Right Thoughts, Part 2 · Section 25
Sect. XXV.
God Inviſible.TO think alſo, but to think holily, and with awful Impreſſions upon our Hearts, of this INVISIBLE Lord God, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto, 1 Tim. 6.16. No Image to be made of God. Deut. 1.12, 15. and 24.24.whom no man hath ſeen, nor can ſee; of whom they ſaw no ſimilitude in Horeb; Therefore ſaith God, take good heed to your ſelves, leaſt ye corrupt your ſelves, and make you a graven Image, or the ſimilitude of any figure, &c. for the Lord thy God is a conſuming Fire, even a jealous God. So that the making of any ſhape of God, though men may pretend they do it to advance God in their thoughts, Images no help in godly thoughts.or to help them in their thoughts of God, whether it be by Hand or Heart, Work or Thought, IMAGE or IMAGINATION, doth nothing conduce to the making man Zealous, but God jealous; nor to the ſtirring of the Fire of mans affection to his Maker, but of Gods Indignation againſt his Creature; whom whilſt vain man preſumes to meaſure by his vain mind, He denies him to be God, for he is not God except he be greater then our hearts. And thus the old Romans changing the glory of the incorruptible God into an Image are charged not to like to retain God in their Knowledge; Rom. 1.23.A Text of Scripture that cuts off every Dagon by the very ſtumps; for whilſt this is pretended as the great uſe of Images, Baniſh Gods knowledge.Pictures, Shapes and Figures, to help the ignorant, to keep God in their minds, to be Lay-mens Books, to help Devotion, to heighten Holy Thoughts, The Text ſaith expreſly, that as theſe come in, God goes out;Verſe 21. becauſe when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, but became vain in their IMAGINATIONS, their fooliſh heart was darkened, and that in this particular, profeſsing themſelves to be wiſe, they became fools: Verſe 22.ſo the Idolatrous Iſraelites, make us Gods that may go before us, Theſe be thy Gods, O Iſrael; Say they to the Golden Calf, and Aaron built an Altar before it, Exo. 32.1, 4, 5.and made Proclamation, and ſaid to morrow is a Feaſt to Jehovah. (A Ghoſtly device to keep God in peoples minds,) thoſe very Images that they made to be HELPS in Worſhip, (for we ſee there was an Eye,Jehovah looked at through the Idol. through the Image to Jehovah) exclude God out of their knowledge, and Conclude them to be ſuch as liked not to retain God in It; And ſeeing this comes in as a Charge upon Pagan Rome, Pagan Rome excluded from the knowledge of God by Images.when they wanted the diſcoveries of this inviſible God, and glorious Chriſt, which they after received by this great Apoſtles Miniſtery, and other bleſſed helps; for even before this, ſaith God, you had better Books, then Pictures or Images, to have read me by, for the inviſible things of God from the Creation of the World are clearly ſeen, being underſtood by the things that are made, Verſe 20.even his Eternal Power and Godhead, ſo that they are without excuſe▪ I ſay, After that Faith is come, (which is the Evidence of things not ſeen (that ſpiritual Eye that ſees him that is inviſible) for Rome called Chriſtian, Heb. 11.1. Verſe 27. 2 Cor. 4.4. Rome Papall cenſured. 1 Tim. 4.2.having received the Light of the glorious Goſpel of Chriſt, who is THE IMAGE of God, to return to dumb Pictures, Images, Doctrines of Damons, &c. may give us occaſion ſadly to think and ſay, How is the faithful City become an harlot! Iſaiah 1.21. Rev. 18.24. Pſalm 57.7.come out of her ye People, that ye be not partakers of her Sins, and that ye receive not of her Plagues; for ſaith the Holy Ghoſt, Confounded be all they that ſerve graven Images.
True Pictures of God, what Living Pictures.But may a man Think, if I love my Friend, I love his Picture, yea & love to have his Picture; And ſhall I love the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoſt, and may I not have and love their Pictures? Yea, God forbid elſe; But then canſt thou Think, if thou Think Rightly, Eph. 4.24. Col. 3.10. Grace.Rationally, and Scripturally, that the Living God will have any other but living Pictures? Grace in the heart is a true not a lying, becauſe not a dead, but a living Picture of the Living and true God, which after God is created in Righteouſneſs and true Holineſs, Chriſt. Heb. 1.3.have that and keep it: Jeſus Chriſt himſelf is an expreſs or a lively (becauſe he is a living) Image of the Father, have him, and hold him, and much good may it do your very Heart with him: The Saints, Saints. Pſalm 16.3. 1 Cor. 15.44, 50. 1 Cor. 14.25.the Excellent Ones in the Earth, theſe alſo are Gods own Pictures, They bear the image of the heavenly; love them, and like them, and admire God in them (for of theſe it may be ſaid, God is in you of a truth,) make much of them, and learn as much as you can by them, for theſe are good Books indeed, as well as Living Pictures, being but tranſcripts of Gods Book,2 Cor. 3.2. Living E…ſtles, as well as living Pictures, known and read of all men. But alas, Theſe true Pictures of the living and true God are as much befriended by the curious Pictures, that blind Devotion and Superſtition have drawn for God in all Ages, as mans Native Fire is by the Feaver, or the Natural heat of the Stomach by the praeternatural.
But may not Pictures be made of the Trinity,Whether Images of God may be made for Hiſtory or Ornament. Bp. …aylors D…ſvaſive from Popery, Chap. 1. Sect. 8.9. See page 58. The Hiſtorical uſe of Images, did quickly paſs into Superſtition. The Father, The Holy Ghoſt, and of Chriſt, eſpecially (ſeeing he took Fleſh, and was ſeen in humane ſhape) for ORNAMENT, and help in the Hiſtory, and ſuch like ends, though not for Worſhip? What ſaith the Doctrine of the CHURCH of ENGLAND?
They be convict of fooliſhneſs and wickedneſs in making Images of God or the Trinity;Homily againſt the peril of Idolatry, 3d. part, pag. 41. Edict. Lond. 1640. Condemns all Pictures of God, Trinity, &c. Refutes the great argument of deſcriptions in the Old Teſtament. yea and once to deſire an Image of God cometh of Infidelity, thinking not God to be preſent, except they might ſee ſome ſign or Image of him, as appeareth by the Hebrews in the Wilderneſs, willing Aaron to make them gods whom they might ſee go before them, &c.
Thus it goes on,
Where they obje…, that ſeeing in Eſaias and Daniel be certain deſcriptions of God, as ſitting on an High ſeat, &c. Why may not a Painter likewiſe, &c. ſeeing that Scripture, or writing, and Picture differ but a little? Firſt, It is to be anſwered, that things forbidden of Gods word, as Painting of Images of God, and things permitted of God, as ſuch deſcriptions uſed of the Prophets, be not all one; neither ought, nor can, mans reaſon (Although it ſhew never ſo goodly) prevail any thing againſt Gods expreſs Word and Statute-Law. Furthermore the Scripture, although it have certain deſcriptions of God, yet if thou read on forth, it expoundeth it ſelf, declaring that God is a Spirit, Infinite, who repleniſheth Heaven and Earth, which the Picture doth not, nor expoundeth it ſelf, but rather,En langer the bringing in the Hereſie of the Anthropomorphites. when it hath ſet forth God in a bodily ſimilitude, leaveth a man there, and will eaſily bring a man into the Hereſie of the Authropomorphites, thinking God to have hands and feet, and to ſit as a man doth, which they that do (ſaith S. Auguſtine in his Book de ſide & Symbolo, cap. 7.) fall into that Sacriledge,Sacrilegious wickedneſs. which the Apoſtle teſteth in thoſe who have changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into the ſimilitude of a corruptible Man. For it is wickedneſs for a Chriſtian to ere… ſuch a one in his heart by believing it. But to this they reply, that this reaſon notwithſtanding, Images of Chriſt may be made,Argument from Chriſt taking fleſh refuted. Hom. againſt peril of Idolatry 3. part. Images of Chriſt, lying Images. for that he took upon him Fleſh and became man. &c. The anſwer is eaſie. For in Gods Word, and Religion; 'tis not onelyonly required whether a thing may be done or no, but whether it be lawful and agreeable to Gods word to be done, &c. and yet it appears no Image of Chriſt can be made, but a lying Image (as the Scripture peculiarly calls Images lies) for Chriſt is God and Man, ſeeing therefore for the Godhead, which is the moſt excellent, no Image can be made, It is falſly called the Image of Chriſt; wherefore Images of Chriſt be not onelyonly defects, but alſo lies, &c. wherefore as ſoon as an Image of Chriſt is made, by and by is a lie made of him, &c. and now if it ſhould be admitted and granted that an Image of Chriſt could truely be made,Unlawful. yet it is unlawful that it ſhould be made.
unavoidable danger of Idolatry. pag. 43. Greek the Soul. Page 44.And ſo it proceeds to urge the unavoidable danger of Idolatry, and the Judgment of Irenaeus, Epiphanius, Lan…tantius, Auguſtine, affirming that they make the Soul more crooked, rather then teach it, And therefore it adds, that as it is written, Sap. 14. that Images were not from the beginning, neither ſhall they continue to the end: ſo were they not in the beginning of the Primitive Church, God grant (ſaith the Homilie) they may in the end be deſtroyed. Page 45. Hinder converſion of Jews and Turks.And farther, that, Truth it is, that Jews and Turks, who abhor Images and Idols, as directly forbidden by Gods word, will never come to the truth of our Religion, whilſt the ſtumbling blocks of Images remain amongſt us and lie in their way: Thus the Homilie. So then as Pictures in windows, …o darken the light with a fine ſhew, ſo ſuch repreſentations of Divine things in the wiſdom of humane Imagination doth hinder, Inſtead of helping, our ſight of God and Chriſt; who in this (as in other reſpects) is called the SUN of Righteouſneſs, Mal 4.2. God and Chriſt only to be ſeen in their own light. 1 Cor. 2.11. Chap. 1.21.becauſe as that glorious luminary is only to be ſeen in its own light, ſo will God and Chriſt manifeſt themſelves onelyonly in that way of diſcovery, which themſelves have ſanctified through the Holy Ghoſt. So that while the World by wiſdom knows not God, In Gods own light the Saints of God do ſee light. And O that God would help the blinded world to ſee the difference between fancy and faith, Pſalm 36.9. Difference between Faith and Fancy. 1 Cor. 2.14.the Ones being affected in a carnal manner, and by carnal means, and the others being acted upon that which is only ſpiritually diſcerned, by ſpiritual means, and in a ſpiritual manner: So that whilſt one man being groſs in his Imagination, and made the more ſo by his Images, embraceth a Crucifix for a Chriſt, a piece of Wood, Stone, Metal, or painted Cloth, and printed Paper for God, like him in the Fable, embracing the Cloud for the Goddeſs: Math. 5.3.Another being pure in heart is bleſſed with a true ſight of God, ſo far as Faith can reach, and the preſent ſtate bear: for no Man hath ſeen God at any time; the only begotten Son, John 1.18.which is in the boſom of the Father, he hath declared him; and this of him, that not the carnal mind,1 Cor. 2.18. or by carnal means, not the groſs hearted, but the pure hearted, the ſublimated ſoul, the ſpiritualized mind, ſuch and ſuch onelyonly have the bleſſed ſight of God here and hereafter. Therefore let us not think of bringing God down to us, ſhaping his inviſible and incomprehenſible Excellencies by our fooliſh phantaſies and vain thoughts, but rather by Faith let us ſay with David, unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my Soul.Pſalm 25.6.