon. phraſes it) to that deep gulf of impietie, the worſhip of the moſt inanimate mean creatures in the world.

§ 17 The truth is, Maximus Tyrius gives a more favourable ingenious account of this matter, foreign. That as letters were invented for the expreſſing of words, (that ſo by the help of writing, the weakneſſe of mens memories might be repaired) ſo the images of the Gods were provided to help the infirmities of men, in which they may lay up the names of their Gods, foreign, and the famous things that are worth remembring of them, and in brief to help them to celebrate their Gods as they ought, as ſo many foreign, help and manuductions for remembrance, p. 7and foreign, ſignes and tokens of their honouring them, Trophees as it were of their Noble acts to perpetuate the memory of them. So that although, as he acknowledges, God be inviſible to eyes, yet in reſpect of our infirmity, and again of the nature of Lovers to love, to behold their pictures whom they love, it will not be amiſſe to uſe any thing that may thus bring us in mind of God, and all this with a caution, that nothing be terminated in the picture, but the love, and remembrance, and everything beſtowed upon God onelyonly. This is a piece of Heathen divinity very handſomly managed, being indeed no pretence of plea for the worſhiping of Images, but onelyonly the uſing them as helps to perform our duty to God; But it is no news to ſee the actions of the many, and the writings of the few very unlike one the other. (it being very eaſie to write virtuouſly, and hard to live ſo.) And certainly the Heathen practice was quite another thing then this Platonick ſpeculation; and ſo much of the firſt and ſecond notion of an Idol.

§ 18 Now for the other notion of an Idol, as it ſignifies filthy or abominable, it will be worth obſerving, what the Author of the book of Wiſdome ſaith of it in univerſum, Wiſd. 14. where after an enumeration of many other wickedneſſes in their foreign, verſ. 23. in their inhumane ſacrifices and myſteries, he concludes with foreign pollution, inverſion of nature, diſorder of mariage, adultery, and ſhameleſſe uncleanneſſe, verſ. 26. and at length concludes that the worſhip of the nameleſſe Idols, or thoſe not to be named, is the beginning, and cauſe, and end of evil; all the villanies in the world the deſigne and ſpeciall parts of thoſe worſhips.

§ 19 To that purpoſe that I may not lead my reader into the Heathen ſtories, or the relations made by the Fathers in thoſe tracts which they wrote againſt the Gentiles, (that excellent **Orig. con. Celſ. Juſt. Mar. Apol. Clem. Al. foreign. Athenagoras. Theop. ad Autol. Tatianus. Theod. foreign. Euſeh. Praep. Eu. Cyril. Alexan. cont. Iulian. Tertul. A. pol. Minut. Felix. Arnobius. Lactantius. Aug. de Civit. Dei. Firmicus.ſet of bookes, which may ſerve any ſtudent for the Isthmus, or foreign, or paſſage between the ſtudy of humane and divine learning) I ſhall onelyonly point to ſome paſſages in the ſacred writ that look this way. 1. Kings 14. 24. after the mention of the Idols and groves follows that there were Sodomites in the Land, doing according to the abominations of the Heathen, which the Lord had caſt out before the children of Iſrael, which gives you moreover a view of the particularity of the ſinne of the Amorites and other Nations, which provoked God to that fatall ſlaughter, and eradication of them, which is more fully ſet down, Levit. 18. 24, 25, 27, 28. and an expreſſe threat added from Heaven, verſ. 29. that whoſoever ſhall commit any of theſe abominations ſhall be cut off from among their people.

§ 20 And perhaps it will not be unworthy a digreſſion here to mark, that at p. 8the routing out of thoſe Nations, and the planting in of the Jews in their ſtead, by way of Covenant, the condition of that Covenant being that they ſhould fear the Lord, and not walk in the wayes of thoſe Nations) the ſigne or ſeal of that Covenant was deſigned to be ſuch as had a particular reference to theſe ſinnes of the fleſh, and denoted the amputation of the foreign ſuperfluity of naughtineſſe, which had been practiſed among thoſe Gentiles, and which would infallibly bring as certain exciſion upon them, (if they reformed it not) as was threatned by God to every male Iſraelite that ſhould continue uncircumciſed. To the ſame purpoſe were all thoſe laws and writes concerning legall pollutions, to bring them to the greateſt alienation of mind, and deteſtation of this piece of Heatheniſme; Yea and one main part of the promiſe of God upon their obedience, viz. the multiplying of their ſeed (which was ſo remarkable in that Nation, that Joſephus mentions foreign, as the craft as it were, and ſpeciall peculiar excellency of that people) was a moſt naturall proper effect of the abſtaining from thoſe ſinnes, and it is as clear that in our Christian Sacrament of Initiation, the foreign, the waſhing away the ſordes of the fleſh, had a propriety alſo to that, (which is accordingly mentioned in the vow of baptiſme, the forſaking of all the ſinfull luſts thereof.) but this by the way.

§ 21 So again, chap. 15. 12. the Idols and the Sodomites are mentioned together, and 2. Kings 23. 7. the houſes of the Sodomites are caſt down; where there is alſo mention of the groves for thoſe dark purpoſes, by which under that name of foreign Aſtarta ſeems to be deſigned. So when the Babylonians made Succoth Benoth, what is meant thereby but the Tents of Venus, in which all the Virgins were ſolemnly proſtituted to the honour of that falſe deity Venus, under the title of Mylitta? and ſo the prostitution of their daughters for the honour of their gods, which is mentioned not onelyonly by Herod. l. 1. and Strabo l. 16, but in the Epiſtle of Jeremy verſ. 43. where the cords mentioned are undoubtedly the ſignes of their vows (and obligation from thence) to pay that ſacrifice before they went. So Iſa. 57. 5. Inflaming, or you that inflame your ſelves with Idols under every green tree, noting that proſtitution of men and women in the Groves about their Idol-temples, in honour of their falſe gods. And to inſtance in no more, it ſeems not improbable upon theſe grounds that the frequent expreſſions of the Idolatrous practiſes of the Jews by fornication, whoring, and the like, may be ſomewhat more then a trope or figure of Rhetorick, having thus much of Reality in it alſo: It being clear that this falling off to the Heathen Idols brought them oft to theſe Heathen ſinnes alſo; as in the matter of Baal-Peor it is moſt evident. So Rom. 1. 26. it is affirmed of the Gentiles p. 9that as a puniſhment of thoſe Idol-heathen-worſhips God gave them up foreign, to diſhonourable infamous affections, and a particular account of them is ſet down, verſ. 26. women changing the naturall uſe, &c. and likewiſe men alſo foreign verſ. 27. and foreign verſ. 28. guilty of thoſe moſt reprochfull ſhames, and contumelies of nature. Of which there was aboundant ſtore in the Eleuſinia ſacra, Cybeles myſteries, Venus, and Flora's feaſts, from which it will not be tolerable to repeat them.

§ 22 By this ungratefull unſavoury obſervation it will be poſſible to contribute ſome what to the illuſtrating of many places in the New Testament, and particularly of the notion of Idolatry there, (for which advantage it is that this diſcourſe hath thus enlarged it ſelf.) As firſt, Eph. 4. 29. where ſpeaking of the Gentiles, he ſaith foreign (that is, in Heſychius's Gloſſary) who **foreign.giving over all labour, (as idleneſſe is the mother-ſinne of the Sodomites) gave themſelves up to laſciviouſneſſe, to work all uncleanneſſe foreign, we render it, [with greedineſſe] the word is interpreted Covetouſneſſe in other places, but ſignifies not onelyonly that, but all immoderate, and peculiarly inordinate unnaturall deſire, not onelyonly coveting of wealth, I ſay, but in Ariſtotle any thing that is oppoſed foreign to equality, when any man will have (foreign) above his portion. So in Heſychius foreign, to denote the [more then is due or ought to be] whatſoever the ſubject matter be. So in Lucian de calumn: pag. 844. the Calumniator is deſcribed to be one that will have all his auditours to himſelf, will let no man elſe be heard, and for this he calls him foreign, and ſo Democrates in his foreign. defines foreign to be a ſpeaking all, and not endureing to hear any body elſe: And the notion that I now ſpeak of, applyed to inordinate luſt, though it differ in the object, is the ſame in effect with this, a deſiring and uſurping, that which is not agreeable to his condition, ſex, nature, &c. and of that we have a grammaticall ground in the Hebrew word foreign which ſignifies covetouſneſſe and luſt, and being oft rendred foreign is once rendred foreign pollution, Ezekiel 33. 31. where though our Engliſh reade covetouſneſſe, yet the ſenſe directs otherwiſe, even to that which verſ. 29. is expreſt by abominations. Of this I ſhould not thus define, were not many places of the New Teſtament eminently applyable to this ſenſe, nor thus farre extravagate on this word, did it not much tend to the explaining and aſſerting the New Testament notion of Idolatry▪ that now we are upon.

§ 23 In that Rom. 1. 29. you have together in this matter foreign, fornication, villany, (not covetouſneſſe again, but) inordinate deſire and naughtineſſe, and yet more evidently, Coloſſ. 3. 5. where p. 10ſpeaking of the Gentile unbelievers, among their deeds that a Chriſtian is ſo carefully to avoid, the Apoſtle mentions fornication, uncleanneſſe, foreign (I conceive, in Salvians phraſe) paſſivity, evil concupiſcence and foreign, ſure inordinate deſire again which is Idolatry (and this ſeems to me to have been acknowledged by Saint Cyprian, who Ep. 52. will have [foreign, which] referre to each of thoſe foregoing names) the interpretation of that heathen worſhip of theirs, for which the wrath of God cometh on the children of diſobedience (it ſeems again this was the ſinne that brought that fatall deſtruction upon them) foreign, in which ſinnes the Coloſsians had ſometimes walked when they lived foreign, among the Gentiles. So Eph. 5. 3. let neither fornication, nor uncleanneſſe, or foreign, inordinate deſire be named among you, (thoſe nefanda, ſinnes not to be named) as becomes Saints, as they are oppoſed to Gentiles again. And ſo verſe 5. Every fornicatour, and unclean perſon, and foreign, (not covetous, but inordinate luſter) who is an Idolatour.

§ 24 This may poſſibly be the notation of Idolaters alſo, when the Apoſtle ſaith, 1 Cor. 10. 6. Be not ye Idolaters, as were ſome of them, as it is written, they ſate down to eat and drink and roſe up to play. For the Greek foreign, which we render to play, may poſſibly referre in that place to thoſe ſinnes of uncleanneſſe. It is clear that foreign doth Gen. 39. 14, and 17. which we there render [mock] and though foreign be not the word there uſed, yet the Hebrew foreign ſignifies both, and is the word uſed both in that place of Geneſis, and Exod. 32. 6. from whence our Apoſtle cites it; and if comparing the ſtory Acts 7. 41. (where it is ſaid in this matter, foreign, they rejoyced in the works of their hands) be apt to perſwade any, that foreign to play, is all one with foreign to rejoyce, and ſo that both denote their dancing before their Idol, it will be as obvious to replie that foreign there uſed, ſignifies moſt properly the rejoycing at a feast Luke 12. 19. and 15. 23. 24. 29. 32. and 16. 19. and ſo following, the offering of ſacrifice to their idol, ſhall denote a ſacrificall feaſt, and be all one with the eating and drinking here, but not with the playing that attends it: and ſo ſtill the foreign may probably be thus interpreted; eſpecially when in this place it follows immediately after foreign luſters after evil things, and is attended with foreign, neither let us commit fornication. &c. and from thence perhaps it is that verſe 14. to his exhortation of flying from Idolatry, he ſubjoyns verſe 15. I ſpeak to wiſe men, judge what I ſay; not willing to adde more words on that ſubject. This is but a conjecture of which I am not confident. But no queſtion, this is the meaning of foreign, the abominable nefarious Idolatries, 1 Pet. 4. 3. of the fruitleſſe works of darkneſſe, whereof Chriſtianitie made them aſhamed of the foreign, p. 11thoſe things that were done in ſecret, and foreign, which it was a ſhame to name or ſpeak out; (all one perhaps with the foreign, the hidden idolatry in the Councel of Laodicea) to which you may adde, 1 Theſſ. 4. 3. this is the will of God, foreign, your purification, conſiſting as it follows in abſtaining from fornication, &c. and after foreign, in purification and honour (as that is oppoſed to foreign, diſhonourableneſſe, vileneſſe, Rom. 1. 26.) not in the luſt of concupiſcence, as the Gentiles &c. To which purpoſe it is the conceit of ſome learned men, that that which follows muſt be applied foreign, verſe 6. (though our Engliſh reading look quite another way) for ſo the context will enforce, verſe 7. for God hath not called us, foreign, for uncleanneſſe, but foreign, to or in purification. And ſo every of thoſe words will bear, if it were now ſeaſonable to inſiſt upon it. And it is obſervable that Iſai. 57. 8. where the Prophet ſpeaks to the **That that whole verſe belongs to that matter will appear, if you view it in the Originall. Thus. foreign thou haſt been diſſolute (laxata … dilatata) foreign by thy lying with them (ſo it is rendred Num. 31. 17.) Thou haſt cut them or made them Eunuchs for thy ſelf (ſo foreign which perhaps we miſtake for foreign Covenant, doth ſignifie, and ſo the Targum renders it foreign ſuccidiſti, detruneaſti) thou lovedſt to lie with them, &c.Num 31:17adulterous Apoſtate Iſrael [Thou haſt diſcovered thy ſelf to others beſide me, and art gone up, &c.] the Greek Tranſlatours have uſed theſe words, foreign, &c. by foreign, [departing from me] expreſſing [the diſcovering her ſelf to others beſide me] and by foreign [deſiring more] rendring [the going up] which may therefore ſeem to be ſet in that place (according to the Hebrew foreign conſcendit, aſcendit, tranſcendit) for [foreign] in the notion that we now ſpeak of; and then you ſee the ſympathy betwixt foreign and foreign, according to the dialect and idiom of thoſe writers.

So 1 Cor. 5. 11. foreign, either fornicatour, or inordinate luſter, or idolater. Which cannot be applied to the worſhip of images, becauſe he there ſpeaks of Chriſtians in the profeſſion at leaſt, who ſure did not then worſhip images, but might be guilty more probably of thoſe carnall heathen uncleanneſſes, thoſe impurities ſo ſolemnly uſed in the idol-worſhips. In which place, and the precedent verſe under the generall word foreign, fornicatours, are ſpecified foreign, the fornicatours of this world, that is, the Gentiles, foreign; The inordinate luſters and idolaters again belong to that matter; and ſo it is more then poſſible may the foreign too, which we render extortioners, but may rather ſeem to ſignifie the foreign, or foreign, the rape or ſtealing of women or virgins, the foreign, 2 Pet. 2. 12. preying on them (the literall notation of the word from foreign, rapio, by which as by foreign, the Hebrew foreign is rendred) and ſo I have obſerved the word to be uſed in Conſtant. **foreign Raptoris bona publicanda, &c.Harmenopulus, and may perhaps alſo in Saint Matth. chap. 23. 25. where foreign is joyned with foreign, incontinence, and oppoſed to foreign and foreign, cleanſing and clean, verſe 26.

p. 12§ 25 To this nothing can more clearly belong, then that mention of Idolaters, 1 Cor. 6. 9. being ſo joyned on both ſides with fornicatours, adulterers, ſoft or effeminate defilers of themſelves with mankind. And what if the phraſe foreign, Rom. 2. 22. do ſo alſo, [thou that abhorreſt Idols] The word foreign ſeems to referre to thoſe (ſo frequently called) foreign, abominations; whether (thoſe of the Sydonians, and the like, that is, whether) abominable ſacrifies, killing, and offering their ſonnes and daughters unto devils, or abominable ſorceries, Deut. 18. or abominable ſenſeleſſe ſtupidity, in worſhiping inanimate creatures, or abominable luſts in their idol-feaſts, I ſhall not now define, but onelyonly obſerve, that if we ſhould applie it peculiarly to the laſt of theſe (yet not excluding the reſt) the rationall importance of the place will bear it very well. Thou that doſt ſo deteſt and abominate thoſe heathen villanies in their idol-worſhips, if upon that ground of zeal thou robbe and rifle their Temples, wilt never be able to clear thy ſelf.

§ 26 Having gone through ſo many, there are but few more mentions of theſe words [Idolater or Idolatry] in the New Teſtament, I ſhall briefly give you a view of them, Gal. 5. 20. Where of the works of the fleſh, carnall ſinnes there are in the Front, Adultery, fornication, uncleanneſſe, foreign (that foreign, Heſych.foul ſinne, which our Tranſlation renders here laſciviouſneſſe, but elſewhere ſhameleſſe uncleanneſſe, Wiſd. 14. 26. Idolatry, &c. all clearly of a making, if this notion of Idolatry be accepted. So Apoc. 21. 8. where among the eight ſeveralls, to which the fire and brimſtone old Sodoms lot, is apportioned, you will find theſe five unbelievers (a generall word for Gentiles) foreign (we render it abominable, it is moſt probably in that place, and in that conjunction thoſe that have been guilty of thoſe foreign, abominations, or beſtiall ſinnes, as Apoc. 17. 4. you have foreign, the abomination and uncleanneſſe of her fornication, and ſo verſe 7. fornicatours, and idolaters, and all liars, (that is, I conceive all that are guilty of thoſe falſe idolatrous worſhips) and ſo again, chap. 22. 15. Fornicatours, Idolaters, and every one that loveth and worketh a lie, (all thoſe that delight in, and practiſe thoſe falſe worſhips, which are called a lie, Rom. 1. 25.) and foreign ſorcerers in the front, either becauſe that ſinne was ſo ordinarily joyned to thoſe other heathen impieties, (as may appear by one eminent place, Deut. 18. from the ninth to the thirteenth verſe) or upon a ground, which I ſhall have occaſion to mention anon, of conjuring their Gods by magicall ceremonies, (foreign and foreign) to adjoyn themſelves to the conſecrated images. And all this under the title of the dogs that are without, that is, the Gentile world of Idolatours.

p. 13§ 27 Thus in ſome Latine fragments of Polycarpus's Epiſtle ſpeaking of Valens a Presbyter of Philippi, and his having committed ſomewhat utterly unworthy of that calling (which is not there named, and perhaps by that may be rather gueſſed at what it was) by his example he admoniſheth others to abſtain [ab avaritia] (that ſure was in Greek, foreign) from inordinate deſires, [& ſint casti] and be chast. Adding, that whoſoever did not thus abſtain [foreign] ab idololatria coinquinabitur, & tanquam inter Gentes judicabitur, will be contaminated by Idolatry, and ſhall be judged as among the Gentiles.

§ 28 I have now ſufficiently importuned and tempted my readers patience with theſe obſervations, which might be thought very extrinſecall to the matter in hand (eſpecially as farre as concerns the word foreign) but that they tend immediately (to which I deſigned them) to that third and main importance of the word [Idol] in the Old Teſtament; and more then ſo, to the explication of the word Idolatry (and by the way, of many difficult paſſages) in the New, ſo as to ſignifie thoſe Heathen baſeneſſes, that Chriſtians were too apt to learn from the Gentiles, when their Image-worſhip was leſſe tempting to them, and may therefore poſſibly be the vice, from which the Apoſtle ſo dehorts his little children, that is, his new born babes in Chriſt or Gentile converts, that they abſtain or keep themſelves from Idols, 1 John 5. 21. for there was (as farre as we reade in Scripture) little of any other kind of Idolatry in faſhion among Chriſtians at that time (unleſſe perhaps the eating the foreign may come under that title which yet Saint Paul prohibits onelyonly in order to Scandall.) and that this was, not onelyonly ſlyly and ſecretly (but even avowedly and profeſtly) you may ſee 2 Pet. 2. which Chapter being read and weighed in the Originall, will appear to be almoſt wholly ſpent on this matter. I will give the Reader a little light to it.

§ 29 There was it ſeems a villanous ſect of falſe teachers ready to creep in among thoſe Chriſtians, verſe 1. bringing in foreign doctrines of deſtruction; you will gueſſe what that means, if you mark what ſome ancient * Codex antiq. in Coll. Magd. Ox.copies ſet in ſtead of that word which we render [deſtruction,] when it returns again verſ. 2. for there the old manuſcripts have foreign want onneſſes, in ſtead of foreign deſtructions. Our Engliſh reades damnable hereſies in the firſt place, and pernicious wayes in the ſecond, but thoſe are onelyonly generally paraphraſes which come not home particularly to the notation of the word, and therefore the margin of our books confeſſing that other reading, renders it verſe 2. laſcivious wayes, in the ſenſe that now we contend for. This is further explained (which convinces the diſcourſe to belong to this matter) by the ſinnes of the old world, verſe 5. and of Sodom p. 14peculiarly, verſe 6. by the foreign. verſe 7. the converſation of thoſe that obſerved no laws in their laſciviouſneſſe, ſuch as did ſo grieve righteous Lot in Sodom, by foreign luſt of pollution or abominable deſire, verſe 10. by foreign. verſe 12. we render it [born to be taken and deſtroyed] but it ſignifies rather in the active ſenſe, that are made ad praedandum to prey, (or catch and tear, ſo Job 24. 5. foreign by the Greek rendred foreign to catch, is in the Chaldee paraphraſe riſing up early to their prey) and to corrupt, that is, good for nothing but to aſſault and debauch (as ravenous beaſts do uſe to prey upon) all they meet with promiſcuouſly; and it is obſervable that the word foreign which properly ſignifies thoſe things which are taken and torn with wild beaſts, (becauſe ſuch were not to be eaten **Vid. excerpta Gemarae tr. Sanhedr. c. 1. §. 7.Lev. 17. 15.) is by uſe enlarged to all forbidden meats among the Robbins (if the lungs of any thing have a hole in them, they call it foreign &c. ſaith **In Thiſbi. p. 139.Elias Levita) and ſo by analogy is here made uſe of to denote thoſe unclean prohibited acts, which are ſo to be accounted of among Chriſtians, as the cibus vetitus among the Jews, and therefore it follows, that thoſe that take pleaſure in that foreign, ſuch riotous actions as theſe verſe 13. are called foreign and foreign from the Hebrew foreign macula, ſpots and blemiſhes, (ſuch as among the Jews made the ſacrifice unclean) defilers and polluters of thoſe, with whom they do foreign feast or revell, in the end of that verſe. So it is again expreſſed verſe 14. by having eyes full of the adultereſſe, and that ceaſe not from ſinne, intangling, unstable or unconfirmed Souls, that is, new converted Chriſtians, having a heart foreign (in the ſenſe which before we gave of the word, and which belongs to it alſo verſe 3.) exerciſed with thoſe inordinate lusts, that is, wholly employed on them; which denominates them foreign children of a curſe, that is, worthy to have a curſe fall on them (as the Sonne of perdition worthy to be deſtroyed) And ver. 15. by the way of Balaam (who we know brought the Iſraelites to that ſinne of uncleanneſſe with the Moabitiſh women, and to the curſe by that means) by foreign verſe 18. that high pitch of vanity, or falſe Idolatrous worſhip, as a ſnare to bring men to the foreign &c. lusts of the fleſh, laſciviouſneſſe, &c. (with reference to the vicious Heathen **foreign.converſation) by a villanous licentiouſneſſe, verſe 19. (ſtolen in under pretence of Chriſtian liberty, but being indeed the baſest **Vide Rom. 6. 10.Rom 6:10ſubmiſsion) and by foreign, the pollutions of the Heathen world, that is, of the Nations, or Gentiles, verſe 20. (which the knowledge of Chriſt was deſigned to turn out, but complying and mixing with it, was the vileſt and moſt damning condition that could befall any, verſ. 21, 22.) and at laſt by a foreign the moſt ſwiniſh wallowing in the mire of all uncleanneſſe. And if p. 15you would know who theſe unclean hereticks were, (which Chriſtianized all the villanies of the old Idol-worſhips) referred to in this and other places of the Epiſtles, I ſhall not poſitively define, but leave it indifferently between the Gnoſticks and the Nicolaitans, the Gnoſticks covertly **foreign.named 1. Tim. 6. 20. (it ſeems they were then a creeping in at Epheſus) and profeſtly declaimed at Tit. 1. under the title of the Cretian evil beasts, and ſlow bellies, verſ. 12. and foreign, polluted perſons, verſ. 15. and foreign abominable, and ſuch as by their works deny the faith, verſ. 16.

§ 30 For, that theſe (being called to foreign purification, and not to uncleanneſſe, that is, being by their converſion to Chriſtianity obliged to forſake thoſe carnall lusts) did abuſe the Grace of God (that is, the light and mercies of the Goſpel) to wantonneſſe, foreign. Jude verſ. 4. (which that it belongs to this matter in hand will appear by the parallel aſſigned them, verſ. 7.) that is, uſed it as an occaſion to commit, or protection to continue in ſuch ſinnes, that they were guilty of ſtrange prodigies of filthineſſe, and retained in their Sacraments ſome Symbola of them, I had rather ſhould be learnt from Epiphanius, then from this paper. Of them this is ſufficiently known, that perſwading themſelves, that they were the Children of God, they thought they might wallow in all filthineſſe, and be no more polluted by Irenaeus.it then the Sunne beams by the dunghill on which they fall; And againſt that doctrine of theirs it is that ſome interpret that of Saint John [that he which is born of God cannot ſin, becauſe he is born of God] that is, cannot ſinne upon that head or ſcore, to ſignifie that their being born of God can be no patent or ſecurity for their ſinning.

§ 31 As for the Nicolaitans which had their names from Nicholas the Deacon in the Acts, and their ſenſuall practices from his example (as might appear by the vile paſſages that Saint Jerome and others relate of him) I ſhall not need to ſay more then what we find mentioned of them, Apoc. 2. as firſt, that their works were odious to God, verſ. 6. then ſecondly, that it was a ſect of doctrine among Chriſtians (as odious as it was) verſ. 15. and it will not be unſeaſonable to pray, that God will keep all Sectaries from the like. Thirdly, that it was the ſame doctrine that Balaam taught Balaac to bring the Iſraelites to a curſe, when nothing elſe could do it. verſ. 14. and that fourthly, not onelyonly ſpecified in the ſtory to be whoredome with the daughters of Moab, Numb. 25. but in this place particularly mentioned foreign, eating things offered to Idols, and fornication; it ſeems the former of thoſe, the Idol-feasts, was wont to be previous and preparatory to the latter, (and Saint Hieromes relation of Nicholas witneſſeth the truth of the parallel) and therefore of the ſeven precepts of the Sonnes of Noah, mentioned in the Apoſtles Councell in the Acts (required p. 16of all proſelytes that came in to Judaiſme, and ſo by way of complyance at that time, preſcribed to all the Gentiles that became Chriſtians) the two firſt were thoſe of abſtinence from meats offered to Idols, and from fornication, Acts 15. 29. and the former of them, verſ. 20. called foreign, the pollutions or abominable villanies in thoſe Idol-worſhips, as in Heſychius foreign is expreſt by foreign, participation of their abominable (or as he renders foreign) unclean ſacrifices, and the ſecond foreign fornication, being all one with the foreign de retectione nuditatum, all uncleanneſſe in generall contains adultery, incest, and all unlawfull luſts. And that will give an account why thoſe foreign ſhould be ſo forbidden in the Acts (it ſeems for that danger of unclean ſinnes ſo commonly annext to the Idol. feaſts, as will appear, Pſal. 106. 28. and Numb. 25. 1. 3.) and yet be counted of as perfectly indifferent things by Saint Paul 1, Cor. 8. viz. being ſeparated from all danger of that unclean appendage. Fifthly, of theſe Nicolaitans works it is there added, that unleſſe they be ſtraight reformed, God will come quickly upon that Church of Pergamus, verſ. 16. and that coming ſignifies a fatall blow, which was not onelyonly obſervable to have fallen upon the ſeven Nations, on Sodom, ou moſt of the great Monarchies of the world, for the revenge of this provoking ſinne, (Idolatry thus heightned with this addition of villany) but even more then one of thoſe ſeven Chriſtian Churches may be thought to have been involved in that guilt, and ruine; even this of Pergamus, and the next of Thyatira, verſ. 20. which ſinne being deſcribed by Jezabel making her ſelf a Propheteſſe, and teaching and ſeducing Chriſtians, foreign, to commit uncleanneſſe, and to eat things offered to Idols, (in the ſence before mentioned) and by foreign depths of Satan, verſ. 24. ſhe is ſaid to have time given her for the reformation of this villany, verſ. 21. and not making uſe of it, to have been delivered up to destruction, verſ. 22.

§ 32 All this I have ſaid, and might adde much more, to clear this truth, that there were ſuch Idols for new converts to take heed of, in thoſe dayes, ſuch carnall Goſpellers, that retained that part of the Heathen Idolatries, which fleſh and bloud was moſt apt to be taken with, when the worſhiping of Images was caſt out. And if that villainous piece of Heatheniſme which (by Gods deſertion, and that thick long darkneſſe, (wherein they lived) lay before the coming of Chriſt, as an hideous ſinne at once and judgement on thoſe barbarous times, cannot yet (by ſixteen hundred years of full light, and by all Chriſts precepts for all kind of purity of the very heart) be exorcized, or mortified amongſt us, and if ſtill our ears are open to every ſect of hypoctiticall profeſſours, though never ſo wild and ignorant, p. 17that brings any liberty, or proffer of carnality along with it, then ſure is the title of Christian but ill beſtowed on us, we are ſtill the groſſeſt Idolatours in the world; and ſo are in all reaſon to expect the moſt exemplary puniſhments, which fell on them, be it the portion of Sodom, a judgement rained down immediately, a kind of fire and brimſtone from heaven, (ſuch are our ſtrange, groundleſſe, irrationall deſtructions wrought upon one another at this time, which no man living can tell from whence they came; which is a ſure argument that there is ſomewhat of the foreign in it, either as that ſignifies the divine hand of God, viſible in the judgement, or as foreign ſignifies alſo that **foreign. Heſyc.brimſtony fire that comes with thunder) or be it the judgement that fell upon the Nations for thoſe villanies, a foreign, or finall deſtruction of a profane polluted people.

§ 33 Having gone thus farre in our inqueſt on occaſion of the origination and uſe of the word Idolatry, eſpecially in the old and new Teſtament, and found ſomewhat meant by it in the New, which is not ſo vulgarly taken notice of, I ſhall deſire to prevent a miſtake, and do therefore profeſſe not to have deſigned theſe obſervations to that end, that the ſinne of Idolatry ſo declaimed at in the Scripture, ſhould be thought to ſignifie nothing elſe, but thoſe acts of villany in the Heathen myſteries; or becauſe the worſhiping of images is not ſo frequently ſpoken of in the New Teſtament, that therefore it ſhould be no ſinne now under the Goſpell. That it is a groſſe and provoking ſinne in them that are guilty of it, there is no queſtion, and the affirmation of Text is clear, that there is no communication or reconcileableneſſe betwixt the Temple of God and Idols, 2. Corinth. 6. 16. and that the guilt of that ſinne among the Nations worſhiping thoſe ſenceleſſe Deities, was ſo great, that it provoked God by way of juſt puniſhment to deliver them up to thoſe infamous vile affections. Rom. 1.

§ 34 I ſhall now therefore proceed from the more criticall to the reall materiall part of the diſcourſe, and inquire into the nature of that ſinne, merely as it is a worſhip of Idols, or images. In which matter you may firſt obſerve ſome conſiderable difference between the two ſorts of reſemblances, which have been uſuall among men. Some extantes, corporeall figures ſtanding out, foreign, ſtatues, graven images; others onelyonly repreſentations, or pictures, painted on windows, tables, chalices, &c. The former of theſe were moſt uſed by (becauſe fitteſt for the turns of) the Heathens, being by them (through the commodiouſneſſe and advantage of their bodily ſhapes) conceived to be more capable of animation by thoſe gods of which they were the reſemblances. Thus is it the known divinity of **Aug. de civ. dei. l. 8. c, 23.Triſmegiſtus (or ſome body in his diſguiſe) that Statues or Simulachra were the bodies of their gods, who by ſome magicall ceremonies of conſecration (whence it p. 18ſeems to be that, Galath. 5. Apoc, 1. 22. foreign ſorceries, are joyned with idolatries) were forced to **Neque aera neque auri argentique materia quibus ſigna conhe…nt, eſſe Deos decernimus, ſed eos ipſos in his colimus, quos dedicatio infert ſacra, & fabrilibus efficit inhabitare ſimulach. is. A… nol. cont. Genti. l. 6.joyn themſelves to them, to animate them, to aſſume, and inhabit thoſe earthen bodies as it were. To which fancie perhaps the Apostle may relate, when he tels the Christians that their bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghoſt, that God is powerfully in them, though not in thoſe dumbe images. And **Deſacrif. & Mag.Proclus relates it as their opinion generally, that the gods were by their favour and help preſent in their images, and thereon is grounded the old relation of the Tyrians, who on a fear that Apollo would forſake them, bound his image faſt with golden Chains, and that other of the Athenians who clipt the wings of the image of victory, that ſhe might not fly away from them. And ſo the Sicilians in **Divin…. in Q. Cacil.Cicero complaining that they had no gods in their Iſle, give this reaſon for it, that Verres had taken away all their Statues. And ſo the Idol thus raiſed above its naturall pitch by bringing down ſome aethereall ſpirit into it, (viz. the god whoſe image it was) became a god in their opinion, and was thought able to hear, ſee, ſpeak, help, do any thing that belonged to a Deity. Thus doth Nero in Suetonius pretend to know things to come by the inſtruction of ſuch an icuncula or little image. So Triſmegiſtus tels us of ſpeaking Images, and Hiſtorians the like of Memnons Statues, and ſo Labans Teraphim, being ſuppoſed to have had a ſpirit included in them, went for Labans gods. And it is not improbable by the Text that the Iſraelites Calf was by them thus counted of, as an image which upon Aarons conſecration was thus animated by God, and ſo fit to go before them, to be their conductour in Moſes abſence, whom they knew to be moved and directed by God.

§ 35 It is clear, this Calf, theſe gods as they call them, were by them deſired to ſupply Moſes place, and though the conjecture be not improbable, that the figure of it was the ſame with the figure of a Cherub (which God after appointed to be in the Tabernacle, Exod. 25. 18. and of which it is poſſible Aaron might then have ſome intimation) as may appear by comparing Ezek, 1. 10. with chap. 10. 14. where that which is the face of an Oxe, or Calf in one place, is the face of a Cherub in the other, and the ground of this reſemblance in reference to Joſephs providing for the Egyptians, and alſo for his father and brethren in the famine (whereupon his ſcutchion is ſaid to be an Oxe, agreeable to that prophecy of him, Deut. 33. 7. his glory is like the firſtling of a bullock, as Minutius for his care of feeding the ſouldiers in a dearth was honoured by the Romanes with a golden Oxe, Liv. l. 4. and as Suidas relates of King Apis that he fed the Alexandrians in a famine, and therefore was honoured after death with a Temple and an Ox in it) yet was this image worſhipt by them (as appears by their p. 19ſacrificall feaſt and celebration) and ſo uſed juſt as the Egyptian Idols, which were accounted as ſo many gods. And therefore the queſtion which is ordinarily made, [whether the Iſraelites worſhip this Calf, or onelyonly God in this Calf] may well enough be ſuperſeded, and the reſolution be ſufficiently clear, that they worſhip not God onelyonly, but the idol-calf alſo, (and ſo I am ſure their ſucceſſors have conceived, which talk ſo much of a grain of the Calf in every judgement they have ſuffered ever ſince) and ſo doted upon the ſpecious Idol. and were tranſported with their ſenſuall way of worſhiping it, that God was quickly almoſt loſt, and forgotten amongſt them, their heart going back into Egypt, where ſuch like images had been in faſhion and were wont to be worſhiped.

§ 36 What is now ſaid of this will belong alſo to the erection of Jeroboams Calves; of which though it may not be improbable, that they alſo were the imitation of the images of the Cherubim in the Temple, and ſo the ſame of ſetting them up in Dan and Bethel an act of Schiſme, deſigned on purpoſe by Jeroboam to keep open the great diviſion in the State, 1. Kings 12. 26. yet was it not the guilt of Schiſme alone, to which it was lyable, (as **Aaron Purgatus.Moncaeus hath laboured to perſwade) but having an addition of ſacrificing to thoſe Calves alſo, verſ. 32. and the proclamation of [Behold thy gods, O Iſrael, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt] verſ. 28. (which intimates them to be ſet out by him to the people for ſo many animated inſpirited images) no queſtion but the guilt of Idolatry belonged to it, and that the divine cenſure and character of Jeroboams ſinne (that ſtuck ſo cloſe to his poſterity) importeth alſo.

§ 37 The other pictures which are called dimiſſae, depreſſae, a plain painting on a table, &c. without any protuberancy, or bunching, were not by the Gentiles thought ſo capable of receiving that animation. The diſtinction is Maimons; the firſt he calleth foreign the protuberant image, the other foreign the depreſſe, either drawn on a table in colours, ſaith he, or weaved in hangings. The former of theſe and not the latter, was it which was ſo ſtrictly forbidden the Jews (and accounted as a foreign of polytheiſme, a token of the worſhiping of many gods, (a diſcriminative note between the worſhipers of the one true, and the many falſe Deities) becauſe of that Heathen opinion, that ſuch ſtatues, or protuberant pictures were by magick made capable of theſe ethereall ſpirits; an abuſe, of which the depreſſe pictures were not ſo capable. And hence it is (not without reaſon) that learned men that conceive the ſecond commandment to prohibit none but the former (peculiarly the graven image) and to that purpoſe reade that which follows, by way of explication, not of disjunction, [graven image, the likeneſſe] &c. (as it is Deut. 5. 8. in the Hebrew, p. 20not, [or the likeneſſe] do extend it even to the making, or having any ſuch, and not onelyonly to the worſhiping of them.

§ 38 Thus, ſaith **c. 3. 12.Maimon. it is forbidden to make images though it be onelyonly foreign for ornament; but then that, ſaith he, is to be underſtood of the images, that bunch out, or are emboſſed; but for the painted or woven foreign they are not unlawfull: and he ſpecifics very nicely that a ring that hath for a ſeal the figure of a Man, if it be gibbous, or ſwelling out, is not it ſelf lawfull to be worne, but yet it is lawfull to ſeal with it, becauſe the impreſſion, in that caſe, is hollow, not ſwelling out, and on the otherſide if the ſeal be depreſſe, or hollow, it is lawfull to weare, but not to ſeal with it. chap. 3. §. 13. It is true this he reſtrains again, that none (in this matter onelyonly for ornament) is forbidden, but the figure of a man; but others in obedience to the words of the ſecond command, extend it to the prohibition of all living creatures alſo, (onelyonly the inanimate, ſuch was the Golden Vine in the Temple, were excepted,) And truly it ſeemeth very probable, that to the Jews it was (whether by the force of the ſecond commandment, or by ſome precept elſewhere, or by the Tradition of the Elders, I ſay not) conceived utterly unlawfull to have any ſuch images, eſpecially in their Temples or places of worſhip (unleſſe in caſe of Gods particular command, as the Cherubim, and the brazen Serpent) yea and to bow in their preſence in any place; for this will Maimons ſtating the ſeverall caſes convince to have been his opinion, and, as he conceived, the conſtant doctrine of the Jews. I am ſure they are appointed to be broken down, Exod. 34. 13: and examples there are of the peoples practice that way, both in the ſtory of Herods Trophies, and the Eagle ſet up by him over the gate of the Temple, and in many other particulars; And the Greek Church at this day, though it hath pictures good ſtore, yet I think it hath none of theſe emboſſed Statues allowed in it (which yet the Lutherans uſe promiſcuouſly, yea and clothe and adorn them too, and conceive not themſelves to ſin againſt any commandment of the law, becauſe they do not worſhip them.)

§ 39 The reaſon of this prohibition to the Jews, is by Maimonides again cleared to be, not for any naturall primitive ſinfulneſſe in an image of a man &c. but onelyonly for caution, (and therefore within the vail whither the eyes of the people were not permitted to enter, God himſelf appoints the Cherubims to be ſet up, and Solomon graved Cherubims upon the walls of the greater houſe, 2. Chron. 3. 7. that is, in the body of the Temple I conceive, becauſe none but the Priests did come in thither, Luke 1. 8, 9.) to hedge and keep them from all danger of falling into the Heathen worſhips, and upon the obligation of the words of that Text, Exod. 34. 12. beware &c. leſt it be a ſnare unto thee.

p. 21§ 40 And therefore it is further reſolved, that all thoſe images were unlawfull to them, (and perhaps none but theſe.) W^ch Idolatours uſed in their worſhip; and ſo the ſpecifying of the three ſorts in the Commandment may argue, [the things in heaven, in earth, in the waters], from each of which the ſeverall follies of men had fetched their Deities. To inſtance onelyonly in the laſt and loweſt of them, that the Crocodiles in the river were ſo accounted of among the Egyptians is clear (among many other) by one notable relation in Max. Tyr. foreign. There was a woman, ſaith he, in Egypt that nurſed up a young Crocodile, and was counted a mighty happy perſon foreign, as one that had brought her God to hand, and kept it tame by her; this woman, ſaith he, had a ſonne foreign, of the age of the God, and when they grew up to ſome bigneſſe, the Crocodile killed and devoured the child, foreign, ſhe in her mourning for her ſonne pronounced him blest in this death, that he was thus offered up a preſent to her domestick God. And they which could worſhip ſuch wild vulture Gods, could not much be blamed, if they deified every onion in the garden, much more every ſtarre in the skie, which ſure deſerved their acknowledgement much better then the vulture of the ſea the Crocodile, had done.

§ 41 Agreeable to this interdict of Caution among the Jews (extended onelyonly to thoſe images which were ſo abuſed by the Heathens) is the deſigne of thoſe Homilies in our book, concerning the peril of Idolatry, which though they acknowledge that * images be of themſelves things indifferent, and that * men are not ſo ready to worſhip a picture on a wall, or in a window, as an emboſſed and gilt image ſet with pearl and ſtone, and profeſſe (in the P. 20. lin. 1. P. 27. near the end.beginning of the third part of the Homily) that all which is ſaid, is thus meant, [in that we be ſtirred and provoked by images to worſhip them, and not as though they were ſimply forbidden by the new Teſtament, without ſuch occaſion and danger] and count it a piece of Superstition, and ſcrupuloſity to abhorre all pictures, as images of princes, &c. which, ſaith that Homily, Chriſt ſaw on the Romane coyns and reprehended them not, nor condemned the art of painting and image-making as wicked of themſelves, p. 44. yet, in reſpect of the frequency of that ſinne in thoſe times of the ſo eminent danger that images in Churches would be worſhiped, and all poſſible means would not be probable to ſecure the uſe of them againſt that danger, they do with great earneſtneſſe exhort the not ſetting them up, eſpecially in countrey Churches, where the number of the ignorant may much enhaunce that danger; and it may be obſerved that in the Articles of our Church we make acknowledgement of that whole book of Homilies, that they were uſefull and profitable for thoſe times, wherein (being ſo lately p. 22gotten out of Popery where image-worſhip was ſo ordinary) the danger was ſo great of falling back, upon every temptation, to that ſinne. And though the Homilies be wary and carefull to prevent another contrary danger, leſt any private perſons under colour of destroying images ſhould make any ſtirre or disturbance in the common-wealth, and therefore addeth **P. 18. l. 2.that it must alwayes be remembred that the redreſſe of ſuch publick enormities pertaineth to the Magistrate, and ſuch as be in authority onelyonly, and not to private perſons, yet to thoſe whoſe duty it is to take care for the people that they be godly as well as quietly governed, the exhortation is very inſtantly preſſed, that (after the pattern of Hezekiah, &c.) they perform this part of their duty, viz. that as Hezekiah did in the caſe of the brazen Serpent, ſo the Magiſtrate whenſoever he ſees images to be abuſed, or the people apt to worſhip them, think himſelf obliged in conſcience to appoint them to be removed in care of the honour of God, and the peoples good. And this is certainly very good and wholeſome doctrine, and nothing more reaſonable, then that he which is defendour of the Faith, ſhould take care to defend the impotent ſeducible weakling (I mean not the railer at images, who ſure is of all others the ſafeſt from that danger of worſhiping them, and conſequently diſclaims any want of that fatherly caution,) from ſuch imminent peril (when any ſuch there is) of this image-worſhip. And that this is the Supreme Magiſtrates charge, and belongs not to any inferiour, further then to execuſe what he commands, might be evidenced from the doctrine and cenſures of the Church, in the caſe of the iconoclaſtae, if it were now pertinent. To this I ſhall onelyonly adde (that which I conceive other mens experience of themſelves will incline them to believe) that the worſhip of images or any thing but God, is not a thing to which Engliſh Proteſtants for theſe late years (eſpecially the Catechized and knowing) have generally had any ſtrong temptations, at leaſt not ſuch in any compariſon, as immediately after the reformation, the minds of men (before uſed to ſuch ignorant vanities) were ſubject to. And I doubt not but many men that have frequented Churches, and places where pictures have been, can ſincerely upon examination of their memories, ſay with me, that they are not conſcious to themſelves, that they ever found themſelves under any inclination or danger of falling into any act of image-worſhip. Which conſideration, if it be true, (as I cannot but perſwade my ſelf it is) will take off much from the neceſſity of continuing thoſe ſtrict cautions (of not permitting any kind of image in any Church, and the like) which ſome other times or inclinations of men might make more neceſſary, and conſequently take off much from the odium which the way of adorning ſome Churches with imagery hath lately laine under.

p. 23§ 48 What was ſaid of having emboſſed images among the Jews may be enlarged alſo to bodily geſtures, whether religious to God, or civil to our ſuperiours, in any place where images are; for both theſe ſeem to have been interdicted the Jews, at leaſt by them to have been accounted unlawfull (as will at large appear by Maimonides in the book forecited) though the heart were never ſo farre from worſhiping the images. But then though the Jews were under that ſtrict reſtraint, yet aliens, proſelytes, of other nations, were not bound to that ſtrictneſſe; but Naaman is permitted by the prophet to go with his Heathen Maſter into the houſe of Rimmon, and (when the Maſter worſhips there, and leans upon his hand) to now himſelf in the houſe of Rimmon, 2 Kings 5. 18. upon this ground, firſt, that he never went into the Idol-temple, but to wait upon his Maſter in the office which he had. Secondly, that he profeſſed himſelf to all, (even to that heathen Maſter, and thoſe that were in his Court) to be a worſhiper of none but of the true God, and to that end carried two mule-loads of earth out of Paleſtine with him, v. 17. in honour of him whoſe name was great there, and to build an Altar, according to the preſcript, Exod. 20. 24. by which it was ſufficiently clear to the beholders, (as by an interpretative proteſtation) that, when his Maſter worſhiped, he onelyonly bowed, and then his bowing was onelyonly civil to his Maſter the King, not religious to Rimmon or Saturn, or his image there; And therefore to his queſtion whether God will be offended with him in that matter, the Prophet anſwers him with a [go in peace.] I cannot think ſo irreverently of the Prophet, as that he ſhould make that anſwer ironically to his new convert (any more then I can believe Naamans ſcruple belonged onelyonly to the former part of his life (reading it in the praeter ſenſe) for ſure that had been guilty of the worſhiping the Idol, and not onelyonly bowing in the houſe of Rimmon) but that he meant in earneſt, what alone the words import, that in thus doing, and no more, he need not fear that he ſhould be a breaker of that Law, which in this particular was not given to him, or any but thoſe of that Nation, or people of the Jews; For it is an ordinary obſervation, that Gentiles or aliens were received in among the Jews under a double capacity, either as Proſelytes of Juſtices, to ſubmit to the whole Judaicall law, to every rite and poſitive precept of it; or elſe onelyonly as Proſelytes of the Gates (and ſuch was Naaman) to ſubmit to the ſeven precepts of the Sonnes of Adam and Noah (and no more) among which the foreign of the ſtrange worſhip, or Idolatry was one, and ſo a neceſſity impoſed on them of caſting off the Idol. worſhip, but not of not bowing to the King in the preſence of an Idol, unleſſe the caſe were of ſuch a geſture that in that nation were performed to none but the deity in worſhip (the reaſon that the Grecians refuſed once to bow to the p. 24Perſian King, becauſe that reverence was there performed to none but God) which was not the manner then in Syria, but veneration and even proſtration paid to the King as well as to God. Thus much I have ſaid on occaſion of the firſt ſort of Images, the emboſſed and protuberant among the Jews; and ſhall not need to deſcend to a more particular ſurvey of the ſecond ſort, it being already manifeſt that the reaſon that prevailed to prohibit the very having the former among the Jews, did not even in their opinion extend unto the latter. And for worſhiping, though the latter were not among them ſo likely to occaſion that ſinne, yet if any Jew ſhould have been ſo mad to worſhip any ſuch image, the ſinne it is acknowledged, would have been as great, as that which was committed with the groſſer corporeous object, and ſo will it hold infallibly among all others.

§ 43 Thus farre have I gone on the ancient old Teſtament notion of an Idol, and the Idolatry forbidden there. It may now be fit to proceed one ſtep further, and to enquire whether there may not poſſibly be in the Chriſtian Church, ſuch a ſinne as Idolatry, that is, whether he that acknowledges the Chriſtians God, and worſhips no heathen Deity, much leſſe image of ſuch, may not yet poſſibly fall into that ſinne of Idolatry, as that ſignifies worſhiping ſomewhat elſe beſide the inviſible God, be it an image of God, or elſe a Saint, or Angel, or ſomewhat elſe clothed in ſome reſpect or relation to God.

§ 44 And here will be no neceſſitie or uſe of drawing a formall charge (in this matter) againſt any particular man or Church, or poſſibility of defining (from books eſpecially) which (or whether any whole) Church or ſort of Chriſtians at this day) are guilty of this ſinne, becauſe it is to be expected that the writings of prudent men will be ſo cautious, as not to accuſe themſelves in this matter; as even now I gave you an example from Maximus Tyrius a Platonick heathen in the deſcription of it among the Gentiles. Yet becauſe **Divos, divàſque non aliter venerantur quam Deum ipſum, &c. Lud. in Aug. de civ l. 8. c. ult. vid. Caſſand. conſult. de imag. Polyd. Virg. de rerum invent. l. 6. c. 13. § 45.ſome number of ſober men which have lived in the Romane Communion hath given me occaſion, I ſhall interpoſe my wiſh, that the care which by their writers is taken for excuſe of the doctrine of the learned, were uſed for the directing and examining of the practices of the ignorant alſo.

I ſhall therefore ſet down in theſi what may, according to the grounds laid in the former part of this diſcourſe, conclude a Chriſtian guilty of Idolatry, and leave every mans own conſcience (and among all others the Romanists) to examine, and as occaſion ſhall be, to accuſe himſelf, and every Chriſtian to adviſe and exhort (but withall to abſtain as much as is poſſible from judging) other men.

§ 46 And firſt, I conceive that he that (by doctrine, and action) attributes to p. 25any creature, particularly to an Angel, thoſe things which belong peculiarly to God, though he acknowledge the true God, is yet guilty of that ſinne, as truly as thoſe Heathens that worſhiped the creature foreign beſide the Creatour, Rom. 1. that is, worſhiped God, but not God onelyonly. (Thus the Arrians were condemned of idolatry, that affirming Chriſt to to be a creature and not God incarnate, they did yet beſtow divine honour * Athanaſ cont. A…. or….on him, and ſo Neſtorius in like manner, and his followers ſtyled foreign man-worſhipers, and both theſe ſentences confirmed by the ſecond * Eph. Concil. cap. 67.Councel of Nice, which is thought ſo favourable to images.) As for example.

§ 47 To attribute to the Angels omniſcience, omnipotence, &c. that is, that the Angels can freely underſtand all mens prayers, and as freely grant them their wants, is, I conceive, a piece of Idolatry, [Freely] I ſay, and I mean by the word [freely] their doing it by their own originall power, and not onelyonly by Gods revealing the one to them, or by giving them power to do the other. As for him, that ſuppoſes the Angels to know all things which God pleaſes to reveal to them, by looking upon God as on a voluntary glaſſe (as Biel ſets it) and withall believes, that God reveals all things to them ſo, and that thereupon they know by that means whatſoever any man ſaith to them at any diſtance; Or again, for him that conceives them to ſee all things in the world by ſeeing Gods face, and looking on it as in a naturall glaſſe, that reveals all that God knows without any choice, or act of his will (as ſome others ſet it), theſe may be very erroneous, yea and (if they teach them for doctrines) be guilty of ſinne, in that (but ſpeculative) miſtaking, namely the ſinne of dogmatizing, of affirming for matter of Faith that for which they have no ground of Scripture or evidence (which I conceive to be the fault charged on ſuch, Col. 2. in the phraſe foreign, undertaking to penetrate, or know what men know nothing of, foreign, vainly puffed up with the thoughts of their own fleſh, their own reaſon, or fancie, fictions of men, (Gnoſticks, &c.) without any revelation from God) Yet can I not ſay, that theſe are Idolatours by ſo conceiving, or thinking, or affirming, by imagining theſe vain or falſe things, if they go no further: (as they that came into the foreign, into the preſence of Images, but worſhiped them not.) But then if they adde practice to conceit, worſhiping thoſe whom they have elevated to that pitch; build Altars, make offices, pray to them, eſpecially in the houſe (or in the time of the ſervice) of God, they do by this action, adde a greater aggravation to the speculative ſinne, and for ought I know, fall into a kind of idol-worſhip, fancying Angels to be what they are not, and then paying them that adoration which is due onelyonly to God, at leaſt p. 26they fall inro a prohibited act, by neglecting the onelyonly Chriſtian courſe of making our addreſſes onelyonly by Christ to God, which I conceive is the meaning of foreign, Col. 2. 18. Let no man deprive you of that Chriſtian bravium or prize,] the peculiarity of priviledge of coming unto God by Christ onelyonly. The ſame will be ſaid of offering ſacrifice, incenſe, or the like unto them (acts of worſhip and ſo peculiar to God (making vows or ſwearing by them, asking grace, pardon of ſinnes, or ſalvation of them.

§ 48 As for the **Via Con. cil. Laod. can. 35. p. 352. & Zo. nar. in can. …tum, & Judill in Cod eccl. univerſ. p. 262. § 49.Angelici in the primitive Church, who conceived that nothing was to be asked of God but what was by the petitioner committed firſt to one Angel, then from him to another, and ſo by thoſe many degrees brought to God, this may be thought a firſt riſe of the ſinne of Angel-worſhip, ſomewhat parallel to that, which we gave you from Maimonides of the Heathen Idolatry.

What hath now been ſaid, muſt be taken with ſome caution, and it is this, that to bow to an Angel appearing to any man, (which civility we pay to any ſuperiour) would not come under this cenſure. A conſideration which hath made ſome wiſe men think that the Angels refuſing of worſhip at Saint Johns hands in the Revelation, chap. 19. 10. was not the rejecting it as an act of Idolatry (or any kind of ſinne if it had been accepted) but as an evidence of the Angels acknowledging himſelf Johns Fellow ſervant (the reaſon which is there rendred in the Text) and ſo not ſuperiour to him in that office. But to this it may be ſaid, that the Angels admonition [worſhip God] that follows, may poſſibly argue that John took the Angel for God appearing▪ and accordingly worſhiped him, and therefore I ſhall not define. But then ſtill for any other reverence or bowing, but that of divine adoration, there is no queſtion but it may be performed to a man, when we meet him, and then much more unto an Angel; And that any geſture of reverence ſhall paſſe for divine adoration, will, I conceive, be onelyonly in the power of God, and each mans own ſoul to define, the ſame outward act being (without any danger) performable both to Man and God, and nothing but the intention of the perſon making the difference. Much leſſe will the worſhiping of God, when an Angel appears to us, (as ſuppoſing God to be peculiarly preſent where thoſe his Satellites or Courtiers appear) come under that charge, nor conſequently doing it in the Church (peculiarly at the firſt **Vid. view of the New Directory, p. 21. & p. 82.entrance into that holy place) where the Angels are ſuppoſed to be preſent (the Angels ſinging with us, ſaith Chryſoſtome, and Angelus Orationis, ſaith Tertullian, and the preſence of whom in the Church is uſed by Saint Paul, as an argument for the decent behaviour of women in that place) as Jacob at the appearing of the Angels both put off his Shoes p. 27from his feet, and reſolved that God was in that place, and that it was no other but the houſe of God, or gate of Heaven.

§ 50 Nor will it be the ſinne of Idolatry to beſeech that Angel, (in caſe he appear to me) to joyne with me, or help me, or to commend my wants to God in his prayers, any more then it will be, to requeſt the like favour of any fellow-Chriſtian upon earth. The Idolatry is either in the heart, the giving him a free unlimited power, or in the actions praying to him, as ſuppoſing he had ſuch power, and not the bare obſerving, (and reverencing accordingly) his created power or dignity, held from God by way of dignation, or deſiring him, (when he comes within my reach) to diſcharge any office of charity to me.

§ 51 The ſame may be ſaid again of the Saints in heaven, that the beſeeching them to beſtow mercies upon me, the putting up thoſe petitions to the bleſſed Virgin, &c. which are terminated in her ſelf (as many Forms, if not her whole Office may appear to be) are, over and above the errour of thinking her able to relieve them, acts parrallel to that old Idolatry alſo; And the thinking them to come to the knowledge of our prayers in ſpeculo again, is a preſumption in a matter of which Scripture hath told us nothing, and ſo may fall under the fore-mentioned accuſation.

Yet ſo again, that if it were ſure to any, chat any Saint doth hear his demands, it were certainly no fault to begge that favour of him, which were in his free power to beſtow, and which we ordinarily demand of one another, that is, the joyning with, or for us, aſſiſting and reinforcing our prayers to God. And ſuppoſing that they do not hear or understand what he ſaith, yet what guilt ſhall lie on him that thinks they do, and ſpeaks accordingly to them, I omit now to define, becauſe it is not to my preſent purpoſe, which was onelyonly to enquire what is Idolatry, not Folly, what Worſhiping or praying for help, to that which is not God, not ſpeaking to them to pray for us which cannot hear.

§ 52 Next for images either of God, Chriſt, or Angels, or Saints, many particulars may be reſolved and avowed from the principles of diſcourſe already laid, 1. That to conceive them able to hear and help by virtue of him, whoſe image they are, is a ſpice of that heathen doctrine of [Images being the bodies of the gods] (of their being animated by thoſe whoſe images they were) which had among them its foundation in ſorcery, and then was the ground of Idol-worſhip; and it were happy if ſome **Non video in multis quod diſcrimen ſit inter ecrum opinionem de ſanctis & id quod Gentiles putabant de d…s ſuis. Lud Vives …n Aug. de civ. l. 8. c. ult.Ignorant Chriſtians in ſome places, were not either willingly betrayed to, or uncharitably kept in this barbarous rudeneſſe. So again will it be, 2. to pray to, or to beſtow any act of divine worſhip on any ſuch Image in any reſpect; For that ſuppoſes, and is built on the former conceit, and ſo a worſhiping of that p. 28which is not God; and what is that but Idolatry? I ſay, in any reſpect, and I mean with any diſtinction of mediante imagine, or relativè, &c. For firſt it is an unreaſonable thing for them, to whom the law is given, to make a diſtinction by which it may in ſome ſence be lawfull not to keep it, ſuch diſtinctions muſt be made by the law-giver, or elſe they are not ſafe. 2. Although it be to God alſo, mediante imagine, that is, firſt faſtning my act of worſhip upon the Image, as the next or immediate object, and then mediately on God, this is clearly to worſhip the Image, though not the Image alone, and that muſt be Image-worſhip, or 2. though it be onelyonly relativè to the Image in relation to God, whoſe Image it is, this is again worſhiping that Image, though not that Image onelyonly, and that will not reſcue the worſhiping of an Image from the cenſure of Image-worſhip, any more then the affirming Faith to juſtifie inſtrumentaliter relativè, is not the affirming it to juſtifie.

§ 54 As for the difference betwixt image-worſhip and idolatry, or idol-worſhip, if any ſuch be pretended from the difference between image and idolum, it will not be worth our pains to examine it, becauſe the worſhiping of any thing which is not God, be it image or idol, Christian or heathen ſimilitude, or any thing elſe, will fall under the guilt which now we ſpeak of.

§ 55 But then 3. on the other ſide to worſhip God (and none but God) in a Church where images are (without ſo much as fixing the eye on them in the act of adoration) to uſe an image onelyonly for ornament (in a kingdome were Image-work, hangings, and pictures, do paſſe for the nobleſt way of adorning thoſe places which we moſt prize) to pray or to bow down to God (and to him onelyonly) in a Church where ſuch repreſentations are ſet up (for beauty, or as an indifferent thing) without any the moſt inferiour degree of worſhip to them, (nay with a proteſtation of renouncing and deteſting it) cannot be affirmed Idolatry, without either affirming God to be an Idol, or elſe [not worſhiping] to be [worſhiping] nor indeed be liable to any guilt unleſſe it be in order to ſcandall, which how farre it is to prevail, as we have already given an intimation, ſo the grounds of defining have ſufficiently Of Scandall.been laid down in another diſcourſe.

§ 56 And ſo for the reverent uſage of an Image, if it ſignifie no more then the uſing it civily for his ſake, or in remembrance of him whoſe ſuperſcription it bears, eſpecially if that be but a privative reverence, (a not uſing it vilely and contumeliouſly) or whatever may not come under the ſtile of a poſitive act of adoration, this is no part of religious worſhip, any more then the laying of a Bible on the Table, and not on the ground, &c. But if it be the actuall beſtowing of worſhip on that inanimate thing, as on the next (though not laſt) object, I mean beſtowing that adoration on the p. 29Image (though in a lower degree) in one act, which in another is given to God, worſhiping the Image for Gods ſake (the relative worſhip) or God mediante imagine, ſo that the Image be either the object, or part of the object of any one act of worſhip, it will fall under the cenſure of Image-worſhip.

§ 57 Thus doth the Capitular of Charles the Great charge it on the Biſhop of Cyprus in the ſecond Councell of Nice, that he allows the image the ſame worſhip which belongs unto the Trinity; (and ſome learned Papists, Aquinas, Bellarmine, &c, have done little leſſe) But he that will ſurvey the Greek acts of that Councell, will find the Capitular miſtaken. For when the Greek reades, foreign, I perform that adoration of worſhip to none but the Trinity, (and faith of the images, onelyonly foreign, &c. I receive and embrace them reverently) the Capitular reades it in a quite contrary ſenſe, for having ſaid, Servitium adorationis quod Trinitati debetur, ei ſe redditurum garrierit (which though it hath no great hurt in it, becauſe the word [Ei] that follows, may apply it to Trinitati, and cannot referre to imagines, yet by [gorrierit] it apears the Capitular did not take it ſo) it is added, Servitium ſoli debitum Creatori, exhibere ſe fatetur Creaturis, &c. Which is a plain calumny to that Biſhop, and even contrary to the former part of the relation, (the Latine words cited from the Councell) if the [Ei] be taken notice of.

§ 58 As for the very making of an Image of God the Father. who never was clothed in fleſh, or viſible form. if it be on deſigne ſo to repreſent him, or if (being made) it be received as a reſemblance, or. Image of him, this is a moſt irrationall folly or miſtake, for which there is no excuſe; and though it be not idolatry, unleſſe being thus made it be worſhipt alſo, yet is it a direct contradiction to one great end of Gods prohibiting Images, viz. that all men be admoniſhed that he is inviſible; and it is worth obſerving, that the ancienter of the Heathens themſelves have reſolved God to be ſo farre from any viſible ſhape, that they would not allow the making any image or picture of him. Thus Empedocles, foreign, &c. No mans head, or feet, or knees, or other limmes to be conceived in God. foreign, &c. but a ſacred in-effable mind; ſo ſaith Plutarch in Numa; that Pythagoras foreign, conceived God (under the title of the first▪) to be inviſible, &c. and that on thoſe grounds Numa forbad the Romanes, foreign, to conceive God to have the ſhape of any creature, or to have foreign, any formed image of God. Which ſaith he, continued for one hundred and ſeventy years after the building of Rome, no foreign, p. 30image of any form to be ſeen in their Temples. So faith Gerſon, I remember, of the Temple of Peace in Rome, which it ſeems was of that firſt erection, ſine ſimulachro, ſine imaginibus, it had no reſemblance or image in it. So Antiphanes of God; that he is not known by an image, nor likened to any thing, foreign, and therefore no man can learn him by the help of an image. And Philoponus in his Preface to Ariſtotle de Anima, conceives it very neceſſary to a pious man that would conceive, or pray to God as he ought, to ſtudy the Mathematicks, by the help of which he may be able to abſtract and ſeparate foreign, from matter, and ſo have a right notion of the deitie. So agreeable to the generall notion of wiſe Heathens (till a cuſtome of ſin had beſotted them) was that of God himſelf to Moſes, Thou haſt not ſeen any ſimilitude at any time, Deut. 4. 8. On which the making any image of him is prohibited. All which notwithſtanding, if in the repreſentation of a ſacred ſtory, there be ſet down any form, particularly an eye, a ray, a glory &c. not to expreſſe the perſon of God the Father, but to ſtand for him, not to ſignifie any ſuppoſed likeneſſe of him (which is impoſſible) but onelyonly to preſent him to the mind of the beholder, a doing ſome action of his (which is in effect to do the very ſame thing in a Table, which the word Jehovah or God would do in a Book) I conceive not what charge could be laid on it, at leaſt what degree or ſpice of Idolatry, unleſſe I muſt be thought to worſhip the name of God, becauſe I write or reade it.

§ 59 As for the reſemblance of the man Chriſt Jeſus, the bare expreſſing and not worſhiping that form, that was ſo long viſible on this earth, as this pretends no more to the painting of divinity, then the lines of a body can be thought to undertake to expreſſe the ſoul, (and ſo cannot be accuſed of that impoſture) ſo will it not be lyable to any other charge with any that hath not reſolved all pictures even of his own parents unlawfull. (unleſſe it be perhaps in order to the danger of being worſhipt by others, which conſequently ought very prudently to be weighed and conſidered, before any ſuch be ſet up in any place, as before was touched.)

§ 60 And the ſame may be ſaid of the pictures of holy men, the diſcourſe wholly abſtracting from worſhip, or deſigne, or thought of worſhip, as here it doth in our preſent conſideration; To which purpoſe it is obſervable, that Calvin himſelf is by Doctor Reinolds produced, and avouched (againſt Bellarmines contrary ſlander) to affirm the Images of Chriſt and the Saints, non eſſe prohibitas ſimpliciter not to be ſimply prohibited; and ſo in like manner, Luther, the Zuinglians, Melancthon, and the Madgeburgians, all deteſting the worſhip of Images, but not the Images themſelves. And ſo Illyricus and Peter Martyr alſo, who thinks the worſhip of images to p. 31be a prime part of Popiſh Antichriſtianiſme, doth yet reſolve, Chriſti & Sanctorum imagines haberi rectè poſſe, modò ne colantur atque adorentur, that the images of Christ and the Saints may lawfully be had, ſo they be not worſhiped.

§ 61: Once more to worſhip the bread in the Sacrament, muſt (whereſoever it is to be met with) certainly be Idolatry too, in the literall notation of the word, that is, the worſhiping that which is not God. And for thoſe that do this on any the ſubtleſt ground, that by any errour or miſtake (be it never ſo piouſly taken up) do actually worſhip this bread, that firſt conceive it to be turned into the very body of Chriſt, and the elements after conſecration to be no longer bread and wine, but very Chriſt incarnate, and thereupon do worſhip it. Theſe I ſay, in caſe they be miſtaken, and thoſe elements be not ſo turned and tranſubstantiated into Chriſt, though they are not guilty of the ſinne of Idolatry in all the aggravations that belonged to it among the heathen; being not guilty of their foreign, the acknowledgement of the many gods, of which their image worſhip was an appendage, yet can I not free them from the charge of worſhiping an idol, that is, ſomewhat which is not God, viz. a piece of conſecrated bread, &c.

§ 62 He that conceives this too ſudden or ſevere a cenſure, may know that the Papiſt-Doctours are very ready to make confeſſion of it themſelves. If the elements be not ſo changed, ſaith Coſterus of Tranſubſtantiation, we Papiſts are the meaneſt vileſt kind of Idolaters in the world, worſe (as I remember he addes) then the Laplanders that worſhiped a red Cloth, And there is no denying it upon that ſuppoſition, becauſe it is part of the ſuppoſition, that what is ſo worſhipt for God, is not God, and that is foreign an Idol in the Scripture-ſenſe, which is all that I have now ſaid.

§ 63 And if it be replyed that they worſhip nothing but what they conceive to be Christ, and conſequently that the Ignorance and contrary perſwaſions which may be pretended for ſuch acts in ſome men, particularly the Romaniſts, may plead much for them in Gods Court, (as we reade that the times of Ignorance God winked at in ſome Heathens, though that was an idolatrous ignorance, ſo farre at leaſt as not to deprive them and their poſterity of all means of recalling them) I ſhall then anſwer, that ſo I ſhall hope (and pray) that it may do in this matter alſo, move Gods mercy ſo farre at leaſt, as (if not to pardon the ſinnes without repentance, yet) to give grace to work a ſight and a change in ſuch ſeduced ignorants.

§ 64 And then putting the caſe anew, whether, If the bread in the Eucharist p. 32be not tranſubſtantiate (as, according to ſome other principles of the Papiſts, I conceive it near demonſtrable that it is not, that I mention not the direct contradictions which are affirmed or implyed in that doctrine) and yet Costerus and his friends think it is, ſuppoſing them to come honeſtly and blameleſſely to theſe errours, If, I ſay, It be demanded, whether in this caſe [that their ignorance or errour be grounded on miſunderſtanding of Scripture] This ſo ſimple and not groſſe ignorance may ſerve for a ſufficient antidote to allay the poyſon of ſuch a ſinne (of materiall though perhaps in them not formall Idolatry, becauſe if they were not verily perſwaded, that it were God they profeſſe, they would never think of worſhiping it) I ſhall then anſwer, that of this matter I had onelyonly temptation to make, and ſet the question (as before I had of prayer to Saints, ſuppoſing the petitioner to believe that they could hear him) but have now no neceſſity to define and ſatisfie it, being onelyonly to conſider what idolatry is, not how excuſable ignorance or miſtake can make it. Yet ſomething it will not be amiſſe to adde to direct our Charity.

§ 65 That this ignorance, or falſe opinion will not make the worſhiping of bread (remaining bread) to be the worſhiping of none but God, I conceive it is plain, Or if it would, it would make the Heathens worſhiping of an image, to be the worſhiping of none but that God whoſe image it was, for they ſure believed as much that that image was by conſecration become the body of God, and animated by it, as any Papiſt believes tranſubſtantiation. But whether this their errour was as capable of Apology or pardon, being infuſed into them by their falſe teachers (which yet they thought to be true ones,) and pretended to Revelation for it (ſaith Maimonides) as this which is taken up upon the words of Scripture, (though in a miſtaken and (as I conceive) impoſſible becauſe contradictory, ſence) I ſhall now define no further, then by ſaying theſe two things.

§ 66 Firſt, that the Heathen idolatry was the worſhiping of the many falſe Gods firſt, and then of the images of them, (the former of which theſe men are not ſaid, or thought to be guilty of) ſecondly, that the more the conſcience believes this errour to be a truth of Gods, and the more innocently it comes to that beliefe, the eaſier in all probability will the ſentence be another day; That ignorance or miſtake which ſincerely and honestly (without mixture of carnall principle, or deſigne, prejudice, or paſſion, &c.) founds it ſelf in the word of God miſtaken, (and would be laid aſide, if ſufficient inſtruction were offered) being very juſtly the object of our pity and our prayers, and neither of our cenſure, p. 33nor ſcorn; And if it were merely a ſpeculative errour, and had not the happineſſe of ſome impious practice attending it, I ſhould make the leſſe doubt of its obtaining pardon at Gods hands; And howſoever I will hope, it may ſtill (at that gracious tribunall) be farre from being irremiſſible to him, who hath reformed his other known ſinnes, and for all known and unknown is truly humbled.

§ 66 This manner of ſtating of this difficulty, may in reaſon perſwade them that are concerned in it, to be willing to ſee and reform their errour, if it be poſſible, or if prepoſſeſſion have made it otherwiſe to them, yet in all juſtice not to expect of us, (who profeſſe to believe that the elements are not tranſubſtantiate, and that the humane nature of Chriſt is received and contained in, and confined to Heaven, till the day of restitution of all things; and this withall upon the ſame grounds, (I mean of literall affirmation of Scripture) on which they profeſſe to believe that this is Christs body, and this neither contradicted by any other Scripture, nor implying any thing like a contradiction in reaſon, nor a ſavageneſſe or a ſinne, as Saint Augustine ſaith eating of Chriſts fleſh doth, and that therefore it muſt not be literally interpreted) to worſhip that which we think a creature, or ſomewhat which is not God, or anathematize us and ſeparate from our communion for not doing ſo.

§ 67 As for our Church, which onelyonly adores Chriſt in the Sacrament (as that ſignifies the Action, in which certainly Chriſt is) and not the Elements themſelves, nor Chriſts body locally preſent under the ſhape of thoſe Elements, (as certainly it cannot be, without either being no longer in Heaven or being in more places then one at once) which hath ſet the doctrine of that Sacrament in a moſt exquiſite temper to ſatisfie all rationall Christian pretenders, in that moſt excellent Catechiſme in the Liturgie, and in her practice allows the Elements, no more then a reverent uſage proportionable to ſuch inſtruments of Gods worſhip, (which is both juſtified by **Caſe of Conſc. c. 31.Ameſius, who aſſignes them a ſingular reverence in time of the uſe of them, and a privative kind of reverence after it) there can be no ſhew of charge againſt it for ſo doing, nor conſequently for kneeling at the time of receiving the Sacrament which is onelyonly a kneeling to God in prayer (which might be now further enlarged on, but that it hath had its place in another **View of the New Direct. p. 27.diſcourſe) unleſſe it be a fault to worſhip Chriſt, or to chooſe that time or place to do it in the lowlyeſt manner, when, and where he is eminently repreſented by the Prieſt, and offered by God to us.

§ 68 As for the Eaſt, or altar, or ſyllables of the name of Jeſus, he that muſt p. 34think them worſhiped, by thoſe who profeſſe and proteſt to worſhip God, and none but God, (that way or on that occaſion) muſt either be of a very ſhort diſcourſe, (like them in Athenaeus, that hearing men crie foreign God help, when the neighbour ſneezed, thought the very thing which we call ſneezing, or elſe the brain from which it came, to be a God ſo worſhiped by men) or elſe of a very pettiſh ſpleen, that can condemne the moſt blameleſſe authorized practices, not onelyonly of this preſent particular, but of the ancient univerſall Church (for the worſhiping God toward the Eaſt was moſt eminently ſuch) upon any the moſt irrationall jealouſie, or diſlike.

§ 70 And ſo laſtly for the ſigne of the Croſſe, uſed by our Church in baptiſme, which hath been by ſome cryed down under the title of Idolatry, two things it will not be amiſſe briefly to have obſerved, 1. That the ſame ground of zeal or paſſion that hath incited ſome men lately to charge it of a breach of the ſecond Commandment, hath long ſince moved **Parker on the Croſſe.one of the ſame ſpirit to accuſe it as a ſinne againſt the other nine, and to intitle his ſeverall Chapters of the Swearing, Sabbath-breaking, murder, adultery, ſtealing, falſe witneſſe, &c. and at laſt of the concupiſcence of the Croſſe, as well as the idolatry of it, the reaſons being much alike for the whole charge. 2. That the ſigning with the ſigne of the Croſſe in that Sacrament, is ſomewhat diſtant from that which the Papiſts uſe, and an act of departure from them, in King Edwards ſecond Liturgie, more then had been in the first Reformation. The former cuſtome was to croſſe the child at the Church-doore, when it was brought to Baptiſme, but this of ours as a mark of initiation or reception into Chriſts flock, immediately following Baptiſme, and a kind of teſſera, or military ſigne that the perſon thus conſigned into Chriſts militia, ſhall for ever after think himſelf obliged manfully to fight, &c. A change made merely out of compliance with them who were jealous of too great an inclination to Popery, and yet now charged with the guilt of that which it was on purpoſe deſigned to decline.

§ 71 I ſhould not I conceive be thought in earneſt, if I ſhould go about to vindicate the uſe of the Liturgy, and of all ſet forms of prayer from this charge of Idolatry; It is true it hath been printed, that words in a book are images, and conſequently that to pray before a book, or uſe a book in prayer, is Idolatry, or Image-worſhip. But till this argument be extended to all words spoken, as well as written, and ſo all vocall (though it be extemporary) prayer, condemned for Idolatry alſo, I ſhall not conceive that diſputer to have believed himſelf, nor conſequently give him or my reader the trouble of an anſwer. In ſtead of extending this p. 35enquiry to the ſurvey and vindication of thoſe many other particulars, to which the fancies or furies of this laſt yeare have affixed this charge; all that I have now to adde is onelyonly this, that I ſhall beſeech God to give ſuch miſtakers underſtanding firſt, and then Charity, to make uſe of it to edification, and not to deſtruction, to the reforming their own ſinnes and not condemning or reproching other mens laudable, at the leaſt innocent actions.

Judge not, that ye be not judged of the Lord.